Let’s give 'em something to talk about—the 8th Commandment.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. (John 8:3-8 ESV)

I was talking with a colleague early this morning about things people-- coworkers, particularly-- say about others out of earshot and that I was the topic of one snippet (snipe?) overheard between two staff members on my campus. I find such pettiness contemptible and, most of the time, just let it slide (like water off a duck's back, as we used to say in the Navy); however, my customer service doctrine is very simple: if you have a problem with me, come talk to me and let's resolve it to prevent festering. And if I've wronged you, please say so-- I may not even be aware that I have done so.

Ironically, upon hearing that I am the subject of someone else's conversation, I quickly made a colleague the subject of my conversation, and, li'l chilluns, that is the mitosis of gossip (replete with mutation as each new tale unfolds). Such is our human nature. Sin makes us victims and convinces us to live our lives seeking compensation (whereas faith, conversely, compels us to forgive and live in the shadow of the Cross on which Christ's life was taken in recompense for our transgressions). So I was reminded to get a grip and that even in such a charitable and altruistic vocation as church work, the Eighth Commandment is more than occasionally seen but not heard. Martin Luther wrote this nugget about the Eighth Commandment in his Small Catechism (my boldface): "We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything."

Pastors, unfortunately, have a tough row to hoe (so to speak) as they strive to serve faithfully and dutifully, called by the Church to stand for Christ in His stead. 1 Timothy 3 is a constant reminder that the office of pastor (overseer) is "a noble task" meant for those who "must be above reproach" and "well-thought of by outsiders." I was thinking about this while on parking lot sentry duty this morning-- a former pastor once remarked to me that Satan's attacks upon pastors are more frequent and more severe, so much so that some have buckled. I'm not blind to the potential pitfalls and perils of this office and I'm abjectly aware of my own nature and proclivities, that I'm a sinful human being, susceptible to the same temptations and conflicts as everyone else.

And the sad truth is, people are going to talk...about you, about me, about whomever, for whatever the reason. Christian or not, the need to engage in petty gossiping is fueled by sin and is a manifestation of a deeper need. The following is an excerpt from a page on the Lifeway.com website called Responding to Workplace Pettiness:

In your midst walk people who behave strangely, who are rude and ungodly because of their deep need for love, encouragement, and forgiveness. Do not be content to accept a person's poor performance or behavior. Look deeper. Separate the perceived need from the true need. Be a rebuilder of the cracked walls around you.

That last thought above possible truly articulates my motivation to become a pastor, even though I know one doesn't need to be ordained to make a difference in this world...

...but it's not this world that concerns me as much as helping others in it find a place in the next.

Matutinality—such a great way to start the day!

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” (Genesis 1:20 ESV)

The Texas dawn was beautiful-- no, spectacular!-- this morning as I occupied my post in the parking lot. Today was the first day I can recall that the sun was up over the horizon went I went into school just before 7am. And each morning for the last three or four weeks I've been witness to the predawn calls and aerial frenzy of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher community that calls our parking lot home (tall lights, a few trees). This morning I could see them more clearly as they flittered about, engaging in mock dog fights all around me. At one point I thought one was going to land on me.

They're noisy buggers, too-- take a listen to what I hear every morning, only multiplied by the numbers of Flycatchers in close proximity: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher's dawn song. I wondered at first, a few weeks back, in the dark, what kind of birds were making this sound... At 6:20am it's the unmistakable sound of Creation...

And as the Flycatchers and other creatures come to life every morning, it's like a ballet. It's even interesting to watch the handful of enterprising crows picking over any trash on the ground left by students. Often a patrol of ducks will fly overhead, too, almost always headed south.

I guess that's part of the appeal of a matutinal duty such as this, by comparison to checking student IDs at the door or monitoring lunch periods in the cafeteria. The wildlife I encounter before I start my school day don't wear earbuds, pollute the environment, or have an attitude. It's a peaceful and serene way to begin the day, at least for those few minutes before the headlights start bearing down on me and the buses lumber through like a huge herd of elephants (it's quite the scene, man)...

Every morning I am grateful for the gift of life, to be able to experience the daily ebb and flow, the hustle and bustle, the very rhythm of creation.

I believe that I will miss parking lot duty when I leave my teaching job in just over a month. I will miss its matutinality!

(okay, "matutinality" is not a real word, but shouldn't it be?)

'Packing Briefs' (sigh)

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:16-17 ESV)

[Does God ever wring his hands? If not, then surely the advent of "packing briefs" gave Him a tic...]

"We’re not yet sure of the person that our son is, he’s in kindergarten," [the father] said. "We don’t label him. He’s not anything."

"He's not anything."

Not anything?

After keeping an eye on (and a cautious distance from) this developing story about a 5-year old boy who thinks he's a girl and his parents who have concluded that, for the time being, he's not anything, I don't know who's confused more, the child, the well-intentioned parents, or me.

After reading this post to The Federalist website, I noted that the child was labelled "trans-questioning" (whatever that means) and that transgender has become an -ism now (perhaps it ought to be capitalized, like Communism?). This would presuppose the existence of Transgenderists, those folks who believe in...oh, never mind.

How does one little kid-- who clearly has issues, yes-- become the hood ornament for this new, um, ideology? Here's how: "The issue became public when the [parents of the 5-year old] demanded the school present transgender materials and information to their child’s classmates."

