7 X 7 Ways to Avoid Heaven March 13, 2008

 

The Catholic Church continues to shock, amaze and I’ll admit it - impress. They have a way of standing up for things that other people just won’t bring up.

We’ve all heard of the Seven Deadly Sins: Sloth, Greed, Lust, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony and Pride. A pretty comprehensive list. Each of the sins have to do with an individual’s own spiritual walk. They are personal. So personal, in fact, that the Vatican teaches that if a person were to die with any of these transgressions remaining unconfessed, the sinner would be sent to Hell.

This list was released 1500 years ago, and the Vatican wants to remain current. They released a new list:

The seven social sins are:

1. Bioethical violations such as birth control

2. Morally dubious’ experiments such as stem cell research

3. Drug abuse

4. Polluting the environment

5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor

6. Excessive wealth

7. Creating poverty

What I find so great about this list (whether or not I agree with all of them) is that they aren’t just for the individual, they are all about community. God models himself to us as three persons in the Trinity, living in perfect unity, community, joy and adoration. He wants us to live that way too. The Seven Social Sins aren’t going to send you to Hell, but then avoiding them would sure help foster community. I’m disappointed Internet Porn isn’t on the list. Maybe they’ll release 7 new ones soon.

On the web.

Babel - The Upcoming Experience January 20, 2008

 

According to Genesis 10 and 11, the Tower of Babel was a tower that the people of the world wanted to build. People were united to work together to complete this enormous task. Sounds great doesn’t it? God didn’t think so. He saw that man was uniting under a humanistic spirit in order to do what they wanted. God saw that there wasn’t much man couldn’t do if he really put his mind to it. Instead of destroying the whole place and starting over, God confused the languages of the people. No one could communicate and the tower (and the humanism idea) never quite got off of the ground.

Whether you believe this to be a literal event, a nicely told story or maybe you don’t believe in it at all, there is a lesson to be learned here. Man is capable of amazing things. When these things are done to glorify man, apart from the Spirit of God, trouble ensues. I’ve added bioethics.com to my blog roll. A well-developed site that asks Should we? not just could we? Could cloning be the Babel experience of the 21st century?

In Dubai, the physical limits of man’s engineering abilities are being put to the test. Entire islands are being constructed to glorify people. (The shiek of UAE in this case) The amazing Burj Dubai is perhaps the literal 21st century Babel experience. This very-well-put-together-site has some amazing photos, facts and some inspirational music too.

Whatever it is about these two topics (genetic engineering and extreme architecture) I find absolutely fascinating. The ability to create, manipulate and better the world around us, and now even the life in us, is incredible. God is creative. We’re made in his image - we’re creative too.

When we work with him, all things are possible.

To Whom it May Concern: December 24, 2007

According to a report by an American think-tank, Israel would come out better in a nuclear war than Iran if the two were to go at it. Duh. Israel has been supplied for the last 50 years by their American allies to keep ‘peace’ in the Middle East.

Of course lately, Iran has been very vocal with its nuclear program. Interesting, especially after anti-Israeli comments by their president, and its pseudo alliances with Russia and Venezuela. Chavez, Putin and Ahmadinejad sort of seem like the three stooges of world takeover. With Chavez’s oil, Putin’s money and Ahmadinejad’s holocaust like tendencies, there may be some reason for concern here.

So American’s come out with this lame report. If you bother to attack Israel, they’ll win. And oh yeah, Syria if you even think about it your deserts will be turned to glass. Egypt, don’t bother cause the Aswan high dam will be the first thing to go.

I don’t envy the new American president after the next election. Consider:

• Venezuala’s anti-American rhetoric, weird alliances and cut throat oil policies
• The crap going on in the middle east. Not only is Iraq a total mess, Iran is gaining momentum, Syria’s a pain in the back side and oh yeah, Afghanistan still houses guys like Osama.
• Russia has gone from out-of-order former super-power, to out-of-control super freak. Putin’s claiming the North Pole, mobilizing troops, hording billions and saying strange things - some would consider threatening - to other countries
• China is ready to replace the U.S. as the world’s biggest economy (if it hasn’t already) is developing and displaying weapons that could be of great concern to anyone who’s not Chinese and has staged co-operative military operations with of all people - Russia.

