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Posts Tagged ‘Frank’s Cottage’

WHO’S TO BLAME?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 21, 2013| 18 Comments »

Who's to blame?What I find so fascinating about hanging out with atheist folks is many of them love to blame God for pretty much everything they don’t like.

I suppose there’s an irony here, since atheism is defined as believing there is no God. But I suspect that most atheist people make charges like what you see in this graphic because they’re angry with people who DO believe in God.

All that said, you may be sitting back and asking me, a serious follower of Jesus of Nazareth, “OK, what about all the starving children and your prayers of thanks for food?”

Consider this: According to Oxfam Canada, there is enough food to feed everyone. In fact, the organization says the world produces 17 per cent more food per person today than 30 years ago.

So what’s the problem? It’s certainly not God. It’s corrupt governments, greedy big business, rich people who don’t care enough about the world’s problem to do anything and poor people who accept their lot in life without any fight. In other words, the problem is humanity.

Ok, you think. But why hasn’t God done an end-run around people and fixed the problem on His own? First, He IS doing something about it, through organizations like Oxfam, Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, Feed The Children and dozens more.

This leads directly to my second point: thousands of years of evidence makes it clear that God prefers to work through people than on His own. Given our very, VERY imperfect nature, many folks may question this approach (count me among them), but it’s still God’s way and I respect it.

And that leads to my third point: since God is working through us to tackle the problem of hunger, what are YOU doing to make yourself available to Him? What organizations are you supporting? How are you thinking about the ways you spend your income? The vacations you go on?

The graphic is making another point – rejecting the power of prayer. I’ve tackled that issue elsewhere on Frank’s Cottage (http://wp.me/p2wzRb-9a), so all I’ll write about that here is this: I’m going to continue to be thankful to God for all He’s given me, including the gift of Jesus (who many people believe is His Son). And I’m going to continue to ask Him to use me in the work He’s doing to change the hearts and minds of people.

Now what are YOU going to do? Post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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FROM FAITH TO BLESSINGS

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 14, 2013| 14 Comments »

From faith to blessings 11.13Striking, angry, bitter words, aren’t they?

This graphic, posted on an internet Atheism community, certainly states an opinion very strongly. But exactly what is the creator of this meme raving about?

Wikipedia defines faith as “confidence or trust in a person, thing, deity or in the doctrines or teachings of a religion or view (e.g. having strong political faith). The word faith is often used as a synonym for hope, trust or belief.”

Does this sound like something worth throwing your time and energy into opposing? It certainly doesn’t to me.

But what about being gullible, having an absence of reason, etc.? Well consider this: I decided to follow Jesus of Nazareth — who many people believe is the divine son of God — at age 42, after reading many books from variety of perspectives, thinking long and hard about what I believed in and why, and having challenging conversations with several Jesus followers.

But if you are to believe everything in this graphic, then after all my deliberation, I made a choice to become gullible. I decided to throw away reason. Become dishonest and blind myself (to what, I’m not sure).

Are you really buying this?

I can imagine some opponents of faith saying it’s what people of faith do that’s so wrong, especially when they use their faith to back up their actions.

On this point, we absolutely agree. There’s nothing more wrong than blowing up a skyscraper, denying rights to women or bombing abortion clinics in the name of faith. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

That said, here’s a question for you: should all faith be detested because of the crazed actions of a fanatical few? I know how many atheist people would answer, but what about YOU?

Like it or not, it seems to me, faith is mixed into the fabric of our lives.

  • We place our faith in doctors without knowing if (or how often) they’ve been sued for malpractice.
  • We go on airplane trips, trusting in mechanics and safety inspectors (who are every bit as imperfect as you and me) to ensure the plane is safe.
  • We drive our vehicles over bridges every day, placing our faith in nothing more than steel, concrete and rebar, plus annual government inspections.

So, if you really want to detest faith, then you better not leave the house again. In fact, maybe you shouldn’t even live in a house. Despite all the building codes designed to ensure it was built to last, who knows when it could fall in on you?

My faith in Jesus means that without seeing Him, I know that He lived, died and came back to life – all for the benefit of people who believe in Him and trust Him with their lives.

Does this sound crazy? Jesus addresses that very question when, after his resurrection, he permitted a follower named Thomas to touch the wounds of his crucifixion.