As I was reading I felt as though I was on a driverless bus about to go off the road, then a guardrail appeared in the form of this excerpt:

The American College of Pediatricians issued a report urging “educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex. Facts – not ideology – determine reality.”

The report states that “human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: ‘XY’ and ‘XX’ are genetic markers of health – not genetic markers of a disorder,” and “No one is born with a gender. Everyone is born with a biological sex. Gender (an awareness and sense of oneself as male or female) is a sociological and psychological concept; not an objective biological one.”

More disturbing to me than parents who have decided that their own 5-year old child is NOT ANYTHING, and even more disturbing than transgenderism, and, yes, even more disturbing than "packing briefs" (though not by much) is the thought that there might be an elementary school with an overly quixotic urge to incorporate the book I Am Jazz into its curriculum.

I have to say in all honesty and sincerity that I have a difficult time making sense of it all. I believe that parents who send their kindergarten-age son to school dressed like a girl are but a thin layer of the onion that is our disordered world. And at its core is sin. All I can do sometimes, when my brain fails and my soul hurts is to seek refuge in God's Word and God's Church, not to escape (necessarily), but to find reassurance in Christ's love for all, regardless of ethnicity, race, or (trans)gender. It is through Christ, as revealed to me in God's Word, that I find hope for this mess we've made of things. The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's paper Gender Identity Disorder or Gender Dysphoria in Christian Perspective articulates what I believe (not necessarily what I understand); an excerpt:

An underlying assumption of those who press for changes in the church’s understanding of homosexual behavior has been that one’s embodiment should not be a determinative factor in moral behavior. In other words, simply because one is physically male, he should not have to accept that the natural and God-pleasing sexual expression appropriate to him should be toward females. And, if one is physically female, she should not feel morally compelled to restrict any sexual desires for women. Similarly, one who has sexual desire for both men and women, should not seek to deny such desires or feelcompelled to restrict his or her sexual contact only to the opposite sex. And, lastly, just because one has male genitalia, one should not be encouraged to seek treatment for the fact that one feels more like a female.

The entire Christian tradition and the majority of Christian churches today have opposed such changes in perspective. The basis for such opposition is precisely because our embodiment is understood as an aspect of our creation by God and therefore instructive regarding behavior that is good and pleasing to Him. Human embodiment indicates simply and eloquently God’s intention for sexual activity—that male and female by becoming “one flesh” might end their aloneness in lifelong unity with one another and, according to God’s blessing, in the procreation of children (Gen 1:26-28; Gen 2:18-24). Homosexual or bisexual desire and activity is therefore viewed as aberrant (see Gen 19:4-11; Lev 18:22; 20:13; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:9; and 1 Tim 1:10), because it contradicts the meaning and purpose of one’s embodiment as male or female.

This biblical view is not unrealistic about human nature in a fallen world. It is true that one result of sin is that desires and behavior become disordered. Husbands and wives inevitably experience (and too frequently act out) sexual desire for men and women other than their spouses. In other cases, men and women experience (and frequently act out) desire for individuals of their same sex.

The very same line of thought would apply to one who is embodied as a man but feels persistent discomfort with his maleness or for a person with a female body who believes she is male. From the standpoint of our bodies—which is the only objective means of determining who is male or female—we have a God-given identity that is either masculine or feminine. One is a man or a woman because that is what the body given by God indicates.

I hope someone soon will tell that little 5-year old that, rather than "not anything," he is a unique and special creation, a child of God, loved for who he is.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear my prayer.

Hell and Forgiveness

...and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors... For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:12, 14-15 ESV)

Far be it from me-- still an unpaid amateur-- to speak definitively on the place, concept, or purpose of hell, particularly as so many non-Lutherans perceive it. I prefer to go with the pat answer of separation from God, at which point my brain shuts down. Lutherans teach that a doctrine of eternal punishment is clearly revealed in Scripture (Mark 16:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 8:12, 5:25-26, 23:33; Mark 9:43-48) and that to deny this doctrine is to reject the authority of Scripture.

Furthermore, even farther be it from me to try to reconcile God's Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness and His desire for "all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV) with eternal damnation. Faith drives me to rely on Scripture. If God says it, it must be true.

Yet the concepts of hell and forgiveness remain difficult for us 2,000 years after the fact. One thing is for sure, any lack of forgiveness on God's part spells doom for the sinner.

So the debate rolls on among sinners about whom God should or should not condemn to a fate worse than death. Non-denominational (but, I suspect, probably Assemblies of God) pastor Thomas Christianson's post about this on his blog last month showed up on the Relevant website: Will People Spend Eternity in Hell? Three truths about God that help us understand. Such an article illustrates my point; however, the comments that follow at the end are worth a look. An understanding (or misunderstanding) of the concept of hell has everything to do with an understanding of (and need for) the Gospel message...and that God does not punish us for our sins, but has forgiven us for the sake of Christ.

Christianson has one quote that leaves me wondering. "When I 'know everything completely' [referring to 1 Corinthians 13:12], including the nature and reality of Hell, I believe that I'm going to respond by saying, 'God, you're so merciful and generous and loving! I can't believe how great you are! I thought hell was this terrible thing, but now I see it's all part of your love and generosity!'"

