A Grain of Salt

First, check out the song, and read the lyrics.

A cat came drifting onto my porch from the outside cold
and with eyes closed, drinking warm milk from my bowl,
thought:

“nobody hears me!(nobody hears me) I crept in so soft!
and nobody sees me!(nobody sees me) as I watched six steps off.”

like the peacocks wandering the walkways of the zoo
who have twice the autonomy the giraffes and the tigers do,
saying:

“no one can stop me,(no one can stop me)
no one clips my claws! now everyone watch me(everyone watch me)
scale these outside walls!”
you took the pious and profane,
turned around the praise and blame,
said “a glass can only spill what it contains”
To the perpetually plain and the incurably inane
a glass can only spill what it contains

what new mystery is this?
what blessed backwardness??
the Immeasurable One is held and does not resist!
struck by wicked words and foolish fists of senseless men
the Almighty One does not defend!

I was halfway listening to what she thinks she knows
We’re like children dressing in our parents’ clothes, saying:

“Nobody knows me,(nobody knows me)
no one knows my name,
No, nobody knows me,(nobody knows me)
nobody knows me…”
I half-heartedly explained
but gave up peacefully ashamed
as a glass can only spill what it contains
we went to Portugal and Spain
and in her mind the entire time it rained!
a glass can only spill what it contains

what new mystery is this? in overflowing emptiness
the Invisible is seen among the shadows and the mist,
before my doubting eyes the Infinite appears in time-
the Unquestionable is questioned but makes no reply!

what new mystery is this(x5)?!
“my Rabbi!”
my lips betray with a kiss

what new mystery is this?

What powerful lyrics. mewithoutyou, a Philadelphia based experimental rock band, has always made me think twice, but this song really amazes me. I’ll break it down into two parts. First, the lines that involve the seemingly egotistical animals. (Wow, what a strange sentence.) These phrases tell about a problem that many people don’t really recognize- this is God’s world. What gives us the right to march around, saying what we will and will not do, acting like no one can stop us and we are masters of our own fates. How proud! Like God is some distant figure, looking the other way as the little ants march around, sneaking little sins while he shakes his head, unable to stop them. What we (myself included) need to figure out is that GOD IS WITH US. He is watching you, waiting for you to make your choice to do what is right. When we become the peacock, proud of our power and ability to do anything, we slowly start to lose our respect for God and his boundaries.

Next are the other sections that describe the crucifixion- or, more accurately, the betrayal, along with one of the most baffling moments in the Bible. During the betrayal at the garden, the Lord of the universe is bound in human form and beaten by his own creations. Imagine his disciple’s fear! This man, who says he is God, is now “held powerless and does not resist!” Even now, as we see the whole story, we seem to have missed out on quite a bit of the meaning by skipping the various trials before the actual crucifixion. How could the “Immeasurable One” allow himself to be struck down by his own foolish creations? The necessary love is absolutely mind-boggling. We should realize this and give more (if it’s possible) weight to the terrible suffering Christ endured.

I guess this isn't King James...

Ha ha. Wow.

For all of you who may have happened to miss the link… well, I’ll just copy the entire article.

CANTON, North Carolina (AP) — A North Carolina pastor says his church plans to burn Bibles and books by Christian authors on Halloween to light a fire under true believers.

Pastor Marc Grizzard told Asheville TV station WLOS that the King James version of the Bible is the only one his small western North Carolina church follows. He says all other versions, such as the Living Bible, are “satanic” and “perversions” of God’s word.

I just… wow. Again, I have two main points about this article. The first of which is, well, get over it. The King James version, while poetic, striking, and powerful is NOT THE ONLY VERSION OF THE BIBLE. You read that right. I do love me some King James, to be true, but when people claim it is the only REAL version that can be trusted, it gets to me. Sure, several other translations may leave out verses, making King James one of the most accurate. But to a new Christian, accuracy may take a back seat to readability. To anyone new to the faith, I recommend a read-through of John, in a version like NIV. But for later study, I cannot recommend King James highly enough. It’s accuracy is unparalleled. Now, this person has taken this thought process to it’s logical extreme- the versions that don’t match up with this one are from the devil… Offending anyone who reads them and deeply confusing new believers who rely on their language.

