Dumbledore is Gay

Not that there is anything wrong with that! (Seinfeld fans should get that joke) It was recently revealed by J.K. Rowling that Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy in the fictional world of Harry Potter, is gay. You can read a transcript of the entire question and answer session from Carnegie Hall here. I have already been asked by one of my friends, who is a christian, how I can still think that the book series is okay. But besides that, I wanted to express my views on this anyway. Read More Here

Why?

As I was thinking about the tragedy the Amish faced a year ago, which I blogged about yesterday, I realized that my Bible reading for that day was the Sermon on the Mount. Which when you think about it the principles taught by Jesus there was exactly what the Amish demonstrated. And that is exactly the kind of image the Church should portray. Read more here.

Extremely Random Thoughts

So many thoughts in my head today.... First one, of course, is whether or not Michigan an win a football game today after starting this season 0-2. Fortunately, we are playing a team that is having a worst time than we are. Notre Dame has not scored an offensive touchdown yet and has scored a total of 13 points this season, whereas Michigan has at least scored 39. So hopefully that will bode well for the team in maize and blue today. Starting the season 0-3 would not be good. I do not believe that Lloyd Carr's job is in jeopardy at all, nor do I believe that it should be. If you look at his history as a head coach he has one of the top winning percentages of active head coaches, he has a higher winning percentage than the Wolverines have overall, and in all his year's as a head coach he has never had a scandal or problem. Lloyd has kept up the Michigan tradition of making Michigan Men. He deserves the respect of the university and the fans to choose to retire, if that is what he wants to do and I think he will at the end of this season, which I think he has planned all along. Some of my other thoughts are in regards to politics and religion.... The USA Today has had a couple of articles talking about it and it has got me thinking a couple of things that I commonly hear from Christians. The first thought I had was is it possible for a "real" Christian to vote for a democrat? Seriously, I have heard twice recently from people about this, because of this post I had someone ask my wife if we were going to vote for a democrat now. The funny thing is that if you look at the comments on that post you will see two different people that have said they felt that my list was leaning more like a democrat and another that said it was leaning more like a republican. Then I had another friend, who saw me taking some recyclables out to my car from work, ask me why I was putting trash in my car and I told him that it was not trash, but recyclables. I then kiddingly said that I was just doing my part to leave more space in our Michigan landfills for all of that Canadian trash we are importing. (For those of you who do not know, there is a big controversy because we are importing Canadian trash into our state.) And then I added seriously that I was just doing my part as a Christ-follower to make sure that we took care of our environment, which I believe every Christ-follower should do. He then said to me, "the next thing your going to tell me is that you are going to now be a democrat". (insert a note of disdain in his voice) Seriously, why do Christians think that Jesus would only ever vote for a democrat? I used to think this way, but I have seriously begun to wonder about this. The other thought that I have had that is tied to this, is can a person who calls themselves a Christian vote for someone who does not have a pro-life stance politically? What if they had a list that they went into the voting booth and they voted for the person who best met that list. Wouldn't that make sense? But it seems like most churches and Christians believe that that list should only consist of one or possibly two things. Do not get me wrong, I believe that abortion is wrong and horrible. But I do not believe that that is the only issue, nor do I believe that gay marriage should be the only thing either, especially when you see so much injustice in the world and many other issues that I believe are just as close to God's heart. So feel free to comment and leave me your thoughts.

Young Adults Aren't Sticking With Church

At least that is what an article in the USA Today is claiming and I would have to agree from what I am seeing. Protestant churches are losing young adults in "sobering" numbers, a survey finds. Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church. "This is sobering news that the church needs to change the way it does ministry," says Ed Stetzer. That may not seem like major numbers, but in my opinion any loss is bad and the church needs to look at why that is happening, and then turn around and figure out what they can do to stop the bleeding. And here are a few things that the article points out that I think are keys. "Too many youth groups are holding tanks with pizza. There's no life transformation taking place," Stetzer says. "People are looking for a faith that can change them and to be a part of changing the world." I think that that is a big problem. Youth groups have become not much more than entertainment venues. We orchestrate our services to have the feel of a concert, music festival, amusement park, some big major event, etc. and there is so much time spent on that, that it is hard to delve into the life on life ministry that is much more important, in my opinion. But I am not the big show kind of guy anyway. And that is what Chris Folmsbee is getting at in his book A New Kind of Youth Ministry. "Unless religious leaders take younger adults more seriously, the future of American religion is in doubt," says Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow in After the Baby Boomers, due in stores in September. The proportion of young adults identifying with mainline churches, he says, is "about half the size it was a generation ago. Evangelical Protestants have barely held their own." That is another problem that I see. A lot of churches do not take young adults seriously and unfortunately that is reflected by the fact that they do not have ministries geared towards and for them. Instead they think that the main service is good enough for them, because after all "they are adults now". But the reality is that the main adult service is primarily geared towards people who are in their 30's and above, and have families. And so most young adults are getting lost in the mix. Now I know that some churches just do not have the resources to have a separate ministry geared towards young adults, but there are always ways around that. Take for example what a friend of mine's church is doing, they are pooling together resources with other churches in the area to start a ministry to young adults. It is called Elevate North. What a great idea! And it gives me such great hope for the church, because if we keep losing the young adults, we may lose the church.

