What Christmas Is All About

Do you ever get tired of liberals trying to shock us conservatives? Here’s a story on Yahoo News about an Anglican church in New Zealand, and their billboard which shows Mary and Joseph (Mary in something like a nun’s habit) in bed together. The caption on the sign reads “Poor Joseph. God is a hard act to follow”. (you can see the story here)

One yawn from this old guy, who remembers one of the Wittenberg Door’s front covers showing a picture of Jesus above a bed in which a couple are, well, doing a little more than lying there. Jesus, of course, is blindfolded. Now that was funny.

Sex. It was God’s idea in the first place. He invented it. My gut reaction to this church sign is “big deal”. Mary in a nun’s habit – wow, fuh-nee. Joseph and performance anxiety. Har-de-har-har. A church doing just about anything to show the despising culture around it that it can be as irreverent as they are. Whoopdedo.

What does amaze me is the thought process behind the sign:

“Church archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the billboard was intended to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story and highlight the real significance of the festival. ”What we’re trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about,” Cardy told local media.”

And what would that be, I wonder? Sex? Cashing in? Being cool enough in the eyes of the world to get their attention away from the ‘net?

“Is it about a spiritual male God sending down sperm so a child would be born, or is it about the power of love in our midst as seen in Jesus?”

There was no sperm, archjackass, so no that’s not what Christmas is all about. And the power of love in our midst (I cringe just typing that drivel – luuuuvvv) – you mean the love that brought scorn and ridicule on a young teenage girl?  That put the holy family on the run, and a whole bunch of boy babies in Bethlehem killed? Please!! And it’s not about the cultural cute and cuddly baby Jesus (there goes Ricky Bobby in my head again: tiny baby Jesus) that just inspires us so much we get all misty on Christmas Eve and then back to business as usual by the next Tuesday.

As I understand it, the virgin conception is about God doing what no man could (saving us from our sinful selves) in a way that no man could (without male participation); Jesus becoming completely human without human help. I know, Mary had something to do with it, but in those days women were considered just passive receptacles for the active working agent of male semen. The point being this was an accomplishment of God not man. A foretaste of what would be accomplished on the cross.

What Christmas is all about is the cross. For the Divine One to become an infant so helpless he has to have his diapers changed is the beginning of Jesus’ Via Dolorosa. No cross, no reason for Christmas (except for Hallmark). It was that bloody, disgusting. tortured death and inconceivable (pun intended) resurrection that was the point of Christmas. Not provocative posters.

This kind of stuff just makes me want to scream “Bah, humbug!!”

Veterans Day

Does anyone remember the origin of Veterans’ Day? The purpose? Or is it just another excuse to shop?

World War I was known as the “War To End All Wars” – by far the bloodiest, destructive and most savage war the world had known. Maybe we’re not impressed with WWI anymore because it seems so technologically primitive to us now – in that war, we used carrier pigeons in the field to communicate. But it’s precisely that primitiveness that strikes me – poison gas warfare, freezing and rain soaked in trench warfare – I don’t think we could take it these days. Talk about post-traumatic stress syndrome!

When the war was finally over (for good, we thought at the time), the treaty that ended it (the Treaty of Versailles) was signed at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Since then the name has changed (from Armistice Day to Veterans’ Day) and the date has changed (most recently it’s been returned to 11/11). And, I’m afraid, the purpose has changed.

I’d suggest that instead of going to the mall to catch all those wonderful Veterans’ Day Sales “values”, you spend an hour or two at the VA Hospital in South County.  Or spend some time getting to know folks of another nationality (yep, St. Louis has a big Bosnian population, and Vietnamese population, and Iraqi population). Or maybe spend an hour in some church sanctuary pondering how human beings are moved to make such sacrifices, and what it means to be a “nation under God”. Or you might spend an hour learning German, because that’s what we’d be speaking now if not for our participation in WWI. But hey, that would interfere with your selfishness now, wouldn’t it? It would interfere with your shopping.

