My Sunday

Yesterday was a pretty good day...

I was asked to fill in at a church down in Cincinnati who had just lost their pastor two weeks ago. It was a pretty tragic situation, as he had pastored there for over 20 years and died suddenly of a heart attack. I was not sure how to approach the situation, but did my best to be a help to them... They are still in shock and grieving.

I shared with them from 1 Peter 1:3-9 and reassured them that God is worthy of our faith even in times where it seems difficult to trust him. The message hit home to me as well. You see, I have been struggling the past week or so to make sense out of some things that are going on in my life with judgements and assumptions directed towards me. I don't want to elaborate on it any more than that for fear that it might upset some people... But the result of it is that Luann and I feel like we are alone in it at times... But I was reminded yesterday that God knows my heart and my intentions even when others don't, and it is OK if not everyone "gets" me. As long as I trust Him, the journey will be worth it...

Also, it was great to be worshipping with a group of people whom I just met yesterday... It was another reminder to me that the Kingdom is bigger than my eyes can see. We should all remember that God does not exist only for us... He is working all over the place and we should not try to constrain him with our circumstances.

Well, enough of the vague ramblings for now... Just wanted to share that it was great to be back in the pulpit yesterday and that God is still working in my life!

So, you want to be a pastor?

"Being a pastor has to be the easiest job there is!"
"What do you do the rest of the week?"
"Have you ever considered working at a real job?"
"Pastors are overpaid."
"Pastors are the guys who could never make it in the business world."

This is a partial list of some of the great things that people have said to me over the past 10+ years of ministry. All you can really do when it happens is smile and politely disagree. For many, there is a perception that since they only come to church for 1 hour a week, that is all that the pastor has to be there as well... Well, if you have ever wanted to know what it is like to be a pastor, or perhaps if you are preparing for ministry now, I thought I would share a little insight into what the job entails.

First, be prepared to be insulted, second-guessed and gossiped about on a regular basis. As a pastor, you will be the topic of conversations at dinner tables, over the phone, via email, and wherever else 2 or 3 are gathered in His name. When someone has a problem with something you have said or done, they won’t come to you about it until they have first run it by 10 or 15 “prayer partners,” and then they will probably bring a few of them along to confront you in force. Sometimes they will bypass you and go directly to the District Superintendent, expecting that this will surely help you see the merits of their complaints. Other times, they will just share them with your spouse. Most of the decisions you ever make while shepherding the church will be opposed before you make them and second-guessed afterwards. And when something does go well, your critics will be the first ones to take credit for the success.

Also, get used to living your job. There is no clocking out at the end of the day. People will knock on your door or call you at 2 in the morning wanting your advice or help. When you take a day off, you will probably get more phone calls then when you are in the office. People will expect you to show up immediately when there is a need, and will label your desire for some leisure time a “selfish” thing. If they can’t get in contact with you, they will assume you are ignoring them on purpose and bring the “prayer partners” to the office, probably while you are working on Sunday’s message, to demand an explanation. When you do go on vacation, you will be expected to have your cell phone on you at all times, just in case there is an emergency (like a mouse in the fellowship hall) that requires your immediate prayers and supplications.

Every sermon you ever preach will be a “great message” when you are shaking hands at the door, but there will be no end in the following weeks to the suggestions on how it could have been better. Everyone will assume you are directing your message at their enemy across the isle, and rarely will anyone seek to apply the sermon to themselves. And if the sermon does happen to hit a little close to home, you will probably get a meeting that week with the “prayer partners” wondering why you are singling them out in front of the whole church.

In short, being a pastor is one of the most demanding, most stressful, and most under-paid professions there is. So why in the world would anyone do it?

Because occasionally, someone will listen to the messages you give and hear the voice of God speak to them through it. Occasionally, someone will choose to leave a life of destruction and misery behind and embrace a life of forgiveness and peace. Occasionally, marriages will be saved, relationships will be restored, and people will be made whole. Occasionally, someone will look at you with tears in their eyes and say, “Thank you.” And when those times come, being a pastor is truly the most rewarding, most uplifting, and most fulfilling job in the entire world.

