Act's Of God

How do I know that God really acted?

That has been a question bouncing around my mind for the past few months. I suppose it started after I completed two personal discovery projects. One was the Disc personality survey (I am a dominant, creative type if you where curious) and the other was the NCD spiritual gifts test. As I was filling out the latter my mind wondered to the question, what would happen if an atheist or some other non-Christian were to fill out the NCD spiritual gifts test? Given the way it was written I was led to conclude that if a non-Christian took the test it would indicate that they had some spiritual gifts.

Which lead to to wonder;

How do I know if my desire to do something is God's prompting or if it is my own personality?

How do I know what I felt, or saw, or experienced was God and not something else?

Have you ever wondered the same?

Sometimes I wonder if I am a Christian sceptic.

Dinosaur Pee

I remember being in grade school and learning about the water cycle. We were taught the the earth has a closed system, and no new water is introduced. Therefore all rain is water that has evaporated, raised into the sky, cooled to form water vapour, condensed, and then falls back down to the ground.

However there is one in every class. You know the person I mean , the one who connects odd things together and asks strange questions. I won't lie I have often been that person, but not this time. Someone, I don't remember who asked the question; 'is the water we are drinking dinosaur pee?'

My teacher was somewhat taken back but after she thought about it for a moment she sheepishly agreed that yes the water we drink, cook with, and bath in, was at one time dinosaur pee. And as it turns out the American Water Resources Association agrees (sort of).

So it's true! We are in fact drinking dinosaur pee.

Reflective Inaction

Do you want to know what one of my pet peeves is? (Other than the ones I outlined what feels like ages ago) To date my current biggest pet peeve is unreflective action (followed very closely by unreflective speaking). That is in fact my biggest concern with the Missional Church movement. I don't like loose ends, or uncertainties, or otherwise sloppy thinking. I want to understand why we ought to be doing something, and what the goal it is supposed to achieve.

I really do believe that getting your thinking right precedes getting your actions right. Or more simply put I think wrong thinking leads to wrong acting. However I am feeling very convicted right now having spent the afternoon in study and reflection.

Right now I am feeling convicted about my reflective inaction.

Freedom

In Mere Christianity C.S.Lewis warned us about elevating one virtue or characteristic too high**. His example was love, an apt one for the time he wrote in, and in many ways an apt one of our time as well. However if I had to guess I would say our current cultural's most preferred virtue, the thing that we are told must be protected at all cost is; freedom.

It is my belief that we are beginning to see the disastrous affects of making freedom the unquestionable, unassailable virtue that all other virtues, laws and desires must bow to. Not to put to fine a point on it but I believe our cultures quest for ultimate freedom will doom us.

Honestly Trying

While I was on vacation I tried to read Craig Groeschel's book, 'Confessions of a Pastor'. I won't lie I only made it through the first two chapters. Now this is not to say that it is a bad book, just that I didn't care for it. Never the less the premise of the book still intrigues me.

The idea Groeschel put out there was that all Christians, especially pastors needed to drop the pose, or the mystique as he calls it. Instead he claims we all ought to live a far more honest and transparent life. Honest about our failing, and transparent about our struggles.

All and all I am for this. But as I was reading what little I did I found myself wondering something; Groeschel seems to be saying that our less transparent, more mystique filled lives are fake. I am not sure that is always the case.

Why Doing Good And Being Good Won't Be Good Enough

My titled may have caught you off guard. It may have made you feel defensive. In fact you may have come here to argue with me. All of that is fine. But before we get to far down the rabbit hole let me start off by saying I believe in my heart of hearts that Christians have to Live Justly and Relate Purely. You will no doubt notice they are 2/6 of my page headings.

So when I say doing good and being good won't be good enough, I really do mean they are good things that we ought to be doing but in of themselves they are not enough to sustain the church, or disciple people.

So with that being said, please hear me out and then by all means argue with me in the comment section.