Tag Archives: food for thought

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Gearing Up for God?

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Categories: changing mindsets, Tags: , ,

I always get just a little bit amused when I check my Facebook on Sunday mornings. So many of my friends who are believers (no offense to them whatsoever–I hold them in the highest respect) put out these little updates about getting ready for church gatherings. They range from the understated (ex., “Getting ready for church”) to the uber-caffeinated (“Hey everyone! Let’s all get ready for CHUURCCHH!”). One common thread goes something like this: “Getting my worship on.” Or “Let’s get our praise on this morning!”

I guess my first impulse (though I never act on it) is to ask: “What was your praise doing ‘off” in the first place?” 🙂

This is a preview of Gearing Up for God?. Read the full post (1159 words, estimated 4:38 mins reading time)

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Why Religion Disgusts Me

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Categories: Rantings, Tags: , ,

The title of this blog, not to mention the nearly four years’ worth of posts within it, should make this clear: I despise religion.

Please understand when I say this that before I go pointing fingers at anyone, I realize that four other fingers are pointing back at me. Before I go on this rant (if that’s what it ends up being), I want to make it clear that I’m not coming from the standpoint of someone who is totally free of religion, passing judgment on those who are not. There are very few Christians who do not have some sort of religion embedded in them, and with all my personal struggles to be free of it, I still see remnants of it in myself on occasion. I see religion as a sort of disease that afflicts us all, one in which healing is mainly gradual, as layers of it are removed from our minds. At least, that’s how it’s been for me.

This is a preview of Why Religion Disgusts Me. Read the full post (1177 words, estimated 4:42 mins reading time)

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Fear Not

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Categories: food for thought, General, Tags: ,

So the other day, The Director and I were talking, and somehow the conversation got onto the topic of fear, and the role that it plays in injustice. We began to observe how in so many cases, an injustice done to an individual or an entire people group happens because someone else was afraid. 

It’s uncanny, actually, if you think about it, how many times you can see the fear factor in injustice.

  • When a parent is overprotective and overly strict on a child, it is usually due to fear (either fear for the child’s safety, or fear of losing control).
This is a preview of Fear Not. Read the full post (1029 words, estimated 4:07 mins reading time)

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Distorted Images of God part 3: God the Angry Judge

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Categories: food for thought, Tags: ,

Read part 1 here.

Read part 2 here.

Surprisingly and ironically, after feeling a bit dry on this blog, since I started this series I have found I could go in about four different other directions. 🙂 But since I promised to continue this thread, I’m gonna write this one first, and save the others for later.

So…I’m continuing my ramblings on the ways we humans get distorted pictures in our minds of who God is, and what He is like. Today I’ll tackle another common one, which I call “God the Angry Judge.”

This is a preview of Distorted Images of God part 3: God the Angry Judge. Read the full post (1502 words, estimated 6:00 mins reading time)

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Distorted Images of God part 2: God the Indifferent Creator

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Categories: changing mindsets, Tags: ,

(Read Part 1 here.)

Continuing my ramblings on the different ways our mental picture of God gets distorted, I’d like to focus on another common distortion–one that I call “God the Indifferent Creator.”

People commonly form this image of God in their minds for a variety of reasons, but in my experience one of the main catalysts for it is prayer that seems to go unanswered. When someone earnestly prays for something to happen, and God seems to fall silent or does not answer the prayer the way we think He ought to, we get disappointed.  When this happens repeatedly, we can get jaded, and may start believing that He is largely indifferent to our needs or desires. I know one person who claims a belief in God, but seriously questions the purpose of prayer. He figures, if God is going to do, or not do, whatever He pleases, anyhow, what’s the point of asking Him for anything?

This is a preview of Distorted Images of God part 2: God the Indifferent Creator. Read the full post (1183 words, estimated 4:44 mins reading time)

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Distorted Images of God part 1: God the Ego-Maniac

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Categories: changing mindsets, Tags: ,

This post begins a series of (what I hope to be several) posts about the ways we often envision or characterize God in our minds, and how they frequently differ from how He describes Himself. It’s been awhile since I’ve done a series like this, and I’m obviously not blogging as often as I have in the past, so please be patient. (I even reserve the right to deter from this thread if I feel inclined to blog about something else along the way.)

This is a preview of Distorted Images of God part 1: God the Ego-Maniac. Read the full post (1181 words, estimated 4:43 mins reading time)

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Repairing the Church’s Reputation-Or Not

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Categories: food for thought, Tags: ,

So I was reading a blog post this morning on a blog I just discovered thanks to a friend. I had some mixed feelings about where the guy was going with his thoughts, but in particular I found his opening remarks very insightful. Here’s a snippet:

“Have you noticed all the Christians apologizing for the church? I have.  It’s kind of the thing to do.  We assume everyone out there has been hurt, wronged, isolated, burned or ostracized by the church.  It’s almost the battle cry of my generation. ‘We’ve been emotionally wounded by the church!’ Ever since Donald Miller made it popular, some Christians just can’t resist telling everyone what jerks we’ve all been.”

This is a preview of Repairing the Church’s Reputation-Or Not. Read the full post (1185 words, estimated 4:44 mins reading time)

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Letting the Expression Fit the Need

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Categories: Meanderings (look it up), Tags: , , ,

Well, it looks like it’s time to take a step of faith. After spending nearly two years embedding myself in the local music scene, and finding several believers in the midst (and after being deliberately slow to act for awhile), I’m going to try getting a few of these musicians and artists together for a Bible study, to talk about faith, art, and the role of our art in mission.

I have no idea how it’s going to go, or how many people will turn up.  It’s definitely an experiment.  But I won’t know if it’s a good thing to do unless I try it.

This is a preview of Letting the Expression Fit the Need. Read the full post (889 words, estimated 3:33 mins reading time)

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Experiential Faith (part 2)

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up), Tags: , , ,

Here’s the thing. If you’re going to get the full context for part 2, you’re going to have to read part 1.

In part 1, I rambled on about how I believe that faith in God must involve experiencing Him as well as believing in Him. In this post, I’d like to ramble some more, particularly talking about what experiential faith involves, what it might look like.

This is a preview of Experiential Faith (part 2). Read the full post (1303 words, 1 image, estimated 5:13 mins reading time)

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God, Like It or Not

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Categories: food for thought, Tags: ,

I had an interesting experience yesterday.

Something you might not know about me is that as an ordained minister, I sometimes officiate weddings. I am called upon at times by a Christian wedding chapel owner to help out with ceremonies where no pastor is pre-selected.

The ceremony I officiated yesterday was the first one I’ve done in which the couple distinctly asked for no official mentions of God. The woman in particular had been raised in a strict religious upbringing, and while I wouldn’t call her anti-God, it was apparent in our pre-marital conversation that she sees God in a stern, disciplinary light, and she wanted her ceremony to be about celebrating the two of them as a couple. It was as though she was afraid to bring God into the picture, like that might cast a shadow on the celebration, somehow.

This is a preview of God, Like It or Not. Read the full post (860 words, 1 image, estimated 3:26 mins reading time)
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