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Probably at some point, you have heard of the woman who spill hot coffee in her lap, and sued McDonald’s for millions. What you usually hear, is how this woman drove into the drivethru at McDonald’s and bought hot coffee, that she then stuck between her legs. Because it was a Styrofoam cup with a slip on slid, the coffee spilled in her lap. The you hear that that this lady was awarded nearly 3 million dollars because she burned her lap. Generally, most people tend to feel more sympathy for an individual, than they do for multi-billion dollar corporation. In this case some people side more with McDonald’s, reasoning that this woman doesn’t deserve much, if anything, afterall, McDonald’s did not spill the coffee, she did that herself, it was her poor judgement that led to the accident. They also think that 3 million is a ridiculous amount of money, for a coffee scald.

Perhaps, you are one of those people. We are always hearing of frivolous lawsuits and/or excessive judgement is lawsuits. Perhaps this angers you some, because you know that these things, cost us all money. Perhaps you believe that if you were in her shoes, you would not have brought this suit, but just admitted your own fault and move on, after you stopped screaming from the pain.

Those are easy positions to take, aren’t they? You may not have you facts strait however. For example, this woman was not driving, she was a passenger in the car, and the car was not in motion. She was opening the lid to add cream and sugar, yes, the coffee was between her legs as she attempted to remove the lid. The lid was on tight enough (which is good, because you would not want the lid to come off if the cup overturned while driving) that she had to squeeze the cup with her legs to keep the cup from lifting, while she pulled the lid off, but, once the lid was off, the cup lost reinforcement, and the pressure from her legs squeezed cup out of round, and the coffee squirted up and out of the cup. In a moment, the coffee was absorbed into her sweatpants which kept the hot coffee in contact with her skin. The pain made her react instinctively and uncontrollably, spilling the rest of the coffee - you get the picture.

Now, this doesn’t make the spill the responsibility of McDonald’s, but it does transform the incident from one of a really foolish driver with hot coffee in her lap, to a mistake and accident that anyone of us might have made.

Now, what you also might not know, that this was not simply a painful burn. The burns she received were extensive. Six percent of her skin was third degree burns, with additional second and first degree burns. How did it get to such a large about of her body? Well, after the initial burns on her legs an groin, the coffee ran downhill to the car seat, where her buttocks were burned. Without getting too detailed, she was burned everywhere in between. She spent the next eight days in the hospital, having dead tissue removed and receiving skin grafts.

The woman sought $20,000 from McDonald’s, but McDonald’s refused. This is when she sought relief through a lawsuit. During the discover portion of the trial, McDonald’s produced documents which showed that there had been at least 700 claims by people burned by McDonald’s coffee, in the ten years prior to this woman’s case. This shows that McDonald’s knew that it had a problem with the temperature of it’s coffee.

McDonald’s also provided information, to the effect that they keep there coffee on hold, at 185 degrees, plus or minus 5 degrees. This is substantially hotter that other establishments. Coffee at home, is usually served at 135 to 140 degrees. To give a perspective, most adults cannot make them selves, not matter how hard they try, hold there hand in water over 130 degree. Water at 105 degrees, is about the most people can tolerate in a hot tub, 95 to 100 still feeling quite hot. Eighty  degrees above that, is quite hot! Water at 180 degrees, can give you a third degree burn, in as little as two seconds.

There are other facts that you may not have heard, but I will skip most of them. Remember that three million dollars? Well 2.7 million of that was punitive damages. For those of you not familiar with how are civil court system works, punitive damages are not awarded to the plaintiff, because the plaintiff deserves or needs them. The are designed to punish the defendant (McDonald’s), so that they will have an incentive, to change their behavior, and stop serving coffee that unnecessarily burns 70 people every year. This amount, at the time, was the equivalent of two days worth of coffee sales for McDonald’s. Damages, the amount awarded to the plaintiff as compensation, was awarded by the jury in the amount of $200,000, but it was reduced to $160,000, because the jury found that the plaintiff was 20% responsible. The punitive damages, were reduce by a judge, to $480,000, but the judge said that McDonald’s was reckless, callous, and willful. The parties entered into a secret settlement subsequently, so we do not know how much McDonald’s actually payed. I am guessing that it was less, that McDonald’s threatened to appeal the verdict and/or awards, and that the plaintiff might end up with nothing, so, a compromise was stuck. I do not know, this is just a guess.

O.K. What does all of this have to do with a Christian administrator’s blog?

I do not know if know the facts of the case that I presented about, change your opinion about it at all, that is not the point. But you can see, that someone might come to different conclusions, if they have all of the facts, or in some cases just admit that they do not know all of the facts, and suspend judgement until they do have the facts.

We, as Christians, have a lot of insecurity usually on the topic of judgement. Some of us think think that it means that we should not criticise others. It does not mean that. If you want, you can see my thoughts on judgement as a theological topic, you may, but that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about how quick we can be, to leap to false conclusions, when we do not have the facts. Sometimes we think we have the facts, but we do not know how much more to a story there is than is apparent. Sometimes, it is none of our business to know all of the facts, and in such cases, might we want to consider suspending our opinions out of recognizing our own ignorance? We often have too much pride, to consider that we might be wrong, might not have the facts (who wants to be ignorant?).

