Abdul Jabaar features Boston Celtics coach's "religious" comments

 I saw a headline in Mr. Abdul Jabaar's blog about the Boston Celtics coach, who is black, missing an opportunity to make a comment  on "race".  Abdul Jabaar had featured an article by reporter Vincent Goodwill.  Goodwill had an issue with the Boston Coach responding to a question regarding 2 black coaches in the NBA finals by responding, "I wonder how many of those have been Christian coaches?" 

I thought the response was a good answer to a repetitive human question regarding race as a defining factor.  Why isn't someone's religious belief not mentioned in discussions?  Is not that as important or more important than a person's race?  Of course there was no follow up to the coaches responses.  Apparently, sports reporters do not know how to deal with issues dealing with religious beliefs as they relate to one's profession.

I did not see what Abdul Jabaar's opinion was regarding the response.  Can you share that with us Mr. Abdul Jabaar?

A Different Approach to Sharing the Word About Jesus

 I had a dialogue with several men on Saturday evening.  The conversation went well for about half an hour.  Then we got into discussing how to share our spirituality with others.  One of the men said that we had an obligation to tell someone that if they did not get Jesus in their life and repent, they would go to hell.  I and another gentleman felt that was a rather direct and somewhat harsh method to tell someone about Jesus.  We stressed that we would rather just dialogue with the other person and not tell that person they would go to hell if they did not change their lifestyle.  The "you will go to hell" person is a Deacon in a church, bible study leader, and was trained to think and speak the way he does. This after a life of not being a model citizen.  He is very sincere in his beliefs which is his right.  But me and the other man felt it was a somewhat rigid attitude to take towards someone else.  My thoughts were to just continue a dialog with the non believer and listen to what they have to say, and why they think the way they do.  I personally would rather take that approach. When the time was right, I would then bring up the "technical" aspects of giving your life to God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit.  Whatever I become in my spiritual walk, I do not ever want to become a "one way or the highway " Christian.

We Need a President Who Can Manage The Chaos - The God Factor

I have not listened to every speech by each remaining candidate for President of the United States.  Nor have I browsed through the websites of the candidates to read about their positions on the myriad of "issues".

Impeachment of the President is the current focus of our Congressional legislators.  Lost in the bickering, name calling, and finger pointing is one major point.  We need a President who can manage the chaos of the Federal bureaucracy.

We pay our taxes so that the government in return will efficiently and effectively manage our collective  resources.  We only want the funds used to provide us essential services.  Has any candidate committed themselves to ensuring our tax money is spent properly?  I don't think so.  We have been distracted by appeals to specific issues and causes.  Health Care, Gun Control, Immigration, Climate Control are among the major contenders for our interest.

Each issue requires a candidate develop an answer or position on how to "solve" the problem.  The only problem is, there are no man made solutions to man's problems.  Mankind has become so tuned in to thinking we can do anything, we really believe WE are the answers to problems we have created.

This stems from not acknowledging that there is a God who created us whom we are, or should be, responsible to.  So each day we set off on our human journeys thinking it's all about what we do.  But our time is already counting down to the end of our existence.

What should we do?  For our governmental institutions we need to put people "in control" who can  manage the chaotic institutions and practices we have created.

We need a President who starts from a foundation of believing in God.  From that center would come the ability to manage the chaos of our political institutions.  An effective President would know that only God can provide the true answers.  The answer does not mean that a human issue will be solved.

It's time to put the candidates on the record regarding their views of God.  If they do not acknowledge God, we don't need that candidate as  the leader of our government.  Even if they have a portfolio of "solutions" to man made problems.  Any solution that does not take into account God is a flawed solution.

Driving through the Storms When the Detour route does not work

When planning a return drive from a family reunion in Arkansas, I found myself constructing a journey analogous to real life situations.  I saw a weather report about bad storms north of our location.  I would be driving north and would likely encounter the storms on the route I planned to take.  In life we often know of bad situations and conditions that are not good for us and we have to decide whether to put ourselves into that situation or condition. 

