This is the last post on this blog. I don't feel like blogging anymore. Thanks to everyone who's read and commented.
Lent 2012
17 hours ago
It's called Awkward Family Photos and it's amazing. Here's the best picture I have ever seen. It really screams, "My wife is pregnant and if you dispute my manhood, I'll shoot you in the face." I can't even fathom the thought process behind this photo.
I was flipping through my 15 channels this morning and idiotically stopped on a religious channel. Watching religious channels reminds me of walking through an amusement park, and you come across someone's pile of puke laying on the asphalt; it's sickening to look at, but, for some reason, you can't look away.
This particular joke of a preacher was talking about the end times, because, hey, scaring the crap out of people really brings in the money. He was going through a litany of things that are happening in the world and he spent a great deal of time talking about all of the salmonella cases in stuff like lettuce and peanut butter. The best part of all this? He was using these salmonella cases as proof that Jesus' return must be imminent. He actually said, "Why is all this happening? Because it's biblical prophecy."
That is some stunning biblical exegesis. I was grateful for a good laugh this morning.
Conservative radio host Erich Mancow got waterboarded today on his radio show. He did it to definitively prove that it wasn't torture. Well, here's the video of it.
In case you don't feel like watching it, here's what happened. He lasted about three seconds before giving up and then declared it "absolutely torture." Keep in mind, this was in a controlled environment, and he had the option to give up whenever he felt like it, and his conclusion was still that it was torture.
I don't understand the argument that protecting our country from terrorists is an either/or proposition where we either torture in order to keep us safe, or the terrorists show up by the thousands with nukes strapped to them. I might be "liberal," but I still love this country, and I refuse to let the country I live in sell out its ethics and morals in the name of security. I can't, as a follower of Jesus, condone stuff like waterboarding.
I've always been vaguely interested in astronomy. When I saw this picture this morning, it totally blew me away. If you aren't sure what it is, it's the sun with the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope silhouetted in it. Amazing.
Die. Just kidding, that would be morbid. Although die is a good word. Maybe I'll write about that sometime too. At least once a day (or never) someone asks me, "Brad, what is your favorite 3-letter word?" My response? Why.
It's a word that is short on letters, and long on implication. By adding a simple question mark to the end of this word, we stumble on, what may be, the key to following Jesus. Seven years ago, I graduated from Bible College (read: fake college) and entered into the full time ministry. This 3-letter word always seemed off limits to me, because, after all, the pastor or professor knew more than I did and I just assumed that everything they said was true. Shortly after entering the ministry, I started using this 3-letter word, and my life hasn't been the same since.
Why do we ask why? Have you ever thought about that? My two year old is fluent in "why-ese." It's totally annoying, but I started to think about why he questions everything. He asks why all the time because he's trying to learn and grow. It's part of the process of maturity and growth to ask the question, "Why?" At some point in our development, it seems to me (and Christians seem to be worse at this than anyone) we stop asking why and start assuming we know it all. This is the surest way to stunt growth.
Asking why serves a couple of purposes. One, it helps us to examine ourselves and our motives. Before we do anything, maybe we should ask ourselves why we are about to do said thing. This checks our motives and should, hopefully, cause us to make fewer stupid decisions. When someone wrongs us, instead of a knee-jerk reaction, maybe we should ask why we are reacting in the way we are. This would show us that our response probably has something to do with pride and having our pride wounded, thus we blow up and make a bad situation worse. By calling out our pride, we have a chance to check it at the door and shrink its influence on our life.
Two, asking why causes us to question everything we read in the Bible or hear in church. To some, that last sentence was akin to heresy, but hear me out. The Church should be a place where people are free to question. Just one time, when I preach, I would love to have someone stand up and ask why I said a certain thing. Christianity grew out of the Jewish tradition (it was a totally Jewish sect until people thought it would be a good idea to hate Jewish people), which is a tradition that is founded in questions. They question God, they question each other, and they question themselves. They do this because they have a profound understanding that questions lead to growth, lack of questions leads to spiritual atrophy. Christians need to regain this ability to question and they need to do it now.
By not asking questions, we allow our faith to be hijacked by pastors who's message revolves around God making you rich and healthy. By not asking why, we hold on to ridiculous theories about the origins of the universe, while ignoring science. By not asking why, we become slaves to political ideologies that have nothing to do with following Jesus.
Asking why always leads to more questions, thus a never-ending cycle of growth and change. Don't be afraid to question. But be careful, you may just find freedom.
Per my last post, I submit to you Exhibit A on how the Church has missed the point on the torture issue. A survey came out this week that showed definitively that American churchgoers are more likely to support the torture of suspected terrorists than people who don't go to church. The survey shows that 54% of American churchgoers support torturing prisoners.
That means that 54% of the Church has little interest in following Jesus' way of life. You may think that's a leap, but go ahead and try and convince me that Jesus would torture someone. Good luck with that one.
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