BITR: Why I Believe in Jesus

If everything goes according to plan (and it usually doesn’t), I will be going back to college this fall. This will be my 5^th year out of high school and it will be my 4^th official major - hopefully the final one. I have chosen history this time, and I don’t think many people think that will stick either. We’ll see I guess. When I tell people I want to major in history, a lot of times they will respond by saying, “Why history?” And then I give them a bunch of reasons that are part of my decision but I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone the real reason I want to study history. The real reason I want to study history is basically because I want to gain perspective. I have become fascinated with what people have done, how they lived, and things that have happened to them in the past. I think that studying these sorts of things can help us with life now and as we proceed into an unknown future. Plus it’s really interesting.

In order to prepare for my upcoming studies of history, I subscribed to a few dorky podcasts about the subject. Podcasts are helpful because I can download them to my iPod and listen to them at work. It works out really well because I can get paid while learning about Napoleon and things like that.

I say this because the other day I was listening to a podcast about the Roman Empire. This specific podcast was about a guy named Marius, who rose to power and became a great leader in the army at that time. It talked about how he rose to power and how he reordered his army’s basic units to make them more efficient – you know, interesting military stuff like that. In one battle Marius did battle with an opposing army of about 300,000 men and defeated them. After doing this, he left a portion of his army hiding in the mountains knowing that another separate army would be coming after him. Surely enough, this other army charged and Marius’s troops retreated and were being pursued until they passed the place where more troops were hidden. When they passed this spot in the mountains they turned around and began to attack. As this happened, the hidden troops came out and attacked the other army from behind. The result is that this other army was obliterated.

It’s pretty interesting stuff to hear about how these great generals won battles and the things they did that made them successful. But after hearing about this, my mind went in a different direction. I started thinking about what it must have been like to have been one of the men in the army that got destroyed. What kind of horror and dread did they feel when they realized they had fallen into a trap? And how horrible was it to be ultimately beaten down, fatally wounded, and slaughtered there by a group of men who were, as an army, stronger?

As I was thinking about this I started to take a broader look at things and see humanity as a whole. I mean, if you go back through the past and look at the nature of human beings, it seems like humanity just constantly seems to struggle with itself. There’s a war going on now and there was one going on before this one, and you can really just chronicle history as far back as we can remember and I don’t know if there was a time when there was no war.

You can find wars that start for all kinds of reasons too. People fight over land, culture, religion, ideals, values, freedom, control, revenge, power, and the list could go on and on. Wars between countries are just large scale versions of conflict between human beings. It could be as small as two little boys fighting over a toy or a church splitting up. It could be over something as small as a lie that was told, a disagreement, or misunderstanding. Or it could be as big as an idealistic terrorist group flying a plane into a building. Conflict just always seems to find us, or maybe we always seem to find it.

Science would tell us that we live in a “survival of the fittest” world where the strong survive and the weak become prey. If you’ve ever turned on the Discovery channel and seen one of those shows where a herd of lions chase down, kill, and eat some little gimpy antelope then you know what I’m talking about. Nature can be absolutely brutal sometimes, and people can be just the same way. Last summer I read a book about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda where basically one large race of people attempted to literally wipe another race off the face of the planet. They did this by killing them with machetes and guns – brutal, face to face murders. It is estimated that around 800,000 people were killed in about 3 months. It was fastest systematic killing in the history of the world, even faster than the holocaust. This is just one of many examples of how humanity can brutally struggle against itself, how we can fight and kill in a “survival of the fittest” sort of way in order to preserve who we are and what we value.

Take our current war on terror, for example. The terrorists are a threat to our way of life and so what we are going to do is kill them to protect our freedom, values, etc. It’s survival of the fittest, and I would be willing to bet that the reason they attacked us in the first place is because they saw us as a threat to their way of life. And so what happens in the end? The strong survive and the weaker group is killed off. The ones who have the most power are preserved.

It would seem that what is important in this world is to be strong, have power and control. It would be good in this system to have influence, fame, and wealth – anything that may be a sign of strength.