Martin Luther speaks of hell in his commentary on Jonah in a way that helps me to almost wrap my brain around it (my boldfacing):

I am not so sure what hell is like before the Day of Judgment. The notion that hell is a specific place, now tenanted by the souls of the damned, as artists portray it and the belly servers preach it, I consider of no value, for we know that the devils are not yet in hell, but as Peter declares (2 Peter 2:4), they are “in ropes of nether gloom.” And St. Paul speaks of “powers and world rulers in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Christ also terms the devil “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30). To dominate the world, to commit so much villainy, and to create so much misery would be impossible for the devils if they were confined to hell. The agony of hell would surely deter them from this. Scripture also says of many saints that they went down into hell, as Jonah does here. Thus we hear this of Job (Job 17:13), and Jacob laments (Gen. 37:35): “I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Scripture uses the word “Sheol” graphically to describe the anxiety and the agony of the dying. It adapts itself to their mood and feelings. And the dying do feel as though they were descending into hell, that is, into God’s wrath, although they know of no specific place to which they are departing. Everybody carries his hell with him wherever he may be so long as he feels the final anguish of death and God’s anger. In conformity with this, St. Peter in Acts 2:27 interprets Ps. 16:10 as spoken by Christ: “Thou dost not give Me up to Sheol, etc.,” and he says (v. 24) that God “loosed the pangs of death.” St. Peter wants us to think of “Sheol” as the pain of death that Christ felt when He died on the cross and when He departed this life and passed into the power of God. However, on the Last Day this will assume a different aspect. Then hell will be a particular place and the abode of those consigned to it and the eternal wrath of God. But let this suffice. It is not very important whether or not one pictures hell as it is commonly portrayed and described. The fact remains that hell is far worse now—and will be even worse than it is now—than anyone is able to say, depict, or imagine.

Dr. Robert Kolb, in an article published in Luther Seminary's theological journal Word and World in 2007, makes the point that forgiveness defines us as children of God: My enemies do not define who I am, through accusations and innuendo, through labels reflecting social or racial prejudice, through social systems that leave me at the side of the road. God's word of forgiveness defines me and assigns my life the greatest worth as a human creature of the Creator. Not even my own physical infirmities and failing powers of perception determine who I am; the loving Father, who has sacrificed his Son and raised him, has defined me as a person whom God has destined for a life made strong in my Savior. 

For a simple sinner like me, hell is a difficult concept, as I see it through human eyes. I am troubled by the design of eternal punishment as a means to an end. As for forgiveness, it is never deserved (in this world or from God) and so the simple sinner like me is loathe in most circumstances to offer it (most times forgiveness is offered wrongly, out of empowerment, or, worse, conditionally).

Thankfully, my faith continues to help me to better reckon with both!

'I can't forgive that. I won't.'

And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:22-25 ESV)

"I can't forgive that. I won't."

I'm a big fan of the Fox tv series Gotham (and I'm not exactly sure why). I'm really not into the current superhero craze. Maybe it's the back stories the show has been developing-- privileged Bruce Wayne's slow and deliberate transition into Batman, Jim Gordon's trials and tribulations as the detective-who-will-be-commissioner, and the circus side show cast of villains brought to life due to circumstances beyond their control... And it's all powered by one word: vengeance. There are occasional glimmers of grace and mercy, but forgiveness has yet to make a cameo. I mean forgiveness in the true sense, the biblical concept, that most Christian of virtues.

Last Monday night's episode came dangerously close to a forgiving moment in a soap-opery moment when Jim Gordon's sociopathic ex-wife (who had been in a coma for a few episodes), trying to appear contrite for her violent past, failed in her attempt to convince him that she is changed for the better. After summarily dismissing her he tacked on these words: "You tried to kill Lee [his fiancée]. I can't forgive that. I won't."

While Gotham is a metaphorical backdrop of life in New York City back when the world was in black and white, it does reflect the human condition in its theatrical portrayal of self-absorbed characters waist-deep in conflict resolution (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society, and man vs. self). This show no doubt intentionally (and often superficially) showcases character traits of chivalry, bravado, courage, revenge, and looking out for Number One-- all badges of honor in a world that is pretty much devoid of faith and forgiveness and in which morality is defined by popular consensus (sound familiar?). But week after week I watch this show and root for the underdog, hoping that justice will prevail, and that the meek will somehow inherit the Earth (or at least Gotham).

So what, then, is the appeal? Why am I attracted to a tv show that portrays the realistic side of Man in such an unrealistic context?  Why not push a plot line with a forgiving and faithful Mother Teresa-like superhero whose superpowers are chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility? Because the ratings would kill it before it ever got going...

But back to forgiveness. A show like Gotham actually teaches the antithesis of it-- that in the fairy-tale world of avenging superheroes, as in this real world of paybacks, forgiveness is not so much a virtue as it is a weakness, misunderstood as a hallmark of human frailty when the opposite is actually true. And as faith and forgiveness walk hand-in-hand, forgiveness is also misunderstood as a supernatural virtue to be meted out properly by a deity (rather than proffered conditionally by a human). Given the choice, we mortals choose NOT to forgive for all of the reasons Gotham can give because, in my humble opinion, few understand the concept. Yes, among them Christians.

I found this most excellent explanation of forgiveness on the Catholic Education Resource Center website: The exalted nature of forgiveness is attested to by the fact that it presupposes a number of other virtues. Consider three virtues in particular: justice, clemency, and mercy...