“So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes,” Jesus told ‘doubting’ Thomas. “Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”

Do you want those blessings? Post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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HIGHER LEARNING AND THE HIGHER POWER

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2013| 13 Comments »

Oxford UniversityHere’s something I’ll bet you didn’t know: some of the world’s most renowned universities have their origins in Christianity.

Huh? Aren’t followers of Jesus of Nazareth kinda dumb – you know, shut off from reality and opposed to non-religious “higher learning”? That’s certainly the inference I’ve read in blogs by many atheists.

To make the point further, the website About.com states “It is true that studies have repeatedly shown a correlation between atheism and education levels. The more education a person receives — especially in the sciences — the less religious they become and the less likely they are to remain theists (believers in God).”

But get this: the motto at the University of Oxford in England, quite possibly the most prestigious university on the planet, is “The Lord is my Light”.

As an aside, consider this: Among Oxford’s Jesus-following graduates are famed authors C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) and J. R. R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings). Both were university professors, too. That’s right, serious followers of Jesus were – and are – teaching in the planet’s highest institutions of learning.

The motto of another famed institution, Princeton University in the United States, is “Under God’s Power She Flourishes”.

Another aside: Among Princeton’s famed Jesus-following professors (and presidents) is American president Woodrow Wilson, who helped form the League of Nations, which led to the United Nations. “He was a frequent church-goer and read the Bible regularly,” says the website Adherents.com.

Want some more examples of universities that wouldn’t be around today without Jesus followers? Then add the University of Paris and the University of Bologna (Italy) to the list.

In fact, Wikipedia states that “The university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting. Prior to the establishment of universities, European higher education took place for hundreds of years in Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools , in which monks and nuns taught classes; evidence of these immediate forerunners of the later university at many places dates back to the 6th century AD.”

As for the assertion that scientific education, in particular, causes atheism, I’ve tackled that on this website (see “Naïve children, frightened seniors?” – http://bit.ly/Tgrt9p)

So, what do you think of all this? Does this make you more willing to check out Jesus? Type your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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PAINTING A PICTURE OF LIFE

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 30, 2013| 3 Comments »

paintingMy mother can paint a decent picture. Me? I understand things like perspective and lighting, but only through a camera lens.

Still, I’ve been painting a metaphorical picture for many years now. And often, I didn’t even know it.

My “paint and brushes” are selfishness, willful ignorance, irrational anger, ignoring the needs of others, and self-centred greed.

Each is just a smudge of color on a canvas. But after all these years, those smudges have created a large and unappealing picture of someone who, time and time again, falls short of who I’m meant to be and misses the mark of what I should be aiming at.

How can I fix this painting? Especially when I keep adding to it like a drunken shopaholic with a fistful of credit cards?

The answer is simple: no matter how hard I try, no matter how many self-help books I read and no matter how many reruns of Oprah “fix up your life” episodes I watch, I can’t.

But there is a solution, once I figured out who can help me. It’s God who created me (and you), who put all sorts of gifts inside me (and you), who knows the kind of person you and I can be and the sorts of things we can accomplish.

God also knows every smudge I’ve put on that painting and every smudge you’ve put on yours. And He’s the one who offers the simple, life-changing solution: a guy named Jesus. He turned the ancient world on its head with offensive ideas like loving your enemies, forgiving someone who hurts you or your loved ones, and having a real, day-to-day relationship with God.

When the Roman authorities of his day put Jesus to death, they didn’t know they were also making a way for everyone who believes in Jesus to have their lives turned around. His death was the payment I didn’t have to make to have my ugly painting turned into white, clean canvas.

Want some evidence? I found it the words passed along to us through an ancient prophet: “Though your sins are like scarlet, I [God] will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”

Just as important as making payment, Jesus’s death—and His resurrection, described by several ancient Jesus biographies—opened the door to eternal life with God for all who believe in Jesus. When my days on this earth are finished, it’s just the end of the opening credits; the glorious 3-D Imax movie hasn’t even begun yet.

Anyone can have this. No matter how big and ugly your painting is, by accepting and believing in what Jesus did, you can have a brand-new canvas that God can use to create a picture of love, grace and new life. So, why not put your paint brushes aside and join me?

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A POWERLESS GOD?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 23, 2013| 15 Comments »

Where is God's power?Is the graphic here – kindly provided by an Internet atheism community – true? Has the power of God (if you believe in Him) been reduced to a comedian’s punchline?

