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Reflecting on CT's The Case for Early Marriage

August 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment

I just read The Case for Early Marriage by Mark Regnerus and thought it was a decent article, especially for many CT readers.  Most near my age will laugh at the first few paragraphs and I think you should click just to check out the first three paragraphs.  In any case, I liked the article and here are some thoughts.

I got married young (23) and am grateful for it.  It all kind of worked out for me (Susan still isn’t sure but I’m ok with that ;-)  Every so often I think to myself, “Wow, so maybe I wasn’t a complete idiot in college.”  But we married young because we were convinced that we found the person we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with, not necessarily because we wanted to be married young.  In fact, I’m confident that had neither of us thought we were right for each other, we would have broken up and waited for the right person and the right time.

Just a few weeks ago as we were driving to Poets, Prophets and Preachers, Susan and I were talking about this.  It usually arises from the context of I’m not sure I would have gone to Liberty had I to do it all over again.  Some days I am certain that I wouldn’t, some days I am certain that I would (because I do think it has shaped me and my present perspectives).  Most days I say, if I hadn’t, I would have regretted not meeting Susan.  And that’s probably true because I don’t believe in this “God only has one person out there for you and you need to follow His treasure map plan so you two will meet.  This is why you should always rush to get into the elevator and speed through yellow lights so you won’t miss destiny at the grocery store.”  Or is that you should wait for the next elevator and brake hard at yellow lights so you don’t miss God’s will at the light?  This is why God didn’t foreordain me to  be a Calvinist (I’ve been getting a lot of mileage out of that joke lately).

So should Christians marry young?  My answer is yes and no.  I’ve met too many people who regretted marrying young. That’s not to say that they may have regretted marrying at another point in time but their sentiment is worth heavily considering.  On the other hand, I’ve listened to those who regretted marrying later on or not at all.  Both comments have been found in counseling sessions, some have been dear friends, and some of have been those that you meet along the journey of life.

Indeed it’s difficult to meet people later on in life.  This is clearly evidenced by my single friends.  Frankly, many of them are amazing people that have not found their “one.”  If I was single and looking I’d probably have duplicate facebook accounts, a membership on every dating site including Jdate, a blog dedicated to my singleness called “The Desperate Disciple” and would be trying to produce my own reality show called, “The Bachelor Pastor that was Left Behind”. I’d cast Christian girls from various circles like the wholesome northern girl, the southern ex-smoker, a Bob Jones grad and for the sake of good television, a non-Christian.  She would probably be a pastor’s daughter and would be easily identified by the tattoos, the leather biker-chick attire and constant use of profanity.  If I couldn’t convince FOX maybe I could get TBN or that Angel Network that I see advertised every so often.  I’d write a book called I Kicked Courtship Good-bye and would man a table at the Women of Faith rallies (do they still have those?).  In all likelihood, all this would be a disaster and be used as further evidence to Regnerus’ point.

I would really like to encourage young people (like my youth group students) to be open to marrying young (defined as soon after college) and not be set on waiting until after grad school or after they have made their first million or something.  I would also like to encourage those determined on meeting someone in college to be open to waiting for the right person and/or until they became the right person. Perhaps being open to this tension would allow us to be more selfless and more open to finding a significant other.

Filed Under: Christianity, Reflective

Monday Morning Brief 8.3.09

August 3, 2009 by Leave a Comment

What I’ve Been Enjoying –1. I’ve loved being home.  All is well with Susan, Nathan, and all is well in the womb with Baby G. Just went to another appointment and all is pretty good.  To the right is a fairly recent 4-D sonogram pic.  I’ve never been so happy to see my nose.  Not worried, he’ll still get enough of his mom’s genes to be cute.  2. Still enjoying the afterglow of our mission trip and trying to apply what I’ve gained from our Nassau experience.

What I Was Disappointed By – I know I shouldn’t be surprised but every time I hear about steroids or performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), I get frustrated.  I think part of it is that people like myself have sought refuge in sports pretending it’s the last place of purity but we’ve always been kidding ourselves, nothing is pure.  Speaking as a Yankee fan, I can’t help but think of Game 4 in the 2003 ALCS.  I know a lot of baseball was on something but Mariano wasn’t and if you know baseball, you know that’s true.

