the Problem with God III

The problem with God is you can't see Him (Her or It).  Feeling and hearing Him is arguable.  Tasting Him is just plain weird.

How can anyone with the good common sense "God" gave a ground hound invest any hope in such a concept of a God?

Well, Its been said that God is Love. So lets consider love. 

The answer to "Why believe GOD?' maybe answered with the response to the question "Why believe LOVE?"

Horrific acts have been done in the name of both.  Both, seem to make humanity vulnerable to the protection that logical behavior and scientific fact offer.  Both are intertwined so deeply with our emotions that belief in either one of them could be a symptom of a uneducated,... unsophisticated,...weak mind.  Do they really exist?  Can they be proven?  And considering all the trouble they cause, wouldn't our society be better without them?  

So why GOD?  

Why LOVE?

Simple Truth 1

Your life has infinite purpose and power because of the lives to which you are connected.  The source of all your need is within you and the access to all your wants is around you.  You have permission, NOW, to life full, significant and meaningful.

Don't waste another day living anything less than confident that your life is YOURS, and that makes it worth living.

Every moment is a treasure and every day a gift.

Unwrap your gift!

the Problem with God II

The problem with “God” is that in seeking to understand God we define him and believe that what God is can be constrained by our label. Most of us are humble enough to acknowledge that there is more to existence that us.  There must be more creative intention that what is produced by human consciences.  And in effort to find greater or even some thing similar to human capacity, we anthropomorphize EVERYTHING. But somehow after the years, and years of reducing things to us, does it seem that its getting harder to believe there is more than us?  Do we still need God? But which God do we need?  The one the we created with our attributes or the one that has been and always will be.... MORE.    

The force, the system, the power, person and intellect that is God will always be more than we perceive.  This is why seeking and studying and questioning God is as natural as seeking, studying and questioning our parents.  One a biological source the other a spiritual source.

the Problem with God

The problem with God is that the term “GOD” has been so misunderstood, abused, counterfeited and/or poorly defined that it has all but lost complete credibility.   And unfortunately, for many who say they “believe, the conceptualization of the most powerful force has been reduced to fable or a cosmic lottery.   

Truth is “God” is a term given to the same intelligent force that creates and sustains all life.  There is some more,... something bigger than us... there is something greater than us...there is God.  But the problem with God is that we ascribe human characteristics to God in order to better understand and relate.  This tendency isn’t entirely bad as we do this with many other things from cars, to cloths, to pets, to body parts.  We give names, a attribute personality and begin a relationship story with most things. However, doing this to God without seeking to know the more there is, is to limit all that God is and exists to be.

Connection vs. Separation

There are many reasons why it is so important to resurrect the awareness that we, the human race, are connected to God and each other.  One of the many fruits of this resurrected perspective will be the fundamental change in how we expect our needs to be met.  With the separation from God or the source of all that is needed, there emerges the drive to toil, struggle, compete and connive to ensure survival or achieve “success”.   But what if we believed that we were connected to an unlimited source of all that we need to live and have EVERYTHING that we enjoy?

What would be different if you believed the you were connected?

The Christ Concept

The “Christ Concept” as defined in Connectionism is the message that God is connected to and partnered with humanity to improve life through community.  This concept is the motivating force of the Connectionism movement.  We believe Jesus Christ is a message (or “word”) from God. The meaning of this "word" and the point of the message in Christ is the offer of permission, provision and purpose for the power that comes by believing we are one with God (the way Christ is one with God). 

The point is to fulfill the unique Christ call that comes with life at birth to perpetuate the message of connectedness which calls people into responsibility and accountability for our connection to God and each other. 

Understanding, acknowledgement and affirmative response to Christ as an invitation to live as a “relationship partner” with God empowers those who believe to explore that connection to supernaturally benefit the world while our own needs are met.  

The Christ Concept is a wake up call from God to all of humanity, calling us out of the death sleep that begun in the Garden of Eden.   The awakening is to the fact that we ARE connected to God and to one another.  Not Guilt, shame, hiding nor our personal cover ups change this fact but do perpetuate the denial of this truth. Mankind’s original (intended) perspective was one towards God and over creation as stewards commissioned by God.  But after the famous or infamous fruit eating the perspective became one of judgement and prejudgement: judgement of self and our neighbor(s) and prejudgement as to what God finds desirable. indeed, what “died” in the Garden was our identity... a people comfortable with the presence of our Heavenly Father, a race that took the responsibility of dominion seriously, beings that co-labored together with God to make his “good” creation better.  

And this all begins when you believe.  Questions is, "Do you believe?"  

Better question, "Do you choose to believe or do you simply awake to the fact that you are a believer or both?"

Belief, is it in you yet?

Who told you that you were naked?

“Who told you that you were naked?” God’s inquiry in Genesis 3:11 suggests that the Adam and Eve must have either been “told” they were naked OR had to have eaten of the tree that God was trying to protect them from. Of course there is the question of “why didn’t God put a fence or more protection around that tree if it was so detrimental”. Why would the only deterrent to the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil was God’s instruction not to eat. Could there be significance in that God only used his “word” to protect the tree? The theme of God’s Word having power to set boundaries had already been established in creation (day/night, sea/land, etc).  However, the power of God’s word seems to require humanity’s agreement in order for his word to produce its intended benefit. 

Whether or not you believe the Eden story is literal or a legend, it is obvious that NOW mankind has an innate legalistic perspective.  From this story's account, the inception of this perspective/mindset is produced by the ingestion of what the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil produced. The very thing that God was trying to protect mankind from experiencing.  Was God trying to protect us from a pervasive legalistic perspective; our judgement mindset that would inspire an innate drive to ineffective works like making fig leaf suits and hiding from the all seeing? Why do even the most liberal of mindsets judge so harshly?  


