Genocide

I was reading the homepage of my new Logos 5 software and there was an article on the Walls of Jericho. It was interesting and then it became disturbing. I've copied the disturbing part:

"Like the Genesis Flood and the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Israel’s extermination of the Canaanites was a judicial act. They were to be destroyed because their sins were so great and their religious corruption so complete that extermination was just."

It scares the bejeezus out of me anytime I see anyone say that a people's group "extermination was just". I am sure Hitler thought his attempted extermination of the Jews was just. I am sure the Hutus thought they were just in trying to exterminate the Tutsis.  Stalin thought he was just in exterminating the enemies of the people. The list could go on and on.

So what do we make of the seemingly God-ordained genocide in Scripture? In my opinion the early Israelites were a lot like the Christian Crusaders and justified their conquest by calling it God-ordained, but that is just my opinion that I'm still wrestling with. Greg Boyd has a couple of thought provoking blogs on the subject. 

But my main point is that people can never determine extermination of a people group is just. It is horrifying to think of all the killing we blame on a God who is love :-(   

Cross Roads

I finished reading William Paul Young's new novel Cross Roads (he is also the author of The Shack). 
Three things I absolutely love about Young:
1) He knows how to get me emotionally invested in a story...I laughed, wept and smiled a lot while reading this book.
2) He does a masterful job of presenting a relational Trinity that is not far away, but active and involved in our lives.
3) The unique way that he pushes against our stereotypes of each person of the Trinity causes me reflection and ultimately makes me feel closer to God.

I know some don't like Young's books, some even call him a heretic. Remember, he isn't writing dogma, he is telling a beautiful story--a parable if you like.

This story presents Tony who has lived a solitary existence with success and self preservation as his goals. An accident leads him on an unexpected journey where he is given the opportunity to make choices that will allow healing for his many failures.

I loved the book! 

I don't want to do the work

For the last 2 months my Logos Software has been crashing every time I tried to use it. I contacted customer support via e-mail and we tried some different things. Finally they suggested I call the customer tech support line. I hate talking on the phone so I put it off, but after a few weeks I realized how much I was missing this valuable resource tool so I called.

The tech walked me through hooking up my computer via remote to his computer which took only a few minutes. Then he did the rest. I watched as he moved files on my computer, changed names and rebuilt databases--it was like he was sitting in my chair! After about 20 minutes he fixed the problem and we were through. It was amazing how painless and easy the process was!

There are times when I wish God would fix me like that--where I didn't have to do any of the work. If only I could just sit back and watch God fix all my flaws and then walk away completely loving. But we are relational beings. We are in a relationship with God and with people. And relationships take work and often the work is messy and uncomfortable. I read this quote from Young's book Crossroads yesterday:
Much of what you must forgive others for, and especially yourself, is the ignorance that damages. People don’t only hurt willfully. More often because they simply don’t know anything else; they don’t know how to be anything else, anything better.
I thought about how many times I have hurt others based on my ignorance and I want that fixed. I want the tech to come in and fix the corrupted files so I no longer do this. However, I am called to do that work alongside the Trinity. I have my part to play and I know I am better off for working alongside God.

But I still wish I could just sit back...

A Game of Thrones

I just finished reading A Game of Thrones. It was the first fictional book that I've read in quite some time and I have to admit I couldn't put it down. George R.R. Martin kept me on the edge of my seat and kept me in a mindset of not being able to wait and see what happens next. There is romance, political intrigue, battles and a looming sense of dread. I would not classify it as an epic battle between good and evil because the reader is not always sure who is good and who is evil...perhaps, like life, the propensity for both is in everyone. If you like fantasy novels with Kings, Kingdoms, and uncertainty you will find this entertaining.

This is not a happy-go-lucky, feel-good novel. As matter of fact it made me depressed at times. But at the same time it is not predictable and that is what makes it a great read. Martin does his best work in setting the mood of dread right from the beginning and even escalates it throughout the book...winter is coming!

The downfall of the book is that it really doesn't end. It seems to stop in mid-story and invites the reader to seek after the next book in the series.

I've started watching the HBO series and I am disappointed. It follows the basic story line, but inexplicably adds sexual plot lines and gratuitous nudity where it wasn't found in the book. I'm not saying the book is PG-13, but HBO seems to take an R book and tries to make an X out of it for no reason.

Since starting the book I wonder how many people live with a sense of dread in their life...I wonder how many have no hope. I think that would be a terrible way to live. If my atheist friends are right at least I've gone through life happy and with a sense of hope.

Relational Theology

A few years ago I aspired to read 100 books in a year. I fell just short of the mark and if I remember correctly I read 92 books. This year I want to do more writing, but at the same time I want to be widely read. Therefore, I’m setting as my goal to read 50 books this year. To assist in both my writing and reading I’ve decided to dedicate my Monday blogs to reviews of a recently read books.

