If you don't know who he is, he's the kid in Saskatchewan that questioned his teacher about what they were teaching about marijuana. He went and did a bunch of research and ended up suspended at the end of the year because they felt he was advocating for it. In the end, he failed a couple exams because he couldn't be there to write it.
I've read some of the research on marijuana and while I'll never agree that it should be okay for the public to have free access to it, I do have to applaud this kid for being willing to think for himself. He didn't just rebel and do nothing about it. He actually went and did his own research.
That should mean something - and that something shouldn't mean zero on his exams.
God gave us all the capacity as humans to think, rationalize and choose. Since we are the only part of God's creation to have that ability to the extent we do, it could be argued that this is the part of us that is God's image in us. We don't have to just react in a reflex action but we can actually stop, take in facts and choose what we WANT to do based on the information. Although that can be harmful, I'm glad we have that option. Our actions then become our own and we can't blame the circumstances that caused it. We all have a choice how we respond and what we do.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Covenants part 2.
Maybe it's cause I'm a pastor but I like reading about wedding/birth/death announcements. I like to know who's coming and who's going. Those seem to be the only times in our lives when everyone looks their best.
I'll never forget the time that I was in a grocery store and talking to a girl behind the counter about the huge sparkling ring (that she was clearly taking a while getting used to) adorning her finger. When I asked her about her fiancee, she said, "we've been living together for 5 years and I was going to break up with him the same night he asked me to marry him." Weird? Yeah that's what I thought. Basically, she said she wasn't getting anything out of the relationship and that the ring was a sign that he was going to change and things were going to get better. Grocery stores are not the place to do counseling. I left with a good luck. (hope I didn't sound too sarcastic.)
I wonder what their ceremony was like. I wonder if their vows were about what they were expecting to get rather than receive. Instead of the "I promise to's", I wonder if they said, "I expect to have...". Everyone seems to feel so entitled these days. The world and everyone in it owes them. So when life doesn't pan out, they're goners and God is to blame. Here's an irony. People don't believe in God. But they have no trouble blaming Him when stuff doesn't go their way.
I'll never forget the time that I was in a grocery store and talking to a girl behind the counter about the huge sparkling ring (that she was clearly taking a while getting used to) adorning her finger. When I asked her about her fiancee, she said, "we've been living together for 5 years and I was going to break up with him the same night he asked me to marry him." Weird? Yeah that's what I thought. Basically, she said she wasn't getting anything out of the relationship and that the ring was a sign that he was going to change and things were going to get better. Grocery stores are not the place to do counseling. I left with a good luck. (hope I didn't sound too sarcastic.)
I wonder what their ceremony was like. I wonder if their vows were about what they were expecting to get rather than receive. Instead of the "I promise to's", I wonder if they said, "I expect to have...". Everyone seems to feel so entitled these days. The world and everyone in it owes them. So when life doesn't pan out, they're goners and God is to blame. Here's an irony. People don't believe in God. But they have no trouble blaming Him when stuff doesn't go their way.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Making deals with God
Being in a union labor province, we're always reading about labor disputes in the paper. Very seldom do they go smoothly and it's often arduous, long and nasty with both sides leaving unhappy. But that's what it takes to get a good contract in our province right?
The Bible doesn't use the word contract ever. But it does use covenant language. And understanding covenants is crucial because it is miles apart from what our BC understanding of contracts are.
If we think of covenant as the same as contract, then we need to stand up for ourselves and protect our own interests - trying to get the most for the least from the other person - knowing that they are doing the same thing. The contract protects me from being taken advantage of and if the other party breaks their end of the deal, then the whole thing is off and I am free to do whatever I choose. Apply that kind of thinking to our walk with God and you'll see how we can get ourselves in trouble.
Thankfully, God deals in covenants. The covenant doesn't protect the individuals. It protects the relationship. A contract defines a relationship where there wasn't one already. A covenant exists to deepen and cement a relationship that already exists. Contracts are about ME. Covenants are about US.
We keep covenant with God to maintain our relationship not to cause it and not to hold it over His head when we don't get our way. Thankfully, God doesn't hold it over ours when we mess up.
The Bible doesn't use the word contract ever. But it does use covenant language. And understanding covenants is crucial because it is miles apart from what our BC understanding of contracts are.
