Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Me & The World’ Category

WHEN SOMETHING IN THE AIR IS OH SO RARE

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2013| 7 Comments »

BurtonCummingsHe visited a church. It left him so “scared” that he wrote one of his best-known songs about the experience. But what happened – or didn’t happen – after?

I’m referring to Burton Cummings, the pride of Winnipeg, Manitoba, leader of the Guess Who, one of Canada’s best known classic rock bands and a well-known solo singer/songwriter/pianist.

During the 1970s, Cummings was in New York City and visited St. Thomas Church. His time inside that glorious cathedral was so moving, he wrote ‘I’m Scared’, a song on his first solo CD that he still performs today.

Stopped by to see St. Thomas, on a cold and dreary New York afternoon
Something in the air was oh so rare
I don’t know what it was but I know that it’s still right there
and I’m scared.

As Cummings said years later, during a reverential 2011 YouTube video tour of the church, “There was a presence, definitely a presence”.

In fact, the lyrics to ‘I’m Scared’ say this:

Never been much on religion, but I sure enough would like to hear the call.
Come on now, give me a sign you’re listening to me
You hear me talking, you hear me crying, it’s confusing to me Lord, I’m terrified.

So as far as I can tell, God DID give him a sign He was listening. He knew about Cummings’ spiritual emptiness, brought him to St. Thomas Church and touched his soul in a way he’d probably never before experienced.

And yet, every other recording, TV or radio interview, video (including one on his latest studio CD, Above The Ground, which is laced with F-bombs) and all the blogs on his website make it clear that Cummings didn’t respond to God. God gave him a sign and Cummings turned his eyes away.

Certainly, that’s the easiest thing to do in our culture, which seems to regard most spirituality with suspicion and followers of Jesus of Nazareth with outright contempt. But in doing the easy thing, Cummings is still left with a spiritual hole – just read between the lines of his blog entries and you can see it for yourself.

For many years, I did the same thing as Cummings. Through my experiences and encounters with people who followed Jesus, God reached out to me and invited me to connect with Him through His Son.

It had almost nothing to do with “religion”, but everything to do with a life-long, life-enhancing relationship that would continue after my time on this planet is done. And until 2002, I ignored it.

Has this ever happened to you? Do you recall an experience laced with a presence you can only call “God”? If yes, why not revisit it? Then post a comment below (or, if you want more privacy, email me at fdking@hotmail.com) and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »

WHEN CHURCH AND TAVERN COLLIDE

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2013| 16 Comments »

“People go to church for the same reasons they go to a tavern: to stupefy themselves, to forget their misery, to imagine themselves, for a few minutes anyway, free and happy.”
Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876)

MikhailBakuninWow; how’s THAT for a shot across the bow of anyone with a faith life? I stumbled upon this provocative quote on the internet the other day and it definitely caused my mental wheels to spin.

While I’m sure some of you agree with this Russian philosopher and revolutionary (he was a contemporary of communism co-founder Karl Marx), how about taking a moment to be open-minded and read something from the “other side”?

Going to church is like going to a tavern? Well, there are similarities. Both are social activities, since they include interacting with others in a confined space.

Forgetting our miseries? Yes, there’s some commonality there, too. Just as there is between attending church and going to a rock concert or a play or a movie. For those hours, we leave our lives at the door and enter into a new experience.

“Imagining” myself free and happy? Bakunin, who never saw a revolution that he didn’t like or try to encourage (no matter how pointless or violent), might dismiss church like this, but he certainly didn’t have all the answers to life. No one does.

But I will say this: I AM free and happier as a church-going man.

I am free from the guilt associated with all the bad things I’ve done and all the good things I’ve failed to do, because of the death of Jesus of Nazaareth (who many people believe is the Son of God).

His sacrificial death, for anyone who believes in Him and follows Him, means my “sins” have been wiped from the books. Want evidence? Then consider these words from an ancient Jesus follower’: “Jesus is the way our sins are taken away. And he is the way all people can have their sins taken away, too.”

Knowing what Jesus has done for me (and for you too, if you want it) makes me happier. It also makes me want to invite Him into my life so I can become more of the person He knows I can be.

