Ideas have consequences

One of the things that has disturbed me about the Terri news coverage is that the outrage about the starvation and thirst (even the callous Europeans are horrified), might actually work in favor of the pro-death crowd. Denyse O'Leary writes: "Starting slowly in the early 20th century, but now picking up speed, naturalism has begun to make deep inroads into our culture, including the school systems. And we are seeing the results.

At one time, only unborn children slated for abortion were treated with complete indifference to their possible suffering. Now it could be you. And if you complain that Terri is being treated cruelly, you will be told that a lethal injection would be more humane. In other words, going the whole way of treating all humans as animals would be more humane.

So, even if you are not religious or not socially concerned, but merely selfish, wake up and care."

The whole essay is well worth reading.

254 Lip Service after Easter Services?

On Good Friday, Zach Wendling wrote about why he treasures the services held on that day--services that end in total darkness leaving one with a sense of horror at what has transpired on our behalf, Jesus death on the cross for our sins.

“Before Jesus could overcome sin and death by his glorious resurrection on Sunday, he had to endure that sin and death today. What we will celebrate in two (three?) days is predicated by what happened today, and so it behooves us to mark this day as different. To ignore Good Friday and skip straight to Easter may even have theologically troubling implications. Pride makes us want to ignore our sin and skip straight to the Gospel message of salvation and joy, and appropriately, Easter is a celebration of that salvation. Good Friday, on the other hand, is a stark reminder of why we need Christ, why he died, and how he died.” Zach Wendling In the Agora

In a nutshell, Wendling described why so many sermons with “bumper sticker gospel” fall flat, both for the saints and the ain‘ts. To me they are stuck either on Palm Sunday with happy, relationship themes, or they underscore the law in Paul’s writings with admonitions to go out and do more witnessing, more serving, more stewardship, more good examples, etc. They not only skip over the Resurrection, our hope, the rest of the church year, but ignore what happened on Good Friday.

“Pride makes us want to ignore our sin and skip straight to the Gospel message of salvation and joy.”

Here’s an example of the Gospel of Jesus Christ reworked to be inoffensive. Our church magazine for March has a reprinted interview with Quaker Richard J. Foster, the founder of Renovaré. My first complaint is that his article on prayer is reprinted from The Plain Truth, the organ of a sect that I’m not ready yet to embrace given its founding by Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God (which has split into many factions since Armstrong‘s death).

I know Foster is considered a wonderful writer, but in this interview the Gospel is just gibberish, an unbeliever would never figure it out and a believer would just be lulled to sleep with all that sweetness and joy. There is no Good Friday. No Easter. Only figuring out through trial and error how to get close to God in prayer--which sounds an awful lot like works to me. It’s not that tough in a two page article to insert a few words about sin and the cross so we have a foundation from which to start. Here’s the cheerleading, bumper sticker gospel to which I object:

“God will not come into certain corners of our lives until we open those corners to him.”

“It is the life relationship, the interaction with God, that changes us.”

“Prayer is one of the means God uses for purifying our motives [to pray?].”

[Through prayer, good, bad, whatever ?] the problems of sin begin to be dealt with in time.”

“A loving relationship with God . . .is a great adventure.”

The name of Jesus does not appear anywhere in the article. Even the Muslim clerk at Meijer’s says, “God bless you” after our chats.

The article did drive me to his website, which is better than this interview--actually mentions Jesus--but still bogs down in relationship chatter. Sort of the ecumenical version of, “do you have a personal relationship with Jesus” to the power of 10.

253 Not only Christians fight for Terri

"Eleanor Smith of Decatur, Georgia, sat on Tuesday in a motorized wheelchair in front of the hospice, baking in the sun, with a sign on her lap reading, "This agnostic liberal says 'Feed Terri."'

Seems she'll take the Christians over the ACLU when it comes to life.

Story here.

252 The gift of helps

In December 2003 I wrote about the Gift of Helps I saw in action while helping a friend recovering from an injury. The story here.

251 Ten myths about Contemporary Christian Music in Worship

I enjoy contemporary Christian music--in my office, in aerobics class and in the car. I’m listening to some right now on an Internet radio station. So does Michael Spencer, the Internet Monk. He’s not too thrilled with some of the mythology concerning its use in worship. He writes a six-pager on this topic, so I’m including just the ten points with highlights of his essay. I think I’ve heard at least eight of them just casually talking to people in the narthex at our church about why they attend a particular service (we have ten, four styles of worship). You can read the whole thing--and it is worth every word and very funny in a serious sort of way--at http://www.internetmonk.com/looney.html From here on, it's all the Monk.

1. Contemporary Praise and Worship music is especially anointed of God. Advocates of P & W have lost the capacity to realize that Christian music companies will say anything to sell product.

2. God has sent contemporary Praise and Worship music to.....
A. Revive the End Times Church before the Rapture. This is patently ridiculous.
B. Break down "religious strongholds" in the church. I think this means that God wants us to act strangely and say it's the Holy Spirit. Loosing a "religious spirit" seems to be Churchspeak for doing something that used to get the ushers on your case.
C. Minister to the special issues of "this generation." "This generation" seems to be a movable term that most often applies to young people willing to fight you to turn the front of the church into a mosh pit.

3. Praise and Worship Music evangelizes without preaching.
Praise and Worship music falls somewhere between pretty good use of Bible texts to complete nonsense. Preaching, when done right, proclaims Christ and how to be saved every time it opens its mouth.

4. Praise and Worship Music brings down the Holy Spirit.
Among systematically goofy theology, this is one of the patriarchs. . . God PROMISES to be present with His people when they gather in His name. Music is completely irrelevant to the intention of God to keep his promises to His people.

5. Praise and Worship music brings a unique experience of God's Glory.
God's glory is a major Biblical theme, and encountering the glory of God would qualify as the greatest trauma a sinful human could experience. The contemporary Praise and Worship crowd apparently believes that Christians are now invited to become like Moses, and experience the glory of God routinely.

6. The overridingly important factor in deciding what church [service] to attend is MUSIC. [I]t's clear that church government, leadership, the sacraments, preaching, teaching, discipleship, doctrine and church support of the family are all areas where scripture gives some guidance of importance to any of us who are picking a church. Yet, I am not aware of any way to read the Bible that places music in such an important place in church life.

7. People worship better with contemporary Praise and Worship music. How lame is it to say that a mini-concert with hand motions is "worship" and everything else is what we did before, after or instead of "worship"? Since when do we worship "better" based on whether we are singing "A Mighty Fortress" with piano or "Shout to the Lord" with a band? Do these people have any idea what worship is anyway?

8. Contemporary Praise and Worship music is used by the Holy Spirit to bypass the mind and go directly into the human spirit where real change can occur. I feel dirty typing such an absurd sentence . . . This kind of kookicity seems to come from the spiritual warfare camp, where tales of doing an end run on the devil by slipping in through music are pretty common.

9. Contemporary Praise and Worship Music is taking music away from the devil and using it for God. Theology at work here: giving the devil credit for the appeal of the larger culture, especially music, and then sending the church on a mission to raid the pantry.

10. Using contemporary Praise and Worship Music is necessary for a church growth breakthrough. If growth occurs, we ought to be able to say with Luther, "The Word did it all!"

250 A great old hymn

Rebecca in the cold Yukon points us to a warm place in our hymn memory, O sacred head now wounded. Good Friday is not a day for those happy/clappy choruses we hear so often these days in church.

And I think of Terri.

My Savior, be now near her when death is at her door;
Then let your presence cheer her, forsake her nevermore!
When soul and body languish, oh, leave her not alone,
But take away her anguish by virtue of your own!

Note: The English was translated from the German which was probably translated from Old French or Latin, so a few adjustments didn't seem out of place for 21st century American English.

249 Jesus died for Michael Schiavo

For this topic, I'm referring you to my other blog, where it was posted yesterday (it gets 5 times the hits as this blog). Most observers agree that the moral thing to do would be for Michael to turn Terri over to her family. However, experts on federalism, states rights, neurology, palative care, right to die, right to live, and rights for the disabled are all over the map on this one causing huge rifts among people who would normally be standing together. Speculation on why Michael won't do the moral thing has caused screaming, vituperative fits of text and video, and even Christians are taking opposite sides. Time to reflect. Jesus died for Michael.

248 Thanks, but I'll pass

Today we received an invitation from an area church that is planning a forum to "explore moral issues grounded in individual internal consistency rather than any political party or ideological position." The church is responding "to the deep divisions regarding moral values that came to a head in the last election cycle."

On the playbill are a retired Lutheran theologian; an official of Stonewall Columbus; an official of the local and national ACLU; an advisor for health policy at OSU; a former judge; someone from the office of public defenders; a doctor; a professor of health services management; a professor of history; a a former counsel for the ACLU.

Hmm. Grounded in individual internal consistency. Not grounded in Biblical faith or understanding. Many Democrats followed their belief core on life and crossed party lines. Many Republicans, likewise saw the war as a serious moral lapse, and voted outside the party. Is this forum suggesting they should've voted the party instead of beliefs?