If we think of covenant as the same as contract, then we need to stand up for ourselves and protect our own interests - trying to get the most for the least from the other person - knowing that they are doing the same thing. The contract protects me from being taken advantage of and if the other party breaks their end of the deal, then the whole thing is off and I am free to do whatever I choose. Apply that kind of thinking to our walk with God and you'll see how we can get ourselves in trouble.
Thankfully, God deals in covenants. The covenant doesn't protect the individuals. It protects the relationship. A contract defines a relationship where there wasn't one already. A covenant exists to deepen and cement a relationship that already exists. Contracts are about ME. Covenants are about US.
We keep covenant with God to maintain our relationship not to cause it and not to hold it over His head when we don't get our way. Thankfully, God doesn't hold it over ours when we mess up.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
So when's the coffee house? And other stuff....
So when's coffee house gonna happen? Thursday nights at Java World. We'll start July 5th from 8pm-9pm. It'll be lowkey and just a chance to chew the fat around some of this stuff. I'll be preaching on one of these themes on Sunday. It might not resemble the blog but the idea will come from something we write/talk about and I'll do my best to see what God thinks about it in the Bible.
"Everyone said how lucky I was" is the title of the article about a girl that fell 25 feet onto a creek bed and survived with minimal injuries.
My son tells me a lot that he doesn't believe in luck. But I actually do. When we play tetris and no long straight pieces come when we need it, that's bad luck. The computer has an algorithm that randomizes the pieces that will fall. I don't think God moves the dice around so I always end up going to jail while others land on free parking. That's bad luck.
But when this girl fell and survived, that's providence. And a miracle. They are around us all the time. We slide on black ice through an intersection and there's no accident. Our car breaks down and someone stops with just the right tools and skills to fix it. We run out of money and mysteriously a cheque comes in the mail or we find some under the couch. Not luck. Providence.
And there's more. With all the talk about why God allows bad things to happen to good people, have you ever wondered why MORE bad things don't happen MORE OFTEN? I was sitting with some acquaintances the other night and each one of them was sharing horror stories about when they drove drunk. Do a search on the internet and you'll see there's all kinds of crazy, weird people in the world. You don't need to look to Al-Quida for that. They're everywhere! With all the pesticides, chemicals and junk we're putting into our food and our bodies, it's a miracle that the average lifespan is as high as it is. Those things aren't coincidences. They are providence. I have no idea why some people seem to get the short end of life's stick. But don't complain about not getting grace because we all get it. Can you imagine the world without it?
"Everyone said how lucky I was" is the title of the article about a girl that fell 25 feet onto a creek bed and survived with minimal injuries.
My son tells me a lot that he doesn't believe in luck. But I actually do. When we play tetris and no long straight pieces come when we need it, that's bad luck. The computer has an algorithm that randomizes the pieces that will fall. I don't think God moves the dice around so I always end up going to jail while others land on free parking. That's bad luck.
But when this girl fell and survived, that's providence. And a miracle. They are around us all the time. We slide on black ice through an intersection and there's no accident. Our car breaks down and someone stops with just the right tools and skills to fix it. We run out of money and mysteriously a cheque comes in the mail or we find some under the couch. Not luck. Providence.
And there's more. With all the talk about why God allows bad things to happen to good people, have you ever wondered why MORE bad things don't happen MORE OFTEN? I was sitting with some acquaintances the other night and each one of them was sharing horror stories about when they drove drunk. Do a search on the internet and you'll see there's all kinds of crazy, weird people in the world. You don't need to look to Al-Quida for that. They're everywhere! With all the pesticides, chemicals and junk we're putting into our food and our bodies, it's a miracle that the average lifespan is as high as it is. Those things aren't coincidences. They are providence. I have no idea why some people seem to get the short end of life's stick. But don't complain about not getting grace because we all get it. Can you imagine the world without it?
Monday, June 25, 2007
THE issue
The Anglican Church had its big vote yesterday about THE issue. The one that has become the forerunner in the Christian church debate this century so far. The blessing of same sex unions. Most of us have talked about it in one late night conversation or corner of a room at some point. We've read strong feelings about it from both sides. But strangely, or maybe not, most preachers avoid it like the plague from the pulpit.
As an evangelical church, we've done a somewhat decent job looking at the Biblical text. Evangelicals quote Leviticus 18 & 20, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and Romans 1 as clear teaching against homosexuality. They say that the Bible clearly teaches its wrong and therefore, God doesn't create gay people. It's a sin and an action and so gay people need to stay celibate and pray for healing. And the research is being released now about just how dangerous some of that teaching is in the emotional psyche of someone that is gay.
