Book Review (Sort of): "Blue Like Jazz"

No one ever accused me of being on the cutting edge of anything. I'm behind the curve in all areas of life, slow on the uptake. I defend myself as intelligently cautious; those who know me would say that I'm just clueless. Anyway, I offer that as an excuse as to why I'm just now posting about a book that was published in 2003 and which has been mentioned many times by many better bloggers and writers.

First, I have to give credit to Jim over at Serotoninrain, who was the first to get my attention about Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. Jim is pretty much the antithesis to me when it comes to books, as he's always the first to find the good stuff, and you'd think that by now I'd learn to just immediately go buy and read whatever he recommends instead of waiting, like, five years. (I'd link to some of his posts that referenced the book but I think they were pre-Wordpress and therefore not searchable.)

But, then, it occurred to me that not everyone I know is as cool as Jim and it's entirely possible that some of you haven't read Blue Like Jazz either. This post is for you, especially if you are a Christian (or if you're curious about what it means to be a Christian).

Listen carefully: read this book. It takes just a few hours – a Sunday afternoon works great – and I promise that you'll come away with some new ways to think about Christianity. More to the point, you'll be challenged to look at your own flavor of Christianity through a new lens, and particularly if you grew up in the Bible Belt in a mainstream evangelical church.

Miller opens his heart and allows the lifeblood to spill onto the pages of his book as he describes what it means to be a sinner held fast in the arms of a loving God. His witness and testimony isn't powerful because of his theological or hermeneutic prowess; it's powerful because he tells what Jesus has done for him.

Along the way, he also manages to entertain the reader; this is no dry and somber work. It's often playful, even juvenile in a Dave Barryish kind of way. One of my favorite passages is taken from a chapter about money, where he describes what it's like to be a poor writer (this passage could, by the way, apply to bloggers, with the exception of the overstatement of how much they get paid):

Christianity Today describes Miller as "Anne Lamott with testosterone" and compares Blue Like Jazz with Lamott's excellent Traveling Mercies. I wouldn't disagree; both books are now in my "read again every so often" collection, both for the writers' skill and for their messages. (Miller shares Lamott's dislike for Republicans and corporations, although he's not as rabid about it. The strength of my recommendation for this book is directly proportional to the negativism with which you assimilate this observation, as it gets right to the heart of what Christians should be about.)

You may be wondering about the book's title. The phrase comes from an almost-throwaway line in a passage about the beauty of the Grand Canyon at night, where Miller describes the stars as "...notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz." He writes about jazz a few times through the book, beginning with the introductory author's note, where he relates how he never liked jazz until he saw a man on a sidewalk playing a saxophone for fifteen minutes, and the man never opened his eyes. After that, he liked jazz; the musician's love for it was that infectious.

That, my friends, is how we are to be about Jesus, never taking our eyes off him. Because that's the surest way to show others how to love him, too.

Al Jazeera visits Midland

I did some quick searches on a few local blogs that I thought might have already covered this, and found nothing. If you had a more timely report, please feel free to provide a link in the comments.

I stumbled across the following YouTube videos after following an unrelated Google link. They are a couple of 11-minute programs produced by the [infamous] Arabic news organization, Al Jazeera in September, 2007, and are entitled Main Street USA – Midland, Texas. The reports focus on the role that faith and religion play in the public and private lives of our citizens, and, of course, how they influenced George W. Bush. Midland residents will recognize many of the individuals interviewed during the course of the filming.

The underlying message is that Midland is a city of "Christian fundamentalists," a term used with great frequency, and applied both to individuals as well as the community as a whole. It's hard to tell if the Al Jazeera report is using that word as a term of disapprobation; if so, the irony is thickened given the network's Muslim target audience.

Regardless, I found the reports to be fairly evenhanded, especially considering their source. A local Muslim was interviewed and expressed his happiness at being able to live in a community where he can practice his faith without fear. In a rational world, that should be a revelation to his counterparts in the Middle East, or at least a source of cognitive dissonance, but I'm not that naive.

The most disturbing thing about these reports is not the content of the videos, but the comments left on YouTube regarding them. Read them at your own risk, if you're easily offended.

By the way, if you define "fundamentalist" as being someone who believes that there are certain doctrinal truths given down by a holy and just God that we as individuals and collectively as a nation ignore at our own peril, then I willingly place myself firmly into that category.

Mac Worshiping

I was trying to clean-up the rat's nest known as my bookmarks and I ran across a link to the Christian Macintosh Users Group. I couldn't remember the last time I visited that site, and I was curious as to whether it was still active. Sure enough, it is, and it sports the graphic shown at right.

I'll ignore the temptation to repeat the old computer-related joke about how "Jesus saves," but I confess that this image is vaguely disturbing-yet-winsome. We Mac users have often been accused of elevating our computer choices to the level of a religion, and this photo seems to reinforce the anthropomorphism such a view implies.

On the other hand, I submit to you that there's never been a cuter or more expressive office machine than the desk lamp "mascot" that appears at the beginning of Pixar's movies. And we all know who is pulling the strings at Pixar, don't we?

In the final analysis, to the extent that one's choice of computers defines one – and also ignoring how sadly true that seems to be – this is an appropriate icon to represent those who know the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and not just from an operating system perspective.

"They whisper to me that they are Christians, too."

Anne Lamott has written a new book, Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, with a scheduled February 26 release date.

This is Lamott's third book in a series dealing with her Christian faith. The first, published in 2000, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith was a series of candid and refreshing essays from someone exploring the wonders of a newly-found faith, expressing those wonders with winsome fraility, humor and tenderness. It remains one of my favorite books on faith by a secular author (a squishy term meant to distinguish one from someone with formal theological training).

The second, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, was published in 2005 and was also candid and well-written. However, the "refreshing" aspect was replaced by an uncomfortably dark tone of nastiness, expressed primarily in anger toward Republicans in general and George W. Bush in particular. I was not kind to it in my review, and I stand by those observations. I was disappointed to see a writer for whom I had such great respect use her talent in such a context to express hatred.

In the interview posted on Amazon.com, she says she's no longer as angry. It will be interesting to see which Lamott shows up this time. Nevertheless, I continue to respect and admire her, because where she lives – not just geographically but also professionally and culturally – being a Christian is not something for the fainthearted (not that it was ever intended to be).

The title for this post was taken from something she said in response to an interview question – What stories do people tell you, when they've read your books or know you are a writer?. That response is both poignant and frightening: They whisper to me that they are Christians, too.

Those of us living in the so-called Bible Belt sometimes forget how easy it is to live our faith when we're literally surrounded by those of like minds and hearts. In fact, I suspect we're more aware of and sensitive to persecution of the Church in countries thousands of miles distant than those in our own nation. I'm not implying that being passed over for a promotion is in the same league as being martyred for your faith, but the underlying attitude that gives rise to both has the same origin.

So, I'm willing to overlook some of Lamott's occasional New-Agey theology and her political rants because I think it's ever-so-important that someone like her, someone whom I truly believe is a sister in Christ, is publicly available to lend an ear to that whisper. When she does that, she's an agent of grace, and God surely approves.

Technorati tags: Anne Lamott | Grace (Eventually)

Counsel and Reminder for Those Nervous about the Economy

Wall Street Journal - The giant headline smack in the middle of French daily Liberation's front page this morning says it all: "Crash."

Word of God* - Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

WSJ - Japan's benchmark stock index fell nearly 5.7% today, while India's tumbled nearly 5%, Australia's lost 7.1% and Hong Kong's fell by nearly 8.7%.

WOG - Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.

WSJ - Corn, oil and copper prices were trading sharply lower on speculation that slowing global economic activity would diminish demand for raw materials, with prices for zinc, soybeans and palm oil also declining...

WOG - ...though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

WSJ - Recession fears are a subject bound to dominate discussions at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, which opens in Davos, Switzerland, tomorrow, but then that might have happened regardless of the past 48 hours of trading. The closing session at Davos for some time has been titled, "Why Are We Afraid of the Future?"

