Lynse Leanne

I wonder what God thinks when we pray again for the first time in a long time…

Is he like the guilt giving person that hears a voice that hasn’t come to church or has been absent for a while and smirk and say, “finally, it’s about time I hear that voice again.”

Or is He the gracious one that hears the voice and His heart leaps for joy at the fact that He gets to hear from you?

You know when you’re in a large group of people and you hear a voice.  Maybe it was a friend that has been away for a while but has returned.  You hear their voice and your ears perk up.  Your heart jumps with excitement.  You aren’t wondering where they have been, you are just excited that you are hearing from them.

That is how I think God is.  No guilt.  No shame.  He is just excited that He gets to hear from you.

What do you think?

Over the past week I have been in conversations with people about various things from how Christians should respond to the killing of Osama bin Laden to the Christian world view on Islam to abortion and really everything in between. I am thankful for these raw and challenging discussions because I like to debate and discuss…i enjoy the thrill of knowing both sides and being able to have intelligent discussion about it with facts and valid feelings and points. My dad raised me well in that area.

However, I am burdened with the fact that it seems everyone has an opinion on how Christians as a whole should have an opinion about some of these things. I understand that scripture is very clear on some things and not so clear on others. I get when it is very clear that God has said this should be your view.

but in the desire to have an intelligent discussion….i wonder if we have taken it a step too far?

I wonder if in deeming what is and is not appropriate for a Christian to think about the killing of bin Laden has gone too far.

We all have feelings, thoughts and opinions that are all equally valid.

I wonder if we, me included has at times moved past iron sharpening iron relationship and moved into removing each others freedom of speech.

I think there is a very thin line where we are called to sharpen each other and maybe that line is in private. Not publicly on blogs and twitter.

I was actually disgusted with how Christians were treating each other on Sunday evening as the news was released.

We each have a process and each have a world view that has been created by the lives that we have lived up until this point. We each have a relationship with God that has formed how we perceive the world around us. And it is very different than the person next to you….and a lot of times everyone else’s.

Each of us will one day have to answer for our responses good or bad and it might be a little presumptuous to assume that I should have yours. Because, I do in fact have a brain and can make adult decisions and formulate intelligent opinions.

I am all for a friend caring enough to call a friend out on something that is maybe not in their best interest, but at the same time it should be done in the right context and with the right heart. A mass tweet with scripture of how we clearly should think, in my opinion is not the way. That is why we have a cheesy name for it on twitter…. “Jesus Juked”.

I don’t know. Maybe I am wrong, but I am deeply burdened with the fact that we should be able to be open and honest with each other without the fear of being judged because of an opinion.

People may not agree, but that is a part of adulthood.
We disagree.
We talk about it.
We resolve.

But we don’t gang up on each other and bully in a passive aggressive tone.
We love like they are our sibling and we move on.

But that just may be the way I see it. And I want healthy dialogue…I enjoy it. I don’t enjoy attacks and judgement.

So if you would like to dialogue with me and with other people that is more than welcome here. And please comment below. You can also comment by clicking this link.

Last night I tweeted and Facebooked this:

I despise when religious people think that because you question things it must mean you aren’t actually a christian. No, i just really like to figure out WHY I believe something instead of believing blindly.

I am a logical person. Thus I fight my faith all the time. I need logic. I need answers. I need to know the “whys.” I was probably that annoying kid that always asked why? I always seem to ask questions that people haven’t asked when training for jobs…I think about things. I want to know the process and I want to know why.

This is true of my faith too. I can’t just believe what I am told because someone on a stage told me to believe it. Sorry, I guess I just like to think things out and make sure I agree or believe.

Chad knows when I make a decision that a lot of thought has gone into it, I’ve consulted with people that I respect and my opinion is mostly formed. That is just how I am. I will research the heck out of things.

In high school I wasn’t sure I agreed with something the pastor said so I read a theology text book to form my own opinion. I am a studier.

This week someone asked me how I was doing and I expressed some of my doubts, insecurities and questions about my faith…I thought honesty would be a good thing…but I guess not.

That lead to her essentially telling me that she thought it was because I only had “fire insurance.” My questions, doubts and insecurities lead her to believe I don’t believe….that I might not be a christian….more than just the fire insurance type.

Maybe I am wrong, but do you ever question what you believe or do you just believe?

I love NPR. We all know this. One of the shows that i really enjoy on NPR is called Radio Lab. It used to come on Saturday mornings and it was convenient because I was working alone in a drive thru coffee cart. I would look forward to the Saturdays I was scheduled because of the NPR line up…i know, kind of nerdy, but it was so good. Since leaving that coffee shop I have continued to listen to Radio Lab. I have some of the podcasts, but mostly while i am doing the boring work of writing Social Security Numbers on stacks of paper at the community college i work at instead of listening to Pandora or whatever I listen to Radio Lab. It helps pass the time. Each episode is 1 hour and so intriguing. This is the “about” from Radio Lab‘s website….

Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we’ll feed it with possibility.

It truly makes me think. It is awesome.

One of the things it got me thinking about recently is what and how technology could or would evolve again if for some reason we lost all our modern conveniences and were forced to primitive, Little House on the Prairie type living. Could we, knowing and experiencing what we know in 2011, be content living without electricity, internet, phones, cable tv. Or would technology re-invent in the current circumstances.

One of the podcasts on Radio Lab that I enjoyed is “What Does Technology Want?” It kind of asks the questions of inventions and technology almost evolving itself.

So, my question to you is, if something like Y2K (because i know it can’t actually happen, Y2K that is) were to happen and our modern conveniences were wiped out worldwide do you think we could get back to where we are currently or do you think it would even be possible or desired?