Life Physics – All Around Us

I am reading a very interesting book by K. C. Cole called “First You Build a Cloud and Other Reflections on Physics as a Way of Life”. You don’t have to be a physics geek like me to enjoy this one. She writes in a very refreshing way about physics that gives anybody a better perspective on the world/universe around us.

The purpose of this book is to reconnect our science minds to those things we see in everyday life not just isolated things seen in the lab. Why are we not amazed every time we see a cloud? A cloud is the only answer to Bob Miller’s question of “How would you hold a hundred tons of water in thin air with no visible means of support?” Have you ever thought about a cloud in that way? Do we even look up to the sky any more?

When was the last time you thought about how we revolve around the sun in just the special orbit that keeps our temperature just right to sustain life? How the earth revolves on it’s axis at just the right speed? How plants need carbon dioxide and expel oxygen and how we need oxygen and expel carbon dioxide? How electrons are moved through conductive materials from some far away generator so that my laptop can have the power it needs for it to be on?

Scientists are asking the great questions of “Why?” and “How?” But I have a problem with their answer to the “ultimate how and why?” The “ultimate how and why” is how did all these “laws and theories” come about to make the universe and why. The scientists’ answer is “Just because. It just happened.” Reminds me of a bumper sticker.

It’s like the old joke where some scientist approach God and say that they don’t need Him anymore because we humans can do it all ourselves. God then says, “OK, let’s have a contest then. Each of us will make a human being.” The scientist then reach down and pick up some dirt to which God says, “No, no. You have to make your own dirt first.”

For me the answer to the ultimate how and why is much easier to understand. Because I believer there is a God in the equation who is so great and powerful that He created it all to work in this harmonious way for the purpose of glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever.

So tonight as you look up to the sky and see the stars, think about whether you think they “just happened” or do you believe there is a God big enough to create and place them in just such a way that the universe works. Next time you turn on the light, think about how the energy that is being expelled from the light bulb in such a way that you are able to see. Then ask yourself “How were our eyes created to be able to see that form of energy?”. Was it just by chance or was made so by a purposeful Creator who wanted you to see the beauty that He created?

A Definition for Emerging Church (Maybe)

The “Emerging Church” is an interesting concept that is arising in the Christian culture. I am always on the lookout for different articles, books and websites that talk about the subject. I don’t think this is the latest fad in churches but is really a movement that is taking church past the post-modern approach. The problem most have with “Emerging Church” is that they don’t know how to define it so they don’t know whether it is friend or foe.

There are some that define “Emerging” as reaching a certain generation (usually the 20 to early 30 somethings). There are some that define “Emerging” as reaching those that are more creative and/or artistic in thought and lifestyle. There are some that see “Emerging” as being just the opposite of traditional and beyond contemporary.

I guess my thoughts on it are that you can not define the “Emerging Church” by the people they minister to or the style of worship. I think “Emerging Church” is an attitude. I think those that are moving in the “Emerging” style are creatively contextual to the culture they are engaging. How’s that for moving in a triple “C” way? That means that if the culture that they are trying to have an impact on is made of artist/creative types in their 20′s then they are intentional in having artistic/creative ways of reaching that community. However, if they are reaching a culture that is embedded with tradition, then they use those traditions to reveal God to that culture.

It is a matter of attitude. Just because someone is doing something outside the “normal” church thing, doesn’t mean they are “Emerging” – especially if they are just doing it just to do something different. It’s when they are purposeful in creating ways that reach those they are trying to minister to in a way that is in sync with the culture. Therefore, in my definition (which you may or may not agree with) – a church doing all the “traditional” forms of worship and other “church” things may be an “Emerging Church” if that is the way of being intentional of reaching the culture that embraces those forms of relating to God. But they can not be doing them just because that’s the way they have always done them nor to just be different. “Emerging” is about enaging the culture.

Superman, beliefs, and reality

Yesterday, Krista and I had a nice date afternoon where we went and saw the new “Superman Returns” movie. I know, a lot of Christians are saying that the Superman movie has a lot of parallels to Christ but I don’t want to get into all of that. Instead, I would like to comment about two statements that are made in the movie.

Warning: Spoiler alert- At one point in the movie after Superman has returned to Metropolis, he flys up into the sky with Lois Lane and he asks her why she wrote her Pulitzer winning article “Why the world doesn’t need Superman”. Her reply was, “I learned that I didn’t need a savior.” Because of Superman’s super hearing, he responds, “All I hear is people needing a savior”

As a Christian, I think its important to listen to the questions people have and not just spout out things. One of the big questions I hear, from atheists especially, is “What do we need saving from?” I can’t just answer the question directly because there’s a fundemental difference between what they view as reality and what I do. The first has to do with beliefs. Most atheists, agnostics, unitarians and others believe that beliefs are not reflective of reality but of the individual that holds them. In other words, they say you can understand more about a person by what they believe but not necessarily about how the universe works. However, to those of us that hold onto beliefs, we see these beliefs as how the universe really is.

