Did you or your children ever play little league baseball? Can you remember a time when only the winners of the league (and maybe 2^nd and 3^rd place) took home a trophy? Perhaps like me you have a hard time with the recent trend of participation trophies. I’m not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way someone got the bright idea that every kid who bought a pair of cleats should get a trophy. Rewarding the kids who work hard, practice and hone their skills is no longer a priority. Why? I’m not sure. Perhaps we’re trying to spare the feelings of the losers. Perhaps the virtue of participation really is more important than the concept of winning. Personally, I think this is a bunch of bunk. Maybe a kid can’t hit a fastball. So what? Let’s help him find his own gift; maybe it’s playing a tuba or swimming. Maybe she’s a natural born writer or scientist. My point is that we should award the kids in an area that they deserve recognition. If every kid that runs onto a baseball diamond gets a trophy, the trophies become somewhat meaningless, right? What’s so special about winning a trophy if everyone gets a trophy?

Right now you’re probably asking yourself what this has to do with pantheism. I’m making a point – trust me.

The Stanford Dictionary of Philosophy defines pantheism as follows:

Pantheism is a metaphysical and religious position. Broadly defined it is the view that God is everything and everything is God. A slightly more specific definition says [that] pantheism … signifies the belief that every existing entity is, only one Being; and that all other forms of reality are either modes (or appearances) of it or identical with it.

This concept of pantheism is common amongst Eastern and New Age religions. Whenever you hear a person talk about “The All” or “The One” you can rest assured they are espousing a belief in pantheism. If I am being honest, the idea or thought processes behind this idea are valid. A person who expresses a belief in pantheism is normally trying to convince others to respect nature. The argument is that we should care for and respect nature and other people because all of it – man, rocks, mountains, trees, animals and etc. – are all part of “The All.” Everything is God so we should treat everything with the proper respect.

This all sounds great doesn’t it? The problem is that this isn’t the Biblical view of creation. Rather, the Bible teaches that we should be able to recognize God based on His creation. Our appreciation of creation and nature should cause us to fall on our knees and worship the true, living God. We may discover the general attributes of God by examining His creation; for instance, He is a God who appreciates beauty, love and friendship. He is a God who loves painting glorious skies and landscapes just to watch our mouths fall open in wonder. However, we must not confuse the Creator with creation. These revelations that can be found in nature are general. If we want to learn the specific attributes of God we must study the Special Revelation found in Scripture and in the person of Jesus Christ. When we confuse the general and special revelations of God we are making the same mistake that Paul addresses in Romans 1:25, “[We exchange] the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve created things rather than the creator.”

I would take it one step further and suggest we are in violation of one of the Ten Commandments.  When we worship creation as if it were God we are creating idols. Yes we should respect, preserve, and care for our environment; but only because it is a gift from God, not because it is God.

If we consider all of creation God – you are God, I am God, the trees are God, Squirrels are God and etc. – than there is nothing special about being God; much like little league participation trophies, God becomes meaningless.

Look at it this way … if everything is God, than nothing is God. Pantheism is akin to atheism in the sense that God becomes unnecessary. I prefer to learn about the real, living God as revealed in the Scriptures. Yeah, it takes more effort and more dedication than simply pronouncing that nature is God, but it is more rewarding in the end.

As part of a writing project, I have been reviewing different world religions with particular interest in what they teach concerning sin. During my examination of the Wiccan faith, I kept stumbling across Wiccans who refer to the following verse with a mixture of anger and resentment.

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” – Exodus 22:18 (King James Translation)

When reading this verse, it is understandable why there may be hurt feelings. Taken out of context, Exodus 22:18 seems to give Christians blanket permission to kill witches. Considering this is a verse that could be used to justify hate and violence, an in-depth examination seems to be in order.

We must first recognize that the while the King James translates the subject of this verse as “witch,” there are slight variances in other translations. Most commonly, I have seen it translated as “sorceress” (NIV, Holman Standard); however, it has also been occasionally translated as “poisoner” – although I feel this last translation is made from weaker manuscripts. Regardless of the translation, most experts believe Exodus 22:18 is addressing those who practiced occult activities such as séances, divination and spell-casting while eliciting the help of powers outside the one, true God. It is also generally assumed that these magic practitioners were attempting to draw their power in part from Satan. With this in mind, the words “witch” or “sorceress” seem as apt a translation as any.

