All tagged suffering
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!
A common adage, "the church always does better when she's persecuted," stems from Tertullian, "the blood of the martyrs is the seeds of the church." Yet, if we study history is that even true? Was that true under the Romans? Under Muslims? Under Soviet Marxists? And then, why? Why do I care? Or why do I prefer to say to those in favor of Christian suffering, "you first!"?
This episode: my reflections on the state of the election; ancient Jewish wisdom about friendships; and how most things in life change. On the latter I explore incrementalism regarding ourselves as individuals and then about families and nations. We tend to assess the big events and ignore the little ones, when it is the small things that really add up.
Spirituality means a kazillion diverse things today. But in the bible there are specific ways of framing what spirituality means. Variously the doctrines of creation, eschatology, and incarnation reveal what spirituality looks like through godly lenses. It's time for believers to process more biblically and less Gnostically on this important topic.
Society teaches us that our emotional state is of supreme importance. How does that compare with the Christian way of life? To make the point I tell three of my life-changing stories. How had God re-directed my own path? I also offer some immediate post-election reflections. Come, think and laugh with me.
The common human tendency is to fashion God or the gods in our own image. The Bible calls that tendency idolatry. How did the ancients work idolatry? How do we today? But if we study nature, the circle of life, what does it show us about God? What, for instance, might we learn from observing bees? Or, what might we learn by studying Michelangelo's David?
We here in America are witnessing an energetic push for cultural revolution. But it is not new. It's happened before. What lessons can we draw from Russia, a land that had been suffused with Christian values? What did Marxism and its culture change do the Russian church? What was the decided strategy for undoing and replacing the church? What should critically minded believers learn from all that?
Creation echoes and mirrors God's own self. How is that so? I work through dynamics like finding meaning, reality versus thin copies, community, patterns, ecology, unity, diversity, and beauty. Building from the theological concept of panentheism I show what a mystery, a beautiful mystery, everything in life is. Nothing is eliminated by virtue of its group or species. So amazing!
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?!