Separation of Church and State

I am starting to think that the idea of the separation of the church and the state is a good idea. But before I go into my reasons why let me first state that I do not believe that the separation of church and state is a Constitutional issue. Those words are not found anywhere in the U.S. Constitution nor are they alluded to anywhere in that document. And so I still loathe it when people refer to it as a Constitutional issue when it can not be, because it is not even Constitutional. Now let me explain why I think that there should be a separation of church and state. I was reading an article in the USA Today entitled, Does the religious majority rule? (The USA Today does an article regarding faith every Monday called On Religion. They are very good and I recommend reading them.) In which the author wrote about how there are Christians that are challenging things like the Ten Commandments on walls in courthouses, prayer at high school football games, etc. It isn't just atheists doing this anymore. And this was the saddest part of the whole article... Debbie Mason had long been active as a volunteer in the school attended by three of her daughters in Santa Fe, Texas. But she quickly became an outsider after she challenged the football game prayers in the town's high school stadium. Debbie endured ostracism, even threats of drive-by shootings. One of her daughters, Jenni, left church in tears one Sunday morning after a school board member denounced her family from the pulpit. And so that is how we are showing the world God's love? I think that we need to read this verse as churches more often.... "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35 (TNIV) Were those people shown love? Did that pastor model the Bible for that family when he spoke against them from the pulpit? The answer is no. And that is why the church needs to separate itself from the state. The other reason why I believe in the separation of the church and state is because the church has become so filled with political affairs that I believe we have lost sight of our mission here on earth. For some reason it seems like the gospel in our churches today is more about changing the government and less about changing lives. Examine the messages in your church and see if they speak more against political issues or if they are about the Gospel. Personally, I think that if there are any speaking out against whatever political agendas are current instead of being encouraged to go out and touch lives then i think there is a problem. Yes, I do know that Jesus was a political revolutionary, but He did that by talking about how we need to live differently. How we need to reach out and take care of the poor, widows, orphans or those who are suffering injustices at the hands of the government. That is how He told us to revolutionize the government. The church needs to be taking care of their needs and going out into the world and tell people about the love and grace of God. And so that is another reason why I believe the church needs to separate from the state. The church needs to worry more about changing lives and worry less about changing the government. Because the reality is that when we change the lives of people in our community and country, we will naturally see a change in our government. I believe that the church today has an opportunity to really shine, but the question is if we have our focus in the right place.

Looking For Free Stuff?

Are you someone who is in youth/student ministry and looking for some free resources to help you out at your church? Then head on over to YMExchange.com and check out the Monday Exchange. A new resource will be added every Monday. You can also subscribe the YMX RSS Feed and get updated on your favorite feed reader about what is new at YMX.

R.I.P. "N" Word

Yesterday in Detroit the NAACP held their 98th annual meeting. And they decided to symbolically bury the "N" word. And not because they believe that white people or people of other races should not be able to use that word. They did this because they believe that no one should use that word. The sad reality is that the word is probably used more often in rap songs then it is anywhere else. I applaud the NAACP for taking this bold step and calling out rappers and other black artists and telling them to stop using the word. I think that this is a bold move and I hope the message is heard and followed. There are some other words that I believe need to be buried as well. One of them is the word "retard". It sickens me every time I hear people use this word so flippantly. Do they realize how they are not just calling someone a name, but they are degrading mentally handicapped people and their families? I seriously cringe every time I hear it used and for the most part have had people that I normally interact with stop using the word, but this past week while I was camping I heard my cousin use the word and then turn around and talk about how we should not use the next word on my list of words to be buried. I think we also need to bury the word "fag". I believe that this word is on the same level as the "N" word and I even hesitated using it here, but I wanted to use it just to name the word exactly. Not only do I cringe when I hear it, but it literally sickens me when I hear christians use that word. And what is even more sad is that there is a church in Topeka, Kansas that uses that word in the name of the their churches website. The church is Westboro Baptist Church and the pastor there is a man named Fred Phelps. Sadly, you can see a picture of him on the right. This man and his church sickens me. The message of Jesus is one of love and grace, not hatred. I look at that picture and I honestly wonder what Bible he is reading. How can he honestly believe that God would laugh when a human being dies and possibly goes to hell? That is not the God of the Bible that I know and serve. That was never Jesus' message and I would dare sya that I believe Jesus would have some very harsh words for this man and his church. Okay, back to the burial of the "F" word.... I think that the "F" word is just has evil and hateful as the "N" word. And the "R" word as well. I believe that Christ-followers every where needs to stop using these words and eliminate them from our speech. They are not loving words and I do not believe that Jesus wants us to use such hateful language. But not only should the church not use the word, but I believe all humans need to stop using them. Okay, I will get off of my soapbox now....

