Today, I ate lunch at a burger joint. (While waiting on a haircut that didn't happen. Don't ask.) Inside, a nice fellow, who appeared to be down on his luck, asked me if I had some spare change so he could get some food.
"I don't have any money," I told him, "but I'll buy you a burger."
He nodded his head and we went to the counter where I recommended he get a big meal (so he wouldn't feel embarrassed about asking) and paid for everything.
Am I telling you this that I may brag? May it never be. I am telling you this to challenge you.
The Thinking Through Christianity 2009 Thanksgiving Challenge!
I want you to out do me, this week. I want you to help someone in need by buying them lunch, serving food at a food pantry, or whatever you can do to help someone in need. When you've done something, I want you to add a comment to this blog entry to tell us how you helped. Don't be modest, let's encourage each other. (And, if you've already done something, this week, go ahead and post it - it's eligible.)
I don't usually ask people to do this, but pass this around so that more people see it and are encouraged to think of others.
Winner received bragging rights and a virtual pat on the back. Impress me. Even if it's something small, go ahead and tell me about it. I want to see how many of you will be able to contribute in some way.
There's an interesting (but mostly weird) theory that says Jesus visited England with Joseph of Arimathea before he died. The legend involves King Arthur, a drop of Jesus' blood, and the Holy Grail, but it is not nearly as interesting as another legend, very similar, from another part of the world - did you know that Jesus actually died in Japan?
According to the legend, Jesus let one of his brothers take his place in the crucifixion (how considerate) while he left the scene. BBC fills us in:
The story goes that after escaping Jerusalem, Jesus made his way across Russia and Siberia to Aomori in the far north of Japan where he became a rice farmer, married, had a family and died peacefully at the age of 114.
There's a grave there marked with a cross, which is odd, since this legend claims that he didn't die on one. There are also locals who claim to be descendants of Jesus Christ.
This is the sign they place near the grave, so you can read the entire legend for yourself. What's the matter, you don't read Japanese?
Supposedly, in the 1930's, Hebrew documents were uncovered in the area that told the story. Unfortunately, these documents were seized by the Japanese government before WWII and never seen again. I'm pretty sure this involved a bureaucrat carting the papers through a large maze of wooden boxes containing other mystical archaeological objects.
All in all, it's still more plausible than The DaVinci Code.
"This guy, again? That's it - I'm going to Japan."
Would Jesus love his neighbor? Of course. Would Jesus oppose racial genocide? Certainly. Would Jesus support/oppose property taxes or bailing out the newspaper industry? That's a more difficult question, and probably not a very good one.
(DISCLAIMER: This website has no interest in influencing your politics. I'm not writing this to oppose the health care bill or to tell you how to vote, because I believe that sort of thing is an abuse of my faith. This is only an exploration of how Christianity and politics interact - my readers are welcome to support any candidate or vote for any act of government.)
The Bible is quite clear in its teachings on love and social responsibility - we should take care of those around us as best we can. Widows and orphans are to be looked after the sick and suffering should not be left alone to die. Does that translate into unquestionable support of the current health care bill? That depends on your view of the bill.
If you are a Christian and you think that this bill will help people, than you will probably support it - and that support will fall in line with your faith.
However, another person in your church might think that the proposed bill will make things worse. There are many opinions on this controversial and large bill, and those who oppose it do not do so because they are trying to ignore hurting people. To many, this bill will create more health problems and, in keeping with their faith, they oppose this bill out of sympathy for the sick.
You might disagree with one of these two opinions, we are all entitled to our opinions, but it's not smart to announce that Jesus would vote for (or oppose) a certain act of congress just because you think it is good (or bad). Who do you think you are, that you know the transcendent mind of God so thoroughly?
Accusing fellow Christians of not being Christ-like for not supporting this bill is a logical fallacy; the problem is that the two of you see this bill in a different light. Don't try to put Jesus on your side of the political divide and further the divide of an already divided church.
I should probably be upset, or say that these people are doing something sacrilegious, but I can't. It's hysterical. Let's compare some verses.
According to the King James Bible, Genesis 1:1 says,
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
But, according to the LolCat translation, it should read,
"Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem."
That's a lot more fun. Let's compare some more.
Matthew 1:20
King James - "But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost."
Lolcat - "...but when he was tihnkin, zomg, a BirdCat frm Ceiling Cat was liek, "Oh hai! Iz in ur dreemz, givin u messij. Don be scairdy cat. Taek Maerdy as ur wife - is virjn. But teh Forse is strong in tihs wun, lol!"
1 John 4:2
King James - "This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God..."
Lolcat - "Yu can tell teh Hover Cat is tehere n from Ceiling Cat if teh invisible cat sez taht Baby Jesus iz come in teh flesh from Ceiling Cat. Win."
