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Have you ever paid attention to all the prayers that folks lob up to God?
I was noting all the different ones that were being offered over the last few days on Facebook and Twitter. Everything from jobs to feeding the hungry. Petitions tossed out like a penny in a wishing well. I think we sincerely believe that he is a cosmic vending machine — drop in a prayer and out pops your choice.
I’ve been a guilty party.
So what’s up with this? Do we really think that he’s holding out on us? He knows what we need, but gets some sort of jolly out of seeing us squirm?
No wonder the non-believer is a non-. Who needs that?
To ask what’s been asked of him many times before, “Just who are you anyway?”
What might your God look like if you let Him out of prison?
“I say that creeds, dogmas, and theologies are inventions of the mind. It is the nature of the mind to make sense out of experience, to reduce the conglomerates of experience to units of comprehension which we call principles, or ideologies, or concepts. Religious experience is dynamic, fluid, effervescent, yeasty. But the mind can’t handle these so it has to imprison religious experience in some way, get it bottled up. Then, when the experience quiets down, the mind draws a bead on it and extracts concepts, notions, dogmas, so that religious experience can make sense to the mind. Meanwhile religious experience goes on experiencing, so that by the time I get my dogma stated so that I can think about it, the religious experience becomes an object of thought.”
Howard Thurman, interviewed in 1979
for the BBC’s The Long Search, a television series on world religions
This has been a fascinating weekend.
I stayed up far too late Saturday and Sunday nights, but the interaction with friends made the next mornings’ grogginess well worth it. Typically, I hear my bed beginning it’s evening call to me around 9:30 and eventually embrace it by 10:00. Saturday and Sunday nights found us leaving the house at 9:30 to go “visit” for 3+ hours. I had flash backs to younger days when the nights didn’t even start until 10:00 p.m.! We even “snuck” into their back door so as to not wake the children. That made it even more entertaining.
We spent Sunday afternoon with another dear couple. Now, as a disclaimer, I must say that I don’t usually speak/write like that… a “dear couple.” However, in the classical, literary sense, they are, indeed, a “dear couple.” They are unique in our lives and have enhanced our quality of life simply by doing life together. We did something that I don’t remember doing since I was a kid — we rode around in the country. Or, as we called it in Columbus County back in the 60’s, “we went for a ride.”
I had a nice “catching up” phone call with my eldest child Tabitha on Saturday. That girl amazes me! I am blessed to be able to say that she is my daughter.
We received some stunning photos from my middle daughter Jessica of our grandyoungins. Oohs and aahs were spilling our of our mouths like love-sick doves. I am blessed to be able to say that she is my daughter.
I did something on Saturday I’ve not done in a long time… nothing. And I really enjoyed it.
Friday night I finished one of eight books I’m reading at the same time. Why would I read eight books at the same time? I don’t know; but now it’s only seven.
I received some mind-boggling reports from pastors Audrey and Danilo down in Brazil this weekend. I’ll be sharing shortly. I am in awe. That is better than any icing on any cake any time.
Last night we had supper with my recently-returned-from-Iraq-and-now-out-of-the-army-son Jeremy and his lady, Celia. I must say, he seems to be growing up. I am blessed to be able to say that he is my son.
Yep, I had a fascinating weekend…
When fishing you don’t use a log for pole, chain for line and lobster for bait while screaming “bite or go to hell” The wise win souls –Tommy Tenney Tweet, January 30,2010
I’ve become an observer.
I don’t know when this occurred; it probably didn’t just “occur,” but rather “developed.” Perhaps it has something to do with age, experience or both. Perhaps it has to do with a mental transformational process that evolved. “Evolved” in the sense that I intentionally pursued it.
Maybe the evolution of the mental transformation couldn’t have occurred without the age and experience. While I don’t think that is the proper equation, it seems to hold true in my case.
So, I observe.
I came across a story about a man who was heartbroken; his little girl was dying. He goes to Jesus…
When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”
Jesus is about to do what we would classify as a miracle; yet, to him, it doesn’t seem to be such a big deal. He simply tells her to get up and get something to eat.
Straightforward.
Yet, we claim it is miraculous, which is just another way of saying “impossible” (for us, anyway). And this is where my observational mindset ratchets up a bit.
In the face of the miraculous, the supernatural upsets us. We are uncomfortable with it because we see is as invasive. We want it to fit into our neat pattern of the natural, that which we know. The problem is, it can’t… it is supernatural. When it doesn’t conform to our way of imagining it, we classify it as unacceptable.
If it is a story in a book written a long, long time ago, we are okay with it; if it is something that takes places in our presence, it gives us a problem. That, to me, is intriguing.
We assume that everyone who saw Jesus do what he did was in awe of him and just some stodgy old Pharisees (whatever that is) were bent out of shape over what he did. If that were so, why does the story tell us that everyone laughed at him?
Could it be that a Being as expansive as we claim God to be actually wants us to be unable to define him in a way that neatly fits into our reality? Could it be that our discomfort at supernatural intrusions into our orderly existence is God’s way of saying “get up and get something to eat”?
Perhaps we shouldn’t be laughing at him…
I’m finding it interesting to see how our environment so colors what we read in the Word.
We tend to interpret our world based on our experiences. While that works relatively well in our normal environment, it typically works poorly in a foreign environment. I learned that the hard way many years ago on my first trip to Brazil. Standing on a busy, metropolitan street corner, I was innocently flashing the “OK” sign (index finger and thumb making an “o” and the other three fingers sticking upwards) at cars. I was shocked to see them flipping me off, angrily blowing their horns and seemingly wanting to get out of their cars and hurt me.
