The Random Verse

   Have you ever grabbed your Bible and just let it fall open and read what comes up?  I find it a really interesting exercise that might lead you to verses that you normally wouldn't be interested in.  That is just what I did today which a couple of sections and I thought I would craft a post out of what I read.

   The first verse that really caught my eye was Psalms 5:5:

The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;

you hate all those who do wrong. (NIV)

   I've spent a lot of time writing lately about intolerance and how I feel it is a travesty.  Not surprisingly this verse popped out at me because it really encapsulates how I feel about the whole thing.  I see a lot of press reports about absolute intolerance in today's society and to be honest, it is a continuation of past crimes.  How about a pastor that wants to put gay people in an electrified pen and allowed to die off?  I don't know about you, but that bloody reeks of arrogance to me.  It is also a gross violation of many of the values I have tried to emphasize on here.  God hates all those who do wrong.  Even if you believe homosexuality is a sin, you aren't going to manage to get into heaven by treating it with another sin.  Yes, I know the verses in Leviticus and Romans, but here is a hint, if you would drop the arrogant hate filled act you would realize those verses and their meanings are debated (okay, maybe not Leviticus but the Law isn't upheld anymore by most faiths).  If the truth behind them were absolute then their wouldn't be this debate in the first place.  I don't speak for God, though I feel the Spirit speaks through me.  However, I don't see the same God saying, "starve gay people to death," who also said, "love your neighbor as yourself."  People like Charles L. Worley are why people are turning away from God and Christ and if you are driving people from Grace then how much more of a sinner could you be?  Open your eyes people!  Hate fueled by fear is not going to guide you down the narrow path to heaven.

I'm not scared

   Sometimes I take the title from what I write and other times the title comes to me first and I craft a post around it.  This is one of the latter.  In the last couple of days I've taken a stand against fundamentalism and I firmly expect to be rebuked for it.  I'm not scared.  Jesus was not a Christian.  Period.  He was Christ, but he was a Jew.  Here came this guy who spoke with absolute authority preaching things like "turn the other cheek" and "being a peacemaker" and he downright infuriated other Jews, even to the point that they hammered nails into him and hung him on a cross to die.  I am no messiah, I am not a pastor, I am a humble servant that is learning as I go along but certain truths have struck me from my reading. 
   Perhaps that is because I am an infantile Follower of the Way and I haven't had years of dogma to cloud the Bible.  Maybe it is just inspiration.  I don't know, maybe I'm just plain wrong.  None the less I have stood up and made my voice heard, and I am not alone.  I am discovering just how many of us there are out there.  People who don't let phobias and prejudices rule our lives.  People who can read the scripture and see that salvation doesn't come to us through hate.  It comes through love and joy in God.  There are others out there who feel this, I see them struggle with it but they are scared, and why not?  They are likely to be attacked mercilessly for their views but this isn't the first time a Disciple has been attacked by members of their own faith for a disillusioned opinion, is it?  History is full of them, martyrs, poets, scientists, you name it.  All people who weren't afraid. 
   I am planning a couple of diatribes this weekend, one is about verses in the Bible that we wish would go away and how we emphasize parts of scripture and hide from others.  The other is going to be my interpretation of Romans 14 which I think is an allegory telling us all to accept that each sect of the Body of Christ is different, can be different and we don't need to attack each other.  I also want to write about canonization, especially the closed canons that have lead us to the Bible we have today but I don't know that I'll have enough research in place to get it done yet.  I think the first and last are going to stir up a bit of debate, but thanks be to God for leading me to a church where that debate is encouraged and healthy.  God bless you and thank you for reading my stuff.  People are telling me that I am inspiring their faith and I can ask for no greater praise.  Don't take what I say as Gospel, instead let it guide you to the scripture and other wonderful inspired books and choose for yourself.  No matter what faith you belong to, no matter who you listen to, your faith is yours.  Please do your best to honor it, listen to it and learn it.

Responding to Yesterday's Post

I would most certainly agree that the Old Testament (really the whole Bible) needs to be read with a historian's lens, however, I disagree with the idea that God's word is flexible. It's our interpretation that is limited and confined to our own understanding, NOT God's word. The principals and truth that weave through the entire Bible are timeless and not up for debate. I say this based upon a vast amount of research in trying to do things my way ;) It's painful. I suppose what I'm trying to say here is this: confined to the idea that Adam and Eve were the first two people on earth and that the earth is only a few thousand years old - yes, most certainly seems to be a story teaching us (to the best of the culture's time) of the "sin nature" (I like to think of it as innate selfishness) of man. Stories in the bible such as these may indeed have been the best way to reach the culture of the time. Obviously if the bible were to start talking about molecular structures and evolution* of man it would have completely bypassed the entire culture's understanding. *(come on people, look at the evidence out there slapping you in the face - I'm not saying we came from monkeys, but we certainly haven't always been built the way we are today)HOWEVER, the principals and guidelines for living a fulfilling and peaceful existence are NOT flexible or up for any debate. I don't say this because I think I'm right - I say this because I KNOW I have been wrong SO MANY TIMES (and continue to be)!