Although most Wiccans take offense to Scriptures’ use of the word witch, I believe it would be a stretch to compare these witches to the modern adherents to the Wiccan faith. For instance, since Wiccans deny the existence of Satan there seems to be a clear difference between them and witches referred to in this verse. I suspect we are comparing apples to oranges, but for the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that the witches of Exodus 22:18 and the witches of modern Wicca are one in the same. Is the Bible giving Christians blanket permission to hunt and kill witches?

The quick answer to this question is no; however, to truly understand why one must understand the context of the verse.

Exodus 22:18 is presented as part of the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:19 through 23:33) and is intended as a guide to teach the Israelites how to incorporate the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 1-17) into their daily lives. These commands came at a time when God was attempting to preserve the Israelites as His chosen people in order to use them in His plan to save all of us. While the Ten Commandments are considered laws that transcend time and culture, the commands that are contained within the Book of the Covenant are specific for the Israelites who received them. Thus, to take any of these Israel-specific commands and argue that they apply directly to those of us in our modern, western culture is a misapplication that misses the point of the text; so if the verse was a direct order to kill all witches it was not a direct order from God to us, but rather from God to those particular Israelites living in that particular time and place.

Even with this said, it can be argued that God wasn’t giving those Israelites a direct order to kill all witches. A reoccurring theme of the Old Testament is Israel’s failure to remain faithful to God. Over and over again God’s chosen people were led astray by pagan religions that placed idols and sex ahead of God. The Ten Commandments begin with instructions that we should have no other Gods before the true God and that we shouldn’t make idols. These were the issues at stake concerning the “witches” that lived among the Israelites.

Because, the Israelites were continually being led astray and losing focus, God instructed them to not allow a witch to “live.” The word live in this case is translated from the Hebrew word châyâh (pronounced khaw-yaw’) and refers to both a literal and figurative life. Exodus 22:18 could have just as easily been translated as a command to not allow witches to live and thrive within the Israelite community. This is especially probable considering the rules against the exploitation and oppression of foreigners presented in Exodus 22:21.

In all fairness, a “witch” or sorceress who refused to leave and continued to lead the Israelites astray would have no doubt faced capital punishment on the command of Exodus 22:18, but I tend to believe this would have only been used as a last resort.

Regardless, those who take this verse out of context and use it as a vehicle for violence are just as guilty of academic laziness as those who read the verse and claim it as evidence that Christianity teaches hate. As always, this verse needs to be placed in its proper context before it can be understood.

Let me start out by saying that I believe in an activist God.  I always have, and I always will.  My struggles of late have tested my belief in this area sorely.  I have determined that it’s easy to espouse a belief in an activist deity when things are going well.  It’s easy to believe in a God that’s actively involved in the affairs of men, when one is gainfully employed, the bills are paid, and things are going pretty much according to your plan.  But that as I have come to find out over the last few months is faith not based upon anything but a theoretical understanding of God.  It’s easy to look at the Bible, see God at work there, and say that example exposits an activist God.

The last few months of my life have been a transition from a theoretical understanding of this principle of the activist God to a more genuine understanding of this principle.  I don’t say that as a point of pride, or as something of which I am proud.  I didn’t set out to end up here, and I certainly wouldn’t have chosen to come here, but I am here nonetheless.  The transition from theoretical to practical can be summed up in a single word, uncertainty.  A life in which the things that were certain before become uncertain now, is the definition for this.

Before this period began, I could say with some measure of confidence what the immediate future held.  I could say that our bills were going to be met without difficulty.  I could say that our healthcare was assured.  I could say that I was a valued member of a team that made a difference in state government.  Today, none of that is true by default.  Each day carries with it a direct measure of uncertainty.  Today, and every day since this period began I am forced to confront the uncertainty that is incumbent in this situation armed only with the convictions of my faith.

I enter each day and have to reaffirm my faith that God is my provider, and that he cares for me and those he has entrusted to my care.   Each day I have to believe that this activist God has a plan, and that his plan is what is best for me.  Each day I have to accept, sometimes grudgingly and sometimes not, that God’s timing is perfect and that my timing isn’t his.  I have to dwell in the moment, and know that the God of Genesis 1:1 is working on my behalf for my best end, and I have to accept that no other end than this is what’s best.