The issues on the list are incredibly important. Why shouldn't we be divided? Do they plan to dialogue for 15 minutes about abortion and stem cell research and move to break-out groups thinking we'll come to a consensus on a Spring Sunday afternoon with snacks and child care?

This Easter, the Passion of Terri Schiavo

"This year it would seem we are to approach Eastertide through the passion play of Terri Schiavo. Now the new culture of technology and disposability vs. the old culture of loyalty and love is put on upon our video stage for what may only be a two-week run before death brings down the curtain. The ultimate end of the play -- two weeks or twenty years -- is not in doubt. No matter. Its resolution it is already that of a vast cultural tragedy. Performed by the Shiavos, the courts, the media, the congress, it was written by all of us day by day over several generations that only wanted one thing -- more. Seen for what it is, it sickens all of us as it should. It is only proper that we now be forced to watch what we have made. . .

This previously private but now national drama reminds us -- as things magnified by our relentless media often do -- that one of the crucial questions of our blighted age is whether or not we are correct in regarding human life as something which is, under the proper conditions and self-ascribed definitions, something that really is "disposable" whenever it becomes inconvenient? And in our answer to this, whatever it may be, we shall learn very little about Terri Schiavo but a great deal about ourselves." American Digest

246 Your view of Terri

For now, there appears to be a compromise that might restore Terri's feeding tube. Now that Terri's face is finally on the national news, even with the condescending, sneers of the MSM commentators who don't know the facts, it is still surprising to me that when the human being is the most helpless, and can't speak for herself, her value and worth, as a creation of God and as a citizen, is determined by the beliefs of the guardian and not by U.S. law or a higher law. In Terri's case, her husband and guardian believes she has no value in her present condition. The people who know her best, her parents, disagree, as do thousands of other Americans. In other cases, it is a mother and an unborn child. If the guardian (the mother) believes the child growing within her will have an unpleasant, or unhealthy or inconvenient life, she determines the child's worth. She determines that her own wishes and values are of greater worth than the child's life.

I listened to Joni Eareckson Tada on the radio Friday. She and all the disabled community are watching this case very carefully, and she stressed again that thousands of people receive nutrition and hydration this way, and it is NOT considered an extreme or invasive life support method. It was reported that Bill Frist of Congress (R-TN) has talked to a neurologist who believes some of Terri's faculties could be restored--but her husband has prevented her therapy, for which he was awarded over a million dollars.

Terri is not aware enough to know the battle that roars around her. Satan has made sure that millions of others will be oblivious too. Terri may die, but now millions know how disabled and dying people are treated in hospice and nursing homes. I know a woman whose father was starved to death (no feeding tube was involved) his last days. Because he was in his 90s and very weak, it didn't take all that long. It was simply agreed between the staff and his wife (not the mother of this woman) to discontinue feeding him. When she (a nurse) and her sister (also a nurse) traveled across several states to be with him in Michigan while he died, they snuck into his room, disobeyed the orders that he wasn't to be fed, and gave him broth. He then immediately revived and knew them. His wife was furious, they were told to leave, and they weren't allowed at his final services when he died.

So, if you're thinking Terri is just one person, about whom the Congress shouldn't be concerned or pass special legislation, think again. Next time, it might be you, or your parent, or your married child.

245 St. Patrick's Breastplate

A Lutheran pastor comments on St. Patrick's Breastplate.

244 He's really leaning!

A Canadian church planter, Off shore Fisherman, is really leaning on the everlasting arms. His family is house hunting and in bidding wars. He writes:

"Nothing has come up. But I know, my Lord already knows
who my neighbours are.

Though it feels like we are hanging on by the fingertips,
I know who catches us."

243 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

"I don’t recall ever hearing this hymn in my home church in Mt. Morris, Illinois--we rarely sang anything with a strong beat, a waltz tune, or revivalist vigor--and you could almost do a slow jitterbug to this one. So I will forever associate it with a tiny church in Flat Creek, Kentucky, (near Manchester) where my sister Carol served with Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) in the summer of 1956. The only service I attended in the little church included this hymn, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” but they sang it like a mournful dirge. The small, poor congregation, who leaned not only on God but each other, the nasal harmony, and the heat of that summer have always stayed with me reminding me of Carol when I hear it."

My blog today at Collecting My Thoughts.

242 How is Luke doing?

For several months I've been reading the amazing blog about a little guy named Luke who drowned and was revived after 30 minutes 6 months ago. His parents created a blog to keep their friends and family up on his condition and therapy. He just celebrated his second birthday. Here's just one of the routines his mother, Sue, reports:

"After our PT appt. we went to our Pulmonologist appt. I knew when we went in that Luke had a cough that he needed to get out, this happens rarely, of course it had to happen while we were there. At first when the Dr. listened to his lungs while covering his trach he seemed congested and labored breathing, the second the Dr. took his finger off the trach he let out a big cough. I suctioned him and the Dr. listened once again and said that he sounded much better and was more comfortable having his trach covered. We left there with great hope that we will be getting his trach out next month if all goes well with the capping process, he said we could start covering his trach, as soon as we get the cap. If the bronchial scope looks good and he does okay when they take out his trach then he will leave the Hospital the next day without his trach. Please be praying that he will be able to wear his cap all the time and that the bronchial scope will be in God's perfect timing."

Last week Sue reported on a visit with a neurological developmentalist: "She said that given what Luke has been through he is doing great. She told us that his brain is working better than we think. She saw him respond to a request almost immediately after asking him to look me in the eyes she said that it was very fast, that quite often in brain injuries there is a delay in following directions and that she didn't see this in him. She set us up with an intense program to help Luke with quite a few area's in his development."

As I read about their commitment to this child who may always be challenged in his physical and mental development but is making progress every day, I can't help but think of the helplessness Terri Schiavo's parents must feel as they watch their own baby wasting away without therapy, at risk from a husband and court intent on killing her.

241 The Anniversary of The Passion

As the anniversary of The Passion comes around, I’m seeing images from the film appearing in Easter meditations, web sites and magazines. The passions last year about The Passion have dimmed. Millions of people saw it; few were converted because it was primarily shown to believers. Although only time will tell, it was not an effective evangelism tool.

It should be noted that there are still Christians who think the film was just awful and too violent (usually those who didn’t see it), and non-Christians who think it is anti-Jewish (many of those didn‘t see it either). I’ll leave them to their squabbles, but for those Christians whose complaints have been the extra-Biblical sources Gibson used in his research about the crucifixion, I suggest here that if a preacher’s topic is the twenty-third Psalm, he’s probably looked at some extra-Biblical sources about sheep breeds, the Holy Land pastures and dangers, and what shepherds do for a living. If he’s preaching on Martha and Mary, I hope he’s done his research on just what running a household meant 2000 years ago (just a guess here, but the men usually don‘t research this part of that New Testament story, but women pastors do).

However, this morning I was reading a book that is twenty years old, “The Empty Cross of Jesus” by Michael Green (IVP, 1984). To set the stage for Jesus’ death he writes about the use of a cross in Roman times. First he quotes Cicero as it being a most cruet and terrible punishment, and supplies the information that it was a humiliating death reserved for slaves and the lowest of the low. After describing several types of crosses, he comments that it is widely believed that Jesus was executed on the Latin cross (crux inmissa). Then he moves on to a description that could be the background for Gibson’s movie.

“The condemned man was invariably scourged, and men were known to die under that punishment alone, so severe were the wounds inflicted by this cruel cat-o’-nine-tails inset with pieces of metal. It is possible that Jesus suffered this punishment (Matt. 26:67; John 19:1). Thereafter, he had to carry the patibulum of his cross, and was led out under armed guard to die. . . He might have his wrists tied or nailed to the patibulum and then be hauled by ropes up on to the stipes which was already firmly fixed in the ground. More commonly the cross was put together on the ground, the condemned man bound or nailed to it, and the whole thing then erected and dropped into a pit that had been prepared to receive it. The degradation of the criminal was completed by his very clothes being taken from him. He was exposed naked on the cross. The cause of his being there was written above his head and fixed to the cross; and he was left there to die slowly in intense agony from exhaustion, thirst, and wounds.

The criminal had, of course, no recourse but to curse, spit and urinate on his tormentors. Often the kindler execution squads would offer a draught of drugged wine before nailing the man up. . . sometimes a rough sedile or saddle was fixed to the cross. This offered support to the crucified man, and often prolonged his life. By raising himself up on his lacerated feet and the saddle he could give some respite to heart and lungs which were put under immense strain by the position of the crucifixion. When the torture was deemed to have gone on long enough, or in order to ensure that the man was dead, the soldiers would perform the crurifragium, or breaking of the legs. This meant that the man, if still alive, could no longer hoist himself and would soon expire. The physical effects of crucifixion were appalling. Of all deaths it is the most lingering and agonizing. . . The agony of crucifixion was terrible beyond words. But it was not uncommon.”