Justice has the nature of an equation: Borrowing 10 dollars requires returning 10 dollars. When justice is violated, punishment or restitution of some kind is required. Herein is the timeless significance of bringing the scales of justice back into balance. Injustice demands a counterbalancing repayment. Clemency goes beyond justice, to some extent ignoring the need for precise balancing, and reduces the payment. For example, clemency may be used to reduce a 60-day sentence to 15 days. Mercy goes beyond both justice and clemency to wipe away the need for punishment. It does not turn a blind eye to the offense committed, but it does pardon the offender.

Forgiveness goes beyond those three virtues, but without negating any of them. Justice, clemency, and mercy provide the very foundation that allows forgiveness to be a possibility. Forgiveness goes beyond mercy and treats the offense as if it never happened. It wipes the slate clean, as it were, and gives the transgressor a fresh start.

On the part of the person forgiven, the virtues of humility, sincerity, and hope are presupposed. In this way, forgiveness represents a truly exalted virtue because of the foundational virtues it presupposes in both the forgiver and the one forgiven. 

The last part is key: "...forgiveness represents a truly exalted virtue because of the foundational virtues it presupposes in both the forgiver and the one forgiven."

From a psychological standpoint, forgiveness gets confused with reconciliation. An excerpt from a 2008 study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress ("PTSD symptoms, forgiveness, and revenge among Israeli Palestinian and Jewish Adolescents") illustrates this:

I’ve seen individuals, for example, who have lost a family member because of a crime. The survivors’ anger and desire for revenge poison their entire beings. They so focus on what they’ve lost, and what they wanted the dead person to be, and do, for them, that they completely miss the opportunity they’ve been given to learn about real love.

Instead, they seem to believe that hatred, even to the point of capital punishment, will satisfy their thirst for vengeance and will somehow bring them healing.

So, with hardened hearts and stiff lips, they say, “I’ll never forgive.”

And the sad thing is that in wishing to send someone to hell they end up sending themselves there as well.

What if our God said those same words to us that Jim Gordon said to his ex in Monday's episode?

"I can't forgive that. I won't."

Thankfully ours is a God of forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Blog author Chad Bird very eloquently writes about the Gospel message of forgiveness in a post a couple of days ago (definitely worth reading!). No other word, act, or virtue, defines a Christian's faith (and his/her understanding of it) so precisely...

When we are conceived, the Gospel is not born within us. There is no Good News written on our hearts. It is a message that comes from outside us. Not in a thunderous boom, not in a trumpet blast, but in the still, small, weak voice of a dying God upon the cross, who says, “Father, forgive them.”

Forgive them for shattering every commandment that I have ever uttered.
Forgive them for treating each other with such meanness and spite.
Forgive them for making excuses for their loveless words and actions.
Forgive them for fashioning idols of every good gift we have given them.
Forgive them even for hammering these spikes and thorns into my body.
Father, forgive them for doubting, not believing, even denying our existence.

Such is the pivot point in the plot line of a story that is even more unbelievable than the comic-book world of Gotham, but the central Character promotes a message of faith and forgiveness, two superpowers with which every Christian can vanquish any villain or evil-doer! (No cape, cowl, or tights required... )

44 days and counting...

"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me." (John 14:1 ESV)

Seems like ages I've posted to this blog... My wife and I have been busy trying to sort out the final details of our journey northward (and a smidge east). Gonna hitch the mules to the buckboard and pull out the day after my last day on the job as a public school educator.

We've made the decision to shed it all and begin anew in Ft. Wayne. I'll be starting Greek about a week after our anticipated arrival date. From teacher to student. From service to the tax payers to service to God.

It's scary in an exciting way, but we have faith that God is leading us and that He will provide.

Right now, the days are swirling by as if in a dream...

Hard to believe I'm in my last six-week grading period of my 15-year teaching career!

Annie, John, and Curly: A mixed-up post...

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8-9 ESV)

God called to him, “Where are you?”

...for a mixed-up world...

We had a dog, Annie, that seemed to think that if she looked away and, therefore, couldn't see who was chiding her, then the same must be true for whoever belonged to the voice she was definitely hearing. Sin makes us act similarly when we become aware that we have behaved in an ungodly way, we try looking away, even though we know God is calling. We try to hide, to make ourselves invisible, pretty much like the kid in the image. We don't have to guess at what behaviors anger, sadden, or, as you read on, even puzzle God... Let's face it, He can see us behind those trees of shame, and He knows darn well we hear Him calling...yet, like Annie, we continue to look away...

Stream senior editor John Zmirak posted a very well written opinion piece that grins at you almost parodiably (I probably could've just used satirically...hmm) before you start to read it. The title alone made me snicker and then kind of grossed me out: There’s a Bearded Trannie in the Stall Next to Your Daughter and You’d Better Learn to Like It. An excerpt:

There’s a very important reason they want your 10-year-old daughter to sit in a bathroom stall beside some tattooed biker with a handlebar mustache and a leer on his face. It’s a pretentious mouthful of neologism, but you had better wrap your mind around it, because it lies at the beating, rotten heart of our current madness. Here’s the word: Heteronormativity.

Mr. Z., my hat's off to you, sir. 

