Friends,

 My most basic assumption in life is that God is real.  Some think Artificial Intelligence, or “AI,” is poised to give humanity and God a run for their intellectual money. Let’s pay attention. See the column below.  Blessings,  Bob

-- -- --

Spirituality Column #837

November 29, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Assuming God

By Bob Walters

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts [higher] than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:9, God speaking through the prophet.

Artificial Intelligence, or “AI” – man-made robots, computers, digital sensors, and technology of extreme physical, informational, and yes even intellectual capability – looms quite possibly in the near term as a threat to human existence or, at minimum, predicating a civilizational reboot that will subordinate humanity and culture as we know it.

Yeah I know … not something I have spent much time worrying about, either.

But, that, approximately, is the message of AI’s ascendancy one receives – I did – watching a montage of world’s-richest-man (and new Twitter owner) Elon Musk’s thoughts on the dismal downside of unbridled AI development.  Musk, the owner of Tesla, SpaceEx, and the less-known AI implant company Neuralink, is a compelling prophet of AI’s dangers.  He’s as thoroughly versed on the topic as anyone, anywhere.  AI is more advanced than I imagined.

We’ll not explain Musk’s concerns in detail here, but you can either Google “Elon Musk AI Warning” or click this link, Elon Musk's Horrifying New Warning about AI, and immerse your mind in some categorically stunning technology and philosophically wrenching prognostication. Robots and computers for decades have been able to outwork and out-calculate humans.

Overshadowed by the hue and cry of recent upheavals in politics, culture, wokeness, etc., AI has developed rapidly and powerfully yet quietly … almost off the grid.  Yet, here it is.

 Musk suggests we are on the cusp, globally, of ceding similar supremacy to computers not just in labor and information but control and creativity.  “We are headed toward a situation,” Musk said recently, “where AI is vastly smarter than humans. I think that time frame is less than five years from now.” Dancing or fighting robots? 24/7 Human surveillance? Moral judgment?

The evidence is already all around us, Musk points out.  His Tesla cars (and many others) can essentially drive themselves … though they have nowhere to go.  We are already near-cyborg in our daily lives as we endlessly utilize smartphones that we hold in our hands instead of – yet – implanted in our brains.  Neuralink conceives an implant to make our brains function more like computers, and AI to function more like our brains. That’s happening now.

Like I said, you can look it up.  AI is a real technology and concern, and has the potential to shift everything about human interaction, aspiration, and freedom.  It’s reminiscent of “Skynet” in Terminator movies: deadly technology that “became aware.”

Control by unfathomable information and synthetic logic lacking love, joy, and remorse?

I’m no AI expert but am certain we’ll be hearing much more about this soon.  From a Christian perspective, let’s not simply pooh-pooh AI technology and try to hide behind Jesus; that would be unwise.  Man is very clever, and Satan is strong.  The better tack is to strengthen the idea of who we – all of us – already are as humans: we are created and loved by God.

I assume the existence of God. And when you start with God and Isaiah 55:9, regardless of AI’s power, we know there already exists an intelligence beyond human comprehension.  Musk, evidently, does not “assume God.”  He assumes technology and the “God of Spinoza,” i.e., a sort of idol of the sum of human knowledge and experience.  I wrote about Musk last December (link 789 - The God of Spinoza).  He was surprised to learn people read the Bible.

When humans developed the atomic bomb and nuclear technology, many called it a physical power too close to God and man would use it to destroy himself.  AI could be a similar God-sized human development poised to out-think us and enslave us.

Give Musk his due, keep watch, and know God is higher than any of man’s endeavors.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notices that Musk never mentions God.

 

 Friends,

Here is Common Christianity column #836 (11-22-22), “Polite Thanks?” When we thank God, it’s not out of politeness, and God’s “You’re welcome” is something different entirely.  See the column below.  Happy Thanksgiving! – Bob

-- -- --

Spirituality Column #836

November 22, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Polite Thanks?

By Bob Walters

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for Christ Jesus in you.” – Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5:18

“Thankfulness” is unselfish but nonetheless benefits us, I think, not God. 

Paul says in Philippians 4 to “be thankful always” and to “present our requests to God with thankfulness.”   Does it help or impress God that we thank Him?  Does it change God that we thank Him?  Likely not, but thankfulness changes us. 

We as humans appreciate a “thank you” once in a while.  And we know that it is polite to thank others.  Politeness is a dynamic that helps us get along with each other, be civil, promote harmony, prevent discord, and in general advertise our desire for pleasant relationship with our fellow humans.  When we are impolite, it undoes all those good things and opens the door for bad things – unpleasantness, discord, evil, etc.