What I’m Reading – Still reading the last half of 1.2 of Barth’s Dogamtics that should have been completed almost 2 weeks ago for our independent study.  Just found Enough last night and plan on finishing that soon. About to start Rob Bell’s Drops Like Stars.

What I’m Listening to – new Derek Webb, new Wilco, Homebrewed Christianity Podcast with Robert Wright and catching up on Relevant podcasts.

Student Ministry Update – It’s been great to hear all the wonderful things said about our mission trip.  A lot of time, work, prayer, support went into that and I am not taking these good things for granted.  A lot of positive things were expressed by our students, one I hope to share about one day, and while I still have concerns for short term missions (they are not an end), I’ve been really moved by our last couple especially. Now on to planning the new year, cleaning out files, catching up on all the stuff before the mayhem begins again!

Filed Under: Baseball, Christianity, Reflective, Student Ministry

Poets, Prophets, & Preachers Conference – “The Original Guerilla Theater” – Rob Bell #ppp09 – Post 1

July 6, 2009 by 3 Comments

The Original Guerilla Theater – from the brochure – “Throwing ourselves into this ancient sacred art form with the absurd, naïve, antiquated belief that the world needs inspiring, proactive, comforting, dangerous healing, great sermons now more than ever.”

Here are some of the notes I took and my interpretation of what I think I was said. They made subtle point that they didn’t want open laptops or phones on during the sessions.  So no twittering.  Similar to the Q Conference, I understand that they want you to be here and be conscious of those who are gathered with you.   I’ll respect it but when I put on my own conference, “Posers, Players, and Punks”, I’ll let whoever do whatever they want.  Anyway, they say that they will release video of this one day but in the meantime you’ll have to deal with my subjectivity until you’re able to have your own:

Rob came out and gave one of the best introductions that I think could be given when talking about preaching sermons to today’s culture. He first started by telling a hilarious story of one of his first sermons. I can’t take the time to retell it but it made me feel better.

“Why do we do this to ourselves?”

As the world gets more “tweeterized” and we continue to go to virtual church, etc. The idea of actual people going to an actual place with the other actual people to hear an actual person in actual real time … the sermon will be more important. It will matter that we were there.

If you were to ask the average person on the average street and you asked them what do you think of when you hear the word “sermon”, what would they say? Would they say stimulating, intelligent, provocative, life-changing, …?

The average person sees the sermon today as something to be endured. It raises the question, “When is lunch?”

For some it is to be evaluated, “Did you like it?”, “Did they do a good job?” As the preacher, you want to interrupt one of these conversations and say, “How did you do?”

Imagine Marin Luther King giving his “I Have a Dream” speech and afterwards people saying, “Did you like it?” “Yeah but he went a little long and I heard some of those stories before.”

To some it’s pure propaganda. It serves to tell people what they already know, and assure them that their way is the only way. It has no exploration, no discovery, no movement. Sometimes it exists for a building project. The sermon isn’t about that directly but everybody in the entire place knows what it’s about. Some non-Christians are particularly sensitive to this while many long time Christians cannot detect it.

Sometimes after a sermon you feel:

“Have you heard anything I said?” The scary thing is when you understand that a family/person who has been in your church for years has not understood some basic re-occurring themes you’ve been stressed over and over.

“Crickets” vs. “That was the most amazing thing I have ever heard”
There are some days you can’t wait to give this message, it’s your best stuff, it will blow people away. It’s like a grenade and you’re going to pull the pin and drop it in there and watch …. But no one responds or if they do, the response is a bored negativity (not even offended by the boldness of it). Then there are days when you don’t got it. It’s been one of those weeks, and you crawl into the pulpit with this pathetic sermon that you duct-taped wings to and people come back and say, “That was amazing!!!” and now you feel even worse.

“That sermon sounded like the old _____” “Can’t we go back to _______”
If you listen to the Mars Hill podcasts this is something that Rob has tried to subtly and at at times not so subtly correct. For years, he’s heard this, “That sounded like the old Rob” Can’t we do Leviticus again (and feel that way again)?” You can’t go back to the person you were because we are all becoming something different.