Some days, like today, I find myself struggling with what God has promised and his timeline for fulfilling that promise.  I find myself, not unlike Sarah in the Old Testament, wondering when God is going to fulfill his word.  I find myself wondering about my value before and to this activist God.  And sometimes, I wonder if my prayers are breaking through the ceiling at all.  And on my worst days, I wonder if God has forgotten my number. 

And so it is on my worst days, like today, I have to struggle to believe in the activist God.  I have to struggle to believe that the God of the Bible still works that way today.  I have to struggle to believe in anything at all for that matter.  In a situation that from the outside looks bad trending worse, I worry, and I fear that it will never get better.  And the sum of those worries and fears become a smothering flood that threatens to drown me.

In the midst of those days, my solace, my comfort, my guide has become the knowledge that what I am experiencing is not uncommon to the human condition, and the human experience.  People before me have suffered this, and people after me will suffer this.  I have to recognize that this is a time in the crucible of life.  I am being exposed to intense heat right now; my distaste for this status quo notwithstanding.  I have to recognize the value of this time.  I have to somehow; as the writer of the book of James puts it, rejoice when I fall into trouble of various kinds.

And it has been in finding the joys of this time in the crucible that I have found relief from my fears and my worries.  It has been in being reminded of all that I have and how dear those things are to me, that the flood is swept away.  It is in participating in the simple joys of family life, that all that weighs upon me is relieved.  It is in watching my children find joy in playing cards, or watching a movie, or riding their bikes and scooters that I realize that things aren’t so bad.  It is in realizing what a wonderful woman I am married to, that I find the man I was meant to be.  It is the journey to becoming this man that God deemed it important to bring this time of woe upon me.  This activist God led me to this place.  And this activist God has deemed it important that I dwell here for a time, the exact duration of my stay is as yet undetermined.

I have found my place in the domicile that God has built up around me, and I relish it.  I have become actively involved in it, and it is a wonderful thing.  I have my good days, and my bad ones, but I love it for what it is.  And in all honesty, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

(This post originally appeared on the now defunct centurybound.com blog on December 22, 2005. It appears here with some major rewrites from the author.)

While surfing the internet, I happened upon the blog of an atheist who was asking the following question of her readers:

 “How many people would believe in a god if there were no rewards promised to the self for doing so?”

This rather loaded question is a complicated one. It is actually not meant to be a question, but rather an attack on the principles of Christianity. The atheist is suggesting that the Christian faith is a selfish one and insinuating that if there were no promise of Heaven, there would be few, if any, Christians. There is no chance I could ever answer the question to this particular atheist’s satisfaction because I suspect she believes she already knows the answer. Furthermore, I’m not sure there is a way to know the answer. Since there is a promise of Heaven, I have no idea how many Christians there would be if that promise was ripped out from under us. I suspect, rather sadly, there would be less. Possibly much less, but that is just a guess. I know that in my own experience, Heaven did not enter the equation. I chose to believe in God because I had an encounter with Him that began to make sense to me intellectually. I then chose to believe in Jesus Christ (and the Christian faith) specifically for an abundance of reasons – none of which were Heaven. I sort of see Heaven as the icing on the cake. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad the promise is there; but my faith doesn’t hinge on it.

I believe we can examine this question introspectively in a way that can help us examine our faith. What if today, we pondered the following question?

Would you still follow Jesus Christ if there were suddenly no promise of Heaven?

If our answer to this question is ‘no’, I would suggest that we may be on shaky ground spiritually. I spent the majority of life before Christ creating a particular version of God in my mind and then imposing those values on the real God. For instance, the God I created was all knowing and all powerful. He had created this world and then stepped back to see what would happen. He was a fair God who would allow pretty much let anyone into Heaven provided they tried to live a good life (you know … paid their taxes, supported their children, didn’t kill anyone … that sort of thing). It was only when I humbled myself that I realized I had no right to impose my beliefs on God. If God were real, I had to allow Him to teach me about Himself and accept even what I didn’t understand. I had no business trying to invent God in my image. I had to understand and apply the old Axum that “Father Knows Best.” In other words, if God, in all His wisdom, suddenly decided there should be no Heaven, I would have to accept it – even if I didn’t understand it. I can’t worship God because of what He promises me, rather, I must worship God because He deserves it.