Looking at it this way, it is interesting to me that Jesus came under the reign of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was in control of Israel at that time and so Jesus and all the other Jews were technically under the rule of Caesar. If you know anything about this empire, then you know that it was about power. They had the best armies and the strongest leaders. They had more land and control than anyone up to that point in the history of the world. The Romans actually perfected the practice of crucifixion, and in some accounts they would crush a rebellion and crucify the rebels on roadsides just to make an example of what happens to people who try to go against the power of the Roman Empire.

And so Jesus – God as a man – arrives during this period of time and starts to teach his message to humanity, and what does he teach us? Wednesday night at church, Andy pointed out in our study of the gospel of Mark that what Jesus was telling people to do when he first started to preach was to repent, which in its original language was a military term for “about face.” Jesus was basically telling people to turn around, to turn from their ways. Jesus was saying that wherever you’re going now, turn around and start heading in the other direction. He was telling people to turn away from their human nature.

We see this in Jesus’ teachings all the time. He told people that when they get punched in the face, instead of returning the favor they should turn the other cheek. He said that if a man takes your coat then give him your shirt as well. If he tells you to go a mile with him then go two. If you want to be great, then you must be the least. You are blessed when you mourn. There is no greater love than when you lay down your life for your friends.

Jesus apparently didn’t understand our way of doing things. Either that or he was completely above, beyond, and outside of our human nature. While we were constantly struggling with ourselves and fighting each other, trying to survive and preserve ourselves, Jesus was teaching us a way to live that is exactly opposite. The world would say that if someone tries to step on you, hurt you, or kill you, then you should do the same to them. Jesus says to turn the other cheek. In fact, he tells you to love your enemy. This is definitely not our way of doing things. This is not how you survive. This is not how you preserve yourself. It would seem that there is absolutely no power in this at all.

At one point in my life not terribly long ago, I wanted to walk away. God didn’t make sense anymore. I didn’t understand a lot of things, and the easiest way of dealing with that was to just walk away – to say God wasn’t real. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. I wouldn’t have to wonder if God was talking to me when I prayed, I wouldn’t have to pretend I had any idea what God was doing or what his will was in my life and in the world. I could simply let go of all that.

Well, I was wrong about that. I couldn’t let go. Maybe God just wouldn’t let go of me, but I got pretty close. There was one thing I couldn’t get passed, one thing I couldn’t resolve. I caught a snag whenever I thought about this, and I fell to my knees whenever I felt it. That one thing was this:

Love.

I couldn’t get passed it.

For a while now I have held strongly to the belief that love is the strongest, most important thing in the world. I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but I really believe it’s true. Life isn’t worth living without love. Every single person wants it and looks for it. If you’ve got it then at times it is almost like a heavenly state, and if you don’t then it’s like a cold and lonely hell. We all want to be loved, and some people will do the most ridiculous and crazy things to try and get it. To be loved is a wonderful thing because the very nature of love is not self-seeking at all. In fact, it is completely focused on the “other.” For instance, if you are or have ever been in love with another person then you know that you would probably do anything for this person. You value this person even more than yourself. You would even give up your own life for this person.

If you’ve ever felt this way then you will know that this is a very real feeling. I mean love between a man and a woman or a parent and a child is an extremely strong thing, and when it is at its highest form then I don’t know if there is anything anyone could do to break it. I couldn’t get passed this because I knew that it was real and it was good, and when Jesus came to earth he absolutely lined himself up with love. In fact, the Bible goes as far as to say that God is love. So Jesus came and he talked about love a lot, he taught people to love each other, and he did it himself. He loved and accepted people that no one else was willing to accept, and his love carried him all the way to his own death. He died for the people he loved. And I knew that one of those people was me.

Sometimes I wonder if God lets us feel love in order to reveal to us what he is like. I mean, when I think about someone I love and about how I would do anything for this person, I try to make myself understand that God is like this only a million times more. And just by feeling that way and connecting that with God I know that God is someone I can trust. If he really loves me like that then I know he will take care of me. Jesus even said that we can relate to God as a father, and the Bible calls us the bride of Christ. God uses these relationships to show how we relate to him, and if you know anything about those kinds of relationships you know that there is a lot of love involved.

Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. When he came to earth as the savior he did not go out and wage a war trying to overthrow the Romans and conquer the world. He did not try to rise up in the hierarchical system of the day and gain power so he could control people. What he did do, however, was love people. He talked to people and often ate and partied with them. He cared about them, and a lot of times he was hanging out with people that the world had rejected. He taught about God’s kingdom and eventually he submitted himself to death. You could sort of say he submitted to the hands of the Roman Empire. He was crucified by Roman soldiers after all.

Almost 2000 years later, look at where we are at now. People are still following Jesus, and how long has the Roman Empire been gone? Jesus has made more of an impact on the world than anyone in history, and because of his way of life and who he is (God) we can know that there are things in this world that are more important than power and control. That laying down your life is more important than killing someone who is different from you, and that dying in itself is not the end. We can live by a pattern that is true and good, and is completely opposite of our nature.

I believe in Jesus because he has shown us that way. He walked it and he invites us to walk it as well. It may not bring glory and praise by the world’s standards, but ultimately it will save the world. It will make the world more than this dog eat dog place that we inhabit. And that means a lot to me. It makes life worth living, and it shows me that I can do the things that Jesus talked about and it will matter. It will matter because it’s eternal. It won’t end out on some battlefield somewhere. In fact, it won’t end at all.

Good Theology

This is a conversation that my family and I were having in the car the other day. That's my grandma in the back, my mom driving, my sister holding the camera, and the guy with the terrible hat hair is me. I think you will agree that our theological conclusions are nothing short of profound.



My apologies to all Methodists, Jews, homosexuals, liberals, conservatives, women, and pretty much everybody else.

BITR: The Hilldale Hookup

Springtime is here and love is in the air at Hilldale. As the trees and flowers have started to bloom outside we have also seen love (i.e. mutual attraction or something like that) blossom throughout the youth group. At baseball games and in the middle of worship services we have seen the drama unfolding right in front of our eyes. Yes, just like a worn out, daytime soap opera we have watched teenagers fall in and out of love (mutual attraction or something like that) while others seem to be left on the outside looking in, hoping that maybe someday they can get in on the hormone carousel that is the Hilldale Hookup.

I have thought long and hard about what kind of insight I could add to this subject. I have lost sleep at night over this. There is such consequence, so much of a burden to bear when you are dealing with this. So after deliberating in my head for a couple of weeks I have been able to sum up my feelings on the Hookup in this one sentence:

If you play with fire, you're gonna get burned.

Child of Dust

A band I like called Thrice embarked on quite an impressive project for their latest recordings. They made a 4-disc collection with 6 songs each, all based on one of the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. Each disc represents one of those elements, and therefore the music and lyrics all follow that theme. For instance, the water CD has lots of songs that mention the sea and things related to that. The music also has a very unique "water" element to it. It's a really cool musical experience.

I say this because a couple of days ago I was listening to the earth album while I was sitting in my truck on my lunch break. I was reading the lyrics along with the songs and I came across one in particular that brought me to the brink of tears. I decided I'd put it up here on the blog. Who knows? It may make you want to cry too.

Child of Dust
Lyrics by Dustin Kensrue

Dear prodigal, you are my son and I
Supplied you not your spirit, but your shape.
All Eden's wealth arrayed before your eyes;
I fathomed not you wanted to escape.

And though I only ever gave you love,
Like every child you've chosen to rebel.
Uprooted flow'rs and filled the holes with blood;
Ask not for whom they toll, the solemn bells.

A child of dust, to mother you return
For every seed must die before it grows
And though above the world may toil and turn
No prying spades will find you here below

Now safe beneath their wisdom and their feet,
Here I will teach you truly how to sleep.

The End

I think this post is a pretty interesting read considering how it was written only a few days before the evolution thing started.

I was planning on writing another blog about this whole thing. I guess you could call this it, but it's not what I was intending to write at first. The argument is over as far as I'm concerned. I have a pretty good feeling that if we keep going back and forth, then in the end it will get us nowhere and at best we will be bitter towards each other. It's clear that we disagree on this issue, and I don't think that anyone is going to be convinced otherwise.