The picture to the right is a quote of collected words of advice to every pastor. It was something like – “The preacher should be honest and transparent.  He should use the Bible but not too much but it should be practical and it should be funny too but not too funny because you’re a pastor not a comedian but you should tell lots of stories but not too many because that gets old too.  You should use personal illustrations like about your family but try to be creepy about it, and you should admit your faults but not too many because that’s depressing but you really should be open and honest …”

He used some biblical illustrations like Ezekiel 4

The preacher and his sermon have a bit of:
Performance Art – We can’t deny that this is an element of our preaching.
Guerilla Theater – you come on the platform, give your message, then you’re gone, and people are like, “Wow, what just happened? Where did he go?”
Actions that Evoke – Sometimes unintended actions are evoked.
Just like Ezekiel

Acts 4 – “They were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus”

We are witnesses

We sometimes give the reminder that this isn’t what God has in mind

Mark 1:15

Is 52
Sometimes the sermon is a sub-story – there’s another story.

Luke 4 – they try to kill Jesus. At least most of our congregations have tried that.

Sermons have:
Provocation
Loaded Language
Warning

Acts 17 – a missed response comes your way. Some people are skeptical, some are moved.

“And God said …”
“Words create new worlds”
Words need to be given flesh …
Rob believes that they have a power – “Talks start talks”
Many are conditioned in thinking that the preacher has the last word, maybe it’s just the first word.

Thoughts – Rob Bell comes out in his standard uniform, black on black, cool glasses and shoes that say, “Why do people only talk about my glasses; my shoes are cool too.” He’s sorta like a Johnny Cash meets an older Michael Cera, except Rob is actually funny. He’s brilliant too. I actually think Rob understands the way I feel. His assistants that do all this research for him are amazing.  Like am I really expected to believe that he understands the preacher hang-over?  He quotes my inner monologues like, “Have you heard anything I said?” and quotes listeners, “Did you like it? Yeah, he’s getting better. He’s kinda funny but he talks too fast some times so let’s go to Panera Bread and cut off every driver from here to there.”

Seriously, I think why so many connect with him is because he is a great communicator and he is in touch with how people feel.  And I suspect part of the reason is that he is in touch with how he actually feels.  it seemed to me that everyone in the room was feeling very similar things.  It was a solid first session and I am looking forward to more.

Filed Under: Christianity, Conferences/Events, Poets Prophets Preachers '09, Reflective Tagged With: , ,

Reflecting on Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, the Iranian Crisis and …

June 29, 2009 by 2 Comments

There was a part of me that did not want to mention Michael Jackson in a blog post because, to be honest, so many already were and I didn’t want to be trendy. But as I sit in my vintage GI-Joe shirt, wearing a Phillies hat, listening to the pre-release of Sugar Ray’s comeback album with my bright orange hybrid Hummer outside my window, I think why stop now? There’s no way to truly avoid being a cliché (because you’re a cliché to someone).

As predicted, sales of Michael Jackson’s music is sky-rocketing. If you eavesdrop in any conversation at any restaurant, you’ll hear, “It’s easier to listen to him now that he’s gone.” With the news that he was preparing for a 50 shows in London, years from now, people will say, “He was in the middle of a comeback when it happened”.

A few days ago, I saw a tweet from Emergent Village which appropriately asked, “Did you hear who died? Neda. #iranelection #neverforget #whatreallymatters.“ It was re-tweeted a couple times and it served as a needed reminder.  I can never forget this video.

Like many, I’m one who tries to avoid the hype (or at least certain types of hype). I’ll admit, I’m inconsistent, most of us are. I didn’t want to get carried away with all the Jackson hysteria and was tired of expressing that I felt bad for Farrah Fawcett because she was forever linked with Michael Jackson. Farrah bears the honor of being the most recent display dying with class and dignity. At the same time, I’ve been praying, watching and talking about the crisis in Iran, but I’ve been reluctant to add my green overlay because many suffer by going without basic needs like where we are going for our mission trip. I have been very consumed by the preparation of our trip to Nassau, Bahamas to help rebuild an AIDS camp. I wondered when I was I going to remove this green overlay, when Iran became free? Would I add another one for AIDS? Is this what happens when we take things like Twitter too seriously or are these good problems to consider? It reminded me of the same problem I had when wearing the LiveStong bracelet. Fortunately, they were in such demand, I was able to give mine away. But lately, I’ve been changing my mind on these types of things.

