Posts Tagged ‘Study’

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Twisting Scripture To Fit Our Ideas

August 29, 2014

It is not a new idea–picking out phrases from Spiritual writing and twisting them to suit an individual’s point of view.

I remember reading John Calhoun and other early 19th century writers using Scripture to justify slavery and treating black people as not human. Just so, there are people still today who do the same thing regarding women. That would be Christians–not just Muslims.

But way back in the beginning of our faith, Peter writing to the churches says

So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.

Peter calls these people “ignorant” and “unstable.” He has been criticizing those who perverted the teachings by preaching a gospel of sexual license and straying from holiness and the teaching of Jesus.

Peter says that we should wait out the coming of the new heaven and new earth while striving to be found by God to be at peace, without spot or blemish.

Like I said yesterday, my rather superficial reading of Paul in my youth led me to conclusions that were wrong. I am blessed with a personality that enables me to change when I discover new facts. I’ve learned much more about Paul and discovered he has much to teach us.

Just quit picking up odd phrases and building a theology and political philosophy around them. Paul says we are all equal before God–equally sinners and equally provided grace if we should so choose.

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Seek Out Advisors

August 13, 2014

If you are the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.

Yesterday afternoon I was at a table in the local Tim Horton’s drinking my tea and researching for an article. A couple of young women were talking at the table beside me. One of them had a problem, and I guess I looked sympathetic or something. So, they turned and asked my “advice” about it. They are college students making major decisions and buffeted by conflicting desires and forces.

Then they told me they were “Millennials”. I never get a chance to talk with that demographic (as marketers would call it), so I asked what defined a Millennial. And I learned something.

My orientation toward life is one of always trying to learn something new. And I’m interested in a lot of things. In this case, these young women were smarter than I about what it means to be 20 today. And they were articulate. In fact, they seemed normal in every way, but they blew away the stereotype. Just giving them the ability to be heard allowed them to teach me things.

The phrase I opened with has popped up in a couple of leadership books I have read recently. It makes a lot of sense.

Do you know everything? Or, try to show everyone that you know everything?

Has that ever cost you the chance to learn something new?

Do you surround yourself with people who can’t (or won’t) teach you anything new?

I attend a small study group early Tuesday mornings when I’m in town. Every one of the men in the group has a different education and strength. After an hour of discussing the book we’re reading, I come away with many new insights.

One of those twisted phrases attributed to baseball player and coach Yogi Berra goes, “You can hear a lot just by listening.”

He was right. Surround yourself with people smarter than you and then listen to them.

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Cause and Effect

August 1, 2014

If…Then…Else

This is a basic statement in computer programming. It is also a basic statement in life.

On a machine in a factory, for example, I could tell the controller “If switch A turns on, Then start the motor, Else remain in wait mode.”

But there is a universal Law of life.

The old prophets of Israel can all be read as, “If you continue to do as you are doing, Then destruction will come, Else you can live with The Lord and be saved.”

Wisdom literature such as found in the book of Proverbs can be read, “If you do this, Then you are a fool, OR If you do that, then you are wise.”

This is the Universal Law of Cause and Effect. Or, as it was stated in the Bible, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”

Now, not all illnesses or calamities that strike people are caused by themselves. But an amazing amount of bad things happen to us because of our lifestyle choices. Many of the chronic diseases in America today are a direct result of things we do to ourselves–smoking, lack of exercise, unhealthy diet.

The Willow Creek Foundation did a study several years ago of more than 10,000 people. One question asked if the person had ever drifted from God. The follow-up question was, how did you return.

Those people all said they practiced some form of Spiritual Discipline–usually reading from the Bible every day.

As you sow…. If you rise early in the morning and spend at least 15 minutes reading spiritual and motivational material, especially the Bible, then you will change your life for the better.

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A Living Contradiction

July 24, 2014

When you think of the Apostle John, you know, the one who wrote a Gospel, three letters and an apocalypse, what is your vision?

Is he the messenger of love? Or a Son of Thunder?

John MacArthur wrote in his book on the apostles, Twelve Ordinary Men that John grew from a strong, opinionated, ambitious person to someone who could also embody the type of love Jesus pointed to.

MacArthur says that John learned to temper his passion for Truth (one of John’s favorite words) with Love (his other favorite word).

How often are we as young people, perhaps freshly educated (or semi-educated) from the university, so full of truth and ourselves that we just want to command everyone into the proper ways?

Then we grow up at some point in our lives and learn that this truth needs to be tempered by patience, empathy, joy, grace (love). Then we are a complete person.

John has always been my favorite, but not so much for either truth or love, but because he seemed the most “spiritual” whereas Peter seemed the most “practical” of the apostles. Paul also was more of a practical preacher than a spiritual teacher.

