"Is God to Blame?"

"Is God to Blame?" by Gregory A. Boyd.

All my friends are probably sick of me going on and on about this book. I really enjoyed it, and it was very encouraging to me.

For me it was helpful to see how bad theology can cause some people to abandon the faith. I love how this author takes us from viewing God as this figure who's out there somewhere to Jesus being the "exact imprint" of God. There's actually a lot of deep theology going on, and quite a bit of discussion on Romans 9 toward the end, but the best thing about this book is that it helps when you're hurting. I didn't realize until reading this book, that we can read verses from a philosophical slant. The author refers to it as "the blueprint worldview", and I love how he substitutes it for a "warfare worldview". Take a look around, does life look like a picnic to you? Something terrible has happened to creation. There's a cosmic spiritual battle going on that we know even less about, then we do the complexity of creation. What's worse is how God gets the blame, while Satan gets off scott free. God's will is always good, not evil. He hates wickedness, that's why He sent His Son. No, God is not to blame. Sometimes, it's the enemy, and/or other people.

This book has brought back a small spark of passion that I thought was gone forever. After all, how can I love God, if He's the One who has given me all these problems? How can I trust Him, if he is the orchestrator of all the pain in my life? Those are real questions, and they deserve real answers. This book points to Jesus, and helps clarify difficult passages, and break down ridiculous worldviews.

Although, to the best of my knowledge, this book seems to nudge the opposite direction of Calvinism (Arminianism), I still believe that Scripture supports both. I just needed a reminder of Jesus, in a way that wasn't superficial, as the man who suffers with me, not the great cosmic architect who has nothing to do with me.

In short, it's a good read, lots of Scripture, and wets my appetite for theology. If that's what taking theology courses is like, sign me up.

Facebook, and such

So, I'm going on day 23 of no facebook. I said some pretty stupid things about somebody, and I had to apologize. I decided then and there, to take a break from facebook. It's funny. I didn't realize that facebook will send you emails letting you know how long it's been since you've checked your account.

After next Monday I will access my account, I promise. I guess my last status update sounded kind of cryptic "need prayer". There was a lot going on at the time, and I decided to pull the plug for awhile.

Paul Baloche is going to play at my church this Friday, and I'm excited about that. Tickets were dirt cheap, only $10, and Bent Tree is a great place for an artist to come play. So, I think it's going to be good.

I'm also working on a "lifemap" which is a testimony that I've decided to do as a video. It's not an easy process for me to work through, but I think it is profitable. There's a saying I've heard that I really disliked at first, but I'm starting warm up to. "We neither want to dwell in the past, nor forget it." I would rather forget a lot that has happened recently, but if I did, then no one else would benefit from it, and God would not be given a chance to redeem what has happened to me for His purposes.

McKinney

I finally got to make the long trip to the city I was born in. It's a very rural place, but the downtown area looks great with different shops everywhere. They converted the old courthouse into a performing arts center, and it looks like it came out of "Hill Valley" from "Back to the Future".

Seriously, it's important for me to really discover what life was like before I was born. I usually learn best by seeing things, and if McKinney can be restored from nothing into something, maybe I can too?

We got to see "Central Baptist Church" were my father was the pastor who preached so hard that his suit was covered in sweat. My mom said he looked like he had been in the rain every Sunday.

It was fun hearing stories about Andy, Ben, and my sister Evelyn when they were all very young. I had no clue that one of my older siblings had no desire to be a preacher. I'll give you three guesses.

Although we got to see some great shops, and even ventured on further to other cities to see where we lived in Allen, and Lewisville. I still have yet to find the exact location of Mitchell Maternity Clinic. I took a couple of "photographs", yes that word does still exist, of some books to look up at the local library.

I know that it doesn't matter to somebody else, but it means something to me to find this patch of earth. It's were I started, and God willing, it's where I want to start all over again.