Groundhog Day

For those who have not seen the movie Groundhog Day, it is about a man who gets trapped in a cycle of reliving the same day over and over again. He is the only one who realizes this, and at first has fun with it. By the end he is trying to kill himself.

Politically, we are in a Groundhog Day scenario right now.





Another shady Asian man is raising money for a Clinton White House run. Charlie Trie anyone?

Another Republican is embroiled in a sex scandal

The war goes on.

I think I will go sign up for some piano lessons.

Breaking News!!!!!!

Professional wrestlers may have used steroids.

Who could have imagined that?

My mind is reeling from this shock to my system.

Some Good reading on Christian Consumerism

Since we have a long weekend, I offer you some reading on how pervasive this issue is in the church today. It is a destructive mentality that I have caught (and hopefully arrested) in my own thinking. The issue is insidious because our American focus on stuff and self-gratification then leads into the church, where our local congregation is reduced to nothing more than a purveyor of religious expression. If I'm dissatisfied with this expression, I'll go down the street and "buy" their style.

I'm not going to sermonize here, but let the texts speak for themselves.

iChurch: All We Like Sheep

Why The Devil Takes Visa

Consumerism, Economism, and Christian Faith

Consumerism and Being a Christian

Church Switchers are Restless?

Have a happy and safe Labor Day all. May God give you a glorious time in the days he has given me.

Christian Consumerism

Following up on yesterday's diatribe on worship, I began to think about the consumerism question, which is at the heart of all of this. We want what we like, when we want it. That is American Christianity in a nutshell, I believe. Which is truly sad.

A few years ago, a local Christian radio station talk show host had people call in and tell him what they looked for when they were looking for a new church. I was driving the entire hour they discussed this, so I caught the whole sement. Not one person talked about selecting a church based on how it fullfilled the Great Commission. No one mentioned the way the church reached out into the community to help the less fortunate, the lost, the mentally ill, the powerless. No one.

Instead I heard a maddening hour of children's programs, great music, teaching, fellowship, "family" and other things that just screamed 'ME, ME, ME." I was so infuriated by this that my blood pressure was still elevated when I finally got to my doctor's office for my appointment.

I think that is when the worm began to turn in me and I realized I was part of that group, but the Lord was beginning to show me how wrong it is. Since then, he has repeatedly brought people, books and classes across my path that reinforce how messed up the American church's priorities are. We are extremely individualistic and want to do things our own way. But I'm not sure that is how God works. Actually, I'm pretty sure that is NOT how he works. There is a social component of Christianity that collides with American individualism, and the church has had a difficult time dealing with that.

Pray for the church. Pray for it,not just its members, to have a witness to the world that points toward Christ. Lord knows the world needs that encouragement.

Worship and Justice

The next time someone (maybe even you or me) goes off on "worship" (when they mean musical style preferences) print this article and give it to the person to read. It is a sobering look at what worship really is, and what it isn't. While we quibble about the kerfuffles that bother us, brothers and sisters in Christ worship in conditions we care not to imagine.

I've copied the text below if you don't want to follow the link. The bold emphasis is mine.
Leadership Journal, Summer 2007

The Real Worship War
Forget about choruses versus hymns—what about justice?
by Mark Labberton

At a worship service I attended, my attention was drawn to the enthusiastic worship leader. He opened our time with prayer, asking God to meet us and draw us into the Lord's presence. Then he stood with eyes closed and the band playing. He lifted his hands and offered his joyful praise to God.

That's when I really took notice, for as he sang so rapturously, he kept stepping on the feet of the people behind him. Not just once or twice but repeatedly throughout the singing. No apology. No acknowledgment of his "tromping in the spirit." He was just praising God while oblivious to his neighbor.

I have no doubt the worship leader was just so caught up in his own experience of worship that he lost track of others. That's exactly the problem.

For all of our apparent passion about God, in the end much of our worship seems to be mostly about us. We presume we can worship in a way that will find God but lose track of our neighbor. Yet it was this very pattern in Israel's worship life that brought God's judgment. Biblical worship that finds God will also find our neighbor.

What is ironic and especially pertinent is that many debates about worship are just indirect ways of talking about ourselves, not God. Our debates devolve into how we like our worship served up each week. It's worship as consumption rather than offering. It's an expression of human taste, not a longing to reflect God's glory.

If we worship Jesus Christ, then we are to live like Jesus. In fact, Jesus says in Matthew 25:31-46 that our worship will be measured by how we have lived.

The heart of the battle over worship is this: our worship practices are separated from our call to justice and, worse, foster the self-indulgent tendencies of our culture rather than nurturing the self-sacrificing life of the kingdom of God.

Paralyzed in the pews
I do not stand outside of this sweeping critique, not for a moment. Nor does the congregation I serve. Many of us are simply busy with our daily lives. Apart from major headlines, few international needs go deep into our hearts. When we do pay attention, we often experience information overload and an unending sense of need and desperation when we hear of places like East Timor, Darfur, sub-Saharan Africa, Bangladesh, Haiti.

We admit that people may be suffering in the world. But we conclude that the suffering of "those people" is not what it would be for us; that dying of starvation in a refugee camp in Sudan is roughly the same kind of suffering experienced by the street person we encounter on the way to work; that it is beyond our grasp to respond effectively to suffering on a global scale.