WOG - The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

*Adapted from Psalm 46 (NIV) via BibleGateway.com

The Reason for the Season

If this post looks familiar, then I thank you for your perseverance in visiting the Gazette at least every 12 months. It's become a tradition here to post the lyrics to what I consider to be the best contemporary Christmas song, one that captures the wonder and reverence I feel when I contemplate that God would come to earth in the form of a baby in order to provide a free gift of salvation for any who want it. May you and yours have a blessed Christmas in every sense of the Word.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is, at its core, a religious holiday, almost subversively so. While it's easy to focus on what we're thankful for, the real emphasis should be to whom we're thankful. And while other people provide us with many important blessings in our lives, the trail of gratitude only runs through them.

Thanksgiving is a state of mind that should be practiced daily, but as we set aside a special day each year to officially recognize it, I hope you'll join me in giving thanks to the One from whom all blessings flow.

Please accept our wishes for a healthy, safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

God is an ATM

Update: After a series of email exchanges with Justin (see below), I've agreed to strike the implied association between the "little gods" doctrine and Jehovah's Witnesses. I'm fine with that, as I believe there are so many other more serious doctrinal errors in the JW system of belief that "little gods" are the least of our disagreements.

Midlanders had a choice of two interesting seminars last night.

One featured a local theologian discussing the increasingly vocal attacks by atheists (e.g. Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens) on religion in general and Christianity in particular. The other took place down the street a mile or so and focused on the so-called "Word of Faith" movement, also sometimes referred to as "the Prosperity Gospel" or the "Name It and Claim It" movement, or, in its most misleading moniker, the "Faith movement." The chief proponents of the latter movement are such well-known televangelists as Benny Hinn, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Paul and Jan Crouch, and, to a lesser extent, Joel Osteen.

There's no doubt that the former category -- attacks by atheists -- are troubling on some level, but they are also easily recognized and frankly, not very effective in terms of the potential for damage to the Church. After all, these attacks are coming from wolves in wolves' clothing, and it doesn't take a lot of discernment to recognize and defeat them.

I would contend that the latter category represents a much more serious threat to the Christian community, because it mingles false doctrine with just enough truth (or what sounds very much like truth) to disguise the poison. The undiscerning partaker can be seriously damaged.

Justin Peters is a theologian and evangelist, with a degree in economics from Mississippi State and masters degrees in divinity and theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. In addition to serving on a church staff, Peters has also developed a seminar entitled A Call for Discernment in which he systematically addresses the numerous and fundamental heresies upon which the Word of Faith cult is built. He is now in Midland presenting this seminar (attendance is free; it concludes tonight) at First Baptist Church.

Justin has encountered first-hand some of those heresies, especially those related to the "faith-healing" aspects. You see, he's been afflicted most of his life with cerebral palsy, and his search for healing led him to encounters with some of the prominent practitioners of the Word of Faith cult, including the aforementioned Benny Hinn. In one case, his family was informed that healing would not be possible due to their lack of generosity ("give more to get more"); in the case of Benny Hinn, he was not allowed on the platform because of his obvious disability (it's much harder to fake the on-stage healing of cerebral palsy than of, say, kidney disease).

Here's a comment that I've heard from several attendees of this seminar: "I always knew those televangelists sounded crazy on TV, and I never took them seriously, but I never really understood the doctrines behind their claims. This is some scary stuff."

Scary, indeed, given that those doctrines range from the ridiculous (Positive Confession - believers can speak things into existence, just as God did the creation) to the dangerous (Little gods Doctrine - believers are themselves gods; see also Mormonism and Jehovah's Witness [Note: In an emailed comment, fellow web designer and blogger Justin disputes that the "little gods" doctrine is a part of the Jehovah's Witness belief system.]). And far too many well-meaning and/or desperate people are basing their faith upon and committing their resources to ideas that are not supported by Biblical truth.

How can this be dangerous? Well, take the example of the "true believer" who comes to Benny Hinn for healing. When she's not healed, she can only conclude that it's her fault for not having enough faith. She might reject the true gospel of Jesus Christ in exchange for a false one that gives the illusion of more hope.

This seminar uses video and audio clips of these false prophets to condemn them through their own words. Peters addresses each doctrinal error and heresy with the Scriptures that leave no doubt as to why the discerning Christian should steer clear.

It would be too easy to dismiss Justin Peters as someone who is simply disgruntled, using his personal circumstances to get back at those whom he believes misled him. But that would be so far from the truth as to be laughable. Spend a little time in his presence, experience the joy and the passion for the truth that he has in spite of his obvious physical limitations, and you'll understand that what he wants above all else is for people to know the one true God, and His only-begotten Son who came to save the lost.

Tonight's concluding session, entitled "The Hurt of Healing," will deal with faith healing. Justin promises to provide some Scriptural insights about healing, and he promises that anyone who is dealing with illness will go away with a renewed sense of hope and understanding about God's will and purposes in these matters. If you're interested in attending, the seminar begins at 7:00 p.m. at the corner of Louisiana and Garfield. Just follow the steady stream of people into the First Baptist Church worship center.

The post title is a contemporary cultural allusion to a song by Pink, entitled "God is a DJ." I wouldn't recommend it for theological inspiration either, but it does have a good beat.

China's Olympic Village Bible Ban: Good News?

Reports of China's prohibition of Bibles inside the Athlete's Village at next year's Beijing Olympics are slowly trickling out (do a Google News search for the topic and see how many mainstream media outlets are not reporting on it), it occurs to me that this action serves to highlight the power of the Gospel, and the fact that the Chinese government is operating not from a position of strength, but in abject fear.

That the iron-fisted government of one of the world's superpowers would simultaneously recognize and fear the power of God's word enough to ban it, while thinking that such a ban will actually be the slightest bit effective in blunting that power would be laughable if it wasn't so pitiful.

What the Chinese government seems to be incapable of grasping (or perhaps it's just in desperate denial) is that whether or not the Word is present in paper form, it will still be carried by thousands of visitors and athletes in their hearts and souls, and it will be shared by the millions of Chinese Christians for whom the term "freedom" has a connotation that many of us in the comfortable West can scarcely begin to imagine.

Some are reporting that the Koran will not be subject to a similar ban. If this is indeed true, it seem to indicate that the Chinese government doesn't fear the power of that book. Again, Christians should be flattered by the comparison.

Subtitling God?

Repairs on our treadmill were completed last week, putting a big dent in our checking account along with an equally big smile on my wife's face as she no longer has to endure the boredom of an exercise bike during her 5:00 am workouts.

One of the amazing things about the reinvigorated device, sporting a new motor and running tread, is its quietness. Over the past couple of years, as the motor bearings wore out and the tread lost its lubrication, the machine grew louder and louder, to the point where I had to activate subtitles on the DVDs I watched as I ran because I couldn't hear the dialog. But the changes had occurred slowly, and we forgot how quiet the treadmill could – and should – be.

I think my relationship with God is sometimes like that treadmill. Over time, gradually, I allow – or create – distractions and filters that eventually make it hard for me to hear His voice. I start looking for subtitles to help me understand His will, rather than going straight to the Source.

Do you have any subtitles in your spiritual life? Do you spend more time reading books about the Bible or Jesus than you do reading the Bible itself? Do you spend more time listening to Christian talk radio than listening to God in prayer? Do you engage in the things of God, rather than God Himself? I confess my guilt in all of these areas.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that those things are bad or even unhelpful. God uses others to speak to us, and we should be sensitive and grateful when He does, but I believe He prefers the direct conversations.

Subtitles aren't always accurate representations of the actual dialog; they don't always communicate the right meaning. Fortunately, God doesn't need subtitles to get His message across, if we'll quieten the distractions around us, however good-intentioned they may be.

Interview: Bill Lawless, Founder of "Impact Midland"

If you've got a keen eye, you may have noticed a new link in the Gazette's sidebar, in the "West Texas Blogs" category. The link hooks you up with Impact Midland, a relatively new blog beautifully conceived and executed by telecommunications guru Bill Lawless. Impact Midland is unique among the West Texas blogging community in that it's an audio-blog, consisting of recorded interviews and readings, with Bill acting as the producer, director, interviewer, sound engineer, and everything else.

