Preaching To Myself

Too many thoughts have been racing through my mind lately.

Here is a quote that is an overused quote that has miraculously not lost any steam.

"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?
Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."

What if we took Jesus seriously? What if we truly believed the bible was the word of God? What if we actually did as we where told? What if we took 'dealing with difficult people' a step further and forgave those who wronged us? What if we claimed nothing for ourselves? What if we lived a life of meekness rather then asserting ourselves? What if we really did hunger and thirst for righteousness? What if we sought a life of purity? What if we didn't let any unwholesome talk come from our lips? What if we loved our enemies?


And that's only the beginning of the new testament...

The Man and The Couch

I guess that this parable was posted in Jesus Manifesto earlier today. Enjoy.

http://www.jesusmanifesto.com/2008/09/23/the-man-and-the-couch/

There is a man. And we're sitting on his back.

Not directly on his back; but the couch we're on does sit on his back. And since we're on the couch, we're sitting on his back.

I'm not sure how he got to where he is. Maybe I put him underneath, maybe you did, maybe someone long ago did. Whoever it was that first made him carry this couch doesn't matter; we're still on his back.

Who needs to argue history here?

Maybe there is more then one person carrying the couch we sit on. It could just be this guy though.

However, I'm sure comfortable up here. I really appreciate what that he carries us from here to there. But mostly I forget that he's down on the ground,

with a couch on his back.

One day someone was missing from the couch. I couldn't figure out where he went. Then I saw another set of feet by the man who carries our couch. So I decided to jump off and figure out what was going on.

"Why are you down here?" I asked my fellow couch potato.

"Well, while everyone was sleeping I saw this man crying. I couldn't sleep with this noise, so I decided to find out what was the matter. He told me that every now and then his back really hurt from carrying this couch. Some days he can ignore it pretty well, others not so well. I figured since I haven't stretched my legs in a while it might be a good to get some exercise, so I decided to help carry the couch. Then I realized that it was a lot of work to carry it and this man's back must hurt quite a bit. So I stayed here."

"Does it really hurt that bad?" I asked the man who carries the couch.

"Some days the pain is unbearable. Other days I can ignore it. But most days just fly by like a blur."

So I decided to stay and help him carry the couch as well. It makes me sad when people cry.

Read More at Jesus Manifesto...

First Post...Ever!

Well kids, I've finally gone and done it. I've entered an all new dimension of life known as the blogosphere! I'll be honest, I'm not sure how often I'll post, and even when I do it's not going to be anything very profound or new. All the good ideas have already been taken. I'm just using this for a place to reflect on the complexities of life. Sometimes (or mostly) I'll dabble in new exodus theology, write a parable or two, and even a few book reviews. Whatever I write about here, I hope that you listen and don't freak out at me if I say something that offends you. This isn't my intention. Let's all ask for clarification here before something gets out of hand.

Everyone starts off blogging like this right?