Part of the malady is this tragic rationale: that in the face of global need, if we can't do everything, we can't do anything. We are paralyzed, inert.

Meanwhile our suffering world waits for signs of God on the earth, "with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God" (Rom. 8:19). God's plan is that we, the church, are to be the primary evidence of God's presence. Every continent needs solid signs of that. Staggering statistics of land grabbing and bonded slavery, of malnutrition and starvation, of HIV/AIDS and wrongful imprisonment are rife. An enormous chasm exists between these daily realities in our world and the preoccupations of most Christian disciples in North America.

Jesus' call to "go and make disciples" must be carried out in a world such as this. The life-changing good news is God's saving love in Jesus Christ, who wants to make every person and every thing (including every form of injustice and oppression) new. That is our hope and our commission.

The real crisis over worship, is this: will God's people worship God in a way that demonstrates we are awake? By loving our neighbor in God's name? Will we worship the living God as he asks: "to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [our] God"?

Worship leaders may want to focus only on what seems culturally and socially immediate. But if we are to worship the Lord of all creation, the Savior of the world, then while we are checking the sound system or pondering prayers or sermons, we have to hold on to a wider vision of God's love.

The world in our worship
For several years I received each Sunday morning an e-mail from mission partners we were supporting. This couple and their three small girls were living and serving at-risk children in Cambodia. One of the only e-mails I would read before the worship service was their weekly update. I read it as a spiritual discipline, as a morsel of mercy and truth, as a reminder and a call.

I needed to lead our worship services in Berkeley with my heart freshly reminded of the realities of suffering in the world, the urgency of hearing and living out the hope of the gospel, and the joyous and costly call of sacrificial living in the name of Christ.

Each Sunday I want to serve the people in the pews right in front of me and lead them into the transforming presence of God. The issue is: what are the criteria?

Scripture indicates that the answer will be whether those who feel blessed by worship live changed lives. The evidence is not just the immediate post-service buzz but whether people are actually giving their lives away for the poor and the oppressed in some tangible way.

One Sunday I preached on Psalm 27, a remarkable psalm that vividly describes being afraid and finding God's comfort. I'm sure it was at least a "nice sermon," maybe even a good one. Later that week I attended a dinner sponsored by the International Justice Mission, a Christian organization that seeks justice for people facing various forms of oppression.

Elisabeth, a beautiful 17-year-old girl from Southeast Asia, spoke at the dinner. She had grown up in a Christian home, memorizing Bible verses, which became all the more poignant during the year she was kidnapped, forced into prostitution, and enslaved in a squalid brothel. As she spoke, she projected a picture of her room in the brothel. Over the bed where she was so brutally treated, day after day, she had written these words on the wall: "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall." These are the opening verses of Psalm 27.

I thought back to the previous Sunday and my sermon on this same psalm, remembering some of the fears I had listed for those in my church. Those were real and legitimate fears, but none of them were as consequential as those Elisabeth faced. I had this image of a silent movie going through my mind, listening to Elisabeth while envisioning my congregation gathering for worship on a random Sunday. While we were busy trying to park our cars in Berkeley that morning, a task "so totally horrible," as one person said to me recently, girls like Elisabeth were coming to worship in their settings too. She came before God in her windowless room in the brothel. We did so in our glass-walled sanctuary.

If we see Elisabeth's story through the lens of the biblical narrative, we realize that love for God ties us to love for Elisabeth. Not because her story provokes sentimental compassion, but because her life and circumstances make a claim on those who worship Jesus Christ.

Worship like the world depends on it
True worship reclarifies the purposes of God and our part in them. False worship, which can be found as much among God's people as elsewhere, leads to distorted mission.

Take power, for example. Power is one of the most profound gifts of God and therefore a prime target for false worship; that is, to take power and misuse it for something other than what honors God and his creation. Elisabeth's suffering, and much of our own, has to do with an abuse of power. Faithful worship helps us clarify and limit human power in our hearts and minds. False worship never does that. False worship sets the terms of injustice, a distortion or aberration of power. Faithful worship asks whether we are seeing and living in God's reality or in the fiction created by our own fallen lives. When we or anyone besides God assumes the central role, life whips us out of alignment.

The fallout of false worship distorts our sense of God, ourselves and others, leading to injustice and suffering, pride and entitlement. The damage continues relentlessly. No wonder God gets angry at Israel, or the church, when this distortion is perpetuated by the very people he calls his own. This is the burning message of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Amos. This is a battle line in the worship wars that really matters to God. Whom do we fear?

Another distortion that false worship fosters is this: the loss of God's intended witness to love and justice. God intends that from true worship will flow lives that are the evidence of his just and righteous character in the world. False worship instead leads to false representation: we may speak in God's name but fail to show God's life. The prophet Isaiah says that when God's people do this, we lie about the God we represent (Isa. 5:20-23; 29:13-16).

God intended for those in Abraham's line to be blessed to be a blessing. Their relationship with God was for their own sake but also for the sake of those who through them (and us) were to "taste and see that the LORD is good." The world is to see and know something about God through the lives and actions of faithful worshipers.

