Category: Communication

Afterthoughts – Faith Shapes

   Ever since the ascension of Jesus Christ the forms and shapes of our faith have been affected by the surrounding culture, individuals within that culture, the extent of our knowledge of Scripture, how that knowledge was used to build theology, and even our geography. (Think John Knox in Edinburgh in the sixteenth century.) Our expressions of the faith have varied from culture to culture, continent to continent, and been refined by individual Christian leaders in each setting.

   Even today there are so many expressions of faith it is almost impossible to keep track of them all. The diversity of Christian expressions and shapes is immeasurable. The greatest diversity would probably be the Western Church expressions and the Orthodox (Eastern) expressions. (there are also numerous expressions across the South Sea Islands and Africa.) Historically, these two Eurasian forms were even at war with one another for dominance. Then there are at least 127 Protestant denominations (Europe, North/South America, Iceland, and numerous African expressions), the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox expressions; and 64 Baptist denominations. I think.

   The point is that the Christian faith comes in a myriad of expressions; and even they have evolved over 2000 years of Christian history.

   Many Protestants follow the Book of Common Prayer for a structure for their faith. Catholics use the Lectio Divina. Those we used to classify as Pentecostals are now Charismatics. And the Charismatics have been absorbed as today’s common expression of Protestant Christianity.

   So what’s next?

   Before we judge various expressions of our faith we should be planted squarely in one where God has placed us. Withhold judgement on others. Give the Holy Spirit of God time to test our spirits.

   That brings us to a question we all must ask. What shape of faith is our Lord calling you to follow? A lot of the answer may be tied to the personality He has given you. Trust that God has designed you to worship and express your faith in ways appropriate to the times, your personality, your geography, and Scripture.

   We are not all the same. We define our faith in different ways given our experiences, our relationships, our personalities, and the age in which our Lord has placed us. But we are never to express our faith in a way that is incommunicable to others.

Gary

NEXT— The Shower— rekindling the fire

Afterthoughts – Who am supposed to be in this stage of life?

       Throughout life we should all be asking the question—  Who am I now? But we don’t. We casually continue to go to work, drink, play, have relationships, end relationships, and start new ones. As if simply by rote or ecstatic event.

       We celebrate new birth, commemorate special occasions, mourn loss, cry, laugh, go flat. It’s just all a part of life on earth.

       Unless we are cognizant of it, we may miss that our world is changing. Likewise, we need to keep track of ourselves— that we are changing as well.

       So who are you? What are the components that go into you, being you? Now. Not what used to define you, but what defines you now?

       Erik Erikson, an American/German Psychologist, has set forth this classification—

·       Infancy·       Toddlerhood
·       Preschool years·       Early School Years
·       Adolescence·       Young Adulthood
·       Middle Adulthood·       Late Adulthood

       If (and I do mean if) you mature just a little more in each phase you will give up your earlier toys, develop new friendships, set goals, deepen relationships (& give up others), figure out who you are, change, grow a family, learn it’s not-all-about-you, and pass along what you have learned to the next generation. Admittedly, this is a very simplistic progression.

       But not all of us are aware of these phases and transitions. We know that graduating school, at whatever level, is a milestone. So is marrying. So is that big promotion or salary increase. And having children changes EVERYTHING. Still, the changes that happen around us could blind us to the changes we need to face.

       Busy lives.

       It’s so easy to get lost in life. In our work. In ourselves.

       So what are you doing to keep track of yourself? Here are some guidelines.

1.      If you set goals in life, how are you doing at completing them?

2.      Areas where you are weak— what are you doing to strengthen them?

3.      Places where you shine. How can you keep on shining and be humble about it?

4.      What kind of support team will you need next in your life?

5.      Can you admit wrong? What do you do about it?

       To move into the next (healthier) phase of your life, you will need a safe place for refreshment. What is it? Truly, God will provide one it you ask. Ask.

Gary

Next – Wearing Out

After Thoughts — How do you decide what’s right & wrong?

You have to make a decision. But you can’t decide what would be a good decision and what would be a bad decision. What do you do?

       First you weigh the pros & cons of each side. What’s good for you: what’s not. What’s good for other people— that delivers the greatest good. But what if they’re even? I’d eliminate some of the lesser consequential pros or cons for a start.

       Then there are those decisions that don’t have a right or wrong. They involve the heart. You don’t want to make them. But they must be made somewhat soon. Here’s where your intuition factor comes into play. You don’t have enough data to make an adequately informed decision; yet it must be made.

       So now we move into the areas of personal track-record, of intuitive intuition, the hunch, the second-guess. Some of us have more of this, some of us, less. Ask a trusted friend to help.

       About 10-15 years ago many of the teens in our neighborhood were wearing rubber bracelets that read WWJD. What would Jesus do? Of course, our society quickly transmuted that to We want Jack Daniels. So what else is new? The point was that some people were consulting Jesus, maybe the Bible, to get some help making decisions.