Honestly...

You know, if people want to waste their time saying hurtful things-if that makes them feel better about themselves or about things they have done or said... then by all means fire away. I honestly hope that it does them some good.

Still, it is a painful thing to endure.

Swimming Anyone?

Wow... this has to be a staged picture! I can't believe anyone would be willing to swim in that pool!

Three Ideas About This Thing Called Church

For the first three hundred years of the Christian movement, churches functioned largely without the benefit of church buildings and cathedrals. The movement was simple, authentic, and transformational, aided in large measure by the fact that many of the concerns that have encroached upon the modern church didn’t exist. There were no mortgage payments. There were no phone, gas or light bills. There were no property taxes. There were no maintenance costs. There was simply the call of Christ to love one another and transform the world.

People are once again hungering for simplicity in their lives and in the church. In a world full of complexity, there is a great need for uncomplicated faith. Thom Rainer describes the simple church as “a congregation designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth,” (Simple Church, 60). Often we become so sidetracked with unnecessary concerns that we forget this important point: The church is nothing if it is not a place where the lost are redeemed and the hurting are made whole. It need not be a complicated mission, and we should remember that it will only be accomplished in the context of relationships.

Also, people are seeking authenticity. Ask a few people why they do not go to church and it will not take you long to hear the charge of hypocrisy leveled. Correct or incorrect, the perception in society is that the church has become a place of judgment and pretense. The church should be a place where it is ok to be imperfect, where we are loved simply because we are a child of God, and where judgment is reserved for God. Gregory Boyd writes, “we must never condition our love and acceptance of people with a judgment about how much or how little progress they are making in their relationship with God” (Repenting of Religion, 213). Yet how often is this exactly what takes place within the church? Members of the church should trust the power of the Holy Spirit to convict and correct sinful behaviors, and accountability should take place only in the context of community and relationship. When people see the church loving each other and loving them unconditionally just as Christ loved, they will see authenticity instead of hypocrisy.

Third, our world is in need of the transformational love of Christ. Somewhere along the lines, the evangelical movement allowed the social aspects of the gospel to be captured by the liberal church movement. A transformational church should be equally concerned with the “here and now” as we are with the “ever after.” A transformational church not only seeks to redeem the soul, but also to redeem our world. Routinely, churches invest 80-90% of their income back into the organization of the local church. What would happen instead if a church reinvested its time, its energy, and its resources into engaging problems such as ending hunger, healing the sick, promoting non-violence, ending abortion, and aiding in addiction recovery?

I think we would see our world change.

Happy Easter!

This Easter is my first one not preaching since we lived in Kansas City, so I thought I would share a few Easter thoughts on my blog. As we celebrate the resurrection together tomorrow, I am reminded:

1) I am not perfect.
It is amazing how easy it is to forget this. Not on an intellectual level, since I always “know” that I am not perfect and would never claim that I am. But where it becomes difficult to remember is on the practical side of life. How I deal with people everyday is often influenced by an “I am better than you” attitude that we all are guilty of indulging in from time to time. When I consider that the person behind the counter or on the other end of the phone is also His child, I am reminded of just how imperfect my actions towards others can be.

2) God already knows I am not perfect.
He is not fooled by my suit on Sunday morning. He isn’t thrown off the trail by my public smiles and enthusiastic singing. God knows me for who I am in my entirety and He loves me just the same.

3) I do not need to pretend that I am perfect.
One of my favorite quotes is from the core values of a rather large church. It states, “Authenticity sets people free and allows them to grow.” Discovering my need to be authentic has been one of the biggest challenges of my life. At times I am tempted to retreat into the safety of pretense. But if I can’t present myself openly to before people, what chance do I have with being authentic before God? God knows me for who I am and loves me anyways. And I am convinced that those who hear His voice will love me without judgment as well.

