Deep Thought Thursday ~ Literally?

Today I would like to talk about a book. This particular book is probably the most controversial, misinterpreted, and misunderstood book in the world. In fact, it's not even a book at all, it's a library of books, but it takes the form of a single book. It's full of stories, both fictional and non-fictional, poetry, songs, genealogies, parables, prophecies, letters written to entire cities, wise sayings, teachings, forthcoming events, and even a book about sex. It's called the Bible, and the word Bible even translates to the word library. So perhaps we should call it "The good library" rather than "The good book". I went to a restaurant in Baltimore's inner harbor called UNO's. They had a book in the center of the table called "The good book". I picked it up and it was full of desserts. It was indeed a good book.

Anyway, there is so much I could talk about concerning the Bible, but I want to focus on the fact that some people take the entire Bible literally, and I don't think it was intended to be taken that way. Of course much of it is to be taken literally; Love God, love all people; do not murder; they're not drunk, it's only 9 in the morning; yadda, yadda, yadda. That kind of stuff is pretty straightforward. But there is a lot of poetry, stories, and analogies in the Bible as well that may not be literal, but they do point to the truth.

Take a look at what it says in Mark 9:43-47:

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.

Geez Louise! Literally?! Honestly, if I were to cut off every body part that caused me to sin then you'd have to throw me in a giant blender and hit purée! There is a popular saying that goes something like this "People should know you are a Christian as soon as you enter a room". Take that saying with the verse above and then imagine people sitting in a waiting room at the ER. A man enters the room. He's missing one hand, only has one eye, no tongue...you get the point. A little girl looks at her mother and says "Mommy, mommy, what's wrong with that guy?" and the mother replies, "Oh, don't worry dear, he's just a Christian. He comes in here all the time, probably cut off another body part." People should know we are followers of Christ because of our love, not because we are missing body parts.

Let's go back to some earlier verses in Mark 9, verses 38-41:

"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."
"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.

Even though this man was doing things in Jesus name, he may have done them a little differently than Jesus and his disciples were doing them, but Jesus said it was okay because he was doing it in Jesus's name. This happens too many times in the church. Let's say the people who go to church A do things a little different than the people who go to church B. This makes church B upset because church B thinks that they've got it all figured out, that they are the ones who are absolutely right and that anything different, even slightly different from they way they do things is the wrong way. The people who go to church B need to be a little more open-minded. That's how it is in some churches though. The people think that they have it all figured out, a few hundred or a few thousand people of a congregation think their way is the right way and the rest of the world's population is absolutely wrong because they don't go to the same exact church building they go to. It's ridiculous.

Rob Bell said "If we become too dogmatic or too absolutly sure that our particular view is the only one, then something dangerous happens to the mystery of the divine." You see, it's not about our way, it's about Jesus's way. The problem is that too many people have formed Jesus into what they want him to be. I think we all do that to some degree. Let's get to know the Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus that Bob or Linda or Fred made up to suit their own selfish needs. (No offense to anyone named Bob, Linda, or Fred, I was just randomly picking names.)

So, I think that's all I'm going to say for now, there's more, but I want to go in a different direction next week. Have a great day, and I literally mean that.

Deep Thought Thursday ~ Mind Boggling

Yipee! Someone is following this blog! Thank you Ty Why for becoming the first follower of this blog. So why, Ty, what was it that lured you here? I wish I had a gift or something to give you. Here's a fist bump ==@@==. Sorry, that's the best I could do. I know that my girlfriend and some of my close friends read this blog, but they don't "follow" it (hint, hint).

Okay, time to get into the nitty-gritty. Last week I tackled the question "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" (Jon Acuff over at "Stuff Christians Like" has an interesting post dealing with the same question. Click here to see it.) I explained how God doesn't smother us like overprotective parents. He allows us to figure things out on our own. So maybe we should ask the question "Why do people do bad things to other people?" Decisions. We all make them, some good, some bad. It's our decisions that effect the world around us. Sometimes we make decisions that hurt others whether it be accidentally or purposely. Now I need to ask you to make a decision:

(Cue Matrix movie reference)

You take the blue pill, the blog ends and you believe whatever you want to believe. You'll wake up in bed, you won't remember any of this, you'll probably have some drool on your pillow. Seriously, that's gross, clean it up! Or you take the red pill and experience how deep the blog goes.













So, you have chosen the red pill. Good. Now you will see where we are going with this. Plus you just got your daily dose of Vitamin A, B, C, D, E, Iron, Zinc, and Riboflavin. Oh, the blue pill? It was just Nyquil. Anyway, we were talking about decisions. We make them everyday, multiple times a day. Some are big or small, some we make unconsciously while others require much thought. It's all a part of our God-given free will. But if God knows the future and how everything is going to turn out and he knows all the decisions we are going to make, wouldn't that be fate? That's what I want to do today. I want to take last week's conversation and steer towards the idea of free will vs. fate. Like I said before, I don't have the answers, just some thoughts.

I've mentioned Rob Bell a few times on this blog. He has a video out called "Everything is Spiritual" I highly recommend it. Part of this video has Rob talking about a marker. He holds up a whiteboard marker lengthwise to the audience and asks what shape the marker appears to be when held that way. It appears to be in the shape of a rectangle. Then he turns the marker so all you can see is one end of it. It appears to be in the shape of a circle. Then Rob asks if the marker is a rectangle or a circle. His answer to that question is, "Yes". Then he asks if there is free will or fate. Again his answer is "Yes".

Now we all know that a marker is more of a sphere shape because it is a three dimensional object. He was just trying to make an interesting point. So, can free will and fate co-exist? Can shadows be cast without light? How would you know what good is without experiencing the bad? I believe free will and fate can both exist at the same time. We have the free will to make decisions and each of those decisions will eventually lead us to an outcome, or fate.



