My Disclaimer

If you are offended by my opinion(s), you should hear the ones I keep to myself. Feel free to challenge me, disagree with me, or tell me I’m completely nuts in the comments section of each entry. I reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason whatsoever (abusive, profane, rude, stupid or anonymous comments) – so keep it polite, please. Any disclaimer issued by me is subject to change without notice. Any opinions expressed are my own, and are generally unpopular with others. I reserve the right to be an equal opportunity offender.

Evolution vs Creationism's Claims

My theory of evolution is that Darwin was adopted. - Steven Wright

I found this great resource, An Index To Creationists Claims. It's about Evolution and their answers to Creationist claims. I do not claim to have all the answers but there are people out there that have the credentials to add some intelligent answers to those questions. So I believe that this is well worth the read.

 Please give it a read and let me know your opinions.

Jesus - Our Misconception

If you want to understand Jesus, you have to study the whole Bible. Christian duty is not defined solely by the words in red.  - Randall Terry

 "Most televangelists, popular Christian preacher icons, and heads of those corporations that we call megachurches share an unreflective modern view of Jesus—that he translates easily and almost automatically into a modern idiom. The fact is, however, that Jesus was not a person of the twenty-first century who spoke the language of contemporary Christian America (or England or Germany or anywhere else). Jesus was inescapably and ineluctably a Jew living in first-century Palestine. He was not like us, and if we make him like us we transform the historical Jesus into a creature that we have invented for ourselves and for our own purposes.
  Jesus would not recognize himself in the preaching of most of his followers today. He knew nothing of our world. He was not a capitalist. He did not believe in free enterprise. He did not support the acquisition of wealth or the good things in life. He did not believe in massive education. He had never heard of democracy. He had nothing to do with going to church on Sunday. He knew nothing of social security, food stamps, welfare, American exceptionalism, unemployment numbers, or immigration. He had no views on tax reform, health care (apart from wanting to heal leprosy), or the welfare state. So far as we know, he expressed no opinion on the ethical issues that plague us today: abortion and reproductive rights, gay marriage, euthanasia, or bombing Iraq. His world was not ours, his concerns were not ours, and—most striking of all—his beliefs were not ours.
  Jesus was a first-century Jew, and when we try to make him into a twenty-first-century American we distort everything he was and everything he stood for. Jesus himself was a complete supernaturalist. He believed in the Devil and demons and the forces of evil at work in this world. He knew little—possibly almost nothing—about the workings of the Roman Empire. But what little he knew, he considered evil. He may have considered all government evil unless it was a (future) theocracy to be run by God himself through his messiah. He certainly was no proponent of our political views, whatever our views happen to be.
  These forces of evil were asserting their control over the world with increasing vehemence. But Jesus thought that God would soon intervene and destroy them all to bring in his good kingdom on earth. This would not come from human effort—expanding democracy, building up national defense, improving the educational system, winning the war on drugs, and so on. Human effort counted for nothing. It would come from God, when he sent a cosmic judge to destroy the present order and to establish God’s kingdom here on earth. This was no metaphor for Jesus. He believed it was going to happen. And happen soon. Within a few years.
  Jesus was mistaken about that. He was mistaken about a lot of things. People don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. Jesus was a man of his own time. And just as all men and women of their own time are wrong about so many things, so too was Jesus. And so too are we.
  The problem then with Jesus is that he cannot be removed from his time and transplanted into our own without simply creating him anew. When we create him anew we no longer have the Jesus of history but the Jesus of our own imagination, a monstrous invention created to serve our own purposes. But Jesus is not so easily moved and changed. He is powerfully resistant. He remains always in his own time. As Jesus fads come and go, as new Jesuses come to be invented and then pass away, as newer Jesuses come to take the place of the old, the real, historical Jesus continues to exist, back there in the past, the apocalyptic prophet who expected that a cataclysmic break would occur within his generation when God would destroy the forces of evil, bring in his kingdom, and install Jesus himself on the throne. This is the historical Jesus. And he is obviously far too historical for modern tastes. That is why so many Christians today try to reform him."

 Ehrman, Bart D. (2012-03-20). Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth (pp. 334-336). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.



Please feel free to comment. Thanks

My Inside-out Upside-down Perspective

 A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be. - Albert Einstein

I would like to start off by saying that I am not a an expert on the Bible. Most of my so called knowledge was either passed down from my parents or preached to me by my pastors(s).

So yes I may have a rather skewed knowledge when it comes to giving my opinion on what scripture means. I see that everyone has their take on scripture. With their interpretations of what it says to what it means. Does hell exist to is the rapture coming before, mid or after the tribulation. Should we speak in tongues? Will you go to hell for being gay? Is it ok for women to be in leadership? Argh! I believe all this does is create a fractured Christianity. A Christianity that allows someone to pick and choose their "flavor". Then use that "flavor" to condemn others who do not agree.

For the last couple of months I have been looking for answers to some of the teachings that I have been taught over the years. So I started reading books. Nobody recommended them to me. Google search was my helper. I started reading books like "Love Wins" by Rob Bell, " "The Shack" by William P. Young, "Surprised By Hope" by N.T. Wright, and "Insurrection" by Peter Rollins, ". Yes I know they are all coming from a different point of view than where I came from but that is where I am. To some this may look a bit unorthodox. Yet to others this may look like I am a heretic. To me, it's a path of understanding that needs to be taken. A journey that will take me to an understanding that comes from my heart. Not something that is just in my head.