Worship that reorders
On a trip to India, I talked to a pastor about reading. He said, "If I save for four months, I am able to buy one Christian book through a discount I am offered. I have never traveled outside India, but I have heard that sometimes people in America buy books and don't read them." He asked with dismay, "Is that really true?" I mumbled something to cover my embarrassment, as I thought of just such books on my shelves.

For us, it's not a matter of if we have bought books we don't read, but how many. It's not whether we get our children inoculations, but whether we can keep track of the paperwork to prove it to the schools. It's not whether we eat, but how much we eat beyond what we need or even want. It's not whether we have a bed, but what color and theme the bed coverings will be. It's not whether we have a chance to hear about the love of God in Jesus Christ, but which ministry or church or medium we like best. Some people in our own country don't have these choices (a scandal in itself). But most people in America do. Meanwhile, millions in the Southern Hemisphere and in Asia have never lived a single day with choices like these.

This disparity between economics and justice is an issue of worship. According to Scripture, the very heart of how we show and distinguish true worship from false worship is apparent in how we respond to the poor, the oppressed, the neglected and the forgotten. As of now, I do not see this theme troubling the waters of worship in the American church. But justice and mercy are not add-ons to worship, nor are they the consequences of worship. Justice and mercy are intrinsic to God and therefore intrinsic to the worship of God.

Our worship should lead us to greater mercy, to costly acts of justice, for those who are the least seen, the least remembered, the least desired.

Vigorous biblical worship should stop, or at least redirect, our endless consumerism, as our free and faithful choice to spend less in order to give away more. Our community reputation, as Scripture suggests, should be that the church comprises those who pursue justice for the oppressed because that is what it means to be Christ's body in the world. We should not fool ourselves into thinking that it's enough to feel drawn to the heart of God without our lives showing the heart of God.

Mark Labberton is pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, California

Excerpted from The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God's Call to Justice (Zondervan, 2007), used by permission.

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.
Click here for reprint information onLeadership Journal.
Summer 2007, Vol. XXVIII, No. 3, Page 81

Another Sign of the Apocalypse

Sean Casey hit his first triple since 2004. It is no coincidence that it happened on the night of a lunar eclipse. If you have ever seen Casey run, you will understand. Slow doesn't even do it justice.

Another Blow to the Body of Christ

This is a sad story. It's always sad when a couple divorces. It tears at the social fabric, destroys lives, and shakes the faith of those around them. But when the couple are pastors of a 23,000 member church taking in millions of dollars, it is greatly magnified.

The first headline I read focused on how they will split up their possessions. This is where they might have spent a little time reading Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline chapter on Simplicity. Just read this and shake your head:

The Whites have declined to say what the church pays them.

Michael Chitwood, whose financial services company devised their compensation package, said he recalled they have taken an annual salary as high as $1.5 million collectively, though most years it's closer to $600,000.

They were approved to take up to $3 million collectively, said the president of Chitwood & Chitwood of Tennessee.

Perhaps the most complex part of their divorce, being handled by Holland & Knight law firm, will be dividing up the assets, debts and business interests.

The couple's home on Bayshore Boulevard has an assessed value of $2.22 million. They have a land trust that includes two Tampa houses with assessed values of $144,800 and $257,835. The New York condo is valued at about $3.5 million.

Their multimillion-dollar ministry includes a private jet.

Randy White has said much of their wealth comes from more than 23 successful business ventures, including real estate and his role as a pitchman for Great HealthWorks' Omega XL fatty acid pills.

His main company, RAW Realty, is listed on his company Web site as being housed at 100 S. Ashley Drive, Suite 1180, in Tampa, but a law firm occupies that space. The state lists the company as being located at 2511 Grady Ave. in Tampa, which is the church address. The phone number on the Web site and listed with the state is disconnected. E-mails sent to the Web address were not returned.

White said this week the company is "very much active" in real estate, residential acquisitions and other ventures, but he's pared it down to himself and one assistant.

Citation from TBO.com story referenced above.

Was just reading about Mammon this morning. Mammon = wealth, and we can't serve both, according to our Lord. I think this just reinforces his 2000 year-old point. I understand we all have bills to pay, but that does seem excessive to me. I think heeding the words of John Wesley on from Sermon 50 would be wise in this situation:

Make all you can,
Save all you can,
Give all you can.

Hoarding is a sin. And when our leaders do it, all Christians suffer because of it.

I turned 40 yesterday

Maybe they should make room in the box for me.
I received my first AARP email today, which, I think, is about 10 years early.

I think I'll squeeze in between rat and the zebra. Pig is a little to random for me.

Finding Grace in the small things

I come to you today from the Millenium Laundry, where I am babysitting the washers. We had quite a storm yesterday, and are without power. The plan was to do laundry on Saturday, and DTE Energy says we may be without power until Sunday or Monday. So.... Deb and the girls are running errands while I watch the washers. We are very fortunate. There are a number of large trees and branches down throughout town, and several of them landed on homes, porches and fences. All we have is no power and some water in the basement, for which we are grateful.

This has been an interesting experience for the neighborhood though. During the story yesterday, one neighbor and I were dragging construction barrels down to cover a downed phone line. A cable company truck ripped through, snagged the wire and ripped it off the pole, rendering the barrels unnecessary.

My next door neighbor offered to let us hook our extension cords to his generator which keeps our refrigerator and freezer running. And we took the food from another neighbor's freezer and put it in our deep freeze.