Sometimes it feels that way. So many of us look at this broken world, see the corruption, poverty, environmental degradation and violence, then wonder “if you exist, God, when the heck are You gonna show up and fix this?”

I’m a serious follower of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is God’s Son), but there are times when I think this, too. Then I remember some key facts that straighten out my thinking.

1. Let’s be honest here; lots of people like the world as it is. Those who participate in child sex slavery probably think things are just peachy. Those who benefit from corruption likely don’t want anything to change. And those who are dumping garbage into the ocean probably have a team of lawyers ready to fight for the status quo.

2. My first point leads to the gift – and challenge – of freewill. The state of our world makes it plain to me that God takes this gift very, VERY seriously. So seriously, in fact, that He lets us spit on that gift every day. I know that’s what I do when I talk about someone behind their back, ignore the speed limit or offend someone with my incessant need to make jokes.

3. How do I know what God is really up to? Consider the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989-90. Or the defusing of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Or the eradication of smallpox. How do any of us know that God wasn’t behind these events?

4. The evidence of thousands of years clearly shows that working in partnership with us very imperfect humans is God’s preferred method of operating. Indeed, the words of ancient prophets and Jesus followers have all kinds of stories about God working through folks like Paul (an opponent of Jesus who became one of His most devoted followers) to accomplish His will.

So, when you consider these points, has God really been reduced to appearing on toast? Or is He making it clear that “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work” (words passed along through an ancient prophet).

I know that can be frustrating. But much more importantly, it’s a powerful reminder to me (and, hopefully, to you) that God is God. And I am not.

In the meantime, what I do know for certain about God is that He offers the gift of Jesus to everyone – no matter what we’ve done or not done.

When we accept that gift and decide to follow Jesus, we give God permission to start working in our lives to make us better people and this planet a better place. Does this interest you? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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FINISHING WHAT HE STARTS

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 16, 2013| 5 Comments »

Finished“Be confident of this, that the One who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ Jesus.”
–    A letter from Paul, a missionary, to one of the early groups following Jesus of Nazareth

A lot of people who believe there’s a God out there also believe this God has washed His hands of them.

I know I’ve had times in my life where this has happened; I imagine God saying “What? You’ve screwed up again? I’m so tired of having to deal with you…I’m out of here.” And with that, God throws in His spiritual towel and walks away.

Then I heard a pastor, Adrian van Giessen, talk about those words from Paul, one of the men most responsible for telling people about Jesus throughout the Mediterranean.

Adrian’s way of interpreting Paul was this simple: God finishes what He starts.

You and I may tire of something; we may decide all is lost and give up the ghost. But as Adrian put it, there’s not a quitter bone in God’s body.

This means no matter what we do, no matter how many times we screw up, no matter how often we repeat the same mistake, God doesn’t lose hope. He keeps His hard hat, work gloves and tool belt on; He keeps the plan He has for your life squarely in front of Him; and He never, ever gives up on you. Or me.

Now, some might examine their lives and declare God didn’t begin a good work in them at all, so there’s nothing to finish. When I’ve felt this way, I’ve looked to an ancient biography of Jesus for words you might have heard before: God so loved the world that He gave His only son and whoever believes in and seriously follows the son will go on living even after his or her body dies.

Notice the verse simply says ‘the world’, rather than ‘some parts of the world’? That means you and I are on the list of what God loves. So why wouldn’t He start a good work in you, too?

If you believe this, there is an important thing to do: stop dwelling on what happened to you in the past – including the stuff that makes you think God didn’t begin a good work in you – and simply co-operate with Him.

Read the words of Jesus, his followers and the ancient prophets; find out where God stands on the issues, discover how Jesus (who many people believe is His son) prayed to him and what are priorities to God. Then think about your plans, your actions, your thoughts, your strengths and weaknesses and try to put them through a God filter…is this what He wants for your life?

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THE DISEASE THAT’S NOT IMAGINARY

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

Sin 10.13“Sin” is not a word we use much anymore.
And it’s easy to understand why: embarrassing televangelists have turned it into a ridiculously pronounced cliche (can’t you just hear them pontificating about ‘see-in’?). Furthermore, in North America, the media and entertainment industries have mercilessly lampooned the word and anyone who dares to even whisper it.

