E-Call

The message today seemed to suggest that the belie...

2010-09-19T14:48:47.081-06:00

The message today seemed to suggest that the belief God cares about has more to do with a rectification of the one’s attitude toward God than striving to believe a proposition per se, and even that “striving to believe” is in fact contrary to God’s kind of faith. I was encouraged. And yet consider Mark 11:23-24:

"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

This sounds like Jesus is encouraging effortful self-persuasion and the willful suppression of doubt. The focus seems to be on the proposition that “it will be done for him” rather than on the underlying relational factors (although v 22 mitigates this to some degree). Thus, it is discouraging for folks who feel that they have sincere, honest reasons for skepticism, suggesting God can’t be counted on to help them with it when they ask (even if occasionally he might roll his eyes and help one or two of these disappointing deadbeats anyway, as in Mark 9 or John 20). Furthermore, for such people it seems to create a competition between tenacious honesty and faith.

I don’t want to believe all that, but if it’s wrong, I want to know it’s wrong, not just optimistically try to ignore it. How do you respond? (I welcome thoughts from everyone)

Addressing guiding principles that undergird how a...

2010-05-29T22:34:04.087-06:00

Addressing guiding principles that undergird how a person ought to deal with questions of belief would also be helpful. For example, in 1 John God commands people to believe in Jesus. What's the idea here? Just try to force credence no matter what seems clear to you? Does God really like that sort of thing, given that in other contexts people would call such a move willful ignorance or brainwashing? The prescribed conclusion is presented, but does right methodology (the way we get there) matter, how much does it matter, and what does God have to teach us about what right methodology looks like?

How about the issue of finding the time to fit it ...

2010-05-28T09:36:06.413-06:00

How about the issue of finding the time to fit it all in? I thought I was busy BEFORE I had kids but now it just seems impossibly so. Obviously I need to re-prioritize, but everything seems so important.

Also I agree with Danny about the doubt issue. It's easy to get a bit agnostic, especially when you are too busy to properly practice your faith.

I think it would be at least somewhat helpful to a...

2010-05-27T10:36:43.282-06:00

I think it would be at least somewhat helpful to address the issue of doubting God's presence. Every so often, I'll have a moment where I just wonder if we, as highly advanced monkeys, have just made up this great story that addresses our deepest fears and desires. It's the whole problem of "is this real, or is this just a defense mechanism created by our subconscious?" Maybe another way to put it is, "Could all this be too good to be true?"

Welcome back to the Blogosphere! As I get older, ...

2010-05-15T11:18:07.680-06:00

Welcome back to the Blogosphere!

As I get older, I identify more and more with Israel. Things will be all fine and beautiful one minute, and then in seconds I'll be wondering if (and acting like) God has left the building, never to return.