God Stuff
Click here to read about the Parsons Tornado and an interesting picture
I don't know everything. I don't really know that much, but here's what I've learned as I've walked the path of life.
Here is a list of questions and statements I've heard, and my best attempts to answer them from my experience. Click on the "click here" to go to that question, or just scroll down and read them all.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
God is more than Love. Love does not conquer all.
Topics
I believe in God. I just don't think you have to go to church to talk to him. Click here.
Christians are hypocrites. I don't want to be associated with them. Click here
Christianity is a bunch of dos and don'ts, with a lot more don'ts. Click here
So why you jocking a guy who left earth nearly 2000 years ago? What does he have to do with me today? Click here
If Jesus is the only way to God, like you claim, then what about that Bushman living alone, who never hears of Jesus? Is he going to hell? Click here
If God loves, why will he send people to hell? Click here
What about TV preachers? Aren't they out to make a buck? Click here
If God knows everything, and we pray for his will to be done, then why do we pray? Click here
What about science? Click here
How old is the earth and what about evolution? Click here
Why read the Bible? Click here
How can God sit back while so much injustice goes on? Click here
What is heaven? Click here
Why do some Christians say things that I find to be ridiculous when defending their faith? Click here.
I believe in God. I just don't think you have to go to church to talk to him.
So who said you did? Can you
quote it, or are you just trying to rationalize a poor church attendance. If so,
that's your thing, but please don't put words in other people's mouths. If somebody
told you this, then they are ignorant. Solomon said, "The heavens, even the
highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!"
(I Kings 8:27) You ARE currently IN the house of God. He built
it. He's everywhere.
That leads, naturally to the next question: So
why go to church? If you have any church questions, I find it enlightening to go to
the original blueprint of what the church was. A group of believers meeting
together. Usually in somebody's house or some other meeting place. They
shared, sang, praised God, lifted each other up in prayer, and encouraged each other.
As more believe, the idea of meeting in a home wasn't practical. The church
wasn't hymnal books, pipe organs, suits, and gold-plated offering dishes. It also
wasn't the only place to meet God. The church is simply a gathering of believers who
help each other along--folks who screw up, but want to do the right thing. If you
don't feel you are getting this at church, then by all means, find one that does!!!
But when you do, get involved! It only works when people share. It's not a
place to sit down and get entertained by a preacher and singers. You can't
sing? You can't preach? Fine. A church full of singers and preachers is
a lame church. It only works when we all chip in how we can (I Corinthians
12:12-31). You can still get involved. Ask and find out.
A word of warning. You probably won't
find the "perfect" church. You want that, wait until you get to heaven.
We are imperfect people. Do you get nothing out of 1700s hymns? Well
some do. If it is THAT important to you, you can find church that uses more modern
music. Churches offer different things. It's finding the group of people to
serve with, and it's more fruitful than sitting at home! You won't get any type of
encouragement at home.
Christians are hypocrites. I don't want to be associated with them.
Fine. Don't. But are you judging everybody based on a few? THAT'S real
smart! Applied to different areas, and it's tagged with phrases like
"racism" and "sexism." Whatever the case, it is
"prejudice" to the core -- when you consider that prejudice is
pre-judging.
If you are looking for a perfect human,
give up. You missed him by about 2,000 years. If you saw the movie Multiplicity,
you may remember the phrase used to explain #3: "a copy of copy isn't as good as an
original." (and if you haven't seen it, it still should make sense).
Model your life after Jesus, not a follower of Jesus. To do so, is to model their
shortcomings. HE, not they, is the way, truth, and life. HE is your savior,
not them. Our society LOVES to look for the deficiency in every person and judge
everything about the person by it. It is so much simpler to pigeonhole people than
to look at them as complex individuals with shortcomings and strengths. To do the
latter would require thinking and empathy -- 2 things that many people find too difficult
to do.
Jesus forgives people instantly, but he doesn't
make people perfect overnight. He doesn't do it during their lifetime. He
will make them more like him, if they let him, though they will always come up
short. However, they will make great improvements in their lives, if they let
him. The Christian life is a constant battle between our old ways and our news
ways. Sometimes the old ways win.
To let somebody else turn you off of Jesus is
such a lazy wimp-out. For instance, I can tell you about a friend of mine has been a
real blessing to me, and enriched my life because I know him. But let's say I'm a
terrible speller (not far from the trooth :), is your response, "I don't want to meet
him. If he has enriched your life so much, why are you such a lousy speller?"
You haven't even met my friend, so why are you judging him according to me?
