Category Archives: Faith

Who Is Building Your Author Platform?

  By Ted | May 24, 2013 - 10:00 am | , , ,
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This post shares some unconventional advice I got from an unexpected place on building your author platform.

“Success is one thing. Impact is another. I live to impact people.” – Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens linebacker 1996-2012.

ray lewis impact

Ray Lewis is about to make an impact

One of my goals with writing is impact. Like Ray Lewis, I want to impact people. To accomplish that goal I need a platform to help me boost the signal of my message so it can be heard over all the noise.

I know I can get lost in a sea of blogs, Tweets, Facebook and Google+ posts. The lack of traffic, and comments on my blog was really starting to bother me. Was I just screaming into the void?

My perspective changed after hearing an interview that Christian singer/songwriter tobyMac did. He talks about platform from the perspective of a guy who has a large one.

I’m not sure I’ve fully recovered from what he said. He talked about how he encouraged people seeking to build a platform to not go around prodding and kicking down doors. He put forth the radical idea to rely on God to provide you with the platform when He knew you were ready for it.

He didn’t give this advice as some sort of good theory. tobyMac claimed that it was the way  he himself has always approached his platform and his life.

He emphasised that it didn’t change the ‘sweat equity’. tobyMac still learned his instruments.  He studied successful artists. He practiced for hours, and hours, and hours every day to hone his craft.

I’m working on my craft, both as a fiction writer, and a blog author.

I’m still learning all I can about blogging and social media. My friend, Patrick, hosts an outstanding weekly chat on Twitter about blogging called BlogGab. I’m learning something every single week.

But the leap of faith is to believe that ultimately God will open the doors. It is a radical thought. I do the work, but I depend on God for the results. Noah worked on the ark for years before the first drop of rain. The Apostle Paul spent three years studying, praying and preparing himself for his ministry. If you’d had seen him during that time, you would never have guessed that he would one day have the platform and the impact that he did.

What does it mean?

It means I can exhale. I’m in a season of learning and maturing.  I don’t have to stress or worry over my numbers right now. When I’m ready, the numbers are going to come. I do my part, and I trust in faith that God will do His, in His way and in His time.

I don’t get a ton of traffic most days, but right those visitors I do get are the most important people to me. You are the ones I’m serving even today, and each one of you is an opportunity for impact.

Thank you for making my blog part of your day. I know everyone is extremely busy, and I truly appreciate it.

Tolerance May Not Mean What You Think

  By Ted | May 1, 2013 - 3:08 am | ,
1 Comment

ID-10022096The news about Jason Collins, the first active player in one of the four major sports leagues to publicly acknowledge he is gay, has sparked many conversation across cyberspace. Many people are showing support for Collins and in doing so believe they are being tolerant.

They just might be wrong.

We have, at least in America, been misusing the word tolerance. You can’t show tolerance toward someone you agree with. You can only show tolerance for someone whose views you disagree with. The Miriam Webster dictionary puts it this way

Tolerance : sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own

(emphasis added)

Without conflict, without disagreement, there can be no tolerance. If you don’t differ or have a conflict with Mr. Collins beliefs or practices, you cannot, by definition, be tolerant of him. You simply agree with him.

Intolerance

The difference between tolerance and intolerance is how the disagreement is communicated. Tolerance always affirms the intrinsic value of the other person. Intolerance seeks to tear down and destroy that value, not just of the person’s beliefs, but of the person herself or himself.

Intolerance is characterized by an inflammatory tone, rudeness, name calling, and a general lack of respect. Tolerance leaves the personhood intact. With tolerance, people can come to a point where they agree to disagree, but their relationship with each is not affected in a negative way.

Sometimes, the greatest thing tolerance does is keep its mouth shut. Tolerance allows people to be wrong, and determines if voicing disagreement is even the best course of action at that time.

Intolerance demands that everyone know, loudly and publicly (and sometimes rudely), that someone is wrong. Intolerance acts like since it is right, everyone else must be wrong, and those who are wrong can be treated as almost less than human.

Intolerance often demands that the person it disagrees with be silenced or destroyed. Intolerance says if you don’t agree with me, I’ll give you 1 star reviews, or I’ll boycott your restaurant or home improvement store.

