HOW TO EXPLAIN GOD THROUGH THE SIMPSONS

I had another topic lined up for tonight. It was a good one, I'll tell you that much. However, due to my happenstance watching of the Simpsons Sunday night, your regularly scheduled topic has been preempted by a new one.
I never watch the Simpsons anymore. It's not particularly because I am above watching it, but because I stopped watching television a while back. It was one of many addictions I had to break.
Regardless, this particular episode was a spoof on a popular Christian movie and book series titled 'Left Behind.' I'm sure most have heard about it. It's about that strange Christian belief called the Rapture. What's that, you say? Well, there are many Christian camps that believe believers will be brought up to heaven before the end of the world begins. After the Christians are delivered, all hell breaks loose.
Well, the Simpsons did a great parody of an outsider's view of Christianity; our observable and often supported beliefs of the types of people that will be Left Behind. There were technology and science supporters, homosexuals and what I like to call the 'good more than bad' people, or the karma types. Homer did a good impersonation of a doomsayer with a sandwich board.
I'm sad that I didn't catch the end. I had to turn it off because my children were trying to watch, and I didn't have a good explanation as to why they were mocking believers like us.
I was mad, but I'm not anymore. I removed myself from the basic Christian message, especially about the end-times, and I could see why there would be a sense of craziness about the whole affair.
See-Christianity is made up of regular people, same stuff as anyone else. Oh sure, God does more than His share of clean-up work, but He doesn't change what we're essentially made of. We were liars, thieves, murders, cheaters and other assorted sin-like things. Difference is, we were 'saved' and 'delivered.' We still bring the rest of our lives with us. It really boils down to a life time of change, and all of it hinges on a relationship with Jesus.
So, do some of us come across as 'holier than thou?' You bet. But I don't think it started out as intentional on anyone's part. Take me for example: I was a crack head ten years ago. I was delivered from death by Jesus. No other reason. It was not luck, or karma, or science. So, what do I do next? I tell everyone I know about this great man I know and that you should get to know Him too! If I can remain humble, it stays there. Trouble is, some of us forget who we were, and can't for the life of us understand why everyone can't see the truth. Silly, isn't it?
Which takes me back to the whole human thing. The Simpsons episode portrayed us as superior people who have an absolutely silly story. I can see that. The Bible doesn't make a lot of sense if you don't happen to believe in the One who wrote that.
AND MY POINT IS...

In Jeremiah 33.3, God is talking to the Israelites. If you remember from yesterday, they're the ones who were delivered from slavery and then decided to turn their back on God. Well, throughout this book, He is hurt, and mad and torn up by their rejection, and He goes back and forth from wanting to make them all go away and wanting their love back. If you've ever been cheated on, you know how God was feeling. In a tiny, human kind of way. Anyway, in this verse He say, "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know."
Christians distort and bring humanity to the message of the Bible, not God. He is the one to focus on, not us. Sure, we have some truth, but humans will always disappoint if you wait long enough. He does not.
Think about it.