Banging My Head.....

Recently, the governor, legislators of our state, and some business people met up on Mackinac Island and stayed at the Grand Hotel, which is one of the most beautiful places in our state and the hotel happens to be one of the most expensive in the state (about $400-700). And why did they meet? Because they needed to discuss our state's current budget crisis. Isn't that amazing? Our state is having serious financial problems. Business are either closing up or moving out of state, left and right. But yet our legislature and governor can find the money to pamper themselves for about a week at one fo the nicest resort. Our kids elementary school had to lay off two teachers recently because the money is not there to pay them, but yet Jennifer Granholm is living the good life up on Mackinac Island. I got a great idea on how we can help our state's economy. How about we not take these luxurious vacations on the tax payer's dime? How about taking back that raise that you legislator's just voted yourselves? How about making yourselves part-time like many other states? Somehow I am thinking there are better options than hurting our children's educational system. And then not long after our local news reported all of that grim news on the state of state's economy they announced that a local church had just finished off their $15 million dollar church building. Mind you, this was a renovation of what used to be a large home improvement store. I just sat there thinking of ways that they may have been able to cut back on some of the extra things and use some of that money to help some of these people in our community that are having their homes foreclosed on. Since we are the number one county in the nation with home foreclosures. I just think that this is the time when the Church can really shine and show God's love in some very practical ways. Instead we build palaces to honor ourselves and we somehow think that God is actually pleased with this. Maybe, just maybe God wants us to sacrifice some of the niceties that we have become accustomed to in this country and sacrifice a little. Every 15 seconds a child dies because they do not have access to clean drinking water and we are building $15 million dollar palaces called churches. What is wrong with this picture?

R.I.P. Jerry Falwell & "Moral Majority" Musings

On Tuesday, 15 May 2007, Jerry Falwell passed away and entered into eternity. Jerry founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church, Liberty University, and the Moral Majority. I never really knew the man, but I have heard stories from people who have attended Liberty University and they have some great stories about him. They told stories of how he would race kids on campus in their cars. How he would support students on his own dime to be able to attend the University. It really made this man who was basically a Christian celebrity a real human being to me. I know that over the years there was many people whose lives were profoundly effected by this man's ministry and many people got to know Jesus as their own personal savior because of him. And because of his church and university there will be many more lives that will still be able to be affected by his ministry. That to me is one of the best things we as Christ followers can do. But sadly one of the things that he will be known for is as a uniter and a divider. "We will always remember him as a founder and leader of America's anti-gay industry, someone who exacerbated the nation's appalling response to the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic, someone who demonized and vilified us for political gain and someone who used religion to divide rather than unite our nation," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, an advocacy group. To me the line that says, "someone who used religion to divide rather than unite our nation," is one of the saddest lines. I hope that that can never be said about me. Christ never called us to condemn the world, but to love people and to bring heaven to earth. The Church has not been doing a good job of this, especially when it comes to the homosexual community. Jesus ate with sinners and associated more with them then he did with the religious people of his day, but unfortunately we have that totally wrong today. Falwell is credited with launching the effort that has put issues such as the teaching of evolution, same-sex marriage, abortion rights and stem cell research near the top of the mainstream political agenda. "Values voters" were viewed as a prize, the group that helped elect George W. Bush president in 2000 and 2004. I find it absolutely amusing that the Moral Majority has been convincing us in the Church for years that those are basically the only issues that matter to God. But yet they totally neglect things like environmental concerns, which are things we are told to care about back in Genesis 1, and also things like non-violence, which is what Jesus taught. Don't get me wrong, I believe that those are other things are just as important, but I think we have negelected some important things just because they were not a part of the Republican agenda. In my opinion, I think the biggest problem with the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition is that they are more Republican than they are Christian. But I want to bring this back around to Jerry's life. I may not agree with everything that he has done or said, but I will have to agree with one of his public statements. "The solution to America's serious moral and spiritual problem is not political. We're in need of a religious awakening." — at a Christian rally outside the U.S. Capitol in 1996. He is right. The solution is for Christian's to care more about the lives of their neighbors and less about who gets into whatever political office. That is the real way to bring about change in our country. Thank you, Mr. Falwell, for living your life for God the best way you knew how.

How Can Churches Keep People Away?