I see so little tolerance these days especially around divisive issues like sexual orientation. Intolerance is answered with more intolerance: tit for tat, eye for eye. In our online lives, we seem to give ourselves permission to treat people in ways we would never dream of treating them in a live, face to face encounter.

I’m also well aware that much intolerance has come from people who profess to be Christians. People like me.  To whatever extent I am able, I’d like to apologize for the intolerant words and actions of those who claim Christ, especially my own. No excuses. No explanation. Just remorse for the damage that was done.

To Christians

If you are a follower a Christ, remember that our instruction is to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

That means we speak with patience and kindness. That means we speak without boasting or being easily angered. It means we don’t force ourselves on others, we don’t fly off the handle, we don’t have a ‘me first’ attitude, we don’t keep score of the sins of others, we don’t revel when others grovel. We put up with anything, trusting our God, always looking for the best, never looking back, and continuing on to the end.

I don’t claim to always get this right. Not even close.

That comes from a 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. We speak the truth in love and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us what love is.

If you want to insert yourself into a conversation, test what you are about to say against that standard.

 

 

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Another Take on God Forsaking the Christos

  By Ted | April 1, 2013 - 4:48 am | ,
2 Comments

Eli Eli lama sabachthani! My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?ID-1005856

This is a popular part of many Easter messages. One traditional explanation is Christ, for the first time ever in his existence, was no longer one with the Father. Christ had taken responsibility of all the sins ever committed or that ever will be committed. Sin separates man from God, so the sin Christ took in separated him from God.

But several years ago, I heard a different explanation.

How much of the following poems or songs could you recite from memory given only the prompt shown?

“Oh, oh say can you see…”

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States…”

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,…”

“Our Father, who art in Heaven…”

Just as those poems and sayings are intimately familiar to us, there were sayings that were equally familiar to the audience of Jesus’ times.

“My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” is actually the first line of the 22nd Psalms.

Just like our popular sayings, the disciples of Christ would have immediately recognized the opening of Psalm 22. Basically, Jesus was just too exhausted and out of breath from the whole crucificiton thing going on to get to the whole thing out. So he started it knowing his audience would recognize it.

It was originally written by King David thousands of years before Christ was born or before crucifiction was invented as a capital punishment. Despite that, it provides a remarkable depiction of what he was going through. Here is a small snippet:

scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

(The roman soldiers actually did cast lots for Jesus’ clothes).

Then look at what David says in verse 24!

For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one;

he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

Perhaps instead of telling his audience that God had abandoned him, his message was just the opposite. He wanted to let them know that God still had his back. That God had, in fact, NOT hidden his face from his, and that God had listened to his cry for help!

It certainly changes the way you view his cry. I don’t pretend to know which interpretation is correct, and there are lessons we can learn from either.

Happy Easter!

Image courtesy of bela_kiefer / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Same Sex Marriage Debate Reaches Supreme Court

  By Ted | March 26, 2013 - 11:32 am | ,
2 Comments

The following blog post discusses the author’s feeling about the ongoing debate on same-sex marriages. Continue reading at your own risk.ID-10084275

Supreme Court Weighs In

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing two cases concerning same-sex couple marriage rights. The first is United States v. Windsor where the court is going to determine if the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the constitutional rights of same-sex couples. The second is Hollingsworth v. Perry which stems for a challenge to California’s Proposition 8 which places a ban on gay marriage. Proposition 8 passed by a narrow margin in 2008.

What’s the big deal with gay marriage?

The root problem was the government assigning financial and civil benefits to married couples.

Why is the government involved in marriage anyway?

I think it would clear up the matter considerably for the government to drop all recognition of marriage. Leave that to the church and the clergy. The financial and social benefits of marriage (making your spouses funeral arrangements,   giving custody of your minor children, visiting your sick spouse in the hospital, filling a joint tax return, etc.) should be put into a class of civil unions that the government provides. The government can put whatever criteria they want on it. Two people? Three? Of course they would be open to anyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.

Control

Once we clear away the financial and civil benefits, the only issue left is one of control.

Much of the passion is fueled because the opponents of same sex marriage have chosen control instead of compassion, and legalism instead of love. The people who opposed them now delight in that control being taken from them. Maybe they should.

