It simply amazes me that when someone asks questions that do not align with the majority, that majority turns and instead of engaging oftentimes abandons the discussion.  I have watched a few come to this blog and enter the conversations and quietly go their own way.  Maybe they are engaging in the more profitable and important area of Facebook farming or maybe they just want to be around those that believe exactly like they do.  I still love you.

Some have entered the conversation only long enough to let me know I am either not saved or that I am purposefully causing division.  Hit and run commenter’s that I have begged to come back.  I think they probably do this every where they go.  And then there are those that have come occasionally, left some good comments but have now decided the conversation is getting too rough, too offensive or whatever else they may think.  I still love you also.

I hate this.  I want to have some conversations that lead to a better understanding of who God is so that we can abandon the rather unfruitful way we have been reaching out to those outside the Kingdom and become more effective.  I know that some think that these conversations are more divisive than helpful and I expect no less.  Some will never question what they have been told to believe and some will only come around very, very slowly.

But if we are not growing, we are dying.  And we are supposed to be living, and engaging the enemy everywhere he is and chasing him back behind those gates which we let him escape from to begin with.  This is what I and this blog are about.  I hate to lose readers and even more, commenter’s.  But I will not abandon what I feel led to do here.

Confrontation is not always fun but when error is so easily tossed around in the Kingdom of God then it must be confronted.  Who am I to do this?  I am just a man; fallible, imperfect, very much capable of making mistakes, but still willing to posit my understanding of Kingdom and God issues and allow the discussions, the ridicule, the harassment, and the offensive words to come as they will.  You can’t hurt me with words or by holding your words back.  God is with me in this even though some do not see it and think this has nothing to do with God.

If no one ever stood up to wrong theology, wrong doctrine, wrong attitudes, just where would we be today.  I am not saying everything is wrong that you or anyone else believes, but at least have the courage to hear another side sometimes.  Everyone is a heretic in someone’s eyes.  I am chief among them.

But I am only concerned with what God thinks.  As long as I am trying my very best to know Him more and advance the Kingdom, I believe I am okay.  That is all any of us have to remember.  We all have a part to play, a battle to engage, a mission to fulfill; and they are not all alike.  For any willing to keep on furthering the discussions here, I am deeply grateful.  For all who have left or are leaving, thanks and God bless you.

I still and will keep on loving you all

Tags: blog, Conversation, Discussion, God, Kingdom, Thanks, Theology

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

On Tuesday I tried to provoke a discussion about “rights” as declared in one of our nation’s founding documents.  I believe in a way that I failed.  It seems that we all have a tendency to assign our own definitions to words when it comes to ideology.  And many of us want to go off on tangents that take us to those things that we individually hold dear.  I sometimes get a little frustrated and when I try to clarify it may seem a little harsh.  I do not mean it that way.  I am just trying to get some answers to questions that I have.  I do want your opinions and your participation, even when we do not agree, but I do want to discuss from common ground.

If you have ever discussed theology with one of our Catholic brothers, then you might understand.  As Protestants, most of us shore up our doctrine with the Word of God as proclaimed in the Bible.  But Catholics will quickly let you know that some of their beliefs are not biblically justified but are just as reliable doctrinally due to other things such as church doctrine, Catholic writings, the catechism, and even the words of the pope.  We can’t truly discuss anything with them because of the basic lack of an agreed upon foundation.

The same thing seems to be going on in my previous post.  Being a simple man, and maybe not at the level of intelligence as some of my commenter’s, I tend to read most things as they are written.  I am not trying to apply a certain definition to “rights” or “equal” or “life” or “liberty” or “the pursuit of happiness”.  I simply define them for what they are in light of the context of the words I am reading.  So I will define what I see being said as I go.

We hold these truths (an obvious or accepted fact; truism; platitude) to be self-evident (evident in itself without proof or demonstration; axiomatic.), that all men are created (to cause to happen; bring about; arrange, as by intention or design) equal (Having the same quantity, measure, or value as another.), that they are endowed (provided or supplied or equipped with) by their Creator (God) with certain unalienable (Not to be separated, given away, or taken away) Rights (Something that is due to a person), that among these are Life (the animate existence or period of animate existence of an individual), Liberty (freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control, from external or foreign rule, from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint) and the pursuit (an effort to secure or attain) of Happiness (good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy).

It seems to me that this whole statement shows that the framers of this highly esteemed document did not really know the Creator very well at all.  Before you get angry at me, remember that I am not arguing about what the founding fathers wanted or tried to establish.  It seems they did their very best in a fallen, sin-stained, self-absorbed world to fashion a nation that takes the one thing in the statement above that is true, equality, and makes it almost a reality.  But even that has taken over two centuries.  Just think about why there was recently a historical precedent set when our newest president was inaugurated.

Our rights, especially life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are what we hang on to.  These are the points behind which we stand and declare that we are something special indeed.  It seems that our adversary relied on this same concept in the garden.  Aren’t we as special as God?  As Americans, we surely are.

When I read some of your comments over the last two days I am tempted to give in and agree with some of you.  All these things sound good to me but yet, I do not ever want to see something about God that is not true.  I really almost want to agree about life as a right but even that has to looked at as what it is.  And what is the word I would use instead of rights?  What, exactly, is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?  I agree these do come from our creator, but they are not rights.  They, like everything else God has given us, are gifts.  Someone used the word privilege and that to me is not quite right either.  Privilege is like an allowance, something given maybe because it is earned or due.  I believe we can become even better soldiers for the Kingdom when we realize everything, all that we have, are “gifts”.

When I read this famous statement and compare it to what I know and what the bible teaches me about God, about the only thing that stands as truth is the part about us all being equal.  But as we know from history, and even the times we live in, equality as a concept still has a long way to go.  Equality is very biblical.  We must start pursuing it like we do happiness.  We must start valuing it as much as we do our liberty.  We must start seeing it as being as important as life itself.

I, personally, do not think we have any rights, anything that I am owed just for existing, from God.  I instead thank Him for the gift of life, for the liberty I have in Christ, and in the place of happiness, for the sheer joy I have in being one of His.

My Declaration of Independence from the kingdoms of the world begins with…

I hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and for a loving relationship with God and each other, that we are blessed by our Creator with more Gifts than we can imagine, and that among these are Life and  Liberty in Christ and Happiness and Joy by pursuing the Kingdom of God.

I thank God for these Gifts.

Love you all

Tags: America, catholic writings, catholics, certain unalienable rights, Christ, Church, Creator, Kingdom, life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Love, relationship, Theology, Truth

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
-Mahatma Gandhi

This is my final (for now) entry on prayer.  I intend to keep it short also.  We’ll see how that goes.

Prayer is powerful and personal prayer, which has been my focus here lately, is the most powerful.  Prayer not only aligns our wills with Gods but actually in many cases gets God on our side.  As I have stated and I truly believe, God just does not do some things unless we ask.  So we must ask and keep on asking.

But is that all we have to do?  Is prayer all that God calls us to do in this world that so desperately needs Him?

No it is not.  As the quote by Mahatma Gandhi says we must be the change we want to see in the world.  We must go beyond prayer into the realm of action.  It is okay to “talk” theology but we must also “walk” our theology.  Some of us, especially me, find it so very easy to talk about God, to have endless discussions about his Word and all the different theological worldviews and such, and to even pray when I see things I do not like going on.  But the Bible is also filled with calls to action.

Spreading the gospel is primary.  Praying without ceasing is a necessity.  These do have to be primarily achieved by talking.  But there are many other commands such as feed the poor, clothe the naked, give to the widows and orphans, and many more that have to have something done, some action taken, other than discussion.

Christ followers are supposed to be change agents.  We must, as Gandhi said, be the change, not just try to direct it.  There are just too many of us not willing to do much more than show up at church and maybe pray a little.

I believe a real, intense, dynamic, personal prayer life will not only cause us to grow ever closer to the God and Father who loves us but will create in us a love for others that pushes us ever more to “do” things; to become true workers for the Kingdom.

This world does need to change.  For that to happen we must first be changed ourselves.  And then we must spread that change by our actions.

“Father, please help us to become the agents of change that are so desperately needed right now.  Help us “put legs to our prayers”.  Please help us, and especially me, “do” something other than “talk” about it.  Amen.”

Love you all

Tags: Bible, Church, Discussion, endless discussions, Kingdom, Love, mahatma gandhi, orphans, Personal, Prayer, Theological, Theology, widows, worldviews

Last week’s discussion brought out a number of things that people do not like about church, theology and such.  There is a lot of information there to digest and see if we can come up with ideas and solutions.

There are almost always some things that get to us that just really do not matter.  As for these, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us drop and get over them.  But a lot of us do have some valid pet peeves and some of us do not.  There just is no question about that.

But when we do see a problem, what do we do.  A lot of times we resort to criticism.

This brings me to my questions for this week.

Do you criticize people, things, systems, beliefs, etc?

How often do you think you criticize?

When you criticize, do you think of solutions before resorting to just criticism?

And finally, is criticism necessary at all?

I know some of you may shy away from this one, but I ask you to boldly go where you might have never gone before.  Remember, it’s just a blog.

Love you all

Tags: Belief, Discussion, Holy Spirit, Love, Theology, Townhall, Tuesday