Cat and Dogs
This is something i'm revisiting as i shared with my sports dts team for devotion.
It kinda changed the way i looked at my faith and life.
It's worth reading.
“Cat and Dog Theology”
************
Genesis Chapter 1
Why are most Christians bored? They view
the Bible from a people-centered view of the
Scriptures. Most don’t get excited until
Genesis 3, then they have something to live
for…saving the lost world! They have non-
verbally communicated to themselves and God
that the Bible is all about people.
We are making two bold statements: God is
the main character of the Bible and lives to
radiate His glory, therefore, God lives for God
(He doesn’t live for us). Secondly, the
average true believer says the Bible is all
about God, but lives as if humanity is …
Humanity often replaces God on the throne.
Let’s look at two examples.
First example: What did God get out of Jesus’
death? Most Christians want to say “He got
us” but that is jumping straight back into a
people-centered perspective! He also received
glory, honor, praise, adoration and obedience.
Most Christians overlook this.
Second example: Most people don’t want
others to go to hell because they’ll suffer
(back to a people centered perspective). In
Psalm 30:9, David talks about the praise God
wouldn’t get.
Depending upon who is the main character of the
Bible, you will have two different theologies.
“Cat and Dog Theology”
Two main characters have “birthed” two types
of Christianity. These two differences are
seen in the different attitudes between a dog
and a cat.
A dog says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, You must be God.”
A cat says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, I must be God.”
There is a Cat and Dog in all of us! They are
constantly fighting. They both look and act
“Christian” but there is a huge difference in
their heart attitude.
Getting To Heaven
Cats have a tendency to walk away from hell.
Their sole focus is on themselves. Dogs walk
toward heaven having fallen in love with God.
Many Christians today are joyless simply
because they are still focused on themselves
and are walking away from hell. (Matthew
13:44-Kingdom of Heaven like the Treasure in the fields. Great joy found.)
Obedience School
Both Cats and Dogs want obedience in their
lives. Dogs want to obey God. Cats want
God to obey them. You usually see this
reflected in their prayer lives.
Quiet Times
Both Cats and Dogs have quiet times. Dogs
focus on God’s glory (they think, “How is
God’s reputation being affected by my life?”)
and Cats focus on themselves (how can they
better their life…?)
Prayer
Dogs pray to establish God’s kingdom. Cats
pray to establish their own kingdom.
Blessings and Responsibilities
Cats want all the blessings and none of the
responsibilities.
As a result, two major problems arise in Cat
Theology. An incomplete gospel comes
about, and Cats have mixed-up priorities.
Incomplete Gospel
Over time, Cat Theology develops into an
incomplete gospel.
Cats are saved from hell and it stops there.
This is not incorrect, but it is incomplete.
Dogs are saved from hell, FOR WORSHIP.
In Our Prayers
Praying “Father, thank you for dying on the
cross for our sins” is not incorrect, but it is
incomplete. He died on the cross for our sins
SO THAT we might point to God and glorify
Him.
In Our Blessings
Cats focus on gathering all of God’s blessings
with a bucket. And once they have them, they
keep them.
Dogs gather as many blessings as they can
from God and pass them on to others. They
know that the blessings are meant to go
through them to others.
Blessings and Glory
Both Cats and Dogs want to see God glorified
and want to be blessed by God. Dogs hunger
more for God’s glory whereas Cats hunger
more for the blessings.
Worship
Dogs worship God primarily for who He is.
Cats worship God primarily for what He’s
done for them.
Tessera
Why all these differences? Dogs study
“Theology” while Cats study “MEology.”
Dogs see God’s glory like a stained glass
window. Each bit is called a “tessera.” Each
tessera uniquely displays God’s glory, such as
the animal kingdom, the family unit, taste, the
stars. “Glory is any revelation or expression
of His excellency in His presence, creativity
and/or character.” One way God chooses to
reveal His glory is through blessing us!
Satan’s Strategy
Satan doesn’t want Christians to focus on
God’s glory. His strategy is to get humanity
to focus in on something “safe” and “close to
God’s heart” so their focus is off of God’s
glory.
As a result, we begin to think that life is all
about us. Because of this, we make a
foundational shift in our theology. Our focus
goes off of God glorifying Himself through
blessing us. Our focus is on receiving the
blessings from God, and we become primary;
God’s glory becomes secondary.
