Supreme Court
I think I will take my usual approach this week to writing my blog in such a way that hopefully creates unity more than it does division. I am sure many would like me to chime in on the Supreme Court ruling or the flag issue. Directly I will discuss neither however I will share my thoughts about the divisiveness this is creating.
I often share a quote that says "never judge anyone because you have no idea what battles they are fighting". This week I, like many, have witnessed great hatred spewed from every direction. I recall another wonderful quote by Gandhi that says this, "I love Christianity but not your Christians so much". Or I love this Gandhi quote, "I will gladly consider Christianity when you can show me a true Christian". The so called Christian movement this week has used every weapon in their arsenal to create division masking it in exposing sin.
I do not share these quotes as reasons for further division I merely share them as respectful talking points. For years I have used my blog in a very peaceful way to discuss the decline in Christian church attendance in America. This morning as I sit here I am reminded of the beautiful song "Amazing Grace" to where we here the line "I was blind but now I see". I think to some extent we are all blind to the reality that God created us different for reasons unknown to us. Regardless of those reasons we must learn to love one another and accept our differences even when we do not agree with them.
I have seen many cafeteria Christians throw around Bible verses this week with little regard to the actual meaning behind them or the implications they may be creating. As a Bible lover myself I feel as though I have some understanding of who, why, how, and the rationale behind the writings. I have studied in depth Bible history because I wanted to know how this book we call God's Word truly came to be. I will not dispute that it was inspired however I will openly say that it took humans to bring it to what we have in our hands today. There were many a men over the early centuries of the Christian history that attempted to create a so called Bible. Consider that there were many writings of the Apostles that are not in the Bible you hold today. The early Church would never endorse those early attempts at God's word, but finally at The Council of Carthage in 392 the Church concluded that all the revelations of divine inspiration were complete and the Bible was to be closed dogmatically forever.
Obviously you could teach four year college courses on the this topic. I only share this in brief as a prelude to the rest of my blog. God indeed had a hand in our creation as we had a hand in the creation of God's word in writing. We were given free will by the very creator that gave us life. In that free will we have used his Word as weapon to express hate in ways that is hard to imagine. We, as sinners, love to pick out easy target sins that may not be applicable to ourselves. Ever wonder why all Christians do not jump on the bandwagon of sex out of wedlock. That sin is called fornication and is repeatedly mentioned in scripture. The reason it is not mentioned because probably 90% of single Christian adults participate in this, so we certainly can't discuss that one. How about the sin of covetousness or idolatry? Well that one is tough too because most of us love our fine clothes, nice houses, fancy cars, elaborate vacations, etc. We love our stuff and yes I am sorry to say that is a form of idolatry. Hey I am the BIGGEST sinner of all and I struggle with those sins constantly.
Being a sinner, of which I think we all are brings to mind another quote a wonderful friend shared with me many years ago. He said "we do not sin because we are bad, we sin because we are human". He taught me that every person I meet can teach me something about myself that I did not know. Once I learned to embrace my humanity I was able to more fully appreciate life. I do not use my humanity as an excuse for my sins but as a means of understanding. Since I am on a roll with quotes this morning let me go ahead and add this one, "may your life preach more loudly than your lips". Why do I share that? Simply because the way we live is the greatest testament to who we are. When it comes to the sins of others we demand justice but when it comes to our sins we expect forgiveness. When we learn that sin is sin and we all do it maybe then we will learn that it is more important to focus on ourselves more than it is hating others. Just give that thought before you attack me.
Contrary to popular belief I do not believe we are in a moral decay in America. Matter of fact I think just the opposite. For those that believe that God has a hand in everything even against our free will, then I will share my thoughts on this. I believe we are in the beginning stages of a Christian Renaissance that will eventually overturn the money changers (the business aspect) of churches, drive out the evil and invite back the agape love of God. There is a movement going on that is underneath all the high profile news opinions that is creating a foundation of peace and love the likes this world hasn't seen in years. The end of the world as we know it may be ending but the world is not coming to an end. Good will replace evil and it will come from love not hate. The walls of division will come tumbling down and the bridges of love will be built over troubled waters in such a way that everyone will want to feel what it is like to be accepted. The Christian movement is not going away by any stretch, matter of fact it is just now getting going.
I know many religious radicals or fanatics will love to blast my thoughts of which I welcome. I love open friendly debate, I believe that is one of the things that can further bridge our differences as Christians and as humans. I could write volumes this morning however I believe sometimes it is best to just stop and allow our minds to wander to great places. Hopefully there will be some wisdom gained from this silly rambling and we can have open discussions that will bring more love and unification.
peace be with you
Dale
I often share a quote that says "never judge anyone because you have no idea what battles they are fighting". This week I, like many, have witnessed great hatred spewed from every direction. I recall another wonderful quote by Gandhi that says this, "I love Christianity but not your Christians so much". Or I love this Gandhi quote, "I will gladly consider Christianity when you can show me a true Christian". The so called Christian movement this week has used every weapon in their arsenal to create division masking it in exposing sin.
I do not share these quotes as reasons for further division I merely share them as respectful talking points. For years I have used my blog in a very peaceful way to discuss the decline in Christian church attendance in America. This morning as I sit here I am reminded of the beautiful song "Amazing Grace" to where we here the line "I was blind but now I see". I think to some extent we are all blind to the reality that God created us different for reasons unknown to us. Regardless of those reasons we must learn to love one another and accept our differences even when we do not agree with them.
I have seen many cafeteria Christians throw around Bible verses this week with little regard to the actual meaning behind them or the implications they may be creating. As a Bible lover myself I feel as though I have some understanding of who, why, how, and the rationale behind the writings. I have studied in depth Bible history because I wanted to know how this book we call God's Word truly came to be. I will not dispute that it was inspired however I will openly say that it took humans to bring it to what we have in our hands today. There were many a men over the early centuries of the Christian history that attempted to create a so called Bible. Consider that there were many writings of the Apostles that are not in the Bible you hold today. The early Church would never endorse those early attempts at God's word, but finally at The Council of Carthage in 392 the Church concluded that all the revelations of divine inspiration were complete and the Bible was to be closed dogmatically forever.
Obviously you could teach four year college courses on the this topic. I only share this in brief as a prelude to the rest of my blog. God indeed had a hand in our creation as we had a hand in the creation of God's word in writing. We were given free will by the very creator that gave us life. In that free will we have used his Word as weapon to express hate in ways that is hard to imagine. We, as sinners, love to pick out easy target sins that may not be applicable to ourselves. Ever wonder why all Christians do not jump on the bandwagon of sex out of wedlock. That sin is called fornication and is repeatedly mentioned in scripture. The reason it is not mentioned because probably 90% of single Christian adults participate in this, so we certainly can't discuss that one. How about the sin of covetousness or idolatry? Well that one is tough too because most of us love our fine clothes, nice houses, fancy cars, elaborate vacations, etc. We love our stuff and yes I am sorry to say that is a form of idolatry. Hey I am the BIGGEST sinner of all and I struggle with those sins constantly.
Being a sinner, of which I think we all are brings to mind another quote a wonderful friend shared with me many years ago. He said "we do not sin because we are bad, we sin because we are human". He taught me that every person I meet can teach me something about myself that I did not know. Once I learned to embrace my humanity I was able to more fully appreciate life. I do not use my humanity as an excuse for my sins but as a means of understanding. Since I am on a roll with quotes this morning let me go ahead and add this one, "may your life preach more loudly than your lips". Why do I share that? Simply because the way we live is the greatest testament to who we are. When it comes to the sins of others we demand justice but when it comes to our sins we expect forgiveness. When we learn that sin is sin and we all do it maybe then we will learn that it is more important to focus on ourselves more than it is hating others. Just give that thought before you attack me.
Contrary to popular belief I do not believe we are in a moral decay in America. Matter of fact I think just the opposite. For those that believe that God has a hand in everything even against our free will, then I will share my thoughts on this. I believe we are in the beginning stages of a Christian Renaissance that will eventually overturn the money changers (the business aspect) of churches, drive out the evil and invite back the agape love of God. There is a movement going on that is underneath all the high profile news opinions that is creating a foundation of peace and love the likes this world hasn't seen in years. The end of the world as we know it may be ending but the world is not coming to an end. Good will replace evil and it will come from love not hate. The walls of division will come tumbling down and the bridges of love will be built over troubled waters in such a way that everyone will want to feel what it is like to be accepted. The Christian movement is not going away by any stretch, matter of fact it is just now getting going.
I know many religious radicals or fanatics will love to blast my thoughts of which I welcome. I love open friendly debate, I believe that is one of the things that can further bridge our differences as Christians and as humans. I could write volumes this morning however I believe sometimes it is best to just stop and allow our minds to wander to great places. Hopefully there will be some wisdom gained from this silly rambling and we can have open discussions that will bring more love and unification.
peace be with you
Dale
Comments