Matt Farina - Tech / Faith / Life

My first article appeared on the fshbwl, today, called "What If We Dropped the Word?". It's an article about the word evolution. This comes on the heals of my 2nd guest hosting spot on the Swim Podcast.

All this theological stuff is getting to be a bit fun.

I've often heard that science is capable of proving anything. Is this really true? Does science have no limits to it's deductive abilities? Sadly, there are some limits to what science and the scientific method can do. Let's take a look at a few of them.

Have you noticed all the bagging on the church in recent years? Sometimes it's the worldwide church. I've herd people call them ignorant or that they just don't get it. Sometimes it's the local church. I've herd people criticize it for not being the way they picture or want it. Sometimes it's a denomination. People love to argue who is right and why. I'm not talking about a discussion, I'm talking about an argument.

The Fishbowl is a faith based, non-profit community website that recently launched.

The idea behind the fishbowl is to explore faith from a number of different angles. Each day a new piece of content will come out in one of the 7 different categories. On Mondays it's content about World Views, Tuesday it's the Swim Podcast, etc.

How often do you think that if people knew the truth they would act differently? Or, if they just felt what you felt it would convince them to change? Or, if you could just get them to try something they would see that it's important and change?

About 5% of the people in the world say there is no God. According to the Pew Forum, the atheist population has been increasing at about 220% in America. In an effort to understand atheists and this modern day movement I've started to ask some tough questions. One of the first that came to my mind was, is there a way to know that there is no God? I'm talking about moving beyond belief into concrete testable knowledge. After digging through the different possibilities I've come to the conclusion that there is no way to know if there is no God. Let me explain my reasoning.

A lot of people I know would tell you they have found the truth or that they are searching for it. But, is that really the case? I have a friend who says he is searching for the truth. But, he is not praying, not reading up on science, not studying philosophy, not seeking out logic, and rarely seeking to take this search outside his own mind. Is that searching for the truth? On the flip side I have friends who sit in circles of people who share the same beliefs as them, they read only books that tell them what they are looking to hear, and they discuss topics with people who won't challenge them on it. Is this really searching for the truth? In both cases here I don't think these people are searching for the truth. They might be searching for peace of mind. They might be searching for what is comfortable. So, what does a search for the truth look like? Let's take a look at a few characteristics I've noticed.

I've herd phrases like, "We are only one generation from Christianity dieing out." I've read research findings like, "most Protestant pastors are neither called to nor competent in leadership" and "most 'church growth' is simply the recycling of church-goers from one congregation to another." And, yet, in this world where we have a lack of leadership and we have Christianity dieing out in western culture it isn't dead. In fact, it's expanding in the world. Despite our best efforts to screw up spreading the word it's still spreading, people are still coming to faith, and it's spreading to every corner of the earth without the use of force.

I dunno about you but I see this as a miracle and a mystery. It's God at work in the world and he doesn't need us. In fact, it's happening despite our superb ability to screw it up. Yet, He hasn't fired us yet.

I sit here this morning a bit amazed, humbled, and joyful.

Most of the preparing I do for the holidays involves presents, candy, decorations, and a little more stress than the everyday. But, is that really what's it's supposed to be about? Santa, as we know him, has been around for less than 100 years. The egg laying bunny comes from the 18th century. Yet, Lent and Advent have been around for a very very long time. The question I'm left wondering is what is a good way to prepare for this upcoming Easter where I don't get caught up in the commercialism and get to the heart of what it's all about?

The church screws up often, doesn't it. These mistakes get in the way of the mission of the church. It's like us tripping over our own feet in a marathon race. Last week we launched the Super Average Podcast (a.k.a. SAP) with an introduction episode. This week on SAP we dive into a little confession.

Here is a synopsis of the episode from the SAP website:

The church has screwed up! Since the very beginning of the church there have been mistakes. There have been sins. This should be no surprise since we are all flawed people. But, some of these sins have gotten in the way of people getting to know God. It's a case where the dysfunctional lives of Christians have gotten in the way of people learning about who Christ is.

God calls us to confession of our sins. So, as our first episode beyond introducing ourselves we dive into a three episode series where we confess some of the sins of the church. We confess our baggage. In this first of three episodes we dive into some pretty big issues with the church. Come join us for a bit of confession on this episode of SAP.

If you're interested in joining us for a little confession or you're just curious what were going to confess, head on over to the Super Average Podcast.