Green goes on to describe the wounds, circulation, chest pain, etc. At the back of the book there is a bibliography, but he has not referenced his sources, which is not uncommon in a non-scholarly book. Even so, he has done some research on what transpired during a crucifixion, and why it was used as punishment. And with crucifixion being as common as it was (one incident involved 2,000 men at once), there are probably a number of extra-Biblical sources, all to checked against each other since no one has observed one today.

I suspect the real complaint conservative Christians have with this movie is Gibson’s Catholicism. And we know what the basis is of the other complaints from non-Christians. They not only don’t want Jesus in the public square, but they don’t want him in privately funded, block-buster movies either. They want Jesus to just go away and be a nice, meek and mild hillside preacher who gets people to share their food and be nice to each other so we can end wars. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians are also working toward that end.

240 Dan Brown and the DaVinci Code

Today at my other, other blog, I write about the DaVinci Code crowd and do a little finger pointing.

239 I just love this stuff!

What this world needs is a few more sermons on Justification and Sanctification and how one isn't the other. Without it, sermons on the Christian life just come across as more law.

"Nevertheless, the holiness wrought within a sinner by the indwelling Triune God never becomes the basis for the believer’s justification (Rom. 3:28). Rather, the good works which flow from a believer’s faith are simply a response to the forgiveness of sins won by Christ in history for sinful mankind (Rom. 6:1ff). Far from being in an adversarial relationship with one another, good works rather flow from faith, which alone receives the benefits of Christ’s saving work, as Luther testifies: “Faith and good works well agree and fit together [are inseparably connected]; but it is faith alone, without works, which lays hold of the blessing; and yet it is never and at no time alone” (Cited in the Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, III.41, in Triglotta, 931). Justifying faith, therefore, molds, shapes, and drives the ethical lives of those redeemed by Christ the crucified."

Steve Parks, a 3rd year student at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, is serving an internship in Texas and blogging at http://sceleratissimus-lutheranus.blogspot.com/

238 Discretion

In every culture there are dress standards for particular occasions. I attend church every week, and not always the same denomination or building or service style. I am convinced there is no one appropriate standard of attire for church services. God can be worshiped on the mountain top, the woods or the movie theater. However, in each location, is it unreasonable to have expectations? I'm thinking there may be no standards at all for those leading the congregation in worship.

I watched a lovely young mother approach the raised altar with one of her children, carrying the communion elements. As she leaned over with her rear to the congregation in her tight slacks, I could not only see her thong/panty line, but her cellulite dimples through the material.

I was at one service where a beautiful young woman in the worship team pranced and danced and swayed in tight jeans and skimpy shirt and seemed to be offering God a fairly good imitation of fellatio with the microphone.

One pastor I heard recently had on soiled, faded jeans and I half expected him to invite us into the woods for a campfire. When the missionary to the Indians preached in a plaid shirt and string tie, I thought it looked just fine, but if he'd been the regular pastor at that Baptist church, he would have looked odd.

Our choir offerings at the liturgical service are so lovely, I close my eyes to listen because they are all dressed in the clothes of their youth, whether they are 25 or 75. It might be a dark suit and tie, a pair of blue jeans with a shabby t-shirt, or a tight polyester dress from the 1970s. Thankfully, all the men have removed their baseball caps. I long for choir robes.

The sextet at another service comes to the front to lead our worship, the men in suits and the ladies in slacks and jeans and clashing colors, their visual cacaphony and large black music stands blocking all the lovely altar pieces of wood, cloth and metal. Their pride stops at the chin line, because all have carefully made up faces.

The "visual noise" is as off-putting as cell phones ringing in a quiet sanctuary or babies screaching into the microphone. It drowns out the music and the message.

237 Death with Ignominy--ours

"Terri is not kept alive by machines. She breathes on her own, and has ever since her incident in 1990. Being paralyzed, she does need help to eat. She is fed through a tube, although her parents believe she might be able to eat normally if given a chance.

The plan is to starve her to death by removing her tube and refusing to allow others feed her. This is supposed to allow her to "die with dignity." A woman in Prince William County, Virginia, just got jail time for starving her dogs. But our judicial system thinks starving is an appropriate end for Terri. Withholding food and water from terrorists is considered torture, but starving the disabled is how we "respect life."

One side of this story can be found at www.terrisfight.org. Terri did not sign a form saying she would want to die. If she had I would disagree with her, but at least it would be her decision. Her husband insists she would want to die, and her parents say she doesn't. There are doctors on both sides. There was a time when the benefit of the doubt would dictate that she be fed, but not today. The concept of "quality of life" as an excuse to end life is a product of the age we live in, to our detriment.

The idea of "death with dignity" is meaningless in this case. If Terri is brain-dead, she has no way to experience "dignity" or anything else. If on the other hand she is still cognitive, as the evidence shows, there is no excuse to starve her to death simply because she can't communicate.

Sarah Scantlin is a young woman who has been in a state similar to Terri's for the past 20 years¯unable to speak or move, and fed through a tube. But to the surprise of her doctors she just started talking again. She is thankful to be alive. It is possible Terri could have the same miracle, if given a chance and the appropriate treatment."

Full essay here.

236 Too bad we missed this one

A Lutheran pastor is on sabbatical and writing about it. As I read his past blogs I came across this artist, whose paintings were affordable 6 months ago (he reports) but are now in the thousands. Our Visual Arts ministry arranges shows for our multi-campused church, but when we have a budget, we also buy it (and move it around in the buildings so it looks fresh). We try to buy art that has a spiritual message. Here is the web page of the artist, He Qi.

235 Loved by God

If your women's group is looking for a good Bible study for the spring months, I'd like to recommend Liz Curtis Higgs' "Loved by God; trusting his promises and experiencing his blessings." It is a 7 week study (workbook, DVD) of Genesis 25 and 27-29 using the lives of Jacob and Esau, Leah and Rachel, to help you see God's plans for your own life. Mrs. Higgs has a delightful sense of humor but never strays from the basic text.

The recorded presentations are shorter than some we've used, and the workbooks only require about 20 minutes a day--also shorter than others we've used (and which I skip through a lot). So this gives your group plenty of time for discussion, sharing and prayer.

Liz is an "encourager" and a self-described "prodigal."

From her bio: "Feature articles about Liz have appeared in more than 250 major newspapers and magazines across the country, and she has been interviewed on more than 600 radio and television stations, including guest appearances on PBS, A&E, MSNBC, NPR, CBC Canada, BBC Radio Scotland, Focus on the Family, and Janet Parshall's America.

A member of Novelists, Inc., Liz's primary writing focus now is historical fiction, in particular novels set in eighteenth-century Scotland. To aid in her research, she has visited the U.K. on nine occasions, including an extensive "Heart for Scotland" 12-city book tour in October 2003. She is a member of the Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society, and supports the National Museums of Scotland, Historic Scotland, and the National Trust for Scotland.

Liz is the author of twenty-two books, with more than three million copies in print. Her fiction includes three historical novels and two contemporary novels . . ."

234 Two services, one faith

Faith Christian near my brother's home in Bradenton, FL, has recently started a Saturday evening service. Although we were prepared for loud music when seeing the stage set up, it was really pretty mellow with Vineyard-type praise songs, and my niece's husband played the soprano sax. It was quite pleasant. What was really casual was the dress code. No bikinis, but I think I saw just about anything else, and I think Saturday night services are fairly casual around the country.

To borrow a phrase from Dr. Phil, "Is it working for you?" I think the intention of informal services is to make the visitor feel welcome and comfortable, but we were visitors and it didn't feel particularly worshipful or spiritual to me. If I'm camping in the woods and we have a campfire and sing some quiet hymns, toss wood chips into the fire and comment on various insights, that's spiritual and appropriate.

On Sunday we attended Cortez Road Baptist Church. It was also informal because the pastor was ill and the lay people filled in and a visiting missionary preached. At one point, one layman sang the Ohio State fight song when we visitors introduced ourselves during the pre-worship time as Columbus residents. We visitors were able to sing all the hymns, even those we didn't know, because hymn books were provided instead of words on a screen. It helped us feel like part of the group. "Amens" were heard from the pews when the congregation agreed with the speaker, and prayers were lifted for the ill and shut-ins. Both churches preached the gospel and God was glorified.

233 The Food Pantry

Next Sunday is "Souper Sunday" at our church. A couple of women in football helmets were in the Narthex after the service reminding people to bring soup on the first (Sunday). Today when I was shopping I bought some large family size soups in a variety of interesting flavors and mixes. After reading what Lauri had to say about what turns up at the pantry, I thought I'd better buy the best.

232 What Christian Aid workers are keeping to themselves

Sure, it is tongue in cheek--the article at Scrappleface about how the tsunami victims suspect the Christian aid workers are keeping something to themselves--the Good News, probably.

"If these Christians are keeping some sort of good news to themselves," said the U.N. staffer, "this is a very serious charge and could bring harsh U.N. sanctions."

