Top 10 Things I could do on Sundays instead of church
10. Watch NFL football with friends and family - Fellowship is important
9. Sleep in - No working on the Sabbath
8. Clean up the house - Cleanliness is next to holiness
7. Exercise - My body is God's temple
6. Prepare my lesson plans for the week - My students deserve my best
5. Take a walk in the woods - Take time to enjoy God's beauty
4. Treat a friend to breakfast - It's important and okay to show love to people who aren't Christians
3. Visit a nursing home - Don't forget about the widows and elderly (the least of these)
2. Work on my Master's Project - School is important
1. Spend time with family - Sundays are days to go golfing or fishing with loved ones. I love my family.
But I choose, instead of doing these things, to go to church.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
37: Nietzsche's Letter
I have been preparing myself for a look into Nietzsche, the great philosopher, for a while now. Upon learning of his background, I find that we have similar experiences. He, too, dropped out of seminary and turned to a life of intellectual thought. His most famous quote, "God is dead," may upset a lot of people, but I find it rather interesting. He was, after all, the son of a pastor, and to say such a thing must have had, in my mind, good validations and reasoning. But I will get to that later. Instead, I want to journey through some of his most influential works, one step at a time, to test my own faith and to open my understanding on philosophy.
In Nietzsche's letter to his sister, he says, "If we believed from childhood that all salvation issued from someone other than Jesus, is it not certain that we should have experienced the same blessings?" He goes on to say that if you want peace and pleasure of the soul, all you have to do is believe. If you want the truth, you will have to search yourself.
With his first statement, that we would receive the same blessings if we believed in a different faith, I have to believe it is true. Not because he's Nietzsche, but because it makes sense. All people from different religious, even non-religious, backgrounds receive blessings. To say that my blessings would increase because I turned to a different faith is ignorant. If this were the case, that you would receive, let's say, 100 blessings a year if you were a Christian, I would think people would catch on and want to be Christians instead of Hindus, who, let's say, only get 45 blessings a year. If we got a certain amount, or certain types of blessings, just based on our faith, I would have found the best one by now. Trust me. I'd be cashing in. And you might too.
This also makes me think, then, that if it doesn't matter what faith we have, and that blessings either happen or don't, what about heaven for all? This has been an idea I've had for a long time. What if God loved everyone so much that we all got in? I know that that goes against the Bible. It plainly states that we must accept Christ as our Savior and believe that He died on a cross for our sins. But what if? What if God, through His infinite love, decided that everyone gets in, no matter what you did on Earth, because He loves us just that much?
This idea gets a lot of Christians mad. It's understandable. "I'm busting my butt, sacrificing my life so that I can get into heaven. No way is THAT guy, the non-Christian, going to get in." But to me, this shows that Christians are only concerned with the reward, heaven, and not the relationship part. Paul says that our relationship with God is a marathon, and that we shouldn't be racing each other. Instead, we should be encouraging each other.
Well, Nietzche makes a great point, overall. I don't believe that if I were a Buddhist, or even a Mormon, that my life's blessings would be all that different. To take it a step further, I don't believe that if I were deemed a Baptist or Calvinist, that my life would be without its blessings. I suppose that faith and blessings work independently from faith. That we don't need faith to get blessings in life. I guess this is why bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Life doesn't care where you go on Saturdays or Sundays to pray, or even if you go.
In Nietzsche's letter to his sister, he says, "If we believed from childhood that all salvation issued from someone other than Jesus, is it not certain that we should have experienced the same blessings?" He goes on to say that if you want peace and pleasure of the soul, all you have to do is believe. If you want the truth, you will have to search yourself.
With his first statement, that we would receive the same blessings if we believed in a different faith, I have to believe it is true. Not because he's Nietzsche, but because it makes sense. All people from different religious, even non-religious, backgrounds receive blessings. To say that my blessings would increase because I turned to a different faith is ignorant. If this were the case, that you would receive, let's say, 100 blessings a year if you were a Christian, I would think people would catch on and want to be Christians instead of Hindus, who, let's say, only get 45 blessings a year. If we got a certain amount, or certain types of blessings, just based on our faith, I would have found the best one by now. Trust me. I'd be cashing in. And you might too.
This also makes me think, then, that if it doesn't matter what faith we have, and that blessings either happen or don't, what about heaven for all? This has been an idea I've had for a long time. What if God loved everyone so much that we all got in? I know that that goes against the Bible. It plainly states that we must accept Christ as our Savior and believe that He died on a cross for our sins. But what if? What if God, through His infinite love, decided that everyone gets in, no matter what you did on Earth, because He loves us just that much?
