Why is the Kingdom of God so far away? Why is it that we must wait for eternity? When did God ever give us the impression that we must wait, with our teeth ground to nubs for his Kingdom to arrive? Many times Jesus himself refers to the Kingdom of God in the present. Many of the authors view it the same way. Did Abraham believe Gods Kingdom was anywhere other then Israel? Did Noah believe the land left after the flood, to be given to man forever, was anything other then the Kingdom of God? Was Gods Creation in the begining anything other then his Kingdom? Too many men and women have spent to much time looking for gratification in the after life, looking beyond the here and now for an escape. The Kingdom of God is no pleasure cruise and he never said it would be when he cast Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Gods Kingdom, his original creation, is as much his gift to us as heaven is. Was man turned loose on earth just to wait for heaven, or the second coming? Is it really that bland, is that all we can hope for? Or is it more, can it be more? Can it be that man was put here to look after one another and all Gods creation with equal care and respect? Do we trip over peace and salvation,trying to pickup words and versus hoping for the next step to salvation? Do we want to corner the market so bad on salvation that we are willing to look over the simplest and most basic of the things God has given us?
In a rush to hope the Rapture is the next blockbuster hit we miss the fact that Jesus the Son of man, Gods own Son told us to see God in everyone, see hope in the littlist of children to the oldest of men and women. Jesus wants us to know this because we are living in the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom and glory are all around us. These versus from Deuteronomy 30:11-14 explain it best
Now what I am commanding you today is not too dificult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who wil cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
Showing posts with label Hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hope. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Did Hitler go to Hell?
Whoa, there must be some form of parody in the universe, a dictator who tried to commit the genocide of all Jews. Surely he went to Hell. But, what if by the grace of God he didn’t. I am not asking you at any point to believe in or act upon the ideas and propaganda of a psychotic ruler who thought the benefit of all mankind included the eradication of the Jews. Nor am I standing behind or saying I believe in the mission of any Nazi or Neo-Nazi organization. Do I think Adolf Hitler went to Hell? In short… Yes. But only after some major thought was dedicated to this topic. The act of condemning or believing someone should go to Hell is rather presumptuous; Only God can decide who will be welcomed into Heaven and who will be condemned to Hell.
In Church a couple of Sundays ago Pastor Dan brought up an interesting point that led me to this topic. Has your Karma run over your Dogma? In other words Karmaticly you believe good things happen to good people and that of course the converse is true, that bad things happen to bad people. This thought process allows you to stand on the sidelines and point to people and say, “That bad thing happened to that person because of the negative things he has done.” However, Christian Dogma states that good things and God’s grace can happen, to even the worst of people.
Just a small side note, in stating that Christian Dogma holds to this belief I do also have to say that I acknowledge that various other beliefs hold true to this same tenant, that God’s grace and love are imparted upon even the worst of individuals.
So again I ask; did Hitler go to Hell? No, but only when assuming that he felt remorseful and asked for forgiveness for the atrocities he had committed. To me this is the strongest tenant of any belief whether it is religion or a 12-step program, a person must acknowledge the problem they have and ask for forgiveness. Without this, a person will have shown no remorse, and therefore have not shown a reason for anyone to help them. First they must show they are willing to help themselves. Not to say that others shouldn’t try to help or that they won’t, but in most cases without the self-realizing step that what they have done or what they are doing is wrong, what reason is there for a person to stop? With this caveat in play, I may have to change my answer.
Based on what I know of Hitler, he believed with all of his heart and soul in what he was doing. He was very committed to his ideas of Arian superiority and how they pertained to the eradication of the Jews. He also carried out his decree with extreme fervor, as we all know. Whether it was mass execution, murder for personal gain, or concentration camps, Hitler carried out all his actions with methodic and remorseless precision. This leads me to believe based on simple human nature he did not see fit to ask for forgiveness, let alone believe he needed it. But, in that off hand chance he did ask for forgiveness, I am positive God welcomed him with open arms and tears of joy.
In Church a couple of Sundays ago Pastor Dan brought up an interesting point that led me to this topic. Has your Karma run over your Dogma? In other words Karmaticly you believe good things happen to good people and that of course the converse is true, that bad things happen to bad people. This thought process allows you to stand on the sidelines and point to people and say, “That bad thing happened to that person because of the negative things he has done.” However, Christian Dogma states that good things and God’s grace can happen, to even the worst of people.
Just a small side note, in stating that Christian Dogma holds to this belief I do also have to say that I acknowledge that various other beliefs hold true to this same tenant, that God’s grace and love are imparted upon even the worst of individuals.
So again I ask; did Hitler go to Hell? No, but only when assuming that he felt remorseful and asked for forgiveness for the atrocities he had committed. To me this is the strongest tenant of any belief whether it is religion or a 12-step program, a person must acknowledge the problem they have and ask for forgiveness. Without this, a person will have shown no remorse, and therefore have not shown a reason for anyone to help them. First they must show they are willing to help themselves. Not to say that others shouldn’t try to help or that they won’t, but in most cases without the self-realizing step that what they have done or what they are doing is wrong, what reason is there for a person to stop? With this caveat in play, I may have to change my answer.