Donald Miller says it this way.

“I do not believe a person can take two issues from Scripture, those being abortion and gay marriage, and adhere to them as sins, then neglect much of the rest and call himself a fundamentalist or even a conservative. The person who believes the sum of his morality involves gay marriage and abortion alone, and neglects health care and world trade and the environment and loving his neighbor and feeding the poor is, by definition, a theological liberal, because he takes what he wants from Scripture and ignores the rest.” ― Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What

Much like in the abortion issue, the government is trying to weigh in on a moral issue that should remain the decision of individuals. This shouldn’t be decided in the legislature, but in a one to one, friend to friend, heart to heart, person to person relationships.

My question with both issues is why are those trying to pass legislation trying to get people to live by the morals and ethics of a religion they don’t accept or practice.

Jesus always wanted us to have a choice. A choice to follow him or a choice to not follow him. If people choose not to follow Jesus, then they shouldn’t be forced into Judeo-Christian ethics through abortion laws or same-sex marriage laws.

We should afford them the same free will choice that Jesus/God gives us. Jesus never tried to force someone into a relationship with Him. He’s not insecure, He’s confident. He knows a relationship with Him is only thing that truly fulfills that deep spiritual longing we all feel.

It’s like Jason Gray says in his song, “More like falling in love”

It’s gotta be…..
More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance

No Condemnation

Unfortunately, it seems Evangelicals have managed to communicate well on only those two subjects.  What the culture has heard from us is not the message they should be hearing. They have heard condemnation. That wasn’t Jesus’ message.

When Jesus walked this planet, the Jewish religious leaders brought him a woman ‘caught in the very act of adultery’  (John 7:53-8:11).  They reminded Jesus of the Law of Moses (part of the Old Testament) that said they should stone her. Stoning meant throwing large rocks (stones) at her until she died. They asked Jesus what He thought they should do. They were hoping his response would give them grounds to arrest him or discredit him.

The Bible tells us Jesus started writing or drawing on the ground with his finger. Some people have put some real religious overtones into what he was doing like writing the sins of the woman’s accusers or writing the Ten Commandments. My friend Paul put forth the suggestion that Jesus was so disinterested in their question that he started doodling in the dirt. Only when they continued to pester him to answer did he rise up and say “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Then he went back to his doodling. The Bible says the men went away, starting with the oldest first.

Then Jesus asked the woman, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

And then Jesus says one of the most beautiful things this woman could hear.

“I do not condemn you, either.” 

Do you think for one second that if instead of a woman caught ‘in the very act of adultery’ the religious leaders had brought Jesus a man caught ‘in the very act’ with another man, He would have responded any differently? Do you really think he would have said, “Oh that’s completely different! Quick, get me a stone!”

I don’t think so.

 

 

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Double Rejections

  By Ted | January 11, 2013 - 5:33 am | , ,
3 Comments

I’ve had two rejections, and I admit to feeling a little down.

First, I entered into a contest on Miss Stark’s First Victim to find critique partners. My entry was looked at by at least 100 people and  garnered exactly zero interest.

Second, I applied for a writer position at a website. It’s a site that covers games which is a huge passion of mine. I thought being able to write for a site like this would be a good experience to have on my writing resume. I really thought I had a good shot at it. That application has also garnered exactly zero interest. They get so many applications that sometimes you don’t even get a ‘thanks, but no thanks’, you just get dead air. The deadline was only Monday so it’s possible I’m still being considered, but I have my doubts.

It’s tough at times like this to avoid questioning yourself. You feel like you need to ‘go home and rethink your life’. I mean if this is what God wants me to do; wouldn’t he have brought me the perfect critique partner through the contest, and given me a shot with the website?

Then I started thinking about the story of Jesus and the storm.

If you aren’t familiar, the story goes that Jesus had been teaching to a large crowd and as it got on toward evening he tells his disciples he wants to go to the other side of the lake. They get in the boat, and Jesus heads for the stern (the back of the boat) and crashes. The guy was beat from teaching and preaching all day. They get about halfway across the lake and a sudden squall, not totally unusual in that area, comes up. The people Jesus is with are fishermen who have lived on this lake their whole life, but this is one doosey of a storm. They freak out, and look at the back of the boat where Jesus is sleeping. Of course, they go wake him up.

