Spirit Gives Birth To Spirit

 All Christians everywhere are waiting in breathless anticipation of the second coming of Christ. It gives hope and bolsters us. It holds us up and presses us forward toward growth. It comforts us when we lose a loved one, because we will meet them again on the Last Day or when we go to Heaven, whichever comes first. It helps us remember what Jesus did for us. I firmly believe Jesus' death and what people call his Resurrection is the single most important event in human history. It overturned the rule of the world. It made the last the first, the least of these the greatest, as well as the first the last. It made death bearable, because it lost its sting. It inspired a movement that has lasted more than two centuries and brought countless good to the poor and underprivileged and outsiders of this world. But what if we are waiting for an event and missing the point?    What if the second coming of the Christ is not an event measured by the definitive date markers of history

     To grab on to God with both hands, one has to let go of religion.  I have been a Christian for more than 20 years.  And I think I can sum up the point of Jesus' ministry in a simple statement: "Let go of religion and hold on - with every fiber of your being - to God."  What makes me think this?  When Jesus came into this world, he came into a system of beliefs that had strayed far from the simple faith of Abraham.  It was a system of religious oppression headed by the Teachers of the Law: the Pharisees and Sadducees.  They required strict adherence to a set of laws as a requirement for men to commune with God.  There were strict rules of what sacrifices had to be made (doves, bulls etc) in restitution for sin in order to be right with God.  Jesus came and threw all of this out.  He upturned the money changers tables and sacrificial animal dealers that took up shop in the Temple.  He told people, including women, "Your sins are forgiven," shocking "the

     It was a Sunday morning like any other.  I got up at 6:00.  I pulled on pair of jeans and a warm flannel from the pile on the floor. I went to the gas station for a smoke and a diet Pepsi.  My wife was trying to get a few more minutes of sleep before the baby woke up.  You see, she is a worship leader at a small church in South Lyon, a half hour north of our home in Ann Arbor. Every Sunday she wows the congregation with her beautiful singing voice and the talent of the band she inherited when she started there a few weeks ago. I came home as my wife gently roused our little girl from her peaceful slumber by turning on her mobile that plays spring frogs and birds chirping.  Delia sleepily stirred to the little frogs and lions swirling lazily overhead.  After her morning meal, I changed her diaper and clothes and we all piled into the car.  I really love these Sunday mornings because we get to the church at 8:00, my wife goes to rehearse with the band, and Delia goes to play in the

Baby Rules (0- 6 months) Epidural, epidural, epidural The car is the ultimate crib Drive thrus are your friends Spotify music mixes are magic Babies can smile on day 2 (contrary to medical opinion). Answer why with "because BabiesIsCrazy." Every little sound is not cause for alarm Dog and cat are great distractions Happy babies might not laugh much Sleep when the baby sleeps Food is fascinating You don't need all the must-haves the baby stores tell you you need Things to sit your baby in save your sanity Get everything used Except for a crib and mattress Clothes are good for about 3 weeks. Zippers are God's gift to parents Don't need no stinkin' shoes When you figure something out, it will change People have a lot of worthless advice Follow your intuition Mommy is the ultimate calmer. Daddy doesn't have breasts. Lean on family Friends with change Baby is the center of the universe.  She knows this. Breast milk is gold.  Don

     I think we should not be afraid of some more unorthodox views on the origin of Jesus. Sure, he could have been incarnated as a human instantiation of God, miraculously born by a virgin against the laws of nature. But could there be other explanations? Could there be other explanations that still take the essence of scripture into account?  I have a couple of musings that I would  like to share.  They, of course, will sound outlandish.  But keep in mind I am making a point: they are no less likely than Jesus formed in the womb without an egg and sperm by a woman directly impregnated by God.  Stick with me through these first two paragraphs to get to my point.      I have often thought that we will eventually master time travel.  Physicists have already moved objects through a warp of space and time in theoretical models.  They have successfully simulated sub-atomic particles travelling through time and have discovered that time travel is possible. What if Jesus, as a baby, were s

     Love.  I talk about it a lot in this blog.  That is because it is so central to Christianity, in Jesus-brand spirituality as my former pastor and friend used to call it.  According to my counselor, my ability to love is one of my biggest strengths.  But do I really know how to love?  Far from it.  Certain people in my life through certain actions have sent me into a burst of anger that comes out when I talk about them. If I really knew how to love, I would love my "enemies." I would forgive and forget. Because in love, there are no enemies. So why do I rage like this?  You could say it is because I am a fallen man living in a fallen world.  But that is using the garden of Eden as an excuse.  No, there is a much simpler explanation that does not scapegoat good old Adam.       Let me explain.  I've heard it said that the past and the present in our emotional lives are like the two wires that make up every electrical cord - positive and ground.  In their normal state

     I have been listening to U2's rousing rebel songs from Rattle N Hum all morning.  It is an album written at the height of the resistance to Apartheid in South Africa when I was in high school.  My five-month-old daughter is familiar with those songs because they are the embodiment of what love can do in the world.  They talk about Rev Martin Luther King and Bishop Tutu and death on the green battlefields of the new United States in the 1700's and that world-changing death on the cross. Love is not some nice touchy-feely feel-good emotion you keep for a time and then discard.  The best definition I have ever heard of love is also the most succinct: unconditional positive regard. Doesn't sound like much until you think of how hard it is to always see someone through rose colored glasses. But how can all of this come from love?  How does changing the world by throwing off the shackles of the repressed and the downtrodden and the poor come from love?      Love does not