Paganism in Christianity

One of the courses I'm taking this semester is on literature of the Middle Ages. It's a very interesting class, and a lot of the reading reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. During the Middle Ages, Christianity and Islam were just taking off and became the basis of life for many, many people.

As we studied the Christianization of the Roman Empire, I was astounded to learn how much of the pre-Christian pagan influences were adapted into Christianity itself. Idol worship became apostle worship and superstition became religion. There were grueling debates on the exact nature of Christ: Was he human or God, or both? He couldn't have been both, God is too good for that. If God is all powerful, why would he need to become human?

Many of these kinds of teachings and debates were warned against in Paul's writings in the New Testament. It seems that no one listened to him.

Debate losers split off from popular belief and debate winners called these people heretics. Gnostics began to separate themselves from the world around them, rebuking comfortable clothing, tasty food, and other "fleshly" desires.

Although there were many splits and reforms of the Christian church in later history, starting with Martin Luther, we really haven't gotten away from certain pagan practices in the church. Christmas and Easter celebrations are prime examples of this. I suspect that we never really will be able to take paganism entirely out of the church, as it has become so rooted in important spiritual doctrines.

God's Romance

Love is a struggle, and it is a very hard thing to grasp. How do we approach someone in a loving way? Is it about buying things for them? Helping them somehow? Is it all about sex? I submit that we need only to look to God in order to learn what love truly is.

The scriptures say that God is love. That is a very obscure statement at first glance. Probably, that is because love isn't something stated so much as it is experienced. To say "I love you" to somebody you care about isn't half as powerful as actually showing them your love. But how do we show our love? We look to the One who first loved us.

This past summer, I experienced God's love in a variety of instances. They were not grand gestures, nor were they material gifts. They were purely emotional. Most of them occurred either while I was with friends or after. I experienced God in sunsets and in the rain. He loved me using music and conversations with others. I experienced God while relaxing with friends and simply enjoying the world we live in.

It's not something I can easily put to words, just an overwhelming feeling of love from the creator. It is a fatherly love for me. On one particular night, I was driving alone in my car, listening to music and it began to rain gently. I just stared at those small raindrops on my windshield thinking, "I love you too, God".

God is romancing us. He is teaching us what love really is. He is teaching us how to love others. We only need to listen.

Chicago

The Chicago trip went very well. The international students seemed to have fun. For many of them, it was their first trip to Chicago, and for some, their first trip to a real American city. We took them to Giordano's and let them try Chicago-style deep dish pizza. If you haven't had it, you haven't lived. Then we went up and down Michigan Avenue to go shopping on the "Magnificent Mile". After that, we went up to the Sears Tower skydeck. Although it was a cloudy day, it cleared up enough for them to see the city from above. In the end, we all got back in one piece.

Chicago is a great town, and I kind of wished I could have stayed. I love the city atmosphere. The skyscrapers, the business of traffic and pedestrians, and the never ending list of fun things to do are almost enough to make me want to live there. But I could never get used to the traffic.

Relaxation Prose

This past week has been an extremely busy one for me. School has finally kicked into gear and the Xperience, the campus church I'm involved in, has an event scheduled for just about every night. I've tried to be involved in the events, school functions and work as much as possible without burning out, and I'm beginning to figure out what is going to work in my schedule and what is not.

Right now, I'm trying to relax. I feel like I've been thinking for three days straight. Mostly, the burden is school work. However, I'm an engineering student, and that comes as part of the package. By no means am I complaining. Busy as my school work has kept me this past week, it has given me a very rewarding feeling. I know that I am working toward something. The fact that I am using the gifts that God has given me, and the rewarding feeling I get when I do well tells me that I am not a mistake, and that God knows what he's doing in my life, even if I don't sometimes.

Tomorrow, the Xperience is taking a bunch of international students to Chicago. It should be a fun experience. It'll be a great opportunity to get to know new people and find out about each other's cultures. And there's just something about Chicago that I love. It's such a great town.