We’ve largely forgotten “The War To End All Wars” now. In Freeburg there’s a statute of a WWI soldier calling his comrades into battle. It’s used by skateboarders these days. We’ve forgotten the nobility (yes, the idealistic, costly, naive nobility) of WWI and have settled, instead, for….shopping. We’re older and wiser now; we’re….shoppers. We’ve observe the sacrifices and suffering and ideals of our veterans by…shopping.

So, shop on brothers and sisters. Your consumerism has degraded you. And it’s leading you to another war, as our insatiable consumption of oil and all things cheap and Chinese are showing. Maybe one day, when our children and grandchildren are all speaking Chinese, they’ll institute another holiday: Shoppers’ Day, when they remember the incredible national selfishness that led to another war that finally woke us up…or not.

Rant over.

My Kids

My lovely wife and daughter are in Dallas this weekend, getting caught up with baby Drew. He’s making noises now! Chewing on his finger! What delights! What thrills! Wish I were there…

Anyway, here’s Sam and Melinda – they make a papa proud!

And here’s Joh and The L’il Guy!

Who’s having more fun here, really??

The Importance Of Hell

One of the books I’ve been reading is Tim Keller’s The Reason for God, which led me to poking around the internet for more about and by him. I found the website for his church (Redeemer Presbyterian – click here) and read one of his articles there entitled “The Importance Of Hell” (clickhere). Here’s a quote that caught my attention:

“Fairly often I meet people who say, ‘I have a personal relationship with a loving God, and yet I don’t believe in Jesus Christ at all.’ Why, I ask? ‘My God is too loving to pour out infinite suffering on anyone for sin.’ But this shows a deep misunderstanding of both God and the cross. On the cross, God HIMSELF, incarnated as Jesus, took the punishment. He didn’t visit it on a third party, however willing.

So the question becomes: what did it cost your kind of god to love us and embrace us? What did he endure in order to receive us? Where did this god agonize, cry out, and where were his nails and thorns? The only answer is: ‘I don’t think that was necessary.’ But then ironically, in our effort to make God more loving, we have made him less loving. His love, in the end, needed to take no action. It was sentimentality, not love at all.”

I hadn’t thought about it that way before. The “loving god” of people I meet who deny the reality of hell or the cross, is actually a squishy god, unable or unwilling to bear the cost of love. In my own experience with my wife and children, I know that love costs. And the deeper the love, the more the cost. But this ‘loving god’ who makes no demands, pays no cost, bears no cross, endures no hell, is more the figment of my self-absorbed and self-affirming ego than the God of the Scripture.

Funny how important hell is to my happiness.

Quality, Quantity, and the Balloon Boy

Colorado sheriff sees no hoax in balloon incident – Reuters, Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:45pm EDT

Balloon boy case a hoax, says sherrif; charges coming – Reuters, Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:50pm EDT

I was driving home from a hospital call last Thursday, and heard on the radio about the “balloon boy”. And not just on one station – they were all over it! Following the balloon, reporting moment by moment on what was happening (or what they thought was happening). When I got home I saw that several TV channels were carrying the “news”, again with live video so we could watch every single moment. And on the ‘Net, my news homepage was full of balloon boy “news”.

Now, it seems, it might well have been an intentional hoax. We still don’t know, and I suspect it will take some time to know.

And isn’t that the problem with the “news”? So quick to report, so slow to analyze. The emphasis is all on quantity (=fastest) rather than quality (=what is actually happening here?)

It takes time to know what things mean. I suspect a look at your own life will tell you that. You lost your job – ok, but what will that mean in the bigger picture of your life? OK, you won the lottery, but what will that mean? It takes time.

In the meantime, I think it’s very distracting to have a river of “look at that” and “watch this” passing before us. (I’ve noticed that my local news guy/gal will actually say “take a look at this”, like I might not have my eyes glued to the screen and need to have my attention called to the image on the TV rather than on my wife sitting next to me).

