Why I stopped using the Bible...

this is from Jimmy Doyle at liquidthinking, and it is fierce!

I want to stop using the Bible. I use it way to much and frankly I'm tired of people I encounter using it too. I hear people talk about using the Bible a lot. As a pastor there are people who expect me to use the Bible. If I give a sermon, but don't quote the Bible, they will quickly tell me I'm not using the Bible. So as any person faced with that kind of stimuli I started putting quotes in my sermons. I'd tell the same funny stories, then drop a verse in. Of course it was always on topic. After those sermons, people might say, "Thanks for using the Bible." I loved the reinforcement.

I've read books recently which in their promotion materials say things like, "Uses 1,200 Bible verses for support." Support? Did they just say, support? Is THAT what this the Bible is for? Support? I'll refrain from jock strap referrences here, but something doesn't seem right. It might just be me.

Look I'm not against people quoting the Bible, I just have a problem with them using it. Let the Bible speak. I have this hunch that the Bible is not some kind of tool kit or arsenal for me to use on something or against someone. Maybe I should support the Bible. Maybe God .... should.... use.... me.. ?? Something seems out of order here. [does anyone enjoy being 'used'? seriously?]

I have a car. I use it. It transports me to somewhere else faster than I can walk. I use gasoline to fuel my car. I use these things and it costs me something. I have a TV. I use it. It entertains me. I use it for news, and amusement. I use electricity to fuel my TV. I use these things and it costs me something. In high school I used girls. I used them. For whatever my selfish motives were as a horny 17 year old boy, I used girls for my satisfaction. Maybe they used me too. It cost us both something.
I use my Bible. I use it and when I use it, it costs me something.

So maybe you can get why I don't want to use the Bible any longer.

The Bible too often has become a weapon in the hands of people with agendas. They believe the agenda is God's agenda, so there is something ultimate about their perspective. The ends seem to justify the means. Their ends support their means.

I'm not giving up on the Bible. I'm not telling you to stop quoting the scripture. I'm not telling you to not know the scripture. Just stop using it. If anything... let it use you. Let it read you. Live the scripture.

Live into the story of God.

log in the eye

my mom gave me this one...

Sign of the times...

'til September

Congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes, you won.

The Edmonton Oilers are no less a team of destiny. You have done the impossible, and you have made this fan, a city and a nation proud! Your fortitude and determination are a credit to the game, and to your inner character. Far from the insulting, immature, self-centered athletes who embarass so many, you- Edmonton Oilers are roles models all. Thank you for a fantastic season, it won't be forgotten. You're still champions, we're still the City of Champions!

this is going to hurt for a long time....


When all the dark clouds roll away
And the sun begins to shine
I see my freedom from across the way
And it comes right in on time
Well it shines so bright and it gives so much light
And it comes from the sky above
Makes me feel so free makes me feel like me
And lights my life with love
And it seems like and it feels like
And it seems like yes it feels like
A brand new day

- Van Morrison

nothing

I'm not completely sure why (though I have my suspicions), but I am strangely drawn to this picture.
Perhaps it's because of its unique perspective, its unique design and architectural skill. But then again maybe not.

I think it has to do with the prophetic nature of the message. The truth of what awaits the church as a building, as a fortress. There it is. That's what awaits, -- or is already happening.

Most modern (read conservative, evangelical, guilt-ridden, rule bound, denominationally oriented, Bible-believin', Christians) live their faith in the paradoxical space between being too modest to speak for God except on social issues, and too reasonable to be truly dependent on God except in times of tragedy. The point that Jesus was trying to make in his short years on this planet was that the Kingdom of God is near. Which is a divine way of saying: the great, mysterious power of the universe wants to be in a loving relationship with each one of us. That's it. Not same-sex marriage, not Jihad, not drink, or tobacco, or pre-marital sex, not George W. or Kofi-Anan, or Tim from my coffee shop. What's so hard about the fact that God is desperately seeking Susan? or you, or me? God invites us with all of our human frailty and brokenness to reach out in trust.

But this will turn the church on its end.

I have met far too many followers of Jesus recently who are trying to get close to Jesus, but are being weighed down with guilt or baggage that the 'church' is forcing them to lug around. Jesus doesn't come to cramp our style...he wants us to love him. To LOVE him. To love HIM. He sets us free to really live!!! To dance and sing, and spin, and laugh and cry and wonder, and embrace, and talk, and drink coffee, and swim, and party, and explore, and eat, and sleep, and taste, and soar, and create, and drink beer, and cook, and hold hands, and dance, and dance and dance, and groove, and golf, and surf, and teach and listen, and paint, and .....get the picture?

This is what will turn the church on its end.

