I have a hard time believing anything I hear. I don't believe statistics, stories, old wives tales or fun facts. I'm a cynic and a critic and usually leaning into someone's ear to mumble a snide remark when being sold something.But as I'm reminded in the good ol' book of 1 Corinthians,
"...love believes all things." 1 Corinthians 13:7
Thankfully, when I am able to focus on Jesus' character and the power of the Holy Spirit gets involved, I am better at living out this command.
To believe all things. To believe the begging man that says he needs change for food. To believe that Matt is late for dinner unintentionally. To believe someone's excuse (and not roll my eyes blatantly).
A good friend who did our marriage counseling pointed out this specific part of what can be an exhausted text. (I mean, I've never really gotten that far in the chapter. I'm still working on the "love is patient" part.) It stuck with me for a while and then like most great lessons, faded away. It has reappeared in my mind lately. Probably because I'm not doing it very well.
I'm hoping to apply this to my thought-life this week. (It's Friday, right?)
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
If you see me on a plane, buy me a drink.
You would think that how often I travel as of late would make me a better flyer.
A braver flyer.
I know the quickest routes to the parking lot in LAX and the bathroom with the shortest line in the Portland airport (right past the gift shops, by the way). I mouth along with the flight attendant as she explains how to get to the emergency exit rows. I have my packing down to a science, enabling myelf to bypass baggage fees. I'm a pro. I don't travel far, but frequently. But no. I am a coward. My heart races while others comfortably recline their seats and flip through magazines as the plane taxis. I scan the passengers, wondering if there's a flight marshal on board. If there is even the slightest bump of turbulence, agonizing terror washes over me as I wait for the pilot to tell us we're going down.
And I say the same prayer, before, during, during, during and during the flight. "God, please have mercy on our plane and keep us in the air" (God is very aware of my irrational state of constant fear and is able to decipher my prayers and sift through the drama, luckily).
Once we land, my anxiety is usually so high that I have convinced myself I just merely escaped death. (I often pause and wonder if my husband or the passenger next to me feel this same way. They are usually sleeping.) I take a moment and thank Jesus for keeping me alive and allowing us to land safely. And usually an additional quick prayer that Matt will not be questioning whether or not he is still in love with the lunatic next to him.
But sometimes I don't remember to pray. Sometimes I start collecting the empty cups, slip my boots back on and smooth down the back of my hair. I turn on my phone and scramble to get my bag ready before it's my turn to exit the plane.
I forget to go back and thank God for answering my prayer in my favor. Honestly, this doesn't happen often when flying is involved, but it does happen quite often when my feet are back on the ground. When God provides a great job I've been praying for, when he heals a sickness that's weakening a loved one or simply when he gets me through a rough day.
I'm reminded of this in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus enters a village and ten men who are suffering from leprosy call out to him and say
"Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
He heals them and they run off excitedly. Only one of the men turn back to him, fall down and worship him with thanksgiving and praise. The others forget to thank God for healing them.
God deserves praise all of the time, even when he doesn't answer my prayers the way I want, but I find it unsettling that even when I get what I ask for, I don't always take the time to turn around and thank him. Unsettling, yet not surprising.
Just a thought.
A braver flyer.
I know the quickest routes to the parking lot in LAX and the bathroom with the shortest line in the Portland airport (right past the gift shops, by the way). I mouth along with the flight attendant as she explains how to get to the emergency exit rows. I have my packing down to a science, enabling myelf to bypass baggage fees. I'm a pro. I don't travel far, but frequently. But no. I am a coward. My heart races while others comfortably recline their seats and flip through magazines as the plane taxis. I scan the passengers, wondering if there's a flight marshal on board. If there is even the slightest bump of turbulence, agonizing terror washes over me as I wait for the pilot to tell us we're going down.
And I say the same prayer, before, during, during, during and during the flight. "God, please have mercy on our plane and keep us in the air" (God is very aware of my irrational state of constant fear and is able to decipher my prayers and sift through the drama, luckily).