Things that make you go, "hmmmm?"

Back to Eden: Perspective Con't

The story of “the Fall” in Eden has been preached and taught from various perspectives to make diverse points. But what seems clearly presented in the text is a change of perception, their eyes were “opened”.  Prior to the fruit of the tree named “the Knowledge of Good and Evil” they are naked and not ashamed.  After they eat the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they suddenly have a judgement perspective that produces shame between them and fear in response to God. 

Isn’t it curious that God was trying to protect them from the very thing that would cause them to judge themselves. One reason this is so interesting is because it is so common in “christian” teaching to judge ourselves and others.  But if this was God’s plan for mankind why would he have told them NOT to eat that produced this ability.

So, in this the first community, after eating fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil there is shame and fear but the only thing that has “changed” is their perception.  Before ingesting this fruit, they were in harmonious relationship with God, while naked, yet not ashamed nor afraid. After the fruit, perspective changed, to a judgement of fact that was contrary to God’s word. 

What God does in response to the eating of the fruit is often perceived a “judgement” (any surprise?).  What could have been God explaining the symptoms of our allergy to the fruit (of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) is received as a curse. But God didn’t say that if they ate from the fruit they would be cursed, He said they would “die”. Actually, when he told them not to be eating from the tree, He also told them that they would be eating of the tree: Read Genesis 2:17

But what does this have to do with the message and “the Word” that Christ embodied? Consider God’s FIRST response to the confession of nakedness and fear. God’s first words are “who told you that you were naked”.  

Why, after such a devastating error is God’s first inquiry into whose WORD his creation had accepted as truth rather than His. “Who told you that...?”; this unanswered question haunts us to this very day. Who told you that you were naked, uncovered, unacceptable to God? Better question: Whose opinion/perspective is power enough to overrule and overturn God’s proclamation that the He created mankind was anything but “good”. 

Perspective

What is the intended message of “the Word” that Christ embodied? What did God communicate through Him?  What is the message that “is God”? And why is it relevant beyond those who identify themselves as “christian”.  

Perhaps a good place to seek understanding is to consider what caused the need for Christ in the earth.  In other words, what did Christ come to do?  Well a short answer is, 'to restore what was lost in the fall of man that was described in Genesis'.  Most Christian preachers would agree that the need (or problem) that Christ came to resolve was cause by what happened in the Garden of Eden aka "the Fall".  

So let’s consider what exactly does the story say happened in Eden.

Before “the fall”: 

Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17, 25 (New King James Version)

8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

After “the fall”: Genesis 3:6-11 (King James Version)

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.  8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”    11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked?

What do you see?

Ketchup please.

Imagine having lunch with God. Let’s say you are at Chick-fil-a and you’ve ordered the nugget combo and God has the chicken sandwich combo.  Now as both of you enjoy the hot crispy fries, God says, “Pass the ketchup”.  As the words “Pass the ketchup” are released from the lips of God, the phrase becomes His "word".  But what would make that “word” flesh.  How could a mere human empower God's message to be effective.  From its current mode of operation, It seems that much of modern mainstream christianity would respond to this statement with songs about ketchup or sermons about how desperately God wants ketchup or offer a plethora creative propaganda presenting perspectives of ketchup, the waffle fries, the reason for the meal or why it happened to be at chick-fil-a.  But the only action that fulfills the purpose of the phrase “pass the ketchup” is to freakin’ give God some ketchup.    As our human hand picks up the ketchup, we become the phrase “pass the ketchup” made flesh. How does this relate to Christ?  Only if we understand the message that Christ was sent to be, can we offer an appropriate affirmative response that doesn’t leave God hanging for “ketchup”.  If “Christ” is a similar expression, a word that needs a response like “pass the ketchup”, what is appropriate response? What is God expecting in response to extending Christ to us?  And more importantly how do we give him what he wants?

Spiritual Technology (tm)

Just a thought: So, what if "God" was trying to create communities but our response is churches?  And what if the principles of science were applied to the spiritual aspects of human existence?  What if faith evolved to produce spiritual technology (tm)?  What would spiritual technology  look like and what would it mean to mankind?

What if the Bible is a book of experiments in relating to God?  What if we looked at the biblical accounts for principle truth that we could apply for modern advancement of wellbeing?

the beginning

John 1:1 (NKJ)

 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

The purpose and power of any “word” is the message that it communicates.  So what is the message communicated by the word that “was God”?  What is the point of “the Word” which became Christ?  This is important because, if the message intended to be communicated by a “word” is not understood or is misunderstood, then the intent is fulfilled and the power respond appropriately is lost. 

“In the beginning was the word, the word was with God and was God.”  This passage of the Bible goes on to communicate that the word that “was with God” and “was God” became flesh.  This “word made flesh” is speaking of Christ Jesus.  This reference is key to understand the point of Christ’s existence and the universal relevance of faith in the gospel of Jesus.  To often this passage is use to drive the point that Jesus, “the word made flesh” is God.  But the question that seems more important is what message was “the Word” intended to communicate?

What if...

What if there is truth hidden somewhere in all the Christian rhetoric and dogma? What if there is a truly transformational, life-changing truth beyond all the personal agenda’s and hype?  What if the point of the “gospel of Christ” was NOT what is typically displayed on “christian” tv but is a message of true redemption, renewed mercy each morning and a hope for a second chance to be better?  What if the mind of mankind is the key to human evolution and a simple truth hidden in plain sight could begin the journey to the fulfillment of our potential?  

What if the purpose of life is to “pass the ketchup”?