Kethuvim

It means "writings." I write things.

9:05 AM

Why systematic theology is dead part 1

Posted by Brad Polley |

And any Bible College (former or current) will shout, "Hallelujah, it's about time!" to that.  I was thinking about this last night when I should have been sleeping after working 13 straight hours (I'm a near burned out minister, sleep doesn't happen much anymore).  


For those of you that don't know what systematic theology is, let me sum it up for you: it's a system of theology.  Thank you and good night.  Just kidding.  Basically, it is a system of figuring out who God is and how he works.  Systematic theology tries to have a coherent thought of God from Genesis through Revelation of the Bible.  I'm sure that explanation clears everything up for you.  Moving on.  

I remember my systematic theology class in college.  It was at 7:30 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays (I just threw up in my mouth as I typed that) and it was taught by an incredibly wonderful, but incredibly dry 75 year old man.  He basically started the semester in Genesis talking about the nature of God and then proceeded to work his way through the Bible toward Revelation.  I always hated that class, not because of the professor, not because it was boring or early in the morning (although I loathed getting up that early for it).  I hated it because it never seemed right to me.  It never seemed right that you could make God so neat and tidy and fit him into a system.  

Systematic theology grew out of the Enlightenment, the "Age of Reason."  Everyone started seeking to make everything rational and ordered.  This age was a great one for science, but it was devastating to theology.  In science, the more order and system, the better; science is designed to work that way.  In theology, however, the more systemic and ordered it becomes, the more problems you run into.  You run into problems because you can't fit an infinite, limitless Being into a mold based on reason.  

The end result of all of this is in 1920, you get someone (after 2500 years of biblical study where no one lent this view any credence at all) saying that the earth was created in six literal days, because reason says that if the Bible says six days, then it must be six literal days. (Editorial tangent: Quick, what do humans use to measure a 24 hour day?  The sun and moon you say?  Correct.  When was the sun and moon created according to Genesis?  The fourth day you say?  How was time kept on the first three days then?  Game over.)  The end result of that is an argument with a high school student about dinosaurs where he claims that Satan planted dinosaur bones in the ground to tempt Christians away from believing the Bible (I wish I was making that up).  Do you see where a purely rational system of theology results in a completely unreasonable thought?  

Continued tomorrow...

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11:34 AM

Just a thought

Posted by Brad Polley |

We talk in churches all the time about people rejecting Jesus, but I'm not sure that that is what they're rejecting.  I wonder if what they are rejecting is actually the Church and Christians, not Christ himself.  It seems that even the most hardened atheists, in their defense of their views, bring up things like the Crusades or the Inquisition to show why Jesus is a fallacy and why they refuse to believe in God at all.  Those events, and others like them, have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus, but with his idiotic followers.  


I would venture to guess that a good deal of atheists have had some sort of a negative spiritual experience in their lives that lead to them rejecting the whole thing.  Maybe I'm over-simplifying all of this, but maybe I'm not.  

So what do you think?   

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9:38 AM

This should put all the muslim rumors to rest, but it probably won't

Posted by Brad Polley |

This was part of President Obama's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, when he talked about his religious transformation.


 "I was not raised in a particularly religious household. I had a father who was born a Muslim but became an atheist, grandparents who were non-practicing Methodists and Baptists, and a mother who was skeptical of organized religion, even as she was the kindest, most spiritual person I’ve ever known. She was the one who taught me as a child to love, and to understand, and to do unto others as I would want done.

I didn’t become a Christian until many years later, when I moved to the South Side of Chicago after college. It happened not because of indoctrination or a sudden revelation, but because I spent month after month working with church folks who simply wanted to help neighbors who were down on their luck – no matter what they looked like, or where they came from, or who they prayed to. It was on those streets, in those neighborhoods, that I first heard God’s spirit beckon me. It was there that I felt called to a higher purpose – His purpose. "

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10:18 AM

When nerds attack

Posted by Brad Polley |

This guy shouldn't be hard to capture.  Just look in his parent's basement.

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10:13 AM

This about sums it up for me

Posted by Brad Polley |

"Without equivocation or hesitation I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think…

I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.

However there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed." - Peter Rollins


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10:19 AM

One of the coolest websites I've seen in a while

Posted by Brad Polley |

Thanks to Mark Riddle's website, I came across Black Cab Sessions.  It's a ton of videos of musicians playing their songs in the back of a black cab in London.  Brilliant concept and very entertaining.  The three best I've seen so far are:


Death Cab for Cutie
Fleet Foxes (the best I've seen)
The New Pornographers (this isn't what it sounds like)


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11:26 AM

Jesus vs. Yoda...discuss

Posted by Brad Polley |

I'm working my way through the Star Wars movies (at least the three good ones) and I was thinking, "Who would win in a fight between Jesus and Yoda?"  