I mourn the death of Michael Jackson because I am human. Admittedly it’s easier, I also mourn Farrah Fawcett. This ought to go for all suffering in Iran and all parts of the world and all parts of my neighborhood. This is how we’re wired, may I be consistent.

While I may not join every new group that bears a cause on Facebook, nor add every button/badge/etc. created, I think some things are good … for me.  As subjective as it sounds, they remind me to remember the hurting, to pray for the hope of Christ and to be informed, to care, to give, and to think what can I do. I find myself wondering maybe it’s time to change things like overlays and find more ways to express sympathy and comradery. A similar thing can be said by the constant playing of Jackson’s music across FM stations. In fact, if I’m being consistent, I may even consider putting up that infamous Life Magazine Fawcett poster in my church office right now. I know this sounds subjective, maybe that’s why I like it but may we as Christians seek the will of God, follow Jesus and be led by the Spirit.  May those who do not share my Christian convictions do their part to seek a less-selfish and better world.

In honesty, I believe it is healthy to avoid sensationalizing and exaggerating our feelings, but I believe it’s Christ-like to mourn with the mourners.

Filed Under: Christianity, Missional, Reflective

Reflecting on Articles Discussing the Slowing of the Christian Media Industry

June 10, 2009 by 2 Comments

You probably heard by now – we are in tough economic times. This is affecting virtually everyone, including those that represent the prosperity gospel. Last week I read two articles about the terrible condition of Christian publishing and Christian music sales. There was this Newsweek article called Preacher Don’t Publish by Lisa Miller (love the title) and Music In Recession by Mark Geil on the Christian Music Today site. Who would have thought that those who peddle the idea of profitable materialistic gains for “spiritual investments” would also be affected? Jesus can give joy to the suffering, heal the sick, shine light into darkness but apparently He’s not recession-proof. If ever there was a time to use the supposed “prosperity gospel” as a form of evangelism, it would be now.

Am I glad that some Christian bookstores are closing and that several Christian magazines are out of print? Let me consult my Prayer of Jabez bobblehead.  Hmmm, I know I am supposed to say, “No it’s a terrible shame and it’s giving the devil more ground” but this is my blog and this month, I’d like to refrain from lying about trivial matters (yes, I know how that reads).  Yes, I am glad that the recession is affecting Christian media.  While I do not want all the Christian publishing houses and various businesses to close, I hope this causes a re-shaping of the industry.  To me, the idea of the Christian bookstore is a dinosaur.

Do I hope that these once sanctified from the ways of the world real-estate gets converted into, say, an Adult bookstore? Aside from the countless laughs I would enjoy from seeing the expressions of faces on Ladies Bible-study thumpers hopping out of church vans, my real answer is no, I’d rather see regular bookstores. I can hear one of those ladies saying, “There is no such thing as a regular bookstore. The merchandise will be set by the store owner and you won’t have as many Christian books as say, New Age books.” Well that will be true if  New Age readers frequent more than Christian readers.

Don’t get me wrong, I buy Christian stuff all the time. Like many, I listen to David Crowder Band and read Brian McLaren books. Like many, I do not listen to Casting Crowns (not that there’s anything weird about them) nor read Joel Osteen books (because there is something weird about him). I own all the Nooma videos and every time some sincere soul urges me to see Fireproof, it reminds that I have yet to see academy award nominated, Rachel Getting Married.

I like that I was able to buy Tony Jones’ New Christians from Barnes & Noble two days before Christmas (I’m sitting in a B&N right now and there’s one copy of New Christians currently on the shelf). It’s great that people buy Third Day albums at Target and I await the day when you can rent the in-production, Don Miller’s Blue Like Jazz movie from Blockbuster. Christians should shop where everyone else shops – this is normal. One of the few bullets we’ve dodged as a Church is that we did not see the advent of the Christian grocery store. Though I have an imagination cultivated by years of watching the Simpsons, I’ll spare you what the inside of such a place might look like.

Sensitivity is not one of my gifts so take that as a warning but I was a little encouraged after I reading those articles.  The decline of the Christian publishing and music industries implies that the Christian bubble is leaking. My prayer is that Jesus would drive a spear through it so more in the Church will find themselves engaging throughout society.

