Questions for God

I ran across this page on the web: http://www.ethicalatheist.com/docs/questions_for_god.html and I thought it was interesting.  There are several dozen “Questions for God” on here and answers from religious people are listed if you click on the links.  I must admit that I’m more than a little reluctant to click the links.  What will be there?  Anger?  Smug self-satisfaction?  Unqualified certainty?  Most of these seem like genuinely good questions.  I hope the answers are humble and equally good.  But, like I said, I’m a little afraid to look.  Sometimes I find myself more comfortable with the questions atheists ask than the answers Christians provide.  It’s not that I think they are unanswerable, but sometimes it’s more honest to live a bit in the tension of the question than to leap to the simple answer.  Well, here’s a few of the questions.  Got any answers?  Got any more questions?  God knows that I do- maybe a few answers, and definitely a lot of questions.

 

 

·  Why don't you show yourself?  You supposedly made us and want us to believe in you, right?  Why the big mystery?  You're also omnipresent, right?  Why don't you show yourself to all of us at once and have a personal discussion with us?  You can pick the date and time, we'll all stop what we are doing, I'm sure.
View answers we've received.
 

·  Why do you let your followers murder and rape us?  Why do you let your Catholic priests sodomize our precious children?  I think it's safe to say that we really don't like this.  Isn't your Catholic hierarchy hand chosen by you from the top down?  Are you afraid to admit to making a mistake in your choices?  Can you please admit the mistake and let our children grow up in a normal, ethical and safe environment?
View answers we've received.
 

·  Did you really make Eve from one of Adam's ribs?  Why didn't you make her from dust just like Adam?  And, why do men and women have the same number of ribs if you stole one from Adam to make Eve?
View answers we've received.
 

·  Why do you make your followers suffer so much?  Why do they die at the hands of other religions?  Can't you put a stop to this?  You're omnipotent, right?  Can you 'show us your stuff'?  Why do you let all those Church buses crash?  Why do you let all your religious followers die in plane crashes, terrorist attacks, car accidents, famines, floods, hurricanes, tornados, etc.?  Is this part of 'Your Plan'?  If you needed more Angels or something, why didn't you just create more Angels?  Why do you cause so much pain down here?  Are you sadistic?
View answers we've received.
 

·  Why are their so many conflicting religions?  Did you make man so screwed up that he cannot hear the 'true' word of God... yours?  Every religion that exists today and every one that has existed throughout history has professed that THEIRS is the only true religion.  Did you come to Earth as Zeus once?  Did you make all these religions because you thought certain societies could only understand certain concepts?  What about the Jews?  The Muslims?  The Baptists?  The New Adventists?  The Mormons, Hindus, Incas, Mayans, Protestants, Apaches, Buddhists, Methodists, Gideons, Greeks, Quakers?  The Catholics (American, European, South American, etc.)?  Were you just looking for some diversity or is it just a childish game to see who will follow the 'right' religion?  Which is the 'right' religion?  I'm sure many denominations would REALLY like to know that they're worshipping the 'wrong' God, don't you?
View answers we've received.
 

·  Was physics different when Noah built the ark?  I mean, seriously... how did he get all the animals from all over the world... and the dinosaurs, etc. on that boat?  How did he get penguins to the Middle East?  How did he get them back after the big flood?  Why didn't the dinosaurs eat all the sheep?  I know from reading that you are jealous and envious and want nothing more than for all of us to believe in you...  wouldn't you like to let us in on your secret?  Come on, how'd he do it?
View answers we've received.
 

·  Who can hear you and communicate with you?  Are the Catholics correct in saying that only their priests can communicate with you?  Why is this?  To ensure the hierarchy and security of the Catholic Church?  Or, can anyone communicate with you as most of the other religions believe?
View answers we've received.
 

·  Why is there war?  How does it agree with "Thou Shalt Not Kill"?  Why are there so many wars in Your Name?
View answers we've received.
 