The east side of the street had their power back at 3 am. Our power may not be restored for days, which is odd. But we are grateful that we are fine. And we love seeing the hand of God in the way our neighborhood interacts in a time of adversity.

My heart breaks for these parents

This is such a sad story. Two teenagers dead, one seriously injured because of a series of bad decisions that began late in the night. According to the newspaper accounts, these were good kids who, for reasons one cannot explain, made a decision to get in a car with an unlicensed driver at 2:00 a.m. and then flee the police at high speeds. I truly feel for the parents whose children are gone.

I've been shopping for cars lately, since my Chevy Metro seems to be going the way of all flesh. And I have been asking Hannah her opinion about certain cars as I look at them. It is because in a little more than 2 years she will be eligible for her learner's permit, which will open a new chapter in our lives. And stories like this one terrify me. I was a teen driver once, and I don't know how my parents made it through that time.

I try to talk with the kids about the decision-making process that teens go through. I would prefer for her to have a 2-seat car because I believe that the propensity to do something stupid is directly related to the number of people in the vehicle. The more, the dumber, at least that was my experience as a teen. We would come up with plans in a group that would have never occurred to me alone, or me with one of my friends. And the grace of God sustained us. I pray that some of these conversations will stick with them in ways that will prevent something like this from happening.

Pray for these families. I cannot imagine the pain they are feeling right now.

17 years and going strong

Deb and I recently celebrated our 17th anniversary and we were marvelling at 1) how fast the time has flown and 2) how much stronger our relationship is than it was when we first started out. I surprised her by scheduling a getaway night at The Mill House Bed and Breakfast in Grand Rapids, Ohio. Deb is not one for surprises, and the fact that the kids and I kept it from her for a week drove her crazy. That, combined with not knowing where we were going until we arrived chafed at her natural tendencies. But she loved it. And I loved keeping the secret with the girls.

I'm not going to get all schmaltzy here, but over 17 years we have had our ups and downs, and we both realize that the Lord has blessed us with each other and our love has grown significantly in the past few years. And for that we are grateful.

The Mill House is a fabulous little B&B in a quaint little town of 900 along the Maumee River. The owners, Ron and Kathy Munk, are wonderful hosts and had a variety of treats, coffee, cookies and other goodies available, as well as some good conversation and a lovely view along the old canal that was built through the area in the 1840's. And the breakfast they served left us not needing lunch. You won't go away hungry. Trust me.

If you are looking for a getaway for your sweetie, or just a quiet place to go and do some contemplation or a spiritual retreat, I recommend The Mill House. That is the Garden Room pictured above, which is where we stayed. And Pastors, check out the special they offer to you.
My bride and I had a wonderful time, and I 'm sure you will too.

May God continue to bless us with each other for many many years to come.

Managing the sin in our midst

My friend Kurt had a good post on avoiding sin, which is always good advice. Trying to stay just far enough away from sin, but still be close enough to enjoy it's presence is a recipe for spiritual disaster. I've been reading Judges lately, and this was a trap that Israel fell into. When they did not drive the inhabitants of the promised land out, as the Lord instructed, they set themselves up for failure. Now they had the gods of the Ammonites, Hittites and all of the other pagan tribes next to them. And these people had attractive sons and daughters, and SURPRISE, intermarriage occurred. Then the gods came over, Israel lost God's favor, and cycle of bad things began.

Look at our lives today. How much of the pain that we suffer is caused by self-inflicted wounds? If we constantly struggle with things, maybe our friends, family and acquaintances are part of the problem. Maybe it is our job that leads us into temptation, or the neighborhood we live in. This is where we need to prayerfully seek deliverance, guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. God will show us the changes that we need to make, and if allow him, the changes that only He can make in us.

So if you are struggling with sin(s), take some prayer time to ask God if there are environmental causes that can be remedied. Maybe a vocational change is in order. I don't know, but our surroundings can be a snare for us. My prayers are with you as you seek God's instruction.

Wait! Then what are the Lions?

This headline confuses me. I thought that is what we have been watching for the past several years at Ford Field.

Detroit to get minor league football team

To all the parents out there

Turn your volume up and smile as you listen to this. It is such an awkward age, but I know I will miss it when it is over.

Pure light-hearted levity...

I tip my hat to JD Walt, dean of the chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary for this one. I'm struggling with some cursed virus and this made me laugh. It also reminded me that I cannot dance.

A culture that glorifies death and violence.

No, this isn't about Iraq. It is about dog fighting and cock fighting, which are two extremely inhumane methods of entertainment that seem to have a following in this country. Michael Vick, one of the most talented players in the NFL has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for running a dogfighting ring and the associated gambling that goes with that. This is just sickening. It is callous cruelty done for entertainment and gambling purposes. Allegedly by a man paid millions of dollars by the NFL and the endorsement deals he once held.

I don't want to condemn a man who has not been convicted, but let me say that the video below will show you what he and his friends do for amusement. Think about that if you own one of his jerseys. This is a practice (I can't call it a sport) that trains captive animals to kill and maim each other for amusement. Nothing else. And we cheer for this man on Sundays.

I can't even begin to express the level of disgust that this dog owner has over the situation. I pray that justice will be done in this case.

