Skip to main content

Lord

              Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. (Psalm 95:1-2)

          I don’t know if I keep coming back to it in this blog, or if I just keep coming back to it. If I’m being too repetitious, feel free to tell me so. But today’s passage, chosen by my Bible platform, brings me back. First, it invites us to sing for joy to the Lord, which refers to His authority, sovereignty, and divine rule. Then it invites us to show to the Rock of our salvation. A rock is that on which we can stand and build. I don’t think there’s really any doubt that these verses refer to God, but they also give us at least a partial definition of what a god is. A god is our Lord, the authority over our lives, that which rules in and over our live, and ultimately, over the universe. A rock is that which provides the foundation on which our lives are built. This isn’t all that a god is, but the other pieces of the definition rest on this basic understanding.

          Recently, someone posted a comment that there are 18,000 gods and asked how theists could be sure that the one they picked as the right one. I suggested that he study these gods, dividing them into groups. Among the distinctions we might make among them, we might separate those who were created or otherwise exist within a universe they did not create and those who created the universe/world. We  might find it useful to distinguish between those who created the world using some material like their own excrement and those who simply spoke the universe into existence.

          Then, we might examine the relationship between the gods and people. The third distinction I'll suggest is that we examine the means by which a person is granted entrance into heaven (or the equivalent.) What if any role does the god in question have to do with it? Lastly, I'll suggest that we examine the sacred literature or stories if no sacred literature exists, to discern whether there are any claims of the interaction of that God with anyone or any part of history.

          Answering these questions may not help us rid ourselves of all our false gods. We may not even realize that someone or something is a god in our lives, but it gives us a place to start. Likewise, it they are a good place to start for those who claim all gods are equal or the same.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more