Magic Mushrooms

Now here is a sight I have not seen since I was a kid – an Amanita!

These mushrooms only grow near birch trees for some reason and certainly they are few around here!  Probably why I have not seen one of these since I was living in northern Germany decades ago.  So very exciting!

What is the big deal about these mushrooms?  Well, first they are very photogenic.  Secondly, they are the typical German mushroom, you can find them in designs, paintings and illustrations everywhere.  Ok, mostly from German sources.  Finally, they are hallucinogenic.

Yes, in the Alps we now have a mushroom just guaranteed to blow your little brain or what is left of it anyways.  Only problem is – they will kill you just as easily as giving you a chance to catch up with “old friends” in your mind.  In fact, in the Netherlands, they will be shortly voting to outlaw these little guys due to the high death rates associated with them.

I have been watching a patch of them for a week now and the little stoned snails which have been eating on them.  I will probably have to haul them to the garbage here this week – just to be sure some teenager does get their lips around one of these.

Cross or Tomb?

One of the more interesting conversations to come out of my work with middle daughter’s boyfriend has been the discussion over which is more important – the Cross or the Tomb.

To me, the cross represents death.  Certainly Rome managed to kill tens, if not hundreds, of thousands by this method in their 1,000 year history.  Jesus was just one of many.  Yes, you can claim the cross is important because Jesus willingly shed His blood for us – as an eternal payment for our lack of character.

Conversely, the tomb represents life!  Here is where the women disciples and later the male disciples discovered Jesus had risen from the tomb.  He was no longer there.  And NO one questioned the empty tomb in either Roman or Jewish writings of the day.  He was alive!

So which is more important?  The fact that Jesus died or the fact that He alone, of all crucifixion victims, was regenerated from the tomb?

For me the empty tomb is the symbol of my salvation and hope.  Yes, His payment in blood is important – but His overcoming death is the proof He is whom He says He is.

Biblical vs Cultural Christianity

	Biblical Christianity Only understood by those joined to Christ through the cross	Cultural Christianity Accepted by the world to represent genuine Christianity
It is...	A relationship with Jesus Christ. John 17:20-26 Rom. 8:37-39	A religion based on group consensus and popular interpretations of Scriptures.
Come to God through…	Faith in Jesus Christ, Who has revealed Himself in His Word. John 14:6	Faith that “God” will judge our good works and intentions as far out weighing all of the bad ones.
View the Bible as:	The inspired, absolute, and unchanging Word of God. Even to reports of evil by His chosen. 2 Tim. 3:16 1 Pet 1:25	A collection of guidelines, allegories, myths, and stories useful for good living. Offensive matter and unscientific sections of verses must be ignored.
Our goal is...	God’s approval. To know and do His will and live each moment in fellowship with Him. Gal.1:10	People and/or cultural approval. To please and not offend the world community.  To distance those whom would.
Source of Strength	God’s unlimited grace and power. Gal. 2:20 Phil. 4:19	Our “God” given human talents and abilities, then to seek God’s help as needed.  Pragmatism.
See our human self as…	Weak and inadequate apart from Christ. 2 Cor. 12:9-10	Strong and capable if we have confidence in what we have or can do.
See sin as...	Leading to spiritual death and separation from God. Rom. 6:23	A normal part of everyone’s life. Ignore it, or you might offend someone.
Deal with sin through...	Confession and faith: trusting Jesus as the "Lamb" who bore ALL of our sins on cross. Rom. 6:1-6	Try to do better next time, or just tolerate it.  Do not offend anyone by making them feel guilty or by admitting your guilt.
Caring for people...	Goal is to bring people to Christ. Demonstrate God’s love. Trust God to meet all needs through our lives surrendered to Him. Rom. 12:9-18	Bring people to the church or small group. Provide for their needs through Community compassion.  Do to others as you would have others do to you.
Response to suffering:	Trust God to use it to strengthen our faith, prepare us for ministry, and demonstrate His love and power. 2 Cor. 1:3-11	Pray for deliverance, endure, and trust that God will help it end quickly.  Questioning of  God’s love for us, power over evil, and purpose in our lives.
Commitment:	Trust and follow God.  No compromise.  Better to die, as He did for us, than betray our Lord. Rom. 12:1-2	Trust and follow our feelings. Compromise essential in dealing with the world in order to avoid offending cultural diversity.
Expect to...	Face rejection and persecution. John 15:20-21	Get along with everyone, influencing the by our example.
Outreach:	To bring God's message of love to the world, then to bring those willing to listen to Jesus. Matt 25:31-46 Matt 28:19-20	Adapt the church to fit the diverse "community" where everyone will feel at home, comfortable, unchallenged, “just have a good experience”.
Daily hope:	Eternity with Jesus. 1 Peter 1:3-9	Success in this life, progressing towards a world of peace.

