Daniel N. Lee

I am a young father of two amazing boys. My amazing wife is a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM). We are in our mid-twenties. We’ve been married 5 1/2 years.

That puts us right in the thick of a raging battle. We are on the front lines of the “Mommy Wars,” the
“Daddy Wars,” the “War on Women,” the “War on Men,” the pacifier wars, the cry-it-out wars, the circumcision war (I wish I were kidding about that one…), the home school vs. public school wars.

(In a sad twist of fate, one of our guilty-pleasure shows is Cupcake Wars. Our ancestors will be quite confused by that one when they research our culture in the coming centuries.)

It’s BRUTAL out there.

Everybody’s an expert. Everybody has an opinion. Everybody knows what worked for their kid, so of course it must work for all kids everywhere for all of time!

The dreaded “P” word has been cause for taking offense and going on the defensive. Wars and battles and bloody massacres destroy, corrupt, and confuse young couples with kids, sucking all the fun and joy out of raising a family. It seems that the “P” word (“Parenting”) has become a hot bed of controversy all across the blogosphere and Pinterest.

And I wish the church were a refuge from the battles waged under the flag of Parenting. But the church can be anything BUT a safe place for young families.

Sit still. 
Be quiet. 
You know, my kids never ran around the church like that. 
Kids these days have no respect for other people’s property.
You just need to spank your boy more.
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
Stop running.
Stop jumping.
Be careful not to knock over the ugly plastic flower display adorning the stage.
Don’t push Tommy…into the baptistry.


It can be hard enough navigating the minefields of playground politics. We young families need a BREAK from that when we gather together as the corporate family to worship on Sundays.

It’s amazing that our families with young kids can even make it out the door and into the car with sanity still in tact. Many Sundays I find myself driving to the church building thinking to myself, I love my kids. I love my kids. I love my kids. I really do. Because sometimes I need a reminder.

When the kids wake up early, whine and pout the entire morning about EVERYTHING (I don’t want to watch THAT episode of Mickey!!!!!!), after getting breakfast – and then getting the right breakfast because the kid suddenly changes his mind about what he wants, getting everybody dressed, finding the lost shoes and the missing stuffed animals, getting the diaper bag packed and the screaming baby strapped into the torture contraption we call a “car seat”…

The last thing young parents need is “well-meaning” church folks telling us what we are doing wrong as parents.

It’s easy to sit back and make smug comments about how much of an angel your son was at 3 years old. It’s easy to point out that so-and-so’s kids may not be that well behaved. It’s easy to grumble about all the smiling, laughing faces dashing, darting, and jumping around the auditorium as soon as worship service is over.

It’s easy, but it’s not helpful.

What’s helpful is volunteering to PLAY with the kids after worship service – thus making sure that they have fun AND stay out of trouble. What’s helpful is to build such a relationship with the young families in the church that they welcome and cherish your stories and advice about parenting. What’s helpful is treating the young kids as prized possessions in the church, knowing that one day they will be trying to win the world for the kingdom – if they’re not driven away by bitterness and criticism while they are young.

So let’s all call it a truce and agree to a cease-fire in the Mommy Wars that rage in the world. Let the church be a safe place for young parents with small children. Let Sundays be a time that young families can worship freely, knowing that there are several hundred other people who have nothing but the best interests at heart for their children. Most of all, let’s make the church a place where collectively we can undertake the monumental task of training up our children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6).

More on this next time…

My sermon from last Sunday night. It’s an expansion on a previous post called “What Was Mary Thinking?”

Enjoy.

One such group of proverbs that I’ve been looking into for the past week or so has to deal with the righteous and the wicked. In chapters 10 through 17 alone (less than 1/4 of the whole book) I found about 40 different verses all giving the same hope – the righteous will be blessed by God and the wicked will get their due.

The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. (10:3)

The name of the righteous is used in blessings,
but the name of the wicked will rot. (10:7)

The wages of the righteous is life,
but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death. (10:16)

What the wicked dread will overtake them;
what the righteous desire will be granted. (10:24)

Trouble pursues the sinner,
but the righteous are rewarded with good things. (13:21)

The righteous eat to their hearts’ content,
but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry. (13:25)

The house of the righteous contains great treasure,
but the income of the wicked brings ruin. (15:6)

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to.

