Questions

Below is a response rhymes with kerouac wrote to a comment I left on his blog.

Paul – You know, I can’t figure out why there aren’t more questions asked in church. The older I get, the more questions I have, I never expected that – I thought the opposite would happen. Maybe God is in the questions – much more so than the answers.

Why is it that I feel closer to God when I have questions? How come answers and certainties leave me numb while questions and doubt sometimes stress me out, but always allow me to feel God’s presence?

I used to enjoy certainty. Back when I had God all figured out and I knew for sure who was in and who was out, who was "saved" and who was going to Hell. It was great. Well, except for one small problem. I lost touch with myself. I had stopped caring about the things I really cared about, or at least I pretended I did. My personality was lost in a chorus of "amens" and sappy praise and worship songs. Still it was nice, my faith didn’t challenge me.

What I was looking for then, and what I got, was a security blanket. I wore that blanket over my head and I was warm and cozy. Unfortunately, I was also suffocating. It was only when the worst thing that I could imagine happening happened that I came up for air.

You see, I was really scared of being shunned by my pastor and church. What I didn’t realize at the time, but I now have the clarity to see was that we were shunned a hundred different times in a hundred different ways. I ignored it though, because I wanted to be in. I wanted to be part of a "community." I wanted this so bad that I would say things I didn’t believe and go along with ideas that I didn’t think were right because I had bought into the lie that that was what God wanted. Now I know better.

Funny thing is I believe God wanted us to go through that so we could get to the place we are now. Even funnier, I am pretty sure God doesn’t want us getting into a "community," at least not now. I believe that God is using this time to teach us other lessons and give us more clarity. Maybe it will be used later as part of a church, maybe not. Like rhymes with kerouac said, God is in the questions.

So the next time you hear someone boasting about knowing "the will of God" or that we need to follow "the clear teaching of scripture" you can be pretty sure they are full of shit. Unless they are talking about one thing. One thing that supersedes questions, certainties, life, death, and everything else under the Sun. That thing is the love of God that became incarnate in Christ Jesus.

A lot of what religion teaches is constructs of men. However, this is not. It can’t be. It is too good to be true and too simple. If people had made it up it would have all kinds of conditions attached and hoops to jump through. God could care less about conditions and hoops. God doesn’t need us to be impressive. God is God. God is love.

Of this there is no question.

AFRICOM

Via I came across this article.

When the Bush Administration recently unveiled its new African military command – AFRICOM – Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Theresa Whelan said that the initiative was aimed at “promoting security, to build African capacity to build their own environments and not be subject to the instability that has toppled governments and caused so much pain on the continent.”

While I reading the article I began to consider the reality that the new "cold war" (though I suppose that this one is actually "hot) for the US is not going to be against terrorism. Instead it is going to be focused on ensuring that they are able to get their hands on as much of the world’s oil supply as possible. The war against terrorism will just be the camouflage that they use to disguise their true intentions.

Then I read this money quote at the end of the article:

There is also fear, according to Nigerian journalist Dulue Mbachu, “that increased U.S. military presence in Africa may simply serve to protect unpopular regimes that are friendly to its interests, as was the case during the Cold War, while Africa slips further into poverty.”

Enough said.

Morally sound

Last night as my head hit the pillow I began to go through my nightly ritual of prayers before I fall asleep. As I often do, some of my prayers involved me asking God to help me be a good person, a good father, and a good husband. These are pretty standard prayers for me. However, when I prayed for God to help me have good morals, something I don’t usually do, my eyes popped open and my mind started to work.

Morals really are a relative thing. One person’s good morals often don’t line-up with someone else’s. I have often heard Christian talking heads appeal to a return to "Biblically based morality" but that isn’t exactly as cut and dry as it sounds either. As rhymes with kerouac reminded me yesterday, not everything in the Bible is representative of what I would define as morally sound.

When going through the Old Testament, one is often confronted by the Israelites doing some pretty horrible things under the onus that God told them to do it. I find this strange because the God that I know seems diametrically opposed to telling people to go out and slaughter their fellow human beings. When you consider this claim in our modern context it seems even stranger. Osama bin Laden and his cronies claim divine guidance for the terrible things they do. It is pretty obvious to me at least that they are mistaken in this. Could it be that the Israelites were just as mistaken?

I remember one Sunday in particular. Our pastor was preaching from the book of 1 Samuel in the Old Testament.

This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys (1 Samuel 15:2-3 NIV).

Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed (1 Samuel 15:7-9 NIV).

But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"

Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest (1 Samuel 15:14-15 NIV).

