how well do you know Africa?

Take an interactive geography quiz. Its tough. I got 122/162 on their point system. I had never even heard of some of these counties. I need to brush up on the west coast.

oil & Africa, an unfolding story

The next few decades will be quite interesting as it pertains to sub-Saharan Africa and the world political stage. The large amounts of oil in countries like Sudan and Nigeria make these countries key pawn pieces in the chessmatch of such powers as the U.S. and China.

In Sudan, the end of 40 years of civil war between the north and south makes the country interesting to Western powers that didn’t think it was worth the hassle before. Now, relative peace in Sudan’s oil-rich areas and increasing Middle East oil prices may move world focus west of the Red Sea. One analyst suggests that “By the end of the decade sub-Saharan Africa is likely to become as important as a source of U.S. energy imports as the Middle East.” Read full article

Oil-thirsty countries are racing around the globe trying to secure enough petrol to get them through the day. What happens when this oil is controlled by countries with little to no infrastructure. I can guarantee you the ‘big boys’ will get their oil. But will the common citizens of these countries get anything out of the deal? I have a guess.

china responds.

China officially has their dander up. They just officially responded to the suggestion by some to ban the Olympics in Beijing due to China’s funding of the Sudanese government. Like I suggested in a previous post, this is the kind of idea that China has to pay attention to because its their chance on the world stage. Way to go Frenchies and Hollywood actor-type (I don’t say that often). Read the full article.

the ‘problem of evil’.

In Barnes & Noble the other day, I stumbled upon a book called Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris (Mr. Harris also wrote the book The End of Faith, in which he calls for just that, the end of any organized religion in human society.) In Letter to a Christian Nation, Harris addresses everyone in the United States who believes the Bible is the Word of God and that Jesus was the Son of God. He lays out his reasons for rejecting the Christian faith and any other organized religion, and exhorts all Christians to do the same. He explains why he thinks Christianity is foolish and even dangerous to our society. People, such as Mr. Harris, with an intolerance and distain for a theistic worldview (particularly Christianity) are only going to become more common, more pronounced and more popular in America. Save for a revival of faith, America will soon be as secular and humanist as Europe, and many people in our country cannot wait for that day to come.

My concern is not that God is going to get his feelings hurt, which unfortunately seems to be the belief motivating some Christian responses to critics. My concern is that far too many, who currently have faith in God, have a faith that is not rooted firmly enough to withstand the vitriolic, yet well-articulated attacks of America’s humanistic academics. Our theology, particularly our theology of suffering and the popular American conception of God, often leave us defenseless against the honest questions of those who take a look at the world.

This week, in preparation for teaching community group, I spent a lot of time looking at the so-called ‘problem of evil’. The argument, as it is most commonly stated, is that God cannot be both all-powerful and good since evil exists. God is either: 1) good but apparently powerless to stop evil; 2) all-powerful yet not “good enough” to care to stop evil or 3) God does not exist. This is a heart-felt problem for all of us in ‘the human condition’, and needs to be dealt with gently and honestly. We need to make very sure that our answers to those who are hurting or hardened do not confirm their belief in the hopelessness of Christianity. ‘Quasi-comforting’ responses like, “God didn’t want this to happen” beg the immediate question: “Then why didn’t He do something?” We must have a more complete, more Biblical theology of suffering and understanding of the plan of God.

I have started to think that there is a more foundational problem with popular theology that causes our difficulty in understanding suffering. To put it simply, I am not sure we have embraced this God that is truly bigger than us.

This is, I am sure, a revolting idea to most of us. “Of course we know that God is bigger than us, He created everything there is!!” While I am quite sure we acknowledge this intellectually, I am afraid our actions and emotions do not bear it out as true enough to change us. We quite easily default to living in a world with just ‘Jesus and me’. The overall purpose of God is not much bigger than my own well-being, happiness and salvation. This is evident in how we present the gospel, how we try to motivate our churches and even how we teach our kids. We pay lip service to the idea that God created the entire world with a specific universal plan, but are most concerned with the fact that “God loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life.” Interestingly, this ‘wonderful plan for my life’ is not necessarily related to God’s universal plan for the world, but is directly related to what we want to do. We are less concerned with the overall purpose of God than we are with our own “purpose-driven” lives. It is this well-intentioned, but unfortunately self-centric philosophy (it is hard to call it a ‘theology’), that sets us up for the wheels to fly off our faith the first time we encounter extreme pain or disappointment. (I am not trying to be shocking, but I am convinced this is a grave situation in American theology).

So what do I propose? I am suggesting we reevaluate the way we understand our relationship to God. Is God lucky to have us, or are we lucky to ‘have’ Him? Is the most important thing in life finding my purpose or aligning my purpose to the already established purpose of God? Why have I been given life, health and comfort, and what does it tell me about God if He takes any of those away?

Mr. Harris does not believe in God, in part, because he cannot reconcile the problem of evil. Can we? Can our congregations? Have we taught our kids why such terrible things happen in this world even though our “God is so big”? Does the way we live our life, match the enormity of our truth claims? If not, why not? I know I am offering more questions than answers, but I just want to challenge us, as Christians, to reexamine our theology and how it stands up to these questions. We will suffer. (Obviously, most already have). Friends, family and co-workers will suffer to such an extent that they cannot reconcile their theology with reality. We must be able to articulate our hope. “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15).

If we believe Jesus is who He says He is, we must work towards being able to articulate how the God we believe in informs our ability to process reality. I would suggest a couple of books: The books of Isaiah; 1 and 2 Peter; also: The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis; Deliver us from Evil, by Ravi Zacharius.

If you do not believe Jesus is who He says He is, understand that you also have some difficult realities to face. A non-theistic worldview, to be worthwhile, must still answer the questions of origin, meaning, morality and purpose. Can you convince yourself that all of these are questions are answered in the same way? (It will not do, to answer the question of origin one way and the question of morality in a completely different way, as the two are related). Jesus of Nazareth was a historical person. His answers to the questions of origin, meaning, morality and purpose have been preserved in the Christian Bible. I would encourage you to evaluate the Christian faith on the basis of Jesus’ answers to those questions and the way those answers coalesce. It is true that there are many examples of people, who claim to follow Christ, who have perpetrated great injustices and who do not live as their beliefs would seem to mandate. However, it is unwise to evaluate a belief system by its abuses. I have found the Bible’s answers to the questions of origin, meaning, morality and purpose to be consistent. Above all, I have experienced incredible personal fulfillment in the ability to relate to a living and purposeful God. I have also found great solace and an ability to process an often painful reality based on my knowledge of the eternal plan of an all-powerful, good and loving God. I am convinced that the God of the Bible offers the only hope for those who wish to be able to adequately process the reality of an evil and often painful world.

As always, I would love to hear your suggestions, questions and comments.

finally…a video

At long last, I have made a brief ‘teaser’ video about our program. Check it out:

great resource

For those who may be interested, I will try to pass on the resources I find helpful in my continued research on the state of southern Sudan. The IRC is a great source of up-to-date info. This report, in particular, is directly related to the history, needs and suggestions for southern Sudan.