So let me tell you about my beliefs; how I understand reality to be:

• I believe that there is a God.
• I believe that God is a good God who is the creator of all things and is still deeply involved in all that He created. He loves His creations.
• I believe that God created mankind (women and men alike) to be unique creations where we have both a soul and a physical body. These are supernaturally intertwined.
• I believe that our souls were created to be linked to our Creator.
• I believe that because God’s nature is pure good and therefore can not be intermixed with anything that is not good, there are a set of rules by which we are to live our lives to keep that link between God and our souls. Please do not stop reading but continue on, especially if you think all Christians try to do is ram rules down peoples throats!!
• I believe that there really was an Adam and Eve, first of God’s human creations, that decided to break the rules which broke that link between their souls and God.
• I believe that because this link of soul and God is supernatural, it can only be reconnected supernaturally.
• I believe that the Old Testament in the Bible reveals many things but one of those is that we humans can not do the reconnecting to God ourselves. It also shows how God does not just walk away from His creation that rejected Him but is adamently pursuing them to reconnect.
• I believe that God so loved the world, that He sent His son Jesus Christ to make that supernatural reconnection.
• I believe that Jesus Christ is 100% man and that He is 100% God. While not a different God than God the Father but is of the same essence as God the Father. This is not the place to go into all of this, but someday, I’d love to talk about how the trinity is only one God but how God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all God.
• I believe that Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself so that when He died on the cross and then was resurrected from death, He provided the way for all to be reconciled with God the Father.
• I believe it was because Jesus was both God and man, because of His supernatural birth to a virgin, and because He was able to live by the rules set forth by God’s nature that Jesus was the only suitable being by which this reconcillation could occur.
• I believe that God now gives us the choice as to whether we want to be in an intimate relationship with Him. He has provided the way for it to happen but does not force Himself upon us.
• I believe that the way to this intimate relationship is by having faith (which is more than belief) in Jesus Christ and by that faith, our souls are reconnected to God the Father.
• I believe that when we have faith in Jesus, He sends us the Holy Spirit to work in our lives revealing God’s goodness.

This is the reality I believe truly exists. Therefore, when someone asks “What do we need to be saved from?”, I can understand that the answer “Ourselves!” is not acceptable to them. They do not believe the reality that I just described exists so they see no need for a savior. But this is reality and whether they see it or not, they do need a savior. Part of what God asks us (Christians – those having faith in Jesus) to do, is help those without faith to understand reality so that they can make an informed decision about whether they want to reconnect their souls with God or not. We do this by reflecting God’s love.

I Can’t Do It

I can’t do it. That is what I said many years ago when I became a Christian. Sixth grade, sitting in a pew on a Wednesday night. I had spent a year trying to change myself. I had even gotten a clean slate to start over with as we had moved from Minnesota to North Carolina. Yet there I was, in trouble at school – again. So I told God that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t change myself. That’s when He answered saying that He didn’t expect me to. He just wanted me to allow Him to do it. And He did it – over time.

Now, I sit here looking at what is before us. So far I have seen God sell our house (which I didn’t know if it ever would), complete some Seminary courses (I know I couldn’t do those on my own), raise up people who pray for us faithfully, provided all the money needed for our moving costs and provide a place for us to live in the mean time. I have also seen God raise over 70% of a daunting amount of needed ongoing financial support; more than twice as much as most missionaries need not going to Europe. It is so reassuring to know that I can’t do it. If it were up to me, we would never have gotten to 25%. Our house would never had sold. I definitely would not have gotten through any more schooling.

It is all up to God. Just as I put my faith into God to make the changes in me that I so desired as a child, I now can put my faith in God for raising the rest of our support. Why? Because its all for God’s glory. Not mine, not Krista’s, not our church’s. Its all His. As people join us in this ministry, it is not recognition of what Krista and I are capable of – it’s revealing the great power that God is!!

So to all of you that are partnering with us, thank you for being open to being used by God to reveal His Awesomeness to us and those that our ministry will affect. God bless.