To have this philosophy is to deny that Jesus is alive and real, but rather that he's a
philosophy. Which leads us to the next point.
Christianity is a bunch of dos and don'ts, with a lot more don'ts.
You need to get with the program. Christianity is a relationship, with Jesus
Christ, hence the "Christ" in Christianity. In the old days (as in Old
Testament days), God gave the Israelites a bunch of dos and don'ts (you've heard of the 10
Commandments, right?) The idea was if they did all of these rules, they would be
righteous. Well, they never did. They screwed up. Like many people
today, they tried to do the "bare minimum" -- keeping with the letter of the
law, but not the spirit of the law. They would give their sacrifices and say their
prayers, and go on living evil, hateful lives. God couldn't knock sense into them
and show them the way to fuller, enriched lives--yeah, what does he know? He's only
omniscient! Anyway, since he is perfect, he couldn't have relationships with
rebellious (that what "sin" is) people who were full of malice.
To solve this conundrum, God came down to earth
as a person to show us what love and mercy was. He stood up to the hypocrites who
tried to box in God with their unfounded regulations and traditions. He ate with the
tax collectors, the prostitutes, the poor, the rich, the religious leaders -- he showed us
that no one was beyond God's grace. He also challenged people's comfort
levels, stepping on toes of the "highly respected religious leaders" who thought
they had the inside track. He showed us how to live, and then he saved us through
his death. He died for our sin. God loves, and God is just. The first
concept is popular. The latter isn't. However, both are equal, and the perfect
God couldn't be with unpunished sin, so he took the punishment for us, giving up his life,
so that our sin could be erased. He then rose victorious from death, because sin had
no hold on him, just like it has no hold on us, if we trust him.
So why you jocking a guy who left earth nearly 2000 years ago? What does he have to do with me today?
When Jesus arose into heaven, he poured out his spirit, allowing his spirit to live in us. Sound weird? Not really. You have a spirit. Life and death/living spirit and no spirit. Comprende? We have a living spirit in each of us that is uniquely us. What he gives us is HIS spirit, also known as the "Holy Spirit" or "Holy Ghost." Why? Well, his spirit in us, allows us to know him on a personal basis. He also helps us out. He teaches us about God -- you're reading the Bible and his spirit helps enlighten you about what you're reading. You read the same passage a month later, and he enlightens you to something new. You doing something in that moral "gray area?" The holy spirit will let you know if you're doing the right thing, if you trust him and have enough courage to accept his answers. He does much more. THAT is what Christianity is about. Jesus living in us. Since you got 2 spirits living in you, sometimes they are in conflict, and if you submit to his, you'll do the right thing. Sometimes, our own stupidity fails to do so (quite often), and that is where the whole "hypocrisy" thing comes in. You aren't going to find perfect people because Jesus' spirit isn't going to turn you into a mindless robot. Freewill, man! It isn't sincere unless it comes from the heart--your heart.
If Jesus is the only way to God, like you claim, then what about that Bushman living alone, who never hears of Jesus? Is he going to hell?
First of all, let's get this straight, JESUS said that he's the way (John 14:6). I
don't know too many people who are more qualified, do you? He lived a completely
humble life, taught us true love, died for us, and rose from the dead -- an act which
would take some external doing.
Now, onto the Bushman. Like I said, God
is love and God is just. We see God everyday through his creation (Romans 1:20).
If that Bushman wants to know God better and wants to do the right thing, then God
WILL not dis' him What is God's plan? I don't know. I am not God,
so I can't claim that my finite mind knows everything about the infinite God. The
Bible doesn't tell us EVERYTHING about God, only that which God has chosen to reveal to
us. God has told us that he is just and that he loves us. If a Bushman wants
to know God and live right (we all know the basics of what's right and wrong -- that which
transcends cultural taboos), then I guarantee, God will not cast him into eternal
separation from God (which is what hell is), just because he hasn't been informally
indoctrinated as to who Jesus was. (After all, there were a whole bunch of Old
Testament people who didn't know Jesus!) I don't know the exact workings, but I do
know that God is just and I can count on that! So, a hypothetical situation, just
won't work, because you forgot to factor in God's love and justice. Now, are you
going to hide behind a Bushman? You have heard about Jesus, what's your excuse?
If God loves, why will he send people to hell?