Filed Under: Christianity, Culture, Reflective Tagged With: , ,

Reflecting on President Obama's Speech From Cairo University

June 5, 2009 by 1 Comment

This blog is not intended to be political but politics have certainly captured my attention lately.  Nor did I think I’d be talking about Obama as much as I am but you cannot ignore what he’s saying and doing. So when President Obama addresses the world from the University of Cairo, people take notice, especially a first-generation Egyptian born in the States whose parents graduated from the university.  I am proud of my Egyptian heritage, extremely grateful that my parents immigrated here, and I love the fact that I’m in NJ (we tell everyone that it sucks here and jack up the housing prices to keep the southerners out ;-) but truth be told, it’s a great part of the country to live in).

America has an image problem.  It’s almost as bad as the Western Church’s.  Some had the idea that by combining the two, we could help the world and whether the world was truly helped or not is another discussion; many throughout the world have a terrible perception of America. As mentioned elsewhere on this blog, my friends’ blogs, through countless great theological works of theology and most importantly, the New Testament, we as Christians are called to serve a different Kingdom first.  That said, I believe the problems in and out of American are of great importance.  

It’s in this light that Obama’s speech is extremely important.  Taking on topics such as Islam, fanaticism, terrorism, Israel, Palestine, and others is a bold task when you are perceived as the representative of a nation of hateful manipulators and greedy instigators of these topics.  While I have profound differences with that perception, I do understand how and why many believe it to be. 

He proclaimed that he was a Christian, spoke of his Muslim father and quoted various holy books.  From the Koran he said, “Whoever kills an innocent person kills all mankind.  Whoever saves a person saves all mankind.”  He spoke against hate and terrorism.  He promoted safety for all, American and those throughout the Middle East.  He spoke about the Israeli and Palestinian conflict.  He called for nuclear disarmament, spoke on the greatness and limits of democracy, women’s rights and all basic human rights, including religious freedom. Everyone was called out for we are all part of the problem and responsibility calls us all to resolve and peace. 

To my conservative brother and sisters who are convinced that he played to the Muslim crowd, you must not have heard the speech.  Please listen to it first (you can watch it here or read the full transcript here). Had George W gave it (and he could have), I suspect that it would have been praised by conservatives.  I’m sure W has said similar things, but he said so many other things that I doubt many heard it and frankly he wasn’t eloquent enough to remember.  Still, there’s a probably a posting by National Review or Human Events or somewhere outlining the similarities that W had said with today’s speech. To me, that discussion is a waste of time and I only mention it to head it off. If we as Christians truly believe that we are of a greater Kingdom, one concerned with the other, one that loves, one that preaches Christ, then I’m not sure how we cannot champion the words of today.

But as we all know, you can say all the right things but the key is in the follow up.  My hope is that Obama can put these noble words into action in the capacity afforded to him.  My hope is also that the Muslim world will do the same.  And this goes the same for the Christian world, the non-Christian, you and me. I say it again -everyone has been called out.  We are all part of the problem, may we also be a part of the solution – for the sake of God’s Kingdom.

For more reading, here are some worthy links:

Arab Students Respond to Obama 

Commentary: Amen, Mr. President – Editor’s Note: Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of TheMuslimGuy.com, and contributing editor for Islamica magazine in Washington.

Obama Calls for Fresh Start With Muslims 

Video reaction – Muslims Wants Deeds, Not Just Words from Obama

Drawing on Islam, Speech in Cairo Electrifies Many In Arab Mideast 

Muslims Seem Won Over by President; U.S. Adversaries Unmoved

Full Video Here 

Full Text Here 

 

Filed Under: Christianity, Politics, Reflective, Religious Freedom, The Church Tagged With: , , ,

Liberty Alum Regrets Decision to Ban College Democrat Group

June 1, 2009 by 3 Comments

Every one has skeletons in their closet.  Among mine is that I am a graduate of a very conservative private Christian school that has just banned the College Democrat Club from being officially recognized by the school.  Yes, I graduated from Liberty University. 