Once we land, my anxiety is usually so high that I have convinced myself I just merely escaped death. (I often pause and wonder if my husband or the passenger next to me feel this same way. They are usually sleeping.) I take a moment and thank Jesus for keeping me alive and allowing us to land safely. And usually an additional quick prayer that Matt will not be questioning whether or not he is still in love with the lunatic next to him.
But sometimes I don't remember to pray. Sometimes I start collecting the empty cups, slip my boots back on and smooth down the back of my hair. I turn on my phone and scramble to get my bag ready before it's my turn to exit the plane.
I forget to go back and thank God for answering my prayer in my favor. Honestly, this doesn't happen often when flying is involved, but it does happen quite often when my feet are back on the ground. When God provides a great job I've been praying for, when he heals a sickness that's weakening a loved one or simply when he gets me through a rough day.
I'm reminded of this in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus enters a village and ten men who are suffering from leprosy call out to him and say
"Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
He heals them and they run off excitedly. Only one of the men turn back to him, fall down and worship him with thanksgiving and praise. The others forget to thank God for healing them.
God deserves praise all of the time, even when he doesn't answer my prayers the way I want, but I find it unsettling that even when I get what I ask for, I don't always take the time to turn around and thank him. Unsettling, yet not surprising.
Just a thought.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Hats off to moms.
I've been working as a nanny for around 6 months. It is surely an adventure and may or may not end in me writing an additional blog about the irrational behavior of two year olds.
The more I am around these children, the more I learn about God, sin nature and the mental stability of preschool teachers & single mothers. A specific incident comes to mind.
I was eying the two year old from across the room as I changed the baby's diaper. I waited for her to change her mind about taking the thermometer off the coffee table. She slyly looked over her shoulder as her fingers grasped around it.
"Put that back please."
She runs upstairs. Only a few minutes pass before I am in a familiar, parental pose. Kneeling, eyebrows high, hand flat, sticking out in front of me. "Please hand that to me. Hand that to me. Will you please give me that? One...two...."
And of course, I want nothing to do with that slobbery thing. It has been on the floor multiple times this morning, not to mention the mouth of a barfing baby, it's got something on the corner that I can't identity and is currently in the hands of a child whose hands are always sticky with God knows what. And of course, I could just grab it from her. She rarely outruns me and I'm (usually) stronger than her. When she does get something in her hands that I consider dangerous or threatening, I just grab it from her and skip the obedience lesson. I don't want the thermometer, I want her to want to give it back to me. I want her to listen to me.
We often withhold things from God. Things that are already his, that he created or designed or gave us. He doesn't actually want what we have gripped in our hand, he could just take it from us in an instant. He wants us to listen to him, to trust him and to want to hand it over. And sometimes if it's dangerous or keeping us from him, he just takes it. Or maybe not, I have no idea.
Just a thought.
The more I am around these children, the more I learn about God, sin nature and the mental stability of preschool teachers & single mothers. A specific incident comes to mind.
I was eying the two year old from across the room as I changed the baby's diaper. I waited for her to change her mind about taking the thermometer off the coffee table. She slyly looked over her shoulder as her fingers grasped around it.
"Put that back please."
She runs upstairs. Only a few minutes pass before I am in a familiar, parental pose. Kneeling, eyebrows high, hand flat, sticking out in front of me. "Please hand that to me. Hand that to me. Will you please give me that? One...two...."
And of course, I want nothing to do with that slobbery thing. It has been on the floor multiple times this morning, not to mention the mouth of a barfing baby, it's got something on the corner that I can't identity and is currently in the hands of a child whose hands are always sticky with God knows what. And of course, I could just grab it from her. She rarely outruns me and I'm (usually) stronger than her. When she does get something in her hands that I consider dangerous or threatening, I just grab it from her and skip the obedience lesson. I don't want the thermometer, I want her to want to give it back to me. I want her to listen to me.
We often withhold things from God. Things that are already his, that he created or designed or gave us. He doesn't actually want what we have gripped in our hand, he could just take it from us in an instant. He wants us to listen to him, to trust him and to want to hand it over. And sometimes if it's dangerous or keeping us from him, he just takes it. Or maybe not, I have no idea.
