LIFE MATTERS

THE BRITISH INVASION, PART 1

2012-01-26T00:44:00.000-05:00

Some of the young girls in my church have discovered the Beatles. I was a young teenager when millions of girls around the US swooned and screamed as they appeared on the stage of The Ed Sullivan Show. The British Invasion had begun. The Beatles were not my only favorites. I was a fan of the Dave Clark Five, and here are two of my favorites.

DOES GOD CARE ABOUT FOOTBALL?

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

A whole lot of us invested a whole lot of time this weekend to football-NFL football to be precise. Even if you didn't watch the pre-game shows, the countdowns, and the post-game highlights; if you watched both championship games you invested about 7 hours of your Sunday. Two thrillers with much last second drama. The AFC contest was decided by a field goal, or better yet--the lack of one. After kicking 16 field goals in a row, Ravens kicker Bill Cundiff shanked a relatively simply 32-yarder that would have forced that game into over time. Instead the New England Patriots are heading to their 5th Super Bowl in 10 years.The NFC version featured overtime. It was settled by a Lawrence Tynes field goal with almost ten minutes gone in the overtime, the second time in his careers has accomplished this feat in a championship game.

The waitresses at my favorite restaurant, Silver Spring Family Restaurant, were clearly for the Giants. In fact they cajoled their boss (who normally could care less about football) to wear a blue Eli Manning jersey for the entire weekend. George doesn't even like football, but he was caught in the currents of what was dominating his staff and wore a blue Eli Manning jersey with Manning on the back. One of the waitresses told me she was secretly rooting for the 49ers because she didn't like football. I think she was also defending her sense of personal independence in the hysteria.

Football became the focal point of a cultural debate over a young Christian named Tim Tebow who led the Denver Broncos from a dismal season's beginning to a playoff game where they humbled the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers. "Tebowing" - an imitation or a mockery of Tim's prayer stance became a fad. And the most zealous of his supporters noted prophetically that he threw for 316 yards in that game. Say "John 3:16 everyone" and spread the idea that four officials were named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (Actually football has more than four officials.)

A giant and horrendous child molestation scandal broke out in Happy Valley as the charges against Jerry Sandusky mounted and Joe Paterno, fatherly coaching icon was stripped of his job. I was never sure which aroused more ire in football fandom - the crimes against young boys or the perceived injustice of Penn State Trustees in firing Joe Pa.

Obviously, a whole lot of us care about football. But at the same time, the iconoclasts have asked the question, "Does God care about football?"

I think certainly not in the way we care about it. I mean do we truly believe as thoughtful Christians that God seeks vindication by having Alabama triumph over LSU in the BCS? Are the Tigers somehow spiritually inferior to the Crimson Tide, even though there are fine young Christians on both sides of the ball who publicly thank God for their gifts and skills?

I think not.

God cares about football in the way that He cares about all of His creation. All of his creation is the object of His love, and all of Creation shares equally in that love. Be it lilies of the field or puppy dogs or linebackers or coaches who have fallen from grace. All of His Creation is intended to bring glory to Him and to reveal His goodness.

As with anything He loves, God grieves when it is used to replace Him in the affections of men. He is saddened by things that He loves, things He has created living at cross purpose to his purposes. After all he went to the cross to affirm that absolute love found in His purposes.

So maybe we need to take football off of its pedestal. We should stop seeking to find our worth and joy in that, which like the other BCS games, will soon be forgotten. We should remember to use football for His purposes so that people might really discover what is important.

FOR ALL OF YOU WHO DON'T TRUST CATS

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is anew blog I have discovered about Christian living. It certainly has a humorousside. The blog is by Kevin Martineau called SHOOTING THE BREEZE.

How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you!

By Kevin Martineau ·

I have always been suspicious of cats.
I think they are sly crafty animals with a hidden agenda.
I now have proof!

Drawn by Matthew Inman

You can’t say you haven’t been warned!

What else would you add to this list?

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - REST IN PEACE, JOE

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

Joe Paterno died early Sunday morning. A coach of truly legendary proportions, perhaps the greatest tribute was the high esteem in which he was held by the coaching fraternity itself. Joe Pa died of lung cancer. Unfortunately, he died under a cloud. Perhaps the best reflection on this situation and the man that many still honor comes from Howard Bryant of ESPN. Here are some of his thoughts. Click the ESPN LINK for his full comments and related posts. Bryant writes:

"When any person dies, his or her time must be viewed in its totality, out of respect for a life lived, to give the ritual of death its dignity; and for the sake of posterity, to provide clarity as emotions surge and cool over the months and years.

For the famous, it is a difficult task, for that totality is a myth. Only the public face exists; the rest is projection. For Joe Paterno, who died Sunday morning at the age of 85, his 60-year football life transformed in less than three weeks from icon to infamous, a total picture of his time might be an impossibility, at least now. The twin ends of his coaching career and life were so defined by some of his final public words -- in many ways a chilling statement from a man who won more college football games than anyone in history. Those words did not contain a hint of double meaning.

It will be difficult to separate the way Joe Paterno spent most of his career from the way it ended.

"In hindsight, I wish I had done more," he said in the days before his firing.

Long before the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke, Paterno had become so much a part of Penn State football, and it had been so much a part of him, that it was commonly presumed the old man would not survive without the game to which he gave his life. It is said of longtime marriages that once one partner passes, the will for the other to remain evaporates.

In this case, that's a wistful narrative, but Paterno did not die of a broken heart. He died of lung cancer. Over the next hours, days and weeks, there will be a reflex to frame his death within the prism of his final, disgraced months, both from supporters who believe the Sandusky scandal hastened his death and unnecessarily destroyed a good man, and from the detractors who believe that only the enormous specter of Paterno's powerful name kept him from being held even more accountable by the public, and law enforcement.

His death marks the end of the Penn State dynasty, a process that began when he was fired on the night of Nov. 9. The school will never hold the same singular, iconic place it did during Paterno's 20th century. And the people he touched -- those who worked with and played for him, as well as Penn State and college football fans who care so deeply about sports and its place in the national culture -- will remember him fondly and reverentially."

My own response to all is this echoes Bryant in many ways. Collegiate coaches occupy a huge place in a culture where sports is held in such high esteem and often shapes persons' sense of personal well-being. Coaches like Joe Pa were born into a different generation--before the celebrity shaping power of the media, the program intimidating spending of alumni benefactors, and a sense of entitlement that many pampered athletes seem to possess. Discipline and character-building are often undermined by the need to win and to win the big bucks that go with winning. Sports in a this new age is often more than a coach from Joe Paterno's generation seems able to manage--especially the complexity of the forces that seek to shape college athletics and the cultural poverty that shapes so many athletes. Joe Pa has long been in over his head in this world. He did not find persons sharing with a common ground of honor and education and leadership. It is obvious that he found himself living in the neighborhood of some wolves and predators. "I wish I'd done more" says volumes, but one has to question whether it was really within both his worldview and capabilities to do more.

There is still a verdict to be rendered in all of this. Personally, I am not prepared or even equipped to do so, so I'll simply say, "Rest in Peace, Joe Pa."

I WONDER ABOUT WONDER BREAD

2012-01-21T09:23:00.002-05:00

One of the blogs I read is called The OOze by Spencer Burke, who also features other excellent Christian writers. I found this post by Ronnie McBrayer quite thought-provoking and I want to share it. - Steve

I Wonder About Your Wonder Bread (by Ronnie McBrayer)

“If there was one last loaf of bread in this town it would be mine.” I swear that’s what he said. “He” being a rather pretentious member of the clergy, stating how God would take care of him should the world come unhinged tomorrow.

“Everyone else may starve to death, but I won’t. God has promised me that I will never go without,” he trumpeted. Astonishment flashed across my face like racing neon lights. I didn’t even try to mask it. In fact, I took a small step backwards and waited for the fire to fall.

But this strutting preacher quickly defended his statement by quoting Psalm 37:25 – “I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.” See, this fine man considered himself godly. Righteous. Virtuous. Favored by God. Thus, no harm would ever befall him or his family. They lived the divinely-charmed life with no worries about the future for God had written him a blank check. “I’ve got God’s promise,” he kept saying.

The spiritual mathematics of this kind of self-confidence looks like this: “I am godly = I will always have what I need and never go without.” For him the corollary is also true: “You are not very godly = You will not always have what you need, and you may go without.”

To hear him tell it, those who please God always land on top of the heap. Their cupboards are always full, their gas tanks never empty, their table always running over, and their checks never bounce. The reward for righteous living is a full belly.

But what about the godly Christians of yesteryear who did literally starve to death? Women like missionary Lottie Moon who gave her food away to the Chinese she served, only to die of malnutrition herself? St. Lucian of Rome, and countless others like him, who was starved to death in a prison cell because he would not renounce Christ? Or the 2.5 million souls facing starvation in Sudan, now as you read these words, many of whom are Christians? And going without bread is not the only disaster to fall upon the faithful. Christians in China suffer daily under the ruthlessness of that regime. Believers living in radicalized Islamic countries are persecuted at all levels of society. Faithful followers of Christ, even here in the West, daily bear the economic and social consequences of living out their faith.

Is there something wrong with the faith of these people who meet trouble? Has suffering come upon them because they are unrighteous? Are they bad Christians? Is this the explanation for their misery? See, I don’t think this little mantra will hold up for long; this idea that righteous living always leads to the good life. Countless numbers of good and godly people have suffered, have gone without, have been tortured, have been chained in prison, and have died by stoning, firing squad, holocaust, and worse.

Why? Because they possessed an inferior faith, a faith not big or strong enough to get them out of trouble?

No. They suffered because of their good and great faith, not an absence of it. The writer of the book of Hebrews concludes that those who suffer this way are “too good for this world…and earn a good reputation because of their faith.”

Their stomachs didn’t growl because their faith was defective. On the contrary, they suffered because of their virtue. They met painful ends, not because God was against them, but because God was for them. These heroes of faith weren’t standing behind a pulpit, in the midst of chaotic times, bragging about how the last bread truck in town was going to make a special delivery to their home, sent there by God himself. No, they led a life of faith, a life lived in scorn of the consequences, taking virtue as reward enough.

After leaving the man who had called dibs on the last loaf of Wonder Bread in town, I was left to wonder myself. “What happens to this kind of faith when the promised bread truck doesn’t arrive; when the pantry is found to be empty; when the last check bounces?”

I imagine a chink in this armor of belief makes for one hell of a crisis of faith. And it should. Faith that leads to arrogance isn’t faith at all.
__________________________
Ronnie McBrayer is a nationally syndicated faith columnist, speaker, and the author of multiple books including “Leaving Religion, Following Jesus” and “The Jesus Tribe.” Visit his website at www.ronniemcbrayer.net.

WINTER STORM

2012-01-20T20:34:00.000-05:00

I wouldn't have had to hear Matt Belanger announce it on the 5:00 am weather report this morning. The "frozen sky" at twilight that gave a frosted look to the emanations from the street lights would have been an obvious clue. The email cancellations of Saturday events, of course, were more direct. The shoppers heading for the milk and bread at Darrenkamp's Market were "icing" on the cake.

A winter storm is on the way.

If it arrives on schedule, it will begin as freezing rain later tonight (Friday), turning to snow in the early hours of the morning, and become a major snow event just when most people would be heading out to a Saturday morning breakfast at Bob Evans or Silver Spring Family Restaurant.

The cautious and those of the senior citizen persuasion will just stay at home and inside, wondering whether it will be "safe" to go to church in the morning. Up the street my friend Dave will finally get his wish and head his tractor up the street to open driveways. (It's been gassed up for two weeks.) Little kids will try to cajole their Dads out into the yard to make snowmen. Moms will decide the snow event is worth crawling into a chair with a good book and taking a break from the laundry. Some will lament that they must still go to work and reluctantly head up the street to that job. I'll probably walk to my office at the church (just two blocks away) to get a lot of work done in a quiet, uninterrupted office.

My wife will pray that it's a "big" storm so she can simply be snowed in. I'd rather not have that much snow because it will mess up church the next day.

Whether we embrace it or hate it or are merely ambivalet -- the winter storm will come and do what winter storms will do.

LIFE MATTERS--POLITICAL CARTOONS AND FACEBOOK SAGES

2012-01-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

The past month I have collected a number political cartoons via USA Today on-line and "wisdom" from my Facebook friends posing as sages and sources of truth. Here are a few of my recent favorites.

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - TRIAGE AND SABBATH

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in two weeks, which is the longest stretch I have ever gone on this blog. Reflective writing is one of the joys of my life, but the last two weeks have militated against this simple pleasure. By profession I am the pastor of a middle-sized Protestant congregation in the Middle Atlantic region of the US. By calling I am a teacher and mentor for people who are seeking to follow Jesus, and a coach for people who use their gifts in leadership. But at times, because of the needs--both real and perceived--of my flock, I am a combination father figure, crisis manager, agent of confrontation, and church mother. That has been pretty much what I have been doing these past two weeks, especially the past eight days.

By preference and experience, I prefer to work with intentionality--being proactive, not reactive. By situation, I sometimes simply work by triage. Like a doctor in the ER, I take everything (and everyone) who comes through the door, quickly identifying those in critical and/or life threatening situations--and go to work with dispatch. Most of time I am simply stopping the bleeding and patching the holes. Like an ER doctor I try not to deny help to someone who is behaving either stupidly or unwisely. I try to remind them while they are being treated that they should have handled this sooner before it became an emergency. I try to issue a prescription that will bring some immediate relief to the symptoms; but also the counsel to find a healthier pattern for living. That usually means to stop doing things that are harmful and unhealthy, even though they want to do those things. And, as a pastor, I pray for them - for their healing and for their maturing.

People who do triage expend a lot of energy--emotion and physical, and need to take a break or their skills become muted by weariness and their judgment undermined by speed. In my profession, we call that a sabbath. In my case, I am about to take a sabbatical - an extended period for rest, reflection, and renewal.

During that Sabbath, I hope to get back into a rhythm which helps me thrive. It's the reflective, creative writing that I am privileged to do as a blogger. Two weeks from today that Sabbath begins. Pray I get there in a healthy manner. Enjoy the fruit of my rest when I start wielding again keyboard and mouse.

TEXT FREE

2012-01-02T22:26:00.002-05:00

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV)

I stopped at the Sideling Hill Rest Area Monday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. My ride up to that point had been somewhat difficult. First, I was tired and was stopping in part, just to close my eyes so that my drowziness would not create a fatality. Secondly, the Turnpike had been literally jammed with cars either racing home from Grandma's house or heading to another holiday event. Cars traveling at high speeds, filled with baggage, presents both wrapped and unwrapped, the precious cargo of children with Dads grasping a tall cup of Starbucks in one hand as they navigated the various lanes and lane changes.

That reality had already drained me of much energy. It had also added new meaning to the counsel, "Pray without ceasing."

On the door of the rest area building was a sign "This is a text free Turnpike." They, of course, were not referring to a school of preaching that infects too much of the church. They were reminding people of the great hazards involved in texting while driving.

Congress is trying to pass legislation to making texting and driving a crime. The civil libertarians and the social networking junkies are already crying "Foul!"

Don't get me wrong. I don't text (and frankly annoyed by the degree to which people plug out the world while they text). I do, however, use a cell phone, email, and Facebook to communicate regularly. I just avoid driving while I am doing.

What intrigues me is our desire to remain constantly connected with friends, family, work, and sometimes complete strangers and yet our relatively inconsistent and insignificant communications with God.

For the Bible does teach us that there is one connection that should be constant. Paul challenges to pray without ceasing, be constantly aware of your connection with God and consistently in communication - listening or speaking - as we go through the days of our lives. It's a communication that protects you in life instead of putting your life and the lives of others in peril.