For the sake of context, there is a lot I like about Liberty.  There is a lot I respected about Dr. Falwell but among other things, there’s a mentality that I wish my Liberty family would abandon.  Similar to that hideous sweater that a dad wears every winter, I wish Liberty would let go of this dogmatic idea of “This is what a Christian looks like, how one behaves, and how one thinks.”  The order of that statement is intentional. 

I’m not a Democrat, nor have I been a card-carrying Republican.  I am not a member of any other party and I find a lot of socialist ideas to be problematic in our current setting.  I’m not in love with Obama, but I’m rooting for the guy because I love this country and think that he can do a lot of good.  More relevant, I love the Kingdom even more and firmly believe that politics is one of many tools that can serve it.  Generally, I receive my news online and sample the major networks.  I think Bill O’Reilly makes a good point has often as the Red Sox win a world series.  I prefer Larry King over Jon Stewart and I tune in to BBC though I’m glad I don’t live in England.  Lou Dobbs gets on my nerves and I’d much rather watch Sportscenter than Anderson Cooper.

It has been my experience at Liberty that has shaped a lot of this and for that, I was never ashamed of being a graduate of LU.  I fell in love there, enjoyed amazing friendships, learned a bit about God, life and myself there and praise the Lord, I was even able to unlearn a few things too.  It’s in this spirit that I also learned about politics and dealing with figures like Falwell. Indeed, I also learned a lot about living in paradox and thinking in the gray.

So now in light of Notre Dame having President Obama give their commencement, my alam-mater bans the College Democrat group and I react my hanging my post-conservative head.  I can only imagine their outrage should another school ban the College Republican club because one of their positions conflicts with their trustee’s policies, or the convictions of a particular faculty department or the collective opinions of their alumni.

I believe very much in the importance of leadership, influence, and modeling.  I pray and care for the younger and the weaker brother but this line of thought has the tendency of going too far.  I can hear it now at some board meeting, “If we allow Democrats to meet on our campus, they may like it for the ‘wrong reasons’ and we forever will lose them to this evil party and inadvertently create more baby-killers.”  Mind you, there is such a thing has a pro-life democrat.

As most of us know, there is a particular foolishness in being only a one-issue voter.  There are some noble ideals and pursuits in the Democrat party and it seems conservative institutions like Liberty ought to teach their students how to work for the good in all things as opposed to the demand of  strictly aligning themselves to one side exclusively. 

The same mentality persists in topics like alcohol.  I remember hearing, one drink can turn you into an alcoholic.   Indeed a fair warning.  But one drink can also create a healthy mentality that enjoys a glass of wine or a summer ale.  I’ve been raising my glass with Christians (and non-Christians) for the last 10 years and have enjoyed many brilliant moments of conversation and friendship that leave me praising God that I ignored the legalism and the ridiculous mentality that was preached to me. Yes, I graduated from Liberty University but it’s cool, I drink Guinness.

This is not what taking a stand looks like.  Let us not delude ourselves in enjoying the bad press as a form of persecution.  This is not counter-cultural, this is a lack of culture and frankly for those so concerned for their testimony, this is a bad one.  

I’ve been in the habit of saying that Liberty University is not for everyone. Now they say it’s not for Democrats but what everyone hears is that it’s not for independent thinking people.  Today, I regret being an alumni of Liberty University.  Praying for our repentance of such a mentality.

Filed Under: Abortion, Christianity, Politics, Reflective

Obama, Notre Dame, Abortion, The Church and Me

May 22, 2009 by 6 Comments

Obama speaking at Notre Dame has been an absolutely fascinating moment for me and of course, for many others.  You can read his speech here.    There’s a lot to appreciate here.  As mentioned in an earlier post, I respected that Notre Dame invited President Obama.  I respect people’s right to disagree and protest. While not the route I would go, I also respected that some students decided to skip their own graduation as if Obama was the creator of abortion.  The weekend was filled with people were arrested (like ‘Roe’ of Roe v. Wade), heckling, applause and for some of us, we acknowledged that perhaps there is something to gain from listening to someone who has the opposite view.  That spirit can be summed up in Father Jenkins’ introduction.  

I find myself wondering about many things in light of all this.  First, know that I am pro-life.  Second, know that I sympathize with all women who have found themselves to be pregnant and scared.  Third, know that it is my conviction that each child deserves the right to be born.  Fourth, know that I still respect those who passionately feel otherwise.  Fifth, we need to do our part as a Church and a society to come along side the pregnant woman who is struggling with her situation.  And this is just the very basic tip of the surface of what we need to do.

