do you ever have moments where you learn something about your own personality?

i realized something about myself this week:

i am a sentence finisher.

that’s right. a sentence finisher.

sad of a revelation as this was, i do think that i’ve had a few clear warning signs for a while. but, this week it all clicked in a horrific moment of personal evaluation when i discovered that i am guilty of one of my own pet peeves. in a bad, bad way.

so, to all of you whose sentences i have abrupted, my apologies.

i’ll be working on it.

that is all.

MISSIONARIES ATTACKED AND ACCUSED OF BRIBERY

India (MNN) ― An anti-Christian extremist group attacked two Gospel for Asia missionaries after the missionaries showed a film about Jesus.

The missionaries, Jayant Mehta and Dayanand Tambe, were attacked late on the night of August 8 as they packed up their film and audio equipment after they showed the “Man of Mercy” movie in Maharashtra, India. The screening, which was held at a believer’s home, was deemed successful by GFA as many of the villagers came to watch the film.

After the film concluded, however, a group of about 45 extremists rushed Mehta and Tambe, beating them and grabbing their film equipment. They then shoved the men in their van and took them to the police station to have them arrested for illegal conversion.

According to GFA, “The merciless beating continued until they reached the police station, where they brought their false complaints against Jayant and Dayanand.”

The group accused the two men of “bribing people to convert to the Christian faith” and made up names of people who would testify against them.

Early the next morning, the two missionaries were finally released from police custody when a GFA leader asked for their discharge.

On August 10, their film gear was returned by the extremist after the groups claims were falsified by police.

Their attackers were not detained.

This attack comes after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently added India to a “watch list” of countries “which have failed to protect its religious minorities adequately,” according a BBC News story.

India was included on the list along with counties such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Cuba.

{ read the entire article }

there’s a lot going on in the world that we can pray for today, especially the persecuted Church.

maranatha.

kelly and i don’t like the news. we avoid it as much as possible.

…except of course when i relapse and open Google News…

the result of our failure to ‘keep up’ with the happenings and scandals of the world is that we’re usually late in finding out things that the news media thinks is important to report.

so, when i found out today about this whole foods scandal, it was news to me.

get it?!?

if you haven’t heard about it, i encourage you to read the article linked above.

that said, here’s the short of it:

the CEO of whole foods wrote an op-ed piece criticizing the plan to fund america’s new health care plan by increasing the national deficit. he had a few ideas of what he would do to reform health care, which, in his theory, would not enlarge our ever-widening national debt.

because of this piece, many folks are boycotting the supermarket chain. they are outraged at this CEO’s statements, labeling him a typical intolerant right-wing capitalist.

here’s some of the things they’ve said:

I’m boycotting [Whole Foods] because all Americans need health care,” said [Michael] Lent, 33, who used to visit his local Whole Foods “several times a week.”

“While Mackey is worried about health care and stimulus spending, he doesn’t seem too worried about expensive wars and tax breaks for the wealthy and big businesses such as his own that contribute to the deficit,” said Lent.

I will no longer be shopping at Whole Foods,” [Christine] Taylor told ABCNews.com. “I think a CEO should take care that if he speaks about politics, that his beliefs reflect at least the majority of his clients.”

now…this is incredible to me.

there’s a new prohibition out there.

we saw it very plainly and recently during the Miss-California-Gay-Marriage-Remark Scandal, and it’s being demonstrated again with this situation:

you’re not allowed to have an opinion anymore!

what is interesting is that the CEO of Whole Foods isn’t against health care for americans. check out that article and see how the company takes care of its employees (also worth note, yes he is very wealthy, but the CEO in question has taken a salary of $1 for the last 3 years)!

so this guy, who has some ideas of how to better the health care situation in america without agreeing with the proposed legislation, is labeled as a monstrous, soulless capitalist…simply because he has an opinion.(?)

it is mind-boggling to me…and here’s why:

the folks that are upset at the Whole-Foods-CEO’s and Miss Californias of the world are often carrying the banner of ‘tolerance and acceptance’. they are angry at a woman who doesn’t publicly support gay marriage because they perceive her as ‘intolerant’.

the same thing is happening in this new ‘scandal’. though it’s not as blatant, the underlying principle is that rich people are intolerant of poor people, thus their opinions must be silenced and ignored.

ok, side wherever you want…i think this Whole Foods guy has a few good ideas.

but, let’s remember what tolerance is…

One has to disagree before one tolerates.
– D.A. Carson

to me this is a brilliant reminder from Dr. Carson.