And you can do it and still keep your thumbs on the wheel. (And please keep your eyes open if you are literally at the wheel.)

This post first appeared December 27, 2011 in my blog THRIVING IN CHRIST, a devotional blog.

To examine this blog

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

2012-01-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

It is New Year's Day 2012. It's all also a Sunday. I am preaching this morning, then probably heading to the couch for a much-needed nap (I was up much of the night at a youth lock-in at the church). Tomorrow is a holiday for a lot of people, but not for me. I hope maybe to catch some of the Rose Bowl and the Gator Bowl, but I have an Elders' Meeting that probably won't be brief. So instead of writing anything profound, pretentious, or even provocative--I just want to share with you a series of images and let you use your own imagination to produce the text for your own blog. Enjoy! - Steve


Gridlock?


The photographer claims the basset hound is running


My first-born Christi, traveling the world for Atos Origen


I forget where this is


Volcano Power


Go figure


It's better than marching behind the horses

Jesus and Stacie at Walmart

My sentiment EXACTLY

IT'S ABOUT TO BE A NEW YEAR

2011-12-31T16:21:00.000-05:00

Caleb Jay-16 days old and Grandpa Dunn

I am writing this early on New Year's Eve Eve. I will be on the road New Year's Eve returning from visiting two of my children, three of my grandchildren - especially my new grandson Caleb. New Year's Eve I will be helping at a youth lock-in at my church in Landisville called A Night to Worship, an incredible phenomenon where dozens of kids will spend hours in prayer, silence, then worship and reflection--drawing close to God as the old year draws to a close. I hope to catch a little sleep before I have to preach to the rest of my congregation at 10:00 am New Year's Day (we only have one worship service on this particular Sunday to give my staff and our worship volunteers a bit of a break).

Many people have been spending some time reflecting on the year that is about to end and the new one that is about to dawn. Some of are even making resolutions--personal goals, hoping to correct what needs to be corrected from the past or to finally achieve what remains unaccomplished. Some will be quite ambitious and those resolutions will more resemble revolutions. (Which reminds me of a quote from a friend named Justin Meier, "Everyone wants a revolution, but no one wants to do the dishes.")

I have long since ceased making resolutions. Most of the time they were unrealized, coming unraveled soon after the detachment of the holidays turned into the responsibilities of real life. (As one of my favorite authors Tim Hansel once wrote, "The problem with life is that it is so daily.")

What I look for more in a new year is to see the rhythm that will be required to live it in a healthy and fruitful manner. Life has its seasons, as I am beginning discover as I approach my sixty-first year and actually begin contemplating how to finish well in my calling as a pastor. Those seasons cannot be lived without regard to the requirements and the boundaries imposed upon us by those seasons. I mean, it's really hard go surfing in the winter if you live in a place where the snow sometimes accumulates as many as a dozen inches in a few hours. It is pretty much an exercise in futility to try planting a garden in January in Pennsylvania unless you're going to do it indoors.

Seasons require rhythms of living. In a few weeks I will begin a sabbatical, a season I have not experienced in several decades. I hope to develop a healthier pattern of exercise, rest, diet and study for spiritual formation than were possible in the hustle and bustle of a church at Christmas time -- and in a church period, where you are on call so often that your work resembles triage more than heart surgery. It will also be a season where I can be more attentive to God speaking to me without my having to translate it into operational plans for the church--and to learn to communicate with persons who will see me simply as a fellow spiritual sojourner than as their Pastor. This season won't last long, but I am hoping it will reveal some truths about who I am as a person in Christ, so that I find a better rhythm for living when I return to the front lines of serving Him in a local church as its Lead Pastor.

Most people don't know that my alter ego is sometimes best identified by A.A. Milnes' character Tigger. Partially because a whole lot of the bounce and spirit of adventure has leaked out of my life, and along with it some of my passion for God. So, I see this season as sort of an adventure upon which I have most people's permission to embark.

Now I just need to allow myself to embrace a rhythm of adventure.

VADER DID YOU KNOW?

2011-12-30T03:38:00.000-05:00

Just for fun. No theological significance. No political commentary. Just a little something I found vacationing in the blogosphere. For all you Star Wars fans--have a good time.

2011 IS WINDING DOWN - THE SPORTS SCENE

2011-12-29T01:00:00.000-05:00

I really think the top two teams in the US are actually playing for the BCS Championship (I am picking LSU), but once again we are frustrated by a system that is more about filling bowl games with revenue enhancing match-ups. than having a true playoff. There is still no true College Football Playoff among football powerhouses and so computers and opinion polls will continue to determine the winners instead of letting it be settled on the playing field between athletes striving to achieve. The Final Four in NCAA basketball still produces a clearer champion, and that's why many of us will choose basketball over football. (I am looking forward to seeing Syracuse and Ohio State settle the question in March). Isn't there just a part of you that would have liked seeing a game between a surging Boise State and an Alabama that kept bouncing back? Wouldn't that have been more exciting than a pairing that could have been predicted in August?

A scandal-ridden 2011 is going to leak over into 2012. Ohio State got what it justly deserved for the infractions of its players, but we haven't heard the end of what is happening in places like Penn State and Syracuse. At least the Buckeyes have Urban Meyer to help rebuild.

One of the most exciting baseball seasons in decades came to a conclusion in October as the Cardinals won the World Series. And my favorite Justin Verlander pulled off the incredible feat of winning both the AL Cy Young and Most Valuable Player honors. But at this point Peyton Manning's future is uncertain and Drew Brees claimed a place in the history books as he broke Dan Marino's single season passing record. Tim Tebow and the Broncos probably won't make the AFC Championship, but the Green Bay Packers could very likely make it two Super Bowls in a row. (Vince Lombardi must be smiling from ear to ear as he trades football predictions with St. Peter). Tebow, did, however, provide us a memorable football season and earned the Broncos some new fans; but I suspect his detractors will still be saying "He's not really a good quarterback.") And to that I want to say, "Get a life!"

We know that Albert Pujols and the Cardinals have parted ways, but Jimmy Rollins is still a Philadelphia Phillie. I am hoping that in 2012 the Tigers will get Verlander some dependable pitching help and finally get back to the World Series.

The NBA made a "comeback" coming back from its lock-out in time for Christmas Day. But I loved seeing Chris Paul and the Clippers steal the Lakers Los Angeles thunder. And speaking of the Thunder, Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City brand may get me watching pro basketball ... finally.

I would have liked to have talked about golf, but 2011 has left me with no real memories. Did I mention Nascar or the NHL? No, I didn't ... on purpose.

And finally, I'm glad the immaturely behaving Detroit Lions finally grew up in time to make the playoffs, They probably won't get past Green Bay, but it's been nice seeing them as winners again.

WEB SITINGS - GRANDMA CONNIE AND CS LEWIS AND BONHOEFFER ON CHRISTMAS

2011-12-28T02:00:00.000-05:00

On December 18, my friend and fellow blogger, Dan had a grandmother die. Her name was Connie and he obviously loved her. He wrote a great blog called "17 Scattered Thoughts About Grandma Connie. Dan wrote:

My Grandmother died yesterday at 90 years of age. Some thoughts…

1. She always called me Danny. I guess lots of people did when I was a kid, but she never stopped. When I called her, I had to say that it was ‘Danny’ calling or she wouldn’t have known who I was.

2. When I was a kid, my favorite color was green. I don’t think I ever chose it though. I think Grandma chose it for me. I think she liked green.

3. I remember going to visit her apartment. She always had Polar ginger ale. Always in a one liter bottle. I think I might have avoided the other stuff in her fridge (I’ve always hated tuna), but man did I go for that ginger ale.

4. She never had a drivers license. She didn’t own a car and she didn’t drive. Except once – a long time ago. She told me about it and I love that.

5. I admit that I teased her. She would always ask me about the older people at my church. I told her that I tease them too. I don’t think that she believed me, but she should have.

6. Back to the driving thing: it was a long time until she let me drive her. That was always my dad’s job. I think she suspected that I maybe drove too fast and might have been dangerous behind the wheel. I have no idea where she might have gotten that idea…

A little lesson in Christian apologetics from Calvin and Hobbes

Another post I found interesting reading came from Q Ideas which is connected with Gabe Lyons, It was called "Surprising Christmas Insights from Lewis and Bonhoeffer."

C.S. Lewis (1898 - 1963) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 - 1945) are two of the most influential Christian thinkers of the last quarter millennium. But what did they think about Christmas? The truth may surprise you.

After reading The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, one might expect C.S. Lewis to be a big fan of Christmas. After all, when Narnia was under the curse of the evil white witch, it was described as land where it was “always winter, but never Christmas.” But such an expectation might not be completely warranted. It seems C.S. Lewis was not very pleased with the way many who bear Christ’s name celebrate Christ’s birth:

Three things go by the name of Christmas. One is a religious festival. This is important and obligatory for Christians; but as it can be of no interest to anyone else, I shall naturally say no more about it here. The second (it has complex historical connections with the first, but we needn't go into them) is a popular holiday, an occasion for merry-making and hospitality. If it were my business to have a 'view' on this, I should say that I much approve of merry-making. But what I approve of much more is everybody minding his own business. I see no reason why I should volunteer views as to how other people should spend their own money in their own leisure among their own friends. It is highly probable that they want my advice on such matters as little as I want theirs. But the third thing called Christmas is unfortunately everyone's business.

I mean of course the commercial racket. The interchange of presents was a very small ingredient in the older English festivity. Mr. Pickwick took a cod with him to Dingley Dell; the reformed Scrooge ordered a turkey for his clerk; lovers sent love gifts; toys and fruit were given to children. But the idea that not only all friends but even all acquaintances should give one another presents, or at least send one another cards, is quite modern and has been forced upon us by the shopkeepers.
- From “What Christmas Means to Me” in God in the Dock

On the other hand, one might expect that Dietrich Bonhoeffer, particularly later in his life, had little to rejoice about on Christmas. He was living under the authority of one of the most evil, unjust, racist regimes since the beginning of time. How was any German citizen to interpret the “good tidings of great joy” which had supposedly arrived with the birth of Christ? Yet, Bonhoeffer saw Christmas in the opposite light: not a confusing contradiction in a word of evil but encouragement for those living under oppression. He wrote,

For the great and powerful of this world, there are only two places in which their courage fails them, of which they are afraid deep down in their souls, from which they shy away. These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ. No powerful person dares to approach the manger, and this even includes King Herod. For this is where thrones shake, the mighty fall, the prominent perish, because God is with the lowly. Here the rich come to nothing, because God is with the poor and hungry, but the rich and satisfied he sends away empty. Before Mary, the maid, before the manger of Christ, before God in lowliness, the powerful come to naught; they have no right, no hope; they are judged.
- From God Is In the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas


Tebow at prayer. He's only concerned with an audience of One

This one will be worth a blog post in 2012

2011 IS WINDING DOWN - THE POLITICAL SCENE

2011-12-27T11:24:00.000-05:00

At the moment I am in Toledo OH visiting my new grandson Caleb and his parents, Katie and Jason. A Sunday holiday gave many business and organizations – not to mention the schools, postal service, government and banks to turn Monday into a holiday, as well. I suspect with the New Year’s Eve being on a Saturday that more than a few places will start shutting down early on Friday, as well. Let’s see, that leaves three work days in a lot of places – and not much work is going to happen. 2011 is most definitely winding down. (By the way, I worked both days of last weekend and will work both days of this weekend. It is comes with the territory when you are a pastor).Blogging for me is something I do to relax. I don’t hunt, fish, wood carve, or chop wood-I unwind with my computer and unleashing my fertile imagination. So right now I will “relax” looking at the political scene.

We are now eleventh months from the next general and presidential election. The Republicans debates are in full swing–with candidates almost daily giving us reason not to vote for any of them. The Democrats are having those debates behind closed doors, but right now there are many voters who will not support Mr. Obama’s re-election bid. In fact, after the craziness of the budget, tax breaks, and other assorted DC impasses, I am afraid that a whole lot of people are fed up with the current leadership on either side of the aisle. Unfortunately those throwing tea parties or occupying Wall Street don’t inspire me either. Persons whose whole campaigns revolve around “throw the bums out” rarely have sustainable ideas that promote the common good. 2012 will be a matter of significant prayer for many of us who love this nation and treasure its democratic institutions.

Another dictator, who styled himself literally as a god, died last week. Kim Il Jong of North Korea went where-ever dead “gods” go and I am pretty sure it’s not Heaven (even if as a diehard communist, he believed in any kind of afterlife). No administration has been able to reign in the meglo-manical paranoia of the North Koreans (even the Chinese find them troublesome and potentially dangerous “allies.”) In fact, three thorns in the flesh of democracy met their Maker this year – bin Lauden, Khadaffi, and Jong. Will the world be safer, or freer? Perhaps for a time. But in our Fallen World where men aspire for the power to compel people to choose their way of life or live subject to their warped ideologies, more such “thorns” will erupt. That is why we must work to make our democracy be a beacon of light instead of a poor excuse for a family feud. Democracies work where this is mutual respect, an honest resolution of differences, and the integrity to work for the common good.

This morning’s news contained the disturbing report that the Iraqi President has already begun to act like Saddam Hussein, arresting his Sunni minority Vice President and making bogey men out of his political opponents. Fearing the Shiite majority, the Sunnis and others are already threatening civil war, a development that will only serve the purposes of a greater threat to the world–Iran.

As Walter Cronkite used to say, “And that’s the way it is.” This is where I say, “We need Jesus now more than ever.”

IF CHRISTMAS TELLS US ANYTHING .......

2011-12-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

Some people are a little out of it because they are recuperating from a Christmas celebration that covered too many miles and made too many stops in too short a period of time.

So just in case you missed out on the true meaning of Christmas, I offer this choir singing Michael W. Smith's musical theology lesson about Christmas.

COME CHRISTMAS EVE, WHAT WILL YOU SEE?

2011-12-22T21:11:00.000-05:00

Jimmy Stewart (one of my favorite actors of all time) once appeared in a movie called Mr. Kreuger's Christmas. This is a clip from that movie. Here's my question, "Come Christmas Eve, what will you see--about yourself, about your world, about the Christ?" My Christmas Eve sermon is "If Jesus Had Not Come..." What is the difference in your life because Jesus came?

REMEDY FOR A STALE CHRISTMAS

2011-12-20T14:43:00.000-05:00

Just in case the Christmas story has grown stale, this re-telling by some kids from New Zealand ought to rewarm your heart,

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - THE END (?) OF A WAR, PACKERS, IT'S NOT ABOUT TEBOW, AND SIX MORE DAYS

2011-12-19T04:30:00.000-05:00

The war in Iraq ended early on Sunday morning as the last batch of approximately 25 American military tricks and tractor trailers carrying Bradley fighting vehicles and armored cars carrying 500 US troops crossed the border into Kuwait. Quoting the report by Reuters:

"The war launched in March 2003 with missiles striking Baghdad to oust President Saddam Hussein closes with a fragile democracy still facing insurgents, sectarian tensions and the challenge of defining its place in an Arab region in turmoil. As U.S. soldiers pulled out, Iraq's delicate power-sharing deal for Sunni and Kurdish factions was already under pressure. The Shi'ite-led government asked parliament to fire the Sunni deputy prime minister, and security sources said the Sunni vice president faced an arrest warrant."

Now the post-war analysis begins as historians and politicians try to assess the success and/or failure of this war. The fact that the war in Afghanistan continues with Americans continuing in harm's way will temper any assessment. And no one should forget that the war on terrorism has not been won. Neither the Bush or Obama administrations dare make such a claim. Nearly 4,500 Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives in this fearsome conflict.