When a woman gets pregnant and is either unwed or wed but living at the poverty level, (or any other scenario, young college student, professional working woman, etc.), we have to say more than, “Well you should have thought before ….” or  “The right thing is to keep the baby or put the child up for adoption.”  I’m not saying the point of that statement is wrong, I’m saying we need to do more.  As an adoptive parent, I obviously see the beauty of adoption but I also know that it takes a very special person to go through the pain of putting a baby up.  But what about the woman who can’t do that?  She wants to keep the baby and if she can’t then, unfortunately abortion becomes her conclusion.

If among our chief goals is fewer abortions then we need to work with people like President Obama and others that we swore off as enemies.  For years I believed in the teaching I was given that if we changed the culture, abortion would lose its stronghold.  While I believe that is a solid theory, it seems we have to do more until it is proven true because I am no longer content in only saying and believing those words.  Thus,  I have found myself wondering what would happen if the pro-life energies were focused on working with places like Planned Parenthood.  I think I can hear some think “What???” 

Here’s what the current situation seems to be to me.  A Planned Parenthood opens on one side of the street.  It is my perception that PP is interested in performing as many abortions as possible (it is a multi-billion dollar business).  Eventually a pro-life clinic opens on the other side and of course they compete against one another.  Every pregnant woman that enters their respective doors is urged to abort or keep their baby or put the child up for adoption.  And here we are. 

What if we converted some of our pro-life clinics into free day cares for those like single working mothers (or whomever) exclusively for those referred by Planned Parenthood? While I am not saying that we should not open pro-life clinics or close all of them, what I am speculating is the need to find ways to work with places such as Planned Parenthood.  The donations made it to the former pro-life clinic could go to day care workers, and among them could be mothers and a percentage of PP’s profits could be contributed to these day cares and needy homes.  Indeed I too see numerous issues that would have to be resolved and a long line of potential abuses but the idea only serves as a start.

Here’s another.  What if we as a Church had “Single Mother Sunday” the week after “Sanctity of Life Sunday”  Is this glorifying the wrong person?  I suppose it depends what you mean by glorifying but I see this very much in tune with the gospel message itself because no matter how I look at it, I am the wrong person.  I am grateful for grace.  Is what I suggest that different?

What if for every missionary our church supported, we also supported a needy family?  The point wouldn’t be too support fewer missionaries, but to help people get on their feet so they don’t repeat the cycle. 

What if our Christian counselors offered free counseling for every woman who had an abortion or for those who struggled with the decision, kept the child and trying to figure out the next step? 

I could probably go on but my point to my fellow evangelicals is this – can we not work together to reduce the number of abortions?  Most of these suggestions have a financial commitment behind them, but I think they also have a mercy, caring element as well.  Would that not change culture?  I argue that it would do more than our current strategies.

Filed Under: Abortion, Christianity, Reflective Tagged With: , , ,

Reflecting on Obama Being Invited to Notre Dame

May 6, 2009 by 3 Comments

In my last post, I mentioned that I feel blessed for having so many friends.  So maybe it’s time to lose a few ;-) Almost each day I receive an email or hear a comment that expresses the shock and disappointment regarding President Obama being invited to Notre Dame and like usual, I am bothered with the outrage of people (yeah, I’m outraged with outrage).  But this got me thinking.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been but frankly, yes, I too was initially surprised that Notre Dame invited Obama. Generally speaking, people regard Notre Dame as the symbol of American Catholicism and I wondered about this for a while (at least 30 seconds) and I’d like to make a few assumptions:

The decision makers of Notre Dame are highly intelligent capable people and they probably thought             this through.

This wasn’t a spectacle too distract from their terrible football team.

Notre Dame isn’t posturing for a federal bail-out.

Then it occurred to me – could it be that Notre Dame is interested in conversation? I’ve been sharing to some my friends that we as evangelical Christians need to change our paradigm in various areas. Among these areas is the idea of the culture war. For starters, we need to stop calling it a “culture war”. Second, those “enemies” or those who we sharply disagree with are not going to change their minds in the midst of our protests, books, blogs, sermons, and our Fox News Channel personalities (who seem to be quoted more often than our Messiah). Evidence of this is the last 40-50 years of reaction in attempt to combat the effects of the sexual revolution. Campaigns and images like these posted to the right are not going to make a profound difference.