       However, there is advice to be found in Proverbs 16:1-3—

To man belong the plans of the heart,

But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

But the Lord weighs the motives.

Commit your works to the Lord,

And your plans will be established.

This poem conveys an overarching context for making decisions. First establish yourself within the perimeters of wisdom of our God. Then make your decisions.

       There is something to be said for founding your life and heart in following the precepts of our Lord that provides a framework for everything else. Not that all decisions will be easy, or have a context for consideration. But if your life is in alignment with our Creator’s precepts for living, then making a decision has walls of protection within which decisions will be undergirded with a history of other wise decisions.

Loving God; loving people… and bringing the two together! ©

Gary

NEXT— The Shower—Where do you feel safe?

Afterthoughts- My Best Ideas Come to me in the Shower

       All of the books I write end with a chapter titled— My best ideas come to me in the shower. Obviously, this is not completely true. I get them driving across the beautiful Colorado Rockies, falling asleep at night (I have a pen and pad of paper on my nightstand), and in conversation with other people.

       The point is that these seemingly random thoughts eventually begin to weave a tapestry of life-reflections.

       Hewlett-Packard ran a TV ad series that imaged people driving, or sitting in a conference room, with the musing — What if…?

       My best ideas come to me in the shower will be a compilation of the various What ifs? I’ve experienced throughout my life. From the earliest years of gusto & immaturity through more seasoned times of reflection, following great successes and atrocious failures.

       Let’s start with a basic one. When do you think about YOU? Where you are in the process of becoming who you are today? Unless you’re 14 you are already on the journey that counts your contributions to life. Or, you’re not one given to personal philanthropy; more often that not, it’s what you can get out of life that is most important to you. And that’s not de facto wrong. But if it’s exclusively your goal in life…, well, you might want to consider that.

       In my cozy widdle shower, I’ve often wondered if my life has made a difference. In giving to others I have received so much back. God has truly honored me so many times. Monetarily? Not so much. But we’ve always had food on the table (great food), gas in our car, and a bed to lay our head on.

       Back to our basic question, What makes you, you?

       To answer this question you might best think through the different phases of your life and the characteristics of each. This will create the essential brushstrokes that describe you in the various changes you experience in your journey.

       I’ve gone through so many phases that I have imagined a maxim —

God is full of surprises! Don’t trust Him.

Of course, that is said tongue-in-cheek. The point being that in investigating who you ARE, God will surprise you with who He is.

       So take a risk! Start to explore YOU. Great amazements await.

Loving God; loving people… and bringing the two together! ©

Gary

The Whiskey Chronicles 26 – I’m OK…, you’re out of your mind

   In my conversations with the normal people of this world [the Christian faith is no longer the norm] I find that many of them simply respond to the assertions about my faith, I’m OK— you’re out of your mind. They truly believe that all this mumbo-jumbo about faith in Jesus is just plane NUTS.

    Christ’s claims about who He was and what He came to do for this world were just the ravings of a madman who was disconnected from reality. And that makes His followers equally disillusioned.

    They are not going to question their own sanity. They’re just fine. We’re the nut-jobs.

     And that should draw us to question some presumptions about our own faith. Are we crazy to blindly accept the principles and precepts of our own faith with little investigation or examination? Christian faith is NOT just a assemblage of declarations about what we think is true and accurate. It comes down to two enquiries — 1. Can history be verified? and, 2. Is faith a viable surety?

     Before you dismiss these questions as extraneous to our faith, consider that it is worth reexamining the foundations of our faith. Considering the proposition that history cannot be verified [Did George Washington, Lenin, or Julius Caeser ever exist?] then we must question all OR, in faith, believe the reports about them are true. Considering the validity of faith on an individual level, there is a history of people who believe in things which postModern, postChristian people believe that they can be only scientifically verified.

     Then, really, are historical/faith questions all that matter?

     What about intuition? What about ESP? What about that special sense that lodges itself just below your consciousness?

     There are more ways than scientific confidence to give veracity to a belief. History itself is a matter of faith— Well supported faith, but faith, nonetheless.

     When believing followers of Christ are challenged that we are out of our mind, we must remember that our beliefs have a great deal of certitude surrounding them. We are not an ignorant people.

     Too many assertions in the Bible have later been proven accurate. And far too often have the lives of true Christians saved the civilizations of this world.

     So, when our world accuses us of being out of our mind our response should be twofold.

1.   Look at the corroboration of history. There’s just too much to support our faith.

2.   Simply love those who accuse.

Loving God; loving people… and bringing the two together! ©

Gary

NEXT— Afterthoughts…, my best ideas come to me in the shower

The Whiskey Chronicles 24 – Salvation from… What?