As I continue to read about the increased disorder in the world today, I can't help but recall Disorder in the Court, the Three Stooges short in which Curly has to take the stand and is being sworn in:

Judge: Why don't you answer him?
Curly: He's talkin' pig Latin! I dunno what he's sayin'!
Judge: He's asking you if you swear...!
Curly: [cuts the judge off] No, but I know all the woids!
Judge: He's asking you if you'll swear to tell the truth.
Curly: Truth is stranger than fiction, Judgie-Wudgle.

The truth really is stranger than fiction (Judgie-Wudgie). It's getting' stranger all the time. 

And God's still calling to Man: “Where are you?”

Louie, Laminin, and the Lord

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 ESV)

My wife and I have been under the weather this weekend and so we missed our worship service and this Sunday's sermon. In its place (so to speak) I watched non-denominational (and high profile) pastor Louie Giglio's 40-minute message on "How Great is Our God" on YouTube from 2012. This video has been viewed more than half a million times and is without a doubt one of the BEST messages I have ever heard! (Particularly the "laminin" part near the end.)

I'm a Louie fan. The radio station Air1 (on FM dials all over the country) introduced me to him through short inspirational messages aired from time to time during the day.

A teacher friend of mine shared this video with me. If you haven't seen it, I'd like to share it with you.

I guarantee you'll be enlightened:



In him all things hold together. Amen.

As the World Turns (on a wobbly axis)...

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. (Romans 16:17-18 ESV)

A sampling of our world from today's newspaper (my boldfacing):

"...politics remains a shameful parade of fear-mongering and dangerous hate speech, leading to a climate in which Donald Trump can thrive as a presidential candidate. In this environment, riots are routine, hate groups openly participate in campaign rallies, discrimination and threats against religious groups are constant and even celebrated, and the degradation of women is fodder for super PAC campaigns... Political rhetoric has become so divisive, in part, because we, the constituents, reward politicians for it. We reward them by reading and listening to their words, then retweeting them and sharing on Facebook, and by cheering at campaign rallies and town hall meetings. We give life to their words. We take them and hurl them like bombs with no regard for the destruction of our shared humanity." (Robyn Short, "mediator, peace-building trainer and publisher" at GoodMedia Press)

"As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom” law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress." (Bruce Springsteen, on the cancellation of his tour stop in Greensboro)

From Dear Abby: "About a year ago, my daughter befriended a schoolmate. After numerous playdates, our families have become close. While my family is atheist..."

From Dear Abby: "My wife and I have been married nine years and together for 14. We have agreed that while we love each other, we are no longer “in love.” We have stayed together because we’re comfortable... [She] has just informed me that she’s pregnant with someone else’s baby and will be moving out soon. She is all I have known since we have been together. I feel lost and confused and sad. Do you have any advice?"

From Carolyn Hax' syndicated help column: "I’ll try to keep this brief. I’m really bad at breakups. Like, really bad. I have broken up with two people in my life, but am still in messy “friendships” with both. I genuinely can’t handle the idea that someone who has become my very best friend, my family, my partner in crime for goofy ideas or adventures will just disappear from my life for a reason so stupid as that I don’t think they are the person I’m going to marry and have kids with (though I have legitimate reasons for feeling that way)... For context, I don’t have a biological family, so maybe boyfriends become even more important to me than is normal..."

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

If I say 'TGIF!' in my classroom, could I be accused of proselytizing?

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)

Order your TGIF mug here

TGIF!

As is the custom in my classroom on Friday, my Russian students watch a film for a more authentic language and culture experience than they can get from a non-native Russian-speaker like me. Today they will be watching the 2010 movie "The Priest" ("Поп"), which is based on the real-life trials and tribulations of Russian Orthodox priest Father Aleksei Ionov, recruited in 1941 to move to the Nazi-occupied Pskov region of Russia to re-establish a church there, a project made possible due to the wartime relaxation of official Soviet anti-religious policy and the Germans’ tolerance (and even promotion) of Orthodox activity. The Reich wanted to show “liberated” Russian people how much better their lives would be under the Nazis in comparison to godless Communism.

Under Stalin, clergy in the USSR were almost completely liquidated. By the summer of 1941 there were no more than 10 churches active in the vast territory of the three dioceses of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Pskov, and Novgorod. Father Aleksei's trials and tribulations with the Russian Orthodox Church, Nazi occupation, and the post-war Soviet government have similar parallels to the struggles that German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer faced during the same period. Both men were willing to die for their faith (as Bonhoeffer did at the hands of the Nazis in 1945).

My purpose for showing this film to my students is three-fold; it is culturally authentic, it presents an eye-opening slice of Russian history (which my students study during first-year Russian), and Father Aleksei's story provides a wonderful opportunity for passive witness... I love to preface the showing of this film with the question "Is there anything or anyone in your life worth dying for?"

A parent of one of my students a few years ago actually accused me of proselytizing (because I showed "a religious movie" without parental permission). I assured her that I had no intention of converting any one of my students, nor did I attempt to foist my convictions upon an unwitting captive audience. (I failed to mention to her in the course of our conversation that a Russian language Lord's Prayer hangs on a wall in my classroom...)

That verb proselytize to me has the flavor of a four-letter word as it gets bandied about in both secular and church contexts. There's a double-line, no-passing zone that separates a well-intentioned Christian willing to strike up a conversation about God and church from an overzealous prophet of doom. For the former, theology is not unlike like a car's headlights (lighting the way, so to speak); for the latter, theology is more like a trailer hitch. The former seeks an in-road by which to share the Gospel and understands "conversion" as God's work; the latter misunderstands "coercion" as God's work and seeks to extract a confession. The former understands Christian citizenship; the latter should read up on Luther's Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms.

