The Sabbath-Breaker Put to Death

³² While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.³³ Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly,³⁴ and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. ³⁵ Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.”³⁶ So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses. (via BibleGateway) NIV

I share a name with a character in this section and let me tell you there are certain days I wonder if I was cursed to be given the name of the talker of Israel and Moses. This is the same guy who went on to build a golden calf and cause Moses and God to throw a Holy Fit.  So, I’ve got a complex.  Or something.

You also have to realize this is Old Testament.  This is God UnPlugged.  Or unhinged.  The Old School days were more Wild West than I think we realize.  God was the father of his Children and they were certainly keen to test his patience many time.  I think God was more Bill Cosby in those days.  You know, hit for distance, brought you into this world I’ll take you out and the eternal “What the hell are you doing?!”.  He definitely hit for something as described in the verse.  They found some guy out working on the Sabbath and picked him up.  The Lord said to throw some rocks at him and send him to His Maker and as fast as you can say one verse later he was gone and buried somewhere.

I love the Old Testament because it reminds me of how cool and crazy God is at times.  He’s out of control and wildly unpredictable.  I’ve used the comparison between Him and Aslan before and it is a stark reminder to us all.  I think some Christians out there in the world forget how brain blowing insane God can be in his plans for us.  We think we know Him and have him figured out.  Trust me folks, God’s got an understanding.  The rest of us don’t have a clue.

As the saying goes with Aslan from CS Lewis, God is not safe.  But he is good.  Remember that the next time someone tells you Christianity is safe, wonderful and filled with Rainbows.  Because God’ll be flooding that rainbow filled land.  I guarantee it.  He’s done it before.

Also, allergies are teh suck. Just going to put it out there.

I’ve tried to play nice with my brothers and sisters in the Christian Faith. I’ve done my best not to insult and denigrate Joel Osteen. I’ve tried to be Jesus in everything I do when it comes to those that are alleged to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. You’d be impressed if you’d been there with me as I felt urged to backhand and leg drop some seriously stupid people. That time has come to an end.

“Avatar” is demonic? It’s the most satanic movie this guy has ever seen? Are you flippin’ serious? There’s overt demon-ism? Oh and he’s disappointed with “Christianity Today’s” review of the film. Let me get this out of the way. If you’re express dissatisfaction with “Christianity Today’s” review of a movie, you might need to put down the Holy Water you spiked with the Kool-Aid. The review impressed me for the restraint (My review had none of that restraint) the reviewer held.

The point that the pastor in the video makes a point is that the review was lacking in exposing this film as a dark thing against God. The reviewer tries (and I think fails) to bring the connection of the Mother Aura on Pandora to what God is to us here on Earth. It’s a weak ending to the review that doesn’t seem to set down feet on anything solid except to say that maybe We (Christians) can relate this in some way to our Faith and our God. Sad to say, that ain’t happenin’.

The film is not a Christ Story and doesn’t fit the mold terribly well. I don’t think the reviewer was taken in by the beauty of the film or possessed by the demonic forces at work within the film. I think the reviewer was simply trying to shake some debate loose and see what came of it. The reality is that there’s not much for Christians to hold onto in this film as it relates to our Faith. And that’s ok.

We shouldn’t spend all our time searching movies for the Christian Angle and how we can use this to preach to the world. Sure, some pop culture and movie clips are nice to bring something familiar to the table, but it’s not (and never should be) the driving force in how we live our Faith or tell others about Him.

As for having the power to declare something “Demonic” or “Full of Satan”, I’ll leave that job to someone who knows Satan when she sees it. Church Lady (with the help of Father Chase) , take it away!

My name is Thomas Dahl. Tonight I’m probably going to die. Death. The End. The Final Frontier. I’m strapped into a chair in the middle of a far flung warehouse on the far edges of the city of Coldstone. A metropolis in which I’m charged with protecting the citizens, business interests and whatever else manages to populate our streets. I’m a Captain in the CPD and I’m a rough son of a gun. I’d use harsher words, but I told The Lord I wasn’t interested in that life anymore. And by The Lord, I do mean God. The Big Man. Kahuna. The Decider. Creator. All those and more names that I’m not really interested in having to remember in this small little insignificant moment I’m sharing with you.