Bill and I were co-workers back in prehistoric times, which emboldened me to turn the tables and request an interview with him, to which he graciously consented. From a geekish perspective, I'm not worthy to even be in the same room with him, so we did the interview by email, instead of a podcast, but I think you'll enjoy finding out more about Bill and his new blog.

Bill – I listen to several podcasts everyday and find that it is a very good way to share information. You can listen while driving, walking, bike riding, etc. I am a technology type and have always been interested in electronics, ham radio, computers, the internet and audio production. Podcasting is a way for me to pull all of those interests together. It's also a way to live out a childhood dream to be a DJ of sorts. When I record I set behind an ElectoVoice RE20 which is a microphone you will find in 90% of the radio stations in the country.

The name Impact Midland is something that I thought long about. I didn't want to build a website that was just for me to play podcaster on. I wanted to build something that would challenge me technically and be useful at the same time.

From a biblical perspective I would like for the readings and interviews to perhaps cause folks to reassess their view of who God is and their own relationship with Him. You can't read or listen to the Psalms without getting a high view of God. The Valley of Vision is a collection of Puritan prayers. The Puritans had a high view of God and it was evident in their prayers and the way they lived. Today it seems that that we treat God very casually. We use His name in a casual sometimes vulgar manner, we treat Him as though He were some sort of cosmic Santa Claus instead of the high and holy sovereign of the universe. Our casual view of God is not only evident in the way we live our lives form day to day but in the way we worship. In the Psalms we learn how to truly worship. In worship the focus is not on me but on God.

Bill – Interviews are something new for me. I listen to as many as I can because I find that it is a good way to learn about someone or something. The first interview is with my pastor and the second with a pastor friend that is starting a church. I chose them as my first because I know they would be easy on me but also because I felt that they had something to say that would benefit folks in Midland that may be looking for a church.

Bill – Everyone. I know that this is a simple answer but it's true. I do not have all of what I want to do with this website fully developed yet. I have a hundred ideas but need to pair that down to something that keeps my interest as well as useful to other Midlanders.

Bill – I have been involved in 2-way radio and telecommunications for 30+ years and in that business audio quality is always very important. I decided that if I was going to do this that I would do it right. I am in the process of building a recording studio using professional audio equipment. I would like to produce a program that sounds good so that when I compress it to a size that is easy to stream or download that it will sound good on your computer speakers or iPod ear buds. I am staring at 153 knobs, 10 faders, buttons, switches, inputs and outputs, sends and returns, cables, microphones, LEDs, thresholds, ratios, mix, drive, level, filters, speakers, headphones and I could go on. I have a lot to learn but that's what keeps it interesting for me.

I also have a portable set-up that I use when I go to various places to have people read for me or interview. A lot of the portable equipment on the market is very expensive and sounds great or cheap and sounds so so. I managed to finds a portable unit made by Marantz and had it modified by a professional audio company who made improvements to the pre-amps and microphones. This recorder records in MP3 format so that I don't have to do any conversion.

The biggest challenge so far has been to find good music that fits the theme of the website and is affordable. It is very important that I have permission to play the music that I use. I am paying about $30 dollars per minute for a few of the songs and for the others I have been given permission from the artist at no cost. I really like the no cost option.

On the computer side of the process I am using a PC but will be moving everything over to Mac in the near future. The production software I am interested in runs on a Mac. The production studios that I have visited recently all use the Mac.

Bill – I have an interview with Dr. Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC in October that is a huge opportunity. My pastor and I will tag team this one.

Other projects I have in mind are not theological. I enjoy giving safety talks at work and would like to do a recorded audio version of that. I recorded my last talk but it did not come out well at all. I would like to interview various folks in Midland and discuss safety issues.

I would like to find Midland story tellers and capture their tales for others to enjoy. I could go on and on and would be interested in ideas from others.

I would like to do an interview at the food court at the mall. I think it would be cool to have the background noise there part of the recording.

Bill – I have been working in technology for 30+ years. I spent 21 years with ARCO and am now with Key Energy. Prior to ARCO I worked for an engineering firm in Austin building microwave communication systems for MCI, Sprint and others. I think back on my career and the time that I am most proud of was my 6 years in Algeria. We built infrastructure to support a large oil recovery project near the city of Hassi Messaoud, in the middle of the Sahara Desert. There I learned to speak French and enough Arabic to get myself in trouble.

I am a preacher's kid and grew up in a Christian home. I became a Christian at the age of 17 while living in Abilene. I went to Hardin Simmons for a while then several years later attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I struggled trying to figure out what I was supposed to do ministry wise. I preached in my church and other churches in the association where we lived and had a jail ministry. It became evident to me later on that full time ministry is not where God wanted me. My ministry is where I am at; using the skills that God has blessed me with.

Bill – If you are from Midland and would like to read a Psalm or a Valley of Vision prayer for me I would like to talk to you. It would be cool if we could put together a CD that had the book of Psalms read by Midlanders on it.

I have a blog titled Reformed Lawless at billsbible.blogspot.com and I manage my church's web site at colonialbiblechurch.org. Perhaps I should add a bit of a warning to the theological content of the website. I am very narrow minded when it comes to theology. I believe that the bible is the word of God, literally, and believe that it contains everything we need know about life, our relationships, and worship, how we do business, God and our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, everything. I believe that God is absolutely sovereign. I believe that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and there is no other way. I hold to the 5 solas of the reformation; Sola gratia ("by grace alone"), Sola fida ("by faith alone"), Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone") Solus Christus ("in Christ alone") Soli Deo Gloria ("Glory to God alone").

I appreciate Bill taking the time to reply to my nosy questions, and I hope Midlanders will give him some good ideas for future interviews. And at the very least, visit Impact Midland and help Bill find out if he's really got enough bandwidth in his hosting account!

West Texas Cowboy Church

There's a new Cowboy Church in the area – the West Texas Cowboy Church ("WTCC") – and it has a website.

The Cowboy Church movement (the churches are also referred to as "Old West Culture Churches", but not by anyone I know) is one of the fastest growing evangelical movements in North America. The Baptist General Convention of Texas has a goal of assisting in the planting cowboy churches throughout the state in order to reach an estimated four million people who may be "better served" by this brand of worship than what they find in the more traditional church setting.

(An interesting side note: Fascination with the American "cowboy culture" is actually a worldwide phenomenon, and it could form the basis of an evangelistic tool in some pretty unlikely areas.)

My home church, First Baptist of Midland ("FBC"), is one of the main partners in starting WTCC. Much of the WTCC leadership is comprised of FBC members, but the church is actively seeking additional volunteers.

If you know anyone in the immediate vicinity of Midland/Odessa who might be interested in this type of worship experience, please pass along the web address. WTCC's upcoming Western Heritage Days (first weekend of October) would be a great way to learn more about the church while taking in some authentic examples of "The Cowboy Way."

What's in YOUR fridge?

Yesterday's morning sermon was about the importance of passing along a strong spiritual legacy to your children. I was operating a TV camera and thus couldn't focus completely on the message, so I had to wait until lunch to ask my wife to confirm that I really heard what I thought I heard, and that was the preacher saying that one aspect of teaching good spiritual lessons to our families (and others we come in contact with) involved the things we had on the walls of our houses, in our DVD cabinets, on our music- and bookshelves, and in our refrigerators.

That last thing got me to thinking. What, exactly, could the content of my fridge say about my spirituality? Here are a few things that came to mind, along with some value judgments about each:

• Bad - Ground meat, salami, and bacon, because their presence implies that you don't treat your body like a temple


• Good - Lots of fruit and vegetables (unless, of course, they were grown and harvested by exploited workers)


• Bad - Jars of caviar and tins of pate, since they could indicate a lack of sensitivity to the poor. After all, there are children in China...


• Good - Swiss cheese, because it's holey.


