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.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Letting yes be yes
Thank you for a rich and full discussion yesterday at the Java. It was awesome to have so many out but what made it rich was what each brought to the discussion - vulnerability, honesty and thoughtfulness. I went home praising God for each of you!
We talked a bit about politics last night and it certainly has been all over the news lately with labor disputes and a government under the microscope with an increasingly volatile economy and social system.
Around periods of time like these (where the government is being questioned), it is almost taken for granted that officials will make promises and the public knows to disregard most of it. We listen for campaign promises not because we're excited to see those things come to fruition because we know that little of it will be. We've learned to listen to 'intent' and 'direction' of the promises. What are the priorities? Do the values held within these promises echo values that I hold?
In the 10 commandments, one of the ones that is most well known is the 3rd one - You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God (use the Lord's name in vain). Frequently, we quote this verse to talk about language and swearing. While I'm sure God isn't happy with us throwing out his name in cursing, that isn't the original intent of that commandment. It had to do with not making promises/covenants/testimony before others and swearing by God's name to tell the truth but doing that without proper thought. When we go to court, we swear on the Bible to tell the truth. That's the intent of this commandment. Don't make promises under God with no intention of keeping it. Don't throw out things like "I swear to God!" too lightly.
Jesus echoes this in the sermon on the mount by saying "let our yes be yes and our no be no. Anything beyond this comes from the evil one." The commandment (and Jesus' teaching) is about taking God lightly and misusing his name. As Christians, people need to know that our word means something because we are ambassadors of Christ. When we speak, we're speaking on behalf of our government. And that MUST mean something more than just good intentions!
We talked a bit about politics last night and it certainly has been all over the news lately with labor disputes and a government under the microscope with an increasingly volatile economy and social system.
Around periods of time like these (where the government is being questioned), it is almost taken for granted that officials will make promises and the public knows to disregard most of it. We listen for campaign promises not because we're excited to see those things come to fruition because we know that little of it will be. We've learned to listen to 'intent' and 'direction' of the promises. What are the priorities? Do the values held within these promises echo values that I hold?
In the 10 commandments, one of the ones that is most well known is the 3rd one - You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God (use the Lord's name in vain). Frequently, we quote this verse to talk about language and swearing. While I'm sure God isn't happy with us throwing out his name in cursing, that isn't the original intent of that commandment. It had to do with not making promises/covenants/testimony before others and swearing by God's name to tell the truth but doing that without proper thought. When we go to court, we swear on the Bible to tell the truth. That's the intent of this commandment. Don't make promises under God with no intention of keeping it. Don't throw out things like "I swear to God!" too lightly.
Jesus echoes this in the sermon on the mount by saying "let our yes be yes and our no be no. Anything beyond this comes from the evil one." The commandment (and Jesus' teaching) is about taking God lightly and misusing his name. As Christians, people need to know that our word means something because we are ambassadors of Christ. When we speak, we're speaking on behalf of our government. And that MUST mean something more than just good intentions!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
hugging trees.
Sorry I didn't blog yesterday. Kevin and I had a trip up island to make and it took a little longer than expected...
Be stewards of the Earth. Or in more modern language, be caretakers. Look after the Earth as God's representatives. Are we doing that?
The Bible is clear that we're to use what's here. In some translations, we're to have 'dominion' over it. Certainly, the fact that we name the animals implies that they are under our care and for our use/benefit.
Like anything else, culturally we've taken some extremes. On one side, we exhaust and plunder the Earth stripping away vast amounts of resources for immediate monetary gain and to suit our own desires. We pollute creation with toxins that come from our excessive lifestyles in the interest of simplicity, economics and in many cases, just plain laziness.
And on the other side, we have the environmentalists that all but worship the earth. Leave everything alone. Don't touch it or use it. Nothing can happen without a protest. The earth has as much right to be here as we do. Humanity is evil and the earth is the only thing truly good and pure.
The Psalmist writes that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Everything belongs to God. So it's God's to choose who gets to use what and for how long. Elsewhere in Scripture, it says that if God wants to make something special to be savored and something else to be exhausted and used up, that's His choice. (my translation) Our job is to figure out which is which - not for our benefit but for God's. God is the provider of our lives AND the earth. We are meant to worship Him - not the earth - and certainly not ourselves and our affluence.
Be stewards of the Earth. Or in more modern language, be caretakers. Look after the Earth as God's representatives. Are we doing that?