You see, I’m set to die at the hands of some very bad guys. Ghosts, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Demons and everything else you can imagine in the deepest of those nightmares that marked many of our younger years. You know those monster movies that gave us the night terrors that drove our parents bonkers? Well, it’s real. All of it. Well, most of it. We’ve not yet had the outbreak of zombies that we feared but that’s thank to some government types that stopped it before it got off The Island. Yes, that’s what we call the former United Kingdom. That is a nasty place full of horrifying hordes of hell. That’s where it all started. That’s where the very gates of darkness were opened.

You see, some idiot started The End before it was ready to Begin. I now serve in the Army of the Light. Fighting against the darkness as Those We Serve begin to bring about the final battle as it was foretold. Ther are rules and regulations with this End of the World stuff and I never really realized it until I got pulled into this mess.

There are men and women out there who dabble in the dark and light arts. Guys that are called wizards. Not Harry Potter type wizards. These guys are tough as nails and given the chance would wipe the floor with whatever ectoplasm you have left after they’ve liquefied your brain. Then there’s us. The Good Guys. The Chosen Ones. The Protectorate. Together with most of the wizards, witches & magic makers we are holding a delicate line against The Darkness and The Warrent. It’s hard, it’s rough and it’s going to get me killed tonight. I’ve dodged it enough to know this is more real than those past moments of thankfulness at another day alive.

So I’ll tell my story to you. And maybe this will help you when everything starts to happen. Like everything, it’s inevitable.

A year or so ago I was at another church up in Longmont doing some children’s ministry work with my 15+ year mentor.  We got to know a young lady (I’ll call her Jessica) who was always so excited to serve on Sunday mornings’ with us.  She would sing, she would greet fellow kids and she would run the tech booth if she could.  She had such a heart for having fun and getting others to enjoy Sunday school right along with her I grew to love and treasure moments with her every Saturday night I made the hour long drive down I-25.

We introduced a baptism class so parents and their children could go through what baptism was and what it meant and why we as Christians’ did it. At the end of the class (a few weeks long) the families were allowed to decide if they wanted get baptized. Throughout the entire process it was repeated, discipled and explained every way possible about how much a choice it is in getting baptized. It’s not a requirement at any certain age and it’s not something we’ll judge you for in any way. You get the information. You make the decision.

Jessica had been in the church since she’d been born. When we took over the ministry program for the kids we opened the doors for her to share her joy and love of all things Jesus by helping us in whatever manner she could. She was always looking for something more to do, some way to help, serve and in the end spread some joy and love around to those in need.

My mentor (We’ll call her Karen) pulled me aside one day with a concerned and yet amused look on her face. I was both concerned (what did I do?) and amused (who did I offend this time?) but that all went away as soon as she told me what was on her mind. Karen related a story to me that once Jessica had finished the class and confirmed she wished to be baptized she had asked if someone specific could do the job on the Baptism Sunday we’d be having in a few weeks. Karen shrugged and said, “Well, who?”

Karen then looked at me and said, “She wants you to baptize her.”

To which I said, “Um, is she crazy?” To wit, I am not a certified minister. I’m a volunteer. I’ve got no theological degrees hanging on my walls. All my biblical knowledge has been learned freely in my service working in toddlers rooms to 5th grade children’s church. The word “pastor” “priest” or “father” is so far off the mark with me it’s pretty hilarious. And yet here was a 3rd grade girl saying she’d have no other person to baptize her than me.

I still don’t know why she chose me but apparently I had an impact in working with her leading worship and helping her learn to teach, minister and love. I don’t think that’s anything special to be proud of honestly. I was just doing what I’m supposed to do in ministry. I will never forget the experience of baptizing Jessica under the bright lights and eyes of the entire congregation. Her entire family was there to watch and be proud.

I was of course terrified that I’d screw it up. With some prayer and support of Karen I managed. I will never forget that moment.

Thoughts?

If you look down in comments you’ll find two amazing Men of God who lay the case out pretty effectively. Scott Roche (spiritualtramp) and Jason Ackerman (jasonmonster) are two fairly well balanced Christian men of whom I’ve had the honor to work on a few things with and as far as I can tell, they know what they’re talking about.