They say, “Dude! Don’t you give a rat’s tail that we are all about to drown?”

Jesus wakes up, looks at them, and looks around at the storm, and says, “Peace, be still” and just like that the storm is gone. Then he looks at his disciples and says “Why were you so scared? Do you still not have any faith?”

The disciples kind of took a step back and said, “Who have we been traveling with? Even the winds and waves obey his command.”

What does that story have to do with my situation? It tells me that God is there with me. I’ve got him in my boat. But He hasn’t acted yet. He wants to give me a chance to exercise my faith.

I’ve got another opportunity coming up on Saturday. A group of local writers is meeting to discuss the possible formation of a critique group. I admit I was a little nervous about it, but tonight has shown me I don’t need to be.

Whatever happens. I know my God is still with me.

Merry Christmas : The Story of the Birds

  By Ted | December 24, 2012 - 2:54 pm | ,
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My friend, Galen, introduced me to this story, originally told by Paul Harvey on his radio show.

The Man and the Birds 
by Paul Harvey

snowbirdsThe man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn’t believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn’t make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn’t swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

“I’m truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, “but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve.” He said he’d feel like a hypocrite. That he’d much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound…Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud…At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They’d been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it.

Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them…He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms…Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.

And then, he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me…That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

“If only I could be a bird,” he thought to himself, “and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to safe, warm…to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand.”

At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells – Adeste Fidelis – listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas.

And he sank to his knees in the snow.

 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/razzmataz/2443245203/ by By clkohan
Creative Commons-licensed content for noncommercial use requiring attribution and no derivative works

 

A Response to Bishop Paparocki – Voting for Obama and Salvation

  By Ted | September 28, 2012 - 4:10 am | ,
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Warning: The following blog post touches on both politics and religion. This is also, in all likelihood, a rant. Continue reading at your own risk.

Sometimes, you come across a story that just demands a response. That happened to me today when someone shared the story of Bishop Thomas John Paprocki. He put out a column and a  video explaining some of the issues he had with the Democratic party’s platform.

I get it. He doesn’t agree with some of the positions the Democrats endorsed during their convention. That’s his right and prerogative and he can use whatever means he has available to him to put his message out there.

I have close relationships with people who identify themselves with both parties. Naturally, they disagree with the other party. No problem. Healthy discourse is what our system is all about.

But Bishop Paprocki wasn’t content to leave it at that. He decided to take it to the next level. At the end of his column he states:

a vote for a candidate [Obama] who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy.

Say what?

This is one of those times I wish I had the super power of being able to reach through the Internet and slap someone.

I’m pretty sure God isn’t going to check your voting record when it comes time to decide the issue of salvation.

He then goes on and twice tries to tell his reader that he isn’t trying to tell anyone who to vote for or not vote for. What a load of… err…I’m sorry, but that’s simply not true. He is telling people who not to vote for. Moreover, he’s actually threatening his listeners by telling them that God will punish them for all eternity if they don’t do as he says.

Here’s a clue. When people start throwing caveats out on what you are saying, it’s almost as if something in them is trying to warn them they are saying something ill-advised.

This article really made me angry, and I had to express that. I appreciate you (all four of you who read my blog) letting me use this blog as an outlet.

Wrong Message

I’m so sorry that we, as a collective body of Christians, have so messed up showing Christ to the world around us. I’m sorry that the only message we’ve communicated with any clarity is on the subjects of abortion and gay marriage. I’m sorry we haven’t communicated with the same fervor and clarity just how deeply, how passionately, how furiously Jesus and God love each and every person.

The Real Question of Salvation

When your life on this earth ends, the only thing God is going to want to know is if you accepted or rejected what Jesus Christ did for you.

We all do things we know are wrong. When we do wrong things, it puts up a wall between us and God. If you die with that wall there, it’s there forever, separating you from God and his heaven. But God sent Jesus to break down that wall because He loved you so much. Jesus did all the work.

All we have to do is to agree with God that we do wrong things and we need God to forgive us.

The next step is to believe that Jesus he rose from the dead three days after he was buried.