Money for Nothing

I apologize for the frequent use of comics lately, but some of the best commentary on our social situations comes from the humor writers. Take the strip at the right for example. The story is the croc is suing the zebra for not becoming a food source for him. But the "lotto" mentality of the legal system is one of the more sickening aspects of our society.

There are a significant number of people who seem to believe that they are entitled to large cash awards every time something doesn't go their way. To wit:

The Imus mess

The $54 Million pants

Top 10 Frivolous Lawsuits

There is a well-documented phenomenon in America of attorneys shopping for juries in certain states because they will award ridiculous amounts of money in questionable cases. Some of those states have enacted lawsuit reforms, but, as the croc says, the odds are still better than the lotto and there are no ping pong balls.

I'm not sure what to do about it, other than try to teach conflict resolution at the lowest possible level. Many of these suits are issues that got out of hand (a pair of pants for $54 million?) and should have been handled at a much lower level than the courts.

Sometimes your only recourse is to sue, when a party refuses to talk or try to work something out. But even then, suing for the actual damages, and not some lotto-type number, is a better way to handle things.

No wonder the rest of the world shakes their head at us.

The Anti-Bottled Water bandwagon grows

Here are a few articles on the subject that have appeared as of late. It seems that I am not alone in my thoughts on this. I must confess that I am getting tired of seeing the bottles lying all over the place in parks and along roadsides, which is part of what is driving this.

And here is something to chew on, courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor: "Surely bottled water is purer and safer? Actually, no. The regulations governing the quality of public water supplies are far stricter than those governing bottled-water plants. True, there are sometimes contamination problems with tap water, but the same is true of bottled water."

This I was aware of from my days of assisting the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department with public relations activities. Mull that one over in your head for a while.

Los Angeles Times article

Christian Science Monitor article

Aspen Times News article


Or just go here.

Another way to save the planet

Stop buying bottled water. Follow the advice of New York's mayor and drink tap water, which is just as safe and much less expensive. If you pay $1 per 1/2 liter of water (which is less than most convenience stores and vending machines), you are paying north of $7.50 per gallon of bottled water. You are also using up a great deal of energy in the bottling, transportation and disposal of the containers when you are finished with them. If you paid $7.50 for gas, I can only imagine the screams of protest about 'Big Oil." But I hear very little about "Big Water" from my conspiracy-theorist friends.

Buy a Brita pitcher and keep it in the fridge. You won't taste difference, you will save some cash, and you will be doing a little bit to help out planet Earth.

Just some friendly advice.

Always look on the bright side of life

That inane Monty Python tune is stuck in my head as I read the morning paper and stumble across this beauty. I think I may have figured out what our feckless friends in Lansing are doing. This is not an economic depression. No. It is a well-designed plan to alleviate traffic congestion on our state's highways. The $1.8 billion state budget deficit is just a by-product of their masterful social engineering designed to avoid the need for new highway construction. The exodus of people leaving Michigan are just mere pawns in the chess game.

I have to give it up to Jenny and the gang in Lansing. They almost had me fooled with this one. I should be more trusting of the fine elected leadership we send to our state capital each year.

I'm so tired of saying goodbye

Greetings from Michigan, the state that sends people to other states. Given the pitiful state of our economy here, there is a slow-motion exodus out of this once-proud economic giant. Now we are just a shell of what we once were and will lose another congressional seat or two in the next census.

Our little church in Dundee will say goodbye to three families in a six-week period because of the economy. One family went to Texas, another is going to Colorado and a third is going to the Cleveland, OH area. I'm tired of packing my friends up and moving them out. I don't mind the work, but this business of being a "sending church" is wearing a bit thin.

My apologies for whining. Please pass the cheese.

I praise God for His provision for each of them. The Rister's and Stevens' are going to Colorado Springs to study for the ministry. The Doktor's and Henry's are taking jobs to do what they think is best for their families, and the Lord has provided for all of them. And I do look forward to what God will do next in our little congregation. But God, you can feel free to stop the exodus any time now. As if you needed my permission.

Unintentionally blessing someone

When we moved to Monroe, we had our first experience with garbage- picking. We inherited a bunch of unusable stuff from the previous occupants that we put out each week at the curb. Some nights we would watch out the windows with the lights off as the crews swept the neighborhood looking for salvageable items. We had never seen anything like it.

Yesterday was garbage day and I unintentionally blessed someone with a wheelbarrow. My yard waste bags were rained on and were near collapse so I loaded them into the wheelbarrow as a courtesy to the yard waste collection guys. Someone took the wheelbarrow, and carefully placed the bags on the grass. It had not occurred to me that someone would even comprehend doing that, but so be it. I'm still shaking my head.

To whomever has my wheelbarrow, enjoy it. It served me well.

Our Long National Nightmare is Over

Barry Bonds' death march to the home run record is officially over, and now we can all go back to ignoring the woeful San Francisco Giants team. Congratulations to Barry, who evidently took the "better living through chemistry" credo to new heights (and widths of his head) as he pursued Hank Aaron's record.

This record will forever be tainted because it happened in the Steroid Era of baseball, when the owners, media, commissioner and fans ignored the obvious use of performance enhancing drugs. Baseball needed excitement following the 1994 strike and World Series cancellation, and juiced-up players provided that spark. Suddenly, the league seems to have gotten religion about this and is trying to crack down on steroid use, long after the horse has left the barn.