This idea gets a lot of Christians mad. It's understandable. "I'm busting my butt, sacrificing my life so that I can get into heaven. No way is THAT guy, the non-Christian, going to get in." But to me, this shows that Christians are only concerned with the reward, heaven, and not the relationship part. Paul says that our relationship with God is a marathon, and that we shouldn't be racing each other. Instead, we should be encouraging each other.
Well, Nietzche makes a great point, overall. I don't believe that if I were a Buddhist, or even a Mormon, that my life's blessings would be all that different. To take it a step further, I don't believe that if I were deemed a Baptist or Calvinist, that my life would be without its blessings. I suppose that faith and blessings work independently from faith. That we don't need faith to get blessings in life. I guess this is why bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Life doesn't care where you go on Saturdays or Sundays to pray, or even if you go.
Monday, September 28, 2009
36: God, speak up!
How do you know when God is giving you a sign? I have absolutely no idea. In fact, if I did know, I'd be set. I'd look and listen for signs from Him constantly, which is something I should already be doing now, but I'm scared I might be making something out of nothing. Despite what some may say, I believe that God does not control all. Sometimes things in life happen because they happen. If I drop a pencil, it just happens. God did not drop the pencil. I did. Just because someone dies in a car crash doesn't mean that God did it. Things happen. People die. The end.
My main problem is figuring out if God is giving me the sign or if it's just coincidence. I have already accepted that God will never speak to me through a burning bush, donkey, or dream. He will speak to me in a subtle way that I hope challenges me to truly believe in Him.
Discerning God's signs scares me because I, as a selfish person, can construe anything into anything. For example, if I want to steal something I might ask God, "God, if you don't want to steal this game, please speak up and say no." I even would say please. Of course, God says nothing. I hear no booming voice and so I could, technically, assume that God wants me to steal the game, right? This is where the problem lies. Now apply this to more important issues in life and I hope you can see how problematic this can be. "God, should I stay in my current relationship? I need a sign. If you say no, I'll leave. But if you stay quiet, I will assume that means yes." So instead of talking to the almighty God, we manipulate and tell ourselves what we want to hear. Lame.
I wish God would speak up. It seems like He only speaks to pastors and prominent church leaders. What about the regular people? There are more of us than pastors and holy men. Some might say that the problem isn't God speaking, but our ability to listen. That we just aren't listening to Him. Well, I think that as God, He should be the bigger person and speak up.
GOD, I CAN'T HEAR YOU. SPEAK UP. TALK LOUDER. SHOW ME SOMETHING. ENOUGH OF THE ALLUSIONS TO WHAT YOU WANT. JUST TELL ME.
My main problem is figuring out if God is giving me the sign or if it's just coincidence. I have already accepted that God will never speak to me through a burning bush, donkey, or dream. He will speak to me in a subtle way that I hope challenges me to truly believe in Him.
Discerning God's signs scares me because I, as a selfish person, can construe anything into anything. For example, if I want to steal something I might ask God, "God, if you don't want to steal this game, please speak up and say no." I even would say please. Of course, God says nothing. I hear no booming voice and so I could, technically, assume that God wants me to steal the game, right? This is where the problem lies. Now apply this to more important issues in life and I hope you can see how problematic this can be. "God, should I stay in my current relationship? I need a sign. If you say no, I'll leave. But if you stay quiet, I will assume that means yes." So instead of talking to the almighty God, we manipulate and tell ourselves what we want to hear. Lame.
I wish God would speak up. It seems like He only speaks to pastors and prominent church leaders. What about the regular people? There are more of us than pastors and holy men. Some might say that the problem isn't God speaking, but our ability to listen. That we just aren't listening to Him. Well, I think that as God, He should be the bigger person and speak up.
GOD, I CAN'T HEAR YOU. SPEAK UP. TALK LOUDER. SHOW ME SOMETHING. ENOUGH OF THE ALLUSIONS TO WHAT YOU WANT. JUST TELL ME.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
35: Divorce in the church
One of my favorite topics to discuss is divorce. Not that I have been through this terrible experience, or wish this on anyone, but I do love the irony of it. People get married and declare their love for one another by spending a lot of money on just one day of their lives. Within 5-10 years, the marriage that was once so exciting becomes dull and burdensome, leading to a lot of paperwork, expensive lawyers, and hurt for the children.