Then you say that out of your thankfulness for what Jesus has done for you, you are going to try to live a life that is pleasing to him by following his advice. The Bible calls this declaring Jesus the Lord of your life.

Paul, in his letter to the early Christians in Rome said

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9

It’s really that simple.

If you have any questions that you would like to ask privately, feel free to use the contact form.

photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63662135@N00/1096132303/sizes/m/in/photostream/ Used with permission Creative Commons-licensed content for noncommercial use requiring attribution

The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife Found

  By Ted | September 21, 2012 - 4:05 am | , ,
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News broke this week of a discovery of an ancient text that quotes Jesus talking about his wife. If the book/move DaVinci Code proved anything, it is that the topic of Jesus having a wife is one that captures our collective imagination.

The full story is covered here in the Boston Globe.

What was actually found?

According to the Boston Globe story “The fragment is smaller than a business card, and appears to have been torn from a page of a codex, or primitive book, written in a southern Egyptian dialect.”

The fragment was discovered by Karen L. King, a historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School after its owner came to her for help to get it translated.

Because the fragment had been torn out of a larger book the beginning and end of each line is missing. King used context and as well as other early Christian texts to guide the translation.

Accordign to the Boston Globe piece: “The context of the eight lines on the front side of the papyrus seemed to be a discussion Jesus was having with his disciples about the ‘the cost of discipleship’ or how becoming a Christian may affect family bonds, similar to passages in Matthew and Luke.

The legible side contains just eight broken lines.

The fourth says: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …’ .”

The next line reads: “She will be able to be my disciple.”

Even Ms. King admits, “The text is not evidence that Jesus was married”

Authenticity?

The first question that usually gets asked when a discovery like this is made is whether or not the document is authentic or a forgery. Ms. King did more than due diligence to investigate if the fragment was legitimate or not. As she said, “This is not a career maker. If it’s a forgery, it’s a career breaker.”

After consulting with other experts she is convinced is it authentic. That’s good enough for me.

Reliability?

I accept the fragment is not a forgery, but is it a reliable record of an actual teaching of Jesus? Many early Christian writings have been discovered over the years, and ultimately rejected. These writings portray Jesus doing things that don’t fit with his character. One has Jesus making animals in something like a sand castle,and then bringing the sand animals to life. We see from the four canonical gospels that Jesus never did a miracle for himself, so this kind of story doesn’t fit.

Does the fragment fit? Jesus talks many times about the cost of following him. It’s important to note that he only talks about this cost in the context of someone who has already made a decision to follow him. To those who haven’t chosen him, he offers only his love and compassion. He doesn’t put expectations on people until they make a decision first.

Marriage

The four canonical gospels are silent on whether or not Jesus was married. At best, we can say we simply don’t know. We can surmise that it is unlikely the gospel writers would have left out a detail like that, but women were treated very differently in 1st Century Palestine. Jesus was actually way ahead of his culture in how well he treated women, but that’s a subject for another day.

Does it matter if Jesus was married? If he was married, its possible there were offspring. Even if there were the line has been lost to history. And it’s not like his decedents would have some sort of super powers or anything. Jesus was fully God, but he was also fully man. I don’t think any of Jesus’ miraculous abilities would be inherited by his descendants.

The question is most important to those of the Catholic faith. This denomination has long required it’s priest be celibate. If Jesus himself was married, it makes that rule seem a little silly. It’s important to note that no where in scripture are priests commanded to be celibate. That is something the church came up with later on. Honestly, that rule really isn’t working out all that great. Maybe the Catholics should let it go, but that’s up to them.

Family

Its important to remember that choosing to become a Christian in the 1st Century was not an easy choice. You were very likely to be cut off from your family, and friends, and in many cases you were putting your life in danger. This is not unlike the current situation in many countries today. When you became a Christian, you were choosing to become part of new family.

Conclusion

I think the fragment, which King is provocatively calling ‘The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’, will join the other apocryphal gospels as an interesting historical record, but not part of the divinely inspired scriptures by which Christians try to live their life.

photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/comeilmare/2709305265/sizes/m/in/photostream/ by http://www.flickr.com/photos/comeilmare/ Creative Commons Attribution License

Legitimate Firestorm

  By Ted | August 24, 2012 - 4:57 am | ,
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This one is probably going to cost me some Twitter followers, blog readers, Facebook friends.