I ran across the following blog that had a list of 10 Ways to Keep Me from Discovering Your Church, you can read all of the authors comments by following that link. I found it pretty interesting and I will add my comments below. Don’t have a website: This is the information age, even 107 year old women have blogs, but not your church. Be completely inactive in the community: In fact it's really just best if you stay completely inward-focused and don't do anything missional in your city. Don’t answer your phone: ....and don't ever answer the phone on Sunday mornings. That way when I'm lost en route to service, I'll have no choice but to drive around aimlessly until I give up and go home. Allow misinformation Lack clear signage Have insufficient parking/seating Ignore Visitors Respond half-heartedly to inquiries Be evasive about your beliefs: When I ask a direct question about the church's beliefs, ignore the question or act like you don't understand and then start telling me about your denomination or church programs. Lie to me: When all else fails, simply lie to me about your church. You might just get a few weeks of attendance out of me before I learn the truth. I really believe that having a website in this day and age is extremely important. There really is no reason for a church to not have one. Especially with there being many low cost options out there to create one. I am not sure how necessary it is to have an rss feed, but keeping it up to date is a must. This one goes with out saying and is the sad state of far too many churches today. It is amazing to think that a church would not have an answering machine and that they would not leave pertinent information on there for people who call. The idea of answering the phone on a Sunday morning is a very interesting idea that I never thought about. HMMMM Sadly sometimes churches and denominations can be so slow to update information on their websites. It is honestly not that hard to change things on a website to get it up to date. I disagree with the sign thing to some degree. Rob Bell's church Mars Hill Bible Church has grown to over 11,000 people and they have no sign on the road. And Rob is adamant that they will never have a sign out front as long as he his the pastor there, because he wants people to understand that the church is not a building, but people. On the other hand, if people can't find the place how can the attend? I guess that is why you need your people to help reach into the community and bring their friends. Makes that all the more important. People who visit a church will not stop if they can not easily find a place to park. I have always encouraged people at the churches where I have been a pastor to makes sure they save the prime parking spots for visitors. Visitors should find spaces to park really easily, because they are all up front and close. Seating is another thing will cause people to walk out of your building. If visitors can not find a place to sit easily they will just walk right out the door and not come back. Ushers should be trained to help everyone find a seat, even if they are regulars, but especially if they are visitors. And ushers shouldn't be afraid to ask people to scoot into the middle of the row to make room for the visitors on the ends. Greeting people at the doors and noticing that if they are new and helping them find their way around. That is why there should be multiple greeters so one can leave their post and help a visitor find the bathrooms, children's area, welcome desk, etc. They should be their personal guides until they feel comfortable. My wife and I attended a church that was horrible in this area. We went to the check in desk to register our kids and they knew that we were new because we had to fill out info to get them registered for the first time. And the people behind the desk merely pointed down a hallway and told us to go down there to drop our kids off at their classes. We found my son's and then got to the end of the hall and couldn't find where my daughter's class was. The guy at the end of the hall didn't even know where she was supposed to go. Needless to say we never went back there. There is no excuse for any church to do any of that. If you believe it state it. Don't try to be vague just to get people in the door. That is deception and somehow I don't think that belongs in churches. Churches will do anything to boost their numbers and lying is one of the most despicable ways to do it. No wonder why so many people stop going to church. All in all I think this person has made some excellent points and that churches need to seriously look at what they are doing and strive to improve. Or else they are destined to keep people away.

Should Churches Be Green?

I have been thinking a lot about ways that I can be more environmentally friendly. After all it was one of my New Year's resolutions. So my wife and I have made a concerted effort to begin recycling, which has reduced the amount of garbage going out to the curb in half. And I have also gotten my parent's to start doing the same thing. I find great pleasure now in taking my garbage out to the curb along with my recycling bin knowing that I have reduced the amount of waste we send to the dump. Then it got me to thinking about why it is that churches have not taken a greater role in this as well, because churches produce a lot of trash. The Bible says in Genesis 1:26-31 (TNIV).... Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. So if we as Christ-Followers are supposed to care for the earth then shouldn't the church take the lead on being environmentally friendly? I don't know where I stand in regards to global warming, but even if it is not true, how hard is it to not waste and instead recycle? Why not do what we can to be better stewards with our resources? With all of the paper from bulletins/programs that are left over, plastic water bottles, etc. There is so much that can and should be recycled. Then I also started thinking about the amount of energy a church uses in electricity. Why can't/shouldn't a church line their roof with solar panels and harness the power from the sun to power the church. Think of the amount of money that a church could save by doing this. Not to mention think of how much better using them could be for the environment. Sure it would be a big up front cost, but somehow I think that it is worth it. Plus, then you would never have to cancel a service due to a power outage and we all know that pastors would love that idea, because that means that they won't miss out on a week's offerings. And if a church is building new facilities I think that they should see what they can do to try and meet the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council. That way we are building churches that have a low impact on the environment and I think we are doing our best to bring heaven to earth. We are told right in the beginning to take care of the earth and to do that, I believe, we need to start being a lot more environmentally friendly. And churches need to start taking the lead on this and showing the world that we believe that God's creation is just as important to save as our friends who do not have a relationship with Christ.

