Spiritual Power?

 If there is one thing that our current society is not happy with it is "Restraints."  We do not want others telling us what we can and cannot do. We do not want limits. We do not want to have to hold in our feelings. We thinking that it takes great courage to express ourselves and to voice our protest loudly. If you feel passionately about a cause, then you need to express yourself vigorously.

So it was a little surprising to me to read the opinion "Spiritual strength consists of two things: great power of will and great power of self-restraint.  Spiritual power requires two things: great strong feelings and great ability to control and have command over those feelings."

To have great passion, to feel deeply, to be affected by events profoundly and to immediately express those feelings is really a sign of great weakness. Your emotions control you.  You are chaff blowing in the wind of your passions.

To have those great rages at injustice, to feel great passion for the sorrowing, to grieve deeply for those with great pain and to be able to be master of those emotions so that you can act in ways that channel and focus those emotions in a much more powerful way is to have Spiritual Strength.  Seems to me to be what Jesus is suggesting in "turn the other cheek."  Seems to me why Non-violence is such a great instrument for good. It is the kind of Spiritual strength that Jesus shows on the cross as his emotions are so deep but he remains in control and prays for their forgiveness.

The Spirit Gives life

On this Pentecost, it is basic to remember that there are lots of spirits.  Memorial Day is talking about the Spirit of America and the devotion many have shown to the country.  Isn't the Marines great pride their Spirit?  But there are school spirits, there are spirits of the arts, there are spirits of economy.  That is why we are advised to test the spirits.

I think all spirits do much the same thing. They give energy. The spirit adds excitement. The Spirit gives power. The spirits make us part of a large group. There is inspiration and focus given by spirits.  One of the great problems in our religious communities now is that there seems to be an absence of spirit.

Pentecost is about the Holy Spirit being given to the disciples.  As the story goes it gave them energy, it made them excitement and the ability to communicate.  There was courage and boldness given to the disciples so that they could come forward and speak about Jesus and the message of God's love in Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is given to give energy, excitement, it gives boldness, it gives passion, it gives life in joy and celebration of the love of God.  It is needed in so many places now.

Hateful Prayers - what a relief?

A Dallas judge has made it a lot easier on some ministers.  The Judge has ruled that praying for horrible things to happen to somebody is not illegal. A man had sued a Chaplain who had prayed that horrible things would happen to the man and his organization.  The Judge said it might not be pretty but it was not illegal.

I guess that is a relief for some ministers. Seems the article suggested that a lot of ministers are using various Psalms with their pleas for the dashing of heads and fire and brimstone on their enemies as prayers against various enemies.

I once asked a Sunday School Class who were their enemies. In that class not a single person admitted to having any enemies. They did not hate anybody. I thought that was strange as Jesus seemed to expect us to have some enemies because he asked us to pray for them.  I do not think he expected us to pray hurt or destruction, suffering or death upon them.   But if we do, it is good to know that it is not illegal in a Texas court.

Clash of Pentecost and Memorial Day

What a wonderful clash of calendars we have this week.  According to the calendar of the church this is Pentecost Sunday. When the Spirit of God comes upon the frightened, confused, and amazed disciples and gives them the power to be the body of Christ in the world. Gives them power to speak to the powers of death and darkness to bring comfort, hope and the power of life. The Holy Spirit brings people into the communion of faith. It makes us part of kingdom of God.

According to the calendar of the United States of America this is Memorial Day Weekend where we are supposed to pay homage to the Spirit of the United States that called upon young men and women and called them to serve their country and to go and fight to preserve our way of life from another way of life.

On this week-end there is a very struggle between the Spirit of God that wants to overcome all the divisions between nations and languages, so that all speak in their native tongue but all can understand each other, a Spirit of God to work to unite all people into the family of God and the spirit that wants to call its citizens to see God's blessings only on one people. God Bless the USA.  And we remember and give thanks to God for those who have been willing to die to preserve the USA.

And it appears to me that the battle will not even be a fair equal fight in the churches around the country

Spiritual but not religious?

I know I am not the only person who has heard that phrase a bunch of times. I am "Spiritual but not religious."  In fact I have talked about that phrase on this blog before.  But it was good to read in DEVIL'S INK: Blog from the basement office. by Jeffrey Pugh his observations. Dr. Pugh writes from the Devil's desk and is giving advice to young demons. (Much in the way C.S. Lewis did in Screwtape Letters.)

"Spirituality pursued without the community of faith is easily dealt with and dispensed. Discipline pursued in the community of faith makes them stronger and less susceptible to us."