Perhaps you've heard or read about the Indiana trooper fired yesterday for proselytizing (preaching to citizens while on duty) or the Ohio middle school teacher forced to stop assigning religious projects. Perhaps your doorbell has rung at dinnertime and you've been confronted by a pair of starched Mormons, concerned Jehovah's Witnesses, or other mission-minded souls not willing to gamble on your salvation. Perhaps for you, like for many others, the Gospel message is meant to be heard in church, not on your doorstep (Jesus might disagree). The lost share one inimitable trait-- a dislike of being inconvenienced (and so tend to resist pious purveyors of damnation).

Anyway. Today in class I am NOT going to proselytize (I'm really starting to dislike that word).

But I am going to make a point (or two)... Hopefully, no parent will call.

(Check out this somewhat dated Huffington Post blog post on Talking With Strangers About God... Case in point.)

TGIF!

A Predawn Triangulation

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4 ESV)

I am wont to ponder. Sometimes I can almost imagine God giving me a celestial wink (with a big grin on His face) when I try to locate my place in His universe (or even just in my universe, for that matter)...

In the mornings, as the world is coming to life, I man my post in the parking lot to direct a seemingly never-ending and hypnotic stream of headlights, while dodging buses and keeping an eye out for the ghost students who cross my path ephemerally before disappearing again into the herd making its way toward the school building. But at the onset, until 6:35 or so, there actually is some peace and tranquility, especially under a clear night sky being slowly erased by the predawn light.

Over the past couple of weeks I've noticed a triangle of three bright "stars" (looking south and a tad right, at about 2 o'clock-- see image below); only one of them is a star, Antares, a supergiant located 550 light-years from Earth. It boggles my mind to think that when I look this star in the sky, I'm looking at the light that left it in the mid 1400s, around the time one Johannes Gutenberg was working on the first-ever printed book (the Bible, of course...duh). Antares is so large, its surface would stretch from Mars to Jupiter! (It also has a companion star, visible with a telescope-- see image insets.) According to the Wikipedians, the name Antares derives from the Ancient Greek Άντάρης, meaning "equal to-Ares" ("equal to-Mars"), due to the similarity of its reddish hue to the appearance of the planet Mars.

The other two lights in the triangle are the planets Saturn and Mars, which are practically next door by comparison to the traveling distance to Antares of 3,233,244,047,686,625 miles; Mars is a day's drive at 48,678,219 miles, and Saturn might require a hotel room for the night on the way at 792,248,270 miles...

So I stand under the night sky as dawn creeps in over the eastern horizon and I ponder the weight of it all-- how small Man is in the face of God. Just to get across our Milky Way galaxy alone would take almost 100,000 years at light-speed. (i think my mental clutch cable just snapped...)

Even more perplexing is that on such a grand(iose) scale, Man has to be, proportionally, as minute to God as something even more minute than an atom is to Man. (Why would He even bother with a dust mote like me?!) (there goes the drive shaft...)

Anyway. Thankfully He has gifted me with a fool-proof GPS so the night sky lights and distances are not so daunting: faith.

Tomorrow morning I might even wink back. ;)

[P.S. Tomorrow begins the Willow Moon cycle in the Celtic lunar calendar for all you neo-pagans, Wiccans, and Druids on the fringe...]

I wish someone would explain it to me...

My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,
men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways. (Proverbs 2:1-15 ESV)

How To Explain Mississippi's New Anti-LGBT Law To Your Kids appeared on Romper ("a site for a new generation of women figuring out what motherhood means for us") today... Don't ask me how I located it; I'm not sure.

The author, presumably a concerned mother herself, like many well-intentioned others-- progressives (man, I hate that term), conservatives, Christians, whatever the affiliation-- are pointing their lances at windmills, rather than at the true giant that needs slaying in our society: cultural righteousness.

What a child sees and hears growing up effects his or her moral compass in adult life. Children who are raised in a traditional (now almost Rockwellian, sadly) family with an omnipresent father and mother will likely have similar families of their own. A young man learns, right or wrong, how to treat women by watching his father. A daughter learns, right or wrong, about men by watching her father. Children who are brought to Sunday school regularly grow up with a sense that church is an important part of life. Children who a raised without any church influence learn just the opposite.

The "next generation" will watch and act accordingly. A young person's sense of right and wrong is acquired from the world around them, if not taught and modeled at home-- same goes for learning what is meant by acceptable behavior, free speech, and proper attire. And that no one person is more deserving to live on this planet than anyone else. That discrimination is wrong, no matter what the reason.

Children must learn that the meaning of "correctness" is not simply tolerance (in the political correctness sense). The definition of correctness embodies integrity (freely-- and sometimes courageously-- doing the right thing, living inside the law, etc.) and a sense of when to stand up against what is wrong, even when our culture says it's right. If a young person rarely (or never) sees the basic human virtues of empathy, compassion, kindness, generosity, service, loyalty, patriotism (love of what is noble in one's country), and forgiveness modeled, then how can he or she be expected to make a positive impact in the world?

So, Romper Moms, your little ones are in less need of an explanation of Mississippi's quasi-Jim Crow anti-LGBT law than they are of your teaching and modeling what it means to live as a responsible and faithful (rather than "correct" as defined by changing cultural norms) man or woman, husband or wife, father or mother. The rest will, most likely, take care of itself.