Those who we differ with may at least dialogue with us if we invite them to our tables, honor them at our events, show them the same love that was shown for us. I truly believe good can come out of this mentality and at worst, it will be a start.

I can hear it now, “Aren’t you afraid, that Obama will convert the Notre Dame students to the abortion agenda? He’s very convincing you know …” No, no I’m not. That’s not what I care about.  I am interested in fewer abortions and the regard for life, not more people to check “I am Pro-Life” during a Gallup Poll. “Are we not inviting the wolves to come and prey upon our flocks?” No because this is the type of logic that has moved us further out of discussion and set up yelling matches. This is what has armed the battalions of our new civil war, “Blue States verses Red States”. “Aren’t we compromising our convictions by allowing this sort of thing?” I know people are tired of reading/hearing this, but again, Jesus ate and drank with prostitutes and tax collectors and others who obviously had different convictions than he did.

Likewise, I’d like to see a school like Concordia invite a respectable conservative like Hugh Hewitt to address their students or a Columbia invite a guy like Cal Thomas. (Forget the Robertsons, Coulters and Limbaughs, they are not interested in conversation).  Another great example is that I loved seeing Don Miller pray at the Democratic National Convention and I pray one day he will allowed back into one of our churches ;-) A negative example is the reaction that Relevant Magazine editor, Cameron Strang, received when he was scheduled to pray at the DNC. Listen, we do not even need to exchange honorary doctorates (honestly, I’m not sure I even understand the point of that) but simply begin by dialoguing with one another – with honor and class.

If we are truly interested in some progress, solving problems like reducing the number of abortions performed, we need to start channeling our energy into working together as opposed to hating and trying to destroy each other. We can begin by welcoming Obama to Notre Dame.

Filed Under: Abortion, Christianity, Reflective, The Church Tagged With: ,

Reflecting on Earth Day

April 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment

It’s been my experience that too many evangelicals do not really care about the earth.  To many of them, it’s like the old house they were raised in. They know that they have “invested” in the retirement home of their dreams so why bother repainting the walls, fixing the porch, and worrying about the ozone layer, “This house ain’t worth it no more.  It’s going to someone else’s problem. 

My aim in this post is not to make an “environmentalist” out of you (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but to expose our neglect of the stewardship of our planet.  It seems to me that too many evangelicals have dismissed environmental concerns such as consumption and pollution as a part of the left Democrat agenda that can either be ignored, dismissed, or refuted.  My problem is that when it comes to the care of the planet, more people think of Al Gore than the Church. 

We can debate all day whether there is global warming or global freezing or whether these global problems are man-made or part of the natural cycles of the earth.  Indeed we cannot stop volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tornadoes or tsunami’s, but we can make our land fills smaller, our waterways cleaner, our soil richer and our world more beautiful.  I am not saying that we ought to stop preaching the gospel in order to do this; I’m saying that this is part of the gospel.  While I do not think that I am the chief offender (for once I’m not), I know that I have not always been the most faithful steward of my world and I find myself convicted.

I wonder about the parable of the talents in relation to being faithful stewards of the earth. No, I’m not necessarily saying that we need to invest in the earth and multiply it in the “talent” sense and try to get two earths.  But if the servant who was given one talent was despised for hiding it, I’d be afraid to think of what his master would have said had he invested foolishly or worse, spent it recklessly!   Leaving the parable, God has given us something to be faithful of, to manage, guard and enjoy.  As a church, it is my opinion that we are neglecting this responsibility. 

Almost every believer I know thanks God for “this beautiful day” when they pray. Almost every church I know doesn’t recycle.  Almost every believer I know loves nature.  Almost every church I know uses Styrofoam cups during their coffee hour.  Almost every believer I know believes that Christ’s resurrection has conquered death, saved our souls, and redeemed all of creation but I see us love our America significantly more than our earth.  If the earth is something that God has called us to be faithful over, then how can believers ignore this?

Filed Under: Christianity, Reflective Tagged With: