Weethee's Words

Sin

2009-06-09T00:49:00.003-04:00

Let's imagine that we as humans do have the ability to stop sinning. If that was so, what is it that would be holding us back? Maybe we like the pleasures of the flesh, perhaps we just don't know how to do the "right" thing.

What if the real reason is because we cannot fathom the totality of God's love for us? How does God really feel about us? His love was so great that he sent his son to die for our sins. Even to human standards that is an example of a very deep love. If we were able to realize the depth of the love that God has for us, would we continue to sin? Is God's love one more thing we can't fully comprehend, which thus prevents us from having a very deep connection with God?

Pastor takes in convicted murderer.

2009-03-26T22:53:00.002-04:00

Original Story

This is such a difficult situation, and initially I want to join the protesters and point the finger. But from what I conclude this is exactly what Christ would have done. I think it's outrageous that people are threatening to "burn down the house". I tossed this story around in my head, I feel for the families that constantly live in fear because of this man and his past. At the same time, my heart breaks for the family that has offered their home to him out of love and now they are getting spat on for it. According to Good Morning America, Guay goes to the basement during the protests and sits to pray. This action is so reminiscent of when Christ would escape to a quiet place and come to his Father in prayer. I can only hope and pray for peace in the lives of those who are involved in this situation.

Prayer for today

2009-03-24T15:19:00.002-04:00

"Yet not as I will, but as you will"

An "Unknowing" of God

2009-03-23T22:38:00.004-04:00

I love my Bible classes at school, but my mind is constantly going of on theological tangents. Today we began critiquing Christian Theism, it is so beneficial to step into the shoes of the skeptics. That's a whole different matter.

We had to choose categories in which we thought others would attack the argument for Christian Theism. A couple that I selected were the both man and divine nature of Christ and the Trinity.

Christians use the law of non-contradiction to support their argument for absolute truth. A square is either a square or non-square. A square cannot be both a square and a non-square. Christians would argue truth must be either the truth or non-truth.

If we apply the law of non-contradiction to Christ we meet some difficulties. Christ was both man and God. This presents a conflict with the law of non-contradiction. What are we to do as Christians with this conflict? I think this is a prime example of how limited and finite human logic and understanding is. We try to back God into a box where we can understand him and his ways, but he always evades us. We cannot comprehend God, and the prime example of God's nature that we do have to look to (Jesus Christ) is confusing to us as well. I feel like more and more that humans we can be in a personal relationship with God, but we really are never aware of his attributes.

From what little I've read on apophatic theology, I understand it like this: we make negative statements such as God is not evil instead of saying God is good. When we state that God is good we are limiting Him to the human conceptions of good, God goes above and beyond these. How then can we say that God is not evil? I think of it like this, humans are evil in relation to God. We are sinful, depraved beings. I don't feel like we're all just horrible people, but in relation to God we are. We know evil because we are evil, we can declare that God is not like us, he is not evil. Can this apophatic theology apply to all aspects of God?

Mind Struggle

2009-03-20T23:28:00.002-04:00

I am constantly turning ideas around in my head that are usually rather insignificant. I can't help it, I don't easily accept ideas or ways of thought.

I wish I could be a "simple" Christian and not concern myself so much over Theology, or what I really believe at a deeper level.

At the very same time, I absolutely love it, I love to think and I love to learn new things. I love discussion with people on these subjects and I am so grateful to have Janelle who will not only listen to me but also engage me in discussion.

Thank you for my mind and the gift of thought.

Thank you for your ever present love, your ever present grace and your ever present peace.

the lines, the shapes

2009-02-22T22:14:00.000-05:00

I love the lines of your face, although they may seem relatively simplistic they create the most beautiful face that I've ever seen.
I love the shapes of your face, although these shapes may be similar to anyone else, they create a most beautiful composition.
I love the exterior, although the interior is much better. I enjoy living on the interior of my home, it suits me much better than staring at the exterior. I enjoy living in your personality and enjoying its every aspect!

The mystery that is God

2009-02-08T09:33:00.003-05:00

Transforming Theology is hosting a conference soon with some of the top theologians. Although they're bringing these guys in that have years of schooling, they want us, as in the "normal" people to post our most pressing God question on our blogs.

I love theology, I love philosophy and I know so very little. As I read more and more, I realize more and more that no one really has the answers to some of the biggest theological questions. We can debate and bicker back and forth, but honestly we can never be 100% sure, this is what I find so beautiful about the Christian faith.

People will often discuss the nature of God, and this is troubling for me. How can we as humans define divinity by human standards? Of course, we do have Christ to look at, but Christ was fully God and fully man something we can't understand either. Is God militant like we see in the Old Testament, or is he more like Christ: compassionate and caring. So I guess my ultimate question is: How can we emulate God, when it seems that we know very little about him?

Nature vs. Nurture according to Spirituality

2009-01-28T20:47:00.002-05:00

The classic "Nature vs. Nurture" has presented itself twice this week. Is our knowledge innate, or are we a blank slate that is constantly be inscribed upon from the time of birth?

This is a tough argument to asses, but we can easily relate it back to our Spirituality. We are born Spiritual beings, all humans are Spiritual beings. Although we were born Spiritual, our Spirituality begins to grow and change as we age. After we are born, nature is shoved aside by nurture. We begin to find our interests, our relationship with God and relationships with others. Ultimately, it does not matter where we come from, it only matters where we go. We can't focus on the nature, but we must looked ahead to the nurture and being to grow.

prayer for today

2009-01-22T23:30:00.000-05:00

Give me love that will extend beyond myself and those that are easy to love. Give me a love the goes to the people that I cannot show love on my own. Ironically the love I need from you God is the love for your own people. Love for those in the church that I feel have wronged me. Provide me with a deeper understanding of what love really is; help me not only to understand love but embody the love of Christ.

Separation

2009-01-17T01:19:00.000-05:00

Everyday in my bible class we get five minutes to ourselves to pray, write, meditate or read. It's an open five minutes that we can choose to use in any spiritual manner. I've been using my time to reflect on my day and write prayers. Writing helps me to work out my thoughts and often times figure out what's really going on in my head. I recently wrote a prayer about my sinful nature. As Christians we are presented with a real challenge, to be holy without being holy. In other words we should show the love of Christ and follow his commandments, but often times we begin to take on an attitude of "holier than thou". This is a real challenge for us as Christians. By nature we compare things, specifically humans. We look at the lives of some such as Ghandi or Mother Teresa and talk about the wonderful things they did. Just as we can find the wonderful things in those people we can find the horrible things found inside such people as Hitler or Stalin. This is a major downfall for humans. In this comparison is our hindrance to true growth in Christ. We become obsessed with comparing ourselves to people, and we in turn hurt our chances of being able to grow.
Although I wish to be more like Christ, I know realistically I'll never fully become like him. I pray that I never forget the realness that is my sin. And I pray I never forget the separation between God and I, because in that separation is a journey and walk with Him that I would have never been able to experience otherwise.

Plato

2009-01-10T21:23:00.002-05:00

I recently picked up a copy of "The Republic" by Plato. It has been a rather interesting read so far, but it wasn't written in the style that I had expected. The book is set up as a conversation between numerous men including Socrates, Glaucon and Thrasymachus. I came to a point in the book where Thrasymachus finally speaks up and yells at Socrates for his reasoning.

His words are as follows:

"What idiocy is this Socrates? Why do the two of you behave like dolts, solemnly deferring to each other's vacuous notions? If you really want to know what justice is, you should be able not only to ask the question but also to answer it. You should not try to score points simply by refuting your opponent's efforts; you ought to provide your own definition. After all, there are many who ask but cannot answer.

Thrasymachus presents a valid point to us, and by us I mean Christians. So often we find ourselves asking tough questions, and they usually relate back to God. We can easily refute our "opponents" ideas, but we often can't provide our own ideas in return. We focus too heavily on why everyone else is wrong, and not enough on why we are right.

There's a lack of thought in the Church. We've let others think for us for far too long. Pastors, teachers, counselors and other mentor-types can provide us with a wealth of knowledge. That's where the search for knowledge stops. It's easy for us to just accept, to not look into things or figure it out for ourselves. Instead of this easy acceptance we should be looking to numerous sources, including the Bible. Many Christians seem to have lost the deep thought processes that enable us to define what we believe. We have to be able to answer the questions for ourselves. If we can't answer our own questions, how will we be able to address the questions of other inquiring minds?

Questions of Morality

2008-11-13T22:04:00.002-05:00

When does the knowledge from right and wrong begin? Does it begin at birth? Do we come out of the womb with an understanding of right and wrong?

It's tough to imagine that as soon as we're born, we realize the difference between right and wrong. If we do realize what we're doing is wrong and therefore sinful, do we understand the consequences of our actions as well? It's tough to say whether we do or don't and it would seem there is no real way to figure it out, however, this study suggests otherwise. I read over the article briefly, and I didn't find a really solid yes or no.

"Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it: his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toys, his uncle’s watch, or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He’s dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free rein to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist." (Minnesota Crime Commission 1926)

This is another interesting view point, although this is going along with children are born with a knowledge of right and wrong I think its a bit too extreme. It seems like the answer to a lot of these "gray matter" questions is a delicate balance. Although I feel that children are born with an acute sense of right and wrong, I don't think their knowledge runs as deep as say an adult or teenager. I am definitely going to look more into this subject because I think its a pretty valid question, and one people often ask. Should the child that murdered his best friend be tried as an adult because he knows right from wrong? Should he be let off the hook because he's clearly just an innocent child? It's tough to say, especially in situations like that.