How do we do this? How does it manifest, where is the harm?

We do this when we become critical of others, when they behave in a way that we do not approve of, but we may not realize, that we might have done the same thing in their position. Friendships can be damaged, congregations torn apart, or, if not torn apart, we separate into factions or cliques, where we justify why we are not like those other guys, as the do the same thing concerning us. This is not pleasing to God, we are one family, we are to love the brethren, bearing one another’s burdens, making peace, forgiving each other, as God also forgave us. Before you are tempted to reply and scold me and tell me that the Bible instructs us to judge those in church, save your breath, I understand that. Again, that is not the subject here. My topic is more about jumping to unfounded conclusions.

Another way that we manifest this faulty type of judgement, is we sometimes blame God, when something in our life is not as we think it should be. We have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. God is the only one who knows all of the details, that lead Him to the actions He performs, or allows things in our lives, that we may not like. We do not know what greater purpose might be serve by our discomfort, or how those things are shaping us into better people, perfecting us in areas that need change inour lives. Perhaps the biggest thing we forget, is that while we may approach His throne and make requests, the decisions are His, and they are always right. We were bought with a price, we belong to Him, and we have no rightful claim on our own lives. To the extent that we maintain our own sense of entitlement, we are outside of His perfect will for us. We are at our best, when we complete surrender ourselves to His will. It is not a natural thing for us to do, it is a supernatural quality. Jesus said it best:

“Never-the-less, thy will, not my will, be done.”

Poverty in America

I realize that many reading this are not in America, nor are they perhaps very familiar with United States society. For those of you that are in this non - U.S. perspective, you may have to adjust the details of this blog, to make it relevant to your local economy, or, just take it in and use it as an insight to the way things are in the United States. However, the target audience of this blog, is those who do live in the U.S., and even there, you may need to adjust for local economies. There will be some facts and figures here, as well as some anecdotal stories, hopefully through this all, you may find a point of two, that will make you think.

Now, since this is featured on a Christian chat site, it would not be appropriate for me to exclude the spiritual perspectives of the topic, I will probably save much of that for nearer the end. For now, I want us to understand the nature of poverty in the U.S., so I will begin with the stories and statistics.

In the 2005 U.S. Census, it was discovered that there are 37 million poor people in the U.S. That works out to about to about one in eight of us. Politicians sometimes use that statistic to make apeals on why there needs to be change (usually a vote for them is supposed to be the solution). It does seem incredible, that in a country of of abundance, that there should be so much poverty. I have a neighbor, who never has enough money. Their family has no savings, not much food in the kitchen, and every time there is a normal houshold maintenance issue, it becomes an emergency. In the last week, their water heater went out, it sprung a leak. They had to borrow money to get a replacement, which hopefully, they will be able to repay in a month or so. Of course, buying a water heater is only part of the problem, there also needs to be the transportaion of the water heater to their home. Then, there will be the installation. In the installation, there will be a few parts necessary. This neighbor is not handy with tools or other mechanical things, they are dependant on others for such things. Either they have to pay for installation, or they need to get someone else to do it. Well, they borrowed the money from a friend, and got a neighbor to buy the other small parts and do the install for them. When it rains, it poors. They have a leak in the plumbing at another part of their home, one, if left unchecked, will cause damage to the home, and create a large water bill. It all may make no difference, as the water company is about to turn out of their water for non payment of their bill. This is all in one week, and it is representative of this neighbor’s life as a whole, one financial emergency after another. My neighbor talks my ear off about their poverty.

I chose my neighbor as an example, because the neighbor is similar to many who tell me their woes on Worthychat. Let me be clear here - you are welcome to tell me about your problems, and I am willing to offer advice and prayer, I am not complaining. Bear with me here - I hope to make a few points which are helpful in life to get. Patience!

Okay, I just gave a story about a neighbor, who clearly would have fewer problems if only the family had more money. Let’s look and some more information about those 37 million poor people in the United States of America. The following information is provided by the Heritage Foundation, and comes from statistics from various government agencies.

Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.

Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.

Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.

The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)

Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.

Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.

Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.

So, the next time you hear a politician talking about the poor in the United States - ask yourself - do people with 3 bedroom homes, color TVs, cars, etc., really need that much help from from the government, it the form of taking more taxes from Americans not categorized as poor? That the governent takes from hardworking people to help people who are really well off, is an insult to people who are genuinely poor.

There are people in the world, especially outside the United States, who know actual poverty. People who have no roof over their head, people wo have no healthcare available, people who get so little nutrition, that you can count their bones.