MacArthur rightly points out that being a walking contradiction is not a bad thing. Strongly defending truth yet showing love to our neighbor–they go together.

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Why Priests

July 21, 2014

The first time I took a deep dive into the book of Hebrews, I went about half-way in. Then something just didn’t sound right. So, I went back to the beginning and pulled out a copy of the book (or essay or whatever, it’s definitely not a letter) and read it along with the author of the exegesis. I thought, what in the world is this guy reading? Closed the book and never read another work by Hal Lindsey–one of the major proponents of knowledge of the secrets of the end of time.

I wrote a post about Why Priests? by Garry Wills a few weeks ago. This is a much better exegesis of the Hebrews. It is researched, scholarly yet readable (we’ll see if my wife makes it through–the test for readability) and well thought through. Not the least of which is that Wills seems to be Augustinian at the core–as am I.

Read this book if you are drawn to deeper understanding of the Bible. I like these works that stretch my thinking and increase my knowledge.

The thing is, I also have never considered priests or ministers as some sort of super-humans with some mysterious power. Every time I considered going to a seminary, I would think through and consider the curriculum and conclude that for the most part a seminary degree is just a ticket into a club. I’m with the the wit (was it Groucho Marx or Mark Twain?) who said “I wouldn’t join any club that would have me as a member.”

I think the model of church that is best for today combines the best of the Acts 2 house churches (small groups) with a combined larger church where you can hear the best of teachers and collectively provide service with much greater impact than a few people working alone. See Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Rick Warren and many others.

Find your group or groups. Search out good teaching. Study, pray, serve. Follow Jesus.

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Why Do We Feel The Need To Know the Future

April 24, 2014

Why is it that humans keep reaching for a sense of certainty in a life that has always been quite uncertain? We want to know the future. But even today’s most sophisticated computer models can’t tell us with certainty what the weather will be next week.

Even so, there are people who study the Bible looking for hints of the future. It gets so bad that there was a guy I heard about in the 70s who had figured out the size of the “New Jerusalem” and the cubic feet of gold as described in John’s Revelation and the weight of that amount of gold and multiplied by the price of gold to figure out the US Dollar value of that gold. I was so put off by how much that person (and the people who spouted that off as if it meant something) missed the spiritual point, that I still remember the episode.

I didn’t want to write about Revelation. But the small study group I attend is still in the book. It’s still on my mind.

There are many interpretations of the meaning of the writing. Several interpretations hold that it is an actual description of historical events to come. Even though God is explicit in his condemnation of fortune telling–predicting the future. (My interpretation, picked up from some of the early Church Fathers–who, by the way didn’t agree not only on the interpretation of the book but on whether to even include it in the official canon for teaching–is that it “describes” events that have already happened. Its focus is on the horrors of Rome, the destruction of the Temple, and how God’s people will triumph because God has already won the war.)

Don’t bother trying to argue the points with me. I don’t care. Someone in the group asked why our church doesn’t teach from the book. Well, I don’t teach from it. I can understand others.

The purpose of study is to learn how to live a life that’s pleasing to God–the with-God life. If a writing is so open to conjecture and argument, how can we learn from it? Paul condemned idle argumentation. I go with him.

Jesus said, “Follow me.” He said the Kingdom of God was there. I’m with him.

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Tricks Our Minds Play on Us

April 2, 2014

Why is it that we hold some beliefs so firmly in the face of overwhelming evidence against them?

I notice this in religion, where people are convinced of the truth of a passage in the Bible, except that there is no such passage. Take a look at political discourse, that is, if you can with a measure of objectivity. Mostly it’s just a parroting of a mixture of opinion and fact–usually with precious little fact–held firmly as fact.

Pondering this question years ago led me to study brain science–at least from the standpoint of an educated layperson. My favorite works were by Antonio D’Amasio.

The current book open on my Kindle reader is Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova. One chapter on deductive reasoning really delves into findings on how our brain tricks us. It is well known in many circles that the mind will believe anything we tell it to believe. Well, it can also tell us we saw something that we never saw with our eyes. It is now legendary in legal trial circles that the worst evidence is eyewitness evidence.

I try to remember this research often as I trust my memory. Sometimes the memory is good. I interview many people for my day job. I’ve only had one instance where I misquoted the intent of my source in the past 16 years.

The secret is focus, paying close attention to the speaker, concentrating. The conversation comes back with only a few notes for important points.

There are things that happen where you didn’t have such focus. You thought you read it, when maybe you only heard it somewhere. You thought you saw the incident, when maybe your attention was elsewhere and only diverted over to the incident and then returned.

This means that we need to intentionally sharpen our awareness of what is around us. Be mindful of what we see, do and read. Go back and read again. Question our assumptions and test them.

Live with intention, not as if in a dream.

