You know, I must write something about the movie “Stigmata” sometime: while I disagree with the Gnostic / pantheistic message that it preaches, there are also some really valid things that it brings up. The largest of which: that Jesus doesnt have to be found within the walls of a certain building, and that we dont need an intermediary between us and Him. We have direct acces to Jesus any time, any place. Now that is good to hear!
God is in this?
I was listening to a radio preacher the other night and he was talking about adversity. He kept saying that “God is in it”. He pointed out, quite rightly, that the God who made the universe is in control. If we’re going through stuiff it’s not because God was somehow carrying too much one day and a few nasty items slipped out of His arms and landed on us. Everything happens because it’s meant to happen, according to some larger and grander scheme that we are unaware of. The end conclusion that the preacher reached annoyed me though: at the end of the day we didnt ought to question of kick against things, merely suck it in and live with it. We shouldnt ask the tough questions, merely write it all off as being “part of the plan” and “a mystery to mere humans”. I didnt like that one bit.
I was raised to ask questions and I did a science / engineering degree that only intensified my quest. When things hurt I want to know why! I want some thread of hope to hang on to through the storm. I personally believe that God wont fall off His throne if we get angry and ask questions. He’s way bigger than we give Him credit for.
The other thing that the radio preacher said that simply got under my skin was that “God is in (whatever it was)”. Your car crashes, and yes, God was in that. You lose your job, and once again God was in that. The phraseology smacks of pantheism to me - the belief that God is intrinsically in the created order. The movie “Stigmata” takes that view with it’s famous revelation (according to the story, from Jesus), “The kingdom of God is in your heart. Break open a stone and I am there. Split a piece of wood and I am there”. There’s just something about saying “God is in _________” that gets under my skin and irritates me.
I understood waht the preacher was saying though, that whatever our circumstances, God is involved. Jesus promised, “Never will I leave you or forsake you”. The thought that God is in a situation doesnt stir me at all - it sounds WAY too passive - to say that God’s involved in things is much more exciting. I think it sits better with scriptures that say “all things work to the good of those that love God and are called according to His purposes”. Active involvement means that Jesus is not asleep in the prow of my boat as I hit the storm - He’s awake and imminently about to command the winds to be still. Active involvement means that Jesus has appeared in the upper room and is speaking “fear not” to my fear-ridden heart. Active involvement means that Jesus is not dead to me, that I’m not alone, and that the promise of aid is not empty.
Active involvement is what I want. I dont want God in my circumstanmces as an observer: if I am hurting I want Him involved and hurting right alongside me. I want the reality of a High Priest who understands because He is right now, going through things with me and has been through far worse already. That makes His promises real and powerful to my life.
PromoGuy’s Monday Mission 2.17
1. When was the last time you pampered yourself?
Never.
2. When was the last time someone pampered you?
Alison cooked me a really tasty pot-roast. That made me feel pampered.
3. Describe the last time you recall really feeling loved (other than from children or pets).
Hmmm. See “pot roast” (above)
4. Has your use of the computer ever caused any arguments? What’s the story there?
Do the math: two complete internet junkies who both want to obsessively check their email and write blog entries. How / when could that not cause arguments. That’s why DSL and internet connection sharing is a really GOOD idea!
5. What’s the most embarrassing thing your Mom ever did?
I dont have a “Mom”, I have a “Mum” or even a “Mother”. In fact, she’s more often “Mother” when she does something embarassing - you know the tone of voice to use, dont you!
6. I’ve met some adults who’ve never learned to swim, and others who never learned how to ride a bike.. Is there anything that you never learned as a child that you probably should have?
Drink hot drinks. I cant stand them today … coffee, tea, hot chocolate, anything. People think I am a Mormon or some other bizarre religious cult for not drinking them, until they see my intake of Jolt / Mountain Dew / Coca Cola / etc.
7. “Someone” once said, a picture is worth a thousand words. Post an image that says more than words. Or instead, describe a picture you recall which touched your heart.
I’ll scan it after we unearth the scanner, it’s boxed and ready to move somewhere…
BONUS: What’s love got to do with it?
A second-hand emotion, after all. There again, love has everything to do with it: it was love that motivated the greatest self-sacrifice of history. “God so loved the world (yep, that means you) that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but inherit eternal life”. Actualy, a particular favourite about love is from the book of Romans:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Interesting - the bible notes I use spoke about prayer. Since we break projects down into bite-sized pieces in the rest of life, we should apply the same logic in prayer. Instead of praying world-encompassing prayers we should look at the principle of what we’re praying for and apply it in the world around us. No big deal there, it seems like common sense to me, the big thing was that the bible-in-a-year reading program took me to Luke 20:45-47:
While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples,“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.