those who were so upset at miss california’s statements and mr. CEO’s op-ed piece, those who are calling for their tar-and-feathering should remember that tolerance isn’t about agreement. you have to disagree to tolerate.

failure to tolerate ideas that are contrary to your own is the very criticism that is leveled against people like Miss and Mr. (and people like me and many of my friends!).

tolerance isn’t silencing opinions…in fact, that’s the opposite of tolerance. and that’s something that many protesters and interviewees seem to neglect at times like this.

anyway, i found out about this story (late as usual) and felt the need to vent a bit.

maranatha.

we have a little joke that a few of us have been kicking around @calvaryhanford recently:

“my liberty, your problem.”

while the doctrine of Christian liberty is a real topic and a real balance that each child of God has to work out with their Father, for the 21st century american Church the topic of liberty is no longer individual and private unto the Lord, but open, bold and broadcast for all the world to witness.

it is interesting to us when we notice how, not only do some Christians seem to be demanding and defending liberties that have not been historically seen as permissible for God’s people, but more importantly, they are actively evangelizing for their liberties, while ignoring the ill effects that some of them have on other Christians and those outside the family of God.

there seems to be a strong current in the Church today that the more mature you are as a Believer, the more ‘liberties’ you have to indulge in habits, substances, attitudes and activities that are usually not associated with holy living.

…mostly because the idea of ‘holy living’ has been all but forgotten in our current Christian culture.

and where our little joke comes in is when we see Christians, with their liberties (whether real or self-proclaimed) who not only seem unbothered by the stumbling block that they put in front of other people when they openly practice and endorse the habits and choices in question, but in fact scold and mock those other people for BEING stumbled!

my liberty. your problem.

we don’t seem to recognize (or maybe just acknowledge) that our endorsement and participation in certain behaviors might stumble the people around us in serious ways.

the apostle paul talked about those sorts of situations in his epistles.

now, liberty is real. stumbling is real. we have to find a balance and live our lives in the way that the Lord directs us. i understand that there are things that stumble others that folks really have been given a green light on from Jesus.

but that’s not where our joke comes in.

our joke comes in when we see Christians broadcasting these habits and indulgences and substances and activities and then failing to admit that it might adversely impact other Christians.

and, often these days, when you attempt to call a person on that issue, you are mocked and derided for daring to intrude into their private life (after it spilled onto twitter or facebook or face-to-face interaction)!

so here’s the thing…it seems like many of us in the american church have made a statue idol to liberty. it seems like we’re looking more and more like our unbelieving friends and neighbors. it seems like all the things they do, we do. all the places they go, we go. all the words they use, we use.

so the question is this: what does separation from the world mean to you and is it necessary today?

maranatha

–
i have several times tried to remind us of how difficult it must be to be President Bush or a member of his family. to be so vilified and so reviled by large portions of one’s own country, people and party is a life i do not envy.

seriously…how would you feel if people talked about you like they talked about him?

if bands wrote songs about hating you?

if reporters wrote down everything you said every day and then used snippets to present you as a monster to millions of people around the world?

if bumper stickers cursed you?

if you had become a byword and a slur in even casual conversation?

here is a few minutes from a day in the life of our President:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RFH7C3vkK4&feature=related[/youtube]

i love how he responds.

i also love that he is agile and quick enough to dodge a projectile shoe.

i support President Bush. doesn’t mean i agree with everything he’s ever said or every choice he’s made. but guess what? i don’t agree with everything I’VE ever said or every choice I’VE made.

this isn’t about if you think he’s a great President or not. i do, but this is about something else.

it’s about what it must be like to live as a person who receives this sort of treatment from billions of people.

every day.

let’s pray for President Bush today.

(HT: mr. hill)

if i’m honest, i’m just a little heavy-hearted today. it seems that no matter where you go you can’t escape the anger and hostility and hatred against our president that is currently the national pastime.

it’s everywhere. it’s in headlines and on the front of magazines. it’s in movie trailers and commentary. it’s ingrained in our conversation and our thinking. and that is terrible.

not because we’re not allowed to have ‘opinions.’ we can and do. that’s one of the hundreds of reasons america is the greatest country in the world.

but the problem with our ‘opinions’ is that we almost always think more of ourselves than we should and then we start believing that we’re entitled to think and to say anything that we want about other people.

i don’t want to get into a huge, drawn out post. i really don’t.

instead, i’d like anyone reading this to pause and consider this:

can you imagine what it would feel like to be george bush? to be one of his family members?

