A couple of weeks ago I (finally) joined Twitter. I immediately became fascinated with the possibility of communicating anything interesting, true, and substantial about God in 140 characters or less, which is all the space Twitter gives anyone for sending out a single message (called a "tweet").
What could be more impossible than doing theology in 140 characters or less? Talk about angels dancing on the head of a pen. (Ha. Ha. Get it?) But I was driven to try it anyway, because these days Twitter is how millions of people are talking to each other every minute. And where people are, God needs to be.
So I began to focus on distilling the fullness of what I know to be true about God into such concentrated form that I could actually express it in a sentence just about as long as this one. I didn't want to overtly preach, throw out random quotes from Scripture, or "tweet" gutless platitudes, since there's no surer way to turn people deaf. Instead I wanted to say things that were real, compelling, that might actually engage someone who might not otherwise be inclined---or at least not at the moment they're playing around on Twitter---to give God much if any thought.
Below are the "tweets" I've thus far sent out. I've been gratified by how they've been received. I share them with you in the hopes of encouraging you, in your own way, to bring whatever you might like to say about God to today's marketplace of ideas and means of communication. Why not? If we don't talk to people in the way they're already talking to themselves, how do we talk to them at all? This is the game. We either play it, or we let it go on without us.
Below are my best efforts at playing the Twitter game for God.
If you're looking for God, look around yourself right now. There he is.
People sometimes wonder if God has sense of humor. Two words prove that he does: Dung beetle.
Bringing your rational mind to an understanding of God is like bringing cement shoes to your sky diving lesson.
"Forgiving" isn't about letting go of anything. It's about neutralizing your emotions by achieving an understanding of their origin.
Live for yourself and you do what's right for you. Live for God and you do what's right for others.
Why can't God's big "plan" for us be to unconditionally, absolutely love us, right now, exactly as we are?
In the afterlife I expect Jesus to be exceptionally funny. But I'll wait for him to crack the first joke, just in case.
Worrying too much about the afterlife means you're not worried enough about this life.
God creates. The Holy Spirit within us IS God. So God must thrill whenever we do, feel, think, or say anything new.
Too many conservative Xtians' lives are too limited; too many liberal Xtians too readily dismiss fundamentalism.
Nothing says "I love you" like having yourself flayed, beaten to a pulp, and nailed alive to a giant cross. Pity Hallmark's.
Of course God can stop anyone from doing evil. But he loves us. And we are defined by our free will. His love allows our evil.
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Follow me on Twitter.
What could be more impossible than doing theology in 140 characters or less? Talk about angels dancing on the head of a pen. (Ha. Ha. Get it?) But I was driven to try it anyway, because these days Twitter is how millions of people are talking to each other every minute. And where people are, God needs to be.
So I began to focus on distilling the fullness of what I know to be true about God into such concentrated form that I could actually express it in a sentence just about as long as this one. I didn't want to overtly preach, throw out random quotes from Scripture, or "tweet" gutless platitudes, since there's no surer way to turn people deaf. Instead I wanted to say things that were real, compelling, that might actually engage someone who might not otherwise be inclined---or at least not at the moment they're playing around on Twitter---to give God much if any thought.
Below are the "tweets" I've thus far sent out. I've been gratified by how they've been received. I share them with you in the hopes of encouraging you, in your own way, to bring whatever you might like to say about God to today's marketplace of ideas and means of communication. Why not? If we don't talk to people in the way they're already talking to themselves, how do we talk to them at all? This is the game. We either play it, or we let it go on without us.
Below are my best efforts at playing the Twitter game for God.
If you're looking for God, look around yourself right now. There he is.
People sometimes wonder if God has sense of humor. Two words prove that he does: Dung beetle.
Bringing your rational mind to an understanding of God is like bringing cement shoes to your sky diving lesson.
"Forgiving" isn't about letting go of anything. It's about neutralizing your emotions by achieving an understanding of their origin.
Live for yourself and you do what's right for you. Live for God and you do what's right for others.
Why can't God's big "plan" for us be to unconditionally, absolutely love us, right now, exactly as we are?
In the afterlife I expect Jesus to be exceptionally funny. But I'll wait for him to crack the first joke, just in case.
Worrying too much about the afterlife means you're not worried enough about this life.
God creates. The Holy Spirit within us IS God. So God must thrill whenever we do, feel, think, or say anything new.
Too many conservative Xtians' lives are too limited; too many liberal Xtians too readily dismiss fundamentalism.
Nothing says "I love you" like having yourself flayed, beaten to a pulp, and nailed alive to a giant cross. Pity Hallmark's.
Of course God can stop anyone from doing evil. But he loves us. And we are defined by our free will. His love allows our evil.
****************
Follow me on Twitter.