Just a thought.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Thankful for commute.
I've been listening to this series on Ecclesiastes on my way to work every morning. It is making me wish I could do extreme things, but all I've been able to follow through with is simplifying my closet & my social networking.
You can find the series
here
if you're interested.
You can find the series
here
if you're interested.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Nameless men.
I was reading through Luke this morning and skimmed over a familiar story.
Jesus is teaching to a crowd, maybe in someone's house, it seems. A few men who knew that he could heal people and perform miracles had brought their friend there to meet Jesus. The crowd was too large and they couldn't get to him, so they climbed on the roof and lowered their friend into the room with Jesus.
"...as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." Luke 6:17-20
I believe everything in the Bible is true and really happened. So, that's my starting point here. Unfortunately, I am often underwhelmed by these miracles and lack an appropriate reaction since I am so removed from it. I find it astonishing that Jesus can and would do these things, and I am confident that he still performs miracles like this today.
However, my astonishment in this text is aimed at someone else this time.
who are these men?
They loaded up their paralyzed friend on a bed and carried him through town (well, maybe...their starting point is never mentioned). I am not very strong, and physical labor is hard for me, so this part alone greatly impresses me. I imagine it is very hot and sticky, their feet are in archless sandals, covered in dirt and sticky with sweat at this point. They see an overcrowded house and no access to Jesus. Being gentlemen, they don't want to barge through the crowd with their friend. (Or perhaps they weren't being gentlemen and the doorway was simply too small, I don't know.)
So, they lug him up on the roof, in front of what I can only assume is an unsupportive crowd that would also like front row seats to hear Jesus teach, pry off tiles from the roof, scrounge up some long rope and lower the man down to Jesus.
I want to be a friend like that.
I want to think of others,
follow through on my ideas and intentions,
do things that are uncomfortable and hard (in the heat nonetheless!),
& selflessly put my friend's needs in front of my own.
Most importantly,
I want to be the type of friend that will do anything to help someone meet Jesus.
Just a thought.
Jesus is teaching to a crowd, maybe in someone's house, it seems. A few men who knew that he could heal people and perform miracles had brought their friend there to meet Jesus. The crowd was too large and they couldn't get to him, so they climbed on the roof and lowered their friend into the room with Jesus.
"...as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." Luke 6:17-20
I believe everything in the Bible is true and really happened. So, that's my starting point here. Unfortunately, I am often underwhelmed by these miracles and lack an appropriate reaction since I am so removed from it. I find it astonishing that Jesus can and would do these things, and I am confident that he still performs miracles like this today.
However, my astonishment in this text is aimed at someone else this time.
who are these men?
They loaded up their paralyzed friend on a bed and carried him through town (well, maybe...their starting point is never mentioned). I am not very strong, and physical labor is hard for me, so this part alone greatly impresses me. I imagine it is very hot and sticky, their feet are in archless sandals, covered in dirt and sticky with sweat at this point. They see an overcrowded house and no access to Jesus. Being gentlemen, they don't want to barge through the crowd with their friend. (Or perhaps they weren't being gentlemen and the doorway was simply too small, I don't know.)
So, they lug him up on the roof, in front of what I can only assume is an unsupportive crowd that would also like front row seats to hear Jesus teach, pry off tiles from the roof, scrounge up some long rope and lower the man down to Jesus.
I want to be a friend like that.
I want to think of others,
follow through on my ideas and intentions,
do things that are uncomfortable and hard (in the heat nonetheless!),
& selflessly put my friend's needs in front of my own.
Most importantly,
I want to be the type of friend that will do anything to help someone meet Jesus.
Just a thought.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Testing God
I was reading Malachi (one of my favorites the past few months), and I came across some interesting text:
3:6-10
"For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?' Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need."
A few thoughts I had while reading this:
-God does not need our money to do his work (but)
-God completely deserves our money (and)
-He considers it robbery when we don't trust him and give back to him (meanwhile)
-He will greatly bless & reward those who step out in faith and obey him in this.