(Need help? Guidance is as close as your nearest church...)

One pastor wrote a few years ago:

 All around us the earth has begun to rebel against humanity and we are ever close to a judgment we do not want for our children and grandchildren. It is not just a social issue any more, it is a cosmic issue that cries out to God against us. The social issues of our immorality and insensitivity to future generations are but bells tolling the times before us. Better to be heavenly, morally correct than stupidly correct socially and politically. History is against us right now. Seems to me the time to heed righteousness, the true correctness for our nation and generations to come, is upon us like a thief. The question, will we listen?

The bigger question is, are our governors listening?

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:17-26 ESV)

This morning I retweeted (@theologetical) an opinion article by Baptist pastor Ed Stetzer in Christianity Today about why we all just can't get along: Unity in the Body and Working Relationships Beyond: What are the limits of cross-denominational partnership? It's an interesting topic, particularly with regard to the fractured factioned Christian Church. An excerpt:

If we can’t agree and unite in one denomination, how do we even think about unity with other denominations? How do Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals relate? What about Lutherans and Methodists? Are they in unity? If so, what is the unifying principle?

How do Presbyterians and Baptists—who disagree on pivotal theological distinctions—unite? Not theoretically, but in practice?

In a somewhat related opinion piece I retweeted from DallasNews.com (originally published in Forbes magazine) entitled How multiculturalism violates the Declaration of Independence, author Tom Lindsay (director of the Center for Higher Education at the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin) writes that "over the last century, the belief in absolute truth has largely succumbed — certainly in our universities — to moral relativism, which holds that all so-called “Truth” is in fact relative to the speaker. For moral relativists, all moral principles, which relativists label “value judgments,” are merely subjective preferences. Reason, in this account, can discover no hierarchy of “values;” all values are equal, because all are equally groundless."

This set me to wondering about the dangers of moral relativism (if I understand it correctly) in the church sense... Is the truth, in fact, relative to the speaker? Well, I'd have to say yes, to explain the many brands of Christianity (as well as sects, cults, near-beers, and do-it-yourselfers). Lindsay goes on to say (my boldfacing):

Apparently oblivious to these defects, America presses on to curb the imposition of values. The latest form of this project goes under the name of “multiculturalism.” The term does not merely signify that America houses citizens who have come from a variety of cultures. Multiculturalism today is grounded in relativism, asserting the moral equality of all cultures. Cultures, after all, embody values.

After rejecting natural-rights doctrine, attributes such as class, power, race, gender, and sexual orientation become fundamental and no longer unite us as the Declaration’s world view once did. Now, our differences outweigh the similarities that the Declaration uses in positing a human nature (essence or soul), and on which its rights doctrine relies.

What must be done, short of the Second Coming, to right this ship of moral relativism? How does the 21st century Christian learn to embrace cultural differences in the missionary sense, not just be taught in church to "tolerate" another's belief system or lifestyle as one might live with spiders in the basement?

It's funny (not ha-ha funny) how these two published opinions meet in the middle; for many Christians, the problem is not the destination, but the journey-- and for a growing number of Americans (including, I'm certain, Christians) the Declaration of Independence's self-evident clause, "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is the stuff of history textbooks and so takes a back seat to a "lawless liberty of the soulless self" (Lindsay's phrase-- a keeper!).

And I believe Stetzer is correct when he points out that "historic Christian groups who don’t agree on the gospel try to partner, the lowest common denominator is the result—a generic Christianity worth no one’s commitment."

A generic Christianity worth no one's commitment in a world promoting the lawless liberty of the soulless self... Maybe there is the plotline for God's Not Dead 3? (or, even better, Son of God's Not Dead!). I'd like to think such a time could exist only in a movie!

Tithing refunds?! Are they paid in cash or House (of God) credit?

"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you." (1 Chronicles 29:14-18 ESV)

I ran out of gas this morning on the way home from church. Literally (not in the emphatically and/or metaphorically cliché sense). While going up an incline toward an intersection. I was stopped at a green light. Dead in the water. Fibrillating over whether to call my wife, a wrecker, or the police...

Just as I had settled on calling my wife to come get me (then the wrecker and then maybe the police), a guy pulled off the road and stopped (a lot) of traffic for me so I could roll backward into a gas station parking lot. Apparently my guardian angel wears a tractor company ball cap, a plaid shirt, and speaks with a twang. In my 53 years on this planet, I have never run out of gas (even during those years when I couldn't see over the dashboard). And my gauge showed an eighth of a tank left (the warning light never came on...). The thought occurred to me that my wife is trying to kill me, but when I asked her, she literally (!) denied it. ;)

Anyway. I wasn't going to write about my near near-death experience, but about something that caught my eye on Twitter on Friday. I was certain that when I read the following on Relevant.com, it just had to be an April Fool's gag:

Perry Noble's Church Will Refund Your Tithe if You Don't Get Blessings in 90 Days

Apparently, this is gimmick is all too real. And there's a website to prove it (I guess):

90-Day Tithing Challenge (with the tagline - You Can't Outgive God)

Once again I must predicate any comments forthcoming with the reminder that I am an unpaid amateur, not a seasoned professional pastor or theologian. Having said that, I must quote David: “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you." (1 Chronicles 29:14 ESV)

This tithing refund hook seems not too far removed from the indulgences of Luther's day. A man-made promise that money is the conduit through which God's blessings flow. This particular money-back guarantee sends the wrong message three ways-- first, it says that your dollars will cause God to bless you; second, what if 90 days of tithing doesn't produce any "tangible" blessings in the eyes of the tither?; and third, tithing is NOT what we do for God but what God does for us!

