The God Delusion (a review) - Preface

Well, I might as well start at the beginning.  The Preface.

Dawkins states his book, "..is intended to raise consciousness - raise consciousness to the fact that to be an atheist is a realistic aspiration, and a brave and splendid one."

Interesting wording.  One can aspire to be an atheist?

But really, all the Preface does is allude to what will be "discussed" in the chapters ahead.  I put "discuss" in quotes because, well, it's not a discussion.  Anything he is against, doesn't get a true look - but, hey it's his book, he can do what he wants.

Dawkins does go on to say that "for atheism nearly always indicates a healthy independence of mind and, indeed, a healthy mind." and that he hopes religious leaders will be atheists at the end of the book.

Also in the premise, it becomes quite clear - Dawkins dislikes religion (of any, but mainly Christian).  And that yes, to believe in a deity, one is not only delusional, but as he stated, perhaps not one of sound mind.

The main point of the preface is that of pointing us to certain sections, if we were so inclined, rather than feeling that we had to read straight through.

Overall, nothing enlightening.

Peace and Love

Chris

New Podcast - I Prayed For Osama bin Laden

New podcast is up and ready!  Check it out Here!

Facing the Giant (or) Will Richard Dawkins Kill My Faith?

Today I picked up a copy of The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins - a "god" among atheists.

I have seen him speak, heard him debate, and read his quotes, and I have glanced at this book, but I have never read it front to back.

Of his books available, I figured the one that dealt with God would be the one to start with.  And since I'm a firm believer that you aren't really sure what you believe, until it's been challenged, I figured I should challenge what I believe - what better way than facing the Giant?

Richard has admitted, that he's it out to "kill a religion" - Christianity.

So, can his book kill my faith?

I guess we shall see!

As I read through, and find something of interest, I will try and post it AND as usual, comments are welcomed (don't be afraid!)

Peace and Love

Chris

God and Genocide - is there any justification?

One argument that atheist bring up, and Christian's struggle with is the issue of God mandating the genocides of the Cannaanite people, and some other "laws" that seem to us to be, well barbaric (including slavery).

While I would love to be the one to address this issue, far smarter people have done so already.  The following link: God a Moral Monster? is an excellent article.

A must read, and a good read too!

Peace and Love

Chris

Praying for the enemy...

In a recent post on redletterchristians.org, someone had (a bit snidely) suggested that we not only pray for OBL, but also the people that are fighting and killing our troops.  Not only that, but to ask for God to bless them and comfort them.

I got to thinking - great idea!  It's easy to pray for the well-known, but what about those are in the mix and fighting it out everyday?  Should we not pray for them as well?

So, I did...

I prayed for everybody.  Our soldiers, theirs, even the poster who suggested we do it.

I have to say, it was one of more heartfelt prayers I have prayed recently.

I highly recommend it.

Name Our New Podcast!

Perhaps the last thing the world needs is another podcast, but since they are so dang easy to do, and put on the interweb...and dang it we like to talk, me and a couple buddies will be producing a new podcast ministry.

A couple things before you either jump up and down in excitement or dread.

Yes, this will be a "Christian" podcast...as the three of us are, and we will be discussing Christian issues.

However, we aren't going to be "nice" about it.

What does that mean?

Well,  we believe there is an unreached segment of people that kind of have the idea that Christians are boring, bland, and stuffy.

Three descriptions which don't fit us - at least we don't think so.

What our goal is, is quite simple: we want to show a more real, raw side of our faith.  Three men trying to follow Jesus as best we know how.

We aren't squeaky clean, nor are we going to pretend we are on this podcast.  We, in fact, will be as real as possible as we discuss topics, issues, and questions.

While we may tell you what we think, we won't try to tell you what to think.

A walk with Christ is a journey, and we wish to show you that journey in the most real fashion possible.

We aren't experts.  None of us are theologians.

We are just three men, trying to follow Christ.

Now...the only issue is: we haven't a name.

So, just because I can...I'm opening up a contest for a name based on the description above, or just a cool name if you come up with it.

Winning name will get a $25 Zazzle Gift Certificate. (Purchased by me, because we have no sponsors to do this)

I will put a deadline of May 31st.

To enter, just email me (Chris) at justoneministries@hotmail.com.

Simple as that.

Good luck!

Love Your Enemy? Including Osama bin Laden?

While fitting with our Western Culture idea of "justice" the picture to the left doesn't quite fit does it?

Yet, if one were to glance about at some Christian blogs recently, one might think this is the kind of Jesus we believe in.

Certainly looks tough, and perhaps a bit cool...certainly more manly than what we are used to...but is it correct?

With the murder of Osama bin Laden, many Christians are dang near rejoicing.  An evil man has been removed from the planet - and some speculate that he is in hell.

Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.  I'm not going to debate that here.

What I wish to bring up is the command Jesus gave us of "Love Your Enemy."

Now, post this (as I have) on some of those blogs and see what you get.  What you get is a laundry list of Bible verses (predominantly Old Testament) pointing out God's wrath and judgement and "destruction" of evil.  Can't argue with the fact those versus exist.

Yet, what does Jesus tell us?

Love Your Enemy.

As in my previous post, this brings up the question of authority.  Does Jesus have authority, or does the Bible.  One or the other has authority.

I'm going with Jesus on this one.

He says, despite what I would rather do, to love my enemy.  No wiggle room, no grey area...it's right there!  Love your enemy.

