Here's an idea

Maybe Detroit World Outreach Church could learn a little something from this guy. Rather than spending nearly $4 million on a parsonage, they could help out some needy families and support Michigan's pitiful real estate market.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Millionaire Gives Mansions to Homeless

Mar 22 09:36 PM US/EasternBy AUDREY McAVOYAssociated Press Writer

HONOLULU (AP) - Dorie-Ann Kahale and her five daughters moved from a homeless shelter to a mansion Thursday, courtesy of a Japanese real estate mogul who is handing over eight of his multimillion-dollar homes to low-income Native Hawaiian families.
Tears spilled down Kahale's cheeks as she accepted from Genshiro Kawamoto the key to a white, columned house with a circular driveway, a stone staircase and a deep porcelain bathtub. Her family will live there rent-free, but must pay utility bills.
"I'm shocked. I'm overwhelmed," Kahale said. "From the little box we had to what we have today."
Kawamoto, whose own eyes started welling up as Kahale cried, handed over two other homes Thursday to homeless or low-income families.
Kawamoto, one of Japan's richest men, said he plans to open eight of his 22 Kahala homes to needy Hawaiian families. They will be able to stay in the homes for up to 10 years, he said.
Native Hawaiians are disproportionately represented among the state's homeless and working poor.
Kawamoto owns dozens of office buildings in Tokyo under the name Marugen and his been buying and selling real estate in Hawaii and California since the 1980s.
He has been criticized for evicting tenants of his rental homes on short notice so he could sell the properties, as in 2002 when he gave hundreds of California tenants 30 days to leave.
Two years later, he served eviction notices to tenants in 27 Oahu rental homes, mostly in pricey Hawaii Kai, saying they had to leave within a month. He said he wanted to sell the houses to take advantage of rising prices.
Kawamoto selected the eight low-income families from 3,000 people who wrote him letters last fall after he announced his plan. He has said he tried to pick working, single mothers.
Giving away mansions shows more dedication to helping Hawaii's homeless than just handing out wads of cash, he said. Asked whether he was concerned about losing money on the effort, he laughed and said: "This is pocket money for me."
Kahale's new house is worth nearly $5 million, an average price for the mansion-like dwellings on Kahala Avenue. It is one of the more modest homes in the neighborhood, many of which feature ornate iron gates, meandering driveways and sculptured gardens.
Kahale became homeless two years ago when her landlord raised her rent from $800 to $1,200, putting the apartment beyond reach of her salary as customer service representative for Pacific LightNet, a telecommunications company. She first stayed with relatives, then moved to a shelter in September.
"What we need to do is appreciate," Kahale said after getting the keys to her new house. "As fast as we got it, it could disappear."

URL: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8O1JQJO0&show_article=1
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

God of Wonders

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Psalm 8:1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

Do you ever just go outside and stare at the night sky? I do, and I am humbled by the majesty of what God has done. He created all of this from nothing, to show his glory. And when we stare at what he has done, we can sense the presence of the Holy God.

Try it sometime. Go outside on a clear night and stare at the night sky. Let your soul drink in the presence of the Lord.

Here is a video clip to get your mind thinking on this topic.

The Devil's Dictionary

Years ago I came across Ambrose Bierce's masterpiece of cynical thought, aptly titled "The Devil's Dictionary." If you have not had the pleasure of reading it, please follow the link or check it out of your local library. It is a wonderfully cynical look at life at the turn of the 20th Century.

Here are a few of my favorite definitions.

PAIN, n. An uncomfortable frame of mind that may have a physical
basis in something that is being done to the body, or may be purely
mental, caused by the good fortune of another.

INSURANCE, n. An ingenious modern game of chance in which the player
is permitted to enjoy the comfortable conviction that he is beating
the man who keeps the table.

JUSTICE, n. A commodity which is a more or less adulterated condition
the State sells to the citizen as a reward for his allegiance, taxes
and personal service.

About 20 years ago Chuck Moss wrote some additional, more modern definitions in the Detroit News. To the best of my memory, they were something like this

Greens, n. Ex Reds

Anti-Woman, adj. Anything any feminist dislikes

Special Interest, adj. Your Group

Public Interest, adj. My Group

I'd like to spend some time working on some modern definitions in the mold of Bierce.

For starters:

Darwinism, n. The only approved religion in science, characterized by a fervent belief in the unseen "missing links" and a fundamentalist denunciation of all who disagree with its tenets.

Obesity, n

1. A medical condition caused by excess weight, generally in excess of 20 percent more than the ideal weight for an individual as determined by medical experts.

2. The only permissible sin in the church. Characteristic of all classes of Christians, particularly preachers prone to expounding on the evils of vices other than gluttony.

There is a good thread here discussing this.

Let me hear what you have and we can add to it.

This will be fun.

Sola Scriptura (Sort of)

It seems that some of the Protestant church has fallen victim to tradition at the expense of Scripture. Read this to see what I mean.

Quoting from the article now:

"These questions came to me acutely not long ago. I was getting ready to preach. As the worship leader was finishing the music set, he offered some unscripted theological reflections. He said something like: "The only thing required of us is to believe that Jesus' blood saves us. Nothing more. It's nothing but the blood of Jesus."
In my Baptist context, we've heard these thoughts a thousand times. The problem was that I had in my pocket a message in which Jesus himself had a very different answer to the question of salvation."

Our former pastor used to refer to the process of professing faith, but not moving on in discipleship as "fire insurance." There is an edge to that comment, and a lot of truth. Unless you go where this author is going.