Jesus was always drifting around telling people to
sell what they have,
give to the poor,
simplify,
and live generously.
And God tells us to test him in that. Give away more money than you are comfortable with, donate things you think you need, give away one of your cars, donate your books to schools instead of selling them.
And tithe. If you are not part of a church right now, tithe other places. Think of something that is a ministry in your life and help support it.
A local missionary you know.
An international one you don't.
The Christian radio station you listen to on your way to work.
Your friends that are struggling to pay bills.
The Christian bookstore that's going out of business down your street.
Stick money in an envelope every paycheck and save up to contribute largely to something, or someone. There is always something to tithe to, always places to give. Test the Lord. We all are under the assumption that money is tight. If you really think that, you will be so blown away by what the Lord will do if you obey him in giving away money you don't have.
I want to live like the widow in 1 Kings 17. She was preparing what she thought was her last meal for her and her son. A prophet arrived at her house, asking to be fed. She used the very last of their flour and oil and baked him a cake. Because she stepped out in faith and gave away what the Lord had provided for her in the first place, he rewarded her.
Why is it so hard to live like this?
Just a thought.
3:6-10
"For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?' Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need."
A few thoughts I had while reading this:
-God does not need our money to do his work (but)
-God completely deserves our money (and)
-He considers it robbery when we don't trust him and give back to him (meanwhile)
-He will greatly bless & reward those who step out in faith and obey him in this.
Jesus was always drifting around telling people to
sell what they have,
give to the poor,
simplify,
and live generously.
And God tells us to test him in that. Give away more money than you are comfortable with, donate things you think you need, give away one of your cars, donate your books to schools instead of selling them.
And tithe. If you are not part of a church right now, tithe other places. Think of something that is a ministry in your life and help support it.
A local missionary you know.
An international one you don't.
The Christian radio station you listen to on your way to work.
Your friends that are struggling to pay bills.
The Christian bookstore that's going out of business down your street.
Stick money in an envelope every paycheck and save up to contribute largely to something, or someone. There is always something to tithe to, always places to give. Test the Lord. We all are under the assumption that money is tight. If you really think that, you will be so blown away by what the Lord will do if you obey him in giving away money you don't have.
I want to live like the widow in 1 Kings 17. She was preparing what she thought was her last meal for her and her son. A prophet arrived at her house, asking to be fed. She used the very last of their flour and oil and baked him a cake. Because she stepped out in faith and gave away what the Lord had provided for her in the first place, he rewarded her.
Why is it so hard to live like this?
Just a thought.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Black & White
I started reading Exodus again this week. I like this book, for the most part. I like reading about Moses, I like reading about God's power and it keeps me in line a little bit. I read chapter one yesterday and something stuck out to me.
The chapter starts with a new king taking over Egypt who was threatened by the people of Israel, the Hebrews. He enslaved them, "and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field" (vs 1:14).
The king then orders the midwives of the Hebrew women to kill any boys that are born and let all the girls live.
"But the midwives feared God
and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them,
but let the male children live." vs 1:17
When the king asked them about it, they answered:
"The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.
So God dealt well with the midwives."
(I'm going to go ahead and try to forget that the verb 'vigorous' can be used in regards to childbirth.)
So I'm wondering: Does God allow lying?
Is it okay if it saves and protects people? When are we allowed to break the rules in the name of God? Maybe it seems pretty obvious that murdering children for a jealous Egyptian king is wrong, but there are situations in this same vein that get complicated. "Obey the laws of the land" says the Lord, but does that mean we shouldn't be smuggling Bibles into countries who don't allow them there? Where does cultural relativism fall into place here?
Paul's letters, specifically the book of Romans, makes it clear that we are to obey the leaders that God puts in our lives. We are repeatedly told to pay taxes and respect authority. Why does God reward the midwives for lying? I don't know, but this is what I think.
God doesn't want us to follow a list of rules, right? That's what I hear. But he gave Moses a list of rules, commandments, for people to obey. But he's far more interested in our heart.
