Collateral Damage

I attended a PRSA Detroit luncheon today Dick Martin, former head of PR for AT&T, gave me something to chew on that I had not thought about before. He was talking about the PR and other gaffes AT&T made since the 1984 breakup settlement with the Department of Justice. In Martin's opinion, one of the things that put the final nail in AT&T's coffin was the Worldcom fraud. Worldcom drove the price of long-distance down so far that it sucked the profitability out of the business. Then they hid it by making up numbers to satisfy Wall Street.

I never viewed AT&T as a victim of Worldcom's fraud until today. I always viewed the employees and shareholders as victims, but I had not thought of their competitors as victims before. But they were. They were competing on price against a company that was just making up numbers to keep the shareholders happy. And in the process, AT&T killed itself.

Think about the innocent victims that get wiped out in everyday life. In years past, many farmers were driven to bankruptcy by rising property taxes created by urban sprawl. When houses went up on the fields next door, it raised the value of the cornfield if it were sold. But if a farmer just wanted to grow crops, he didn't get more money for the crop just because the land was theoretically more valuable. But he did get taxed.

I believe evangelicals are guilty of a lot of collateral damage due to their over-emphasis on the vertical (me and God) relationship at the expense of the horizontal (me and the church) relationship. The attitude of "my sin is between me and God" ignores the damage that a believer's sin causes to others. When a church leader, lay or pastoral, has their sin become public, many people are damaged. Certainly their families are hurt. Their fellow laborers for Christ also suffer. Some lose faith, others encounter more opposition and resistance, and others cannot find the funding they need because of a lack of confidence in church leaders. The thought that my sinful actions could cause a child to reject Christ scares the pants off of me. And when I am tempted to do something that I know better than to do, keeping the thoughts of who might be affected in my minds helps me to remain obedient. It may not be the greatest motivation, but it does work.

800 year old prayers

Yesterday in church we sang a modernized version of "All Creatures of our God and King" composed by St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th Century christian who founded the Franciscan Order of priests. St. Francis is the Catholic patron saint of animals and the environment, and that is something I can see.




My wife and former pastor both affectionately call me a tree-hugger. The environment is a passion of mine. Not the kind of passion that causes me to attack others or impose governmental regulation to protect. Rather, I like to persuade people to change their behaviors to protect the environment, keeping in mind that the world was made for us to use, as stewards would take care of their Master's estate.

That being said, "All Creatures" has always spoken to me. I have a little bit of the gift of seeing God in His Creation. Rich Mullins really had the gift, and I love his music for that. Recently we found out that our beloved dog Hannibal is not long for this world. He is a wonderful 12 yr old Lab/Golden Retriever cross who is wonderful. I feel a little Franciscan in the way I love him and take care of him. We recently have undergone a role reversal where I am the one looking out for him and protecting him, instead of him doing that for my family. He is a little senile, has some arthritis and is rapidly losing weight from a liver problem. It is an honor to care for him this way after all of the joy, protection and companionship he has given me and my family. My girls have always known him to be there, and he watches over them constantly. This will be a hard goodbye, but one with a great deal of fond memories of him. I know dogs aren't people, but I would like to see him again in heaven without his infirmities. Just to play fetch again.

I'd appreciate your prayers. He is fine now, but the vet didn't even vaccinate him this year. As the disease progresses, it will get harder. Right now he just seems like a skinny, older version of himself.

Thanks.

Roy

What I am reading

In case you were wondering, I read a great deal. I have always enjoyed reading, and lately have rediscovered the joy and stimulation of thought-provoking books and websites. Below is a partial list of what I have read recently and am reading now.

My friend Kurt has started his own blog with his musings on life.

Leonard Sweet's Soul Tsunami is a brain-bender.

Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline is a wonderful treatise on the spiritual life. His insight into prayer has greatly helped me with a sometimes stagnant prayer life.

Henri Nouwen's Making all things New is a great call to holiness. And an easy read.

The OOZE is a great source of discussion and thought-provoking articles. Membership is free.

Ginkworld is another great site for post-modern musings.

Here are some thoughts on life from a Lutheran perspective.