"In reading through Luke, I had discovered that twice (10:25, 18:18) Jesus is asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
In the first passage, Jesus turns the question back on the lawyer who asks it. The lawyer replies with the Old Testament commands to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Mt. 22:34-40). Jesus affirms his answer: "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." The lawyer then tries to narrow the meaning of neighbor. So Jesus tells the unforgettable parable of the compassionate Samaritan, who proved to be a neighbor to a bleeding roadside victim.
In Luke 18, Jesus responds to the same question, this time from the man we know as the rich young ruler, by quoting the second table of the Decalogue, forbidding adultery, murder, theft, and false witness, and mandating honor towards parents. His questioner says that he has kept these commandments, and Jesus proceeds to call on him to "sell all … and distribute to the poor." Jesus assures him, "You will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." The "extremely rich" ruler won't do this, and Jesus goes on to teach his disciples about how hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.
Trying to be an honest expositor of the texts in front of me, I told the chapel students that morning that on the two occasions in Luke when Jesus was asked about the criteria for admission to eternity, he offered a fourfold answer: love God with all that you are, love your neighbor (like the Samaritan loved his neighbor), do God's will by obeying his moral commands, and be willing, if he asks, to drop everything and leave it behind in order to follow him.
I concluded by suggesting that the contrast between how Jesus answers this question and how we usually do is stark and awfully inconvenient."

I'll confess that I have been lax in this area in my life. But I also am aware of what God sometimes calls us to do that is not convenient. Which is why I am in school and running my own business. I don't pay >$400/credit hour to amuse myself. But I do know that God has called me to something. And my proper response is "Yes Lord" whether I want to or not.

You have to be kidding me!

Check out the article below on the ostentatious house recently purchased as a parsonage. If this doesn't give the church of Jesus Christ a black eye, I will be surprised. The prosperity Gospel crowd drives me crazy with stunts like this.



Detroit World Outreach Church considers its purchase of this mansion proof of God's blessing.

No taxes on $4M parsonage

Northville Township loses $40,000 annually after church buys home.

Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News

NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP -- A Redford Township church that believes wealth is God's reward is raising eyebrows for buying its pastor a $3.65 million mansion and taking it off the tax rolls.

This month, township officials grudgingly conceded they had no choice but to remove the 11,000-square-foot home overlooking Maybury State Park from its assessment rolls, losing $40,000 annually in taxes.

They concluded the plush pad is a parsonage, but that hasn't quelled debate among township officials and neighbors about whether Christian charity extends to the Detroit World Outreach Church's purchase in September of the home for Pastor Ben Gibert and his wife and co-pastor, Charisse Gibert.

"I also have faith in God, but I don't expect to live in such opulence," said Evgenia Asimakis, a single mother of two who lives nearby and has trouble paying her property taxes.

Her neighbor, Gary Wall, is blunter: "You don't need a multimillion-dollar place to see God. He'll take a lot less."

Detroit World Outreach Church isn't apologizing. In fact, members say the mansion is proof God has blessed them.

The 4,000-member church is part of a growing movement that preaches prosperity. Also known as "health and wealth" theology, the ideology preaches that God wants followers to do well, be healthy and have rewards -- such as the $50,000 Cadillac Escalade the church bought the Giberts, who have four children.

Ben Gibert said God surrounds the faithful with beautiful things.

One of the leaders of his church agrees. "God's empowerment is to make you have an abundant life," said Elder Marvin Wilder, a lawyer and general counsel for the church.

"In this country we value rock stars, movie stars and athletes. They can have a lavish lifestyle, and a pastor who restores lives that were broken shouldn't? When our value system elevates a man who can put a ball in a hole and not a man who does God's work, something is wrong."

Born in the 1950s, prosperity theology has a strong following among some fundamentalist and nondenominational churches. It's gained popularity among mega-church ministries of such well-known national pastors as Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes and Pat Robertson.

Even so, most Christian denominations disparage the belief as consumerism run amok, said David G. Myers, professor of psychology at Hope College in Holland who has written about the movement.

"Are people really any happier for that sort of self-indulgent spending? The answer is clearly no," Myers said.

Wilder said the four-bedroom mansion "isn't flamboyant" and is compensation for Ben Gibert leaving his job as a high-paying automotive executive with DaimlerChrysler's minivan division after the sudden death in 2005 of church founder Bishop Jack Cameron Wallace.

Wallace dropped dead in Zimbabwe doing what Wilder said was the church's work. Wallace, 47, was an accomplished weight lifter and co-founder of Prosperity Nutrition Inc., which sold performance enhancement supplements, such as creatine, online.

Wilder said Gibert saved the church whose membership, once at 10,000, had fallen by more than half. Its services still are carried on a host of television channels throughout the Midwest.

"We know that it will cost the township some tax revenue, but every church in the state gets property tax exemption," Wilder said. "Having a parsonage is a historical precedent. Ours happens to be worth $3.6 million."

The mansion sits on 12 acres and behind a quarter-mile-long driveway and a tall, electronically controlled gate. That's necessary because the church has spoken out against homosexuality and Islamic violence, Wilder said. Wallace once had a live bullet delivered in the offering plate, Wilder said.

Gibert, who left a 7,000-square-foot home in Franklin for the mansion, agreed security is a concern.

"I am an African-American man who became pastor of a multi-ethnic church. Some people don't agree with that," he said. "I have not received death threats, but people have followed my children to school."

Thelma Kubitskey, the township's finance director, said officials weren't thrilled, but had to remove the house from the tax rolls. Tax-free status can be granted to church-owned residences if clergy live there, even if they're not in the same communities as the churches.

"If the church is willing to pay for the house, it's fine with me," said neighbor Janice Gutowski, whose $800,000 home is dominated by the Giberts' house and lawns.

"Churches don't pay taxes, so the rules should be the same for everyone."

Township Clerk Sue Hillebrand complained that Northville schools can ill afford to lose more revenue. She said she's amazed by the church's generosity.