It might be blasphemous. It might just be a joke. I don't know. All I know is my cats wouldn't approve because they think they are God, which makes me wonder why I keep those blasphemous critters around at all.
I hate whining. I especially hate whining about the Holidays, so I want to outline some ways we can stop making the Holidays a time of griping and fussing. (And, by the way, I recognize the irony of using whining only to decry it, so don't bother pointing that out.) So, here goes my angry holiday rant.
Church goers - Quit whining every time someone says "Happy Holidays." It's a lot easier than saying "HappyThanksgivingMerryChristmasHappyHannukahHappyNewYearEtc" to everyone you meet. The individual is going out of their way to be nice, so accept their token of friendship and recognize it as a kind gesture.
Everyone else - Quit whining when someone says "Merry Christmas." These people are not trying to convert you or spread hatred against the Jews. They are celebrating an amazing holiday in their religion and are trying to spread some happiness to you. It's not an insult and it is not intolerant. Say "Thank you."
One year after being taught the true meaning of Christmas, Scrooge was visited by the Ghost who Punishes People Who Put Up Christmas Decorations Before Thanksgiving. As a punishment, he had to watch every "Home Improvements" holiday episode.
In regard to Kwanzaa (this one's for all of us) - Kwanzaa is not worth getting upset about. Do you know anything about it? Are you getting worked up over a holiday that you can't even define? Does your anal retentiveness outweigh your knowledge?
Some quick Kwanzaa facts:
It does not negate, or replace, Christmas, or Hanukah, or any religion. It's a recognition of first fruits," as in, "Hooray, the harvest has started to grow and we won't starve this year!" It actually resembles Thanksgiving more than Christmas and does not threaten anyone's faith. (Nor, should it be used in such a way.) It is a separate, unrelated holiday.
Yes, the current practice of Kwanzaa was resurrected in the 60's and was started by a Marxist who was involved with the Black Panthers who was also imprisoned for torturing women. This is frightening, but that does not mean that your black neighbor who has a Kwanzaa memorial approves of torturing women; that's not fair to your neighbor and it's only a way to create enmity in your neighborhood. That's not the Holiday spirit, at all.
If Kwanzaa, in any way, makes you upset, you need to broaden your horizons. There are important problems in the world that we should address and your ignorance about a holiday is not one of them. Take a deep breath. Move along.
Here's a few quick ones:
Wah, wah, wah. Someone sold a Christmas tree in September and called your mommy saying, "It's too EARLY for Christmas stuff! What am I going to do? What does it all mean?" Get a life. Ever tried to outfit a big house with Christmas stuff? You can't buy it all after Thanksgiving. If you gripe about Christmas stuff being in the stores "too early" you need to breathe into a paper bag, head over to visit your cranky uncle, and help him complain about kids walking on his lawn. Crybaby.
I don't care if Bubba's Holiday catalog called it a "Holiday Tree" instead of a "Christmas Tree," that doesn't mean Bubba's Retail Store is fighting a secret war against Jesus. Once again, choose more important battles.
Xmas. It means Christmas. It means Christmas because X is a Greek letter used to represent Christ. I've studied religious history and traveled to old monasteries and churches, and, trust me, the X has been used for Centuries to represent the name of Jesus. No one has attempted to cross out the Christ - don't get onto your co-workers because they went to grad school and you didn't.
On the left side, you will see an "X" representing Jesus Christ. Obviously, Byzantine Emperor Justinan II was trying to cross out Christ.
Let's all try to get along. I don't want everyone to think that Christians sit around whining all year; maybe, in the Christmas spirit, we could just celebrate our Lord.
While visiting Rome, the wife and I stumbled onto an interesting church that was dedicated to the works of Galileo. I know, I know, everyone says that me and my Southern Baptist buddies declared him a heretic and ostracized him years ago, and that we are still looking for scientists to maim in our never ending bloodlust for thinkers; but there's more to Galileo's story, and, today, the Vatican is looking heavenward on its own.
Sometime after Galileo died, the church realized that attacking a poor astronomer (who had strong Christian convictions) was probably their worst idea since they asked Thomas Aquinas to write a little book about what he believed. Today, near the train station in Rome, you can see this large church that tells the legacy of Galileo and even shows a film of the moon landing. In this video, one of the astronauts mentions Galileo's predictions about gravity on the moon and carries out the experiment that Galileo had always dreamed of. Check it out:
Today, something new and different is going on in Rome. Since life on other planets is a possibility, the Vatican does not want to be caught off guard. It's important to consider the theological ramifications of extra-terrestrials and to consider what the church's role should be if an encounter with alien life took place.
"The questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration," said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory...