• Bad - A bottle of white wine (if you're Southern Baptist); a bottle of white wine paired with a ribeye (if you're Episcopalian)


• Bad - Brussels sprouts, because they're just wrong


• Toss-up - The head of the neighbor's cat, who's eaten his last marigold from your flowerbed

OK, I'll be the first to admit that the theological basis for the preceding judgments is a bit shaky. But, based on Act 10:9-16, the whole concept seems shaky to me.

Jeremy Cowart, Photographer

I went to Jeremy Cowart's website because of the write-up in the current edition of Layers Magazine. His is one of three photography websites spotlighted by the magazine as being a cut above the rest.

It certainly is a fine example of how Web 2.0 technology is making its way into sites that are using it for its practicality and not its novelty – but that's a post for another time. As I said, I went based on the magazine's review; I stayed because of Cowart's amazing photographs of Africa and its people. These are some of the most achingly beautiful photos of that place that you'll ever see.

This is not just another shoot for the photographer. He's collaborated with Jena Lee to produce a book, Hope in the Darkness, with the intent of raising awareness of both the desperation and the hope that exists on that continent, or, rather, in its people.

If you browse through more of Cowart's portfolio, you'll see that he's tagged a number of photos with the term "Christian." (The ability to sort and organize the photos by such tags is another cool application of technology for this site.) The photos in this section are primarily of musicians, and well-known ones at that (e.g. Jars of Clay, Switchfoot, Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, Everyday Sunday, and some guy named Michael W. Smith). Given that his website's target audience is art directors (according to the Layers article) it's pretty gutsy of him to use the "C" word anywhere on the site.

He's got a Virb blog, if you're interested.

Technorati tag: Jeremy Cowart

C.S. in a Nutshell

I've periodically recommended to you the daily emailed series by Dr. Jim Denison called "God Issues Today," and I know that some of you have subscribed to it because I've seen other references.

For the rest of you, I feel compelled to again recommend this publication in general, and specifically the series Dr. Denison is presenting this week on the life of author and theologian C.S. Lewis. It's hardly an in-depth biography, but for those who are pressed for time (and who doesn't fall into that category?) and would like to know more about the fascinating life of one of the most brilliant men ever to "convert" from atheism to Christianity, Denison's overview of Lewis's life is not to be missed. Here are the previous four installments; the final one comes tomorrow and you can find a link to it on this page.

• Installment #1: Required reading for heaven


• Installment #2: Losing mother and faith


• Installment #3: Brilliant mind, lost soul


• Installment #4: Spiritual checkmate

Denison has many gifts, and among them is the ability to distill complicated topics and issues into easily digestible chunks without giving them short shrift.

Innocent as Doves

I've always been of the opinion that doves are among the most stupid of birds. They flock by the score in our neighborhood, and are continually being struck by cars because they insist on squatting in the middle of the street.

They're also inexpert nest builders; if there was a nest equivalent of a shanty, it would be built by a dove. And they often choose the oddest places for a nest. Well, like this one:

I spotted this dove roosting on a nest she'd built on top of a ladder leaning against the wall of our neighbor's house. I assume she's keep guard over an egg or two. Here's a close-up:

As silly as this behavior seems, I have to admire her nurturing instinct and bravery. I was able to get within six feet to take the second photo, and she gave no sign of contemplating flight (and dove are just as skittish as they are dimwitted). The nest might not have been much to look at, but it was hers, by gosh, and she was going to stick with it and its contents no matter what.

I suppose this is some of what Jesus was referring to in his admonition to his disciples to be "shrewd as serpents and gentle as doves." He was sending them into an uncertain and hostile world where the natural tendency would be to flee. But he was also empowering them to overcome that tendency, not through equal force or aggression, but through purity of motive.

This would seem to be a characteristic worth emulating, regardless of whatever else we might think of doves.

A Story

Once upon a time, there was a little golden-haired girl who slumbered in silken sheets, and God whispered his love to her, and she smiled in her sleep.

As she grew older, God continued to whisper to her, but she forgot how to listen to him. She smiled less and less, even though she lived in the midst of riches that the rest of the world could only guess at.

At some point, she began again to hear a voice in her sleep, but it wasn't God speaking, and it didn't make her smile. This voice didn't tell her she was loved, but that she could be loved, if only she would do...things. Things she knew were unspeakable, but the voice convinced her otherwise.

So she did them, and, sure enough, the world said that it loved her. The more outrageously she behaved, the more it applauded her, and the stronger the voice spoke to her in those times no one else would.

Then one day, she did things that even the world would not accept, and her freedom was taken away from her. Everything she held important was taken away.

As she lay on her prison bunk, far from the silken sheets of her youth and drifting in and out of a fitful sleep, the golden-haired girl thought she heard a familiar voice, so soft, so tender. She didn't know how to answer the voice; she didn't know if she even deserved to hear it. But she lay still and silent, and then a wonderful thing happened. She was changed – not physically, not so you tell just from looking at her, although the smile she'd lost as a little girl returned – but in her heart and soul and spirit.

Later, when she was released, the world pretended again to care, and the acclamation seemed overwhelming but the young woman was untouched by it all. The world didn't notice.

A television network came to her and offered a vast sum of money if she would tell her story in front of their cameras, much to the outrage of the competing networks who deemed it unethical (besides, they would have paid more). She agreed to do so, and was soon seated in a studio across from a professional-looking woman – a TV star – who had a long list of questions designed to satisfy the needs of the untold millions of people who would be watching when the taped segment was finally aired.

So, tell us what prison was like, the professional interviewer, who had heard it all before, many times over.

I will tell you, but first, I want to thank your network for paying me so much money to be here. And I want to let you know that I will be donating that money – plus another five hundred million dollars – to an organization called Voice of the Martyrs.

The interviewer frowned, and heard frantic conversation from the director and crew over her earpiece. What is Voice of the Martyrs?! Who knows anything about it? Oh, you've got to be kidding me: it's something religious!

The golden-haired woman continued, with an assurance hitherto unseen. Prison was both the worst and the best experience of my life. But what I want you to know is that I learned once more how to listen to God, and I re-learned his love and grace. I let him change me, and as wonderful as that is, what I want more than anything in the world is for you to experience that same change.

The interviewer's eyes had narrowed to slits, her worldly cynicism turning her lips to flint. She'd heard it all, and she wasn't buying it.

The golden-haired woman continued speaking, her voice low and calm and sweet, her face beatific. And an amazing thing happened. As she listened to the woman's story, the interviewer's features began to soften, following her heart. Her lips loosened and her eyes widened and glistened. And wondrously, inconceivably, she found herself down on her knees, sobbing and crying out to the same God she'd denied her entire life, since the time she, too, decided to stop listening to his voice in her youthful sleep.

The golden-haired girl knelt in front of the TV star, wrapping her lovely arms around the star's shaking shoulders, and calming her with whispers of God's love and redemption.

The producers and director were aghast, and the network executives wasted no time in calling to express their extreme displeasure. We can't use this; it's completely worthless. We'll be laughingstocks around the world. They instructed the producers to destroy the tape, and they mentally wrote off their investment.

Leaving the studio an hour later, the golden-haired woman emerged from the studio hand-in-hand with the interviewer, both faces tear-streaked but smiling, and were engulfed by waiting paparazzi and hangers-on who were oblivious to what had just occurred on the closed set inside the building.

The pair pressed through the mob, the people reluctantly parting, puzzled at the expressions on the faces of the two women. At the street corner, they hugged, and the TV star continued to the right to her parking space. The golden-haired girl waited for the light to change so that she could cross the street to a waiting limo. She found herself standing next to a bag lady, pushing a shopping cart and heading in the same direction.

The bag lady, confused by the scene at the nearby studio and mumbling incoherently to herself, stepped off the curb before the light changed, unmindful of the onrushing bus. No one noticed, because they were all focused – eyes and cameras – on the golden-haired woman.

And thus they were witnesses to the shattering impact of the bus slamming against her slender body, but not before her sacrificial leap had pushed the bag lady out of harm's way. The mob grew temporarily silent at the sight of golden-haired woman's lifeless body, limp and broken, but some would later speak of an inexplicable faint smile on the lips.

