Miscellanea From This WeeK, Mostly Religious

I am getting ready to disappear off the face of the earth. I will be... Lost... for the next few days or so. If you didn't catch that, I will be watching season 2 of Lost. I plan to try renting them at blockbuster. If this fails I may break down and sign up for Netflix.

One of my heroes died. Not literally, just as a hero. Hank Hanigraff a.k.a. The Bible Answer Man. If you are not familiar he does a syndicated radio show answering call in questions. Mostly they are apologitic in nature. He also has written some apologitic books. I was first introduced to apologitics about seven years ago. The idea that you could give logical explinations for what you believe seemed amazing at the time. I ate up Hank, his show, The CR Journal, and other CRI material. Along with reading Ravi Z. books, Case for whatever books, and Norman G. Notice: I am intentionally not really giving you enough info to hunt these guys down. I suggest you just read the next two guys I talk about. Recently I have had some conversations, and read some stuff that basically is revamping my religious views. I have decided to grasp hold of the reality that we live in a postmodern world, and a modern way of thinking will not reach it. Also I listened to Hank for the first time yesterday in about a year, and god is he arrogant. He kept using phrases like "we believe, oblviously the Bible says" to people. Obviously the Bible does read like an instruction manual Hank, and that is why we all agree on what it says and have only one denomination. I just can't help but believe relationship is what reaches people. You know hanging out drinking wine and breaking bread together. I don't know why that sounds so familiar.

Also since I have become free to just be a friend, I seem to find myself in alot more conversations with strangers. I don't have that fear anymore of needing to prove God exists, or the accurace of the Bible. Two great conversation starters: My wedding band has two christian fish incircled by rope; A Trinity symbol necklace. Everyone wears a cross. So the Trinity symbol gets all kinds of attention.

I am also learning how to discuss theology just for the sake of hearing different views of God without the need to argue which is correct. A/theology is the concept I am trying to embrace. It has been introduced to me by Peter Rollins in his book How (Not) To Speak of God. He claims true theology is God's impact and revelation of himself on you. Not your interpretation of God. Although our a/theology is important it is not God. The problem with theology and holding on to tightly is that when confronted by the Messiah himself we say, "but you aren't God." To expand on Rollins, imagine God is a desert and an a/theological understanding of him is like an oasis, and inside that oasis is a large desert where different denominations have an oasis. With another large desert in each of these oasisses with oasisses for each church, and then another large desert with an oasis for you. But remember that is an oasis for each a/theological view, each denomination under that view, each church in that denomination, and then each individual in that church. To each of those oasisses, and to your individual one especially, Rollins says, "a desert of ignorance exists in every oasis of understanding." More to the point, even in the revealed Christ there is the hidden God. I will write more on this when I finish the book.

I said I would tell you about two guys, but I think I will save the other for a post all by himself. I am reading a book and watching videos by him. So it could get long, and my food could get cold.