Sue the Bible Guys!

A man named Bradley Fowler is suing Zondervan, the Bible publishing company, for $60 million because the company published a version of the Bible that translated the word for “homosexual” as “homosexual.” Fowler claims that because his pastor used a Bible published by Zondervan, he preached that homosexuality is a sin, and thus Fowler's “family considered him a sinner and he suffered.” So now he is entitled to $60 million to compensate for “the past 20 years of emotional duress and mental instability.” (Well, he does seem to have proved the "mental instability" part of his lawsuit).

In the list of sins that keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God in 1 Corinthians 6:9, the Greek word arsenokoites is rendered as “homosexual offender” in the NIV. The KJV renders the word as “abusers of themselves with mankind” (not as clear and apparently not as offensive to Mr. Fowler). Because the NIV is clear, it is being sued! (The NET better really look out; it redners the two Greek words here as “passive homosexual partners" and "practicing homosexuals.” One might could get the impressiion from that translation that homosexuality is a sin ).

OK, not everyone believes the Bible. And not everyone believes that homosexuality is a sin. And some scholars do suggest other possible translations of the sins Paul condemns. But to sue a company that publishes (they didn’t do the translation themselves) the Bible because your preacher takes it seriously and his preaching makes you feel bad? Come on!

I'm not one to pound the podium agaihst homosexuality as being the worst of all sins. It is a perversion of nature... but so is gossip, which is actually condemned more in the Bible. But let the Bible say what it says! I once heard a panel discussion of scholars debating what the Bible says about homosexuality. The scholars that defended homosexuality as not sin made this statement, “Except for the Old Testament and the writings of Paul, the Bible doesn’t really condemn homosexuality.” That is a pretty sizable chunk of the Bible.

Family Values Statement

One of the first US laws to legitimize divorce took place in 1787 when a prominent gentleman named Isaac Governeur petitioned the New York Legislature for a divorce from his wife who had been unfaithful. The petition was referred to a committee chaired by Alexander Hamilton (yes, that Alexander Hamilton). The committee decided that divorces could be granted by the courts of new colony only on the grounds of adultery. Ironically, Governeur’s divorce attorney that successfully represented him in that divorce lawsuit was Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton’s legislation remained in effect in the State of New York until the 1966 New York Divorce Reform Law. Until that time, the only way to secure a divorce was on grounds of adultery. What if you wanted a divorce and your spouse would nor cooperate and commit adultery. You could hire someone who would claim to be the other woman (or man, I suppose) for the purposes of divorce. One 20-year-old mother of three named Sarah Ellis was named as the “other woman” in 35 divorce cases in 18 months. She was paid $10 per divorce for her services.

There is an old saying, “You can’t legislate morality.” Of course, that is exactly what we legislate! The things that are illegal are so because they are wrong. But then illegal actions that come to be accepted will eventually cease to be illegal. Over time, the grounds for divorce were expanded to include things other than adultery. And now in most states today, adultery is not even permitted as a legal grounds of divorce. My how times change?

Want to make a strong statement about family values and the sanctity of marriage? Make your marriage work. Granted, that kind of statement takes time; my own family values statement has taken 30 years up to this point. But it is gaining credibility, I think. It is rather ironic that so often the political candidate that supposedly supports family values is the one who has himself been divorced. Not a very stable family values platform.

The Aroma of Christ

In his book What’s So Amazing About Grace, Philip Yancey tells of an experiment he conducted several years ago (the book is copyrighted in 1997). He asked every non-Christian person that he came in contact with, “What comes to mind if you hear the phrase 'evangelical Christian'?” He says that the answer that he most often gets has to do with political positions on what what Christians are against-- anti-homosexual, anti-abortion, pro-censorship of the web, etc. He says that he even hears some people mention “The Moral Majority.” a group that disbanded years ago. What most non-Christian people don’t seem to connect with “Christians” today is Jesus Christ. Yancey writes, “Not once—not once— have I heard a description redolent of grace. Apparently that is not the aroma that Christians give off in the world.”

So what’s the point? Yeah, that’s what I want to know! What is the point of wearing the name of Jesus if we are unsuccessful of bringing Him to the minds of people around us? The fact is, Jesus had a pretty “street cred” with the marginalized, powerless, sinful and unchurched of His day. Maybe we need to do better?

They Humbled Themselves

Our Old Testament reading for today (2 Chronicles 12) tells of Solomon’s son Rehoboam and his first "official act" as the first king of the divided kingdom of Judah (often referred to as “Israel” in Chronicles since the Chronicler doesn't cover the northern kingdom called “Israel” in Kings). Rehoboam’s first official act as king was to be invaded and overwhelmed by Shishak, the king of Egypt (2 Chron 12:6). God makes it plain that this crisis was brought about because Rehoboam and his people were not following God. Rehoboam and all the people repent, and God acts to remove the Egyptian threat. Notice just a smattering of verses from this story—

• “The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves” (6)
  
  
• “The LORD saw that they humbled themselves” (7)
  
  
• “Since they have humbled themselves” (7)
  
  
• “Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD’s anger turned from him” (12)

What would you say is the key ingredient to repenting before God as seen in this storry? Could it have something to do with humbling ourselves?

We aren't very good at grovelling, are we? We tend to apologize by defending our actions as if they were really understandable reactions to circumstances beyond our control. We say things like, “I sorry I said those things, but I had this really bad day at work…” That suggests that our really bad day somehow justifies (or at least mitigates responsibility for) our bad behavior.

One guy that I once went to school with did some terrible things that created some very serious legal problmes for him (and even more serious problems with God). He went forward one Sunday night to "repent," and part of his statement to the church was to read a couple of passages on forgiveness and inform the church that they were now required to forgive him. That not really repentance, is it?

Even Rehoboam, who was no spiritual giant, understood that repentance meant throwing down all pretext of pride and falling down before God begging for His grace. We would be better at repenting—to God or to one another—if we understood this as well.

Solomon and Me

2 Chronicles 9 tells of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon to discover for herself whether the reports of his great wisdom and wealth were true. When she got there, she played “stump the wise guy,” but none of the questions that she asked were too hard for Solomon to answer. The text says that when she saw his wisdom, his palace and all the trappings of his wealth, she was “overwhelmed” and said—

“The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. (2 Chr 9:5-6)

Solomon was an impressive guy. Based on the gifts that she brought him at the beginning of her visit, the Queen of Sheba was not without resources. And yet Solomon impressed her. One translation said that Solomon’s wisdom and wealth “left her breathless and amazed” (2 Chr 9:4). Well, Solomon did have a way with the ladies! It is what follows that I find interesting. Immediately after she makes her statement about the reports not even being half right, she says—

How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! (2 Chr 9:7).

Solomon’s people must have been so proud, so happy because of his greatness and majesty. Well, not really. The beginning of the next chapter tells us that Solomon was not cold in his grave before the 10/12’s of the nation rebels against his son because of the severity of the taxation that Solomon had to impose on his people to put on the kind of show of wealth and power that left the Queen of Sheba so giddy. Solomon's people were not happy because of his wealth; they were oppressed because of it.

Solomon’s reign was not about making his people happy. And it was not about making God happy. Solomon’s reign came to be all about Solomon. All his wealth, building projects, wives, foreign treaties and power were the attempts of a man who had everything to get just one more thing. Solomon chronicles all that for us in Ecclesiastes, and in the end he found it all to be a “chasing after the wind,” and a “vanity of vanities.”

Solomon had everything and he had nothing. Solomon had all the trappings of wealth, power and prestige, but there is no indication that he was ever happy. Maybe we need to remind ourselves of his story the time we decide that we just have to have that one new thing that will make us happy.

Wednesday Nights and a Word from God

Yesterday wrote about our declining interest in Wednesday night Bible study (or Prayer Meeting or WOW or BBFP or whatever we call it these days). Bob commented (with tongue planted firmly in cheek) "I am glad you are thinking through all this, I eagerly await the
solutions you will discover long before I even fully understand the
problem." Yeah, right! I was not attempting to think through anything; that is too much work. I was complaining; that is much more therapeutic.