One man, who lost his whole family to the tsunami, said, "I want the food and water, but I need whatever it is that would bring people halfway around the world to help strangers, and do it with such joy and hope. You can't live on bread alone."

There are plenty of good-hearted, concerned people of various faiths donating to general, non-religious NGO relief agencies. There are also "Christian in-name-only" groups and Christian groups using local non-Christian aid/relief agencies to get supplies in place that are withholding the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation. They are misrepresenting themselves to their Christian donors.

I wasn't a bit pleased when I discovered, in the thank-you letter, that my contribution to a solid Christian aid organization was then redistributed through Church World Service, an arm of the National Council of Churches. CWS is probably one of the most inefficient, highest-overhead groups, paying its top people enormous salaries. I deliberately chose NOT to send it my donation for relief, but it went to them any way.

Next time I'll ask a few more questions.

231 Every denomination needs one of these

When I first came across UCC Truths I was a little puzzled that a United Church of Christ website would be pointing out so many of its own failings. Then I read the "about us" section and realized this is a page put together by members of UCC who aren't happy about what is coming out of denominational headquarters. "The truth behind the issues that you won't hear from the United Church of Christ" is what they call it. They also have a message board for discussion.

Remember that UCC ad that CBS refused to run? Here's what UCC Truths says about it:
"The advertisement is controversial and a little deceiving on a number of levels. It portrays the UCC as an "Open and Affirming" denomination while strongly implying that other churches are not... but even within our own denomination, according to a UCC website, less than 10% of the churches are "Open and Affirming" (500+ out of 6,000). The advertisement goes beyond identifying why the UCC is a good and open church by trying to tag other churches as brutish thugs - and this appears to be the concern of CBS."

That was my objection to the ad--the way it portrayed other churches as thugs and bouncers.

230 March of Dimes and Abortion

One way to prevent birth defects is to prevent the birth of a deformed child. The members of the American Association of Prolife OBGYNS's have asked the March of Dimes to disavow abortion. They won't.

Here's the story at the blog of MD Views, written by Matt Anderson of Lino Lakes, MN.

229 Barna's top stories of 2004

Reflecting on the more than 10,000 interviews his firm completed during 2004, George Barna identified the most encouraging outcomes, the most surprising findings, the most disappointing revelations, and the most significant challenges in the article "Annual Review of Significant Religious Findings Offers Encouragement and Challenges," at Barna Research, December 21, 2004.

I was certain surprised by two of his selections:

“Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, was a stunning film that generated hundreds of millions of dollars and attracted millions of viewers. However, despite its undeniable emotional and spiritual force, few people accepted Jesus Christ as their savior as a result of watching that movie; few changed any of their religious beliefs or practices as a result; and less than one-half of one percent of the audience said the movie motivated them to be more active in evangelism.”

Our church rented a large movie theater in a mall for three showings, and I'm sure it was intended as evangelism, not entertainment. Preaching to the choir, I suppose.

But this one was really a shocker.

“Two-thirds of all evangelicals support a constitutional amendment to establish Christianity as the official religion of the United States. Evangelicals are not alone in that desire, although they are the most prolific supporters. In total, one-third of all U.S. adults support the idea.”

What are they thinking? One-third of all adults? Have they never heard of the dead churches of Europe? Why would we want that here?

228 Now this should raise some hackles!

Over at Doxology, Rebecca, a Roman Catholic, quotes Philip Blosser:

Converts to the Catholic Faith such as those just mentioned were already as Anglicans and Episcopalians and Lutherans "truly but imperfectly in communion with the Catholic Church," and sought to remedy that imperfection by conversion.

227 The Safest Room

"When we’re concerned with terrorism, do we want to commit terror in what should be the safest room of all, the womb?" Marvin Olasky, "Hard Truths about Fighting Abortion," Compassion and Culture, Nov. 2004.

226 UA Couple saved by prayer and alert bank teller

While Judy was bound and gagged at home and guarded by a burglar, her husband John, a hostage in his own car, drove with the other burglar to the bank. The teller noticed the injuries to his head and notified the police. John and Judy are parents of members of our church. The Channel 6 story of their ordeal and rescue:

"Upper Arlington Couple Taken Hostage
John and Judy Hansel were taken hostage in their own home.The Hansels say two men knocked on the door and then shoved their way in. "I'd have to say it's a heck of a way to start out the New Year, by getting hit in the head, and slugged in the jaw, and tied up in your own home," says John.

The suspects tied up Judy and put duct tape over her eyes, and forced her to lie on the floor. One of the robbers then took John to the bank and demanded he withdraw $10,000.

Judy, was left home alone with a violent criminal, and prayed for a way out for herself and for her husband. "Those hopeful prayers were answered when a bank teller here, saw the bad bruises on John's head, got suspicious and called police," she says.

That's when the high speed chase started, ending on State Route 315. Police took the first suspect into custody. John then told police that his wife was still being held hostage at their home. John was taken to a local hospital.

Later a swat team and three police department's arrived at the home and swarmed the yard. She was left alone in a room, while one suspect rummaged through the rest of the house. Judy says her escape was a miracle. The other suspect eventually gave himself up.

The two men charged with causing all this chaos are Robert Jackson and Michael Lathon. Both suspects are being charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and kidnapping. They are expected to be in court Monday morning."

In the TV interviews we saw, Judy told about calling on the name of Jesus, praying aloud and telling the burglars about Jesus. We know the Hansel family to be people of great faith. About 20 years ago their youngest son was killed by an emergency vehicle going through a red light and striking the family car on the way to school.

225 Would a church try this hard?

Today I got another mailing from a Christian music club--one of those 12 CDs for the price of one deals. I'm not sure how they've found me, because we've moved since I told them in no uncertain words that I wanted OUT OUT OUT of that confusing, ridiculous points and bonus and "act now" membership. Today's letter was from the President. Calling me by my personal name he wrote:

"When I took this job, I asked my new staff lots of questions. One of those questions was about you:

Why do we lose good members like Norma?

After all, since you joined the Club in January 2001, you saved $50.94 on CDs. But you left anyway.

Clearly, we needed to do a much better job for you. So I made some key changes. In this letter, I'll tell you about those changes. . ."

Do churches ever send letters like this when a member or long time visitor stops coming? Do they know? Or care? Was it that no one visited when she was hospitalized? Was it the schedule? Was it the music? Was it the sermons? I don't think churches ask the questions music clubs do.

In a P.S., the President says: "I'm serious. I'd like to hear your opinion. One way would be by canceling within your 10-day free trial--although that's not exactly what I'm hoping to hear. Another way: drop me a note. (Please be sure to include your name and address.) It will get to me and I'll read it." I'm not going to re-up, but I think I will send him a note. I send notes to my pastors too, both when I like something and when I don't. I think everyone should--then maybe we'd have fewer missing members.

224 Christian Fiction

"As a kid, I was never a big fan of the Sugar Creek Gang novels. I must have been the odd boy out, however, because our church library had tons of volumes, all of them lined up straight and tall on their own shelf as if they were themselves proud of the universal parental and ecclesiastical approval they brandished. Even today, those books stand in my memory as truly righteous stories for truly righteous boys.

Of which I didn't know many. Perhaps that's why I didn't care for the books. Despite the fact my mother wanted me to read them, despite the fact the church library was full of them, despite the fact that the boys in their pages occasionally got in trouble, I found the novels rather odd. They were, to me, unreal. Often as not the boys were naughty, but they always came out of fray on their knees, in prayer, smelling as sweet as the rose of Sharon. I attended a Christian school, went to church twice every Sunday, and lived, for all practical purposes, in a verifiably Christian community. But among the Sugar Creek Gang boys, I didn't recognize a soul. They weren't real."

Read the full essay on Christian fiction by James Calvin Schaap.

223 Putting Christ back in Christmas

A high school in Kirkland, Washington got the Ebeneezer Award for cancelling the kids' performance of "The Christmas Carol." Story here.

Here's another school story (apocryphal, I assume) by Pastor Scott about the baby in the manger and Santa Claus that you might enjoy.

222 He just doesn't get it

"Why isn't a vaginally delivered baby miracle enough? Why do we have to debase creation to accommodate our denominational predilections? WP" posted by Austropithecanthropus. I would have explained it to him, but his blog has no comments and he leaves no e-mail address, so he is footprintless in the sands of cyberspace, wandering around clueless when any Christian could have answered him from Genesis.

221 It's not the Second Coming, just Trump's perfume

Uncompromising. Persuasive. Determined. Passion for power. Demands the best. It's not the second coming of Christ, just the ad agency's words for "Donald Trump" fragrance. 3.4 oz. Eau de Toilette Spray, $60.

Although we have no recorded knowledge of Savior smells, a spokeswoman for this product describes it as:

"the top note, or scent, of the cologne contains citrus notes with hints of mint, cucumber and black basil. The core note is made from an exotic plant -- which the company keeps secret -- that provides a green effect with woody undertones, rounded out with spicy, peppery accents. The finish come from exotic woods and has earthy, herbaceous and spicy notes."