Cats Are Living For Themselves
Cats are basically living for themselves in a
Christian context. They’ve rejected other
“ways” of life and have chosen Christianity as
the best way to live for themselves. Life is
still all about them.
WDGG?
Dogs ask one key question as they go through life:
What Does God Get? As a result, they realize that
life is for God, it is not for us. They see the joy
God had in Genesis 1 while He was creating!
A Prayer Of Repentance
For thinking life was about us and not You,
For advancing our kingdom and not Yours,
For seeking Your blessings more than You,
For an incomplete Christianity,
For mixed-up priorities,
For living for ourselves in a Christian context,
For not seeing Your glory all around us.
We repent. Fill us again with your Holy Spirit that
we might live to make You famous.
The Eight Dangers of
Cat Theology!
************
Laying centuries of Cat Theology brings about
many dangers in the Christian life.
Danger #1:
Feel Good Theology
Cats only read verses that make them feel
good. If they read verses that don’t make
them feel good, they skip over them and
simply say, “That doesn’t apply to me” or
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Danger #2:
C ats Always Look For Themselves
Cats are constantly looking for themselves in
the Bible. They constantly say “How does this
affect me? How does it affect my life?”
When they find themselves, they rejoice, but
they are never thinking about God.
Cats and Dogs read John 3:16 totally
differently. Dogs focus in on the fact that God
loves anyone unconditionally and Cats focus
in on themselves in the verse.
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages, he might show the imcomparable riches of His grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:6,7 gives a perfect example of
how we focus in on ourselves. The text
basically tells us that God has saved us to
show off His glory, and all we can do is focus
in on “us” and say “it’s all about us!”
Danger #3:
C ats Expect Life To Be Fair
Look at three lives: Jabez, a “young girl” in 2
Kings 5, and Stephen.
Jabez was greatly blessed. The young girl was
sent away as a slave and reached another
Gentile leader. Stephen was stoned to death.
Which life was God fair to? It is the wrong
question. Life wasn’t designed to be fair. Life
was designed to be a series of opportunities to
reflect and reveal the glory of God. These
three lives did that—revealing God’s glory is a
“golden thread” that runs throughout the entire
Bible!
Danger #4:
Selective Application
Many times we only apply those passages of
scripture which make us “feel good.” Rarely
are we reading (much less memorizing)
passages which deal with God’s desire to
glorify Himself through giving us the tough
times… 1 Peter 2:20-“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God”;
1 Thessalonians 3:2-4
Why aren’t we taught lessons like…
•
God wants you to live, breathe, eat and die
in slavery to teach future generations a
lesson?
•
Your siblings are going to sell you off as a
slave so God can use you in a foreign land?
•
God may want you to marry a person from
another culture just so you can bond with
your in-law and be shown kindness after
your spouse dies?
•
You are to be a prophet to the church, be
jailed, and see no fruit for the majority of
your years of ministry?
•
God may want our country to be invaded
(devastated) to get the Gospel out?
•
God may want you thrown into a blazing
fire to show His power?
•
God may want you stoned to death?
•
God may want you taken from your home
(forcefully?) to become a leader in another
country and then be cheated and thrown
into a lion’s den?
•
God may want a famine to come to your
land so you move to another country and
share your faith?
•
God may want you to become a slave to
reach out to another people?
•
God may want you in jail to share your
faith with others?
•
God is going to test you by having all your
assets taken away, by having your children
killed and inflicting you with severe pain?
•
God may want you beaten with rods,
stoned, shipwrecked, naked, cold and
hungry, alone in the sea, beaten with 39
lashes multiple times….?
Danger #5:
Winner’ Circle Mentality
!
When Cats read the Bible, they always focus
on the major character, never the minor
character—falsely assuming God loves the
major character more than the minor.
Why don’t we ever relate to: Job’s children?
The 70,000 fighting men who died because
David sinned? David and Bathsheba’s
firstborn? The firstborn of all Egyptians who
died? Korah’s wife and children? Wandering
around in the desert for 40 years? The 14,700
who died of the plague? The wife and
children thrown into the lion’s den after
Daniel was found innocent?
We don’t relate to them because we only want
to relate to the “winners” in the Bible.
Danger #6:
C ats Develop Wrong Priorities
A Cat’s first priority is to stay alive and be
healthy.
