Is Muslim an ethnic distinction?

The headline reads, "Pope baptizes Italy's most prominent Muslim", but in the article it says,

Allam was born a Muslim in Egypt, but was educated by Catholics and says he has never been a practicing Muslim.

So how can one be born a Muslim? I understand how someone could be born a Jew, yet not be a believer in Judaism (there is a ethnic group called "Jews" and a belief system called "Judaism". I know that many of the Muslims in the Middle East are of Arab descent, but I was unaware that there is an ethnic group called Muslims. Where did they come from and where are they most prominently living now? It seem like a big deal that this guy, Magdi Allam, converted to Catholicism and was baptized by the pope on Easter weekend, but he says he has NEVER BEEN A PRACTICING MUSLIM. So why is he fearful of his life? If a person is born a "Muslim", yet don't practice Islam, is that considered Islamic apostasy? The only why I can grasp this at this point is if Muslims are an ethnic people group like the Hebrews where during the times of the Old Testament. In those days, being born a Jew meant that you were born into the family of Yahweh and any movements contrary to the Mosaic Law were considered apostasy. However, I feel fairly comfortable saying that for Jews under the Mosaic Law, not practicing the Mosaic Law as akin to apostasy. I don't think the apostasy flag went up only after Jew's began worshipping other gods, I think the apostasy flag was flying high at the point when the Hebrew ceased to practice the Law. Given this, I'm struggling to understand the dynamics in play with brother Allam. I do believe dude is in danger and that some Muslim people are mad at him. I'm just trying to understand why?!?!?!

Lil' Wayne is a Christian?

Just when you thought that you had the good guys and bad guys separated into their neat little categories, up jumps this statement by Lil Wayne to the crowd attending a recent concert in New Jersey:

Lil Wayne had three things to explain. No. 1, a religious confession: “I believe in God and his son, Jesus. Do you?” He interpreted the roar as an affirmative response. No. 2, a professional confession: He said he was nothing without the fans, adding, “Make some noise for what you created!” Noise was made. No. 3: Same as No. 2. More noise.

This is quite interesting. I'm not sure I could find many people who would list Weezy F. Baby (Lil' Wayne for the uninitiated) as one who will be in the number when the "saints go marchin' in". However, is it possible that he could be a Christian? Several question come to mind as I ponder this:

• What does he mean when he says he believes in God and his son Jesus? Does he believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, was crucified, died, buried and was raised to life? Does he place all of his hope and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ as being the sufficient substitute for his own deserved punishment (namely eternal separation from God) and that his trust/hope/faith in the work of Christ is the thing that makes him acceptable to a pure, loving, and just God?


• How can one really know if another person is a "believer"? 18th century theologian Jonathan Edwards, in his book Religious Affections, cautioned against making determinations about what a person believes based solely on external actions that seem to be "Christianly" (a new word that I just made up). It is true that you will know a tree by the fruit that it bears (cocoa trees don't produce mangos), but it is also true that God is the only one who truly knows our hearts and thus is supremely qualified to be the final judge. I'm not saying that Weezy is a believer, but I'm also not saying that he isn't...


• Are we even comfortable with the idea that Lil Wayne could be a brother in Christ? How gnarly would it be if we could know with certainty that dude is a Christian? Would you welcome him into your church all tattooed, sporting a wife beater and smelling like weed? For those who would welcome him, would you gravitate to him because of his celebrity and his uncanny ability to spit over anybody else's beat and make that song better than the original? Or would it be because he is someone who just like you realized that he needs redemption has found it at the feet of Jesus.

Lil' Wayne a believer???? hmmmmmmm......

Are there really new sins?

I didn't realize there was such a thing as new sins, but apparently there are:

Asked what he believed were today's "new sins," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the greatest danger zone for the modern soul was the largely uncharted world of bioethics.

I think the Archbishop was asked a bad question. I don't think there are any new sins under the sun. Maybe there are just new ways for us to manifest sin in our given context. I do feel him on his caution about bioethics.

A Theology of Breathing

I would like to share with you a piece written by my good friend and soon to be frequent contributor to this blog, Skeet...

God is everywhere. That brief statement is an extremely simplified affirmation of the Historic Christian understanding that the Living God is omnipresent and always near and available to the created world. If, as a Christian, I am compelled to affirm the omnipresence of the one true God, why don’t I think of Theology as being omnipresent? This is not to say that Theology is an entity or being that resides everywhere (that is not an accurate understanding of the omnipresence of God either), rather that everywhere I am my theology should be. I should interact with the World- God’s World theologically.

I find myself seeking God and doing Theology in certain places, at certain times, with certain questions. I see in myself a propensity to do Theology on my terms and in my predefined categories. I am on a journey to correct this tendency; to engage God’s World with a passion to know the God behind the scenes; the God of the average and mundane existing and spinning of this world, as well as the God of miracles and cosmic power. I need to see and know God in average everyday experiences, because that is where I live.

The Bible’s story of the creation the human race involves God forming a lifeless Adam and breathing into him the breath of life. (Gen. 2:7) In the ancient world they lacked the scientific understanding to distinguish between living and dead as we do in modern hospitals, but they knew one thing. If someone was breathing, life was still in them, and when breath departed life was gone. Breathing is the most basic and non-voluntary human activity. This basic function of the human body has amazing power. It energizes the body as oxygen flows through our blood to muscles and organs. It cleanses as we breathe out toxic gases that if processed would be harmful to our bodies. The constant flow of breath not only impacts my quality of life, but sustains my very existence.

The ancient poets understood that God’s breath brought life and repelled death in the life of every human being.

When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit, they are
created, and you renew the face of the earth.
(Psalm 104:29-30)

One thing you don’t want to miss here is the fact that “breath” in the first stanza is the same word as “Spirit” in the second stanza in the original language. Is the author trying to tell us something? The very Spirit or Breath of God is with us at every instance with every breath. This is why is some Christian traditions you will hear prayers thanking God for our very breath.

We are not guaranteed the next breath, but we can enjoy the one we are inhaling. Professor Robert Pyne writes, “We believe that God intends for us to experience this life as an ever-expanding gulp of fresh air.” (Life Space: the practice of life with God; p.8) One thing I do know is that as long as God is supplying me with breath, he is also with me in a way I will never truly understand or appreciate. Maybe you have wondered if God was done with you or if He had “left the building.” I offer a simple suggestion to help answer those questions.

1. Slow Down and Relax.
2. Place your right hand on your abdomen.
3. Feel the movement of your chest as you inhale and exhale.
4. Recognize that you are still breathing.

- Skeet