Secret, earthy, woody, and spicy accents. Works for me. The second coming, that is.

220 Vox Blogoli condemns another legacy media

Shades of Dan Rather. Newsweek’s December 13 issue was a Christmas hatchet job, one-sided and agenda driven, according to Hugh Hewitt.




“Within 10 days of Meacham's [Newsweek article on Christ], his credentials had been reviewed for all to see by Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The article itself had been painstakingly--and fairly--sliced and diced by accomplished theologian, pastor, scholar, and author, Dr. Mark D. Roberts, whose double Harvard degrees, including a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, make his careful and complete criticisms of Meacham's reporting hard to dismiss.

After interviewing both Mohler and Roberts for two hours on the air, I then posted links to the Newsweek piece and their criticisms, and invited bloggers from around the internet to weigh in via a virtual symposium I term a "Vox Blogoli." Dozens of bloggers accepted the invite, and an astonishing array of piercing reviews of Meacham followed. Among many favorites are the Evangelical Outpost and Tapscott's Copy Desk, but all of them are well worth the read. (The complete list of symposium posts can be read here.)”

Mohler's evaluation of Meacham: "Newsweek should be embarrassed by this one-sided article presented as a serious investigation of the Christmas story. The magazine's editor may brag about Meacham's extensive study as a college student, but there can be no justification for the lack of balance and the absence of credible conservative scholarship in this article. This is not a serious and balanced consideration of the Christian truth claim, but a broadside attack packaged as a condescending essay of advice from Newsweek's very savvy, very sophisticated, very Episcopalian, and very ambitious managing editor."

Roberts, Crosswalk and Evangelical Outpost are included in my "Faithful Bloggers" links, here and at Collecting My Thoughts.

219 Which Christmas Carol Are You?

You are 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'. You take
Christmas very seriously. For you, it is a
religious festival, celebrating the birth of
the Saviour, and its current secularisation
really irritates you. You enjoy the period of
Advent leading up to Christmas, and attend any
local carol services you can find, as well as
the more contemplative Advent church services
each Sunday. You may be involved in Christmas
food collections or similar charity work. The
midnight service at your church, with candles
and carols, is one you look forward to all
year, and you also look forward to the family
get together on Christmas Day.


What Christmas Carol are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

218 The power of a picture--baby Samuel

Samuel Armas' tiny hand grips Dr. Joseph P. Bruner's finger just as Bruner finishes returning him to his mother's womb - Dec. 9, 1999

The famous photo of baby Samuel's hand reaching out from the uterus of his mother at 21-weeks gestation during foetal surgery, has turned the veteran photo-journalist hired by USA Today for the shoot into a pro-life activist. Michael Clancy, who snapped the photo after seeing the baby's hand jut out of the hole in the womb made by the surgeons, now offers his image free of charge to pro-life groups. Lifesite.net

217 Olivia's Mother

My mother's name was Olive. I never thought the name "Olive" was pretty sounding, except when attached to her. But the name Olivia has a lovely sound. Over at Love and Blunder, Devona writes about the vocation of being a mother to Olivia.

I have been given the office and vocation by God to be Olivia's mother. That means that I have the obligation and responsibility to raise her in the Faith, to discipline her, to love her, and to provide for her. I also have been placed in a position of authority over her, and she has the responsibility to love and obey me, and to recognize I am not her equal but her superior.

The humbling thought is that I have done nothing to deserve this office. I am not better than Olivia. We are made of the same mortal and sinful flesh. We are both subject to the curse, and tainted with sin. We are both made righteous only through the shedding of Jesus' blood for our sins. I am spiritually Olivia's equivalent.

Her blog is listed on Blogs of the Augsburg Confession.

216 The Liturgy as Teacher

Sometimes when I attend an “informal” church service, I look around at the 30-somethings and wonder how many of them will remember those choruses and praise tunes when they are in a nursing home or dying? If they visit another church, will they have to start all over with different mind-numbing, repetitious sing-alongs (like Baptist friends who attended our informal service and didn‘t recognize a single praise song). Maybe they will remember--some are awfully simple and seem to stick in the mind like radio commercials for God. Perhaps I underestimate God’s ability to break through in any musical form.

When I was in elementary school my mother faithfully took us to a Lutheran church because a friendly neighbor invited us. We were living in a town with no church of our denomination--even though there were three churches for 1,000 residents. My sisters even attended confirmation classes with their classmates. There was never any intention that we would join, and we always knew who we were--NOT Lutheran. I think we attended there 5 or 6 years until we returned “home.” About 25 years later my husband and I tried a Lutheran church at the invitation of another friend, and much of the service was immediately familiar to me (totally foreign to him), despite the changes in the hymnbook and liturgy over the years.

In an article about the liturgy as teacher, Rev. Richard C. Resch (LCMS) writes:

“The church learns its lessons slowly, usually through repetition. A child is never too young to begin the rhythm, the comforting rhythm, of week after week, year after year hearing and rehearsing the liturgy. It is a rhythm that is blessed and good for saints of all ages. The very prayers that need to be on their lips are put there by liturgy: Create in me a clean heart....Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord....Grant us your peace. At the same time, the promises of God are remembered again and again: God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins....This is the true body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, given into death for your sins. This is the true blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, shed for the forgiveness of your sins....He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end. . . Where else is memory taught from the cradle to grave by a stable, consistent rehearsing of the same words? Nowhere. From baptism to the last moments of this life, the liturgy is there with just the right words for the child of God to say yet again.”

215 The Taliban--It was about Gender

“But everything in Afghanistan was about gender. While men were punished for what they did, for defying the authorities, the Taliban’s relentless war against Kabul’s middle-class women wasn’t a simple equation of crime and punishment. There was a desperation to the floggings and the stonings meted out to these women, a hysteria behind the ruthless and uncompromising humiliation that spoke to just how powerless the fundamentalist leadership felt in the new world that had taken root in Kabul, the world inching toward modern values like diversity, tolerance and equality. The sight of an unveiled rosy cheek or a lock of hair tousled by the wind was the most intimate, thus the most potent, symbol of a world they could no longer control, despite Allah’s command that they control it. Only by concealing that swath of flesh, by reining in those unruly tresses, could the men in power regain the sense that they were masters of their perversion of a Koranic domain.” pp. 104-105 So many enemies, so little time by Elinor Burkett.

George W. Bush has freed those women. He has done more for women than any American president in history. He freed more people than Lincoln. Millions of women in Afghanistan can again have jobs, education and civil rights because of him. And the Left (who would all claim to be feminists) in this country and Europe won’t even mention it except to castigate him.

That said, what about gender in Christian circles, churches, and countries? It’s certainly not the reign of the Taliban, but there are men deathly afraid of women usurping their power. They push women to the background and keep them covered (some literally, like anabaptists and conservative Catholics).

In my church, a daughter of the congregation who was lovingly and patiently (and at great expense) brought up through the Sunday School and Youth groups, cannot be ordained in her home church if she hears God‘s call to be a pastor, a church supported for maybe 20 years by her parents’ tithes.

In my church, no woman preaches from the pulpit (although for some odd reason she is allowed to read Scripture, sing hymns and pray in front of the males of the congregation).

In my church, no woman teaches an adult Sunday School class or a week-night class where men might be in the audience, unless she has a male co-teacher as her “covering.”

In my church, which has a huge staff (about 60), there are no women administrators, and most of the women on staff are part-timers in clerical positions.

In my church, the board president is almost always a man (I can recall 2 women presidents in the past 35 years, but there may have been one or two I don't remember).

In my church, the hands down, most successful programming is run by women for women, completely independent of the male pastoral hierarchy; they select their own material, manage their own expenses, schedule their own meetings and have an outreach far beyond our local church and denomination. Historically, this is true in most conservative Christian churches.

In my church, the largest and most successful Vacation Bible School in the city, and perhaps all of Ohio, is run primarily by women, with only modest pastoral oversight.

In my church, the exercise/aerobics program (if you click, don't be fooled by the guy--as far as I know my husband is the only long-time regular male in this program) was developed well over a decade ago and staffed by women who sweated and shouted and stayed healthy for the Lord, 7-9 times a week in two locations. They enrolled many hundreds of women (and 2 or 3 men) from all over the community who in turn began attending and brought in their spouse and children to become members.

In my church, a very promising urban/suburban ministry has come about primarily through the efforts of one woman who was able to rally the pastors, staff, volunteers and congregation to see the possibilities in linking a suburban church to a city school.

In my church, the women are not stupid or submissive. They are lawyers, accountants, teachers, professors, homemakers, business owners, homeschoolers, computer programmers, entertainers, nannies, musicians, secretaries, retirees and janitors. We know what is going on, but accept it, because we don’t want a church without men. And that’s what happens to a congregation that tries to be gender inclusive in power--the men will leave or sit back and let the women run everything. Look around you. Name a large evangelical church with female pastoral or board leadership.