Give Barry his props. He is the greatest of the steroid era.

More on the cosmos

I may have been a bit trite yesterday in my treatment of the Opus comic. In an email conversation, someone told me that the way we get off of it being about ME is this: "The only real way to stop believing that I am the center of the universe is to recognize that Someone Else is the center of the universe. Acknowledging that Someone else is the center of the universe occurs most easily when I realize that the Center of the universe wants a personal relationship with me."

Read this article, which reflects many of my thoughts on how creation calls us to God. My apologies for giving God short-shrift yesterday.

Isn't this the truth?

Sadly, for so many people, that is true. We can stare at the vastness of creation and it is all about us. Not about God, the infinitely creative one who made all of this, but just about me.

Things haven't changed much since Adam and Eve. It's still all about them. And us.

Longing. Hungering and Thirsting. Wanting more.

In the post-vacation avalanche of mail that awaited us was a Christianity Today magazine with an intriguing article on "hungering and thirsting" that caught my eye. Matthew 5:6 teaches "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." It seems that hunger and thirst are strong metaphors in the Christian walk, which goes will with the emphasis on fasting throughout the Bible. Anyone who has seen me knows that I am not a natural faster. I have to work at it, and don't always see the joy in it. But I do it as the Lord instructs, and it has benefited me.

There is a world around us hungering and thirsting for many things, including righteousness. The world attempts to slake this thirst in many ways. Alcohol, sex, drugs, money, power, busyness, work, other people, etc. There are countless ways to fill Decartes' "God-shaped hole" in us, and we are all trying. Some are trying to fill that hole with God. Others are trying to do it with a form of religion, such as works, trying harder, or other ways that do not rely on the grace and power of God.

The U2 song "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" expresses that thought well. They are striving for God, but it seems like they are doing it in their own strength, which will end in disappointment. It's so easy to say that Jesus is what we are looking for, and that is true. I believe we need to condition our hearts to properly search. We don't need to do more, but rely more. And that is tough, especially in the United States with the "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality. Our spiritual formation emphasis should be on growing closer to the Lord, which takes time. Many of us (hear me speaking of myself here) try to rush the process and devote X chapters of reading and X minutes of prayer as if it were formulaic. It isn't. Take it from a pilgrim who has slammed into that wall many times. Take time to practice solitude and rest in the Lord. Listen more and talk less in prayer time. I wish I had done that many years ago.

Here are the lyrics and a YouTube link to the video, which appears to have been shot in Las Vegas. A place where so many try vainly to satisfy their longings. Sorry I can't embed the video for you.

I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I have kissed hardened lips
Felt the healing fingertips
It burned like a fire
This burning desire

I have spoken with eternal angels
I have held the hands of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I believe in the Kingdom Come
When all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well, yes I'm still running

You broke the bonds
And you loosened the chains
Carried the cross
Of all my shame
all my shame
You know I believe it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

This is definitely worth listening to

If you have time, I encourage you to listen to this chapel service at Asbury Seminary. Dr. Steve Stratton, a professor of counseling offers a thoughtful and thought-provoking message on the difference between repentance and shame. While much of it I knew at some level, he does a wonderful job of stitching together several thoughts that do help explain how our attempts at change and the change wrought by the Holy Spirit are very different. If you want to receive the chapel services via Itunes, go here and follow the link.

My presuppositions are showing

And I think it is a good thing.

I read this article in Christianity Today and was simultaneously saddened, sickened, and surprised. I have long cast a wary eye toward any religion or teaching that claims 'God wants you to be rich" because I just don't see evidence of that in scripture. I know that the proponents of this movement have constructed a series of "Proof Texts" to support their position, but I just can't bring myself to believe that all of the suffering references in scripture are overridden by a prosperity gospel. Not everyone is going to be healthy and wealthy, and this movement leaves those people spiritually devastated because the implied assumption is that there is something spiritually wrong with them. Otherwise, God would show them favor. And I imagine deathbed counseling for someone in this situation is extremely difficult.

I'm still early in my theological education, but I have been around the block a couple of times. I cast a wary eye at any theology that uses a couple verses of scripture to make a far-reaching claim. It was for that reason that the Jabez Prayer movement made me a little nervous. It seems to take an isolated prayer and make it universal in its application, which is very dangerous.

I post this merely to make you aware of some trends in the rapidly-growing Christian church. Pray hard for sound biblical teaching, or we will devastate Africa again, as we did during the colonial era.

One of the more fun days in Colorado

Just a quick note to show one of the more fun things we did during our trip. This was one of the "necessary" items on the trip, since the kids had never been rafting with their friends. We went in 2004, but with the Duce's, not the Risters. It was a blast on a day when there was a great deal of water on the Arkansas River near Buena Vista. If you make it out here, you need to do this. It's a lot of fun.

Looking for places to bury me

On Wednesday we hiked the Crags, a spectacularly beautiful section of Colorado near Pikes Peak. The hike should have only been 3.5-4 miles, but was nearly doubled because the road to the trailhead was only open intermittently due to road construction. The additional 2 miles each way strained this flatlander to the point of fearing he would meet Jesus on the trail. I even went far enough to point out to Dr. Alan Duce and my wife Deb places that would be appropriate, in my opinion, to bury me if I succumbed to the combination of thin air and poor physical conditioning.