"No fate but what we make" is what I remember Sarah Connor saying in Terminator 2. (Wow, a Matrix and Terminator reference in the same post, rock on!) It boggles my mind the more I think about it. Does anyone remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books? I used to love those. If you come to a bad ending you could always go back and make a different decision.

"You see an abominable snowman approching."

If you want to run away from the creature, turn to page 82.
If you want to introduce yourself to the creature and shake its hand, turn to page 112.

PAGE 112

"As you approach the abominable snowman you extend your hand to him. It extends its hand to you as well. After a brief handshake the abominable snowman proceeds to tear you limb from limb. The End."

With that, you can go back and try page 82. You can decide your own fate in those books by making different decisions. But of course that's not how real life works. We can't go back, we can't rewind. It sounds silly but just before something tragic happens in a movie I've already seen, I think to myself "Maybe they'll make the right decision this time". I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who does this. No matter how many times you watch the movie, the same thing is always going to happen. I think this is how God views our lives, like a movie he's already seen.

What I mean by that is God is not constrained by time. Just as he is with us when we are infants, at the same time he is with us as elderly individuals. He can see the entire timeline of our lives all at once, even the events we have not yet experienced. He can go on ahead of us, he knows what's going to happen. And as much as he probably wants to say "Maybe they'll make the right decision this time" when he's watching the movie of our lives, the same thing is always going to happen. I think God also allows things to happen so that it doesn't take away the freedom he has given us to choose what we do with our lives.

I know it sounds like I'm talking as if God is far away, just watching us live out our lives, but he is very close. I think it's ridiculous when people say things like, "We were at our Bible study and things were getting pretty intense and then God showed up." Really, God showed up did he? Sooooo...he wasn't there before? God never "shows up". He's always there. Even though he let's us live our lives and make our own decisions, he's always speaking to us and guiding us. If you knew someone who knew what the future holds, wouldn't you want to put your trust in them...hmmmm?

That's about all I have to say on the subject for now. What I had to say today either sounded really deep and intellectual, or I sounded like a complete moron. I'll let you decide.

If what I said sounded deep and intellectual, turn to page 61.
If I sounded like a complete moron, turn to page 134.

Deep Thought Thursday ~ Don't Be So Pushy!

I've always enjoyed "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey" on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. One of my favorite Jack Handey thoughts was "If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone." So I've decided to title Thursdays "Deep Thought Thursdays". Today's subject can sometimes be a little touchy, or rather pushy.

"Don't push your religion on me!" Chances are you've said this phrase to someone, had it said to you, or you've heard someone say to someone else. It doesn't matter who you are, we all have our beliefs. I don't consider myself to be a religious person. I believe in God and I try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I guess you could call me a Christian but I try not to use that term. Too many people who refer to themselves as such do not reflect Christ in any way. Mohandas Gandhi once said "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Another great thinker and teacher, Rob Bell, once said "Christian is a great noun, but a horrible adjective." I find this to be so true. The word Christian is slapped on so many things like music, books, and even breath mints. I've even heard there is a Christian office supply store somewhere here in the US. It boggles the mind! I'm not trying to tell people not to call themselves Christians though, I have no problem with that.

I have two reasons why I don't call myself a Christian. One, that term is too vague. When I tell someone I'm a Christian I feel like I have to explain what kind I am. Two, I don't deserve to be called one because I am not always like Christ. I'd rather refer to myself as a follower of Christ. Like I said earlier, I "try" to follow the teachings of Jesus. I don't always suceed and I sometimes fail at trying to be Christ-like. I guess what it boils down to is that I believe God cares about what is in our hearts rather than the terminology we use to describe our worldview.

Well, this train has gone way off the tracks. But I'll get back on track now and get to the point I was originally trying to make. We were talking about people pushing their religion and beliefs on others. I totally agree that this is wrong, and what was doing just now was sharing my beliefs I was not pushing my beliefs on you just now in the last few paragraphs. There's a difference between pushing and sharing. No one is holding a gun to your head and making you read this and if there is then that's really weird and screwed up.

But why do people feel the need to be pushy and try to make other people believe the same things they do? Perhaps it's because that person has found something that works and makes them feel fulfilled and they want to share it with others so badly that they become aggressive and won't stop badgering people about it. It's almost like someone reads a newspaper article that they really enjoy and they want everyone else to enjoy it so they start shoving the newspaper into people's faces yelling "READ IT! READ IT! IT'S GREAT! YOU MUST READ IT! I WON'T STOP UNTIL YOU DO!" That's just crazy.

I'm not just talking about religious fanatics here though. I'm talking about people in general. I've seen this behavior in other areas as well. Throughout my teens, 20's, and now into my early 30's I've had various people say to me "We've got to get you drunk." Now I don't mind a drink or two now and then but I'm just not into getting drunk. I've been there before and I don't really enjoy it when the room starts to turn at a 45º angle as I'm walking. But there are a few people out there, probably more than that, who make it their goal every weekend to get drunk, plastered, intoxicated, hopped-up, smashed, sloshed, (insert your own slang term here), etc. They think it's great and they want to share that with others. They've found something that they believe is fulfilling in their life. Then they push a bottle in your face yelling "DRINK THIS! DRINK THIS! IT'S GREAT! YOU MUST DRINK IT! I WON'T STOP UNTIL YOU DO!" Sounds a little like a religious fanatic doesn't it? So the next time someone says to me "We've gotta get you drunk", I'll just reply, "Don't push your religion on me".

I'm not trying to single out people who drink, I was just using that as an example. It happens with many things like food, music, movies, books, sports, etc. Well, this post has gone on long enough. Come back tomorrow when I'll reveal the fifth and final theme of the week. This is Dan, signing off.....NOW GET OFF MY PORCH!!