Roger reminded me that Mike Cope and his minions were discussing ideas for Wednesday nights over at his blog. Read through some of the ideas mentioned there (and in the comments).

So then I was doing my Bible reading this morning and found a word from God. Obviously, there is always a word from God when we read scripture; sometimes they just hit home harder, right? David is encouraging Solomon to be faithful in building the Temple (after David did all the heavy lifting of gathering materials and drawing up the plans). David says this in 1 Chronicles 28:20

David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.

God would always be there for Solomon; He never fails or forsakes. God calls us to is faithfulness; He will always be with us as long as we seek Him. We don't have to come up with solutions; we must continue to seek God and be faithful. God is with us, and that means that we don't have to be afraid or discouraged. even if we don't have the solutions to Wednesday nights.

Wednesday Night: BBFP and Beyond

Our Wednesday night service for the summer is going to be a very informal gathering Dan Hawley dubbed BBFP or "Breaking Bread, Fellowship and Prayer." This is our summer replacement for WOW ("Worship on Wednesday") which was a replacement for Wednesday Night Class... which was a replacement for Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting. I suspect that Prayer Meeting was a replacement for something, but I'm too young to know what that might have been.

What is BBFP? We eat, pray and hang-out together. OK, it's a little more formal than that; there is a short class in the Family Room. The kids will probably play together while we pray together. The whole thing may die a horrible death, but it kinda started out pretty positively last night. I'm looking forward to seeking how it ends up.

There are two truths that we more or less accept as true. First, our church leaders believe that we need a "peak of the week" meeting in the middle of the busy workweek to center our people back on God and to provide balance to the competing voices that seek our attention. Second, it is becoming more and more evident that our church members don't necessarily agree with that. We have well under half of our Sunday morning attendance here for Wednesdays; sometimes we have about one-third. At some point we let people think that they wouldn't go to hell because they miss Wednesday night... so they miss. What does out declining interest in Wednesday night services show?

• Our people don't have their priorities straight? (True if going to the building is the priority)
  
• Families are just too busy? (So they solve that by cutting back on church?)
  
• Families need more time together? (Which usally means watching more TV)
  
• What we do on Wednesday doesn't seem spiritually significant?

Maybe we need to move away from the attactional mode (doing neat stuff to get people here) to a more missional approach (go out into the community to do good deeds)? Maybe what is changed in not that "you gotta go every time the doors are open" mindset that I grew up with (and still have). Maybe what has changed is the idea that coming to church is essentially serving God. Maybe our people are way ahead of us and understand that serving God is done out there and the last thing we need is more time at the building.

This is one of many things that I don't know.

With All Your Might

The familiar words of Ecclesiastes 9:10 remind us to serve God with all our strength, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." I remember reading of a small boy who came home from school all excited. He told he mother that he had tried out for a part in his first grade play, and he had gotten a part. When she asked him what was his part, he said, "I get to sit in the audience and clap and cheer!" We can learn two things from that little boy:

• First, it is important to have people who clap and cheer. Those who encourage and support are just as important as those who may have "bigger" parts.
  
  
• Second, if your gift is to clap and cheer, then you must do that enthusiastically and with all your might!

The church is a family where everyone is valuable and everyone has a role. To whatever degree God has gifted you, to that degree you must serve Him and His church. But no one gift is any more important than any other gift. No work is more important than any other work. However there is another important message in the end of Ecclesiastes 9:10--

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Whatever our task is in building up the body of Christ, we had better get busy doing it for the time is coming when there will be no more work. Whatever it is that God is calling you to do or to be in His kingdom, stop putting it off! We need people who clap and cheer alright, but we need them to start doing so NOW!

Voting for Issues... With Our Lives

The Congressional battle for Oregon's 5th congressional district illustrates the something of the problem of making moral issues the planks in a political platform. Businessman Mile Erickson is the Republican candidate in Oregon's 5th Congressional District and is running on pro-life platform against Democratic state Sen. Kurt Schrader. But when his girlfriend became pregnant some years ago, he told her that he didn't want a baby, offered to pay for the abortion and then drove her to the abortion clinic. And then they went off on a trip to Mexico together. So abortion is wrong, but then when I or my significant other needs one, maybe its not so wrong. I remember seeing polls that suggest that 75% of Americans believe that abortion is morally wrong and that about the same 75% believe that it should be a choice.

My point is not about abortion. The example could just as easily be the many pro-family, traditional-values candidates who themselves have been divorced (an all too common fact). Christians should be for Biblical values. Because we live in a country where we have the right to participate in the selection of leaders, it makes sense that our values will go with us into the polls. But voting for values is never a simple thing to do. I could say "I won't vote for McCain because he is divorced and I won't vote for Obama because he's pro-choice." We should be concerned with values like caring for the poor, caring for the environment and caring about peace. And we'll all have different ideas about which of those values can be best addressed by which party or candidate.

Do we care about traditional values? Here's what we need to do-- live them! The reason the church has such a muted voice in speaking to the world about values is not because we aren't politically savvy or connected. It is because we have been so ineffective in living our values before the world. The divorce rate for evangelical Christians is the same as the general culture. The number of Christian women who have had abortions is shockingly high. The church is better known by many for raising money for its own buildings than spending money to help the poor. Until we are known as people who consistently (though not perfectly) live our values, we will have little success in interesting the non-Christian world in them.

Sunday Complaints

I got some complaints about our worship service yesterday morning. No, it was not the video highlight montage from our Upwards soccer and cheerleading camp. And it wasn't that we sang "Friends" with all the pictures of the Foster's, Mack's and McDonney's (families that are leaving us) which brought tears to many eyes and lumps in many throats. No, the "criticism" was that the service was short; we ended almost exactly at 11:30! For the record, the sermon was 25 minutes long, so at least I gave everyone their money's worth there. We sang mostly up-tempo songs, so I guess we plowed through them quicker than usual. So we ended exactly "on-time" and many thought that it was too short! I promise to do better next week (hee hee).

Will King did a long version of the Upward video that we showed Friday night (with a U-2 soundtrack) and we showed the short version in church during the announcements. So being a true conservative, I re-cycled will's unused footage and made a new Sunday night. The lesson was on the "Ripples" of influence that our words and actions have on others. When the church lives together in peace and love, we shine like stars in the heavens (Phil 2:14-15). Christians wives (1 Pet 3:1-2), Christian slaves (1 Tim 6:1), and Christians under stress (1 Pet 2:12) all impact those around them through the way they live their lives. Our influnce goes out like ripples on a pond, and we never know who is going to to pointed to the Father because of us. The Fosters, Mack's and McDonney's have touched us (and hopefully, we them) in many ways. The ripples will be felt for a long time.

Here's the video--

Nemesis: No Ad Required

The following article was orignally an ad on craigslist; I stumbled on it on wadehodges.com. For the record. I don't routinely sit around reading other people's blogs looking for stuff to steal for my own. Most of the stuff on my blog is both good and original. Unfortunately, the stuff that is good isn't original, and the stuff that is original isn't very good! (And no, that last observation isn't orginal). Anyway, here's the craigslist post--

I’ve been trying to think of ways to spice up my life. I’m 35 years old, happily married with two kids and I have a good job in insurance. But somethings missing. I feel like I’m old before my time. I need to inject some excitement into my daily routine before its too late. I need a challenge, something to get the adrenaline pumping again. In short, I need a nemesis. I’m willing to pay $350 up front for you services as an arch enemy over the next six months. Nothing crazy. Steal my parking space, knock my coffee over, trip me when Im running to catch the BART and occasionaly whisper in my ear, “Ahha, we meet again”. That kind of thing. Just keep me on my toes. Complacency will be the death of me. You need to have an evil streak and be blessed with innate guile and cunning. You should also be adept at inconsicuous pursuit. Evil laugh preferred. Send me a photo and a brief explanation why you would be a good nemesis.
British accent preferred.