None of them noticed the bag lady's exit, nor the faint glow emanating from beneath the tattered red watch cap she wore.

As expected, hundreds of photos and videos of the golden-haired woman's unselfish act appeared within hours on the internet and via national and international news broadcasts. However, the release of the taped network interview on YouTube was completely unexpected – and unexplained. The producers would later swear that it had been destroyed immediately following the phone call from their bosses.

Within a few days, every corner of the earth had seen or heard the golden-haired clear and beautiful testimony of God's salvation, and her cogent explanation of how to follow in her footsteps.

Then, a few days later, seven trumpet calls, blown by unseen lips, were heard 'round the world.

Bill O'Reilly: Confused about Christianity

I'm not a Bill O'Reilly fan. I do agree with much of his politics and many of his views on cultural and societal issues, but I'm generally put-off by his style and attitude. And I now have an additional reason to view with skepticism anything he writes about faith and religion.

His column entitled "Suddenly, atheism has become 'cool' for many people" ran on Sunday's Opinion page in our local newspaper, and it was a discussion of the increasingly loud voices of atheists in our society. O'Reilly – who claims to be a man of faith, presumably Christian – describes a portion of his debate with Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. In response to something Dawkins says about the origin of the universe, O'Reilly makes the following statement:

Well.

I gave up long ago trying to be anyone else's spiritual Jiminy Cricket, once I realized that I have very few answers, and those I have I don't always fully understand. I've also found that it's more than sufficient to simply rely on the Bible in all issues of faith. And the Bible clearly says that Bill needs to re-examine his beliefs and his faith if he wants to be a spokesman for Christians.

The Bible isn't vague or disingenuous about the identity of Jesus Christ and his role. According to the Bible, he was before time and space, and will be after time ceases; he's the Alpha and Omega. He's the creator, and the sovereign ruler over creation. He's the loving savior – the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through him. He's King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Bright and Morning Star, the Lion of Judah. He's fully God and fully Man, a concept which we'll never be able to fully grasp this side of Heaven. No, the Bible leaves no doubt as to the identity of Jesus, or whether he is God.

If none of that were true – if any of that is false – then, like the apostle Paul put it, we Christians are to be pitied more than any other people, because our faith is nothing apart from the reality and truth of Jesus Christ and his saving grace.

My advice to Mr. O'Reilly, worth what he's paying for it, is to forgo a few debates with atheists and spend the time studying the Bible.

Aging, but Ageless

Next month, God willing, I'll achieve a certain age-related milestone, one that's traditionally used in our society to signify what might politely be called "the beginning of the downhill slide." From a practical perspective, the only immediate impact I anticipate is the savings of a buck-and-a-quarter at the movies, which is nothing to sneeze at, by the way.

Still, when I contemplate 55, the overriding reaction is, "I'm not old enough to be that old!" I surely don't feel that old. In fact, I don't feel any different than I did at other "milestone" ages, dating back just about as far as I can remember.

A few Sundays back, our Bible study was in the first chapter of 2 Peter, which includes a passage (verses 12-15) where Peter tells his readers about the importance of remembering his teachings after he was gone:

The teacher paused and said something to the effect that Peter's comment about "living in the tent of this body" was a reminder that we're not purely – or even primarily – physical beings. She then threw out this tantalizing tidbit. "I think that's why we never really view ourselves as being as old as others think we are, or as old as our ages tell us we are." What she was saying is that in our minds and spirits, we're, well, ageless, because that's the part of us that will survive for eternity, long after this body has broken down and returned to dust. Our spirit recognizes this eternal truth, and while we may at times be able to subvert it with emotion and thought, that truth doesn't change.

Thus it's a gift from God to us, to see ourselves as an ageless being, regardless of what we see in the mirror, and regardless of what our inevitably decaying bodies try to tell us.

So, youngsters, the next time some old guy – say, an aging web designer (who might still be able to kick your rear on a bike, but that's neither here nor there) – throws out that seemingly lame declaration that he's not as old as he is, keep in mind that it's the truth. And it applies to you, too.

Godliness and Holiness

As I read yesterday's God Issues Today newsletter (yesterday being particularly hectic and thus requiring allocation of part of today to complete it; I don't know how we'll ever get caught up on today and still keep tomorrow intact) focusing on prayer, I was struck by Jim Denison's explanation of two terms that get thrown around a lot in church. Dr. Denison is explaining why it's important that we pray, and pray specifically for our nation and its leaders:

The reference in quotes at the beginning comes from the New Testament book of 1 Timothy, wherein the writer urges the readers to pray for their leaders so "that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."

Anyway, I don't believe I've ever heard the concept of holiness explained in that way. The working definition I've always used for "holy" is something along the lines of "being set apart by God for his special purposes." I'd never focused on a possible extension to that definition, to think about what those purposes might be.

But it makes perfect sense. God created us to worship and fellowship with him, but also to love and fellowship with one another. And he set believers apart -- made them holy -- not just to exist in some monkish isolation (although a few may well be called to do that) but to enrich and encourage and enliven those around us. Or, as Denison puts it, to be more godly with others.

That's pretty heady stuff. It could be quite intimidating to consider in terms of what we think we're capable of doing vs. the immensity of the task. On the other hand, I don't think God would have led the apostle Paul to write those words if he didn't also provide the power for us to do it. And how do we tap into that power?

Well, we circle right back around to where we started: with prayer. And that's a feedback loop we should all seek to become a part of.

NDOP 2007

I bicycled downtown at noon today to attend the local observance of the National Day of Prayer. (I could get away with the cycling thing as the service was held outside, in the nice plaza area of downtown. I was also careful to sit downwind of the other attendees, since I had completed a 20 mile ride an hour earlier. But I digress.)

I haven't been to an NDOP ceremony in several years. The crowd was smaller than I expected -- I counted about a hundred in attendance -- but the coordinator said they'd printed only 50 programs so perhaps more people than usual showed up. It was certainly a pretty enough day for it, mild and still and everything fresh from yesterday's deluge.

As always, I'm intrigued by who shows up for these public displays of faith. With the exception of the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, those on the program were from the smaller congregations in Midland. And since the event is coordinated by the Ministerial Alliance, those churches who don't participate in that organization seem to also not promote or participate in the events it's associated with. That leaves out entire denominations, as well as some of the largest congregations in the area. That's a shame. I'm not sure how we can pray for unity and healing of spirit in our nation when we can't even get there in our churches.

Of course, NDOP -- and prayer in general -- isn't really a corporate activity. It's individual, one-on-one with God, and anyone who looks to a church governing body to decide when and how to engage in prayer has got bigger problems than mere inter-denominational politics.

I didn't see a lot of the folks in attendance who were being prayed for. I recognized one city councilman, but no judges, law enforcement officials, or other county and city officials. Of course, I don't know everyone in those roles (and I did keep myself somewhat sequestered for the reasons discussed above), but I do know that in some of the past observances, those folks have turned out in bigger numbers.

Still, it was a good time, and a reminder of just how blessed we are to be able to assemble openly like that and invoke the name of our God. I didn't see anyone anxiously searching the streets for signs of homicide bombers, nor were there lines of soldiers or policemen ringing us to make sure we didn't step over some imaginary line. And even if many of those government officials I referred to didn't appear, I know well that an astounding number of them are people of strong faith, and they rely daily on that faith. Midland is special that way.

Weary

I spent a couple of hours at our church's Missions office interviewing folks who'd been screened for potential financial assistance through our benevolence ministry.

It wears me out.

I know that Jesus said we'd always have the poor with us, but I don't know how to not become disheartened when I see how many people make decisions that seem to assure that they'll never be able to escape that condition.

I visited with a woman in her 30s who's living with her three teenaged daughters in a one-room apartment. One of those daughters -- age 16 -- is pregnant...for the second time (she lost the first baby). The woman confided that she was skipping meals so that the daughter would have enough to eat. We helped them with their rent, and gave them a couple of sacks of food from the crisis closet. But what will they do for, say, the next 20 years?