Well, that's what's going on in my life right now. I feel more relaxed already.

Do I Talk Good?

I found this on Danno's blog, and thought I'd pass it on.

For all of you wondering, this is what kind of english I speak.

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

15% Upper Midwestern

10% Yankee

5% Midwestern

0% Dixie

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Taking Sides

We do we feel the need to take sides? What is it about the me-against-you mentality that we find so appealing?

Of course, people have opinions and will naturally align with those of the same opinions. But people don't just stop there. They begin to wave the flag of that opinion and try to change the minds of others in order for their numbers to grow. People get so adamant that they are right and others are wrong, that they become blind and see only what they allow.

The best example I can think of is that of political parties. Die hard party members can sometimes be so up in arms about what they believe is right about their way of doing things and how the other side is so evil and corrupt, that they will take a stance on issues that they don't necessarily agree with, but will go along with for the sake of the party itself. Such people are what Bill O'Reilly calls "Kool-Aid drinkers". They will take their opinions to the grave, even if they are wrong.

I see this in the church time and time again. In fact, so many pastors and so many congregations have danced the dance of issues, stances, doctrine and trivial disagreements so much, that there is a term for it: church politics. What has happened to the message of Christ and his legacy is that we have analyzed and dissected it so much, we now have to argue over just about everything we can find. Again, we've "Lost the plot". It is another kind of radical.

I think back to the abortion protestors again. They are so adamant not only that they are right, but also that it is their duty and God's will to see to it that abortion will become illegal. What I suspect is that they have such an emotional stake in that belief that they will convince themselves that they are performing God's will, whether or not it actually is His will.

Before you take an emotional stance on an issue, remember that it is God's will, not ours, that is to be done. Logic cannot help you here. God's will is not constrained by our logic. We do not know the mind of God, but He knows ours.

Radicals

People get extremely up in arms about what they believe. It's the reason we have die-hard republicans and democrats. It's why we have so many church denominations. And it's why people are driven to do heinous things like bomb abortion clinics and crash planes into buildings.

I remember walking to class last year and passing by some anti-abortion protestors. Personally, I am against abortion. But these people were holding up large pictures of aborted children and yelling at passers-by. When two men walking in front of me (obviously pro-choicers) were yelled at, they responded likewise. What resulted was a mean-spirited yelling match on the way to class that even included some of the young children involved in the protest. They couldn't have been more than five years old. In that moment, I was ashamed to be a Christian.

It is a widely known fact that many horrible atrocities have been committed in the name of Christianity - the crusades, inquisitions, witch hunts, racism. But these things were and are decidedly not Godly. I think the line gets crossed when we twist the words of the Bible in order to achieve our personal agendas under the banner of Christ.

The very fact of the matter is that Jesus was not a militant. He taught a message of love and lived out that message for all to see. In fact, he instructed us all to do that very same thing.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35

furthermore,

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven..." Matthew 6:43-45

When I see radical Christians, I see people who have "lost the plot", as the Newsboys put it. They care more about changing people's minds and shoving their ideals down people's throats than actually loving them as Christ would. As Christians, we need to analyze our motives for the stances we take and so adamantly hold. Are they what God wants, or what we want?

More Than a Feeling

Coming from a Pentecostal and charismatic background, I've learned that there is a spiritual realm as well as a physical realm. I know this is true not simply because it was drilled into me my entire life, but because I've experienced the works of God and have seen the Spirit move. But these types of churches, Pentecostal especially, place a large amount of emphasis on the Holy Spirit. The interesting thing is that we as humans treat the spiritual realm like it's the physical realm.

We're experts in the physical realm. Science has unlocked many of the secrets that God has laid into this world we live in. We know that if you push hard enough on an object, the object will move. We know that you have to talk louder for someone to hear you if you're in a noisy environment. We also know that you feel it when someone touches you. The problem is that we try to incorporate these physical ideas into our spiritual lives.

