Seriously, I'm sitting here trying really hard not to eat the rest of the cookies Sara made this weekend. Lemon cookies with white chocolate chips...we got the idea from James & Stacy Hanford. Crazy delicious...
Anyway...
Last night Sara and I were hanging out with some people and this question came up: who/what is God? I think most of us are tempted to immediately respond with what we believe are God's characteristics instead of actually answering the question. It's easy to throw out 'all-knowing', 'omnipresent', 'loving', 'holy' and all that. But if somebody asked who I was, I'm pretty sure none of the answers would have anything to do with my character traits. Instead, it's more likely that it would have more to do with my relationships. Kids would say that I'm Kate's or Justin's dad. Sara's friends would think of me as her husband. Others may think of me as a co-worker or a friend or whatever.
How awesome would it be if we thought of God this way?! Whether we've accepted Jesus' sacrifice or not, God is our Father! And he's not surprised by anything about us (check out Psalm 139:1-16). Tonight, we had to deal with a bit of attitude from one of the kids. Unfortunately, we all expect this from our kids. They, like us, act selfishly. But nothing in this world can change my love for my children.
Nothing in the world and nothing we do or don't do can change God's love for us.
Who is God? He's my Father.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sometimes I Hate The Bible
Ok...maybe I don't hate it as a whole, but I’ve always hated Psalm 137:9. The Psalmist is talking about the nation of Babylon and says “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock.” That's just jacked up...and it doesn’t really fit our polite view of God. We love to think of God as love and mercy and grace and all the stuff that’s good for us. Not so much do we like to consider the God of justice…at least not when that justice requires death and destruction. But then again, we don’t really like to think about any of the qualities of God that don’t fit the convenient slightly-better-than-human picture in our heads. If I really believed in the justice of God that occasionally demanded genocide, then maybe it would help me to take the gift of Christ a little more seriously instead of taking it for granted most of the time. And maybe I should be doing more with that gift.
Side note...the first part of the chapter is sad, but really beautiful at the same time. It just talks about how the people of Israel need to remember Zion...not to grow too comfortable in Babylon or lose hope. There are a couple songs that have been written that are loosely tied to this Psalm. One is "In Babylon" by Aaron Strumpel and another one is "Zion & Babylon" by Josh Garrels. If it worked right, there should be a link to the video of Garrels' song (click on the song title), and the other song is worth checking out (assuming your musical preferences lean more towards the experimental).
Side note...the first part of the chapter is sad, but really beautiful at the same time. It just talks about how the people of Israel need to remember Zion...not to grow too comfortable in Babylon or lose hope. There are a couple songs that have been written that are loosely tied to this Psalm. One is "In Babylon" by Aaron Strumpel and another one is "Zion & Babylon" by Josh Garrels. If it worked right, there should be a link to the video of Garrels' song (click on the song title), and the other song is worth checking out (assuming your musical preferences lean more towards the experimental).
Friday, January 28, 2011
I just can't accept simple
In a recent conversation, it came up that most of us spend a crazy amount of time focused on things that aren't really that important. This probably applies to most things in our life, but it seems most suited to the way we approach our faith (or lack thereof).
And for those of us that claim to follow Christ...it's not that complicated!
It seems like the things we argue about most are those things that can’t ever really be answered without our own version/interpretation of the Bible. It’s the things that are beyond us that tear us apart. Psalms 131:1 says “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.” And then, 133:1 says “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” So why do we spend so much time destroying our unity because of those things that are debatable…those things that are ‘too great and marvelous’ for us to understand for now? It’s ridiculous…and it’s just a waste of time and energy.
And for those of us that claim to follow Christ...it's not that complicated!
It seems like the things we argue about most are those things that can’t ever really be answered without our own version/interpretation of the Bible. It’s the things that are beyond us that tear us apart. Psalms 131:1 says “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.” And then, 133:1 says “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” So why do we spend so much time destroying our unity because of those things that are debatable…those things that are ‘too great and marvelous’ for us to understand for now? It’s ridiculous…and it’s just a waste of time and energy.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
C.S. Lewis Makes My Brain Hurt
He's the Narnia guy...right?
I think that's my first though about C.S. Lewis. I know that he wrote other stuff and was this great thinker of his time, but all that really pops into my head when I think of him is Aslan the lion (and that may not be a horrible thing).