In the instance of the storm north of us, I had the opportunity to try to avoid the weather by detouring to another route.  I would change direction to avoid the storms.  The same applies to our lives.  We often have to change direction in either our behaviors or thoughts to avoid situations that are against the Word of God or that may result in physically harm to us.

So I planned the detour route that I thought would keep us away from the storms.  In real life we make decisions to keep ourselves "out of trouble".  We try to avoid breaking religious and man made rules/laws.  During the course of my detour route, I periodically would check the weather ahead of us using the technology in the car I was driving.  It showed that even though I had adjusted my route, my route was still taking us too far north to avoid the storms.  As in real life, dangerous conditions and temptations just don't go away.  Some may even follow you!

Seeing that I would still be driving into the storm, I again adjusted our route.  The new route showed a better chance of avoiding the storm.  In real life we constantly make decisions and adjustments to avoid problems and situations.  Who likes to purposely move yourself into danger?

The new route was going well.  There was no rain or storms in sight.  Then I noticed that in checking the weather map in the car, a smaller storm was still headed our way and would cross our path.  All my planning and detours would not keep us totally out of the storms.  Just as in life we can try to avoid trouble, but trouble will often find us anyway.  Or a situation you purposely made a decision to avoid suddenly reappears in your life.

So the storm caught us.  I found myself just having to drive carefully through the storm.  I had to become more aware of my surroundings and prepare myself to make quick decisions.  Some drivers ahead of me were turning on the car's warning lights. The environment got stressful, but I found myself driving calmly knowing that nothing bad would happen to us.  I had done what I could to avoid the storm.  Now that I found us in the storm, I needed to calmly deal with the situation and drive us out of the storm.  The storm was temporary.  I didn't pull over and stop the car to wait the storm out.  I kept moving and purposely moved through the storm seeing clear skies ahead.

This is the same as in our daily lives.  We encounter problems and situations that present challenges to our religious beliefs.  We have to then make decisions on whether to drive through those challenges or to pull over to the side or the road and succumb to the power of the storm.

The bible: Discussion on Genesis in the Old Testament

Genesis 12 begins coverage of Abram.  My cryptic notes in Genesis 14 were, "Descendants of Noah created "Kings" Why?"  "When did this King role begin?"  It also reads about tribes and clans being developed. Again I wonder how people became so unfocused after an event when the world was destroyed and people from Noah's family had to repopulate.  Did Noah's early descendants not pass on the lesson's learned from the flood and God's destruction of life based on his disappointment in how we had turned out?  Why did God allow the concept of "Kings" to develop?

Genesis 14 seems to address the concept of tithing.  Giving one tenth of everything.  There is also a reference to not depending on man to make you rich.  Genesis 15:13-16 mentions that those enslaved will come out with great possessions!  Although this was meant directly for people in those times, I look to it as a forecast of the future for those enslaved from Africa from 1619 to the 1800s.

Genesis 16 mentions an early method of parents having a child through another host.  The notion of a surrogate parent has been around for awhile!  Genesis 16 also discusses Ishmael being cursed.  He had no choice in his development.  That does not seem fair and adds to the notion that life is not fair.   We have been put into a system by our Creator where we sometimes have no choice in what happens in our lives.

Genesis 17 goes into a discussion of circumcision.  It states that those not circumcised will be cut off from his people.

Genesis 19 goes into another destructive act of God.  Our creator routinely seemed to turn to violence as a way to make corrections.  It is no shock in how we his people also turn to violence so often.  The traits of the creator passed on to us. Homosexuality is mentioned in Genesis 19.  This behavior and lifestyle choice has been around for thousands of years.  Sodom and Gomorrah were both destroyed along with all of their inhabitants.  True to His agreement the entire world was not destroyed again, and the destruction of the 2 cities was not by flood.  Genesis 19 also mentions incest and the misuse  of alcohol.