For some reason, we think we have to defend God and condemn homosexuals, or liberals or sex addicts, or ...well, anyone who doesn't 'get it' like 'we' do. I think we're going to be surprised who makes it in, and...who doesn't. Wasn't it the religious leaders that Jesus blisteringly condemned as all show and no substance? If 'religious leaders' spent as much time caring for the poor as they do condemning homosexuals, the world would be a much better place. If I spent as much time caring for the marginalized as I do getting angry with the lame driver ahead of me (ARGH), ....the world would be a better place.

This will turn the church on its end.

What does it mean to be created in the image of God? If we understood this, we'd understand our job description in this cosmos. We are created with a capacity to be in relationship with the creating, sustaining, loving, compassionate power of the universe. Oh my gosh this is so cool. Being created like this means that at the most profound level of existence we are not alone,....we are NOT alone....we have the potential to be in a relationship with God. And God loves it when we dance, and sing, and spin, and eat, and laugh, and enjoy all his good gifts. See, there is nothing (NOTHING) that we have done or could ever do that would make him love us less, nothing. There is nothing that we could ever do that would make him love us less,

nothing

nothing.

This will stand the church on its end. This is the scandal of grace! He forgives!! Anything, everything you've ever done or will do....he's forgiven you for...think about that. He's forgiven you, you're clean, you're embraced, you're forgiven, and we love him for that. You don't have to explain yourself, no more beating yourself up (or allowing yourself to be beaten up).

Step out from the shadow of your hiding place. Let God embrace you. May your whole life become a response to the truth that you've always been loved, you are loved, and you always will be loved. And may you know, may you know deep in the depths of your soul, that there's nothing you could ever do to make him love you less.
Nothing you could ever do to make God love you less.
Nothing you could ever do to make him love you less.
Nothing.


Nothing.

Brewery Unveils SBC Friendly Beverage

Responding quickly to the Southern Baptist Convention’s resolution to ban alcohol, Anheuser-Busch released its new adult beverage, aptly called Drinking Water. Company President August Busch IV stated “We hope this drink will be as popular among Baptists as our top seller Budweiser was”.

Dear God...

Why do we always make things so hard? Take prayer for example. Sometimes, prayer can be simply, 'thinking'. God knows our intimate, unspoken thoughts and intentions. Of that, the Bible is clear. And if that is so, then wouldn't it stand to reason that our thoughts of love or concern or clarity or help, or support, or direction , or whatever, about another person are thoughts that God can discern and respond to? At its deepest, most intimate level, prayer is really thinking intently about another or ourselves and communing, communicating or pointing out our hopes to God.

Why then do we make it so hard?

Why is it that we have forced onto ourselves a middle-class, evangelical, guilt-ridden, legalistic, Christian subculture language that is 'the only legitimate way to pray to God'? Do we really think (or speak) with terms like: "midst", "lead, guide and direct", "bless the hands that prepared this meal", "be with us", "and us to your service"? (etc.)
I don't.
Why can't our prayers be clear thoughts of fondness, where God says...."I understand".

When the apostle Paul emplores us to "pray at all times"or "pray without stopping"...isn't this the idea he had in mind, that our prayers would dominate our very thoughts and perhaps blend together into one. And the God who is able to separate our thoughts and our intentions (whoa!) comprehends our- PRAYERS, and gets it.

I think about my family and friends most of my day,...and God hears my prayers.

OOPS!

My apologies for the last post, ...apparantly there were some 'bandit' tag-ons. Not my intention, sorry.

Please resume normal enjoyment.

PH

Now THAT's more like it!!!!

NOT IN OUR HOUSE!

Oil outplayed, out-wit, out-survived the 'Canes.

In fact....they dominated the play and Carolina (a state, not a city), waited for their usual scraps and garbage to scrounge. At least we're playing hockey--skate, pass, hit, shoot, make plays, goaltend. All they do is look for the crumbs and gobble.

Go OIL!!!

Caption this 5...

Like Spring Air

I have this friend who knows how to communicate words of life. She says things that are a song to the soul. Every now and then we connect with someone who seems to articulate truth and understanding, joy and refreshment that makes the spirit soar and our souls buoyant. A close friend is a precious thing. It reminds us that we are on a journey and we can bring the sweet aroma of grace to someone else. I don't know about you, but for me, receiving words of life make all the difference in the world. It's the difference between life and death. Thank you my friend.

Slippery Slope

What's next, same-sex marriage?

A woman who fell in love with a snake has reportedly married the reptile at a traditional Hindu wedding celebrated by 2,000 guests in India's Orissa state.

Bimbala Das wore a silk saree for the ceremony Wednesday at Atala village near the Orissa state capital Bhubaneswar.

Priests chanted mantras to seal the union, but the snake failed to come out of a nearby ant hill where it lives, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said.

A brass replica snake stood in for the hesitant groom.

"Though snakes cannot speak nor understand, we communicate in a peculiar way," Das, 30, told the agency.

"Whenever I put milk near the ant hill where the cobra lives, it always comes out to drink.

"I always get to see it every time I go near the ant hill. It has never harmed me," she added. ...