...in the interview last year, Funes told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that believing the universe may host aliens, even intelligent ones, does not contradict a faith in God.
"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said in that interview.
"Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God. This does not contradict our faith, because we cannot put limits on God's creative freedom."
Funes maintained that if intelligent beings were discovered, they would also be considered "part of creation." (Link)
I agree - nothing about aliens challenges my faith.
However, the writers over at AnswersInGenesis.com do not agree - they maintain that only the Earth can hold intelligent life and that no aliens can exist, and they insist that this can be determined by reading the book of Genesis. That's a remarkable claim - not a single Biblical scholar in history seems to have come to this conclusion, so the folks at Answers in Genesis must be pretty confident in their ability to interpret scripture. (I linked to that article and wrote my opinions about it here.)
At my old job, some co-workers said that if aliens were discovered it would nullify the Christian faith - I wanted to bang my head against the wall. When did Christians get this "anti-E.T." reputation? Let's choose our battles more wisely. Also, I'm going to join the Vatican in watching the skies.
Two years ago, Patriots fans were expecting to win Super Bowl XLII against the underdog New York Giants who squeaked into the Superbowl from the wilcard NFC spot. T-shirts, hats, and frisbees celebrating the Patriots' perfect season were printed and ready to be distributed to the New England fans who were certain that things would go their way. But things didn't go their way, and mountains of clothing were not sent out for delivery.
Thousands of articles of clothing are made for teams that end up losing, sometimes well over 10,000 shirts will be printed never to be purchased by anyone. What happens to them? The answer to this question comes to us from the smart folks at Mental_Floss, who report that the unclaimed merchandise is used for humanitarian purposes by the international outreach group World Vision.
The international Christian humanitarian aid group works with Major League Baseball, the NFL, and the NBA to collect misprinted merchandise and distribute it to people living in impoverished nations.
(MLB used to require the destruction of shirts and hats proclaiming the wrong champions, but two years ago they began donating their postseason apparel).
I couldn't have asked for a better answer. The poor and needy are fitted with high-quality clothes, the companies that made the clothes get a tax write-off, and I don't have to see those Patriots shirts unless I visit a third-world country.
Many years ago, I harbored a dream to make movies. Lacking any budget, actors, and time, my roommate and I decided to film something with what we had around the apartment; the result was this silly film titled "Bottles and Cans." It's a lot of fun, but, obviously, very cheap. It was filmed with a simple family camcorder and the sound was recorded with the least expensive home recording setup available. Still, I like it. And should thank Jonathan Lawoying for writing the introductory song; it's a tune we used to play in Jazz groups and sounded a lot better with his keyboard.
(That's me on the guitar and drums.The best ideas for the puppeteering came from my co-director, Andrew Armstrong, who is very talented at film work and had really good ideas for making the bottles and cans appear to be moving. If you can tell how we moved them in any scene it's probably something I set up.)
Since you're still here, here's another thing I did with Andrew, two years ago - and they actually let me on the screen this time. This was entered into a Heinz Ketchup contest; their response was something like, "don't call us, we'll call you." You can hear a guitar line that I wrote and my wife's voice comes in at the end. I thought it was a cool song.
This was filmed with some really good equipment (XL-2's at 24 fps and a professional lighting setup attached to ceiling pipes) but didn't make it through the YouTube compression very well.
Whatever you do, don't watch this one. I no longer get asked to speak lines.
People who don’t go to church may be turned off by a recent trend toward more utilitarian church buildings. By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building.
Well, us medievalists knew this already; nothing is cooler than Gothic spires or immaculate domes. But, Lifeway's article on this subject questions our current trend of church building and making churches more like homes.
I've known people who tried to start churches that just met in homes. They thought they were "getting back to basics" or emulating the early church, or something. Either way, this was usually a counter-cultural trend (thus, it was just as dangerous as any other trend) that did not manage to work out.
Why? Because it's almost creepy to be asked to attend a religious ceremony in someone's home. At a church building, you can at least run away if the preacher brings out poisonous snakes or if the music minister decides to start rapping. At someone's home, you could be in for a tough time.
The article also questions the wisdom of modern architectural trends of normal churches.
"I don’t like modern churches, they seem cold," said one survey respondent who chose the Gothic design. "I like the smell of candles burning, stained-glass windows, [and] an intimacy that’s transcendent."
No argument, here. While visiting Italy, this summer, I lamented that the church I attend (and truly enjoy) can't retain the older artistic flair that attested to the church's spirituality. I don't really know how such a legacy could be retained in a modern setting; I've seen people attempt it, but not successfully.
I recommend checking out the entire article, the survey that was used to gather this information includes other useful facts about successful and unsuccessful physical church models.