But, when we “Thank God,” does God owe us a polite, “You’re welcome”? I think He responds in greater ways, and I don’t think we thank God out of mere politeness.

When we thank God in all circumstances, God and we know that not all the circumstances we face are welcome.  I often think that when we thank God in difficult times, God’s response more likely than “You’re welcome” is, “I hope you understand.”

But I think the way God responds to our thanks is through the fruits of the Spirit Paul describes in Galatians 5 and elsewhere.  When we praise and thank God always, and pray continually … you know how God responds?  With the gigantic spiritual gifts of our own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.

“Against such things there is no law,” Paul says (Gal. 5:23).  In our acceptance and faith in these wonderful gifts and fruits from God, we activate and nurture the abiding fellowship with God and our fellow humans that God built into us at Creation. 

Yes, there once was peace in the Garden; I don’t know about thankfulness.  Now, in our fallen world, thankfulness activates these Godly gifts and fruits of the Spirit.  They allow us now to experience the rejuvenation – the salvation – of our souls God endowed with the presence, life, love, obedience, example, teaching, sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Salvation jumps far above the realm of politeness; it deserves our thankfulness with a capital Whew!  It’s an unexpected deliverance we don’t deserve.

God, mysteriously, is unchanging and righteous yet has mercy, compassion, and reacts to our prayers, petitions, and situations.  He is our help in time of trouble.  That means that though God doesn’t change, he still has relationship with His creation.

That’s the mystery: God has a personality and reactions – He knows, feels, and sees things – but doesn’t change.  I can’t explain how that is possible; people with personalities and reactions change all the time: for better or for worse.  With prayer and obedience, we can even change in Christ.  That’s something for which to be thankful.

But God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than ours. We may not always understand, but I can say and witness with confidence that our faith, our hope, our love, our obedience, our prayer, our praise, and our thanks are God’s return gift to us.  All those things make our lives more bearable now.

That’s how God says, “You’re welcome.”

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) believes our joy in Christ is rooted in the steadfast gratitude and eternal trust we express to God in our lives here and now.  And I believe when we all get to heaven, God is grateful we’re there … and welcomes us.

Reflexively including God in our planning and goals is a great relationship builder – with Jesus.  See the column below.  

On a personal note, today I’m remembering minister and friend Russ Blowers, whose funeral was 15 years ago, Nov. 15, 2007.  The unexpected bright side that day was that I met my wife Pam there – she playing tympani in the brass ensemble, and I was a pall bearer.  I wrote about it back in 2021, columns 763, 764, and 765, which are easily searched in the white box in the upper left hand corner, just above). - Bob

-- -- --

Spirituality Column #835

November 15, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Lord Willing

By Bob Walters

“… you ought to say, ‘if it is the Lord’s will we will live and do this or that.’” – James 5:15

I’ve always over-simplified this seemingly straight-forward passage, “Lord willing!” and confined it to sort of begging God’s approval for what I plan to do.

“See you tomorrow!” Or, “Let’s meet for lunch Tuesday.”  I reflexively, piously, and maybe quasi-reverently say, “Lord willing,” the same way I reflexively pray, “In Jesus’s name,” without thinking through all the depth involved.

The key thing I tend to miss in saying “Lord willing” is that I’m really thinking about my plans, not God’s will.  Yes, “Lord willing” is a perfunctory nod to God’s will, and in most simple, routine planning, it’s not a terrible habit.

However, the large point here is not just identifying and nodding to God’s will as we plan, but truly including God’s will in all things that we intend.  This general epistle credited to James, the brother of Jesus and first head of the Jerusalem church, is for Christ-believing Jews in the mid-first century, here focusing on business and money. 

Jews were long noted for their trading and financial acumen, and James is telling these new Christian believers to include God and the lessons of Christ in their business planning, beyond what they had known and practiced from the Law.

And what, now, was new?  God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, grace, personal sacrifice, humility, and the totality of His presence through the example of Jesus.  How they acted in business and elsewhere was now their witness for Christ. 

James was driving that point home.  Christian faith encrypted a whole new way of looking at life: they were now, through Christ, not a sinful and rebellious nation but forgiven heirs of God.  They – we – must act like it.

The Law, remember, laid out specific times and places for doing things.  There was none of that in Christianity.  Jesus had declared He was the Sabbath – i.e., He was to be honored at all times and in all places, not just on a given day and or a given place.  The New Testament says nothing about festivals or temples (except our bodies).

