Thank you to all that came out to Java last night. Sorry if it was different than expected. I wasn't sure what to expect myself. We'll be back to the usual next week!
I'm taking a break for the long weekend so I'm not expecting to blog again until Tuesday. Enjoy the weekend! See you next week.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
It's all the same. Part 1.
I'm going to change speeds here for a second and blog about something other than the newspaper because it's something that I think we all grapple with and it has been a part of my reality this week during a visit with someone that was dying.
What do we do with the whole idea of other faiths? We know what the Pope thinks! But with the growing number of people that are believing in 'every religeon is the same' and/or the 'there's no such thing as hell only heaven', how are we as Christians to respond? Some of the people saying these things know a lot more than we do, so do we just accept it and move on?
I was talking to someone a while back about these ideas and basically their assertion was that God judges us only on what we know. We don't have to actually accept Jesus. We just have to NOT DENY Him. If all we know is Islam, then God judges us according to how we live up to what we know of Him through that religeon. And if we know nothing, then we go to heaven because we've never had the opportunity to accept (or deny) him.
So if that is the case, then why do evangelism? Why share our faith? If that was the case, It's the greatest disservice we could do to actually make people accountable by giving them opportunity to choose. We'd be better off not saying anything because then God couldn't judge them for what they didn't know.
I'm not saying that this topic is as cut and dry and simple as some people make it out to be. Ultimately, only God is the judge. But it's also not as vague as most of us wish it was.
What do we do with the whole idea of other faiths? We know what the Pope thinks! But with the growing number of people that are believing in 'every religeon is the same' and/or the 'there's no such thing as hell only heaven', how are we as Christians to respond? Some of the people saying these things know a lot more than we do, so do we just accept it and move on?
I was talking to someone a while back about these ideas and basically their assertion was that God judges us only on what we know. We don't have to actually accept Jesus. We just have to NOT DENY Him. If all we know is Islam, then God judges us according to how we live up to what we know of Him through that religeon. And if we know nothing, then we go to heaven because we've never had the opportunity to accept (or deny) him.
So if that is the case, then why do evangelism? Why share our faith? If that was the case, It's the greatest disservice we could do to actually make people accountable by giving them opportunity to choose. We'd be better off not saying anything because then God couldn't judge them for what they didn't know.
I'm not saying that this topic is as cut and dry and simple as some people make it out to be. Ultimately, only God is the judge. But it's also not as vague as most of us wish it was.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
We're a bunch of softies.
The news has been talking a lot lately about how soft we are as a country - lax security everywhere, criminals getting off easy, people stealing their way into our country etc.
One politicians reply was that Canadians are not Americans. We don't live with an underlying sense of fear and self-protection. Underneath our skin is trust and grace. (my paraphrase from what I remember)
Grace should never be misunderstood with being a pushover. Being gracious and trusting doesn't mean that we allow ourselves to be taken advantage of. There are always going to be criminals that will look for ways to manipulate the system to their gain and our response as individuals and as a society needs to be one of justice and stern discipline.
Grace is defined as 'unmerited favor'. Meaning getting something we don't deserve. The only way that that works is if there is an enforcable standard in place to show what you DO deserve. For example, if someone steals something and we just turn a blind eye to it, that's not grace. If we know that everyone that steals goes to jail but to one person, the judge extends mercy and says that they don't need to go, that is grace.
The reason we know God is gracious is because His law and His standard are clear and strict. Without it, we'd never know that God was gracious. God would be a pushover! So Romans 6!
So Canada, stop being so nice. Tighten up your laws. It's only then we can be gracious.
One politicians reply was that Canadians are not Americans. We don't live with an underlying sense of fear and self-protection. Underneath our skin is trust and grace. (my paraphrase from what I remember)
Grace should never be misunderstood with being a pushover. Being gracious and trusting doesn't mean that we allow ourselves to be taken advantage of. There are always going to be criminals that will look for ways to manipulate the system to their gain and our response as individuals and as a society needs to be one of justice and stern discipline.
Grace is defined as 'unmerited favor'. Meaning getting something we don't deserve. The only way that that works is if there is an enforcable standard in place to show what you DO deserve. For example, if someone steals something and we just turn a blind eye to it, that's not grace. If we know that everyone that steals goes to jail but to one person, the judge extends mercy and says that they don't need to go, that is grace.
The reason we know God is gracious is because His law and His standard are clear and strict. Without it, we'd never know that God was gracious. God would be a pushover! So Romans 6!
So Canada, stop being so nice. Tighten up your laws. It's only then we can be gracious.
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