The God of the Future. Jeff Hood

      The God of the Future

      Copyright © 2017 Jeff Hood. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      Resource Publications

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-3356-0

      hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-3358-4

      ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-3357-7

      Manufactured in the U.S.A. January 15, 2018

      For the Kids

      Prescript

      Are we here?

      Pain. Suffering. Abuse. Injustice. Hate. Violence. There is no question that our world is very sick. We all think about it. However, there are consequences for too much thinking. Individuality is dead. No one is free to think. In our society, you can be anything you want to be except different. The only way that someone can assert their independence is by taking their own life. In the midst of the horrors, why do we keep living? We are all curious as to whether the future will be better. Questions propel our feet. Questions keep us alive. Questions are responsible for the crack in every line. Questions killed God and questions will restore something worth living for.

      Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood

      May 16, 2017

      Script

      The future is a question.

      God is the question.

      Where are we going?

      Will God be there?

      “Jesus, you have violated the laws of the cosmos! For your sins, you are hereby sentenced to disintegration.” The cosmic jury had spoken and their ship began to travel closer and closer to the fiery star. When the heat became unbearable, Jesus was shot into the middle of the star. Watching him through powerful viewing devices, everyone laughed and slapped tentacles awaiting his forgone demise. The problem was that Jesus disappeared. Assuming that they just missed the disintegration, everyone blasted off into different directions. Out of sight out of mind. Whether the authorities noticed or not, everyone knew that something had changed. Space seemed so lonely. Darkness grew darker. The planets no longer shined. Was this the end? Then, the star began to shake and quake. There was a beautiful light coming from the center. When everyone got as close as they could, the star exploded. Light overwhelmed them all.

      There had never been a brighter light. This was the light. This was the source of all light. Universes filled with promise. There were no dimensions unexposed. All of creation heard the boom. “Lo, I am with you always . . . ” They were no longer alone.

      Is God an Alien?

      The light is still speaking. Do you remember? The boom cannot be silenced. Can you see it? Words are written in the stars. Explosions of magic are as clear today as they were then. Can you still hear them? Touch the present. God is there. Touch the future. God is there. Touch the present. God is here. Touch the future. God is here. In the economy of God, present is future and future is present. God is. A journey into our future is a journey into our present. There is no time. There is only future. There is only God.

      Are there disciples of the future?

      As Jesus prepared to leave the disciples, he assured them that he would never leave them. Though the incarnation takes many shapes, Jesus leaves no doubt that the incarnation is perpetual. Jesus is everywhere in everything. In a resurrected presence, Jesus declared his perpetuity by pointing to the future. There, I believe we will find him.

      Is God hiding?

      Have you ever walked outside on a clear night and looked up? There is so much to be found. Looking deeper and deeper into the dark sky, you slowly become one with the universe. Desperate to draw close, you rise up on your tiptoes. Closing your eyes, you realize what you are experiencing is beyond sight. Lingering, you don’t want to move. Then, you open your eyes and realize that you are returning from the future. Changed by your travels, you proceed into the future. God lives in the galaxies of our dreams. The future pulls us beyond the stars.

      Where is the future?

      Does God know the future? God is in us and we are the future. Life is something to be lived not known. The future doesn’t exist until we create it. God exists. We exist. God is existing. We are existing. God is the future. We are the future. Dreams drive us to unknown futuristic places. Divinity has always dwelled in the unknown. God finds us in our questions and pushes with us into the future. God is not afraid. We can’t be either. We must believe in ourselves. We must believe in God. We must believe in the future. Time travel is possible and it exists within God . . . within us.

      How does God travel?

      There are nightmares. The future fails. God fails. I’ll never forget the sight of thousands of people stranded on rooftops. Food and drinking water was in short supply. Patients died alone in hospitals. The scenes grew worse and worse. The future was lost. God drowned. For much time, all seemed lost. How can a future even be possible? I can’t breathe. Then with a splash, hope pushed through. The future was reborn. The greatest means of resurrection for us all is hope. Maybe hope is God. As the past holds us back, hope is what drives us into the future. Hope is what propels us to God. Hope is the future. God is the future. The future never dies. The future is hope perpetual.

      Will there ever be a time when God is not?

      Early one morning, I saw the light. When you’re a child, lights always seem to be bright. What happened to such awe? I stared deeper and harder. The light grew bigger and brighter. As it got closer, fear overwhelmed me. At the last second, I screamed out. No one could hear me. The light had already pulled me in. I didn’t know where I was going. I just knew I was no longer there. I wondered if this had anything to do with God? If so, I wondered why I was so afraid? Isn’t light supposed to be a calming force? Questions multiplied exponentially. Then, I heard a voice. I looked everywhere to find it. Deep in the middle of time and space, I heard my name. The sun burned in the distance. Planets disappeared. Everything I ever imagined was in reach. Dreams blossomed eternally. I kept reaching for tomorrow. I forgot about today. I heard my name. Then, the beauty stopped and I was alone. Everything changed. Then, everything exploded. There were billions of Gods all calling my name. What’s more, the Gods were multiplying. God never stopped. It was wild. Looking at all the different kinds of God, I realized that God truly is God everywhere. God is not bound to one expression. God is expressionful and expressionless. God didn’t happen. God is happening. God is future. Once more, they all called out my name in one voice. I was looking at one God. Through the expressions of billions, I knew that the love of God knows no boundaries. I had seen the future. The future was now in me. I didn’t want to leave. I closed my eyes to try to hold it all in. In that exact moment, I opened my eyes. I was lying in bed. Before long, my mom called me down for breakfast. I knew that’d met God somewhere out of this world.

      Are dreams the only way?

      There is no other way to consider the future of God without considering the future of us. The future is wildly provocative. The future is an affront to our present sensibilities. We will either change or be left in the past. God is hope. Hope draws us beyond what is to what’s next. God is to be interpreted through difference and change that is and is not possible. The paradoxes repeat incessantly. God repeats incessantly. God is the same forever. God is changing. The paradox is revealed in the fact that God is. God is what? God is. In the isness of God rests the future. In the midst