Why does out government do this? The answer is quite simple. If you are a poor person in a third world country, there is not much that you can do for an American politician. If you are a “poor” person in America, one with only one color TV, the politician may be able to get your vote, if he promises you a second color TV - of course, they won’t put it that way. The same thing is true about the health care debate. The politicians are going to tell you that healthcare is broken in the United States. What they mean by that, is that heathcare insurance is expensive. They won’t bother to tell you though, that they are the same type of people, who caused the heathcare problems in the first place. Americans have choices on health care. One is to make enough money to pay for you own. Another is to make enough money to buy healthcare insurance, or work for a company that provided health care insurance. A third is to take advantage of health care provided in government programs, teaching organizations, charitible free clinics and other free or inexpensive heathcare alternatives. A forth is to depend on the charity of friends, family, churchmembers etc. A fifth is to travel to another country and get healthcare there. A sixth is to stop buying housing beyond your needs, cars, and entertainment an other non-necessities, and set money aside for heath relate ermergencies. Finally, you can choose to do without heathcare.

Now, I did not come here to discuss politics or discuss practical solutions to common problems. Suffice it to say that their are already programs in place, from both the government and charitible sources, that address real problems of poverty here, for the most part. Let’s begin to look at poverty, from the viewpoint of One more qualified to speak on the topic.

Luke 12:27-34

27 “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!
29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

NIV

Now, I imagine that these words are not foriegn to you. Maybe it has been a while since you read them, even longer since you actually pondered them. Join me in thinking about life in the time of Christ:

Roads were made of dirt or stones. There were no cars, no bicycles. Rich people rode on carts or carriages. The upper middle class, road on the back of an animal, the poor, walked. There was no refrigeration, no canning. Some things where dried out or preserved with salt etc. Think about how much your diet would be different back then. There were no book stores, let alone DVDs or color TV’s. No air conditioning. Your floor would likely have been dirt, stones, straw mats etc. Rodents and bugs in your home would have been the norm. No washing machines, no dishwashers, no microwave or gas ovens. Want to cook? Gather wood and start a fire. No toilets, no running water. As you go through your day tomorrow, everytime you touch something, ask yourself if it was available 2000 years ago. Now, realise also, that the conditions we are describing, are not the conditions of the poor, but the condtions of average people. Now, my neighbor, can in no way, be considered poor in that perspective. By the standards of Jesus time, my neighbor lives a standard of living which was not lived by even a king. Keep that in mind if you consider yourself poor. If you are reading this, you have access to a computer, perhaps you even own the computer. Perhaps you have internet service, and perhaps you have electricity. I am guessing that this is the case. The problems that my neighbor has, are self induced. The neighbor can learn the skills necessary to fix their own problems. The neighbor can sell their home, and move into a smaller one, in a less expensive neighborhood. The problem with my neighbor is, that the neighbor is living above their means. The solution, is to do a reality check, and live in a way they can actually afford, or earn more money. In most cases, this is possible in America.

Now, I haven’t dealved into spiritual aspects much here - don’t be concerned, consider this part one, my next blog will be related, and I will tie it altogether at that time. For now, spend some time noticing the things that bless your lives. Perhaps tomorrow, everytime you touch something, ask yourself if they it was available to the average person in Jesus time, or if it is available to people who are truly impoverised. As you do, remember to thank God for your American style poverty, and pray for those who are truly poor, perhaps, even thinking ov some way you might help them.

One secret to contentment, is just to realise that you are better off that you make yourself think, and stop focusing on what you don’t have. Seek first, the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.

Omegaman

Why are there so many denominations? Why is the church divided?

I see these questions occasionally in chat. They are good questions. It is a question Christians have, especially new believers trying to choose their first church. It is a question non-believers have too. For them, it is evidence that Christians cannot even agree on what the Bible says. Truthfully, they are right. In the chatroom, we see this frequently. We have debates over doctrines and understandings, thankfully most of it is good natured, though often passionate. It is also stimulating intellectually, it drives people to the pages of scripture to see what the bible does indeed say about things, so, these differences can have a positive effect. Imagine if we all agreed! Would that necessarily guarantee we were correct, or could we all agree on the same misunderstandings?

Jude 17-1917 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, “In the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.

Notice that in the passage above, divisions are not a good thing. Notice though, that Jude says that these people who cause divisions, are mockers who follow their unGodly lusts, and do not have the Spirit. These people, if we were to follow after them, would lead us away from the things of God. If you separate from your bretheren to hang instead with your buddies at a bar, that is real division, not to be compared with denominations at all.

1 Cor 11:18-20
18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part, I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may have become evident among you.

In the above passage, Paul speaks of another kind of division. This one is also not a denominational division, he is addressing division among those gathered together at one place. The passage has a negative feel to it, as though Paul is disapproving of it. You see that in his statement “and in part, I believe it”. Then he goes on to say that these factions have to exist! The reason: So you can distinguish between those who are sound in the faith, and those who do not have approval. Again, in this case, division is a good thing, not a bad thing.

So, what is a denomination anyway? Look at the following definitions from Mirriam-Webster Dictionary:

3.   NAME, DESIGNATION; especially : a general name for a category

4. A religious organization whose congregations are united in their adherence to its beliefs and practices.

Didn’t see that one coming did you? Notice that a denomination is a uniting factor, not a dividing factor! There is a running joke between on of the other chat administrators and I, about Calvary Chapels. Calvary Chapels are a group of churches, who are self described as non-denominational. In the definitions above, denomination has to do with the name of something. Calvary Chapels have the name Calvary Chapel - obviously.  As far as I know, they are united in their beliefs and practices. Do some CCs sprinkle while others dunk? No. Are there any CCs that teach the Jesus will not return for His church until after the great tribulation? I haven’t heard of one. Are their CC’s that do not believe in the perpetuity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit? I don’t think so. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, chances are it is a duck.

