Predicting the End of the World

Sorry Dude, the world is still here. More to the point, so is Harold Camping. And so am I, darn!

Jesus was really quite clear about this particular event, the one now known as the Rapture. Nobody knows when it will happen, I mean nobody, not even Jesus Himself - except for the Father only. How do I know this? Oh, here we go again. The Bible tells me so. The words of the Lord Jesus Himself as recorded in the gospel, state unequivocally what I just said. "Oh yeah," some people say, "and You are the only one who really understands the Scriptures, right? Or at least you understand them correctly and anyone who disagrees is just wrong."

Well, yes, if you have to put it that way. It isn't that tough, actually, to be honest about what the Bible says. Many times, the Bible is ambiguous abut things, and I think that is deliberate on the part of the Spirit. But not always. Many things are stated very simply. Some of those are the hardest to accept too. After all, if there's room for interpretation, then you can have your opinion about what it means. I'm all for that, the word of God is a very rich document, a many-faceted jewel into which we can see things from different perspectives. I have been wrong in my interpretation of the Scriptures, by the way. Fortunately for me, a brother or a sister in the Lord had the courage to engage me on it, and I managed to learn something. It happens ;^) So the thing is, if you accept the authority of the Scriptures, as I do, then if you come up with some idea you say is based on those Scriptures, then let's hear about it. Maybe I'll learn something - or maybe you will.

Once again, that is a good part of why I'm here in the Pub. So check out Matthew 24, or Mark 13. There are plenty of poetical phrases there, but it's clear Jesus is talking about the end, when he returns in power and glory as Messiah. But the day that will happen, and the hour - notice he particularly mentions the hour? - No man, no angel in heaven, not even the Son knows when it will be - only the Father. Only the Father.

At First Sight of Love - the image of God

When two people first realize that they are both in love with each other, there is a tremendous thrill in their hearts. Suddenly, they have an inkling of the loving, creative intimacy of the Godhead. By forming a loving intimate relationship, they have recreated the Adamic image of God. They feel new and utterly transformed, as if anything is possible. It is a thrill our culture has celebrated for millenia.

Originally, you will recall, God created Adam in His image; but then as part of the performance aspect of this work of art we call Creation, God declared that it was not right for the Adam to be alone. And from that moment, it was not right.

When I Consider Your Heavens

I love to look at the night sky. This picture is from APOD, the Astronomy Picture of the Day, one of my favorite sites. The universe fills me with wonder and appreciation.

This is from Psalm 8, a psalm of David:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

God, who created galaxies, also took the time to make snowflakes such that no two are alike. Even the hairs of our heads are numbered. It seems that, for God, the world has infinite entropy: nothing is interchangeable to Him; everything is unique - even necessary? - to this work of art He has created.

And it is a work of performance art, playing out as it does, moment to moment. We are invited to participate with Him, by our choices in life, in the continuing symphony.

Welcome to the Pub

A public website is a little daunting, although I'm sure it's a long way to fame from here. I have been wanting to write down thoughts I've had about life in the Spirit, in the Church, and in the world for a long time. Finally I feel as if the Lord himself gave me kind of a kick in the pants to get to it. So here we are.

The vision I have is of a cozy, friendly pub where people can come and relax and talk about the nature of Life. I am a christian, have followed Jesus for over forty years, but only recently have I had much occasion to talk to people, believers or not, about how I see this world and my lord. I think of myself as a reasonable person and I love discussing ideas, so I guess I'm an intellectual. I'm also a geek, and real-time discussions with people have often flustered me, but I think I need the practice trying to articulate my beliefs. Some of the postings will be carefully crafted, but some, I think, will be just trying to let the Spirit of God have his way with me. We'll see how that goes, I guess.

One other thing to point out at the beginning here is that I believe the truth of the Bible. It is the eternally being spoken word of God, and is a reliable guide to the truth that He personifies. I know there are problems with the english language versions I've read all my life, and as people like Bart Ehrman like to point out, there are even problems in the ancient greek manuscripts that we have; but these things only serve to put you on guard against what we used to call 'legalism' back in the Seventies. You cannot treat these writings as a piece of legislation, where you childishly pull at every word to get it to say what you want to believe. If you let the thing say what it says, I think you can know what it means. Sometimes it tells history in a very literal and straightforward way; other times it is incredibly poetic and allegorical. It's not really that hard to tell the difference. Come then, let us reason together.