Good News and Better News… January 9th, 2017

 

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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It is reported that animals can smell fear.

I do not know if this particular “sniffology” is passed along in the human family, but I am fully aware as I travel and interact with my brothers and sisters, that there’s a strong apprehension in the air.

It’s not so much an odor as it is a loss of confidence and a disconcerting sense that doom looms too close to the home fires.

So in a season when the church should be rallying from its stagnancy because of the yearning of the human spirit to relieve tension, our ranks still seem to be filing out the back door.

There are those in theology who conclude that it’s due to a lack of serious religious reflection, and others who believe that we’ve not yet struck the right chord with the younger generation concerning traditions and the teaching offered for their children.

If you will allow me, I will tell you:

• We have too much God and not enough Father.
• Too much Christ and not enough Jesus.

It’s similar to a chemistry teacher who constantly gives tests on formulas while never having the students do lab work.

Church is boring because the idea of God is stifling.

Church seems insipid because a Christ who offers eternal salvation doesn’t give us a Jesus who offers us Earth solutions.

We are stymied.

For fear of losing our “worship credentials,” we have sacrificed our human appeal.

The heavenly Father is a Creator, not a manufacturer. Not everything can be taught in a six-week series from the pulpit as we expound upon every reference in the Bible about love, and hope that folks will draw a pious conclusion.

Jesus was our brother–tempted as we are in every way and touched by our infirmities long before he became salvation through the cross. Thirty-three years of life can not be ignored because of three hours at Golgotha.

Until we have more of the Father and an abundance of Jesus, our churches will be full of dead men’s bones and promises that seem to have been “rain checked” until after death.

The good news is that God is our Father, Jesus is our brother and the Holy Spirit is not a ghost.

The better news is that the Holy Spirit has come to remind us about the goodness of our Father and the genius of Jesus.

 

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Many are Culled but Pew are Dozin’… May 19, 2013

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Here I am again. Another Sunday sitting in my pew. I am not alone, but not everyone is here, not even everyone I love or those of my own family. They have given up on the idea. I do not hate them because they have deserted the cause. I understand.

Even though I believe in God, I comprehend doubt. Why? Because I have doubts of my own. Sometimes the stories of the Bible sound like stories–you know what I mean? There are moments when Jonah and the Whale resembles Jack and the Beanstalk, which makes me contemplate whether I am dumb for believing or the world is dumb for denying.

Hymns don’t always make sense. Bible readings come crashing to my ears like colliding syllables jumbled together without ever forming words. Where do my prayers go? Are they heard, answered or just therapeutic–to make me and all beseechers feel better for a minute or two?

Now, I don’t feel this way all the time. Sometimes my heart is full of spirit and my mind soaks up a gentle truth. But on other occasions, I feel silly in one moment and then ashamed of my doubt in the next.

What is real? I certainly know that we can’t go on living in a world where we hate each other. Politics doesn’t help. Psychology is a band-aid. Entertainment adds to the confusion. Also, goodness is essential, but not natural. Selfishness is our normal profile. So I guess if I can turn myself into someone who cuts slack to my brothers and sisters, I become valuable.

And then there’s this “after death” stuff. Even if heaven doesn’t end up being  heavenly, earth needs heaven to keep from becoming hell. Yes, I require a Father and a Creator or I stop chasing dreams and settle in for defeat. So I am here, perched in my pew–assigned seating for the heavenly bus.

I don’t know everything. I’m not always sure. I am not ready to argue the Bible with anyone. It’s just that life without a pew?

Well, it really stinks.

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 Jonathots, Jr.!

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