Deb took a great number of flower photos on this trip, which you can enjoy here. There are some birds, a few bugs and a wonderful spot that reminds me of the verse from the hymn "he hideth my soul, in the cleft of the rock, and covers me there with his hand." Alan told us that he and his wife had taken refuge in that cleft during a storm. I'm glad we didn't face that. There are also some great photos from the top of the Crags, which is at approximately 10,700 ft in elevation.

We head home on Friday afternoon, so this may be the last post for a few days. God has used this trip to bring us closer together, and inspire my soul. I find that the scenery reminds me of the power, creativity, and absolute majesty of God. And I take great comfort in that. I also had some time to spend with Alan, who is my ministry mentor, and a trusted confidante to talk about how my ministry preparation is going and some of the associated issues that go along with that. I truly value his counsel. And we all were able to spend time with the Rister's, who were our closest friends in Monroe until they moved last year. My daughters have been anxiously waiting for this trip so they could spend time with their friends. You never have enough time for something like that, but we have greatly enjoyed our time together out here. Leaving will be a sad moment for all of us.

Tuesday was a killer

We had a fabulous time hiking on Tuesday. In the morning we hiked the Cutler Trail and a trail above Helen Hunt Falls and Seven Falls. The photos located here show some of the beauty that we saw and give an idea of how much fun Cheyenne Canyon can be. We had the great pleasure of hiking with Dr. Alan Duce and Rev. Jan Duce, professors at Nazarene Bible College and our former pastors. We visited the Duce's in 2004 and greatly enjoyed our time with them. The trail offers some spectacular views of Seven Falls, Cheyenne Canyon and the Will Rogers Shrine. It is a breathtaking (especially for a middle-aged, overweight flatlander like me) view in the early morning, and one of the many reminders that God loves beauty, and in His creation, displayed His creative genius.

In the afternoon we went to Waldo Canyon and hiked part, but not all, of that trail. It was different type of trail that offered some nice side views of Pikes Peak and the canyon. All totalled, we hiked about 8 miles that day, and by the end of the day, I was feeling it. We attended a Colorado Springs Sky Sox baseball game, and I could barely stay awake. And I love baseball. But it was a grand day, and better than any day in the flatlands where we live. I am grateful that we could come here and enjoy the magnificent scenery that is in this country.

Blooming where they are planted

On Monday we took the white-knuckle drive up Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs. Here are some pictures from the drive. There are many hairpin turns on a road that will make anyone afraid of heights grip their car door. But along the way, we stopped and played a little at Crystal Reservoir and climbed up a rock formation above the treeline. What is amazing is the number of beautiful flowers that can live under rocks, in shadows, and in some of the harshest environments you can find.

God makes people like that. Those who can bloom wherever God plants them are like the hardy little plants. They beautify some of the ugliest places, and make the world a little prettier place. That is the kind of Christian I aspire to be. One that makes the world around me a little better, no matter where God plants me. I hold fast to my pastor's favorite scripture, Psalm 16:6, that my boundary lines are drawn in pleasant places.

The Sunday Hike

All of the photos are here for your viewing. We took a hike in the Red Rocks Open Space in Colorado Springs. There are some magnificent views of Cheyenne Mountain, the Garden of the Gods (at left), and the Colorado Springs community. It was an afternoon hike and hot, but we all did remarkably well with the temperature. This is truly an amazing place to view creation.

Pictures from our Saturday adventure

On Saturday, we went to Buena Vista, Colorado for a 1/2 day whitewater rafting trip. The drive down US 24 between Colorado Springs and Buena Vista was absolutely breathtaking as we drove through the Pike and San Isabel National Forests. Click here to see the pictures. The mountain pictures are primarily of the Collegiate Peaks near Buena Vista.

I can't say enough how much I appreciate the beauty of what God has created out here. It isn't idyllic, but it certainly shows the creative power of God. I know it is good for my soul. We are going walking this evening near the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. I look forward to that.

Wikiklesia?

My classmate Derek is a contributing author to Wikiklesia: Voices of the Virtual World. Take a minute and check out the site and the book if you are interested in the convergences of faith, technology, art and the Internet. It looks interesting.

Seeing America

We are now 7 days into our trek across America's midsection. So far we have gone from Michigan to South Dakota, stayed with friends for a few days and then moved on to Colorado Springs. We have seen some amazing country as we drove. We felt a tug back to South Dakota that was far stronger than I expected. And the drive from Hot Springs, South Dakota to Cheyenne, Wyoming was breathtaking. Here are a few photos of our trip so far. Enjoy.

These are just a few of the photos. Yes, there really is a Lost Springs, Wyoming. I'm not sure how an election would work there, but you never know.
God has blessed us with an amazingly beautiful country. There are places that just take your breath away, and inspire awe at the grandeur of what He has created. If you get the chance, take a trip and admire what the Lord has blessed us with. It is good for the soul. At least my soul is blessed.

Paranoia

I really don't know how to add to this story. It just demonstrates the depth of paranoia and distrust in Iraq. Man eating Badgers? That is a new one on me. The video clip at the end only seemed appropriate.

British blamed for Basra badgers

British forces have denied rumours that they released a plague of ferocious badgers into the Iraqi city of Basra.