Kurt: There's a really good chance that this is precisely what you were saying, it just struck a chord when I read that and I wanted to see if indeed we were on the same page. And I totally agree about the laws in Leviticus - one of the most frustrating things is when some crazy Bible Nazi wants to quote laws from the old testament that they want to choose to uphold (and use to condemn others), but they omit these sorts of laws - Stoning your children at the gates of the city for disobeying or selling them into slavery (although life would be much more peaceful), or wearing mixed fabrics, the list goes on.... All in all, I'm very happy to watch your spiritual life unfold in front of me :) I can't express to you the amount of freedom you have found (which I seem to discover more and more of in my life). I'm excited to watch your journey and am grateful to be a part of it. Keep up the good work, and God Bless.

  The above is a response to the post I wrote yesterday and I felt that it brought up some points that I wanted to adress here.  I think that there is a certain semantic issue where we are not seeing eye to eye, though in truth, we probably are.  When I mentioned that the Bible is flexible. I meant it, and here is why.

  I think I want to start with Romans 13:1 (NET)

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment,  and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

  The Epistle of Romans is considered one of the most inspired books of the Bible, without a doubt. Martin Luther even went so far as to say, "most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian's while not only to memorize it word for word but also to occupy himself with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul" in his treatise, The Adoration of the Sacrament.  If you don't let the Bible be flexible then think of the leaders you have to condone simply because they have power.  Without the flexibility of judgement we would have to interpret the Holocaust as righteous because Hitler was a man of power.  I just can't do that. 

  Now, where I think our opinions actually do match up, is that the Bible is written in the languages of man.  How many times have you tried to describe what you are feeling only to never find the right words?  My wife and I argued, the other day, that I don't talk to her about church anymore.  I told her that there was no way I can describe to her how I was feeling because I don't know words to quantify it.  The English language consists of over 200,000 words (according to Oxford) and I probably know around a quarter of them, which is actually a fairly large vocabulary.  Even with that I have no idea how to describe the feelings I have in church.  I think the Bible suffers because of this.  Not only was it written by historical peoples without the understanding needed to grasp some of its concepts, it was also written in languages that can't come close to giving full meaning to it's verses.

   This leads me to believe that the Bible isn't the "Word" of God... it is the "Voice" of God.  The difference is minute and semantic but, in my opinion it means everything.  The Bible lets God talk to you through it.  "Voice" denotes something more active and engaging where "Word" is something written and done, in other words present versus past tense.  If you look at the Bible as God's conversation with you then it will be like any other discussion, meaning it adapts and flows and changes as the subjects come and go.  You and I can read the same passages and even if our interpretations of them are outwardly the same they will always differ minutely within our souls.  If the Bible was absolute then there would be no interpretation of it.  I think Christians have faltered because they have issues adapting, the read the Word but they don't listen to the Voice and mankind has suffered for it.  As you said, there are absolutes such as being loving and kind and accepting and revering the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit but those are generalities that open the gate for us to learn the specifics.  Yes, there are absolutes in the Bible but for thousands of years people have been trying to decide which parts are absolute and which are metaphor.  I feel like I am starting to ramble, probably because I don't quite have the skills with the English language to express exactly what I am thinking but I hope this all makes sense.  Thank you for your response, it really made me stop and think about some things.  God Bless!

Book of Romans, Chapter 13

   I don't know if this will be of value to anyone but I have lately been intrigued by the book of Romans.  Since my description of this blog comes from Romans 13:8-10 I figured that was the ideal place to start.  Something Pastor Joe said made sense to me today.  To paraphrase, he said "the young need to understand they don't know what they are talking about and the old need to be teachers."  Personally I want to give my own version of that, "It is the duty of the youth to accept learning and the duty of their elders to teach it to them."  I will admit that I clearly fall into the "youth" category.  I'm 33, hardly aged by any means but it goes beyond that.  I am a "youth" when it comes to God.  I write on here because I do hope to pass on some inspiration and help others find joy in the Holy Spirit.  I want to make it clear, though, that I speak with no authority.  I can only relate my observations and experiences.  The notes I am going to include below are from my personal journal where I paraphrase the fourteen verses of the thirteenth chapter of Romans.  In no way do I expect people to take what I say as some kind of teaching, this is my process of learning.  If you have any agreements, criticisms or just general comments I would love to hear them.  I think learning from the Bible is something we should all share together.  It teaches great things but it has been corrupted by individuals for their own purposes before.  If we learn as a group then I think will gain a much truer understanding of our Faith and our Christ.

• 13:1 - All authority is given by God.
• 13:2 - You will be judged if you fight authority.
• 13:3 - Rules punish the wicked and this verse asks you to respect them.
• 13:4 - You should fear retribution if you do wrong.
• 13:5 - If you do not act as a subject you may incur punishment as well as guilt.
• 13:6 - Justification to pay taxes.
• 13:7 - Do not allow yourself to become bogged down by debt.
• 13:8 - If you have to debts and love and care for one another then you have fulfilled the Law.
• 13:9 - Quotes from the Commandments.
• 13:10 - Summarizes all commandments with "Love your neighbor as yourself."  It also gives a hint at the root meaning of the Law.
• 13:11 - Honestly, I think this verse simply is speaking about time moving forward without stop.
• 13:12 - Probably asking us to be ready for the final battle between Heaven and Hell.
• 13:13 - Asking us to live cleanly at all times.
• 13:14 - By accepting Christ as our Savior we can help to not give the Enemy a foothold in our lives.

  If this seems like a cool idea I would love to post other chapters in paraphrase like this.  Unless I get a lot of negative comments you will probably see another, similar post before too long.  Be Blessed everyone, and remember to love your neighbor as you love yourself.