Their second priority is safety and security.
They do whatever they can to be safe and
secure in this world.
Their third priority is the desire to be blessed
by God for their own gain.
Their fourth priority is that their church meets
their needs. If their church isn’t meeting their
needs, they quickly switch churches.
After these are brought before God, they may
pray for God’s glory. But rarely is the glory
of God a first consideration when they first
say their prayers.
Way down on the Cat’s priority is world
missions. They rarely talk about it, and if they
do talk about it, they are usually trying to
address the needs locally.
Danger #7:
Humanism Creeps In
Humanism essentially means: “the reason for
all of existence is the happiness of man.”
Humanism has so permeated our society that it
has crept into our Christianity in two
predominant ways.
1) Liberal Humanism says, “The reason for
Christianity is the happiness of mankind when
they are alive.” Out of this is born the “health
and wealth theology.”
2) Evangelical Humanism says, “The reason
for Christianity is the happiness of mankind
after they die (i.e. make sure people don’t go
to hell).
True Christianity says, “The reason for
Christianity is the glory of God.”
Danger #8:
Worship Is A Part Of Life!
When Cats are so focused on themselves, they
worship God during their quiet times, during
Sunday morning services, and possibly while
listening to worship music. Everything
outside of those times is “everyday life.”
But “everyday life” was designed to be one
big worship service. This can happen when
we start to ask the simple question, “What
Does God Get?”
What does God get when you hug a child?
What does God get when you see a
sunset?
What does God get when you listen to
music?
What does God get when you look at a
flower?
What does God get when you see a
butterfly?
What does God get when you taste a
chocolate covered strawberry?
When you begin to look for what God gets,
life can become one big worship service!
When this happens, you don’t do anything
differently in life, you simply do it with an
entirely new perspective!
A Prayer To The Lord:
Lord, we do not live for ourselves, we live
for Your greatest glory.
Bless us with all things or give us nothing.
Honor us before others or bring us low.
Put us to doing or appoint us to suffer.
Give us work or keep us unemployed.
Send us overseas or keep us home.
Shatter any dream that is not yours.
We freely and wholeheartedly yield all
things to Your pleasure and disposal.
All we ask is that we delight in Your
glory!
It kinda changed the way i looked at my faith and life.
It's worth reading.
“Cat and Dog Theology”
************
Genesis Chapter 1
Why are most Christians bored? They view
the Bible from a people-centered view of the
Scriptures. Most don’t get excited until
Genesis 3, then they have something to live
for…saving the lost world! They have non-
verbally communicated to themselves and God
that the Bible is all about people.
We are making two bold statements: God is
the main character of the Bible and lives to
radiate His glory, therefore, God lives for God
(He doesn’t live for us). Secondly, the
average true believer says the Bible is all
about God, but lives as if humanity is …
Humanity often replaces God on the throne.
Let’s look at two examples.
First example: What did God get out of Jesus’
death? Most Christians want to say “He got
us” but that is jumping straight back into a
people-centered perspective! He also received
glory, honor, praise, adoration and obedience.
Most Christians overlook this.
Second example: Most people don’t want
others to go to hell because they’ll suffer
(back to a people centered perspective). In
Psalm 30:9, David talks about the praise God
wouldn’t get.
Depending upon who is the main character of the
Bible, you will have two different theologies.
“Cat and Dog Theology”
Two main characters have “birthed” two types
of Christianity. These two differences are
seen in the different attitudes between a dog
and a cat.
A dog says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, You must be God.”
A cat says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, I must be God.”
There is a Cat and Dog in all of us! They are
constantly fighting. They both look and act
“Christian” but there is a huge difference in
their heart attitude.
Getting To Heaven
Cats have a tendency to walk away from hell.
Their sole focus is on themselves. Dogs walk
toward heaven having fallen in love with God.
Many Christians today are joyless simply
because they are still focused on themselves
and are walking away from hell. (Matthew
13:44-Kingdom of Heaven like the Treasure in the fields. Great joy found.)
Obedience School
Both Cats and Dogs want obedience in their
lives. Dogs want to obey God. Cats want
God to obey them. You usually see this
reflected in their prayer lives.
Quiet Times
Both Cats and Dogs have quiet times. Dogs
focus on God’s glory (they think, “How is
God’s reputation being affected by my life?”)
and Cats focus on themselves (how can they
better their life…?)