So do we all need a Goldfinger or a Dr. Moriarity always lurking in the shadows, waiting to do us harm? That would keep us on our toes, wouldn't it? The truth is that we have the arches of all archvillian's who "prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). He is never deadlier that when we get complacent and think that he isn't really there. He is there and he is the master of inconspicuous pursuit. He is real to jump out atanytime time with an evil laugh, "Ahha, we meet again!" Peter's warning in 1 Peter 5 begins, "Be self-controlled and alert." If we aren't ready for him all the time, we won't be ready.

Looking Upward

We are in the middle (as of about 7:15 p.m. tonight it will be the middle) of our week-long Upward camp. If you aren't familiar with the concept of Upward, you can read more here. But the short explanation is that Upward is like VBS using sports (in our case, it's soccer and cheer-leading). Kids learn about playing soccer and cheering, but the coaches teach them about Jesus at the same time. Some of the kids come from families that aren't in church, and that is the point. I get to get up during our final assembly and invite their parents to visit our church.

What is a bit different for us is that we are working with people from Denbigh Christian Church. And Warwick Memorial Methodist Church. And Saint Jerome Catholic Church. And those folks don't look exactly like us; some may not look anything like us. I guess if we wanted to, we could find a thing or two to disagree and debate over. But what we are doing for this week is just trying to stay focused on Jesus and to point children (and their parents) closer to Him.

And when this week is over, we'll try to keep doing the same thing! Maybe the more we look UPWARD, the less likely we are to fight OUTWARD. OK, so maybe it's not always that simple. But maybe it should be.

A New Command

Sunday morning's sermon stressed the need for Christians to "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God" (Rom 15:7). We bring praise to God when we are able to live in unity and love despite our differences. Paul quotes a series of OT texts later in the chapter that talk about being a light to the nations (Gentiles). In Philippians 2:14, Paul tells us that we are to shine like stars in the universe. Jesus' prayer in John 17 for his disciples is that the wold will know through them that the Father had sent Jesus into the world. The means by which all of these are to happen is that disciples live together in love and unity. We proclaim the gospel to the world by the way that we love one another and live with one another. The most familiar statement of this is our NT reading for today-- John 13:34-35

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

But for some reason, the immediate context of this new command never really hit me before... or at least, I don't remember it hitting me. Jesus gives the apostles this new command right AFTER he predicts the coming betrayal of Judas and right BEFORE he predicts the coming denial of Peter. So this "new command" stressing the absolute importance of disciples loving one another is given between the bookends of the two greatest failures of Jesus' closest friends to love Him. It is almost as if Jesus wants to make sure that we don't betray each other the way that His closest friends betrayed Him!

So... what are we going to do about that? Historically the church hasn't been very successful in living out Jesus' desires here. Are we going to get better at this?

Sad Commentary

An Indiana Wal-Mart gas station made one of those mistakes that caused local drivers to stampede to the pumps... at midnight, no less. Some sort of computer error (which is usually shorthand for "computer user error") had gasoline selling at well below the expected price. In the middle of the night, drivers began rushing to the pumps to get this once in a lifetime price break. Sadly, the error was discovered quickly... and corrected even more quickly. What was the low, low price that started the stampede? $3.09 a gallon! What a sad commentary on the state of our economy. Sad unless you are an oil sheik or have a lot of stock in Exxon! Who would have believed that $3.09 per gallon would ever be a "too good to be true" price for gas?

Four or five years ago, I got it in my mind that what I really needed was a Ford Explorer; I even got to the point where I was even pricing them at used car lots. I am so thankful that grand plan didn't work out! Never mind the environment... who can afford to fill up one of those things now?

Who Do You Smell Like?

I had to go pick up gas yesterday before I could cut the grass. I have two plastic 2 gallon gas cans, and 2-3 or three times a year I have to go fill them up. And I hate it. No matter how fast I zip to the gas station and back, the car ends up smelling like gas for several gas afterward. No, none of the gas sloshes out of the cans. Yes, I put the sealed cans in the trunk. But no matter how careful I am, the smell of gas permeates the car. Some people like the smell of gas. It should smell great since it costs as much a gallon as Channel #5. But once the car starts smelling like gas, it won't go away.

Paul talks about his life as a smell that permeates and affects those around him-- "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." (2 Cor 2:15). The influence of the gospel permeated Paul's life and was unmistakable in everything he did. Not everyone liked the smell or appreciated the influence. So Paul says, "To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life" (2:16).

We are to be the aroma of Christ in the world today. He is to influence our lives to the point where we look like Him, sound like Him and smell like Him. And then we will impact the world like Him. The when people want to know more about Christ, they can just follow their nose!

Object Permanence and the Unseen God

Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget coined the term “object permanence.” Newborn infants are incapable of believing in what they don’t see. Hide a favorite toy under a blanket, and for them it no longer exists. Piaget studies led him to conclude that says infants don’t outgrow this until about 7-8 months of age (now believed to be 3-4 months). It is part of the maturation process to be able to believe that things that you don’t see really do exist.

Many in our materialistic world lack the spiritual maturity to live out this object permanence. “Seeing is believing,” we say. Only those things which are verifiable by our senses are real, and while we may give lip-service to spiritual realities beyond, they have little to do with how we live our lives day to day. God is unseen, and therefore for many He remains unreal.

Tell that to Sennacherib. Sennacherib commanded an army that had never known defeat. The Assyrians were feared all over the world for their brutal conquests. They had developed the chariot as weapon of war and invented the chain-mail armor that would continue to be used for several thousand years. For Assyria, war was a science and slaughter was an art form. This was an army that had never known defeat, and in our Old Testament reading for today, that army was camped right outside the gates of Jerusalem.

In 2 Kings 18:19-25, the field commander of the Assyrian army issued a challenge to Hezekiah of Judah, spoken in the hearing of all of Jerusalem. In that challenge he chides Judah for depending on their alliance with Egypt to protect them; Pharaoh was but a “splintered reed of a staff, which pierces a man’s hand and wounds him if he leans on it” (18:21). He also chides Judah for depending on their God to protect them. Had not Hezekiah removed the high places and idols from Jerusalem? Every nation that had been ground up by the Assyrian war machine had their gods, but not god could protect them from the might of Assyria. How much less could this unseen God without idols and high places save them?

Hezekiah refused to answer the challenge. He took the transcript of the challenge of Sennacherib to the Temple. Hezekiah had no army and no options. Part of the Assyrian taunt had been “I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!” (18:23). Hezekiah had no options but faith. So he spread the transcript of Sennacherib’s challenge before the Lord and prayed—

"It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.” (2 Kings 19:17-19)

The next morning, Sennacherib woke up to find 185,000 of his crack troops had died during the night. Sennacherib and his army fled in terror back to Nineveh where he was assassinated by his own sons. Sennacherib and his army that had never known defeat had been destroyed by an Unseen God.

It is easy for us to become so busy with the things of this world that we can see that we forget about the reality of what we cannot. Sennacherib would today trade the totality of his empire for one more moment of time to fall before that Unseen God.

Accept One Another

In the 1930's, the key issue that divided many churches was pre-millennialism, an understanding of end-time events that believes Jesus will return to earth to establish a literal thousand year reign over a literal earthly kingdom. Churches were split and relationships lost over this issue. I met a brother several years ago who, as a young man in the 1930's, was forced out of the church that brought him to the Lord because he held the "wrong view" on the end time. His eyes glistened with tears as he told me the story more than 50 years later.

In 1933, Foy E. Wallace and Charles Neal met to debate this issue. Neal began his first speech with an appeal for unity and mutual understanding among brothers who differed in how they approached the texts that taught about the end time. Wallace, who had led the charge to eradicate pre-millennialism among our churches, made it clear what would have to happen before there could be unity among us--

I would like to say, with all kindness and reverence, as I begin my part of the discussion, that if Mr. Neal and those who stand with him had always preached only as I have been preaching, and as those brethren that stand with me on these issues have preached, there would have been no alienation.”

Wallace basically says, “We can have unity when and only when you agree with me!” That does not sound much like either kindness nor reverence, does it? That rather smacks of the Pharisaic arrogance that is destined to perpetually divide and alienate! If unity and fellowship is only possibly when we can agree on everything, then we may as well turn our the light, cause the party is over!