People have commented and raised their concerns about the issue, and I appreciate all that. I appreciate people reading and taking the time to comment. But it becomes a problem when you make assumptions about my character when you don't even know me - when you say that I came to my conclusions because I'm stubborn or not open to being wrong. If you have a problem with my argument, then attack the argument. But if part of your point is that I have a character flaw that makes me come to these conclusions, then leave it out - especially if it's an assumption. The reason it sounds like I believe what I've been talking about is because I believe what I've been talking about. You could make that criticism of just about anyone involved in this argument and be right.

I have found that the only reason I would continue this argument is because of pride, which is not a good reason at all. I value relationships a lot more than I value winning arguments, and I don't want to do anything that will strain those relationships. If this keeps going, that may happen. We can agree to disagree. I think that would be better than going back and forth, tearing down each other in the process.

I hope I haven't offended anybody in this whole thing. I apologize if I have. We are all trying to follow Jesus here and we all have good intentions, but I just think it would be best if we left it alone for now.

At least that's what I'm going to do.

Literally the Bible

So based on some of the comments I’ve been getting I can tell that some people have a problem thinking that God can convey truth by telling stories that aren’t factually true. Like I said before, I believe that in the book of Genesis God uses stories and poetry to communicate things to humankind that are far too complicated for us to understand. For instance, I interpret the creation poem and the story of Adam and Eve as explaining why we are here instead of how we got here. I don’t think these events took place in a literal sense but I do believe God is using a story or a poem to explain to us something that happened in the past - that God created people to be in a relationship with Him, those people were deceived, and they walked away from Him. Without even being factually true, this really does explain why the world is the way it is and why people are the way they are - but I do not have time to go into that now.

This creates a problem for people because of the belief that when God expresses himself in all of scripture, His word is true in every single way – including factually. In other words, God can’t (or won’t) use a fictional story to express truth. Anything God says has to be literally true as well as true in every other sense. One person went as far as to say that because I don’t take these stories as literal fact, I don’t even believe the word of God.

So let’s think about this for a second. God using simple stories that aren’t factually true to explain complicated and heavenly ideas to people who wouldn’t understand otherwise – this never happens in the Bible, right?

Well, you see, there was this one time when God came to earth and taught people about spirituality, heaven, and things like that. He was called Jesus, and they say he spoke in parables – stories and allegories that compare spiritual things to simple, understandable things. He was trying to get simple human beings to understand heavenly concepts, and the way he did this was never by communicating them in literal, scientific ways. Instead he said things like this:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God until he is born again.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds in the air come and make nests in its branches.”

And then there are the stories.

At one point in Jesus’ ministry he is teaching his disciples to continue praying and not lose heart, so he tells a story about a widow who kept going to a judge and asking for justice in her case. The judge kept refusing her but she stayed persistent, and finally the judge gave her the justice she kept asking for.

At another time Jesus tells a story of a man who hoarded up all his crops in huge barns so he could “relax, eat, drink, and be merry.” But then God tells him he is going to die that night, and makes the point that those crops and barns won’t be his anymore. He concludes by saying, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

You will rarely find Jesus explaining Godly concepts to people without using stories or comparisons. In fact, when Jesus actually stops using the parables and speaks plainly, the disciples seem to be incredibly surprised. They are often confused by these parables and a lot of times they don’t seem to get it, but still that is the way that Jesus chose to teach.

So if we can accept that Jesus, who was also God, could teach by using stories and comparisons that weren’t exactly true in the most absolute, factual way (Jesus was not literally a vine), then why do we have such a problem accepting that this is the way God chose to teach us in other parts of the Bible? Jesus happened to be pretty fond of this method. Doesn’t it make sense that when the Bible was being written God (who was also Jesus) would communicate this way as well?

