NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

Prayer – Universal, Accessible, Immediate, Personal

by Leave a Comment

If you think it, God hears it.

Prayer Is A Tool
Not A Drive Thru Window

Have you ever lived in a world where the only means of communication was sending smoke signals?

No, I’m sure you haven’t but you can imagine how involved the process was.

You had to collect dry fuel to start a fire, wet fuel to create smoke and then generate a spark to get the fire going. None of that is easy to do.

There was no simple way to start a fire without matches and you couldn’t skimp on fuel. You needed clouds of smoke, not puffs. And to regulate the smoke you needed a blanket.

Sending smoke signals required a lot of hard, skillful work just to get started.

Distance was a consideration too.

Smoke dissipates quickly so line-of-sight and distance were critical factors. If the recipient was too far, the connection was lost.

Smoking your message from Venezuela to California wasn’t going to happen. [Read more…]

4 Difficulties Confront Bible Interpretation

by Leave a Comment

Bible content is neither alphabetized nor categorized.

The Best Way
To Respect Your Elders
Is Challenge Their Beliefs

You don’t have to be Christian very long before you realize how much people differ on various Bible teachings. You also learn quickly that these teachings are generally referred to as Beliefs, and a belief is something you don’t tamper with.

They’re like holy cows. Irreverence is not tolerated.

Just raising a question can be dangerous. Writing about it is heresy. It’s a burnable offense! Heretics rank right up there with witches.

The penalties aren’t so severe today but the attitudes haven’t changed much.

The Lord’s Supper (aka Communion, Eucharist, Lord’s Table) is a good example. There are many different ways this ordinance is observed.

Attend an Anglican church and you feel compelled to take the bread and wine. Attend a Catholic church and you’re prohibited. Attend a Protestant church and you get long-winded explanations, and you’re likely to get a different story with each church.

It’s only natural to ask why all the differences, but it’s not a question you can easily ask. The frequency with which churches observe the ordinance and who they allow to participate, are not topics for discussion. Churches generally have very fixed ideas. [Read more…]

Solitude, Silence, Contemplation? Please!

by Leave a Comment

Personal notions always appear impeccable when protected in the solitude of our imaginations.

Sustained Conversation
Curbs Brashness

“Solitude, silence and contemplation?”

A friend recently sent me an email sharing a few snippets from material he had been encouraged to read by a friend who was into a religious leader, whose name I won’t mention.

One of the snippets promoted “solitude, silence and contemplative prayer.” It was somehow interwoven with “loving one another” and being connected to Jesus.

I’m paraphrasing because, quite frankly, all the ideas, though very acceptable separately, came across as mumbo jumbo. It was like the alphabet soup of religious, idiomatic jargon swirling together in a suspended state. The order of the ideas could shift with no change in meaning.

My friend wrote me wanting to know my thoughts.

To be honest, I don’t get it. Besides confusing, it is all so yesteryear.

The terminology harks back to a time when solitude was fairly common, silence was required and contemplation was allowed only in prayer, the silent kind. No audibles allowed.

I don’t know why we still use these terms.

The words were popularized when religion was owned and operated by the powerful few, centuries ago. The Spirit was entirely regulated.

Whatever ideas individuals developed through personal contemplation had to be kept a secret lest they be accused of heresy.

Today we’re smarter. We understand that these words describe the very issues that deprive people of feeling alive. Jesus commented on this very thing, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!”

“Free” being synonymous with “Alive!”

And He said this to the most rigidly religionized people of the day. He didn’t say anything about solitude, silence or contemplation. According to Jesus, all they needed do was “continue in His Word.”

That sounds like action to me.

Should we still be using such words? Let’s look a bit closer. [Read more…]

Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination With The Afterlife

by Leave a Comment

Heaven may be considered a figment but it sure isn't fading.

Heaven
According To Everyone

Heaven is a trending topic so it is no surprise that people are thinking and writing about it. Lisa Miller’s book, however, breaks the mold.

Lisa’s book isn’t a Bible study. It isn’t a book on theology. Instead, she writes from the perspective of human longing, expectation and hope.

The Bible isn’t ignored but it doesn’t feature as the only or even the primary source of information.

About The Author

I first learned of Lisa, and her book, when she did an interview with Rob Bell for the release of his book, Love Wins. Although the interview was more about Rob’s book, there was an obvious secondary motive. [Read more…]

Catholic Divorce Waters Disturbed By Pope

by Leave a Comment

In Defense Of Divorce: Why A Marriage Should Never Be Saved At The Expense Of A Life

Pope Requesting
Relaxation On
Catholic Divorce

Pope Francis has made several public statements on divorce since being elected to the Catholic Church’s highest office and his comments are creating quite a stir. Instead of the usual punitive tone, he’s forgiving and understanding and compassionate. He isn’t the first to speak generously on the topic but since he is the most powerful, he can’t be quietly ignored.

It is welcome news! Unfortunately, it comes after centuries of what can only be described as psychological abuse.

The long standing Catholic teaching on divorce is any divorced person whose been remarried cannot take communion in the Catholic Church. That is a scary thought if you happen to believe what Catholics teach about heaven, hell and purgatory.

But since the Pope has spoken, Catholic leaders are debating whether or not divorced and remarried Catholics should be allowed to take communion. It is definitely a positive turn of events but the clerics get no credit for thinking logically or forwardly or compassionately.

The debate was inevitable. Circumstances forced it. Logic was not a factor.

In this case Reality gets the credit.

Barna data suggests the number of divorced Catholics is perilously close to 30%. Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate estimates the number of USA Catholics who have been divorced and remarried without annulment is 4.5 million. That doesn’t include divorced folks who haven’t remarried.

You don’t have to be very clever to realize you can’t treat such a large number of congregants like unwanted infections and expect widespread peace. That’s a lot of squeak to ignore.

Of course, if the ramifications were clear it wouldn’t be so bad, but when it comes to communion and divorce, confusion reigns.

A few divorced individuals can take communion. The squeaky clean ones. The ones whose marriages were worse than an inquisition in the middle ages. But these can only partake if they’ve never been remarried, or in the unhappy event they have remarried, they must agree to remain celibate even though married or get the first marriage annulled.

All other divorced individuals know they can’t take communion. That part is clear. What they can’t be sure of is whether or not getting to heaven at the end of their journey is possible. Some say it is. Others aren’t so encouraging. No one seems to be certain.

To be fair, Catholics tend to be hazy about anyone getting to heaven. The best any Catholic can do is aim for Purgatory and hope the stay is short.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not suggesting Catholics won’t go to heaven, at least some of them anyway, but they tend to be uncertain about the idea and candle makers love it!

I’ll talk further about the relevance of communion shortly but that’s not the only issue. The angst is made worse by the complexity of all the other divorce regulations.

A good example are the rules governing Church Membership for the divorced. We know they are treated differently but a look into Cannon Law reveals just how big the difference is. The following conditions on divorced membership illustrate the tangle. [Read more…]