The media, it seems, is fixated on getting it first, not getting it right. If we don’t ignore that blather and take the longer view of what things actually mean, we’re going to be continually blown about by every of wind images, unrooted, unanchored, and helpless on the fast road to hell.

Nobel Sign of the Times

President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” He joins an impressive group:

• Mother Teresa (1979)
• Dag Hammarskjöld (posthumous 1961)
• Jimmy Carter (2002)
• Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin (1994)
• Desmond Tutu (1984)
• Amnesty International (1977)
• Martin Luther King (1964)
• Henry Kissinger, Le Duc Tho (1973)
• Teddy Roosevelt (1906)
• Woodrow Wilson (1919)
• International Red Cross (1917, 1944, 1963)

Regardless of their different political leanings left or right, it seems to me that these organizations and people have one thing NOT in common with President Obama. They actually did something to deserve the recognition of the award. Of course this is old school thinking, that you should perform first and then be awarded. Or, in economic terms, save your money first, then spend it. Notice the International Red Cross awards? They were given in the war years. That’s Old School thinking. New School thinking would be to award the prize before the next war, not during or after.

Seems to me this is so typical of the way things are now. Style not substance. Intention not accomplishment. Image not content.

Brothers and sisters, we get the government we deserve.

The President’s Speech – John Piper’s Take

I’ve been rather dismayed at the uproar over President Obama’s upcoming speech to school kids. I thought the questions he was originally going to ask a bit pedantic – “what can I do to support the President?” – but nothing like “tell mom and dad to vote for this bill, otherwise grandma will starve”. So now we have conservatives giving our kids the message : “this is the President, but you don’t have to listen to him.” What kind of respect for the office is that?

So I was a bit surprised and delighted to find that John Piper’s had similar thoughts. He’s had the chance to read the speech, and was favorably impressed. Below are his notes from his Desiring God blog – they’re worth reading.

I’m not an Obama fan; I have lots of reservations about his proposed health care and other policies. But he’s not the devil, and should be given all the respect a fellow human being, to say nothing of the office of President, deserves.

(Author: John Piper)

This is the speech I expected the President to give to our children—excellent.

Given that he is not directing them to Christ, which would be the best counsel, his advice is a wonderful gift of common grace from God to the students of our land.

If you settle for the news headlines that say the president tells the kids to wash their hands and take care of the environment, you will miss the wisdom and courage in this speech. Within its spiritual limitations it is simply amazing.

You can read it all at the White House Site. Here are my excerpts.

• I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
• I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
• But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world — and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.
• Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
• And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.
• Maybe you could be a good writer — maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper — but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class.
• Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor — maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine — but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class.
• Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
• And no matter what you want to do with your life — I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it.
• You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
• And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country.
• What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
• You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment.
• You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free.
• You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
• If you don’t do that — if you quit on school — you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.
• I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life.
• But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams.
• Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around.
• Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.
• But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life — what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home — that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude.
• That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
• Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
• Today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education — and to do everything you can to meet them.
• Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book.
• I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
• But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
• That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures.
• If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new.
• So find an adult you trust — a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor — and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
• And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you — don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
• But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you.
• So don’t let us down — don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
• Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America

I’ve Read the President’s Speech: Amazing
Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:28:29 GMT

The Mojave Cross

The link below will take you to Snopes, and an unusual story about the Mojave Cross, erected in the Mojave Desert in the 1930’s and which is now on Federal land. The ACLU wants it taken down (separation of church & state, etc.) while some individuals, congressmen and, oddly enough, the Interior Department are trying to keep it.

To tell the truth I find it hard to take all this seriously. While putting a big public cross up may be an expression of a person’s faith, or desire to memorialize someone, it’s often an expression of a “civil” Christianity not classic Christian faith. At the same time, is it really that important that it be taken down? As a Christian, would I be upset if my tax dollars were used to maintain a “sword & crescent” emblem of Islam? Not really.