So what is going one here? Why would a group of churches, who are united in belief, practice, and name, claim to be non-denominational? I have a theory. I believe that it is about marketing. Denominationalism, has a bad reputation. It smacks of stodgy old ways, inflexibility, to some, it is judgemental, rigid, organized religion. To be non-denominational, is hip. It sounds like you stand apart. It is similar to what we have in the states politically, when you register as a non partisan. It sounds like you are independent - have your own thoughts and views. It makes you different. Of course, in the real world, you are unique, just like everybody else. We have a church near were I live. It used to be called the First Baptist Church, or something like that (I always wondered where the second Baptist church is, but that is another story). Lately, they took doen the familiar name plaque, and put up a very colorful one, now it is called Sonlight Christian Center, or some such thing. Marketing again, I suspect, who want to hang out with Baptists? Of course, they still are Baptists, but they ‘needed’ a hipper name.

So, am I against denominations? Am I against independent churches? Am I against churches that say they are but are not? I am not against any of those things. Let’s look at another passage:

1 Cor 1:10-1310 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

That is a type of denominationalism that is not good. We do what these people are doing when we start gathering around a personality, like an author of a series of books, a famous preacher, or even the teachings of a great theologian from church history. Paul is pointing out, that there is only one church. All those who have been forgiven their sins through Jesus’ sacrifice, are the one church. It matter not what you call the church, who pastors it, who founded it, where it is, what language they speak, which bible version they prefer, what worship style they employ, or whether they meet in a beautiful building with hardwoods and stained glass, or an old factory, storefront, or even a home. If Christ is preached and they believe the bible, I am united with them, not divided from them. How can there not be denominations? When their are different countries and languages, customs and tastes, there will be denominations. When everybody belongs to one denomination, all agreeing, you can be sure that something evil or something wonderful has happened. If Jesus has returned for us, then it is something wonderful, until that day, their will be divisions based on preferences, understandings, languages customs, and sadly, even skin color.

When you are a mature Christian, you will recognise the oneness of the church and stop focusing on petty differences. Do you give offerings only at your church? If so, why? Are there not other churches that have needs greater than yours? When Paul traveled in the first century, the offering he gathered where for other churches, those who were able, helped those who were needy. That  is unity. Giving of your substance to other brothers and sisters, because you recognise that they are family.

I am honored to be a part of Worthychat. Here, we come together from around the world. We are of different denominations, yet here, we are united. Do we squabble? Of course we do, what family doesn’t? Most husbands and wives squabble at times, yet, they remain one flesh, a unity. Differences do not mean you are divided, they just mean there are differences. We are human, God made us as individuals, not clones, celebrate the differences.

1 Cor 12:12-2712 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those members of the body, which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to have more abundant seemliness, 24 whereas our seemly members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

I would like to end with one final thought (I could go on and on, but I am feeling merciful tonight). People like to gather with others who are like them, the feel comfortable and part of something. Try to be accommodating in that way toward others, make them feel welcomed. But when you go out to look for a church to be part of, you will be tempted to find one, that suits your tastes and your beliefs. I am all for that, but I would like to caution you to keep things in perspective. Sound doctrine is more important that the style of worship or how nice the facilities are. If you try a new church, give it a chance, attend it three times at least, unless in is plainly scripturally unsound. If you have a personal belief about something, and you want to be around others who share that belief, don’t make it the central thing if it is a peripheral issue or not even a scriptural one, find a church that teaches the Bible, as it is, not with massaged meanings to make it fit what you wish it said. It is O.K. to be uncomfortable too, it can stretch and grow you. O.K., so that was two final thoughts, sue me.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to read this, now go into the chatroom and join the one body, your brothers and sisters in Christ. Omegaman

Edited 8/21/07 I am not hoping to get a bunch of comments, but I expected to see some, so it occurs to me that people may not know how. Click the title “Are we ignorant?” above, and I think you can add a comment at the bottom if you like. Your comment will not show immediately, as it has to be approved by whoever is in charge of that.

 Are We Ignorant?

Where do I begin with this one. This one, I must admit, is motivated largely, by what I feel. I am sure that my personal biases, probably show through, but really, I try to have biases, which are based not upon feelings, but upon facts and reality. Why the hesitation? Why the reluctance to jump right in and speak my mind? The largest reason, is that I do not want to offend some of the fine people, who are not only my brothers and sisters at Worthy, they are also my friends. Make no mistake, some will be offended, and feel defensive. That might seem reason enough, to not go where I am going to go with this, but there are issues here, which perhaps, we all need to weigh carefully. If the system will allow you to weigh in on the topic, feel free to leave a comment, but let’s avoid accusative tones. Don’t suggest that another, is somehow less of a Christian, just because they disagree with you.

