Twittering Faith

JONAH: I now understand claustrophobia. Nineveh is probably a nice place this time of year. My new motto: Listen to God.

ADAM: To all my followers I say, watch those choices…lovely fruit doesn’t always taste as good as you imagine.

EVE: He’s right. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he is sooo right.

JAMES: You think you had family issues! You should have grown up with my brother.

THOMAS: I think I’m right, but I’m not sure. You may be right, but possibly not. I believe you, but on the other hand, is there any proof?

JOHN: He likes me best. End of story. I’m the fav.

PAUL:  And to think, my fifth grade Hebrew school teacher said I’d never be a writer!

While none of the above tweets can be verified by historians, isn’t it amazing that each famous Biblical person seems so, well, uh, human? God used flawed people to great effect. Flawed people like us. People who took hold of the movement and built God’s church. God still needs flawed people. Flawed people like us.

Michael McCullar

Without Geography You're Nowhere

Some of us are math-people while others are stronger in the social sciences. The same distinctions can be made about our brains. Each of us has a brain that has two sides with one side being dominant to the other. Thus, some of us are left-brained and some of us are right-brained. Left-brained people are very ordered and analytical in a strict way; and, right-brained people tend to be less organized, less structured, but very creative, even a bit out there. All of this brain-trivia to say we each have mental strengths and weaknesses and we are quite unique. Think of yourself as a snowflake and you’ll grasp the analogy. No two snowflakes are exactly the same. Billions of snowflakes fall each winter and each is totally and completely unique. Like us. Totally. Completely. Unique.

Don’t feel badly about a lack of geographical skill and don’t feel dumb when math seems like a foreign language (it is!). We need both and we must work harder on the disciplines that are harder for us to grasp. The same can be said about the organizationally-challenged among us (of which I am perhaps the King, at minimum, a Prince). The uber-organized will shake their well-ordered-heads at your seeming lack of stacking and sorting prowess. Don’t be upset because you do the same things when you see their color-coded To-Do-Lists and their desks staged in perfect symmetry with the constellations. Again, we are different and unique. This was God’s plan. Go with it. Be O.K. with it. If necessary, color-code it and place it in the In-Box of life.

So in this new year stop trying to reinvent the wheel that is your life. You won’t find the magic formula to becoming more or less organized, nor will you suddenly acquire the ability to calculate the square root of massive numbers. If we had those abilities, wouldn’t we have already changed our lives? The key is to set much lower goals. It’s true you won’t hear that one on Oprah, but it is nonetheless a powerful statement. Lower the bar and pick your battles.

And, most importantly, make each choice a truly spiritual one. If each New Year’s Resolution were bathed in faith we would have a much better chance of success. If a life change is also a spiritual life change, the equation is so much stronger. No longer is it simply us making a promise for change, it is God in and through us providing the power to be successful. 

Michael McCullar

Resolute…Maybe…Sort Of

Have you made a resolution for the new year? This is the hot time for resolutions and new starts, especially those focused on life changes. Who hasn’t vowed to lose a few pounds or to better use our time? Early January is also the time to debate the overall effectiveness of resolutions. Do resolutions work? Is it possible to effect change for the long haul? Wouldn’t it be easier to purchase newer, larger clothes?

ProActive Change reports that 45% of all adults make resolutions and an amazing 64% are successful after six months. The other view is championed by Mark Shapiro, author of the book Goal Free Living. Mr. Shapiro doesn’t believe in setting goals in general, much less New Year’s Resolutions, and sees the practice as a waste of time. He states that 3 of every 4 people fail miserably in following through on their resolutions.

So who’s right? Are resolutions a positive practice or a colossal waste of time and effort? The answer is quite subjective and falls within the glass is half full versus the glass is half empty argument. The ProActive Change people believe those who make specific resolutions are 10 times more likely to make positive, long lasting changes in life. The key is to be positive and for Christians, to make all resolutions spiritually based. Nothing new there, scripture teaches a positive mindset and a life lived with God at its center.

Who knows, we may actually be able to lose those pesky ten pounds, or be more patient, or save more money, or…or…well, you get the idea.