I was given an article by a friend and enjoyed reading it. I later checked to see how my fellow Christians are doing in the world of marriage and the numbers surprised me a bit. While Christians aren't up at the 50% number, the number of divorced individuals in the church is around 30%, give or take. I love the fact that the atheists and agnostics have the lowest number in comparison with all Christian religions. This number can be somewhat misleading, but it still makes you wonder and think what we, as believers, are doing wrong, and what they, the 'heathens,' are doing right.
Author Donald Hughes states that 90% of divorces among born-again couples occur after they have been "saved." This proves that just because two Christians get married, it doesn't mean that divorce is out of the question.
I guess these statistics make me feel good, at least for the moment. They show me that I'm not missing out on that much. Once you look beyond the sex, I'm thinking marriage is work, hard work. There are great marriages out there, for sure. I'm always happy when I meet an elderly couple who has made it. But the reminder of divorce slaps me in the back of the head every time I question whether or not I need to get paired off now.
Why rush if it's going to end in 5 years behind a trail of tears, heartache, and lost time? I like taking care of me, myself, and I. If the right girl came, I'd welcome her. I'd think, That's great. But marriage, for me, will be a life time sentence. No take backs or do overs.
I was given an article by a friend and enjoyed reading it. I later checked to see how my fellow Christians are doing in the world of marriage and the numbers surprised me a bit. While Christians aren't up at the 50% number, the number of divorced individuals in the church is around 30%, give or take. I love the fact that the atheists and agnostics have the lowest number in comparison with all Christian religions. This number can be somewhat misleading, but it still makes you wonder and think what we, as believers, are doing wrong, and what they, the 'heathens,' are doing right.
Author Donald Hughes states that 90% of divorces among born-again couples occur after they have been "saved." This proves that just because two Christians get married, it doesn't mean that divorce is out of the question.
I guess these statistics make me feel good, at least for the moment. They show me that I'm not missing out on that much. Once you look beyond the sex, I'm thinking marriage is work, hard work. There are great marriages out there, for sure. I'm always happy when I meet an elderly couple who has made it. But the reminder of divorce slaps me in the back of the head every time I question whether or not I need to get paired off now.
Why rush if it's going to end in 5 years behind a trail of tears, heartache, and lost time? I like taking care of me, myself, and I. If the right girl came, I'd welcome her. I'd think, That's great. But marriage, for me, will be a life time sentence. No take backs or do overs.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
34: I give God money and He blesses me, right?
Tithing came up at church this weekend, as most Sundays. It is a subject that I often wonder about. The Bible distinctly says in Malachi that we can challenge God on this. We can't test Him on anything else, but the giving of money is fair game. Wow, I wonder which high church official thought of this one. It seems like a great way to get money from people.
First off, why can't I test God on other things? To me, that's a little picky. I would love to say, "God, I'll stop sinning in this area of my life, if you give me (fill in the blank)." Yet, I can't because that would be testing God and He doesn't like to be tested. This makes me wonder if man created this rule instead of God because it is inconsistent with His character. We either can or can't test God on all things. There are no exceptions. Exceptions and excuses are man-made.
Secondly, the verse says that if you tithe, God will give you more blessings than you know what to do with. "Test me on this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour our so much blessings that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:10. In other words, if we challenge God and tithe our money away, He will bless us with more stuff than we know what to do with. Is this true? It's starting to sound like we can buy blessings from God if we give Him money. I believe the Catholics tried this once. They called it indulgences.
I've heard people (pastors), earthly people, guarantee that if I give money to God, I will be blessed. The only way to see if this is true, to truly test God, is to count one's blessings when not tithing compared to the blessings one receives when tithing.
Also, no where does it talk about or consider the heart of the giver. I can give a million dollars to the church, but if my heart is bad, my money becomes nothing to God. It will mean a lot to man, but nothing to God. The heart's condition, therefore, is critical in tithing. If I were to give with a hateful heart, surely God would not bless me, right?
Can God bless someone with a hateful heart?
I've personally tried this challenge with tithing and was disappointed that I wasn't blessed after giving. I gave ten percent of my income for a few months, and was promised that after those months, I would be blessed. While I was blessed in life during that time (meaning I didn't die), I never got what I truly wanted. Thus, I concluded that tithing doesn't work. I've heard stories that people give money when they really can't afford to and somehow God blesses them. In my case, I challenged God, called His bluff, and found myself a little poorer.
Maybe you've tried tithing and have been blessed. Good for you. But while God blesses you, He ignores thousands of others who give each week, all expecting their lives to change.