Bullhorn

I just got done watching the following video from Todd Friel (host of The Way of the Master Radio), which he put up in response to Rob Bell's Nooma video titled "Bullhorn". I am really amazed at how a guy can sit back and judge someone based on a 12 minute video that they saw of someone else. And I know that you are thinking, "But aren't you doing the same thing with Todd Friel's video?" No, I am not. I am merely responding to what he has said about Rob Bell and his viewpoints. Todd felt the need to post his response to Rob and I feel the need to respond to what he had to say. Todd doesn't like the fact that Rob feels that it is more important to emphasize the love of Christ and using that as the way to get people to respond to the message of Christ over the method of standing on a street corner with a bullhorn telling people that they are sinners going to hell. But the funny things is, is that Todd Friel really agrees with Rob and demonstrates it in the video below. Todd sits down with a couple of people and mockingly pokes at the abbreviated idea of showing people love and then he moves into his "reason" method of showing them Christ. And that is essentially the same way that Rob communicates on how it should be done. Rob doesn't expect people to walk up to a complete stranger and ask them how they are feeling and have them share deep personal thoughts with him. He just believes that the most effective way in this day and age to reach out to the lost is by developing relationships with them. And I agree. I am finding that, at least in my area, that people have had the Bible preached at them enough and they want to be shown the Bible now. And besides that, the Bible does say that.... Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4 (TNIV) So I would guess that showing kindess to people would be a more effective way to lead people to Christ, since His Word does say that pretty directly. The other problem that I have with Todd's video response to Rob is that I wonder how that mixes with the following verse.... "Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other." John 13:34-35 (The Message) Is his response showing the world the love that we have for one another? I, personally, do not think so. But feel free to watch his video response and let me know what you think. Hopefully, you have seen Rob's "Bullhorn" video, because it is very good. I can't post a link to it or show it here, because it is copyrighted.

Rob Bell's Sex God Q+A

On Thursday I had the opportunity to go to a Q+A with Rob Bell at the University of Michigan for the release of his new book Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality And Spirituality. And before anyone freaks out let me give you a portion from the introduction of the book to help you understand where Rob is coming from. Read more here

Sanctity Of Human Life Sunday

Every year that this comes up, you never have to remind me of how many years that it has been since Roe V. Wade was decided upon. I know it because it it the same number of years that I will be turning in age a little over a month later. !973 was a big year in more ways than one, because this nation set itself on a horrible course. But sadly, I think that it is not our nation that got the worst of it. I think that the Church did. Why, you ask? Because it has caused the Church to have tunnel vision. All they see when they talk about the sanctity of human life is unborn children. But all life is sacred and needs to be cared for. The Church, in my opinion, has gotten so focused on this one thing and we have allowed injustice to run rampant. Every 8 seconds, someone in the world dies of AIDS. That is 10,000 people on a Sunday. And what has the Church done about that? Sadly, not much. What about basic human needs in the world like clean water? 1.2 billion people don't have access to potable water (roughly one sixth of the world's population). 2.4 billion people lack proper sanitation services (about two fifths of the world's population). Around 5760 children die each day (4 per minute, 2.1 million each year) from illnesses associated with a lack of drinking water, basic sanitation, and a bad level of hygiene – the equivalent of 30 Boeing 747s crashing each day. And roughly 1 million adults, predominantly women, die each year. The above information came from this website. Why not talk about those things on "Sanctity Of Human Life Sunday"? Instead all the church focuses on is abortion. Is it tragic and horrible? Yes! But according to this website the number of babies aborted in one year here in the U.S., has yet to reach the numbers of children worldwide that have died due to lack of clean water and basic sanitation. But sadly the Church hasn't done or said much about the need for clean water. I know that many people will declare that I am not a "true Christian" for thinking like this, but I am honestly wondering if maybe the Church needs to back off the whole abortion and go the route that The Cause has. They are a movement of mainly 20-somethings that is a grassroots movement of prayer and fasting to contend for the return of righteousness and justice to America. I think it is time for the Church to take the issue of abortion to prayer and prayer alone. I am beginning to be amazed at how we have allowed abortion to be one of the sole issues that will base our votes on, and I am guilty of that. But yet we have allowed injustice to continue in many areas and I think that that pisses Jesus off. We need to start looking at how we are treating our environment and social justice issues as well. So I say that we turn the "Sanctity Of Human Life Sunday" into something that will truly show that all of life is sacred, because everything is sacred and spiritual.

