Faith in Christ - Merry Christmas

I heard a preacher say "Even if God did nothing more for you then create this world, and send his son to die for your sins, that ought to be enough for you to praise him, to worship him and to serve him. Amen?"  

I thought about that. Then I thought about it some more.  Then I realized that pretty much sums up my beliefs and my faith and 99% of what I have been blogging about since August. Nothing I can "attack" there. No arguments I can think of.  And since I do believe that God created this world, and I do believe that I am a sinner, and I have faith that Jesus was who he said he was, and I am trusting in him for my salvation...well then, it makes sense that I should worship him, praise him and serve him.

That is why I am not an atheist or a Deist.  That is why on occasion I get angry, or sad, or frustrated, or discouraged or fired up by those fundamentalist, extremist Christians that say I am not a Christian if I believe those things, but don't also believe every other thing their theological views say I should believe.

Or they tell me that they are "concerned" for my salvation if I am not buying everything else they try to add on to that simple message, no matter how I live my life.  Actions do NOT speak louder then beliefs in their world.  For example, the gospel says nothing about putting your faith in the Bible itself. My faith is not based on what is written in some ancient "sacred and holy" text. For example, I believe there are Jews because I have met some and have seen Israel in the news and seen pictures of the place. It is crazy to think that I believe there are Jews just because the Bible speaks of the Jews. Much of the Bible, thankfully, includes some verifiable people and places and history in the real world. I believe those parts not just because the Bible says it. Another example is this: I don't believe the Roman Empire existed and crucified people just because the Bible says so.  So I DON'T need a belief in the inerrancy of scripture to believe there were Jews under Roman rule and that they crucified people. I can believe that even if I were indeed an atheist.

And please consider this the very few of you who are fundamentalist zealots about your holy book: If the scriptures had been completely lost, but the stories of Christ had been passed down for centuries, I could have faith based on that and the Holy Spirit's work in my life and my grandparent's influence and my parent's influence, or because I heard Billy Graham preach or because a friend shared Christ with me. It's not just about believing a holy book. I never placed my faith in a book. I placed it in Jesus Christ.

As a matter of fact, I believed and put my faith in Christ long before I was even aware of what was in the book!  It was later that I learned what the book even said. So I can, and do have faith, without a total reliance on any holy book. Let that sink in brother. And more importantly, doesn't that PROVE that God is real better then religions arguing about which book is the truth?  My God gets his message to his people without the need for reliance on a holy book.  There should only be one religion since there is only one God and he calls his people. But when we rely on holy books, we get wars over whose book is the real truth.  Think about it.

But yet, atheists and fundamentalists will both continue to argue to me that it is impossible and illogical to believe in Jesus unless and except you believe in the inerrant Bible that tells you about him.  I get the philosophical arguments they make. I understand the logic. But it is a false and dangerous logic and a destructive philosophy. The same one the atheist uses to explain why they don't believe in God.  Both reason that you can't pick and choose to only believe in Christ if you don't believe everything else. To the atheist, that proves that the entire book is to be dismissed, not trusted and thrown out. But the fundamentalist makes the same argument to me. They tell me to throw the whole thing out if I find any part I don't believe.

Why has belief and adherence to an ancient holy text become more important then loving God and praising him for life, creation, and salvation?  Why are we more devoted to our beliefs, then we are to Jesus?  Why is what we believe "about" Jesus more important then the faith we have "in" Jesus? It's NOT. Unless, you are one of the few remaining fundamentalist that doggedly cling to this harmful view.  And the church and gospel continue to decline in number and influence. 

You do understand that, thankfully, you are in a very, very, very small percentage of the Christian world that holds to such cult like beliefs don't you?  I've said this before: you don't believe everything the Jews or Catholics or Protestants or Methodists or Baptists or non-denominational groups believe do you?  But you don't throw out everything they believe do you?  You pick and choose don't you?  I hope so.

So this Christmas, I am going to thank God for sending his son to die for my sins, I am going to accept through faith, the free gift of salvation he offers, and I am going to continue to try and serve Him (not the local 501(c)(3) or the guy they pay thousands of dollars and benefits to preach there) the best I can while loving and providing for my family and those in need with my time, talent and resources. And I am going to enjoy the Christmas decorations (both the secular and biblical ones), the Christmas songs and music (both secular and biblical) and spending time with friends and family during the holidays.  And if someone gives me a pair of shoes for my feet, or puts a roof over my head, I will thank them for that.  And I will thank God for his creation, love, and salvation. Amen.