can you imagine what it would feel like to have people saying the things that are said about him to your wife? or to your husband?

can you imagine what it would be like to have your entire life filmed and photographed and catalogued and then for the entire world to sit in the comfort of their homes and judge whether they think what you’ve done today is acceptable or not?

i think it’s safe to say that most of my readers are Christians. that’s great. we’re moving into an election month and i’ve found myself complaining. and generalizing. and speaking negatively. and though we’re free to do so in america, i don’t think that those attitudes are God’s highest and best for our lives.

today i was reminded of this:

1 Timothy 2:1-2 – Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. giving of thanks be made for all men,

you don’t have to agree with our president.

you don’t even have to ‘like’ him.

you don’t have to support every decision he makes.

but, as Christians, as people who are citizens of God’s Kingdom, we need to pray for our president and our government.

and we need to complain less.

and we need to control our tongues.

let’s pray for our leaders today.

blessings.

–
only a little discussion on the last post so far, but it yielded something interesting that i thought i might address.

honestly, i’m a bit embarassed that i didn’t give any discussion to Isaiah 1. especially since it is one of the regular texts in the inductive Bible study seminar.

it’s clear that jon foreman was borrowing ideas, phrasing and message from Isaiah 1 in his song, Instead Of A Show. that is something i didn’t acknowledge in my last post and would like to correct.

if jon’s goal is to modernize Isaiah 1 with the intent of stirring the individual to take stock of the heart then i applaud him.

however, if the song is simply a parallel, a re-iteration of that message to the Church, then that is where jon and i will diverge.

Isaiah was a prophet with a very specific message, sent to a people who had openly and blatantly abandoned the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. they were entrenched in pagan idolatry. they were generations deep in this apostasy. the nation hadn’t sinned only in failing to care for the poor, but had fully and completely disobeyed God in every way, physical and spiritual.

that was the group that God was speaking to through Isaiah. a group He was warning of impending judgment. a group He was about to pour His wrath out upon.

i simply do not see Christ speaking to His beloved Bride, the Church, in these terms. the Church is not Israel. and so, to me, to repackage the message of Isaiah 1 to the modern Church, if that is foreman’s intent, is less than desirable.

i still feel very strongly about what i wrote in my last post, but this time around i’d like to give jon foreman the benefit of the doubt.

many thanks to parke for giving me some thoughts to chew on.

blessings!

i’ve never really been a big switchfoot fan. i don’t really know why…the genre is right…the era was right…the californian-ness was right…but for me they have somehow always been one of those bands that i didn’t end up listening to.

as i would page through my friends’ cd cases i would always see the legend of chin, new way to be human, learning to breathe, but would never bite.

then 2003 rolled around and the beautiful letdown came out. now, i was living on a christian college campus, but even then i think that if you were an under-30-christian-music-listener, you couldn’t help but be surrounded by switchfoot. the album was everywhere. the songs were everywhere. you’d hear On Fire being played on tv shows. you’d see weird fender guitars in empty, rusted pools. planes would fly above dropping copies of the cd like carpet bombs.

fast forward a couple years and you have a couple other switchfoot albums. both were…not my favorite.

fast forward a few more years and you’re at the present day, when switchfoot frontman jon foreman has released 4 eps, one for each season.

now, i can not emphasize this enough; people are raving about these eps. RAVING. from personal conversations to blog reviews to derelicts shouting on the street, the message is the same: “GET JON FOREMAN’S EPs!”

so i got jon forman’s eps. and, being the not-such-a-switchfoot-fan that i am, decided to give them an honest try.

they’re ok. not my favorite. as my college roommate and i used to say: ‘they’re not breaking my heart,’ in the sense that they haven’t made a huge impact on me.

that was until kelly and i got into the car to go on a little trip and i said, “let’s give the summer ep a try.”

and try we did.

and heart-break i did.

but not in the good way.

not in the “i love this ep” way.

not in the “God spoke to me” way.

in the bad way.

because, you see, you’re sitting there, listening to jon’s sufanian, lo-fi, world-instrumented melodies, and then you get to track number 4: Instead Of A Show.

