I got cussed at yesterday... very strange

Here's what happened:

Yesterday, part of my day was spent putting out roadside signs for a Financial Peace University preview class our church is hosting this weekend. As I was walking away from putting a sign on the corner of an intersection, I heard someone yell, "Go f--- yourself!" I looked up. A young man was leaning out of the window of a large late model pickup truck that had turned right and was pulling away from the intersection. He yelled again while hanging out of the window looking in my direction, "Did you hear me? Go f--- yourself!"

He could have been yelling at someone else, but I didn't see anyone else around.

I have encountered some harshness toward my faith (though very little). But these signs don't even mention our church, except the web address, which also doesn't indicate it's a church (http://www.journeyoflife.org/). Several churches do put signs out like that in our area, so maybe he assumed it was for a church.

What I don't understand is what, in his mind, is the point? Does he think saying, "F---" to me is goint to hurt my tender ears? Offend me? I guess he is publicly expressing his opinion, which can be somewhat cathartic. Really, though, I just don't get it. Not only did it not bother me, I found it, for some strange reason, mildly entertaining.

Upon reflection, though, I am a little bothered by the incident. It occurs to me that he must not have been wearing a seatbelt and, while cussing out the window is just silly, not wearing a seatbelt is dangerous.

Postmodernism... Sort of

I've been exploring worldviews, truth, etc. for a sermon series on "Reframing Your Worldview." I stumbled across a page that randomly generates short academic papers based on stock terms and phrases. It's quite fun. There is also an adolescent poetry generator linked from that page.

Check it out at:
http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo

Grace and Justice in Society

I was at a friends how the other night playing poker (gasp!). One of the things I love about poker is that it is so interactive. If you are simply playing for chips, or even nickel and dime poker, you can have several hours of great fun getting to know people more deeply for less than the price of a movie with popcorn.

Regardless, this blog is not about the poker game but the conversation after the poker game. It was great. It was political. It was great because it was political. I think that the devil (forces of evil, etc.) have scored a great victory in defining polite conversation. What two topics are off limits in polite conversation: Religion and politics. These are are two of the most important subject a group of people could ever talk about. Our relationship with God and our societal relationships with each other. By moving religion and politics out-of-bounds, we have virtually ensured that we will continue to have greater conflict and deeper misunderstanding because we can't or won't discuss two of the things at the very roots of our lives.

So the game ended and the conversation turned to politics. The political leanings of the people around the table varied significantly. I will probably talk about my own political leanings at some point. Not tonight, however.

One person at the table said he was a Democrat because he believes that they are more grace-filled. Bear in mind that this is a table of Lutherans. We believe that the three cornerstones of our faith are grace alone, faith alone and scripture alone. So his following the party that seemed to offer more grace into people's lives makes sense.

Here is my struggle: is 'grace' the proper posture for a government? Will a grace-filled government lead to a more grace-filled society or to a more chaotic society? In the sphere of Christian faith, individuals are absolutely called to -- even obligated to -- be grace-giving toward others because of God's grace to us. Is this the sphere in which the government operates, however. This especially needs to be thought through in a country like the U.S. wherein the government is constitutionally prohibited from establishing a religion.

My current thinking is that grace is not the government's job. The government's job in the US is to protect us from external enemies and maintain justice within our country irrespective of a person's color, creed, social status, etc. I would call on people everywhere to be gracious, to feed the poor, etc. But to do it voluntarily. As soon as we, the citizens, recruit the government to do our charity (that is our loving of others), it ceases to be love because it is compelled. By using the government to feed the poor, we institute a system of compulsory charity (an oxymoron if I've ever heard one). It is possible that this compulsory charity actually makes our society meaner. Instead of people having to face the poor among us, we can be sure that there is a program somewhere to care for them and as long as we pay our taxes we are doing our part. Instead of having to think about others and make decisions about charity (about love), feeding the poor becomes one more deduction on the pay stub, not worthy of consideration because there is no choice in the matter any way.

Criminals are another matter for another time.

May you recognize God's blessings in your life.

BOOK: "Rumors of Another World" by Philip Yancy

Just finished reading "Rumors of Another World: What On Earth Are We Missing?" I really enjoyed it. It's sort of a post-modern look at natural theology (natural theology is discerning the existence and character of God simply through our observance of thing in an around us and without primary reliance on any sacred scripture as authoritative).

Unfortunately or fortunately, I have a fairly skeptical nature. This often pokes at my faith. In "Rumors," Philip Yancy takes a look at what we see in the world to see if it matches what the Bible teaches. He also looks at several "natural" phenomena -- such as sex, guilt and altruism under horrific oppression -- and sees in them rumors of the spiritual world around us which is not available to direct observation.

