Monday, October 18, 2010

Seismic Shift In "A Point Of View"

Meg and I have been living in earthquake country (ie: Southern California) for a while now. Since our tenure in this tenuous state, there have been several earthquakes; but for the first five years, I missed them all.

I was either out-of-state, asleep, or just simply didn't feel it. I was starting to feel left out.

Then, a couple months ago, I felt an earthquake for the first time. It was wild! Both terrifying and exhilarating! The floor rolled beneath my feet. The dining room light swayed. The blinds on the window clattered. The epicenter was hundreds of miles away, yet I felt the effects of the seismic shift. 

It was scary, yet invigorating. (don't get me wrong: I fully subscribe to what my good friend Karen Hall says, "the earth shouldn't move like that!!" ... I agree completely, Karen. I agree completely.)

However, for my first earthquake, it was pretty cool!

Occasionally, the earth's plates have to shift - an incredible design by a brilliant Creator who knows how to keep the core of our planet functioning. In the same way, the Holy Spirit occasionally shifts the plates in our thinking in order to realign (or sometimes align) places where we've shifted a little out of place.

I've been feeling the tremors for a while. At first, it was just little rumbles: a long-held idea challenged by a new thought, or an old core belief overshadowed by new revelation within the matchless Scriptures.

I have been reading a lot of challenging books lately. I have been studying the Bible from a different perspective. I am convicted that perhaps, tragically, I have been living more as an American than as a Christian. 

I am also concerned that, by and large, the Church in America is off-track and needs a seismic shift.

Yet, for me personally, the shaking is both terrifying and exhilarating.

I feel that, more and more, I live in complacency: a spiritual bigot who has taken Christ's unequalled gift of Grace and made it an apathetic part of my religious practice.

The Spirit is wooing me to a deeper place of Biblical passion that seems radically different than anywhere I have been before. It is, all at once, scary and invigorating. The ground beneath me is shifting.

I have a feeling the tone of this blog is about to change, my friends. I'm not sure how much whimsy it will contain from this point. I will write what I'm experiencing. I will strive not be dogmatic in my point of view. I will offer opinions, hopefully grounded in Love. Please forgive me ahead of time, should I ever come across as harsh or unwavering.

I urge you to join in the conversation. I encourage you to share these posts with your friends, invite others to join the discussion. Let us, in Love, strive to work out the truth of our lives in light of the Holy Word of God.

MORE TO COME...

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The God Test

A friend recently sent me a link that I found fascinating.
Here is the email she sent:
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On Thursday, the main story on the front page of USA Today -- the most widely circulated print newspaper in the U.S. -- was about the work of two Baylor professors and their new book, America's Four Gods.

Sociology professors Dr. Christopher Bader and Dr. Paul Froese based their work on results from the biennial Baylor Survey of Religion. The study found that Americans tend to see God in one of four ways: authoritarian, benevolent, critical or distant. By knowing which type of God an American believes in, Bader and Froese believe that the person's views on many other issues can be predicted.
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1. Authoritarian
2. Benevolent
3. Critical
4. Distant

Interesting premise; right?
Based on the survey, how do you perceive God?

I would love for you to take the test (it's pretty quick, just a few minutes), and post your results in the "comments" section. Here is the direct link for the test: http://www.thearda.com/whoisyourgod/thegodtest/

Enjoy!

By the way, my results came back that I saw God as Authoritarian, but don't let that sway you... HaHa!

Monday, October 11, 2010

It's Just A McDonalds

It doesn't matter what they do to the outside veneer, it's still a fast food shop.
Here's a question: Can you think of anything else in our society that masks what it truly is under a veneer of respectability when, in fact, it is just a cheap fill?