Michael McCullar, Resolutely Positive in 2012

Hey, It Could Happen

Fast forward to 2056. The United States has weathered wars and recessions and is again sitting on top of the world in education, exports and technology. The nation is no longer a right versus left, split and divided country. The out-going President is stepping away with an unprecedented 92% favorable rating and could easily be elected President of Earth (which thankfully is not yet a position). He is also the first President in modern history to come from neither of the historical wings of American politics. Press from across the globe are clamoring to obtain the first post-presidency interview. In a twist that shocks the old-line press (those who continue to use 2025 computers) and the uber-progressives using implant technology, the President selects a small media firm in the tri-cities megalopolis of Johns Creek-Cumming-Sugar Hill, Georgia (one of America’s most progressive hot spots). The President is a native of this region and spent his first eighteen years there (before going on to earn degrees from Georgia Tech, U.G.A., U.A.B., Oxford and Cambridge). Below is an excerpt from the interview:

Mr. President, to what do you owe your immense success? Honestly, I have been blessed with great parents and family, excellent educational access and the opportunity to spend six months in Congress before becoming president.

You’ve brought America from the brink of extinction in just eight years. How did you do it? Well, my six months in Congress were quite eventful and I was on a steep learning curve. The Presidency was very hard but in the tough times I called upon my early years for guidance.

By early years do you mean the short time in Congress or when your were a 5-Star General, or even when you were a double-Eagle Scout? No, obviously I learned a lot in each of those phases of life, but I am referring to my early years in church, especially in Vacation Bible School.

I apologize sir, but what is Vacation Bible School? V.B.S. was a unique week of emphasis in my childhood church where we learned about following God, living by faith and how to love other people through giving. Something we call stewardship and missions. If I may be so frank, it was a rocking week of fun and study. Shaped my life for sure.

So sir, you equate your success more with a kid’s Bible week than you do with leading our military, graduating from five prestigious universities by the time you were 25 and serving in Congress? Yes, absolutely. You know young man, evidently you never attended a kid’s Bible week as you refer to it, if you had, you’d understand. One can be educated well past their capacity to learn; war is never positive; and, I wasn’t in Congress long enough to learn everyone’s name. I am who I am due to the people who sacrificed their time and resources to give kids like me Vacation Bible School.

So Vacation Bible School changed the world? Oh yes, and in more and better ways than my story. There were five hundred of us back then. I imagine the cure for cancer was discovered by a V.B.S. graduate, plus the lady who solved the world’s water shortage was indeed a V.B.S. person. I asked her at the Nobel Prize event. 

Michael McCullar

The Storms Blew in Questionable Theology but Excellent Response

This article is being written from the perspective of an outsider touring a portion of the recent tornado’s destructive path through Alabama. I drove through two of the lesser damaged cities near Birmingham and the level of destruction was in a word, amazing. The sad reality I felt while viewing the masses of twisted trees and metal was these places wouldn’t make the top ten list of damaged areas across Georgia and Alabama. This was truly one of the worst storms of all time in an area already infamous for being a tornado-zone. The upside of my trip was the sight of church and faith-based relief work in place in both areas. Denominational and church teams were involved in many visible ways. Such rapid and on-going response to people in crisis is one way to share the Gospel of Jesus with the public. This is also a proper demonstration of Christian theology: God doesn’t cause destructive storms but He works for good in the aftermath. The church responding to someone else's crisis is part of the good that God brings to the afflicted and damaged.

Sadly this isn’t a universally accepted view of theology. There are preachers and tons of Christians who place the blame for such storms on God. Growing up I heard this preached and discussed on many occasions. God sent that storm (or insert earthquake, flood, disease, etc.) due to the sin of the people. God was just gettin’ their attention! Thankfully this shallow and wholly inadequate theology (my view) did not stick and I have been able to see the God of the New Testament profiled in the person and teachings of Jesus. This is not a haughty statement of theological superiority. That too would be against the teachings of the New Testament (Romans 14); it is simply a confession of personal theology that does not inadvertently make God out to be a very bad deity.

Imagine your house was totally destroyed in a storm and you were left with nothing but a pile of rubble. How would you feel? Would you want to hear that God brought your loss due to sin or a lack of attention? Or, would you hope to feel the enveloping love of God while standing in the midst of personal tragedy? I’m guessing most everyone would chose the latter. So why do so many people move so quickly to blame God and sin? Well, it’s easy and convenient and very human to require a scapegoat or someone to blame. It’s also true that humans want a concrete handle on even the most abstract events of life. In the case of tornados it might be best to simply apply meteorological science available on the evening newscast: hot air and cold air banging together cause very bad storms.

And to those who are so quick to blame sin or the act of ignoring God for storm damage…why are our houses still standing?

Michael McCullar

SAVE THE DATE: THE END OF TIME IS JUST THREE WEEKS AWAY!