First off, why can't I test God on other things? To me, that's a little picky. I would love to say, "God, I'll stop sinning in this area of my life, if you give me (fill in the blank)." Yet, I can't because that would be testing God and He doesn't like to be tested. This makes me wonder if man created this rule instead of God because it is inconsistent with His character. We either can or can't test God on all things. There are no exceptions. Exceptions and excuses are man-made.
Secondly, the verse says that if you tithe, God will give you more blessings than you know what to do with. "Test me on this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour our so much blessings that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:10. In other words, if we challenge God and tithe our money away, He will bless us with more stuff than we know what to do with. Is this true? It's starting to sound like we can buy blessings from God if we give Him money. I believe the Catholics tried this once. They called it indulgences.
I've heard people (pastors), earthly people, guarantee that if I give money to God, I will be blessed. The only way to see if this is true, to truly test God, is to count one's blessings when not tithing compared to the blessings one receives when tithing.
Also, no where does it talk about or consider the heart of the giver. I can give a million dollars to the church, but if my heart is bad, my money becomes nothing to God. It will mean a lot to man, but nothing to God. The heart's condition, therefore, is critical in tithing. If I were to give with a hateful heart, surely God would not bless me, right?
Can God bless someone with a hateful heart?
I've personally tried this challenge with tithing and was disappointed that I wasn't blessed after giving. I gave ten percent of my income for a few months, and was promised that after those months, I would be blessed. While I was blessed in life during that time (meaning I didn't die), I never got what I truly wanted. Thus, I concluded that tithing doesn't work. I've heard stories that people give money when they really can't afford to and somehow God blesses them. In my case, I challenged God, called His bluff, and found myself a little poorer.
Maybe you've tried tithing and have been blessed. Good for you. But while God blesses you, He ignores thousands of others who give each week, all expecting their lives to change.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
33: Can God Do Bad?
I thought about something during church this weekend. I often do my best thinking during church. It's funny how that always seems to happen. I get my best story ideas from just sitting down and listening to people sing and talk.
Anyway, the question was: Can God really do bad? Does he bring misfortune purposely on people? Obviously, He did that when He sent the plagues to Egypt, but can He, in all His goodness and glory, send bad things to the righteous? He's God. Of course He can, but does that make it right, or consistent, with His character?
To me, it's unfair that God takes all the glory for the good stuff, but none of the credit for the bad. Maybe He does take responsibility for the bad, but I feel that Christianity, today, tends to not want to blame God for anything and attribute bad events and occurrences to "life."
As a true God, He must take all responsibility on the good, bad, luck, change, misfortune, etc. To only take the good is to be selfish. And God can't be selfish, can He? He is a jealous God, something I find amusing from time to time. But I thought jealousy was a bad thing, a sin. I thought that we weren't supposed to covet what other people had. It might have been commandment #6. So does that make jealousy okay? If God does it, it must be okay. We are striving to be god-like all the time and must, by principle, take His goodness and His not-so-goodness.
At the end of the day, I'll take God's love, patience, and compassion with a side of jealousy, anger, and judgment. Now that's a plate lunch I could surely eat.
Anyway, the question was: Can God really do bad? Does he bring misfortune purposely on people? Obviously, He did that when He sent the plagues to Egypt, but can He, in all His goodness and glory, send bad things to the righteous? He's God. Of course He can, but does that make it right, or consistent, with His character?
To me, it's unfair that God takes all the glory for the good stuff, but none of the credit for the bad. Maybe He does take responsibility for the bad, but I feel that Christianity, today, tends to not want to blame God for anything and attribute bad events and occurrences to "life."
As a true God, He must take all responsibility on the good, bad, luck, change, misfortune, etc. To only take the good is to be selfish. And God can't be selfish, can He? He is a jealous God, something I find amusing from time to time. But I thought jealousy was a bad thing, a sin. I thought that we weren't supposed to covet what other people had. It might have been commandment #6. So does that make jealousy okay? If God does it, it must be okay. We are striving to be god-like all the time and must, by principle, take His goodness and His not-so-goodness.
At the end of the day, I'll take God's love, patience, and compassion with a side of jealousy, anger, and judgment. Now that's a plate lunch I could surely eat.
Friday, September 18, 2009
32: I might miss God if...
I'm going to take a break on the book of Job today and focus on something that has been bothering me over the last week or so. It seems that I am pretty apathetic towards God now that I am busy with school and work. Yes, there are moments of guilt, but mostly, it feels kind of good to be so busy that God has no room in my life. It sounds harsh, but it's been pretty nice.