I do not consider myself part of any denomination, cult, sect or group. All that does is allow others to "label" your beliefs.

So for now I am just going to consider myself a -------.

How would you fill in the blank? Explain why you used that word. For me, I am still working on it.

Creation, Evolution and Reactionary Christianity

 "Faith is a process of leaping into the abyss, not on the basis of any certainty about where we shall land, but rather on the belief that we shall land." - Carter Heyward

  Lately I have been interested in evolution and the creation story. In the past, I would have just sorta grazed through stories on the internet or in books and dismissed them as myths or the musings of a person with too much time on their hands. The fact that I did not have any real answers on what I believed about the Creation story or Evolution bothered me. I have been basing my own personal beliefs on what others have said or what I heard in Sunday school. That sorta puts me in that awkward position of admitting I do not know. To me that is just not acceptable anymore.

 My dilemma is how do you go about researching the story(s) without upsetting your friends or family? Why are these so polarizing among Christians?  After all, don't we all have a stake in the story(s)? I asked a few friends what they thought of the Evolution & the Creation story. My first thought was to ask if they believe what they would read in Genesis or do they lean towards some sort of Evolution. That quickly lead me to change it to some kind of loaded question that would get their reactions quicker. I figured I would get a few mild reactions and was not prepared for the reactions I did get. Here is the question I asked

"As a Christian, at what point would you be willing to admit that science & biblical archeology should play a role in what you believe? Even to the point of evolution... All, partial or none?"

I found out that most people would rather ignore questions like this rather than confront the issue with some questions of their own. Instead I got reactions like:

"When you start losing your faith."

"You're on dangerous ground."

"Mark , you are just reading way to much crap, You need to get back to your LIFE's shop manual. LIFE= living in faith everyday"

and my favorite 

" I will tell you that I look at the Bible and ask the holy spirit to give me insight on what I am reading....you can take it anyway you want but if I don't understand something I go to the source for answers....to me the bible is a book of revelations, sometimes I read a passage 10 times on the 11th time BAM!! it hits me.....revelation...only by the holy spirit does that come...that is one way I base my interpretation..

my response

" Do you believe that the creation story is vital to understanding original sin and without that, it would put into question the whole of our faith?"

A response 

"the bible has many intricate fassets (spelling ?) to it, I believe that it was woven together so that God can allow us to understand Him, and He did it in such a way so that we see His heart for us.....the sin issue is not as important as our learning who He is"

 
Why do Christians react that way? Why do they answer questions that takes them out of their Christian faith comfort zone with answers that really do nothing but create strife? At some point in their walk of faith, they need to confront these issues head on and stop avoiding them with pointless reactions. I am getting tired of them acting like an Ostrich with their heads in the sand. I want them to understand that their god did not create us but it was through Evolution. But to sit by and act as if it is some kind of mystery that we need to just believe with faith is rubbish.They need to ask questions & stop taking answers for granted.

Thank you Pete Enns for your book, "The Evolution of Adam"

Cult like Charismatic beginnings...now what?

  I grew up in the 70's Charismatic movement in Northern Illinois. I was 13 at the time. We did not go to "church". Instead we had "prayer meetings" every Friday nite at someones house or in the basement of a large Catholic church. The leadership consisted of 12 group leaders who would sit in front and face everyone. We would sing all the cool church songs from the 70's & read the bible. The service would always lead to everything from speaking in tongues, laying on of hands, personal prophesies, visions, people being "slain in the spirit", etc. Pretty weird stuff for a teenager to experience.

  As the years progressed, the "group" leaders decided that we must all live closer to each other. My parents moved down the street from the main "leaders". The "leaders" started to get more controlling. We had to pray each day and ask the Lord what we should to that day, make out a "schedule" & back everything up with scripture. Before we could do this schedule, we had to be "clean". That meant that we had to remove the "demons" that controlled us. This was done by rebuking them & the blowing them out of our bodies. Yes I know that was freaky but it's the truth. Once the demons were "confirmed" loosed from our bodies, I could then submit my schedule to my parents & the leaders. This was an everyday thing. They in turn would pray about it & ask God if this was from Him. This was called "confirming". If the leadership had a personal prophesy for you, they would require you to pray about it even before you read it or heard it from them. It would be used to expose your weaknesses or to point out your"problems".

  By this time I was a senior in High school. This process got worse. It was to the point that I had to pray about everything, from going to a movie to playing outside. If my parents or the leadership prayed and got a "different" answer from God then I was not allowed to do it. Needless to say, I faked most of it and the leadership never knew. I know this sounds so much like a cult and to today's standard, it probably was. At that time it was all we knew.

  Fast forward to today. I still belong to a semi-Charismatic church. The control is not the same. The "gifts" are still present but not as overwhelming. The songs are different. I would say that the manipulation is more subtle. Most of that is done thru the music.

UPDATE:
 I have recently decided to stop attending church. This decision was the best decision I have ever made. My advice to anyone who reads this is do NOT be blinded by your church or pastor. Seek the truth. Read your bible & be skeptical of it's claims and question everything it contains. After all, it is your life.