Everyone Has a Religion

Everyone in the universe has a religion – whether they are a Christian, Muslim, or Atheist.

Religion is simply defined as “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.”

Even people who don’t call themselves religious have an opinion on why we are here and how we should live our lives. What is the key implication here? Exclusivity.

Non-religious people usually attack religious people because religious people claim to know why we are here and how we should live our lives. Religion appears to be arrogant and therefore the non-religious preach tolerance of all views.

They rebel against the religious for “evangelizing” the world with their exclusive views on the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.

However, as you look at the life of a non-religious person, you’ll see that they are religious by the way they live their lives.

Every time someone says, “You should do this…” or “You can’t do that…” to anyone (child, neighbor, family member, etc.) - they are evangelizing their beliefs about the how the universe is wired. They are trying to impose a belief system on someone else. Therefore, every action that anyone takes is a religious one.

So the ultimate question is not “Should I be religious?” BUT “Which religion (belief system) should I put my trust in?”

If there really is an ultimate reality, a universal truth by which we should live – then it REALLY will be the best way to live – compared to all the other imitations out there.

All of us have a religion – full of beliefs that we think are superior to others. Therefore, pastor Tim Keller asks in his book The Reason for God, “Which [religion in the world today] will lead their believers to be the most loving and receptive to those with whom they differ?”

The answer is [authentic] Christianity. Jesus ushered in a movement that was defined by love – a love without conditions. Jesus loved his enemies and even died for them. Can you think of a better belief system than that?

Christianity is EXCLUSIVE (there is only one truth, one belief system by which we must live) but is also INCLUSIVE (Jesus will accept anyone at any time regardless of what they have done – if they put their trust in Him and His work on the cross for them).

Once again, can you think of any other belief system better than that?

Jay Leno: Why Are Americans Unhappy?

Jay Leno offers some interesting thoughts on unhappy Americans....

"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?'' Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.

Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames th us saving you, your family and your belongings.

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we hate about the country instead of tha nking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled un grateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful be hind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.

They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells , and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Si mpson to write a book about "how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way"...Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Jay Leno
2007

Program My Happiness

Are you a happy person? What makes you happy?

Happiness is not as simple as we’d like to think. Take for example a dog. Why do some families buy a dog to increase their happiness while other families detest getting a dog? Why might one student jump for joy when getting a “B” on their math test and another student cry?

Anthony DeMello says, “What makes you happy or unhappy is not the world and the people around you, but the thinking in your head… Do you realize that you could have the finest looks and the most charming personality and the most pleasant of surroundings, and still be unhappy?”

What he’s getting at is that your happiness is directly related to the programming inside your head.

A student’s parents might program their son to think that getting an “A” on his math test is the only acceptable option. IF he gets an “A”, THEN his parents will accept him and he’ll be happy. A girl who grew up with a dog her whole life might think that IF she gets a dog when she leaves home, THEN she’ll be happy. You see, the fulfillment of these programmatic requirements inside the head determines the happiness, not the “A” or the “dog” itself.

It is true that being accepted by your parents or getting a dog after high school will bring flashes of excitement and pleasure, but we can’t mistake that for happiness.

DeMello continues, “If people want happiness so badly, why don’t they attempt to understand their false beliefs [due to the programming]? First, because it never occurs to them to see them as false or even as beliefs. They see them as facts and reality… Second, because they are scared to lose the only world they know: the world of desires, attachments, fears, social pressures, tensions, ambitions, worries, guilt, with flashes of the pleasure and relief and excitement which these things bring.”

We are being programmed daily by our family, friends, and culture. Adam and Eve, the first to be programmed, did not take the time to reflect on how the Deceiver was programming them with The Lie. So they ate. They thought it would make them happy, but it did not. This deception and programming has gone on even up till today.

So how do we un-program ourselves and then know how to live in God’s Reality? How do we get out of the Matrix and live in God’s Real world?

As you begin to read the bible and interact with others who are following Jesus, the light of Truth and the weight of Reality will begin to press into your darkness and start to expose your false beliefs and deconstruct the programming inside your head. Your thoughts and actions will be reconciled by the Spirit of God. You won’t fall prey to quick bursts of pleasure, but you’ll attach yourself to the rich roots of satisfaction in Him.

Cheese and Religion

by Tyler Zach

Imagine going to the grocery store and seeing two nicely dressed women standing in the dairy aisle. One of them is pointing and talking about the brand of cheese she represents. The other is silent and has a tray of little cheese samples in front of her.

You stop, in an awkward fashion, and briefly glance at both of them. First, you direct your attention to the talking lady who is young with nice hand gestures. She is eloquently talking about the value, freshness, brand name, and delightful taste of her product. Second, you glance over at the second lady - who is a little shorter, looks more like grandma, and picks up a sample piece of cheese for you to eat.

You take the piece of cheese and chew it very slowly as both women stop to watch your reaction. The cheese is absolutely saturated with flavor and goodness. You take and pack of the second lady’s cheese and continue shopping.

Sometimes, it feels like the church (and our spiritual movements on the college campus) can feel like the first lady. We are attracted to her because of her stellar gestures, her solid persuasion, and her ability to make you feel like you are doing the right thing by buying her cheese. But we don’t know for sure for sure because we haven’t tasted the cheese.

Paul, in the Scriptures, said, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.”

In Luke, we read the passage about Jesus telling them to ask God to raise up laborers for the harvest. We usually think of laborers as people who go out and get people on the right team. But a few verses later Jesus tells these first laborers, “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.'”