Most mainline denominations take a different slant. They look at the humanity - the people behind the issue. A good majority of the research about homosexuality suggests that people aren't "choosing" to be gay. They just are. There are gay people that have good relationships with their parents. They had a "normal" childhood and upbringing. But for whatever reason, they are attracted to the same sex. Mainliners say that the Bible doesn't say much about homosexuality (as compared to the love of money or hospitality etc.) and that what it does say, is contextual to the day - just as the teaching about women or the food laws or slavery. We probably all know someone that is gay. And if we don't, we're probably one of those people that they hide it from. But because they are nice people and because they maybe are born that way, doesn't mean we can dismiss the clear teaching there is IN Scripture. We don't read the Bible picking and choosing what we like and don't. Either it's the Word of God or it isn't!
So what do we do? I don't know. And that's why I don't preach about it. But here's what I do. I try my best to love everyone as much as I possibly can. If there is a gay person being picked on, I sure hope I'll be the first one to stand at their side. I'd love more than anything for our church to be known as the insititution that stands up against the discrimination and hatred in the world. (But I think sometimes the world knows us more for what we OPPOSE than for what we STAND FOR!) I don't know what God asks of gay people but I do know what God asks of me.
Here's my guess. If we as a larger Christian church had done this rather than saying things like "AIDS is God's punishment on gays." and being the perpetrators and instigators to some of the prejudices, they might be a lot more open to hearing what our Bibles had to say on the subject.
As a pastor and as a Christian, I need to do more though. Not in how I act or think. But in how I pray. The Bible may not say much about homosexuality but what it does say is pretty clear. Those that interpret it differently do some pretty interesting linguistical gymnastics with the text. If I'm not going to scrutinize the texts I like - the ones that are easy and make me feel good - the same way, then it seems the theology is clear. And if that's unsettling for me as a Christian, then that's something I take to God and wrestle it out in prayer.
There's one thing I'm sure of. If Jesus was on earth today, he'd be a lot closer to the gay pride parade than most of us evangelicals are.
As an evangelical church, we've done a somewhat decent job looking at the Biblical text. Evangelicals quote Leviticus 18 & 20, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and Romans 1 as clear teaching against homosexuality. They say that the Bible clearly teaches its wrong and therefore, God doesn't create gay people. It's a sin and an action and so gay people need to stay celibate and pray for healing. And the research is being released now about just how dangerous some of that teaching is in the emotional psyche of someone that is gay.
Most mainline denominations take a different slant. They look at the humanity - the people behind the issue. A good majority of the research about homosexuality suggests that people aren't "choosing" to be gay. They just are. There are gay people that have good relationships with their parents. They had a "normal" childhood and upbringing. But for whatever reason, they are attracted to the same sex. Mainliners say that the Bible doesn't say much about homosexuality (as compared to the love of money or hospitality etc.) and that what it does say, is contextual to the day - just as the teaching about women or the food laws or slavery. We probably all know someone that is gay. And if we don't, we're probably one of those people that they hide it from. But because they are nice people and because they maybe are born that way, doesn't mean we can dismiss the clear teaching there is IN Scripture. We don't read the Bible picking and choosing what we like and don't. Either it's the Word of God or it isn't!
So what do we do? I don't know. And that's why I don't preach about it. But here's what I do. I try my best to love everyone as much as I possibly can. If there is a gay person being picked on, I sure hope I'll be the first one to stand at their side. I'd love more than anything for our church to be known as the insititution that stands up against the discrimination and hatred in the world. (But I think sometimes the world knows us more for what we OPPOSE than for what we STAND FOR!) I don't know what God asks of gay people but I do know what God asks of me.
Here's my guess. If we as a larger Christian church had done this rather than saying things like "AIDS is God's punishment on gays." and being the perpetrators and instigators to some of the prejudices, they might be a lot more open to hearing what our Bibles had to say on the subject.
As a pastor and as a Christian, I need to do more though. Not in how I act or think. But in how I pray. The Bible may not say much about homosexuality but what it does say is pretty clear. Those that interpret it differently do some pretty interesting linguistical gymnastics with the text. If I'm not going to scrutinize the texts I like - the ones that are easy and make me feel good - the same way, then it seems the theology is clear. And if that's unsettling for me as a Christian, then that's something I take to God and wrestle it out in prayer.
There's one thing I'm sure of. If Jesus was on earth today, he'd be a lot closer to the gay pride parade than most of us evangelicals are.
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