America continues to be the one nation willing to expend its own lives in the defense of freedom for persons around the world. It is an admirable reputation which once again confirms the will and the worth of a democracy. As much as people wish to castigate or critique America, we are the one nation that can be depended upon.

We should not forget that it has been at a price. And now that this war is over (?) it is essential that we care for the men and women of the American military and their families--and help them deal with the even deeper price they have paid than anyone. That will be the true test of the character of Mr. Obama and the person who will hold the office in January 2013.

The Packers finally lost yesterday to the Kansas City Chiefs. A season of perfection will elude them, but at this point I am looking for them to hoist that Super Bowl trophy at season's end. The Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow did not defeat Tom Brady and the Patriots. I suspect Tim will be as gracious and as faith-filled in defeat as he was in victory, Hopefully his detractors won't make over this either. In the end, it's not about Tebow, it's about the Broncos (and it's not about Tebow, it's about Jesus Christ.)

And remember - just six more days until Christmas! It will mean a lot more if He has been resident in your heart throughout this year.

IF JOSEPH AND MARY WERE ON FACEBOOK

2011-12-17T05:13:00.000-05:00

Bought this video for my church from Igniter Media. It's only a week to this celebration.

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

2011-12-14T11:23:00.002-05:00

For much of my adult life I have been a reader and fan of Peanuts and its creator, Charles Schulz. Part of the attraction to me has been its subtle and sometimes not so subtle theological reflection. Above and below are are just a few of my favorite panels:

Many of us are familiar with his most circulated theological statement known as A Charlie Brown Christmas. This animated special has been a part of the CBS Christmas line-up for more than a decade.
I don't watch it every year, but still delight each time I encounter it. In 2010, when CBS decided to drop it, ABC picked it up through 2015.

Recently I read how A Charlie Brown Christmas almost didn't make it.Charles Schulz wanted to use the King James Version of the Christmas story in the cartoon and some television execs thought that would be inappropriate and offensive and wanted to hold off airing the special. Schulz stood his ground. Read the story itself. national

FERVENCY - MY KIDS, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY - GOD'S !!!!

2011-12-12T21:33:00.000-05:00

FERVENCY is the name of the youth worship band from the Church of God of Landisville, which I am privileged to serve as Lead Pastor. These kids chose their name because of their attitude towards Jesus Christ and sharing the Good News. Last Saturday night they performed at local high school talent show, a distinct honor rarely afforded openly Christian groups. This is their performance.

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTION - MORE TRAGEDY FOR VIRGINIA TECH

2011-12-12T02:23:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday was a study day at Virginia Tech. Finals were set for Friday, but for now the finals are on hold. A gunman shot and killed a police officer on campus at a routine traffic stop. The shooter did not appear to be part of the traffic stop. Soon another body was found. Three years ago Virginia Tech experienced the single worst shooting in modern American history when 33 people died in a few hours on campus at the handles of a single gunman. Once again Tech was hit with a violent tragedy.

A friend of mine, Tammie Gitt, posted this thought on Facebook. "Thank a police officer today. He might die for you tomorrow." Let me add my "amen."

More details will emerge I am sure about these killings, but my reflection is this. We live in a fallen world. By that, I mean that the world intended by our Creator has been damaged beyond measure by our human sin.

Although it is popular to believe in the progressive goodness of humankind, the daily violence of even a free society is an unavoidable reminder of the dark stain of sin upon the heart of humanity. It is a stain that we have not been successful to erase. We will not be able to do so without the intervention of Someone who is above our humanity and without sin's corruption.

That's why a little more than 2000 years ago, a holy God Himself entered time and space and took up residence among us. This is why He gave His life through the life of His perfect Son, Jesus Christ - so that our lives would be freed from the power and the penalty of sin. The Virginia Tech killings remind us that we still live in the presence of sin. The baby born in that manger reminds us of the life transforming power to defeat that sin once and for all.

Sin's demise does not some through a political program or a social philosophy.

It cannot be voted out of power nor overthrown by a military option.

It will not end by human persuasion or the right human leader or system.

There is not enough education to overcome its insidious grasp on the human mind and spirit.

Sin requires a Savior.

^"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' - Romans 5:6-8

O HOLY NIGHT - DAVID PHELPS

2011-12-09T02:00:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine Ballard Wood connected me to this video. It starts with a commercial from a Pentecostal evangelist named Joel Hemphill but his story is worth your reflection, too. Let this video remind you of the season and its reason.

WAYNE BOYER

2011-12-08T20:42:00.001-05:00

A treasured friend of mine and fellow pastor, Wayne Boyer, went home to be with the Lord a few days ago. Another friend of mine, Bill Sloat blogged a tribute to him that I am reposting here for broader distribution of the tribute. - Steve

Cancer stinks.

I've smelled the stench in a more up-close-and-personal way than I ever wanted to.

Since her diagnosis, Evelyn has had the joy of walking the cancer road with three people she regarded as friends before cancer came into their lives. It's a road you don't want to walk on without human companionship. On Tuesday, Wayne became the last of those three 'cancer buddies' to come to the end of the journey.

The cancer road is such a strange one. Though he'd been on it long before Evelyn, she endured a particularly harsh chemo drug before Wayne was put on it. So, she was able to describe for Wayne its horrid effects before he experienced them. And, we were able to understand what he went through during those treatments and to appreciate the faith, the grace and the courage with which he embraced that incredible suffering.

Not long ago, I could not get Wayne out of my mind and so, as I was driving, I phoned him. From the instant he answered, I could hear the smile in his voice. I actually heard his laughter as he told me that he knew that the cutting-edge drug he was on was not working and that he knew that it would not extend his life and that that was okay. He talked about the joy he still felt in the Lord's salvation. He expressed his only real regret that Kay would be left alone. When we hung up, it was with laughter and a naive, "Talk to you later."

Two days after that, the final onslaught overwhelmed him and he was rushed to the hospital.

Cancer killed Wayne. It did not beat him.

Wayne followed Jesus. He set his heart on living out obedience to the greatest of all the commands in the Law: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

Thanks, Wayne, for letting me see that.

Talk to you later.

A LITTLE CHRISTMAS HUMOR - NOT

2011-12-06T02:00:00.000-05:00

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS--TIME TO GIVE TEBOW SOME CREDIT, MARY DID YOU KNOW, JUSTIN BIEBER MUSIC VIDEO, AND SPIRITUAL QUESTS VIA THE SING-OFF

2011-12-05T19:27:00.000-05:00

Tim Tebow led the Denver Broncos to victory Sunday afternoon over the Minnesota Vikings. Two significant developments as a result. They moved into a tie with the Oakland Raiders for the AFC West after the Raiders were demolished by the Miami Dolphins. And the Broncos, who were being given up for dead eight weeks ago, have now gone 5-1 since Tebow began as a starter. Their victory over Minnesota increased their winning streak to five, the longest since John Elway was QB. Tebow's success on the football field is beginning to finally distract the media from their incessant sniping at his persistent (and consistent) expressions of his faith. Just Friday I still had a friend at church look cross-eyed when I mentioned Tebow was making me a Broncos fan. Maybe my friend and others will stop obsessing about the "NFL quarterback model" and finally give credit to Tebow for his emerging talent.

Lots of Christmas music fills the air. One of my favorites in Kenny Roger's rendition of Mark Lowry's "Mary Did You Know?"

Speaking of music - is it just me for is there something slightly obscene in Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey's Christmas music video where this very sensuous and obviously adult women is singing seductively to a young man who is still a teenager? (He is still 17 years old). If she were a school teacher she would be facing criminal charges.

Then there was my favorite show of the fall season The Sing-Off and Ben Folds hauntingly subtle Christian message (or question) in "You Were Not the Same" has me thinking about how people express their spiritual quest, and not always finding answers. Folds is clearly not a Christian and his lyrics in many songs like the popular "Army" must be edited for general or popular audiences. But every time I hear a song that asks spiritual questions and responds with semi-despair, I have to wonder how we connect people with the "Hope that does not disappoint us." More about this later, but for now, enjoy the song.

THE TOUCH OF GOD THROUGH A BABY

2011-12-02T02:30:00.000-05:00

Although I don't watch it religiously, I have long been a fan of CBS' Sixty Minutes. A number of years ago newsman Harry Reasoner shared his personal thoughts on Christmas during Prime Time. I'd like you to read some excerpts from his remarks. - Steve

Eleven years ago I did a little Christmas piece and itseemed like a good idea to repeat it. The basis for this tremendous burst ofbuying things and gift buying and parties and near hysteria is a quiet eventthat Christians believe actually happened a long time ago. You can say that inall societies there has always been a midwinter festival and that many of thetrappings of our Christmas are almost violently pagan. But you come back to thecentral fact of the day and the quietness of Christmas morning, the birth ofGod on earth.

It leaves you only three ways of accepting Christmas. One iscynically, as a time to make money and endorse the making of it. One isgraciously, that’s the appropriate attitude for non-Christians who wish theirfellow citizens all the joys to which their beliefs entitle them. And thethird, of course, is reverently.

If this is the anniversary of the appearance of the Lord ofthe universe in the form of a helpless babe, it is a very important day. It isa startling idea, of course. The whole story that a virgin was selected by Godto bear his son as a way of showing his love and concern for man. It’s my guessthat in spite of all the lip service given to it, it’s not an idea that hasbeen popular with theologians. It is somewhat an illogical idea and theologianslike logic almost as much as they like God. It’s so revolutionary, a thoughtthat it probably could only come from God that is beyond logic and beyondtheology. It is a magnificent appeal. Almost nobody has seen God and almostnobody has any real idea what he is like, and the truth is that among men theidea of seeing God suddenly and standing in a very bright light is notnecessarily a completely comforting or appealing idea.

But everyone has seen babies and almost everyone likes them.If God wanted to be loved as well as feared, He moved correctly, for a babygrowing up learns all about people. And if God wanted to be intimately a partof man, He moved correctly, for the experience of birth and family-hood is themost intimate and precious experience that any of us will ever have.

So it comes beyond logic. It is either a falsehood or it isthe truest thing in the world. It is the story of the great innocence of Godthe baby. God in the power of man has such a dramatic shock toward the heartthat if it is not true to Christians, then nothing is true.

So if a person is touched only once a year, the touching isstill worth it. And maybe on some given Christmas some final quiet morning,that touch will take. The touch of God coming into this world as a vulnerablebaby. - Harry Reasoner

BREAKFAST

2011-12-01T22:07:00.001-05:00

I love breakfast!

No apologies, no hesitation, no nuances – just a straightforward love of breakfast.
A cup of coffee, a simple bowl of Cheerios, a slice of toast – that’s breakfast at its most minimal. Although my diabetes now requires me to tone down breakfast, there are some things that I particularly love with breakfast.
Start with a cup of fresh, hot coffee. It requires no doctoring, just its rich flavor wafting aromatic out of the cup into your nostrils. A quality cup of coffee is the “first love” of a good breakfast. And please, please, please — do not ruin the experience by serving me decaf. I’d rather have a warm glass of diet Pepsi that’s been sitting on the counter for three days.

I can begin to embrace breakfast with a gusto by a cold glass of tomato juice served while the meal itself is being prepared. Many places add a slice of lemon,but for me such “decoration” is totally unnecessary. If I have lemon at all at breakfast, let it be lemonade. Occasionally, when I am not too worried about my blood sugar, a glass of Florida’s best orange juice is a pleasant addition – but it has to have lots of pulp or the whole OJ thing loses substance. OJ is the first place where I might want to chew my breakfast, When the price on either is too high or none is available, there’s much breakfast refreshment from a glass of ice water with that slice of lemon that people erroneously want to insert into my tomato juice.

Now the main courses begin to arrive–generally on multiple plates balanced artfully on the forearm of your waitress. How do they do that? I have trouble carrying my keys in my hands let alone do the balancing act required by breakfast waitresses. And they do it without velcro.
So what comes first? Two eggs sunnyside up/ Please do not let them get cold in the kitchen before they reach me. And if you break the yolks, I’ll send them back. Never mind that I am about the plunge my fork into their shimmering yellow surface. Part of the blessing is savoring the plunging of the fork into those two yellow faces staring back at you and watching the yolk run into the whites. And don’t burn the whites. A runny yoke loses its culinary satisfaction when it is eaten with the rest of the egg that has begun to take on the texture of burnt toast.

Of course – toast. My preference, four half slices of raisin toast, slightly crispy with a pat of butter melting into its surface. My diabetes has turned breakfast potatoes into unwelcome carbs. At my home restaurant, the Silver Spring Family Restaurant has offered me fresh, sliced tomatoes as an alternative. (Unfortunately with an upcharge). That’s the “fruit: with my breakfast. I cannot quite explain it, but those tomatoes are a perfect taste counterpart to the eggs and toast, and they don’t compete with the coffee. (By now I should be on my second cup).

If i want to have a more filling breakfast, old-fashioned Southern grits with a huge dollop of butter melting into their hot, fluid surface has me salivating before I even get that first taste (which is usually ten minutes after they get to the table and have finally cooled enough to eat without cauterizing your epiglottis. Unfortunately too many people are introduced to grits through a box or in the North where they never seem to make grits the right way (except in Cracker Barrel). But give grits a chance. You won’t be sorry and they are probably better for you than a double order of toast.

And for “dessert,” (yes, breakfast has a dessert along with your third cup of coffee) be sure and tie the whole experience together with a few danish, preferably something with cinnamon (unless you need more fruit, then get apple danish). But don’t tell my health coach about the danish.
I love breakfast!

LIFE MATTERS - BUT SUPERCOMMITTEES ARE ANOTHER MANNER

2011-11-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

I am a "fan" so-to-speak of political cartoons. An image with a brief text is often prophetic, if not certainly articulate. Here are some cartoons that lately have spoken my mind quite. Thank you to USA's stable of political cartoonist for their collective wisdom and artistic talent.

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTION - ANDY ROONEY, JOE PA, IRAQ

2011-11-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Andy Rooney died earlier this month. It had not even been a month since he announced retirement. Sixty Minutes presented a delightful tribute to Andy, his life and his passion to write. I, for one, delighted at Andy's brief appearance each week--wrapping up what had often been a heavy show with a little whit and whimsy that refreshed the soul. Andy prepared his segment from 1978-2011, his final presentation was his 1,097th. Memorable quotes galore. Here are a few I connected with:

"People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe."

"The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong."

"Vegetarian - that's an old Indian word meaning lousy hunter. "

"Nothing in fine print is ever good news."

"Death is a distant rumor to the young.I didn't get old on purpose, it just happened. If you're lucky, it could happen to you."

"Happiness depends more on how life strikes you than on what happens."

As a wordsmith, I would never presume to be in Andy Rooney's league; but I will miss him. Whether it was an eloquent ode to dust or a pithy analysis of the Democrats and Republicans, Andy never failed to stimulate my mind and occasionally open it a little bit more. And unlike the talk-show pundits, he never took himself too seriously and treated his listeners like they were intelligent beings.

The United Negro College Fund used to have a slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Andy wasted nary a cell.

Joe Pa's saga continues. Now we read that he directed the university's academic enforcement officer to let the athletic department police the football team. That's just the kind of "football is bigger than the university" thinking that cost Jim Tressell his job at The Ohio State University. When we allow college athletes to see themselves as a privileged class we plant seeds in their psyche that will be a hindrance to the leaders many of them will have the opportunity to become (unless, of course, they become Senators and Congressmen).

The pullout from Iraq is slowly underway. Our nation in general and our military families in particular have made tremendous sacrifice so that Iraq would be free and to plant seeds of democracy. Unfortunately, I think this cartoon reflects the attitude of the current Iraqi leadership.

On a personal note: A brother of one of my best friends after several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan ready to resume normal life. He discovered about a month ago that he has a brain tumor and underwent surgery to remove a part of it. Keep Marvin in your prayers.