"They could buy a very, very nice home out here for half a million," she said. "Can you imagine how many miracles you could perform, how many people you could help with the $3 million left over?"

You can reach Doug Guthrie at (734) 462-2674 or dguthrie@detnews.com.

---

Prosperity Gospel
Prosperity theology -- also known as health and wealth -- has its supporters and detractors, both of whom point to the Bible to make their case:
Supporters:

Deuteronomy 8:18: God "giveth thee powers to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant for he sware unto thy fathers."

Mark 11:24 -- "Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

John 10:10 -- "Then Jesus said ... I have come so that they (His disciples) may have life, and have it more abundantly."
Critics:

Matthew 19:24 -- "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 6:19-21 -- "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal."

Luke 18:22 -- "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven."
Sources: Detroit News research, Religionlink.org

I don't even know what to add to this

It really just leaves me speechless about the status of our country. Did he think Father of our Country was a title he could win?

The story is from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Friday, March 9, 2007

He'll be dad 6 times, with 6 women

BY SHARON COOLIDGE SCOOLIDGE@ENQUIRER.COM

Ricky Lackey has six children on the way.

Just don’t call them sextuplets – they’re all with different women.

When Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh asked Lackey during sentencing Friday on a charge of attempted theft how many children he had, the 25-year-old said, “None, but I have six on the way.”

A stunned Marsh tried to clarify. “Are you marrying a woman with six children?” she asked.

“No, I be concubining,” he said. A concubine is a woman who cohabitates with a man to whom she is not married.

Prosecutors said Lackey is expectant father of six children with six different women. The women all are expected to deliver between August and October.

Lackey’s lawyer, Stephen Wenke, stopped his client from saying more.

Later, Marsh said she wasn’t sure how to respond so she let the issue drop since it wasn’t relevant to the proceedings.

Lackey, a music producer who told Marsh he was on the cusp of a $2 million deal that would net him $300,000 upfront, was convicted Friday on a reduced charge of attempted theft.

Prosecutors say the Avondale man defrauded U.S. Bank out of $3,975 by depositing empty envelopes into ATM machines, claiming they contained cash, and depositing bad checks. Once the accounts were falsely inflated, Lackey withdrew all the money before the bank could detect the fraud.

Lackey has repaid the money, according to court records.

Marsh ordered no other sentence since restitution had been paid.

As Lackey left the courtroom Friday, a group of teenage girls there for another case appeared to know Lackey. “Oh, there’s Ricky Lackey!” one swooned.

Lackey shrugged the attention off with one word and a wave of his hand. “Fans,” he said.

Which Sci-Fi character are you?

Not surprisingly to readers of this space, I am Yoda. Short, green and confusing. Take the test and tell me how you turned out.

Amazing Grace

We went to see the movie over the weekend. It was very good. Touching without being overly sentimental. I took the kids to see it because it is something I think they need to know. That one person taking a principled stand based on scripture can change things.

I found this to be intriguing:

John Newton (played by Albert Finney in Amazing Grace) wrote the words to one of the most beloved hymns of all time between 1760 and 1770, while working as an evangelical pastor. Son of the commander of a merchant ship, Newton was captain of a slave ship for many years, until he underwent a dramatic religious conversion while steering his vessel through a storm.

Repenting and regretting the misery he had inflicted on the thousands of human cargo he had transported across the Middle Passage for many years, he devoted his life to the Church, and wrote the lyrics to many hymns which are still popular today.

In 1780 Newton left Olney to become rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, St. Mary Woolchurch, in London. There he drew large congregations and influenced many, among them William Wilberforce. Newton continued to preach until the last year of life, although he was blind by that time. He died in London December 21, 1807.

Newton had been Wilberforce's pastor when Wilberforce was a child and became a mentor to him during the struggle to end slavery in Britain. God truly redeemed a man's evil acts to affect a great good. What an awesome God we serve.

Go see the movie.

The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions

The Law of Unintended Consequences has not been repealed. In our zeal, post-Katrina to find alternative sources of energy for our cars, we, as a government, are rushing pell-mell into ethanol production. Never mind that ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline and costs a fortune in agricultural inputs, it is the wave of the future. Enter market economics. As the cover of World Magazine shows, not everyone is happy with our national goal of giant corn distilleries. It seems that our push for ethanol is driving up the price of corn, in some cases, doubling it. And the poor folks who have it as a staple of their diet are suffering.

Never mind that there is ample oil off the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico and California, not to mention the ANWR debacle. U.S. companies are not allowed to drill for oil in these zones, but Cuba is. Cuba, with the help of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, is planning to drill for oil within sight of Florida. So much for the environmentalists cause there.

This reminds me of a 235 year-old letter written by John Wesley "To the Editor of 'Lloyd's Evening Post'" in 1772. The text is below, courtesy of the Wesley Center for Applied Theology at Northwest Nazarene University. It seems that not much has changed since then. We take food crops and use them for other purposes and disadvantage those who are most vulnerable. Read John Wesley's letter below

To the Editor of 'Lloyd's Evening Post' [25]]

DOVER, December 9, 1772.

SIR,--Many excellent things have been lately published concerning the present scarcity of provisions. And many causes have been assigned for it; but is not something wanting in most of those publications? One writer assigns one cause, another one or two more, and strongly insists upon them. But who has assigned all the causes that manifestly concur to produce this melancholy effect? at the same time pointing out how each particular cause affects the price of each particular sort of provision?

I would willingly offer to candid and benevolent men a few hints on this important subject, proposing a few questions, and adding to each what seems to be the plain and direct answer.