The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them. (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)

Deuteronomy promises all sorts of blessings upon you and your people if you will just remain faithful and righteous. But then the other side – the nay-sayers and the pessimists remind you of Psalm 14.

The Lord looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one. (Psalm 14:2-3)

It’s hopeless. It’s pointless. You can never be good enough, so just stop trying so hard.

Fight the Romans! Befriend the Romans! Stay faithful to God! God has forsaken us! Do God’s will! Do whatever you want!

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” which captures the mood surrounding the advent of Jesus Christ:

It’s in the midst of this chaos, confusion, frustration, and despair that God appeared to a young, Jewish peasant girl named Mary who was betrothed to a construction worker named Joseph. And it’s through Mary that God himself is going to burst into the middle of human history and set things straight. God is putting his very self at the mercy and care of Mary, even though a million and one things could go wrong from conception to birth to adulthood. That’s the risk God is willing to take to fulfill his promises.

So what was Mary thinking about all this? It’s pretty amazing actually. We get a glimpse into her thoughts. What did this all mean to her?

And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.” (Luke 1:46-55)

All those promises in Proverbs, those grand promises in Deuteronomy – Mary knew that the baby growing inside her womb was the fulfillment of those promises. Her son, the Son of Man, had come to exalt the humble, to fill those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and to “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He had also come to scatter the proud, tear down the evil rulers of the age, and bring judgment on the wicked.

That’s what Christmas meant to Mary. That’s what Christmas means to us still today.

I love the holiday season. Halloween through New Year’s is just about my favorite time of year. But it’s being ruined. People are taking these holidays and completely trampling over their intended purpose.

You might think I’m about to bash the consumeristic society, the greedy mega-corporations, or the materialistic masses who would rather trample over people to get a video game system than observe a day of Thanksgiving and gratitude. You may think that Capitalism or the free market is to blame for my holidays being ruined.

You would be wrong.

The thing is, I am a Christian. The majority of the world is not. They may stake a claim on the title and even observe our holidays, but for all practical purposes the majority of the world is nonreligious. Therefore, it doesn’t matter to me if they want to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Festivus. In fact, they very idea of a nonreligious “Freedom From Religion”, “God Is Dead”, atheistic culture observing holy-days at all is kind of preposterous. Nothing is sacred to the world. Why should Halloween, Thanksgiving (an American holiday but very Christian anyway), or Christmas be any different?

Demanding that the secular world observe our holy-days is right in line with throwing “pearls before swine.” Pigs have about as much use for a pearl necklace as the secular world has for religious holy-days.

So it may come as a surprise to you that it is not the secular world ruining the holy-day season. It’s Christians. Well meaning Christians are ruining Christmas by posting things like THIS:

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)

The reality of Christmas is found IN CHRIST. The whole reason we celebrate Christmas is to point to and remind ourselves of Jesus Christ, not just as a little baby but as the Savior of the world. The evergreen tree represents life even in the midst of death. The lights represent The Light that shines in the darkness. The presents represent the ultimate Gift of salvation and every spiritual blessing found in Christ.

Christmas is a shadow; the reality is in Christ.

Paul also tell the church in Rome:

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:5-8)

In other words, we who choose to celebrate Christmas are to do so TO THE LORD. We are supposed to honor Him and glorify Him through our celebrations. If we celebrate holy days, we are to do so in the Lord. So if you are celebrating Christmas, then keep Christmas in Christ.

Christ is the ultimate reality, the fulfillment of all our religious holidays. Christ is also the lens through which we view the world and these sacred days. If we keep these holidays, we do so in Christ because the reality of these sacred days is found in Christ.

By saying “Keep Christ in Christmas,” well meaning people are simply trying to remind everyone that this is, in fact, a religious holiday. They are attempting to de-secularize it. I get that.

But that phrase also implies that Christ can be taken out of Christmas. If Christmas is the ultimate reality of Christ, his truest expression here on earth, then it is important to keep Christ in Christmas. But Christmas is not bigger than Christ. Which is more important – the manger or the baby who was laid in the manger? The swaddling clothes or the one wrapped in them? The stable or the baby born therein? The new mother or the new baby? The cross or the one who hung upon it? The holy day or the one for whom we celebrate?

So let’s do our best to keep Christmas in Christ. If you celebrate it, remember that we are celebrating it to the Lord and that the reality of Christmas is found in Him.

I’m not a preacher.

I have no desire to do full-time pulpit ministry. But I do preach on occasion – usually every fourth Sunday night, and I fill in as needed when our preacher is away. I enjoy preaching when I do it, but it is not something I could do week in and week out, as least not right now. I won’t even begin to move that direction unless I hear God calling me there.

I don’t really have a fear of public speaking. I enjoy studying Scripture and drawing out the meanings from the text. I like reading books and commentaries and blog articles to help my insights into God’s word. I listen to sermon podcasts – for fun!

But during my short time in ministry I have discovered something. Most people don’t know this. Most people will never understand this. But for every sermon delivered, there are multiple unfinished sermons that will never be made public.

When writing my sermons, the absolute hardest part for me, believe it or not, is making sure I have something worth saying. It’s not enough to exegete the text, we must also exegete the audience and understand where they are in life and what message the Lord is trying to give them through us.

For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. (John 12:49)

I can’t tell you how many times I begin writing a sermon with a specific premise in mind, a certain end-point that I want to drive home, only to find the text driving me in a completely different direction.

That’s why I thank God for unfinished sermons.

Every preacher has them, and that’s a good thing. Speaking from experience, it is incredibly difficult to get myself out of the way when I prepare a sermon. When preachers begin speaking only the things that make them comfortable or things that interest them or things that concern them, they aren’t leaving any room for the Spirit’s guidance.

The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. (John 14:10)

So I thank God for unfinished sermons because that means He has a hand in the process. There have definitely been some sermons I have started that deserved to be scrapped. Going back to square one is just one way God keeps preachers humble. It’s his way of reminding us that we can’t do it on our own. We don’t have it all figured out. We aren’t up there to spout off our opinion or to get on our personal soap boxes.

For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)

Some sermons need to remain unfinished.

This is why preaching is one of the easiest professions to fake but one of the hardest professions to do right. But when we do it right, by listening to God, following the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and revealing the Word made flesh, then it all seems to click.

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. (1 Peter 4:11)

For every delivered sermon there are many that remain unwritten and unfinished. But out of all the unfinished sermons there is only one that really matters: the life of the preacher.

You see, Jesus preached a lot but he also lived out his sermons. “The Sermon on the Mount,” for instance, pretty much sums up his entire ministry on earth. He preached, and then he lived out the sermon. He preached about loving our enemies, and he had compassion on those crucifying him. He preached about not laying up treasures on earth, and he went to the grave owning nothing. He preached about walking on the narrow path, and he showed us how to find it.

Paul says of himself, “Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27).

Ask any athlete if they are as good at their sport as they want to be. The answer? No.

Ask any artist if their work is as perfect as they would like it to be. The answer? No.

Ask any preacher if his life is fully in line with the words he preaches. The answer? No.

There is always work to be done. There are always improvements to be made. There is never a point (in this life) at which a minister can say, “I have arrived.” Even Paul, again, says, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

My life is an unfinished sermon. I’m still working on it. It’s still being written. I don’t know exactly what the end-point will be, but I bet it’s something much different and far greater than I could have imagined when I started out.

I thank God for unfinished sermons.

Here’s a sermon I preached back on November 24. It’s based on Proverbs 21:21

Whoever pursues righteousness and love
   finds life, prosperity, and honor.

I think this is the most books I have ever read in a single year. I haven’t always kept track, but I’m glad I am keeping a list of the books I have read. I look back on this list and think, I can’t believe it was less than a year since I read that book! I am in a completely different place now than I was then. It seems like a lifetime ago.


And that’s the beauty of books. Once you read them, you can’t unread them. They are with you. You may not remember much from them, but they become a part of you. They are resources you can draw from, memories you can reflect on, and adventures you can relive.

I came across a quote in A Dance with Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, recently that has become one of my favorites:

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. A man who never reads lives only one.

1. Jesus: A Theography, by Len Sweet and Frank Viola
2. Whispers, by Dean Koontz
3. Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge
4. Pirate Latitudes, by Michael Crichton
5. Watchers, by Dean Koontz
6. Pilgrim Heart, by Darryl Tippens
7. Pathfinder, by Orson Scott Card
8. Ruins, by Orson Scott Card
9. Magic Kingdom for Sale – Sold!, by Terry Brooks
10. The Black Unicorn, by Terry Brooks
11. After You Believe, by N.T. Wright
12. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin
13. Prey, by Michael Crichton
14. A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin
15. Where Is God When It Hurts?, by Philip Yancey
16. Scarred Faith, by Josh Ross
17. The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns
18. A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin
19. Just Like Jesus, by Max Lucado
20. The Door to December, by Dean Koontz
21. Ender in Exile, by Orson Scott Card
22. From Eternity to Here, by Frank Viola
23. Airframe, by Michael Crichton
24. A Feast for Crows, by George R.R. Martin
25. Breathless, by Dean Koontz
26. The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan
27. A Dance with Dragons, by George R.R. Martin
28. The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan
29. They Smell Like Sheep, by Lynn Anderson

Yep. It’s here.

Anyone who knows me is probably not surprised by this post and is probably surprised it hadn’t come sooner.

For anyone who doesn’t know me, let me confess something. I am a Whovian. I belong to the Doctor Who fan nation. I have a t-shirt, two mugs, a Sonic Screwdriver, an iPhone case, and more. In other words, I really enjoy watching the longest running sci-fi show in the world brought to us by BBC featuring a time-traveling alien guy who always seems to find trouble and always seems to kick trouble’s teeth in.

The 50th anniversary special was the largest simulcast screening of any show ever. It was shown in over 90 countries and viewed by countless millions around the world. So what is it that makes the Doctor so popular? Is it the concept of time travel? The scary aliens and monsters? The historical figures? The witty writing? The cool companions? The quirky, lovable, fearsome Doctor?

I’m sure it’s all of the above. But there’s something more. There is something within the show that appeals to our deepest human emotions and desires. No matter what the situation, the Doctor never loses hope in humanity. He brings out the best in people. He takes ordinary folks and makes them extraordinary. The Doctor offers humanity hope, adventure, and a chance to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

Doctor Who brings elements of the gospel to the masses in a way that preachers behind a pulpit just can’t. And guess what, (surprise, surprise) the gospel resonates deep within the human soul regardless of race, gender, nationality, socioeconomic status, or religion.

EVIL IS REAL
The Doctor is never afraid to call evil for what it is. When the Daleks show up to “exterminate” the human race, the Doctor will never be scene having a philosophical discussion about the relativity of morality. No. He sees evil. He calls it evil. He does everything within his power to stop the evil.

We live in a world that is so convoluted morally that it is difficult to see through the haze of “whatever”-ness. “You’re OK, I’m OK” may sound good as a book title, but it simply doesn’t work in real life. Evil is real. Right and wrong do exist. There are some things that are absolutely bad (see Ephesians 6:12). Morality is not relative in the real world. We can’t do whatever we want. Some things, some actions, and some people are simply and truly evil. The Doctor resonates with us because he has the guts to call it like it is.

HUMANITY IS WORTH SAVING
There is something about the human race that is special and lovely and brilliant in the sight of the Doctor. Other alien species cannot figure out why the Doctor would go through so much effort to protect this “pale blue dot” of a planet. The Doctor sees what others cannot. He see the beauty, the potential, the perseverance and endurance of our species. He knows our will to survive, but he also knows out inability to save ourselves. So time and time again, the Doctor eagerly and willingly saves the Earth and the human race from certain destruction.

That’s what we all want, deep down inside – someone to fight for us even though we don’t deserve it. We long for someone to love us for us, not because of what we can give in return. We want someone who can look past the fallenness, the brokenness, the sinfulness, and love us anyway. That’s exactly what God gives us. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

“DON’T WANDER OFF”
Every time the Doctor gets a new companion and shows them an alien world he gives them the simple command, “Don’t wander off.” And what do they always do? They wander off. It makes me wonder if the Doctor tells them that in order to get them to wander off, the whole “reverse psychology” thing. Regardless, those who travel with the Doctor will most certainly wander off and find themselves in risky, dangerous, life-threatening situations. And often they are on their own to work their way out. It provides and opportunity for personal growth and experience. They have to learn on their own that traveling with the Doctor is not safe, but they wouldn’t grow otherwise.

Becoming a disciple of Jesus will necessarily include risks and dangers. Jesus told his disciples to “take up your cross and follow me.” The life of a disciple is never meant to be boring or safe or dull. After all, we have already died. What can man do to us? The life lived by faith, following the Holy Spirit, is a life of adventure knowing that whatever happens we are going to be okay. “To live is Christ and to die is gain.”

“HE WILL KNOCK FOUR TIMES”
One of the saddest scenes in the show is when the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) sacrifices his own life to save the life of one single elderly man. He knows it’s the right thing to do, but that doesn’t make it easy. He willingly gives up his own life to save the other man, but he’s not happy about it. Even though the Doctor knows he will be regenerated, death is always the scariest of foes. Yet time and time again the Doctor, without thinking twice, puts his own life on the line to save those he cares about.

Jesus, even knowing the glory that awaited him, went to his death with tears in his eyes and fear in his heart. He did not go quietly into that dark night. He raged against the dying of the light. But he never thought twice about it. He didn’t try to weasel his way out of dying. And he did to save all of humanity, yes. But he also did it to save you and me individually. He swapped places with us. “God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

HE BRINGS OUT THE BEST
The Doctor pretty much always has a companion, a traveling buddy. These companions begin as regular, unassuming, unimpressive people. And while the Doctor never actively seeks to transform them, simply being around and traveling with the Doctor is enough for them to undergo some pretty incredible changes. Rose went from a retail worker to “BAD WOLF.” Martha Jones was a physician, and she ended up saving the Doctor and the world. Donna Noble was a temp. secretary and she became the DoctorDonna. Amelia Pond was just a little girl who waited, and she became…well, the Doctor’s mother-in-law. Clara Oswald was just a nanny, and she became the impossible girl who salvaged the Doctor’s own time stream.

All throughout the Bible, God has a knack for taking ordinary men and women and turning their lives into something extraordinary. Gideon was a coward. David was a shepherd. Peter and John were fishermen. When people follow Jesus, change happens on its own. When people commit to obeying God, their lives are transformed beyond anything they could ever imagine.

IT’S BIGGER ON THE INSIDE
The Doctor travels around in an inconspicuous blue police phone box called the TARDIS. Because of some nifty Time Lord technology, the whole ship is much, much larger on the inside. Every new co-traveler is taken aback by this impossibility. From the outside, it’s nothing more than a blue wooden phone booth. But on the inside it’s the most powerful vessel in the galaxy.

Stick with me on this one. The church is bigger on the inside. I’m not talking about the building, though that would be really sweet. But the people of God gathered together in worship to him and service to others really is bigger on the inside. From the outside looking in the church can seem unimpressive and impotent. In order to really understand the magnitude of the Lord’s church, one must step inside and become a part of it. It’s truly amazing how big of an impact such a small group of people can have in the world. Twelve men driven by the Holy Spirit “turned the world upside down.” No collective group of people has had as big an impact on the world than the church. No matter how small it may seem from the outside, the church, when powered by the Spirit, is bigger and more powerful a force than you could ever dream.

If you aren’t a fan of the show, now you are probably beginning to understand why I like it so much. If you ARE a fan of the show, I hope you are beginning to realize the reasons for the mass appeal. Whereas the world keeps pushing filth, foul language, sex, and gratuitous violence, Doctor Who offers love and hope and greatness in the midst of some pretty terrible circumstances.

So keep watching. Keep dreaming. Keep laughing and crying. And keep looking for the gospel message from here to Gallifrey.

Allons-y!

Ecclesiastes 3:10-11
I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

…since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:1-4)

This is one of the most baffling passages in the Bible, so I am not going to even attempt to unpack and explain everything in these verses. Simply put, the world was a whole lot different before the flood. But the main thing to notice is that this sounds very similar to Greek, Egyptian, and even Norse mythology. Some beings known as “sons of God” mated with mortal women and gave rise to “heroes” and “men of renown.”

Could these “hero” legends have evolved into religious myths concerning the gods?

Another interesting passage in the early pages of human history is found embedded within the genealogy of Genesis 10:

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city. (Genesis 10:8-12)

Nimrod was a famed hunter, warrior, and city founder. Assyria, Babylon, Akkadia, Ur, Chaldea – the roots of these mega-cities and empires are traced back to this one man. I would not be surprised at all if many religious cults could trace the origins of their god(s) back to a guy like Nimrod.

In fact there is strong evidence that Zeus, the head god of the Greek pantheon, can be traced back to a mortal man, a strong warrior/civic leader, from the island of Crete. The Greeks borrowed and expanded many aspects of the Minoan religious cult surrounding Zeus. (https://cliojournal.wikispaces.com/Minoan+Religion+and+the+Ancient+Greeks)

CREATOR VS. CREATION
It was not just men and women of strength and renown that inspired deities. The ancients would also attribute aspects of nature to the gods, like the sun, the sea, the rivers, the harvest, etc. Animals became symbols of the divine. Even abstract concepts and emotions were embodied by the gods – love, beauty, war, knowledge.

Gods for everything and everything for the gods. Paul explains this phenomenon better than I can:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (Romans 1:21-25)

You see, mankind started off with knowledge of the Creator. He revealed himself to humanity. He created humans so that they might seek a relationship with him. He created mountains and rivers, the sun and the stars, the seasons and oceans so that we might know something about him. Creation points to God. But humanity, from the beginning, was so awe-inspired by creation that they began worshiping created things rather than the Creator.

So does God get mad and strike us dead? No. He simply gives us what we want. If we want created things more than we want the Creator, so be it. But any man-made religions are based on lies. They are powerless. They are futile. They lead to nothing but chaos.

THE GODS VS. THE GOD
Anyone who claims that all religions are essentially the same has either never studied religions or does not take any notion of religion seriously.

Speaking to the matter at hand, the gods of Greek mythology are nothing like the God of the Bible. The Greek gods are known for affairs, arguments, wars, gossip, jealousy, betrayals. Studying about the Greek gods is more like watching a bad soap opera than a religious experience. They bring out the worst of humanity. They demand worship more than they deserve worship. They are gods to be appeased. Their worshipers better do the right things in the right ways at the right times – or
else…

The Greek gods could not care less about having a relationship with humans, unless it’s a carnal “relationship” or they need to use men for a certain task that they are unable/unwilling to do themselves.

This is what Paul means when he says, “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie.” None of the things that are “true” about the Greek gods are true about THE God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob desires a loving relationship with all of humanity, not because he needs us but because “we are his offspring” (Acts 17:28, Paul quoting the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus).

He is not a god to be appeased. He is a God who is pleased by his children when we seek to follow him. He has not distanced himself in any way from humanity. We have distanced ourselves from him, and he has even taken the divine initiative to break down those walls of separation. God asks us to do certain things and calls us to a certain way of life, not because he is unwilling to do so himself, but because he already has done so himself. He never asks us to do anything that he is unwilling to do or has not already done.

THE AMERICAN PANTHEON
This could be a whole book within itself. But I think that we still have our Mount Olympus today. We still have our pantheon of gods today. For some, Olympus is on the East Coast in Washington, DC. They revere the president, congress, and the supreme court in a way that should only be applied to God. They rely on the government. They seek to appease the government. Patriotism is the highest value and being a good citizen is the highest goal.

To others Mount Olympus is marked by a large, white HOLLYWOOD sign. That is the home and meeting place of the gods. We even call those people “stars,” as if they are so high above us, and “celebrities,” as if they are the ones to be celebrated. And I tell you what, if you want to find a pantheon of gods that closely resembles the Greek pantheon, don’t turn to Scripture, turn to the silver screen and the red carpet.

We still, to this day, have fallen into the same exact patterns that Paul lays out in Romans 1. We have worshiped created things, the image of mankind, rather than the Creator, in whose image we are made. We have exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

You think western civilization has come a long way since the time of the ancient Greeks? Think again.

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (John 4:9-15)

Cannot be contained           Easily
contained

“Living Water”

“Dead” Water

The woman thought Jesus was trying to tell her about a
spring located somewhere nearby that she didn’t know about. But Jesus, as he is
wont to do, is communicating on a whole other plane of understanding. So if
Jesus is not talking about an actual spring or stream of water, what else might
he be talking about – something pure, always changing, fresh, life-giving, and uncontainable?
I think that sounds like a great description of the Holy Spirit.