Ken Ham - A sad, pathetic, pessimistic view of God's creation.

For those of you who are curious about why the transition of this blog from focusing on stomping, angry, charlatan millionaires who have hijacked the Christian faith, to being more of a focus on the laymen and pew sitters that empower them, Ken Ham gives a great illustration of what many fundamentalists have evolved into.  Angry, disrespectful, pessimistic extremists who are hypocritical at best, and delusional and dangerous at worst. They remind me of Islamic extremists who want to see Sharia law in the United States. It seems both Ken Ham and Jeremiah Wright disagree with some policies in our great country, and if they can't get their way, they criticize and say we get what we deserve. They want their religion to be the law.


Read Ken's full article here: Ken Ham's sad pathetic worldview of our great country in his own words

Many of you will agree with Ken and give him a hearty "A-Men." This blog post is not for you. Nothing will persuade you that you are misguided, misled and miserable.

I humbly suggest to you that Ken is preaching the exact same nonsense that Jeremiah Wright preached that made many Christians so angry. First, Ken says "Our ministry wants to respond to...the President."  I guess this is okay since he's not blogging about the President, who is "God's man" to lead this country since God is in control and gives power to those in authority.  These same folks hate bloggers who "attack" God's man (ie: some guy with a bible degree at your church), but love when one of their own attacks the President!

President Obama said, rightly I might add, that "freedom is more powerful than fear; that we have always met challenges—whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks—by coming together around our common ideals as one nation, as one people. So long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt America will prevail. Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America." 

Sounds good to me. Sounds positive and optimistic. Nothing offensive or inflammatory to Christians there. But Ken still wants to pop-off in his blog post (sorry, online article/newsletter)to take issue with what our President meant as "common ideals."  Ken said these ideals were built on the authority of the Word of God.  NOT TRUE. Jefferson and others were Deist, who fled England to GET AWAY FROM AUTHORITARIAN RELIGIOUS GOVERNMENT!  The common ideals are equal protection, due process, our Constitution and Bill of Rights. And freedom. Freedom from the state run Church of England and from the nationalistic Catholic Church. Freedom from religion in goverment.  These are NOT just fallible man's opinions!  But this type of thinking is exactly what the Muslim extremists would argue to you, Ken. This is what they would want.  They want Sharia law. They want their holy book to be above all other laws. Those are the foundations of their society. Not ours. And neither is the Bible.  We are a nation of laws. Kim Davis and the planned parenthood shooter, both put their religious convictions above the law.  You can't do that here. You CAN do that type of thing in Muslim countries who are controlled by religious leaders and their holy book is the law. You also can't discriminate here.  But that's a post for another day.

But no big deal, Ken is wrong and is hypocritical. So what?  The thing that is most disturbing to me and most indicative of where the fundamentalists Christian extremists have taken Christianity is that Ken (and those that "A-men" his nonsense) are sad, angry, miserable, pessimistic people with no hope and they don't even realize it.  Like Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor (yes, Obama attended a Protestant church for over 20 years with his family before becoming President) who proclaimed "God Damn America" and  "the chickens have come home to roost", Ken Ham is saying the exact same thing.  Read his article again carefully. How is this different than what Jeremiah Wright had to say? You fundies were outraged at Jeremiah Wright were you not?  But you A-men Ken Ham?

What am I referring to?  Ken says if “common ideals are not built on the authority of the Word of God, then the common ideals are just man’s fallible opinions—which, frankly, will mean that America will not prevail." What?!  The Constitution, Bill of Rights, equal protection, due process, discrimination laws, religious liberties, freedom of speech, right to bear arms, etc. are all just "man's fallible opinions?"