 Spiritual but not religious means that you will follow your own spiritual compass. The Devil writing to young demons believes those people are easily knocked and corrupted.  Spiritual discipline pursued in a community of believers makes us stronger and less susceptible to the temptations of evil.

Tear in the Eye of Jesus

We do not have him around any more to crucify him again, but there must be a tear in the eye of Jesus as he hears the Rev. Charles Worley in Maiden, NC  talk about what he wants to do with Gays, Lesbians, and Transgender people.

Rev. Worley does not have to accept Gays and Lesbians as his friends. In fact, the insult to Jesus is in the fact that Jesus tells us to love our enemies. If Gays and Lesbians are the enemies of Rev. Worley, then his Savior wants Rev. Worley to love them and pray for them.  It is evident that Rev. Worley has not read all the parts of the Bible he claims to follow.

Lillian Daniels, minister of a church in the Chicago area, said in a speech in Atlanta last week, that she was getting tired of being asked to apologize and explain the actions of Christians whose beliefs she does not share.  But that is the harsh obligation of Christians as we share one faith, one Lord, and one Baptism, and what one Christian says and does affects all the rest of us.  Rev. Worley has put a tear in the eye of Jesus. He has given Christians everywhere a black eye, all because he cannot find a way to love his enemies as Jesus has asked us to do.

The Spirit of Truth

The Spirit of Truth is a gift to the people of God by God. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will come and it will lead us into all truth.  The Spirit is a gift that is like the wind. It will come and push and move us in the direction of truth but it is not something that we can possess or control.

The Spirit of Truth is something that we submit to and follow but do not direct or determine.  The Spirit of God's truth is when we get so caught up and inspired by the Spirit that we "led by the Spirit."  The great temptation is to think that the Spirit of Truth is something that we can have and then use it to our own purposes. The way Insurance salespeople join the church in order to get membership directories.

The Spirit of Truth grabs us and moves us in the direction of living our daily lives as Jesus has described living. Blessed are the poor. Blessed are those who mourn.  So many of us read those words and say Amen over them, but then work as hard as we can not to be among them. Blessed are those who morn and we do all we can to afford seeing the pain, suffering and grief that our way of life causes.

Tom Long told about his good old South Carolina racists father, who was also a good old Presbyterian Elder. His father was made chair of a committee to shape the AARP's policy about integration of public schools. His father wanted to keep them segregated, but he read the Scriptures and studied the issue and the Spirit of Truth came upon him and he could not advise the AARP's to oppose integration.

The Spirit of Truth is a gift to lead us into God's kingdom of love for all people.  It is not something we can impose on other people.

The Cravings of Infinitude

St. Augustine claimed that our hearts are restless until we find our rest in God.  Others have suggested there is a "God" size hole in the human spirit.

Another preacher has said, "There is a desire in the human heart best described as the craving of infinitude. We are made that nothing which has limits satisfies. Hence the sense of freedom and relief which comes from all that suggests the idea of boundlessness -- the deep sky, the dark night, the endless circle - the illimitable ocean."  "Hence, too, our dissatisfaction with all that is or can be done."

There is an assumption that all humanity has this great hunger for some Spiritual reality.  Do you think that is there is still a "craving of infinitude" in our young people?

Religious Internet

A massive protest march is being planned by Jews to protest the Internet. The Ultra-Orthodox Jews want to hold this massive 40,000 person rally to warn people of the dangers of the Internet. The Internet is a highway of temptations and a strong protest needs to be heard to prevent people from becoming apostate. Such is their belief.

Seems to me that there are two major things that might be done. One is that all of those Orthodox Jews ought to get on the Internet and make sure that there is stuff on the Internet that they approve of.  There is a lot of bad stuff and rather than yield the battlefield to the bad stuff, they need to put on more of the stuff they think is good.

They should also develop their own web sites and link on those sites to other sites that they approve of.  Each Synagogue needs to develop a web site with their own good stuff on it, and they ought to identify for the people who read their site, other sites that the Rabbi recommends or approves.

It is not going away, and we can not prevent others from using it, so all religious groups ought to use it and put on it all the stuff they can that they think is worthy.

Source of Forgiveness?

One of the most frequently heard statements is that "Jesus Christ died on the Cross to save us from our sins. It is his death that makes forgiveness possible for us."  God sent Jesus into the world to save the world by his sacrificial death on the Cross.

I am not sure where I have been all these years, but the question was raised this week as we looked at the Psalms, what made it possible for God to forgive David and the rest of the people in the Old Testament? If God forgave David his sins and God forgave the children of Israel when they repented and turned to him, where did that forgiveness come from? How was that possible before Jesus?