I am surprised that a Christian congregation would promote such a theology doctrine tenet billboard in order to increase business (so to speak). All things, including money, belong to God and the real question is how much of what belongs to Him are we going to keep for ourselves and how much are we going to use to fulfill His purposes?

The idea behind tithing-- giving of the three T's of Time, Talents, Treasure-- is to live a life of stewardship in which God in Christ comes before all else. Proportional giving is an outward manifestation of sanctified Christian freedom, on a par with showing justice, mercy, and faithfulness. (Jesus had something to say to the Pharisees about legalistic tithes in Matthew 23:23...and Paul certainly favors proportional giving in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9).

God has no need for my money; it's His, anyway. When I give back to Him through the church, I'm putting His resources (that He has generously provided by His Grace) to work to serve Him in His Kingdom.

I think I understand the heart of the matter at NewSpring Church. I also have an idea of what the non-church-goer must think when he or she hears of such a deal (especially if they believe that they are down on their luck and in need of a "miracle"). In my opinion, such a scheme muddies the greater message of Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone through which all blessings pour!

P.S. I came across some other blog fodder for another day... LGBT toilet talk and the New Black Panther Party is armed and ready. Check out:

Do ‘religious liberty’ laws protect liberty or bigotry?

Armed clash over black mosque triggers anger in South Dallas

(Okay, NOW I'm out of gas in the metaphorical sense...)

Practical faith?

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:17-18 ESV)

I was reading an interesting post (9 Things Everyone Should Do When Reading the Bible: A few simple habits to build into your Bible reading) on Relevant magazine's website this morning under the subheading of God/Practical Faith and the right side of the virgule (slash to you) caused me to wonder what, exactly, is "practical faith" and how would it be different from everyday, ordinary faith?

As it is by God's grace alone that I receive His gift of faith, only through which am I able to know Him in Christ. This is how I am justified by God. This cannot be called a practical faith, since God creates it and parcels it out according to his needs. But practicable, perhaps...yes... God has blessed me with a "practicable faith", one to be put to work, so to speak, with the help of the Holy Spirit (sanctification), in my daily life... prac·ti·ca·ble (ˈpraktəkəb(ə)l/), adj.: able to be done or put into practice...

So back to this "practical faith" thing-- practical has a wide range of meanings, to wit (as borrowed from dictionary.com) :

1. of or relating to practice or action (practical mathematics)
2. consisting of, involving, or resulting from practice or action (a practical application of a rule)
3. of, relating to, or concerned with ordinary activities, business, or work (a habitual dreamer, who can't be bothered with practical affairs)
4. adapted or designed for actual use; useful (practical instructions)
5. engaged or experienced in actual practice or work (a practical politician credited with much legislation.
6. inclined toward or fitted for actual work or useful activities (looking for a practical person to fill this position)
7. mindful of the results, usefulness, advantages or disadvantages, etc., of action or procedure

I've met more than a few people in my wanderings who feel that they have no gifts (readily evident, such as music, art, sports, language, etc.), even among those calling themselves Christian. With every gift God bestows upon us, He is within His right (well, He is God) to expect a return on His investment; yet, in a near-ironic way, His gifts (like His love), are unconditional. This includes the gift of faith, this practicable faith, that's not meant to be kept in a box in the closet or in a frame on the shelf or taken out on special occasions. It's a gift meant to be put into...hmm...practice!

Our practicable faith is our empty hands, open before God. Our practical faith takes what is given-- enough for the entire world-- and at the urging of (and with help from) the Holy Spirit, endeavors to put it to good use. Not to curry favor with God, not to appear pious or churchy, not to achieve righteousness (Christ already took care of that for us on the Cross), but to make a difference in a broken and disordered world. To reach the lost and strengthen Christ's Kingdom here on earth.

Today's Sola devotion arrived in my in-box with these words (my boldfacing):

The doctrine of justification by faith is one for which people have given their lives. Luther himself, knowing that his life would be forfeit, declared that his conscience was captive to the Word of God, not to the doctrines of men. Today, we face a challenge of a similar sort, that may yet bring about a second reformation of the Church. In Luther’s day, the reformers protested a works righteousness. In today's Western world, though a righteousness of works persists, we face a cultural righteousness, in which our doctrine of the authority of Scripture would be abolished by any means. Indeed, as in the time of the Reformation, this threat comes from both government and parts of the established churches in our lands.

We too, know what sort of people confront the Church today. It may yet be that some of us will give their lives for the truth. Nevertheless, the victory is God’s, not culture’s. So, like the reformers, the apostles, our Lord himself, and those brothers and sisters who have gladly lived and died for the truth in our own time, let us “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord [our] labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV)

Practical faith, then, is not only meant to be applied in every aspect of our lives, but to be used in the work of Lord. Practical faith reminds us constantly that cultural righteousness comes from a desire to conform to what the world says is acceptable, rather than what God says is acceptable. Practical faith, powered by the Holy Spirit, diligently works the garden in which the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ grows...

To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18 ESV)