Huh?

Not sure if anyone every checks this thing anymore, but I was prompted by an Anonymous guest to update this thing. Blogs can be tiresome. Especially when you feel like every single one should contribute something of value or substance. Twitter is all the rage now and it's like a mini blog for more mundane things. You can find me on there at www.twitter.com/phillycheese . I also spend some time on Facebook. Look me up there as well.

I hope all are doing well. Things have been incredibly busy. I've gotten involved in several business ventures, as well as some ministry things as well. The future is very exciting and full of opportunity.

Thanks for the reminder anonymous. Your quips are always welcome here.

Update

Life has been busy lately. I haven't had much time to think about, let alone write on this blog. I wanted to let you all know that I'm still here and will be contributing soon. I have had a lot of time to reflect and think about the role that God plays in my life and I've been able to land on some foundational truths that were there all along, but I had just forgotten them. A good reminder of those things we have chosen to forget can be a good thing from time to time. I hope everyone had a great new years and Christmas and I'm looking forward to what 2009 will bring.

The Bigger Picture

I've noticed a trend with the ideas of heaven and hell and I don't want to waste any time with anecdotes or preface. The reason I wrote about both heaven and hell and what I see as misconceptions of both is that I feel both of these issues come down to control.

The pictures of heaven and hell are presented with a fair amount of clarity in Scripture. Both are described in detail and at first glance, it would be easy to see the validity of the traditional and literal interpretation of both places. However, when you dig further, many inconsistencies arise in the descriptions. While I don't want to take away from the inspiration of scripture, I do want you to notice a personal bias or way to describe each place. Whether OT or NT, there are varied interpretations of what both places will be like.

This is important because there is a bigger picture to see. One of joy and one of sorrow, of completion and deletion. Strip away the varied descriptions and this is what you are left with. But we don't leave it there. We add to it. We emphasize the pain, the sorrow, the fire. We focus on mansions, gold, no tears.

Control. We expedite the process. We want the finished product. So we rush people. We force our hand and show our cards out of fear, out of concern, but also out of a need for control. We have created a negative spiral and we continue down this path because we know nothing other than what was presented to us. But as we do this, we miss the bigger picture again. What's worse, we can often do more damage, albeit unintentional.

This "pushing" of our heaven and hell agenda can and will lead to premature decisions. Decisions based on fear, based on many things, but too often not based on a relationship with Christ. When we turn the focus off of Christ and put it back on ourselves we exercise our need to control.

I'm not claiming omniscience. I don't know what conversions are real and what aren't. But I've seen enough people walking around with a false sense of righteousness believing they are "safe from hell" but have no clue as to what a relationship with Christ is. I've been one of these people. I know them well.

It's the relationship that is important. It's a process that I can play a part in. But it's not my place to try and force my hand. That is why I believe what I do in regards to heaven and hell. This life is about an opportunity for a personal relationship with our creator, and that relationship doesn't end when my body ends. It's a process that is ongoing and it's not defined by the constructs of heaven and hell that I create.

What's Next?

Okay, been over a month. Way too long between posts, but I'll be honest, I haven't had a whole lot of motivation to write the next post in this series that I'm doing on heaven and hell. I suffer from a bit of indifference on the subject. I hate to put that in the beginning of this post, and I'm betting that I won't get many responses to this one. However, I need to be honest. After all, this is my confessional.

Heaven is another one of those subjects in scripture filled with metaphor, allegory, symbolism.. and it's very difficult to know what is, and what isn't. So streets of gold, crowns, mansions, no tears, no pain/suffering.. these are the carrots that get dangled in front of us as if somehow we are to be motivated by these things. I'm not sure about you, but I could care less about a crown, a mansion, or what the surface is that I'm walking upon. If these things are supposed to be motivators for Christians, we would all be called materialists. So why is this stuff used to describe heaven and eternity with God? Are they supposed to be motivators? I don't think so. In the same way that the language of hell is only an metaphorical picture that is trying to convey a suffering or a place that can't be described by our limited vocabulary, so it is with heaven.

I'll be honest, I do not know whether or not my opinions on heaven or hell is remotely accurate. It isn't the point. But I do know that just as the language of hell and how it translates to "reality" is unknown to me, the same thing is true for me with heaven.

