Annihilationism: Because We Still Think.

http://reknew.org/2008/01/the-case-for-annihilationism/

Confession

Confession Time.

Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaak.

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I fear the opinion of man and run from Truth when it appears finding it will bring me into contention with the greater faith community. It has been ten minutes since my last worthy confession and it will probably be another ten before my next…”

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 So, I’m considering applying for credentials… with The Missionary Church… again.

GASP!

Yeah, I don’t know that I can believe it myself. And the real problem is that the more I look at this application (with in all reality appears to not have been revised since Solomon Eby first parted the St. Joseph river to make way for Daniel Brenneman’s community to meet him in the middle) the more I find that I really just don’t jive with the denomination I belong to and have belonged to for my entire life. They ask about my view on Revelation and how to interpret it: they’re dispensational; I’m not (whoops!). They affirm the reality and necessity of an eternally conscious punishment in a physiospiritual environment for the unrepentant and unverbally committed to the name Jesus Christ, I don’t (you’re goin’ ta hale!). They acknowledge a nationalistic approach to social responsibility and put forth political rhetoric in favor/denial of one candidate for any particular position over others, I can’t (irresponsible!). They ask for affirmation of veterans and soldiers on special national days who served for the cause of the nation they were born in and went to fight for against people who just happened to be born in some other country who happened to dislike this one for some ungodly reason, I won’t (TREASON!). And the more and more I wrestle with these beliefs- some core, some not- the more and more afraid I am to teach through the lens of them. The more overwhelmed I get at the thought of someone finding out about my pacificity, or national withdrawl, or annihilationist leaning. The more convinced I am that if I am honest about them, the honest pursuit and sincere arrival at the validity of them, the more dissociated I and my family will become and the more friends I will lose.

Because that’s what happens when we put greater value on the belief rubric people hold than on the people holding them. That’s what happens when we view everyone through the lens of a theology exam, passing or failing them and creating our relationships thusly. And that’s what happens more often than not in the American Church, which sometimes can be more in love with being right than in love with her heavenly Groom, Savior, King, and Friend.

And I don’t know what to do about it now that I stare at this exam again, wondering if it’s even worth filling out. Wondering if the men and women who founded this particular brand of Christianity would even pass it anymore- but I digress.

I’m scared. And I confess that I’m scared. Being alone terrifies me, and being shunned even more so. I love God. I love Jesus. I love the Kingdom. I love the story He’s woven together and the depth and complexity of it all. I love the subtleties and the obvious intermixed in the lives of men and women who were more in the dark than we today about what God was up to, and how they trusted Him anyway. They didn’t have to have it figured out. They didn’t have to pin down every individuals approach to hell and eternal damnation. They didn’t have to understand the book of Revelation (and not just because it hadn’t yet been written for any of them yet to read!) Why do we make it so complicated? Why do we make it so freaking hard for the people around us to experience intimacy with their Creator? Why do we build more walls and raise more bars than Jesus did? Did He not chastise the Pharisees for burdening the people with standards God did not supply? Asking them to live up to a righteousness God did not demand?

That’s the amazing thing, you see, that the more we read the stories, and the more we experience our own with Him, the more we find Him asking us to trust Him much more often than to achieve His expectations. We find Him much more often wanting us to spend time with Him than quizzing us to find out if any paganism had rubbed off on us at Wal Mart yesterday. The more we find Him ignoring what we thought was important, and revealing what He thinks is important, and how wildly different the two are most times. The more we find Him simplifying Himself in the same breath as we complicate Him. The more we find Him incarnated and visible, standing next to us even as we stare at the heavens and recite words begging Him to show Himself.

So now we get back to it. And I just want to remain honest. It’s in honestly that intimacy grows. It’s in honesty that we know God and know love. So… perhaps I’ll get shut out again (If I go through with this whole credentialing thing) and perhaps not. My opinions and beliefs and values will change over time just as much as they have this far in my nearly 25 years. I hope we’ll grant others the same grace to let theirs also. Until then, to Hell with orthodoxy (If there is such a thing), give me Jesus.

Bless me Father, for I have sinned…

I watched this yesterday and I just can't get enough of it. It's a presentation on Anabaptist theology and how it pertains to daily, Kingdom life.

Give.

Tonight one of my favorite neighbor boys came over.  I hadn't seen him in a while and I was grateful that he stuck around for dinner.

