ccfurryguy

[ccfurryguy]

What I learned about God

Since I was neither a pastor or a philosopher, my take on God might seem unprofessional. As a layman thinker my take on God will seem simple to some, but since many who might read this may also be of similar learning, perhaps my insight on the Almighty might have some revelation.

In this world of diversity, we see a lot of people who have different views on God as well as names they believe are his name. Just as there are so many different cultures and races, we also have an assortment of beliefs or lack thereof.

The God I believe in is the one that comes from the Bible; his living word. Some skeptics are willing to say that the Bible is just a fabrication of fallible men and shouldn’t be taken as holy scripture and written through inspiration from God to man. It shouldn’t be a surprise or a shock that people should doubt the bible, despite the fact that it is one of the oldest, most accurate, and best selling book in all of history. Despite this, many still will say that the word of God is nothing but human imagination.

I find that odd cause when I often tell people how the Bible to me is also a source of earthly wisdom, they scoff at the notion as well. When one reads the Bible, even if they are not a believer, the words are alien to our form of thought. There is a great deal that scripture conflicts with what we think or believe such as the concept of forgiving those that hurt us. Jesus himself said, “for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:14, Mark 11:25, John 20:23 NIV). Scripture tells us that instead of being bitter and hateful to those who are against us, we should, in fact, forgive them. How on earth can an earthly man consider such a thing? How could fallible men write about something that other fallible men couldn’t comprehend or consider ridiculous? Such a contradiction should be obvious to anyone who tries to read the Bible: If it is not wise to us, then it must be of God. For is it not written: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom…” (1 Corinthians 1:25 NIV). So if the bible contradicts human wisdom, perhaps it is of a wisdom not of this world, hm?

The truth of the matter is that we all believe in God. Deep down there is that part of us that acknowledges something greater than ourselves. Even an Agnostic or Atheist believes enough in God to attempt to dismiss him. The problem is that our beliefs are as diversified as the cultures, races, nationalities and gender orientation this world carries. We still, however, carry that one tidbit that is ingrained into your psyche: We all acknowledge in some degree to a creator.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that what everyone perceives God is true. Our various religions and beliefs all differ and how we see the world beyond us ranges from the sublime to the strange. Some people believe we all just become reunited with some abstract godhead and become one with the universe. Others believe we just reincarnate and how we lived our past life determines what our new life becomes.

As for me, I see my faith in God a bit differently. Like I showed before when I compare what the bible says about how we should worship God and conduct our lives, some will see that as stupid. The reason why so many people can’t or won’t understand the bible is cause it doesn’t follow our current way of thinking in this earthly world. Maybe that’s why I feel like the God of the Bible is true—because maybe God, who sees all and knows all, thinks in ways we can’t fathom in our earthly intelligence. Maybe cause God is something more than just an abstract force or being, he might know something more than our linear thinking minds can grasp.

God’s Holiness

A lot of argument can be heard regarding certain subjects in the bible. For instance, there was a story in 2nd Samuel about a man named Uzzah. Now according to the story, King David was taking the ark of the covenant, which was the holiest relic to the Jews. Now while they were transporting the ark, The cart it was carried in started to wobble and the ark was about to fall. Uzzah, reached out to grab the ark and kept it in the cart; however, God was angry with Uzzah and he smote him dead for touching the ark. David didn’t like that either and this story tends to see God as rather petty and mean for smiting someone who was just trying to prevent the ark from falling off and being damaged. So why did God do this?

The answer that came to me in my walk comes in the power of God’s holiness. Holiness describes the aspect of God where he is the ultimate embodiment of moral and physical purity. You can wash, disinfect, bleach and scour yourself until your raw and bleeding, and it would not be close to the level of purity that God contains.

Think of Holiness as the sun, a massive burning ball of churning hydrogen in the middle of space. The sun’s light and heat warm and illuminates the earth with life-giving power, which symbolizes the holy energy from God. However, That light and warmth when you get to close to it can wind up both blinding and utterly destroying anyone or anything that comes too close. God is so holy and pure that coming in contact with anything that possesses a shred of that holiness would be destroyed by it. This, in my opinion, is why Uzzah died, not because of his concern for the ark, but because God’s holiness could not be handled without being killed by it.

Moses’ interactions with God are a good example of God’s holiness and its effect on sinful mortals. When God first visited Moses as a burning bush, God told him, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5). God openly warns Moses not to come near because his holy presence would do Moses harm. Further on, when Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments, God himself was to come down to write on the stone slabs. When Moses seemed excited to see God face-to-face, God warned instead, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” (Exodus 33:20) Another proof that God could not be seen by mortal eyes without being consequences.

So many would imagine God is being arrogant about not being seen or touched by others, that not being able to see him didn’t make him feel real. The reality of it shows that God is actually doing it for our benefit; rather than having us destroyed by his presence. Of course, that would change somewhat later on, as I will talk about in the next chapter.

