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Posts Tagged ‘Jesus Christ’

‘GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING’

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2013| 16 Comments »

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Actress Keira Knightley has earned adulation for the great movies she’s done since coming to fame in 2002 with Bend It Like Beckham. But do her thoughts on atheism and faith reflect reality?

I’m sure some folks agree with her. But for those who follow Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God), forgiveness and guilt simply don’t work that way.

For Jesus followers, life isn’t a game where you do whatever you want, then sleepwalk through a hollow ritual of asking for forgiveness and assume God is a kindly, but dimwitted dolt who can’t see through your deception.

Consider these words from an ancient writer:

You [God] know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts from far away. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do. Lord, you know what I want to say, even before the words leave my mouth.

Does this sound like a creator Keira Knightley or anyone else can trick?

Forgiveness is available to everyone who accepts the gift God offers the world: Jesus. Primary source documents about His life indicate that Jesus died to make up for the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do.

What Jesus did is a big deal. And those who truly accept that gift and make Him their lord and savior understand that. So they don’t treat it with contempt. In fact, a guy named Paul, who helped spread the good news about Jesus through the Mediterranean, addressed this very notion in one of his letters:

So, do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us even more forgiveness? No! We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin?

Now, what about Keira’s assertion of living with guilt? If you’re still with me, you may have figured out by now that forgiveness is real and important and all-encompassing. In fact, for some people, it’s a life-changer and you can read one example here: http://wp.me/p2wzRb-6K

Forgiveness also means you’re no longer guilty. If you follow Jesus and sincerely ask for forgiveness, you’ll get it and the wrong you’ve done is wiped from the books. So there’s no need to “live with guilt”, as Keira puts it.

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

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A TASTY CARROT OR A NASTY STICK?

Posted in In The News, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 16, 2013| 2 Comments »

HeavenAndHell2Now this is a curiosity.

I wrote a Frank’s Cottage essay about a survey indicating the promise of Heaven is far more motivating than the fear of Hell in encouraging church attendance and prayer.

Kinda makes sense, right? The tasty carrot is better than the nasty stick, goes the thinking.

Then I heard from an old friend, Tim Callaway, who’s doing university research and stumbled upon statistics that indicate a very different story.

These stats are by no means a definitive indicator, but they are consistent. In the 1930s and ’40s, surveys of 100 to 200 students somewhere in North America (sorry, this ancient stuff has no further details) consistently indicated fear of Hell was far more motivating to become a follower of Jesus of Nazareth than the love of God. In many of those years, the numbers were so lopsided that the love motivation was less than 10 per cent.

Huh? The huge difference between then and now is so puzzling that I bounced this disparity off a pastor buddy, Ross Carkner, to get his feedback.

“I wonder if the change has more to do with the nature of society at large,” Ross emailed me. “I think in the 1930s and ’40s, there was a different mindset.  The world had just come through one war and was posturing or in the middle of another.  The planet was covered in gloom.”

Between the wars and the ruined dreams of the 1930s Great Depression, Ross wondered, “If there was a sense that all you could do was make the most of what you had. This was the builder generation. Work hard and you might get by. This is very different than the baby boomers … the builders were set on making the most of what they had, the boomers were about getting more.”

This makes sense to me. As Ross put it, “I think against that kind of a backdrop, perhaps the builders were open to hearing that ‘things could get worse’ [i.e. the nasty stick of Hell], while the boomers wanted to hear about how ‘things could get better’ [the tasty carrot of Heaven]”.

If this assessment is accurate, then it comes with a subtle suggestion: many people’s ideas about God depend on the world around them. That’s not surprising, but then I remember something an ancient follower of Jesus wrote: “Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.”

I also think of a story about Jesus defending a woman who was brought up on charges of adultery. He told her accusers, who wanted to stone her to death (fooling around on your spouse was serious business in the ancient world), that anyone who’d never done anything wrong could go ahead and throw a stone.

Eventually, all of the woman’s accusers walked away. That left Jesus to do nothing more than tell the woman to go home and don’t commit adultery again.

For me, this event is a powerful example of who God is. And when I realize that he doesn’t change, I see that the ultimate picture of God is incredibly positive. And that’s a picture I want to keep, no matter what happens to me or to the world.

So if you believe in God, what’s your ultimate picture of him? And does it motivate you to do something about your spiritual life?

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THE CARROT OF HEAVEN, THE STICK OF HELL

Posted in In The News, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 2, 2013| 5 Comments »

HeavenAndHellReady to take the world’s briefest psychology test? Okay, here goes: which would persuade you to become a person of faith – the promise of Heaven or the threat of Hell?