Understand what hell is. It's
not the hot rooms of torture, as illustrated by The Far Side, and it's not a
place that Satan runs with a pitchfork in hand. Hell is eternal separation from God
(2 Thessalonians 1:9). If you spend your entire life distancing yourself from God,
wanting nothing to do with him, then he will give your wish, and you will be forever
separated from him. Why is this so bad? Well, all good things come from God
(James 1:17). Apart from him, there is NO good things. You dig the color
purple? Nope, you won't have it in hell. Like the sound of a jazz saxophone
solo? Nope. Like the taste of homemade cookies? Forget it. Like
the feeling when you love somebody and somebody loves you? Nope. Doesn't exist
in hell. If you were in hell, you would WISH it were a hot and fiery place.
THERE IS NOTHING GOOD IN HELL. You have been living with the benefits of the many
good gifts God has given us. However, if you keep pushing him away, you'll get your
wish, and you will live without the benefits that you have so enjoyed.
Jesus said, "Whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in
heaven." (Matt 10:33) (Which, going back to the Bushman, how is he going to
disown Jesus, when he hasn't heard of him?).
This goes back to Free Will...it's more than a
Rush song. God will not force you to love him. He gives you that choice.
Forced love isn't real love. If you don't want him, he will still seek you
out during your lifetime, and he's always a prayer away, ready to let bygones be
bygones
and come into your life and enrich you with blessings beyond what you can imagine.
But if you don't want him, he won't force you. He'll even give you your eternal
wish, and only then will you realize how badly you screwed up.
What about TV preachers? Aren't they out to make a buck?
Maybe. I'm not one, and I can't claim to speak for them. God knows their
hearts (I Samuel 16:7). If they are out to exploit people, they will have to answer
to God for that (Hebrews 4:13).
Personally, I don't watch TV Preachers.
If they bother you, I suggest you do the same. If you want to watch them, but have
problems with the sincerity of they monetary requests, I suggest you don't support them,
but rather find something that you do support -- feed hungry children, a local church, a
missionary, helping somebody less fortunate than yourself, etc.
If God knows everything, and we pray for his will to be done, then why do we pray?
God isn't moved by our eloquence. Trust me, he's far more eloquent than we could
ever hope to be. He just likes to hang out and spend time. Do you like hanging
out with a friend, just to "be guys," and not because you are going to solve the
world's problems? God likes hanging out with us. He likes talking with
us. He likes to hear what we have to say. He likes to tell us things.
When a father hangs out with his young son, is
he looking to learn of the mysteries of the universe from the son? No. He just
enjoys being with his beloved son. Think of that. You're prayer doesn't have
to completely full of "how great thou art" (though it is true), or "Gimme,
gimme, gimme". You can tell him what's on your mind, or the frustrations of the
day. The sky's the limit.
God's not going to strike you down with plagues
just because you were sincere. When Lazarus died, his sister was full of grief and
told Jesus basically, "If you were here, he wouldn't have died." (John 11:21).
He didn't strike her mute. He is big enough to hear her frustrations.
He was big enough to hear her pain and big enough to be moved by her grief, to the point
that he broke out in tears (John 11:35). She didn't know the big picture, but she
still expressed herself to her beloved Lord and he was moved and understood her pain.
Now, onto this "your will/my will/what's the point", thing...
What do you get from prayer? A wish list? Nope. You get to know God better. I believe there are 3 types of prayer requests/answers:
1) God WANTS you to pray for certain things and waits for you to pray for them. Maybe for a friend, maybe for an event, maybe for a stranger. If he wants you to pray for it, he'll lay it on you, somehow. You may hear about it and feel moved to pray - who knows? God will let you know. Why does the Almighty want you to pray for it? Because he wants you to know that he hears, that he can be trusted, and that he wants to share blessings with you. He wants to strengthen your relationship.
2) There are things you pray for that God was going to approve of and act on whether you prayed for them or not. But since you joined in -- cool. How can you differentiate between 1 and 2? You'll find out eventually. For now, I don't know if you can, but does it really matter? You are talking to your Heavenly Father, and that is what matters.
3) There are things you pray for that God doesn't say "yes" to, but if you could see the whole world and its interdependency, and see things from God's point of view, you would realize that it's for the best. You may not see it now, and you may never see it in this lifetime, but you have to trust that God knows best. Did you pray for a loved one and that person died -- such as in a car crash? What if they're staying alive was going to result in their developing a disease that causes them much pain and agony? In addition, what if their death resulted in an organ donation that saved the next Einstein or Billy Graham? Things don't always make sense, but we can believe that God isn't a jerk and he does know just a little more than we do (sarcasm). It's not easy, but it's true.
What about science?
