Seems like camps take a lot more out of me than they used to - I still don’t feel like I’m caught up on sleep from camp & conferences, but what else is new?
The night before last night, some of our youth got together to hang out at the home of one of our students to eat, sing, share what’s happening in our lives and such. Many of them stayed overnight, but this old dog went home about 11:00pm.
Part of our discussion covered an interesting topic that maybe won’t seem so profound to you, but it certainly is hitting me in the core of my being these days.
The topic of backmasked music came up (see http://jeffmilner.com/backmasking.htm if you’re not familiar with this issue). At any rate, the discussion turned to whether or not it is possible for these kinds of subliminal messages to have an impact on us or not.
Not debating the potential effect on us, I turned rather to a sideline issue that has become a question of practice for me. But first, another digression...
Last night as I sat with Linda and a couple of elders from our church, our discussion turned to Islam and some of it’s tenets. Milos (one of the elders) told the story of a woman who had converted from Christianity to Islam and for 10 years did all in her power to hold to the Islamic faith in it’s entirety.
Near the end of the story, Milos said that one of the reasons she had turned to Islam is that in the context of Islam because everything had an explanation - everything is explainable.
What’s interesting is that it is just that issue that makes the Christian faith so attractive to me - not everything is explainable. It is impossible for us to comprehend an eternal being, it is incomprehensible to fathom the meaning of this eternal being becoming a finite being (a man) and dwelling in a finite body and so on.
It seems to me that for something to be truly eternal, there must be elements that are - for us as created, finite, limited beings - totally incomprehensible. Otherwise, it would be too easy to accept and “believe“.
I think that to have everything ”explainable“ is a human approach to life - not a divine approach.
As a result of these discussions - or rather as part of these discussions - it seems to me that our God is more desirous of having an intimate relationship with us than to have us follow a set of prescribed rules without thought or meditation.
As a matter of fact, the more I meditate on this, the more I realize that the essence of the Christian walk (not the faith as a whole, but the relationship we have with our Lord Jesus) is total, utter & complete dependence on Him day-by-day, moment-by-moment. Sure, we have some commands that are clear (don’t murder, don’t sleep with your neighbor’s wife, etc.), but life is more than these ”big“ commands.
Life is made up of a series of small decisions. Those decisions are left to the leading of the Holy Spirit under the guidance & wisdom from God’s Word (the Bible) and in the context of our relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. How often do we really ”consult“ our Lord for direction & input on our ”mundane” and daily activities and issues?
I, for one, desire to be in constant contact with Him so that I may be available to do HIS will in His timing and way.
The night before last night, some of our youth got together to hang out at the home of one of our students to eat, sing, share what’s happening in our lives and such. Many of them stayed overnight, but this old dog went home about 11:00pm.
Part of our discussion covered an interesting topic that maybe won’t seem so profound to you, but it certainly is hitting me in the core of my being these days.
The topic of backmasked music came up (see http://jeffmilner.com/backmasking.htm if you’re not familiar with this issue). At any rate, the discussion turned to whether or not it is possible for these kinds of subliminal messages to have an impact on us or not.
Not debating the potential effect on us, I turned rather to a sideline issue that has become a question of practice for me. But first, another digression...
Last night as I sat with Linda and a couple of elders from our church, our discussion turned to Islam and some of it’s tenets. Milos (one of the elders) told the story of a woman who had converted from Christianity to Islam and for 10 years did all in her power to hold to the Islamic faith in it’s entirety.
Near the end of the story, Milos said that one of the reasons she had turned to Islam is that in the context of Islam because everything had an explanation - everything is explainable.
What’s interesting is that it is just that issue that makes the Christian faith so attractive to me - not everything is explainable. It is impossible for us to comprehend an eternal being, it is incomprehensible to fathom the meaning of this eternal being becoming a finite being (a man) and dwelling in a finite body and so on.
It seems to me that for something to be truly eternal, there must be elements that are - for us as created, finite, limited beings - totally incomprehensible. Otherwise, it would be too easy to accept and “believe“.
I think that to have everything ”explainable“ is a human approach to life - not a divine approach.
As a result of these discussions - or rather as part of these discussions - it seems to me that our God is more desirous of having an intimate relationship with us than to have us follow a set of prescribed rules without thought or meditation.
As a matter of fact, the more I meditate on this, the more I realize that the essence of the Christian walk (not the faith as a whole, but the relationship we have with our Lord Jesus) is total, utter & complete dependence on Him day-by-day, moment-by-moment. Sure, we have some commands that are clear (don’t murder, don’t sleep with your neighbor’s wife, etc.), but life is more than these ”big“ commands.
Life is made up of a series of small decisions. Those decisions are left to the leading of the Holy Spirit under the guidance & wisdom from God’s Word (the Bible) and in the context of our relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. How often do we really ”consult“ our Lord for direction & input on our ”mundane” and daily activities and issues?
I, for one, desire to be in constant contact with Him so that I may be available to do HIS will in His timing and way.
Posts