When we pray, we must pray long and loudly. We somehow believe that if we pray loudly, God will hear us better. When praying for someone to be healed, we think that we must be passionate about it. And so we must push them and press on their bodies hard with our hands while shouting in their ears for them to be healed in the name of Jesus. When the Spirit moves on Sunday mornings, we must stay there praying and praising until everyone feels the Spirit and speaks in tongues.

I've experienced all of these instances firsthand, and I believe that however good the intentions of these types of Christians are, they are wrong in their approach. I can't tell you how many times the Spirit has moved on church congregations and has people speaking in tongues and dancing and throwing their hands in the air, and I feel absolutely nothing and wonder what I did wrong. I've prayed for people that have fallen to the floor by the power of God with a simple touch, and then prayed all night for one guy because he hadn't fallen. People have prayed for me, gripping my arms and shouting at me, and I've felt nothing. People have also prayed for me in a gentle manner, and the Spirit of God sank straight into my soul and touched me in ways that brought me to tears.

People look for God to stir hearts and feelings. Some Christians think that they haven't really experienced God until they have felt Him or heard His voice. I've met Christians that have such a heart for people in need and are so empathetic toward them, that they cannot control themselves. But the power of God is more than a feeling. He is constantly working on us, continuously speaking to us in our daily lives. Just because you spoke in tongues one day and not on the second doesn't mean you're any less of a Christian that second day, it just means that the Spirit had other plans for that day.

Maybe sometimes, in a world of noise and confusion, God is looking for a meek voice to cry out to Him. Maybe sometimes we should look for a quiet voice from God.

Music Recommendation: A Collision by The David Crowder Band

I'm not a huge fan of Christian music. I'm very picky in what I like, and to me, a lot of Christian music sounds the same. The same style of artists with similar sounding voices singing pretty much the same lyrics as everyone else doesn't really peak my interest. I'm not saying saying that Christian music is bad, or that you shouldn't listen to it. I'm just overly critical about what I like.

I took a risk with the David Crowder Band. Last fall, I received a coupon for a couple of cds at a certain Christian mail order music club. I started browsing the site and looked up some cds at Amazon.com. I use Amazon to check all the reviews on music and movies before buying them. The reviews for A Collision were tremendous. There were so many good reviews, and I liked enough of what I heard from the samples that I decided to take a chance and purchase it with the coupon.

At first, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. I wasn't thrilled with Crowder's voice. The more I listened to it, though, the more it grew on me. It is very much a worship album. But David Crowder Band does something that most worship bands don't: come up with original lyrics and unique music. Never once do you hear a direct quote from the Bible in the lyrics. I consider this a good thing. I've heard the same verses repeated in so many worship songs that they've almost lost their meaning.

Instead, they come up with heartfelt praise and worship God in their own words. The music doesn't follow the typical church worship song patterns at all. Every song is unique and refreshing. And A Collision has everything. Acoustic, electronica, blue grass - new ways to worship God on every track.

But most of all, I love the moods that the album sets. Moods are probably the largest decider on what music I listen to. A Collision goes from invitation, to praise, to joy, to emotional quite times, and back to praise. Then it comes back and does it again. It turns anyone's time into a full-on, intimate worship session with God. I've personally listened to only this album for weeks at a time and loved praising Him through it - and I'm still not sick of hearing it. I give it the honor of being my first music review and my highest recommendation on this site.

Labor Day

Ah, the blessed holiday known as Labor Day. Today signifies the official end of Summertime. On this day, we have one more chance to get a sunburn, catch up on our lawn care, and - weather permitting - one last chance for a barbecue.

I always found it kind of odd that America chooses to celebrate the tradition of hard work by taking the day off. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I just think it's odd.

If you're extremely bored today, take a look at the history of labor day from the U.S. Department of Labor website.

Have a great holiday and please, don't fall asleep while tanning.

...And I'm Back

After a week of preparation and moving back to college, I'm back online again. It's been over a week since my last entry, but I should have more coming in the next couple of days. You really don't realize how much crap you have until you move. It's amazing.