Before I get started, let me say a thank you to Smiles, who so graciously bumped my blog into second place position, and yet here I am again, taking the top rung. Sorry, I just don’t know when to shut up I guess. I want to show you a scripture passage, one that I am confident, you are familiar with. I want also, to consider it’s implications, and extend it’s principle further, and I want to tell you a related story, that happened in my own life.

1 Cor 8:8-13:

9 But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 11 For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. 12 And thus, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble.

Simple version is, than people are answerable to their own conscience, and we should not do anything to encourage them to violate that conscience. Taking that further, we also do not want to do things, that hinder the unbeliever from coming to Christ. As you know, the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S., is caught up in a big scandal, involving pedophile priests and the church’s protection of them. I am certain that other denominations, have experienced problems in the clergy from time to time. The Roman church, institutionally covered this up.

Now, I can accept, that they want to protect their reputation. That, I agree with, but the Roman Church exercised extremely poor judgement in this case. In my opinion, whenever a case like this is known, they should have immediately defrocked the priest, and cooperated with the police, instead of blocking investigations. That would have been the right thing, and it would have done much more to protect the reputation of the church, not to mention the innocent victims of the crimes.

This, is a great problem, because it reflects badly on the church in the minds of others. Unbelievers can look at this, and justifiably say: “I want nothing to do with these people”. Many of them, will not make any distinctions in denominations, they will apply it to the entire body of Christ, the church. You already know, that people hold the modern church responsible for the actions of the Catholic Church against early scientists (Galileo as one example). Similarly, they hold the witch hunts, the inquisition, and other atrocities, against the whole church. In a similar way, they can hold the actions of one person, claiming to be a Christian, who misbehaves, against every Christian. Keep this in the back of your mind as you read my actual topic, if I ever get there.

For now, I’d like to tell you a little story from my own life, about the issue of stumbling others. I am not sure I will make a point from it, other that to demonstrate how this stumbling issue could potentially work in real life, but it is a story I occasionally tell in chat, so I might as well put it here, so I never have to type it all out again. When my wife and I were newlyweds, we went on an excursion with some people from our church one summer evening. Here, in the Los Angeles area, we have the Hollywood Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater. On certain summer evenings, they have concerts of classical music. There is also a fireworks show at the end, choreographed to the 1812 overture. It is pretty cool. The admission is reasonable, and you can take a bus there, nonstop, from the city where we live. You are allowed to bring in food and beverages, it is really nice. That is what my wife and I did, took the bus and a picnic, along with perhaps 20 or 30 members of our local congregation. My wife and I got out our submarine sandwiches, our chips and salsa, and a couple of plastic champagne glasses, which we filled from our bottle. We had an enjoyable evening.

The next Sunday, the congregation got a dressing down from the pastor. I am not sure I would call it a sermon. It seems that a couple had come to him, upset, because another couple from the congregation, had the nerve to drink wine at the concert. This couple who had talked to the pastor, apparently believed that drinking alcohol, was a sin. The couple, was apparently very distraught over seeing Christians drinking alcohol. Our pastor said to the congregation: “How dare you!” He said it several times, and was apparently quite upset about it all. My wife and I thought, yeah, that is rather poor judgement. The pastor went on talking about stumbling of the brethren etc. It was not one of the happier sermons. Perhaps your are saying right now yourself: “How dare you Omegaman, you should know better than to do such a thing. What were you thinking?” The pastor went on to say, that not only would he not drink alcohol in public view, he would also not do it in the privacy of his own home, because he needs to be able to say, if asked: “No, I do not drink alcohol.” , lest he stumble a weaker brother. Notice, that the implication is, that he would not drink alcohol, for the stumbling issue, not that he said the actual drinking of the alcohol was a sin. I wondered if by not stating that, one might not conclude that he just implied drinking was o.k., as long as you don’t get caught. Such a statement itself, could be a stumbling block to some. I also have to point out, that the incident at Hollywood Bowl, does not exactly fit the stumbling block passage. Implied in the passage, is the idea that the weaker brother would be encouraged to violate their own conscience. The complaining couple, was apparently in no way tempted to do so, but the point is, that there could have been someone there who might have been tempted, and for THAT reason, a Christian should not do things in view of others, that may be considered a sin by them. How far do we take this? Does this mean that no Christian can go to war, or be a policeman, there are those that believe it is always wrong to kill. How about driving cars, some think it is irresponsible to our stewardship over creation. What about the Amish, do we who drive, stumble them? I do not know all the answers.