Based on what I know of Hitler, he believed with all of his heart and soul in what he was doing. He was very committed to his ideas of Arian superiority and how they pertained to the eradication of the Jews. He also carried out his decree with extreme fervor, as we all know. Whether it was mass execution, murder for personal gain, or concentration camps, Hitler carried out all his actions with methodic and remorseless precision. This leads me to believe based on simple human nature he did not see fit to ask for forgiveness, let alone believe he needed it. But, in that off hand chance he did ask for forgiveness, I am positive God welcomed him with open arms and tears of joy.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Doubt
If there is one thing that I wish could be publicized more it would be doubt. In my belief there is nothing more valuable to a human soul then doubt. But isn’t doubt what puts seeds of evil in your head and heart leading you away from the church? Quite to the contrary if it is nurtured and cultivated it can lead to gigantic spiritual breakthroughs. Would the United States be in existence if the Founding Fathers didn’t doubt the Royal Family? Would the Church have ever experienced the reformation if those involved hadn’t doubted the church of the time? From my experience the doubts we have are very well founded and should be explored intelligently to increase our belief. If we are told to blindly believe for the sake of believing rather then to experience things for what they are our belief will stay stagnant and what we believe we have can never be one tenth of what it could be. In my life I have had doubts I have pushed limits, but I never try to do so just because. This is important in doubt and one thing that I think is over looked. If you just go out and do crazy things because they feel good or because you wanted to see how it would affect someone else then you are exploring your doubt the wrong way. Doubt should be explored scientifically. With prudence and intelligence, until you become grounded in where your doubt led you.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
What is Most Important?
"Hearing Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in law, tested him with this question: 'Teacher which is the greatest commandment in the law?'
Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:34-40
What a novel thought, the greatest of all the commandments has nothing to do with judgment, blame casting or who is more righteous. This seems to be a lost thought in Christianity today. Instead we are focused on the “right” way to believe. Accept Jesus, say this prayer, give this much money, do X amount of good deeds. And certainly don’t Sin, Sin is the product of the devil, and if you Sin you hence have communed with the devil and therefore are going to Hell. Of course these things include not accepting Jesus, being a homosexual, drinking alcohol, using tobacco or other substances, and questioning the church. But don’t worry just follow the steps listed above and you will have done right by God and the Church. Of course when I say Church I mean Christianity as a whole. But once you are in this group then you can join the rest of the righteous and look down upon those who have committed the atrocity of Sin.
But wait wasn’t there something about loving your neighbor as yourself?
That was probably just a typo; let me look that up in my Bible… Nope it does say that, Gee Whiz. Oh but it says neighbor, and all my neighbors are good Christian folk so I am ok because we get along great. But, you know that family around the block, I heard their daughter is pregnant, and she is only 17 years old and obviously not married. God’s honest truth. Can you imagine how her parent’s feel knowing that their daughter is a harlot? I just can’t believe the disaster the world is becoming.
So maybe I took some license with my scenario there but come on, everyone full well knows that in this day and age we are neighbors the world over. If we can’t begin to love each other beyond what sin we may or may not have committed we loose sight of those two commandments that say so much. Regardless of sexual preferences, stupid choices, or religions we are one people under God. Jesus didn’t say the only rule we need to follow is that we believe in him and serve him or that we shouldn’t be a homosexual, or make stupid choices that can change our lives, but to serve God first and foremost and take care of each other second.
Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:34-40
What a novel thought, the greatest of all the commandments has nothing to do with judgment, blame casting or who is more righteous. This seems to be a lost thought in Christianity today. Instead we are focused on the “right” way to believe. Accept Jesus, say this prayer, give this much money, do X amount of good deeds. And certainly don’t Sin, Sin is the product of the devil, and if you Sin you hence have communed with the devil and therefore are going to Hell. Of course these things include not accepting Jesus, being a homosexual, drinking alcohol, using tobacco or other substances, and questioning the church. But don’t worry just follow the steps listed above and you will have done right by God and the Church. Of course when I say Church I mean Christianity as a whole. But once you are in this group then you can join the rest of the righteous and look down upon those who have committed the atrocity of Sin.
But wait wasn’t there something about loving your neighbor as yourself?
That was probably just a typo; let me look that up in my Bible… Nope it does say that, Gee Whiz. Oh but it says neighbor, and all my neighbors are good Christian folk so I am ok because we get along great. But, you know that family around the block, I heard their daughter is pregnant, and she is only 17 years old and obviously not married. God’s honest truth. Can you imagine how her parent’s feel knowing that their daughter is a harlot? I just can’t believe the disaster the world is becoming.
So maybe I took some license with my scenario there but come on, everyone full well knows that in this day and age we are neighbors the world over. If we can’t begin to love each other beyond what sin we may or may not have committed we loose sight of those two commandments that say so much. Regardless of sexual preferences, stupid choices, or religions we are one people under God. Jesus didn’t say the only rule we need to follow is that we believe in him and serve him or that we shouldn’t be a homosexual, or make stupid choices that can change our lives, but to serve God first and foremost and take care of each other second.
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