Do we really want to make salvation depend on a correct understanding of the book of Revelation as it relates to the end-time? Do we really want to make fellowship and unity also depend on our understanding it alike? Unity will never come from our agreement on the issues or our similarity in church practice. Unity is the creation of God; only Christ makes us one. This unity is lived out in practical terms when we "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." (Rom 15:7). If Christ accepts us despite our flaws, then we must be willing to accept each other that way as well. We must fellowship our “erring brethren” because that's the only kind we have!

A Wing and a Prayer

Grant Stubbs and Owen Wilson were enjoying their hobby-- flying their Microlight Airplaine. Evidently, some people enjoy strapping an engine to a kite and taking it up a couple of thousand feet. Go figure! They were flying up the sloping valley of Pelorus Sound in New Zealand when their engine spluttered and shuttered and then died. It's pretty serious to be flying a single-engine airplane of any kind when the engine dies., so Stubbs and Wilson did what most of us would do in similar circumstances. THEY PRAYED! "My friend and I are both Christians so our immediate reaction in a life-threatening situation was to ask for God's help," Stubbs told The Associated Press.

Obviously, since Stubbs was being interviewed about the incident, things must have turned out well. They did. The men were able to make a dead-stick landing, and the plane lightly came to rest. As they say, "Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing." But what made this story a story is that they happened to land right beside to a sign that read, "Jesus is Lord." Cool! It would have been better if the sign said, "Jesus Saves" or "God is My Co-Pilot." But what a great reminder that prayer really does work.

Here's a little known, less often relied upon truth. Prayer works even when you are not in life-threatening situations!

Suspending Disbelief

I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie last night. Hey, small groups are over and I had to do something on Tuesday night! The best (and most accurate) summary of the movie I have heard was that it was like being in the middle of a video game. It was a non-stop run-jump-shoot action game from the opening scene, and I found myself reaching for a video-game controller. And the action was not exactly what one would call believable. I wonder how many people will come out of the movie thinking that all you need to do to survive a direct nuclear explosion is hide in a lead-lined refrigerator? And if I ever need to catch up to a speeding truck, I now know that you can do so by swinging through the trees on Tarzan vines! Well, you know that you are really going to exercise your "suspend disbelief" muscles when you come away thinking, "Boy, that wasn't nearly as believable as Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Is faith in God something akin to suspending disbelief? Do some of the stories in the Bible sound a bit like the plot from an Indiana Jones movie? A strong wind divides the Red Sea just in time for the Jews to make their escape? A chariot of fire swoops down to carry Elijah to heaven? An army walking around a walled city, blows their trumpets and the wall falls down? There are some pretty unbelievable stories in the Bible, aren't there? So must we suspend disbelief in order to embrace these stories? No, at the center of these stories is an All-Powerful, All-Just and All-Loving God who is acting in human history to accomplish His will. Once you believe in God, then these stories are much more than divine special effects. If God truly exists, then all things are possible.

For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
......you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived,
......no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:3-4)

Divine Illumination

Just in case you are wondering where I get my sermon ideas, I thought I would share this picture of me at the moment of divine illumination. Kinda transcendent, isn't it?

Michele King took this at our church camp-out. The smoke from the campfire was drifting just right to picked up by the sun streaming through the trees. I wish sermons did come from above like this. Actually, they do come from above; they just take a lot more work than this. But then, if you look at the picture, most everyone else is ward at work getting camp ready and I'm just standing around with my arms crossed! Well, someone has to ponder the great questions of life... like "I wonder when they are going to get supper ready?"

You can see more pictures of our Memorial Day camp-out here.

The Kingdom of God and Man

My sermon yesterday was about the relationship of the Christian to the government from Romans 13. It isn't surprising that Paul has information dealing with the Christian and the civil authority; he is, after all, writing to Rome. Knowing the persecution that is brewing on the horizon for the Romans church, we are a bit surprised that Paul is so gracious when addressing Caesar's government. Paul sees the king as God's servant (Rom 13:4-6) to do good. The word "servant" in verse 4 is the word for "deacon" while the different word for "servant" in verse 6 is applied to the priest in Hebrews 8:2. Paul's general teaching is that the Christian is to obey the civil authorities, honor those who serve, and pay our taxes.

That is his general teaching. The question that has stumped believers since Paul's day is when we get more specific. How involved should Christians to be in governmental affairs? Are we to be so focus on the kingdom of God that we refuse to concern ourselves the kingdoms of men? Should we use political process and power to to make the world better? Do we stand outside humans systems of power, pointing to their flaws and inviting people into God's rule? Do we compromise something about the kingdom of God when we combine it too closely with the power-structure of men? I used the examples of David Lipscomb and James A. Garfield to illustrate how differently some in our movement read scripture here-- Lipscomb believed that Christians shouldn't even vote and Garfield was elected the 20th president of the United States.

An excellent discussion of some of the issues can be viewed in this video. Here Chuck Colson, Gregory Boyd and Shane Claiborne take very different approaches. Obviously, there are generational differences here. (One of these three guys really dresses funny... in a coat and tie!). All three men have written books on the topic of the Christian, politics and the government. They all have substantive differences in their approach, and you will disagree with each at one point or another. But Colson, Boyd and Claiborne are all focused on serving the Crucified One and reflecting His values and kingdom in the world today.

As the election (finally) gets closer, we must avoid the temptation to think that all Christians can or should vote the same way. We must all be focused on the kingdom of God, but how to be the best stewards of our political freedom will certainly vary from Christian to Christian.

Take Up and Read

CNN reported that "a fairly large number" of New Testaments were burned in a town outside Tel Aviv. According to reports, Uzi Aharon, the deputy mayor of Or-Yehuda organized students who confiscated and burned several hundred copies of the New Testament. The deputy mayor gave several interviews to Israeli media talking about how he had collected the New Testaments and other Messianic propaganda to stop their spread through out his city. Soon he was doing damage control when pressed by foreign media whose Russian, Italian and French audiences back home were highly offended. He claimed that he had only confiscated the material and unruly students had burned them after he had left. The incident upset many religious freedom advocates and others in Israel; public burnings of sacred texts brings back images of Nazi book-burnings of Jewish sacred texts in the 1930's.

Messianic Jews are a minority in Israel. They are Jewish and practice the rituals of Judaism, but they also believe in the divinity of Jesus. Much like the first Christians in the New Testament, they maintain the dietary restrictions and festivals of Judaism, but see their meaning in the salvation brought by the Messiah Jehshua (Jesus Christ). Messianic Jews often suffer discrimination in Israel. The CNN story pointed to a bombing at the house of one Messianic pastor and the boycott of a high school Bible competition when one of the winners was discovered to be a Messianic Jew. (You gotta love that, right?)

On a lark several years ago, I counted the number of Bibles I had in my office-- there were 22. Granted, half of those were versions included with my computer Bible. But access to God's word is not much of a problem for any of us; no one come barging in to confiscate and burn our Bibles. That is a blessing that many in the world cannot claim. Read your Bible today... and then pray for your brothers and sisters around the world who may find that difficult to do.

On Mowing the Lawn

I am in the rather unique position (especially for a preacher) of living in the same house in which I grew up. Mom and Dad moved back to Arkansas after living 45 years in Virginia (they decided they didn’t like it) to help care for my grandmother in her declining years. They made us an offer we couldn't refuse, and we were able to buy the old homestead. If I would have known when I was a kid that I would one day own the place, I would have taken much better care of it!

Something dawned on me yesterday as I was mowing that same old lawn for what seemed like the two jillioneth time. When I was a kid, I hated cutting the grass more than just about anything. It wasn't like it was such extremely hard work. When my Dad was a kid, he had to chop cotton all day long. I know, because when I complained about cutting the grass, he would tell me about chopping cotton all day long. Mowing the lawn only took about an hour and a half, but that was time I couldn’t spend on more important things-- like playing basketball or tennis! Dad even at one point bought a riding lawn-mower. I still have the dent in the side of MY HOUSE where my sister crashed into the house on the mower, but that's another story. I don't know why I despised cutting the grass so much, but I did.