Now, at this juncture, I should probably point out something. It case you hadn’t picked up on it, my wife and I had not figured out, during the sermon, that the pastor was talking about us. It might seem obvious. It should have been obvious, because we didn’t recollect seeing another couple there who was drinking. Now, lest you judge me, for not only stumbling brothers, but for being dense, I should point out, that what my wife and I were drinking, was non-alcoholic, Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider. Martinelli’s comes in a bottle, which can be mistaken for a wine bottle. Pouring the bubbly juice, into Champagne glasses, made it look like - big surprise - Champagne! So, were we guilty of something, or totally innocent. We were guilty of failing to avoid the appearance of evil (1 Thess 5:22). The other couple, was guilty of judging falsely and tattling (Pro 17:9), the proper biblical response on their part, would have been to come to us (Matt 18:15) and confront us directly, not going to the pastor. The pastor, should have checked the fact himself, not relying on the misunderstanding of the couple, and he, had he found we had done something wrong, should have come to us directly, instead of making accusations in front of the whole church. Had any one of us, done the right thing in the first place, it all could have been resolved immediately. God, knowing how to make lemons out of lemonade (Rom 8), at least we got a good sermon out of the whole thing, and made me more aware of the broad implications of the stumbling block passage cited herein. If this story worked as I planned, you have probably jumped to the conclusion that my wife and I, had been drinking Champagne. If you did, then you know first hand, what it is to jump to unfounded conclusions.

My actual topic - ignorance.

Okay, I have avoided this long enough. Let me give a little background on what drove me to write about the topic, that I still have not revealed. As many or most of you reading this know, I am a Worthychat administrator, and am frequently present there. I also, occasionally fire a salvo on the forums. I have seen something in those places, that has begun to bug me a bit, I am not sure that it is increasing, but I am increasingly aware of it. I am going to call it willful Christian ignorance. I am all for faith, I think faith is a great thing. We could all use more of it. I do not think that faith means, however, that we do not need to embrace facts or know them.

One of our main missions, as Christians, is to evangelize unbelievers. When we are asked a question, asked to give an answer, for the hope we have, we are commanded to provide a reason (1 Pet 3:15). That word “reason” does not mean a simple answer, it means a well thought out “reasonable” response. In other words, it is supposed to make sense to the unbeliever. If you have been in chat or on the boards, you can find plenty examples of this, where relevant facts are brought to bear on the question. The question might be about creation as opposed to evolution, whether God exists at all, why Christianity in particular, etc, etc, you have seen this type of question. We, are supposed to know these things, sadly, most of us do not know. That is one kind of Christian ignorance, but it is not the kind that prompted me to write this.

What is bothering me, is the kind of ignorance, that let’s us appear to have an air of superiority or spirituality over others. I am not suggesting, that this is the motive, or even something the person is aware of, I am talking about how it appears to others. Okay, enough avoiding my issue, I am going to give some examples, this is where people will be offended, because many will find themselves in these categories.

1. Maintaining that the earth is 6000 years old, and asserting that it is taught in scripture. I am not saying you cannot believe the earth is that young, but stop claiming the bible teaches that, it does not. I agree that the Bible teaches that the earth is at least 6000 years old, but in never gives the age, gives a date of creation, or makes any assertion about it’s age unless one jumps to conclusions not born out by the texts themselves. Why do I care? I care because this is all the excuse some need to write Christians and the Bible off, as lacking credibility. People have a hard enough time accepting things which are taught in scripture, please, don’t add to their difficulties or to the difficulties of those trying to reach people outside of the fold, by adding your own opinions on issues of relative insignificance.

2. Maintaining that the King James Version is the only legitimate English bible. That claim is offensive to Christians who have made informed choices on their preferred version. The notion that the KJV is the one and only legitimate English version, is untenable, and cannot be maintained on the basis of any factual investigation. It, is a prejudice, nothing more. If you prefer the KJV, more power to you, you need no better reason. If you feel that you must attack other versions, then at least arm yourself with facts from people who do not hold the same position. Regardless of your sources, make sure that you are using facts, not assertions based on prejudice. This is important for you, for if you are wrong, then you accusations against the translators of modern versions, make you guilty of slander. Is that what you want?

3. I am really going to take heat for this one. People frequently say that Roman Catholics, are not Christians. This one I find mysterious. It seems to me, that anyone, who believes that salvation is through faith, not works, that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived sinlessly, died for their sins, was buried and after 3 days, rose again bodily etc. etc. and is trusting God for salvation by grace, through faith, is as Christian as you or I. I can guarantee by the declaration of scripture, that such Catholics are saved, just as I can declare by the authority of scripture, that not everyone sitting in the pews of protestant churches, are saved. Do Catholics believe and practice things, which are not in the Bible? Yes, of course most do. It is not about the denomination you attend, it is about your personal status before God. I have met Catholics that love the Lord, and it shows in their lives, I am not about to say that Christ died for them, in vain.

Those are a few examples, of what I consider to be Christian ignorance. None of those, however, were the catalyst for this blog, what was, probably seems so petty, it will surprise you.

As I write this, a movie has just made it’s rounds through the theaters. It was no block buster. It was not an epic movie, though it may be the most expensive comedy ever produced. I am speaking of Evan Almighty. For those of you who live in caves, or perhaps foreign (to me) countries, it is a light hearted comedy about a modern day Noah, a regular man, told by God, to build an ark. It was playing at our local $3 theater, and the little woman suggested we go see it. I agreed. Now, before I went, I looked into the Worthy Forums, to see the take on the movie from the citizens of Worthy. Well, as one might expect, the reviews were mixed. Some thought it was pretty good, some you could not make go see it. Therein, lies the problem again, willful, prejudicial, Christian ignorance.