And what part of the "Word" does Ken want to see us build on? Stoning disobedient children?  Killing and raping other civilizations that God tells us to kill and rape? Women remaining silent and not wearing make-up or jewelry? No, Ken and his ilk are seeing a progressive culture, technology, medicine, science, human rights and quality of life that is getting better and better as the culture moves away from the dogmatic beliefs of the far Christian right wing extremists and their ancient Holy Book injustices.  So he ramps up the rhetoric. And his subscribers eat it up. Ironically, Ken wants to see us go backward to Biblical times, the same as the terrorists. And why do we blame Obama for doing nothing when Christians are beheaded and persecuted and not blame ourselves or blame God?  According to Ken, the chickens have come home to roost, and we deserve this and if we act better and believe better, God will help us. This is sick, sad thinking.

Ken goes on to declare: "A fallible human being like the President can claim all he wants that America will prevail, but there’s a God in heaven who is in absolute control of the affairs of the nations!" The President is optimistic, but Ken not so much.  Ken elaborates: "Sadly, our President, even though he stated last night that he wants God to bless America, will not acknowledge the Creator God of the Bible—in fact, he has done the opposite: actively supported the removal of the one true God from the public arena. His belief in this regard was seen, for instance, in the recent lighting of the national Christmas tree in Washington, DC, when the President began his speech by saying “happy holidays”—twice."  OH MY! Really Ken? That proves your accusations, great illustration to support your points, Ken. The faithful Christian husband and father (no hint of scandal in his personal and family life for 8 years of office) says "happy holidays" and Ken says that is why God allows terrorism all over the world.

Ken even tells us what "we all know:"  "While he may use the word Christmas on occasion, we all know that when the President says “happy holidays,” like in his speech, it’s largely a deliberate way to keep Christ out of Christmas.  Now, Christians should respect the office of the presidency and pray for our elected officials. But when their actions go contrary to the absolute authority of God’s Word, then we should say something." (On this I happen to agree with Ken. We should say something. Especially when men of gawd do those things.) What? What actions has the President done that are contrary to scripture.  And why is it that "we should say something" about this, but not when pastors actions (like adultery, child molestation, manipulating the gospel for personal gain, etc.) are contrary.  Then we are "taking up offenses" and should "let God handle it" right, Ken? 

Ken even drags faithful Christian wife and mother, Michelle Obama into it with these egregious and damning accusations against her: "Also at the Christmas tree lighting, the first lady, along with the Muppet character Miss Piggy, read a story from the children’s book A Visit from St. Nicholas—a story about Santa Claus."  Oh, the horror and blasphemy. She must be stopped. Great point, Ken. And way to follow that accusation with a plug for your own business interests: "At our Christmas Town program at the Creation Museum, we celebrate Christmas in the right way." Cha-Ching!

I could go on and on about all the nonsense, contradictions, hypocrisy and manipulation in Ken's short article, but I will end with this most scary worldview, shared by Jeremiah Wright in his "God Damn America" sermon.  Ken says emphatically and clearly: "Second, did God hear President Obama at the end of his speech when he said “God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America”? I suggest God did not. (He claims to know what God hears and cites Isaiah chapter 59) He then explains it this way: "God’s principles do not change. What he said to the rebellious Israelites, He also says to us today." There you have it. The owning of slaves, the treatment of women, the raping, the stoning all apply to us today. So, according to Ken our sin as a nation is great. Although there are churches on every corner in every town in every state. And tax exemptions given to all religious organizations. Ken still laments "the reminders of the Christian faith are being removed from this nation—crosses, Nativity scenes, and displays of the Ten Commandments are being taken down from public places. Also, prayer, the Bible, and the teaching of creation have been largely removed from public schools"  Oh my!  Seriously Ken? Is this all the proof you have to rally your troops to send in donations and support your business interests? Wait until they come for your tax exempt status, then tell us how persecuted you are. Or wait until we put prayer back in school and the Muslim, or Rabbi, or Priest or liberal protestant come in to pray.

And this quote sounds an awful lot like Jeremiah Wright's "chickens have come home to roost" sermon when Ken asks the rhetorical question: "How could God hear this plea when the iniquities of this nation and the President are so great?" He then answers it himself for his readers: "I humbly suggest that God “will not hear” the President when he asks for God’s blessing on this nation! How could God hear this plea when the iniquities of this nation and the President are so great?"