The way Bakunin saw it, going to a tavern and going to church are equally useless. But attending church has transformed many lives for the better — and for eternity. Can you credibly make the same case for any tavern, pub or bar? Post your response and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »

WOULD YOU CALL THIS MISPLACED AUTHORITY?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 9, 2013| 7 Comments »

StanleyMilgramWhile in Toronto (Canada’s largest city), I visited the Ontario Science Centre and discovered an exhibit on Stanley Milgram (1933-84), a psychologist best known for a controversial 1960s human behavior study.

The science centre exhibit was all about Milgram’s study and I couldn’t leave until reading all the information panels and watching the video.

In his experiment, participants were instructed to “teach” students in an adjacent room who were supposedly hooked up to electric shock machines. Students were asked questions and every time they answered incorrectly, the participants were told to administer a corrective shock.

In reality, no one was given a shock, but pre-recorded sounds were played that made it sound like the students were reacting in pain to the shocks. And those sounds (screams, pounding on the wall) grew in volume and intensity as each incorrect answer was given and the resulting voltage level of the “shock” was increased.

How did participants react? If they asked to stop the experiment, they were requested (at first), then told they had to continue. If they still said no, the experiment ended, but if they continued, the experiment often didn’t stop until the student was given the maximum 450-volt “shock” three times.

What’s amazing is most participants continued when assured they would not be held responsible. In fact, in each version of the experiment, between 61 and 66 per cent of the participants went all the way to administering what they believed were life-threatening shocks.

How would I react in this situation? Would I trust in the authority figure and potentially kill someone, especially if I believed I wouldn’t be held responsible?

History is rife with evil people claiming what they did wasn’t their fault. Some of the most infamous Nazis used this “I was just following orders” defence when they were put on trial. Would I do the same thing? Or, as a serious follower of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God), would I realize that I had no business handing over authority to people who are as hugely imperfect as I am?

In the end, I believe you and I can confidently give the power of authority over our lives to the same person that Jesus gave authority to: God.

Jesus prayed to God just hours before he was taken into custody on false charges, sentenced to death, then hung on a Roman cross between two criminals. Knowing what was about to transpire, he prayed “Father, if you are willing, take away this cup of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want.”

The result of Jesus giving authority to his creator – the same creator responsible for you and me – was not just death. It was resurrection. It was the gift of forgiveness of all moral crimes offered to every single person on this planet. And whether you accept it or not, what Jesus did changed the world forever.

So, whatever’s going on in my life, I’m going to follow Jesus and give ultimate authority to the only person who is absolutely, completely trustworthy. How about you? Post your answer below and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »

RECONSIDERING CHILDHOOD DECISIONS

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2013| 27 Comments »

RickyGervaisThe online article is called “My Argument With God: How I went from Jesus-loving Christian to fun-loving infidel…in one afternoon”. Written by Ricky Gervais, it details how the British actor/comedian rejected his faith.

Fascinating reading? Definitely. The pivotal moment came when Gervais (who created the mega-successful TV comedy The Office) was just eight years old and was asked by his 19-year-old brother why he believed in God.

Here’s what happened next, straight from the article:

“(It was) just a simple question. But my mum panicked. ‘Bob,’ she said, in a tone that I knew meant “shut up”. Why was that a bad thing to ask? If there was a God and my faith was strong, it didn’t matter what people said.

“Oh…hang on. There is no God. He [Gervais’ brother] knows it and she knows it, deep down. It was as simple as that. I started thinking about it and asking more questions and within an hour, I was an atheist.”

That’s it. Gervais made a decision as a child, apparently without talking about it with his mother, brother or anyone else (the article doesn’t say to whom he asked his questions, so I’m assuming the ‘conversation’ took place inside his head). And the rest of the article makes it clear that he never bothered to revisit it.

Astonishing? From one point of view, not at all. I don’t think I’m being paranoid when I write that in most of Europe and North America, Jesus followers are held in contempt by a majority of the media, by the entertainment industry and by most atheists. That’s definitely the case in Canada, where I live. So Gervais made his life easier by joining the majority.

On the other hand, what leaves me stunned is that Gervais has apparently never reconsidered a decision made when he had pretty much no knowledge or experience about anything. Heck, his brain wasn’t even close to fully formed yet. And it’s a decision that even the most militant atheist or agnostic will probably agree is very important.

I wonder; are there any areas of my life where I’ve made important decisions as a child and have been too proud or ignorant to review them? How have these decisions made my life poorer? How have they closed off my mind and my heart to making changes?