I’m happy I didn’t buy season tickets for baseball this year. In just over three weeks the world will cease to exist. Dang, I have a new pair of western boots; they won’t even be broken in by then. Do they allow cowboy boots in Heaven? I tuned up my lawnmower for what? And I renewed a magazine subscription for twelve more months and paid up front! If I’d only read the work of Harold Camping a couple of months ago I wouldn’t be in this mess. 89-year old Mr. Camping is a self-taught Bible-scholar who is also quite good with ciphering. By combining the two disciplines and, with just a bit of creative license, he has determined that the end of time will occur on May 21, 2011. You might want to hold off on putting down a deposit on a beach condo rental for July.

Mr. Camping began his time-sensitive equation with Noah’s floating zoo in 4990 B.C. He next took Peter’s statement “one day is with the Lord as a thousand days and a thousand years is one day.” 7000 added to 4900 gives you 2010, and since there had to have been a year one, add one additional year and the worlds shelf-life reads 2011. May 21 was a bit harder to discern as Genesis states the flood began on the “17^th day of the second month.” But which calendar? Camping is convinced God uses the Hebrew calendar so the exact date is May 21. Piece of cake. So mark the date. It’s a Saturday.

Mr. Camping’s first foray in prognosticating Christ’s return didn’t go well. In his book 1994 he chose that year for the Rapture. In 2005 he published Time Has an End and at that point honed in on May 21, 2011. He isn’t alone in picking the end of time and being wrong. 88 Reasons Why Jesus Will Return in 1988 was a big seller until 1989. William Miller (founder of the Seventh-Day Adventists and former Baptist) picked October 22, 1844 and convinced thousands of followers to ready themselves. Huge numbers of believers spent that entire day on their roofs (ten feet closer to Heaven). Oops!

Kudos to Mr. Camping for trying but it’s highly unlikely Jesus will return May 21, 2011. Scripture is clear that no person knows when God’s next phase will begin. In reality, no person can know when God will act next. So why spend decades trying? Pray and repent daily and trust God for the future is all we can do. God only needs our help in reaching and reconciling the world back to Him. God does not help planning the end of time. But just in case I’m wrong…might want to hold off on painting or re-roofing the house until May 22.

Michael McCullar

A Third World Education

Ever been to the Third World? Ever wonder why it’s referred to as the Third World? I’ve been to the Third World several times and actually know my way around several slum areas scattered across the globe; and, while I don’t know who coined the term Third World, I realize it defines the absolute worst places for humans to inhabit. If there is a Fourth World I would hate to experience it, although I have a feeling the world is headed in that direction.

The worst place I’ve seen up close is Haiti. Haiti was a Third World country before the 2010 earthquake and now it’s much, much worse. Possibly portions of that country are close to reaching Fourth World status. I’ve never been to the African continent or to India but I’m told by missions’ volunteers that both places have many Third World areas. The Dominican Republic is where I spend the bulk of my missions-time now and I’ve covered three-fourths of the country visiting Baptist congregations assessing needs and possibilities. Surprisingly, the worst area I’ve visited is in Santo Domingo and not in the rural north. That was also the only time I’ve feared for my life while doing mission work. Americans, especially white Americans, have ignored that particular barrio and as a result my small team starkly stood out as we walked over rutted dirt streets flowing with human waste. A group of men stood in a pod and looked at us with eyes filled with suspicion and, I assumed, some level of hate. I was there to meet with an exiled Haitian pastor about an upcoming trip to supply medicines to earthquake victims and to provide financial aid for his work. The walk into his ramshackled church seemed like a hundred miles as we had to walk through the groups of assembled men. I was trying to walk with confidence but was failing miserably as we inched our way toward the church. It was at this point that the Haitian pastor came out and loudly called to us, My Brothers in Christ, welcome to God’s church. He embraced us and we walked in together. With those few words I was safe and more importantly, the Third and First worlds were momentarily fused.

Recently I was in another Dominican slum assisting a Johns Creek Baptist Church youth mission team’s work. I was mostly in the background so I had the privilege of watching First World teenagers engage Third World children. They did well in every aspect of the work and saw what life is like on the other extreme. They are just beginning the journey of serving Christ in extreme circumstances. Hopefully they will continue on and as adults champion the missions’ causes of their generation. If they do, they will acquire a Third World education like mine. It doesn’t come with a diploma or fancy photographs. It comes with a healthy share of existential guilt and tears. There are serious financial costs. But, the good will easily outweigh the bad and the pull toward missions will be strong. They will learn that God’s church is meant for the whole world and they play a role in making it all come together. And, best of all, they will achieve a Third World education!

Michael McCullar