Yesterday marked the beginning of Advent, the season in the Christian year that we begin preparing our hearts for the message of Christmas. During this month I am posting items on my devotional blog called THRIVING IN CHRIST. The first post is "The Day Peace was Declared" and you can click HERE to access it.

SHOULD TEBOW DIAL BACK HIS JESUS TALK?

2011-11-27T02:00:00.000-05:00

When Tim Tebow was in college he was a sports media darling, but now that he has become an NFL quarterback, the media has spent a lot time and energy beating up on Tebow. Not so much for his somewhat un-NFL-like quarterbacking skills; but for his very obvious devotion to Jesus Christ.Last week Jake Plummer grabbed some headlines with his critiquing of the level of Tim's expressing of his faith.

Former Bronco quarterback Jake Plummer (2003-2006) thinks Tebow should make some changes: "...regardless of whether I wish he’d just shut up after a game and go hug his teammates, I think he’s a winner and I respect that about him,” said Plummer. “I think that when he accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ, then I think I’ll like him a little better. I don’t hate him because of that, I just would rather not have to hear that every single time he takes a good snap or makes a good handoff."

When I read Plummers' comments I think that Jake just doesn't get Tebow. (Nor does John Elway nor much of the sporting world.) His faith goes far deeper than painting scripture on his eyeblack in college. His whole worldview is rooted in a genuine love for Jesus Christ. It is also grounded in a worldview that says faith is not a private matter and that football is not a matter of eternal significance. This video (which the poster inaccurately titled "Tebow SLAMS Plummer") gives us a clear answer as to who Tim Tebow believes himself to be and how that impacts he as an NFL quarterback.

Personally, I hope that Tim maintains his spiritual integrity and lives by the perspecive described on tbe video. It would probably be a good career move to do otherwise, but we the NFL and our nation would profit from aquaterback that accepts his role model role and tries to model a faith with integrity.So what do you think?

THERE ARE NO OFF LIMITS QUESTIONS

2011-11-26T06:54:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year popular preacher and teacher Rob Bell stirred considerable controversy with a new book called Love Wins. (Just for clarification, I have purchased the book but not yet read it. I believe no one should comment on a book if they have not read it thoroughly and reflected upon it honestly. I intend to read it in the next month.

I have unfortunately or fortunately read an avalanche of comments about the book and its supposed premise. I have noted that very few commentators have actually yet to read Love Wins either, just what other commentators have said about it. To those who have charged Rob with universalism, others have responded with a question, "How does belief in free will (which Rob believes) co-exist with universalism (everyone will come to God)?" One of my Facebook friends wrote in response to some of my questions, "It seemed more a calling out of Calvism that anything." (He, by the way, had read the book.)

My purpose in all of this is not to comment on Rob's book. I still have not read it. And because many of his writings and videos have been extremely helpful to me as a biblical Christian, I intend to give him the respect of reading and reflecting upon it with honesty. My intent is to note something far more at issue here.

When it comes to God and our desire to understand His truth, are there no "off limits" questions? This is no small question for those of us engaged in apologetics with persons who have no Christian roots and no biblical reference points in their life experience. More often than not, the very fact that I am willing to say, "There are no off limits questions, just questions for which you do not yet have answer" has been the springboard to genuine dialogue that God used to reconcile people to Him. Actually, the questioning usually begins with, "This is probably a stupid question ..." meaning a whole lot of their self-esteem is about to be invested in this investigation of the truth and they want to be sure that their quest will be respected by those who claim to know the Way.

I find it hard to believe that God, Who is Truth in Person, is offended by questions since it is He who embedded in us a hunger for the Truth when He created us in His image. And God does not cease to God simply because we are rebellious in our motives for asking questions. God can handle the Truth because He is Truth. And in the end it is not reason that convicts of our inescapable need for God, it is the Holy Spirit who is more than human answers and theologies and systems.

There are too many Christians that are offended by any questions, except softball ones. Perhaps they are offended because they don't have all the answers and secretly believe that their salvation is dependent upon being able to pass some kind of biblical intelligence test. That still smells of salvation by works, and for that we have the Apostle Paul's clear admonition, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power" (Colossians 2:4) and " "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." (Ephesians 2.8-9)

Questions are the way that truth is revealed and appropriated. Asking questions was at the heart of Jesus' teaching method. God is not someone Who needs protected from the skeptics and defended against the atheists. He is the One who through open hearts grants us new minds which are ultimately what is required to understand the truth and live the truth.

Every time we launch an assault on someone who asks questions we say that Truth is fragile. God, Who moves the mountains and holds the universe in His hands is anything but.

A LITTLE POST TURKEY ANALYSIS

2011-11-25T00:01:00.001-05:00

Have fun. I did when I came across these. Hope your Thanksgiving dinner was enjoyable, your family time a blessing and that the Detroit Lions won.

And then very serious thought .......................................

GIVING THANKS TO THE LORD

2011-11-24T01:00:00.002-05:00

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - MORAL MELTDOWN IN HAPPY VALLEY

2011-11-21T00:05:00.000-05:00

I live in the Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania, less than two hours from State College and Happy Valley. This is bedrock Penn State territory, so much so that this Buckeye fan takes considerable harassment and disrespect. It is also Joe Paterno country. Joe Pa is a larger than life icon of hard work, persistence, and generosity. But Happy Valley is not happy these days and Joe Pa has become a pariah to many. By now you are more than familiar with (and perhaps have had your fill of) the moral meltdown in Happy Valley. It is like a dark cloud that has descended upon our Commonwealth and blackened our souls as surely as an explosion of coal dust might darken our persons.

The official jury has yet to hear the case of Jerry Sandusky, but the tangled web of cover-up, feigned ignorance, and all around lack of moral courage to confront this problem many years ago has led to the firing of a university president, two other administrators, and the coach. And I need to say, that had to be. Football, institutional reputation, saving face and/or avoiding conflict are no excuse for the perpetuation of an outrage against these young victims. From my perspective, there is no more heinous crime that the sexual abuse of a child and every decent adult has an absolute moral obligation to go after and challenge any hint of such a crime. No one is exempt, including iconic coaches, powerful presidents, no one.

My perspective comes from one of the most powerful commands of God's Word. "Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute.Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked” (Ps.82:3-4). It us reinforced by Jesus' special concern for children: "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin." (Luke 17:2)

I commend those students and faculty of the Penn State community who have not let sympathy for a coach, or embarrassment to their school to deter them from the main point - these young people have been victims of something unspeakable at the most, something reprehensible in the least. These victims will carry the scars for their lives. It is a reality that no child should ever have to encounter.

A LESSON IN PRAYING

2011-11-19T17:21:00.000-05:00

From one of my favorite bloggers, Karen Spears Zacharias, comes this great lesson regarding prayer.

A Lesson in Praying

Karen Spears Zacharias

Upon my waking this was the dream:
-
We were in a room with a youth group of some sort. High school, college. Maybe 50-75 in numbers. One gal was speaking. It was not someone I recognized.

She had an eraser in her hand and she was speaking about the power of prayer. To prove her point about how effective prayer can be, she let go of the eraser and it shot like a bullet toward the opposing wall. Scared the dickens out of everyone in that room, me included. Mostly because I had only halfway been paying attention, which is how I spend too much of my life, only halfway paying attention to it.

But once that eraser went speeding like a bullet across the room, that got my attention.

Try it, she said. You try it. Hold out your hands and pray for the eraser to come to you. Everyone ready?

We were. All throughout the room people were praying, hands held out, ready to receive something miraculous from God. She held up the eraser again and as we prayed, she released it. We held our breath and waited to see who was God’s chosen in that moment. Each one hoping, of course, that it would be them.

The eraser fell to the floor. Dropped just like that. It didn’t speed off toward anyone.

Ahhh, we sighed, dropping our hands and thinking, why of course. See how God does me? Always doing the miraculous for others and nothing for me. I looked at the faces around the room. All were crestfallen. So many unanswered prayers. So much disappointment. So much discouragement.
Then it came to me.

A lesson in praying.

What do you expect me to do? There you all sit, hands outstretched, each one’s prayer opposing another’s. Gimme. Gimme. Gimme. You’re a mother, how would you choose? Which child’s prayer would you honor if you knew honoring that prayer would slight your other children? Be angry all you like but the truth is I cannot honor prayers that are selfish in nature and designed to exalt one of you over another.

I love each one too much.

That’s why I instructed you to pray in concert with each other. To come together as two or more and seek the same thing.

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
You might reconsider those Gimme prayers.

And then I woke.

BREAKFAST DOES NOT EXIST

2011-11-07T02:00:00.000-05:00

A few days ago you received a post with this same title. It had, however, only one sentence. Now if you clicked on it they would say this post does not exist. I took it down. It was accidentally published when I clicked a wrong button while writing a first draft. I actually did not discover the error until my Facebook Page informed that I had published a new post on LIFE MATTERS called "Breakfast."

Are you confused yet?

For the record, here is the opening line which WILL reappear when I finally publish that post: "My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. That's no secret to people who know me very well."

Not all that profound, but that's because I "spoke" (published) before I was ready.

How often have you spoken before you were ready. I sometimes refer to this as having "your mouth in motion before your mind is in gear." Very dangerous. In real life we cannot always "unpublish." It's out there. It's attached to you. People form opinions on what you have said and this is sometimes damning evidence that we spend a long time recovering from.

Jesus has some very disturbing words recorded in Matthew 12:36. "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."

Ouch!

In an age of email, tweet, sound byte, talk shows, etc. a whole lot of things are said in the heat of the moment. Too much of it should not have been spoken. (I tell the kids, "Don't upchuck on Facebook" and we have developed an expression for such unhelpful "shares." It's called Facechucking.)

Are all of your words worth being spoken?

MY FAVORITE WAYS TO PROCRASTINATE

2011-11-04T02:00:00.000-04:00

PROCRASTINATE It is a big word representing a concept that most of us know intimately. One dictionary defines it in this way:

pro·cras·ti·nate
[proh-kras-tuh-neyt, pruh-] Show IPA verb, -nat·ed, -nat·ing.

verb (used without object)
1. to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost.

verb (used with object)
2. to put off till another day or time; defer; delay.

Many of us have embraced procrastination so deeply that we have even developed favorite ways to procrastinate. These are not in any order, but they are effective.

1) Make a list of things I have to do … tomorrow and beyond
There’s nothing wrong with planning and organizing, but a whole lot of us spend a whole lot of time preparing to do things later instead of tackling the most important task at hand.

2) Go shopping at Ollie’s
This is a regional retailer that claims to have “good stuff cheap” and they do. They especially have aisles upon aisles of books at bargain prices. I barely have the time to read the books piled next to my desk, so I really don’t need a new book. Browzing Ollie’s treasures (I even go into the hardware aisles) is a wonderful way of putting off today what really needs to be done today.

3) Watching the ESPN “bottom line” for the game scores
It is slow and tedious, and I often let my mind drift and thereby miss the score I have been watching for. Besides, there are web sites that actually share the game in slightly delayed real time … pitch-by-pitch. But you can consume of lot of time when you are trying to avoid something on the priority list that you find unpleasant or burdensome.

4) Retelling a life experience detail by detail to anyone who gives me a reason

This is my version of the popular TV show 24. I can make the most trivial thing sound complicated and earth-shattering. Generally this retelling is not a form of education or problem-solving but in “analyzing life” you think you’ve done something significant. What you have done is delayed the inevitable or the essential to an even less opportune time.
5) Start reorganizing my office
This starts with sorting the papers piled on my desk, then repacking the boxes in which I store things, and then putting the things I don’t have a clue what to do with into a box that I have spent time emptying so I can put the new stuff into a box. What do with I do with the stuff I just took out of the box? Waste more time figuring out what to do with it.

Others that I know have their own unique ways of procrastinate – some imaginative, some sort of dull; but all quite effective at putting off onerous obligations, Here’s just a few:

1) Tweet every belch, observation, emotion, and brainless thought that comes into their mind
Unless, of course, it’s reading someone else’s tweets about the same topics. You know there’s also a Facebook version of this procrastination technique.

2) Sleep
Need I say more?

3) Putter in their garden
Even if there’s nothing growing or it has already received a level of attention worthy of the Manhattan project
4) Emailing to all our friends every political comment ever made
With the upcoming primary season no useful activity may get completed on time until after the November 2012 Election

So now it’s time for some reciprocal confession. What are you favorite ways to procrastinate? There are a whole lot of people who still need more ways to avoid getting things done.

THE INFLUENCE OF ELMO

2011-11-03T20:38:00.000-04:00

This is a re-posting of my blog from February 28, 2010. Jake is a little older now but suspect the observations are accurate. This was one of the top 5 posts visited last week on LIFE MATTERS.

Jake is my grandson and is nearing his second birthday. We are quickly learning that he is quickly learning. He can clearly tell you when he wants you to leave and/or leave him alone. Jake already is an avid football fan.He has learned how to get his Daddy in trouble with his Mommy (or at least to try). He has a clearly defined taste in movies (Up and Wallee) He has mastered the speed dial on a cell phone (the 911 dispatcher can attest to that.) Jake even decided independently the other day that his Mom should call Grandma (He didn’t yet know the number. He’s brilliant but he hasn’t learned to read a phone book — yet.)

Jake has many good influences on his life. Christi and Tim are great parents. But Jake has got it all wired because he has a mentor – Talking Elmo. Elmo is a toddler’s equivalent to Yoda – full of simple, yet pithy thoughts – intended to shape a life.

The other day Jake did something that earned the ire of his mother. (He has also learned to be a nuisance.) When Christi reprimanded him somewhat sharply, Jake was nonplussed. He simply responded with something Elmo had taught him, “Mommy – BE NICE!”)

Never underestimate the power of a mentor.

EXPLAINING OCCUPY WALL STREET - CALVIN AND HOBBES

2011-11-01T23:45:00.000-04:00

WHY "OCCUPY WALL STREET" IS ATTRACTIVE TO YOUNG ADULTS

2011-11-01T01:00:00.000-04:00

I don't generally re-post on this particular blog but Andy .... has shared some timely thoughts on his blog The Journey because LIFE MATTERS and a Christian worldview is need to deal with real life.-Steve

A Revolution is beginning! It's just like the mid-east revolutions we saw in the Spring of 2011.

Of Course, no one knows how long the revolution will last, or if in the end it will wind up like the hippies of the 60's or the students of Tienanmen Square. We just don't know. But I am confident this generation is ready for something like 'Occupy Wall Street.'

I've been working with teenagers and young adults for over 15 years now, and I've been watching as a generation slowly drift into the abyss of dis-connect. They've been marginalized, told their work doesn't matter, and get in line and someday you'll get your due.

They don't want to stand in line.
They don't want to pay their dues.
They want to graduate college and start making $100K, because that's the lifestyle they're used to while living under the Boomer house.
This generation is different.
They think different.
They want to be taken serious for who they are.
They long for something; anything to belong to.
They want to connect.
They want real community.

They want a cause, ANY CAUSE. Whether Tom's Shoes, or RED product, they want to contribute.
They know, after watching their parents succeed in business and be able to have comforts in life, they know it doesn't amount to happiness, but they don't want to do without the lifestyle they've had.

I've watched Harvard M.D.'s give their lives to the mission field, because they want their life to matter.

I've seen Cornell Ph.D's teach kindergarten, because they felt there was a plce for them to make a difference.

So many graduate students aren't climbing the corporate ladder because they see how long it takes to get to a place where you can actually put your fingerprint on the world.

The issue the media doesn't get, this isn't just 99% of homeless college students trying to make make a new system in America. They could care less about a system. This is a movement of people who see a chance to develop community around emotional needs of significance, somewhere they can say "I was there when," but they don't really know where there is. They're not really concerned with the money, they want a place where they're lives can contribute to injustice they see in the world, whatever injustice looks like to them.