Prayer

2008-11-11T23:55:00.002-05:00

When we're playing during a chapel, its really cool to look out into the audience and see so many kids with so many different things going on. Today as we were playing a song I began to pray for my peers, it was nothing special. Just a prayer that they could be real about their worship. The thing that is so amazing about worship is there's no real "right" way to do it. I'm more of a meditative worshipper, and more inward focusing. Others love to sing and dance and raise their hands. Even though they are both worshipping they still have identity within their worship.

Worship is an on going process, a journey with highs and lows in fellowship with God. As we make it a point to worship and prayer, our lives can become radically shaped for Christ.

praye

2008-11-11T23:55:00.001-05:00

Photography Today

2008-11-09T21:01:00.003-05:00

The Personal Nature Of God

2008-11-09T20:30:00.004-05:00

One of the most remarkable things I have been learning about God is how he personal he really is. You always here people in theology classes or churches talking about how Christ is personal. The personal nature of God has always been there, and I am beginning to experience it more and more everyday.

Peace flows to me in an over abundance from God in all situations, and this is how God personally relates to me. To one person He may be their source of hope, or source of strength. All of the qualities remain, but become more evident as our lives progress. God's character traits parallel our walk in life, as we encounter new situations and environments it's almost as if God makes certain aspects of his nature more accessible.

questioning

2008-11-05T23:28:00.000-05:00

I remember as a kid I never really questioned anything my parents told me to do, at least not usually. As I became a teenager I began to question any and everything possible. The questions I ask myself now as a teenager are a bit more difficult, and a lot more complex. Lately I've been questioning whether it's completely healthy to question everything. If we question norms accepted by the majority of society we may be ostracized by our communities and families. If we easily accept the statements that other people make, are we at risk of not being accepted by the rest of the world? Should their be things that we just have to accept, no questions asked? Am I the only one that ponders bizarre things like this?

Torn Asunder

2008-11-02T19:03:00.004-05:00

"Among married born again Christians, 35% have experienced a divorce. That figure is identical to the outcome among married adults who are not born again: 35%." (According to barna.org)

"Although Bible scholars and teachers point out that Jesus taught that divorce was a sin unless adultery was involved, few Americans buy that notion. Only one out of every seven adults (15%) strongly agreed with the statement "when a couple gets divorced without one of them having committed adultery, they are committing a sin." A similar percentage (16%) moderately agreed with the statement. The vast majority - 66% - disagreed with the statement, most of them strongly dismissing the notion." (According to barna.org)

But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. (Matthew 5:32)

Today in church they played a video concerning the election, this makes sense considering it's two days away. Up until today the sermons had been centered around decision making, however, the pastor had done an excellent job of keeping the election the main focus. Back to the video, it basically told us as Christians to vote concerning the three foundational principles: Life, Liberty, and Family. Call me crazy, but I could have sworn the third one was the pursuit of happiness, that's an entirely different post. The last few pictures said something like "We must vote to protect marriage" and then it showed an American flag that had it's striped replaced by those of the gay pride flag and then the words flashed "Not torn asunder". How interesting!

I will give credit to our pastor for addressing the problem of divorce rates in the church, however, I was disappointed in that video. We won't allow marriage to be "Torn asunder" by homosexuals, but we feel it's okay for marriage to be torn asunder by divorce. Webster's dictionary defines "asunder" as "into parts (torn asunder), or fart apart". Maybe this is a little far fetched, but shouldn't the church be addressing it's own problem of divorce, rather than telling it's congregation to go out and vote against legal same-sex marriage? Sixty-six percent disagree with a statement that Jesus Christ made about divorce, Christians, and by Christians I do indeed mean the congregation of my church as well and myself, have learned to ignore statements Christ made that make them uncomfortable.

The Straight and Narrow

2008-09-21T21:54:00.002-04:00

It never fails, everyday a discussion/argument is started in Government about Sarah Palin. Most recently the discussions have shifted to women being in office, and often times the "discussion" gets very heated. This past week a fellow classmate who is a male, said something along the lines "Women are on a power-trip and it started when we gave them the right to vote". I do not support the statement in any way, but the way one of the girls responded struck me funny after class. The girl of course called him narrow-minded and probably some other things that weren't as subtle.

Having said all of that, I began thinking about narrow-mindedness and what it really means. Ironically, people who choose to use the word "narrow-minded" to refer to others, are often "narrow-minded" as well. I will always disagree with some people on just about every level, but there's a threshold of acceptance we must maintain.

This "narrow-minded" idea is carried over to all areas of life. Remaining in the threshold of acceptance creates peace amongst one another.

Parallel Lines

2008-09-21T01:39:00.000-04:00

I have been pondering the nature of parallel lines, mostly how they relate to my life.

There are so many people (lines) that are in my life (intersections) and its weird to think about the intersections, had they never occurred.

Not to sound cliche, but when I was meditating on this my girlfriend came to mind in particular. It's bizarre to think that I might see her around town, or at Starbucks and not even know her name.

I'd love to cross more paths, make more intersections and bring more people into my life, but it seems much easier to keep on my parallel pathway.