Last week I dug into Relational Theology: A Contemporary Introduction. I was already somewhat familiar with relational theology and wondered if this introductory book on the topic would simply be a refresher. It didn’t take me long to realize that although introductory in nature this book was a fresh mine of golden nuggets.

It is made up of 32 short (2-4 pages) essays by a variety of authors. I stormed through the book in a week, in retrospect that was way too fast. I have determined that the best way to read this book is to treat it as a devotional and read one chapter a day and then contemplate on what was read. I intend to reread it as such.

The greatest achievement of this book is the wide lens through which this topic is looked at. The authors range from members of the Church of the Nazarene to those with Catholic roots and Quaker backgrounds. The book has both men and women authors. Relational Theology is written by seminary deans, professors and pastors. This book is for everyone—the layman to the doctoral student—everyone will get something out of it.

I highly recommend it if you have the slightest interest in the way that God and humans are intricately involved in a relationship.

For further reading about this book from one of the editors follow this link Relational Theology

Voice of the Other

This blog post was born after reading Joe Skillen's blog (Joe is one of the smartest people I know) this morning. This is not a rebuttal to his blog, but a reminder that we need to consider the voice of the other. To get what I mean you might want to read his blog first. Here is the link: Skilly's Scribbles  

I saw a new Planet Fitness commercial the other day, this one contained a female bodybuilder. They portrayed her as ignorant and extremely masculine. I have really grown to hate the way Planet Fitness makes fun of bodybuilders. What makes it more frustrating is that Planet Fitness claims to be non-judgmental. After reading Joe's blog I thought about the connection between Planet Fitness' claims to be non-judgmental and the church's claims to be non-judgmental.

Both really try to accommodate the masses. However, in accommodating the masses and attempting to be non-judgmental to them they alienate the fringes of society. And, sadly, both have poked fun at the fringes in their attempt to show that they are not judgmental to those who look and act like the majority. Where does this leave those on the edges--how does it make them feel?

I would never step foot in a Planet Fitness, sadly this makes me understand why so many make the same claim about the church :-(

Miracle???

I am really skeptical and I hate that I am. When I hear about an amazing miracle I tilt my head and wonder whose leg is getting pulled. Don't get me wrong I totally believe in miracles, but sometimes I think we call a foothill a mountain just to strengthen our testimony. I say this as I contemplate what happened to me in the wee hours of Sunday morning...

I woke up at 2 am to the sound of Milo whining outside my door. He was either cold and wanted to cuddle or scared because the dishwasher had turned on. Either way I got up to let him in and as I made my way to the bedroom door I became aware of a pain in my right lower back. I let Milo in and went to the restroom where I experienced a burning sensation. The pain in my lower back was getting worse so I grabbed a handful of aspirin and swallowed them. I returned to the bedroom, pushed Milo over and crawled under the covers. I laid there for about 5 minutes wondering what this pain could be and why was it getting progressively worse. For the next 2 hours I repeatedly got up, laid down, got up, tried to use the restroom, walked around, cursed the pain and tried to lay down again. I pulled out my iPad and searched WebMD for possible reasons and solutions for the pain: muscle strain, urinary infection, kidney stone, gonorrhea, etc... It felt like the kidney stone I had a year ago so I self diagnosed it as such. The internet offered no quick fix or solution other than waiting for it to pass (this too shall pass). 

At 4 am I frantically searched the house for a better pain killer, but none was to be found. I wondered if the oxycodone dealer on the corner would still be working (I don't know if there is really a dealer, but I did wonder if I could find one). I grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen and downed a handful of them (I'm bigger then most people so the normal dosages don't apply). For the next hour I debated, usually in a hunched over position, if I should go to the emergency room. I worried if I didn't make it back in time who would teach my Sunday school class and who would preach the morning message. Finally the pain was more than I was willing to handle and I grabbed my car keys (Catherine volunteered to drive me, but I waved her away--after all my dad drove himself to the hospital after his first heart attack).

I got into my Focus and thought this is stupid, I should let Catherine drive me, but pulled out anyway. It was then that I realized I had spent the whole week preparing for a sermon on Hope in Jesus that I was going to preach that morning and I had not practiced it. I sought hope in a pill bottle, self-help, the internet, but had not even given it serious prayer. So I started praying for relief.

I got about a mile away when the pain started going away. Two miles away I turned around and came home because the pain was nearly gone.
Did all the pain meds finally kick in?
Did the stone stop moving?
Did the awkward position of sitting in the car help?
Was it the miracle of prayers answered? 

I don't know...all I know is before I prayed I was pretty sure I was dying and after I prayed I went home and all was better.