As per status quot, my friend quickly asked for dinner with all his usual favorites (I will never understand ketchup on ramen).

As we sat down and caught up, I found myself praying for deeper understanding.  My friend is foreign to the culture, language, dreams, and goals of others around him.  He is hurting, lost, and physically and mentally unable to see the predicament he's in.  What am I supposed to do here?  What can I possibly say?  How could I ever help him see the life available to him if he is so content with what he has?

Then the Spirit reminded me of the time Jesus told the crowd to give to those who ask not expecting to receive anything in return.... What if Jesus isn't asking us to live in that state of perpetual surrender for the sake of those asking... what if Jesus is actually more concerned about those giving?

Because God's infinite mercy and sovereignty will always provide for the hurting and needy.  If not in our temporal existence, then definitely in His ethereal and eternal realm.  Jesus was homeless, he can't possibly be concerned about all those lacking the basic needs of humanity obtaining the empire's definition of middle-class socio-economic status.

So yes we are called to love our brothers and take care of those in need around us, always giving without concern or care; but who is God actually "saving" here, the poor that are already blessed (Matt 5:3), or us from the greed and selfishness that plagues our souls?

In sitting with my friend tonight I was strongly impressed that it's the latter.  The Spirit alone can convict and invite a soul into the Father's house.  I am just a witness to the truth that the invitation is real.  So when faced with an opportunity to serve, the one being served is already loved by the Father, residing as the apple of his eye, the lost sheep for which He is constantly seeking.  But me? I am a son being formed and molded in the likeness of my Father.  His loving eye is on me, but watchful in a different way, always looking for opportunities to teach, discipline, mold, and make so that He will be properly represented to those He is calling.

Giving is about the recipient and what the Lord might do through the gift.  Giving is a test (like the request of the father in the prodigal son story to the older brother), a refinement of the hearts of the King's people.  With every stranger's request we hear our Father's voice whisper, "You are mine, are you going to live like it?"

Give.  Not because the world needs it (though they do), but because that's what our Maker does.

Something I Hope Encourages You as much as it does Me.

I just want to encourage you, my brothers, that you are not alone. That there are prophetic voices teaching and leading thousands around this country we currently pass through towards more Kingdom oriented life and hope. That there are voices preaching and teaching Jesus as All and not only American Dreamism. Not only are their voices, but the hopeful and earnestly seeking and truly questioning are hearing them. So, my friends, please don't be quiet. They are listening.

D Webb's Newest Is Definitely His Bravest...

Anyone familiar with Derek Webb's previous two lyrical works would know he isn't shy about what he believes. The politics are off the table though, in his latest work "CTRL" and instead a more biographical work emerges. The main question surrounding the albums seems to be "Am I really living or am I just pretending?" I'm digging in to it currently and really like it- but if you want a sample size before indulging the bottle. Here it is:

Eyes Opening

Do you remember the first time you saw something? Whether it was the first time you saw a sunset, a particular flower, a contortionist, a wild animal, or what have you, you began to develop an experience. We begin storing our experiences in our brain and we began to know.

Do you remember the first time you caught a glimpse of the Eternal Kingdom? It didn't make sense, but it felt right. It wasn't the whole, but it felt like home. It stirred something inside that could barely be described in words, yet there were those that knew what you felt. We began searching for this Kingdom, never arriving, always seeing traces of where it has been. We began storing these experiences in our brain and we began to know.

Do you remember the first time you knew the answer? It could have been in Sunday School, at Camp, in biology class, or in Exploring The Christian Faith with Dr. Bob, you drew on your experiences and made the transition from learning to knowing. There was something about the the Eternal Kingdom that you knew as a definitive fact and you could share that with someone or a group of people. You used the experiences stored in your brain and there was fruit from your searching.

Do you remember the first time you felt complacent? The moment when you realized you had stopped searching for the Kingdom and became content with knowing about the few snapshots you had of it? How dirty and dark was the alley of your awaking sobriety when you realized you had slowly drank yourself into a delusion of thinking you had arrived home?

We have begun to draw from our experiences of how God speaks, how God moves, how God blesses, how God disciplines, how God loves, how God touches and then we think we know. Do I close my eyes a little bit more with each time I feel I have the answer? Is this how separations in the Church start? Is this the motivation of the beginning of denominations? Do we like surrounding ourselves with people who have seen the same small glimpse of an Eternal Kingdom that has walked this earth in its fullness one time before? Would I still see the glimpses of home as I walk through the doorway to my house? 