4) With God's help, I am being made perfect.
Despite all of my flaws, all of my shortcoming, and all of my bad attitudes, I know beyond a doubt that God is forming me into the image of His Son. It is not a privilege that I deserve. But by God’s magnificent grace, I have been given the choice between blessings and curses, the choice between committing acts of sin which lead to death, or embracing acts of holiness which lead to life. I know that by His grace I can choose to live my life before God in true righteousness and holiness. And I know that this is all made possible because of another choice that was made by my Savior on a hill in Jerusalem.

So as we celebrate the resurrection, let us be thankful that even in a world as flawed and fallen as ours, God is still interested in restoring life, resurrecting hope, and reclaiming His own. Thanks be to God!

Getting Restless

Well, it has been over 6 months since I resigned from New Life. In that time I have had only one interview and preached only twice. I can honestly say I am starting to get a bit restless with the process and am ready for a bit of normalcy to return to my life. I may begin an interim position in April at a small church nearby, but that is no guarantee either. I had been in full-time ministry for over 10 years straight without a break for more than a couple of weeks at a time. Now, I am beginning to wonder if I will ever return. I keep getting nothing but closed doors, so I guess I just keep waiting...

But still, the process is driving me nuts...

Common Misconceptions About Open Theism

I love discussing Open Theism. If you ever have a few hours to waste and just want to talk about it, my door (or my phone) is always open. I find it to be a fascinating conversation and the more I talk about it with others, the more I am able to adjust and refine my own thoughts on the issue.

Still, at times I find myself growing weary when I continually come across the same misconceptions, or even outright distortions, of the Open Theist's position. Sometimes this happens because we do not express our side clearly. Then there are times when misunderstanding happens because the terms each side is using are not well defined. Other times, I am convinced it happens because of malicious intent. I can obviously do nothing to otherwise convince someone who is out to "destroy" Open Theism and label it's adherents as "heretics." To them, I can only say (as my blogging friend Joe says), "Grace and peace to you." But in the interest of continuing and furthering the discussion on what I find to be a fascinating model for practical theology, I would like to point out and address two common misconceptions about Open Theism.

Misconception #1: Open Theism Rejects God's Foreknowledge

This is not the case at all. Open Theists accept the idea that there is much that God does know with absolute certainty about the future. This would include everything that God has decided to do (that which He will bring to pass), as well as everything that is inevitable (such as two asteroids colliding in space). Further, Open Theists hold that there is much God knows about the future with an enormously high degree of certainty. Much of the future is predictable, in that free moral agents still tend to be creatures of habit. As such, God can foreknow much of what we will choose to do in the near future with great accuracy because He knows us with complete intimacy. Lastly, Open Theism allows that God can foreknow all possible outcomes of all possible decisions, playing out every possible scenario that can take place as a result of free choices. Whether or not this constitutes "knowledge" or simply "imagination" is another discussion, but the premise that God can foreknow possibilities without limiting their expression is within the framework of Open Theism.

What Open Theists reject is what is known as "exhaustive" foreknowledge, or the idea that every detail of every future event is already a settled fact in the mind of God. Under this scenario, God would be incapable of responding to us in any way other than how He foreknew himself to respond. As such, prayer would make no practical difference, sin would have been a preventable outcome, and evil would have been a knowing part of God's design. Also, libertarian freewill would be logically impossible. Open theism believes in a future that is at least partially unsettled, and as such is not a component of reality. And Open Theism understands the quality of omniscience as "the ability to know everything that can be known."

Misconception #2: Open Theism Portrays a Passive God

Some opponents of Open Theism suggest that we believe in a God who created the world and then took his hands off, leaving it's final outcome in a state of uncertainty. This is not the case. Open Theists affirm with Classical Theists that God's nature is both creative and administrative. In other words, we believe that He not only formed all that is, but He also chose to become a participant in creation through the vehicle of relationship. God's actions throughout history have been designed to foster and restore (due to sin) a relationship with His creation. These actions are ongoing to this very day, and His intention for the ultimate restoration of this relationship is assured by His promises and His abilities.