God is not a god of legalism, but a God that desires obedient hearts. He doesn't want us to rattle off Scripture for the sake of following commandments, he wants us to know him. The more we know his heart and his son, Jesus, the easier it is to make the right choice in complicated situations. Jesus told us to go spread the gospel across the world. Does that make smuggling Bibles okay? I don't know.
Wesley Towne used the term "civil disobedience" in a sermon on this topic once. We are to filter all our decisions through God's word and never violate it to obey another leader. That seems straight forward enough, but it can't be done without knowing God.
Just a thought.
The chapter starts with a new king taking over Egypt who was threatened by the people of Israel, the Hebrews. He enslaved them, "and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field" (vs 1:14).
The king then orders the midwives of the Hebrew women to kill any boys that are born and let all the girls live.
"But the midwives feared God
and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them,
but let the male children live." vs 1:17
When the king asked them about it, they answered:
"The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.
So God dealt well with the midwives."
(I'm going to go ahead and try to forget that the verb 'vigorous' can be used in regards to childbirth.)
So I'm wondering: Does God allow lying?
Is it okay if it saves and protects people? When are we allowed to break the rules in the name of God? Maybe it seems pretty obvious that murdering children for a jealous Egyptian king is wrong, but there are situations in this same vein that get complicated. "Obey the laws of the land" says the Lord, but does that mean we shouldn't be smuggling Bibles into countries who don't allow them there? Where does cultural relativism fall into place here?
Paul's letters, specifically the book of Romans, makes it clear that we are to obey the leaders that God puts in our lives. We are repeatedly told to pay taxes and respect authority. Why does God reward the midwives for lying? I don't know, but this is what I think.
God doesn't want us to follow a list of rules, right? That's what I hear. But he gave Moses a list of rules, commandments, for people to obey. But he's far more interested in our heart.
God is not a god of legalism, but a God that desires obedient hearts. He doesn't want us to rattle off Scripture for the sake of following commandments, he wants us to know him. The more we know his heart and his son, Jesus, the easier it is to make the right choice in complicated situations. Jesus told us to go spread the gospel across the world. Does that make smuggling Bibles okay? I don't know.
Wesley Towne used the term "civil disobedience" in a sermon on this topic once. We are to filter all our decisions through God's word and never violate it to obey another leader. That seems straight forward enough, but it can't be done without knowing God.
Just a thought.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Iron & Wine
Like others, if I experience a few hardships in a row, I find myself flipping through the chapters of Job, seeking him as a comrade. I skip ahead to the end of the book, hoping for some sort of promise that God will never allow such heartache induced by Satan again.
{For those unfamiliar with the book of Job, it opens with God talking with Satan. He points out Job's faithfulness to him and Satan sneers at him, claiming that if his life was hard, he probably wouldn't worship God. He then allows Satan to test him any way he wants, as long as he doesn't kill him. All of Job's families, servants and livestock are killed. He loses all possessions, experiences long-term suffering and still praises God.)
My life is very blessed and I shouldn't dare compare it to Job's. Recently, that book has left me with a heavy question that I can't find an answer to.
Does Satan have to receive permission from God
every time he attacks?
I have a few thoughts.
First of all, I'm very curious why God draws Satan's attention to Job in the first place. "Have you seen my servant Job?" he says. Since I believe God is sovereign and far more powerful than evil, I know that Job is in no real danger. However, he did lose everything he had and experience more suffering than any other person mentioned in the Bible.
What does this say about God? A lot. But to me, it's a reminder that
holiness precedes happiness.
Another thought. How often do Satan and God chitchat? Does Satan have to be given permission each time he takes over someone? Every time someone is possessed, every time someone is controlled by him? Part of me thinks that Satan has received power over the earth and over unsaved people to do what he pleases with them. Jesus refers to Earth as 'the other kingdom' as opposed to Heaven, but there is no real Scriptural evidence that I can find.
I know that 'free will' is also part of the answer. Satan isn't exactly forcing our hand every time something terrible happens. People do evil things, make poor choices and cause harm.