The solution, so far, is to have the Mojave cross encased in a plywood box until the case is decided. How ridiculous is this? What a situation we get into when we try to live by the law (as in law and gospel).

snopes.com: Mojave Cross

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Mich. church enlists Satan in advertising campaign (AP)

Now here’s a fresh approach to evangelism! Click the link below for the whole story from the AP. From there you can go to the church’s website, which is actually pretty slick.

AP – A Michigan church is enlisting Satan in a bid to drum up attendance at services. Metro South Church in the Detroit suburb of Trenton is posting signs saying the non-denominational Christian congregation "sucks" and "makes me sick." The ads are signed by Satan.

Mich. church enlists Satan in advertising campaign (AP)
Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:02:18 GMT

My Little Guy – Again

Ok, maybe you’re sick of it, but not me! Just got a couple of pix from Sam in Dallas – here’s one of my favorites. Andrew’s old enough now to be smiling – and boy does he ever!

So how ’bout a caption contest: why is this little guy so happy?

The Secret Weapon – Discretion Advised

I’ve always loved Cardinal baseball, having grown up in St. Louis. I saw Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Ray Sadecki, Julian Javier. I saw one game of the 1964 World Series, listened to Harry Carey announce the games on my trusty transistor radio. After all this time, I think one of my favorite players is The Secret Weapon: Jose Oquendo. I’ve had my reasons in the past, but recently I’ve learned one more thing about Jose that just increases his stature in my eyes.

Jose began his career in baseball at age 19 with the Mets, but spent the bulk of his career with the Cards. A utility infielder, he spend most of his playing time at second base. But he was known to pitch too. Oquendo once pitched in relief for four innings, shutting out the Atlanta Braves for three innings, earning the first decision by a non-pitcher in 20 years. He once struck out Deion Sanders looking. His best year came in 1989, when he was in the top 10 in batting average, hits, triples, walks, singles, on base percentage, and games played.

He earned his nickname (from Whitey Hezog) of “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to play any infield or outfield position. And here’s what impresses me: that same year he pitched four innings in relief (1988), he also caught a game, making him the first NL player to play all 9 positions in a season. That’s right. All nine positions in one season. In this age of specialization and prima donnas, Jose did what was asked of him. He did it all.

I’ve always admired that. But now the news that increased his status to superstardom in my eyes. The August 18 Post Dispatch reported that there actually are some professional baseball players who play without an “athletic protector” – a cup. Here’s a quote from the article:

“I tell you what, I don’t take the team picture without wearing a cup,” said third baseman Mark DeRosa, who thought it “absurd” that a major-league infielder would put himself at such risk. “My mind was made up in Atlanta one day. Rafael Furcal didn’t wear one. Then he got hit there by a line drive one day during batting practice. When we rolled him over he was blue in the face.” Skip Schumaker never wore a cup as an outfielder but doesn’t leave home without it at second base. “It’s crazy. Not me,” Schumaker said. “For some guys, it’s too uncomfortable. Thinking about the alternative strikes me as pretty uncomfortable.”

Third base coach Jose Oquendo never wore a cup during his 12-year major-league career. He insisted he went without even during a cameo behind the plate in 1988.

“I would guess about half the Latin guys don’t wear one. You don’t wear one growing up and you get here … it doesn’t feel comfortable,” Oquendo said. “I never gave it much thought. You just make sure you catch it.”

You must make sure you catch it. At any position. Including catcher. Forget Manny Ramirez. Forget Barry Bonds. Here’s a real man and a real ballplayer: Jose Oquendo, the cupless Secret Weapon.

For you true blue baseball freaks – here’s a Youtube video about the quest of two STL fans to get Oquendo into the Hall of Fame. Kinda cheesy but it has a nice series of ESPN clips of Jose in action.