So, call it what you want. Moral crimes, moral failings. I’m sure I could find more names for sin, but you get it.

Responding to the charge in this online ‘graphic’ (conveniently posted for me on an Atheism Internet community), I looked up the word. Here’s what I found:

Transgression of divine law: the sin of Adam.
Any act regarded as such a transgression, especially a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle.
Any reprehensible or regrettable action, behavior, lapse, etc.; great fault or offense: It’s a sin to waste time.

After reading these definitions, all I can do is think about the world we live in, then scratch my head in puzzlement. Epic greed (which directly caused the 2008-2011 recession), sickening entitlement (think about the salaries most professional athletes demand because they think they’re worth it) and lust for power (which have brought us the likes of Adolf Hitler) are just a few of what Dictionary.com calls “a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principal”. You can probably suggest other examples.

So how is any of what I’ve described ‘imaginary’? The people who are still struggling because of the recession, the people who receive piddling salaries for doing important work (social workers come to mind) and the victims of someone’s lust for power (just consider the victims of Cambodia’s horrific Pol Pot regime) would surely tell you sin is as real as cancer, reality TV and government deficits.

And the ‘imaginary cure’? I have no trouble telling you there are many parts of the Christian Bible that I don’t fully comprehend. But that’s not what sticks with me. Instead, I think of the parts that are crystal clear:

  • Love your enemies;
  • Treat others as you would like to be treated;
  • Deal with your shortcomings before pointing out the failures of others;
  • Don’t be a hypocrite;
  • Forgive and you will be forgiven;
  • Put the needs of others ahead of your needs.

Am I crazy to write that these commandments, mostly given by Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) will go a long way to solving the moral crimes of humanity? I don’t think so.

That’s why I became a follower of Jesus. That’s why I treat His words seriously, even the parts that puzzle me. Jesus knows better than I do what’s wrong with this world and how it can be made right. I want to be part of that process. Do you? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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THE CHALLENGE OF HELL

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 2, 2013| 65 Comments »

The Challenge Of HellSo what’s the deal with Hell?

That’s a question I’m sure you’ve asked yourself at least once. I used to ask it frequently before I became a follower of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) more than a decade ago.

Do I understand everything about it? Not in the least. I doubt anyone does. But I have come to know that the truth about Hell is not at all like the graphic you see here (kindly provided by an internet atheism community.)

First of all, Hell was not created for human beings. Erwin McManus, a pastor, notes God created Hell for Satan (what’s the deal with him? That’s a topic for another essay).

So why does God “send” people there? Well, God doesn’t send anyone there. We send ourselves there.

Ponder these ideas, as presented by Mark Mittelberg (and based on excerpts from ancient documents and original-source biographies of Jesus) in his book The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask:

  • God is perfect and, as a just judge, He has to condemn sin, not overlook it.
  • God doesn’t owe anyone a second chance and yet He gives us repeated opportunities to turn our lives around and look to Jesus for guidance.
  • God has given us this planet, with all its beauty and diversity, and we have abused it as if we are accountable to no one.
  • We treat our fellow humans with disregard, even though God loves them as much as us.
  • We fool ourselves about where we are on the moral spectrum, thinking we’re just fine and ignoring the bad things we’ve done and the good things we’ve failed to do.

Now, consider this: Jesus is God’s gift to everyone who will accept him. Jesus died to make up for ALL the wrong things His followers do and the right things we fail to do.

Jesus came back to life to show us God’s power and, in the succinct words of the wiki.answers.com website, to show us “He is not an ordinary human, but divine. He triumphed over the grave for all who would accept Him as saviour”. It’s also a testimony of what will happen to everyone who follows Jesus – not death, but eternal life with Him.

As with any gift, the gift of Jesus must be accepted. If it’s not, then God looks at us and sees the ways we’ve misused the talents and abilities He’s put in us. The ways we’ve lived as if He doesn’t exist. The ways we ignore the needs around us. The ways we live for more money, more power, more toys – all things that are, in the end, meaningless. And that’s what we’ll be judged on.

So, as Erwin McManus explains it, God “will not stop us from going to Hell if we insist on it. It is a choice to live a life that’s wasted because you’re not living the life God created you for. Hell is a place where you say ‘no – I don’t want Your love’.”