And this is where it gets dangerous.

I've heard so many pundits give their 2 cents about how they need a leader, they need a message, they need...they need...they need....It's all BULL. They don't need any of that stuff. They're participating in the end game. They're living their purpose. They're connecting with like minded people. They feel the synergy of purpose. They have a cause individually that doesn't really need to coincide with the needs of the group. They don't need a finish line, the finish line IS IN the occupation.

Now, as the movement begins to grow, the charisma of a few will begin to drive the mass. They'll have someone stand up and say, "Let's go march to Murdoch's house" and you'll hear a collective, "YEA...LETS DO THAT!" Soon, it will be a common case of 'group think' and those of you who are living in the bulls eye, right in the sites, better get out of town.

When the town folk come to burn your house down, there's little you can do to stop them. The Mob mentality is a real deal, and as the OWS movement gains steam, you don't have to think very far back in history to find....The French Revolution, The Bolshivic (sic) Revolution, or the Berlin Wall coming down. I mean, come on, we watched 30 year dictators be thrown from the throne this last spring in Egypt. You don't think that can't happen in America? Watch.

High number of unemployment.
No sense of significance.
Dismall projections for the future.
A need to connect.
A purposeless generation longing for purpose.
Broken Government, unwilling to fix the problem for personal gain.
Economic bombs going off everyday from Greece to France to right on Main Street America.

It's like ingredients for an afternoon upside down cake....PERFECT STORM!

We've seen these kinds of revolutions throughout history, but none have had the systemic understanding of post modern truth. I know that's not a very popular phrase among my secular friends, but when there's nothing at the center of a movement, and everyone accepts you being there for whatever reason you're there, it only takes a spark...and the fires will rage.

After all, we were created for movement. The human race has always longed to be on the changing side of history. I feel like the lack of moral true north, and the selfish entitlement of this one, might be a game changer.

Let's keep our eyes on this, and see how we can look at this movement through the lens of a Christian Worldview. If we believe in God's sovereignty, something's going on here...
In anticipation...

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MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - ENOUGH EPIC WEATHER ALREADY, CONRATULATIONS CARDINALS, GLOBAL ECONOMY IS A REALITY

2011-10-31T08:52:00.000-04:00

Landisville late Saturday morning (photo by L. Kilgore)

As I begin writing this post for Monday publication, it is Saturday morning and I am sitting in the breakfast area at the Hampton Inn in Hanover PA. I was scheduled to teach a Bridgebuilders Seminar at a church in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland. My wife and I had stopped here for the night to enjoy a night away and to reduce this morning's trip. The Seminar has been cancelled because of a winter storm warning that is already a reality at my final destination. The Weather Channel is trumpeting an epic winter storm for October in the Northeast. I, for one, am not happy. (My wife who has gone back to be to sleep later on this Saturday is happy.) Enough epic weather, already! Where I live in central Pennsylvania, we have been hit by two hurricanes, one earthquake, and a century-level flood since August. This is the second major training event I was scheduled to teach that have directly collided with the weather. It's enough to make me start blogging about global warming. I am hoping the snow goes away quickly. I still have work to do to prepared my house and yard for winter. Snow in October is just too soon. Enough!

Side Note: I don't usually do weather or sports teams in my prayers. If I did and God chose to answer my prayer, it would be 70 degrees and sunny 12 months a year and the Detroit Tigers would be the 2011 World Series Champs.

Speaking of World Series Champions - congratulations to Tony LaRussa and the St. Louis Cardinals. Two months ago no one really gave them a chance to make the playoffs, let alone win the Series against a slugging team like the Texas Rangers. But they closed the gap to be the NL Wild Card Team, overwhelmed the Milwaukee Brewers and then took the Rangers to a 7th Game that reflected the whole series - aggressive base running, closers who couldn't close and home runs galore from both sides. I have many friends from my chldhood in the Midwest who were "rabid" Cardinal fans and their hour-by-hour agony filled the newsfeed on my Facebook for the past two weeks. Now they can be at peace. For my money David Freese deserves the World Series MVP. He saved the Cardinals in Game Six and I think broke the spirit of the Rangers. (I'd have loved to see a rematch of the 2006 Series between the Tigers and Cardinals given the power that has been added to the Tiger batting order in the last year.)

The eyes of the world have been on Greece this week where a highly troubled economy was undermining the European Union. But the American stock market remained volatile this week as investors agonized over the impact of Greece's economic woes on our global economy. Despite the protectionists in every nation around the world, we do have a global economy that really cannot be undone. But the reality of that economy is in the impact on all nations when one nation does not keep its final house in order. This is another reason why the US must get its own final house in order.

MORE ON BASEBALL - Baseball, Beards, and Spitting! Yikes!

2011-10-30T05:00:00.000-04:00

More baseball fun, this time from Mark Roberts,

In the last couple of days, I watched more baseball than I have in a couple of years. In the end, it was not much fun for someone from Texas, though I’ve got to give tons of credit to the St. Louis Cardinals. They proved to have great fortitude in addition to great talent.

But I have one gripe and one question.

My gripe is this: spitting. Not only did I see more baseball in the last week than I have in a long time, but also I saw more spitting than I have in the last decade. At one point, I started to count the number of spits in an inning, but I lost track into the twenties. I realize that lots of players are chewing tobacco. I hear that some have gone healthier, with sunflower seeds or gum. But, I don’t care if they’re chewing their tongues, the spitting thing is obnoxious. I suppose if I were to watch baseball all the time I’d get used to it. But, frankly, this gives me a good reason not to watch. I just don’t particularly want to watch people spitting all the time.

One of the most impressive beards in baseball belongs to Brian Wilson, relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. Most of the beards in the World Series were nicely trimmed. If Wilson wants to help his team into the series, he should get a beard trimmer.

My question: What’s up with the beards? It seemed like almost every player on the Cardinals and the Rangers had a beard. Now this doesn’t bother me. I wore a beard for more than half of my adult life. I’m just curious about where the beard wearing came from. In the olden days, professional athletes had short, well-managed hair, and they were almost always clean-shaven. Now, it’s not uncommon to see long hair flowing out from the back of NFL helmets. And I guess if you really want to play in the World Series, you’d better have a beard. And not just a scruffy “I’m not shaving during the playoffs” beard, but a well-manicured beauty. Does anybody know when baseball players started wearing beards? Is there some magic reason?

I can see only one major problem with the beard thing, and that’s the mixture of beard and spitting. I’d be afraid to guess what’s lurking in some of those beards. Ugh!

THE BEAUTY OF BASEBALL

2011-10-30T03:00:00.000-04:00

Biblical scholar and blogger, Ben Witherington, shares my love of baseball. His most recent post captures that love and its spiritual significance.- Steve

Let’s be honest. The most popular game in America these days is brutal. I’m talking about the incessantly broadcast game of professional football, a game, as they say ‘won in the trenches’, a term borrowed from WWI and the Maginot line. Today instead it is the offensive or defensive line. Yes, there are thrilling plays in football— elegantly arched passes to diving receivers, runners weaving their way through traffic heading for the endzone. But most of the actual play on the football field is not beautiful. It involves holding, pushing, shoving, tackling, hitting— especially hitting these days. The game’s name should be changed from tackle football to hit football. Launching one’s body at another human being, outside the football field is called assault. It is not beautiful. It is ugly.

Football, if it is possible, has become even more of a bloodsport today, than it was when padding was not nearly so good. It does a good job of feeding our lust for the dramatic, for a thrill a moment, and our voyeuristic joy in watching someone else crash and burn. Baseball, except for the occasional collision on the base paths or at home plate is not about players smashing up other players. It’s about beauty, and it’s about life and what is good in human striving.

If you have not been under a rock, and have watched this truly memorable World Series between the Cardinals and Rangers, you will see lots of amazing individual and team achievements. Say, Albert Pujols’ three monster home runs in Arlington which conjured up images of Mr. October, Reggie Jackson. Or say the hometown boy David Freese made good, almost single-handedly staving off elimination in Game Six when the Cardinals were down to their last strike, twice. Or watching a guy built like a lineman, a catcher named Napoli, time and again lift his team with his bat or throws as the crowd chanted Napoli, Napoli, Napoli.

The problem with football, especially college football, is that with one loss even at the beginning of the season, you can be out of the championship hunt. That, frankly, is not merely a buzzkill, its cruel. Contrast that to baseball.

The St. Louis Cardinals, for a great deal of the season were not very good. Indeed, on Sept. 1, they were so far behind in the wildcard race, they weren’t even in anybody’s rear view mirror. And even after 161 games, the issue was not settled as to who would be the wild card team. It turned out to be….wait for it….. the Wild Cards.

Baseball was and is about redemption after losses, even devastating losses. It’s the game that is most like life. It is a game of children played by adults. In what other sport can you get a hit only one try out of three, failing two thirds of the time, and end up in a Hall of Fame? None. None that I know of. Thank goodness life is more like baseball than football. In what other sport can you fail magnificently, completely, repeatedly, in double digits, and still go on to win a world championship?
In an age of individualism, and rampant narcissism, baseball remains a team sport. There are some baseball players, even today, who have exactly one specialized skill. They don’t look like athletes, they can’t run like athletes, they would never make even a semi-pro team in other sports. But there they are, playing professional baseball. I’m talking about players like Darren Oliver. A big man who has played in the majors twenty years. What does he do? He is a relief pitcher who comes in, usually to get exactly one or two hitters out. That’s it. Or take one of my favorites– Eric Hinske. He can’t run worth a darn. His fielding is no better than mine. But put him in as a pinch hitter when the chips are down— and watch him hit yet another miracle home run in the clutch. That’s beautiful.

Most of us cannot identify with transcendent athletes like a Michael Jordan or a Deion Sanders, or an Albert Pujols. They are way beyond our reach or pay grade. But if you love baseball, you can dream of being little Ryan Theriot, a good fielder. Or an Eric Hinske. The thing about baseball is it really does confirm to you that even the ordinary person under extraordinary circumstances can do the extraordinary, can transcend the mundane and shine for a moment.

Finish reading ....

SATURDAY NIGHT WHIMSY - HILLBILLY 10 COMMANDMENTS

2011-10-29T21:32:00.000-04:00

CONTEMPT FOR RELIGION IN OUR CULTURE

2011-10-27T17:06:00.000-04:00

n various circles there continues the debate between atheism and religion. In fact, whenever any candidate claims to have a faith, particularly Christianity, they often come under attack from the cultural pundits and the media. Rabbi David Wolpe, during the last presidential campaign, shared a powerful analysis with the concept of atheism persists (now called New Atheism) in a nation where so many people of sol many stripes continue to be people of faith. I'd be interested in your feedback.

JUST PAY PUJOLS

2011-10-27T00:35:00.000-04:00

The Phillies has decided not to pick up the option on Roy Oswalt and Brad Lidge. Because the Brewers wanted to save money, the played chicken and Prince Fielder may be a cross-division rival next year if the Cardinals sign him. I know! I know! Baseball is a business not purely sport. Teams have bottom lines and owners want to realize a profit. The Phillies has decided not to pick up the option on Roy Oswalt and Brad Lidge. Because the Brewers wanted to save money, the played chicken and Prince Fielder may be a cross-division rival next year if the Cardinals sign him. I get that.

But in my humble estimation, no one in St. Louis should be playing chicken with Albert Pujols. The commentators noted (several times now) that Wednesday's game might be Pujols final home game as a Cardinal.

Are they kidding? Is the St. Louis management that greedy or that dense? Anyone who saw Pujols awesome display of power on Saturday night and the effect of the teams (both his and the Rangers) simply have to ask--why would the Cardinals let the Pujols get away--for any amount of money? He is the heart of the team -- he is the inspiration for it, as well. The team can probably win without him bit it won't be the sa

Just pay Pujols!!!!!!!!

THE BOTTOM LINE: IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

2011-10-26T00:18:00.004-04:00

THE BOTTOM LINE: IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

People spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure out what is necessary to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Plans are developed. Whole books and workbooks are written. How do we capture the essence of true discipleship to make sure we’ve got it right, and by implication, that God will be pleased with us?

They try to think of every situation that may arise and write a plan for it. They pour themselves into many activities in order to build a spiritual resume–although their busyness does not always [produce lasting fruit.

I remember a college student I knew who had a schedule for every minute in the day of what he planned to do for Jesus. He also had checklists to make sure that he had covered a broad range of discipleship activities from Bible study to outreach to mentoring to evangelism; at the same time having an elaborate prayer list which he was constantly checking to see if he covered everyone and writing a note of the results of those prayers.

I know of Christians who are so concerned that they do the right thing in the right way that they are reluctant to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I also know others who fear that if they plan anything they will interfere with the Spirit’s work. Persons who believe authentic faith is always connected to an emotional high and enthusiasm, and others who believe that you have to have an elaborate reason or proof text to any position or action.

For many of these people there is no joy to their salvation – only feelings of inadequacy or guilt when they don’t measure up. There is no peace because they live in fear that God will change the game plan.

The bottom line is this – love God with every ounce or your being and love God by loving your neighbor as God loves them (starting with yourself.) That is the bottom line. It is that simple. It is not rocket science.

It living by grace in the power of God motivated by His unconditional love.

(c) 2011 by Stephen L Dunn

IMAGES OF LIFE'S IRONIES AND SIMPLE TRUTHS

2011-10-25T02:00:00.000-04:00

In yesterday's post I was not all that sympathetic with the OCCUPY WALL STREET PEOPLE. In fairness to them, this cartoon in USA Today is worth posting.

Jan Cubbison Miesse is a former parishioner, now an author and motivational speaker. Loved this photo she posted on her Facebook Page.

One of my favorite ladies when 25 of us on a mission trip to the Southwest did a little shopping in Window Rock AZ. I love people who are not so dignified that they can't have a little fun.

Here's my 81-year old father, once the pastor at my denomination's mother church greeting his new pastor and a successor in a long line dedicated servants of God in the city.

And one bit of sublime ridiculousness

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - A TALE OF TWO DECISIONS AND OCCUPYING WALL STREET

2011-10-23T23:40:00.000-04:00

In Woodhaven MI, 39-year old father Shawn Wierner made a decision. Shawn, divorced and a man with a reported drinking problem, went for a drive with his 9-year old daughter. Clarification. He went for a drive with her, he let his daughter do the driving. Stopping for gas slightly before 3 a.m., he told the station clerk that she was his designated driver. Now Wierner has been arrested and is facing charges of child abuse. The debate is on in Michigan as to whether it is indeed child abuse or a dumb decision made by a dad in a difficult situation. Dumb mistake or bad parent? For my money, both. Why you a drunk and on the road with your daughter at this hour is beside me. She, at least, should have been in bed. Given that he doesn't have custody, why he could he not have chosen not to drink. An intoxicated parent, custodial or not, is neither a wise one or a good one. As a pastor, I watch countless kids who are harmed or whose lives are unnecessarily burdened because a parent is thinking primarily of their own needs, giving actual parenting only the leftovers of their emotion or attention. The courts will decide whether in 21st century America this rises to child abuse.

Denver Broncos coach John Fox finally made a wise decision. He gave the starting quarterback job to Tim Tebow. Tebow is a gifted quarterback and dedicated team player. Trust me, I know. The Tebow-led Florida Gators made life miserable for my beloved Buckeyes. He is also a controversial quarterback. Not because of night club antics, or domestic violence, or team-busting arrogance, or cruelty to animals. He is controversial because he is a man of faith, the Christian faith in particular. Tebow, an evangelical, is unashamed about views that support biblical values. It is something that the dogs of political correctness see as raw meat. Earlier in the season, honored quarterback Joe Montana plainly said that Tebow would fight an uphill battle precisely because of his public faith. As we watched Kyle Orton simply collapse at QB and the once-proud Broncos spiral downward; most of us wonder what took Fox so long. But finally after coming in last week against the Chargers as a replacement, Tebow ran for one TD and threw for another. And the result of his first start this week - Tebow generated touchdowns and a Denver victory.

