One of the greatest downfalls of religion is it’s obsession with reward-punishment and meritocracy. If Paul the apostle was right, God loved me and Jesus gave His life for me while I was a total jerk and sinning off the charts. That’s my paraphrase of Romans 5:8. But the church reminded me every week of my need to BE GOOD, follow the LAW, and BE HOLY as God was, even though Jesus affirmed that there were NONE capable of that since ONLY God was GOOD! Continue reading ‘Human Being’
Monthly Archive for January, 2008
Sunday afternoon, I visited the local Zorastarian Cultural Center. Zoroaster (the Greek name) or Zarathustra (the Avestan or Persian name) was an ancient Iranian prophet and religious poet. More than that though he was the fore- runner to much that you’ll find in the Judaeo-Christian religion and Zoroasterianism was the first monotheistic religion. All of this coming anywhere from 1200-550 BCE. Some will date portions of the religion to 6,000 BCE. I also visited a Jainism temple, but I’ll leave that til later. Continue reading ‘Zarathustra & Zoroaster’
My first question must be this. Is God love? My answer is YES! Is God’s love unconditional? My answer once more is YES! Is God Omniscience? My answer is YES. Is God omnipresence? My answer once more is YES! And I prefer the CE vs the T at the end. But is God Omnipotence (not omnipotent)? My answer is YES as bookends, but not in the middle. Make sense? Well, here’s how I see it. Continue reading ‘Is God Omnipotent?’
How many of the stories in the Old Testament can we take literally, how many are simply myth and metaphors telling a much large truth(s)? More specifically, is the story of Noah and the flood literal? Unfortunately too many spend way too much time trying to debate the issues and miss the message. That said, let’s look at some of the internals of the story. Continue reading ‘Two Noah Floods?’
Purity, holiness, or righteousness can never be attained by by some standard of dcotrinal purity. In fact, the more dogmatic the environment, the more strict doctrinal adherence that’s demanded, and the more sure and certain any one religious group is, the more toxic the culture! We are not accepted in the Beloved because of our doctrine! Continue reading ‘Doctrinal Intolerance’
For too long the church has majored on sin management and peddled the Gospel of Conditional Love. While you’ll not find the term “unconditional love” in the Bible, you’ll find the word (agape) everywhere. More importantly, if the Christian LOGO (CROSS) says anything, it speaks of and demonstates the concept of unconditional love.
In the name of preserving purity, the church has so separated itself from the world that it is no longer a transformative agent. If one reads all of the Old Testament stories literally, the view of God as loving becomes an impossibility. it’s not the wrath of God against evil-doers, but everyone in the neighborhood gets taken out as well. For what? For just being around- collateral damage! Continue reading ‘Collateral Damage?’
The Christian message is truly “whomsoever will”. Come one and come all. Remember the invitation to the wedding banquet metaphor-story? Remember the feeding of thousands? The message is that God loves us ALL-unconditionally (as per my commentary earlier this week). Ah, but there are a few things about one being a part of the local assembly (denomination if you will) that we should remember: conditions of inclusion. Continue reading ‘Conditions Of Inclusion’
Leonard Sweet’s comments about the Culture Shapers art contest, which he says is “taking the lead in supporting the arts among high school students.” Subscribe to his podcast entitled, “Napkin Scribbles“.
We Want Legalism!
And the church stands ready to give you the desires of your heart! If there’s anything the church can do it is give you the DO’s and DO NOT’s of life. God may only be capable of ten commandments, but the church can do far more. In fact, when Jesus said “greater things will you do”, I believe the church interpreted that to mean have greater and more elaborate laws. Simply not eating pork was too simple. We want certitude, we want certainty, and we want seven step (or less) formulas to right living and success! Continue reading ‘We Want Legalism!’