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.

DON'T IGNORE GOD

I just graduated from college with my Bachelor's degree in Christian Ministry. There's something to be said of that statement. I went into college not knowing a thing about God, much less His Son. I came to faith, was "born-again," and celebrated by going to a bar. I wasn't actually celebrating, I didn't even know what had happened.
Nevertheless, I found myself talking to an admissions counselor at a Christian College. Found them on the internet. She asked me what degree I would be pursuing, and when I said 'Christian Ministry,' she took a moment to recover. I can only assume that she was taken aback by my cigarette-laden smell and my revealing hemlines. Regardless, I could only be quietly assured that I was meant to be there by the strange sense of peace I could feel inside of me. I must mention for credibility sake, that I talked about going back to college for seven years with my fiance, so this take was met with much apprehension.
Anyhow, the next two years were a lifesaver. Had I not been there, I don't know if I would have made it in this 'Christian journey.' I was inundated with constant support, constant focus on God, and constant focus on who I was in Christ. I was more than mildly shocked when my testimony (I didn't even know what that was) was met with love and encouragement. That was not the real world. My real world was a dog eat dog and laugh about it later mentality.
Enough of the past for now. My sole point in bringing up the ol' college days is that, now that it's over, I'm bummed. Way bummed to be truthful. It is so easy to get caught back up in the 'real world' again, and God is relegated to being a co-pilot. Which is so dangerous.
My favorite passage in the bible is: Jeremiah 20.9 Jeremiah was given an awful task by the Lord. He was to be a prophet, indicting Israel for their sinful and awful ways. Needless to say, Jeremiah was not a popular member of society. In this passage, he is yelling at God about being assigned this task. He's mad, but then he says something that sums up my relationship with God most of the time. The title of this message is called Jeremiah's Complaint. The line I love is, "But if I say, 'I will not remember Him [God] Or speak anymore in His name, Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it."
I love that. There have been so many times I'd like to chuck this whole God-thing off as another fad in my life, but He won't let me. Once you see the truth, I think it's impossible to ignore. He's real, He's there, and He has something to say. If I ignore Him, I sense something is wrong. The best analogy I have is this; when you are really in love, and the passions are new, and your lover leaves on a trip. Remember that ache, where every day is a month, and you feel like you lost an arm? That's the feeling I get. Ache and down.
AND NOW WE GET TO THE POINT...
In another passage in Jeremiah, God is explaining (as if He has to) why He's ultimately mad about the whole Israel thing: "They (the Israelites) have turned their back to Me and not their face..." Jeremiah 32.33
Whoops. God is okay if get mad at Him, He's okay if you yell at Him (trust me on this one. I'm still here.) He is not okay if we ignore Him. What we do is; search for spiritually, go to church, tell the pollsters that we believe in Him. We keep our faces on God, but we turn our backs in search of things of this earth. I am convinced it is possible to go to church and ignore God. It's the stuff that hypocrisy is built of.
Here's the ultimate deal for those who struggle with this whole God thing. I hate the bad stuff in life, I want to know just as much as you do why bad things happen. However, at the end of the day, I know I need to take the questions and the complaints to Him, rather than blow Him off.
What's the ultimate cause for wars and death if there is no God? That life sucks and then you die. Forgive me if that doesn't sound appealing. What's the ultimate cause for wars and death if there is a God? I don't know. However, I do know that He has a plan that's much bigger than I could ever imagine. And He sacrificed His own Son. That tells me He has a plan. I would rather believe that there is a Good and Righteous being that's ultimately in control, rather that complete randomness.
Think about it...

PLEASE READ BEFORE DISMISSING...IT'S GONNA BE A GOOD SHOW

This is my first post. I'm mildly excited about starting a blog. I don't know what the future will hold for these postings, but I am hopeful. I hear so much, practically inundated by what pop culture defines a 'Christian' as, but I never hear an intelligent rebuttal. Sure, I hear people like Pat Robertson, and that pastor down at Westboro Baptist, and of course they give an outstanding example of who we are. (hint-I find sarcasm to be an artform when used correctly.) However, it seems that the media and people who don't care to find out who we really are jump on the fringe representations to catagorically dismiss all of us. Just as I don't dismiss all vegans by someone who changed their name to a dotcom, I don't think we should all be dismissed because someone takes their message to an extreme.
I am not a fringe apologist. I am simply a completely corrupt sinner that has been bought and restored by Jesus. I think that Christians who are born-again need to wake up and quit sitting around idly and allowing the fringe to represent all of us. I want to see us return to the book of Acts, when the Spirit was alive and they knew it. Sunday is just another day of the week, what are you doing with the other six?
For anyone that decides to read this who is seeking, or is doubting, please keep with me. I promise that this adventure is for anyone with a pulse and who likes to think. I dislike the thought that this would be a blog by a Christian, for a Christian. This is not an 'us/them' blog. These are coherent thoughts by a woman who spent most of her life running from God, and laughing at Christians just as much as the other guy. Thing is, I found out the truth.
So please, take this journey with me, and we will see what we see.