·  If you made Adam & Eve first, and they had three sons Cain, Abel & Seth, what happened next?  There's 4 men and 1 woman, right?  What happened next to propagate the species?  Who did the children marry?  Who did they procreate with?  Isn't incest bad?  Adam & Eve had other children, so brothers and sisters; or Eve's sons and Eve were having sex?  God, why aren't we all retarded genetic mistakes?  Why didn't the whole human race get physically deformed and mentally handicapped from mixing familial genes?  Surely you knew about the gene problem, right?  Or did it not exists back then?  Did you just create it recently in one of your more spiteful moments?
View answers we've received.
 

·  The Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill."  Didn't you order Moses to do a lot of killing?  Why did you do this if it violates one of 'your' commandments?  Why did he wipe out entire cities, kill all the men and rape the women and children?
View answers we've received.

Feel Good Feeling

This summer has been pretty rough for sports fans—doping, cheating, arrests, blah, blah, blah.  But just when you think that sport might be hopeless, check out video of the 12 year old in last night’s Little League World Series.  This kid, from rural Georgia, had a moment he will never forget the rest of his life—hitting a home run in the world series—but not just that—hitting a walk-off homerun in extra innings to WIN the world series.  It’s Kirk Gibson, Casey at the Bat, Michael Jordan vs. the Utah Jazz.  It’s basically, and I’m not exaggerating here, it’s basically every little boy’s dream.  It’s what we do in our backyards and playgrounds, as we count down the clock . . .I still remember it, bouncing a ball in my driveway, “Howell on the wing. . .5 seconds . . .4 seconds . . .he’s trapped . . .3 seconds . . .oh he dribbles around . . .he jumps, he shoots . . .he scores!!!!”  Well, every kid scores the winning shot in the backyard.  When you miss, you just collect the ball and try again until it goes in.  I’ve never really hit that shot in the big game, or hit the homerun, or caught the winning td pass in the final seconds, or birdied the 18^th to win.  I’ve had my moments, maybe just enough to have a shadow of a glimpse of a hint of the kind of feeling this kid from Georgia has this morning, watching himself on the lead story on Sportscenter living the dream and giving hope again to every little boy—even the little boys inside grown men.  Is it the boy or the man in me who had to choke back a goofy tear watching that today? 

Please add your prayers

In our community this past weekend, a little boy visiting his grandparents slipped outside and fell in a swimming pool.  He nearly drowned and is now under the care of UVa Hospital.  His outlook is uncertain at best, but his family is keeping their faith and lifting prayers for him.  Through this site, they have been joined by thousands of people all over the world.  Please take a moment to visit and pray for him.

 

https://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=judegilliam

 

 

Headed to Wilmington

This weekend, I am traveling to Wilmington, NC to meet with the pastor and staff of First Baptist Church, Wilmington.  I’ve gotten to know the pastor, Mike Queen, a bit and asked if I could come and visit with him, pick his brain, and just observe how they do church.  FBC Wilmington is particularly interesting to me for a couple of reasons.  First, Mike is an impressive guy based on my limited interaction.  I’m just looking forward to spending a little time with him.  Second, FBC Wilmington is a CBF church that is trying some unique ministries in the community and seeking to reach people. 

 

I’m not saying that no CBF churches are doing this, but I’m not seeing a whole lot of role models out there.  I’ve enjoyed being exposed to churches that are doing outstanding ministry and reaching people for Christ, but I’ve not seen many CBF churches on the short list of churches that are really knocking it out of the park.  Why is that?  I don’t really know, but maybe we have so identified fundamentalism with evangelism, contemporary expressions of worship, focused outreach, empowered leadership, and church growth that when we turned our backs on fundamentalism, we turned our noses up at some of the very practices that make for dynamic churches.  A lot of CBF churches are very proud of our classical worship, our traditional programs, support for historic Baptist principles, and so forth and we are genuinely perplexed as to why our churches are plateaued or declining.  We’ve looked to the past to find our inspiration.  We just need to remember to look to the future to find our direction as well.   Maybe it’s time to reconsider what it really means to be a ‘moderate’ church and celebrate those things while not rejecting everything that is new, fresh, and dynamic.  Well, I don’t know if CBF Wilmington is doing those things, but it will be an interesting weekend to learn from some fellow travelers on the journey.

