I want to add a new part to the adage "We become like the god we worship."
We are most likely to emulate our god’s bad attributes.
Tag: God
JJ Heller’s “Who You Are”
I think it came out yesterday or the day before…but here is JJ (and Dave) Heller's new video, "Who You Are":
[youtube=http://youtu.be/F8jilr8qsYU&rel=0&w=512]
A great couple who I wish all the success of the world without any of its trappings…
Oops There Goes Another Rubber Tree Plant
Clouds on a sunny day
I’ll admit I’ve been feeling guilty lately. It seems to me that most of my recent bulletin articles and sermons have been less-than-positive. For instance, after a recent talk a young man’s mother told me that it scared him.
And although she said afterward it was good to be scared…I suspect that the frightening present conditions in this world are leading me to focus on the negative…which isn’t optimal given that the gospel…and the God it speaks of…are so overwhelmingly positive.
That is, my messages have been clouds on a sunny day.
But not today…
But not today. Instead, I promise two things…
First, to have you leave feeling better than when you arrived. Well, I’ll do my darndest… 🙂
Second, to keep this sermon short.
Now, see? You are already feeling better than when you arrived, aren’t you? 🙂
You are not alone…
However, before we go positive. Am I alone in being worried about how things are going in our nation and in the world? Do you look around you…on the TV…on the Internet…and wonder if the inmates have taken over the asylum?
Or if Satan has gotten the upper hand and hell on earth has been spawned?
Do you feel like you are bustin’ a hump to live a godly life…only to see those who do exactly the opposite do far, far better than you?
Does it seem like all your efforts are in vain?
Does me bringing up all this bring your spirit down?
Then remember I promised to keep this sermon short! 🙂
Continue reading “Oops There Goes Another Rubber Tree Plant”
Tempted by Half a Billion Dollars
Do you remember the 1993 movie, "Indecent Proposal," where Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson's characters (married in the film) are offered $1,000,000 by Robert Redford's character if she will just spend a single night with him? Or perhaps 2009's "The Box," where the couple played by Cameron Diaz and James Marsden are offered an equal amount if they'll simply press a button? The catch with their opportunity is that when they push the button in the box someone will die (although it won't be a person they know).
Would you take either offer? I'm assuming most people would immediately reject the second one…but I suspect there are some out there…folks in especially dire financial straits…where the first proposition might result in more than just a quick passing thought. One doesn't have to actually be greedy for money to be a terrible temptation—sometimes just wanting to be able to pay your bills can cause you to make questionable decisions. There immense of wisdom in Agur's words in Proverbs: Continue reading “Tempted by Half a Billion Dollars”
Is free will an illusion?
Interesting video about free will (hat tip to Hot Air):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q40PfsLxMzY&w=420&rel=0]
During college I watched a debate between a Calvinist and a…well…I guess you would say a “non-Calvinist.” In it the Calvinist spent a little time waxing philosophical about free will, and whether it actually exists. Ultimately, he was arguing, you cannot do anything outside your nature…so thus, you do not have free will.
Oddly enough, with that perspective God does not have free will either…since He will never do anything outside His nature.
And that’s what makes Him so great. 🙂
Why I Am a Heretic
I am no longer going to update this post. Instead please see the Beliefs page to read the most up-to-date list of what I believe.
AKA, "What I Believe"
I had an interesting conversation with a Twitter friend, and after he agreed to an uncomfortable implication of his belief system I commended him on being willing to admit it. I then suggested that someone else who held that same belief system would not be willing to make the same admission, to which he replied:
Yes, I believe he would. I probably wouldn’t just throw that out there in the public forum of twitter. He may not be comfortable with saying
To which I replied:
Why not? If it is true it’s to God’s sovereign glory isn’t it?
My response would seem a whole ‘lot more apropos if you understood what belief system it was in response to. 🙂
Either way, although I can understand choosing a proper forum for airing one’s beliefs, I kind of was taken aback at the idea that someone who has no problem debating for his theological worldview then wouldn’t be willing to lay all his cards on the table.