God’s Omnipotence and Omnipresence

Omnipotence basically means “All-powerful”, which states that he can do anything. If you really sit back and think of what that means, It really makes you think about who God really is.

As a student of animation, I see God as an artist, and the canvas he paints on is our existence. God exists outside of the canvas and paints upon it, creating and fabricating a beautiful work of art. He is not bound to the confines of that canvas, and the Canvas cannot dictate to God what he should or shouldn’t paint.

“In the Beginning, you laid the foundations of the earth” (Psalms 102:25) Which tells us how God was the creator of the Earth. However in the book of Job “For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.” (Job 34:21). Also in Proverbs, “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord…” (Proverbs 5:21)

The same goes for God in our universe. He exists outside of the scope of time, space, and existence—primarily because he created them. Because he created it, he can tell it what to do and not the other way around. We cannot dictate to God that we should have been born as Brad Pitt anymore than a fly can tell God it wants to be a man. If God can do whatever he wants to what he creates, then that gives me a good idea about what makes God all-powerful.

This also has the benefit of his Omnipresence, which is the concept that he can be everywhere and anywhere in the universe. It falls back to the same analogy as the canvas. Since God created all of the universes from his perch in heaven, it stands to reason that he also sees and exists in the same space. He can look at that canvas and see the stars and planets, even the minute details of Earth and the creatures that dwell on it. Every brushstroke that he made is there for him to enjoy.

God’s Omniscience

Time to us seems linear and static. We currently exist, and we remember memories of the past and look towards the future. Sometimes we see the future with uncertainty and dread. We are born, lived and eventually die. Such is the nature of Time to us.

As I mentioned in the previous section, I describe as best I can how God sees existence like an artist paints on a canvas. God, in the same way, sees Time somewhat differently than we do since he exists out of time—I mean, he did create time after all. “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” (Revelation 1:8) Through this, we see that God states that from the beginning of creation to the end, he is always going to be there since he exists outside the time he created.

Imagine if you will a flipbook: one of those old paper books that when you thumb through them rapidly, creates the illusion of movement. Now imagine that flipbook as depicting your entire life, from birth to death. We as finite beings in that flipbook can only perceive them now and remember what was. We cannot look forward to the end of the book. God, however, existing outside of that flipbook, can. In fact, he probably sees it more as taking the flipbook apart and laying out the individual frames all in a neat orderly set and can see everything from beginning to end.

God once spoke to the Prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee…”(Jeremiah 1:5 KJV) This can only be possible that God would have an awareness of time that only a being that exists outside of time could have. And if God could do this for one of his children, that means he knows all of us before we were born—He loved us even before we ever were born, and he knows when we will live and when we will die. One who meditates on such a statement must also wonder what an intimate depth God knows about us, as well as makes us aware that God knows what we are going to do in our lives. That is why God loves us so much.

Since God who exists outside of time can see the flow of time in our lives, can he not see the beginning and the end of our world? Though my analogy may seem simple, It makes me think of just how different God perceives all of existence from his God-eye view than from our short-sighted senses. “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.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

[ccfurryguy]

Meeting Jesus for the first time.

First off, I don’t plan on giving you my life story, just the important parts. I won’t bore you with my life because frankly, I’ve already experienced it and rather not have to remember it again.

In High School, I was a pimply faced young man, socially awkward and suffering from depression. The one joy I had aside from drawing was my time in Choir class. I loved to sing and was a pretty decent tenor.

One day, the Choir teacher announced that they were looking for volunteers for a Christmas event called the Singing Christmas Tree. It was a yearly event in my home state of Oregon and was even televised for the holidays. At the time, I hadn’t thought about that part but thought it would be fun so I volunteered.

It was there that I met a group of young men who alarmed me. They were happy, energetic young men who welcomed me in with open arms and became my friend. I had very few friends in school and to have these guys suddenly treat me with such kindness and love alarmed me.

For the next few months, I went to the Church where I was welcomed, encouraged and treated as if I was a dear friend by everyone. During our practice times, I grew more and more close to those around me.

In December, getting near our time for the event was also my birthday. Usually, I expected just me and my family to celebrate it, but this day, in particular, I would be surprised.  The teenage boys who I got to know came to my home and took me out! We went to an arcade to enjoy some games, ate pizza, watched movies and had an amazing time. They had even pooled their money together and got me a present, which I had no idea why anyone other than family would do. It was an NIV student Bible.

When I was a child, my mother, a former Quaker, and member of Job’s daughters had always put me in Summer bible school to give me something to do during these months. Even then, I had only heard a few stories from the bible, but never really got into anything deep: heck, I was just a kid back then.

Now as a teenager, I was introduced formally to Jesus. These teenage boys who barely knew me were treating me with such love and friendship. I was a geeky nobody and yet they treated me with more affection than I had ever experienced from someone other than family. No one preached to me or tried to tell me I was going to hell if I didn’t repent: they just loved me like a friend. With that bible in hand, I decided then and there to find out where this love came from.

With their silent testimony, my walk with Jesus began.