Secondly, this is exactly the sort of action that portrays Christianity as a fragmented religion. I can see nothing wrong with the books of Billy Graham, (though Rick Warren… meh.) and think he is one of the centuries’ greatest evangelists. If you’re going to do something like this, try something a little less…drastic. Perhaps a seminar on why you believe these things are wrong, a sermon, or maybe even your own book. But actions like this serve no purpose other than to rile people up and draw attention to yourself. So THINK BEFORE YOU ACT. The appearance of our religion is failing, and we need to set the public right about the world’s true religion of love.

A small side note- appearance isn’t everything. More on that later.

Wow.

This is totally awesome.

Well, it was to begin with. Then I started reading into it. Go ahead, read the article. Seriously. Do it. Done yet? I’m not continuing until you’re done.

There we go. Now read some of the comments. they all seem like nice people trying to suggest what to do with the money. But I see something different- after reading most of the posts, it seems to me like people are just trying to find ways to GET AROUND the law. They’re not looking for ways to do the right thing- just ways to make it LOOK like they did. C’mon, folks. We need to go back to the days when people were serious about sin. I’ve heard of ( but sadly ) not experienced days when sin was confessed before the church. Now, sin is a polarizing issue– some consider it a taboo (although taboo is a taboo, but that’s a different post.), some consider it a completely personal choice to decide what is and what is not sin, and some see all issues as strictly black and white. While all these can have certain flaws in certain situations, seeing every issue as black and white is definitely the closest to the truth, and a place that America should come back to. Now, like alot of my posts, I’m gonna say- but that’s not the main issue.

Why is no one serious about Hell anymore? It seems to me that Hell has simply moved out of the minds of the nation, and if it hasn’t left completely, then it has moved to the realm of a joke. Hell is no longer a place of torment, but a cavern where Satan pokes you while you rotate on a spit with an apple in your mouth. Shows like Family Guy show Satan as a comic character who shows up every once in a while to tempt the characters humorously. It’s time for christians to get serious about Hell again. Can you imagine what it’s like to know someone who will spend all of eternity in absolute torture- it’s unimaginable. And it’s time that we rememebered that.

I’ve heard it said that Christianity is an undefendable faith. Any or all proof of God’s existence is purely emotional, or cannot be proven logically.

This is the kind of attitude that is destroying the reputation of the church today.

The argument that the bible has been changed over the years is one of the most prominent anti-Christian tactics used today. The most common response? “But it’s the Bible! You just have to believe!” HA! This is the most easily countered point, but many Christians just fold up in front of it like a scarecrow in a storm. There exist THOUSANDS of Greek manuscripts of the new testament that can be read in the original Greek to check authenticity. Anyone who doubts the Bible’s lack of change can simply read the origina and judge for themselves.

Next, someone might bring up the contradictions of the Bible. Several of the “contradictions” in this compilation are easily refuted, such as

Is Jesus equal to or lesser than?

JOH 10:30 I and my Father are one.

JOH 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

This I fail to see as a contradiction. Jesus, in the first verse, is simply stating that He and the Father are one. The second, he is exalting God over himself, as he must do. He goes from showing his deity, to worshiping God. Some of the supposed contradictions just sound downright silly-

Snails do not melt

PSA 58:8 As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

I don’t know about the author, but I have seen a dead snail. When you find the shell, and the dead creature slowly oozes out, it sure seems like it has “melted” to me.

Across the internet, there are thousands of websites devoted to debunking these contradictions. And yet, Christians never seem to have any valid arguments to counter the logic of these attackers.

Some even claim that there is no need to defend the faith ( which seem to me like a form of cowardice ).  Paul however, did just that, saying that-

Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath.- 1 Peter 3:15 ( The Message )

And that will be the verse that defines the rest of this blog- ALWAYS BE READY. Hopefully, I can arm you with reason through science, history, and philosophy to not doubt God’s existence. And having reason to your belief is always a good thing.