Occupy Wall Street and similar "occupations' are in the news and the fuel for many a coffee shop debate these days. (If I decide to get into one of these "occupations", I'm leaning towards Occupy Wakaki.) Just wondering? If the economy being so bad (and it seems to be bad) it seems odd that people would expend so much money (and require the public safety divisions of these communities to spend so much money) why a contribution to the local rescue mission or homeless shelter, rather than buying these stocks, wouldn't be a stronger statement of protest.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JUDGING AND JUDGEMENT

2011-10-22T20:19:00.000-04:00

I received this very good question the other day following a sermon on John 8, "Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery." What is the difference between judging people and judgement? They were referring to the fact that we are admonished not to judge people and also the popular belief that we cannot make judgements about people's behaviors and choices. Here is my answer.

The very concept of judgement (and justice) infers that there is a right and a wrong - a standard against which our behaviors need to be measured. In John 8, a group of Pharisees and religious teachers were using a very severe law handed down through Moses (capital punishment for a woman's adultery) to trap Jesus into contradicting or denouncing the Mosaic Law. Jesus refused to cooperate with their manipulative question because it had to do with their jealousy of him, not is idea of justice. It is a reminder that laws and standards are lived out not in a vacuum but in life and must take into account the spirit as well as the letter of a law.

When Jesus sent his critics packing he was still left with a woman who had done something wrong - who had committed a sin. That sin was adultery. In fact, the purpose of the law was to remind her and all of her nation that choices have consequences, and that some choices lead to sin - i.e., living contrary to God's will and vision for us. At the end he asks where her accusers are. By that he is asking, "Where are the guys who want to kill you?" She says they are gone. He responds, "Then neither do I condemn you ..." But his answer doesn't end there although popularly it does and we seem to see this as condoning her adultery or saying it's no big deal. No, his response is ... "go and leave your life of sin." There is a judgement expressed here, a judgement that clearly implies her responsibility while receiving mercy where the law required death to stop doing the thing that makes her guilty before God.

Which brings us to the next step in this discussion. The passage that comes into view here are words from Jesus in Matthew 7.1-2.“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. This verse goes directly to our sinful tendency to judge or measure others against a standard that often we do not even live up. To presume spiritual or moral superiority in one area of life while ignoring sinfulness in another part. That's why verses 3 and following continue: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

Judgement has to do with being accountable to a standard that is beyond ourselves. In the case of God's Word, to understand that we live under God's sovereignty and authority. Because we acknowledge that we are accountable to the perfect Judge, we are mindful of our imperfect ability to perform the same function. We are careful about exacting judgment towards others and particularly careful about assuming that our judgment equates with God's justice. And we would never assume that others are guiltier than we of violating the standards of a Holy God.

God indeed judges us as he should (and has the right to do). But the Judge of All the Universe knows the powerlessness of the guilty and includes in his justice the provision to receive mercy. Our judging of others almost never focuses on transformation but retribution--nor is it about forgiveness but pronouncement of guilt.

Sometimes people throw the "you shouldn't judge me" comment in our face because they don't want to be accountable to anyone but themselves. But whether anyone of us desires it or not, we are not masters of our soul; God is. We cannot escape accountability. And if we acknowledge it, we are more willing to confess, "I am a forgiven sinner."

WEB SIGHTINGS - DON'T ASK, DON'T YELL ...

2011-10-18T22:12:00.000-04:00

Most bloggers enhance their craft by reading other person's blogs. Although I write LIFE MATTERS from the perspective of a Christian, I don't simply read religious or spiritual blogs. I am drawn just to blogs where people reflect on life creatively. Came across this great post by bronxboy called "Don't Ask, Don't Yell". Here is an excerpt ...

As a young adult, I once heard someone say that “there’s no such thing as a stupid question.” This came as a great surprise to me, because not so many years earlier, stupid questions had been quite common. In fact, my parents had pretty much convinced me that I was a natural spring of inane and idiotic inquiries, a bubbling fountain of foolishness. If there had been no such thing as a stupid question, I could have surely been granted a patent for one.

According to my hazy and frequently inaccurate memory, my parents didn’t handle this particular character trait with a great deal of patience. They may have tried. I like to think they did, at least at first. But I eventually wore them down to throbbing nerve endings, then pushed them close to the edge of their sanity. As they often reminded me, I drove them crazy.

But I didn’t understand that at the time. A young boy tends to be focused on himself, and so I bounced between just wanting to ask my questions and wondering why my parents were so mad at me. Taking those feelings into adulthood, I promised myself and any future children I might be fortunate to have that I would always listen and respond with thoughtfulness and care.

This, of course, is where the faulty memory kicks in and causes trouble. One day, I found myself driving, with my daughter in her car seat in the back. She’d been chattering away, nonstop, for a good twenty minutes and I realized I hadn’t heard a word she’d said. My mind had drifted off to some quiet place with butterflies and puffy clouds. (I may be inventing the butterfly and puffy cloud image. It’s more likely that I was fantasizing about those glass barriers that they have in expensive limousines, the ones that go up and down between the driver and the back seat. They were soundproof, I was pretty sure.)
Read more ....

A couple of other "sightings."

From my Facebook Friends:

Don't tell GOD how big your problems are, tell yourproblems how big your GOD is. – Matt Trostle

From Pamela Rice Hahn:

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - TIGERS, THEO, TECHNOLOGY, TIME

2011-10-18T22:01:00.001-04:00

Bright spots Joaquin Benoit and Alex Avila

I guess it just wasn't to be. The Tigers, who had the best record in baseball the final six weeks, who buried their AL Central Division foes, who juggled numerous injuries to create more different starting line-ups than any time in a decade, finally fell ... to the Texas Rangers. To be exact the Tiger hurlers were blasted into oblivion by the Ranger sluggers. It didn't matter that the Tigers had four men who spent most of the season batting above .300, the Ranger hitters literally "ran way" with the pennant, by timely base-stealing and aggressively smart base-running. Nonetheless, thank you Detroit Tigers. You gave this fan much joy - especially when you didn't choke in September and you embarrassed the Yankees in October. It would have been nice to have a rematch against the Cardinals, but that will be Texas' honor. Go Rangers!

On a matrimonially significant note, my baseball season is over and Dianne is back to have my generally undivided attention in the evening.

Theo Epstein, the newest Cubbie

The Chicago Cubs, who have lived more than 100 years under a curse (if you believe in that sort of thing) traded some minor leaguers and cash for a GM who has destroyed another curse. Theo Epstein of the Boston Red Sox is headed for the Windy City. (I didn't even know you could trade General Managers). Pundits are praising Epstein for the genius of Red Sox baseball. They forget that Red Sox baseball was pioneered by Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics. Beane, according to the movie Money Ball which I thoroughly enjoyed, turned down 12.5 million dollars from John Lewis to stay the GM at Oakland, thereby opening the door for Theo to make his name on the job.

Blackberry had a meltdown last week. Now we learn that the government is going to require cell phone providers to warn their customers when they are in danger of exceeding their contracted limits. (Up until now additional charges were frustratingly routine.) Many of my neighbors find that they are regularly without internet because of the ways they have bundled their services, sometimes when they need accessibility the most. My bank requires two passwords, two security questions, and an image recognition in order to access my account but still sends me alerts when people are using some new spyware, etc. to try invading my very meager bankroll. It is a reminder that technology is not the answer to everything and sometimes carries unwanted prices for its benefits. Still nothing can take the place of God who loves us unconditionally and is at work to do go in all things for those who love Him are living by His purposes. (Romans 8:28)

Time was on the minds of many of the patrons of my favorite eating establishment, the Silver Spring Family Restaurant. To be specific, "Daylight Savings Time." Doesn't it end October 31st? No, not sense the Bush Administration chose to tinker with it in the name of greater productivity. (Now it's sometime in November, or is it after Thanksgiving?) Oh, and the other question? Forward or backward. Gain an honor or lose one. Remember, "Spring forward, fall back" unless the Obama Administration decided to tinker with DST as well

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - STEVE JOBS

2011-10-10T00:05:00.000-04:00

My apologies -- I forgot to post on Monday

Steve Jobs died last week from pancreatic cancer. A man of incredible vision and creativity, Jobs clearly revolutionized the world with his inventions and innovations. One of my favorite Steve Jobs' quotes was: "Don't let the noise of other people's opinions drown out your inner voice." His creative imagination seemed to know no bounds and his inventive efforts have dramatically changed the way we do business, educate, and communicate--much of which I believe has clearly been for the good of humankind. (I suspect from what I have read about him, however, that Jobs would have been a bit embarased by this cartoon.

Jobs' passing invites sincere and well-deserved eulogies. It also opens up serious and worthwhile debate about the price of technology and the hidden costs to human community and relationships. I have found one of the most helpful commentaries to be that of Walt Mueller of the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding (with the attendant links he offers):

" ... I don't think I'd be able to do what I'm doing in the way that I'm doing it if it hadn't been for the vision, creativity, and work of guys like Steve Jobs. That said, the outpouring in reaction to his death had me tossing and turning a bit overnight.

Most of the reaction I was following came from the world of youth ministry. That's where I've lived for the last 30-some years. Naturally, the tweets I saw came from all over the youth ministry world. I was seriously blown away by how widespread the response was. I saw it on Facebook too. I can't ever remember a more immediate and widespread response to the death of anyone. Granted, if all this stuff had existed when Mike Yaconelli died several years ago, I wouldn't have heard about it several hours after the fact through a phone call from my friends at Youth Specialties. This left me pondering not so much what Steve Jobs meant to people in my youth ministry world, but how much we've come to love and depend on the technology guys like Jobs created. Several weeks ago the church lost John Stott - a great theologian who has done more to directly and indirectly shape the faith of our youth ministry world than maybe any other theologian of the last 50 years. Judging from the traffic - or lack thereof - on Twitter and Facebook, Stott's passing was a small blip. . . especially when compared to the passing of Jobs. So I'm asking and wondering. . . do our reactions to both indicate what's more important to us in the church. . . technology/tools or the content of our message?

Some words from Marshall McCluhan are fresh on my mind as I've been looking at his 50 year-old "prophecies" on media and technology and what they do to us without us even knowing it. Consider these quotes from McCluhan that I shared with youth workers in San Diego last weekend in my Digital Kids seminar:

“Societies have been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication.”

“All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered. The medium is the message.”

“We shape our tools and afterward our tools shape us.”

Steve Jobs' death is sad, very sad. But I'm wondering if there's something even more heartbreaking about our response to it and what it says about us. AP writer Pamela Simpson's piece this morning included these words: "Fans for whom the Apple brand became a near-religion grasped for comparisons to history's great innovators, as well as its celebrities, to honor the man they credit with putting 1,000 songs and the Internet in their pockets."

Have we been lulled into worshipping the tools and their makers? Thoughts?"

Mueller had some powerful responses and I would invite you to read the next day's post. Mueller ...

THE SANCTIFIED "NO"

2011-10-09T05:16:00.000-04:00

This past week I hit a wall. Too many hours on too many projects dealing with too many people wanting me to operate on their schedules. I hit the wall so hard that some very good friends encouraged me to go home and get some rest. They gave me "permission", which is what most workaholics need ( I admit it-I am a "recovering" workaholic that periodically falls off the wagon.

The problem for workaholics in the ministry or any people-helping profession is that there is always something to always someone asking. You don't want to be a slacker. You don't want to let people down. You don't want to fail to do what needs to be done.

And most of all, you hate to say "NO."

But that is a trap and not a wise life-planning principle. Recently I read something by life coach Michael Hyatt. Hyatt wrote:

If we don’t get better at saying “no,”

Other peoples’ priorities will take precedence over ours.
Mere acquaintances—people we barely know!—will crowd out time with family and close friends.
We will not have the time we need for rest and recovery.
We will end up frustrated and stressed.
We won’t be able to say “yes” to the really important things.

For more from Michael Hyatt go to HYATT
This last one was the clincher for me. Every time I say “no” to something that is not important, I am saying “yes” to something that is.

We are not immortal. We have limits. We have "tanks" that empty without replenishing. We get tired and become less productive and find it difficult to make wise decisions when we are weary.

But more importantly, we are not indispensable - even if we like to tell ourselves that and others want us to be leave so that they can be dispensable.

As a Christian I believe that the Holy Spirit tries to guide me in all truth. I need to remember to listen to the Spirit when making decisions - even the small ones that begin to add up. Then equipped with the Spirit's discernment and trusting in God's sovereignty - I can learn to give a "sanctified no."

And in so doing say "yes" to something really important God wants me to be ready for.

For more from Michael Hyatt go to HYATT

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - LIONS AND TIGERS, OH MY! AND MORE GOOD STUFF

2011-10-03T05:00:00.000-04:00

Nate Burleson has a reception late in the game as the Lions come back

There is joy in Detroit tonight. The Lions who have lost a lion's share of football games these past dozen seasons, erased a deficit to defeat the Dallas Cowboys in Texas Stadium 34-30. About the same time the Tigers who had lost an opening game fiasco 27 hours after the first pitch rebounded to defeat the Yankees 5-3 and even the series. Max Verlander pitched a no-hitter into the 6th. Today the Tigers are back in Detroit and once again Verlander will square off against CC Sabathia in the Dream Game of the Playoffs. Being raised in northwest Ohio, I grew up listening to Ernie Harwell chronicle the baseball adventures of Norm Cash and Al Kaline, Bill Freehan and Lou Whittaker, Mickey Lolich and Denny McClain. You couldn't help root for the "Detroits". It was too many years ago that they came within a game of breaking the record for baseball futility. And I loved rooting for the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, especially when they were playing the hated Dallas Cowboy's who arrogantly claimed to be "America's Team." I hated to see them lose for so many years. The rising fortunes of both of this clubs makes me say "There IS a God!"

Victor Martinez, although hobbled, gets a key hit in game 2 as the Tigers square off againth the Yankees

LOVE TAP

2011-10-02T00:21:00.000-04:00

I had a lot of fun watching this. This is just for fun, so enjoy!

Love Tap from Mike Goode on Vimeo.

WEB SIGHTINGS - FACEBOOK, BLOGS AND MORE

2011-10-01T08:15:00.001-04:00

Today's post is a smorgasbord of pictures, quotes and other items that I have been collecting lately with no other purpose than to get us to reflect on "life matters" and the fact that life MATTERS. Enjoy, comment, repost.

"What I wouldn't give to feel normal again" - Katie S.

"The two factors that will influence you most in the years ahead are the books

you read and the people you are around." - Lisa Thurston

15,001

2011-09-30T21:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's blog post "That's Baseball" chronicled a historic day in sports. It also WAS a historical event. I began writing LIFE MATTERS on March 3, 2009 There have been 568 posts in that time. With this post the 15,000th and 15,000st persons viewed LIFE MATTERS.

This was the entire text of that first post: My purpose has not changed three years later.