So there I was yesterday mowing the same lawn that I have mowed since I was 12, and it hit me, “I really kinda enjoy cutting the grass now.” It's not just that I don't mind it so much anymore; I really do enjoy it. It's relaxing. And it’s not like I have to waste time anymore playing basketball or tennis! What I once saw as a dreaded chore when I was a kid now is a source of relaxation. In other words, at some point between 1969 and 2008, I got older… and wiser.

A Place for Broken People

A Catholic church in Bertha, MN has filed a restraining order to prevent the parents of a severely autistic 13-year-old boy from attending services. The church claims that the boy (all 6 feet, 225 pounds of him) "struck a child during mass, nearly knocks elderly parishioners over when he hastily exits, spits, sometimes urinates in church, fights when he is being restrained." He once pulled a girl into his lap (his parents sit on his lap to calm him) and got into two cars and started the engines (his parents claim that the sound of revving engines also calm him). The church offered to set up live video in a private room or even have private services, but his parents refused. They sit on the back room or in the cry room, an they have been leaving during the closing song to avoid Adam contacting people. They believe Adam has a right to be in church, and his special needs create a special need for God to be in his life. They continued to bring Adam to church despite the court order, although they now have found a new congregation.

This is likely much more complicated than comes across in a short news story (which you can read and watch). Could it be possible that this church is much too concerned about decorum or embarrassment and not enough about meeting the needs of this family and teaching people how to mediate God's grace to broken people in a fallen world? Could it also be possible that Adam's parents, in a rush to have others accept him, are placing him in an overstimulating environment that he can't handle? Who knows. Is Adam behavior really dangerous to others or just embarrassing and undignified? (In the story, the truly dangerous behaviors appear to be largely one-time events). Are church leaders really trying to protect the safety of people or the image of the church? I don't think one can tell from this news article, and so its a good idea to reserve judgment. In fact, it is usually a good idea to reserve judgment!

But isn't church supposed to be a place for broken people? Most of us can sit quietly in our pew (well, our chair) and act dignified. We don't pee on ourselves, pitch fits or bowl over people in the foyer... So good for us! But we are all broken people. Our dignified and sanctified exterior is just an act. How embarrassing it must be for God to have people like us sitting in His church, singing His songs and eating at His table. But God loves us despite our brokenness. If want church to be a place where only the dignified and sanctified are allowed, then we'll have to take our restraining order against ourselves!

Small Group Me (Millennium Edition)

Just so the Looney's don't feel left out of my blog ramblings on small groups and technology, here is a picture snapped off of the Moore's TV as Bob, Kate and Jack (who had gone to bed before the picture was taken) joined our small group Tuesday night all the way from Houston via the magic of web cam. Isn't technology wonderful! It was great to hang out with them, even if it was long distance. (It might have just been me, but Bob and Kate sure seemed to move a lot more herky-jerkily than they used to!)

BTW, the iPhone is a wonderful phone and iPod... but what a lousy camera! Or maybe I'm just a lousy photographer. Or perhaps both.

Are You a Wise Guy?

In today’s Old Testament reading (1 Kings 2-3), Solomon begins his rule as king over Israel. God appeared to him in a dream telling him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5). As children we often played the game of "If you could have any wish, what would it be?" My answer was always, "Three more wishes." Solomon plays that game for real, and he tells God that his heart's desire was for wisdom to lead God's people. That pleased God, and He tells Solomon in 1 Kings 3:10-13--

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

So Solomon gets what amounted to three more wishes! He gets wisdom to rule... plus great wealth and honor. The stage is set for one of the most spectacular reigns in history.

But in the next chapter, the seeds are sown for Solomon's downfall. (Actually, it probably starts in 3:1ff as Solomon takes his frist foreign wife). Beginning in 4:20, Solomon begins to accumulate the baubles of power. He amasses great numbers of horses and chariots along with massive barns and stalls in which to house them. So what’s the big deal? Are not such extravagances the privilege of power? Not if Solomon would have been... well, wise! Moses instructs the future kings of Israel in Deuteronomy 17:16,17—

The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

But Solomon does acquire many horses and soon will amass staggering mounts of gold and silver (so much that he doesn't even count the silver, 2 Chron 9:20). Later will come the 1000 wives and concubines. And in keeping with the warning of Moses, the result was that his heart was led away from God.

Solomon here provides a warning between the difference in knowing truth and living truth, between having wisdom and living wisely. Solomon had great wisdom... he just didn't let it get in the way of how he lived! I wonder how many of us fall into this same trap? Do you believe that God and spiritual things are the most important realities? Do we really live that way? For a wise guy, Solomon was really pretty foolish. How about us?

Unity in Diversity

Someone has said that if two people in any relationship are exactly the same, then one of them is unnecessary. In the text we looked at in Sunday’s sermon (Rom 12:3-8), Paul makes it clear that he does not expect us to all be alike. We are as different from one another as are the different parts of our physical bodies different in form and function. Paul's point is that we are still one body despite those differences, connected not only to God but to each other as well (see verse 5).

And he argues here for a diversity of gifts that benefit the body. His whole argument for unity here is based on the assumption that real and necessary diversity exists in the body of Christ. The Christians in Rome were gifted in such diverse ways as prophecy, service, teaching, encouragement, financial giving, leadership, and showing mercy. And so it is with us. While we may all function in some ways in every one of these (and many other areas) areas, our diversity shows up in the unique ways that God gifts one area above others. Unity does not make us boring clones of one another. Rather our diversity blesses the whole body as we use our different gifts to God's glory.

In a good marriage, the husband and wife act as a unit; they are “one flesh” in a very special sense. But husbands and wives in even the best marriage always have differences. Show me a couple that never argues and I’ll show you a couple that never talks! (And even they “argue in their hearts”). Marriage is based upon a God-given difference between husbands and wives so that they complement one another in many different ways. Sameness will just not work… viva la difference! And unity in the church is also based on differences, the commitment to use our different gifts for the glory of God and the blessing of the family.

Like a human body and a good marriage, unity is found in diverse and different Christians using their very different gifts and perspectives to glorify the one God and uplift the one body. If unity requires us to become alike, then unity will always remain an impossible dream. Unity is possible (make that commanded) only when we accept our gifts different gifts along with the fact that they do make us different. When we are free to do that, then we are free to use our gifts to serve one another… and the one and only God.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Lynn and I were without a small group last night. The college age group that meets at our house ended early for the summer due to things like graduation and concerts and people moving away. We decided to use our unexpected free night to go see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It is very rare for us to see a movie at all (this is the first this year). But we had been blown away by the first installment in the Narnia series-- The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. We had been really looking forward to the sequel. I won't take the time to do a full review of the movie, but take the time to look at the reviews at New Wineskins and Plugged-In Online.

Here's my opinion. Prince Caspian was a great movie. There were some ways that it was better than the first. The special effects were stunning. There were more laugh-out-loud funny moments. It really was was a great movie. So why didn't I like it as much as the first one? Probably for the same reason that I didn't like the second book nearly as well as the first. Behind all the fantasy and epic battles, the story behind The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is Lewis fantasy version of the biggest story ever told. Aslan the Lion lays down his life to redeem Edmund's betrayal and rises from the dead to defeat the forces of evil. Hard to improve on that plot!

I read that the movie people were actually thinking about skipping Caspian (which is kind of a bridge story to the rest of the Narnia series) and going straight to Lewis' third book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (now in pre-production for a 2010 release). They did Caspian because it is the only other book to feature all four of the Pevensie children. Well, I'm glad they didn't skip it! Lord willing, well be right there in 2010 to see the next one. And we'll buy the DVD when it's out. We just might not watch it 5-6 times like we have the first one!

Small Group 2.0

During our Tuesday night small group Bible study a week ago, Ken told us that he would be in D.C. all this week and miss the next study. Ken and Alicia host the study, but Alicia assured us that the house would be there for us even though Ken would not. I jokingly said that Ken could probably set up a teleconference or something from his hotel room and join the small group that way. Evidently I had thrown down the gauntlet. So when I walked in to the study Tuesday night, there was Ken's face on their TV grinning at me and waving. We had our study as if Ken was sitting right there with us. The mike was so good that he said he could hear what people were saying went they went into the kitchen during refreshment time (so we had to be careful what we said about him).