And what does the Bible really say about gender? I’ve heard all the tired arguments men in the church have for keeping women submerged below "see level" and busy working in the trenches for Jesus (the kitchen, the nursing home and the nursery). I’ve heard men of every Christian persuasion, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox, and every conservative denomination twist Scripture to predict the Second Coming, to define what is a Sacrament, to justify speaking in tongues, to sprinkle or dunk or dip, to serve grape juice or wine, to go to war or outlaw war; but when it comes to gender, they are married very literally to a few favorite verses, be it from the Genesis’ creation story, or Paul’s comments on the reason to keep your head covered. All the rest of their stubbornness and myopia is pure tradition and mythology--cultural and secular to the core. The same level of veracity as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. These same men will send women as missionaries to evangelize in non-western countries, assuming I suppose that the men in those cultures are “like children?”

But no man who reads the Bible seriously can hide or misinterpret Jesus’ own example in the Gospels, where he not only included women in his closest circle of friends, but he announced his purpose and mission first to women. The first century of Christian followers after Jesus returned to the Father began writing women out within 50 years or so after Jesus first revealed himself to women at the tomb and commanded them to go tell the others. And for the next 20 centuries, the rest of Christian manhood has for the most part, been following their example rather than Christ’s.

Where is George Bush when we need him? Certainly not liberating Christian women for full ministry.

214 How can they be the future?

Interesting discussion between Steve, one of the writers of Outside the Beltway blog, and reader, Ken. Steven points out the silliness of caring about the effects of deficit spending on “future” generations (article in San Francisco Chronicle) while at the same time, aborting them (they aren’t really people and thus have no rights) so they have no future in which to pay taxes. And technically, those people (3 or 4 generations out) also have no rights today.

“Now my guess is that the editorial board at the SFGate.com (the San Francisco Chronicle) are liberal. From this it is probably fair to surmise that the person(s) responsible for that editorial feel that abortion should be legal. Yet it seems strange to invoke fairness to future generations when looking at tax/budget policies. I mean in one case, the argument is that the fetus is not a person and hence has no rights. People three or four generations from now also do not exist, and thus also have no rights. The idea that something is "unfair" to them is just patently ridiculous...using the above reasoning. Seems like a pretty substantial consistency problem, but maybe I'm wrong.”

Ken is not happy and calls Steve and idiot; Steve shreds his arguments and calls Ken a “logically challenged stooge.”

213 Why are his enemies upset about his faith?

On C-Span2 today I watched part of a conference on Religion and the Presidency, held November 18-19 at The Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University. The section I saw was on Presidents Carter, Reagan and Clinton. Unless the speakers were making up the quotes, I can't imagine why the media gives President Bush such a hard time about his prayer life, his beliefs, and his values.

Also this week-end on C-Span was Richard Dawkins discussing his book "Ancestors Tale." By the time I caught it he was answering questions with pokes and asides at the "nut cases" who are creationists, and receiving a smattering of applause when he said that at least in Britain they aren't in the government. Evolution he says, is true. I am always amazed at the dogged, fundamentalist, fall-down-and-worship faith that evolutionists have. Proof of the Creator is all around us; proof of evolution is nowhere observable.

According to his own publicity: "In The Ancestors Tale, the renowned biologist and thinker Richard Dawkins presents his most expansive work yet: a comprehensive look at evolution, ranging from the latest developments in the field to his own provocative views. Loosely based on the form of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Dawkins's Tale takes us modern humans back through four billion years of life on our planet. The Ancestor's Tale is at once a far-reaching survey of the latest, best thinking on biology and a fascinating history of life on Earth. Here Dawkins shows us how remarkable we are, how astonishing our history, and how intimate our relationship with the rest of the living world."

212 Oops! Wrong church

Huge Thanksgiving services Wednesday evening and Thursday morning at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, known around here as UALC. But spell checks won't tell you when the words are spelled right but in the wrong order. So yesterday's bulletin welcomed us to "Upper Lutheran Arlington Church." It got a good laugh when our pastor mentioned it--most of us hadn't even noticed.

This item has been cross posted at my other blog, Collecting my Thoughts.


ULAC 

211 New Baby on Board (the Blog Roll)

Amy Welborn, over to the right on my blogroll has had her baby--November 19, I think. Amy holds an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, taught theology in Catholic high schools, and served as a parish Director of Religious Education. And she's a mommy again, and can now bend over again, she says. She is the author of "The Words we Pray; discovering the richness of traditional Catholic prayers," and "The DaVinci Code; the facts behind the fiction." She has also authored childrens' books.

De-coding DaVinci

Hot Jobs in 25 Years

The December issue of Wired has an article, "Hot Jobs in 25 Years," in which experts give their opinions of future growth areas. Dick Bolles, author of the famous and periodically reissued and updated, "What color is your parachute" laughs at the question. He says a film produced in 1975 that predicted hot fields caused howls of laughter when shown in 1985.

Here's my prediction. Audiology and ear drum replacement surgery or implants. Deafness is definitely in our future. But it is hard to convince a 35 or 40 year old, who is already in the early stages of hearing impairment and will probably have to take the headset or wireless earphones out of his ears and ask you to repeat your warning.

I walked to the door of Fellowship Hall at church Sunday for the "Book Fair," bringing the books to the people with the help of our volunteer library staff and local Christian retailers. But I was beaten back at the door, hammered, clobbered, kicked in the head by a live Christian rock band warming up for the 11:15 X-Alt service (jeans and t-shirts demographic). "Informal" or "contemporary" (slacks and layered sweaters demographic) is for the aging baby boomers, and "traditional" or "heritage" (dresses and suits and ties demographic) is primarily for those of us over 60 and a few transfers from liturgical churches hoping for something familiar.

No matter how it is packaged, these musical offerings in enclosed spaces with hard edges and no noise control, is an assault on my ears. And in my case, my heart. I have arrythmia, so I have to immediately leave the premises, and go to a room or hall where only the floor and walls tremble and vibrate, not my heart valves and ear drums. I had to leave our church's spring concert this year to wait in the hall for my husband and our 84 year old guest because the volume was so overwhelming where I was sitting (different building), I was actually in pain. About 10 minutes later, my elderly neighbor joined me in the hall. She couldn't take it either. It's scary when people in their 60s, 70s and 80s have better hearing than 20 year olds. But it does open up numerous career possibilities when all the bass players and drummers are learning sign language.

(Read about new research on the molecular key to hearing: Sound first enters the external ear, traveling through the ear canal until it reaches the ear drum, causing it to vibrate. This then causes the three bones of the middle ear (one of them attached to the ear drum), called auditory ossicles, to vibrate as well. The auditory ossicles carry the vibrations into the inner ear and cause the fluid of the inner ear to vibrate. The fluid in the inner ear then causes a ribbon of cells called hair cells to vibrate up and down. That up and down motion causes tiny hair cells called cilia to move back and forth.

The back-and-forth motion cause the newly discovered protein, which forms pores located at the tips of the cilia, to form pores or channels that open and close in response to sound waves. When the pores open, ions flow into the cells and transform the vibrations into electrical signals.)

209 A Christian and Muslim Talk about Good Deeds

She was still fuming in the parking lot; I could hear her slamming her 12 packs of soda and bags of chips into the back of the SUV. I wheeled my cart to the corral which was next to her vehicle and said, “I apologize for holding you up in the store; usually he doesn’t talk. I‘m really sorry.” “Yeah, whatever,” she snarled.

There was no one behind me at the check out when the clerk and I were comparing what God expects of us in the area of good deeds--I had asked him to separate my food pantry items because I was taking them to church on Thanksgiving Day. He then told me that as a Muslim he had an angel on his right shoulder keeping track of his good deeds, and an angel on his left shoulder tracking his bad deeds, and he hoped that at the end of his life, the totals would work in his favor and he would be allowed into Paradise, but first (difficult to hear because of his accent) he’d have to go to hell for awhile during the computation period. “Are you worried about this?” I asked. “Oh yes, I’m so afraid to do anything bad, and now they are using computers.” (Picture here angels with laptops!) “We Christians believe we are already forgiven for our sins because of Jesus death on the cross, but we too will be asked to account for our deeds on Judgment Day,” I offered. “However, there are many Christians who believe as you do--that they will have to be very good to get into heaven.”

By then, some other shoppers were in my line, looking worried and anxious and glancing at their watches. I’d asked for paper bags which don’t work well in the new turn style system, and then he started doing “something bad,” maybe not in the eyes of the angels, but in their eyes--telling me about the long ordeal to get to the United States, his five years here, and his desire to be a citizen. I heard about the brother who sponsored him, and who will be sponsoring another brother and sister back in Pakistan who are waiting to immigrate. I heard about his selling all his property and worldly goods, about how his file was “lost” for 13 years until the family came up with the money to bribe someone (wasn’t sure if this was in Pakistan or the U.S.)

