Cindy Sheenan, the mother who became a war critic and crusader for peace after her son Casey died in the Iraq war, had this to say as part of her reason for no longer fighting for peace.

"Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives."

While there are certainly exceptions (and I have met people who would not fall into the accusation of Mrs. Sheenan, there seems to be a lot of truth to this statement. Regardless of your beliefs about the war in Iraq (and I do have mine), she tells the truth about a nation fattened by its own excess, power, and greed.

Rochester College Sermon Seminar and Friendship

I am attending the Rochester College Sermon Seminar this week in Rochester Hills, MI (suburb of Detroit). The seminar theme is on the Gospel of John. So far I have heard some wonderful presentations. However, last night I heard an excellent presentation by Dr. Gail O'Day who is Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs and A.H. Shatford Professor of Preaching and New Testament at Candler Seminary, Emory University.

At the beginning of her lecture she said that she was going to show how the idea of "friendship" is a motiff threaded throughout the Gospel of John. I will admitt that at first I was skeptical, believing she would really need to do some stretching to acheive this goal. But as I listened, she not only acheived her goal while remaining responsible with the use of scripture in John but it had a powerful impact on how I think of Christian discipleship.

She began by showing how throughout Greek Philosophy there was an understanding that true friendship was demonstrated not by grabbing a bite to eat with other friends but instead by being willing to lay one's life down for another friend in times of crisis. Jesus acknowledges this prevailing philosophy of friendship in John 15.13 saying "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (TNIV). The difference between Jesus and the others is that Jesus not only "talked" about true friendship but also "did" true friendship (recall that in John 10, Jesus insists that no person takes his life from him but rather Jesus lays his own life down). This is the good news: Jesus is our true friend because he is the one who lays his life down for us.

But here is the icing on the cake when it comes to discipleship. If we look at the immediate context of John 15.13 we see that in v. 12 Jesus says "My commandment is this: Love each other as I have loved you" (TNIV). Then, as mentioned earlier in this post, Jesus described what true friendship is -- the laying down of one's life for another. Immediately following John 15.13 Jesus says in v. 14 "You are my friends if you do what I command" (TNIV).

Jesus is calling us to follow his example and become true friends to the world we minister too and serve among. Such friendship is characterized by love. Not the often cheap definition of love that is so often portrayed in the vocabulary of contemporary culture but instead, a love demonstrated by the willingness to lay our life down for someone else. Is that not a challenge to the conventional ways of how we often think of being a disciple of Jesus ought to be?

Graduated

Well, it is official. On Saturday, May 5, 2007 I received my Master of Divinity degree from Harding University Graduate School of Religion (HUGSR) in Memphis, TN.

For those of you who know anything about the Master of Divinity degree... The eternal program is no longer eternal. However, I did take classes in all fields of theology, Bible, missions, and ministry. I guess that makes me a "jack of all trades, master of none." At least that is how I feel.

All kidding aside, I am glad that it is over and done with. Yet, I would do it all over again if I could go back in time. As I was finishing undergraduate school, I was dead set on attending Abilene Christian University Graduate School of Theology (ACUGST). I also briefly looked into Fuller Seminary and Cincinnati Bible Seminary. But only seriously pursued ACUGST and HUGSR.

For reasons I won't go into now (nothing bad), I wound up choosing HUGSR. I have no regrets about this choice. HUGSR is a whole different atmosphere than Harding University in Searcy, AR even though they are both under the same leadership. As they say at HUGSR, there is a mighty big river between Memphis and Searcy. AT HUGSR I was challenged to grow in my faith both spiritually and theologically, I was challenged academically while always being encouraged to think for myself, and always reminded that true Christian faith is exhibited in the humble service to God and others.

I am sure that the above description could be said about any of the seminaries I looked into. But there is one other reason I am greatful to HUGSR. Three weeks before begining graduate studies, my son, Kenny, passed away. A year later my younger brother also passed away. By this time, I was emotionally and spiritually shattered. While I never intellectually stopped believeing in God, I think I was on the brink of emotionally and spiritually loosing my faith. There are too many events that took place at HUGSR through which God worked through to rebuild my faith, but I will forever me greatful to one of the yearly themes "Spiritual Transformation." Through several speakers and chapel devotionals (which I attended regularly)based upon that theme coupled with what I was learning in classes, I began to see how God was working for his redemptive purposes even in a world where so much suffering and pain exists. The end result was that I learned to trust in God once again even though I did not have all of the answers to every real life question (and still don't).

Thank you HUGSR. Thank you to all of my professors, the staff, and my fellow students, who all made my experience over the last four years an unforgettable time that shattered all previous expectations.