That is sick. That is hopeless. That is manipulative. That is defeatist. That is sad if it represents the thinking of Christians in this great country.  So what is Ken's advice on how to fix all this?  He states: "This nation as a whole, and the President in particular, needs to repent before the one true God and return to His Word as the absolute authority in ALL matters of life and conduct. The President can talk about the threat of continued terrorism all he wants. But unless this nation deals with gross sin that permeates the culture, I sadly predict that this nation will not see the end of terrible tragedies, like terrorism."  He quotes Jeremiah chapter 18, verses 5-10 as a reminder to us that God is in control of the nations.  This ought to terrify anyone that sees radical Islam as a threat.  Ken wants the same theocracy and adherence to a Holy Book to govern life and conduct. Stoning disobedient children? Killing and raping the people of other nations who God says to take their land? Scary, scary, scary. Maybe we can bring back the Inquisition and let Ken decide who to question and what questions to ask and what the right answers should be? Then God will bless our land, whatever that means.

Ken, seriously, maybe you have this all wrong.  First, maybe we are blessed by God. Gas prices are low. Unemployment is low. Churches are tax exempt. Freedom of religion is protected. It's a great, great, awesome country.  Equal rights have never been more available to more classes of people. But if you disagree, and think this country is in bad shape because they took down the Jewish law from the courthouse, maybe God is punishing our country and bringing disaster upon us because of all the abuse done by the clergy and religious men and churches who have done nothing but build more buildings and careers and then suddenly want to blame everybody but themselves for society's ills.  Maybe as was said to David by the prophet: YOU ARE THAT MAN! Fundies need to stop blaming everybody and everything else, and look in the mirror. Look in the churches. Then and only then, will God bless the USA.  Can I get an "A-men?"  No?  Okay. Peace.

Christmas - Real or False? Which do you prefer?

As we come to Christmas, I have to admit it is my favorite time of year.  But like our faith and religious preferences, do we love this time of year because of what Christmas really means, or merely because of what we believe about Christmas?  Are our myths and legends and traditions more important to us then what really happened?  Or an even deeper question here: Can we do both? Can we appreciate, enjoy, and even love the parts we KNOW are not true, while also having a deep conviction and faith over the parts that we believe really, truly did happen?  Can we pick and choose? Must we pick and choose since we KNOW parts are not accurate? Let's not throw the whole story and message out over a few details.  Enjoy the season!  

Look at the picture at the left.  I love the beautiful decorated tree. And the stockings hung by the fire. The lighted garland and the gifts under the tree.  I love the Santa Claus myth.  In the song "Here Comes Santa Claus" we sing:   

"He doesn't care if you're a rich or poor boy, He loves you just the same."

Other songs talk of him seeing us when we're sleeping. Knowing when we are awake. Telling us to be good. And despite his origins in the real life Saint Nicholas, we know that he doesn't exist as he was presented to us as children. We added to his legend. Made him magic, and he was a man giving us what we want (usually toys!). We made him omniscient and omnipresent to see us at all times.  We made sure that he "loves us all the same."  We wanted our little ones to believe in him as long as possible. To keep their innocence.  We even got mad at parents or other kids who taught their kids that Santa wasn't real. It was beautiful and fun while it lasted. But our kids grew up. They begin to ask questions.  They begin to "know" that he couldn't visit every house. That those toys came from mom and dad and were not magically delivered or made by elves. We stopped telling Santa what we wanted and stopped thanking him for our gifts.  But we still played along for awhile after that didn't we.  We wanted the toys to keep coming. We didn't want to upset or disappoint mom and dad. And then we didn't want to spoil it for the younger kids that were still believers. And if a blogger told the truth about Santa, we would try and keep our kids from reading that blog and condemn that blogger to hell. We might even call the Sheriff on him and ban him from church. (Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.)

I can still love many of the Christmas songs that don't sing of Jesus even though I know they are singing about stuff that never happened. (I love Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph!) 

But I am not here to talk about the "worldy" celebration of Christmas. I want to talk about the "real" Christmas. The one you see presented in your very own church every year. What we religious people like to call "the reason for the season." 