I. 1. I ask first, Why are thousands of people starving, perishing for want, in every part of England? The fact I know: I have seen it with my eyes in every corner of the land. I have known those who could only afford to eat a little coarse food every other day. I have known one picking up stinking sprats from a dunghill and carrying them home for herself and her children. I have known another gathering the bones which the dogs had left in the streets and making broth of them to prolong a wretched life. Such is the case at this day of multitudes of people in a land flowing, as it were, with milk and honey, abounding with all the necessaries, the conveniences, the superfluities of life!

Now, why is this? Why have all these nothing to eat? Because they have nothing to do. They have no meat because they have no work.

2. But why have they no work? Why are so many thousand people in London, in Bristol, in Norwich, in every county from one end of England to the other, utterly destitute of employment?

Because the persons who used to employ them cannot afford to do it any longer. Many who employed fifty men now scarce employ ten. Those who employed twenty now employ one or none at all. They cannot, as they have no vent for their goods, food now bearing so high a price that the generality of people are hardly able to buy anything else.

3. But to descend from generals to particulars. Why is breadcorn so dear? Because such immense quantities of it are continually consumed by distilling. Indeed, an eminent distiller near London hearing this, warmly replied, Nay, my partner and I generally distil but a thousand quarters of corn a week.' Perhaps so. Suppose five-and-twenty distillers in and near the town consume each only the same quantity. Here are five-and-twenty thousand quarters a week --that is, above twelve hundred and fifty thousand quarters a year--consumed in and about London! Add the distillers throughout England, and have we not reason to believe that half of the wheat produced in the kingdom is every year consumed, not by so harmless a way as throwing it into the sea, but by converting it into deadly poison--poison that naturally destroys, not only the strength and life, but also the morals of our countrymen!

Well, but this brings in a large revenue to the King.' Is this an equivalent for the lives of his subjects? Would His Majesty sell an hundred thousand of his subjects yearly to Algiers for four hundred thousand pounds? Surely no. Will he, then, sell them for that sum to be butchered by their own countrymen? But otherwise the swine for the Navy cannot be fed.' Not unless they are fed with human flesh? not unless they are fatted with human blood? O tell it not in Constantinople that the English raise the royal revenue by selling the blood and flesh of their countrymen!

4. But why are oats so dear? Because there are four times the horses kept (to speak within compass), for coaches and chaises in particular, than were some years ago. Unless, therefore, four times the oats grew now as grew then, they cannot be at the same price. If only twice as much is produced (which perhaps is near the truth), the price will naturally be double to what it was.

As the dearness of grain of one kind will naturally raise the price of another, so whatever causes the dearness of wheat and oats must raise the price of barley too. To account, therefore, for the dearness of this we need only remember what has been observed above, although some particular causes may concur in producing the same effect.

5. Why are beef and mutton so dear? Because most of the considerable farmers, particularly in the northern counties, who used to breed large numbers of sheep or horned cattle, and frequently both, no longer trouble themselves with either sheep or cows or oxen, as they can turn their land to far better account by breeding horses alone. Such is the demand, not only for coach- and chaise-horses, which are bought and destroyed in incredible numbers; but much more for bred horses, which are yearly exported by hundreds, yea thousands, to France.

6. But why are pork, poultry, and eggs so dear? Because of the monopolizing of farms, as mischievous a monopoly as was ever yet introduced into these kingdoms. The land which was formerly divided among ten or twenty little farmers and enabled them comfortably to provide for their families is now generally engrossed by one great farmer. One man farms an estate of a thousand a year, which formerly maintained ten or twenty. Every one of these little farmers kept a few swine, with some quantity of poultry; and, having little money, was glad to send his bacon, or pork, or fowls and eggs, to market continually. Hence the markets were plentifully served, and plenty created cheapness; but at present the great, the gentlemen farmers, are above attending to these little things. They breed no poultry or swine unless for their own use; consequently they send none to market. Hence it is not strange if two or three of these living near a market town occasion such a scarcity of these things by preventing the former supply that the price of them will be double or treble to what it was before. Hence (to instance in a small article) in the same town, where within my memory eggs were sold eight or ten a penny, they are now sold six or eight a groat.

Another cause why beef, mutton, pork, and all kinds of victuals are so dear is luxury. What can stand against this?

Will it not waste and destroy all that nature and art can produce? If a person of quality will boil down three dozen of neat's tongues to make two or three quarts of soup (and so proportionately in other things), what wonder if provisions fail? Only look into the kitchens of the great, the nobility, and gentry, almost without exception (considering withal that the toe of the peasant treads upon the heel of the courtier), and when you have observed the amazing waste which is made there, you will no longer wonder at the scarcity, and consequently dearness, of the things which they use so much art to destroy.

7. But why is land so dear? Because on all these accounts gentlemen cannot live as they have been accustomed to do, without increasing their income, which most of them cannot do but by raising their rents. The farmer, paying an higher rent for his land, must have an higher price for the produce of it. This again tends to raise the price of land. And so the wheel goes round.

8. But why is it that not only provisions and land but well-nigh everything else is so dear? Because of the enormous taxes which are laid on almost everything that can be named. Not only abundant taxes are raised from earth and fire and water, but in England the ingenious statesmen have found a way to tax the very light! Only one element remains, and surely some man of honour will ere long contrive to tax this also. For how long shall the saucy air blow in the face of a gentleman, nay a lord, without paying for it?

9. But why are the taxes so high? Because of the national debt. They must be while this continues. I have heard that the national expense in the time of peace was sixty years ago three millions a year. Now the bare interest of the public debt amounts to above four millions. To raise which, with the other expenses of government, those taxes are absolutely necessary.

II. Here is the evil. But where is the remedy? Perhaps it exceeds all the wisdom of man to tell. But it may not be amiss to offer a few hints even on this delicate subject.

1. What remedy is there for this sore evil? Many thousand poor people are starving. Find them work, and you will find them meat. They will then earn and eat their own bread.

