feel good Christianity

so my dad sent me an email with a link to a website called "An Interview with God". so I clicked on it and watched this slideshow presentation with pictures of pristine nature and wilderness, while there were titles of the "interview with God". The first question to God was, what surprises you most about creation? To myself I am thinking nothing, because God is all-knowing and has omniprescence. I mean He created everything the way it is, so nothing would be surprising to Him right. Well the answer comes up and is this answer like...that children want to grow up fast and then when they are grown up they want to be children again, and they lose their health to gain money and then lose their money to gain their health back. And there was a lot more of those types of answers, that feel good Americanized "Christianity". It's like they took the little bit they knew of God and added all of these "life lessons" and put some amazing pictures of God's creation, then marketed it to Christians. You know what a lot of people are watching it and forwarding it to others. I am really tired of this false view of Christianity and the gospel that we can get if we just take everything that is given to us at face value. I guess that's why we are to test everything and be as wise as serpents.

something cool

Ok, so I went to Living Hope tonight, just because I wanted to see more of what the church does. And I gather that they are walking through Mark, because they had studied the first chapter and they were on the second chapter tonight. Ok, so Mark 2:1-12, is the story of the paralyzed man that gets dropped at Jesus' feet through the roof and Jesus heals them. And there are lots of cool things about the story that I never really thought about before, but I always remember not really understanding one part of it. So verses 5-10 basically were usually really confusing.

"When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?' Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit taht this was what they were thinking in their hears, and he said to them, 'Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven' or to say 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins."

So I am thinking to myself I don't know which is easier to say, I mean I can't do either on my own. I can't forgive someone's sins, and without God's power I can't heal a paralyzed man either. But I think I always thought that forgiving his sins was easier, because that's the one he did right. Nope, while everyone else was talking about something else, I realized that Jesus could have just healed him and let the man go, but he wanted the teachers and everyone to question why he "forgave his sins". The teachers knew that God was the only one able to forgive sins, and if Jesus was able to forgive sins wouldn't that make Him God. He wanted them to see that he was the Son of Man. It wasn't never meant to be confusing, it was he basically telling them and them reasoning it that he was the Son of Man.

mind is chewing on this thought....25 times before it can be swallowed

some fun

so I thought this was a funny picture and that you might get a laugh out of it.

why study theology?

So I have started to read/study a book called Bible Doctrine by Wayne Grudem. It's basically systematic theology for every believer, not just people who want to go to seminary...so I guess that would be me, right. If you don't know systematic theology is the study of what the entire Bible say about a certain topic. I am really excited about learning what scripture says about different topics so that I will know why I believe what I believe and even maybe find out what I believe about topics I don't have an opinion on right now. Before this "season" in my life, I never really understood why someone would want to study/learn about theology. I didn't really think it was that important or that I needed to learn about it. But that is what the first chapter of the book was about...what is theology and why study it and how to study it. So I have answered basically what it is already, but why study theology? First, because the Lord has called us to it. In Matt 28:19-20 it states,

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Not only were we called to go and evangelize and baptize people but we were also called to teach them everything Christ commanded us. Now how will I be able to accomplish this part of the Great Commission if I don't know things for myself? I won't.

On top of the fact that it is a call on my life as a disciple to study theology, it will also give me a more accurate picture of who the Lord is and so won't I be able to relate with him better if I know Him more intimately. I think so.

Me studying theology isn't about me knowing lots of big words and concepts, but about knowing God, so that He can be glorified and praised through my life and by me knowing Him.

I am really excited about this.