They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.”
Double whammy on prayer then: shoot for local sized prayer projects and keep the prayers simple and to the point. Pray them like you mean them, and dont do it for show.
They say there are 2 groups of people: those who talk when they have something to say, and those who talk until they have something to say. Naturally I fall into the former camp, my words are few to the point I might seem standoffish and insular. The challenge for me is in prayer: I find that I pray until I have something to say …. silence hurts …. I need to slow down the stream of words. Keep things simple.
Let My Words Be Few
by Matt & Beth RedmanYou are God in heaven
And here am I on earth
So I’ll let my words be few
Jesus, I am so in love with YouAnd I’ll stand in awe of You, Jesus
Yes, I’ll stand in awe of You
And I’ll let my words be few
Jesus, I am so in love with YouThe simplest of all love songs
I want to bring to You
So I’ll let my words be few
Jesus, I am so in love with You©2000 Kingsway / Thankyou Music
Our pastor used a great illustration this weekend. He said, “imagine we’re all cars, created for a particular purpose in life. Sin is the inevitable car-crash that puts us, as cars, onto the scrap heap. God bought us at a great price (His Son) from the scrap-yard - Salvation - but the process of sanctification occurs over time and is more like He’s beating the dents out of us“.
It really resonated with me, anyone else feel that way?
Monday morning seems to be so mundane. Boring even, and it’s only 8:30am!
The expected email asking “Three most significant accomplishments last week and Three most significant projects for the up comming week.” has arrived. Problem is, my biggest accomplishment was closing on “mock tudor” last Friday. Next most significant was the cleaning work that we accomplished. Somehow I dont think the boss will swallow that. As for work, last week was something of a wash-out. **sigh** I already stuggle enough with feeling like I dont work hard enough & dont perform well enough … this feels like the avatar of my fears, the personification of worry come to deliver the note saying “you’re fired”. My rational mind says it’s not true, that I am valued, but emotions are at war with that sentiment.
Monday morning status reports suck. 
(Sitting cross-legged on the floor, the laptop on an upturned cardboard box, connecting over what feels like an intolerably slow dialup connection)
A late Friday Five
1. What are your hobbies?
I read a lot of sci-fi, and write computer software for fun. Computer games (real-time strategy mostly) help relax me but I’ve not had the time for them recently.
2. Do you collect anything? If so, what?
As they’re released I’ve been keeping an eye open for the new state quarters. I make sure to make frequent trips to the soda machine and feed it dollar bills. That, or feed $10 or $5 into the change machine and see what I get.
3. Is there a hobby you’re interested in, but just don’t have the time/money to do?
Scuba diving … but I live in the midwest about as far as you cant GET from the ocean. *cries*
4. Have you ever turned a hobby into a moneymaking opportunity?
Programming and computer stuff was my hobby growing up and now I’m an IT consultant. Gotta love taking the thing you enjoy and finding a way to be paid $$$$’s for it! 
5. Besides web-related stuff (burbs, rings, etc.), what clubs do you belong to?
There’s a loose group that meets at one of the local bookstores called the “dead theologians society”. Great fun. We meet a couple of times a month and share thoughts about a piece of faith-based writing - a book, part of the bible, or something.
Now, why is the blog entry late? Why am I sat on the floor? Why can I listen to Vanessa Mae’s “Violin player” CD with the su-woofer fully connected and running without complaints? Simply: we’ve begun the process of moving into the newly purchased “mock tudor”. Woo hoo!!!
Before I ever moved to St Louis, someone told me that the city was famous for “its jazz and its bar-B-que”. The jazz is something I have yet to discover but they werent joking about the BBQ. There’s really something special about the food at Super Smokers … but the real winner is Bandana’s BBQ. They have locations all over the St Louis area!
Someone near me just arrived back in the office with his lunch. The smell of the food brought back memories and I am now craving a Cornish Pasty. Not fair! I’m about 4200 miles away from the nearest one!
This is really unfortunate. I have a co-worker that is in and out of the office. While he’s in the office, he talks loud enough for multiple people outside of his office to hear him. I dont know about anyone else, but he’s setting off a large, loud blip on my “gaydar“. A freind remarked about a certain TV presenter (on PBS?) that he’s “as camp as a row of pink tents” … and this co-worker of mine is getting there too.
I just read a really challenging essay :
Killing the biggest myth of web design
By Derek M. PowazekAfter all, if you stand in front of a room and tell everyone that no one reads what you write online, maybe the problem isn’t with the users or the medium. Maybe you’re just not saying anything interesting.
I started out annoyed with him, disagreeing with him, and by the end deeply challenged by that very same disagreement and annoyance.