Again, it's a beautiful story. But again, much additional nonsense that never actually happened has been told to us.  You do know that all historians and theologians agree that Jesus was not born on December 25th, correct? And that the three wise men or three kings, or whoever they were, did NOT show up at the manger?  I could go on and on here, but you can quickly research all that is inaccurate about our church Christmas presentations. But your church still likes to depict this correct?  Even though they KNOW it's false, they still include it right?  They even have the kids come and meet Santa in the lobby now don't they. This never happened when I was a kid, or even 20 years ago.  But, thankfully, the truth is not in the details, since none of us know those details for sure. The truth is in the bigger picture. That a savior was born.  So enjoy your Christmas, even if you don't believe all the details. And enjoy having Santa at your church, even if it confuses the kids later. I'm not going to get all tore up over that.  Churches do this type of stuff all the time. It's fun. It's entertaining and it ministers to families.  

The point is that whatever actually happened, we are all thrilled that in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son.  That is indeed Good News for all the people. And that in the city of David, Bethlehem, a savior was born, who was and is, Christ the Lord.  We know the rest of the story.  Can you believe it?  Do you believe it?  I encourage you to enjoy the story. Enjoy the holiday.  Don't let red cups at Starbucks, or holiday trees, or people saying "happy holidays" get you all tore up.      

I hope you can find hope and peace in the story.  There is so much more to the story and how it ends up. Peace. At Christmas. Merry Christmas! 

Vain Religious Arguments About Religion - Who Cares About the Gospel!

Let me be clear. No one lives forever. No one has eternal life. Period.  Let that sink in. Is there any statement more obvious, and less subject to argumentation than that one?  How do I know? The same way every other human that ever lived knows. Everyone dies.  Now, let the theologians jump in and the apologists' name calling begin. Let them explain how they do in fact have eternal life and you can have it too. But no matter what they argue, You are still going to die no matter what you believe.  Deal with it.  Look, since that argument is no longer open to debate, theologians and religious people have to start the explanations about their holy book and what they believe and have faith in.  It's the same thing they do when I say God doesn't provide shoes to us, or houses to live in. So obvious a statement of fact, except for hypothetical religious beliefs and theological mumbo jumbo. And did Jesus say, "this is sort of like my body" take thee and eat of it? Do you believe you are actually eating his body. Does the Bible say its his body or not?  The Catholics can explain how and why it is.  The Protestant (you and me) says, I'm not buying it. But must we throw out everything else the Catholic believes?  Of. Course. Not.

Now, I understand that EVERY single world religion will be quick to explain that you only get eternal life AFTER you are dead. None are crazy enough to say that you get it now. I get that. I can, and do, have hope and faith that it is true, DESPITE every single piece of evidence in the entire world from the beginning of time to now does not support it. I CAN and DO still have faith that it will be true when I die. I can't disprove that it happens, I can't see that it doesn't happen, so I can honestly choose to have faith and hope that it will happen. I can't, on the other hand, have faith and hope that donkeys or trees talk or reason or that the sun can stand still while it circles the earth.  Question: Does he give us eternal life here? No.  You zealots, if alive at the time of Christ, would have argued with Jesus that the Bible clearly said he gives eternal life and it means what it says.  But when people all around us started dying and kept dying for centuries, even the most devout religious nut jobs of every religion knew they had to quickly change the theology and dogma to fit reality.  That is all I am also doing. I've changed my dogmatic beliefs based on reality and what I see God doing and what I see God not doing. 

So, go ahead and explain again using your holy book how that means you can be CERTAIN that you will have eternal life only after you die first, and ONLY if you give intellectual assent to the CORRECT set of facts. And this applies to those that die of cancer and other diseases.  Explain to all of us that they will be healed in heaven, not here, IF they get there by believing the correct set of facts.

But why get mad at me when I point out that we don't have eternal life here and that he doesn't heal us from autism, downs syndrome, alzheimer's and most cancers here?  He doesn't. So what? Why does that bother some of you so much? Do you want to keep lying about God?

Why can't you just love and trust him for what we know he does, and not for what we hypothetically argue that he could or would do except for his "morally defensible reasons?"

Whose morals? Yours, or the Muslim terrorists? They have good reason for Jihad. Christians had good reasons for the crusades. Religious leaders had, and still have it seems, good morally sufficient reasons for covering up sexual abuses in the church.  