(Pardon to those of you that are reading this thinking that Christians speak too much about money and giving. However, it is how we view money that can reveal a lot about how we view God. I’d love to talk to you more about this if you would want to)

Friendly Atheist

I found out about an Atheist who put on eBay an auction to send him to church. A group named “Off the Map” were the top bidders and their purpose is to send Hemant Mehta to various churches in the Chicago area and get his feedback. Off the Map’s purpose is to help Christians see how non-Christians view us.

To view Hemant’s blog go to http://www.friendlyatheist.com/
To view his blog for Off the Map, go to http://www.off-the-map.org/atheist/

I think this is a great use of $504 USD (which is what the final bid was on eBay). I think we as Christians get so enclosed in our own “Christian” worlds that we forget that the church is about reaching out to the non-believers. I mean many Christians go to church every time the door is open, we send our kids to “Christian” schools, we only socialize in Christian settings, we even have our own fast food – Chick-fil-a (thanks, Don Miller for recongizing that). While these are not bad things in and of themselves, they are bad if we forget that we are commanded by Jesus to “go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19) and a great way to know how to do that is to understand where the non-believer is coming from.

I have done youth ministry for many years and I think the greatest thing I learned was that it was more important to listen than to speak. If all you did was get “preachy” with the teens, then they would just shut you out. But if you listened to them, heard where they were coming from, then you could understand how to show God’s love to them (verbally and/or non-verbally)

Hearing Shouts and Whispers

One of the comments that we keep hearing is “Wow, I don’t think I could do what you’re doing – picking and moving like that.” And my usual response is something like, “Well, when God calls, its easier to go than to stay.”

Everyone looks at what we are preparing to do as a big deal (yes, its is a big deal for us) but our responses to “big deals” start in the “everyday deals”. Let me explain. Its how we deal with the “everyday deals” (read as everyday decisions) that prepare us for the big decisions that are set before us. Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest talks about it in terms of crisis. He says that we think to ourselves that we will be prepared for the next crisis but we may not be. It depends on how we are living day to day that tells us whether we are prepared for crisis. Everyday, every little thing, every little decision (no matter how mundane) is our training ground. The question you have to ask yourself is “Do I see God’s work and help in my everyday decisions so that I can see Him in the big decisions of life?”

I have pondered before when I have had to stop at a traffic light when I was in a hurry as to what was God’s purpose for me to have to stop? Was it because if I made this light, then I was driving a path that was to collide with another car? Was it because I am to give a smile to the driver that has pulled up next to me, a smile that will help that person see God in their day? (Did you know smiles can do that?)

Please don’t hear me saying that Krista and I have this all down on a day to day basis and that’s why we can hear God in this big decision for our lives. We struggle with the day to day and God had to really shout at us for us to hear His calling to move to Europe. But if you are saying, “I could never move like that.” May I suggest to you that God is calling you in many ways every day and to listen closely. One day, that calling may be something huge that right now, you may never hear nor know how to respond to.

Methods of Witness

Yesterday as Krista and I were going through all of our things in the garage (we were taking to much stuff to Germany so we pulled items out that we have decided not to take) and two gentlemen from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints came by in their white shirts and ties. They were very friendly and even offered to help us as we were moving around some larger furniture. Then they asked me if I was a Christian.

This quickly took me back to when I worked security at a local amusement park. Yearly, a Christian denomination would rent out the park completely for two days. So for two days, I was continuously approached and asked “Are you a Christian?” and when I answered “Yes”, they would respond “Are you sure you are a born-again Christian?” To which I would respond, “Yes, I have a personal relationship with God the Father because of the grace given through Jesus’ work on the cross. And I have the Holy Spirit.” I would throw the last part in there just in case. (I was 18 yrs old at the time)

Being one of the only “outspoken” Christians on my security team (in other words, everybody on the team knew I was a Christian mainly because I didn’t drink beer at the partys), they would come up to me after those days and complain about how rude people were, how they would surround them and shove Bible tracs into their hands and bug them asking if they wanted to accept Jesus into their heart. Ironically, these days were also the highest volume of shop lifting, line breaking, and ejections from the park for security to handle. These two days were the biggest anti-witness of Jesus Christ to my fellow security guards and I didn’t know how to respond to them as I felt like they did. Not about God, but about these God followers.

My question is this: Does this method of witnessing work? Both the Mormons and these fellow Christians approach you and make you question what you believe.

I do believe we are called to ask people if they believe or not in Jesus Christ but are we called to do it in a confronting manner? I know some come to an understanding of Jesus Christ through this method but was it because God had already softened their heart or because they were called to question what they believe? But how many more are confronted and this is just yet one more thing that they can hold as an excuse not to listen to the Good News of Jesus. How should we ask the question to a person?

I know what I believe, but I leave these questions to you. Feel free to leave a comment.