I hope these help you on your journey.

The wonder of spring

I dislike spring. There, my secret is out. I truly dislike the up and down temperatures, the mud, the garbage that blew in over the winter months. I just despise spring. I realize I am a buzzkill for a lot of people, including my kids, when I go on a rant about spring.

My youngest daughter has been itching to get outside as soon as the snow melted. She got "Real Rollerblades" for the first time and cannot wait to learn how to use them. If the temp is above 50, she is out on the sidewalk, helmet and pads locked in place, practicing her stops, starts and turns. And she does it with a sense of wonder in her eyes that makes me sad for what I have lost.

Spring is a time of renewal. New leaves bud out, birds lay eggs, bunnies are born and the grass greens up again. But renewal is often messy. Fixing dead spots in the lawn requires removal of the dead debris, planting, watering and patience. A great deal of rain must fall to provide the proper growing conditions for many plants to bloom and put out new branches. That rain also brings mud and canceled plans. Spring is very unpredictable, and maybe that is what I dislike so much. I like change. But I like predictable change. And Spring is a reminder of how little I actually control and how Sovereign God really is.

Like my feeble attempts to control the effects of the weather in my little corner of the world, I cannot control God when he decides to change my world or the world around me. He works on a level I cannot understand and does things that I may never understand in this life. But I have to trust him, even when I cannot predict what he is going to do. And that is really hard.

Consider the words of God spoken to Job in chapter 39:
1 "Do you know the time the mountain ^{F432 R1079} goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? ^R1080 2 "Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth? 3 "They kneel down, they bring forth their young, They get rid of their labor pains. 4 "Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them. 5 "Who sent out the wild ^R1081 donkey free? And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, 6 To whom I gave the ^R1082 wilderness for a home And the salt land for his dwelling place? 7 "He scorns the tumult of the city, The shoutings of the driver he does not hear. 8 "He explores the mountains for his pasture And searches after every green thing. 9 "Will the wild ^R1083 ox consent to serve you, Or will he spend the night at your manger? 10 "Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes, ^F433 Or will he harrow the valleys after you? 11 "Will you trust him because his strength is great And leave your labor to him? 12 "Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain ^F434 And gather {it from} your threshing floor?



I don't undertand why God does things the way he does, but I do know that He is Sovereign and that He has our best interest at heart. I'll take a little mud now and then to know that he is driving the bus. And I'll keep trying to be content with being a passenger and stop trying to navigate.

BTW - Autumn is my favorite season. Cool nights, warm days, good fishing. Go out West in September and you will understand.

U2

I just finished watching U2's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and it brought out some conflicting emotions. I don't want to admit that I am old enough that the music of my youth is being enshrined. But their rendition of "I still haven't found" with Springsteen stirred my soul.

The longing that is so transparent in that song is one that I have found in my own life. I still haven't found what I am looking for. That may be because I don't know with great certainty what I am looking for, but I know I don't have it. To some, it is my way of saying that what I have isn't good enough. I prefer to look at it as a by-product of my idealism and seeking the things of God in their fullest.

I am haunted by the scene from "As Good as is Gets" where Jack Nicholson is in the waiting room of his psychiatrist and asks the people waiting there "What if this is all there is? What if this is as good as it gets?" I live on the hope that it can be better. That we can grow closer to God. That we can build authentic communities built on trust and respect. Because if this is as good as it gets, then it is not good enough.

Share your thoughts with me on this please. I'm going to go play "The Joshua Tree" with the lights off for a while.

A truly great book

If you haven't read "The Safest Place on Earth" by Larry Crabb, you should really consider it. It is an absolutely wonderful book about creating true spiritual community, not the superficial relationships that pass for community in most churches. Crabb confesses that he is no expert, but like me, he is an idealist fearful that this may be as good as it gets. What if true community cannot happen, and the strained superficial relationships we have are the best we can do?

I'm in the boat of desiring something I've never had, which is a true spiritual community. God is in the process of moving me out of the complacent place I am in now and going somewhere that is unknown to me. And this desire will be a large determinant of where I land. I desire a community where people trust each other, share openly and genuinely, and desire the best for each other.

