The "Am I Wrong" Series

In light of the fact that I have to write a two page paper (reflection) every week for one of my classes, and the even greater fact that I am lazy, I will be starting what a "Am I Wrong Series." The class is Messianic and Apocalyptic Literature. As I have stated before, being a Religious Studies major at a state institution is enough to drive any evangelical conservative believer up the wall, but the professor and I really don't agree an much. Shocker I know. I do have to say he is a great guy and teaches his view very well. So its not him I have a problem with, just what he teaches. That kinda sounds like the whole, "I support the troops, but not the war" which I hate, but that is for another time.
Anyway all I'm going to do is post my papers and let you all in on the ramblings of an incoherent mind. As another aside, maybe the government should use me to torture prisoners. I'm sure they would pick water boarding over having to listen to me for any amount of time.
Here it goes.

My reflection this week is on the idea that civilizations outside of the Israel nation are what influenced their prophecies. The feeling I get is that you and the textbook both imply civilizations such as the Egyptians, Babylonians, Canaanites, etc. are where the Israelites got their ideas of who a king and Messiah should be. I would freely acknowledge that there are experts on both the historical and archaeological basis for this opinion who are much smarter than I am, but I would like to submit, that there are also experts, who are just as wise, who would disagree. A comparison of the facts for and against this argument would require much more space than a two page paper, so I would like to offer up just one observation against influences outside of the Israel nation directing their ideas of a king and Messiah. The observation is this, how can it be said that other civilizations influenced the basis for Israel’s beliefs if those beliefs are gone and Israel’s still remain. Core Jewish beliefs also have remained greatly unchanged for at least the last 4000 years.
If it were true that Israel borrowed the basis for their ideas from these civilizations, would it not stand to reason that the Jewish beliefs would have died out with the other religions also. While there may still be small factions of people who carry the beliefs of these other ancient religions, I think we can agree that they are not practiced on near the same scale as Judaism, and to a larger extent Christianity. Would this not lead us to believe then Israel had the stronger of the religions. If this then is true, how can it be said that they were influenced by a weaker society. I would admit that the style of certain writings may have been influenced by other cultures, but to say the basic beliefs of the writings were influenced does not stand to reason.
The example was made in class that people may like a certain style of song but not hold to the particular beliefs of the song or artist. We all hear it from time to time in interviews with musicians about who influenced their style. Many times a particular group draws form total different sources to make their sound completely new, but there are still noticeable phrases or sounds that remind us of other groups. To say that a musician who may borrow styles and sounds cannot be independent does again not hold true.
If we can believe then that Israel was the stronger religion, and we agree that there are similarities between beliefs, how can the two be rectified. One observation could be that they have a common source or influence themselves to draw from. As it was also stated in class, many different civilizations have a story of a worldwide flood. Let us, just for the sake of time, take this as true. Thus it is easy to see how different civilizations have common beliefs and similar stories. If the Israel story is the one that has passed the test of time, how can it be said that they only borrowed it from another people. Could other people have not borrowed it from Israel?
As I said before, there are obviously many people who would come down on both sides of this debate, and I do not believe that the point of this paper is to try and settle once and for all the debate. These are only my musings of what was presented in class in

He let me

Why is it that when we pray and get what we want, we miss it completely? I’m reminded of the story of the man on his roof during a flood. He begs God to save him, but unless it’s on his terms, he doesn’t take the opportunities.
A similar thing happened to me last night. I had been thinking and praying about not witnessing recently. I couldn’t think of the last time I had been able to share the Gospel with someone. I prayed and prayed God would give the opportunity to share His word. Guess what, He’ll let you.
Here is the setting: I got off work extremely late last night because the bus I drive broke down. Not to get too technical, but you have to understand this to get the full effect of the situation. Our buses have four wheels on the back axle, two on each side. The inside wheel of my bus completely severed from the axle so I was driving on the outside tire and the inside was just turning loosely.
Now I know when it happened, because I felt something go wrong, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I was on my last round and the bus would still drive so I continued on. I figured the mechanics would check it out when I was done, so I drove like this for about half an hour. It wasn’t until I got about as far away from the school as possible that the outside tire went flat from all the excess weight and stress. This happened at 6:10 and I have a class at 7:00. Here I am stuck. About the only thing to do is drive the bus back, really slow. It took me almost 45 minutes to drive two and miles back to the bus barn. When I got there, one of the mechanics who has been there for many years told me he has never seen, nor heard of anything like that happening. The inside tire that had broken free was now riding on the brake drum and supported the entire weight of the bus. He said he couldn’t believe it would even drive like that. Now this is not the true miracle.
I now had about five minutes to get to class, six blocks away. On my way into class, a man in a wheelchair was getting ready to go outside. It was extremely cold out, something like -30 with the wind-chill. He looked like he was having difficulty with his coat zipper because his hands were also affected by his apparent disorder. I remember thinking how blessed I am to be healthy.
Let me stop you here. I know what you’re thinking, but when you’re in a hurry you don’t always see things the right way. In my own defense, he looked like he was getting it and I thought it was just one of the struggles he would have in life, and I had to get to class. Lo and behold, the professor was late also.
I would love to say that my mind thought of the man in the wheelchair and I got up and went out to help him and save the day, but that’s not quite what happened. As I sat there, I realized I hadn’t gotten to eat anything because of my delay. Being a good little fatty-fat, I had some snacks in my coat, but the wrapper was very loud, so I walked outside the classroom to eat.
The man in the wheelchair was still struggling with his coat. I asked him if I could help and zipped his coat for him. Sometimes it isn’t till later you fully realize what happened.
I’m not saying the guy needed my help or even wanted it. I don’t even particularly remember him thanking me. He probably wasn’t struggling for hours, and was maybe just having a difficult time with a new coat. More than like likely he wasn’t praying for a Good Samaritan. But, he let me. In truthfulness, it probably meant more to me. He may never think about it again, but it was something I will never forget. Not because of zipping a man’s coat, but because of what God allowed to happen, or caused, or whatever he does, to allow me to zip a coat.
It may not always be on our terms how things happen.
For me here is what happened. I prayed for opportunities to share. My bus broke and let me to get as far away as possible. Then it broke again so I would have to take my time getting back. Then my professor is late, and I happen to have a snack. All this, so God can let me zip a man’s coat.