Blairology Poll:
Do you believe in modern day prophets?
A. Yes- 58.33%
B. No- 16.67%
C. Maybe- 16.67%
D. Undecided- 8.33%
_____________________________________
Do we still have prophets today? Was Jesus not the last of the prophets? Who knows? In a lot of ways I see myself as a prophet, much more then a priest or a pastor. Prophets are always challenging the culture and the people that they are speaking to. I have seen that as my job over the years. I always questioned and challenged the status quo. I am a maverick and a wildcard. I’m a crazy old man with reckless ideas, who speaks to God. I am a liminal figure, in between this world and the next. Never really belonging to either. Not fitting in anywhere. Drifting from place to place. Going wherever the spirit of God leads. Living by no one’s rules but the Lord’s.
Jonah is the prophet that I have identified with for most of my life. Always having a relationship with God but not always doing what God told me to do. And when I did, not caring about the other people in the world. Not realizing that God love’s them just as much as God loves me. I was and am always confident in the ultimate power of my God to do whatever, whenever. Afraid that I would be a false prophet because God had compassion on the evil people of the world and the doom I predicted would not come true. As in the story when the people of Nineveh repented and God spared their lives. But enough about me, lets talk about a true modern day prophet.
Jimmy Carter is from a small town in Georgia. He was the thirty-ninth president of the United States of America. Jimmy Carter is a prophet of the one true God. It is said that Jimmy Carter has been the best ex-president in the history of our nation. Considering the fact that, among other awards, he has won a Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work at the Carter Center I can see why. In his latest book, Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis President Carter prophesizes about the rise of fundamentalism in religion and politics, the marriage of the two and the dangers that they pose to America’s traditional value of freedom.
It is a mystery to me how so many Americans have been misled to believe that it is in the best interest for Christians to vote for and support George W. Bush and his Neo-conservative cabinet, with such a purposeful agenda to protect the wealthiest one percent of our population while oppressing the poorest and most helpless. Not to mention a foreign policy that has continued to alienate America and foster hatred and resentment toward America from the rest of the world.
In his book Jimmy Carter says,
"The revolutionary new political principles involve special favors for the powerful at the expense of others, abandonment of social justice, denigration of those who differ, failure to protect the environment, attempts to exclude those who refuse to conform, a tendency toward unilateral diplomatic action and away from international agreements, an excessive inclination toward conflict, and reliance on fear as a means of persuasion.” (p43)
Like an Old Testament prophet the words of former President Jimmy Carter need to be heard by this generation. Before it is too late and the favor of God is lifted from the people because of their turn from the one true God for the false gods of materialism, judgmentalism and elitism. I fear, though, that there is no one to hear the words of God from the Messenger of God and that the people will fall. The nation will crumble under the weight of its own pride and we will all be left in the dark with no hope.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Sexuality and Marriage: A Biblical View
What is your “Biblical” View of Sexuality?
12.5 %- True love Waits
37.5 %- God’s gift to humanity
00.0 %- Used to oppress and control
50.0 %- Other
If you put other or if you wish to explain further feel free to share in the comment section at the bottom of this post. ______________________________________________________
In The Women's Bible Commentary they talk about the wives of David. I find it interesting that David and Solomon have so many wives and that it seems as if a female’s sexuality is the property of their father or husband. “The marriage of a young woman was a matter of negotiation and financial arrangements between the groom… and the father or leading male of the bride’s family (WBC p 96).” Saul does this with his daughters Merab and Michal. I think that a closer look at this cultural institution of marriage and a comparison to our cultural institution of marriage would be very helpful in our current situation in America.
People talk about the “Biblical view” of marriage and how we need to get back to that view in America. We are even having heated debates about amending the constitution to ban Gay Marriage. The “traditional” Christian view of marriage and sexuality needs to be reconsidered and evaluated in light of the biblical narrative. It seems that the institution of marriage was created as a matter of control to maintain power and continue the oppression of women. Saul used his daughters’ sexuality and the promise of marriage to David in order to take power over David wanting David to get killed while he was fighting the Philistines for the girl.
Sexuality and Marriage is being used in today’s American society to exploit and oppress. Sexuality is exploited in the media to sell products and make money. Sexuality is oppressed in the church in order to control our congregations. Our churches tell our young people that the biblical view is that True Love Waits so no sex before you get married, end of discussion.
This polarization of sexuality, between exploitation and oppression, has caused generations of people to have an unhealthy sexuality. Their sexuality has been taken from them. It is either used by the world or it is oppressed by the church, those are the only two options offered to young people in today’s society.
What we need to do instead of exploiting and oppressing is to start empowering. The message needs to be: God has given you a great and precious gift, which is your own sexuality. It is yours and no one else’s. Not the world’s, not the church’s, not your father’s, not your mother’s. This gift is given to you freely. Don’t let man take away what God has given you.
We see the harm that sexual oppression can cause in the book of Samuel. Women treated like property without a voice, used for the power of their father. Women being bought and sold, and like in the story of Tamar, women being raped and abused. The same is going on in our own society, in our own culture. The Biblical narrative cries out against this oppression and calls for the sexual empowerment of God’s children.