Does this make sense? Yes or no, write your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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WRITING A NEW BOOK

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2013| 3 Comments »

JudgingA friend posted this meme on her Facebook wall and it caused such an immediate, gut-level reaction that I downloaded it for a blog.

Two things struck me:

1. There’s a sad and ugly truth to these words. In our culture, most of us DO judge a book by its cover. All the time. And I’m as guilty of it as anyone. It’s like biting my lip or tapping my pen on the desk; it happens without me even knowing it. Some examples:

  • “Wow nice colour combination – and I don’t even know fashion” is what I sarcastically thought when I spotted a certain co-worker one day. (As if that one outfit is all I need to know about them.)
  • When I saw (and heard) a neighbour back out of his garage I’ll think, “Rap? Really? You listen to that manure on purpose??” (As if all rap is awful and that’s the only music they ever have on the car stereo.)
  • I’ll be walking by a group of teens at the shopping mall, hear them chatting and the first thing that darts through my head is “You kids must be truly vacant to be talking about TV garbage like ‘The Bachelor’.” (As if liking this one reality program makes them entirely brain-dead.)

That’s me; Sir Judge-A-Lot. And the title is accurate, even though – like most of us – I’ve often been on the receiving end of the hammer blow of false, superficial judgement.

2. There’s a truth that’s absolutely counter to all of this. Stay with me while I spell it out.

An ancient prophet wrote these timeless words: “God doesn’t look at what people see. People judge by what is on the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

The message? My creator (and yours) has gone past the cover of the Book Of Me and read every word inside. And His judgements are more accurate than the finest Supreme Court justice.

For many of us, this isn’t good news. We hope others won’t notice the bad things we’ve done and the good things we’ve failed to do. But how do we get away from the all-seeing eyes of God?

In a word, we don’t. But there is a solution and it comes from God Himself. It’s Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is His son. God offers Jesus as a gift to everyone, no matter how poor our track record.

All we have to do is accept the gift. Make Jesus your friend – your savior – and God no longer counts your bad behavior and malicious thoughts against you. He sees you as He sees Jesus – perfect, without a blemish – and starts writing a new book. You’ll be amazed at what happens as that new book begins to unfold.

So, do you want the all-seeing eyes of God to see YOU in a new way? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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THE LESSONS OF INTERNET EXPLORER

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 19, 2013| 12 Comments »

Religion-and-Internet-ExplorerDid you know Internet Explorer is out of fashion? I didn’t, but then again, I’m a Mac person and Internet Explorer hasn’t bothered with us for years.

But what about the points that people of faith apparently have in common with Internet Explorer? According to this graphic, posted on an Atheism internet community, people like me are dumb, frightened and unwilling to question anything they grew up with.

Let me present you with a very different point of view:

This dude went to church as a child, but at the age of 16, his parents told him and his two brothers they were free to continue with faith, or drop it.

The decision was unanimous. The entire family walked away from even the shallowest pretense of faith.

For this one dude, it never came to a point of becoming an atheist, but he did get very angry at God and figured people who followed Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is God’s Son) were either naive children or frightened seniors.

That kind of attitude made him unpleasant to be around. And he knew it.

Then the day came, at age 42, when he became willing to change, willing to download something new, willing to seriously investigate what was there when he started.

After much discussion with mature, respectful Jesus followers, much reading of a wide variety of books from several very different points of view and after much thoughtful consideration, he decided to become a Jesus follower.

That person is ME.

Do I have all my questions answered? Nope. Do I understand everything in the Bible? Hardly. In the end, when I’m finished with this life, will either of these points matter? Not even a bit.

Because I accepted God’s gift to humanity (Jesus), I also accepted that He sacrificed His life for all the bad things I’ve done and all the good things I’ve failed to do. My slate is wiped clean. And as a result, I’ll spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

Does that mean I can just walk away and do whatever I want? Not unless I’m seriously deluded. If I take God’s gift seriously, then I’m overwhelmingly grateful for what Jesus has done.

That gratefulness opens the door for me to welcome Him into my heart and soul. Now He’s working to make me a better person – to myself, to my wife and stepchildren, to my parents and to everyone who doesn’t share my trust and faith in Him.

That gift is waiting for you, too. No matter what you’ve done (or not done), no matter how much you struggle with life. Interested? Post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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