[in]Comprehensible God

I have a hard time with the idea that comprehending God is impossible. I feel like my entire belief system has been built on comprehending ideas and making sense of things in my mind. I've built my beliefs on things that I can comprehend and therefore deem as valid according to my comprehension of them. If an idea or thought falls outside the realm of my comprehension, I deem it invalid because I cannot find a logical path to its truthfulness. If a friend came up to me and told me that he can now fly but he would not show me how, I would not believe him. I would not be able to comprehend how my friend could fly. There is no way I could find a logical path in my mind that would lead to me comprehending my friend having the ability to fly. This falls outside the realm of my comprehension, therefore, I do not believe it.

We were given these amazing minds that are capable of comprehending so many things. We can solve problems in our minds and even if we can't comprehend how something could be true, we are still able to imagine it. Although I can't find a logical solution that would lead to my friend gaining the ability to fly, I can still imagine my friend flying. Our minds allow us to visualize what we know to be impossible. What about those things that we can't even imagine though? What about the idea of nothing? If I try and think about nothing I usually picture blank white or pitch black...both of which are obviously not nothing. The idea of nothing is completely incomprehensible to me, not only can I not find a logical path to bring my mind to understand how there could be nothing, I cannot even visualize what nothing is.

I don't believe my friend can fly because I know what flying is and I can even visualize my friend flying. Based on my understanding of knowledge of my friend, I can come up with the solution that it is untrue that my friend has the ability to fly. I can only say that I do not believe that my friend has the ability to fly because I have knowledge of flying and knowledge of my friend and based on that knowledge I can determine that it is not possible for my friend to fly. I can only deny the truth of something that I can comprehend. Do I believe in nothing? Yes. Do I comprehend nothing? No. Could I say that I don't believe in nothing? I suppose I could say that, but the existence of things would suggest that there is a possibility of the existence of nothing as well, so it would seem naive to say that I don't believe in nothing...it would also sound like a double-negative and that ain't no good.

Okay so let's recap, my friend tells me he can fly, I do not believe him because, based on my understanding of my friend and my understanding of flight, it is not logical for my friend to achieve flight on his own. I can determine that he cannot fly because I comprehend flight and I comprehend my friend, but I do not comprehend my friend having the ability to fly. On the other hand, I do not comprehend the idea of nothing, however I believe in it because I have no evidence to suggest that it could not be...because I cannot comprehend nothing, I cannot conclude that it does or does not exist. That's where we are so far...now for the point.

So imagine that after my friend told me he could fly (and I didn't believe him) he took flight. If I were to witness my friend flying I could then conclude that, although I do not comprehend how it could be, my friend can fly. I can only say that it is valid based on my experience with it. If someone asked me to explain it and prove to them that my friend flew I would fail. I would not be able to prove my friend flying because I do not comprehend how he flew. The only way they would understand would be if they saw my friend fly for themselves. The same is true of God.

In order for God to be God he HAS to be INCOMPREHENSIBLE to us. If any of us claims that they fully comprehend the existence of life and the existence of the planets and solar systems and the intricacies of everything in existence, they are a liar and a fool. Based on our own lack of comprehension we must conclude that if there is anything greater than us, anything God-like, than it must be incomprehensible to us, otherwise it would not be greater than us, nor would it be God or God-like.

Isn't it true that if we can't comprehend something we cannot deem it's existence valid or invalid? Like the idea of nothing, we can't really comprehend what nothing is so how can we say whether it does or does not exist? We can use evidence that nothing exists, we can say that because things exist then it makes sense that nothing would exist, but this is only a guess. We can also say that because nobody can show us nothing and we've never experienced or seen nothing that it must not exist. There is evidence pointing both ways, there has to be evidence pointing both ways for something that is incomprehensible. We cannot prove or disprove what we cannot comprehend. So how do we say God does or does not exist? If God is incomprehensible than there is no way for us to prove or disprove the existence of God. I fully believe that WE cannot prove or disprove God... and I think we should probably stop wasting so much time trying to.

The only way I would ever understand that my friend had the ability to fly would be if I saw it.

The only way I would ever understand or comprehend the idea of nothing is if I had an experience with it, if the evidence became obsolete because the facts were there, if I caught nothing red-handed, the jury would be out on whether or not it existed.

The only way I would ever understand or begin to comprehend the existence of God is if I experienced God.