Jesus is with us always, and He sent the Holy Spirit to assure us of His abiding presence.  When we are with Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, we are in the Sabbath – the peace, love, and presence of God. 

Early Christians celebrated the first day of the week as The Lord’s Day, commemorating Jesus’s resurrection.  And for 2,000 years the church – on Sunday not Saturday – has more or less co-opted the idea of continuing the “seventh day of rest” described in Genesis and called for in Mosaic Law.  But Sunday isn’t the Sabbath.

Where the fourth commandment, “keep holy the Sabbath,” means a specific day to the Jews; that’s how the Law works.  In Christ “keep holy the Sabbath” means keeping Jesus in our hearts, minds, souls, spirits, and planning … all the time. 

That means living in and witnessing to the grace and integrity of our Lord moment to moment, season to season, and year to year.  The sacrifice He wants from us isn’t dependent on a law or code, it is the perpetual entirety of our lives and love.

Jesus is with us all the time … if we want Him there. 

Lord willing, we do.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) generally still seems to recognize God’s will after something has happened rather than with the prophetic discerning of God’s will in advance.  It keeps life interesting, that’s for sure.

Friends,

Here is Common Christianity column #834 (11-8-22), "Laugh with Jesus." It is hard to laugh at politics, especially with this rancorous mid-term election.  But personal peace in Christ bears sweet fruit.  See the column below.

And a quick note. Fifteen years ago, late on November 10 - it was a Saturday in 2007 - dear friend and minister Russ Blowers went to be with Jesus.  Many of us knew and loved Russ, and remain thankful for the abiding influence he had on our lives in Christ.  Rest in peace ... and glory. - Bob

-- -- --

Spirituality Column #834

November 8, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Laugh with Jesus

By Bob Walters

“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23

Do you think everybody in America is angry enough right now?  If they are paying attention to politics, they probably are.

In that case, they would more likely identify with the preceding bit of Galatians 5:19-21, that recounts several “sins of the flesh” that “will not inherit the Kingdom of God” like “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions …”

Watched any news lately?  The lamentable and vicious ramp-up to today’s national mid-term election has lit fires of rancor in all theaters of commentary.  Our political discourse has ballooned past disagreement into declarations of dishonor and accusations of evil on all sides.  No hearts are swayed; no minds are changed.

Civil discourse? I’ve not seen or read much recently that promotes political “peace, patience, kindness,” etc.  Instead, we witness full-throated expressions of malicious, absurd, and intricate cross-purposes – the end of democracy! – impossibly detached not only from “love thy neighbor” but the secure moorings of common sense.

Rhetorical artillery rains destructively in all directions.  I harbor no hope that, like Jesus awaking (Mark 4:39) or arriving (Mark 6:51) in the storm, our tumultuous modern waters of cultural and political dissension will calm anytime soon.

But speaking of Jesus … when you think of Him, do you smile?  Do you think Paul’s list of “fruits of the spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23 is a valid prescription for Christ’s incredible lightness of being that defeats the dark and heavy forces of human division?

Jesus can provide a purposeful, sane, joyous – and calmer – life if we let Him.

My mentor George Bebawi was raised a middle Eastern Jew among Muslim neighbors in Cairo.  In his late teens George declared faith in Christ and went on to earn a PhD in Divinity at Cambridge, was a Coptic priest, and eventually retired from the Divinity faculty at Cambridge.  George understood the Jewish humor of Jesus – think of how He teased His disciples – and recoiled from the often-sour Western view of Christ’s countenance.  I imagine Jesus as someone fun to know, not someone to hide from

Jesus too-largely is viewed as a draconian purveyor of “Do the Right Thing or Else.”  Yes, his righteousness is unshakeable but His love is unfathomable.  Christians prefer to “fear the Lord” in an unhealthy perspective of avoiding punishment rather than in adoration for His infinite understanding of and grace toward the human condition. 

God didn’t create humanity to make us prisoners, but He definitely sent Jesus to set us free. Humanity largely gets that backwards, encasing our lives in misery.

A secular fellow on a secular-but-sarcastic news discussion show Friday night commented of the election acrimony, “[the other side] is saying if you vote the wrong way, Satan will reign on the earth.”  Hey kids, guess what?  He already does!

And that’s a good lesson to take to heart.  Yes, I will fight for my nation and knowingly pray for the strength and endurance of the body of Christ on earth.  But I also know that it is our anger that gives Satan his most scurrilous control over the misery of humanity.  Our peace, joy, and love prosper best in the light and laughter of Christ.

Perhaps it is time we laughed at evil and ignorance. Jesus just might join us.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) prays for Christ and votes for common sense.