Words To Be Banished

I don’t know about you, but I’m aware that there are quite a few “buzzwords” out there – words that suddenly become ubiquitous, trendy, overused. I was surprised to read that Lake Superior State University publishes a list each year of “Words to be Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse, and General Uselessness”, tabulated from readers’ submissions. “Green” has come in first this year. (When businesses start advertising that they’re into being green I can’t help but think they don’t mean “green” as in environmentalism but “green” as in “cashing in” on the most recent trend).

The link to the list is here. FYI, here are the words on their list – are there any you would add?

• Green - one commenter said “I’m all for being environmentally responsible, but this ‘green’ needs to be nipped in the bud.” Ha! My own feelings were expressed in another comment: “If I see one more corporation declare itself ‘green,’ I’m going to start burning tires in my backyard.”
• Carbon Footprint
• Maverick
• First Dude
• Bailout
• Wall Street/Main Street
• Monkey - this one’s new to me…
• Icon or iconic
• Game Changer
• Staycation
• Desperate Search - as in news reports
• Not so much
• Winner of five nominations
• It’s that time of year again

Two words that come to my mind that should be banished for overuse is “disturbing”, as in TV news reports, used when they want you to pay attention to some horror they’re about to show you; and, for misuse, “adult”, as in “adult entertainment”, usually meaning juvenile, immature or undeveloped.

Your suggestions?

The Tornado, the Lutherans, and Homosexuality

Here’s an interesting posting from John Piper about the ELCA convention in Minneapolis (where they’re considering ordination of actively gay folks) and a tornado that finds its way to the convention site:

(Author: John Piper)

I saw the fast-moving, misshapen, unusually-wide funnel over downtown Minneapolis from Seven Corners. I said to Kevin Dau, "That looks serious."

It was. Serious in more ways than one. A friend who drove down to see the damage wrote,

On a day when no severe weather was predicted or expected…a tornado forms, baffling the weather experts—most saying they’ve never seen anything like it. It happens right in the city. The city: Minneapolis.
The tornado happens on a Wednesday…during the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s national convention in the Minneapolis Convention Center. The convention is using Central Lutheran across the street as it’s church. The church has set up tents around it’s building for this purpose.

According to the ELCA’s printed convention schedule, at 2 PM on Wednesday, August 19, the 5th session of the convention was to begin. The main item of the session: "Consideration: Proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality." The issue is whether practicing homosexuality is a behavior that should disqualify a person from the pastoral ministry.
The eyewitness of the damage continues:

This curious tornado touches down just south of downtown and follows 35W straight towards the city center. It crosses I94. It is now downtown.
The time: 2PM.
The first buildings on the downtown side of I94 are the Minneapolis Convention Center and Central Lutheran. The tornado severely damages the convention center roof, shreds the tents, breaks off the steeple of Central Lutheran, splits what’s left of the steeple in two…and then lifts.

Let me venture an interpretation of this Providence with some biblical warrant.

1. The unrepentant practice of homosexual behavior (like other sins) will exclude a person from the kingdom of God.

The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

2. The church has always embraced those who forsake sexual sin but who still struggle with homosexual desires, rejoicing with them that all our fallen, sinful, disordered lives (all of us, no exceptions) are forgiven if we turn to Christ in faith.

Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)

3. Therefore, official church pronouncements that condone the very sins that keep people out of the kingdom of God, are evil. They dishonor God, contradict Scripture, and implicitly promote damnation where salvation is freely offered.

4. Jesus Christ controls the wind, including all tornados.

Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? (Mark 4:41)

5. When asked about a seemingly random calamity near Jerusalem where 18 people were killed, Jesus answered in general terms—an answer that would cover calamities in Minneapolis, Taiwan, or Baghdad. God’s message is repent, because none of us will otherwise escape God’s judgment.

Jesus: "Those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:4-5)

6. Conclusion: The tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin. Turn from the promotion of behaviors that lead to destruction. Reaffirm the great Lutheran heritage of allegiance to the truth and authority of Scripture. Turn back from distorting the grace of God into sensuality. Rejoice in the pardon of the cross of Christ and its power to transform left and right wing sinners.