Thankfully, one of those areas hasn’t been my spiritual life. I wrestled with questions about God, Jesus and faith for many years. I debated Jesus followers, read several books and finally decided (at age 41) that despite not having all my questions answered, the best thing I could do with my life and future is to follow Jesus, now and for all eternity.

What about you? Did you reject God and His son years ago and never revisit your decision? Are you humble enough to admit it might be worth reconsidering? Post a comment below and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »

HITTING THE ‘DELETE’ KEY

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2013| 8 Comments »

DeleteKeyI think all us email users can agree on this: often, there is no better button on our keyboard than ‘delete’.

“Earn your degree while you earn a living!” DELETE.

“Browse local Asian singles near you!” DELETE.

“Prepare for a job in law enforcement!” DELETE.

(Ever notice how these spammers are addicted to exclamation marks?)

“Don’t pay your next cable bill without reading this!” DELETE.

As we go through this routine, it occurs to me that most of us probably wish we could whack a delete key on some things that we’ve done and said. Or things we should have done & said, but didn’t.

  • I’d love to erase the hurtful things I’ve said to my wife.
  • I wish I could delete those times I’ve cut off other drivers.
  • I’d sure like to wipe out all those negative thoughts I’ve had about my abilities.
  • I wish I could delete those times when I’ve reacted hastily without getting all the facts.
  • Wouldn’t it be great to erase that dumb thing I did at work last week?

For people like me, who’ve decided to follow Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God), there’s a great thing to know and make a part of our lives: God’s favourite button is also DELETE.

The mistakes I’ve made? Gone. Those times I should have said something helpful to a co-worker, but simply walked away silent? Wiped out.  That relationship that went sour because of me? Eliminated.

How about you? The contractor you paid under the table to avoid taxes? It could be gone. Those nasty things you’ve thought or said about your relative? They could be wiped out.

How far can this go? If you believe in a creator who cares about everything that goes on in our lives, then all the way to something this trivial: all the occasions when I carelessly deposited perfectly recyclable things into the garbage? Deleted.

How do I know this? Well, consider these words from an ancient Jesus follower: “Jesus was offered as a sacrifice one time to take away the sins of many people.”

One of those people is me. And it could be YOU, too.

If you accept this sacrifice, another ancient Jesus follower wrote “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

As a pastor friend, Adrian van Giessen, told people once, “When you belong to Jesus, then all the stuff that God can look at and say ‘you did this and you did that,’ he wipes it away and says, ‘I see you as I see Jesus’.”

I looooooove having God see me, with all my glow-in-the-dark imperfections, just as He sees His Son: perfect, without a single blemish. It empowers me to do better, to try to live up to how God sees me – even as I know that when I fall short, He hits the DELETE key, because, as Adrian put it, I “belong to Jesus”.

What do you think…does this make sense? Post a comment below and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »

THE SNOW ON OUR LANDSCAPES

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 12, 2013| 2 Comments »

SnowFranksCottageThere’s nothing like a blanket of fresh snow to get the nature photographer in me excited.

That snow creates endless picture opportunities because it covers up all manner of unappealing features (a majority of them man-made, I’ve found) that ruin otherwise good photo subjects.

Covered with snow, they disappear and landscapes are transformed into smooth, white wonders that dazzle even the most cynical, unartistic eye. I’ve come to realize this reality is also a metaphor for our lives.

My less appealing characteristics – pride, jealousy, selfishness, lack of communication (I’m sure you can name a few that apply to you) – are like ugly piles of smelly garbage on a pristine landscape.

So what is the ‘snow’ that covers them up? It’s nothing you or I can provide, no matter how long and hard we try. But consider this quote written by an ancient prophet: “Even if your sins are as dark as red dye, that stain can be removed and you will be as pure as wool that is as white as snow.”

That’s a pretty important statement because it tells me that God, my creator, can undo everything I’ve done to ruin the landscape of my life. He has a standing offer to transform the ugly parts of all our lives – the bad things we’ve done and the good things we’ve failed to do – through Jesus of Nazareth, an amazing guy who many people believe is His Son.

Jesus paid the price to have ugly parts of our lives removed from God’s sight through His death and resurrection. He’s the snow that transforms our landscapes and God offers Him to every person on this planet because God knows us better than we know ourselves. And He knows we can’t fix things on our own.