2. But how shall their masters give them work without ruining themselves? Procure vent for it, and it will not hurt their masters to give them as much work as they can do; and this will be done by sinking the price of provisions, for then people will have money to buy other things too.

3. But how can the price of wheat be reduced? By prohibiting for ever that bane of health, that destroyer of strength, of life, and of virtue, distilling. Perhaps this alone will answer the whole design. If anything more be needful, may not all starch be made of rice, and the importation of this as well as of wheat be encouraged?

4. How can the price of oats be reduced? By reducing the number of horses. And may not this be effectually done (1) by laying a tax of ten pounds on every horse exported to France, (2) by laying an additional tax on gentlemen's carriages. Not so much for every wheel (barefaced, shameless partiality!), but ten pounds yearly for every horse. And these two taxes alone would nearly supply as much as is now given for leave to poison His Majesty's liege subjects.

5. How can the price of beef and mutton be reduced? By increasing the breed of sheep and horned cattle. And this would be increased sevenfold if the price of horses was reduced, which it surely would be half in half by the method above mentioned.

6. How can the price of pork and poultry be reduced? First, by letting no farms of above an hundred pounds a year. Secondly, by repressing luxury, either by example, by laws, or both.

7. How may the price of land be reduced? By all the methods above named, all which tend to lessen the expense of housekeeping; but especially the last, restraining luxury, which is the grand source of poverty.

8. How may the taxes be reduced? By discharging half the national debt, and so saving at least two millions a year.

How this can be done the wisdom of the great council of the land can best determine.--I am, sir,

Your humble servant.

HItching your wagon

Ann Coulter recently provided another reason for Christians to be very careful about choosing their allies in the political arena. Her unnecessary comment about John Edwards detracted from a conservative gathering completely drew the attention away from the 2008 Republican presidential wannabees, who were there trying to curry favor and big bucks from the conservative king-makers.

The lesson I take from this is that the people of Christ need to have their own message, outside of a political party. As Ms. Coulter demonstrated, you cannot depend on your allies for good judgment, and you always run the risk of them making it about them, instead of the issue. In many ways I believe the evangelicals are so wedded to the conservative/Republican side that they can no longer extricate themselves.

And we will be lumped in with the likes of Ann Coulter because of that.

Peace

Peace is not the absence of conflict. I don't remember where I first heard that, but there is a great deal of truth there. Peace is far more than not fighting. It is intentionally taking steps to get along with our friends, acquaintances and those who just make us grind our teeth. It is what the Lord did by reconciling himself to us, and we are well-advised to follow His lead.

Recently I attended a session on resolving conflict, and the presenters were singing the praises of Peacemaker Ministries. I find their approach intriguing, and a bit less harsh than some of the Matthew 18 folks I have come across. Peacemaker Ministries advocates creating a culture of peace, and acknowledges that it takes time to change learned patterns of behavior.

Last year I heard a chapel service at Asbury Theological Seminary by Dr. Christine Pohl on "Creating a culture of grace and truth" that dovetails nicely with this topic. One of the requirements for peace is honest dealing with each other, and the difficulties we face. This week I finally received closure to a conflict that I mistakenly thought was resolved nearly two years ago. But a discussion that needed to happen was held, and I believe that it is done. I can't begin to describe the load that was lifted off when that happened.

If you are in a culture that is not peaceful, prayerfully look at the Peacemaker Ministries info and how you might integrate it into your church. Strife impairs our witness and impedes the Kingdom of God. Peace enhances our witness. The world needs to see the Peace of our Lord.

A life worth living

Poor Anna Nicole Smith. I really mean that. It seems that she rose from an extremely low socio-economic state to the height of wealth in a very short time, mostly on her physical attributes. Now that she is dead, the vultures are hovering over her body and the millions of dollars that her infant child will inherit. It is a sad and disgusting situation.

She died several weeks ago and several men have come forward claiming to be the father of her little girl. I'll use charitable judgment here and think that they have the best interest of the child in mind. But what is sad to me is that when one lives a life like hers, when you are no longer beautiful, sexy or alive, the same people who sang your praises turn on you like wolves. Now we are witnessing a fight over where her body will be laid to rest, and who, if anyone, can collect a DNA sample for the paternity tests.

Ms. Smith would been better served to follow the wisdom of Proverbs 30:8 "Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion" or Proverbs 31:30: "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, {But} a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."

I'm not here to judge the ungodly actions of Ms. Smith. I just find caution in knowing that if we pursue the things of earth, when we are no longer useful, we will be chewed up and spit out. Sadly, her little girl will someday read these news clips. And those will be her memories of her mother.

Seeing God Move

Today in church we had a speaker from the Jesus Film Harvest Partners, which works with the Church of the Nazarene to bring the gospel to the world. What God has been able to do through that ministry is simply amazing. Just try to get your head around this. The church set decade goals for the 2000-2010 decade, and they are in bold. The numbers in green are the actual progress.

100 million
evangelistic contacts*
42,968,757 contacts

10 million
decisions for Christ
7,529,670 decisions
(17.5% of contacts)

3 million
initial discipleship follow-ups
2,333,924 follow-ups
(31.0% of decisions)

10,000
new mission churches
10,991 missions

10,000
new pastors trained
14,230 pastors in training

190 JESUS Film language translations used

99 countries where the JESUS Film is used

*JESUS Film and other tools

I had the great privilege to be on a Jesus Film trip in Guatemala in 2005 and saw hundreds of people come into the kingdom and 2 new churches be planted. If you are looking for an opportunity for a mission trip of a different sort, contact them. You can also financially support them for $1/day. Just follow the link above to the donate section. God is clearly using this.