So the order is to demonstrate the Kingdom and then announce the Kingdom.

Earlier on in Luke, Jesus was healing people when a person came up and asked whether or not he was The One. Jesus told him to go back to John the Baptist and say, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard.”

So the order again is seen (the Kingdom demonstrated) and heard (the Kingdom being announced).

What are our students “seeing” and “hearing” in the church or in a Campus Crusade movement? Do they simply hear persuasive words or have they seen a demonstration of the Spirit? Do they see students leaving behind addictions such as alcohol or sexual immorality? Do they see students serving the campus or eating and hanging out with non-Christians? Does the campus or city look different? As the amount of bible studies increase, does injustice decrease?

I hope that we as Christians will not become Pharisees, who study the Scriptures so much that we became confident and persuasive, at the expense of missing the point of the Scriptures completely. Love God. Love others. Demonstrate. Announce.

I’d like to be like the second lady in the analogy above. My desire is to help others to experience the Kingdom of God and then delightfully announce its source.

But, I think I'm more like the first lady.

Atheist Reflections on Christianity

Here are some interesting thoughts and reflections from an atheist, Hemant Mehta, exploring Christianity. After visiting multiple churches across the US, he wrote a book called I Sold My Soul on eBay.

I think that we can learn a lot from this "outsider" perspective.

“Earlier I mentioned that Pastor James at Harvest Bible Chapel did something similar, zipping through large number of Bible verses. However, Rob’s [Rob Bell] 'look at how interesting this is' tone resonated with me much more than Pastor James’s 'it’s in the bible; trust me' tone. At Mars Hill we took the time to read these verses together and understand how the theme applied.”

“To convince me I am mistaken in not believing in God, a church would need to appeal to my sense of reason and my insistence on empirical evidence. Every church I went to took so much for granted – without offering reasons for their assertions. It was as if the speakers assumed everyone in the audience was already on board with their line of thinking, so they didn’t bother to back up their statements.”

“Do Christians feel that since belief in God requires faith, they don’t need to try to make Christianity more welcoming for everyone, especially atheists and agnostics? Does the faith requirement somehow give Christians a free pass to be intolerant, or arrogant, or disinterested in the nonreligious people around them?”

“If you want to get through to nonreligious people, you need to first understand where they are coming from.”

“If any church were to convert me, I felt it would be a place such as Willow Creek. It wasn’t a fire-and-brimstone service. It wasn’t a worship-God-out-of-fear-of-hell service. It was a place where I could think about the message after I left.”

“I know that many religious rituals are highly meaningful. But I personally have a problem with rituals for one simple reason: I don’t believe everyone present knows why they are performing a certain action… Without knowing why certain actions are performed, the actions are meaningless."

“The church should be more than a religious club that meets for a couple of hours once a week. I suggested already that there should be more volunteering during the course of the week, but there should also be postsermon programming. It would help alleviate two problems: lack of intimacy and a lack of opportunity to ask questions about the points that are raised in the sermon. At so many of the churches I visited, as soon as the final amen was heard, the majority of people were out the door… I picture a gathering where people can stay around for food and conversation and where they could ask the pastors questions about the sermon.”

“When we atheists see how a church is making a positive difference locally and globally by meeting crucial physical needs of people, it’s hard to argue that churches are not a valuable part of society...”

“When churches launch charitable and humanitarian efforts, I have noticed one problem. Many of the efforts seem to be focused on helping those who are Christians or those who seem likely to convert.”

“I enjoyed the service at Willow Creek Community Church, and they have beautiful buildings and a scenic lake on their campus… But at the same time, I felt the same thrill at Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, whose space is essentially a giant, empty box. A church’s high energy level is not produced by meeting in a beautiful building. The positive feeling I picked up came from other churchgoers. It stands out when you are around people who look forward to coming to church, people who are glad to see one another. That vitality brushed off on me.”

“I’m disappointed that the [experts and pastors] represent only the Christian viewpoint. So here’s a suggestion for something churches should start doing – which I observed at only one of the churches I visited: why not sponsor a debate, or at least a discussion, with opposing viewpoints equally represented? Why is such a dialogue important? Because it shows outsiders that Christians are confident in their beliefs…”

“Generally I enjoy the music I hear at churches. However, I’m convinced that a lot of Christians don’t care about it. How did I reach that conclusion? Because I saw plenty of people walking in late to the service. I have the impression that churches begin their church services with music to serve as a sort of buffer so that even if churchgoers arrive late, they won’t miss the “important” part (that is, the sermon)."

“One would think that the adults would be role models, listening to the pastor, maybe even taking notes. Instead, what I saw especially in the smaller churches were adults who were obviously bored. They were looking through the program, looking around the room, even looking at their watches. Part of the blame rests on the pastors of these churches (they were among the less-interesting speakers). Why am I calling attention to this? For one reason: if you don’t like church, then don’t go to church. It will just make your kids resent getting out of bed on Sunday.”

“There is religious elitism at work when Christians prefer to do business with other Christians. Some of the churches I visited make Christian business directories available to their members. The implication to me is that non-Christians are not good enough to do business with… The existence of Christian business directories tells me that Christians prefer to associate with other Christians.”

“Many churches boasted about their rate of planting new churches. However, starting a new church is nothing to be proud of – not unless that church is working to improve and serve its community, including all the people that live there.”