I attended church, studied my bible, and really started to understand the depths of God’s love and his eternal plan for me and for all mankind. Like any other person, I had a hard time understanding what I was learning, yet I continued. As I attended church, my mother often commented that she liked me going there.

“You’re like a different person.” She’d said one day. “You seem happier now.” I hadn’t really noticed myself and realized then that I had become happier. The time I spent at that church changed my outlook on life.

Eventually, I gave my heart to Jesus and asked him into my life. It wasn’t until after I had graduated and joined the Army that I had been baptized by a chaplain at the base in Fort Knox, Kentucky. It was in a small church on base where I and three other soldiers came into the old sanctuary and were baptized there. I was walking back to my barracks but felt like I was a foot off the ground. Even though I didn’t last long enough in the Army to serve, the experience of baptism was one I would never forget.

You’re wondering, why is he writing about this? It is a common practice in both the Bible and Christian faith to give one’s testimony about their salvation. It not only gives you more insight into the person but also about how they came from disbelief to faith. I’ve heard a few that stood out in the past and many have helped strengthen my faith. It is my earnest hope that my testimony will do the same.

[ccfurryguy]

Who is this guy?

So I suppose everyone is wondering: Why are you writing a blog? Obviously, I’m not completely qualified for a role as talking about Christianity since you’re not a pastor...

You’re right, I’m not.

I’m definitely not a pastor, nor have any degree in divinity. The only degree I got is in Animation. Yes, I’m a cartoonist and graphic designer. You can obviously tell by my grammar that I’m not a talented writer either. At best, I write as a hobby but for this situation, I’m relying on spell checkers and Grammarly to ensure that my thoughts are conveyed.

What I am, however, is a born-again Christian. My understanding of the bible is a layman at best. Jesus found me when I was a teenager, riddled with self-doubt, depression and social awkwardness. Since then, I have struggled in my faith, challenged my God, and sought him to make his word clear. It is my sincere hope that the insights I have gleaned from the Holy Spirit are true to scripture and can benefit others.

Someone once said, “When the great novel you are seeking is not around, it is up to you to create it.” Therefore, it behooves me to write out my thoughts about the Christian faith so that perhaps some of what I write about might be of some use to those of you reading this. I don’t anticipate becoming the next Charles Spurgeon or C.S. Lewis, but I feel I must follow what the Lord is guiding me to do.

This blog is not about recovering from any addiction since I have never had the difficulty of drug and alcohol abuse. There will be some thoughts about depression since I have gone through that. While it is true that I have not walked into your shoes, but you have never walked in mine either. There is no intention on trying to teach you something that I have not experienced. My thoughts are based off what I learned walking the Christian life. Granted, my walk was never perfect, but that is the point of it.

Let me state that I am not perfect, and any Christian who says they are is fooling themselves. It is written that “For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." (Romans 3:23). Some of you probably are saying, “If you’re not perfect, what makes you someone to listen to?” I believe it is that very flawed nature that makes me worth hearing because I may not have walked in your shoes and you walked in mine: I have worn out a great many of shoes in my walks.

As mentioned, I am also a furry to which some of you may not understand that. A furry is a member of a fandom that enjoys artwork involving anthropomorphic animals, like Bugs Bunny, Tony the Tiger, and Micky Mouse. That may sound strangely innocent, but the Furry fandom is also filled with people and groups who enjoy sexual deviation from such characters. Openly, I admit that I have indulged in such activity and I do not seek to justify my reasons. Skeptics will want to argue that someone who has such an interest should not be writing about Christianity. I beg to differ.

Many will have you believe that a Christian should be absolutely pure and without sin. That’s a fallacy. The reason behind the Christian faith is not to work towards purity, but to be made pure through faith in Jesus Christ. My travels with Christ are filled with potholes and pitfalls where I have stumbled and broken faith with my God. That is the whole point of living a Christian life: struggling against our sinful selves. I wear my sin openly because I want people to see that I am no different than any of you. My sin is my cross to bear and while I seek to become better, I am not perfect.

Abraham struggled with faith and failed many times, yet he was the progenitor of the Jewish race. Lot had incestuous relations with his daughters, yet he was spared from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jacob was sold as a slave and mistreated, yet helped save Israel from starvation. Moses was a murderer yet he was seen as God’s friend. Samson was an arrogant bastard who also fraternized with loose women, yet sought God in the end. Gideon was a coward, yet fought the enemies of Israel. Ruth was just a pretty young girl, but through her, saved the Jewish people from destruction. These are just a small sample from the Old Testament alone of those imperfect people who through God, became heroes of the faith. Of course, I’m not Jewish but I’m not a hero either. I’m only describing that despite my faults, God can use me for good.

This is my story. I am the narrator and my thoughts come from my study of scripture and my own personal walk with Jesus. Just like you, I had doubts, questions, and concerns about what I learned. What I learned, however, gave me a depth of understanding in God and learned more about myself and my role in his creation. Perhaps something I have learned in my journey can help you as well.

Let us see what happens.