Prayer
Dogs pray to establish God’s kingdom. Cats
pray to establish their own kingdom.
Blessings and Responsibilities
Cats want all the blessings and none of the
responsibilities.
As a result, two major problems arise in Cat
Theology. An incomplete gospel comes
about, and Cats have mixed-up priorities.
Incomplete Gospel
Over time, Cat Theology develops into an
incomplete gospel.
Cats are saved from hell and it stops there.
This is not incorrect, but it is incomplete.
Dogs are saved from hell, FOR WORSHIP.
In Our Prayers
Praying “Father, thank you for dying on the
cross for our sins” is not incorrect, but it is
incomplete. He died on the cross for our sins
SO THAT we might point to God and glorify
Him.
In Our Blessings
Cats focus on gathering all of God’s blessings
with a bucket. And once they have them, they
keep them.
Dogs gather as many blessings as they can
from God and pass them on to others. They
know that the blessings are meant to go
through them to others.
Blessings and Glory
Both Cats and Dogs want to see God glorified
and want to be blessed by God. Dogs hunger
more for God’s glory whereas Cats hunger
more for the blessings.
Worship
Dogs worship God primarily for who He is.
Cats worship God primarily for what He’s
done for them.
Tessera
Why all these differences? Dogs study
“Theology” while Cats study “MEology.”
Dogs see God’s glory like a stained glass
window. Each bit is called a “tessera.” Each
tessera uniquely displays God’s glory, such as
the animal kingdom, the family unit, taste, the
stars. “Glory is any revelation or expression
of His excellency in His presence, creativity
and/or character.” One way God chooses to
reveal His glory is through blessing us!
Satan’s Strategy
Satan doesn’t want Christians to focus on
God’s glory. His strategy is to get humanity
to focus in on something “safe” and “close to
God’s heart” so their focus is off of God’s
glory.
As a result, we begin to think that life is all
about us. Because of this, we make a
foundational shift in our theology. Our focus
goes off of God glorifying Himself through
blessing us. Our focus is on receiving the
blessings from God, and we become primary;
God’s glory becomes secondary.
Cats Are Living For Themselves
Cats are basically living for themselves in a
Christian context. They’ve rejected other
“ways” of life and have chosen Christianity as
the best way to live for themselves. Life is
still all about them.
WDGG?
Dogs ask one key question as they go through life:
What Does God Get? As a result, they realize that
life is for God, it is not for us. They see the joy
God had in Genesis 1 while He was creating!
A Prayer Of Repentance
For thinking life was about us and not You,
For advancing our kingdom and not Yours,
For seeking Your blessings more than You,
For an incomplete Christianity,
For mixed-up priorities,
For living for ourselves in a Christian context,
For not seeing Your glory all around us.
We repent. Fill us again with your Holy Spirit that
we might live to make You famous.
The Eight Dangers of
Cat Theology!
************
Laying centuries of Cat Theology brings about
many dangers in the Christian life.
Danger #1:
Feel Good Theology
Cats only read verses that make them feel
good. If they read verses that don’t make
them feel good, they skip over them and
simply say, “That doesn’t apply to me” or
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Danger #2:
C ats Always Look For Themselves
Cats are constantly looking for themselves in
the Bible. They constantly say “How does this
affect me? How does it affect my life?”
When they find themselves, they rejoice, but
they are never thinking about God.
Cats and Dogs read John 3:16 totally
differently. Dogs focus in on the fact that God
loves anyone unconditionally and Cats focus
in on themselves in the verse.
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages, he might show the imcomparable riches of His grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:6,7 gives a perfect example of
how we focus in on ourselves. The text
basically tells us that God has saved us to
show off His glory, and all we can do is focus
in on “us” and say “it’s all about us!”
Danger #3:
C ats Expect Life To Be Fair
Look at three lives: Jabez, a “young girl” in 2
Kings 5, and Stephen.
Jabez was greatly blessed. The young girl was
sent away as a slave and reached another
Gentile leader. Stephen was stoned to death.
Which life was God fair to? It is the wrong
question. Life wasn’t designed to be fair. Life
was designed to be a series of opportunities to
reflect and reveal the glory of God. These
three lives did that—revealing God’s glory is a
“golden thread” that runs throughout the entire
Bible!