I believe that sciences pointing to and away from the existence of God will both make great leaps and bounds finding more and more evidence to back up their cases. Both parties will make excellent points that are hard to refute. One camp will find what they think to be proof of the existence of God, then the other will disprove the evidence. The other camp will find evidence that clearly disproves the existence of God, that too will be found to be incomplete. There is so much evidence for both sides that if someone only heard one side and not the other, they would believe without a doubt that God does or does not exist. Fortunately for us, all of the evidence is useless; it's a continual argument that can never be resolved unless God himself shows up.

Those that have experienced God, know what that's like. God shows up and suddenly you don't care what the evidence is showing, it doesn't matter how many "intellect points" each party has gained, it's been proven to you. You KNOW God and as hard as it is to explain and as impossible as it is to prove, it's even harder to deny. Hard to deny... but not impossible. We do have the ability to deny God's existence even after proof has been established. The truth is that the heavens could open up and a gigantic God, big enough for the whole world to see, could come through the clouds and say that he is God and we could still convince ourselves that it never happened. It's up to each of us individually to respond to God how we wish, but to try and prove that he does or does not exist is a waste of our time, if he does, then let's serve Him wholeheartedly, if he doesn't then let's make the most of this world.

That's what God does. He is not comprehensible, you will never find the answers, you will never understand the existence of life, there will never be a judgement on the existence of God until God shows up. God will show up, I KNOW God will show up. I also know that that means nothing to you because I'm just Jacob, not God.

Preview to the next post: Why we make God comprehensible, how much it limits who He is and why we should stop.

Vision continued...you probably saw this coming.

If we allow ourselves to trust our vision completely, we will ironically "lose sight" of what is most important. The most important part of everybody's everything is the present. The present is not simply a precursor to the future, although it may be that as well, it is the only thing we can actively affect, the only thing we have a say in is right now. The future is quintessentially dependent on the present. The present depends only on what we choose to do, not what we have chosen, and certainly not what we will choose. We must refrain from thinking about the present as only a perpetual means to a constantly elusive end and start viewing the present as the the gift that it really is.

I find myself looking toward the future in expectation while failing to act in the present. I'm aware that my expectations for the future depend on what I do right now, but often overlook what I'm doing at the moment to imagine where I'll be in the future. It seems like a lack of foresight to fail to accomplish what is necessary now to give ourselves the best chance of meeting our expectations for the future. I think this is often untrue.

We would say that someone who does not accomplish what they need to right now lacks foresight because, if they had foresight, they would see how failure to be effective now will affect their future. Someone we would call "irresponsible". We say that irresponsible people don't have the foresight to do what they need to be doing. I believe this is not the case for me, as well as for many other people. In fact, I believe it is just the opposite. For me, the problem seems to be an excess of foresight. I am looking toward the future so much that I fail to act in the present. I become farsighted, that is, I can see the future more clearly than I can see the present. This presents a new kind of problem to deal with.

If it is in fact, not the lack of foresight but the excess of foresight that is preventing me from being effective in the present, than how do I keep myself from looking too far ahead? It's not like forgive and forget, this stuff hasn't happened yet, there's no forgiveness... and I can't forget. I think the best way for me to tackle the problem is to simply live in the present. The only possibility of experiencing reality comes when we live here and now. The past is memory and the future is imagination, both are fun to revel in from time to time but we must be aware that neither is reality. The bible hits on this whole idea of "carpe diem" in Ephesians 5:15-17 when it says: "Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is".

The reality of the situation is that we must not and cannot trust our own vision of the future. We can trust that God will accomplish what he said he will accomplish. When we trust our vision we are not trusting God. Trusting God we call faith, or at least I do, some probably call it foolishness. Faith has to go hand in hand with trust...not trusting our own vision of the future, but trusting God.

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see"

Don't trust what you "see". Be certain of what you do not see. We're naturally opposed to this idea because we rely on vision for safety and security. Is it really the safest and most secure option to imagine and rely on a future that will almost certainly not come true? Are we really finding a way to be comfortable by putting our life into our own hands? It seems like we would know what's best for our futures because we know ourselves and we know what we want. This verse accounts for our wants though, it says "being sure of what we hope for"...that's what we want- what we hope for. Hope is not a problem, hope is good. The problem comes when we skip over the second part of the verse that says we should be "certain of what we do not see". So what's the more logical option, to trust our vision for the future and depend on it coming true? or to only be certain of what we do not see and know what we hope for? It seems to me that if I trust my vision, I will always be let down. If I know what I'm hoping for and trust that God knows what I need, I leave no option for disappointment, only a different outcome than I may have expected and I like surprises.