The Bible is clear that we're to use what's here. In some translations, we're to have 'dominion' over it. Certainly, the fact that we name the animals implies that they are under our care and for our use/benefit.
Like anything else, culturally we've taken some extremes. On one side, we exhaust and plunder the Earth stripping away vast amounts of resources for immediate monetary gain and to suit our own desires. We pollute creation with toxins that come from our excessive lifestyles in the interest of simplicity, economics and in many cases, just plain laziness.
And on the other side, we have the environmentalists that all but worship the earth. Leave everything alone. Don't touch it or use it. Nothing can happen without a protest. The earth has as much right to be here as we do. Humanity is evil and the earth is the only thing truly good and pure.
The Psalmist writes that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Everything belongs to God. So it's God's to choose who gets to use what and for how long. Elsewhere in Scripture, it says that if God wants to make something special to be savored and something else to be exhausted and used up, that's His choice. (my translation) Our job is to figure out which is which - not for our benefit but for God's. God is the provider of our lives AND the earth. We are meant to worship Him - not the earth - and certainly not ourselves and our affluence.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Security at the border
Lines at the border have been absolutely terrible this summer with numerous reports of 2+ hour waits because of tightened security. While we all remember the days of crossing the border with little more than a drivers licence and answering a trite question (like our favorite restaurant while we were visiting), those days are no longer. Passports are the item of the day now and maybe soon, an enhanced driver's licence that may contain a chip with all our personal information embedded within it.
George Bush, following the attacks on 9/11, said that we must move on and show the terrorists that we will not allow their acts of terror to continue to hold our countries hostage. Looking at the world events unravelling over the past 6 years and I would venture to say that we haven't moved on. Speaking only of North America, it is safe to say that 9/11 has defined much of our society this decade and many continue to live in response to that perceived threat.
Fear is a powerful tool that politicians and insurance salesmen know how to use very well. As human beings, it is easy to become incapacitated by the 'what ifs' in life. It can paralyze us from doing even the most ordinary things because we're afraid that something will happen. When we aren't simply paralyzed, we can react in a couple other ways. Known as the 'fight or flight' response, we can choose to face the fear and fight it or we can run and hide. In life, there is a time for both. Neither one is right all the time. But in response to 9/11, we've been led into fight mode. We're in Afghanistan and Iraq hunting them down. We're putting structure into our society to try to eliminate the unpredictable (like passport and airport regulations).
The truth is that we'll never get there. We'll never take unpredictability out of life. No matter how many regulations and structures we put in place, there will always be room for the the unplanned for. So fear will always be a part of our lives and safety is an illusion that we'll never attain. That's IF we continue to choose to trust in ourselves - our ingenuity, our capacity to think, plan and create.
There's only one way to take out unpredictability. Jesus. Life remains unpredictable for us. But nothing in our world catches God by surprise. While we will never understand it, God knows and at times allows stuff to happen to us and those around us. I'm not sure why. But God knew our pain enough to send Jesus to redeem it and bring life out of death, light out of darkness. While it is our responsibility to take reasonable precautions in life, ultimately our answer doesn't lie in our ingenuity, our trust of the government or anyone else. The only answer is Jesus.
Brian Doerksen wrote the songs Hope of the Nations and You shine in response to 9/11.
Jesus, hope of the nations
Jesus, comfort for all who mourn
You are the source of heaven’s hope on earth
Jesus, light in the darkness
Jesus, truth in each circumstance
You are the source of heaven’s light on earth
In history, You lived and died,
You broke the chains, You rose to life
You are the hope, living in us
You are the Rock, in whom we trust
You are the light
shining for all the world to see
You rose from the dead, conquering fear
Our Prince of Peace, drawing us near
Jesus our hope
Living for all who will receive
Lord we believe!!
George Bush, following the attacks on 9/11, said that we must move on and show the terrorists that we will not allow their acts of terror to continue to hold our countries hostage. Looking at the world events unravelling over the past 6 years and I would venture to say that we haven't moved on. Speaking only of North America, it is safe to say that 9/11 has defined much of our society this decade and many continue to live in response to that perceived threat.
