This Christmas Season…

I want to spend some time this Christmas season talking about Jesus. After all, as the old saying goes, “Jesus is the reason for the season” at least for us Chrisitans. I have said more than once on this blog that I am  spiritual but not currently aligned with any particular religious organization.  At the same time I try to be a faithful follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ.  That might be a dichotomy to some but  not to me. I just believe that religious organizations today are too mired down in their dogma and theology that is simply … Continue reading This Christmas Season…

Which Came First??

“Which came first, the chicken or the egg??” has been the question of the day for as long as I remember. But I have a different version now. Which came first a ranting populace or radical right radio?? Lets look at that question some in this post. I know that Rush Limbaugh has been around a long time now.  He has made millions of bucks ranting about almost everything. I also know that there is a faction within our population who simply adore him and listen to him constantly. He is without a doubt their hero.  He has been so … Continue reading Which Came First??

Inequality as a Religious Test

But if you believe that every human being is made in the image of God — imago dei; if you believe that every individual person represented in economic statistics is a child of God; if you believe that in nearly all religious traditions, loving your neighbor as you love yourself follows directly after loving God; and if you believe, regardless of your conception of God, that human beings are all brothers and sisters tied together, then income inequality is a spiritual issue, a moral issue, and a religious test of our belief. Source: Inequality as a Religious Test | Sojourners … Continue reading Inequality as a Religious Test

Life Flow …

This Sunday I want to flesh out a little more of what God means to me personally.  Theologians throughout the centuries have molded God into a being mainly of their own making.  If they can do it so can I, at least for my own purposes. As I have said in the last two Sunday posts I see God as primarily the keeper of life.  There is something inside of us that makes us alive . Call it the spirit, soul, life blood or what ever you want but only God can make life. When you are born you are … Continue reading Life Flow …

God, The River Of Life…

This is a continuation of last Sunday’s Post on God and Life.  If you haven’t already read it you might want to do that now as this post won’t make much sense without that background. (God Is All About Life)  In that post I put forth the proposition that God is life. With this post  I will expand just what that means to me. I will repeat here that this concept is primarily for me to come to a personal understanding of God. I don’t expect, or even want, you to agree with me.  You need to do the work … Continue reading God, The River Of Life…

God Is ….

I really don’t know how it happened that God became this old guy with flowing white hair and beard laying on the clouds and watching everything we do and getting involved in every aspect of our lives. I don’t know if Michelangelo’s Sistene chapel was the first depiction of that persona or if he was just mirroring someone else. But it seemed to catch on and go from there.  For many God is now a father figure who looks out for our every need. I was pretty deeply involved in theology for more than a decade devouring perhaps a hundred … Continue reading God Is ….

The Greatest Sin…

One of the most striking verses in the Christian bible for me was found in Mathew 12. I won’t quote the verse here but it basically says there is one sin that will NEVER be forgiven and that is “blasphemy against the Spirit”. Since I have come to understand that Christianity is all about forgiveness this verse was very loud to my ears. Let’s study the concept of blasphemy. What is blasphemy? Here is a common definition: blas⋅phe⋅my /blæsfəmi:/   — noun expressing disrespect for God or for something sacred That is a pretty plain one but I believe gets to the heart of the matter. The … Continue reading The Greatest Sin…

Indoctrination and God…

WENDY THOMAS RUSSELL:  I did a survey of 1,000 nonreligious parents to find out exactly that. And the top reason cited was, people weren’t sure how to talk about religion without indoctrinating their kids into what they believed themselves. That was a hard line. The other one was interacting with religious family members and keeping the peace in families. When you’re raising a child who is in a secular household, how do you bridge the gap between the older generations who may be more rigidly religious? JEFFREY BROWN: This word indoctrinating is an important one, because it comes up time … Continue reading Indoctrination and God…

The Thing Is…..

Originally posted on RedLetterLiving:
What About The Bible… ? (Chapter 1) I have been spending quite a bit of time lately thinking about the Bible and my experiences with it over the last decade or so. Around 2003 I decided to take up a serious study of theology and in particularly those around the words of Jesus. I naively thought I could get some clear directions for my spiritual life if I just understood why the Bible seems to mean so many different things to so many people. What I have discovered over this period of time awakened me. I… Continue reading The Thing Is…..

If God is Love Where Does Hate Come From?

My wife and I watched a DVR copy of the recent TV movie entitled “Amish Grace” last night. This is the movie about the man who shot ten girls in an Amish school house a few years back and then took his own life. Six of the girls died. The main theme of the movie was about forgiveness and not letting hate overpower you. The Amish community in Pennsylvania where it happened quickly forgave the man who committed the act and even helped the family of the murderer cope with the tragedy. As I have mentioned in the past the … Continue reading If God is Love Where Does Hate Come From?

Earth As a Proving Ground??

Why did God go to all the trouble to create the universe? By any standards that was a massive undertaking. I am one who believes in the day age interpretation of the Bible.  In the last century or so God has given us the scientific understanding to know that the creation of the universe took millions if not billions of years to complete. Why did he go through all that trouble? But for God a billion years might only be a day. Who know? One explanation for God creating the universe including the infinitely small corner of it called the Earth … Continue reading Earth As a Proving Ground??

We’re worshipping religion, not God….

We’re worshipping religion, not God. It’s hard, when we’ve been endowed with these amazing buildings, these historic legacies and these time-honored traditions, not to mistake them for the thing we’re supposed to really focus on. To paraphrase the recent TV show, ‘Halt and Catch Fire,’ religion isn’t the thing; it’s the thing that gets us to the thing. Organized religion, and all that comes with it, is a means to an end. It’s intent is to facilitate community, spiritual growth, mutual accountability, worship of God and transformation of the world around us. But so much of our energy in recent … Continue reading We’re worshipping religion, not God….

Muzzling God….

Time and again, those who opposed Jesus would quote Scripture. They would remind him of the Sabbath law, the requirement to fast, the provision for divorce, and the penalty for adultery. Jesus seemed unimpressed with a person’s ability to quote Scripture. His interest was in a person’s ability to hear God’s voice. He said, “He who belongs to God hears what God says” (John 8:47). To limit the word of God to the written word is to muzzle God. Gulley, Philip; Mulholland, James (2009-03-17). If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person Continue reading Muzzling God….

Hating The Poor….

“Americans react to the poor with disgust,” said Susan Fiske, professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University and the originator of the neuroimaging tests. She has studied attitudes toward the poor for a dozen years. “It’s the most negative prejudice people report, greater even than racism,“ Fiske stated. No doubt part of that response is aesthetic. Some of those who are very poor – especially those living on the streets – smell bad and are unkempt and shabbily dressed. But a deeper part of the response is moral. The poor are stripped of value in the eyes of … Continue reading Hating The Poor….