“See you next week,” I said after getting my change and heading for the parking lot. Although I apologized there (asked forgiveness) to the woman waiting behind me in line, she didn’t offer any forgiveness. Nor is it required. She’ll probably stew about it all day, and tell that story at work or over dinner tonight. Her stomach will be in knots and her blood pressure high, because she wouldn’t forgive. That’s the difference between asking God for forgiveness and asking my neighbor for forgiveness. My neighbor can spit in my face or say, “Yeah, whatever,” and choose to be miserable. God has to forgive me for the sake of Jesus Christ, for all my sins past, present, future. Unlike Muslims, we Christians have the assurance that God is faithful and just and will do what he promised.

208 Source for Christian Book Reviews

The In Season Christian Librarian is recommending New Christian Books for previews and reviews of evangelical and fundamentalist books. Each entry contains a lengthy excerpt, book jacket blurbs, links to other books on this subject, reviews, author bio, and purchasing information.

207 Off Shore Fisherman

Take a look at the web log of Off Shore Fisherman, for inspiring thoughts, mini-sermons and wonderful photographs. He bravely started blogging in July.

Making every effort to stay alive in the coliseum of ministry.
The lions are big...
The crowd cheers on, I know it's about life and death.
Glad the armour fits.

206 Fifteen minutes with a Condemned Man

A middle aged woman in your congregation asks to see you privately. In tears, she tells you her son has exhausted his appeals in the courts, and will be executed next Friday morning. You are trying to get your mind around this startling fact as she describes the heinous crime with tears pooling behind her glasses.

How could this be, you wonder. Such a good, kind, decent family--you've known them for years, your predecessor baptized their children, including the condemned man. But this chapter in their life's story had never been revealed in choir, church dinners, food pantry or at the communion rail.

You're brought up short and bumped out of your fog when she asks, no, begs you to spend 15 minutes with him before he dies. Just 15 minutes to tell him about Jesus, she pleads. Your mind races. No anecdotes. No cute family stories from your past. No sorting through what Jesus might have meant in the parables. No clarification of values. No vague references to "our hope." No sports analogies. No vision for church growth. No theological Old Testament types or prophecy to point to the New Testament. Just 15 minutes before a condemned sinner is escorted to the death chamber.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The alarm. You wake up. You're in a sweat, the sheets are soaked. Whew. It was a nightmare, thank God. It's a new day. It's preparation day--sermon polishing day. Your heart sinks. You realize as never before you now have to plan a sermon of 15 minutes to tell 700 condemned sinners about Jesus. Maybe the nightmare isn't over?

As your head clears, the words of confession begin to creep in. . .phrase by phrase, a bit rusty from disuse.

we poor sinners confess
we are sinful and unclean
we have sinned in thought, word and deed
we flee to your infinite mercy for grace
for the sake of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ

who was given to die for we poor sinners
and for his sake, God grant remission of our sins
and give the Holy Spirit enabling us to be obedient
to become the children of God
and to receive everlasting life.

Yes, there's a good foundational message for the condemned-to-die on which to build a message of hope and 21st century relevance for Sunday's sermon.

205 Ashland University new hiring policy

The group known as the Fraternity of German Baptists, and later the German Baptist Brethren had a three way split in the 1880s. They were known as Dunkers, Tunkers, Täufers, and Dunkards and some, including my ancestors, spoke German for many generations. Although I don't think the terms conservative (Old German Baptist Brethren), progressive (Brethren Church) and moderate (Church of the Brethren) apply today, they did have different approaches to cooperating with the dominant culture of the United States. All the Brethren believed the New Testament contained God's will for his people, but differences split the small anabaptist group into many smaller groups. This page gives a more complete explanation with charts of the divisions.

Recently, the second largest Brethren group, The Brethren Church, made the news by deciding to limit its faculty at its only university to Christians and Jews.

"Only Jews and Christians will be hired as full-time faculty members at Ashland University under a policy recently approved by university trustees.

The policy, which could be reviewed by trustees in January, is meant to reinforce Ashland's historical ties to the Brethren Church, according to Steve Hannan, a university spokesman. Church followers founded the private university in 1878." Story in Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 9

When the church split, the other colleges remained with the larger group, The Church of the Brethren, which now include Manchester College (1902), Juniata (1876), Elizabethtown (1900), LaVerne (1891), and McPherson (1887). Mt. Morris (1879) and Blue Ridge College (1930) have closed.

204 The Family and Families of God

The three children in the pew in front of me were sitting with their grandparents. The oldest looked so much like her mother it almost made me smile. She even had the same pouty scowl. Maybe just on the cusp of the teen years--11 or 12. She ran her hands through her dark hair, highlighted with blonde from the swimming pool, to form an imaginary pony tail, and then shook it free. Her little sister, perhaps 7 or 8, then made the same movement with her much darker and richer locks. I remember when their mother outgrew her Barbie dolls and had a yard sale. Must have been around 1975. My daughter and I went over to look at them. At age 8, my daughter was about to outgrow that stage, but she still liked accumulating the clothes even if she rarely played with the dolls.

Three pews in front of that family was another family, a little smaller now that the oldest is in college in Indiana. The mother is small, maybe under 5’4” and the father tall and slender, over 6’5”. Her head was well below his shoulder. All three of their children are tall--fortunate isn’t it, that the boys didn’t resemble Mom and the girl Dad? The boys are at that awkward, growing-an-inch-a-week stage. Perhaps 14 and 15, all arms and legs and pimples. The entire family was dressed in some combination of khaki and gray-blue, like they woke up and said, “What should we wear today?” Dad had his hands in his pockets, feet a little apart while singing, and the two boys were in the exact same stance. Only the touch of auburn hair on the one boy showed Mom had a part in all this. Otherwise, they were their father.

Behind me there was a family with small children, all with colds. Lots of juicy sniffing, sneezing and coughing. Dad whispered, “Josh, stop it,” and little Joshua whines, “But I can’t help it, Daddy.” Then Dad sniffed, but much louder. Joshua’s Daddy was so enthusiastic, he sang along quietly with the male soloist in the mixed sextet leading the congregational singing, a master carpenter with ruddy complexion and black hair. Daddy even hummed along when the female soloist took her turn. The name Joshua means “God is salvation” in the Old Testament and is the name we know as Jesus in the New Testament.

And I smiled thinking about the family of God worshiping together, similar yet different, worshiping Jesus, the master carpenter, trying to sing along, to get along, trying to be what our Heavenly Father wants.

203 Lutheran Churches Columbus Ohio

If you are browsing the internet looking for a Lutheran church in the Columbus metropolitan area, or one serving Upper Arlington, Hilliard, Dublin or North Columbus, you probably won't find the largest, which is Upper Arlington Lutheran Church. So I'm blogging about it today to help you find it, because there are no meta-tags in the turn-key system to direct you to it.

Upper Arlington Lutheran Church is one congregation with three locations, The Church on Lytham Road, 2300 Lytham Road, Upper Arlington, 43220; The Church at Mill Run, 3500 Mill Run Drive, Hilliard, 43026; and Hilltop Lutheran Church, 12 South Terrace Avenue, Columbus, 43204. This wouldn't be nearly as confusing if we'd originally chosen a spiritual name like Trinity or Lamb of God instead of a city's name, but that's how the New Testament churches did it.

Upper Arlington Lutheran Church in suburban and west side of Columbus, Ohio, offers a variety of worship styles, five times on Sunday at Mill Run, four times on Sunday at Lytham, and one at Hilltop. There is a wide variety of teachings and Bible study throughout the week, with Sunday morning and Monday evening being the heaviest schedules, with Sunday school and "Outfitters," for deeper study of theology, the Christian life, parenting, etc.

This large Lutheran church in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area has a Vacation Bible School that will knock your socks off--something like 2500-3000 kids are enrolled and teachers are drawn from all over the city for what must be a logistical nightmare for the planners, with morning, afternoon and evening sessions. Every adult who works in this program, even those who sell the t-shirts, are checked and screened and have references.

There is a very large nursing home ministry that offers Bible study and communion at local facilities, and offers regular training and support for members of those ministries. I couldn't even begin to count the liaisons between the church and groups like Inter-Varsity, Campus Crusade, and International Friendships. If you can't find a ministry to serve in at UALC, you just haven't looked.

I'll put in a plug here for something that's relatively rare in churches, and that's an established Visual Arts Ministry. UALC has probably the finest gallery space in metropolitan Columbus, and is currently booking shows for 2006. It has an annual Members All Media Art Show (MAMAS) during Advent. But this ministry is miniscule compared to the music ministry which frequently features a full orchestra, and has separate choirs for the different locations. The Christmas choir offerings are usually over sold and are fabulous. We have a new music director this year, formerly at Karl Road Baptist, who looks very promising.

This Columbus area Lutheran church offers unique opportunities for urban ministry through its contacts at Hilltop Lutheran, including a food pantry, clothing store, elementary school mentoring and volunteering, and programming useful for a community not in the suburbs.

Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, a large Columbus area church, has regular print-on-paper publications, The Cornerstone, which primarily focuses on scheduled events, and Crosslinks, a full color, glossy monthly magazine (access through the main web site), with general content articles of interest to visitors and members. Both are available in PDF files.

I'll cross post this at my other blog, Collecting My Thoughts, and then I'll check Google to see if "Lutheran Church Columbus Ohio" will finally bring up the largest Lutheran church in the city. It's worth a try! And the next time you're in the Columbus, Ohio, stop in and visit.

ELCA
Columbus, OH
Lutheran
Upper Arlington Lutheran Church
UALC

202 The value of biography and testimony

In her book, Believing God, which our women are using this fall, Beth Moore writes: I devour books on the lives of the faithful-though-fallible. The testimonies of Saint Augustine, Jan Hus, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, Oswald Chambers, Amy Carmichael, and Charles Spurgeon are just a few. This morning I again told God that I want to be faithful to Him more than anything in the world. Reading about the lives of those who fulfilled such a high calling is like a strong wind against my back as I run my race." (Believing God. LifeWay Press, 2002, p. 170)

In that chapter she developed her ideas from biographies of D.L. Moody, William Carey, George Muller, Jim Cymbala, and Bruce Wilkinson. Two of the women in our group had heard Jim Cymbala preach at Brooklyn Tabernacle, which has a Tuesday night prayer meeting attended by thousands and people wait in long lines to attend.

The message she found in the lives of all these saints is, "Pray Big."

Healing the Church Website

Here's an interesting site that tells it like it is. Most church websites are pretty awful. They're glitzy, gimmicky, crowded, cluttered and hard to read. I particularly liked The seven deadly sins of church website design.

200 Advice for the Democrats from a college student

Nick Wills in the Daily Nebraskan, a Democrat, has some advice for his party, not all of which I’d agree with, but this one made sense:
“What should the party do?

First of all, have some respect for religion. In pure liberal philosophy there is open-mindedness to differing beliefs. In today’s Democratic Party, there’s that open-mindedness – unless you’re an evangelical Christian. I’ve actually heard liberals say those who vote on moral issues as stupid and ignorant.

I’ve seen this attitude on TV with people such as Janine Garofalo making fun of Bush’s faith in God. This type of closed-minded speech basically tells religious people NOT to vote for John Kerry. They listened.”

I don’t for a minute think Roe v. Wade will ever be repealed--Bush doesn’t have the support for that among his own party. There are lots of ways to save babies, and a big one would be to discourage conception by promoting and supporting less sexual and violent entertainment and music that misleads so many young women. But Nick also makes this suggestion:

“Stop cozying up with the pro-choice agenda. Democrats almost have an image that they love the idea of abortion. What would be so wrong with Democratic candidates giving a plan to reduce abortions? Very few people would object, and the ground gained on moral issues would be significant.”

That’s a smart young man. The future of the country’s in good hands, even if Democratic.

199 In the name of Jesus

“America has become an incubator of fear easily exploited by a demagogue like Karl Rove, whose get-out-the-vote canvassers looked like a Rapture block party.” Salt Lake Tribune. Another media representative of the 47% insulting the 53% of us who don’t live in metropolitan New York, LA, Salt Lake, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle and Minneapolis.

Now this really adds to an intelligent discussion, doesn’t it? I wouldn’t recognize Karl Rove if he knocked on my door. I’ve never seen him on TV or heard anyone mention him except the people who hate President Bush. So I think his name is a code word that loosely translates into “hate, fear, desperation and despair” among Democrats. A voodoo doll in which they stick pins. If they just say “Karl Rove” and raise an eyebrow, they don’t even need to finish the sentence.

During the morning drive time yesterday I was listening to the Bob Connors call in show on 610 a m here in central Ohio. A man was talking who had been in charge of voting at two precincts that voted at Salem Baptist Church (caution: have your volume turned down--Hallelujah Chorus will greet you if you click here) in Columbus . He said they were open until 11:20 p.m. It was raining and many people were elderly and disabled, for whom they made special accommodation. Twice during the day church members showed up and distributed food and drink, first pizza, and then McDonald’s. Even the poll watchers from both parties distributed water and snacks to people who had patiently waited three or four hours to vote. The church also opened their fellowship hall and set up chairs so people wouldn't have to wait in the rain. He praised his poll workers who worked diligently and patiently with many people who had never voted--and the average of our poll workers is 72.

So, hate-mongering-media-editors (which includes our own suburban SNP): Based on the statistics we’ve seen about voting patterns in Ohio, I’m guessing 49% of this line waiting in the rain was voting for your side, but probably 60% of the church members were voting for Bush. I sincerely doubt that devotion to Karl Rove is what motivated them to leave their comfortable homes, go to restaurants, purchase food with their own money, and pass it along the line to people they didn’t agree with.

198 Reformation Sunday

We missed Reformation Sunday service--we were driving back from Indianapolis. We did pass our newest building coming in on the free-way, and if we could have found parking, probably could have slipped in about 11:15. However, here's a Reformation Sunday Sermon to curl your toes:

"We’ve often said “The Church is not built of mortar and stone.” True enough, but neither is it built upon paper, logos, and slogans from headquarters. The Church is built upon the death of Jesus Christ. It is sustained in His resurrection. It is not found in corporate offices, radio programs, or tax shelters. It is found around the Altar of God’s Body and Blood. There hearts are broken and rebound. Old men are drowned. New men arise. Sins are forgiven. The devil is defeated. Faith is born and lives."

Read David Petersen's sermon at Beggars All.

197 Poll-time Drama

Someone named Tabitha left a comment at the blog, Morning Coffee describing her trip to the polls with her six year old.

"My poll-time drama didn't occur until after we left. . . "Mama, some kids in my class said that John Kerry kills babies." I hadn't expect to have to talk with my 6 year old about abortion yet.

I explained to her that this was only sort of true. That he does not personally kill babies, but rather that he supports a law which allows mothers to choose to kill their babies before birth and that was wrong. Her response, "Yeah, because we were all babies once." Oh, the crystal clear insight of innocence. Someday whe will learn about peer pressure, shame, financial fears, etc. Someday I will have to tell her just how a baby can be killed. I wasn't even looking forward to explaining how a baby can be made. But for now, she knows that babies are a precious gift from God."

I find it amazing that 6 year olds are talking about abortion with their friends at school, or that they even knew who the candidates were. But I think this mother gave an age-appropriate response. The child herself was able to figure out the right and wrong of it, without a long lecture or explanation.

196 If Your Candidate Doesn't Win

Phil at The Thinklings writes before election day:

"First, don’t worry. No matter what happens Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The guy you voted for may not be in the oval office for the next four years. But in the vast scheme of things, it’s only a blip in time. Remember that God is in control of all of history.

Second, if your man wins, don’t gloat or rub it in the face of others. Remember those who vote differently than you are still your neighbors.

Third, remember that the new president, whoever he is, should be respected and honored."

195 Faith with Works and Abortion

“If, for example, I was a powerful Senator married to a billionaire who was "not in favor of abortion", but I thought it wrong to work directly against abortion in the legal arena, I might do some or all of the following things:

Work to fund pregnancy crisis centers that provide non-abortion counseling

Work to ease adoption restrictions and promote awareness of the adoption option

Work to encourage strong marriages

Work to encourage abstinence in young people not ready for childbearing

Generously contribute to pregnancy centers

Generously contribute to non-profit adoption agencies

Generously contribute to social welfare organizations working with young mothers”

Let’s Try Freedom

194 Kill the twerps before they can populate the planet with poor people

I noticed a warm, heartfelt letter on morality in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, from Maurice Bluestein, Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology, at IU-PU, in Indianapolis.

“A willingness to pay for abortions does not mean promoting abortion; providing money so that a poor person can have an abortion, which is legal, so as to prevent yet another youth from growing up in poverty, is moral. Engaging in stem cell research [i.e. cloning] is moral.”

This is the basis for much of “pro-choice” morality. Greed disguised as compassion.

193 Day of Jewish Learning

October 31 is Lishmah, a day of learning. "Lishmah means "for its own sake," a traditional concept that celebrates learning for the sheer love of learning. As the Talmud teaches: "Torah [which is studied] for its own sake (lishmah) is a Torah of lovingkindness. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace." Check out this site to learn about registration and topics. Seen at Esther's blog.

192 Cha-Ching. The Social Costs of Gambling--who's holding up the research?

Maura Casey writes: "Drawing upon my background – three years working full time in the field of addictions and a graduate degree in journalism and public affairs – I was fully confident that with enough reporting I would be able to come up with a figure on how much gambling addiction costs.

I was absolutely wrong. After six months of crisscrossing the country, interviewing 150 people and reading every study I could get my hands on, I realized I could not, and never would, be able to come up with an inarguable figure on how much gambling costs society."

Read the whole essay and how government agencies can price out other addictions but no one has totaled the social costs of gambling at Gambling Watch Global.