Just before Jesus went to be hung on the cross he prayed : "Abba Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 13:35)

That is giving complete trust to God- that is faith. He did not ignore what he hoped for, he said, "take this cup from me" his hope was that he would not have to go through crucifixion. More importantly, Jesus trusted, he says, "Yet not what I will, but what you will"- utter submission to God. He trusts that no matter what the circumstances look like, God's will is above his own. This is JESUS!...if Jesus is willing to fully submit to God's will and admit that God knows what's best for him, than who I am to say that I should be given control of my life?

We use the word prophesy to generally mean something that we heard some crazy pseudo-religious zealot say to us on our walk to class about why we're going to hell. Prophesy is usually riddled with negative connotation, at least in my experience. Strangely enough, on the other hand, we look at talking about our plans for the future as a good thing. Is telling other people what is going to happen in the future really any different than prophesy? We imagine with our minds what is to come, we tell other people, and we wait in expectation for it...that's prophesy. In Ezekiel 13:2b-3 and then again 6-9 (you should really just read all of chapter 13 cause it really drives this home) it says:

Eze 13:2b-3: "Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: 'Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!"...6-9: "Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. They say, 'The Lord declares,' when the Lord has not sent them; yet they expect their words to be fulfilled. Have you not seen false visions and utter lying divinations when you say, 'The Lord declares,' though I have not spoken? 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of the house of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord."

Why would we prophesy? It's because we experience opposition to what we think the plan is and we are uncomfortable. We experience suffering and pain in our lives so we think we need to plan our future to avoid that happening again. This idea of preparing ourselves to avoid suffering is completely contrary to the bible. Psalm 119:50 says: "My comfort in suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life." What an incredible outlook! We experience suffering and find comfort in the Lord's promise. We don't avoid suffering and find comfort in being prepared to dodge any pain that may interfere with our lives. It's impossible to avoid pain and suffering; it's completely possible to find comfort in suffering if we're willing to believe His promise and not our own. James 1:2-5 addresses this as well.

There is so much more hope when we take the responsibility off ourselves and trust that God is looking out for our future. Numbers 23:19-20 says: "God is not a man, that he should lie, not a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it."

Psalm 119:123-128: "My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, looking for your righteous promise. Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees. I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes. It is time for you to act O Lord; your law is being broken. Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path."

It's amazing how if we can actually allow God to take control of our future and really trust Him, we have so many more options. We limit God so much by trying to predict our own future. We repress our own potential in Christ by relying on our own imagination and putting boundaries on our future.

Psalm 119:92-96: "If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life. Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts. The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will ponder your statutes. TO ALL PERFECTION I SEE A LIMIT; BUT YOUR COMMANDS ARE BOUNDLESS."

You should definitely try reading all of Ezekiel 13 and all of Psalms 119 cause they both have so much to offer on this subject.

Sorry this is so long, just one more verse to complete the point about how trusting God is far better than trusting ourselves.

Jeremiah 29:11 "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Vision

Vision is such an incredible thing. Light waves enter into our eyes and our brains can interpret them in such a way to give us depth and color and shading and so forth. We can maneuver our eyes to capture images that are not right in front of us with almost no effort. We have peripheral vision, like the widest lens cameras, we can see things that are off to the side as well as directly in front of us simultaneously. I don't know that much about vision but I am amazed by it. My beef with vision is that it only works for short distances. Vision so often fails us when we're too far away from what we're trying to see. If you're looking at Cuba from Key West, you can kinda see it but you wouldn't know what land mass you were looking at if you weren't told. You can't see the beach sand on the coast or make out buildings and people. It's just too far away to see. Then there's that in-between stage where you can still see what you're focusing on but you can't really recognize it. Like if you're looking for a friend in a crowded place and you think you see them but they're too far away to recognize, so you just wave your arms like an idiot at a stranger (not that I've ever done that). We use the term vision to mean more than simply what our eyes can see. The word vision is also used to mean that we can have an idea of what is to come or an expectation that we rely on.

When talking about the kind of vision that allows us to have a perception of the future, I'm often looking at (or for) something that is too far away for me to see. I try and visualize my life 10 or 15 or even 20 years down the road. I create an image in mind of how things will be and where I'll live and what I'll do for fun and how I'll make money. I'll even envision other peoples futures, like looking through another set of eyes at what is to come. I'll perceive who will be with me in my imaginary dreamland that I create in my mind. It's not even only imagination, at times I'll let it slip into expectation, as if what I'm "seeing" is reality working it's way from the future to the present. I look at myself as standing still and time passing by me with all my experiences and expectations being fulfilled. Like watching a movie for the second time, I feel like I know the next joke that is coming and I'm just waiting for the punch-line. Talk about the world revolving around me, huh?