Now the gist of the pastor’s sermon was that Saul had failed to follow God’s instructions by not killing every living thing. We all shook our heads at Saul’s folly and vowed to never do the same. The problem was that not one of us (including myself) stopped to consider that God had apparently just told Saul to commit genocide! More than that. Saul’s sin was not the murders of numerous people but the fact that he failed to kill everything. Does genocide represent morally sound behavior? Is this the kind of thing that we as Christians should be aspiring to?

It is my belief that these actions do not represent the will of God. I am convinced that they are the dressing up of colonial aspirations in the robes of piety. The problem is that if we read the Bible at face value and don’t bother to read between the lines we will get the mistaken impression that this is proper behavior. All the sudden we will be justifying all kinds of terrible things like racism, slavery, subjugation of women, intolerance towards homosexuals, etc. because the Bible says so.

The Bible also tells us that the Earth is the center of our universe and that the Sun orbits the Earth, not vice versa.

I can hear my detractors already. "If it isn’t all true than it isn’t true at all." That is just as cut and dry as the idea that the whole Bible is just perfect as it is. The problem is that nothing is really that cut and dry. Just because the writers of scripture were informed by a first century (and earlier) world-view doesn’t mean that the Bible isn’t true. It just means that it is our responsibility as people of God to use the minds and the knowledge that God blessed us with when we interact with scripture. Jesus is still Jesus, even if the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Busted

Yesterday I saw a guy in the midst of getting busted by Saskatoon’s finest. Whoever he was and whatever he did must have been relatively serious, there were about 15 cars surrounding him as he was handcuffed on someone’s front lawn (I bet the people who live in that house were a little concerned about what was happening).

As I drove by my rubbernecking allowed me to see the guy hauled to his feet by two officers. His hands were cuffed tightly behind his back. I noticed the guy in cuffs let out a deep breath, his long hair blew in the wind, his eyes focused on the ground. For a brief moment I felt a twinge of what must have been going through his mind.

Driving on, I began to consider how that guy’s day had begun and how he ended up in that position. For some reason in my mind’s eye I could see him sitting down to breakfast. Starting his day like any other, with no inkling that the day would finish behind bars.

What was it that he had done? Was it a crime that he committed yesterday or one committed weeks or even months ago? Did he plan on breaking the law that day or did circumstances put him in a position where he had little choice? I won’t say no choice. We can always choose to not break the law. Can’t we?

Going back years. What choices did he make at a much younger age that lead him to end up in handcuffs? Was this the first time he had been arrested or just another in a long line of run-ins with the law?

Maybe I am crazy. Maybe I over think events like this sometimes. I guess this one can be chalked up to that instant where I could almost feel what he was feeling. In that instant he wasn’t just another crook being pulled off the streets, he was another human being whose life was in a very bad place.

Maybe he is a really bad dude. Maybe he has killed somebody. Maybe he has left a trail of tears in his life and those who know him hate the sound of his voice. I will probably never know. Funny though, without any back story I am able to look at him with compassion. God is able to look at us with compassion and God knows our back stories.

I am sure the world would be a better place if we were able to look at everyone who crossed our path with this same kind of compassion. But, that is impossible, isn’t it? How could we go through life not looking out for our own self interest and not judging people? That goes against everything we are conditioned to do.

This is too much for me to think about. I’m going to turn the stereo up a little louder, hopefully the chatter will clear my mind.

A tale of two races

Jenson Button only managed a 15th place finish in the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Meanwhile Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 14th in the Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta, Georgia. The difference being that Button’s 15th place was out of 22 cars and netted him 0 championship points. Junior’s 14th place was out of 43 cars and allowed him to move up two positions in the championship standings (he is now 26th). 26th place is not too bad considering the disastrous first two races he had.

Hopefully next weekend’s race in Bristol, Virginia will see Junior continue his charge back. The next stop for the F1 circus is in Malaysia on April 8th. Hopefully the long gap between races will give Honda a chance to make some major improvements.

Christians gather to protest war

Thousands of Christians prayed for peace at
an anti-war service Friday night at the Washington National Cathedral,
kicking off a weekend of protests around the country to mark the fourth
anniversary of the war in Iraq.

Afterward, participants marched with battery-operated faux candles
through snow and wind toward the White House, where police began
arresting protesters shortly before midnight. Protest guidelines
require demonstrators to continue moving while on the White House
sidewalk.

"We gave them three warnings, and they broke the guidelines," said
Lt. Scott Fear. "There’s an area on the White House sidewalk where you
have to keep moving.

"This war, from a Christian point of view, is morally wrong and was
from the beginning," the Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners/Call to
Renewal, one of the event’s sponsors, said toward the end of the
service to cheers and applause. "This war is … an offense against God."

In his speech, the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock,
senior pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, lashed out at
Congress for being "too morally inept to intervene" to stop the war,
but even more harshly against President Bush.