So, for those of you who wish me to debate my "theology", I say no thanks. I'm not interested in arguing with you anymore than I am in going over to a Muslim website and debating the Muslim on their beliefs. I also am not interested in debating the Catholic apologist or going to a Catholic person's website and arguing about the many things we disagree on.  I am not interested in going to a Jehovah Witnesses' website and trying to persuade them where they are wrong.  And I don't wish to debate the Jewish rabbis or Jewish adherents about whose God is real and who is going to hell and who isn't based on their beliefs.  Why? Because all of those folks can give reasons that seem perfectly sufficient to them, but certainly not to anyone other than those that already agree with them.  I know the readers of this blog don't agree with them.

So now you know how I feel about you.  The same as you feel about the Catholics and Jews.  Some are great people, sincere people, loving people, devoted religious people, but they are wrong on some things. And I certainly believe SOME of what the Jews and Catholics believe, but not ALL. And so do YOU. Yet you insist that I must believe it all and can't pick and choose which parts I believe. Yet you do the exact same thing when it comes to Catholics and Jews. Right? Don't keep reading so fast...Right?  Amen? Amen!

So I will continue to post from time to time on the nonsense I see in what used to be my personal belief system before it was hijacked by far right, fundamentalist wackos.  Not to convince them that I am right and they are wrong, since that is impossible when debating ANY religious beliefs, but mainly just to point out where the charlatans have led us astray and how ridiculous some of their tertiary beliefs are. Only cults so strongly accuse others that you "hate God" and "hate the Bible" just because you disagree with them on some application of the scriptures. You don't hate the Catholic church or Jews do you, just because you disagree with them on some things about God and salvation and the Bible?  Only cults will tell you that you will burn in hell even if you are trusting Christ for salvation if you don't also believe in their theological reasonings.  Are you a cult member? Only cult members will insist that you cannot believe ANY part of their religious beliefs unless you believe ALL of them.  Are you a cult member or not?


I assume the Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Jew, moderate Baptist, non-denominational Christians, et al, would all simply try and find where we agree, (like trusting in Christ for salvation for example), and not try to convince me that I should not, and can not, trust in Christ unless I also believe every single other thing they believe in.  No, only religious nut jobs and fanatics would hold to such a view.  

And for some reason, it seems those are the ones that read and then respond so ugly to my observations.  It just reinforces to me that what I am blogging about is oh so true. And sad. They have reasons and explanations why God blesses them with shoes, while allowing innocent children to be raped and Christians to be beheaded. It all makes sense to them.  They quickly then try to ask you to prove your beliefs and defend your views, because they know no amount of arguing will change the reality of their beliefs in the real life arena of public discourse and in real life applications. They know "proving" any of our views on spiritual matters is impossible, since they get asked to prove their views all the time and simply can't do it. I can "prove" that everyone dies. And that God is not healing autism or alzheimers or putting shoes on my feet or a roof over my head.

So, here's an idea: You fundamentalist religious nut jobs that want to lecture me and scold me on your beliefs, why not go over to the local hospital and tell it to those doctors who have invested their lives in practicing medicine to actually help heal people.  Better yet, explain it to their dying patients. Show them your shoes and pictures of your house. Tell them how God is the great physician and healer.  That he is "good, all the time" and "has a plan for their lives" and is "in control." And that by his stripes they are healed. Go debate them. Go over to the universities physics and biology and chemistry departments and lecture those scientists and their students on how things work.  Pray for healing of autism and alzheimers and never give a penny to those scientists and doctors who are striving to find cures.  Give money to your local church instead and not to any of the above places because the only thing that really matters is whether or not people believe exactly like you do. I mean God has a reason for not providing a cure so why pray and try to find one? He is in control. Pray for fire to come down out of heaven and consume wet timber.  It happened before, right, so God "could" do it again, amen?  Let's go out into the woods and debate if he will do it or not. We both know he won't. So, I'll continue to point out that God doesn't do those kinds of things.  He doesn't provide shoes. He doesn't give any of us a roof over our heads.

But did he send his son to die for my sins?  I CAN AND DO actually have faith that he did.  And that makes me a Christian. Or as one "man of God" put it:  "HA!"

Happy Holidays.  More real life observations coming this Season.  (Please don't boycott my blog because I used the word "holiday" instead of Christmas there.)