I was even more shocked when a cop (a military policeman with a sub-machine gun strapped across his front) rudely slammed me up against a building in the spreadeagle position, barking orders at me that I couldn’t understand.
Thankfully the friend I was waiting on arrived at that moment and explained in Portuguese to the cop that I was an idiot and didn’t realize I was telling everyone to go have intercourse with themselves. Something that was normal, and correct, in my culture, meant the exact opposite in that one.
Being a prime guilty party, I marvel at how we do this in the Bible. Blithely and sloppily painting it with what we think it means based on our experience in life, we exegete it and extrapolate it to fit our understanding. The end result is that we not only miss the point, we mess ourselves up.
It ends up being something akin to reading the Constitution through the eyes of Mickey Mouse. Mickey is fun and entertaining; the Constitution was created with suffering, sacrifice and blood. The Constitution interpreted through Mickey’s eyes is going to be quite different than through the eyes of a patriot on Lexington Green.
The Jesus we talk about in churches tends to not be the Jesus presented in the Gospels. We have convinced ourselves that he was prim and proper, polite and quiet; I fear that we’re using Mickey’s glasses.
You cannot meet the Creator of the universe and remain the same. If the God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present comes to dwell within your soul, you would expect at least some minor disruption. I think there’s a problem when people talk about meeting God or knowing God and yet remain unchanged by God. When the Creator chooses to dwell within His creation, there is transformation. If Jesus has come to dwell within you, you are no longer suited for a normal life.
–Erwin McManus, The Barbarian Way
So, as I entered into the world of pastorship (is that a word?), I had completed my indoctrination in one of the most pharisaical seminaries in the U.S.
I could quote every proof text necessary to bolster my position (in Greek, Hebrew and English), I could definitively tell you why your position was wrong, I could even use extra-biblical sources to prove my point.
And I knew it was a lie.
A distinguished, learned and respected “man of God” had shown me in my first semester of college that the Bible was not to be trusted. His words and his actions were at odds; his message was that you believe what you’re told, not what you discover.
The end result was that when the storm of adversity stuck, my spiritual house was the equivalent of straw. When the storm passed, my house was gone.
Why bother to blog about ancient history?
It illustrates a point that is important.
So many of us claim to be following the Bible when what we’re really doing is following what someone told us the Bible means. We do not believe that we are capable of reading it, understanding it and actually applying it in some meaningful, powerful manner in our lives. We believe that you must go to seminary, be a pastor or have some sort of supernatural faith in order to be an influential Christian.
Unless you’re reading the Bible in old English or in a different language, it can be understood; it was meant to be understood. It is a lie to think that only the elite and trained can understand it.
It is a dangerous book. It puts you in contact with the supernatural.
And that can radically change your worldview, regardless of your age or circumstance.
Many years ago, I dealt with intellectual honesty in a dishonest manner and it changed my life.
In a class called “Denominational Dogmas,” my professor assigned me a term paper topic that was, in all candor, a fascinating spiritual topic. As he handed me back my finished product and I saw a big, red “D-” emblazoned on it, he simply said. “This is an ‘A+’ paper.’”
This concerned me because I saw the big “D-” on the paper now firmly griped in my hands. Perplexed, I just looked at him with what must have been a classic “Huh?” look.
“It was superbly written and you obviously did your research thoroughly. Why don’t you think about it over the weekend; should you decided to rewrite your conclusion, I’ll be happy to received it again on Monday.”
I’m not stupid. My conclusion was that I wasn’t sure. I knew his stance, that of the church I was in and had no prior experience in or about the topic. I honestly thought I’d write a simple paper that said here’s the evidence and this phenomena doesn’t exist.
Surprisingly to me, I discovered the biblical evidence compelling, even in the face of all the sources I consulted who were against it. Now I was in a quandary — what was I to do? While not sure how to express a desire to study it more, I stated that my conclusion was inconclusive.
My professor’s conclusion was dogmatic (ironic, given the name of the class); the topic I was writing about no longer existed. Only a fool, heretic or an agent of Satan would hold a contrary position.
I rewrote the paper and got my “A+.”
I’ve been sorry ever since.
That decision –encouraged by a responsible adult, Bible professor and pastor– became the cornerstone of the destruction of my faith.
to be continued…
What a weekend at River of Leland! Here are some of the highlights:
- Timothy Berry from Global Awakening was in town to provide training for our volunteers — eye-opening and life-changing are two terms that describe it. Look for the volunteers who seem to be walking in a new confidence and you’ll probably see the ones who attended.
- Tonight was intense. Six people completely healed, 10-15 50% or better healed. Heaven invaded earth and the supernatural was natural. Seriously.
- I’ve never seen so many people become so animated about their faith!
- We had a new arrangement in the bowling alley that worked out much better, Kudos to our set up crew.
- Our sound crew was popping on all eight cylinders — I know nothing about sound and even I could tell how good it sounded.
- Krispy Kreme. Nice surprise!
- Lots of measurements taken today of everything. We’re hoping to have some rolling storage bins very soon. That will be a welcomed help in unloading and loading the trailer.
- Truss work with can lights really looks cool. Thank you Craig’s List.
- Ricky at Thunder Alley had all the monitors in the place displaying neat River of Leland placards. 30+ monitors showing ROL everywhere you looked. One of the benefits of using a high-tech facility.
- Superbowl party on massive high-def screens is going to be amazing– and I don’t even care for football.
- I am blown away by our volunteers! You guys are fabulous!
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