If Forgiveness was only made possible by the death of Christ on the Cross, how did God forgive before the Cross?   Maybe the death of Jesus on the Cross is the clearest and best demonstration of the Forgiveness in the heart of God which Jesus shows to all the world?  Maybe?

Reviews of Churches

There is a church in Oregon taking a woman to court for writing and blogging a bad review of the church. Now I have always thought that that would be a great help to many people. Movies are reviewed, restaurants are reviewed, books are reviewed, why shouldn't church worship services be reviewed?

Now the woman made some comments that might have become personal attacks, but I think that a review of the worship ought to be legitimate. One could talk about the size of the buildings, about the friendliness of the welcome, about the kind and style of the music and hymns, did the service last longer than announced?  How much Bible was read in the service, one passage, two, three?  How many things were in the service, honoring Veterans?, or Boy Scout Sunday?,  Who was the focus of the prayers? Did God get mentioned or where the prayers about the people in the pews?  Did the sermon have anything to do with your life?

Those are enough good questions to make a good review and help people looking for a church home to have some idea about the church that was reviewed.

Everything Old is New Again

Everything Old is New Again

by

Rick Brand

Even the Roman Catholic Church has come around to apologize to Galileo. Some of the old wars between science and religious dogma have been settled and peace treaties have been signed.  There may be some people who still believe in the flat earth, but we do not teach that in school.  There are still a lot of old home remedies that are used, but most people still go to the medical community for treatment.

The two approaches to live: science and religion, have been in debate for a long time, and there are still very important areas where that debate may continue.  Is there a purpose for creation?  Are there signs of existence beyond death?  What is the nature and purpose of life?  When do we become Humans and when do we cease to be human?  Are we created to be in conflict with each other or is life meant to be cooperation?  But it seems to me that there is a very fast growing part of our society that is at war with science, and most of them are religious people.

There is the issue of global warming.  From all the literature I have read the majority of the scientific community is firmly in agreement that global warming is happening. Others want to call it “weather weirding” because winters are colder, storms seem to be stronger, tornadoes more violent.  Science can show you the data that the weather patterns are changing.   And most of those scientists are of the opinion that the changes are being caused by human activities.  But there is a very stubborn and vocal part of society that claims it is not happening. This is just normal weather variations.  We don’t have a long enough record to be able to say that humans are causing it.

There is an even greater and most hostile fight with science in the area of the origin of the universe. Science traces the beginning back into the millions of years and tracks the changes in temperatures, gasses, formations over those millions of years. The most avid of the religious people still hold out for seven days which often sound like 24 hour days.  The evolution of the earth and universe is an explanation from science that makes the best use of the physical data that has been discovered. 

If these fights between science and religion were just intellectual combat it would be less of a concern, but these issues result in policy decisions which will affect the whole of creation and which will also affect our nation’s place in the world. Asia, China, and Europe are already miles ahead of the U.S. in alternative energy research. Medical science has been slowed by the religious concerns about the use of abortion material for research. 

I am a person of faith, but the creator put us here to be stewards of this creation which means we are suppose to take good care of creation by using our best mental abilities.  Our minds are also gifts to us as humans. Faith wrestles for me with the question of from who did we come, why are we here, where do we go, what are we to do, and science explores how does it work, what makes it tick, what are the principles involved in its functioning. How can we use what we have learned to make creation safer and more enduring?

It saddens me greatly to listen and watch the constant battles between science and segments of the Christian faith.  But the old conflict seems to be new again.

Of the same family

I have been reading about Baptism. The man talking about Baptism is an English preacher in the middle of the nineteenth century. He suggested there were two traditions about Baptism: one Catholic which said that the sacrament took away the sin and made you a child of God. The other was Calvinist which said that the Baptism awakened faith in the believer and made a person a child of God.

This English preacher believed that both were misguided. That we were all children of God already and Baptism was just the public recognition of it.   Some people lived all their lives not knowing that they were children of God. Not knowing their family and some how trying to find out who they belonged to.  Others rejoiced, celebrated and enjoyed living in the confidence that they were children and joint heirs with all the rest of people.

That was what Jesus came to show us, to show us the Father. That we are children of the most high.  We can claim to be self-sufficient. We can rebel against the family. We can run away from home. That lots of people live and die never knowing or understanding that they are children of the Holy One.  But there are others who "name it and claim it" and proclaim it by baptism and by the way they live in ways that are pleasing to the Father.

See what love the father has for us that we should be called the children of God. That is a Baptism statement.  It is not that Baptism gives us a new identity, it is the mark and the means by which we claim the identity we already had.  Makes a lot of sense to me.