What a great idea! Maybe if we wire people up like this, it will encourage more participation in Bible study. After all, everyone likes to watch TV, right? You get to stay home and watch TV and participate in the Bible study group discussion all at the same time! Sure, it was a little hard to share refreshments, so the Bible model of "table fellowship" will need to be adjusted a bit. And there would always be the temptation to change the channel when the study got a little slow (as if that could ever happen).

But it really was a interesting experience. We immediately started thinking about ways to do this same thing to include members of our group who have recently moved away from our area. We have this technology, we may as well use it.

Anniversary

I must really be getting old-- I totally missed my anniversary yesterday. It came and went and I didn't even think about it at all until Lynn reminded me last night. No, it wasn't my wedding anniversary; one doesn't grow old by forgetting many of those! No, it was the 28th year that Lynn and I have been at Denbigh. The second Sunday in May of 1980 was when I started working full-time with the Denbigh Church of Christ. I was hired as the youth minister... and 3 months later Lloyd Unsell left to move back to Oklahoma and I took over as the interim preacher. And I have been taking up space filling-in ever since. Wow, how time flies!

I heard about a guy who was asked at his golden wedding anniversary party what fifty years of marriage had taught him. He say, “Well, I’ve learned that marriage is the best teacher of all. It teaches you loyalty, forbearance, meekness, self-restraint, forgiveness... and a lot of other qualities that I wouldn't have needed to know if I would have stayed single.”

Bad joke... but an element of truth. Many of the qualities that God wants to teach us are important because we mush live together in community with other believers. And it is that community of believers that helps us to learn those qualities. I love and appreciate the Denbigh church community who has taught me so much about what it means to be a Christian. I look forward to the next 28 years.

Sore Spot

I have a blister on my big toe, and it really bothers me. Blisters are never fun, but this one is a particular sore spot because of where it came from. A little back story, which I know will be infinitely fascinating to you. Last year, I bought a pair of Nike Air Cross Trainers on sale at one of those factory outlet shoe places. I never wear Nike because they are usually much too narrow, but there were 4-E and they felt OK in the store. But soon thereafter I realized that I had paid $50 for a pair of shoes that killed my feet... and I went back to my old pair. Of course me being me, I complained about how uncomfortable those shoes were. And Lynn being Lynn, she thought that if I was going to spend $50 on a pair of shoes, I oughta wear 'em at least until they were completely broken in. After all, they look brand new (and they are because they're too uncomfortable to wear). And besides, you don't buy new shoes right before all the walking up and down all those stairs at Pepperdine.

Well, I went ahead and ordered a new pair of my old standard New Balance 608's so that I wouldn't have to wear those uncomfortable Nike's on our California trip. And now I have a blister on my toe, and it's a real sore spot. Not just because the blister hurts, but because (once again) Lynn was right and I wasn't. You would think with all the practice I have had being wrong through the years that I would be better at admitting it, or at least not being so shocked when it happens. But pride really can get in the way sometimes. Solomon said. "Pride only leads to arguments, but those who take advice are wise." (Proverbs 13:10, NCV). I should have listened.

Anyone in the market for a very-slightly-used pair of Nike's?

From Hosanna to the Heart of Worship

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
........“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
..............“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
...............(from today's New Testament reading-- Luke 11:37-40)

Mike Pilavachi tells of a time when his church was making the transition from renting a school to moving into their own a state of art (i.e. “expensive”) church building. It was an exciting time, but to him it seemed that something had been lost in their worship. After thinking about the problem, he decided, “We became connoisseurs of worship rather than participants.” They fell into the trap of critiquing worship rather than worshipping. They had state-of-the-art sound and lights, so they were constantly fussing with them. They had access to audiovisuals, so they tweaked and experimented. So Pilavachi got rid of their “order of worship.” He decided (with advance planning, one might assume) that everything would be spontaneous. People got into circles and shared prayers, readings. Songs were started by one group and were gradually picked up by other groups. When they stopped focusing on the worship event, they found the heart of worship.

The people in Jerusalem worshipped Jesus… with their words. These same voices only a week later latter would be screaming “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” As Jesus rode into Jerusalem admit the shouts of praise and outward signs of devotion, was he not struck by the difference between their words and their heart? I wonder if He is ever struck by that difference today? Can we give God our worship acts and our worship words without ever giving Him our hearts?

When the church mentioned above did finally go back to their normal order and routine of worship, they sung a song especially written by their worship leader Matt Redmond for the occasion, “The Heart of Worship.” The song is a powerful reminder of what gives our "Hosannas" real meaning--

When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come,

Longing just to bring, something that’s of worth that will bless Your heart.

I’ll bring you more than a song, For a song in itself
........is not what you have required

You search much deeper within, the way things appear,
........You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to the heart of worship—
........and it’s all about You, it’s all about You.

I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it—
........When it’s all about You, it’s all about You

God is calling us to the heart of worship. The heart of worship isn’t our songs, our order or even our preaching. It’s all about Him.

Risky Business

In our Old Testament reading for today (1 Samuel 25), David is on the run from Saul and making a living in the "security business" or maybe the "protection rackets." He was hiring out his sword to protect wealthy landowners from robbers and rustlers. Or maybe he was taking payments not to do the robbing and rustling himself. One of his clients is a wealthy land baron named Nabal who was described as “surly and mean in his dealings” while his wife Abigail is said to be “an intelligent and beautiful woman” (1 Sam 25:3), and these descriptions become the backdrop of this story. David provides his basic no-frills protection services to Nabal and his men. The name “Nabal” means “fool” in Hebrew, and Nabal lives up to his name when he decides not to pay David in 1 Samuel 25:10-11—

“Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

That reminds me of Robert Duval’s famous line in True Grit when he answers John Wayne, “Well, that’s mighty big talk for a one-eyed fat man.” Nabal thought David’s status as a fugitive from Saul would cause him to turn and run. He thought wrong; David straps on his sword and rushes to make Nabal an offer that he can’t refuse.

One of Nabal’s servants sees disaster riding down upon them and rushes to Abigail to beg for her help. Outwardly Abigail is the most powerless person in the story. She was a woman in a patriarchal culture in which women could not own property, testify in court, or control their own lives apart from their father or husband. And yet, it is Abigail alone who has the courage to do the right thing. She steps between the irresistible force which was David and the immovable object that was Nabal. She makes David a gift of food and speaks words of peace, truth and reconciliation, and she succeeds in averting a massacre. David recognizes in Abigail the working of God (25:32-33) and he sends her home in peace.

Abigail was used as God's instrument of peace, but that was only possible because she was willing to put herself at risk in the process. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and those who follow Him must be people of peace. And when act to bring God's peace in the lives of others, then we are being children of God. But like Abigail-- and like Jesus Himself-- we will never be peacemakers until we place ourselves at risk. To step between warring factions in an effort to broker peace is always risky business-- whether that is in families, in the workplace or in our churches. Peace is always risky business, but it is also God's business. And that makes it our business.

Poscards from the Left Coast

Our annual oddysey to the land of fruits and nuts for the Pepperdine Lectures is now in the books. My Google gadget countdown timer now reads 364 days until Pepperdine 2009. (Sigh). The trip was wonderful-- after our initial flight was postponed 3 hours; everything went as smooth as silk. Air Tran did much better than Delta has the last 3 years-- we did get tired of pretzels after awhile!

We spend 4 days on the front end in Palm Springs doing absolutely nothing except relaxing. Well, we did have to go to the timeshare sales pitch as payment for the stay, and that was fun. We have stayed in these resorts for the last 3-4 years (this was the first time in Palm Springs). At some point they will figure it out that as long as they keep giving us a nice room for $200 or so for 3-4 days, there is do reason to buy anything! Lets hope they don't.