I am so thankful that my God has promised me Heaven. I also believe there is a hell. Hell, in my opinion, is proof that God loves us. How’s that you might ask? Well, if what we really want is a place that is free from the presence and influence of God, he will provide it for us even though it breaks His heart to do so. That place is hell. It’s not God that makes hell such a terrible place … it is the complete absence of God’s influence that makes hell so bad.

Even though I have a concrete belief in Heaven and hell, I can’t make that the focal point of my faith. Why? Well, if all I do is think about the future … someday far in the future … I am ignoring one of Jesus’ most powerful lessons. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. What did He mean by that? I think He meant that we can experience Heaven right now in our mortal life. If hell is the total absence of God, then Heaven is living in God’s presence. In fact, Heaven is more than just the presence of God – it is a place where God’s Will is done. We can experience God’s presence and live in His will right now. If we spend all of our time looking towards the future, we will miss out on the beauty that is Heaven on Earth.

Think about it … we all know the bitter and depressed Christian who lives a miserable life and constantly talks about Heaven in the future tense. My heart goes out to these people. Thank God they have the promise of eternal life from the One True God to keep them going. I am not suggesting that it would be healthy to totally forget about our promise of Heaven; I just pray that someday we can all experience a shadow of Heaven right now!

Have you ever watched someone face devastating news such as cancer with a confidence and peace that astounds you? Recently, I have been following the battles of two well-known Christains via the internet; Michael Spencer and Matt Chandler. Both have handled their situations with a boldness that can only come from God. I have found myself wondering on more than one occasion how they can provide such a good Christian example in the midst of such terrible news. Recently, I was blessed to witness an example of such Christianity up close when my wife, Stefanie, had her own cancer scare.

Stefanie had some concerns about one of her breasts and made an appointment with her OBGYN who scheduled some tests. We weren’t overly concerned because by all indications we had nothing to worry about. In one day, however, what was once a slim chance of cancer became a 50/50 chance and a biopsy was scheduled. Every part of me wanted to break and panic and I was amazed at how my wife responded to the news! She was as calm as I have ever seen her. Stefanie responded with such a calm that could only have come from outside herself.

When I asked her how she handled everything with such peace she told me she could feel Christ’s presence with her during the tests. She knew that her family and friends were praying for her and leaned on those prayers and Christ. Her example was inspiring to me and I wanted to share some of the things I witnessed to help the rest of us follow her lead.

First, Stefanie was committed to her relationship with Christ long before she was confronted with bad news. On a daily basis my wife communicates with her Lord. She confesses her sin and delights in His forgiveness and grace as much, if not more, than anyone I have ever met. Because of this ongoing relationship with God she was quickly able to lean on Him for support.

Secondly, Stefanie has an amazing ability to quote Scripture. Her recall when it comes to God’s Word has alway amazed me and I noticed her drawing on Bible verses often when she needed reminded of God’s Word. This seemed to comfort her and remind her that God was with her at all times. It seems that most of the tough questions we tend to ask in the midst of trials have already been answered through Scriptures … it helped Stefanie to know the answers before she found herself asking the questions. 

My wife also seemed to put the needs of everyone around her ahead of her own. In a moment where no one would have blamed her for focusing entirely on her self,   she was intent on keeping everyone else calm. Not only was she continually reassuring her family (myself included), she also made it her mission to witness a Christ-like example for those medical workers she came in contact with.

Finally, and this is perhaps the key ingredient in all of this … we requested prayer from anyone who would listen. There were several churches, friends, and family members praying for Stefanie’s condition. It was amazing how many people seemed to crawl out of the woodwork to pray for my wife. It was a blessing to me, and I am sure to Stefanie, to see how many people genuinely cared for her. I learned through this experience to never be afraid to request prayer … it works!

In short, Stefanie’s response to her cancer scare was inspirational and I was blessed to witness it up close. Thankfully, the results are in and my wife does not have cancer. After the news, Stefanie rededicated herself to a relationship with God that allowed her to respond in the way that she did. I thank the Lord for her example and the witness she provided for our chidren and friends. It was quite the blessing!