All tagged control
None of us approaches evil, pain, or suffering in neutral. We all do that through our pre-existing biases, pre-loaded perspectives. Across the Church what are four of the major positions on suffering? What is important to remember in showing mercy to those who are suffering? I also have a contemporary reflection related to the movie 300. Come and think carefully with me.
Why do we suffer? Is God punishing us? Did we deserve it? Does the book of Job teach us the law of karma? In this show I look at Job in its historic context to see what it is teaching us about suffering, life, and God himself. Why does God teach Job about the monsters Behemoth and Leviathan? I also discuss why my show is subversive in Christ. Come laugh and think with me!
When I was in the seventh grade I was bullied by a bigger, taller eighth grader. What'd I learn? What do psychologists tell us about the mindset, the neediness, of bullies? What do most insightful websites say to do regarding bullies? What does that mean for Christian life and faith? Come laugh and think with me.
2020 will go down in infamy. What on earth is going on? I work through 47 frequently-humorous ironies from 2020 to point out how absurd life is becoming in America. In the show's beginning I also mention why I left a tenured professor position and whether I buy the "great global reset" conspiracy theories. What do the forces of darkness want out of all this?
We can learn through different mediums. Herein we examine two preeminent paintings from history: Luca Signorelli's "Anti-Christ" and Andrei Rublev's "Trinity." What insights do these two geniuses show us about human nature, about reality, about our mysterious God? Furthermore, what do these two painters, each of whom lived over 500 years ago, tell us about our current national crisis?
Life is a matter of frequency, of attunement, of stimmung (in German). How we attune ourselves, how we tune our frequency, greatly determines the quality of our lives. What kinds of things have entered the American frequency that have cloyed both a biblical and an American understanding of freedom? What Beatles song do I sing to make my point? Come think and laugh with me.
In John 15 Jesus commands us to abide in him. What does that mean? Talking with Josh Houston, author of The Abiding Life, we work through what it means to be a disciple and abide in Christ. What crisis led to Josh writing his book? How does American culture press down upon Christian discipleship? Why do I wish I had a spiritual mentor? And what does that even mean? How do the three centers of human wiring—Control, Security, and Esteem—play into our walk with Christ? This is good and intimate reflection!
We've been mandated to swallow a societal vaccine. What are some of the trade-offs involved? How is the topic of worldview involved? What is some of the collateral damage involved? Might the required vaccine actually be worse than the disease? How so? I tell a joke and sing a song and try to think out loud with you about questions I'm not much hearing in public. Come, think and reason with me.
If you're like me, you get frustrated when God doesn't answer your prayers the way you want him to. Even when you're praying sincerely and regularly, nothing seems to be happening. Why is that? What kind of microcosmic and macrocosmic factors play into that? Is God indifferent? Is he unable? I also address the question of whether prayer is control. And along the way I discuss how I use the Lord's Prayer in my own prayer life. Come, laugh and think with me!
What's the difference between a cult and a sect? Why do Mormons have more faith than I do? What about their faith is spurious, from a historical perspective? What is Platonic about their eschatology? What does Mormon faith do to the preeminence of Christ? And, why am I personally conflicted about the Church of Latter Day Saints?
Per Buddha and Jesus, respectively, what is the central problem confronting humanity? How do each of them perceive reality? What did each of them teach we should do to solve our problems? How alike are they? And, instead of demonizing other religions, why do I respect other religions? And if they were in a UFC fight who would win, Jesus or Buddha?!
What did Paul teach about hell? Or did he at all? Did he, instead, promote universalism: that all will be saved in the end, no matter what? What is the constant basis for universalism? How do we process salvation in light of a first century Jewish mentality? How do Modernism and the human desire for mastery go hand-in-hand? What do I think about people who have bright lime-green hair?
Life is both beautiful and interspersed with pain. How should we process the latter? How might Christians process intense pain? Is God causing everything? Does prayer matter? What about mercy ministry to those enduring intense pain? How does gratitude help? What kinds of things should we say and not say to those with intense pain? I worked through these kinds of questions following major back surgery.