(see, everything up to this point was an intro to the real post, which begins now…)

check out the lyrics to jon’s song:

Instead Of A Show

I hate all your show and pretense
the hypocrisy of your praise
the hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show

Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stop up my ears when your singing ‘em
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show

your eyes are closed when you’re praying
you sing right along with the band
you shine up your shoes for services
but there’s blood on your hands

you turned your back on the homeless
and the ones that don’t fit in your plans
quit playing religion games
there’s blood on your hands

Ah! let’s argue this out
if your sins are blood red
let’s argue this out
you’ll be white as the clouds
let’s argue this out
quit fooling around

wow.

ok, jon, let’s argue this out.

my issues with this song are…i don’t know…a hundred fold…but, as i was listening to these words and thinking about this post, i decided i didn’t want to just rant and rave, but argue, as he has apparently asked all of his listeners to do.

first of all, it’s no surprise that foreman has written another ‘everything-is-broken-why-don’t-you-fix-it’ song. switchfoot have long been activist rockers, and jon especially has been critical of america and the Church in recent years.

but to me there are 2 big problems here:

first, this is a faceless rebuke. it’s a convenient message. it’s all the punch and severity of James’ epistle without having to own up to who you’re talking to. this song is so sweeping, so general, so all-inclusive that you can’t help but say that jon is speaking to just about every american christian (especially those who buy his ep, ironically). there is no balance in these lyrics. it’s a finger pointed at everyone and a firm, literally hate-filled scolding.

yet jon doesn’t have to look me in the eye to say it. he doesn’t have to correct me, in love, brother-to-brother. he doesn’t have to rebuke me in humility because he can rebuke millions from behind a microphone. millions he has never met. millions he knows nothing about. millions that he has categorized and has condemned.

look, there is always ‘more’ we can do for the world. there will always be people who are hurting and struggling and dying, people we need to help. that said, there will always be hypocrisy within the Church because there will always be hypocrisy within ourselves. i’m not denying that. we are imperfect vessels that are continually being perfected by the God who speaks to us with love and care. we all need rebuke from time to time. we all need correction. we all need reminders of how we can draw closer to God and serve Him more excellently.

does God rebuke us? absolutely. but when He does, He does so with love, He does so personally, He does so with care.

be confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
[ Philippians 1:6 ]

think about the big ‘rebuke’ passages in the Bible. James’ letter, the letters to the church at corinth, Jesus’ rebuke of peter…they were all done by people who had personal contact with the recipients, all done with humility, all done by individuals speaking the truth in love.

this is the first problem i have with Instead Of A Show. i see no love. i see congregational ‘worship’ being lumped in with ‘religion games.’ i see people’s singing together as a church as a failure. i see ‘justice’ (socio-economic justice) being portrayed as what worship really is.

can we worship God through socio-economic action? sure.

is that all worship is? no.

are we commanded to come together and physically sing praises to the King of the Universe? yes.

is socio-economic ‘justice’ an important part of the Christian life? yes. absolutely yes.

so what’s the problem, jon? why can’t both co-exist? why is a regular sunday morning service condemned in your song? why don’t we see balance? because this isn’t just a call to action…we’re talking about instead.

instead of a church service, instead of a show (like ones where switchfoot plays), instead of a festival (like ones where switchfoot plays) we should be doing socio-economic justice.

but the second problem is this…that which i hear in jon’s summer song is not what i see in the Bible…at least not the way jon is presenting it.

look…i’m all about using our wealth to help others. i’m all about bringing the Gospel through social action, through giving, through work, through outreach. i am. we should each be asking the Lord how we might give more to His work around the world. we should be active in trying to sacrifice to a greater degree more and more as each year of our life passes by. i can not state that enough.

but the picture painted in Instead Of A Show isn’t what i see in the Bible.

now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.

and she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.

but Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? therefore tell her to help me.’

and Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. but one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.’
[ Luke 10:38-42 ]

that isn’t the only time we see Jesus encouraging worship (in the traditional sense) over service:

then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

but on of His disciples, Judas Iscariot…said, ‘why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’

but Jesus said, ‘let her alone, she has kept this for the day of My burial. for the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.’
[ John 12:3-5, 7-8 ]

this theme is continued in Jesus’ letter to the church at ephesus:

I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. and you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.

nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
[ Revelation 2:2-4 ]

martha was busy serving the hungry.

many poor could have been fed by mary’s oil.

the church at ephesus was busy, busy, busy working in their community for Christ.

but that is not the end. that is not the goal. that is not the greatest commandment.

there must be balance.

balance between tending the garden and walking with God in the cool of the day.

balance between feeding the poor and bowing at the feet of Jesus.

balance between being busy with service and sitting under the teaching of God’s word.

i guess i was just surprised by jon’s song. i am still amazed at its anger and its generalization. i suppose there may be some bits of truth in there, but i am at a loss to find any love.