According to the results of a 32-country study by researchers at universities in Spain and Israel, it’s no contest.

“When heaven and hell are considered valid final destinations, researchers find the notion of eternal bliss is three times more powerful than that of eternal damnation in shaping church attendance and frequency of prayer.” This is from a story in the Windsor Star, a Canadian newspaper.

Is this surprising? When I read the article, I was taken back to the beginnings of my own faith journey. I’ve always believed in a creator, but I decided to follow Jesus in 1990, mostly because I started listening to spiritual rock and pop music and, through that, discovered a positive, loving, closer-than-close God.

Since then, the trip has had rocky moments, primarily because I had faith issues which I didn’t think I could bring to anyone without them wondering about my “salvation”.

In other words, I thought someone was going to tell me if I kept asking hard questions, I could end up in Hell. So I went from embracing the ‘carrot’ (the attraction of a loving God) to running from the ‘stick’ (the threat of God’s damnation).

The story didn’t end there, of course. (If it did, I wouldn’t be writing this essay.) After a long time and many discussions with intelligent, compassionate, non-judgmental followers of Jesus of Nazareth – there are more of them around than you might think – I came back to Jesus.

If I had returned to the faith because those discussions centered around the ‘stick’ – avoiding Hell – I would likely be the poster boy for judgmental, unpleasant religion. I’d be following Jesus only to appease an angry God who doesn’t love me – or anyone else, for that matter – and doesn’t have my best interests at heart.

But he does. One of Jesus’ earliest followers wrote “God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death [to pay for all the bad things we did and still do] while we were of no use whatever to him.”

It’s this love, plus the promise of a life-long, day-by-day relationship with Jesus, and a future in Heaven, that brought me to this place of faith.

I’m not about to deny the truth and suggest there isn’t a Hell and that it doesn’t influence people’s faith journeys. But more importantly, there is a God who wants every single person on this planet – including YOU – with Him in Heaven.

Does that suggest it might be time to rethink your priorities?

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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.

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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.

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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BELIEVE?

Posted in In The News, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

How’s this for a rags-to-riches story?

When 2011 started, Ted Williams was a homeless man in Columbus, Ohio. He possessed an incredibly rich, refined announcer’s voice, but lost everything else and became a convicted felon due to drugs and alcohol.

Then a guy made a quickie video of him on the street, begging for handouts. Ted spoke on film, mimicking a radio announcer (his former career), and the guy put the video on YouTube.

Well, faster than a government runs up debt, the video went viral. It was viewed by 13 million people and, overnight, Ted Williams and his amazing voice became a star. Talk shows battled to get him on TV first, thousands of newspapers published articles on him, and job offers poured in from companies such as Kraft, MTV, and the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team.

Through it all, Williams, 53, did three things: vowed to get his life together, be a real dad to his nine children, and give credit where credit belongs.

“The difference between my successes of years gone by is that I didn’t acknowledge the Lord or thank him for anything before,” he told CBS Early Show. “This time around, I have God in my life, acknowledging him on a daily basis. I’ve found a new sense of spirituality now.”

This led USA Today to asked readers “Do you think God or a YouTube video gone viral was the key to Ted Williams’ great second chance?”

One anonymous responder declared, “Why attribute the kindness of society to ‘God’ when ‘God’ clearly wasn’t listening to this man FOREVER?”

Another person wrote, “It was Youtube and the dude who filmed Ted who deserve most of the credit, but I can’t really find fault in the guy’s statement. I’m sure his faith got him through a lot of cold nights.”

Finally, I found this comment: “God is willing to use whatever predicament we’ve got ourselves into – good or bad – to help us see Him. Those who catch a glimpse of Him and hunger for more, will find more if they seek Him.”

So, if you believe in God, did He ignore Ted Williams for years? Was it just a random YouTube video that turned Ted’s fortunes around?

Valid answers to each question can be based on what you want to believe.

Maybe God had a very good reason for waiting so many years before giving Ted Williams a chance to change his life. And maybe God worked through YouTube to achieve his goals with Ted. Sound preposterous?  Then consider these words from God, channeled through an ancient prophet: “I [God] don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.”

The bottom line is: do you want to think of God as a big nothing or a distant ogre? Or do you want your life enriched – just as Ted Williams’ life was enriched – by thinking of God as the loving creator of the universe who cares so much for us that He sent his Son Jesus to live, die, and come back to life for us?

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