I get reminded often about how limited our understanding is and our ability to reason or "know" things like the problem of evil, predestination/free will, limits of omipotence, omniscience, omni-whatevernece, and yet somehow this isn't true with heaven and hell. We can know... it's clear as day... right? I don't think so. If we truly are limited in our ability to know God in one area, shouldn't it follow we are limited to know God in all areas? Where does that leave us? Ambiguity, anarchy, subjectivism? No... and yes.

More on this in my next post. Stay tuned.... It won't be as long as the time between my last post and this one.

Hell.. or lack therof

I've been thinking about this subject a bit. Yes, I know, I think about odd things but that's just the way I'm wired. Hell is such a controversial topic and I'm going to throw my hat into the ring of fire (no pun intended... well it was intended).

I have a hard time with the idea of hell. What I am going to present is merely an opinion built out of necessity and not necessarily founded on anything other than my paradigm. Hell seems ridiculous to me. Or at least the version of hell that I was taught my entire life (biblically based mind you.. not some weirdo faction or fringe view of hell). The idea of eternally punishing someone for choices made in an insignificant time period (when considered in the midst of eternity) doesn't add up to what the New Testament teaches us about forgiveness, love, etc.

Here's my deal, I find it hard to believe that God would expect us to uphold a standard that He isn't willing to uphold himself. Case in point, God tells us to forgive 70 x 7 times when someone wrongs you. We are supposed to turn the other cheek, we are supposed to give a thief our tunic if they take our cloak (or something like that). But wrong God once, and He will have none of it. Bam, you are doomed to fire and brimstone.

This doesn't add up to me. So what did I do? I came up with my own "hell" perspective. It happens to follow C.S. Lewis' line of thinking in "The Great Divorce" Hell is intended for those that choose to be there. Those who do not, are not limited to a finite time frame in which to make a choice.

Is this accurate? Is it biblical? I'm not sure. I know it isn't heretical (to most) but I also know it doesn't follow most people's view or upbringing. I really don't care about that. What I do care about is reconciling God's love and forgiveness with an idea of cruel and unusual punishment.

I know how the comments are going to go. I've heard them all. "But Phil, you're not God and his ways are perfect. Therefore if he chooses to do something, it's good and we need to 'Trust' his ways." Here's another one: "Where can you back that up in Scripture? The Bible speaks of fire, torture, hell, etc. for those who don't believe". And finally: "Are you a universalist?".

I'm not going to take the time to answer all of these right now. I have thought through these objections and many more, and that is why I'm comfortable with my position. However, I do not think I have it figured out. I don't claim to have answers on this subject. Merely speculation and opinion that helps me enjoy a relationship with God. However odd or one-sided that may be at this time.

Fire away!

For those of you anxiously awaiting my next post...

I apologize for the delay. My mind has been on other things lately and I will come back to this stuff soon. Thanks for the dialogues from my previous posts. Feel free to continue the dialogue even if I've moved on to a new post.

My Version of God

I'm a product of my environment, upbringing, education, social class, and birthplace. So much about my surroundings and environment shape who I am. It's difficult to think outside this sphere I live in. What's even more interesting, is how I put God within this sphere as well. I can't help it. It's a part of how I was created. I have to think in terms of my sphere.

I say this to give a reason as to why I think the way I do. I have a version of God that I have found "liveable" and within the possibility of relational. This has been a difficult task for me over the last 7 years. I have often been angry at God, or just denied his existence. Scripture doesn't make this any easier. There are things in Scripture that point to a version of God that I don't like. It's one that I have difficulty accepting, or at least the general interpretation of Him.

So here's my question, do you think it's okay to live life this way? Is this irreverant? Should I just accept the standard knowledge and practice of what's around me and fall in line to a picture of God that is very likely to be true... even though it upsets me to the point of anger and frustration? My version of who God is doesn't deny what he's told us about himself in Scripture, it just chooses to look at him though a different lens than normal. It's a lens that allows me to trust, to build a relationship upon. It isn't heretical, and it isn't ignoring scripture, it's just different.