Many people think Christians have closed minds, more concerned with being the moral police than good neighbors. I believe that Christians are called to reflect the character of Christ--which means that loving God and loving my neighbor are two sides of the same coin. Rather than exhibiting a closed mind, it is important for me to possess the mind of Christ. The Christ portrayed in the Gospels possessed clarity and a deep commitment to the truth. That meant that he was open to people's questions and even taught the truth by asking questions, not merely making pronouncements. A mind committed to knowing and living by the truth is essential to being a genuine Christ follower. Having a mind assumes that you are required to think, ask questions, reflect, and respond. It also implies that your actions and values are the result of well-examined, open-minded (to the truth) conviction. As a sign I once saw on a campus minister's door proclaimed: JESUS CAME TO TAKE AWAY YOUR SINS, NOT YOUR MIND. (I welcome your questions and conversations at sdunnpastor@coglandisville.org)

My purpose has not changed three years later. - Steve

NOW THAT'S BASEBALL !!!!

2011-09-29T09:07:00.000-04:00

Last night will be one that goes down in baseball history. Tim Kirchener of ESPN noted that there has never been an evening of regular season play that had as much at stake and came don as close to the wire. The Red Sox and Braves completed a collapse, breaking the hearts of their fans. The Tampa Bay Rays had the latest in a series of Cinderalla endings. Couldn't have happened to a nicer team. My Tigers, while winning, came within a game of being the no. 2 seed (thereby facing the Rays). I am perfectly happy for them the face the Yankees (especially what I have seen of Yankee pitching) although I would have liked Verlander pitching at home for the opener. The Tigers have a power lineup and power bench capable of matching the Yankees offensively (if the power shows up).

Jim Leyland has clearly earned the right to be included in the list of Major League Baseball's Great Managers. Last night, however, reminded me of another Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson. Thought you might like this clip this morning. It comes from Game 5 in 1984 when the Tigers last won the World Series as they faced pitching ace Goose Gossage. (Goose lost this one). Perhaps you remember Kirk Gibson's historic home run.

RIP Sparky Gibby vs Goose Game 5 1984- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

LION KING HAS RETURNED - SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

2011-09-28T20:24:00.000-04:00

Jeffrey Totey was posted in the spirituality THE OOZE http://www.theooze.com

The Gospel According to The Lion King (by Jeffrey Totey)

One of Disney’s most successful and popular animated movies, The Lion King, has made its way from its den to theaters beginning September 16th. For two weeks, the classic film will be shown in a 3D version.
Back before home video devices were invented, Disney used to re-release their animated movies into theaters about every seven years. It was a brilliant plan. Disney would spend a small amount of advertising for a movie that had already been paid for and had already made a profit, only to do it again for the next generation of viewers. Now that nearly every home owns a Blue-ray or DVD player, movie companies have to come up with new gimmicks to find a reason to re-release their films. Last year, Disney tried this new plan out with a double bill of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in the 3D format in preparation for the release of Toy Story 3. Next up – Beauty and the Beast. With today’s new technology, 3D home versions can’t be far behind. It’s the circle of life I guess.

It’s interesting to see how Disney markets a story said to be inspired by biblical stories and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, to various audiences. I recently saw a promo on the Cartoon Network that features all and funny and cute scenes of the movie but none of the scary stuff. Parents of small ones that want to see this film (and haven’t seen the film themselves) should note that even with its G rating, the film has some dark moments. At one point, we see two lion cubs singing about how they “Can’t Wait to Be King” in a bright technicolor background and the next we’re taken to a dark cave where hyenas are chomping on parts of a zebra. You would never find THAT in a Winnie the Pooh movie.

Since the original version of The Lion King came out in 1994, this isn’t actually a review of the movie itself but rather a commentary on biblical truths (intentional or unintentional) that can be found in it. Some will argue that the film embraces reincarnation or new age thinking and that can be valid as well if you choose to look at it that way. The film also had its share of controversies over the years including a cut of the original VHS and LaserDisc release of the film. In it, it appears as if the word “SEX” might have been embedded into the dust flying in the sky when Simba flops down. This made headlines as some activists alleged that the this was a subliminal message intended to promote sexual promiscuity (as if sex needed any help promoting itself). Disney animators stated that the letters spelled “SFX” a common abbreviation of “special effects.” At any rate, read into to movie what you will, but the following are some similarities found in the Bible that one might share with their family members:

The Birth of Christ
The opening sequence, it appears to be a re-telling of the nativity story. It’s a beautiful scene that still brings tears to my eyes. The music, (written by Elton John and musical score by Hans Zimmer), starts out calm as the images show the early morning in Africa with animals awakened to the news that a new lion prince has been born. All animals great and small make their way to Pride Rock for a ceremony. Mufasa, the reigning king, is standing there alongside his mate Sarabi, the Joseph and Mary of the story. The mammals on land represent the shepherds, the birds or the air represent angels. Rafiki, the wise baboon, represents the wise men. Rafiki blesses the cub and lifts Simba up for all to see and worship. The music swells. The crowd bows down in obedience and honor. Black out. That sequence alone is worth the price of admission.

God and Man
The relationship between Mufasa and his son Simba can be seen as a representation of our relationship with God. In this sense, we are Simba, Mufasa is God. Like Simba, we tend to follow the rules of our father one minute, and then go down the Elephant Graveyard on our own the next. We know that we are born of royalty but struggle with the boundaries that keep us in line. Whenever Simba wanders off the “straight and narrow path,” his father finds him and leads him back home.

Later in the film, Simba find himself in the middle of a stampeded of wildebeest. Just like Jesus dying on the cross to save us from our sins, Mufasa risks his own life to save his son. Even later, an older Simba feels that he is all alone, but the voice of Musfasa again speaks to him through the stars above. He tells Simba to look at his reflection in the water. As he does so, he realizes, for the first time, that he looks like his father just as Bible tells us that we too were made in the image of God. Simba is also assured by Mufasa, that even though he cannot see him, he is still with his son. We are never alone and God speaks to us with a still small voice.

Satan
Scar, Mufasa’s jealous brother, is much like Lucifer, the former archangel in the bible before being tossed into hell. Scar hates Mufasa and his “little brat.” Like Satan, Scar befriends the friendless and speaks lies to them. He makes promises he has no intention of keeping. His is evil through and through. Shenzi, Banzai, Ed and the other hyenas represent Satan’s demons who do much of his dirty work.

In the scene where Mufasa risks his life to save Simba, it is revealed that Scar is responsible (spoiler alert) for Mufasa’s death, much like Satan is said to have rejoiced when Jesus died on the cross. Mufasa also convinces Simba that it is the cub’s fault that his father is dead and that he should run away. But at the end of the movie, Mufasa is attacked by his own henchmen and is thrown into his own hell.

The Good Samaritans
Convinced that he caused Mufas’s death, Simba takes flight and meets Timon, a meerkat, and Pumba, a warthog. Seeing that Simba is still a small cub and not able to take care of himself, the two embrace their enemy and take care of his needs, much like the Good Samaritan story in the Bible. Unfortunately, the well-meaning fiends teach Simba the phrase, “Hakuna Matata” which is interpreted as “no worries” and stretched to mean “no responsibilities.” When Simba’s childhood friend, Nala, finds him and tells him how the Pride Lands are falling apart under Scar’s leadership, Simba chooses to follow the new mantra and not get involved.

The Apostle
Rafiki can also be seen as the apostle Paul, who warns the Christian churches where they were going wrong in their ministries and allowing sin in their congregations. Rafiki, like iron sharpening iron, reminds Simba whose child he is and what his true responsibilities are. Between the words of Nala, Rafiki and Mufasa himself, Simba realizes his true calling and comes back to the Pride Lands to assume responsibility for his father’s tribe, much like we are called to do.
_________________
Jeffrey Totey is a pop culture enthusiast, a contributing writer for Examiner.com, a future screenwriter (aren’t we all?) and former director of Acts of God Drama Troupe in Everett, Washington. He is a student of television, movies and more. He has written six full length plays and numerous sketches. Follow Jeffrey at writerofpop.blogspot.com.

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CHURCH SIGNS

2011-09-27T21:30:00.000-04:00

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - FALL, FALL CLASSIC, FALLING CONFIDENCE

2011-09-26T21:20:00.000-04:00

Fall has officially arrived and to go on record, it is my favorite season of the year. Its arrival brings crisp mornings, cool nights,a more predictable rhythm to life as people get back to work, Soon it will bring the brilliant colors of the changing foliage. Living in Pennsylvania, there is a whole lot of foliage to form this canvas of nature and the scenery at times is quite breath-taking. Fall also bring my second favorite sport,, college football. Although my beloved Buckeyes are in for a long season, there is little substitute for the excitement, strategy and pageantry of college football, plus it’s darn good football. My associate pastor Barry Sellers says that “fall brings punkins’.” I am not sure why that enamors him so, but he’s right. For a pastor, the fall also brings a renewed excitement for the church. People stop vacationing and slow down their gardening and get back to doing the ministry that helps change lives of people and strengthen the community that is our mission field. Some people are quick to say, “But remember what follows …” Frankly, I never let the thought of winter destroy the blessings of Fall. Reminds me of a text from Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” The corollary to that is, don’t let perceived trouble of winter rob you of the experienced blessing of fall.

Of course, the arrival of fall means the Fall Classic, i.e. the MLB World Series. Friday of this week begins the divisional playoffs. As of now I believe I am 4-for-4 on my predictions of the division winners: AL EAST-Yankees AL

A smiling Justin Verlander of the Tigers - sure-fire Cy Young man but maybe even MVPn

CENTRAL-Tigers (won 25 of their last 32 games) AL WEST-Rangers NL EAST-Phillies, NL CENTRAL-Brewers NL WEST- Diamondbacks. The race is still tight for the wild card and the Red Sox and Braves I though would claim it are in danger of not making the playoffs.
My prediction is Tigers versus Phillies (if the Phillies can stop their skid).
There is a different kind of fall to speak of on these date. It is the fall-ing confidence that Americans have in its Congressional leaders to resolve the problem of the budget and to provide a healthy means of creating and sustaining jobs for the millions of honest, hard-working Americans who want to work. Congress! Mr. President! Democrats! Republicans! Tea Partiers! Get together and work for the common good instead of your short-sighted ideologies.

SUNDAY NIGHT 9-11-11

2011-09-11T17:00:00.000-04:00

by Stephen L, Dunn

I came across this quote from William Willimon, Dean of the Chapel at Duke University.

"September 11 has changed me. I’m going to preach as never before about Christ crucified as the answer to the question of what’s wrong with the world. I have also resolved to relentlessly reiterate from the pulpit that the worst day in history was not a Tuesday in New York, but a Friday in Jerusalem when a consortium of clergy and politicians colluded to run the world on our own terms by crucifying God’s own Son.”

A whole lot of us went to our pulpits earlier today to reflect on the event of September 11, 2001. In my own case, I was just six days into the pastorate of the Church of God of Landisville. Sunday the 9th had been my first official day in that pulpit. A lot has happened to me (and to the church) in the past ten years but that's for another blog post at another time.

The devastated Twin Towers - September 11, 2001

In preparation for this Sunday I have been doing a lot of reading and viewing of the events of that day and the impact on the persons who experienced it at close hand. I have viewed videos of the politicians, preachers, and pundits who pontificated, prayed, and pronounced following the history-shattering events of that day.

Most of the polls that I have come across do not indicate that people feel they are safer now than ten years ago. More of them are now aware of the Islamic concept of jihad, but few really know what that means. It is difficult to claim that we are winning the war against terrorism. Islamic extremists continue to plot our demise and we are still the immoral West even to the middle class Muslims who work alongside us.

The truth is that we do not require a religio-political terrorist to make this world a difficult, dangerous and fearful place. I live in a region that has experienced an earthquake, hurricane and "flood of the century" all in the last twenty days. And many in the Midwest, deep South and even New England have known the terror of the tornado that arrives unexpectedly and viciously in the midst of any ordinary day.


Tornado striking Joplin MO

I serve a church where good, hard-working people have lost jobs despite what the administration says, too many people are out of work and the jobs that have been created hardly allow people to earn a living. Let them have a medical crisis and they may be bankrupt even if the insurance they were able to get is already bankrupting them with ridiculously high deductibles. We have an economy that seems to grow worse as the deficits become even more untenable. As a result, all people and our nation find that we are having to do without precious benefits like an education, bridges that are safe, mental health counseling, libraries, and any semblance of a family life.

The people we send to Washington or Harrisburg or what ever locale of legislature spend more time maneuvering, pontificating, and condemning than they do governing and uniting us as a nation. We do not need terrorists to destroy our world or rob us of our peace and joy. We seem more than capable to accomplish this on our own.

Our trouble is that we focus on policy, political power, economic security, military might, intelligence assessments, and human altruism to bring us peace. These have proven to be inadequate foundations and only temporary solutions for Planet Earth and its people. In Matthew 7, Jesus tells this parable which provides the real lesson to be gleaned from 9-11 and its aftermath.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7.24-27 New International Version)

Fear will only be banished, peace will only arrive, true freedom will only be experienced when the sons of men allow the Son of God to transform their lives. Life change from within is where it must begin. Foundations that endure must be built upon the Rock--Jesus Christ.

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JOBS

2011-09-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

Cartoon courtesy of USA Facebook

"Jobs"

by Stephen L. Dunn

There is a false assumption that is popular in political rhetoric of the time. "People would rather live off welfare (i.e., the taxpayer) than earn a living." It makes great fodder for policy diatribe, but I find increasingly that it is the stuff of urban legends. These days I rarely meet someone who doesn't want to have a job, to earn a living. Oh yes, the occasional pampered teenager still fits this mold, but they are the exception in my experience.

The key word here is living. They don't object to working. It is working hard, working at less than desirable jobs, working under difficult situations - but not being able to earn enough to live.

I'm not talking about owning a fancy home, a bass boat, and a hot car. I am talking about paying for the utilities, keeping their home in reasonable repair, having gas to drive to and from work, meeting their medical bills, being sure their kids have proper clothing, affording an occasional night at the movies, or a day trip to the beach, eating out meaning something more than McDonalds.

The entitlement of a social welfare system may be part of the DNA of Europe, but Americans still possess a strong and entrepreneural work ethic. They believe in the importance and dignity of work. But work loses its dignity when you cannot provide properly for your family or the next oil price hike makes the heating bill a major problem. Or when gas prices make groceries more expensive. Or when government policies take dollars out of their pockets that are needed to take their kid to the dentist.

Somehow our nation's leadership needs to resolve the jobs issue. Creating jobs that will make reasonably priced healthcare accessible to everyone would go a long way to restoring people's faith in democracy in general and our leaders in particular. As long as we spend more time, energy and money on entitlements and issues that do not contribute to the quality of life of the average American, our nation will continue to walk in a dark valley increasingly characterized by pessimism, cynicism, and extremism. Those three maladies tear democracy apart.

Cartoon courtesy of USA Facebook

A Prayer for my Nation

Lord, too many of my fellow citizens are without work.

Too many are being crushed under the burden of taxes that do not benefit them

and rising prices that rob them of resources critically needed

Too many labor long and hard, away from their families, without enough rest

only to find they cannot provide for the ones they love.

Help our nation and its leaders to find jobs that men and women can find

purpose in and provision.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

WEB SITING - WALT MUELLER ON TWEETING

2011-09-06T03:00:00.000-04:00

This post from Walt Mueller of the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding bears re-posting. Read more from Mueller at learning my lines.

A Smack On Our Tweeting Fingers. . . .

Later this month I'll be hunkering down with a group of youth workers for about 150 minutes at The National Youthworkers Convention in San Diego. During those 150 minutes I'll be sharing for the first time some of what I've learned during my five months of concentrated research on the Digital Frontier and how it's affecting us and our kids in a brand new "Digital Kids" seminar. I keep having to remind myself that I've only got 150 minutes in San Diego because I'm still hunkered down here on the home front. . .for another 4 weeks. . . compiling research and writing the seminar!

One of the principles that keeps coming up as I've been researching is what Marshall McCluhan prophetically wrote about back in the 1960s when he worked to convince us that "the medium is the message." McCluhan would agree that media's content does shape us. But the media itself alters our lives in huge ways. For example, the invention of printing meant that we no longer had to commit things to memory as books and the knowledge they contained on their pages was only an arm's length away. Make sense?