One great point in "Rumors" is how to view the commandments of God. If we live a purely materialistic existence, many commands of God seem on the surface to be dictates of the cosmic killjoy. If we only look forward to our spiritual existence in heaven, then we are putting off today's pleasures for tomorrows joys. Yancy's assertion is that this is generally a false dichotomy. God's instructions come to us not only -- or even primarily -- as rules defining sin but more as instructions toward the best life. God made sex. God wants us to have the best sex possible. Sex is best experienced in marriage. Guilt (properly) is a sensitivity in our soul alerting us to areas of brokenness or weakness just as pain in our physical bodies is a gift from God that keeps us from damaging ourselves further. God's instructions bring the best life in every sense, not just in the 'spiritual' sense.

The end result of this book is Yancy's assertion that we need to see life with "stereoscopic vision." The question is not whether earthly live matters more or heavenly life matters more. They are both intricately intertwined. We can see this when we have eyes to see. Both worlds exist. Both worlds matter. We live in both worlds right now, even though we see one with our eyes and one with our spirits.

I highly recommend "Rumors of Another World" by Philip Yancy. If you are in the area, you may borrow my copy.

Cars (the movie), etc.

It's been a long time since I blogged last. Haven't done much work on hell since I mentioned it last time. I did do some research on the historical reliability of "The Da Vinci Code" for a sermon I preached. That was very good for me. This week (and probably the next two or three) I'll be preaching about the Bible, who wrote it, how the various writings were compiled into one book, etc. I really enjoying the research for this sermon. Lots of stuff I haven't looked at since seminary.

Now, the movie.

I recommend the movie "Cars" for just about anyone. I took my two girls (4 & 7 yrs old) to see it. There is absolutely nothing offense about this movie. Not one off-color thing I wish my girls wouldn't have heard. Furthermore, it is a beautiful movie. The animation is eye-candy unbelievable. It is rich, vibrant and colorful. If you are thinking about this movie, you should know that my 4 yr old got a little bored. Even though the animation is stunning, it is a plot-driven movie and so my 4 yr old lost interest after a while. There's almost no slapstick in it (one exception my younger daughter liked was "tractor-tipping.") Anyone who likes nice movies with nice plots that come to full resolution will like this movie as long as they aren't the type that is simply turned off by animation.

From a Christian point of view, the movie has good moral points that are in line with Christian values. Although Christianity isn't first and foremost about values but about God's love that reached down to us in Jesus Christ. In that sense, the movie was neither pro-Christian nor anti-Christian. It's ust a beautiful movie with a nice story. I'll see it again. I might even buy it when it comes out on DVD (I love animation for some reason).

Hell

I've lately been bothered by the idea of Hell quite a bit.

My generic view of Hell is this: a place/existence of separation from God, the source of all that is good, peaceful, joyful, etc. It is painful in the deep, soul-torment type of pain that is of an entirely different and worse order than physical pain, like when you wished your parents would spank you for your misbehavior but instead they just looked at you and you felt very distant from them.

The question, "How can a loving God send people to Hell?" does not seem unreasonable question. It is a question that bothers me. I do not like to think of people -- any people -- in eternal torment because they are separated from God forever.

In "The Great Divorce," C.S. Lewis concocted a story wherein people in Hell can get to heaven but, often as not, choose Hell. This is where the idea of Hell really begins to bother me.

I see two options:
1. Whether or not I go to Hell is completely up to God.
2. Whether or not I go to Hell is a result of my decisions.

I don't like either choice.

If I my eternal destiny is entirely in the hands of God then it is out of my control. I like to be in control of things. I like to steer the ship of my life. To think that the most serious event of my existence -- my eternal destination -- is completely out of my control is not a happy thought.

On the other hand, having my eternal destiny be up to my choice doesn't seem so great either. I make poor choices all the time. I just ate 1/2 box of Fudge Grahams even though I know they are bad for me. If the Bible's presupposition of Heaven is true (that we enter by grace as a free gift), that puts a stumbling block in my way. I must check my pride at the door. There's no room left for, "Isn't John great?!!" If I must drop my pride and humbly accept a gift I can never repay in order to enter heaven, I'm afraid that in some moments I would choose Hell and keep my pride.

To be continued...

Excited about reading a book I remember liking

I am excited about reading a book I read before. It's entitled, "Blue Like Jazz." I don't recall the content but I remember liking the book a great deal. I just ran across it again. I opened it up and found this "Author's Note" just before the first chapter:

I never liked jazz music becaue it doesn't resolve. But I was outside the
Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes.

After that I liked jazz music.

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.

I use to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was way before this happened.

Oh, that resonates with my soul. I get weighed down when it seems that getting the rules right is what God is all about. I don't really like God when I feel like God is all about the rules.

But watching Jesus love God really hits me in my heart. And then watching other people love Jesus -- not the rules, not their resolved idea of Jesus -- in an ever growing and changing discovery of where Christ leads us and how wonderfully he leads us. Strange, new, beautiful sounds coming out of people's souls. Unexpected harmonies of humans lives where nobody thought they could exist.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to reading "Blue Like Jazz" again. I'll let you know how it goes.