Where Open Theists depart from the classical position (and more specifically the Reformed or Calvinistic position) is in the idea that God is involved in every detail of every decision that is made. We believe that God created humanity "in His own image," and as such empowered all persons as free moral agents with a certain degree of ability to order their life as they choose. God's Spirit is intimately involved in the decision making process, but ultimately the responsibility of each choice is our own. This is a tremendous gift on God's part, but also carries with it an enormous amount of responsibility.

There are other misconceptions as well, but I will leave them for another day. What are you thoughts on these?

An Interesting Word Study

I was looking over some old notes of mine and came across this word study I did a few years back. In the NIV translation of the Bible, the word:

"Wrath" (190) appears in more verse than "Mercy" (139), and
"Punish" (165) appears in more verses than "Forgive" (122).

on the other hand,

"Peace" (239) appears in more verse than "War" (160), and
"Love" (640) appears in more verses than "Hate" (126).

NY Times Yellow Journalism

I was just reading an article at nytimes.com (why I do not know) about Barak Obama denouncing his pastor. I think Obama took a positive step on this one, (read Obama's comments here) as his pastor and his church are, IMO, both portrayers of racial division. If Obama is going to be the uniter that he talks about becoming, then he needs to be above the type of rhetoric that is coming from his church.

Anyways, that is not the point of this post. Here is my point. While reading the article, I came across the following sentence (the 5th sentence in the story):

"On Friday, Senator John McCain’s campaign forwarded to reporters an article in The Wall Street Journal in which Mr. Wright was quoted as saying, 'Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run,' and accusing the United States of importing drugs, exporting guns and training murderers."

WOW! The NY Times tried to spin this as if John McCain was the source of the story. What a bunch of yellow journalism! Why, might I ask, did reporters from the nation's #1 newspaper need a campaign aid from a rival political party to make them aware of a story written in another major publication? And, might I add, this is a story that people have been talking about for months! What is sad is that they get away with this type of garbage all the time. The only reason for mentioning McCain in this article was to set up the idea that McCain is trying to play dirty here. For the record, McCain has been quite clear that in his opinion, Obama is not responsible for the words of his pastor or his church. Yet the NY Times wants to plant the idea that McCain is trying to bring down Obama with dirty politics.

As far as the NY Times is concerned, shame on them.

Yellow journalism - a pejorative reference to journalism that features scandal-mongering, sensationalism, or other unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or journalists.
-Wikipedia

The Diaries of a Dog and Cat

DOG DIARY
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

CAT DIARY
Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage. This morning I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

Geraldine Ferraro Quote

Geraldine Ferarro stepped down today from the Clinton campaign because of a remark she made in a newspaper interview. The quote was, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

Obama's camp has denounced this as a racist satement. Can someone explain how this is a racist comment? Does it matter that what she said is true? What are your thoughts?

Redneck Fishing

A redneck was stopped by a game warden in Gulf Coast Mississippi recently with two ice chests full of fish. He was leavin' a cove well-known for its fishing. The game warden asked the man, 'Do you have a license to catch those fish?'

'Naw, sir', replied the redneck. 'I ain't got none of them there licenses. You must understand, these here are my pet fish.'

'Pet fish?'

'Yeah. Every night, I take these here fish down to the lake and let 'em swim 'round for awhile. Then, when I whistle, they jump right back into these here ice chests and I take 'em home.'

'That's a bunch of hooey! Fish can't do that.'

The redneck looked at the warden for a moment and then said, 'It's the truth Mr. Government Man. I'll show ya. It really works.'

'O. K.', said the warden. 'I've got to see this!'

The redneck poured the fish into the lake and stood and waited. After several minutes, the warden says, 'Well?'

'Well, what?', says the redneck.

The warden says, 'When are you going to call them back?'

'Call who back?'

'The FISH', replied the warden!

'What fish?', replied the redneck.

Why I Am An "Open Theist"

I have been asked this question a number of times when commenting on other blogs and thought it would be a good idea to outline my reasons for adopting Open Theism as my foundational model for theology. This is a long post but worth reading if you want to know me better!