What about it? It doesn't disprove God. It disproves some stupid traditions
that people have come up with. Galileo proved the Earth revolved around the sun (I
think it was him. It may have been Copernicus...I always mix the two of them
up). The Bible didn't say that the Sun revolved around the earth, or that the earth
was the center of the universe. The reasoning was that since God came to earth, then
it MUST be the center of the universe. Lame, huh.
Remember, the Bible reveals what God
chose to
reveal of himself. God could have put the solution to the Radiative Transfer
Equation, but what good would that have done Moses and company? If he had revealed
that, people would complain about something else it didn't reveal.
I do find it peculiar to try and measure
infinite, almighty God through finite means. I also find it odd when people say,
"you can't scientifically prove God exists." You can't scientifically
prove a lot of things. Was O.J. guilty? You can't scientifically prove it.
Where were you yesterday? Can you scientifically prove it? Nope and
nope. Not unless you can somehow bend the space-time continuum, and take me to
that moment of time and space. Every other argument requires faith. If you had
eye-witness testimonies -- hey, they could lie. It's not beyond the realm of reason.
Photographic proof? Yawn. How many photos have been doctored?
Science is a tool. It is not the do-all, end-all of life. We depend on faith
far more than we realize. Science is cool and it teaches us a lot, but as any good
scientist will tell you, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know.
For every question answered, it opens up new questions. Just look at the exploration
for the smallest particle. Atoms? Nope. Electrons? Nope.
Quarks? (Maybe smaller than that, I don't follow it) Every time they find
a new particle, they want to know what IT is made of!
God made a really cool earth and universe.
What we learn of it only points to his brilliance. As Peter O'Toole said in Creator,
"Someday, we are going to look into our microscopes and see the eye of God looking
back..."
If you feel threatened by science, then your
God is too small and you are too insecure. Science is a wonderful tool God gave us
to learn more of his creation. A few jabronis have used it to try and dog on him.
That is the person's shortcomings, not science's -- any more than a man who makes a
nuclear bomb doesn't give science a bad name, or a virus doesn't make computers bad.
You can use paint to make a beauty or you can use it to spread hate. Like so
much of God's creation, it's what we do with it.
How old is the earth and what about evolution?
How old is the earth? Older than me. Only God knows the exact age of the earth (down to the nth decimal point). Do I have an estimate for how old it is? Nope. It maybe 40 years old. How can I know exactly, since I wasn't around. (I believe it's older than 40, but it's based on faith).
And what happened after God said "Let there be light" until man came about? I don't care. Check out these words from the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth: "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." (I Cor 2:1-2). In other words Jesus is Lord and he died for your sins -- the rest is details. That is the point I want to bring forth. When God said "Let there be light", I don't know if the light took 1 second to appear, 0.1 second, 0.000000001 second, or 100 years to become the sun (after all, there couldn't be a first day, according to Genesis, without the light). All it says is "and there was light." How long it took to appear was up to God. I don't care about the frivilous details. I know who did the creating and that is good enough for me.
Why read the Bible?
Why not? It's only one of the most quoted books in history (if not THE most). It's full of action stories, poetry, wisdom, history, love stories, philosophy, etc. It has been translated into more languages than any book in history and has been quite possibly the most influential book in history. If you are scared of it, then the answer to your question is "because I have the courage to read it."
However, the reason I read it is because I want to know more about God. Now, a popular misconception is that the Bible tells you EVERYTHING about God. NOT! God revealed part of himself through the Bible, kind of like I reveal some of myself through this web site, but if you think you know everything about me...D'OH! You can learn about God through living and experiencing this big, beautiful, cool universe he gave us, but on a deeper and more personal level, it's harder to know him through such an abstract means. The Bible will tell you much about God's characteristics, love, justice, desires, etc. If you are serious about knowing God, you can't help but read the Bible.
A few things to keep in mind: you won't understand everything you read - welcome to the club. Sometimes, you may find parts (Leviticus) boring - welcome to the club. The most important thing to remember is that if you don't understand something - or especially the "hows and whys", hang in there. If you want to learn it, you eventually will. The books 1 and 2 Corinthians used to rub me the wrong way -- until I learned the background of the book, and then it made sense. Don't be afraid of asking hard questions - but at the same time, don't be afraid to seek the answers.
Also, the Bible is not in chronological order. Reading it cover to cover isn't that great of an idea. I'll put some tips for reading it up soon.
Should it be the only book you read? Nope. If God wanted that, he wouldn't have given so many people the ability to write such beautiful works of poetry and literature.
How can God sit back while so much injustice goes on?