Vision fails me in two ways: first of all, I look toward the future in expectation and then I am let down when my expectations aren't met, secondly, I move so far away from God that when I look back at him it's like looking for that friend in a crowd, I think I can see him but I can't really recognize him. The two ways vision fail me come from the same central problem, which, I must say came as a shock to me. I am not God.

It's so easy to trust our vision because we rely on it for safety and security. Vision protects us from danger. It gives us time to react to what is coming so we don't get hurt. It allows us to steer our way through when the path isn't straight and flat. It eliminates the need for trust in anything other than itself.

" It eliminates the need for trust in anything other than itself"... sounds kinda like God doesn't it?

It's not God, it's us.

...more to come soon, stay tuned.

Sanctification?

Sunday morning, it's the start of a new week, it actually feels new. Last week was rough, a lot of stressing and worrying about the future. The growth I have experienced in the last couple of weeks has been incredible. I think this is called sanctification.

Sanctification: The (usually gradual or uncompleted) process by which a Christian believer is made holy through the action of the Holy Spirit.

The process of sanctification is a difficult but necessary one. I've used this analogy (or simile, I don't know, don't judge) before but it seems appropriate to me: conviction (which leads to sanctification) is like muscle soreness, it's painful and uncomfortable but you know it's making you stronger in the long run. That said, too much muscle soreness leads to muscle injury which actually makes you weaker in the long run, conviction coupled with guilt is like muscle injury. Okay this analogy is terrible but just go with me. Conviction, like muscle soreness, is good, guilt, like muscle injury, is bad. Conviction leads to sanctification which ultimately brings us closer to God. Guilt, or being ashamed, leads to self-evaluation (good) and resistance to God's grace (bad), which ultimately pulls us further from God. One more analogy here, bear with me:

It's like building a brick wall. On one side of the brick wall is you with all your failures and sins. On the other side of the wall is sanctification leading to closeness with God. Now imagine that every time you start to cross over the wall toward God you're being sanctified and getting closer to him, but every time you sin you're slipping back toward the side of the wall where your failure and sins live. Now imagine that if every time you sin you also feel ashamed, that shame is like putting down one more brick along that wall. The more you struggle with feeling ashamed because of your failure and sin, the harder it becomes to cross over the wall and the larger the barrier between you and God. Eventually if you get too wrapped up in the shame, you will build a brick wall that is very difficult to overcome and may give up and completely succumb to your sin.

Ashamed: unwilling or restrained because of fear of shame, ridicule, or disapproval.

Being ashamed pulls us from God by forcing us to resist His grace. If we accept His grace then we know He loves us unconditionally therefore will not "ridicule" or "disapprove" of us. Although God will disapprove of our actions because of our sin nature, He loves us just as much as He would if we never did anything wrong. He does not hold things against us, in fact the bible says that He "cancels the record of debt that stood against us". I'll just write down these verses.

Colossians 2:11-14 - "In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."

This idea of God's forgiveness is not to say that we should all be happy and satisfied in the midst of our own sin. In fact, it is to say just the opposite. Knowing God loves us no matter what we do, should make us want to do His will that much more. I'm gonna give another analogy here, bear with me. Imagine you have two bosses, one is very stern and hard on you. He does not tolerate wrongdoing or poor quality work. He punishes you if you fail because he expects the best from you. You have great respect for this boss because he "sticks to his guns", however you are somewhat scared of him. Now imagine your other boss is very forgiving. He gives you second and third and fourth chances to get it right. His philosophy is that punishment will lower the morale of his employees so he doesn't correct you if you're wrong. He's the boss you go running to if you have a problem that you're too afraid to tell the other boss about. You love working for this boss because he is caring and forgiving, but you don't really respect him and you certainly don't fear him. Part of you would want to work for the boss who is just nice and forgiving all the time, however, the other part of you knows that the stern boss will make you a better employee.

Merge those two bosses and you have God. He is loving and caring and forgiving. He is all of these things more than anyone who has ever lived. He is also stern, unwavering and expects the best from you. He made you in His image, this means He knows your capability to become a great employee (follower of Christ). Now, with God we know we should respect him and try our best to be as much like him as we can, but at the same time if we have a problem we can run to Him knowing He has already forgiven us. Hopefully that analogy was half-way comprehendible, but Paul was much better at explaining things than me, so I'll let him explain what I mean here.

Romans 5:18-6:4 "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the tresspass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

Sanctification is a balance of recognizing God's grace when we feel conviction and in light of that realizing that we are made in His image and he expects the best from us. God's grace and forgiveness are not grounds for making excuses or avoiding conviction they are qualities of a loving and caring God who requires the most of us and expects us to give him our best.