Sometimes I Am Embarrassed To Be A Christian

I was reading the USA Today the other day when I ran across an article about one of the newest members of Congress. The article was entitled The Truth About Oaths. What is so significant about this newest member of our U.S. Congress? Well, he is our nation's first Muslim congressman and he wanted to swear on the Quran when he got sworn into Congress. And Christian are up in arms and making statements such as.... "Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned," Prager wrote, "America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress." and.... The powerful American Family Association has called for the use of the Bible for all members of Congress. AFA President Tim Wildmon explained that the Quran "represents a change in our society, our culture" if it is to be treated "as equivalent to the Holy Bible." In perhaps the only point of universal agreement, Wildmon noted that, "If calling the Bible superior to the Quran in American tradition and culture is intolerant, then I'm guilty." Prager was equally unapologetic, dismissing the Quran as if it were some book-of-the-month selection: "Forgive me, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison's favorite book is." That is funny, because I do not remember seeing anywhere in our U.S. Constitution where it says that we are exclusively a Christian nation. But somehow Christians have gotten that impression. I know that our nation was founded upon predominantly Christian principles, but our Founding Fathers intentionally created our nation as a secular nation. And written into our U.S. Constitution is this little statement.... The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. But the Church and organizations like the American Family Association feel that their should be an amendment to our Constitution requiring people to swear on the Bible, whether or not they believe what it says. But you want to hear something funny about that? Even Iran with it's Islamic government, which has set itself up specifically as an Islamic nation. Check this out (it is from that article in the USA Today).... It appears that though the Iranian government denies the Holocaust and calls for the eradication of Israel, it views Prager's idea of requiring people to swear to someone else's faith to be … well … extreme. (Iran's parliament has had a Jewish member, Morris Motamed, for years — though the Jewish population is about 25,000 out of 70 million). Various experts on Iran told me that such tailoring of oaths to religions goes back to early Islam. Indeed, Tehran University professor Hossein Bashiriyeh explained that "an oath taken with a holy book other than one's own cannot be religiously and morally 'binding.' … In effect it will amount to not taking an oath at all." They get it. Why can't Christians? We somehow think that if we change legislation that we will somehow cause everyone in America to bow their knee and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. But I have news for them, it won't happen. What is going to change them is for us to be a light into this darkened world. We need to understand that it is up to us and not our government to do that. It is time that Christians realize that and start doing something about it. We are great at letting the world know what we are against, but horrible at letting the world know what we are for. Let's do what we can to stop bringing shame to ourselves.