So, here are all my cards. Traditional Christians will find plenty to consider me a heretic, but I’m not going to do a bait-and-switch on you. (Most of this is from a post I did a couple years back on fahrner.us. All biblical quotes are from the English Standard Version. Oh, and I reserve the right to modify this post at any time, so if you want to beat me over the head with my own words, be sure to grab a screenshot. :-)) Continue reading “Why I Am a Heretic”
“Not for Me”
AKA "Slash's Advice for Christian Living"
Messages from Secular Songs
If any of you have spent time on-line looking at (or listening to) my sermons before arriving here in Pleasanton, you'll notice a good number that are based on songs by secular groups. For instance
- "What You Need" was based on Aloe Blacc's "Little Miss Fortune"
- "Just in Case" was based on a song of the same name by Tesla
- "I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden" was based on Lynn Anderson's version of "Rose Garden"
- "Don't Bring Your Sadness Down on Me, Peace is Free" was based on a song of the same name by Black Stone Cherry
And although those were the only ones that came to mind as I as writing this sermon, there may be more and I've also worked in plenty of other snippets of secular songs into my sermons. That probably may make some folks cringe, but music has always had special meaning to me…speaking to my heart in ways mere words cannot.
So, although I have not yet figured out which songs to include…even for next week…this month I will do a series of sermons that are based on non-Christian songs that seem to have an important message…or which at least have a memorable verse that we can learn from.
If you have any suggestions, please be sure to let me know after the sermon…I always love an excuse to spend more money buying music. 🙂
Now, what we may learn from a secular song might be that they are very very wrong…but there are also plenty of tunes out there that seem to show a bit of what remains of the image of God in this world's inhabitants.
A wisdom that seems beyond our behaviors.
God is Dead (Again)
Space.com had to know they were going to grab some attention a tile like this for an article:
“The Big Bang Didn’t Need God to Start Universe, Researchers Say”
And the beginning of the piece doesn’t disappoint:
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Our universe could have popped into existence 13.7 billion years ago without any divine help whatsoever, researchers say.
That may run counter to our instincts, which recoil at the thought of something coming from nothing. But we shouldn’t necessarily trust our instincts, for they were honed to help us survive on the African savannah 150,000 years ago, not understand the inner workings of the universe.
Instead, scientists say, we should trust the laws of physics.
“The Big Bang could’ve occurred as a result of just the laws of physics being there,” said astrophysicist Alex Filippenko of the University of California, Berkeley. “With the laws of physics, you can get universes.”
As a result of such confidence, I immediately gathered all my bibles and started a bonfire.
Well, maybe not quite yet. 🙂 Continue reading “God is Dead (Again)”
Pacifiers and Hearing Aids
Captain Francesco Schettino
Has anyone here heard of Captain Franscesco Schettino? Why he is famous…or rather…why he is infamous?
It is because he was captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that sank of the Tuscan coast this past January…a captain who decided to save his own scalp and hop into a lifeboat instead of making sure all his passengers were safe. Although he claimed afterward that he tripped into the lifeboat, he broke a sacrosanct rule: the captain goes down with the ship. Well, at least he or she does if anyone else is going to go down with it. A captain does not abandon ship until he or she knows everyone is safe.
Now…although the sinking of the Costa Concordia was major news, it is not the most famous shipwreck in history. I haven't done any empirical surveying, but what do you figure is the most famous one?
That's right…the Titanic. Although folks do question his judgment in other respects (for instance, launching lifeboats before they were full), the Titanic's Captain Edward John Smith went down to Davy Jones' Locker with two thirds of his passengers. Captain Smith went down with the ship.
Facing God and the Face of God (Part 2)
Quick Review
For those who weren't here last week…or who have an MTV generation attention span :-)…let's start this week off by doing a quick review of "Facing God and the Face of God (Part 1)." I started off by sharing some pretty disconcerting scriptures, the first of which was Hebrews 9:27:
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment
It actually went downhill from there, with even Jesus Himself causing us some angst with His words captured in Luke 12:4-5:
4 "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
After those words…and more like it…we tried to start answering the question:
When we face God what kind of face will we see?
Facing God and the Face of God (Part 1)
Seeing What We Haven't Seen Before
I just wrapped up a four-part series at the Pleasant View Church of Christ…and after it I find myself returning over-and-over-and-over again to one Scripture in the Bible. It's a verse that I've read multiple times previously without it fully registering in my psyche. I'm assuming that experience is not unique to me…is there anyone else sitting here today who, studying a familiar part of the Bible, has said to himself or herself, "Wow?! Why haven't I ever seen that before?!"?
Do you ever wonder if the reason you've missed that awesome revelation from God is because you were just thick…or maybe instead God was "saving" it for you? Perhaps our Lord hides things in the Bible from us so that we'll never get bored reading His Word because of the joy we feel when, like an explorer, we discover something for the very first time.
At least the first time for us. 🙂
It's like the Most High has lifted a veil and we can finally see what we should have seen before…
The Judgment
So, what is this magnificent Scripture that I'm speaking of?