For those who are unaware what Open Theism is, let me give a brief primer. Open Theism is a relatively new branch of theology that builds on the strands of freewill theism that have been thread through much of classical theology but did not, until recently, have a clear systematic presentation. Open Theism is founded on the assumptions (this list is not exhaustive) that,

1) God is all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent), and present in all places (omni-present.)
2) The future is, by design, at least partially open (or undecided) and as such it is unknowable,
3) God participates in creation and experiences "duration," of time, and,
4) God chose to order creation in this way in order to provide libertarian free will.

Open Theism rejects most anthropomorphic interpretations of scripture (interpreting God's "human-like" actions in scripture as simply allegorical literary devices), as well as much of the Greek philosophical influences that are evident in classical theology beginning with Augustine and expressed most clearly today in Reformation/Reformed theology. Further, an Open Theist would define the quality of omniscience as God's ability to know all that can be logically known.

For those interested in learning more about Open Theism, I would direct your attention to a few books: “The God Who Risks” by John Sanders, (which I think is the best book on the subject), “Is God to Blame” by Greg Boyd, “God of the Possible” also by Boyd, and “The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God” by Clark Pinnock, Richard Rice, John Sanders, William Hasker, and David Basinger. There is also a well written article on Wikipedia that can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_theism

Now, on to my reasons for adopting Open Theism. I can redily think of three good reasons for my position, which I will break down and shre below. I am an Open Theist because I believe:

1) Open Theism Is The Most Biblically Consistent Model For Understanding God.
Throughout scripture, God is seen interacting with His creation, grieving over decisions He makes, grieving over decisions that are made by His creation, providing answers to prayer, warning people to turn from sinful and destructive behavior, submitting himself to His creation in order to demonstrate His love on the cross, and seeking restoration of relationship with every person on Earth. The Bible is full of examples of God experiencing hurt, changing His mind, and testing people to discover what they will do. All of these things are inconsistent with Classical Theism and it's view of an "unchanging" or immutable God who has exhaustive foreknowledge of all future events. Classical theism finds it's source, not in scripture, but in Greek Philosophy and it's definition of a perfect being as "unchangeable." The God we see in scripture is not the God described by Plato.

2) Open Theism Is The Most Logically Coherent Theistic Model.
Classical Theism has some big problems that it has not been able to overcome despite almost 2000 years of attempts through the field known as Christian Apologetics. These include the problem of evil, the problem of prayer, and the problem of sin, just to name a few. How does a God with exhaustive foreknowledge not share in the blame for evil that takes place as a result of His creative actions? If the future is completely settled in God's mind, how can He be free to respond to prayers that would seek to alter that future? If our sins were a matter of historical record before creation, then why are we still punished for our actions which cannot be other than God knew they would be?

Also, there is the interesting question of whether or not exhaustive foreknowledge and divine sovereignty are even compatible, in that having exhaustive foreknowledge limits the possible actions which God would be able to take. God would be capable only of "acting upon" His creation and be completely incapable of "interaction with" His creation.

I think of all of the "extra-biblical" sources of authority which Christians use to discover who God is (namely reason, experience, and tradition), reason, or logic, is the most consistent and reliable. And if we must push this authority aside, or perhaps even ignore it completely, in order to make our case for the nature of God, then I believe we are in danger of worshipping a concept instead of worshipping a living God.

3) My Personal Experiences Point to the God Described By Open Theism.
I know God in a real and personal way. God has clearly revealed himself to me throughout the course of my life. I know that God has called to me and invited me to be His follower. And I know that where I am in life is the direct result of how I have chosen to respond to millions of options I have faced in life. I do not see "destiny" as a force that directs my life, and I honestly believe that God has given me the most precious gift in all of creation: the ability to order my life as I choose to.

When I ponder just what type of God would allow me to participate in creation by making decisions that will affect the outcome of the future, I do not see a controlling God, or a God who decides everything for us, or a God who is subject to a settled future. I see the "God of the Possible." I see "The God Who Risks." I see a God of love who desperately wants me to choose to love Him in return.

And that is why I am an Open Theist.