That was one story of six today. Today was one day of the eight each month that our church schedules appointments. Walk-ins are dealt with every day. Hundreds of people, almost every one of them affected by bad decisions, self-destructive behavior, or what some might call just plain bad luck.

It wears me out. And I feel guilty for that. Those blessed souls who minister in this area day in and day out must be angels in human form.

Dunbar's Number: Mark of the Decreased

A special welcome to those coming here via Jeremy Keith's follow-up post in which he ridicules my attempt to discuss a sociological phenomenon within a Christian context. That's OK, although he really got a bit derivative with his post title.

I confess that I'd never heard of Dunbar's Number until I came across a reference to it in this post in which the author, Jeremy Keith, explains his rather unique approach to dealing with comments on his blog (he collects them for a period of time and then shuts them off, reviews those submitted prior to the deadline, and then publishes all the acceptable ones at the same time, in one batch). Jeremy's reference sent me to the relevant Wikipedia entry where I learned that Dunbar is a British anthropologist and "evolutionary psychologist" who contends that the size of the human brain's neocortex is the limiting factor in determining the optimal size of any given person's social group (I'm simplifying to the extreme here). He's even computed that number, which is 150.

Put another way, 150 is the average number of people with whom we've sufficiently cultivated relationships to the extent that we can ask them to do us a favor and they'll likely comply.

This theory has widespread implications in many facets of our lives. For example, it could explain why it's more difficult to make new close friends after we reach a certain age; we've already reached our quota, so to speak, and we just don't have the capacity to enlarge our social sphere -- unless we drop someone else.

[For bloggers, it might also explain why it's darned difficult to maintain active online relationships with other bloggers beyond a certain point, and why gaining increased readership and comments quickly reaches a point of diminishing psychological returns. We may need to visit this issue in a separate post.]

A more significant -- in my opinion, anyway -- implication to Dunbar's theory is that the other six-billion-minus-150 people on earth aren't important to us in any personal way. They're statistics, or news items, or members of a huge crowd of beings whose lives have no qualities apart from those that might impact ours (as in, for example, serving us our food in a restaurant, or cleaning our teeth, or mowing our yards).

Dunbar has done research to qualitatively support his thesis, and the number 150 (actually, it's 147.8, but who's counting?) apparently has statistical verifiability. However, from my perspective, he's left out one crucial factor: Jesus Christ.

Christ's Dunbar Number is -- to quote a popular movie character -- "like, infinity." His ability to love, accept, listen to, interact with, minister to, care about, and save has no limit. He doesn't see nameless faces, or faceless crowds, or crowded planets. He sees -- and knows -- individuals.

And here's the thing: He wants us to be the same way. He calls us to a life of ministry and service and caring that doesn't stop once we check 150 people off the list. Obviously, we can't know everyone like He does (truthfully, we can't know anyone like that, not even ourselves), but that doesn't let us off the hook for understanding the importance of trying.

I don't mean to give the impression that I know how to do this, because I don't. There are a lot of people whom I don't know how to care about, much less love. But I'm pretty sure that God can and will provide us with the means to remove the caps on our personal Dunbar numbers if we'll but seek to do so.

And failing to do that lessens us all.

It's not WHAT you know...

...it's Who you know. Or so goes the old cliché. But as we like to say around here, just because it's a cliché doesn't mean it's not true. So keep it in mind if you decide to take the "Ultimate Bible Quiz."

When I saw Jim's post about the quiz, I couldn't resist taking it, albeit with some trepidation. Granted, forty years of regular attendance in a Baptist Sunday School (that includes time off for bad behavior through several years in college) and reading the Bible cover-to-cover in each of the last fifteen years should equip me to handle the kinds of trivia that one typically finds in these online quizzes, but I also frequently have trouble finding my car keys or remembering the name of a person I met five minutes earlier.

The real concern I have with a Bible quiz is that someone taking it might try to read more into the results than is warranted. The fact of the matter is that knowing the Bible inside and out doesn't make you a better person or even a better Christian, at least in the ways we humans define "better." Sure, God desires that we strive to know Him better in every way possible -- intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically as we experience His sovereign power in the created world that surrounds us. And the Bible is a primo source of good information to help us achieve that knowledge. But we'll never know Him fully in this part of life, and He's fine with that as long as we have Him.

I got a good score on the quiz, one that pleased me intellectually. But every Christian is at a different place in his or her spiritual journey, and a score on this quiz is so irrelevant in every important respect as to make it laughable. In fact, the only quiz that counts is one that has only one question, and it's a "yes or no" question at that. If you really want to know where you stand with respect to the thing that God cares about most, this is the quiz to take:

Fortunately, it's an open book test.

Super Bowl at Church? Not so fast, bucko...

I made reference yesterday to our church's plans to broadcast the Super Bowl as a part of a fellowship that will substitute for the regular Sunday evening worship service.

Not everyone agrees that this is a good idea, and apparently the NFL is one of them. The league is warning churches not to violate its rules concerning broadcasts of the game to which it owns the copyright.

From the above-linked article:

Many churches are canceling their "Super Bowl Fellowship" plans, but not every congregation is rolling over:

[Sidenote: There's something amusing about hearing the pastor of one of the largest evangelical churches in America use the term "wack."]

For its part, the NFL isn't sending goon squads to comb the neighborhoods in search of offenders. NFL spokesman McCarthy said the NFL won't be patrolling churches for violations. But from a strict legal perspective, that could prove problematic for the NFL down the road in terms of copyright protection. Letting things like this slide is not a good precedent for claiming later on that the value of your copyright has been damaged.

I'm not inclined to take sides on this argument, but I will make a couple of observations. It would seem to me that churches should be beyond reproach in all areas of their actions, and if the owner of a copyright (or any other asset) protests about the use of that asset by a third party, it seems inappropriate to push back.

And with respect to our own church's plans, I fully understand why the NFL -- and its sponsors -- might be less than happy with the thought that the game will be broadcast minus commercials, very expensive commercials that the NFL's clients paid for with the express understanding that those commercials would be broadcast as a part of the game. There's nothing that says the viewers have to watch those commercials, but editing them out of a live broadcast so that they can't be seen is pushing the envelope.

Issues like this are probably why we're implored to be in the world without being of the world.

God's Bubble

I think I've mentioned before that when I was a kid, one of my favorite pastimes was to convert a big appliance box into a tank. You could knock out the ends, get inside, and roll the cardboard "machine" through vacant lots with great abandon, completely protected from the various stickery flora and fauna that inhabited those environs. Of course, you couldn't see where you were going, but you could have fun getting there.

Those memories came to mind this morning in Sunday School as we dwelt on Psalm 139 as a part of our annual "Sanctity of Life Day" emphasis. Psalm 139 is often chosen for this occasion because it's one of the best reminders of how special each of us is to our Creator, and given that He values life so highly, perhaps we also should take it a little less lightly.

Anyway, as I pondered verse 5 -- I like the New American Standard translation even better: You have enclosed me behind and before... -- it occurred to me that God's provision is kind of like that cardboard tank...only more so. His protection is absolute, completely enveloping, more like a bubble that is impervious to the worst the world can send our way.

Sure, we still get hurt, but that's not the point. The important thing to remember is that we're "treasures in earthen vessels," and God will not lose us; we cannot be destroyed by this world, thanks to His bubble of love and grace.

An Inconvenient -- But Self-Imposed -- Truth

Planned Parenthood has been running an ad in our newspaper for a screening of a film entitled Rosita. Here's how the ad describes this film:

"Rosita" is an award winning documentary that shows the plight of a nine year old Nicaraguan girl, who becomes pregnant as the result of rape. This emotional story pits her family against the government, the medical establishment and the church in a battle over whose life has precedence.

Did you catch that last phrase? ...a battle over whose life has precedence. The logical inference when one considers that phrase is that more than one life is at stake, and it can also be logically assumed that if one of those lives belongs to Rosita, then the other belongs to Rosita's unborn child. What's intriguing is that the Planned Parenthood ad seems to be admitting that the fetus is, indeed, a human life, and I don't recall ever seeing that in any of their material.