However, even if you don't believe in the influence of God, the Holy Spirit or the power of prayer, it's likely that you believe in ghosts, demon-possession or evil spirits. Or at least the producers of Ghosthunters, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Paranormal Activity assume you do. (It's much easier to be convinced of evil power than the supposed power of Jesus, apparently.)
So is God allowing this each time it happens? Maybe. Maybe God and Satan spend more time together than we assume they do. Either way, I want to have the same heart Job does in trial. Moments after Job is told his children have been killed and his possessions have been destroyed, he stands and says:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." vs 1:20
I love and follow a sovereign God that doesn't need to explain himself. For some, that is exactly why they deny him as a good and loving God. But that is one of the things that draws me near to him.
Just a thought.
{For those unfamiliar with the book of Job, it opens with God talking with Satan. He points out Job's faithfulness to him and Satan sneers at him, claiming that if his life was hard, he probably wouldn't worship God. He then allows Satan to test him any way he wants, as long as he doesn't kill him. All of Job's families, servants and livestock are killed. He loses all possessions, experiences long-term suffering and still praises God.)
My life is very blessed and I shouldn't dare compare it to Job's. Recently, that book has left me with a heavy question that I can't find an answer to.
Does Satan have to receive permission from God
every time he attacks?
I have a few thoughts.
First of all, I'm very curious why God draws Satan's attention to Job in the first place. "Have you seen my servant Job?" he says. Since I believe God is sovereign and far more powerful than evil, I know that Job is in no real danger. However, he did lose everything he had and experience more suffering than any other person mentioned in the Bible.
What does this say about God? A lot. But to me, it's a reminder that
holiness precedes happiness.
Another thought. How often do Satan and God chitchat? Does Satan have to be given permission each time he takes over someone? Every time someone is possessed, every time someone is controlled by him? Part of me thinks that Satan has received power over the earth and over unsaved people to do what he pleases with them. Jesus refers to Earth as 'the other kingdom' as opposed to Heaven, but there is no real Scriptural evidence that I can find.
I know that 'free will' is also part of the answer. Satan isn't exactly forcing our hand every time something terrible happens. People do evil things, make poor choices and cause harm.
However, even if you don't believe in the influence of God, the Holy Spirit or the power of prayer, it's likely that you believe in ghosts, demon-possession or evil spirits. Or at least the producers of Ghosthunters, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Paranormal Activity assume you do. (It's much easier to be convinced of evil power than the supposed power of Jesus, apparently.)
So is God allowing this each time it happens? Maybe. Maybe God and Satan spend more time together than we assume they do. Either way, I want to have the same heart Job does in trial. Moments after Job is told his children have been killed and his possessions have been destroyed, he stands and says:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." vs 1:20
I love and follow a sovereign God that doesn't need to explain himself. For some, that is exactly why they deny him as a good and loving God. But that is one of the things that draws me near to him.
Just a thought.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Atheism
Since I'm currently not enrolled in any Bible classes, I've decided to keep myself in mental shape by listening to sermons, following a few pastor's blogs and reading some books. My choices for the next couple weeks are:
"The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason"
written by Victor Stenger
and
"I don't Believe in Atheists" written by Chris Hedges
No one recommended these books to me and I have never read them before, I just picked them off the shelf while aimlessly wandering through what I thought was the non-fiction section of the library. I tossed them in my basket next to a season of Gilmore Girls and vowed to read them simultaneously.
(Now, to be fair, I have only read the introduction of New Atheism, but my eyes are already rolling.) I'm really fascinated by atheists. I don't dislike them, understand them or have a problem with any one in particular, I'm simply curious how/why they live their lives. It's not hard for me to come up with reasons why believing in God is difficult or why someone could easily avoid it their whole lives. I'm just really interested in why they've developed a religion against religion. It seems counter-productive. The idea of a godless existence is understandable; I understand agnostics a lot more.
That being said, after reading the introduction of New Atheism I see I've made a poor choice in my reading material. I'll spare you the gloating first few pages where he repeatedly reminds us how successful his latest work has been and skip ahead to the closing paragraph:
"Most believers have been brainwashed into thinking that religion is necessary for happiness and contentment. This flies in the face of the fact that the happiest, healthiest, most content societies are the least religious. The new atheists are not trying to take away the comfort of faith. We are trying to show that life is much more comfortable without it."