The Tornado, the Lutherans, and Homosexuality
Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:12:48 GMT

For Your Listening Edification

I’m off for vacation in Maryland for a while, visiting with my wife’s family. This means hours in the car, hours by the lake, hours in bed after-hours. While I like reading I’ve also come to enjoy listening to mp3 files on my trusty mp3 player (1 Gigabyte, $10 (!) from Office Max). It’s one thing to read John Piper, it’s something else to listen to him preach. And I’ve found that there are so many resources out there, from so many speakers: sermons, articles, conference talks, interviews, radio programs, Q&A sessions, etc. etc.

So I’m recommending three websites that offer free mp3 downloads:

Monergism.com – offers resources from speakers and preachers all over the world; can be searched by topic, speaker, scripture, etc.

Faithbyhearing - similar to monergism but includes blogs for discussion; you can subscribe to posts made here.

Desiringgod - John Piper’s site, offering everthing Piper; you can subscribe to posts made here.

In all three cases above, not every link works every time, technology being what it is. But all three offer wonderful resources for first-quality preaching and speaking. It’s gratifying for me to see that occasionally our high-tech toys can be fruitful and edifying!

See ya’ll when I get back…

Will Federal Hate Crimes Bill Coerce Churches?

Last April the House of Representatives passed HR 1913, which expands the definition of “hate crimes” to include those against individuals based on sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. The Senate has not voted on this yet.

There are voices out there decrying this expansion of the definition of “hate crimes”, saying it can be used against churches and pastors who teach the orthodox Christian doctrine regarding homosexuality and marriage. The Baptist Press raises such concerns (click here). But it’s not just those crazy Baptists who are concerned. The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s President also has concerns (click here).

I admit I’m a little concerned about this. A couple of decades ago I would never have imagined the state prosecuting the church in court for its orthodox teachings. But much has happened in the past few years that I would never have imagined. The gay-rights movement is a strong political force these days. And if I’ve learned anything in the last 2 years, it’s that our actions have unintended, even unimagined, consequences. As I understand it, the LCMS is calling for some time and careful thought about this bill – something we should have given to recent bailout bills.

I wonder – if pedophilia is a sexual orientation, would restrictions we place on pedophiles (like registering with local authorities) be a “hate crime”? If a dad lost his temper and beat up a pedophile who molested his daughter – would that be a “hate crime”? If masochism is a sexual orientation, could a masochist sue a sadistic partner for “hate crimes”?

I wonder what the definition of “sexual orientation” is. And what it includes. Would PETA get involved in cases of bestiality (another sexual orientation)?

I’m not joking about this. I’m wondering.

But another concern I have is about the whole “hate crimes” thing. I wonder about laws against thoughts and attitudes. I wonder about singling out particular groups of people for special protection. I wonder, is it any worse for me to kill you because I’m a bigot, than it is to kill you because I’m stupid? If we had a “Stupid Crimes” bill, maybe I’d be more supportive…

Tom Wright on US Episcopalians & Gay Marrige

Tom (N.T.) Wright is an English Episcopalian bishop and scholar who’s recent writings on justification have stirred up controversy in evangelical circles. He’s hardly a fundamentalist and certainly not unsophisticated. So I was interested in what he has to say about the recent US Episcopal Bishops’ decision to lift their ban on the ordination of actively gay folks. The article is here and is worth the few minutes it takes to read.

Passing Fancy

I mentioned in a post below an email that came to me, contrasting Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and MJ. I also asked in that post for any confirmations people could provide. Well, Snopes has done just that. In short, the email is accurate except that MJ did a lot of philanthropic work. Click here for the article.

Sick And Tired Of MJ Worship?

Gaaaaahhh – I can’t stomach the eulogizing of one who shall remain nameless on this blog (see below post “MJ Free Zone”. The fawning, the cheap pseudo-journalizing, but especially the pretensions to Messianic adulation. If you’ve had a bellyfull, go here for a refreshingly straightforward assessment: MJ Bad! And Very Dangerous!

