Religion for Good

Once again I'm reminded right from the start of this chapter that Rick Warren and I have very different starting points.  I don't claim to actually know where I start, but I know that it's not where Rick starts, where "the ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God."  But let's see what else Rick has to say today. So, what does it mean to live for someone else or specifically for God's glory?  I wonder whether Christians have a different idea of what "glory" means.  To me, glory implies a lot of pride that is unbefitting of someone pursuing spiritual or religious humbleness.  But maybe "living for God's glory" in the Christian sense just means to live to a higher standard? And it's interesting to hear that "we cannot add anything to this glory."  Does this mean that the best we can do is to not screw it up? And to say that we should live for God's glory because "God deserves it" for c...

I think Rick could do a better job of relating this last metaphor, of life being a temporary assignment, to the previous two.  I believe the good intent behind this metaphor is that we should not get too attached, too fixated and addicted , to the earthly objects with which we're surrounded.  However, without explicitly stating this, I, the reader, am left to wonder, "Am I supposed to treat this as a rented apartment that I don't have to care for?  That I can dent and scratch without worrying about lasting consequences?"  I think the answer is "no", based on the previous metaphors that life is a test and that life is a trust. The metaphor of being an "ambassador to an enemy nation" seems very off-color to me.  Is earth an "enemy nation"?  One that God created?  This doesn't make any sense to me.  Furthermore, I'm curious where Christianity is "going" according to Rick with regard to identification and persecution of ...

The 2nd quote at the front of the chatper from Anaïs Nin struck me as completely relevant and unbelievably simple:  "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  This couldn't be more clear to me from my conversation with my wife this morning, where we spent a fair amount of time hashing out a conversation she had with her mother and her sister.  She didn't take the words that came her way at face value; she added her own interpretation and meaning to the words beyond what they literally meant. I like this sentence, "To fulfill the purposes God made for you, you will have to challenge conventional wisdom and replace it with the biblical metaphors of life."  Specifically, I like it even more when I read it as, "To fulfill the purposes..., you will have to challenge conventional wisdom..."  The interesting thing here is what we define as "conventional". The word "conventional" to me implies a quality of bein...

I've heard about the idea that life on Earth is but a blip in eternity, and that the life we live in this world will determine where we end up for eternity.  But one thing that I find weird is:  If life here and now is so short compared to eternity, why are we being judged so harshly after such a relatively insignificant amount of time?  For us to be placed in heaven or hell, forever , based simply on a life of less than 100 conventional years...  I feel that's the equivalent of giving a 1-year-old baby either $1 billion USD and complete freedom or a life sentence in a maximum security prison.  I feel that there must be a better explanation for what this life is about, if we are to believe in God and in eternity. It just occurred to me:  If people like me cannot even comprehend the significance of saving now for an earthly retirement 30 years down the road, how can we comprehend or begin to appreciate the weight of preparing for eternity ? Point to ...

If knowing one's purpose is so important, how does one know that he or she has found his or her true purpose?  Doesn't that presume that one knows God or God's plan? On to something that had me nodding my head:  "Never confuse activity with productivity."  I feel that at a very basic level this applies and manifests itself every day at work.  At work, I do a lot, but I often feel that I do not accomplish a lot. Point to Ponder:  Living on purpose is the path to peace. I can agree with this, which is exactly why I'm searching for my purpose. Question to Consider:  What would my family and friends say is the driving force of my life?  What do I want it to be? I don't think the people around me can say anything  about the driving force of my life, because I neither know what it is nor talk to others about it.  As for what I want it to be... I don't have anything specific, but I do want it to be a passionate attempt to make Par...

I think it's interesting and important for me to reflect on the statements made in the first few sentences, that God "expected [my birth]".  I don't take this to mean that God knew exactly when or where I was going to be born, because that would indicate predestination or a the existence of a "master plan" that removes the possibility of free will. Okay, but the second paragraph becomes a little more conflicting for me, because the sentence "God prescribed every single detail of your body" implies a lot about how much direct control God has over any one human being, down to the level of "natural talents" and "uniqueness of your personality".  Interestingly enough, I don't necessarily agree that this interpretation is well inferred from the following quote from Psalm 139:15. Calvinism, if I understand Calvinism correctly to include a belief in predestination, is pretty strongly stated in the paragraph quoting Psalm 139:1...

The chapter starts with an an assertion that I, the reader, was "born by his purpose and for his purpose."  If this is the case, then why do I need free will?  Or am I asking the wrong question? I guess maybe it's not a question of free will or not, but rather how to feel like you've found a sense of purpose, and with that a sense of fulfillment.  If this is the case, looking outside of ourselves at the world around us, the people around us, will give us better insight into what we will truly find fulfilling. What is "self-actualization"?  It looks like the term came from Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, based on About.com's article on the topic.  My understanding is that self-actualization, simply put, is performing or producing at 100% of our real capacity, however that may be measured.  But, I can see a problem with this, in that how can we ever measure what our real capacity is?  Self-actualization is a nice idea, but it doesn't seem...

My friend Mike gave me Lesson 1 from One-on-One John Bible Study , a worksheet from the Berkland Baptist Church.  It turned out to be an easy, simple reason to read a chapter in the Bible today. To complete the worksheet, I thought I'd post my reflections here, with the intent that this blog will be supplemented with further reflections on other readings in the coming weeks.  This exercise will actually be an interesting test to see how much I retained from my reading this morning, 11 hours ago. 1. What is John's purpose in writing this Gospel?  What kind of life is he talking about here?  What do you think is the most important thing in this whole world? This question forced me to clarify the perspective from which I'm answering these questions:  I will answer the questions from my personal views while acknowledging what I think the questions want me to consider. I think John's primary purpose in writing this Gospel is to raise awareness of Jesus. ...