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Bible Readings for Thursday August 11th, 2011

– The Week of The 9th Sunday After Pentecost *Click on each bible passage to expand the text. Psalm 67 1. [To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.] May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

2. that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.

3. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

4. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

5. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

6. The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.

7. May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him. Isaiah 45:20-25 20. Assemble yourselves and come together, draw near, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge– those who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.

21. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is no one besides me.

22. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

23. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”

24. Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; all who were incensed against him shall come to him and be ashamed.

25. In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall triumph and glory. Revelation 15:1-4 1. Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.

2. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.

3. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations!

4. Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.”

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations. – Psalm 67:1-2

By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” – Isaiah 45:23

Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.” – Revelations 15:4

Thy Will Be Done: Salvation For All

I love God… so much. I really do!

This world is getting so hard to bear, and especially right now as I see so much injustice and suffering… I begin to question even the point of life? The point of God?

And then, like a giant hug, I open my daily lectionary and there it is, The Point in plain English:

Isaiah 45:23 “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”

Universal Salvation. Universal Election. Universal Identity in God.

Some of you will say, “But it kind of sounds like God is forcing us to ‘turn to’ God, forcing us to worship?”

No, not “forcing”, but as we’ve discussed many times, there will be a point , either in this life or after, when you will experience a great refining fire, a light of truth that will burn away all of the selfishness, ego, and evil about you, and leave you with a pure and naked heart with which to view God’s perfect Love and perfect Grace: “No fear, no death, no pain… be saved, my child”.

Some of you will undoubtedly say, “Wait a minute: we’re all going to want to accept God’s love and salvation? That’s not fair! What about those that don’t want it, or even hate God?? WHAT ABOUT FREE WILL, THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE??”

Ahhh, “free will”. The very basis of our American Liberty, the cause of sin, and the defining attribute separating man from intelligent machines. “Free will” is clearly one of our most defining human qualities…

… and an illusion.

The Illusion of Free Will

“Free will” is not a permanent state of being. It is only a finite and brief period of time sandwiched between events that none of us have any “freedom of choice” over:

1) We have no choice if we are going to be born. – By the way, this is also argument “numero uno” FOR Universalism: why would you be “damned” to an eternity in hell for a finite, temporal life which you had no choice to start in the first place? (I call this the “Damned By Being Born” paradox) 2) We have no choice who our parents are: this is also mystically true about our Great Parent, God. We didn’t choose any of our parents. (I call this the “Luke, I am Your Father” Paradox) 3) We have no choice whether we die, or when we die.(I call this the “Y’all Gonna DIE!” Paradox)

So, would someone please tell me, why we have no “free will” in any of the MOST IMPORTANT events of our lives?

Therefore, I have no qualms looking a victim of violence, abuse, or betrayal, whose heart has been turned away from any concept of a loving God, and telling them, “You are saved. God loves you… whether you want it or not.”

I have no qualms telling a Muslim child, dying of starvation in Somalia right now, that although she has never heard the Christian Gospel in this short shitty life of hers which has been filled with suffering and injustice, God has always loved her. “This isn’t all there is, sweetheart. There is no realm of eternal fire and suffering waiting for you, my love. You have suffered enough, now go to the loving rest of our God.”

She didn’t choose this life. She didn’t choose where she lived. She didn’t choose this suffering!

And God didn’t choose it for her. “Free will” played no part in any of this little girl’s life and death.

A Message to Those Who “Need” Hell

Do you find it offensive when I say, “God loves everyone so much that we are all saved?”

Do you think me a heretic for wanting to promise the Muslim child that she will find peace in God’s love?

Why do you suppose you “need” Hell?

Here’s a little litmus test for the condition of your heart:

Can you still watch those faces in that video and still think I am speaking an untruth?

More importantly, does your “need” for Hell make you hesitate to act to help those Muslim children?

If it does stop you from seeing their plight as your plight, their life as your life then I have just one thing to say:

Fuck you.

And by the way, that’s God’s message to you, too.

How to Donate to UNICEF

Almost 30,ooo children died of starvation in Somalia in the last 3 months. Can imagine such a thing? I cannot.

While we stuff our fat faces as the richest nation in the world, eating more calories in one meal than these kiddos saw in two weeks, CHILDREN ARE DYING.

While we fret that we might have to borrow more money to pay for our lavish national debt, CHILDREN ARE DYING.

While we lose a tiny fraction of our net worth in yet another stock market plunge (leaving more money in our accounts that these families will ever see), CHILDREN ARE DYING.

$10 feeds a kid for 10 days. Can you spare 2 latte’s? Can you not eat lunch out for a day? Can you spare $10?

If you aren’t addicted to “us” vs. “them”, and you feel basic human compassion, and you would like to donate to this UNICEF humanitarian effort, please visit: http://www.supportunicef.org/

How To Tell A Dying Muslim Child That God Loves Her and She Is Saved?

You tell her.

Nothing to earn it. Nothing to deserve it. No proclamations of faith.

You tell her.