It still confuses me. Sometimes I think, What a blessing! Then there are other times I just face-palm myself and ask, Why?
Blessings and/or curses (sometimes with real swear words).
What am I talking about?
Religion. And its role in my life.
Remember – you can’t choose where you were born. Or to whom. Or your financial situation. Or what beliefs you will be taught. What is good. What is bad. Classical music – good. Rock music – bad. That kind of thing. If you manage to beat the odds totally against you ever being born, then you are stuck where you enter this world. Like me – and you – stuck.
No, I didn’t grow up as a PK (preacher’s kid) or an MK (missionary’s kid), I was just your average Baptist runabout. White. Plain. You may grow to love it – or not. My parents made sure I was in church every time those doors were open. Sunday (morning and evening) and Wednesday Evening Prayer. We were all there. No excuses. Now, get ready for church, young man!
College was looked at in the same light. It had to be an extension of what I had at home. That was more important than the education. Did not matter that I did not want to be a preacher. The religion had to be correct. That was the primary reason I ended the 1970s at Bob Jones University (BJU) in Greenville, South Carolina. BJU required every student to take numerous Bible courses. So many that practically every student minored in Biblical Studies.
And it was over these years of tuition that I developed these “rules.” Wasn’t until a decade later I flushed them out, making them as short as possible, and easier to remember and quote “on the fly.”
1. A preacher or minister will tell you what his greatest sin, weakness or obsession is – it will be the subject he preaches on most often.
This rule aways pans out. Always. Listen and wait.
I must note that I did not come up with this rule – this guideline. I had two uncles who were both pastors and both of them said this. “You can always tell…,” they said. My guess is pastors would make bad poker players.
2. Be extremely wary of so-called “ministries” that make their entire focus one small area of the Bible.
The entirety of the Bible should be equally embraced. Not just the prophecies, or the promise of reward, or blessings (ble$$ing$) – all of it.
3. Creation is not science and science is not Creation.
Science wants you to believe that it’s all about measurement and reason, and true science is about measurement, observation, experimentation, and reason. Miracles are not. Creation was a miracle. (See Rule 10.)
4. The Bible is not and was never meant to be a science textbook.
The purpose of the Bible was not to teach us science. There may be bits of science in there, but the Bible is primarily a book of the soul. About our relationship with God, how far we’ve fallen, and what He has done to recreate us in His image.
5. The Bible is a book – not an idol.
There are some denominations that believe there is only one true perfected Word of God. Usually, you will find that is the Authorized Version of the King James Bible. It wasn’t until that particular English translation that God perfected His Word. All other versions are inferior and can only lead you astray.
6. Not everything in the Bible is to be taken literally.
There are poems, stories, accounts, where the Bible is not being literal. Read. Research the Scriptures. I’m not doing all the work for you. You decide.
7. Being wealthy is not a sign of God’s approval.
How often do we hear “God has really blessed them!” and the “bless” part was prosperity. Money. But so often having money is not a sign of spiritual blessing. There are a few cases, of course, exceptions rather than the rule.
8. There is seldom a direct connection between sin and life’s catastrophes.
Heartbreaking tragedies happen. Rats keep winning The Rat Race. The Good suffer while the Evil rejoice. Once in a while the Good triumphs, but not often enough. It would be a lot easier for everyone if we could draw a direct connection between evil acts and bad outcomes – but we can’t. It does not exist.
9. Eve was the first Independent Fundamental Baptist – she added to God’s original command.
This one takes a bit of knowledge about the Creation Story and the Garden of Eden. The Lord tells Adam that every tree is available to eat from except one: the Tree of Knowledge. Eat it and die. Later, Satan (in serpent form – see Rule 6) asks of Eve, “Did God really say that?”
Eve replies: “God told us we could eat from all of the trees, except this one – the Tree of Knowledge – we shall not eat from it and neither shall we touch it, lest we die.” God made no such prohibition against touching. Eve was already adding to the Lord’s commands. Strong convictions not Biblically based are wrong convictions.
10. Miracles usually* aren’t. Miracles are statistically impossible. That’s why they’re miracles.
Remember “The Miracle on the Hudson?” The pilot that made a water-based landing in a jetliner (A320) saving all 155 souls on board? That was repeatedly called a “miracle.” Only it wasn’t.
Statistically there was always a chance that everyone would survive. Also, there was a chance that everyone would die. The greater probability would be half survive and half die or, more likely, some variation of those numbers. Bottom line is, if you can plot it, measure it, and explain it, we are not discussing a miracle.
A miracle would be that when the Airbus A320 slowed to a stop in the Hudson River, all 155 people became fish and swam away towards shore where they immediately became human again. Now that’s a miracle.
*True miracles are never talked about.