A Witness To What Faith Can Should Be

I saw this article entitled "A witness to what faith can be" in the USA Today on Monday, 18 December 2006. But the article should be entitled "A witness to what faith should be". These days, religion often gets a bad rap. It's an arrogant face of war, division and blame. But that's certainly not the only face of faith. For the beauty of what it can be, see what is happening Friday nights in Portland, Ore. By Tom Krattenmaker PORTLAND, Ore. — Something radical is happening every Friday night where homeless people congregate downtown under the Burnside Bridge. Car- and vanloads of Christian volunteers swoop in with sleeping bags and coats to protect their dispossessed friends against the raw, wet weather that has moved in. They dispense hot meals and set up stations for shaves and haircuts. While a few pull out guitars and strike up their Jesus-themed songs, a small number of the volunteers commit one of the more audacious acts of compassion and humility I have ever witnessed: They wash the homeless people's feet. Four folding chairs are set up in a row, each occupied by a downtrodden human being, his or her bare feet immersed in a tub of warm water. In front of each, kneeling on a pad, a volunteer gently scrubs away. Drying and powdering follow before the recipients are sent on their way, their feet clean and dry and swathed in a fresh pair of socks. The spirit of the season? This is it. "I can't find the words to describe how good that felt," one beneficiary says as he moves off, smiling broadly. The night I observed this ritual, perhaps 100 homeless women and men were on hand, as well as a similar number of volunteers, deployed by an inter-denominational evangelical organization called Bridgetown Ministries. For more than three years, the group has been performing "Night Strike," in addition to other programs aimed at serving disadvantaged youth and Portland's less fortunate. Their motto, as printed on the T-shirt worn by ministry leader Marshall Snider, captures the ministry's philosophy in five simple words: "Get out of the box." Washing the feet of society's outcasts might be as far out of the box as you can get. This work has practical importance, of course; people who can't keep their feet clean and dry end up suffering extreme discomfort or worse. But there's more to it than that. What Bridgetown Ministries does on Friday nights is highly biblical. Jesus, in the Gospel of Matthew, talks about "the least of these," as in, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for (God)." Ministry leader Snider had invoked that very passage while preparing the volunteers back at ministry headquarters earlier in the evening. "When you go out there tonight," Snider told them, "I want you to look for Jesus. You might see him in the eyes of a drunk person, a homeless person." Feet-washing has resonance with a revealing New Testament passage. In Luke, a woman "who had lived a sinful life" washes Jesus' feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair and pours perfume on them, upsetting the self-righteous Pharisee who is hosting Jesus and who finds the woman unworthy of Jesus' company. Jesus praises the woman for her faith and forgives her sins. Then there are the sheer logistics: Washing someone's feet is an act best performed while kneeling. Given the washer's position, and the unpleasant appearance and odor of a homeless person's feet, it's hard to imagine an act more humbling. Looking for Jesus in the eyes of a homeless person. Contrast that with a different, and decidedly less inspiring, face of faith more often on display in the media and public square. Leaders of the Christian Right continue to scapegoat gays and lesbians and emphasize other wedge issues, with little to say publicly about the "least of these," unless they happen to be as-yet unborn. A notorious, high-profile few seize disasters such as Hurricane Katrina not to emphasize compassion but to suggest that the victims in some sense had it coming because of their sinful ways. The unfortunate tendency is hardly confined to Christianity. In Iraq, religious differences are fueling rising levels of bloodshed between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Civilians are being killed by the hundreds — in the name of religion? These ugly, destructive appearances of religion make it tempting to accept the arguments of atheist writers such as Sam Harris, who asserts that religious faith has become a dangerous force that must be eradicated if the world is to overcome its violent divisions and intractable problems. Harris writes in his recent book Letter to a Christian Nation that only when Christianity, Judaism and Islam are relics of the past "will we stand a chance of healing the deepest and most dangerous fractures in our world." If Harris were attacking fundamentalism rather than the broad sweep of monotheistic religion, I'd be with him 100%. But it's hard to indict all religion when you see the way faith manifests under the Burnside Bridge. The features of hard-edged Christianity that many find repellant — condemnation, exclusivity, belligerence — are absent at Night Strike. Bridgetown Ministries and its dozens of volunteers aren't vetting the moral worthiness of the homeless people whose hair they cut, bodies they clothe and feet they wash. They know some might be drunk and some on drugs. Are they homeless because they're lazy? Do they deserve this care? The questions are utterly irrelevant from the perspective of the ministry's radical compassion. As Snider puts it, "We're just out there to love on people." If only we could see this form of faith more often in our highly charged public arena. No doubt, the bad name borne by Christianity in some quarters is partly the fault of the media for highlighting conflict and inflammatory rhetoric and for shying away from the thousands of acts of Christian decency all around us. But most of the blame must be laid at the feet of the loudest and most visible champions of the Christian Right. Are those who project the divisive and arrogant side of religion willing to kneel down and cleanse the feet of the homeless? Perhaps what happens Friday nights under the Burnside Bridge can be a reminder. While the fighting over religion drags on, let's remember that many, many people around the world — some who count themselves among the true believers, some who don't — are living up to the religious ideal. They're helping the needy, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, even washing their feet. My hope for Christmas is that the radical love of people such as Marshall Snider comes to be known as the true and predominant expression of religious faith — and that it infects our whole society, people religious and otherwise. Imagine the changes that might come about if that were to happen. Imagine what the world might then become. Tom Krattenmaker, who lives in Portland, Ore., specializes in religion in public life and is a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors. He is working on a book about the Christianization of professional sports. The sad part about that article is that most churches will see that as revolutionary and amazing, but that is what we as the Church should be doing. That is exactly what the Church has been commanded to do since the Old Testament, but we have failed to do it! And that is the sad reality of the Church in America today. I really hope that churches read this and don't just think about what a feel good story it is, but that they begin to look for ways in their community where they can do this. It should challenge us and make us think and cause us to act.

Who Do You Trust?

That is a common question and a very good one. If you based it upon the ethics of the person, chances are that you would choose a nurse. According to an article in the USA Today. The annual USA TODAY/Gallup Poll measuring honesty and ethics among 23 occupations puts nurses at the top of the list for the sixth straight year. More than five out of six Americans — 84% — say standards for nurses are "high" or "very high," the second-highest rating for any occupation since Gallup started asking the question in 1976. (Firefighters scored the highest ever, 90%, in December 2001, shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.) Each year Gallup measures honesty and ethics for 14 newsworthy occupations. Additional occupations are included on a rotating basis. Here is the break down... And then the list with the "Very High" and "High" added together... I do not find it surprising at all that Clergy is not the top rated, which is a very sad state of affairs for pastors. There was a day and age in this country when saying that you were a pastor meant something. Now all it means to a lot of people is "how much money do you want me to give". It is about time that pastors take the high road and do what we can to once again see that people in this nation view us as the most ethical in the nation. The challenge is there, are you ready to go for it?

Can Christians Drink Beer?

I ran across this article recently and found it very interesting. It is on the website for Mars Hill Bible Church in Seattle, WA and is an excerpt from Mark Driscoll's book, The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out. I know that there are many different views amongst the Church regarding Christ-followers consuming alcohol and I have gotten in some debates with some of them. But I think this article gives a very interesting perspective and sheds some light onto this subject. Read more here.