If you have some insight into this process, please feel free to chime in. I'd love to hear from you.

Community

I've been reading Larry Crabb's book "The Safest Place on Earth" on the recommendation of Marcus on The OOZE message boards. It is a typically excellent Larry Crabb book, but this one really has me thinking.

He spends a lot of time talking about spiritual communities - communities where people are authentic and genuinely love each other - not the pseudo-counseling claptrap so typically found in American churches. Crabb's book, coupled with the paradigm-shifting "A New Kind of Christian" by Brian McLaren, have really started a thought process within me that is leading in a direction that I cannot predict where it will go.

The community Crabb and McLaren describe is almost utopian in its function. I long for a community where people are transparent, authentic and think the best of each other. I can't imagine what it is like to go to church and not have to be guarded in what I say because I may offend someone and have my statements thrown back in my face by someone they gossipped with.

But how do we build this community? Is this only possible in a Spirit-led church plant where you can clearly spell out the expectations at the outset? Can an existing community be led to this style of relationship? If anyone out there has any experience with this, please email me and describe it to me. I'd like to think my dream can become reality.

Coping with disaster

On Christmas Day, 2004, a massive earthquake hit the Indian Ocean and the ensuing tsunamis have killed at least 40,000 persons in India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Sumatra. Seeing the pictures of bodies littering beaches and massive open-air morgues is heartbreaking. Then to hear the head of the United Nations Humanitarian organization criticize the response from Western Countries as "stingy" just sickens me. Click here for story. One of the most corrupt organizations in the world, one that allowed Saddam Hussein to steal millions from the Oil-for-food program, now criticizes the countries giving to help alleviate the suffering in these devestated areas? What Chutzpah!

This isn't a political issue for me though. Disasters like this can easily overwhelm the senses and make it difficult for an individual to comprehend what is going on. Then to have the relief agencies chiding the donors, just reinforces the belief that there are those in power at the UN who are more interested in their own power and issues than they are in the work they are supposed to be performing.

The good news is that while the UN and donor states are calling each other names, private NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) are stepping in and leading the relief efforts. Here is a list of groups helping out with the damage in SE Asia. One group that has a special place in my heart, simply because I am aware of what they do and how they do it is Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, an arm of the Church of the Nazarene. They provide disaster relief as well as local economic development assistance in more than 140 world areas. Click on the link for the latest on their efforts with this disaster.

The world has clearly seen bigger disasters -the eruption of Krakatoa in the 1880's created a sound heard 2900 miles away and killed thousands with the tsunamis it created. The earth is a violent place, but above all we know that God is in control. On days like Christmas, 2004, it may not seem like He is in control. Or it may not seem like he cares very much about us when He lets things like this happen, but we know that he loved us enough to sacrifice his one and only Son so that we might be reconciled to Him and live with him forever. This may not seem like much, sacrificing one for many, but imagine the enormity of that sacrifice:

1) Jesus left the perfection of heaven for the stinking, rotten mess that is our planet.
2) Jesus gave up most of his power to be limited as a human being. He was limited to being in one place, and not knowing all as he did in heaven.
3. Jesus took upon himself sin he did not commit, all of the sin of the world, out of love for us.

Does this make understanding the tsunami any easier? Not really. But it does remind me that God does love us and is not cruel or indifferent. He has a lot invested in us and is hoping for a huge return on his investment.

Greetings

Welcome to my home for Posers in recovery. Posers are those who pretend to be something they are not. In Christianity, they have their lives together and all the answers, when they really are falling apart and don't know diddly/squat. I was one of them until God's miraculous grace grabbed me. For more on Posers, read Brennan Mannings epic "The Ragamuffin Gospel" where he describes how grace grabbed him and revolutionized his life.

My prayer is that the musings and odd things that strike me that I post here will help you as you search for an authentic faith. Not a faith where you feel like you have to put on a brave face to go to church, but one where you can come in and bleed all over people and they will still love you, just like God does. You don't have to be something for God to love you, and I hope that you find a place to worship where you can be real, show your warts, scars, fears and hangups, and you will still be loved.

God Bless you on your journey.