Want evidence? Then how about these words from one of Jesus’s earliest and most influential followers: “There is only one God, and there is only one way that people can reach God. That way is through Christ Jesus, who as a man gave himself to pay for everyone to be free.”

So, how is your landscape looking today? Like it or not, I’ll bet it needs some cleaning up and I’ll bet you haven’t been able to do that. So, is it time you checked out God’s offer to do it for you? Post your answer below and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »

YOUR 20-DOLLAR VALUE

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2012| 10 Comments »

moneyIt’s a refrain many people have said (or thought) and it usually goes like this: “I’m a screw-up; God doesn’t want to bother with me.” Or how about this variation: “God doesn’t care about me ‘cause I’ve done way too much bad stuff.” And finally, this one: “I can’t do any of that religion stuff ’til I get my act together.”

To all these statements, I present this neat little story: the pastor stood before many hundreds of people and asked if anyone had a mint-condition 20-dollar bill he could borrow. Someone put up their hand and handed over the cash.

The pastor held up the money and asked how many people saw value in this piece of paper. Hands shot up from all around the church. Great. Then he scrunched up the 20-dollar bill, tossed it on the ground and vigorously stepped on it.

After that, he picked up the beaten-up bill, held it high and once again asked how many people saw value in it. The same number of hands shot up.

Well, how about that? In perfect shape or beaten up and tattered, the congregation still saw the money as having worth.

If that’s the case for people and 20 bucks, why wouldn’t it be the case for the creator of the universe and us incredibly imperfect humans?

Looking for evidence? One of the earliest followers of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) wrote this:  “God showed his great love for us by sending Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners.”

See? He didn’t hold back his compassion for us and His interest in every part of our lives until we cleaned up our act. God moved FIRST, knowing that we can never truly get our act together enough. God moved FIRST, knowing that something had to be done so people like me can have all our wrongs righted by believing in and following Jesus.

I’m about as imperfect as the most tattered, dirty and beaten-up 20-dollar bill you’re ever going to see. But to the creator of all that is good and right, I’m as valuable as the newest, cleanest, most perfect piece of currency you could possibly find.

The same is true for YOU. God proved it through Jesus and offers YOU a place in eternity with Him. Interested in knowing more about this offer? Post your questions below and let’s have a conversation

Read Full Post »

BREAKING BREAD WITH AN ATHEIST

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 1, 2012| 4 Comments »

I’ve never met Mike Treder. In fact, I’d never even heard of Mike Treder until finding this meme. But I’m very grateful for him.

The thoughts of Mr Treder  – a former managing director of the U.S.-based Institute for Emerging Ethics and Technologies – gives me a gift-wrapped opportunity to deal with so many charges made against people of faith. So let’s get to it:

  • I’m not the least bit offended by atheists. I respect many of them because they’ve gone against our culture and actually thought (usually long and hard) about what they do and don’t believe and why.
  • I oppose ALL religious wars, jihads, crusades and inquisitions. No exceptions. And I’ve never met a single follower of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) who thinks differently. In fact, Jesus gave this advice to all of us who follow Him: “If someone hits you on the side of your face, let them hit the other side too. If someone takes your coat, don’t stop them from taking your shirt, too.” Does that sound like someone who would ever advocate a holy war or inquisition?
  • I’m absolutely against censoring of free speech. That includes censoring people of faith. Are you that inclusive too, Mike?
  • Brainwashing of children is wrong. But denying information that would help children make their own decisions about something as important as faith is a form of brainwashing, in my opinion. And that’s equally wrong. So is brainwashing children to oppose faith. Where do you stand on this, Mike?
  • Murdering albinos?? Well, if there’s a wacko religious cult doing that somewhere, then I’m certainly as offended as you, Mike. In fact, ‘offended’ is too mild a word for how I would feel about something like this.
  • Forcing girls into underage marriages is demented, in my book, and no serious Jesus follower would ever advocate it.
  • Male and female genital mutilation is barbaric. So is stoning anyone for any reason at any time. Serious Jesus followers have nothing to do with either one.
  • I had to look up pederasty. Now that I know what it is (a homosexual relationship between a young man and a pubescent boy outside his immediate family, according to Wikipedia), I can say that I’m far more than “offended” by it, Mike.
  • Homophobia is definitely wrong and I’m always sorry and grieved when a fellow Jesus follower strays into that territory.
  • Rejection of science and reason? I love science because it’s God’s way of showing me how He works, so I’m offended when anyone rejects it. And so are many other Jesus followers. In fact, I wrote an essay about all the Jesus-following scientists out there, Mike. Here’s a link to it: http://bit.ly/Tgrt9p