A Free Commercial for Erica

Let me give some free publicity to Erica Martino's Blog. Please visit it every day and read every word. She is the best blogger on the Internet and needs lots and lots of traffic! I am giving her a commercial because she accused me of "pimping" my blog (lol) in her comments section when I promised to write an article explaining why I consider myself an "Open Theist," which I am working on now. So to make up for my shameless self-promotion I am sending my readers to her! You are welcome, Erica! :)

God Does Not Change?

What do we mean when we say, “God does not change?” In theological circles, this discussion is know as the doctrine of Divine Immutability. In its most commonly expressed form, immutability states that in order to be a perfect being, God must be unchanging in all aspects, for any change would imply a departure from perfection. It is an area of theology that really strikes a nerve with me... And I hear it work its way into so much of Chrisitanity that it really scares me to think that people will embrace this Platonic ideal as an element of faith in Christ. I think that the doctrine of divine immutability is not only non-biblical, it is deceptive and dangerous for the faith. With that in mind, here are a couple of biblical passages which I think deal with this idea that God does not experience change. First, here are a couple of verses that suggest that immutability is a correct doctrine:

Mal 3:6—I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
At first glance, this verse seems to describe the “Unmoved Mover” first expressed by the philosopher Plato. Many people name this verse as proof positive that God never experiences change. A careful study of the surrounding context, however, paints a different picture. God proclaims his unchanging nature as a reason that Israel should not fear Him. What we see in Malachi is a scriptural emphasis of God’s love and faithfulness. His intention for good never changes, but His response to human free will varies based upon our response to His grace.

Numbers 23:19—God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
This message is pronounced by Balaam in response to Balak requesting that God should curse Jacob and denounce Israel. This is an example of God displaying His faithfulness to fulfill the promise He made to Abraham. The promise to make Abraham into a great nation was not to be doubted because God's nature and His intention for good do not change.

Now, lets look at a few of the many examples of God seemingly experiencing change. I will let you be the judge as to how we can say God never experiences any change in the light of these passages:

Genesis 6:5-7—The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them."

Genesis 22:12— "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Exodus 32:(11-13),14—Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Jeremiah 18:7-10—If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

Others: 1 Sam 15:11, 1 Sam 15:35, 2 Sam 24:16, Jeremiah 42:10, Jonah 3:9-10

Instead of seeing God as immovable and unchanging, I think it is a much more Biblical position to understand God as a "relational" God, or rather a "personal" God. To say that God is a personal God is to say that He is capable of participation in a personal relationship with his creation involving freedom and free will. H. Ray Dunning writes, “If God’s nature is love, then it is the very nature of love to establish personal relations.” A personal God is the only God who can be known by humanity, who can experience greif, and who can change His mind. And if God is a personal God, then we need to stop embracing the idea that God never changes and instead recognize that it is only His loving nature which does not change. His thoughts, emotions, and plans can and do change. The God who loves us is free to respond to us in very real and personal ways. God is perfect, not because He never changes, but because His nature is one of love. After all, could we really call a God who experienced no empathy for those in pain a "perfect" being? I think it is precisely God's ability to change which expresses the very nature of His perfection. God is big enough to change.

Moses Was High

An Israeli researcher has come up with an interesting (yet absurd) and completely unprovable explanation for Moses speaking with God: He was high on psychotropic drugs. The "researcher" claims that mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the early Hebrew religion.

An article published on breitbart.com reports, "Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the 'burning bush,' suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances."

You don't say...

This seems to be yet another example of people straining to see what they want to see in order to justify their own behavior. After all, if Moses was "high" on Mt. Sinai, then how much relevance do we really need to give to the 10 commandments?

Just found this interesting and thought I would share...

Application Denied

I just got a letter in the mail from SMU. I knew it was bad news because it was so thin. Anyways, I was not accepted into their PhD program for the Fall of 2008. I am looking at a few other schools, but really had my heart set on that program. All of the application deadlines for Fall admission have passed so no school for me untill at least Fall 2009. Oh well, thats life! Back to the drawing board.

March 2008's Funny Video

Here is this month's funny video!