The thing to remember about the "rotteness" of this world is that we asked for it. That's the bottom line. Remember that Garden of Eden thing? God said in so many words, "all is cool, and if you love me, don't eat from this tree." Why? Free will -- God gave them an out because forced love is no kind of love at all. The serpent told Eve that God was lying and that if they ate of it, "they would be like God." That temptation caused her (and Adam) to eat of the fruit. Not the idea of "it tastes good, you don't know what you're missing," but rather they didn't trust God and wanted to run things ("be like God") themselves. So they got part of their wish - the knowledge of good and evil. And look at the results: death, disease, poverty, greed, war, slander, gossip, racism, etc...it seems like we invent ways to be evil and rotten.
(On a side note, I often find myself getting peeved at Adam and Eve's stupidity. How could they throw it all away? Then, I realize how screwed up I am and how little it takes for me to sin, so how can I throw stones at them? I'd probably do the same stupid thing if I were in their place.)
So there you have it...left to our own means, we hate, we hoard, and we kill. Not a pretty sight. You may disagree, but everyone acts in his or her own self interest, which is selfish to the core. God doesn't cause this, we do. If I were God (and be glad I'm not!), I'd be saying, "Hey, you didn't want me...fine...have fun killing and hurting each other. Be sure and grovel for forgiveness, just so I can laugh." I mean, my patience only goes so far, and we as the human race have betrayed God over and over. Fortunately, for us, God is compassionate and hasn't given up on us.
So why does God sit back and allow the injustice? Because it is what we want. If God stopped "big" injustices, then we would cry that "God is not good, because he allows small injustices." God would have to wipe out every vestige of evil and injustice. In doing so, he would be forcing himself on us. Because we are sinful, we seek control of our lives, we don't put our trust in him, which is the root of our rebellion an sin, which causes evil and injustice. We have the knowledge of good and evil (hence, the forbidden tree was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). We WILL do evil. Our bodies, in this imperfect form, cannot deal with that knowledge, and we act on it, even if it's too a small degree. Because we are imperfect, we cannot have this knowledge without DOING evil. Therefore, if God were to remove the injustice, he would be removing our free will to choose. He would have to force his will on us, and make us robots, which, like I said, forced love is no kind of love.
There will come a time when God will punish and justice will be served. So take comfort in knowing that day will come. For the meantime, we live with the consequences of our free will choice to reject God. It's an imperfect world (thanks to us). If you want paradise, accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, and you can have it, but you'll have to wait. On this imperfect world, we grow closer to the perfect God who we will spend eternity with.
What is heaven?
Good question. Never been there. Sometimes, when I am in Manhattan, KS yelling at the top of my voice "K-S-U Wildcats!!!" along with 52,000 other fanatics, I think I am in the vestibule of heaven, or when I sat on my favorite rock on a hill in Manhattan (on the "Manhattan" sign, for those who have been there) and watched the sun go down...well, I think I may have caught a glimpse of it, but as for knowing about it, I don't have the foggiest, which is good to know that I can't even comprehend it.
I heard a wise man once say that he believes we'll spend eternity learning the infinite depths of God and his love. That is cool, yet at the same time, it makes my brain hurt. Concepts of "infinity" and "eternity" always do. If it's all good and all injustice and pain are gone, well...how can you go wrong with that?
Why do some Christians say things that I find to be ridiculous when defending their faith?
This is more specifically referring to a fear of analyzing and accepting simple answers that fit into a pre-conceived idea. I have seen history re-written with a Christian slant* and I have seen some bizarre scientific theories offered up.
Jesus tells us to love the Lord God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds. We shouldn't throw our brains out because our comfort levels are invaded. To do so, is direct disobedience! (Ever think of it that way?) We are to hold tightly to Jesus and loosely to everything else (words of wisdom from Pastor Brett during my college days). So if somebody tells me Jesus isn't Lord, well ... I know that person is a farce. Now, when God spoke the universe into existence, did he speak in Latin, English, Mibari, Klingon, or something else? I don't know. Is the universe 100 trillion years old? I don't know. I don't have a pat answer for everything. Only a few things. I try not to make up new ideas to explain every detail so that it explains my faith. I let God do the details. I read the Cliff Notes (Bible).
*This nation was founded on Christian principles, make no mistake about that...I'm referring to later events, such as the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, etc). Likewise, I have seen anti-Christians re-write history with their pre-conceived ideas. For instance, did you know that the phrase "separation of church and state" is no where in the constitution? Did you know that the Supreme Court used the exact same Thomas Jefferson letter (that contains the phrase) to state clearly that the United States is a Christian nation? I have heard people try to claim that John Adams was an atheist because of one quote used out of context.
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