I think the reason that God does this is because you can’t fit things such as God or the kingdom of heaven into human language. There are spiritual concepts that exist that are so complicated and big that it would be impossible to use words to describe them. It would be like an ant trying to understand the human brain. For instance, how do you literally and scientifically explain the love of God? Well, you can’t. You can just use a poetic expression to describe a characteristic of God’s love, but you can’t say anything that will encompass it. So in the Bible you will see verses that say things such as “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.” And when God explains how He relates to us, He uses metaphors like a father and child, a sheep and shepherd, and a bride and a groom. That is the only way we will understand it.

As far as shaping their beliefs and opinions, some people will actually say, “Well, I just believe what the Bible says.” They say that like the Bible is absolutely clear and obvious in its meaning, like there is no room for interpretation at all. Well, it’s not that easy.

Anyone who reads the Bible is interpreting it in some way. This is one reason we have all sorts of different denominations – same Bible, different interpretations. In one random and completely unrelated circumstance, a person may say that if someone doesn’t agree with what he and his professor believe, then that person doesn’t believe the word of God at all (hypothetically speaking). Some may say that they take the entire Bible literally, but that’s probably not true. I mean, who believes that when Paul talked about a “thorn in the flesh” he was literally talking about a thorn that got stuck in his side? I mean, sure, maybe Paul was walking through the woods one day and he accidentally walked into a particularly nasty thorn bush. Those things are hard to get out if they’re deep and you don’t have some tweezers, and they do hurt. I would plead with God 3 times too if it was me. But I have this hunch that that’s not exactly what Paul meant by the thorn.

In Revelations, when John is writing about the vision God has given him, does he mean all that literally? Or do we interpret the stories and metaphors to mean something else?

You see, nobody really takes the entire Bible literally. Some may take more parts literally than others. I may take less of the Bible literally than another person does. But does that mean I believe the Bible any less than that person does, or that I don’t believe it at all? No, and to imply that in any sort of way is a very arrogant statement to make in my opinion.

Some things in this world are simply better expressed by stories or poetry. They are more meaningful that way. Donald Miller has this great example of this and I’m going to borrow it.

Say you are a girl (if you’re not already) and you’re dating some guy. You go out to eat and he has this candlelit dinner prepared for you and everything is all romantic and such. Well, you’re having a pretty good conversation and then after a while he stops and he just sort of looks at you. And then after a few seconds he pulls out a paper and pen and he starts to write. He glances up at you every few seconds and then he goes back to writing. After a few minutes he finishes, puts down his pen, turns the paper face down, and slides it over to you. You pick up the paper and start to read, and this is what it says:

You have brown hair.
You have brown eyes.
You are approximately 5 foot 6.
Your skin is a dark tan color.

You would be saying “What in the world is this?!” And he would say, “Well, it’s true! What have you got against truth? Those are all true facts!”

But let’s say that instead of that last list, what he wrote was more like this Shakespeare poem:

Had I this cheek
To bathe my lips upon; this hand, whose touch,
Whose every touch, would force the feeler's soul
To the oath of loyalty; this object, which
Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye

Well, it means something different, doesn’t it? It expresses things that simple facts could not even come close to. You see, God invented the human being, and God knows that a person responds to more than just the literal facts of existence. So since God knows this, why would he limit his expression to only a logical and factual explanation of how he created the world? And I would ask why would he even need to include that?

Before the enlightenment, the church actually used art such as poetry, drawings, and music to teach spirituality. Before the invention of the printing press most people couldn’t read, so the church used these forms of art to communicate the gospel of Christ. Old church cathedrals were built shaped like crosses and all kinds of artwork was put into the windows and on the walls to depict various Bible stories. This was one of the main ways of communicating the gospel back then.

When the enlightenment came, the definition of truth became very limited. People reduced truth to something you could fit into your head. At this time, truth became something that was reached through logical arguments and mathematical equations, and art such as poetry was thrown out of the picture. For the Christian, this should be ridiculous because Jesus said he is the way, the truth, and the life. However, the church adopted this assumption as well, and what they did was begin to look at the Bible through the lenses of science. And now people either interpret the poetic and narrative forms as literal truth or they just skip over them altogether. Don’t believe me? Well, when was the last time you heard a sermon preached on the Song of Solomon?

