End Times Series at my church

God directed me a number of years ago, like maybe ten, to not study on end time issues too much.  Well, recently, He has brought to my attention some interesting things and it culminated when our pastor preached a series on the end of the world as we know it based on the Apotles Creed!  You can listen online here!  If you click on the listen it will take you to a new page.  Then if you want, you can obtain the file by right clicking on the download word and saving it to your computer hard drive.

Dreaming of Defending God

You know you are thinking too much when you dream of defending God from intellectual assaults by both skeptics and wounded believers.  I had a dream last night where I was defending God from both staunch atheists and skeptical believers.  They both read the Bible in the worst light and thought of God more as an evil monster rather than a good master.

I remember in my dream thinking and debating with others how God seems to lose no matter which way one turns.  If God intervenes in our prayers or circumstances, then God is arbitrary and morally inconsistent.  If God does not intervene, God is impotent and like a divine child abuser watching his children suffer.  In other words, no matter what God does or doesn't do, God loses in the end.

G. K. Chesterton is one of my favorite writers and he says something similar about the church.  He says, "The church is accused of restraining sexuality too much at the same is is accused of restraining it too little . . . The church is accused of showing contempt for women's intellect.  But at the same time the great sneer at the church in most countries is that "only women" go there . . . The church is criticized for being too political and too worldly, but also for not being involved enough in politics and being too unworldly.  It is blamed for despising Jews, and also despised for being too Jewish!"

If You Can't Take the Heat, Then Get Out of the Kitchen

When people think of the relationship between science and religion, one more thinks of warfare than friendship.  People seemed forced to choose between science guiding their life or religion.  Can't it be both?  And unless we are careful, one can turn religion into a science and science into a religion.  Neither of these two options are good!  If one listens to atheists who mock Christian fundamentalists and fundamentalists who mock atheists, they both read the Bible democratically and literally!  One calls the an theist a fool which is ironic since the Bible was writen to religious folks.  And atheists who also read the Bible with a crude literalism try to make the Bible look foolish which is ironic because the Bible is God's love letter to humanity, not hate-mail to those who don't believe in God!

So now we find ourselves in a culture war with atheists using science as a weapon against religious ideas and people of faith using the Bible as a club against the irrelgious folks!  And God help those crazy folks caught in the middle who believe in science and religion or evolution and creation.  What we have in today's culture wars are scientists who are telling their colleagues who happen to  be Christians, "get out of the kitchen if you can' take the heat" when it comes to science and Christians telling other Christian scientists, "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen" when it comes to the Christian faith.

But isn't science really concerned about "how" questions and Christian theology with "Why" guestions?  Can't they both be partners in dealing with every day realities of life?  For example, isn't a kettle boiling because burning gas heats the water?  The kettle may also be boiling because somebody wants a hot cup of tea.  Do we really have to choose between these two answers?  Doesn't one have to do with natural causes and actions and the other with intentionality and purpose.  Can't they both be true at the same time like light is both a wave and a particle?

The New Disney Bible

"REACH FOR THE SKY" - Woody, from 'Toy Story'

There seems to be specialized Bible for every occassion, gender, and ethnic group out there.  It can get as specific as "The African-American Charismatic Women's Bible."  So I have a suggestion for all the ways people tend to appraoch the Bible and grab the good stuff and leave what they don't like.  How about "The New Disney Bible?"  We have been disneyfying Bible stories for years.  Give them all happy endings and teach a few good moral lessons along the way.  And please, don't worry about this Bible being accurate in details or calling for sacrifice or asking tough questions.  This Bible is to comfort the comfortable and leave out the hard sayings of Jesus or the high cost of discipleship.  The Bible is actually a dangerous book.  I think I will put it inbetween my Lord of the Rings trilogy that is filled with wonder and powerful images and my Bram Stocker "Dracula" book which can be scary like the Bible.

Okay Disney girls, say "Cheese!"