As I peruse the intellectual, practical functions of Western Culture I find little understanding of Christian faith. So when we tell people of their need of salvation their general response is— from what?

       On one hand the church in the West has lost its ability to express its beliefs in a language that people can grasp. But it’s worse than that. People truly do not know that there is anything wrong with them.

       When Thomas Harris (M.D.) released his classic I’m OK: You’re OK in 1967, he could not have had an idea of its subsequent far-reaching effects. The title says it all. None of us really have a problem. There’s no right, no wrong, no anything. Everything is simply a matter of perspective.

       If people do sense any need for salvation they will work it out for themselves. There was no need for Christ to die for our sins. There is no sin. We’re all OK.

       Do we really believe this?

       My wife and I have many friends who don’t come close to being Christians. We are a novelty for them, but they still like us. There is something to be said for loving and not condemning. Something to be said for accepting them for where they are in life…, and in the process teaching them about God. The key ingredient in our relationships with them is prayer. We rarely say anything; but we pray. PRAYER is always the underlying foundation for our relationships with people— Christian and Normal.

       In many ways I’ve grown used to their complete ignorance about our faith and about our Lord. Explaining their need for Christ and his salvation is like drawing a white rabbit in a snow field. Blank. Still, we are called to love these people in their ignorance.

       They cannot save themselves. They do not know this. Nor are they aware of the glory and blessing that awaits them in the safe arms of Jesus. Rather, He is seen as a threat to their individuality and freedom. Have we done that to them with a hundred years of hellfire and brimstone preaching? I don’t know that either. But I am sure that our constant calling them to account for their sins hasn’t shown much mercy and grace. One more reason to find the Christian message baffling.

       I pray that, one day, people will see their need of Christ and His salvation. It is still freely offered. And it will be offered through the likes of us.

Loving God; loving people… and bringing the two together! ©

Gary

NEXT— I am happy the way I am.

The Whiskey Chronicles 22 – Ships passing in the night

 I once gave my wife a greeting card of two ships passing in the night. In reference to our busy lives, the inside simply read We’re like two ships passing in the bathroom. Too true.

     Applying this to our interactions with normal people we are much the same. Too many of us are simply oblivious to their need for our Lord. Oh, we know it to be true on a mental level; but that doesn’t often translate to a personal level. We are ships passing in the night.

     We spend our lives with people who have increasingly less and less comprehension of the Christian message of salvation, faith, and forgiveness than at any other time in modern history. In a sense we have entered a new Dark Ages for the Christian faith.

     It is true that most people reject the Christian faith. But now they reject it out of ignorance more than out of understanding. They do not reject the salvation of Christ out of disagreement; rather, they simply ignore it. We just do not take the time to understand their world enough to explain our faith to them in a format that they can understand and respond to.

     It rests on us to do the hard work of giving our message a context. Some of the areas we must consider are— language, reference points, past inaccuracies, trust, prior knowledge, prior misinformation, bad experiences with other believers, sad experience in the church.

       Then again, we constantly explain the facts of our faith without couching it in love. This is not the gospel. The offering of our Lord to someone always needs His embracing love as its cradle. Calling a person to repentance must have a framework of forgiveness. Why would anyone repent if there were no offering of forgiveness? Beheading certainly does not encourage one to repent.

Loving God; loving people… and bringing the two together! ©

Gary

NEXT— no need for religion, or Christ

Web: www.cluelessChristianity.org

The Whiskey Chronicles 21 – Inaccurate, Inappropriate, & Unintelligible

       One of the issues I have with our Christian message is that it too often comes across as inaccurate, inappropriate, and unintelligible. The general problem in Europe, Asia, China, South Africa, Canada, and the United States is that our message is being presented in such a manner that it does not relate to the normal peoples of these cultures. We are religious freaks to most normal people. All of us.

       And we speak a language that is totally unintelligible to them. We tell them that they are sinners; and that has no point of reference for them. Hitler, maybe; but not us.

       And we choose the most inappropriate times to bring up our faith and their lack of faith. [Birthday parties and celebrations are NOT the time.] Seriously, who do we think we are?!? We just don’t get it!

       Then our understanding of their life and world is, for the most part, completely out-of-touch. We make assumptions about what non-Christians believe, the way they live, and what they think of us without ever asking them directly. We hold an inaccurate estimation of our pagan brothers & sisters that adds to the rift between us. Thus, my position of the importance of a dram of Single Malt Scotch. [More on that later.]

       We need to make more of an effort to walk in their world, in their successes and struggles, than we have been. Without Judgement! God is their Judge. We are not. We are their fellow beggar telling them where we have found bread.

       At the very least, we should walk alongside them, in the gutter, in the Board Room, in the prison, in the restaurant, in the supermarket, in our neighborhoods. This is imperative.

       Our job is not only to point them to our Lord. It is to be their companion as we travel the road together.