At first blush, my gut reaction is Yoda, but Jesus offers some interesting angles as well.  I don't really have an answer.  They're both incredible in their own special ways, but I just don't know. Here are my thoughts in a pro-con format:

Jesus
Pros:
- He's the Son of God, that has to give you some sort of an advantage.
- After his resurrection, he could walk through walls, thus giving him the ability to escape if needed.
- He's much taller than Yoda.
- You apparently can't kill him, or at least, keep him dead.  

Cons:
- He's a pacifist, that has to hurt you in a fight.
- He has no light saber, unless he can conjure one out of thin air.

Yoda
Pros:
- He's Yoda.
- He has wicked light saber skills.
- He has the force (one could argue that Jesus had this as well)
- He's a Jedi, so if you strike him down, he only becomes stronger.

Cons:
- He's pretty stinkin' small.

So who wins?  Jesus?  Yoda?  Does the battle rage on for millenia until they both decide to call a truce?  

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10:39 AM

I can see this coming in handy in the future

Posted by Brad Polley |

I'm currently picking my way through the book of Deuteronomy.  To say that some of this book is funny is a gross understatement.  It contains some seriously amazing advancements in humanity, especially considering the time that it was written.  Some of it, I must admit, is a bit strange, and some of it is a bit disturbing.  


I was reading this morning this lovely gem:

If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.  They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious.  He will not obey us.  He will not obey us.  He is a profligate and a drunkard."  Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death.

Ezra and Abram...watch yourselves.

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10:55 AM

Larry

Posted by Brad Polley |

Remember Larry?  I mentioned him in a post about a month ago.  He's the guy who has cancer and our church has been helping him with food and gas money for the past few months.  He came to church yesterday and he looked pretty bad.  He was slumping over in his chair and couldn't keep his eyes open.  I went and sat by him and asked him if he was alright.  He barely had the energy to tell me that he needed to go home because he was so weak.  A couple of us helped him out to his car.  It seems that he had five chemo treatments last week.  That will zap anyone's energy, let alone an elderly man.  


I called him yesterday afternoon to see how he was doing and he sounded a little bit stronger.  Do you want to know what kind of person he is?  He kept apologizing that he had to leave church early.  That's what he was worried about.  I had a hard time convincing him that God didn't really care that he left early.  If you're one that is inclined to pray, please pray for him.  I'm not sure what to even pray.  Just pray as God leads you.   

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9:46 AM

2 year olds are hilarious

Posted by Brad Polley |

When they aren't screaming, kicking, biting, hitting, and saying, "No Daddy, you leave now!" that is.  As kids grow up, it's incredibly fun to listen as they say different words.  It's also incredibly sad when they start pronouncing those words correctly.  


Our latest from our two year old is this gem: Chicken Nugwickets.  For those of you not fluent in toddler speak, that would be Chicken McNuggets from McDonald's.  Priceless.  

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11:47 AM

Still think money buys happiness?

Posted by Brad Polley |

Think again.

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9:40 AM

I guess genocide is okay now

Posted by Brad Polley |

I know this is a politically divisive issue, but I really don't care.  What Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide.  The U.S. doesn't care because, well, it's Israel, and everything they do is fine because it is of God.  Killing is never of God.  Sorry.


For all Christians who think we should just blindly support Israel because 3000 years ago God chose them as a holy people need to remember this: there are about 40,000 Palestinian Christians.  What about them, your brothers and sisters?  Do they deserve this?  Are they just collateral damage?

Israel was chosen by God to be an example to the nations of what monotheists are supposed to look like.  Right now, they are showing the world that God is vindictive, violent and hateful.  If you want that message to be spread, then go ahead and continue to support Israel in this stuff.  If you want people to know that "God is love" then we have to stand up and say that what they are doing is wrong, regardless of our political agenda.

Update: Today they bombed a school.  Defend that move biblically.

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1:23 PM

Apparently 2009 will, in fact, usher in the Apocalypse

Posted by Brad Polley |

I just saw on CNN that their New Year's show is being hosted by Anderson Cooper (okay, I can see that) and Kathy Griffin (okay, I can see th...wait what?).  Kathy Griffin?  Really?  Are they trying to one-up Ryan Seacrest for the "Most Obnoxious New Year's Host" award?  Were all of the other 3 million people more qualified to do this job already busy?