Oh My God

I've been wondering lately about what the Kingdom really looks like. Seminary will do that to you, as I have discovered. My view for many years was that the Kingdom was a "in the future" thing. Yeah, we talked about building the kingdom, but that was all about putting bodies in seats and getting fire insurance for them.

Jurgen Moltmann, N.T. Wright and others have begun to change my thoughts on this. What exactly are we supposed to accomplish on this earth, as we anticipate the new earth? How much can we expect to accomplish on this earth? I'm not one of those Christians who"got theirs" and are awaiting the rapture. But I'm a little unsure of what to expect.

Take a look at this and let me know what you think.

Happy Valentines Day

This Valentine's Day I pray that you have someone to share your love with. And do not forget to thank the Author of Love for the most magnificent gift ever.

Jesus

Authentic Church

This information is taken from the Church of the Nazarene Iron Sharpens Iron newsletter:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community lists seven expressions of ministry by which a Christian community may judge itself. Are these expressions understood values within your fellowship? The list looks like a seven week series of sermons . . .

1. The Ministry of Holding One’s Tongue --We can combat evil thoughts effectively if we refuse to allow them to be expressed in words.

2. The Ministry of Meekness --(Romans 12:3) Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.

3. The Ministry of Listening --The first service we owe to others in the fellowship is listening to them.

4. The Ministry of Active Helpfulness --No one is too good for the meanest labor. By helping one another do menial chores together, we cement our fellowship.

5. The Ministry of Bearing (Supporting) --Your brother or sister may be a burden to you. We are called to forbear--to put up with one another. Non-Christians sidestep irritants. We embrace even difficult people.

6. The Ministry of Proclaiming --Within the fellowship, we proclaim God’s word to one another. Proclamation isn’t just an ordained function; we all speak His word.

7. The Ministry of Authority (Leadership) --Genuine spiritual authority is to be found only when the ministry of hearing, helping, bearing and proclaiming is carried out. Leadership without these expressions poisons the Christian community.

Look for these marks in your own life, and consider offering them to your small groups leaders for discussions that center around ways to develop unity and community within your church body.

— Life Together , Dietrich Bonhoeffer, p. 91

I've been thinking lately about what kind of church body would be ideal for me. I know it sounds narcissistic, but the question of "fit" has been on my mind for the last couple of years. That, coupled with my Vocation of Ministry class at Asbury Theological Seminary, has me looking inward, which is not something I enjoy. I do it often, in an odd sort of self-flagellation like the monks of old, but I do not enjoy it.

My mind took me back to one of my favorite childhood books - Horton Hatches the Egg. In that story, Horton the Elephant gets roped into hatching an egg. And despite being misled, he refuses to give up on the task. The quote that stuck with me is this:I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent

What if we all lived by the first line of that statement? Imagine a church where we only say things that we mean. No platitudes just to get people to go away. No " I'll pray for you" when we have no intention of remembering the conversation. It would be refreshing for sure. A church where promises are not easily made but always kept. I know I am being idealistic here, but dream with me a little.

Now look at the second statement in the first line. Image a body of believers who communicate genuinely. Not one where we say one thing and do another. Instead of a body where we say "That will be fine" but inside seethe with resentment because we didn't get what we wanted, we have a group that says "I'd rather not" in gentle love and works toward a common solution. A world where our dreams, hopes hurts and fears are communicated truthfully and in love.

That is where I hope God sends me. If not, I'm OK. It's always a goal to work toward.

Transformation

Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I'm not prone, or qualified, to do much exegesis yet. But this struck me today. The Greek word for transformed is the same as the English metamorphosis. Basically it means to go from one state of being to another.

So what Paul is saying is for us to go from here:


Where we are extremely limited, homely, and unable to fulfill the purpose that God designed us to for. Caterpillars are slow, vulnerable, voracious eaters (self centered) creatures that can move very little in their lifetime.

But during the amazing process of metamorphosis, they go from this unattractive state to that of a butterfly.


Butterflies are beautiful, mobile creatures that bring joy to many people and migrate thousands of miles during their lifetimes.

Paul's imagery here is a powerful message of how different the Christian life should be from our life apart from Christ. Our appearance may not change, but in the eyes of God we are a new creation, one that brings joy and honor to him.

Dwell on what that transformation means to you. I am.

Sometimes a picture says it all

Let's have a caption contest for this picture. Send your best captions in the comments section.

Who am I? Why am I here?

Those are the (in)famous opening lines used by James Stockdale, vice-presidential candidate for Ross Perot in the 1992 VP debate. While Admiral Stockdale was using them as a rhetorical device, the questions are ones that all Christians should be asking of themselves as we move through the Christian life.

This week marks the beginning of a new semester for me at Asbury Theological Seminary. One of my classes requires that we read "The Call" by Os Guiness. My friend Kurt has been recommending that to me for some time, and I never got around to reading it. But now I am reading and enjoying the challenge it lays out.

It encourages one to think that all of us have a call, not just the holy, the ministers, the missionaries or the monastics. And the call centers not around what we do, but who is calling us. That is a great thought for me this week. Focus not on what I think God wants me to do. Rather, focus on God, the one who is calling. The rest will become evident in the light of his glory and grace.

Pray for me that I will always view my calling as one Called by God, not one called to do something. The caller makes all the difference.

Ode to Joe Biden

I think this says it all. Although they may not be mainstream, clean and articulate enough for him.

Usury

Go here to look at each state's regs on payday lending.

Here's to looking out for the little guy!

In November 2005, new legislation was passed that was designed to regulate the payday loan industry in Michigan. The law goes into effect in June 2006, and requires all payday lending businesses to be licensed. Before this legislation was passed, there were no laws that declared the industry legal or illegal, and there were no laws that regulated how the industry operated. Under the new law, payday lending is declared legal, but regulations are placed on the business. Borrowers may borrow up to $600 in a one month period, but may not have more than one loan out at a time. Borrowers will have to pay interest rates at $15 per every hundred loaned in a two-week period. When annualized, this interest rate comes to 390%.