 

What I love about Broadus is that we’re a church that has taken some bold risks in our history.  We’ve been willing to try some things.  I appreciate the church supporting me in my last few months in the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Program that has enabled these trips.  They have been a meaningful learning experience for me and I hope that some of that learning helps us as a church now and in the future.

 

You can check out FBC Wilmington at www.fbcwilmington.org.  

Resilient Consumers?

The headline in today’s paper reads, “Consumers return to shopping ways”.  Keep in mind that this article is right on the heels, and in fact right on the same page, as article after article lamenting the tightening of the credit market, the poor housing market, and how our foolishness in regard to borrowing more than we can repay and purchasing more than we can afford.  So, basically, there is good news.  Consumers are still consuming.  Whew!  That was a close one.  I thought we were in real trouble.  But never fear—the American consumer will come through in a pinch. 

 

I guess it’s the patriotic thing to do.  President Bush goaded us all to go shopping to show the terrorists that they cannot stop our way of life.  Interesting, isn’t it?  Our way of life is shopping.  Bush was right about this one.  He understands, in this case, the nation he leads.  We are a nation defined by our consumption.  That consumption is apparently insatiable.  80% of US households have at least one credit card (including ours).  10% of those carry balances in excess of $10,000.  In fact, according to cardweb.com, the average debt carried is over $8000 per household.  Now, that number is grossly skewed by the relatively few who are in huge huge debt, but 21% of cardholding households carry debt of over $2000 according to http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P74808.asp.  We are people in debt and getting deeper.  But hey, if terrorists can’t slow us down, what’s a little housing slow down going to do?

 

Apparently nothing.  That’s the message of today’s article, “Consumers went shopping for everything from clothes to furniture last month, helping to calm fears that a key segment of the economy might be faltering.”  Retail sales rose 0.3% in July after a 0.7% decrease in June.  Analysts were worried about what July would bring and breathed a sigh of relief to see that the American consumer can be counted on, “Consumers are holding tough,’ according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com.  ‘They are surprisingly resilient in the face of near-record high gasoline prices and the unraveling housing market.”

 

So congratulations, you bold, courageous, resilient consumer!  You have come through again.  Nothing can slow you down—even if you can’t afford it.  (cue the “real American heroes” music from that beer radio commercial).  Our greed and need to consume knows no bounds.  Thank goodness and thank visa and mastercard.  Where would we be without them? 

 

um, maybe solvent, and maybe at a little more peace with ourselves and the world.

Of subprime loans and debt

The business pages of the papers and the crawlers on the screens of 24 hour cable news networks are screaming the news this week that the sky is falling.  If not the sky—the roof is certainly caving in.  For several years, the developed world, and Americans in particular, have enjoyed easy credit through low interest rates.  And who was complaining?  We were able to purchase the home we are in because of low rates.  Many others have had the same experience.  And we’ve all ‘saved’ lots and lots of money.  But ironically, we are worse off now than we were before.

 

The problem is that we didn’t know when to stop.  So Americans borrowed for a mortgage, and then a 2^nd mortgage.  We borrowed to buy a newer car—a nicer car than we could have ever afforded with cash.  Then we borrowed for nicer clothes, groceries, gasoline, cell phones, and trips to McDonald’s.  We didn’t even have to meet a loan officer or fill out much paperwork.  Just swipe the little card through the little machine and bingo—we walked out of Lowe’s with a new saw, out of the Gap with a new pair of slacks, out of Applebee’s with the sweetness of dessert still on our lips. 

 

That sweetness has turned sour for many of us.  Maybe it was unexpected medical bills.  Maybe you got layed off or business slowed or the car went in the shop.  Something happened.  You didn’t plan for ‘something’ to happen.  And now you are in trouble.  Big trouble.  The bills keep coming.  You are still paying off clothes and groceries that you used up months ago.  It’s harder to wake up in the morning when you feel this way.