That said, we must wisely and Christianly consider how the media/technology glut that's flowing out of the cultural fire hydrant in today's world is shaping us, changing us, and sometimes messing us over.

In the midst of all this I haven't been able to shake the fact that Twitter offers a prime example of how careful we must be. Quentin J. Schultze wrote his Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age four years before Jack Dorsey created Twitter in 2006. Dorsey's Twitter has morphed into "Exhibit A" of what Schultze calls our "succumbing to informationism: a non-discerning, vacuous faith in the collection and dissemination of information as a route to social progress and personal happiness." Long before Twitter even existed, Schultze wrote that the dissemination of information has become "an incessant noise that repeatedly diverts our attention from greater matters." For the Christian, that's something we need to recognize and remedy through redemptive use of things like Twitter. No, we don't need to condemn Twitter to Hell. Rather, we need to smack some sense into our Tweeting fingers so that our use of the micro-blogging platform brings honor and glory to God, rather than honor and glory to self. . . or the kingdoms of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Consider these words from Schultze's Habits of the High-Tech Heart: "More and more people have the power to exchange messages and access databases, but fewer people seem to know what life means or how to live it well. . . . Instead of knowing well, we spend more time merely messaging - quickly sending and receiving email missives, downloading and uploading digital files, and surfing through cyberspace. When we message too much, we begin to lose intimacy with others, the natural world, the Creator, and even ourselves. Faster messaging can be instrumental good - such as getting stock market quotes more quickly - but it is far less likely to be a moral good. Morally conducive forms of knowing, such as conversing and contemplating, are lost, thoughtful, and personal. . . . An overdependence on messaging reduces human communication to an instrumental means of satisfying our own immediate desires."

So, I think I'm going to get bold in San Diego. . . and Atlanta. . .and elsewhere. I may say some pretty direct things that I - first and foremost - need to hear. As Christians, we are called to stand apart. . . to be in but not of the world. . . to use technology and media structures in ways that honor and glorify God. . . to be obedient and redemptive. . . to seriously and carefully consider every new thing that comes down the pike rather than jumping in with reckless abandon void of forethought. . . to model all this for the kids we've been entrusted with. . . kids who are only beginning life in a world that will only get more technological and information-based as the years pass. I might be laying my fingers out on the table and invite you all to join me. . . and then we'll share a much-needed smack.

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - LABOR DAY

2011-09-04T22:00:00.000-04:00

“The worker is worthy of his wages.” – 1 Timothy 5:18b

Today is Labor Day, a day set aside in our nation to honor those who work for a living and whose productivity strengthens our nation.” As a Christian I believe it is appropriate to have such an observance for it affirms a core value of our culture. Work is certainly a core value for God. We know that because in the story of Creation we are told that God Himself worked. And we know from this passage in the New Testament that work is intended to be affirmed by paying someone the wages he has earned from his work. A worker should enjoy the fruit of his or her labor.

There is a definite ambivalence towards work in our culture. Work is a burden to many, a necessary evil to be endured until the weekend comes when we can work at our play. Many people believe that the highest aspiration of humanity should be to have enough so that work is entirely optional. We look askance at those who don’t plan to retire as if I playing golf and traveling for the rest of your life is a higher value than contributing to the economic well-being of nation. Being a workaholic is considered a mental defect, being a hardworker high praise–but we often blur the lines between the two.

People who work primarily with their minds are looked down upon by those who work with their hands–and vice versa. The cultural elite tend to view the “working class” as the ignorant requiring their paternal protection. Too many in the working class are working so that they can become part of the elite. Work has levels of “acceptability” and we tend to have preconceived notions of what work is “beneath us.”

The Bible teaches us much about work – the dignity of work, the value of work, and the purpose of our work. Here are some of the more prominent verses that we can consider:

Genesis 2:15
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Exodus 20:8-10
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
Exodus 23:12
Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.
Exodus 35:35
He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them master craftsmen and designers.
John 6:27
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 4:11-13
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 6: 5-9
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. ;Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.
Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
Hebrews 6:10
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
James 5:4
Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
1 Thessalonians 2:9
Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
1 Thessalonians 4:11
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,
2 Thessalonians 3:8
nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
On this Labor Day remember this truth –
1. Work is part of the purpose of God for our lives.
2. Our ability to work is a gift from God and our work itself is a gift to God.
3. Work is the way that we help care for our world and its people, and to keep from being an undue burden to the neighbor whom we are called to love.
4. Work with eternity in mind.

BASEBALL'S HOME STRETCH - MY PREDICTIONS

2011-08-31T06:39:00.000-04:00

The AL's All Star Catcher, Tiger's Alex Avila blasts a 2-run homer

Major League Baseball heads into its home stretch this week. Most teams have 27-28 games left to capture their spot in post-season play. My beloved Tigers made a surge in the last two weeks (including a sweep of the Indians) and hold a 5 game lead in the American League's Central Division. It will be a close race becasue both White Sox and Indians have double-digit elimination numbers (13 and 13.5). Texas has a slimmer lead against the Angels - 3 1/2 games and an elimination number of 24. The Red Sox and Yankees go neck and neck (and brushback pitch vs. brushback) very much down to the wire. They will both likely make the playoffs because on the Tampa Bay Rays in their division still has a wild card chance, and that is almost gone.

In the National League, the Phillies have the best record in baseball and a 7 1/2 game lead over Atlanta. Only a collapse of that awesome Phillies pitching staff give the Braves a prayer, but they appear to have the wild card wrapped up. The Brewers are putting the Cardinals in their rear view mirror. My childhood favorite Reds are pretty much gone from the race. Arizona is surprisingly in front of the Giants after going 8-2 in their last ten starts.

So here's my prediction one month from the end of the regular season: AL East - Red Sox AL Central - Tigers AL West - Rangers Wold Card - Yankees; NL East - Phillies NL Central - Brewers NL West - Diamondbacks Wild Card - Braves.

The Phillie's Cy Young Pitcher Roy Halladay

I confess, I am holding my breath on the Tigers. Verlander cannot win it alone and the team with the most .300 plus hitters - Cabrera, Martinez, Peralta, Avila - need to hit when the other starters are in action. If they don't, the White Sox could slide past them. The Giants could still pull past Arizona but the D-Backs have an awesome defense and Kirk Gibson is an inspired manager (ex-Tiger, by the way). I don't think it will happen.

So let's have a little fun - what are your predictions? I will have a prize for the one who first posts the correct six.

While we're at it - my 18-4 Landisville Sluggers in Fantasy Baseball are one game away from clinching their division title, which will be the second year in a row one of my teams ran away with their division). My other teams won't finish above 3rd.

WEB SITINGS - LYNN BYERS FROM HAITI

2011-08-29T17:37:00.000-04:00

I am blessed by a very special friend named Lynn Byers who is in Haiti on a short-term medical assignment that ends September 7. Lynn wrote a post this week whose honesty touched my heart as she talked about calling, expectations, and perspectives on culture and poverty. Lynn writes ...

OVERSEAS MISSIONARY WORK FROM MY EYES

by Lynn Byers

It's funny how we term missionary work as going overseas, but really it is the call of all Christians as we don't belong to this world so technically we are strangers everywhere. Therefore, every Chrisitan is called to be a missionary. Some stay in their home country, others are called oveseas for a short time, and others for a lifetime. For me, I'm not sure yet if I'm meant to be overseas for a lifetime. This year here has been a huge learning experience for me serving in Haiti for almost a year so far. It will be a year on September 7!

I volunteered 3 places, but most of the time has been spent at Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti as the orthopedic nurse coordinator (as my job formed itself that title). I have seen and done so many things as a nurse that in America I would never get to without 3 plus months training in some departments (like helping with 3 terrible head trauma patients...literally transporting the one guy in the back of his family's car with a trunk that didn't shut; having the security guard ask to me to assess a premature baby born 2 months early because there was no Peds doctor available; having to learn to work in recovery room & train other nurses when I've never worked in recovery room myself, etc etc). Trying to make things work as a nurse when I don't have all (actually many of) the resources I need. I have had to tackle less than desirable living conditions (like not so good hospital food- kind of just kidding) and work conditions, but still nothing compared to what a lot of people endure. I have learned a 2^nd language in order to communicate. I have endured some interesting car rides. I have met wonderful people, especially my children patients and actually made lots of connections to Americans. I have gotten to tour the beautiful island and enjoy the wonderful fruits it has to offer. I got to meet (and will get to meet again) the compassion girl I've been sponsporing for 4 years and nothing could beat speaking to her in her own language. I've also been soaking up wonderful aspects of their cultures- their endurance and making things work when it doesn't really appear there is anything you can do; just singing to praise God sporadically; the smiles & happiness on kids who live on dirt floors; joining a young adult Haitian choir; the joy Haitians give in giving you a gift (if you do something for them, they will repay you somehow); The greeting of a kiss on the cheek (going to have to remember not to do that in the U.S.); And living in a community of other Christians long term volunteers (like a college dorm again!)

I always saw myself as fitting in better with non-American cultures, but after being here awhile I realize the aspects of this culture that are equally frustrating to what I deal with in the states. I'm in a spot that I love Haiti and the people, but their work ethic and other little things can be difficult to understand coming from an American perspective. In general, they move very slow and work becomes more like a social hour. They often neglect basic care and provide unsafe care at times. And work items get stolen or misplaced (if not carefully watched or monitored, usually by foreigners). Basically there appears to not be much accountability nor ownership of their jobs. I'm not sure the causes or reasons. Some of it is probably lack of education and unorganization (in general, life is unorganized here but somehow functions). And many times the foreigners are called to do many things, and you start to wonder what they do when we are not here. I never saw myself as saying Americans are better than other countries, and I still don't think we are but without a little support from outside help, a lot of hospitals don't function as well. Every country has its own problems, but every country also has its own beauty!

Read more at BYERS

As I prepare this post I am on vacation and have taken steps not to work during this vocation. It isn't easy, but it is necessary. From the blog FORWARD PROGRESS comes some excellent material for reflection:

One Helpful Way to Fight the Idolatry of Work

by Michael Kelley

If you have a job, then there’s a good chance you have at one time, are currently, or eventually will construct an idol out of your work. You want to do well, achieve, and be recognized for your work. Nothing wrong with that – God is honored in our hard work and excellence. But the idol slowly starts to take shape when you begin to find your fulfillment in your work alone. You self-worth in the praise of your boss. You validation in the number of appointments on your calendar.

Work can be an idol – just like anything else. And just like anything else, the idol needs to come down. But how does that deconstruction happen? If your idol is pornography, then you need to seriously think about getting rid of your computer. But you can’t get rid of your work. Your family needs you to work. You need to work. It makes the deconstruction of this idol very, very tricky, but here is one practical way to start ripping it down:

Get a personal cell phone.

And make that phone the simplest, cheapest, least cool model you can so that you can barely send a text message on it. This practical step combats one of the ways that more and more of us are becoming worshipers of work – through our devices.

At a men’s retreat this past weekend, a guy in my small group shared his own struggles with this. He had his life on his Blackberry. It was his calendar, his email, and his personal cell phone. Because it was his personal phone, he kept it with him even when he got home. But then the little red light would start blinking at the top.
What’s this? An email? Yes! Somebody needs me! Somebody thinks I’m important! I am validated because I am so integral that I am contacted at any hour!

And when that alluring red light goes on, it’s so easy to just click over and see what’s going on. Even if you’re talking with your wife. Or listening to your kids. So every easy…

So this guy made the tough choice. Even though he had a stipend for his Blackberry, he took on the additional expense of getting a personal cell phone. A not cool one. One that doesn’t play Angry Birds or send emails. Now, when he gets home, the Blackberry goes in the drawer. The Zach Morris phone goes in the pocket.

Work stays at work. Home is central at home. Idol demolished. Read more from this blog

IRENE - A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE

2011-08-26T11:09:00.001-04:00

by Stephen L. Dunn

I am on vacation as you receive this post but it is Thursday morning as I compose it. This past week many things have grabbed the headlines: an up and down market, the collapse of the regime of Kaddafi in Libya, the battle for starting quarterback positions in the NFL, the resignation of Steve Jobs from Apple, an unexpected earthquake in the Middle Atlantic region. Thursday morning, however, Irene has grabbed the nation’s attention. The growing monster has already grown to a Category 3 storm with winds of 115 miles per hour. Landfall may now be the Delmar Peninsula and it will likely affect 55 millions Americans. “Tornadoes and torrential winds, downed trees and major flooding” is Al Roker’s warning. Mandatory evacuations have already begun in the Outer Banks and other coastal areas.

Such events are a disturbing reminder to many people of how much humanity does not control its environment or its life. Disturbing because many of us believe the myth that human kind ultimately can save itself. We persist in trying to depend upon ourselves to be the arbiter on what is right and wrong, what values we will live by and what values we will ignore.

God is the Designer of the Universe. It is He who has created Nature and its Laws. Contrary to the opinion of the Pat Robertsons of the world, He does not routinely suspend those Laws to punish particular individuals or communities while ignoring the collateral damage to others. Contrary to the opinion of those looking for an excuse to ignore God, His permitting of those Laws to continue in force are also not a measure of His lack of love or untrustworthiness.

By the time you read this, Irene will probably be down to Tropical Storm status making life a mess in upstate New York and New England, and those for whom the storm has been replaced with sunshine over the debris will begin to return to their state of operating as if they themselves are sovereign in this world. And for those of us who love humanity as God loves us, that fact is disturbing.

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - LISTEN TO THE RHYTHM OF THE FALLING RAIN ,

2011-08-22T01:17:00.000-04:00

It is a rainy evening in the Susquehanna Valley as I prepare this post. I had a delightful Sunday morning with my congregation at the Church of God of Landisville, hearing their God stories, baptizing a young teenager named Hannah, sharing a message on how God's grace can transform us if we allow God's love to live in us. Most pastors thrive when they have these kinds of Sundays. After lunch at Chili's with some precious friends and a nap on the couch, I returned to my pastoral role to share three counseling sessions - one in my office, one over Facebook, and one in my second office at Silver Spring Family Restaurant. The rain, interestingly, is a wonderful benediction on such a day. Rain has a cleansing effect. The steady pounding on the roof is a gentle massage of peacefulness. The fresh life this rain will produce with the morning sun will be a hope-filled greeting tomorrow. Thank You, Lord, for the blessing of this Sunday and for the rainy staccato of your grace.

Gas prices came down this week - almost ten cents. A step in the right direction. Too bad the market doesn't give us the same encouragement. The internet has become a life-line and a lifestyle for many; but this week Verizon seemed to have a lot of trouble keeping it working properly in my community. It created a lot of aggravation for those who have grown dependent on its availability. Just a reminder that life is filled with hassles, and life being so "daily" makes those hassles an ever-present reality. I believe that's why Paul counseled the Philippians: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (4:6-7) In the uncertainties of the world, I find great peace in the knowledge that God has my back.

Facebook has allowed me a regular entry into the life of mywonderful granddaughter, Natalie, who lives more than 500 miles from Landisville. It has also allowed me to "hear"her heart. Just a few minutes ago shewarmed my heart with this observation: 'I don't understand this: first we complain about not growing up fastenough, about time being too slow; then when we realize how much time we'vewasted, life suddenly moves too fast. So yeah, something exciting is going tohappen tomorrow; it doesn't mean that today can't be just as great. Don't worryabout time going too slow; be more concerned with the minutes that you wastewaiting for the next one." Nataliereminds me to celebrate the moment instead of worshiping the past or allowingthe future to keep me from savoring the moment.

Have a great week! - Steve