My general impression from reading Genesis up to chapter 19, is that human beings were a flawed creation.  A violent, misguided people were created by God.  We seemed to wander for many years with no direction to correct our behavior.  Unchecked behavior leads to non Godly actions.  Even destruction of the world through a reboot, did not correct the true nature of Mankind.  The lapse of time without Godly intervention makes it seem as though God lost interest in us and went away to focus on another species maybe.  Then He returns and through his methods attempts to lay some seeds to help people he has identified as leading the way in the future?

The future gift of God's Son awaits us and opens doors to new hope with guidance given us on how to reach our fullest potential.  On the surface, Genesis is a depressing, morbid tale of our early years as a species on Earth.  Some of the issues of today, homosexuality etc. existed early on in our existence.  The violent nature of the world today mirrors the violent actions and conflicts mentioned in Genesis.  One cannot blame the current generation from not turning to religion.  The documented actions in the Old Testament are not inspiring by any means.  An explanation of the Old Testament and how God moved us into the doctrine of the New Testament is essential for a better understanding of how to apply the Bible to our daily lives, and how to interpret and apply the bible period.

Continuing the dialogue on Genesis

Genesis 9.  From Noah's sons came the people who would repopulate the Earth and continue God's creation, Man and Woman.  Noah's life span was 950 years.  Noah's descendants developed into various named clans and tribes.  It appears as if the continuity of God's message through Noah was being lost. Their is no indication that God's message is being passed on to guide the lives of these descendants.  Different spoken languages developed, placing another barrier to effective communication between people.

Then in Genesis 11, apparently after some passage of time, the people in the world somehow began to speak one language.  Where was the direction to follow God during this period? It seems strange that after God saved Noah's family, none of the story of God's destruction of all life on Earth, except Noah and his family was passed on to Noah's descendants to guide them to correct behavior in God's eyes?  If they had known about the prior destruction of life by God would misbehavior and people idolizing themselves, not God, have followed?

At this point the need for guidance was critical.  God's response in Genesis 11:7 is to confuse the people so they no longer speak the same language and can't effectively communicate with each other?  People were then scattered all over the world.  My reaction to this passage was how is this method effective in teaching the people the principles  God wanted us to follow?  How was this method effective in bringing the people closer to God?

What follows in Genesis 11 seems to be a period where people seemed to be wandering, with lack of effective guidance.  We were back to our own means, which meant progress into what God wanted us to be was hopeless.

A dialogue on Genesis: Genesis 5 and 6. The Reboot of Planet Earth

Genesis 5.  Let’s pause.  Genesis 1 brought on the promise of new life, new beginnings.  The Creator made “creations” on Earth.  Animals, vegetation and someone in His image, man.  Then man is given a helpmate to assist man in taking care of the Garden in which they are to be the caretakers.  What could go wrong?  Adam and Eve were given the perfect living conditions from the Creator.  But somehow Eve and Adam do exactly what they were told not to do.  The repercussions were disastrous.  God did not give them a second chance to stay in the Garden.  Adam and Eve were evicted and they and their descendants sentenced to a life of hardship.  A life opposite from what the Creator wanted for them to have.  Something inherent in man and woman doomed us to the future and present we live in now.  The first murder in human history happens among the first born of Adam and Eve.  We know that three of the first human beings created, Adam, Eve, and Cain are flawed.

Now we move into the descendants of Adam and Eve.  Adam lives 930 years before he dies.  Other male descendants also live more than 800 plus years.  Curiously there is no mention of the lifespan of the women.  How long did Eve live?  I wonder how each generation was taught about God and the fall of man from Grace?  Apparently whatever they taught wasn’t effective as each generation seemed to be testing God’s patience as referenced by God’s comment in Genesis 6.  The reference is to God giving a 120 year lifespan to humans.  Some interpret that to have meant God was giving people in the time of Noah, 120 years to change their sinful ways.  I never have imagined God as being impatient or giving up, so that statement is somewhat shocking if God was truly giving mankind 120 years before it would be time for our Creator to take another action.