This is something that needs to be stopped. This is how the legislature steps in to protect people? You read that correctly. An eye-popping 390% interest is where the legislature capped it. This is abusive. And these things are everywhere. This is an issue for the church to take up for something to protest.

Go here to see the Governor's news release trumpeting this great accomplishment. Here is a little bit about this scourge's effect nationwide.

What would Jesus Protest?

Protesting is something that really doesn't trip my trigger. Maybe because I just don't get into the group clapping, chanting thing. Maybe I associate it too much with the 1960s. Who knows. But protesting does have its place. So let's play along with the question of what would Jesus protest in today's world?

The Iraq War?
The disaster in Darfur?
Sexual exploitation of Children?
Check cashing places that victimize the poor by charging usurious interest rates?
Sweatshop labor in this country or anywhere in the world?
Unequal distribution of wealth?
Enormous church buildings consuming massive amounts of tithes and offerings?
Christians who do not show love to others?

Feel free to chime in with what you think Jesus would protest. Or if you think he would protest at all. The closest thing I can come to a protest in the gospels is his reaction to the money changers in the Temple courts. And that was all about victimizing people with ridiculous charges for sacrificial animals.

Clearly Christians are to stand up for the poor, the vulnerable, and those being mistreated. And we have a somewhat checkered history of doing that in this country. But what are the issues of our day that would grab our Lord's ire?

Please, I'd like to hear your comments.

Digesting your foot

In case you haven't heard, Joe Biden tends to bloviate. This week, he violated one of the immutable laws of politics which is "When you reach the bottom of the hole, stop digging."

I don't think Biden is a racist. I do think he is someone who likes to hear himself talk. After all he is a Senator.

But what he said was incredibly stupid. He should be extremely grateful that he is a Democrat. Imagine if Trent Lott or another Republican had said that.

At least with Joe in the race, we will be treated to an unending series of interesting quotes.

Where would Jesus protest?

Hooray for a federal judge in Missouri for ruling that funerals are no place for protests. Fred Phelps and his Westboro (I won't demean a legitimate denomination with the name they have chosen) group have been protesting at the funerals of slain military members. They like to tell the family members that the reason their loved one is dead is because the U.S. military allows homosexuals to be in the military. While I do agree that the Bible condemns homosexual behavior, I cannot even begin to think that this is the most appropriate way to deal with the issue.

If you have a beef with the government, take it up with them. Not with the grieving family members of a slain soldier, sailor, marine or airman. That is not how Jesus dealt with the issues of his day, and it is completely offensive and without love and grace.

It truly sickens me. And I cannot believe that it honors God or advances the Kingdom.

Simple Gifts

Simple Gifts is one of the few songs I remember from my days of taking piano lessons. I actually hung on to it long enough to use in the elementary school recruiting that our high school orchestra did back in the day. Each instrument first chair player would play a little tune, describe what part the instrument did in the orchestra, and let the kids come and test out the instrument for a moment. I was the 2nd chair string bass player, but our first chair caught the chicken pox and was hospitalized during this time.

It is an old Shaker dance number with only one verse. Many of you may know it because Aaron Copland included it in his Appalachian Spring suite. The lyrics are:

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

This morning I am celebrating several simple gifts. First, it snowed again. This is the first week all winter we have had snow cover on the ground. I love snow. I love the four seasons, though Spring is my least favorite. I like to shovel, play in the snow, go sledding with the kids, and watch the dog do his "dozer" thing with his nose in the snow. He puts his nose down, and runs through the snow and lets it slide up his snout and over his head. It is a great deal of fun to watch the simple exuberance snow brings. Hot chocolate, snowmen, snowball fights, sledding, it really takes me back to a simpler time.

Our small group has been reading Jeanne Guyon's "Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ" lately, and I appreciate the call to simplicity in that book. I'm not a simple person, but I know I need to work in that area and calm myself before the Lord. Maybe that is why I appreciate the book and Richard Foster's writings on the subject. I can see the value, but the Lord has to work on me there.

Here is the view out my office window this morning. Isn't it glorious?


With that, enjoy the snow. Slow down, go play. You really can't play in the rain, but you can play in the snow. Make a snowman. Throw a snowball.. Go sledding. Snow is one of God's gifts to us, and his helps us to pause and renew.

Good Monsters

I love Jars of Clay for several reasons. Their songs are distinctive, they aren't like every other CCM band. They aren't afraid to take chances - listen to Redemption Songs sometimes. And they hit me where I am.

Take a listen to the title track from their new CD.



The lyrics are here if you want to read them.

The Doomsday Train

No, this doesn't involve Pat Robertson.

But it does fit nicely with our world today. Let's take stock of where we are.

Iran and North Korea are pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran has a leader with a questionable grip on reality. He keeps saying that Israel and the United States will soon cease to exist.

The CIA just ran a sting operation and netted bomb-grade uranium in the Republic of Georgia. It seems that Russia is having a hard time controlling the old Soviet weapons. If my memory serves me correctly, Iran and Russia share a border. And Russia has been supplying weapons to Iran.

Oh, and the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 with some sort of doomsday prophecy.

It would be very easy to throw our hands up in the air, declare the world a lost cause and wait for the rapture (and pray that it came before the tribulation- which is a debatable issue). But that is not what our Lord called us to do in Matthew 28:

19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

We don't know when the end of the age is. And many people in past times have thought the end was imminent. I'm no prophecy scholar but I do know it could happen tomorrow, next year, next century. Only the LORD himself knows. Take the words of Joshua 1:9 to heart and be strong courageous, for the Lord will be with us wherever we go.

