I am not trying to be mean

I was having a conversation with a denominational official after lunch and the topic of who is going to be the next denominational President is going to be came up. We will elect this person next June. He gave me a the run down on who he believed was going to be on the short list of those considered. All of the possibilities are fine, each one would do a good job. But then the same thought came to mind. I swear I am not trying to be mean. Honestly.

The thought is this, does it make any difference who the next President is? Seriously, to the local congregation who can get almost any resource they need outside of the denomination, who have mission opportunities cross their desk weekly that have nothign to do with the Covenant, who are often out serving and do not hear word one from the "home office" for years at a time, what difference does it make. I get plenty of attention and do not need or want any more. The head of any organization sets the direction, so then the question is do we want to move in the same direction we have under the previous and now retiring administration? I for one don't. And the direction I am thinking of doesn't have anything to do with diversity or women in ministry or evangelism or missions.

It has to with centralization. I believe it is time for the conferences to be more of a player in our church at large, more entrepreneurial, and take over some of the functions that the denominational level has historically taken care of. But I doubt that is going to happen with whoever we elect this time. So given that whoever we elect will probably not change the course of the denomination significantly does it really make that much of difference? It may if that person is wiling to do one thing

So to you whoever you are, when you are elected do one thing, just one. Connect with your churches. Listen to them and find out where they are, what is going on in their world. Call Paxton IL; call Antioch CA or Plymouth IN, or Loomis NE or Monroe WA, any church in Canada, and ask how they are, say thank you for all they have done, and discover their heart beat. (Oh you don't have to call Naperville, really we are fine.) Because if you don't call these churches and the hundreds like them it really won't make any difference who sits in your chair.

So What Did You Expect?

Curt Schilling is calling out Roger Clemens, if you cannot clear you name, give back the four Cy Young awards. The Mitchell Report is sending waves through MLB on almost daily basis. Listen to sports talk radio and you hear opinion after opinion. It is almost has the same atmosphere as in the 50's when the hearings on UnAmerican Activities was going along with Joe McCarthy, everyone is snitching on whoever they can.

I downloaded the Mitchell Report but didn't read it. I probably won't read it either. Mostly because I am not surprised that athletes look for the edge to get ahead. I like baseball, but I am not a fan. 162 of anything is too much. I generally lose interest after 100 games. (No to be honest I lose interest shortly after April because the Cubs are already out of it.)

Think of the money that is involved in baseball. If you are mediocre pitcher you can make $3 - $5 million a year. Try that at WalMart. If you are reasonable player you make huge money, and if you are an elite player you can buy small countries. ARod just signed for $275 million. That is even more than Oprah money, you are closing in Bill Gates money. So if you wave all this cash around to be better what do you think these guys are going to do? You think Babe Ruth wouldn't have taken every advantage possible if it were available? You gotta be kidding. People wax on about the honor of the game, well if you want the honor back pull back the cash. Hey if they make $750,000 a year they are not going to starve; they will not live trailers; they won't have to take the bus everywhere.

When you tell them constantly to be better, and if they don't live up to the expectations then they are cut loose or traded away what do you expect? If you given them incentive laden contracts to hit certain marks and you will rain cash upon them what do you expect? Are we that naive? The shocker to me is that out of the 4000 plus people who have been in baseball during the period covered by the Mitchell Report only 60-80 name were revealed? That is what 2%? I would have expected 400 names or 600 names.

Baseball has created the environment where this type of thing is almost encouraged. Not overtly but certainly with the accelerated expectations no one ought to have caught by surprise.

Less Than Golden Compass

For all the hand wringing and fretting about the film "The Golden Compass" the reviews have mediocre at best and box office take has been disappointing. Through 12 days the film has grossed only $42,500,000 and this off a budget of $180 million. In comparison I Am Legend, not much of Christian film either, has grossed $91,200,000 in 5 days. The bottom line is that New Line films may not even green light the other two parts of the trilogy.

Did the boycotts hurt the film? I frankly do not know but I don't believe they were a major contributor to the poor showing. It just wasn't that good a of movie. So we can all relax and take a deep breath now that this peril has been averted. Because there wasn't a peril in the first place. So the author isn't a fan of Christians. We are surrounded by these people. Philip Pullman and Richard Dawkins shouldn't keep us up at night. We ought to be praying for them. God does not need defense from these men, they are the ones in trouble. They need our compassion and friendship and honest demonstration of the good news of the only hope they have.

I am all in favor of boycotting boycotts. In looking at the top ten films for this week I can't find one that honors Jesus. Who is surprised? But I do not hear anyone calling for a boycott for "No Country for Old Men". Watching Chipmunks sing is just a little creepy for me, but I don't hear anything about how this film ought to be avoided. besides the fact some of the reviews aren't the best.

So can we stop this over reacting when a film or book or television program comes out and says it is against our faith? So what. We know this is goingto happen. Let us show them our faith, our grace and our maturity. Then let's see what they do with that.

Merry Christmas

My favorite Christmas verse is Romans 5:8. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Yeah I know nothing there about the baby Jesus or the manger or the shepherds or anything customarily attached to the celebration of Jesus birth. But this verse gets to the core of the season. If it weren’t for the fact that our God loves us so passionately and recklessly December 25th would come and go without a second thought.

Christmas is a rescue operation pure and simple, brilliantly conceived and executed. Jesus comes as an infant born to a lower class family that no one paid any attention to and lived in obscurity in a small town until age of 30 when he enters the stage. Jesus was born into a harsh and violent time. So violent that just the rumor of his birth set into motion events that caused the death of all baby boys under the age of 2 in the town of Bethlehem. That may have been two or twenty, we do not know. Jesus was born in an occupied country under the severe rule of Rome. He was raised in Galilee, a religious and rebellious region of the country. It was here in this area that the Prince of Peace lived and spent most of his ministry. It was under Roman law that Jesus was executed.

And this was the plan of Yahweh Elohim El Shaddai, LORD God Almighty. Because he loves us. In the midst of our stupidity and selfishness he loves us so much that he gave his one and only son. He didn’t send an army. He didn’t flex his cosmic muscles. He sent his son. No threats, no overwhelming force. He sent his son, whom he loves. The only divine flash was the angelic announcement to shepherds way out beyond anyone else’s sight. What a demonstration it was and still is.

Merry Christmas and God bless us everyone.

Going All the Way 7.0

The last chapters of the book close it out the way you expect it to. Craig Groeschel has a very specific goal in mind, that of a healthy marriage of those who are committed to Jesus. Again it is not a great book, very few are, but this a very readable that will be something that those who are seeking to get married can and will use. People will actually read this if you give it to them.

The chapter on wives was probably the weakest one for me. He talks about the lies women hear and accept and encourages them to live lives of rebellion against these lies. The lies are that women have to have a guy around all the time. That they are not pretty enough, it is only the pretty girl who gets the guy. That they can change the man they are with. If he is jerk then he is a jerk and you cannot change that. He also spends time redeeming the concept of submission. Okay but not up to par with the rest of the book.

The last substantial chapter deals with life habits that will make for a great marriage. Each one is worthy a discussion in and of itself. Dealing with the past and developing relationships with good people extend to every area of life. What would the world be like if we were all good listeners? How about guarding your heart, what priority ought that be? He rounds out the list with resolving conflict and living responsibly in terms of finances. None of these are throw away topics. Each one could have been it own chapter.

If you know of someone who is getting married or thinking about getting married give them this book. The investment will pay dividends for years to come.

Comments

I have been blogging now for about 10 months now, and one of the phenomenons of blogging that still intrigues me are the comments. Not what people say but how comments are generated. Now on this blog a little better than half of the posts will a get a comment or two. Which great. I am not fishing for comments here. I am curious about the process.

I have a friend, Don Johnson, who blogs (http://www.jibstay.blogspot.com/) and has a fairly wide audience I think, but he has string of posts now that have no comments attached to them and most of them are quite interesting. Now Scot McKnight (http://www.jesuscreed.org/) can tell people what kind of coffee he drank for breakfast and he will get a dozen comments responding to that information. Or if he has something controversial as a post he can generate more than a 100 comments. I think he could sneeze and get comments. Julie Clawson (http://julieclawson.com/) is interesting and thought provoking to read and she often will get a good handful of comments, sometimes more than that. Erika Haub (http://erika.haub.net/) is always worth a read and people will regularly comment on what she has posted.

What motivates someone to comment on a post? Topic? Relationship with the blogger? Most people read and never post anything. Personally I comment about 40% of the time. I might be too busy or not in the mood or the subject doesn't do it for or I often don't have any cogent thought to add to the conversation. I don't know what the key is, there may be no key. Are you one who comments regularly, if so why? I would be ask those who don't comment why but they don't comment.

See ya later.

Going All the Way 6.0

Do you know a couple that is thinking about or planning on getting married? This book would be a good stocking stuffer for them. In fact if they just read the sections on intimacy and on being a husband, they would be miles ahead of the game.


Craig points to the third of his promises for marriage (the other two are mentioned in the previous posting) "I will do everything possible to deepen intimacy with my partner." Intimacy is not sex, it is exposure and is vulnerability and openness. Sin kills intimacy because to creates shame and build walls, it distorts rather than reveals. Sin withers relationships. Secrets are another enemy of intimacy because by their very nature secret conceal and hide. There is a thought that if the secret is exposed the relationship will be destroyed. Not so says Craig. Saying the issue brings it into the open where there can be healing and freedom. Silence is the third enemy of intimacy. Silence creates distance, and intimacy is not distant. He tells the couples, mostly men, to practice talking and sharing. Communication takes work, but like anything else it is worth the investment.

His next two chapters are focused on the husbands and wives. Today the husbands. Here he again lays down his hand, he is one who does believe that the man was created to lead, not dominate but lead. Some might bristle at this but if they listen to what he is saying they will find beneficial information. He points the text in Ephesians that says the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He points out that this is spiritual. Is the husband assisting or preventing the wife from growing closer to Christ? Do you pray with your spouse? Do you do devotions with your spouse? Financial leadership, not as in holding the purse strings, but taking the lead in making sure the family is financially healthy and on solid ground is the next topic. He also says that the man is the protector, that this a natural role. Love always protects. He saves his last remark for the words in Ephesians 5:21, submit to one another. There is no room for dominance, it is sharing and mutually submitting relationship.

You might find some of his thought provincial but listen to the spirit he brings to the conversation. This is not about who is #1, this is about the ability to go the distance.