Assuming that this isn't an oversight in letting copy stray from the "party line" (which I suspect it is), it would be wonderful if Planned Parenthood's "counseling" of pregnant women would now include the fact that their decisions impact two human lives, instead of one life (the mother's) and one blob of inconvenient tissue. When presented with the truth of the matter, I wonder how many of those women would elect to proceed with disposal of their inconvenient truths?

I also discovered via the ad that Planned Parenthood has a "national chaplain." Rev. Ignacio Castuera holds that position of dubious integrity. My initial thought was that one would have to be able to perform some prodigious feats of self-delusion to hold such a position, but after some additional consideration, I admitted that nothing surprises me anymore. Anyway, Rev. Castuera was recently given an award for his work in the "choice in dying" arena. It's devastatingly ironic that such a choice is not extended by the Reverend and his flock to those who are most vulnerable -- the other life alluded to in the above mentioned ad.

"Got a loose firewire"

Via YouTube, here's one of a series of four parodies of the "Mac vs. PC" ads in which a "Christ follower" encounters a "Christian":

The other three are here, here, and here.

As with the ads this series parodies, there's something a little unnerving about the simplicity of the judgments put forth. Organized religion makes for an easy target, but the issues aren't really as black and white as either side portrays them. Still, they make for good fodder for discussion, and the parodies themselves are first-rate.

And in case you're wondering, the post title comes from Part 4 of the series, the silliest of the bunch.

Tip of the mitre to Chris, who, as a recent seminary graduate and current vocational minister is in a good position to argue both sides of the parodies. He's also a Mac user, so he's got that going for him. ;-)

"Embrace Helplessness"

Jim's posted an "old sermon," one that he preached on a Christmas Eve in a previous life. Go read it. I'm sure Jim is good at delivering the mail, but I know he's even better at delivering the Truth.

Merry Christmas!

"Useless" Time with God

As I've mentioned a number of times, I subscribe to -- and highly recommend -- Dr. Jim Denison's daily email column entitled "God Issues Today." Denison has a gift for putting everyday news items into relevant spiritual contexts, with gentle grace and humor.

Today's column will have special meaning for anyone who wonders if they're the only ones in the world whose "quiet time" with God lacks a certain pious spirituality. I set aside the first half hour of each new day for Bible reading and prayer, and more often than not find my mind racing ahead to the day's tasks, or back to yesterday's failures, or just in circles to chase petty distractions. My Bible is well-read, but generally because my mind wanders and I have to re-read what I just read. My prayers seem to be the same-old same-old, if you know what I mean. I often imagine God glancing impatiently at his watch, waiting for our time to be up so he can move on to more focused or interesting worshipers.

Anyway, in today's God Issues column, Denison quotes theologian Henri Nouwen, who offers some very comforting insights about the significance of my -- and, perhaps, your -- "useless time with God."

Update: I neglected to provide a link to the subscription page for God Issues Today

Core Values

I'm a little late in pointing it out, although I suspect many of you have read it already, but Gwynne does an excellent job over at The Shallow End of articulating her "core values."

This is not a purely academic or literary exercise, either. We each need to be able to explain what we believe and why we believe it. Exercising the discipline to determine these things in advance makes it much easier to bring some clarity to situations that might otherwise seem ambiguous. One can avoid a lot of stress in life by working these things out.

I'm not going to provide my own version of Gwynne's list (although it would look remarkably -- or, perhaps, not so remarkably -- like hers), but rather suggest that if you haven't given thought to these things in an organized manner and are somewhat stymied by how to begin, a good starting place would be a seemingly simple verse in the Old Testament book of Micah (chapter 6, verse 8, to be exact):

I love this verse (I've used it plenty of times on this blog), because it cuts through all the junk we try add to either make God acceptable to us or vice versa. But once you wrap your head around the simplicity of God's expectations, you've got a foundation that you can build a sturdy set of moral values upon, a foundation that won't shift alarmingly even during the turbulent times we now live in.

Battlefield Humor and Spiritual Warfare

Our speaker in last Sunday morning's worship services was Nabeeh Abbassi, the president of the Jordan Baptist Convention. He and his wife, Ruba (who founded and directs Arab Woman Today Ministries [AWT]) were in Midland as the guests of our pastor and his wife, who met and got acquainted with Ruba during a trans-Atlantic flight last year.

Nabeeh has been instrumental in a movement to bring evangelical Christian churches to Iraq, which has an estimated Christian population of about 800,000 in a country dominated -- in every significant way -- by Islam. He spoke briefly about the challenges of worshipping in a still-violent country, and did so with more than a little humor.

In fact, the biggest laugh of the morning came as he asked the congregation if they knew why there are no Wal-Marts in Iraq. After a brief pause, he answered his own question: "because there are Targets everywhere."

He then brought us back to earth with a not-so-rhetorical question borne out of the Iran hostage crisis from a couple of decades ago, a question that has as much if not more relevance today. Someone asked a group of church-goers if they were praying for the release of the Americans held hostage in Iran. Of course, the answer was a unanimous "yes." Then the question: are you also praying that the captors will come to know Christ and be welcomed into the kingdom of God?" Very few hands went up. "Well, I hate to tell you this," the speaker continued, "but you are more American than Christian."

As one who has from the start believed that Islamic terrorism has deep spiritual roots and must be fought not just on a physical level but also on a spiritual plane, the importance of the work of bringing the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into these darks places cannot be overstated, and the issues transcend details like nationality and lines drawn on a map. In particular, ministry to Arab Muslim women offers the hope and liberty that Islam denies them.

If you'd like to provide financial support to AWT, you may do so via a tax-deductible gift to Christar (designate AWT as the recipient); if a tax-deduction isn't important, you may give directly to AWT via wire transfer.

Technorati tags: Arab Woman Today Ministries | Nabeeh & Ruba Abbassi

Support a fellow blogger's appeal for refugee status

Update: Isaac emailed to correct something I wrote below. The appointment this week set the date for the hearing that will decide his status. Sorry for the misunderstanding, but that means he has more time to prepare his case. Prayers still needed...that doesn't change.

Isaac Schrödinger's blog masthead says it all: "pakistani-born - ex-muslim - refugee-claimant - pro-usa, and he's backed it up over the years via a prodigious number of posts. He has applied to Canada for refugee status and will be presenting his case before a tribunal of judges later this week.

Why does he feel the need for refugee status? This post details some of the examples of how "apostates" are treated by their Muslim countrymen in Pakistan. And this Reuters news article documents the findings of an independent Pakistani commission showing how religious intolerance toward non-Muslims in that country continues to grow.

I'm not sure what's at stake for Isaac should the hearing not go well, but I'd ask you to join with me in praying that we don't have to find that out. I'm sure Isaac would appreciate knowing of your support for him in this very important hearing.

Blind Faith, Part 2

Part 1 may be found here

When I'm leading Abbye on her walks through the neighborhood, we'll often be assaulted by the sounds of dogs barking and growling, concealed and contained within backyard fences. Sometimes the dogs have knotholes or missing slats to peer through, but more often they're reacting to scent and sound. And I'm occasionally saddened to contemplate that Abbye can no longer enjoy what I'm guessing is a pleasurable canine activity.

However, it also occurs to me that in a very important and real way, Abbye actually has more freedom than any of those other dogs. She may be following blindly, tethered to a guide, but she's moving forward, unlike those others who are confined to open but very small spaces. Their reality essentially stops at the fence line.

The basic human condition is similar. We're all imprisoned to some extent by our bad decisions and the pride that leads to a refusal to accept guidance from our Maker. Those things form a wall, a barrier, that prevents us from perceiving and experiencing the freedom that God wants us to have.

The spiritual "leash" that connects us to God is, in fact, our ticket to an amazing and comfortable degree of freedom. The fact that some who read this will deem it completely counterintuitive and illogical actually reinforces its truth.

I once read a post on an otherwise long-forgotten blog about the excitement the writer was feeling over an upcoming appointment with his newly discovered "soulmate." The romantic event was a joint exam to confirm that neither of them had STDs; if the tests proved negative, they could remove another barrier, so to speak, in their relationship. This is simply one example of the way we've perverted the definition of freedom, preferring to make it up as we go along rather than admit that God may have actually known what He was doing when He created that "leash" of laws that serve to shield us from our own self-destructive tendencies.