This goes back to that poem analogy. Some things you just can’t express through simple fact. You have to use another form of expression. G.K. Chesterton once wrote that it is the mathematician, not the poet, who goes mad because the mathematician tries to build a bridge over the infinite and the poet just swims in the sea. I say this because it is easy to reduce stories and poems to senseless and truth less forms of expression, which many people do to a fault. Jesus used stories all the time, and I believe God has and still does use them to communicate to our hearts today.

Evolution 2

This post started out as a reply to some comments on my last blog. I tried to keep it short, but it turned out a little longer than I expected. So instead of posting a really long comment I just decided to make it another blog. It's still trimmed down, but I hope it clarifies how I feel about this issue.

If you look in Genesis in your Bible, you should be able to see that the first chapter is written in verses. For instance, the first line will start and then the second line will be indented, then the next line will start again at the margin. It may not be this way in all Bibles. In my NIV, one section starts at the margin and the lines underneath it are indented until the next section. No matter what version you have, the writing style should be different until you get to the story of Adam and Eve. Then it turns into paragraph form, like a story or a newspaper. This is when the poetry stops.

Now here you might say that since the poetry stops, that is where the real and literal fact begins. You could look at it that way, but I see it differently. I think that Adam and Eve and The Fall of Man are stories that help us understand what really took place. I don't think there was a literal Adam or a literal serpent or a literal fruit. I guess you could use the word "fiction" here.

Now some would say that if I say that story is fiction then I am saying it is untrue. Well, that depends on your definition of truth. Read the story of the Fall of Man and if you look closely you will see that the literal point of the story is that we broke our relationship with God and because of that we used to wear clothes and now we don't - that's what happened when Adam and Eve turned away from God. So is that the point of the Fall of Man? Is that why we have wars, road rage, genocide, pride, lust, and all that other stuff? Is it because some dude ate a forbidden apple and realized he had no clothes on? Or does this mean something deeper?

I would say that just because the story isn't factually true it doesn't mean that it's not real and God isn't real. I just think that the story of the Fall of Man explains why things are the way they are, why humans are the way they are, and not to mention, it says a LOT about our relationship to God.

You know, people don't give fictional stories enough credit sometimes. Just because a story is made up doesn't mean that it is irrelevant. In fact, the main reason stories are good is because they are relevant. We like stories because they tell us something about ourselves and about life. For instance, I read Harry Potter and that story makes me want to be brave or clever - or it helps me see that there is more to life than just the same old boring and mundane world where you go to work from 9 to 5 every day, pay your taxes, and then one day you die. Think about it, what would we think about life if we didn’t have stories to show us what’s important and meaningful? The truth is, stories go straight to our hearts, and we respond to that. Looking at it this way, it makes perfect sense that God would explain our existence, purpose, and relationship to him by telling a story.

Now, how far does this go? Do you say that the whole book of Genesis isn't factually true? Well, honestly, I don't know. I haven't thought it through or learned about it that far. I'm just going based on what I know. These are all my opinions and views so I don’t want to impose them on anybody. I appreciate the discussion and the honest opinions on this, and the last thing I want to do is make anyone mad. I’m always open to feedback, questions, and opinions (good or bad).

BITR: Evolution (Well, here goes nothing...)

After what I wrote in my last blog, I think it’s pretty ironic that I got this topic to do this week. Thanks to Kevin I have to tackle this oh-so-touchy subject and get into arguments I don’t want to be in and try to prove something I don’t really know anything about. I was pretty close to actually manipulating my topic to be about Kevin, but that’s just because I wanted to title my blog “Kevolution”. The truth is, I don’t know what Kevolution is or where it came from. I know almost as much about evolution as I do about Kevolution, but since Kevin is such a nice guy, and almost a high school graduate, I will continue.

I am just going to go ahead and throw this out there: I believe the theory of evolution.

There, I said it.

I have been trying to learn a little about evolution and let me just go ahead and say that it is an extremely complicated idea. You have to know a lot of biology like genetics and animal classification. It wouldn’t be possible for me to actually give a good argument on why evolution is true because I really don’t know much about it. Instead I’m just going to give my reasoning for why I’m open to the idea.

