{"id":136,"date":"2008-06-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-06T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fearofwhales\/2008\/06\/i-m-not-going-to-africa.html"},"modified":"2011-04-23T21:37:18","modified_gmt":"2011-04-24T01:37:18","slug":"i-m-not-going-to-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fearofwhales\/2008\/06\/i-m-not-going-to-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"I ‘ m Not Going To Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Earlier this week I finally got the call from a pastor at the church who\u2019s college ministry disfellowshipped me\u2026 If this sounds convoluted or insane, that\u2019s because it\u2019s both. He informed me that if by any chance I no longer felt called to Africa that he could return my deposit.
\nI took the hint.
\nAlso, since last time I wrote my $1,600 road bike was stolen.
\nIf you ever see a health and wealth preacher, do me a favor and punch him in the face for me.
\nBut I want to do more than just sulk this time
\nSpecifically, I want to talk about the unusual nature of spiritual things in the real world.
\nA friend and I were recently talking about naturalism. And the paradox involved in rejecting naturalism for belief in god, who is, and must be by definition, the most natural thing in the universe.
\nWe are not basic to the universe. Plants and dirt and planets and rocks, none of these things are central to reality. They are all alien to the universe we live in, which is centered around God, who created and preceded everything.
\nSo it\u2019s bizarre that when we think of \u201cspiritual\u201d things we humans have a tendency to differentiate that from the \u201cregular\u201d things of this world like rocks. As if there is something inherently secular about matter.
\n\u2026Wow I\u2019m a nerd\u2026
\nWhat I\u2019m trying to say is that I think we as humans expect God to interact with us in a whirlwind (as he does in Job) but as Christians we train ourselves that God often comes as a still small voice (as he does in Exodus) but somewhere we have neglected the probability for God to come to us through entirely human means (as he does in the gospels)
\nGod (or in my case satan, as I think it\u2019s appropriate to identify him as the source of the lies and accusations I\u2019ve been subjected to lately.) often chooses to work out his will through the most ordinary of means imaginable.
\nDisassembling Africa\u2026
\nStealing Property\u2026
\nAltering Communities\u2026
\nSpreading Lies\u2026
\n\u2026
\nOpening Opportunities\u2026
\nEmpowering Friendships\u2026
\nFixing Computers\u2026
\nEating Tacos\u2026
\nThese things are every bit within the realm of spiritual forces as are, providing peace and reassurance or temptation. That\u2019s Sunday school stuff.
\nBut how many of us have really internalized the truth of that?
\nI\u2019d have to wager it\u2019s not that many\u2026
\nIf it were more, We\u2019d pray differently
\n-Gaffney Out\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this week I finally got the call from a pastor at the church who\u2019s college ministry disfellowshipped me\u2026 If this sounds convoluted or insane, that\u2019s because it\u2019s both. He informed me that if by any chance I no longer felt called to Africa that he could return my deposit. I took the hint. Also,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":391,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[166,165,168,167],"class_list":["post-136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration-2","tag-cancellation","tag-dream-defered","tag-exclusive","tag-mission"],"yoast_head":"\nI ' m Not Going To Africa - A Fear of Whales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fearofwhales\/2008\/06\/i-m-not-going-to-africa.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I ' m Not Going To Africa - A Fear of Whales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earlier this week I finally got the call from a pastor at the church who\u2019s college ministry disfellowshipped me\u2026 If this sounds convoluted or insane, that\u2019s because it\u2019s both. 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