The bottom line is quotes and ideas that both Scott and Jason point out. This one got me (and Scott) going. “I just didn’t feel God would tell a person to deny a big part of who they are and to keep it a secret.” When you sign up to be a Christian (as the name implies – CHRIST-like) you’re setting yourself apart from the world of sin. Mind you, we’re going to sin everyday but the focus of being a Christian is to work against that part of our humanity. We strive to be Christ in everything we do and if we’re going to even break even on that agreement we’re going to have some rules about what is cool and what is not cool.

In the eyes of God/Jesus/HolySpirit, the act of homosexual sex is a sin. We can’t argue with that. When you sign up with God it’s a whole new ballgame. Accepting Jesus into your life and heart is an agreement to turn your life over to Him and what He commands. You can’t start making up your own rules about the basic tenets of Christianity because it makes you feel better or because you think it’s the way it should be. If Christianity isn’t your bag (and it certainly isn’t for everyone*) there’s plenty of other religions out there and probably multiples willing to be more liberal and free with certain things.

*When I say it isn’t for everyone, I was meaning to say not everyone makes the choice to join up. Everyone should have the choice to choose Jesus but if you aren’t willing to sacrifice yourself and the sin you’ve worn for so long…as they say “YOR DOING IT RONG!”

Jason breaks it down in comments with this nugget -

It’s an issue of crossing the line from saying ‘we love you no matter who you are or what you’ve done, and believe there’s a place in God’s familiy for you’ and ‘your sin is justified, because God wouldn’t possibly want you to be unhappy’. That’s a dangerous line to cross, in my opinion. It actually IS a sin to act in accordance with your nature – that’s the whole point of redemption, that our nature is exactly what is stopping us from being in relationship with the God that created us.

The last point I’d like to make (and it’s one I’ve made more times than I care to count) is that Christianity can’t be reinvented, reworked or reimagined. (kudos to grant on twitter for saying, “”Christianity can’t be reinvented, reworked or reimagined.” Isn’t that the entire history of Christianity?” and to that I say I’m speaking more or less to “modern” Christianity and I hope that makes sense…)

At the end of the day it’s about Jesus, you and living a life according to Him as best as you can every day, day by day.

And if you aren’t down with that…well, that’s your decision. And I ain’t about to try and run yours or anyone else’s life. I have enough trouble keeping mine out of the repair shop.

See, this is the tricky part of this whole discussion because your relationship (and mine and his and hers and theirs) is deeply personal. I’m not really able to judge, tell or otherwise pontificate on God and your life because that’s nobody’s job but you. So if I start talking about what God is or isn’t I could be making judgments based on my finite plus one resources.

Here’s what I will say on the subject that hopefully most can agree on. God is a father figure. He created us humans and put us on the round green ball o’ insanity (we have Adam and Eve to thank for that) to live out a existence that has never really been explained aside from a genius novel that postulated the answer to the meaning of life was 42.

Which opens up fourteen thousand avenues of argument of which one is probable to be that of, “How in the blue blazes did you combine Douglas Adams and Jesus in the same devotion?” or “YOU HEATHEN!”. The other 13,998 are too enumerable and far to involved, long or otherwise goofy to post or discuss here.

More to the point is that we as humans have a habit of forgetting about God in the most obscene and face palming ways. We neglect Him, we don’t read Him and then somehow we expect him to fix our problems. This is called Man’s consistent inability to follow God. I would trot out the old “Adam and Eve” blame game gag but I think we’re all tired of it. The reality is that we only have ourselves to blame.

Forgetting God and what he means to you is something we’ve all done. We get busy. We fall away for a bit. We muss something up and realize that indeed we enjoyed life with The Big Guy more than whatever it is we’ve found ourselves into.

Which is why Old School (aka Old Testament) has really started to fascinate me to no end. God knew his people needed to remember Him and His rules. And so he made them do things and say things and sing things and do all kinds of things to remind them that He indeed is their God and Father. Never mind that the story of the Israelites is one of hilarity, depressing trips chasing their tale and more hilarity because no matter how hard God tried, they always broke free somehow and He’d be forced to open up a hole in the Earth or freeze someone in salt. It’s really funny when you think of all the signs of God they had throughout the ages and yet how somehow they managed to forget him every so often.

Which brings us to you and me. Do you forget him? Not study your bible for a week because you’re simply a lazy simpleton with nothing else better to do but watch “Dirty Jobs” reruns all flippin’ day long until the cows do or do not come home? Yep. Been there, done that and didn’t get a t-shirt. God’s not a tshirt kinda guy.