How about you…did you ever expect an atheist and a serious Jesus follower to have so much in common? Post your response below and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »

WHAT IS YOUR ‘CRUTCH’?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2012| 7 Comments »

Crutch  [noun]: 1.  a long staff of wood or metal having a rest for the armpit, for supporting the weight of the body  2.  something that supports or sustains: ‘a crutch to the economy’

It’s a common charge laid against God and those who follow Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is God’s Son): “They’re just a psychological crutch for weak, needy types.”

There are two implications here. The obvious one is strong, independent people don’t need a “crutch”. They can – and supposedly do – make it on their own.

However, it seems to me we all have psychological crutches – the need to be loved, for example, and the need for companionship. Neither of these do a thing to provide our daily physical needs – food, water and shelter. In most cases, neither of them even supply an income. Yet very few people have ever declared love and companionship to be useless wastes of time. Why not?

Frank Harber, writing in a popular spiritual magazine, goes a step further: “Atheism – the belief that there is no God – can become a crutch for those addicted to a lifestyle contrary to God’s standards of morality.”

Author and former pastor Bob Prall has connected with this thought, noting, “If Christianity is a psychological crutch, then Jesus Christ came because there was an epidemic of broken legs.”

Harber goes on to declare, “Everyone needs assistance. The question is, what will you lean on? [Jesus of Nazareth] provides what atheism or other religions never can: spiritual fulfillment, peace, and forgiveness.”

The second, subtle implication is there is no God to rely on, so believers are just tricking themselves through their weakness of believing. The most famous proponent of this view is still Sigmund Freud.

“For Freud, God is made in humanity’s own image, the ‘ultimate wish-fulfillment,’ the end product of human desire for a loving father,” wrote Amy Orr-Ewing in Pulse magazine.

Orr-Ewing then makes this point: “The argument about projection cuts both ways.  After all, isn’t it equally possible to say that Freud and other atheists deny the existence of God out of a need to escape from a father figure, or to argue that the non-existence of God springs from a deep-seated desire for no father figure to exist?”

Leaving this important argument aside for a moment, I consider this “psychological crutch” question from a personal perspective. Before I became a Jesus follower, I:

  • lived on my own, quite happily, for almost 20 years;
  • had friendships and hobbies;
  • enjoyed spending time with my parents and brothers;
  • had romantic relationships; and
  • developed a satisfying, award-winning journalism career.

Do I sound like a weak person in need of a psychological crutch? If the answer is no, then how do people making this charge explain folks like me? Weigh in with your answer below and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »

A SIMPLE WAY TO BE UNIQUE

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 10, 2012| 5 Comments »

It’s a funny world we live in.

On one hand, most of us want to feel accepted by our peers, so we spend all kinds of time consciously or unconsciously fitting in – making sure we’re as much like everyone else as is possible. That’s why, in my 50s, I decided against nose or lip rings (yes, I’m trying to be funny!).

But our culture also celebrates uniqueness because, contrarily, most of us want to feel special. That means our attention, and the media spotlight, zeroes in on unusual products, a radical “sound” shift in music – think punk and grunge; wild appearance – again, back to the nose and lip rings; and outlandish lifestyles – such as the strange life of Michael Jackson.

Where am I going with all this? Well, pursuing a life that’s mostly centred around you-you-you will certainly help you fit in with the crowd.

  •     Go shopping. So what if you spent $300 on fashions just a week ago?
  •     Plan your weeknights around the latest hot reality TV show.
  •     Get a tan.
  •     Buy another monster big-screen television.
  •     Replace your old iPhone because, hey, it’s six months old.

My optimistic prediction is that, after awhile, all this will start to get really old. And downright silly. Then, I hope, you’ll be ready for something deeper. Something that could affect you for all eternity.

If you’re near that point now, consider being a radical: purchase a Bible—preferably, a version called The Message, because it’s the easiest to comprehend—and start reading. That act alone will make you unique among most of the people you know.

Some may call you crazy for doing this radical thing. Some may shake their heads. But lots of people like me are pulling for you. And the last time I checked, no one had declared me crazy. Just unique.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »