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.

Living in the World of Scripture

Mike Cope had this to say in his blog (www.preachermike.com):

"Here’s perhaps the biggest change in my understanding of preaching through the years. I used to think that I was supposed to make scripture relevant. It’s an old book speaking to a modern world. Now, however, I see that this is too low a view of scripture and too high a view of our “modern” world. Now I see my job as inviting people to enter into the world of scripture — a world that is hauntingly familiar and yet mysteriously dissimilar. The key is imagination. I think I’m to help people (including, of course, myself) imagine what a truly human life might look like in light of Easter. What might a gospeled life look like? I used to flatten scripture, I think. It became a sermon source of rules and regs. It was full of insightful points waiting to be made. Now as I get to live inside the story world of the Bible, I realize even more why one could say that the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword. I cannot agree enough. I too want to live the life imagined in the world of scripture – the life which Jesus perfectly demonstrated. I want to help others learn how to live this life as well."

But living this life and calling others to do the same is hard. Sometimes it seems almost impossible. I would say it was impossible but I know that Jesus lived this life in the flesh showing the world that it was possible.

The more I learn about this world imagined in scripture, the more I learn about the life which my Lord, Jesus the Messiah lived, the more difficulty I find being comfortable in this world. This must be why the apostle Peter encouraged the Christians of Asia Minor to live out their lives as “foreigners” (1 Pet 1.17).

But the biggest struggle I have is the regret. The more I come to know the life of Jesus and this life called for in the scriptures, the more I realize how counter-culture my living and preaching must become. Sometimes I almost wish I did not know what I do now know (the regret) because then the path of discipleship would be so much easier.

And there it is... The truth comes out. I want salvation, I want hope, I want the comfort of knowing that God’s Spirit dwells within me, and I want it all without the radical cost of discipleship. I want all the perks of being a Christian without the struggle of true discipleship.

“Then [Jesus] called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’” (Mark 8.34, TNIV).

Reflections on Matthew 1

As I read the beginning of Matthew’s gospel account in chapter 1, I encounter the genealogy of Jesus. This genealogical record of Jesus reads fairly easy with quick repetition until I come across v. 16. Here lies a problem: Jesus is not the offspring of Joseph. This person named Jesus of Nazareth, whom we confess as God’s anointed (Messiah/Christ), appears to be one born from an illegitimate relationship.

Without a doubt this was a scandal for the headlines and seems to be the reason why Matthew begins to explain Mary’s conception of Jesus in vv. 18-25. In these particular verses, we learn that Joseph regarded Mary as an adulterous woman until the angel of the Lord explains to Joseph that Mary has conceived a child from the Holy Spirit. If Joseph originally regarded Mary as unfaithful, I can only wonder what the town folk must have thought. I can only imagine the accusations that could come forth from the court of public opinion.

Also in vv. 18-25 Matthew tells us two important facts about Jesus. First, he is to be called Jesus because he will save people from their sins. Second, Jesus is also Immanuel which means ‘God with us.’ It seems that Matthew wants us to know that our fundamental problem as people is sin. But as bad as that news is, the even greater news (the gospel) is that God has made his presence among this world in Jesus to save us from our sins.

Back to the scandal that surrounds this story. I ask myself why God would choose such a scandalous way at making his presence among this world. But then as I come to grips with the reality of my sin and the realization that God is seeking to redeem me from my sin through the presence of Jesus, I begin to understand why. My whole life, your whole life, and every one else’s whole life is one big scandalous realm of sin. He came to save those whose life is filled with the scandal of sin, so why not make his presence among us through a scandalous event. But what a wonderful God we have who loves us enough to make his presence among us, even at the risk of shame and scandal, in order to save us from our sins.

Isaiah 11:1-9 - The Branch of Hope

The following is a sermon I preached on 3.11.07 at the Ithaca Church of Christ. I have made a few modifications for a print format:

_____________________________________

I’ve been preaching a series of sermons called the story we live in. The story is about God who redeems. That statement (the story is about God who redeems) is a pretty big statement. First, the statement makes a claim on the existence of God. Secondly, the statement claims that God cares enough about humanity to help humanity. Well, it should make such a claim because the claim is true. God created us and even after our decent into the pit of sin and evil, he is still reaching out to save humanity from its fall. So it’s true, God cares enough about humanity to redeem humanity.
There’s a problem however. Many people who believe in God feel as though God is both cold and disinterested, caring nothing about humanity. Or they feel that God is just unable to do anything to help humanity. After loosing a son, my wife and I went through periods where we shared both feelings. Such feelings are not the product of irreverence. These feelings come from the real experiences of pain in this world. There is real pain and suffering in this world because it’s a place of injustice. There are too many things happening in this world that are not right. Isaiah prophesied at a time when Israel had experienced the injustice of this world. It is the late part of the 8th century and Israel has been led into captivity by the Assyrians. The prophet Isaiah describes the state of Israel in 1.7 saying, “Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.” (All scripture quotations from Today’s New International Version)
Do we understand what is going on here? For centuries Israel has rested on the promise of blessing that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And now it appears that this promise has been forgotten.
The year was 1944 as Elie Wiesal recalls. No one in his Jewish community feared the Germans because the Allies were making great advances into Europe. In fact, they believed it would only be a matter of days before the Russians forced the war front to their community in Transylvania. In his book Night, he describes the day the fascist soldiers placed all of the Jews into the ghettos, robbed them of their belongings, and took from them every political right they had. But the Jewish community kept telling each other that everything would be all right. Then the orders came that all the Jews must vacate the ghettos and board a train bound for a work camp. Nevertheless, they kept telling each other that everything would be all right. They were loaded into cattle cars while being savagely beat with batons but held out faith that everything would be all right. The train took them to a place they never heard of, called Auschwitz. Elie Wiesal describes that night, as he writes:

An SS came toward us wielding a club. He commanded: “Men to the left! Women to the right!” Eight words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion. Eight simple, short words. Yet that was the moment when I left my mother. …And I walked on with my father, with the men. I didn’t know that this was the moment in time and the place where I was leaving my mother and [my sister] Tzipora forever.

They kept telling themselves that everything was going to be all right. But it wasn’t all right. As smoke rose from the furnace chimneys and the smell of burning flesh filled the air, something was awfully wrong.
The horrors of what happened in the Holocaust remind us that something is very wrong. Whether it’s the evil of humanity that can murder roughly sixteen million people in one decade or it’s a tsunami or hurricane that devastates a community and wrecks havoc on the poorest and most vulnerable people of society, we know that our world is a place where suffering is real and justice seems more like a dream than reality.
Isaiah understood this world. And amidst injustice, Isaiah was called to speak truth to the suffering hearts of Israel. He began in 11.1 proclaiming, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” These words of Isaiah used became common prophetic terminology to refocus Israel back to the promises of God to raise a king from the line David who would bring about the blessing that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Isaiah goes on to describe this Branch beginning in v. 2:

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord – and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The Branch for which Isaiah speaks about is one who understands. He is one who delights in the ways of God and not the ways of the evil that consumes this world. Instead of evaluating people based upon their wealth, power, and stature, He will view the world through the eyes of God whose image people have been made in. Politicians, talk show hosts, news anchors, and all sorts of other people use language and propaganda to characterize people into various stereotypes, but the Branch will not evaluate people based on what their words. That is why he will come with righteousness to restore justice to this life of ours.
What Isaiah is trying to get Israel and all others who have experienced the injustice of this world to do, is to look beyond the present suffering. Isaiah wants Israel to look beyond their present captivity. He wants to remind them of the promises God made in the past. Upon these promises, he reminds them that God will be faithful. Because God will be faithful, Israel can not only look to the past promises but can also look to the future with a realized hope.
And there is hope. But it’s not just hope for Israel. It’s hope for the entire world – all those who have experienced the hand of suffering and injustice. Again the proclamation of Isaiah in v. 4 is, “…with righteous he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.”
It’s not just hope for Israel, its hope for the needy – the poor of the earth. But Isaiah is not just speaking of the physically poor, though the physically poor are certainly included here. Isaiah is speaking about those who are poor in life. That is, those who have been short-changed through suffering and injustice to the way of life that God created them to live.
Though we are only looking at one small passage in Isaiah, this prophet will go on to flesh out the glorious hope the world is longing for. But here in this passage, Isaiah uses some of the most vivid imagery to paint a picture of how this hope is imagined. Isaiah announces in v. 6:

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like an ox. Infants will play near the hole of the cobra; young children will put their hands into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

This is what life will be like when the Branch comes with righteousness and restores justice to the life that God gave breath too.
It seems almost too hard to imagine. Wolves and lambs, leopards and goats, bears and cattle, children and vipers, all together and neither injury nor death will result. It seems almost too hard to imagine. As long as we live in a world where people will kill each other and neglect each other, it is hard to imagine. As long as we live in a world where people who think like Adolph Hitler, it is hard to imagine. As long as we live in a world where Tsunami’s destroy homes and lives and all the while the money that is sent from around the world is selfishly swept up by the local hands of power, it is hard to imagine. As long as we live in a world where a hurricane can produce nearly a million refugees and yet people from other cities are more worried about their own self rather than receiving the refugee as a fellow human being, it is hard to imagine. It must have been hard for Israel to imagine as well. But as hard as it was, Israel looked beyond the present. Instead they looked into the past promises and acts of God, which gave them the confidence to hold out hope for the day when the Branch would restore justice.
The four Gospel’s of the New Testament were written to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophesies regarding the person from the line of David who would bring about this new dawn of hope. Jesus of Nazareth is the Branch which Isaiah speaks about. When Jesus began his ministry, he declared the appearance of God’s kingdom. He was declaring that the rule of God was being restored to this world, that righteousness and justice would once again be a reality. Of course, this message threatened the principalities and powers of this dark world as it always has and always will. So the powers that be killed Jesus and buried him. But God raised Jesus up and declared victory over evil, over every power of this world, and even over the last enemy – death. Jesus promises a return where the in breaking rule of God that began with his birth will be made complete. And so we live amidst two worlds colliding: The old world which is dying and the new in breaking world of God’s kingdom rule which is and is to come. It’s the light pouring into darkness. Right now we see glimpses of this light as it shines through and overtakes the darkness. But when Jesus comes again and finishes this restoration project, all of the darkness will be driven out never to be seen of or heard of again. So we cry out Maranatha – Come, Lord!
This is the story we live in. It’s a story about God who is saving a suffering world. One day the old world of suffering and injustice will no longer be. Now God is offering us an invitation to join the in breaking world where his kingdom is the rule. It’s the world where Jesus is King and Lord of all. No more principalities and powers of darkness. No more unrighteousness and injustice. It’s a life lived with the reality of the future breaking into the present. It’s a life that calls us to be about the kingdom business of Jesus by sharing in the work of restoring righteousness and justice to this world. It’s a life lived in the pursuit of righteousness and justice. The only question that remains is whether we will embrace God’s story and be part of the future among the present.

Thoughts About the "Identity Crisis" Among Churches of Christ

The Christian Chronicle, a news journal associated with the Churches of Christ, has recently published a series of quotes from ministers within the Churches of Christ addressing the question of whether or not there is an identity crisis within the fellowship (click on the title for the link access to the full article). I am not interested in discussing right now whether or not there is an identity crisis. What does bother me is some of the comments made by certain individuals. One such quote come from Phil Sanders, Preacher for the Concord Road Church of Christ in Brentwood, TN. Here is his response in full:

Phil Sanders, minister, Concord Road church in Brentwood, Tenn.: I believe some Christians and some churches know who they are and others don’t. You can’t expect the nearly 13,000 congregations among us to be carbon copies of each other any more than the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2-3 were alike. Some were strong in faith, weak in numbers. Some were strong in heritage and without heart. Some were prominent in their society and lukewarm. Some have open doors and some have closed.

Many churches know the Book and stand for what we have historically held, while others are trying to turn the church of Christ into a bad substitute for a denomination. These mindsets are polarizing, and in many communities fellowship has ceased among brethren. Those who believe we must not become denominational will not join hands with those who feel we must progress beyond the Scriptures. In not a few communities the impasse seems inescapable.

I believe one of the greatest needs in the church today is for members to know what it means to be a New Testament Christian, saved by grace through faith and fully committed to the cause and teaching of Christ. Some have taken up padded crosses, convenient Christianity, and a synthetic faith. They don’t know what they believe or why.

I would like to point out one part of Brother Sanders comment. He says, “Many churches know the Book [Bible] and stand for what we have historically held, while others are trying to turn the church of Christ into a bad substitute for a denomination.” His comments assume that those of us that fall into the “others” category, like me, are leaving the pursuit of New Testament Christianity. That is hardly the case, it is just that some of us, like me again, believe that some of the conclusions about the Bible and Christianity reached by those among the Churches of Christ of the previous generation were incorrect.

Those conclusions were reached by honest Christians seeking to pursue Christianity with great integrity. Nevertheless, I believe some of their conclusions were based on a problematic hermeneutic and some faulty assumptions in regards to the intended function of scripture.

But please, if you disagree with me, don’t just label me as if I am just trying to pervert Christianity. Far from it, in my own weakness and limited understanding, I am trying to help the universal church and Churches of Christ be what it should be: The Body of Christ living out her life just as her head, Jesus of Nazareth, lived out his life.

How Could This Ever Be...

Vincenzo Ricardo was found dead today from natural causes in his home. Unforunately, Mr. Ricardo died a year ago and his remains were found mummified in front of the television.

I am not sure how something this tragic happens but it never should have been. We were created to be in community. Unfortunately, our own predicament of sin has destroyed the communal nature of our creation. Nevertheless, God is redeeming us back into a communal relationship with him and each other. Tragically, there are still people who must suffer alone.

I don’t want to leave this world alone. I am reminded of the line from Elvis Presley’s song Where No One Stands Alone, “…But I don’t know a thing in this whole wide world that’s worse than being alone…”

May we always be people who are drawn into community, learn to live as community, and welcome others – even the stranger – to the community.

Same Blog, New Title, New Link

I have changed the title of my blog to "A Kingdom Seeking Saint" and the new sight is located at...

www.kingdomseekingsaint.blogspot.com

Next Phase Please

There are no more exams, no more finals, no more late nights and early mornings... at least not for my Master of Divinity degree. Yesterday I took my last exam and earlier in the week I submitted my last paper (and as fate would have it, the last paper turned out to be the hardest). Except for one practicum left, I have completed all of the work for my degree and am well on the way to receiving that diploma this coming May. Hallelujah!

Now we must quickly pack our house (we’ve already started though) and move to Ithaca, New York where I will serve as the Preaching Minister for the Ithaca Church of Christ. We move out on Wednesday and are very excited. This will be a new and exciting phase.

Jesus Is Good for Business

So last year Wal-Mart avoided the term “Merry Christmas” out of a fear that this term with a somewhat Christian meaning (even though this term has been highly commercialized) would offend certain customers and ultimately cost the gigantic superstore chain a few dollars in retail sales. But that apparently backfired as opting to be politically correct by only using the generic holiday greeting “Happy Holiday’s” offended the majority base of Wal-Mart shoppers. So, Wal-Mart has opted to revive the term “Merry Christmas” this year.

I for one am so glad that Wal-Mart is willing to use a term that references Jesus Christ because it is good for business. If Jesus is bad for business then this retail giant can opt out of making any possible references to Jesus Christ, but because Jesus appears to be good for business then it is ok to use terminology that refers to Jesus.

Thanks Wal-Mart! I am sure that Jesus is just rejoicing knowing that references to his name is good for business and I am sure that he equally glad to know that your only concern in reviving his name at your business is your concern for your own interest.

“Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas,” etc… I am more appalled and offended that you are willing to reference to Jesus Christ because it is better for your business. But what does it matter? I do not need your store approval, any cultural permission, or any governmental freedom to grant me the freedom to speak the name of Jesus Christ.

I proclaim the name of Jesus Christ because he is the One who has come, was crucified unto death, buried, raised as the first born from the dead, and is coming again. Thus I have all the approval, permission, and freedom I need to proclaim the One who came and lived among us as the truth, showing us the way to live, and revealing to us the source of life.

And this is why Christmas is merry.

A Righteous Love

In the most radical, counter-culture ethic ever proclaimed – “The Sermon on the Mount” found in the Gospel of Matthew (ch. 5-7) – Jesus taught the world how to be righteous in our love.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matt. 5.43-44, TNIV)

Most of us believe such a moral demand to be a nice sentiment. But most of us have also believed at one time or another that loving your enemies and praying for your persecutors is unrealistic in the real world, especially when we realize that it is impossible to love and pray for such people when we wish ill on them (and perhaps even actively try to gain revenge).
In fact, just imagine praying for someone who has done harm to you or seeking what is best for someone who despises you. Sounds completely absurd! Imagine feeling compassion and remorse for someone who has just murdered part of your family. This sounds too ridiculous to be true in our world… except it is true.

Rather than dwell on the victims — though this is a close-knit community, where few are strangers — Amish residents spoke of their concern for Roberts' family; their sorrow that a man could become so unhinged, so alienated from the Lord.

"I wish someone could have helped him out, poor soul. It's
obvious that something was troubling him," said Steve, a 54-year-old carpenter who, like many here, would not give his full name. Of the tragedy, he would say only that it was "uncalled for," and unexpected.
An Amish woman who gave her name as Irene also expressed compassion for the gunman. "I am very thankful," she said, "that I was raised to believe you don't fight back. You should forgive.” (This story appeared in the L.A. Times, click on my link to see the full story)

I think we all can learn a lot from the way this Amish community is responding to such a horrible tragedy and the way they are tangibly loving their enemy and praying for their persecutor. The ethic of Jesus is not a goal to lofty for the real world, it is just a matter whether we want to continue living out this fallen real world or live in the real world that the grace of God will allow us to become. May we all learn to live out this righteous love in our own lives!

Chicago Cubs Manager Dusty Baker Fired

Today, after another LOOSING season, my baseball team - the Chicago Cubs - fired their manager Dusty Baker. This a day after the team President, Andy MacPhail resigned. However, Jim Hendry, their General remains. Why? Why fire a half-way decent manager when the problem was not his but rather a GM who insisted the team rely on two injury prone pitchers, failed to make a substantial offer for then Astros slugger Calos Beltran because of salary constraint but then dumped Sammy Sosa for nothing (in case you didn't realize, if the Cubs were going to dump Sosa for nothing then they could have done that before Beltran signed with the Mets and had a potential chance at signing a big bat), and goes out an signs an average outfielder by the name of Jacque Jones (and call's it a major deal).

It is true that no one could foresee some of the injuries to some of the other players but that is irrelevant because the Cubs were loosers last year two. The Cubs do not need another manager who will be fired in four years, they need upper management (begining with the GM) who will committ to fielding a team that will win the World Series.

Fielding a team that makes the playoff is not good enough. Cubs fans want a team that will win it all. Anything less is unacceptable. Spend the money that we all know the team has and Win!

Ithaca Church of Christ

Today my search for a place in ministry came to an end. I was offered the Preaching/Evangelist ministry position with the Ithaca Church of Christ in Ithaca, New York. My wife and I feel like we are a really good fit with this congregation and apparently that feeling is mutual. We look forward to what God is going to accomplisht through us and this church as we seek to proclaim Jesus Christ to the community of Ithaca, NY. We plan to move in late December. Please click on the link to see the church website and learn more about Ithaca, New York. To God be the glory!

Because Jesus is Lord

Did you hear about Gregory A. Boyd? He serves as an evangelist and preacher with the Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN. The Woodland Hills Church is a non-denominational church that apparently is very evangelical in its beliefs and practices and has become somewhat of a “Mega-Church.”

Believing that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not aligned with American politics or the nationalism so prevalent in this country (of which traditional evangelicalism traditionally stands for), Mr. Boyd preached about this. Daring to speak the truth at the risk of knowing he would upset some of the members in this church, Boyd counted the cost and continued to speak the truth. The result: according to Boyd, about 1,000 members of this 5,000 member church decided to leave. However, this also opened the door to this church reaching out and ministering to many more of the poor in the community.

Whether you agree or disagree with Boyd, he deserves respect because he knows who is Lord (Jesus the Messiah) and who is not the Lord (congregation members, money from tithing, popularity and likeability, American politics, American evangelicals, etc… to name a few). If you want to read the full article then click on the title of my blog to hit the link.

Off To Fort Scott, Kansas

Well, my family and I are headed to Fort Scott, Kansas this weekend to see if God is calling us to ministry in this town with the 15th and Crawford Church of Christ. We are excited about the trip and look forward to being in Kansas. We have never been to Kansas before but we have been to Missouri and this town is only about ten miles across the Missouri/Kansas state line.

Later in August, we will travel to Union Town, Pennsylvania to consider a ministry opportunity with the Union Town Church of Christ. And then on Labor Day weekend we will be up in beautiful Vermont to be with the Montpelier Church of Christ. So we are excited about the future, we just wish we knew where the near future is taking us but God is with us so we do not fear.

Still Alive / In a phase of discerning

Yes I am still alive. My family and I have been busy little traveling bunnies over the last month. We have been to the west coast and the east coast looking at ministry opportunities but for reasons not entirely known to me, those opportunities have been closed. Nevertheless, I will trust that God is providentially at work in our lives, as he has always been in the past. We also went home to the southern part of the Lake Michigan area (did I mention we were traveling bunnies?) to see family and most especially Laura’s father who is recovering from prostate removal surgery which caused some serious complications but he is better now and is recovering well. He, Jim Martin, is still not out of the woods in terms of cancer and may need to undergo chemo therapy, so please pray for him.

Any ways, Laura and I are trying to discern the future path God has for us. We know God has called us to serve him and for me to proclaim his Son Jesus as the Messiah. All I want to do is help other people find hope in Jesus and learn to live the life he is calling them too, while leading others around me to be effective witnesses and servants of the Risen One. Yet I am not sure where, so I continue to be discerning. While we continue to discern, we are asking ourselves if God is calling us to ministry through church planting or through an existing congregation. But I believe all discernment should be done in Christian community – and you all, the readers of this blog, are part of my Christian community, so what do you think?

In the meantime, if you know of a congregation looking for a minister, one where I would fit in well, then please let me know. Please keep us in your prayers.

Pat Robertson's Plane Crashes

A plane belonging to the fundamentalist Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson crashed near Long Island, NY. Both Pilots perished as a result of the crash and several other people were injured. Pat Robertson was not aboard the flight. Click on the link in the title for an online news article with more details.

However, now that this terrible tragedy has occurred we all are left to wonder how Pat Robertson will interpret this terrible occurrence. Will he see this tragedy as a sign of God’s divine punishment, as he does with many other tragedies that either occur or are predicted by him? Or will he finally learn that human suffering and human tragedy are not necessarily the wrath of God being outpoured? Even more, will Pat Robertson finally learn that God has not given humans the ability to interpret and declare the reasons for human tragedy and innocent suffering?

Trusting in Divine Mystery

Over the last two weeks I have been slowly reading through a book titled Stumbling Toward Faith: My Longing to Heal from the Evil that God Allowed by Renée Altson. The book is her story of being abandoned by her mother, growing up in a home where her father sexually abused her while reciting scripture to her, and being made out to be an outcast by the church.

Neither of my parents abandoned me, I never was sexually abused (or abused in any form), and I never was treated as a social outcast by a church. Therefore, I come to this book as one who can only learn through the eyes of the author what it is like to be victimized to such an extent that your innocence is completely robbed and your trust in everything, including God, is shattered.

On the other hand, I read the book as one who has suffered the loss of a child and as one who has preached the funeral of his younger brother who left behind a wife and two children. So in one sense, I unfortunately understand what it is like to believe in God but have everything you believe about God brought into question by shattering and painful experience of death. Here is a lengthy section from this book that details her struggle with the church:

“i have always posed a lot of questions that made a lot of people in the church uncomfortable. to many of those people my questions were insignificant, and their responses were hastily muttered under their breath. i don’t think they ever even really thought about anything i said. they didn’t want to confront their own questions, their own doubts, and they labeled by dangerous. i was considered a troublemake.

this made it difficult to ever be taken seriously. i was silenced before i ever found the courage to speak. i was told half-truths before the questions ever left my lips.

slowly i began to their problem wasn’t with me or with my questions as much as it was with the inevitable (but never verbalized) ‘i don’t know.’

it was imperative that they ‘know’ – even if it meant age-old platitudes grown hollow and insignificant through years of recitation…

i heard a lot of the same things:

‘god always provides.’

‘god will not give you anything you can’t handle.’

‘god will make a way for escape.’

these pat answers were thrown back at me as weapons, as ways to silence my questions. but while these kinds of statements were usually sucked right from the pages of scripture, and therefore bore some element of truth, they became meaningless to me with their overuse…

…they were easy explanations, cut-and-pasted christian phrases guaranteed to stifle honest exploration into pain and turn god into a magic 8 ball with answers that fit any situation.

the truth in them was stripped out; the whole story in them was eliminated: god doesn’t always provide when we think he should, and sometimes, his provision looks nothing like what we expect it to. god may not give more than we can handle, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t hurt under the weight of what he has already given us…

in my journey toward god, one of the greatest things i have learned is that there is much i do not know…

if there’s anything i’ve learned about not knowing, it’s that it reveals the depth of my trust. can i trust a god who will not explain himself? can i trust a god who leaves me not knowing his purpose, his will? can i trust something beyond the pat answers, the snatched promises, the ways we quiet ourselves when the questioning grows too strong?

can i trust a god who lets me live with an ‘i don’t know’ and expects that it is enough?”

I understand completely how the author feels. My wife and I had some of the same “pat answers” thrown back at us in response to the new faith questions we had. Those pat answers never answered anything. They cannot! God is too big for such naïve, simplistic concepts.

I wish I knew why certain children live while others die? I wish I knew why certain children remain innocent while other children have their innocence stolen before they even know what the term “innocence” actually means. I wish I knew…

But I don’t know. All I am left knowing is that God has come into this world proclaiming his reign through Jesus Christ in death and resurrection as a promise that suffering and pain will not have the final word in life. So I am comforted, even though God remains in many ways a Divine Mystery.

The question ever before me is whether I can trust in God who in many ways remains a Divine Mystery?

Dare We Live "The Sermon on the Mount"

I have just left the Sermon Seminar at Rochester College in Rochester Hills, MI. The seminar topic was “Dare We Live in the World Imagined in the Sermon on the Mount.” Without a doubt, the seminar was both encouraging and challenging.

As Christians, here are some of the questions we have been challenged to ask:

Can we be a people who embrace the impoverished and destitute rather than the wealthy and powerful?

Can we be a people who live by grace, compassion, and righteousness rather than a triumphalistic, self-perpetuated glory?

Can we be a people who seek peaceful solutions to justice rather than the violent ways of our world?

Can we be a people so transformed by prayer that we truly become salt and light rather than just another common ordinary people among the world?

Can we be a people so transformed by prayer that we can freely confess our own wrong-doings, seek forgiveness in God, and then demonstrate that same loving forgiveness to the world – even our enemies of this world?

Can we seek the kingdom of God with such vigor that nothing of this world will come between our desire live out our calling?

Can we become so full of faith that the worries of this world depart from us, knowing that our Father in heaven has, is, and will continue to provide for our every need?

Can we learn to walk the narrow road, knowing that the narrow road will incur persecution but that God will give us our reward for faithfulness?

Can we truly learn to be the radical disciple that Jesus calls us to be, who abandoned the many dying kingdoms of this age and embraces the inbreaking Kingdom of God of the New Age?

So how about it? In a world where might is right, where wealth, power, and prestige are valued as essential to living and survival, where roughly 95% of the world exists in slavery for the service of the other 5%... Can we as Christians embrace a kingdom that is inaugurated by its leader hanging on a cross? Can we follow our Lord in such a path, embracing the cross in anticipation of God victory which has been promised in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?