In the present day everyone knows that there is a big tension between science and Christianity. I have a hard time understanding this. A lot of Christians actually believe that most scientists are out to prove that there is no God and would go as far as to say that these scientists are full of crap. This is the main argument that I’ve heard in the creation vs. evolution debate. Scientists come to the table with this theory that changes the way people look at things, and since many Christians know very little about the theory the only way they can respond is by saying the scientists are full of crap – that somehow they must be wrong because the Bible says something that seems different.

It is a known fact that most scientists subscribe to the theory of evolution. I am actually a person who trusts science. In fact, as heretical as this may sound, a lot of times I trust the scientists’ interests in searching for truth more than the Christians who argue against them. For instance, Christians have the Bible, and based on their interpretation they already have a preconceived notion on what the truth is. If you believe in a literal creation story, then you have already accepted and nailed down your view of how the world was created. You believe that because the Bible says so. Science, on the other hand, comes to the table with no concrete assumptions. Science is open to anything as long as it can be proven and tested. If no evidence or data can be found on a subject, then scientists will simply say they don’t know.

The reason I like the scientific perspective better is because it is more open to new ideas and is unbiased in the conclusions it comes to. In the movie “The Sentinel” I remember a specific scene where Keifer Sutherland’s character goes to investigate a crime scene. He gets there and starts talking to a couple of cops who have been collecting evidence. They explain to him what they think happened in the crime and then show the evidence. Sutherland then says that if a person already has a theory of what happened, they will only find evidence that supports that theory and ignore evidence that goes against it. In the same way, many Christians who already have an idea of these things in their head will not even be open to evidence that may go against it. Science, on the other hand, gathers the proven facts and then tries to formulate the truth based on what they know.

Now I understand that this sounds almost like heresy, but I believe the reason that it may sound that way is because many Christians separate science and Christianity as two different and contradicting things. To me, this doesn’t make sense simply because God created the world and science is a method of trying to learn about the world. If scientists are actually out there to discover the truth of how the universe works then I don’t understand what Christians are afraid of. I mean, if we really believe that what the Bible says is true, then we shouldn’t be afraid of what scientists find. Learning more about God’s creation is only going to point us toward the creator anyways, right? And if God really did create the world, how can we be scared that scientists will find something that proves his word wrong?

I’ve said before that I don’t take the 6 day creation story as a literal, scientific account of how God created the world. In fact, I don’t even think the poem is about how God created the world. Because of this interpretation, my faith is not destroyed when scientists say the world is billions of years old instead of thousands. It’s not that I don’t have faith or anything, but it’s just more reasonable to me to believe this rather than say science is a bunch of garbage because their research and theories don’t confirm what our creation poem says. This is especially true because it doesn't contradict or diminish my faith in God at all.

As a person who really doesn’t know enough on the subject to make a good argument either way, I guess what it comes down to is who do I trust more to be telling the truth in this issue? My honest answer is I trust the scientists. In fact, I believe that some Christians out there distort the facts or simply make stuff up (stuff like Charles Darwin didn’t really believe the theory he came up with, and he renounced the whole thing on his deathbed) in order to come up with an argument against this stuff. Either that or they just have misconceptions about the whole idea. (For instance, many people forget that evolution is a biological theory meaning it explains what happens in living organisms. But for some reason creationists want to say that a flaw in evolution is that it doesn’t explain why soda cans exist.)

When it comes down to it I believe that God created the world and that evolution is a process that was set in motion by God to help his living creatures survive. I have no reason not to believe that.

Please note that when I say “Christians” here I am not referring to all Christians as a whole or to all Christian belief. Christian belief on these sorts of things is extremely varied and there are all sorts of Christians out there who believe all sorts of different things. Please take the term in context with the subject.

I feel like such a hippy for saying this

It stormed today. This afternoon after all the rain and funnel clouds cleared out there was still a bit of a cloud cover. As the sun began to set, it slowly descended below the covering of clouds, which made for a beautiful scene. The sunlight came in and, after breaking in the trees, hit the moisture rising over the water and over the grass, which caused everything to have a relaxed, peaceful glow about it. Off in the distance dark clouds were drifting in front of the sun, and it lit up their edges as they rolled along in the sky.

