The Quest For Eden

And Jesus said, "Everything Happens for a Reason." Wait. No? He didn't say that? When told His friend Lazarus was dead, He said, "Well. I guess He's in a better place." Wait. No? He did what? He wept. If these are your go-to phrases when trying to comfort others, please stop. To say that someone's loss to death is a joy to those who have died is a way of saying "Stop being so selfish." To say that calamity "happens for a reason" is an invitation to BE selfish; the determine how this one event that affects MORE than one person affects ONE person. Jesus said His spirit remains with us. View life events from Jesus' loving view. You won't see "reasons." You won't see "the whole plan." You won't see the future. You will see that all of life is temporary; the joys and the struggles. While Jesus was with us, He loved.  With His Spirit, do likewise. When someone asks you, "Why is thi...

We are familiar with the idea of "keeping up with the Jones;" the idea that people will try to buy things to make their lives similar to the "Jones's" next door. I am convinced that many Christians and churches function the same way. I feel the current COVID-19 Pandemic may even be amplifying this for all the world to see. Churches are "scrambling" to figure out how to do services online, gather safely (or even pressure their members to gather unsafely), accept offerings, and generally "do as well 'serving' their congregation as well as the other church down the street." Let us look to Jesus' example. Let us list the times He took His disciples to gather at the local temple to "worship" like the other Jews were doing. Go ahead. I'll wait. I see one recorded time. And we recall how that went down. Jesus said, "Not this. Not here." When Jesus gathered with His friends, structure was not centr...