Also posted on: Blairology Relationship Guide
12.5 %- True love Waits
37.5 %- God’s gift to humanity
00.0 %- Used to oppress and control
50.0 %- Other
If you put other or if you wish to explain further feel free to share in the comment section at the bottom of this post. ______________________________________________________
In The Women's Bible Commentary they talk about the wives of David. I find it interesting that David and Solomon have so many wives and that it seems as if a female’s sexuality is the property of their father or husband. “The marriage of a young woman was a matter of negotiation and financial arrangements between the groom… and the father or leading male of the bride’s family (WBC p 96).” Saul does this with his daughters Merab and Michal. I think that a closer look at this cultural institution of marriage and a comparison to our cultural institution of marriage would be very helpful in our current situation in America.
People talk about the “Biblical view” of marriage and how we need to get back to that view in America. We are even having heated debates about amending the constitution to ban Gay Marriage. The “traditional” Christian view of marriage and sexuality needs to be reconsidered and evaluated in light of the biblical narrative. It seems that the institution of marriage was created as a matter of control to maintain power and continue the oppression of women. Saul used his daughters’ sexuality and the promise of marriage to David in order to take power over David wanting David to get killed while he was fighting the Philistines for the girl.
Sexuality and Marriage is being used in today’s American society to exploit and oppress. Sexuality is exploited in the media to sell products and make money. Sexuality is oppressed in the church in order to control our congregations. Our churches tell our young people that the biblical view is that True Love Waits so no sex before you get married, end of discussion.
This polarization of sexuality, between exploitation and oppression, has caused generations of people to have an unhealthy sexuality. Their sexuality has been taken from them. It is either used by the world or it is oppressed by the church, those are the only two options offered to young people in today’s society.
What we need to do instead of exploiting and oppressing is to start empowering. The message needs to be: God has given you a great and precious gift, which is your own sexuality. It is yours and no one else’s. Not the world’s, not the church’s, not your father’s, not your mother’s. This gift is given to you freely. Don’t let man take away what God has given you.
We see the harm that sexual oppression can cause in the book of Samuel. Women treated like property without a voice, used for the power of their father. Women being bought and sold, and like in the story of Tamar, women being raped and abused. The same is going on in our own society, in our own culture. The Biblical narrative cries out against this oppression and calls for the sexual empowerment of God’s children.
Also posted on: Blairology Relationship Guide
Friday, February 03, 2006
God and the Ultimate Warrior
What type of Warrior do you see as God?
100%- A warrior who will die for the world.
0%- A warrior who will kill for the world.
_____________________________________________________
When I was a kid my best friend loved to watch WWF wrestling. So every time I would go to his house to play after school we would play wrestling. My favorite wrestler to be was the Ultimate Warrior. He had long hair and a painted face. He was so cool and mysterious.
As I read the stories of God and Israel in my Old Testament class I am getting an image of God as the Ultimate Warrior, going before Joshua and the Israelites, ensuring a military victory. I have been having a hard time reconciling this image of God with the image of the Triune God that I get from Jesus as the loving creator, redeemer and sustainer of the world, a God who wants the entire Cosmos to be redeemed.
A few nights ago I watched the movie Hero with my roommates. It is a movie about a nameless warrior who has reached the utmost level in his training and enlightenment. In the end the nameless warrior realizes what it means to be a true warrior. He identifies three levels. The first being able move your body so well the sword becomes an extension of your anatomy. The next level is being able to use your mind so well that anything, even a blade of grass becomes a weapon. But the last level of a true warrior is using your mind, body and soul in such unity that you will no longer fight. The unity inside you has caused you to have a love for peace and you will sacrifice yourself in order to keep that precious idea of peace alive.
This is the ultimate warrior, one who lives in such unity with self and nature that they sacrifice their own life to preserve the life of others.
For God so loved the world…
100%- A warrior who will die for the world.
0%- A warrior who will kill for the world.
_____________________________________________________
When I was a kid my best friend loved to watch WWF wrestling. So every time I would go to his house to play after school we would play wrestling. My favorite wrestler to be was the Ultimate Warrior. He had long hair and a painted face. He was so cool and mysterious.
As I read the stories of God and Israel in my Old Testament class I am getting an image of God as the Ultimate Warrior, going before Joshua and the Israelites, ensuring a military victory. I have been having a hard time reconciling this image of God with the image of the Triune God that I get from Jesus as the loving creator, redeemer and sustainer of the world, a God who wants the entire Cosmos to be redeemed.
A few nights ago I watched the movie Hero with my roommates. It is a movie about a nameless warrior who has reached the utmost level in his training and enlightenment. In the end the nameless warrior realizes what it means to be a true warrior. He identifies three levels. The first being able move your body so well the sword becomes an extension of your anatomy. The next level is being able to use your mind so well that anything, even a blade of grass becomes a weapon. But the last level of a true warrior is using your mind, body and soul in such unity that you will no longer fight. The unity inside you has caused you to have a love for peace and you will sacrifice yourself in order to keep that precious idea of peace alive.
This is the ultimate warrior, one who lives in such unity with self and nature that they sacrifice their own life to preserve the life of others.
For God so loved the world…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
About Me
- blairology
- Blair is a graduate of Mercer University in Macon, GA. Where he earned a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Communication and Theatre Arts and a minor in Christianity. Blair earned his M. Div. from the McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta. Blair is currently pursuing the Blairology Global Project. Blair is an Eagle Scout.