A Christmas Wish

“God bless you, everyone!”

Merry Christmas, ya’ll.

Filed under: Random

I’ve been thinking…

I’ve been thinking. That’s usually dangerous in my case. Cause when I start thinking, I tend to say things that – in a moment of vulnerability – reveal just how broken and imperfecct I really am when it comes to my faith and understanding of God. Many of the pastors I have had the honor of serving alongside (and I do mean honor), believe that ministers should keep thier struggles, pitfalls, and diffficulties to themselves for the risk of losing “control” of the congregation and leadership (“control” is my interpretation of their words…what they actually say is “loss of respect” or “compromised spiritual authority/leadership”).

But I’ve been thinking. And since my thinking is one of the major reasons I began this blog in the first place, that gives me the right to post here and let everyone else in this great world of cyberspace in on a dirty little secret ministers hold a few are ever made aware of.

Here’s what I’ve been thinking…

The Bible is not meant to be complicated. Often times people make it complicated in order to prove a point or use it to serve their purposes. Despite what many may think, reading every part of the Bible literally is making the Bible complicated. Reading the Bible as if everything – or at the very least, most – of what’s contained within its pages is making the Bible complicated. We often forget that a very large majority of the Bible – the few exceptions possibly being Luke’s writings – were written for the average Joe Schmoe of the first century. The Bible was meant to be read and understood by the common man – uneducated, unknowledgable, boring, run-of-the-mill salt of the earth types. Why do we make it over complicated? Just read the Bible and do what it says.

If Jesus is warding off accusations of breaking the Sabbath and in reply he make three statements that seem to have very little to do with the Sabbath. It’s probably because we’re missing the point by trying to make things too complicated. He’s probably trying to make a point about the bigger issue, which may or may not be his breaking the Sabbath. So don’t read his statements as saying, “On the Sabbath you have to 1, 2, and 3.”

What I am not saying, however, is that the message is always understandable. For example, as much as I’ve studied it, the doctrine of thr Trinity make zero sense to me. I wholeheartedly believe in the Trinity…but I don’t understand it. The Triune nature of God is about as illogical in my mind as something could possibly be. That’s probably why I always slaughter the doctrine whenever I try to explain it someone. (This is where you as the reader begins to lose faith and confidence in me as a minister.) But the message of the reality of the Trinity is, nonetheless, uncomplicated. It’s clear…the Bible makes it clear that God is Triune.

The Bible’s not complicated…so let’s quit making it so.

That’s what I’ve been thinking…

Filed under: Random

Bill Stein Sunday Morning Commentary (Oct. 21, 2006)

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary:

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

I don’t know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise’s wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

If this is what it means to be no longer young. It’s not so bad.

Next confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’ t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution, and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too.

But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her “How could God let something like this Happen?” (regarding Katrina)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

In light of recent events…terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about and we said OK.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with “WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.”

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

(Credit: A MySpace friend posted this on his blog. I’ve always been a fan of Bill Stein – conservative, religious, nearly always dead-on with his social commentary. By posting this, I’m not intending to get all Pat Robertson on anyone…I just found this to be rather thought-provoking and interesting coming from a Jew.)

Filed under: Random

Christmas Break Reading List

Here’s the books I hope to read over Christmas Break:

I understand these books are a little unorthodox, especially for a ministry student. But they pique my interest. I plan to write regular posts regarding The Good Book. Stay tuned and happy reading.

Filed under: Random

Interruptions Welcome

For about the last month, the apartment complex we live in has been under construction. The owners felt it was time to extensively remodel the exterior of our building. The remodeling has been a serious interruption for us. Mishaela is struggling to teach piano lessons despite the noise, and I am do everything I can think of to block out the noise and sight of a construction crew right outside the window while I’m trying to study for my Hebrew final. This was certainly not a welcome interruption, but we had no choice…we had to tough it out.

But it got me thinking about God. Many of us can quote (usually without even thinking about it) Jesus’ words, “Ask and it shall be given; seek and you shall find,” but how often do we take those words seriously? I find myself thinking, “God’s got bigger things to worry about than whether or not I remember my Hebrew vocab and verb paradigms.” Often times, we make excuses for not bathing our concerns in prayer, no matter how big or small. We push it off – with good intentions, of course – not wanting to be an inconvenience to God. It’s not that we don’t believe that God will answer our prayers we just don’t want to bother Him with such menial problems.

When I was in college, I was required to do a series of internships relating to my program. Since I was a Biblical Studies major, I connected with a local Baptist church. The staff there quickly welcomed me in and immediately found opportunities for me to serve. What they taught me about ministry I will never forget. I remember very early on walking past the office door of the youth pastor. On his door was a large sign that read:

INTERRUPTIONS WELCOME

God has that same sign hanging on His office door; and He communicates that message to us every time we open up His Word. Imagine if the Israelites had never prayed for God to let them successfully cross the Red Sea – even though He was in the middle of holding back the Egyptian army. Imagine if Rahab never lifted up a prayer to God in the midst of a horrendous battle just outside her front door – even though God was assisting the Israelites in defeating their enemies. Imagine if God ignored Christ’s prayer on the cross, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do” – even though He was carrying the full brunt of the world’s sin upon His back. Imagine…

God welcomes our interruptions – big or small; He commands our interruptions. When was the last time you interrupted Him? Perhaps it’s time to do it again…

Filed under: Random