We don't have to run over anyone's toes getting away. God is with us.

Worth looking at again

Just let the power of the song and the music speak to you.

Missional Churches - Concluding thoughts

I hope you have enjoyed the missional series. I know that thinking about what makes a church missional has been good for me. I'd like to conclude with a few thoughts.

Don't get hung up on terms. Missional is a mindset, not a form. I know in Christianity we love to classify people and groups. Emergent, post-modern, missional, liberal, charismatic, mainline, fundamentalist. Labels help us understand, but they also limit us. Focus on what a church is doing, not what it calls itself. If the majority of their activity is internal, that may not be your place if you are a Great Commission -oriented believer.

Since this is a relatively new concept in the Christian vernacular, expect a great deal of turbulence as the concept progresses. As the Church emerges from the Constantinian era, there will be a great deal of turbulence, much like the post-99 theses era. Apply a great deal of grace to your thoughts during this time.

Finally, think about how you can be more missional personally. Search the scriptures and let the Spirit speak to you. Here are some blogs dealing with missional concepts. Read them if you want.

Missional Churches - Fifth in a series

Here is the original article from which this is derived.

(5) Finally, missional communities are not only ardent listeners for the earmarks of God's redemptive work in our world, these communities are passionate activists when they find the pathways and trajectories of God's redemptive presence. The work of justice, reconciliation, peace, and spiritual direction are becoming the dominant reflexes of missional communities.

What strikes me about this is how much of a difference this is from the main thrust of evangelical churches at the end of the 20th Century and beginning of the 21st. Rather than run around condemning, protesting and exercising political power, these communities look for examples of lives that have been redeemed and seek to continue that process for all who are willing.

And by embracing "liberal" issues such as reconciliation, justice and peace, they have moved the church out of the right-wing ghetto that threatened to enslave it. God is not right or left-wing. God is holy. The church needs to keep a healthy distance from political movements that threaten to distance it even further from the people who so desperately need to hear its message of redemption and hope through Christ. The end of the Constantinian era will hopefully make some headway in this area, but the church needs to be apolitical and always be on God's side, regardless of the political landscape.

We so desperately want to be accepted and liked, that we sometimes sell our birthright for political power and access. The church needs to keep the ability to critique, rebuke and cajole the government to do what it right. We cannot do that if we become factional.

Contractual marriage redux

A fellow blogger left this comment on the contractual marriage post.

"I am reminded of 1 Cor. 13: "Love...keeps no record of wrong."

For followers of Christ, when the day comes to be united with Christ, there will be no record of wrong. That is the grace of God, given to us in Christ. God will forgive and forget all of the wrongs we have committed against him. In our relationships with others, we would do well to emulate that behavior.

Otherwise, we are left in fear of retribution if we break our end of the deal. I don't want to go through life in fear like Abraham had in Genesis 15 where he made a covenant with God that he did not believe he could keep. Abraham was fearful of making a deal with God. In those days if you broke a covenant, the other side could demand your life.

We live under grace from God. I know I need to work on sharing that grace with others.

Contractual Marriage

I was sitting in a Chinese buffet restaurant at lunch today (I know this sounds like the beginning of a bad country song) and overheard a conversation of five men at a nearby table. One of the things they were discussing was a contractual marriage one of them had heard about. In this marriage, a second marriage for both people, they literally spelled out all the things that would be required of each other. It ranged from house work to sex, and seemingly didn't miss much. One of the gentlemen lamented that he had not done that with his wife.

As I sat there I was saddened for each of them, and especially for the couple they were discussing. Marriage is a mystical union of two people to become one flesh, which is something that we cannot easily explain. And marriage is the model the Bible uses to describe the relationship between Christ and the church.

I started thinking about the people I know who are in contractual arrangements with God through their church. If they do a certain number of things, or don't do others, then God will reciprocate by granting them something. That is not what God had in mind for marriage or for our relationship with him.

I'm no marriage expert, but I have enough mileage on me to know that when we start getting the ledger out to keep score, something has gone horribly wrong. How can we selflessly give ourselves to another while keeping track of who took out the trash?

And how can we give ourselves to God while keeping one eye on the ledger to make sure that we don't do more than our share and checking to see if our prize is on the way? It just seemed really sad to me.

Missional Churches - Fourth in a series

For review, here is the original article on which all of this is based.

(4) Embracing the ethnic and social diversities of local communities is becoming a moral expectation. (This is one aspect of God's voice that I believe we have heard strongly from outside the confines of the church.)

This is an area where I think we are starting to see the church respond in a positive manner. I, like many of you, live in a primarily Caucasian area. Minorities in Monroe County make up less than 10% of the population. So ethnic diversity is going to be a difficult row to hoe. But social diversity, especially economic diversity is not a difficult task.

One of the most striking things about most (not all) American churches is their homogeneity in many aspects. Race, income, and education are all stratifying agents used to create homogeneous groups. We all want a church of people like us. That is an understandable reaction. But Jesus didn't call us to people like us, other than calling us to other sinners.

The Bible makes more than 170 references to the poor. It is an issue that matters greatly to God. In the Old Testament Israel was frequently punished for not taking care of the most vulnerable in their society - poor, widows, immigrants and orphans.

Who are those people for us today. That list is a good start, add the recently downsized or let go, former prisoners, and children of single parents. If we made solid connections with those groups and welcomed them openly into our fellowship, not just allowed them into our building or service, we would reflect the Kingdom Jesus was talking about.

It's a goal, and one that God would be pleased with.

Just to whet your appetite

Go here to see the movie trailer for Amazing Grace.

Check out this link to a previous post on this topic.

Roy