There’s no time like the present for a Prince of Peace.

Signs and Wonders: Sliced bread and the Trinity October 29, 2007

Humans are by nature curious. There are so many things I want to find out. There are other things I’ve resigned to never understand. And there are things I think at times I’ve known, but when I go to explain it to someone else, I realize I’ve just scratched the surface. Some things I wonder about:

• Why does my Cheese Whiz toast always land whiz side down when I drop it?
• How can Collective Soul’s songs all sound the same but different?
• Why do people like the NFL?
• How is the mystery of the trinity important to me?

Obviously some of these things I’ve been thinking about more than others lately. I found an amazing blog site that has a very well-written exploration/discourse on the trinity; It’s nature and significance. It’s not all encompassing, but it gives a great overview, and scratched me right where I itched for the time being. I’m continuing to do more searching and reading on the subject, but check it out.

One of my favourite sections reads like this:
But conceiving of the Trinity as a relational being offers quite an alternative understanding of worship. A social trinity gives us a picture of worship that is already taking place within the Godhead. The Father, the Son and the Spirit have, from time immemorial, been in mutual companionship, joy, worship and adoration of one another. Their creative activity was an act of mutuality. Read the Bible slowly and carefully and you’ll see that ‘the Word’ (later called Jesus Christ) and the Spirit were actively involved in conceiving and delivering the creative activity behind what we understand as the genesis of our existence. Jesus was never “plan B” when it all went wrong; no - the second persona of the Trinity was always completely present in the creation and sustenance of the world. If a relational understanding of the Trinity is the context of our coming to worship, there is no longer a need to please or impress God in order for him to bless us with his presence. We do not need to create, as it were, a good enough party to wake God up and make him think he might join us. It’s quite the other way around. The Trinity are already having a party of their own. There they are, communicating, loving, worshipping, laughing, dancing, always and forever, without a break. Grace, love and adoration flows constantly between the Godhead. 

Just Don’t Ask For a Laying on of Hands October 16, 2007

It’s a spark, it’s a flame, it’s - the pope?! 

In a recent ceremony remembering the second anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II, a cameraman believes he caught an image of his holiness in the fire. I’m not sure I should even say anything here. What do you think?

5 Signs of the Apocalypse July 25, 2007

 

When I was about 12, I was convinced the world would end in 1996. I saw it on the cover of the National Enquirer. That coupled with the news that some archaelogist had discovered a Mayan timeline that showed the end of mankind before the year 2000, and I was really concerned. Well ‘96 has come and gone, hasn’t it. I still think the world will ‘end’ some day, though not in the same way as I did as a kid. But when I read stories like this, my conspiracy theory radar gets beeping and it gets me wondering again:

Microchips could be implanted into people to track them. This isn’t a particularly new idea, however it would severely limit personal rights and freedoms, and help in ushering a one-world government.

Much of England is facing the worst flooding it has seen in decades. 500 people have died in Hungary this month from a monster heat wave. And we all know the icebergs are melting.

Two arch-enemies are discussing Iraq and the Middle East. If talks fail, could a major war be far behind?

Churches (like this one) are doing what I would call weird things to stay ‘current’.

The Internet gives coverage world-wide to any events that are recorded. All eyes can tune in.

So we’ve got ragingly weird weather, potential massive war, microchip tracking systems, churches going contemporary and a tool like the Internet to tell every body: looks like we’re in trouble. Add to that Lindsay Lohan is probably going to jail, and we’ve got what Billy Bob Thornton would say is “basically the worst parts of the Bible”.

Rudy - Take it as a sign! June 6, 2007

Sometimes, you shouldn’t read too much into things. Sometimes maybe you should. Rudy Giuliani (former NY City mayor running for the Republican candidacy) was answering a question on abortion when lightning struck the building he was in, muting his answer. Check it out.