It reached 101 degrees one day, but it didn't seem all that hot (dry heat). We took the tram ride up from the desert some 10,000 feet or so o the top of Mt. San Jacinto. Lynn loved it... except the part where we rode the tram 10,000 feet up the side of the mountain. It was about 30 degrees cooler once we got there, and we enjoyed hiking around for several hours.

Everything changed once we got to Pepperdine-- from lazy-laid-back to frenetic. The lectures started at 7:30 each morning and went until 10:00 that night, and we didn't miss but one session one day. It was good having Randy and Better Tanner with us again this year. One day we hope to have a whole group of folks from Denbigh trek out there with us. We were so busy that I forgot to do to the displays and buy books like I usually do. I think maybe that as we (I) get older, it is taking longer up and down the mountain between sessions! The lectures and worship times were great. As always, we were there an hour early to stake the front row for praise time with Hallal.

I tried several times to make entries to the blog from my phone, but alas the technology would not cooperate. It seems that Blogger doesn't work with the Safari browser on the iPhone, so the real-time reports that I intended to make did not materialize. And now I have forgotten all the witty things I was going to say. Suffice it to say that this weeks was once again a great time of spiritual renewal and uplift. To paraphrase Jim McGuiggen, "Everyone should be forced to attend the Pepperdine lectures... if they want to."

Let's Hope Things Get Better

Last year our Pepperdine trip got off to a rough start-- we were bumped off our Delta flight and given a very scary taxi ride through a driving rain storm by a taxi driver who talked on her cell the entire trip... and who got lost on the way to the Norfolk airport. Once we got there, our new flight left late and got to LA even later... only to have Delta lose our luggage in the process. This year we are beginning (with Air Tran this time) canceling our original flight. Hopefully it will get better from here.

Those Crazy Cell Phones

My countdown Google-Gadget timer now says "1." As in one more day after today before we leave on our annual Pepperdine trip. We'll spend 3 days before the lectures in sunny Palm Springs where the projected temp for Saturday is 99 degrees! So that will be different. After 3 straight days of cold drizzle here, I need to start praying that God will give me one warm dry day so I can cut our foot-tall grass. Otherwise I'll have to rent a hay-machine after we get back from the trip.

My cell phone went off just as we were saying the closing prayer to our elders-minister meeting Sunday afternoon. I got a little flustered trying to find the mute switch, so we got almost a whole chorus of "Your are God Alone" by Phillips, Craig and Dean as part of our prayer. "You are God alone. From before time began, you are on your throne; you are God alone." Not a bad prayer theme when you think about it. What was really funny was listening to the elders trying hard not to laugh as I fumbled with the phone. And what was really funny is that while I finally muted the phone, I didn't hang it up. So Tressa (who had called me) listened to the rest of our closing prayer. I guess she thought she'd accidentally called "Dial-a-Prayer!" I'll probably check to make sure the thing is on mute next time.

I remember Rubel Shelly telling about his cell phone going off while he was preaching a funeral... twice. That is embarrassing, but the funeral director assured him that it was nothing compared to a funeral that they did sometime before. The deceased had left instructions for the song from the Wizard of Oz "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (her favorite song) to be played while people filed by the casket during the viewing. Whoever was in charge of hitting the play button forgot to the check the track info on the CD. Instead of Judy Garland, the song that played was the Munchkins singing, "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead."

Come to think of it, Rubel told that at Pepperdine one year. Did I mention that we're leaving Thursday?

The Virtue of Virtue

Yesterday, the foster father of one of Lynn’s students came by to visit for a few minutes… and stayed for two hours. Eric McCaskill was a local sports hero back in the mid 1960’s. He gave his life to God and Christian ministry, and now works with a parachurch group he founded called Alpha-Omega Ministry. Duke and his wife (Duchess, of course) work with inner city children, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. The main tool the McCaskill’s use is “virtues training,” Which seek to instill character traits that sound a lot like an expanded list of “fruit of the spirit” and the “Christian graces.” The virtues include things like Caring, Commitment, Compassion, Confidence, Courtesy… and those are just the C’s.

Unfortunately, his ministry is not self-supporting. His wife has recently returned to work, and he is paid (as I understand it) to work with and counsel at risk kids by the state. Because he is paid for by tax-payer funds, there is a limit to what he can say and do. In fact, they have made him stop using the word “virtues.” That word “sounds too religious” and using it is too close to “proselytizing.” The term “Character Qualities” is OK, but “virtue” is definitely out. The reason that Duke came by to visit is that he is trying to raise funds so he can afford to refuse state money with its constraints.

What a shame that the concept of “virtue” is considered too partisan or parochial to be used in a secular context. May God bless people like Duke and Duchess who are making a difference in the lives of those who need God so desperately.

More Than Noses and Nickels

Wade Hodges recently wrote about knowing what to count not to count when evaluating a church. He suggests that the two most common things that churches count are nickels and noses-- number of people that come and how much money they give. We don't count these two things because they are the most important things about a church-- they are simply the easiest things to count. Hodges suggests that more important that the number of people present is the number of guests who come each week. If new people don't visit, then your church will die, slowly and eventually, "for lack of new blood, fresh ideas, and beginners energy." But it is not just guests; it is the type of guests that visit.

It’s even better if the majority of the guests aren’t church hopping and shopping. If all your guests are from other churches then it may be a sign that your church is judged to be safe by disgruntled Christians who are fleeing churches that are trying new things. Not exactly the kind of people with whom I want to fill a room. It could also mean that your church is doing some really great things and the word has gotten
out among the consumer Christians and they’ve come to check out your church just like they plan on checking out the new Bottomless Buffet restaurant that has just opened up in the shopping center across town. Again, not ideal, but it is a sign of vitality.

Even more important than the number of guests each is week is the number of guests who are there because someone from your church invited them come. This indicates a number of things. People from your church feel good enough about what’s going on there to talk about it with others and extend an invitation. It also means they’re spending time with people outside the church, hopefully with people who are chasing down the answers to some big questions.

I think he makes some great points. We don't invite people to visit with us unless we really enjoy what is going on and want to share it. If we enjoy what is going on in church and think it is important, then the only reason we would not want to invite people to come with us is because we don't really care. Or haven't thought about it. So think about it. And care.

Downward Spiral

Coleman Crocker told us in his History of Israel class at Freed that the most prominent character in all the Bible (besides the Lord) to never be accused of sinning was Joshua. (That title may rightly belong to Joseph, but then I’m writing about Joshua today). Most other Bible characters display feet of clay, but Joshua was "careful to obey all the law" without turning from it "to the right or to the left" (Joshua 1:7). Today’s reading from Judges 2 confirms the godly leadership of Joshua, "The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him..." (Judges 2:7). The faithfulness of Joshua serves to highlight the failure of Judges--

They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they
were no longer able to resist. (Judges 2:12-14)

This sets up a cycle in Judges of prosperity, rebellion, captivity, repentance and liberation that repeats itself over and over again in the book. Israel allowed their freedom to lead and success to lead them into sin. They never learned from this downward spiral of pride and rebellion and captivity. The statement that defines the book of Judges is "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit" (Judges 17:6, 21:25).

Have we not all proven this same downward spiral true in our own lives? Oh, we’ve never worshiped Baal, and we wouldn't know Ashtoreth if we bumped into her in the check-out line at Wal-Mart! But have there not been times in our lives when we have insisted on going our own way, directing our own steps and doing as we see fit? Maybe our spiritual failures have not been as dramatic or as public as those of Israel during the time of the Judges... but the result is always the same. Whenwe leave God to direct our own steps, we fall. The downward spiral is inescapable. So are we going to to learn from Israel's mistake here?

How's this for coincidence-- the Greek form of the Hebrew name "Joshua" is "Jesus." If we will keep looking to our Joshua and be careful not to turn to the left or the right, then we'll do better in our trek to the Promised Land.

A Christian Bartender?