 

It’s not just Americans.  America itself is finding it harder and harder to roll out of bed.  As a nation we may come soon to the point where we must finally confront the extravagance of our living over the last generation.  Our government has tried to put pressure on China for human rights abuses, unfair labor practices, and unbalanced trade policies.  China responded by threatening to dump billions of dollars of Treasury Bills on the open Market.  China owns something like $900 billion in US Treasury Bills.  Basically it means they’ve loaned us this money.  If they dump the TBills on the market, the value of the dollar plunges.  If that happens, our economy is in big trouble.  All this to say that because we have borrowed so freely, we are now owned.

 

How’s it feel?  Jesus came to set us free, but more and more of us have willingly enslaved ourselves to Visa, Mastercard, and Discover Card.  We’ve consumed too much.  And just as the world economy is undergoing a painful corrective, maybe it’s time for us to go through one too.  Several years ago, my family discovered the ministry of Dave Ramsey.  By following his advise and plan, we cut expenses, paid off debts, put a little away for a rainy day, started buying more with cash, and made a lifestyle commitment to get out and stay out of debt.  I don’t want to be a slave to anyone besides the one Lord by whom I am bound. 

 

If you want to get yourself free, but today you are despairing, check out Dave’s ministry at www.daveramsey.com.  Buy his Total Money Makeover, buy a CD, whatever works for you.  Tomorrow, you will be on the road to freedom.  And I must say, it is a great feeling to be becoming free!

The System of Wealth

I was part of an interesting conversation this morning about wealth.  I guess it wasn’t really about wealth but about the unofficial ‘system’ that has much determinative power over people in terms of their ability to achieve, succeed, and have some measure of control over their destiny in life.  We have been studying the systems of first century Israel—the time and place that gives context to Jesus’ many statements about wealth and his indictment of those who are greedy, selfserving, and oppressive.  In this system, the top 10% of people had most of the wealth and power.  The bottom 90% were poor.  There was no middle class.  So priests, landowners, tax collectors and the like had control, while carpenters (like Jesus), fishermen (like most of his disciples), and others were among the poor. 

 

These distinctions were rigid and very rarely did anyone cross between the two.  It’s like starting a game of monopoly with one person having all the properties, more cash, and then stacking the rules against their opponent.  So, oh by the way, that was the conversation this morning.  In koinonia Sunday School, we played Monopoly.  Only by first century rules.

 

So, the priest team got Boardwalk and Park Place with hotels on it.  They got surrounding property as well.  Everytime their opponents made any income, the priests got a cut of it.  Likewise, the taxcollector team had its advantages.  They had property and hotels and houses.  And everytime a fine or tax was paid, they doubled what was really owed like the 1^st century tax collectors, skimming off the top.  The third team, the poor people, only had those two crummy purple properties and a little bit of money. 

 

Other than that everyone had to obey the rules, roll the dice and pay up.  In short, everyone had the same opportunities, but not everyone had the same resources and safety net.  The game was predictable.  All the money flowed one direction, which left the poor with only the kindness of the rich to either give them alms or float loans enough to keep the poor in the game, all the while losing ground with every turn.  It’s easy to see how frustrating and helpless this would be in the first century.

 

The salient question is: to what extent is this game being played in America today?  To what extent is the division between the rich and poor such that the poor are basically powerless over their own destiny, unable to genuinely affect the destiny of their and their kids lives?  Is this really the land of opportunity?  And what is the trajectory our nation is taking?  Are we becoming more of a place where people can achieve or are becoming more of a place where people are locked in? 

 

And, then what is the church’s role in all of this?  Many would say that we have no role in it except to give to help those in need.  That’s great.  I have no problem with that.  But what happens when my faith calls for more than just being kind—it calls me to be just.  I think the church is also called to a prophetic role of living Jesus ‘Upside-Down Kingdom’ (Thanks to Donald Krabill for that description).  Somehow the church has got to find a way to really make a difference in our communities—a difference that models God’s Kingdom, that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.