Technorati Tags: blog design, Christian Mysticism, practical christian mysticism

Growing up in the evangelical community, I was inundated with end-times and prophecy related media.  Even before the infamous “Left Behind” series, there was plenty of activity around the deciphering and prediction of future and end-time events.  Even before I joined the Catholic Church I realized there was kind of madness behind the end-times culture, so I decided to leave IT behind.  While I firmly believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, I have no interest in trying to guess when it will be.  More importantly, obsessing over trying to understand prophecy often leads us to miss the point of the prophecy all together… hope.

End-Time Insanity

“But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” – Matthew 24:36

Jesus told us even He didn’t know when the day and hour of the end would be, but for some reason, there are people who think they can figure it out anyway.   While there is genuine harm in their behavior, I can’t help but laugh a little at the absurdity of end-times enthusiasts.  They dissect and study obscure passages of scripture like a monkey trying to squeeze juice from the left over rinds of an orange.  The search in vain for some hidden message or meaning that will provide definitive proof that (insert contemporary world leader here) is the Antichrist.  

Once they find their “evidence”, their actions become even more asinine.  I have noticed that once people are convinced that God’s wrath is at hand, many of them start constructing home-made bomb shelters, stock-piling water and food, buying ammunition, and planning “apocalypse” proof financials (like sticking gold under the mattress).  I can’t think of any amount of preparation one can undertake to survive the END OF THE WORLD… nor would I want to.  I wonder if God is insulted by people thinking they can hold His wrath at bay with an electric generator and bottled water.   

Putting aside the additional inconsistency this behavior holds with the popular Protestant teaching of the “rapture”, the belief God removes all believers from the world just before things get REALLY bad, it shows a kind of craziness behind the whole thing.  I hear many evangelicals defend the popularity of end-times propaganda (like the “Left Behind” series) because they believe it brings people to God.  First of all, I don’t think that is the kind of fear God is looking for us to come to Him with.  Second, that kind of conversion is not a true conversion of repentance, and often fades away as soon as the individual starts feeling… well… stupid (like after Y2K).

Hope and Sanity

“…waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire.  But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” – 2 Peter 3:12 -13

The prophecies given to us in Scripture are given for the sake of hope and perspective.  When the end really does come, we will be comforted knowing what we endure is only temporary, and something much better is waiting on the other side.  It is also given to us to help us maintain perspective and not become too attached to this temporary world. 

Even those who accept the inevitability of death often try to achieve some sort of perceived immortality through power and legacy.  “To be remembered” is often the only hope of man for eternal life, but we know Christ offers so much more.  We lay up our treasures in heaven knowing the work we do for Jesus will be work that bares fruit in this life as well as all eternity. 

It also helps us keep a sane grasp on the concept of “building the Kingdom”.  The Kingdom of God is not a series of buildings or organizations, but a community of souls.  We can get so materialistic, even in our religion.  By keeping the end of the world in our minds, we become less interested in real estate we claimed “in God’s name” and more interested in the souls we have claimed.

There are many reasons to look forward to a new heaven and new earth.  The idea should fill us with hope and wonder, not fear and dread.  The truth behind the obsession over end-times prophecy is that people are afraid of the end, so they obsess over it to give them a feeling of control when they are helpless to stop it.  If we would be honest with ourselves, we would not be so obsessed with the details and deciphering of end times prophecy if we were at peace with it.

My Two Cents

I would also like to throw an idea out there for all you eschatologists (people who study end-times).  Did you ever consider the possibility the day and hour of the end is optional?  The end will happen, that is certain, but what if the time is not set in stone?  

There have been several periods in time when people thought the end was eminent.  Most obvious in recent history was World War II when people thought Hitler was the Antichrist.  Well… maybe he was.  What if we keep coming close to the end only to pull back from destruction?

Scriptures tell us the Church is the salt of the world, salt is a preservative.  Perhaps our behavior as a Church body determines the endurance of the world.  In every end-time “close call”, the Church has played a major role in healing the world.  While the end will come someday, maybe we should just get back to work and see if we can’t do some more good in the meantime.  

Technorati Tags: end times, eschatology, left behind, prophecy, rapture

Scientists have finally discovered the four winds talked about in Scripture. I mentioned this briefly in my Twitter feed last week, but didn’t have time to write a post about it.  Throughout many passages in Scripture, which I will list at the end of this article, it refers to the “four winds” of the earth.  Since scientists have, so far, acknowledged only 2 major sources of wind (called “air cells”) on the globe, many theologians have interpreted the “four winds” as the four cardinal directions.  However, I have long thought and recording in my own journals that I believed the “four winds” to represent four major sources of wind.  Part of the reason I believed this is because of the passage in Revelations 7:1 that says:

“After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so no wind could blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.”

