enough already .. tough issue #3

well well ...
who'd have thought ..

been trying to say this for days, but want to say it right
   with the right attitude
   sometimes that takes time, patience, backing-off
....   . ..  .

on the 29th i introduced a 3rd ' tough issue ' for me as i work my way back through my doctrinal stuff

i had already posted on these:

- ' tough issue 1 .. inclusivism '
         http://asthekingdomturns.blogspot.com/2013/10/tough-issue-2-is-evangelization.html

- ' tough issue 2 .. is evangelization the priority of the church '
         http://asthekingdomturns.blogspot.com/2013/10/tough-issue-1-inclusivism.html


i'm simply talkin' my head out as i walk through it ..
personal stuff, really
   but my blog is my journey ..
i don't expect anyone necessarily to go the same route or to agree with my think
i'm just putting it in writing as i go, and if it strikes a note with anyone then that's cool ..

so i posted
then, all of a sudden
bang !
i realized i had touched a nerve
exposed tension ..

on fb and in conversation and on the blog
there was this tension building
fast ..
impassioned ' statements ' and challenges
and even veiled rebukes for my naivete - my stubborn refusal to accept the science of the thing ..
kinda put me on my backfoot ..

and then the debate showed up .. Nye vs Ham ..
i had no idea it was coming
just poked its head into the issue for all the world to see, apparently ..
and more stuff came tensioning out

and i began to feel quite uncomfortable

i stopped working through the issue as my attention was redirected to the potshots and lobbed grenades that now attended the debate ..
serious stuff
christians shooting christians
bang bang
wow ..
same ol' same ol' ..

i started shifting down, looking for reverse
seems i jumped into shark-infested water
and now i want
out

the creation/evolution thing became linked to other stuff ( think strawman )
guilty by association ..
it don't fly
not with me
i been in this too long
. .. .     .

there's something to be said for placing a high value on scripture
regardless of  ' proof '
i don't worship scripture, but i revere it - i have a ' deep respect ' for it and try to honour it
for i see it as inspired writings
inspired by God

. . .   .    .

i'm not burying my head in the sand on this; after all, it was for just the opposite reason that i went here ..
it never was my intention to create more factioning
i was moving in the direction of
                                                   understanding
                                unity
friendly discussion around the family table on a niggling issue

at the end of the day, i don't have the educational history or intellectual faculties to address the science of it at this stage ..
but
my issue is not the science of the matter as much as how it speaks to God and his revelation
   and my life as a disciple of Jesus ..
the science is part of it
scripture and revelation and Godness is the other

God is never ever reducible to science ..
   that doesn't means he necessarily conflicts with science
   simply that our science may not be scientific enough yet
      as in Jesus walking on water
      healing the withered hand
      and the man at the pool of bethesda, invalid for 38 years
      feeding thousands with very little
      raising lazarus from death
where do we go with that  ?
myth  ?
allegorical stories that need to be mined for some underlying truth  ?
   maybe
fact is, if there's any reality to miracles
they defy science

.. . .

we need to give God room to be God

he will not be boxed
... . . .

and, by the way, it's really hard to take a lifetime of conviction on a spiritual issue that sits deep in your soul and which syncs with scripture as a whole
   and which colours your view of God and Earth and humanity and Jesus and ..
      and toss it ..
that's tough ..
so when you sit in your place
be gracious
and recognize that others are struggling at soul-level with this
   not brain-level only

..  . .   .

one final thing ..
when i assume a position on a doctrinal matter, the argument that it turns people off of christianity is flatout invalid
i don't ever set out to turn people off of Jesus
Jesus is my master ..
my positioning is primarily a result of my attempt to align myself with him ..
if people are offended by that, i'm sorry ..
i don't bring this issue to the table as a fighter
i hardly discuss it ..
i raised it on my blog for discussion as a sticky issue
.. .

i watched about 40 mins of the debate
i don't know i'll be watching the rest
   at least not yet

i relent
i quit
can't handle the heat

i'll maybe see you again on this issue someday

thanks so much to those who contributed to the conversation ..
i appreciate it

think i'll grab my bible and whistle-up my dogfriend and head back into personal private refection on this matter
for now
.. or not

after all
i hate war ..

peace and love

and shalom to you

in Jesus' name