Now, I don't really care what you can bring to me in the way of "evidence" in the Bible that you might have found that shows that killing OBL was righteous...because, well, I'm going with Jesus on this one.

Take it up with him.  He gave a commandment - follow it, or don't...but don't try fool yourself: he meant what he said.

As a disciple we are to be like our teacher: Jesus.

How many people did Jesus kill?

In fact, he could have killed someone, and he would have been correct, just, and in his divine right to do so.  Yet, well, he didn't.

Of course, this is where you get a bunch of "what if" questions:  what if we didn't fight Hitler, etc.

Those questions, while they may seem to be a valid question, really are shallow in their context and cause us to rule out history and the relationship of cause and effect.

As for violence, sure it may remove a symptom (ie. OBL, Hitler) but it doesn't and NEVER HAS solved a problem.

Also, if ANYONE can find me a list Jesus gives us of all the exceptions to this rule are, I would love to see it.

It's clear, we are taking matters into our own hands...matters that if we were true to our faith, we would leave up to God.  God tells us to do just that.  Yet, we act as if we don't trust him.

Killing Osama bin Laden...

We call it justice...but does God?

Guess we won't know, we decided not to find out.

Book Review - Story Engineering by Larry Brooks

"From story concept to character development to scene construction and beyond, this blueprint for dynamic storytelling makes putting together a strong novel, memoir, or screenplay easier than ever."

Pretty strong words.

I have read many books on writing from technical to "organic."  While one can find a nugget of info among the many pages, most tend to be a waste of time.

Of the select few that don't waste your time: this is one of them.

I purposely selected this book, thinking that I might get to blast it for it's all talk - no show (as many "how-to's" on writing are), but I was taken by surprise.  Believe me, I wanted to be able to rip this book apart; thinking this was just another book geared toward taking money from your wallet with "vague" ideas, such as create great characters, rather than truly trying to help you.

I don't that chance.  Brooks has provided us writers, and hopefuls, with a valuable book.

Despite how you write (technical vs. organic) there is much to be learned from this book.  Brooks talks about six core competencies that EVERY writer needs to know and incorporate in their novel if they are looking to publish.

And while on a couple we might say, "Duh," it's more than knowing, and Brooks reveals - it's about application and execution of these competencies.

Some may balk at his "blueprint" for writing, claiming it stifles creativity, but as Brooks points out we all have a skeleton and similar make up (blueprint) yet we are all unique.  Thus it can be for a story.

I highly recommend this book as it goes beyond what you should write but how it needs to be written.

(I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.)

On What, or who's, Authority?

It has been an interesting week seeing the different responses "Christians" have been posting in regards to Osama Bin Laden's death.  I put the word in quotes because, well on the interweb it's a bit hard to tell who's being real and who's being funny.

Sadly, many of the comments I have read I truly believe to have come from "Christians."  Christians who are happy, and delighted, at the death of OBL.  Some even speculating it was God's will that he be killed.

Yet, the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't agree with them.

After all, Jesus said it bluntly:  Love your enemy.

I posted this myself.  And then came the shots.  No, not too many were mean, some had the notion I didn't have a firm grasp of Biblical teachings - which I will admit too always, until the day I die (shouldn't we all?)

What was amazing was all the "evidence" they pulled out from the Bible to show how killing your enemy was fine, if not justified.

At first glance, I would almost agree that they had a case.  Yet, that would only be true if not for one thing:  Jesus said, "Love your enemy."

There is no question there.  He does not go on to list exceptions to this rule.  He does not list certain circumstances in which killing one's enemy is okay, if not justified.

Three words, couldn't have been plainer.

He wasn't in the middle of a parable.

He was speaking the truth, he was speaking as one with authority.

Which begs two questions we each must answer: Who has the final authority.  The Bible, or Jesus?  And honestly, you can't follow both.

One MUST have more authority over the other.

Either Jesus has more over the Bible (regardless of what it might say) or does the Bible hover above Jesus and he must fit within the front and back covers?

The other question is this:  Did Jesus mean what he said?

Jesus gave NO indication that this was up for debate or that he was using hyperbole.  So he must have meant it, because if he didn't mean it, why would he say it?

He couldn't lie, he couldn't have steered us incorrectly, or he couldn't have been kidding...in fact he seem to go to some lengths to ensure that we understood "Love your enemy" was EXACTLY what he meant when he said it.

Now we may not like this little fact, this tid bit of information because as a culture (especially American) this does not fit well with our view of "justice."

THAT is another part of the problem.  Our brand of justice DOES NOT fit with God's...in fact there is more evidence of "justice" for God meaning giving and helping, than it does punishing.

For if we were truly more Christ-like, we most likely wouldn't have some of the issues now that we feel the need to "punish."

I'm not saying we chuck the Bible.  But when we read and study the Bible, we must keep in mind who has authority over what.

Jesus has the final word - hence we are Christians.

Now, if something in the Bible (seems to) contradict what Jesus taught, we MUST error on the side of Jesus and do some digging and study to find out if the contradiction truly exists.

Loving your enemy isn't easy.  Of course, Jesus never said it would be.  But it IS what he commands us to do, there is no question about that.

If we are to submit to him and his authority, we must submit to this command.  Regardless of what we FEEL should happen to our enemies.

Following Jesus isn't complicated, he does have a light yoke, but it is difficult - especially in this world.

Peace and Love,

Chris