Jesus' return must be imminent.

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8:46 AM

Incarnation

Posted by Brad Polley |

Incarnation.  It's a word that Christians throw around a lot.  I think it's best explained in the gospel of John where it says, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."  It's a fancy way saying that God put on skin and in order to relate to us.  It's something we celebrate this time of year when we focus on God arriving on earth with poor shepherds and farm animals as his only pomp and circumstance.  All of that is nice, but for some reason we humans tend to need more here and now and concrete examples to understand a concept as mind-shattering as the Incarnation.  



The Church is called to be the Incarnation of Christ to the world.  That football team is a simple example of a difficult concept to grasp.  Merry Christmas to everyone reading this.  May you remember that God decided he couldn't get close enough to us being where he was, so he decided to walk around here for awhile.  

Thanks Dad for the heads-up on that article.

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11:31 AM

God as a crutch

Posted by Brad Polley |

I've often heard people who don't believe in God say something to the effect of, "You Christians/Jews/Muslims just use God as a crutch.  If I'm honest, this has offended me at times in the past and I'm generally not an easily offended person.  It's offended me because it just assumes that I'm a weak minded person, who, instead of using my brain and my strength, I prefer to lean on a figment of my imagination.  


Recently, I've been less offended by this statement and have taken the approach of: So what?  What's wrong with having a crutch?  If someone is limping and in pain, they need a crutch to help them.  If someone is in pain and can't walk on their own, they need help.  The reality is that sometimes we need a crutch, so why not God?  

I can never convince you that God is real.  I'll never try to convince you of that.  All I know is my own experience.  My recent struggles are no secret to anyone who reads this blog.  In the last couple of weeks, I've seen how God is my crutch, whether I ask him to be or not.  He has sustained me, blessed me more than I deserve, and is bringing me back to standing.  

Could I live without God?  Yeah.  Could I live without him?  No.

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9:11 AM

Not intended for consumption

Posted by Brad Polley |

I followed a tanker truck into town today that had this to say on the back:


"Inedible.  Technical Animal Fat.  Not intended for human consumption."

So this led to one big question in my mind: what makes animal fat "technical?"  What does that even mean?  

I can only assume that this tanker was headed to a McDonald's somewhere.   

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9:22 AM

Huzzah!

Posted by Brad Polley |

We bailed out another American industry.  How much this time?  Only a measly $14 billion.  So the message is this:


Is your business struggling?  Have you driven your business into the ground by making crappy products that no one wants?  Have you used shady business practices that have blown up in your face?  Don't fret, Uncle Sam will come to the rescue.  And don't worry about that little thing called accountability, we won't have any of that.  Continue what you do, and if you need more money, just give us a call.

Pop quiz.  How many people in the world have zero access to clean water?  Over 1 billion.  Approximately how much money would it take to eliminate this problem?  About $10 billion.  At least we're a Christian nation right?

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12:44 PM

He restores my soul

Posted by Brad Polley |

I'm currently reading a book by Harold Kushner called, "The Lord is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm."  He breaks down each statement from, what is most likely, the most well-recognized passage in the entire Bible.  I would venture to guess that almost everyone, at least in this country, has heard this Psalm.  If you've ever attended the funeral of a loved one, you've probably heard this Psalm that begins, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." and continues with "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."  


As any of you who read this blog know, I'm a person who is almost constantly plagued with doubt about my life.  I posted a couple of weeks ago about the level of discontent in my life.  One of the biggest reasons for this discontent is that I'm wondering whether or not I'm still valuable in my current occupation as a youth pastor.  Today, I received an email from one of my college students telling me how much he appreciates me and the fact that I was responsible for changing his life (I would argue that God did the changing, but that's for another post).  

In the twenty-third Psalm, the psalmist says, "he (God) restores my soul."  I've been thinking about that line all day because it seems that in my times of greatest doubt concerning my ministry, someone always comes along with a kind word, or I stumble upon a certain passage of Scripture that lifts my spirit.  It's as if I'm walking through the desert, wondering when I'm going to die of thirst, only to stumble upon a small stream flowing with cold water.  It's not necessarily an over-abundance of water, but just enough to continue on the journey.  It's a restorative drink, one that gives the energy needed to continue on in the heat and wilderness.  In fact, as I look at the history of the Bible story, I see this kind of thing happen all the time to God's people.  He provided a spring to the Israelites wandering in the desert, manna and quail for them to eat, a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, etc.  

God won't necessarily speak to you directly (presumably with the voice of Morgan Freeman or James Earl Jones), but he will bring people into your life to restore you when you need it the most.     

