Spirit Gives Birth To Spirit

This is one of my favorite Christian songs.  It is on my baby daughter's daddy-daughter mix. I've heard a thousand stories of what they think you're like But I've heard the tender whispers of love in the dead of night And you tell me that you're pleased And that I'm never alone You're a good good father It's who you are, it's who you are, it's who you are And I'm loved by you It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am I've seen many searching for answers far and wide But I know we're all searching For answers only you provide 'Cause you know just what we need Before we say a word You're a good good father It's who you are, it's who you are, it's who you are And I'm loved by you It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am Because you are perfect in all of your ways You are perfect in all of your ways You are perfect in all of your ways to us You are perfect in all o...

Thank you, God For the trees and grass The beauty of nature As a reminder of you Thank you, God For the stars and galaxies Swirling in the night That they inspire our reach Thank you, God For this life In all its goodness And all its sorrow Your whisper is heard Quiet on the breeze In the depths of our souls “Come be with me.” And for all the pain Of this depression It is a gift That grows my heart Love comes softly Like a butterfly on the wind And alights on our souls - A gift without bounds And so, from the bottom of my soul I reach up towards the sky And cast my grateful eyes To the glory of your heaven.

     I want to address what I believe is a terrible bit of theology.  It is the tried and true belief that is still so present in Christian circles: the sacrificial Atonement of Jesus Christ.  It says that to appease God's wrath against man, Jesus had to suffer and die on the cross.  You still hear it in so many songs we sing on Sunday mornings about the blood (Jesus's blood) covering our sins.  And so we are made clean - "white as snow" so the songs go.  But many pastors worth their salt, in my opinion, have distanced themselves from this theology.  Of the four pastors in my life, I know three don't hold this view.  The fourth I have simply not gotten to know yet.      The idea of the sacrificial atonement came out of the old Jewish system of sin and sacrifice.  Many, perhaps the majority, of Christians believe that Jesus was a sacrifice like the flawless lambs that were offered for a sin offering in the Jewish r...

   In all my years of living in the church - in the community of believers, I never would have realized that I was the closest to God when I was a boy hunting for frogs in the marshes by the pond near where I lived.  After all the Christology and the Seminary and the dogma, I have found that God is not in any one place.  He is not in a church building only, but he is there.  He is not in the street corner ministry only, but he is there.  He is not only in the eyes of the needy, but there too, he can be found.  I find him most often now in nature. And I find him in the times I spend soaking to the music on my God mix of secular music.  I find him in the words of Bruce Springsteen  and The Fray and The Killers. I feel I share something with the prophets of the Old Testament, and the desert fathers who retreated to the wilderness and desert to commune with God.  And anyone can do this.  Anyone can go outside, find a quiet and beaut...

     Many of the evils committed in the name of religion are a result of drawing lines according to belief.  Jesus came to the Jewish people who were so burdened by the lines drawn in their belief system from the teachers of the Law. The Pharisees and Sadducees helped develop a complex system of restitution for sin that designated people as either "right with God" or "sinners."  In order to keep from being a sinner, one had to offer certain sacrifices to God in the sight of other men. It was a line drawn between "us" and  "them" and excluded people from many parts of communal life until they did certain things.  There were also groups of people who were designated sinners by their profession, such as prostitutes or, conveniently, tax collectors for the Roman Empire like Zacchaeus.  And there were the "unclean" (which often equated with "sinner").  A group of people who were considered unclean were people with Leprosy because...

      2 Peter verse 1 was the final stone to fall in the wall.  2 Peter says specifically it was written by Peter the disciple.  And goes on to say, " 16  For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.   17  He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” [ b ]   18  We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 19  We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable,and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20  Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own...

     Too many people read the bible like it is a modern history text book. Sure, there are some parts of some books, like Kings, that read like a historical account.  But there is widespread use of the Gospels like they were historical accounts like we would see in a modern high school text book.  What is wrong with this?  Well even a modern high school text book is biased and written to make a point.  Don't you think the Nazis would have written a different account of the war in their text books? But regardless, the Gospels are far removed from this.  I can prove it.  Look at your bible. Is it written in English?  Then the New Testament is a translation of a of an account of Jesus spoken in yet another language.  Or perhaps you actually read it in the original Greek.  Jesus didn't speak Greek.  He spoke Hebrew.  Greek trained scribes took collections of stories and compiled Mark.  Which was in turn taken b...