Das has moved into a hut built close to the ant hill since the wedding.

Earlier this year, a tribal girl was married off to a dog on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

By the way, homosexuality is still technically illegal in India.

MAKING DECISIONS AND THE WILL OF GOD

I believe it was Samuel Elliot Morrison the noted American historian, who compared history to a poker game. He pictured the nations sitting around the table each of them being dealt several hands of cards. Some of the players had consistently good hands, some consistently poor hands, most of the others had a mixture.
Some of the players with good hands, played them poorly and came away from the game losers. A few with bad hands played them shrewdly and came away winners. Some of those at the table didn’t play at all, they simply sat in and let the game go on around them.
Some at the table played according to principles, others acted according to hunches. One thing Mr. Morrison said at the conclusion of his article, was that it is the same with men and nations, it is not simply the cards we are dealt, but how we play the cards that make a difference in the game.

One thing that Samuel Morrison did not say is that all of the players sitting around the table would like to get a look at the deck before the cards are dealt. If they could see what cards are coming up, or what cards lay hidden on the table, then they would have a decided advantage.
In the world of poker, professional gamblers sometimes mark the deck, and in that way they are able to anticipate the future and therefore know when to raise the bid or when to drop out of the game.
And it seems that it is true with people and nations, when throughout history, people have been desperately concerned with getting a look at the deck. If only we could anticipate the future, if only we knew the cards that we were going to be dealt, then we would feel much less vulnerable when it came to the choices and the decisions of life.
This was true of most of the pagan religions, this is true of the palm readers and the horoscopes that you see in the newspaper or hear on the radio. Some people look at stars, others look at palms, others look at the liver of an animal, mediums, spiritists, or tea leaves, hoping to get a glimpse of the cards.

Some choices seem to be particularly difficult:
What school to go to
What vocation to enter
What job to take or relationship to pursue
When we face those choices we often feel vulnerable and so Christians have felt like we’d like to get a look at the deck or at least understand the mind of the dealer, and as a result we tend to become passive and feel less responsible for our choices.

Flop the bible open
Circumstances
Hunches/intuition

That is why though that temptation is there for all of us and it is understandable, it is quite shocking when you turn to the Bible, we discover that asking the question—“How do you know the will of God when you are making up your mind in these decisions?” we discover that that is not a Biblical question. That the Bible does not encourage us to ask it, and even more significant, it gives us no direction on how to answer it.
What we seem to want to know most when we face lifes choices, the Bible does not address at all.
What the Bible does is give us itself.

2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 16-18

In this great passage Paul declares that all scripture is inspired by God. This book is to God, what breath is to you or I—it comes out of his innermost being, moves out of the very nature of God.
Then he says that this God breathed volume is profitable for 4 things
1. profitable for Teaching- tells us what we ought to believe
2. profitable for Rebuke- tells us when we’ve gone wrong
3. profitable for Correction- it gets us back on the path again
4. it’s profitable for Instruction in right living

And those 4 uses of the Bible are all designed to do one thing, that the man or woman of God may be thoroughly furnished for every good work.
UNDERLINE THAT!
This God breathed book is not only inspired, it is all-sufficient to give us all that we need in all of lifes decisions, to be all that God wants us to be. To live according to this book is to live,…in the will of God.
This God breathed volume gives us all that we need to know, to be all that we need to be, in all of lifes situations, to be in and do the will of God.

Let’s suppose that Jesus were going to come back to the earth for just one day. It doesn’t fit the book of Revelation, but, humor me.
Let’s suppose that he was going to come back and he was going to tell us, how we could know God and how we would know how we can live in the will of God. I suspect that some of the entrepreneurs, the resourceful among us would rent GM place, they’d have the networks there and there would be satellite transmission to all the parts of the world.
The crowded GM place would be hushed and people would be huddled in front of their TV sets as Jesus came to give us this word about how to know God, and how to know his will,
He would come and step in front of the microphone, and he would not say a word. He would simply hold up this book, and say, “I have given you my word, all that you need to know in faith and practice is in this book, IT IS ENOUGH!! It is not only all inspired, it is all sufficient to give us all that we need to know in all of lifes decisions to be all that God wants us to be. It is enough not only to save us for eternity, but to guide us in time.

The Christian with a Bible in their hand and with the intelligence to use it, has all the guidance they need.

The difficulty in saying that, is that it makes us uneasy, because there are decisions that are not spelled out in the Bible. There is no chapter devoted in the Bible to why you should attend this school or that one, date this person or, not. No passage tells you what job you ought to take.
To say that seems to remove God from us and leave him back 2000 years ago when the Bible was written, but it doesn’t give us very much help today. But if that is our reaction, then its because we haven’t taken the Bible very seriously today.

One of the things that the Bible teaches us is that God IS working out his will. It is HIS unfolding drama and we are privileged to be a part of his story.

script in hand, -- stay hungry, stay foolish.