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How Did You Get Where You Are

March 31, 2014

Are you doing now what you thought you’d be when you started out?

I loved science as a kid. Electronics, especially, fascinated me. I learned about circuits. I learned math that was way beyond what they were teaching in school. Enough so, that I always tested well in standardized tests on math. I learned a lot of science that is still with me.

This was all outside of school. I think I learned some things in school, but to this day most of my education is outside the walls of Academe. (Note to educators 😉

Writing always had an attraction to me. So, after working in engineering-related jobs for many years, I started writing (which requires thinking, by the way).

Jesus, John, Peter and the rest of the original group must have been somewhat similar. They were very smart, and they knew a lot. But several times in the Gospel accounts they are referred to as “uneducated.” I think that is because they were educated outside of the “Ivy League” of the day. They weren’t part of the establishment.

As an aside, I looked into studying in a seminary a long time ago. It wasn’t attractive. The course of study was weird to me. And, I viewed it as just an apprenticeship toward getting into the “club” so to speak–being an official pastor. Not an attractive option to me then–or now.

Take a look at John, whose Gospel I’m studying right now. He wrote in Greek. His logic is somewhat complex. I think the same person wrote the Gospel, the three letters and the Revelation because the logic is the same and the vision is consistent–although you can see growth.

John probably came from a wealthy family. Learned the family trade of fishing. Became an intimate disciple of Jesus. Became a leader of the early movement. Probably Peter being the organizer and John being the intellectual visionary. Then he moved to Ephesus and taught a community. Was exiled to an island. And became a writer.

I think what John did was a mixture of intentionally learning and following the proddings of God. I think that’s how I’ve wound up where I am.

So, how did you get where you are? There is, of course, still time to follow the little whispers of God suggesting things you should be learning and doing.

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Three Types of Focus

March 21, 2014

Can you maintain focus long enough to read a book in the Bible? A chapter? A story? Can you read a book?

Many people feel that a combination of today’s information deluge and our attachment to the instant gratification of smart phones with email, Facebook, Twitter, and so on are ruining us of our ability to sustain focus on a task.

This problem can affect relationships, career, and a living a good life.

My current reading is Daniel Goleman’s Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. You may have heard of Goleman through a previous book, Emotional Intelligence. If you have not read that one, grab it today.

Focus can be described as placing one’s attention on one task/event. When you are at a reception and talking to someone, do you focus on them? Or on everything else? Or have an urge to pull out the old iPhone and check for texts?

Focus affects ability to study, pray, even worship.

Goleman says that leaders especially, and everyone eventually, need to cultivate three types of focus.

  • Inner–keeping you in touch with intuition, values, reflection, making better decisions
  • Other–building relationships with others, connecting with others, being aware of other people
  • Outer–lets us navigate in the greater world around us

As that Star Wars Sage, Yoda, says, “Your focus is your reality.”

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Watching and Overcoming Your Emotions

March 20, 2014

I am carrying an idea that I need to lose 10 lbs. People look at me and ask why, but I am at the top of “good” on the Body Mass Index. I think I’d be healthier if I were down in the middle–or about 10 lbs. lighter.

I make poor food choices at times and get lazy at the gym and drop to a brisk walk rather than run. The problem is really me. Like many people, I look for shortcuts. I used to drink an herbaI concoction called BrainTonIQ that was supposed to enhance brain functions and banish what the Desert Fathers called the “noon day demon” or that lethergy after lunch. The company developed TrimTonIQ that was supposed to promote weight loss. It is herbal, but that does not mean harmless.

My body started feeling different at times. What I really noticed was feelings almost like paranoia–people were against me. (Heck, maybe they really were, but that’s beside the point.) It was more akin to anxiety attacks.

I read a blog post recently about ways to start your morning like successful people do. The writer suggested one thing is to journal. In this way you think about feelings. That’s a good thing to do. You don’t need Freud or Jung or James. The Desert Fathers discovered much during their times of solitude the first two centuries after the founding of the Christian church.

They recognized that feelings can interfere with a Spiritual life. They categorized them. Arranged them into hierarchies. They talked about how to put them behind you so that you could concentrate on God.

I don’t remember what I was reading and taking notes on when it occurred to me what was going on. Immediately my mind went to diet. What had changed. Ah, the tonic. I poured out close to $50 worth of the stuff right then. Down the drain.

I know people whose emotions have been stirred by medications. I know people who just live mired in their emotions. I get lost into emotion at times. After all, it is a physical/mental response of the body.

Do as the Desert Fathers taught. Find space to contemplate what is going on in your self. What feelings have changed? What feelings are dominant. Are they interfering with prayer, study, meditation and relationships? Find the cause. Overcome emotions in order to truly live in the Spirit of God.

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