Report On Mars

This past Sunday while Kimmy and I went to Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, MI wile we were out there celebrating out 11 year anniversary. The Lead Pastor there is a man named Rob Bell and I would have to say that he is one of the best communicators in the Church today. His church is not only impacting the community around them, but they are doing what they can to also effect the world around them. They have their 5th and 6th graders selling bottled water for $2 to help raise money to bring clean water to third world countries. That is cool! Then the Sr. High group was having a bake sale to help raise money for Burton Elementary to help them with funding field trips, buying gym equipment and basketball uniforms. I love how they are being so active and getting the students involved in that as well. Rob started a new series called "Calling All Peacemakers" (that is a link to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes) and if the rest of the series is a good as the first, then it is going to be amazing and life changing! I recommend you getting it and listening to it. The service was very unique. They had a short musical intro and then Rob got up with two other people and gave some announcements, then he went right into his message. At the end of his message they had a time of worship and communion. It was different, but was actually very powerful. No big deal was made out of communion, but it wasn't necessary because the reverence could be felt all around. Very cool church and I look forward to the next time I can go check it out.

Wishing To Be Within A Yard Of Hell

"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." -- C.T. Studd The sad part about the Church is that they would rather sit in the circle singing Kumbaya, then reach out and show love. But the sick part is that they think that they are reaching out by staying inside their holy huddles, and sneering at lost people & condemning them. I recently stumbled upon a blog of a guy named Donny Pauling, who is a FORMER pornographer. This guy had taken naked photos of women that went into magazines like Playboy. And a few days after having been offered a huge contract by them, he decided that he had had enough and gave his life over to Christ. You can read the whole story here. And about a week after that he posted a very interesting blog entry that I have posted part of below. Please don't think I'm being negative. To be honest, I was very happy all day and was a bit excited at the prospect of going to church after asking God back into my life. I tried to remain so throughout tonight's service. But, as I mentioned in my last blog entry, I made a promise to my father to remain true to myself and to sugar coat nothing while on this journey, so I'm going to tell you exactly what I think. Here goes... Church tonight really annoyed me. It's like I never left. The same songs are being sung. The same things are being said in sermons. It's just one more person parroting what everyone before him has said in every church service since the beginning of time. Why must we sing about how great God is, over and over? I know, I know. God wants to hear our praises. This doesn't make all that much sense to me but I'll accept your word for it. As one of God's children, I think of my relationship to him a bit like my relationship with my own son. I want my son to think I'm great and all, but he doesn't have to tell me over and over and over and over every day for the rest of his life. In fact, I'd think he was a bit weird if he did so... Seriously, now. Churches wonder why so many "fall away". I'll let ya in on one big reason: most churches sing stupid songs that don't "get to" a person. Know what I mean? One song tonight literally repeated "God is so good" over and over. Wow! That moves me about as much as watching paint dry and almost as much as watching a snail crawling a wall. I mean, what exactly is the point of repeating that phrase for 20 minutes? I don't get it. And why must the same rhetoric come out of every preacher's mouth in every service in every church around the world? Most of the people in church have been there since they were very young. We've all heard the stories. 45 times or so. Why tell it again? And why use the exact same verbage as every other preacher? Does God demand only certain words be used when proclaiming his truth? When the church was singing tonight I was thinking to myself, "I need to start writing songs that people actually enjoy singing!" When the preacher was preaching I was thinking, "Ya know, there's a big need for interesting preachers in today's churches! If I ever get up in front of people I'm going to try telling them something that actually helps them in real life situations. Or at least come up with something that INTERESTS them!" Isn't that sad? And yet that is primarily the state of the Church today. What is wrong with us? Instead we stay stuck in the same old ruts and are not willing to get out of them for the sake of reaching out to lost people. I have heard Donny Pauling talk about the ministry of xxxchurch.com and how they are a big reason why he made the decision to follow Christ. xxxchurch.com does some pretty radical things and a lot of Christians are pretty inflamed about it. This ministry will actually go to porn conventions and rent a booth inside of them, in fact, they get asked back every year since the first year they did it. And Donny said in these interviews that if they had not been there on the floor, but instead stayed outside passing out tracts, that it would not have effected his life. He went onto to say that the mindset in the porn industry is that Christians hate them and think they are to bad for someone as "righteous" as them to hang out with. But the guys from xxxchurch.com were willing to set up that "rescue mission within a yard of hell". I think it is about time for more churches and Christ followers to start setting up rescue missions within a yard of hell and get away from the sound of the chapel bell. There is a lost world out there that thinks we hate them and we do for the most part. Especially when we condemn them instead of having compassion for them. After all isn't that what Jesus did?