You'll just have to wait to find out. 🙂
Instead, let's first spend a little time looking at a few uncomfortable verses in the Bible…starting with one I've brought up here multiple times…Hebrews 9:27
What If’ing the Lord Almighty
The Book of Ezra starts of with some great news: Cyrus (king of Persia) proclaimed that the exiled Jews can return to their homeland and rebuild their temple. Not only that, but he encouraged those around the Israelites to donate everything from gold to animals "for the house of God that is Jerusalem" (Ezra 1:4, English Standard Version). Cyrus was also someone who puts his money where his mouth is, and returned 4,500 "vessels of gold and silver" Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem back with the returning expatriates (see Ezra 1:7-11). Not a bad way to head back home, eh?
I will admit that after reading through that book this week, the good news that starts Ezra off isn't what is going to stick with me. Instead, it's the situation dealt with in the last two chapters. This is how the ninth chapter begins:
After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands…For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost" (Ezra 9:1—2).
Don't get me wrong, the officials and Ezra had every reason to be concerned. Israelites weren't suppose to marry people from other nations, and when they did it had catastrophic consequences. Even a smart guy like King Solomon proved the wisdom behind the Lord's prohibition: Continue reading “What If’ing the Lord Almighty”
What Finally Worked
What Finally Worked
Quick Review
Before I begin the third talk in my four-part "What" Sunday-evening series, I figure it makes sense to quickly review the first two sermons…
#1 was "What Went Wrong"…where we learned that sin didn't start here on earth and that what originally went wrong up in heaven (and then went awry down here) wasn't a case of someone breaking an arbitrary rule.
Instead, it was a breakdown of trust between the creature and the creator. First Satan distrusted God, then one third of the angels, then Eve and Adam. Instead of becoming like God as they envisioned, they developed fear of God.
#2 was "What Was Tried"…where, using a dispensationalist outline, we saw that innocence didn't work, conscience didn't work, dominion didn't work, promise didn't work, and law didn't work. We learned that anything that depends on man fails miserably…and that our loving God never gave up on us rebellious earthlings…no matter how often or how badly we blew it. Praise God! 🙂
Show Me Your Glory
Now it's time for "What Finally Worked"…but before I try to answer that question, I'd like to head back into the dispensation of the law…just as it is beginning. Let's turn to Exodus 33:12-23:
What Was Tried
Dispensationalism
How many people here have heard of the term "dispensationalism"?
My short definition of it would be "God dealt with people differently through the ages." However, I don't have the intelligence gained from a Masters of Divinity, so I suspect that won't show up in any scholarly work, whereas this definition from There Really is a Difference!: A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational Theology by Renald Showers is a bit more erudite:
In light of the usage of the word for dispensation in the New Testament, the term dispensation as it relates to Dispensational Theology could be defined as a particular way of God's administering His rule over the world as He progressively works out His purpose for world history.1
I don't know about you…but that isn't entirely clarifying to me. Luckily Showers continues:
In order for each dispensation to be distinct from all other dispensations, it must have three essential characteristics. First, it must have a particular way of God's [sic] administering His rule. Each dispensation is characterized by a unique ruling factor or combination of ruling factors. Second, it must involve a particular responsibility for man. Each dispensation makes man responsible to obey God in accordance with its unique ruling factor or combination of factors. Third, it must be characterized by divine revelation which had not been given before. In order for man to know God's new way of ruling and his new responsibility, he must have these things revealed to him. Each new dispensation requires new revelation from God.2
Does it make a little more sense now?
If not, perhaps an example of how history has been divided into dispensations will make it clear.
What Went Wrong
Lame Movie Plot Devices
Friday night Barry Junior joined me watching a movie that Barry Senior had brought up after I did my sermon, "Heaven…This is Heaven." For those who caught that, you may recall my mention of the Valkyries (val-`keer-ees)…babes on white horses who collected those who died on the battle field. Barry Senior remembered a movie with Valkyries…one called "Max Payne"—a policeman living a tortured existence as he continues to search for the third man who was involved in killing Max's his wife and infant child.
The movie begins showing Max Payne slowly floating toward the bottom of the river, clearly on the edge of death. After the film made clear how precarious his state was (and how likely it was he would not get out of it), it leveraged a plot device often used in movies and TV shows…
"One week earlier."
To which I immediately told Barry Junior know just how much I hate that plot device. 🙂
Inconsistent Human
And in the spirit of human inconsistency, I am now going to use the same approach as a sermon device. 🙂