I still pray and I plan on going to church, but throughout the week I have so much to do and so much on my mind. I love this full speed mode. It allows me to work on "my stuff" and keeps me away from trouble. It's almost as if I wrote God out of my life. Not completely, of course, but time wise I just don't have time to think about all of the Why's and How come's? It's like a vacation.
Maybe I need to be like this all the time. Thinking about God and why He does things the way He does is tough. I love getting lost in my work, which is just for me. Granted, I am still serving God while I work, but He isn't on my mind all the time. In fact, He's just like an uncle that I only see every so often.
I love being apathetic. It's amazing. I know these words are blasphemous, and God will probably smite my life in some unexpected way, but it's kind of a nice change of pace. I love being focused on something other than Christianity and theology for a change. My mind needs a productive distraction so that I don't go crazy with endless loops of questions.
It may seem like I don't care about God, but that's not true. I love God and everything He's done for me. It's just nice to kind of hide for a while, away from God's blessings and punishments. For me, it's mostly punishment so it's kind of nice. If God, perhaps, blessed me more (ouch, I'm gonna hear about this one later and I'll probably regret saying 'more') I would probably miss him more. But because I currently associate God with judgment and not blessings, I like the leave of absence my mind is taking. It's like going on vacation to a place where no one knows you.
However, I am, in the back of my mind, worried that because I have said all of these things, or even if I just thought them, God will lash at me with all He's got. You know, make a "Job" out of me. But I think some time apart is nice. I know even though my mind is not on Him, His mind is still on me, which is nice. School is important and I have a lot on my plate for the next month. I need God's help, but sometimes it's nice to have Him out of the way. Being a Christian, I am learning, is not all about blessings and heavenly gifts. It's about restraint and controlling ourselves. It's about earthly bondage and sacrifice. Those are great things when heaven is the reward. But I'm not here to just get into heaven. I'm searching, now, for more than the reward. Christianity is boring and I don't like it in its current state for me. In a lot of ways I don't know what it's like to be a Christian. I know some Bible things and can bring in an interesting perspective, but I don't have that close relationship with God that a lot of others have. I have one based on complaining and intellect. Mostly it's just me complaining, God either ignoring me or taking things away from me, and my mind versus God. Not a lot of room for blessings and joy.
But I'm getting there. Slowly. Slowly.
I still pray and I plan on going to church, but throughout the week I have so much to do and so much on my mind. I love this full speed mode. It allows me to work on "my stuff" and keeps me away from trouble. It's almost as if I wrote God out of my life. Not completely, of course, but time wise I just don't have time to think about all of the Why's and How come's? It's like a vacation.
Maybe I need to be like this all the time. Thinking about God and why He does things the way He does is tough. I love getting lost in my work, which is just for me. Granted, I am still serving God while I work, but He isn't on my mind all the time. In fact, He's just like an uncle that I only see every so often.
I love being apathetic. It's amazing. I know these words are blasphemous, and God will probably smite my life in some unexpected way, but it's kind of a nice change of pace. I love being focused on something other than Christianity and theology for a change. My mind needs a productive distraction so that I don't go crazy with endless loops of questions.
It may seem like I don't care about God, but that's not true. I love God and everything He's done for me. It's just nice to kind of hide for a while, away from God's blessings and punishments. For me, it's mostly punishment so it's kind of nice. If God, perhaps, blessed me more (ouch, I'm gonna hear about this one later and I'll probably regret saying 'more') I would probably miss him more. But because I currently associate God with judgment and not blessings, I like the leave of absence my mind is taking. It's like going on vacation to a place where no one knows you.
However, I am, in the back of my mind, worried that because I have said all of these things, or even if I just thought them, God will lash at me with all He's got. You know, make a "Job" out of me. But I think some time apart is nice. I know even though my mind is not on Him, His mind is still on me, which is nice. School is important and I have a lot on my plate for the next month. I need God's help, but sometimes it's nice to have Him out of the way. Being a Christian, I am learning, is not all about blessings and heavenly gifts. It's about restraint and controlling ourselves. It's about earthly bondage and sacrifice. Those are great things when heaven is the reward. But I'm not here to just get into heaven. I'm searching, now, for more than the reward. Christianity is boring and I don't like it in its current state for me. In a lot of ways I don't know what it's like to be a Christian. I know some Bible things and can bring in an interesting perspective, but I don't have that close relationship with God that a lot of others have. I have one based on complaining and intellect. Mostly it's just me complaining, God either ignoring me or taking things away from me, and my mind versus God. Not a lot of room for blessings and joy.
But I'm getting there. Slowly. Slowly.
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