Anywho, an article on Scientific American (which you can read here) talks about how climatologists have acknowledged four primary air cells on the globe.  I don’t know how many people will care or not, but I always love it when ancient texts show that they really did know what was going on after all.

Again, here is the link to the article/podcast on Scientific American:
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=F1FC37CB-DA7A-372B-39AC22E13013F1A4&sc=rss

Here are the Scripture passages where the four winds are mentioned:
Jeremiah 49:36, Ezekiel 37:9, Daniel 7:2, 8:8, 11:4, Zechariah 2:6, Matthew 24:31, Mark 13:27, Revelation 7:1

And here is an interesting list of other scientific discoveries foreshadowed in Scripture (take it with a grain of salt):
http://www.creationists.org/foreknowledge.html

Technorati Tags: science, science and scripture, science and the bible, science in scripture, scientific discovery, the four winds

I have had several discussions as of late concerning the relationship between religion and philosophy (like here). Chiefly, the topic of debate is whether or not philosophy and religion can be separate. Here is a post on the Catholic Answers Forum that caught my attention:

It seems to me that studying the connection between philosophy and theology is a philosophy itself.

Here’s one.

A logical contradiction implies nonexistence. For example, an apple that is not an apple is nothing at all (or, A + (-A) = 0).

Therefore,

If true philosophy seeks to be logical,
And that which is logical seeks existence,
And, as St. Thomas argues, existence is God himself,
Then, true philosophy indirectly seeks God.

So, a philosopher indirectly seeks God, his natural end, as much as he rejects logical contradiction and accepts God as the principle of his logic. (i.e. faith and reason are inseparable).

As Pope John Paul the Great said, “faith without reason is superstition.” However, reason without faith is rationalism. Superstition and rationalism allow us to create our own truth and accept error.

After reading this I realized that what really shapes the argument, that philosophy and religion are inseparable, is considering what the two would be without one another. It is hard to think of any serious philosopher going out of his way to avoid all theories of God, he would be left with only a handful of shallow remnants to ponder. Likewise, any serious religious pursuant, who avoids all philosophy, would have no context for his faith or spirituality whatsoever.

Technorati Tags: philosophy, philosophy and religion, philosophy vs religion, religion

While I realize that joining the Catholic Church means I pretty much have to turn in my “spiritual maverick” club card, I still carry a heavy bit of cynicism against much of Christian culture.  I role my eyes at the “American-Idol-Wannabe” CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) music industry, groan when I see a little fish on the back of someone’s car as they cut me off in traffic, and have a strong urge to light the “Inspirational” book section at Wal-Mart on fire.  Because of this, Chick-fil-A, the overtly Christian fast food chain, found itself in my sceptic pile very quickly.  However, I am here to say that Chick-fil-A has both won me over, and given me a renewed positive attitude toward old-fashioned religious sensibilities.

I know this may seem like a strange thing to write about, but bare with me.  I was having a long day of running errands.  During my long day, I saw nothing but sad or expressionless faces. I had to deal with people who either hated or couldn’t care less about their jobs.  At lunch I stopped by a (insert any fast food chain here) and was attended by the usual half-aware semiconscious zombie.  Without anything really bad happening, I was getting depressed.  The whole world just seemed miserable.

On my way home, I felt like a milk shake and remembered that the last one I had at Chick-fil-A was pretty good.  I pulled up to the drive-through and was immediately greeted with an enthusiastic and cheerful voice on the other side.  Any other day, I may not have noticed (after all, isn’t that they way it’s supposed to be?), but today it really hit me.  Of course, it was followed through with fast service, accurate order, and picture perfect milkshakes.

So it really started me thinking, just about everywhere I go these days is depressing except for Chick-fil-A.  Whereas just about everywhere else I go I feel like cattle, at Chick-fil-A I feel human.  I think back to every time I have been there and my experience has just about always been the same.  The people are always working hard, moving fast, and staying cheerful and attentive.  The environment is clean, and I always feel safe eating the food.

I may have sighed every time I felt like a chicken sandwich on Sunday, and then realized they are closed.  I may have written off their various wallpaper describing their values and beliefs as gimmicky.  But in the end, Chick-fil-A really does it right, and I can’t help but give credit to the genuine religious conviction as the heart of the business.  In a world that is so persistently cynical and apathetic, there is no possible way the positive atmosphere and joyful countenance at Chick-fil-A comes from anything less than the Divine.

So here’s my kudos to Chick-fil-A, and to the great team at my local restaurant #01939, you guys have done a lot for my outlook toward my fellow Christian community.  Thanks a lot… I think I feel like Chicken for dinner tonight.

Technorati Tags: Chick-fil-A, christian culture, Cynicism, Humor