What’s the point? Remember Him. Study Him. And talk to him a couple of times a day. And not just those moments where you vainly take his name in vain. You be breakin’ commandments yo!

God allowed Jacob to flex his humanity but then quickly gave him a back of the head slap to remind him that yes indeed God is still God in these Old Testament parts. The part of this verse and the accompanying materials that caught my eye was where it talks about sitting quietly before God and taking in the wild atmosphere. As New Age-ey as that sounds (get thee behind me SAATAAN!) focusing on The Lord does take some pretty unique and what some would call eccentric steps.

The entire purpose of when I started doing this devotion thing (and stopped, started and did that dance three times over) was to wrestle with God in a similar fashion. A relationship with God is not about getting it right every day and every way. It’s about exploring where you’re fall short and where you rock the casbah…and then working through all of that with prayer, bible study and even worship. It’s about constantly being under construction and knowing your personal Jesus Scaffolding is going to be up and around your heart, soul, mind and body for just about eternity.

Jacob didn’t appear to know that it was God until the hip touch and name change. Have you ever fallen into a God moment where you stop and realize that indeed you just got hit with some Holy Spirit Spankings? I can claim those moments on a hand or two very clearly. Most of the time wrestling with God results in these moments where you have an “Ah-ha!” experience.

It also lends itself to the question of what we want from God. A sentence in the “pray” section dwells on me praying and telling God what I want. I’m conflicted here because I’ve been raised on the “Want/Need” train and this comes directly back to me in this moment. I’m not sure if God is a God of Need or Want. I know he wants our heart, our prayers and our salvation. But who am I to tell the Lord what I want? Shouldn’t I be asking him for what I need? I need stability in life. I need strength in living in the world. I need to find fellow men in my community to fellowship. I need to find a Godly woman to spend the rest of my life with and to save the world with.

Ok, so that last part is more of a want than a need.

Does this make any sense to anyone out there? Or am I just some crazy Christian slowly losing it on the fringes of religiosity?

I’ve also discovered that I primarily enjoy fictional writing.  It’s taken less then twenty days of National Blog Writing Month but I figured it out.  I’m just not that into blogging anymore.  I obviously have things to say but most of the time it’s not worth trying to put the small voice out there.  I’d probably write more about politics and religion but I feel as if both arenas have been overrun and fouled beyond recognition.  Any kind of courteous discourse has been left at the edge of the field that has now become a battleground 0f ideology, theology and political theory.  The lines between the two subjects seems to blur, twist and turn at times into something that is both terrifying and fascinating.

Couple that with the “devils advocate” perspective I’ve taken on Christianity and you’ve really not going to get anywhere with what you’ve got bouncing around in your head.  I think given some time and maturing I can get these ideas fertilized and marinated into something that resembles a strong steak worthy of a few awards.

All this to say that I’ve found that nurturing my novel writing side has begun to take root within my heart and soul.  Come November I’ll be writing a novel through the entire month.  I may not survive.  I may end up going crazy or wandering around 16th street mall telling everyone Hilary Clinton is a lizard intent on killing us all (*cough* balloon boys dad is crazy *cough*) but dang it I will have written a novel by the end of November.

It is my destiny.

I’ve lost my rhythm.  I’m not sure how but it’s gone.  I know there’s plenty to write but my focus has been on other things.  Things that mattered for a little while but didn’t have the same payoff as writing does in my life.  I’ve got my priorities mixed up and now that I’ve thrown all 52 cards are in the air I’ve got a chance to pick it all up again.

I’ve got to get back to exercising.  My weight ballooned before I went on vacation and I didn’t help matters over the two week period as I traveled, ate and traveled.  There was more eating in there as well if you haven’t guessed.  I’ll be blogging about that struggle as well.

The other is my faith.  I need to focus back on God again and my relationship with Him.  I’ll detail this more in future blog posts as I get back in His Word.

I also need to get out more.  I need to find someone to spend time with.  I’m on the “Eharmony Plan” and working through that is interesting.  I’ve already  been knocked out of a round 1 and threw myself back in to Round 2.  We’ll see how that goes.

All in all I need to push myself.  With God, with my body and with this place.  I have to start owning my future and all that it entails.

More to certainly come on this.