Spiritual Follower

This thought really hit me yesterday as I was thinking about the future and realizing how stressed out about it I've been:

 "Have I ever really given God control of my life?"

The answer to that question seemed premature without also asking myself:

"Do I, of have I ever, really trusted God?"

After quick deliberation, my mind answered both questions with a resounding "no". This response brought about two distinct and significant observations in my mind. First, I thought, "This goes against everything that Christianity is all about; the whole ideology of the Christian faith hinges on trusting God and giving Him control. I might be in big trouble." Secondly, I thought, "Christianity is more than ideology, I know God is real, and I know He loves me. Christianity is about learning, growing, maturing, and following Christ and His example." So what about the whole trusting God problem, how do I resolve this?
To find an answer, I had to go back to what it was that made me stress about the future in the first place: failure. As a senior in college, my life is on the brink of a major transition from the world of academia to the world where I have to actually apply what I've learned. This transition is happening faster than I planned. I have been trying to graduate with a degree in exercise science in hopes that I could go on to physical therapy school for graduate school. If my plan works out, this will delay my transition from academia to application for another three years. Sounds pretty great, right? After taking all of the necessary classes and exams to apply to PT school, I sent off applications to five different universities. My grades were pretty good, my test scores were very competitive and I was graduating from a very well-respected undergraduate program. I had it in the bag. 
Two months after sending off my applications, here I am, still not accepted into graduate school. I did all of the work, I made the grades, I passed the exams, I sent in the applications but still nothing. Fail.
The amazing thing about unconditional love is that it gives you the freedom to fail. This is where I realized I wasn't fully trusting God or giving Him control of my life. I know God loves me unconditionally, I have no doubt in my mind about that; the problem is that I think I am better at planning out my life than He is. I don't want to let go of control of my life, I have never really let go of control of my life. It's easy to act like I've given God control of my life when things are going my way and I'm succeeding in what I think I need to succeed in. What I mean is, I can say that I happy with how God is running my life if I'm conveniently fitting Him into my life plan, as opposed to fitting my life into His plan. 
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
I'm learning more and more the truth and meaning of these verses. It's pretty much impossible not to hold onto God when everything you thought you had grasped so tightly kinda slips through your fingers. This is sanctification. I'm learning to trust God with my life, I'm learning just now that when I am weak, then I am strong. Losing control of my life is the most humiliating thing that has ever happened to me. I was humbled. Through humility I learned that I haven't completely trusted God or given Him control of my life. Realizing that I am capable of completely trusting God and giving Him complete control over my life is the proudest moment of my life. When I am weak, then I am strong. 
About the title of the post: this train of thought naturally led me to think about what it means to be a "spiritual leader". I thought, "if I don't trust God completely how can I become any kind of "spiritual leader?" Through this, I realized how being a "spiritual leader" has so little to do with leading and so much to do with following. Allowing myself to fully submit to God and fully trust Him and His plan is the most important aspect of "spiritual leadership". Leading spiritually, is not about pulling someone along behind you as you lead them to Christ. It's about pushing someone toward Christ as you follow Him. It's amazing to finally realize that being a spiritual follower is the only way to lead spiritually. 
1 Peter 5:2-3
"Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock."

Why not?

Well here goes. 

I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea how I'm supposed to start a blog post. I'm not an experienced blogger so I don't know the appropriate opening line to a blog post. Fortunately for me, not too many people will actually read this, so if you are, you should feel honored...or just really bored. That said, I feel like I should start my blogging with a disclaimer. 

Disclaimer: I am not an authority on anything. I do noT write, with Correct Grammar'. This is mostly for me to get my thoughts out clearly and for those of you who are interested in what I might have to say, nothing more. This isn't a self-deprecating- I'm not important enough for you to listen to me- kind of disclaimer, if I'm writing a blog I must think highly enough of myself to express my thoughts publicly. I named the blog "Enjoy Responsibly" because I don't want anyone to take this too seriously or think I'm trying to accomplish anything more than getting some thoughts out and maybe getting some feedback every now and then. Okay now that I'm done explaining how unimportant this blog is, start reading, it'll change your life!

I'll just start out by saying hello. My name is Jacob and I am a college student at Georgia College and State University majoring in exercise science. I will graduate in May, 2010 and plan to continue with graduate school for physical therapy shortly after that...I plan to. I am a Christian, which I know can mean one of a thousand things. The best way I can think to break it down more is to say I believe the bible is God's word and is the ultimate authority. I base all of my "religious" beliefs and traditions on what I know of the bible. I will probably talk about God a lot because he occupies my mind a lot, not because I know more about him than you. 

That's enough for now, next time I'll write something worth reading.