"Mr. Bush, my Christian brother, we do need a surge in troops. We
need a surge in the nonviolent army of the Lord," he said. "We need a
surge in conscience and a surge in activism and a surge in
truth-telling."

Full story

It is great to see the church in it’s natural role as the conscience of the state rather than being a pawn of the state, as it has been for the last few years.

 

Who are you?

To an extent, appellations such as American, mother, and rock bassist
are mere labels, at least when compared to the potential depth and
complexity of the individual, since each of us has our own take on what
the roles we play mean to us. Labels are only as significant as we each
want them to be. Some will find it more meaningful to identify as
Jewish, or as a musician, or as an accountant, than others will. Still
others may think it means something completely different. (It’s
probably a good idea to be skeptical whenever you hear people speaking
of, say, the black perspective, how women think, Christian values, or a
bass player’s point-of-view.) No matter where we sit on each continuum,
we can allow ourselves to be honestly informed by all the whos, whats,
and whys that make us up, however we choose to interpret them. That’s
the fun and challenging part of life: the continued search for that
self to which we can strive to be true, and respecting others in their
search as well.

Full post

Modern Christianity has taught us to label people in one of two ways, saved or unsaved. As I move through my personal journey I am becoming more and more uncomfortable with that idea. Life and faith are much more complex than this black and white assessment. And God, well if God isn’t more complex than our assessments than we aren’t dealing with God anymore. God in a box of human construction is not God.

That being said I still seek to encourage people to get to know the God who became incarnate in Christ Jesus. I believe that this is the true God, the real God. I also believe that this is the God from whom salvation flows. Is this a paradox? Maybe, maybe not. I believe the scripture that says "there is no other  name given under Heaven by which we can be saved." However, I am convinced God will be much more generous with that salvation than we are able to comprehend.

My music corner

Tiffany was kind enough to set up a corner of our living room for me. Click the thumbnail for a larger version.

Megadeth – That One Night DVD Review

On Thursday Tiffany, being the wonderful wife that she is, came home with the new Megadeth DVD for me. They have been a personal favorite of mine for years now and I was excited to check out this film.

Megadeth have had many changes in their lineup during their tumultuous history. Dave Mustaine, the band’s vocalist and guitarist, being the only original member left. This particular incarnation of Megadeth is filled out by James MacDonough on bass and the Canadian Drover brothers, Glen and Shawn on lead guitar and drums respectively.

Because of the aforementioned lineup changes, it isn’t surprising to see a lack of on-stage chemistry between the members of the band. You definitely get the feeling that Megadeth is the Dave Mustaine show and that the other members are there as his employees, not his band mates. However, Dave does a great job of picking his employees. The Drover brothers and MacDonough deliver a flawless performance. I didn’t catch a single wrong note or dropped beat.

The band is not completely without chemistry, however. It was obvious how much Glen Drover was playing off of his brother’s drumming. In fact, I have to give Glen props for being one of the most rhythmically tight lead guitarist’s I have ever seen. He was locked in on his brother’s kick drum and has a great sense of time. Couple this with his excellent soloing ability (especially his well developed sweep picking technique) and you have one serious guitar player.

My only real complaint with this DVD is that the bass playing wasn’t as audible as I would like in the mix. Granted, as a bass player I am always drawn to hearing this instrument, but MacDonough’s playing was only really audible for short bursts. The special feature on the disc is a re-mix of the Megadeth classic Symphony of Destruction with all of the crowd noise taken out. This allows you to hear the bass playing which is extremely tight and MacDonough’s ESP 5 string gives off a great cutting metal tone too (I did watch the DVD on my laptop so the lack of bass could also be chalked up to my puny computer speakers).

Overall That One Night Live in Buenos Aires is an excellent show. Most of the classics are in there and they are interspersed with some great newer Megadeth tunes. And hey, at $13.99 it is a bargain.

I am really looking forward to the May release of Megadeth’s next album United Abominations. The Drover brothers are still in the band (it never hurts to have some Canadian content) but it wouldn’t be Megadeth without some drama as James MacDonough has been replaced on bass by James Lomenzo (formerly of Black Label Society among others). The CD comes out May 15th.

Not an auspicious beginning

Jenson Button did not get his season off to a great start in "my" car. He only managed the 14th best time in qualifying out of 22 cars. The good news is that he finished 3 positions ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichelo, so at least he was the fastest of the two Honda’s.

The really embarrassing thing is that the factory Honda team was trounced by their B team, Super-Aguri Honda. Super-Aguri are using what is basically Honda’s 2006 season car with this year’s engine. They qualified 10th and 11th. Ouch.

Oh well, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the underdogs.