Lions and Eagles

The inspiration for this post comes from a friend who commented on Facebook: I can be "mean" by keying your car. But to bring down fire and brimstone to wipe out entire villages, killing the first born of an entire nation, ordering followers to forced marriages of conquest, now that is past "mean". I want to look at each of these cases, and take a step back. I want to ask the question: Is God's wrath really beyond justification in each of these cases? Or is there a bigger picture here? Let's start with the Sodom and Gomorrah story. We start learning back in Genesis chapters 13 and 14 that the people in this region were really, really bad news. In chapter 18 , we learn that "the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave". Things are so bad that the Lord goes down to Sodom himself to investigate. What does He find? A town full of ruffians who were into gang-raping travelers. The only halfway decent guy in the town was Lot...

So I've been a father now for two weeks, four days. Fracena and I love our baby. We do our best to meet her needs. Food, cleaning, and love. Here's one thing that's caught my attention, though: She wants to eat. We want to feed her. But in the midst of our trying to feed her, she's so worked up that she fights us, swatting at the bottle and tossing her head around, until we finally get the bottle in her mouth, and it takes her a couple of seconds to realize what it is. Heavenly Father: How often do I fight You when You are trying to give me something I need? Please forgive me.

I've been reading a lot of headlines lately. These fools in Florida and elsewhere that want to burn Korans. Riot crowds in Islamic countries burning Bibles and crosses in retaliation. Everyone's a victim, everyone's lashing out. A few thoughts in return: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matt. 5:38-39) In other words, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth eventually leaves everyone blind and eating oatmeal. Also, a quote from M. Scott Peck that was in a recent sermon I heard: "There are dozens of ways to deal with evil and several ways to conquer it. All of them are facets of the truth that the only ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a willing, living human being. When it is absorbed there like blood in a sponge or a spear into one’s heart, it lo...

God, what are you doing in my life? I'd really like to understand. First, last weekend, there were the Jehovah's Witnesses you brought to my door. That was interesting. But okay. Then, there was the lunch where we stumbled onto friends, and joined them, only to find out that the guest of honor at the meal was a Buddhist monk and writer. The "dedication" for the meal was... interesting. But okay. And then there was last night. Dinner with family, friend, and friends of friend. Half the folks there were new to me. Fun, eclectic, widely varied conversation. Loved it. So then I got to asking my brother about the church he's recently been going to. Sounds like a great place. Anglican with a very contemporary styling, from what I understand. Then we heard a chime in. "Oh, that isn't one of those Anglican churches, is it? The ones with the gay-hating African bishops who think all gay people should be killed?" Umm... I know the Anglican churches you're t...

I encountered two very sad things this week. First, there was a woman at the church pot luck (I've seen her there many times) who said that she doesn't believe God has a plan for her life. She has nothing in this life but a litany of sorrows. I didn't know what to say!How do you answer that? How sad, to believe that God's love for you is less than perfect! How sad, to believe that God doesn't want you to have life and joy, or to think that somehow His power isn't enough to care for you! The other sad thing was just a few minutes ago. A trio of Jehovah's Witnesses came to the door, with an invitation to their Easter day service (though JWs aren't allowed to celebrate Easter). I politely told them that we would be quite busy at our own church. But one thing struck me after I had closed the door... They said that they wanted to invite me to a "celebration of the death of Jesus". Now, I will be celebrating Jesus's death... on Good Friday. Easte...

Yes, I heard Tiger’s “apology” press conference. At least, I heard part of it. More interesting to me than the conference were some of the remarks of WSB Radio listeners after. The question came up, why did he need to do this? One caller answered: This could be the beginning of Tiger’s own spiritual recovery. The first step, in many recovery programs, from infidelity to alcoholism, is to admit personal failure. This got me to thinking. This was a Buddhist confession, not a Christian one. How are the theologies different? What does Buddhist theology say about marriage and fidelity? The Dalai Lama was asked about this recently: Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader told The Associated Press during a brief interview in his hotel suite in Beverly Hills that he had not heard of Woods, but when the circumstances were explained to him he said that when it comes to adultery, “all religions have the same idea.” “Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that’s important,” he ...