Do I see the Eternal Kingdom through the lenses of what "I know" or through the created eyes of the One that Is? Are my eyes opening, are my eyes closing, or am I squinting enough to see what I want to see?

"It's not a religion, yada, yada, yada..."

I want God.

At least, I want to want God.

Maybe I want to want to want God.

At the very least, I hope I want God.

That's the lesson of the week in this neck of the woods.

Desire.

Want.

Hope.

What is it we want?

It was awakened in me by the simple words, "Saved from Hell and torment." And it just struck me weird. Something doesn't seem right. God has been tweaking my perspective on a lot of things over the past several years, and it seems that salvation has finally become the target. Oh, how easily we allow the Devil to become the focus of SO MANY beliefs and doctrines. How is it that our faith (read- religious paradigm) has become more focused on what you will be saved FROM and where it is you DON'T want to go rather than TO Whom we are saved and how much do we indeed WANT to be there?

Here is the point- Do we want to be with God as much as we don't want to go to hell? Are we (read- all perceived Christians) translating that to the people around us? Is it a fear based faith (if that can even be called a faith at all) or is it a trust based faith that we are progressing? (which is entirely redundant and for good reason considering how forgetful we are) It has been a standing tactic of my own personally to see the spiritual realm as a battle between truth and deceit. That the vast majority of us all believe and embrace willingly or ignorantly lies from Hell and that if we can "expose the lies no matter how they're disguised" (The Orange County Supertones 'Grounded.') then we are advancing the Kingdom of Light and beating back the darkness. I now wonder if it could be even simpler than this- that if we could focus on the lies spoken of God specifically, declare the truth of who we know Him to be, could that awaken the DESIRE hidden deep in the human heart for Him enough that the WANT for Him becomes greater than the fear/resistance/dread/hate/misunderstanding/etc. of Him? I'm reminded of Lewis's thoughts in "The Screwtape Letters" (I believe letter VIII) suggesting that God is too good to use indubitably and irresistability in His gathering of His people unto Himself. I found a link... BOOM there it is.

Anyway, the point is this- I believe we must do our part to change the Christian culture from one escaping from hell to one returning to God. We are not escapists. I doubt any of us would proclaim for half a second that we do not deserve hell and not going there would not have been our own plans. We are guilty as charged and the condemnation would have been befitting of our filthy hearts for as long as the good Judge declared. We are not merely escapists- we must be transformed into Lovers. Not refugees. Exiles perhaps, but more so, Pilgrims making their way to Someone they've dedicated their whole resources, lives, and thoughts to. If we are to grasp the abundant life proclaimed and availed to us by Jesus. We must want Him- not Him objectively- but Him personally and relationally and presently more than anything else. We must, having seen His holiness and goodness and experienced His love in our own lives, be willing to traverse Hell itself it it were to mean being with Him on the other side, not just want Him because He may have found the shortcut around Hell.

That's the imagery I'm looking for. Do we want Him for His own sake- or for the sake of our own hide? Would we want Him if the road went through Hell? Or do we want Him because He blazed a trail around Hell.

I know the answer in my own life. But the question is, are we declaring the truth regarding the how desirable God is or simply how awful Hell is? The country around us feels one way- perhaps the few around us could be shown a different way altogether.

Why should I be saved or even want to be saved? Because Hell is bad... or because God is good?

Truth from a Frenchman

I'm sure it's a little distasteful to make my first post a simple quote from a far greater author's masterpiece...


But then again, aren't we all just mockingbirds? (Thank you Derek Webb.)


Here's a message I received from my sister.  Please enjoy:

Starting to re-read Les Miserables (because a new musical's coming out in December -- PUMPED!!!) and remembering how much I love the priest. He says:  "do not ask the name of the person who seeks a bed for the night.  He who is reluctant to give his name is the one who most needs shelter."

"It happened one day that an estimable curé asked him whether it was not perhaps a little injudicious on his part to leave the door unlocked at all hours...did he not fear lest some calamity might befall a house so unprotected?  The bishop touched him gently on the shoulder and said, quoting the psalms, 'except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain,' then he changed the subject. It pleased him to say, 'there is priest's courage just as there is the courage of a colonel of dragoons...but,' he added, 'ours must be quiet.'"

"As we can see, he had his own way of looking at things.  I think he derived it from the Gospel."


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TESTING this Blog Post

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.