       Learn their language. Do not judge it. Listen to their struggles. Do not judge them. Hold their hearts in your hands. Do not crush them. Celebrate like crazy with them wherever we can! Do not hold back.

       And invite them into your lives, into your struggles and celebrations. Be REAL with people. Kill the nice Christian façade.

Loving God; loving people… and bringing the two together! 

Gary

NEXT— we are like ships passing in the night— our constant mindset

New Years 2023

New Years Eve by the Fire

       It’s late. I’m sitting by the fire next to our Christmas Tree remembering so much of the good, the bad, and the ugly of this past year.

       I entered 2022 with a final radiation treatment for cancer. A year later, it seems that I’ve beat it. Praise God!

       In many ways I have new eyes to see. Not just new lenses in my eyes, but personal/spiritual eyes as well.

       Our Lord has been honing and refining me through extended times with Him. A lot of my arrogance-of-accomplishment has been ripped away; polishing continues. My personality has also been tempered to become more like Christ’s. We extroverts have a tough time with that.

       One thing that has helped with that is Christmas. Every year, especially in these recent years, the miracle of Christmas— that the God of the Universe would take the form of a helpless baby to be born to a 16 year old out-of-wedlock Jewish girl, in a backwater town in an insignificant Roman province in an era with little considerable technology, is still a miracle to me.

       I had become a Christian after trying to live various philosophies of life when I was in college. To say I was a basket case would have been obvious. For two years I struggled to find any other explanation of life, save the Christian one. But the only belief system, the only existential, reasonable I constantly returned to was Christianity. Thus, 60 years later, it is the only adequate faith I have found that fits reality best. Wow!

       So as you and yours enter 2023, inspect your faith. Does it answer life’s most difficult questions? Does assist you in making daily decisions? Does it provide you with a basic rubric for living? Is it still reasonable? Reliable? Realistic?

       Have you updated your faith to meet the challenges our culture today? Or are you still in the same ‘ol, same ol’ format of faith formed for the late 1940s and early 1950s?

       These are the meanderings of my mind as I welcome in 2023. What a fantastic way to start a new year! Do with them what you will. I’m going to bed.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023!

Gary & Starr

 www.cluelessChristianity.org

Image Credit-  Gary Davis

The Whiskey Chronicles 21 – Foreign Concepts

Formerly, most Christian communication was based on common ground. People had a basic comprehension of the Christian faith that we relied upon in presenting our gospel to them. That is no longer the case.

         It’s wiser in our era to assume that people, in America and worldwide, have little to NO understanding of the basic tenets of the Christian worldview. We have lost our voice to those around us. We are no longer seen as part of the solution; we are considered part of the problem.

         Many of my friends think our world would be better off if all Christians would just go away.

      Over the last 50 years western culture has seen the introduction, the invasion, of foreign concepts to the general public. Our universities, once closely tied to our faith, have turned their backs on Christian beliefs. If anything, Christianity is mocked and dismissed in schools of “higher learning.”

      Personally, I like having all these foreign concepts welling up from the grass roots. But too many Christians still cling to that ol’ time religion, the way it used to be, semi-annual revival meetings, the simple gospel, etc. If it is true, that 85.33% of our world is considered Developing Nations then the same percentage still needs our Christian message on their level. But for the other 15% of wealthy, dominant countries, our gospel must be couched in a format and language appropriate to their level of society.

      For that culture, our culture, we must offer an intelligent, well formulated Christian message that considers the hodgepodge of foreign concepts that our society has been exposed to. The simple gospel communicates little to nothing to this postmodern, postChristian world.

      We cannot offer a Third World gospel to a postChristian humanity.

      I gave my wife Starr a greeting card with two ships passing in the night on the cover. We didn’t have enough time for each other. The inside of the card simply read— We’re like two ships passing in the bathroom. Far too often we are like two faiths passing in our culture; one Christian, one totally unaware of who we are and what we believe. And in many ways our cocooning has lost any understanding of who they are in their own world as well.

      In postChristian America, as elsewhere, our rich faith has also become a foreign concept within our society. WE are the outsiders trying to break through the barriers that surround us.

FINAL THOUGHTS

1.       Get to know your healthy pagan neighbors.

2.       Go out with the boys (for that drink?) after work.

3.       SHUT UP! Listen.

4.       Play in their world.

5.       Use this Christmas to love on them.

6.       YOU throw the New Year’s Eve Party. Provide the Asprin.

7.       We need to love the hell out of these people. OK?!?

      Christianity has become the foreign voice in modern culture, worldwide. Get used to it. What we formerly designated as pre-Evangelism must now be incorporated into the context of what we are trying to say.

      Then again…, has it ever been otherwise?

Loving God; loving people… and bringing the two together! ©

Gary

NEXT— inaccurate, inappropriate, or unintelligible information