The naysayers, generally, would say things like “it mocks God, the Bible, and Christians”. One wonders how they know so much about a movie they haven’t seen. The movie I saw, did none of those things. The movie I saw, will not win awards, but the plot was good and somewhat original, though many of it’s gags are overdone. Overall, it was funny, and was just a plain feel good movie.. Now, I cannot say, that it could not have been made more wholesome, it could have been. Let me put it this way, I was not exposed to anything that I would not be exposed to in real life or on prime-time TV, and I am frequently exposed to worse language in Worthychat, than I heard in the movie. I doubt anyone who went to see it, went there for a theology lesson, this is fiction, entertainment, not pretending to be anything else. Was it Glorifying to God? That is the standard some would apply. I assume that those people do not read newspapers or watch TV. To it’s credit, the movie does explore prayer, and answers to it, in a respectful way. It has a pro-family message: spend more time with the kids, even if work has to suffer some. It is about the struggles of faith, about being obedient, even when others mock you. It is about how everything God does, He does because He loves people. It is about persisting in what is right, to triumph over evil. It is about a lot of things. How many movies can you name, that treat faith and God so well, that run in regular theaters? It saddens me, that Christians whine about movies not being friendly to faith, or promoting good values, then when one comes along that does, we boycott it, well, some of us do. I wish I had not been a cheapskate, and had paid full price instead, to let the producers know that I like their attempt, to appeal to a broad audience, and not offend the faithful.

Well, you have the gist of my rant. Judge not the things you are willfully ignorant of, and by implication, those that choose to, in good conscience before God, do things that you would never consider. Besides my rant, you got a movie review as well. I give it 2.0 thumbs up. If I was all thumbs, I’d give it seven thumbs and one knuckle (7.5 for the slow among you)! By the way, there were 12 people in that theater! All of them, came out looking happy, not such bad thing in itself. The movie exceeded my expectations of it.

In sincere Christian love,

Omegaman 2.0

P.S. For those of you who were dead set against this movie, don’t go see it, you will find plenty to criticise, and I certainly do not want you to go against your conscience, but stop judging others who are responsibly enjoying their freedom in Christ, thanking God, Who gives us all things richly to enjoy (1 Tim 6:17). You would find plenty to criticise in the movie, and there is no need to prove yourself right. Your criticisms of this blog, are invited, and accepted.

The foregoing is the sole opinion of it’s author, and the views and opinions expressed, do not necessarily reflect those of Worthy Ministries or anyone connected with it.

For whatever reason, no one seems to have an interest it writing another blog. I wrote my last one, largely so I didn’t have to see my previous one. I am writing this one, for the same reason. With that kind of motivation, don’t have high expectations.I am wondering why the other admins, are not blogging, maybe, I should wonder, why any would want to! I asked that of George, when he created this blog feature. His basic response to me was that it was a way for Worthychatters to get to know the administrators here. Fair enough. Maybe that is a good idea, but it depends on a few things, in order to work. For it to work, three things have to happen.

I got tired of seeing my last blog, as the latest blog, so I did another to bump my position.

I came in at the tail end of a conversation in chat one night, not long ago, it was close to venomous between a few, or at least in seemed to me to be so. As near as I could figure out, it began on a topic like war or the death penalty, or something along those lines. Those topics are still what I would call peripheral theology, yet I cannot deny their importance, because human lives are at stake. What I saw in that chat, was that everyone was under the assumption that their opinion was the right one or the superior one, and felt that their view was justified by scripture.

Now, it is great, that everyone is willing to back up their ideas, and form their beliefs, from the scripture. I Try to do that, and just like all of these good people I watched, I too, have opinions, which I have formed from the scriptures. Unlike some of those I observed, I am willing to entertain the notion, that my understanding is limited, and my opinions can be wrong, very wrong. I am going to let some of those opinions show through in this blog, they are not the subject, they are the illustration, feel free to have your own convictions, in fact, you are not only entitled to them, you SHOULD form you own conclusions, for you are accountable to God, not to me, not to any of your brothers. At the same time, we should all be open to hearing the opinions and convictions of others.

To quote Paul (out of context): 1 Cor 8:1-3
Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. 2 If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; 3 but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

Now, in the discussion that night, there was a recurring theme. “That is not in the New Testament”, “We are not under law, we are under grace”. There were others, but the point seemed to be, that we do not have to bother with the Old Testament anymore, the New Testament is want runs the show.

Is this notion true. Is the question which Testament we are under? Is it, which parts of the Old Testament, can we dispense with? Or, is it possible, that we should be asking, if the New Testament, is an edition to the Old Testament, a clarification, not in any way a replacement? Are there other ways we could ask this question?