Word spread among the populace that UK troops had introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic.

But several of the creatures, caught and killed by local farmers, have been identified by experts as honey badgers.

The rumours spread because the animals had appeared near the British base at Basra airport.

UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area.

It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey Housewife Suad Hassan

"We have been told these are indigenous nocturnal carnivores that don't attack humans unless cornered."

The director of Basra's veterinary hospital, Mushtaq Abdul-Mahdi, has inspected several of the animals' corpses.

He told the AFP news agency: "These appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They are known locally as Al-Girta.

"Talk that this animal was brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific."

THE HONEY BADGER Also known as a ratel, it is a large, sharp-clawed mammal At around 100cm (39in) long it is slightly bigger than its British woodland cousin Capable of taking on a cobra, the animal weighs up to 14kg (30lb) Its Latin name is melivora capensis, and it is indigenous to Africa and the Middle East

Dr Ghazi Yaqub Azzam, deputy dean of Basra's veterinary college, speculated that the badgers were being driven towards the city because of flooding in marshland north of Basra.

But the assurances did little to convince some members of the public.

One housewife, Suad Hassan, 30, claimed she had been attacked by one of the badgers as she slept.

"My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer," she said. "It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey," she told AFP.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6295138.stm

Published: 2007/07/12 13:00:42 GMT

© BBC MMVII

A Little Light-hearted Nazarene Rap

I'm pretty sure this isn't heretical :) But I found it on The OOZE. It seems like a good sendoff as we embark on a 2-week vacation to South Dakota and Colorado Springs. I'll try to throw some stuff up while we are on the road.

Show her some comment love

Lauren, a young lady from my congregation, is embarking on a 10-month trip to Pune, India as an exchange student. If you feel so inclined, go to her blog and send her some comment love as she prepares to go to the other side of the world. I'm sure she would appreciate the encouragement.

This is a pretty big deal for her and her family. Prayers are also appreciated.

Running Away from it all

If only it were that easy. Imagine all the grief that could be avoided if you, if you wanted to run away from all your problems, could do it without having to resort to drug and alcohol addictions, extra-marital relationships and all of the various and sundry ways people use to get away from life. Some even resort to death to avoid the problems.

Jesus never promised that our problems would go away. In fact, he warned us to expect more because of our faith. But he did promise to give us a more abundant life in John 10:10. No matter how hard we try, we cannot run away from our problems. Jacob tried it. Elijah laid down and asked to die. But we can turn to the One who will always be there for us to help us do what is the best for us and in God's plan.

The comic is cute, but the issue is very real. Pray hard for those who seem in danger of being overwhelmed. All running does is make you tired and put you farther away from where you need to be.

Pure Joy

Over the weekend we attended the Spirit Song festival at King's Island near Cincinnati, Ohio. Spirit Song is a three day Christian music festival that is sold with an admission to the amusement park. On the last night there was a family with two little girls, about 6 and 3, sitting behind us. The older child loves TobyMac and had never seen him live. Throughout the hour-long TobyMac show, she was waving her arms, singing along and had a look of radiant joy on her face. She was in the presence of someone that she admired and adored. And it was a pleasure to watch her.

Her joy reminded me that what I saw was but a pale imitation of the joy we will have when we see Christ. We will adore and be in awe of the One who redeemed us. That is heaven to me. And I had a little piece of it this weekend.

Here is the video to "Extreme Days" by TobyMac, a song she just rocked out to.

I think these guys are my neighbors

Last night we were treated to several thousand dollars of fireworks being shot off in our neighborhood. One site went on for a good 20-30 minutes with brief breaks between barrages.

I love Independence Day.

Happy Independence Day!

Today marks the 231st year since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Enjoy the day and the fireworks, and all the patriotic hoopla that goes with the day. The United States is the greatest nation on earth, and we have unparalleled freedom to practice our faith. Praise God for that. Praise him for the people who sacrificed their lives to give us what we enjoy today.

But also think of another Independence Day. That is the day Christ rose from the dead and forever broke the power of sin and death for the believers. There was no long protracted war, but the simple submission of the Word of God to death on a cross. And his sacrifice and shed blood are what give us eternal LIFE, LIBERTY in Christ, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS as we share in the joy of the Lord through His Son. Take a moment today to celebrate that independence as you cook out, hang with family and watch the fireworks. On Resurrection Day, there were no fireworks, but the Light of the World was blinding, especially to the powers of darkness.

The clip below shows the Disney/MGM Studios July 4th fireworks show. Enjoy.

The Slippery Slope

Click on the image to enlarge it for easier reading.

You know, this is funny. But it also points out what happens when we take our eyes off of Scripture as our spiritual starting point. Once we move away from the Word of God as revealed by Christ and witnessed by the Holy Spirit, then all bets are off. We can say, do, or teach anything we want.

Sadly many have fallen into this trap. I recently had to do a brief presentation on Schleiermacher's theology for my church history class. I think Schleiermacher's intentions were admirable, but as the "father of modern, liberal theology" what others did with the Pandora's box that he opened has made a mess. That is unless you are a theological publisher, in which case you have made money on all the critiques of Schleiermacher.

I think I have seen someone like the Church Of Danae on TV here. I'll go watch again to make sure. Sadly, others may be watching and believing.