Danger #4:
Selective Application
Many times we only apply those passages of
scripture which make us “feel good.” Rarely
are we reading (much less memorizing)
passages which deal with God’s desire to
glorify Himself through giving us the tough
times… 1 Peter 2:20-“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God”;
1 Thessalonians 3:2-4
Why aren’t we taught lessons like…
•
God wants you to live, breathe, eat and die
in slavery to teach future generations a
lesson?
•
Your siblings are going to sell you off as a
slave so God can use you in a foreign land?
•
God may want you to marry a person from
another culture just so you can bond with
your in-law and be shown kindness after
your spouse dies?
•
You are to be a prophet to the church, be
jailed, and see no fruit for the majority of
your years of ministry?
•
God may want our country to be invaded
(devastated) to get the Gospel out?
•
God may want you thrown into a blazing
fire to show His power?
•
God may want you stoned to death?
•
God may want you taken from your home
(forcefully?) to become a leader in another
country and then be cheated and thrown
into a lion’s den?
•
God may want a famine to come to your
land so you move to another country and
share your faith?
•
God may want you to become a slave to
reach out to another people?
•
God may want you in jail to share your
faith with others?
•
God is going to test you by having all your
assets taken away, by having your children
killed and inflicting you with severe pain?
•
God may want you beaten with rods,
stoned, shipwrecked, naked, cold and
hungry, alone in the sea, beaten with 39
lashes multiple times….?
Danger #5:
Winner’ Circle Mentality
!
When Cats read the Bible, they always focus
on the major character, never the minor
character—falsely assuming God loves the
major character more than the minor.
Why don’t we ever relate to: Job’s children?
The 70,000 fighting men who died because
David sinned? David and Bathsheba’s
firstborn? The firstborn of all Egyptians who
died? Korah’s wife and children? Wandering
around in the desert for 40 years? The 14,700
who died of the plague? The wife and
children thrown into the lion’s den after
Daniel was found innocent?
We don’t relate to them because we only want
to relate to the “winners” in the Bible.
Danger #6:
C ats Develop Wrong Priorities
A Cat’s first priority is to stay alive and be
healthy.
Their second priority is safety and security.
They do whatever they can to be safe and
secure in this world.
Their third priority is the desire to be blessed
by God for their own gain.
Their fourth priority is that their church meets
their needs. If their church isn’t meeting their
needs, they quickly switch churches.
After these are brought before God, they may
pray for God’s glory. But rarely is the glory
of God a first consideration when they first
say their prayers.
Way down on the Cat’s priority is world
missions. They rarely talk about it, and if they
do talk about it, they are usually trying to
address the needs locally.
Danger #7:
Humanism Creeps In
Humanism essentially means: “the reason for
all of existence is the happiness of man.”
Humanism has so permeated our society that it
has crept into our Christianity in two
predominant ways.
1) Liberal Humanism says, “The reason for
Christianity is the happiness of mankind when
they are alive.” Out of this is born the “health
and wealth theology.”
2) Evangelical Humanism says, “The reason
for Christianity is the happiness of mankind
after they die (i.e. make sure people don’t go
to hell).
True Christianity says, “The reason for
Christianity is the glory of God.”
Danger #8:
Worship Is A Part Of Life!
When Cats are so focused on themselves, they
worship God during their quiet times, during
Sunday morning services, and possibly while
listening to worship music. Everything
outside of those times is “everyday life.”
But “everyday life” was designed to be one
big worship service. This can happen when
we start to ask the simple question, “What
Does God Get?”
What does God get when you hug a child?
What does God get when you see a
sunset?
What does God get when you listen to
music?
What does God get when you look at a
flower?
What does God get when you see a
butterfly?
What does God get when you taste a
chocolate covered strawberry?
When you begin to look for what God gets,
life can become one big worship service!
When this happens, you don’t do anything
differently in life, you simply do it with an
entirely new perspective!
A Prayer To The Lord:
Lord, we do not live for ourselves, we live
for Your greatest glory.
Bless us with all things or give us nothing.
Honor us before others or bring us low.
Put us to doing or appoint us to suffer.
Give us work or keep us unemployed.
Send us overseas or keep us home.
Shatter any dream that is not yours.
We freely and wholeheartedly yield all
things to Your pleasure and disposal.
All we ask is that we delight in Your
glory!
posted by ch-eology at 12:50 AM
4 comments