Genesis 6:5 indicates that there was widespread wickedness being performed by humans and it was consistently and totally evil.  So evil that God was sorry he had ever made humans and put them on the Earth that he created.  Can you imagine the total disappointment of seeing something you create become a vehicle of evil and wickedness?  Some of us see that in the development of the children we create.  Imagine that feeling multiplied by the hundreds of thousands.  In Genesis 6, God decides to destroy on Earth all that he has created.  God will perform the first reboot.  When an electronic device such as a computer does not work as it should, the last option is to turn it off and then turn it back on.  Earth 1.1 would reappear in the form of Noah and his family in Earth 2.1.  The bible speaks of God destroying all the animals that inhabit the ground.   Does this mean that all the animals in the seas and in the watered areas on Earth were not impacted by the coming flood of the Earth that destroyed everything on land?  If so is there any special significance that should be given today to the seas and oceans and all the life forms that inhabit them?

From reading the first 6 and a half chapters of Genesis, there is a sense of negativity surrounding the creation and development of life for humans on Earth.  Now comes the reboot designed to clean the slate and give mankind another new start.

A dialogue on Genesis in the Bible

I am a 61 year old man.  From DNA results my ancestors are related to the Eviya and Eshira people of Gabon, Africa.  The truth as I know it is that hundreds of years ago, one or more of my ancestors was kidnapped from a life of freedom in Gabon.  They were enslaved by European Americans who had invaded the North American continent and systematically wiped out a Native American culture that already existed there.  European Americans through a combination of diseases they brought with them and aggressive land grabbing annihilated a culture in North America to the point that today it barely exists.  Before these events, life was created on Earth thousands of years ago.  We tend to not focus on our historical past to find understanding to our present.  I believe that is a major mistake. That is my truth.

Seeking some understanding to life in the United States and the events of today and the past, I have turned to the Bible.  A religious historical document that stands at the foundation of many of our lives and beliefs.  This series of blogs takes into account my understanding, questions, and reactions to the words in the Bible.  Let us first start with Genesis, the beginning.

I recall as a teenager writing to the company that published a dictionary.  I was questioning the accuracy of the definition of the word “beginning”.  I had spent 8 years in a Catholic school environment.  I recall reading catechisms and being taught in a classroom setting the beliefs of the Catholic church.  As a teenager it occurred to me that based on what I had been taught, somehow a God, Gods or some form of life always existed.  There was no beginning.  There just was life that existed beyond the understanding of human thought.  I’ve always remembered that moment.  Although there was no answer, it was a moment of clarity for me.

In the bible, Moses is stated to be the author of Genesis.  Somehow he passed on the content of Genesis to future generations.  The story/events were finally put into writing in biblical form.  Genesis 1, starts off with “The Beginning”.  I always assumed that Genesis was talking about the beginning of life on the planet Earth.  We as people seemed focused on believing that all life began with the creation of human beings on Earth.  I see no reason to not believe that our Creator, God, or whatever you want to call “Him” has created other life forms beyond human beings.  So why do we think the beginning of life revolves around us here on Earth?  It seems somewhat of a self centered approach to life.  Human beings self promoting ourselves into the number one spot on the life cycle!

Are there other inhabited planets and life forms out there?   I really don’t believe that human beings are the best life form that God, our Creator, could have made.  How and to what extent do such other life forms worship our Creator?

The “beginning” referenced in Genesis, may be the story applicable to life on Earth only.  It is possible there are other stories of “beginnings” for life forms different from ours on other planets and other solar systems.  As I read Genesis 1, it covers the creations of God, such as water, living creatures and the natural resources of the Earth.  The thought struck me, “if God created all these things and humans in the role of caretakers, don’t we have an obligation to protect the environment that He created?”  Why should we destroy what God created?  Genesis does appear to give people the role of ruling over animals.  We were given every seed bearing plant to use as food to include every tree with fruit.  As Genesis 1 ends, it is apparent that what God was doing was “working” at creating human kind and the supporting systems for human kind.  It would not be a smooth creation.  Drama and humanistic problems were coming quickly.