I have some thoughts on this, and, I have some of my opinion on social topics, woven in as well. If you think that you would like to see it, I would be happy for you to do that. I am afraid, however, that it will not be received well by some, because my opinions are there. The will be unpopular with some, and I accept that. I ask you, to consider, whether you can read my opinions, opinions which I would share openly in chat, without holding them against me personally. It is out responsibility, to love each other, and harbor no ill feelings, yet recognize, that differences of opinion are inevitable. We can agree to disagree, agreeably. If you have that maturity, or if you can isolate good principles from a mans opinions, then my all means, check out my thoughts at the link I will provide. Also, feel free to leave you comments in this blog, about what you read, but be forewarned, I am not going to drawn into a debate in this blog, the one I watched, got too close to ugly.

http://www.lathingstodo.com/omega/study/law-grace-old_testament.htm

Let me warn you, that I concocted this blog just to see if anyone really reads these, so, it may not be worthwhile. If you do not want to risk wasting your time, please offer at least a “.” in a reply, just to show that you actually looked.

Now, what is this split personality?

I was musing, that I seem to switch modes of operation. I notice than some people appear to have characteristics of their personalities, which are always in operation, but the ratios seem to vary with the mood. Perhaps I appear that way to others. However, inside, it feels as though I am switching to a new personality, when my ratio changes. Now, to be sure, I am not talking about a thing where there are distinct personalities, with different names, experiences etc. not the pathological type of split personality, but I do feel as though I am a somewhat different person. I can probably illustrate my own view of myself in an outline form:

Omegaman:

A. The Person

1. The Friend

2. The Consumer

3. The Researcher

4. The Intellectual

5. The Servant

6. The Problem Solver

7. The Employee

8. The Recreator

B. The Christian

1. The Church Goer

a. The Worshiper

b. The Giver

c. The Student

2. The Worthychat Admin

a. The Lay Theologian

b. The Comedian

c. The Counselor

d. The Authoritarian

e. The Prayer Warrior

f. The Chat Buddy

3. The Day to Day Christian

a. the honest person

b. the nice guy

c. the helper

4. The Disciple

a. learner

b. the follower

C. The Citizen

1. The Law Abider

2. The Neighbor

3. The Political Activist/Voter

D. The Family Man

1. The Husband

a. The Lover/Friend

b. The Provider

c. The Nurturer

d. The Leader

2. The Father

a. The Dad

b. The Provider

c. The Nurturer

d. The Leader

e. The Disciplinarian

3. The More Distant Relative

Now, I warned you that this was a concocted blog. I had no idea where this was going to go. I think that is what blogs are actually supposed to be, just writing as you think, a journal of thoughts, they are not essays where you set out to communicate a subject.

I actually don’t get the idea of a blog. I mean, I understand what you are supposed to do, but I do not have any clue WHY you are supposed to do it. Are you supposed to use this to look back on your thoughts and see how you have changed? Personally, I do not care to look back, the race is the the finish, the past, for me, stays in the past.

I have looked at a few blog sites, and what I see is mostly people, who seem to have a need to talk about themselves, and find others, willing to listen. I note that a lot of them, could use a tuneup, but instead, seem to want to find others with the same malfunctions, to help them not feel so alone, not so isolated as an oddity of nature. This gives them a sense of normalcy. I think that is is the wrong way to feel normal, but at the same time, these malfuntions are VERY normal.

Others on blogs, not as many, seem to be full of themselves, and need to share their greatness with others, either that, or in writing it out, they are attempting to convince themselves of their own greatness, but in either case, it strikes be as an attempt to feel better about themselves.

I may be way off base on the above points, and I certainly do not expect you to accept my guesses about it as gospel, not do I mean to insult any of you who may be bloggers.

So, why am I blogging? When George informed me that there was going to be a blog of admins, the first thought that entered my head was: “Why on earth would I want to do that?” So I asked that question of George. As I recall, he replied that it would be a great way for for WorthyChatters to get to know the administrators at Worthy. O.K. Fair enough. Having thought about that, it seemed to me that writing a biography would be more to the point. I have no interest in doing that though. As a Christian, my first concern should be about others, not about myself. So, what can I do on this blog that might me useful to you?

While I was writing the above, outline, I was thinking that I would rate myself on a scale in each of those catergories. I thought about applying the Omegaman scale. If you are not familiar with the Omegaman scale, I will educate you. The scale is a Zero to Ten Scale. It is very difficult to reach Zero or ten one the scale. For example, if you asked about the subject of living a spiritual life, you might rate Hitler or Judas Escariot as a 1, and perhaps The apostle Paul or Mother Teresa as a 9. The thought of rating myself publicly, was too depressing to consider any further (I have an unwritten rule about not being depressed).

I decided that knowing how I see myself in this area, will not benefit you in any way, and would only serve to humiliate myself. While I could use more humility, I do not need humiliation. What is the difference? The first comes from inside, the latter from outside. However, I did notice that considering these areas and these ratings, did prove to be a good exercise in introspection, a way to evaluate things about myself, that I do not consider often.

So, as a community service, I offer you the chance, to make up your own self description outlines, and after you figure out what things make up you personality(s), have to courage to honestly score yourself, using the Omegaman scale or a scale based on letter grades A through F, or whatever you find illuminating. Pray about those areas, and purpose to improve, if you want a challenge.

Don’t forget to reply with a (.), to let us know you are reading these things. If you would rather not have me write another blog, then don’t reply.