There’s been a firestorm this week over U.S. Rep. (and sentate hopeful) Todd Akin’s comments concerning abortion.

Are you familiar with this sign? If you live in a part of the country with these kinds of roads, you know this sign is telling you “Danger ahead! Be alert.” That same mental signal should go off in every blogger, politician and public figure’s head when they approach the subjects of abortion and rape. These are hot button issues. The sign should be twice as big with DANGER written in large red letters if the writer/speaker is a male.

(Full disclosure, I am a male.)

We have to be very careful when discussing these subjects. Rep Akin’s either didn’t see the danger sign or ignored it.

I need to heed my own advice here and choose my words carefully.

Unfortunately, the Christian community has done such a bad job communicating its message that the only message most people have heard with any clarity is on homosexuality and abortion.

I find that incredibly sad.

In both cases, it seems like Christians have tried to get laws passed that enforce the Judeo-Christian moral system.

Christianity has a moral system. It says somethings are morally right and some things are morally wrong. But there are plenty of people who disagree with those morals. We have to understand that God has given them that choice. Forcing them to try to live up to your morals with laws, and statutes isn’t going to change anyone’s heart. It’s not going to invite them into a relationship with God.

That’s why I’ve never understood the large billboards that quote Deuteronomy or Leviticus. They educate on the commandment, but don’t point to a relationship with the God that gave it.

The New Testament Jews did the same thing, so we shouldn’t be surprised we’ve messed up in a similar way. They were all about the laws, precepts, and commandments. Yet, Jesus called them hypocrites, and a bunch of snakes. We’re just as guilty when we try to force people to live according to commandments before they come to know Jesus in a personal way.

I’m just curious why Christians insist on forcing people without the Holy Spirit to try to live a life that only the Holy Spirit can enable. Yes, there are morals in the Christian faith, but without the Holy Spirit, none of us can possibly live up to them.

It seems to me the God of Christianity values choice. He gives the freedom to choose Him or not. Did He not have His prophet say “If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” He didn’t say make Baal worship illegal. He said ‘choose you this day whom ye will serve’.

We can influence our friends where we have the relationship to do so. If a friend sought my advice on abortion, I would encourage her to evaluate adoption, or other alternatives. But I would make sure I left the discussion with her knowing that I cared for her as a friend regardless of the decision she made.

Does that make sense?

photo: http://blog.willis.com/2012/06/the-three-biggest-eu-challenges-for-general-counsel/

Saturday Six #436

  By Ted | August 20, 2012 - 2:16 am | ,
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This week’s Saturday Six from Patrick’s Place is about the Zodiac.

1. What is your traditional zodiac sign?

I am a Scorpio under the traditional Zodiac.

2. How often, if ever, do you read your horoscope?

Virtually never. I’ve always thought college was great preparation for writing horoscopes. You learn to write vaguely enough that it could be interpreted as almost anything. I’ve never put my weight into horoscopes. As one Christian artist put it, “Why look to the stars for your answers, when you can look to the very one who made those stars.”

3. Check out the Geek Zodiak: What is your birth year the year of?

I was born in 1972, so I’m the year of the Robot.

4. Which of the merits listed do you think is most accurate to your personality?

The merits listed for the year of the Robot are : Law-abiding, Dedicated, Logical. Strangely enough, each of those is fairly accurate. I tend to be a rule follower, and I’m very logical most of the time. I can be dedicated, but not always to the right things.

5. Which of the demerits listed do you think is most accurate to your personality?

The demerits listed are: Stubborn, Intractable, Cold. This may come as a surprise but I think it would be cold. I’m not really intractable, nor really stubborn. Most people wouldn’t identify me as cold, but I certainly have that within me. It’s only my faith and living that faith out that keep me from showing people how cold I could be.

6. Which single merit or demerit listed for your sign do you think is most inaccurate to your personality?

I would say intractable. I feel much more comfortable in an XO type of role than a CO. I prefer to be lead rather than lead.

I also checked my wife, and none of her merits or demerits are anywhere close to her personality. She’s also not much of a geek.