Who is God

The first we read of God is that he is a creator.

When he finally makes man and woman, he is a gardener.

How we understand all of scripture depends on our perspective of God.

If he is a judge and jury all of scripture becomes a treatise about crime, punishment, & negotiations.

I choose to read scripture viewing God as a Father to all of His creation. He is a Dad who wants the best for His children.

Reading from that perspective, even Eden and the "Fall" changes from about sin and punishment to compassion and protection.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Turn the Other Cheek

Today we were asked to "remember the tragic events of September 11th, 2001."   Every year I am reminded that the REACTION to this event was part of a turning point for me.  I had, like a "good Evangelical Christian," voted for George Bush. I was raised to believe that Christians should vote Republicans because Republicans would behave like Christians. Then I heard Mr. Bush say we would "get them." My first thought was, "Wait. Did Jesus teach retribution and revenge?" I heard many of my fellow church family saying it was important to fight back against the "evil Muslim extremists." I penned and sent an open letter to George Bush, begging he reconsider lashing out at whoever we deemed was the obvious aggressor.  In our own wisdom, we automatically assume that retaliation is best, for it shows strength. Retaliation shows more than strength. Retaliation shows that we our proud of our values. Retaliation proclaims that these values are...
Read more

Roasting the Chicken

  There was an old "Readers Digest" story about a woman preparing to roast a chicken. She began by slicing off the legs of the bird and placing them in the roaster next to the chicken, but with the tips nestled under the chicken's wings. Her daughter asked, "Why did you do that?" "I don't know. My mom always did it that way."   They proceeded to call grandmother to find the answer.  "I don't know. My mom always did it that way."   So, they called great-grandmother. "My pot was too small."   I am reminded of this story as we think about all of the "core beliefs" of religions. How many fundamental beliefs might have been developed over the centuries due to one person's need to position things upside-down in order for God to "fit" in their existing structure? Specifically, I am convinced that the earliest notion that God removed Adam/Eve from Eden as punishment simply exists because the thought that ...
Read more

What's The Mission?

I grew up listening to "Contemporary Christian" music as a kid, back when some of it was actually good music, and not just repetitive praise-and-mind-control music. Off-topic kind-of rant: I enjoy MAKING music. I'll happily play keyboards or drums in a "praise" band, but I'm fairly confident that the push for "better worship" is really a push for "mood control." When I listen to the lyrics of most "praise"music, it all sounds like this to me. My family has been in and out of churches; leaving whenever the push for "better worship" overpowers the intended focus of what this post is supposed to be about. I enjoy a band named "King's X." They wrote a song called " Mission " The lyrics include: Who are these people behind the stained glass windows Have they forgotten just what they came here for Was it salvation or "scared of hell" Or an assembly of a social get-together What's the mis...
Read more