Well, Stenger, your work here is done. I can't think of one Christ-follower in my life that would disagree with that sentence. Life...relationships...middle school...and any other fragment of existence would be easier, "more comfortable" without faith.
Jesus himself warned us repeatedly to count the cost of following him, that this life will be difficult and hard and if we follow and love him, this world will hate us. Only one of his precious, treasured and loved disciples escaped a brutal death. Paul's letters to the church were filled with encouragement to 'take heart' and 'fight the good fight'.
Oh, and here's the final reason I'm returning this book tomorrow to read something from a more educated author:
"One final myth is that religion is growing in the world and secularism is dying. As we will see, the facts tell a different story. There are from one to two billion nonbelievers on this planet, depending on how you count the Chinese. This makes nonbelief either the second or third 'belief system'. And the fastest growing."
No one is disagreeing with that one, either. He is not impressing me with his seemingly-shocking statistics. He is, however, pointing out that Scripture is being fulfilled. More people will walk away from Christ than to Christ, more will curse his name than praise it and very few are the workers of his harvest.
I know that reading a book written by an atheist is going to rub me the wrong way, frustrate me and make my heart ache with the lies that are being believed by readers, but I would at least like to read a book written by an atheist who has actually spoken to a Christian before.
Just a thought.
"The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason"
written by Victor Stenger
and
"I don't Believe in Atheists" written by Chris Hedges
No one recommended these books to me and I have never read them before, I just picked them off the shelf while aimlessly wandering through what I thought was the non-fiction section of the library. I tossed them in my basket next to a season of Gilmore Girls and vowed to read them simultaneously.
(Now, to be fair, I have only read the introduction of New Atheism, but my eyes are already rolling.) I'm really fascinated by atheists. I don't dislike them, understand them or have a problem with any one in particular, I'm simply curious how/why they live their lives. It's not hard for me to come up with reasons why believing in God is difficult or why someone could easily avoid it their whole lives. I'm just really interested in why they've developed a religion against religion. It seems counter-productive. The idea of a godless existence is understandable; I understand agnostics a lot more.
That being said, after reading the introduction of New Atheism I see I've made a poor choice in my reading material. I'll spare you the gloating first few pages where he repeatedly reminds us how successful his latest work has been and skip ahead to the closing paragraph:
"Most believers have been brainwashed into thinking that religion is necessary for happiness and contentment. This flies in the face of the fact that the happiest, healthiest, most content societies are the least religious. The new atheists are not trying to take away the comfort of faith. We are trying to show that life is much more comfortable without it."
Well, Stenger, your work here is done. I can't think of one Christ-follower in my life that would disagree with that sentence. Life...relationships...middle school...and any other fragment of existence would be easier, "more comfortable" without faith.
Jesus himself warned us repeatedly to count the cost of following him, that this life will be difficult and hard and if we follow and love him, this world will hate us. Only one of his precious, treasured and loved disciples escaped a brutal death. Paul's letters to the church were filled with encouragement to 'take heart' and 'fight the good fight'.
Oh, and here's the final reason I'm returning this book tomorrow to read something from a more educated author:
"One final myth is that religion is growing in the world and secularism is dying. As we will see, the facts tell a different story. There are from one to two billion nonbelievers on this planet, depending on how you count the Chinese. This makes nonbelief either the second or third 'belief system'. And the fastest growing."
No one is disagreeing with that one, either. He is not impressing me with his seemingly-shocking statistics. He is, however, pointing out that Scripture is being fulfilled. More people will walk away from Christ than to Christ, more will curse his name than praise it and very few are the workers of his harvest.
I know that reading a book written by an atheist is going to rub me the wrong way, frustrate me and make my heart ache with the lies that are being believed by readers, but I would at least like to read a book written by an atheist who has actually spoken to a Christian before.
Just a thought.
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