if i speak with the words of men and of angels but have not love…well…most of you know the rest.

again, as i say often on posts that deal with giving/money/wealth/social justice, i’m not giving anyone a pass. but this is not how Jesus Christ spoke to His disciples.

as we close, i apologize for the length of this post…but this one wouldn’t split up too easily.

and, look, i don’t know jon foreman. so, perhaps i have gravely misinterpreted Instead Of A Show. if that were the case, i would gladly take back these opinions and publicly apologize. we got the album from an online marketplace, so if there’s someone out there who has the liner notes and they have some sort of discussion on this song…please let me know.

but, if the song is what it seems, it truly is heart-breaking to me.

i leave you with some footage of switchfoot at a music festival in 2007.

i hope jon’s label was able to buy him a new guitar…

[youtube]http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ufJ-Q2tXjsA[/youtube]

caption?

blessings

have you felt it yet?

if you work at a church in this state, i’m guessing you have. emails, calls, mailers, volunteers and others, all pressuring the evangelical community to get out and vote against the gay-marriage amendment to California’s constitution.

and, it’s only the beginning.

just this week we were visited, and then called the next day, by an organization that suggests you take a portion of a sunday morning service and ‘encourage’ people to register as permanent absentee and to vote against the recent ruling from the state’s supreme court (i say ‘encourage’ because having everyone take a form and a pen and having ushers walk around asking people to finish said form seems less like encouragement and more like coercion to me…).

now, as most of you know, i am a conservative. politically, economically, international relationally, spiritually (in the literal-inspiration-of-God’s-word sense)…and my beliefs are important to me. i loved arguing about them while i was studying political science in college (not so much anymore). i love having a reason for the things i believe.

so let’s talk about some things i believe:

- i believe that God defines marriage as 1 man and 1 woman and that He did so all the way back in the garden of eden, making marriage the first institution God established.
- i believe that Christians should vote. we live in the greatest country in the world with the greatest freedoms in the world. we should not take for granted the blessings we enjoy in america.
- i believe that some Christians should get involved (more than voting) in politics. i say ‘some’ because i believe that God will guide some to political activism and He will guide others not to political activism. God will call some to be like daniel and others to be like abraham.

interestingly, i also believe:

- we have a short amount of time to do the things God asks each of us to do.
- winning a soul for Christ is more effective than writing legislation.
- preaching redemption and grace from the pulpit is better than preaching political or social activism.

i mean, people are up in arms. to many this seems to be the end-all-be-all fight of the eon. much more-so than other issues…like when we were threatened with losing the right to spank our kids.

i guess i’m just thinking about it this way; what if, on the sunday that we decided to spend a bunch of time haranguing the gay-marriage amendment from the pulpit, someone had brought a homosexual family member to hear about Jesus?

what if someone in my congregation is struggling with the sin of homosexuality?

should the message they receive on sunday morning be about absentee ballots and why it’s ‘us versus them,’ or should they hear that Jesus Christ is mercy, is grace, is sufficient to free mankind from the bondage of sin?

what if, instead of name-calling and categorizing, we talked about God’s plan for salvation and His desire to change lives? what if, instead of soundbytes, we talked about how God’s grace is enough to forgive any sin.

any sin. even the ones that we somehow convince ourselves are ‘worse’ than the rest.

because, yes, God says homosexuality is sin, just like drunkenness, anger, strife, groundless divorce and the rest.

God also said that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. and now our Maker and Savior extend to us loving-kindness. God wields all of time and space as a backdrop for the drama of redemption, His effort to reveal His love to you and to me.

it’s important to act on what we believe. Christians should exercise their freedom and vote against things that conflict with our values. i mean, we should love who God loves (everyone) and we should avoid what God wants us to avoid. we should be teaching each other the whole of God’s word, because when we do then He works out our behavior, our values, our convictions, our stances. and that affords us the opportunity to be known for Who we’re for, NOT what we’re against.

as we close, i was thinking about a simple illustration:

if you walk up to me and apply pressure by pushing me then i have 2 options; to either fall over or to push back. but, if you walk up to me and embrace me then i won’t fall and i won’t need to fight.

this isn’t about writing off sinfulness. it’s not about letting society deteriorate. it’s about living the Christian life in a way that demonstrates the life-changing power of God’s salvation that is freely available to every man, woman and child on this planet. that is what will changes lives, not a law.

the God of the universe is madly in love with us.

blessings and maranatha