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Did you find where your spiritual life lay on this chart?  I can easily see how I exist more times than I would like on the cultural side of the chart, when it is convenient.  I think that all of us find themselves there at times.  The natural man is still on the inside, and it can be a real war to remain focused on where we should be.  But that is the nature of our battle, and being willing to fight it in the right direction, is how we learn.  If God had simply taken the natural man away, there would be no basis by which we could truly learn the differences between right and wrong -- between God's way and the ways of the world, or saying it more simply: the way of Satan - which is separation from God.  We would not be equipped to fight on the side of the Lord.  We need to go through the trials of life in order to overcome them.

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If you practice Biblical Christianity, you will offend the masses which have embraced cultural Christianity or any of today's blended, Americanized religions. This past Christmas season has shown the world the growing hostility toward those who choose to follow God (even by those call themselves Christian in the name of cultural tolerance!).  The path through the Christian life is just too narrow and impossible to those whom will not be lead by the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ direction.

In a world of religious alternatives, where “blessings” are offered without any accountability, God’s absolute truth simply does not fit in.  Biblical values have become a source of offense to those whom have chosen the wide, popular way.  

Yet, our God reigns -- and we are on the winning side!  I know, I read the end of the book………..

And isn’t interesting to note that the table is the result of observations made almost 100 years ago, in a culture many think was closer to God than our own?

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Sources:

Oswald Chambers Society, UK

Oswald Chambers:  My Utmost for His Highest, 1923

The American Chesterton Society

G.K. Chesterton: Common Sense for the World’s Uncommon Nonsense

A Typical Conversation

(You should know that Kelly told me those cell phones that hang in your ears are call ‘Bluetooth’…..)

Me: Hey kids, one of my internet friends told me that those phones which stick in your ears are called Bluetooth.

YD: It gives you blue teeth?

Me: No Bluetooth.

MD: I don’t want blue teeth.

Son: My teeth are already blue.

YD: No they are not!

Son: Are too!

YD: It is the rubber on your braces.

Son: Yeah, so what?  They are still blue because I am a man.

YD: ‘snorts’ – mine are pink but that does not make me a woman.

Son: that is because you are a gay man!

YD: I am not!

Me: Kids, kids, kids!

MD: Was not Bluetooth a pirate?

Me: No that was Blue Beard.

Son: Putting a cell phone in your ear gives you blue hair?

Me: No, no, no!  Blue Beard!

Son: I can have a beard?  I want to turn blue!

YD: I will help you turn blue! (and grabs for his neck!)

Son: eeeech!

MD: We can have a cell phone?

Me: (pounding head on table and squealing….)

Half People

You know them.  You see them everyday.  Half people, they are all around us!  What am I talking about?  Maybe you.

I was sitting in church last Sunday, last row as usual (have to keep those visitors pushed forward!).  In front of me, every week, sits a young woman already verified as being a half person and why I started thinking about this idea.  I looked up to the choir and picked out another three, also known to be half people.  Then, I looked around our small sanctuary and could easily spot another thirty half people scattered about.

In fact, half people seem to make up half, if not a majority of my church, maybe yours as well.  These are people whom for one reason or another no longer have a spouse.

Through marriage, or even ‘arrangement’, two became one, because this is how God created us.  Single we are incomplete, but when committed to another we become complete.  We become a whole person, each taking up for the failings of the other, each holding the other up in prayer, each supporting their commitment to one another.  It is as it should be, though seems to rarely be.

Yet, due to death, divorce, desertion or just the fickle state of our hearts – we are ripped apart – torn in half to be more precise.  No longer would man know the pleasure of having someone whom completes and supports him; no longer would woman know the security of being loved by one.  And this tearing often is in the form of the other ripping out our heart, biting out chunks, until all that is left is emptiness.  (Ok, ask me how I really feel today!)

For some, I have joy as they have found other spouses, though how they could ever cross that bridge again I have no idea – how do you learn to trust again?  (For some of these I worry about the Biblical basis for their remarriage!  But, God promises to make them one….).  And for others I understand all too well why they remain a half person by choice!  So it is with the young woman whom sits in front of me – wounded beyond consolation.

