religion

is religulous ridiculous?

ChelanLeave a comment

 …well, if ridiculous means full of ridicule, then i say, yes. bill mayher in his “search” for truth or an answer as to why people see a need for religion in general, has essencially made fun of, completely denied & demoralized not just Christianity, but all organized religions.

he’s snagged a director of comedy (larry charles, also of curb your enthusiasm, entourage and seinfeld) who shares the same views, & together they’ve made a movie which bill says is totally comedic – hysterical, actually, in nature. click here for an interview.

i have a strange feeling that people aren’t going to laugh like he thinks. yeah, they’re gonna go see it, because religion is controversial; but they’re gonna leave pissed off. according to an abcnews poll, 83% of americans claim to be Christian. and those who don’t (just 4%) are probably mormon (l.d.s.), muslim, buddhist, believe in scientology or atheism…which leaves 13% who claim to have no religion. so from an agnostic (those who claim they just don’t know, & for anyone to say they do know  or have faith in anything greater than oneself or believe in any kind of afterlife would be narrow minded & arrogant) viewpoint, it was a risky move making this film. it’ll most likely resonate well with 13% of americans. but it’ll get mayher what he wants (no, not real answers – not the truth, really, not even popularity)…but publicity & notoriety (which i know this post isn’t exactly helping). oh, & to rope fence-riders over to his way of thinking.

i say we (as a believing and faithful body) pray that through this experience of film making & searching, God reveals himself to bill in an undeniable, life-altering, tell the world kind of way.

if he did it with renowned author & former atheist, lee strobel (click here for strobel’s personal testimony /how his believing wife was instrumental), then this political satirist may very well be america’s next top spokesperson… a beacon of light & reformation for the glory of God. there is no lost cause. nothing is impossible.

what do you think?

 

James 1:26-27 (msg)  Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

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i’ll have religion with a side of guilt, please

Chelan4 Comments

last night was good. ricky & i talked and messed around and laughed til like 1am. i got to know him better. i love it when that happens. the next morning’s usually another story, but never told with regret.

we were talking about how God wants to engage with us, in a way. a way foreign to most people. and how people, espec. those like us who grew up in church w/the flanelboard Jesus stories, we don’t really get it. but i think i got a sliver more of it yesterday, if i could share: God isn’t cool with the whole pyramid analogy ~ Jesus 1st, others 2nd, & you last (“J.O.Y.”), a concept i always thought was so noble & humble & tried to achieve, but never could.

He’s not impressed when i goal myself to spend the 1st 20 minutes with him every day for the next week, before anything else. he may smile, but what he really wants Continue reading →

real-ationship

Chelan1 Comment

i was just thinking and thanking today – about how God wants to have a “down to earth” relationship with me. He created each of us to have a one-on-one intimate friendship, where we talk, back and forth. where we appreciate each others’ abilities and what sets us apart from everyone else. where our closeness leaves no room for pretense. where trust is the ripe fruit born of the tree of unconditional love.

i’m so glad that i don’t have to fake it with Him. even if i tried, he’d see right through my facade & call my bluff. i was worshiping today and i couldn’t stop the tears from dripping down my cheeks, darkening my satin blouse. i knew my mascara was messed up, my head felt like the woman’s from that nyquil commercial (trying to get over a cold) & i looked like i lacked 5 hrs of sleep, despite my hurried efforts to ‘paint the barn’. but when i got in the car with family waiting, at least my braylon said, “mommy, you look beautiful! your face does, but i like your hair when it’s down …and your shirt is so pretty. the sleeves go poofy out and then in & then out again like a princess.”  i don’t know if he was prompted to say any of that by another thoughtful guy…but i don’t care. it got the job done.

not long ago i messed up by not censoring (or even praying before i wrote & sent) an email to someone who barely knows me. how stupid was i. now this man’s judgment is clouded by my brutal unsolicited honesty and i’m sure he thinks of me as this or that…but you know, after apologizing, i just had to resign to the fact that i am who i am.

i look like this. i act like that. God, you deal with it, the good, bad & ugly. it doesn’t matter! look at me, naked in the noonday sun. i was made by you & for you…so give it to me straight. what needs changin’. what i think of myself means so little. what others think about me means even less. what solomon wrote in ecclesiastes is true…oh, and in the song, bohemian rhapsody…nothing really matters.

nothing… except a real relationship with my Creator. what he thinks of me is what matters. i can walk with him and talk with him and he tells me i am his own. Genesis 3:8 says, “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden, in the cool of the day:” oh, to be back in the Garden.

…but what so astounds me is that i can have closeness with him right here & right now… he wants it, like a loving father wants closeness with his child, interested in every aspect & accepting regardless of flaws.

i am amazed and humbled.