But recently, I've been trying to branch out and read things that I've known about for a long time and just haven't gotten around to reading. Right now, it's Mere Christianity. I'm only a couple chapters in, but he closed out the first main section with this and it kind of rocked me a bit:
"In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth - [just] wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair. Most of us have got over [this kind of] wishful thinking about politics. It is time we did the same about religion."
So yesterday, I made it a point to claim that I seek the truth. I want God to scrape out those incorrect beliefs and set me straight. But what if that's not comfortable? What if it's really painful? Do most of us really look for truth, or are we just looking for the comfort of believing we're right?
I think that's my first though about C.S. Lewis. I know that he wrote other stuff and was this great thinker of his time, but all that really pops into my head when I think of him is Aslan the lion (and that may not be a horrible thing).
But recently, I've been trying to branch out and read things that I've known about for a long time and just haven't gotten around to reading. Right now, it's Mere Christianity. I'm only a couple chapters in, but he closed out the first main section with this and it kind of rocked me a bit:
"In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth - [just] wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair. Most of us have got over [this kind of] wishful thinking about politics. It is time we did the same about religion."
So yesterday, I made it a point to claim that I seek the truth. I want God to scrape out those incorrect beliefs and set me straight. But what if that's not comfortable? What if it's really painful? Do most of us really look for truth, or are we just looking for the comfort of believing we're right?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Faith or Arrogance?
My beliefs today are different than they were 10 years ago. I think that's probably true for most of us.
So why are we SO confident that what we believe right now is right...and that those who disagree with us must be wrong?
Some people would call it faith. And I think that's valid. Webster defines faith as the belief in things for which there is no 'absolute' proof. I added the 'absolute' because I think there is proof for the existence of God...there is proof for the gifts God has given us. But let's be honest...we can't even absolutely prove that God exists...much less that he cares about us enough to sacrifice his son to bring us back into relationship with him. That's why we call it faith...and even that belief is a gift that we don't deserve. But I'm not talking about what we deserve this time...I'm talking about why we have a tendency to maintain that we're absolutely right at any given moment.
So I've been challenged lately. Challenged to consider the fact that God is always shaping my faith. If I'm stagnant, then it probably means that I'm not learning anything...and that would be just sad. But even more so, I'm challenged to actually pray for change in the areas that I've been arrogant and held on to beliefs that may be wrong. And what about the people that surround me? It's not my job to change their beliefs, but why do I act like it's not important for me to pray for them...to be always ready to share God's love for them? Maybe everybody doesn't do that, but I'll be honest...I'm kinda lazy like that.
So here's my prayer for today:
Father, destroy my arrogance. If I'm holding onto beliefs that are off the mark, then change my heart and shape my faith...use my family, my friends, my neighbors and my enemies to drag me closer to truth...to you. And please do the same for those around me. Use me and spend me...or don't...but touch every one of us with your wisdom and love.
So why are we SO confident that what we believe right now is right...and that those who disagree with us must be wrong?
Some people would call it faith. And I think that's valid. Webster defines faith as the belief in things for which there is no 'absolute' proof. I added the 'absolute' because I think there is proof for the existence of God...there is proof for the gifts God has given us. But let's be honest...we can't even absolutely prove that God exists...much less that he cares about us enough to sacrifice his son to bring us back into relationship with him. That's why we call it faith...and even that belief is a gift that we don't deserve. But I'm not talking about what we deserve this time...I'm talking about why we have a tendency to maintain that we're absolutely right at any given moment.
So I've been challenged lately. Challenged to consider the fact that God is always shaping my faith. If I'm stagnant, then it probably means that I'm not learning anything...and that would be just sad. But even more so, I'm challenged to actually pray for change in the areas that I've been arrogant and held on to beliefs that may be wrong. And what about the people that surround me? It's not my job to change their beliefs, but why do I act like it's not important for me to pray for them...to be always ready to share God's love for them? Maybe everybody doesn't do that, but I'll be honest...I'm kinda lazy like that.
So here's my prayer for today:
Father, destroy my arrogance. If I'm holding onto beliefs that are off the mark, then change my heart and shape my faith...use my family, my friends, my neighbors and my enemies to drag me closer to truth...to you. And please do the same for those around me. Use me and spend me...or don't...but touch every one of us with your wisdom and love.
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