Matt Whitlock suggests that what we really need is more Christian bartenders. Actually, he was talking about his friend Mike who is an intercity high school teacher who sees his job as a calling and platform from which to serve Jesus. He is so into his kids that he has learned their culture and finds creative, off-the-wall ways to reach and teach them. He is so respected by the kids that they listen to what he says, and he has become the school's unofficial campus pastor... perhaps finding more direct routes into the hearts and lives of kids than if he would have as an official youth pastor. He is salt and light in the lives of young people who probably never would have seen it in any other way. Whitlock wonders what would happen if all of us sought to redeem our work and workplace for God? He says we need more Christian teachers, editors, factory workers... and even bartenders--

Think about it. The bar is a place where people from all walks of life gather. Some come right from work, loosen their tie, and have a drink to relax. Others come to celebrate an event or watch a game with friends. Then there are those who come in deep despair. Whatever drives people to a bar, the bartender is the only person who interacts with all of them. The bartender is often the promise of acceptance and the hope of forgetfulness. What if the bartender were a Christian? How many times a day could he share his life with another person? How many open conversations would he have every day? How bight would his light shine in the darkness?

What if a new family placed membership at our church and wrote on their family information sheet under employment, "Christian bartender?" Would Jesus spend time in a bar? Well, Jesus did have a negative reputation for hanging around the wrong places with the wrong people. His negative rep came from church folks (the Pharisees) who defined righteousness based on outward appearances and associations. Jesus went to parties with publicans in order to bring them into the kingdom of God. Maybe some who follow Jesus will indeed be led to do behind a bar?

That may sound like a stretch. But I hope that if someone does see their ministry in that way, being part of our church would be for them a place of being uplifted and encouraged... and not a source of criticism and condemnation.

Does That Make Sense?

What happens on February 17, 2009? If you know, then you probably pay way too much attention to consumer electronics. (So how do I know?) That is the date that over-the-air analog television broadcasts will be a thing of the past; all TV will be digital TV. If you get your TV signal from cable, satellite or fiber, then you have to do nothing... except pony up what they will charge for the privilege. But if you get your TV over the air through rabbit ears or housetop antenna, then you will need a converter box to show the digital signal on the ol' Sony Trinitron. You can get a taxpayer-funded coupon for a converter box, but after February 17 you will need a set-top box just like everyone else.

There was a Senate Commerce Committee meeting yesterday that allowed Senators the chance to bluster about concerns for constituents. Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas was concerned that people who don't type the "exact right" Web address for the coupon program may not be able to find it (unless they've heard of Google, I guess). Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska was worried that all the "TV public service announcements" that will take place (and already are) over the next year announcing the changeover and coupon program may not not succeed in getting the word out. He worries about "those people in rural areas who rely on the (TV) system but don't pay attention to it." They rely on TV for information (so they need it) but don't really pay attention to it (so they won't get the word)? Does that make sense?

I wonder if that says something about the church and the Bible. Just think about how important the Bible is to our "official" church meetings. Sunday morning begins with 45 minutes of Bible classes, and the biggest part of the worship service is a sermon from the Bible. Small groups on Sunday (and other) nights center around Bible discussion. While the kids are doing their WOW Bible classes on Wednesday night, the adults are studying through the Old Testament as a support to our daily Bible reading program. So that is a lot of emphasis on the Bible, right? We really do rely on it.

But do we pay attention to it? Do we change our behavior based on all the "public service announcements" that we come across each week in the Bible? Are our lives continually changed and challenged by all the time we spend studying the Bible? Or is the Bible something we rely on but just don't pay any attention to? Does that make sense?

About Last Night

I meant to say something in my last post about NCAA championship game last night. So I'll say it here-- WOW! What a great back-n-forth game! I did want Memphis to win (I still call them "Memphis State," but then I still say "Hampton Institute"). We lived in Memphis for awhile and I saw them play a couple of times in person (once LOSING to Oklahoma Christian). The hype of the first ever meeting of all-number-one seeds produced two Final Four blow-outs, so last night's OT nail-bitter was more like it. I still can't believe Kansas somehow forced overtime, but you just knew they would win it once they did. Actually I predicted that Memphis would loose the final three weeks ago... to North Carolina. O well, so begins my dark months of sports exile. Having no interest at all in the NBA or baseball, there is nothing on my sports radar until NFL pre-season except Wimbledon. Well, so there are re-runs on the NFL Network.

Do I Have to Go to Church?

I am currently reading a book entitled Frequently Avoided Questions by Chuck Smith and Matt Whitlock. The book re-envisions some pretty old questions (which they admit may sound pretty simplistic) like "Why the Bible," "Is Forgiveness Real," and "Will Good People Go to Hell?") through the eyes of a world that no longer presupposes the Biblical world view. So far, it has been a challenging (and uncomfortable) reminder that our world has changed. Our job is never simply information transmission; our task is to communicate the gospel to the world. So when the world changes, our ways of relating to it must change.

One of the questions they ask is "Do I Have to Go to Church?" Their answer surprised me. They didn't exactly answer "No," but they did suggest that "going to church" for many today not a very effective way to do whatever it was that going to church was to do for people in the first century. They suggest that church should "motivate me on my spiritual journey, to give me an opportunity to worship God, to serve the world, to develop strong relationships with other Christians, to be able to ask questions that really bother me, to greet others with the same love with which Jesus greeted the crowd that came to him." Going to church was never supposed to be about an organized institution, slickly produced worship program or comfortable all-occasion building.

Personally, I think the authors do a pretty good job pointing to some of our assumptions that need to be rethought. But they also never really get around to answering, "Do I really need to go to church?" I thought it was interesting that they use the mystery and liturgy of Orthodox worship as an example of recapturing an emphasis on awe in the presence of God. But Orthodox worship doesn't really emphasize interaction and sharing with other worshipers... which the authors stress earlier in the chapter. But that being said, I think we do need to understand that sometimes our ways of doing church may not be as helpful as they could be.

So, do I have to go to church? Phil Ware has an excellent article in Heartlight that does a good job answering that question. Spend some time reading it. Are there better ways the church can address the needs of people to connect with God and one another in worship, fellowship and service? I suspect that there are! I also suspect that no one way of doing church will ever meet those needs for everyone in all places at all times.

It's April 1, No Fooling

I thought for awhile about coming up with some totally bizarre and unbelievable story for the blog today, like “Elder’s meeting lasts 15 minutes.” Then I would end it by saying, “April fools!” Sadly, I am cursed with a total lack of creativity this morning. So I’ll opt with one of those “truth is stranger than fiction” posts. I was 10 minutes late getting to work this morning because I had to take a slight detour by the post office. Last night I loaded TurboTax onto the computer so that it would be ready for me to do Tressa’s taxes tonight. Well, one thing led to another, and before I knew it—our taxes were done and mailed them off this morning! Usually, I don’t load the software until April 15, just in time to print out an extension. Dan Hawley and I joke about which of us puts it off the longest. I don’t know what came over me last night! Sorry Dan, I let you down this year.

Something else comes April 1-- It is now THIS month! According to the countdown timer on my Google Gadgets sidebar, there are 22 days, 14 hours and 52 minutes until we leave for our annual trip to the Pepperdine Lectures (we’re spending the 3 days before the lectures in Palm Springs this year instead of our usual Pismo Beach). Another indication that it is getting close to time for the trip is the increasing difficulty I have getting on my computer at home. The closer we get to Pepperdine, the longer Lynn is on the computer reading the lecture schedule, researching the trip, and trying to decide what the weather is going to be so that she’ll know what to pack. Of course, she usually ends up taking everything regardless of the weather. It’s not that we look forward to the trip. Well, OK, maybe just a little.

Quote for the day. This comes from Al Maxey, who has come to be one of my heroes. We writes a weakly email treatise called “Reflections.” Al has a great way of exploring and explaining issues in great detail. So here’s the quote—

I doubt there are many disciples of Christ who can truthfully say they are in 100% agreement with every other disciple in their congregation. I'm not sure there are even any two disciples who are in total agreement on everything taught in Scripture. Yet, we are ready to fight and/or flee over just about anything. This is truly a great tragedy. Our unity in Christ ought to be more enduring than that; it shouldn't crumble whenever two people/groups differ. But, it does ... and when it does, Satan wins yet another battle, and the Body of Christ is weakened just that much more.