The moral of the story? I'm not wise enough to give a final answer, but one thing that occurs to me is that our definition of freedom is infinitely more limiting than God's.

Local Kids Rebuilding NOLA

Our evening service last night was devoted to reports from four mission trips our church sponsored this summer, to Costa Rica, Germany, Montana, and New Orleans. The latter trip sent a group of teens to work on The Baptist Crossroads Project, a partnership with Habitat For Humanity that undertook the building of 40 homes in 40 days to replace some destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. (According to Habitat-NOLA.org, the scope of the project has now been expanded ten-fold!)

The report was given by our youth ministers and two of the teens who went on the trip, and it was accompanied by photos taken during the project. The work was hot, hard, and -- according to the workers -- extremely satisfying. The photos showed a very orderly row of colorful homes, elevated on concrete piers: the rebirth of a neighborhood.

Why do I mention this? Well, I think it's worth pointing out that not all teens spent their summer at the mall, but I also wanted report that if you were watching Fox & Friends this morning around 7:00 a.m., during the "Good News" segment, you saw video of the same row of houses we saw on the screens last night at church, as the network ran a brief report on Saturday's dedication of the first group of homes to be completed.

It was a great coincidence, hearing first from those whose hands helped shape those homes, and then seeing it affirmed via the international media.

Technorati tags: Baptist Crossroads | Habitat for Humanity

Imagine

Be sure to cover your keyboard before you start watching this...

Update: I forgot to give credit for this link, which I found at Random Commands. But the blog seems to have disappeared since I visited it earlier today. Perhaps it's back by now...

Blind Faith

I frequently hear the following from passers-by when I'm out walking Abbye: "Oh, she must be so tired," or "you're walking her poor little feet off!" This is because she trails along behind me, keeping the leash taut, and onlookers seem to assume it's because I'm imposing a pace that she can't handle.

The reality is that she's most comfortable with that arrangement. Since she's blind, the tight leash is her feedback and security mechanism to ensure that she doesn't take a misstep. That's not to say that she's perfectly adapted to the arrangement. Occasionally, she'll get excited or startled and will veer off to the side, beyond my shadow. Depending on where we are, she'll fall off the curb or stumble onto a lawn. The worst case is when she decides to speed up and tries to get ahead of me; that rarely has a good outcome. But, on the whole, she seems to understand that things work out better when she lets me lead the way.

I think Abbye's situtation has relevance to our relationship with God. For one thing, we're blind and He's not. We can't see into the next second; He's not only seen eternity but He's been there and back. Also, His guidance is perfect (unlike mine; I've been known to get distracted and let Abbye bump into obstacles)...but the leash is loose enough that we can veer off or try to run ahead if we decide we're better equipped than Him to forge our path. The outcome of doing this almost inevitably results in pain or chastening.

I know that some folks will be uncomfortable with the leash analogy, and the flippant answer is to remind them that they're the "Ten Commandments," not the "Ten Suggestions." But it goes beyond that. God's laws -- every last one of them -- are laid down for our own good, out of a desire to help us avoid bad things.

So, the next time you're tempted to run ahead or backwards or amok, do what Abbye does: pay attention to that gentle tug that will remind you of the right direction and speed. You'll find that God's eyes work plenty well for the both of you.

"Lebanon and the End Times"

Dr. Jim Denison has an informative essay up over at GodIssues.org about the new developments surrounding Israel and Lebanon. He gives a brief history and overview of Hezbollah and Hamas, the Muslim organizations who use terrorism as their chief weapons in pursuit of their goal of eradicating Israel as a nation, and then addresses the question of whether the events that are now unfolding in that part of the world herald the end times, as described in the Bible.

I'm not an eschatologist. Frankly, I've never understood why anyone would obsess over an apocalyptic timeline when it's pretty clear that none of us can predict the second coming. I suppose it's a harmless study, but I also don't see the benefit. Perhaps someone reading this can enlighten me.

Anyway, I tend to agree with Jim's leanings in the matter of Israel's role in the end times:

"Significant and valuable." I think that's a good -- if overly succinct -- description of modern day Israel. I agree, and I also believe strongly that Israel has the right to defend itself with all resources at its disposal against the same strain of terrorists who would do the same damage in America if given the opportunity.

I don't know. Maybe we are seeing "the beginning of the end" in the escalation of conflict between Israel and its myriad enemies. There's certainly enough lunatics in power in Iran to provide all the dangerous jokers the game can support. On a national level, I hope our country stays the course in providing Israel with the ally it deserves. On a personal level, I hope these events serve to motivate folks to figure out which side they're on from a spiritual perspective, because -- in the end -- borders and nationalities won't mean a thing.

As Dr. Denison puts it:

Professional Thanksgiver: Could you do it?

I read the last two chapters of the Old Testament book of Nehemiah this morning, as a part of my annual "Read Through the Bible" program, and ran across this passage:

The book of Nehemiah (along with its companion, Ezra) is the account of the efforts by the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple following their destruction by invading armies. Nehemiah served as the wine taster (cupbearer) for King Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who permitted Nehemiah to travel to Jerusalem to oversee the rebuilding of the walls of the city. The Lord's favor upon the Jewish people is seen clearly throughout this account, as even pagan royalty provides resources and protection for their efforts.

Anyway, the passage quoted above is not important in the overall scheme of things, but it still caught my imagination. Talk about a focused job description: "You're going to be in charge of the singing, but not of just any songs. Nope; you're in charge of the songs of thanks."

I'll admit that I have no idea if Mattaniah was supposed to write those songs, or catalog them, or sing them, or lead the choir in their singing, but the passage is loose enough to make one think that perhaps it's all of the above. And I wonder...how would you do that? It would seem that in order to fulfill this responsibility, one would have to live in a constant state of appreciation of one's blessings. That's hard to do even during the most pleasant and least stressful of times. I daresay that we don't even recognize that we've been in those times until things get worse, at which point we're even less inclined to give thanks.

Living with a persistent attitude of gratitude is not easy for most of us to do, but it's important enough that even the angels in heaven make it a priority. Maybe we need to try to incorporate it into our life's "job description," as well.

"Hard Verse" Follow-Up

Yesterday's experimental post about John 8:42 was a smashing success. It's not that the post itself was anything special, but the discussion and responses it generated were, and I'm very appreciative of you who took the time to share your thoughts about not only that verse, but the greater -- and much more important -- context into which it fits.

I feel your comments are valuable for several reasons. First, studies focusing on that verse are really hard to come by. Your discussion thread will fill in that gap the next time someone is seeking some insights on the web about John 8:42. I think that's pretty cool.

More importantly, not everyone who drops by here is a Christian, and some who are undoubtedly haven't spent much time considering some of the issues you discussed so eloquently. I hope that the comment thread serves to encourage, enlighten, challenge, or even convict a visitor to this site. Who knows what the eternal consequences might be?

Reading your responses to my questions also reminded me of a couple of principles that I sometimes forget when it comes to studying the Bible. I don't profess to be a Biblical scholar, but there are a couple of practical things that help me in that area, and maybe they'll be useful to you, as well.

First, we need to beware of the tendency to bend a passage to meet our own notions of doctrine or theology. Start with the premise that the words on the page say what they say...and then try to figure out the context, and how they fit. (It's harder than it sounds.)

Second, when a verse or a passage is puzzling and seems contradictory, we'll probably discover that we're giving insufficient consideration to the larger context. Scripture does not contradict itself, and if we think it does, we've gotten off-track somewhere.

Finally, regardless of where you are in your journey with and through the Bible, be aware of the opportunities to find gems like John 8:42 that are easily overlooked. Those gems can lead you to places that will enrich you in amazing ways if you're not afraid to wander off the beaten path for a ways.

Hard Verse

If you have a Bible handy, look up John 8:42 (or go here, the source of the following variations of this passage [emphases added]):