Michael, Farrah and Ed

I received the following in an email from a friend, and would like your help in checking its veracity:

Ed McMahon died this week. He was a great entertainer, but prior to his stage accomplishments he was a distinguished Marine Corps fighter pilot in WWII earning six Air Medals and attaining the rank of Colonel. He was discharged in 1946 and was later promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the CA Air National Guard.

Farrah Fawcett died this week after a long career in Hollywood as an actress. After she was diagnosed with cancer, she became an activist for cancer treatment and devoted her last remaining years encouraging people to seek treatment. She documented her plight on film and used it to  encourage others to stay positive and upbeat despite their diagnosis and suffering.

Michael Jackson died this week. He was perhaps one of the greatest singers of modern time. He will also be remembered for his eccentric lifestyle that included sleeping with a chimpanzee, living in a carnival-like atmosphere at Neverland, his fascination with Peter Pan, and his numerous masks and costumes. He also admitted to finding pleasure sleeping with young boys and paying out millions of dollars in settlements to the families of these boys despite being acquitted by a court on one allegation of sexual molestation.

QUESTION
Which of the above did the House of Representatives declare a moment of silence for today? (Hint – It wasn’t the first two.)
QUESTION
Which of the above’s family received a personal note of condolence from President Obama?  (Hint – It wasn’t the first two.)

Again, I could use some help checking the veracity of the above. I did find verification that Congress paused for a moment of silence for MJ (click here). But what about Ed McMahon? Didn’t he do significant charity work? Any links you can send to verify the above would be much appreciated.

IF the above is true, it’s another sign of something I already believe – we worship entertainment in this country.

Signers Of The Declaration Of Independence – Real Men

There’s an email going around entitled “The Price They Paid”, ostensibly about the fate of the signers of the Declaration of Independence – the story purports to recount the incredible losses and hardships each signer endured. According to the story, every signer was essentially a martyr.

Well, I have an interest in this since I’m a direct descendant of John Adams (my mother and her sister were Adams’s and have the genealogy going back to John). The Snopes article below provides the actual history of the signers, and it’s quite a mixed bag. No super heroes, no martyrs. (for more brief bios on the signers, go here).

As the Snopes article points out, even John Adams and Thomas Jefferson recognized “that the act of transforming the American Revolution into history placed a premium on selecting events and heroes that fit neatly into a dramatic formula, thereby distorting the more tangled and incoherent experience that participants actually making the history felt at the time.” We want our heroes, not our history! It was for that very reason that Adams and Jefferson, near the end of their lives, wrote numerous letters to each other setting straight the real history of the Revolution.

While watching the HBO special on John Adams, I was struck that little physical or emotional makeup was used – there were discolored splotches on Adams’ head, and he really was not very nice to his children; Jefferson came off as aloof and more than a bit arrogant and something of a priss; Franklin was an opportunist and womanizer. None of this is to deride or tear down these mean. All of it is to say that they were men, real men with real faults. They were not superheroes or martyrs.

It’s so hard to accept the doctrine of total depravity. We do so want our heroes, and we’ll make them up out of history if we have to. Because there’s something in us that wants to believe that our hero is right there in us, waiting to come forth in the right circumstances.

Christianity teaches that our hero is not in us, but comes from outside of us; that each and every one of us is a splotchy, selfish sinner including Jefferson, Adams, you and me. And that when goodness and glory occur in lives such as ours, it’s because of a God who works by putting “treasure in earthen vessels”, not because we’re heroes.

So this Independence Day, can we put aside our hero worship, and remember our absolute dependence on One (and only one) who sets us free?

I do commend the article below – may it bring you a greater appreciation of how a real God works in real history through real men.

Essay outlines the fates of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The Price They Paid
snopes@snopes.com
Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:00:00 GMT