As an excuse to go outside, I called our dog Dixie to go for a walk so I wouldn’t look so weird standing out in the yard looking up at the sky. As I followed her around I kept looking at the scenery, and of course I got to thinking. I don’t know what it is about nature’s beauty that leads one’s thoughts to God, but as I stared at the trees, the water, and the sunset I felt that leading. I thought a little of how my faith isn’t exactly what it used to be. Deep down inside of me I think I just wanted God to be that sunset. I wanted God to be pure, good, beautiful, and right there where I could see him. I wanted God to be enormous, and yet simple -- as simple as the sun going down after a rainy day.

You see, I’ve been a bit worn down on Christianity lately. I’m worn down on all the extremely complicated arguments and theories that so many people, including me, have about God. It seems like there is always a traditional viewpoint which is then refuted by another group of people, to which the traditional group criticizes the new viewpoint. Criticism goes back and forth, and it sometimes seems like a lot of the argument is more about who is right than it is about arriving at truth. Since a lot of time these views depend on interpretation, you don’t really get a concrete answer, just two (or more) groups of people with opposing viewpoints and labels to go along with them. For instance, conservatives and liberals, creationists and evolutionists, or traditional and post-modern to name a few.

My problem with this is that it feels like Christianity is way too focused on Christians and not focused enough on Christ. It seems like we're always focusing in on what we're doing and how we're behaving ourselves, whether we are more right than the other denomination or whatever. It's like we get so caught up in making sure that we have God pinned down that we forget to take the time to live our lives with God in them. I realize that saying that and doing it are two different things, but isn't that what this thing is supposed to be about? Isn't it about knowing God?

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m tired of being caught up in the argument and the debate of what to believe and how to believe it. I don’t want to be deceived and I want to know the truth, the right way to live and believe, but it seems so hard to dig out of this mess. Somehow I wish my faith in God could be as simple as watching the sunset, not about digging the right theological viewpoints out of a book or proving the other guy wrong so I can be right. I wish it could be more like standing outside, experiencing the beauty, and simply being there to take it all in.

I wonder if my life will ever get to that point.

BITR: Why is Justin so loud?

An exclusive interview with Justin Gilbert:

Since I was given the task of writing about why Justin is so loud I decided that the best way to answer this question would be to just ask him. I guess people often wonder about this. What in the world makes Justin speak and act the way he does? What is it that makes him tick? The answer may surprise you. It doesn't surprise me at all.

Matt: Do you think you are loud? As a person do you consider yourself loud?

Justin: I would consider myself a very loud person actually.

M: Do you think that you are the loudest person here at the church?

J: I would definitely say that I do very well at being loud. I would challenge anyone out here to a loud contest and I know I would win because I'm the best at being loud.

M: So do you do this on purpose or is it just natural for you?

J: Most of it is natural. Some of it I do do on purpose - I just said "do-do" but you know what? It's okay because I'm loud, I don't care. And the main reason why, if I would do it on purpose, is because other people were being loud and it's like in my mind I'm like, you know, "You're trying to be louder than me?" And sometimes when I'm not even saying anything they'll be loud and we tell them to stop. And they'll be like "Well, you're loud all the time." And I'll be like, "Well shut up I'm not being loud right now," and they'll keep doing it. But when I'm loud they don't like it. So it's kinda like "Well you know what? You were loud so screw you, I'm gonna be loud."

M: So basically when you are around people who are louder than you, you try to be louder than them?

J: Yes because they are challenging me by being so loud. They should realize they shouldn't be so loud.

M: Why do you think you are so loud? What is it in you that makes you so loud all the time?

J: Well, see when I was a small child I grew up around Captain Carl and he's a very loud person. And all my life growing up I heard that loud voice all the time and so it was just ingrained into my head to be loud all the time because I had to speak up over him whenever I talked.

M: So you think you get it from your father?

J: Yes, I do get it from Darth Vader.