Several of my best friends have never married and in the 35 years of knowing one man, he has maybe only twice even met a female he liked enough to ask out.  Yes, all brain and no romance.  I often marvel at him and his choice to live alone.  And yes, God does use him in a very big way!

Paul, the apostle, encouraged half people to marry, if they needed to – in order to avoid sin (he uses lust and a tendency to gossip as examples).  As for my friend, he has no apparent need to marry and so never has.

Separated, even divorced, couples are to reconcile with one another.  That is priority one, or at least supposed to be.  When reconciliation is not even a possibility – well, half people are created…..

All the more reason for the young around us to guard their hearts and understand the Biblical qualifications for marriage and holding prospects to those standards!  There are already too many half people walking around – you do not need to be one…..

Dehumanizing

Since I have several friends currently going through separations and/or divorces, I have had a lot of drama to watch around me!  And somehow I get dumped on, since people want my opinion – yah like I am some sort of human relations expert.  Sigh…..

One aspect I have always wondered about is how each has the ability to utterly the kill the other in their mind.   I realize this is not a Christian virtue, in fact it is quite the opposite.  Divorce is so alien to the Christian concept and yet I see so much of it amongst the Christians I know.  And where prayer and compassion should be our reaction, anger – hatred – murder fill their minds.  Eventually the other is dehumanized to the point they no long exist, and should their paths cross, it is but a ghost they might remember if they thought real hard about it.

Originally I have theorized that the concept of Christian marriage is the problem – it is not being communicated to our hormonal youth and foolish young people.  And yet, as I read my Bible, even if you did marry someone not of your faith – God still promises to bless your marriage, maybe it will just be a little harder on you.  So, that must not be it.

I have thought on this whole hormonal issue.  Could it be that this culture of dating and freedom of choice is really to blame?  It is certainly a major factor in the divorce statistics and yet, I now do not think this is the answer either.

As I have had some thinking time lately, I realize now the real problem: a lack of character, a lack of conscience, a lack of courage – all compounded by an abundance of cultural ego.  Our culture has stripped us of our will to over ride our basic instincts!  I just realized this today…..

If character is defined as who I am when no one is watching, and I am selfish enough to only care about myself – not my family, not my friends, not my integrity, not my witness; then it becomes so clear how divorce becomes almost a requirement in today’s marriage.  We are in life for ourselves and not to sacrifice for each other.

Our conscience is seared by the sex saturated culture which surrounds us.  “Everybody” does it.  “Everybody” must be seeking the next best sexual experience, it is our nature!  Or so, culture would tell us.  And with our hyper developed egos running full throttle, do not I deserve the best pleasures out there – for ME?  This is the message being given to our children 24x7, heavens even in my own teenage years!  In my high school years I can remember the constant hammering of how everyone in the school was “doing it”.  But, I wondered whom “everyone” was.  I knew I was not.  I knew my two best friends were not.  I knew at least a half dozen girls, other than my girl friend, whom were not.  So, whom were these people?  Of course, it was a lie.

This problem of conscience extends to lack of honor, lying, honesty, friendship, etc.  All aspects of life are compromised by this egocentric focus of getting “ours” at everyone else’s expense.  Want to meet women whom have had 3 or more divorces?  Check out any high school - you will meet the emotional equivalents there.

Courage – I think this must be a nasty word today, it seems to be completely lacking in our culture.  I am not talking about the manly-man, whom exists to protect the weak female (oooh!) or the knight in shining armor headed out to fight the dragon.  I am talking about your conviction to say and do what is right, to face issues straight on. 

I see so much wavering by Christian leaders.  Heavens!  If they themselves are not being caught up in sexual scandal and being exposed internationally, then they are making excuses for those whom are!  We need to be able to call sin – SIN.  We need to be able to communicate to the next generation why sin is sin.  And, not offer excuses for the fact that sin exists!

I know as a father the temptation is to say, “It’s ok, you are not the first one to xyz, and you will not be the last.  But, you just need to keep going and put it behind you….. blah blah blah blah!”  In reality though, it is harder to say something like, “This is SIN, this is why God sees this as SIN, now how are we going to deal with this nature in your life?”

As I said, this has been a long thinking process and I only started coming to conclusions.  Perhaps tomorrow or next week I will have a more finite perspective, but for now this is where my thinking is on this issue….