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3:05 PM

This probably won't be popular

Posted by Brad Polley |

I think we, in churches, sometimes worship the Bible more than we do God.  There I said it.  Now here's what I mean.  


I've heard so many sermons (probably some of mine as well) in my life where the preacher has said something to the effect of: The Bible is the answer.  Of course, the question that the person may have is irrelevant, but the Bible is, apparently, the answer.  Over the last few years, I've tried to analyze that idea to figure out whether it is true or not.  The idea that the Bible is "God's answer book" bugs me greatly and here's why: we aren't called to follow the Bible, we're called to follow Christ.  There's a major difference between those two things.  The idea also bugs me because the Bible was never intended to be an answer book (more on this later).

I know people who know the Bible front to back, inside and out, and yet they, in no way, model the life Jesus laid out (this obviously isn't true of everyone who knows the Bible well).  They put the authority of Scripture up so high that they miss out on following Christ, which, it seems to me, is the point of being a Christian.  We need to remember that the earliest Christians didn't have the Bible as we know it.  The Bible as we know it didn't exist until almost 400 c.e., and even then you could only read it if your were a higher up in the Church.  It wasn't until Martin Luther (and the printing press) came along in the 1500s that people were allowed to read the Bible at all.  That means the church got by for 1500 years without really being able to study Scripture at all.  However, millions of people found a way during that time to worship God and follow Christ.  The only guide they had was their community of believers and the Church.    

So what's my point?  The point is this: the Bible is important, but it isn't as important as Jesus.  The Bible isn't an answer book, although it has some answers to life in it.  The Bible is a collection of stories of how God relates to people and how we relate to God.  It's a beautiful text because, upon reading it, we find ourselves as part of the story.  We find a bit of ourselves in Moses, David, Peter, Paul, Mary (did you know that Puff the Magic Dragon lives by the sea?), etc.  We have the benefit of the Bible today that 1500 years of worth of Christians really didn't have.  It's an important document, but it isn't as important as Jesus.  That may not be popular with some of you, but it's true.  

The Pharisees knew the Scriptures, but, according to Jesus, they didn't really know God or truly follow him or his intent with the Scriptures.  Jesus was constantly saying, You do what the Scripture says, but not what it intends.  They knew the word, but they didn't know the Word, and that makes all the difference in the world.  

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3:40 PM

Why does it always boil down to this?

Posted by Brad Polley |

A few weeks ago, I encouraged my middle school students to email me or call me they had any questions about anything.  I did this because middle school students generally have a million questions but either a) don't feel comfortable asking them or b)think the questions are stupid so they refrain.  I always strive in my ministry to create a space where students can ask the tough questions that they all have without fear of being judged or condemned for a lack of faith or whatever.  


One of my students called me yesterday.  This is a girl who has very little experience with church or Jesus or whatever, but, because of a great family in our church, is being lovingly introduced to it.  She asks the best questions on Sunday nights and I genuinely love when she's there.  Anyway, here's the question she asked me.

If you don't pray, will you go to hell?

My response?  No.  When I told her, there was a couple of seconds of silence and then she said, "Oh...okay."  I told her I would email her a better and more extended response.  I stand by my answer and I would love anyone to argue this point with me biblically (you can't).

I got off the phone and I thought: why does it always boil down to heaven and hell?  Let me be very clear about this next point: BEING A CHRISTIAN ISN'T ABOUT GOING TO HEAVEN AND AVOIDING HELL.  I can't be any more clear than that (I mean, look at all the caps).  Avoiding hell, attaining some heavenly reward has never been, nor will it ever be, the point of following Jesus.  The point of following Jesus is to follow his way of life, that just so happens to lead to real life here and now.  It's a life of peace, joy, and love.  It's a way of life that Jesus describes as a "narrow way" that few find.  

This doesn't mean that stuff like prayer, reading your Bible, etc. isn't important.  Those things are done as a response to living this way of life, they aren't the way of life itself.  Jesus would seem to suggest that the calling card of this way of life is love and love alone.  So we pray because we love God, not to garner his love.  We pray because we want to, not because we have to to avoid a fiery end.  

This girl's question happened for a reason.  It happened because, somewhere along the line, she's been given the understanding by the Church that the reason to be a Christian is because, well, it's better than the alternative.  That kind of thinking will never lead to the kind of life Jesus lived.  It will lead to nothing but a life based on fear.  Fear will only get you so far and eventually you'll give up on the whole thing.  Jesus never guilted people into following and he never scared them into it either.  We probably shouldn't either.

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