Fear is a powerful tool that politicians and insurance salesmen know how to use very well. As human beings, it is easy to become incapacitated by the 'what ifs' in life. It can paralyze us from doing even the most ordinary things because we're afraid that something will happen. When we aren't simply paralyzed, we can react in a couple other ways. Known as the 'fight or flight' response, we can choose to face the fear and fight it or we can run and hide. In life, there is a time for both. Neither one is right all the time. But in response to 9/11, we've been led into fight mode. We're in Afghanistan and Iraq hunting them down. We're putting structure into our society to try to eliminate the unpredictable (like passport and airport regulations).
The truth is that we'll never get there. We'll never take unpredictability out of life. No matter how many regulations and structures we put in place, there will always be room for the the unplanned for. So fear will always be a part of our lives and safety is an illusion that we'll never attain. That's IF we continue to choose to trust in ourselves - our ingenuity, our capacity to think, plan and create.
There's only one way to take out unpredictability. Jesus. Life remains unpredictable for us. But nothing in our world catches God by surprise. While we will never understand it, God knows and at times allows stuff to happen to us and those around us. I'm not sure why. But God knew our pain enough to send Jesus to redeem it and bring life out of death, light out of darkness. While it is our responsibility to take reasonable precautions in life, ultimately our answer doesn't lie in our ingenuity, our trust of the government or anyone else. The only answer is Jesus.
Brian Doerksen wrote the songs Hope of the Nations and You shine in response to 9/11.
Jesus, hope of the nations
Jesus, comfort for all who mourn
You are the source of heaven’s hope on earth
Jesus, light in the darkness
Jesus, truth in each circumstance
You are the source of heaven’s light on earth
In history, You lived and died,
You broke the chains, You rose to life
You are the hope, living in us
You are the Rock, in whom we trust
You are the light
shining for all the world to see
You rose from the dead, conquering fear
Our Prince of Peace, drawing us near
Jesus our hope
Living for all who will receive
Lord we believe!!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Harry Potter mania
The final Harry Potter book is out at midnight. I have a confession to make. I've read none of them. I started to watch the first movie and fell asleep about 10 minutes in. I know nothing of the characters and outside of the title and the author's name, I know nothing about what makes this series such a cultural phenomenon.
But I have read many articles by Christians about why to boycott this series. "It's witchcraft in disguise." "We're taking the spiritual realm too lightly." "It's from Satan."
Let's get something straight. It's a novel. And while I am the first to agree that we (meaning Christians) don't acknowledge the spiritual realm enough in our everyday lives, not EVERYTHING out there is from the devil. Sometimes, things that are popular out there in society are neutral or good in and of itself. I know the verse that says that anything that is not for God is against Him. But before you quote that, have another look at what it says and who it's written to. The church generally jumps all over anything that is popular in culture. (but that's another blog altogether)
Imaginations are a great thing. CS Lewis understood that and used it well. So did Jesus in his teaching. They are a part of us that unfortunately we lose when we "grow up". But imaginations are precursors to dreaming and dreaming is a precursor to hoping. Let's take God seriously but ourselves lightly. To think that there is a world bigger than ourselves is quintessential Christianity. Why don't most of us understand heaven? Probably because we've forgotten how to imagine a world beyond what we can see and touch.
JK Rowling isn't writing Scripture. It's just fun escapism. But it puts us in touch with a God given part of ourselves that is unique, exciting and made in the image of God - our imaginations.
But I have read many articles by Christians about why to boycott this series. "It's witchcraft in disguise." "We're taking the spiritual realm too lightly." "It's from Satan."
Let's get something straight. It's a novel. And while I am the first to agree that we (meaning Christians) don't acknowledge the spiritual realm enough in our everyday lives, not EVERYTHING out there is from the devil. Sometimes, things that are popular out there in society are neutral or good in and of itself. I know the verse that says that anything that is not for God is against Him. But before you quote that, have another look at what it says and who it's written to. The church generally jumps all over anything that is popular in culture. (but that's another blog altogether)
Imaginations are a great thing. CS Lewis understood that and used it well. So did Jesus in his teaching. They are a part of us that unfortunately we lose when we "grow up". But imaginations are precursors to dreaming and dreaming is a precursor to hoping. Let's take God seriously but ourselves lightly. To think that there is a world bigger than ourselves is quintessential Christianity. Why don't most of us understand heaven? Probably because we've forgotten how to imagine a world beyond what we can see and touch.
JK Rowling isn't writing Scripture. It's just fun escapism. But it puts us in touch with a God given part of ourselves that is unique, exciting and made in the image of God - our imaginations.
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