My New Kindle DX

Just got my new Kindle DX. I'm looking forward to filling it up with great books and to carrying a lighter suitcase on my travels ahead. I never thought I'd abandoned the idea of a hard copy in my hand. But... I like this thing. Teachings and messages can be filed away in the Kindle by putting them in a PDF format. The advantage over using a personal computer (when teaching), is the amazing battery life of the Kindle (lasts many days). I find that my computer brightness has to be set quite low to get through several hours of teaching when in Africa or India without power access. 

YOUR FATHER'S OLDSMOBILE

QUESTION: What's the deal with American church life these days? Sometimes it seems (AT LEAST TO ME) little more than an exercise in missing the point. Routinely hanging with God's people in nations far and wide, I can honestly say that things don't seem to be much different (i.e. healthier) 'over there' (though many missionaries talk as if they are- it is good for funding!). Why should things be much different? Hasn't the Western world has laid down the pattern through much of its mission work? 


ANOTHER QUESTION: Why does the American church function and 'think' (theologize) in a way that suggests that the living God stopped doing anything new or fresh after the Reformation? 


I agree with Brian McLaren and others: Faithfulness requires that 'everything must change'! The church is in real trouble if it does not change (*a change that starts with its self-serving leaders). I remember hearing a message by Tim Timmons years ago and I've never forgotten its title: "We're Only Talking to Ourselves."  I think that we preach to and serve ourselves- the way we do- because our faith is actually so weak and, we ourselves, though we will not readily admit it, feel so lost.


Recall the old ad campaign: "This is not your father's Oldsmobile." The campaign helped sell more cars for a season, however, the Oldsmobile eventually went along the wayside with other clunkers.  Some say that the problem was that the 'new' car truly was just like father's Oldsmobile.


For several decades now, my generation (the Baby Boomers- and after them, the Busters) have tried to convince our culture that everything 'has' changed with the church. Actually, all we did was dress up the same old Oldsmobile. We got rid of the big tail fins, added slick new wheels, leather interiors, and 'navigational systems'. BTW- What good is a navigational system if you don't know where you're going?


Over these decades while I've been in ministry, at least from my point of view, the American church (dare I say, 'we' go include 'me') has essentially been about promoting itself; letting the world know 'they' are 'lost' and 'we' are 'saved'; keeping the church coffers full so we can build bigger and more comfortable buildings (sometimes more attractive, funky, and high-tech, or 'buildings-that-don't-like-churches buildings'), bigger budgets and staff ('Staff'- the Professionals- e.g. media pastors (what the heck is that?); executive pastors (does that mean he/ she finally makes decisions?); Church CEOs (I cannot believe that some even dare use this title- though, at least they are more honest than others who act this way but never claim the title); more members and baptisms, and an array of other basically self-serving programs.  


It is curious that, under our last presidential administration, surveys showed that those who regularly attended church in America were more likely to support the idea of torturing our nation's enemies in order to get information what would keep us 'safe'. What's wrong with this picture?  I suspect that those who attend church regularly would also be more likely to say this about the present healthcare debate in our nation: "Why should we pay for them?"  Anything seem strange about this? Maybe Peter Rollins is correct when he suggests that there may be a certain 'fidelity in betrayal' (that is, betraying one's family to stand with those who believe something or live something closer to the truth). My wife just added: "You can dress up a corpse but it is still dead."




No. It is not about dressing up the old (or dead). It is about getting on to what Jesus wanted all along: a people he could call his own who are ruled by the inconvenient, messy, and 'selfless' rule of love.  "And love seeks not its own."


Well, enough. Gotta go. My Oldsmobile is idling out in the driveway.

A Disposable Planet? God Help Us!

A friend just directed me to a quote by a popular pastor and author- one of those "I-can't-believe-he-actually-said-that" quotes. The author's comment 'unearths' some unfortunate and persistent beliefs that reside deep in the hearts of many who align themselves with Jesus in our day. I hope we soon grow up and grow beyond this kind of thinking. Here's the quote:

"The environmental movement is consumed with trying to preserve the planet forever. But we know that isn’t in God’s plan… The earth we inhabit is not a permanent planet. It is, frankly, a disposable planet—it is going to have a very short life. It’s been around about six thousand years or so—that’s all—and it may last a few thousand more. And then the Lord is going to destroy it…. I’ve told environmentalists that if they think humanity is wrecking the planet, wait until they see what Jesus does to it. Peter says God is going to literally turn it in on itself in an atomic implosion so that the whole universe goes out of existence (2 Peter 3:7-13)."

'A disposable planet'? You mean, like the paper cup I tossed after drinking Starbucks this morning? Is it that simple? Give me a break! Is there no awe and wonder for the majesty of creation? What about the first command- to care for the garden?

'An atomic implosion so that the whole universe goes out of existence'? Really. Is that what Peter is saying? Are you sure? This has huge consequences on how we treat our home (and, at this point, this is the only home we've got), so you'd better be sure in what you are saying, my friend.

'It's [i.e. planet Earth] been around about six thousand years or so'? Say what? Are you reading anything besides your Bible (guided by your rigid and arcane traditions)? How can any thinking lover of Jesus believe this earth has only been around for six thousand years? Do we just ignore all the data that is pressing in on us- pass it off as a big 'anti-God marketing campaign'? Is it all that simple? Are scientists that dishonest (and, quite frankly, are they that good at conjuring up false data)? If they are, what would be their motivation for doing so? Do scientists really spend all of their time just trying to prove that God has nothing to do with the natural world around us? I don't think so. [If we never listened to what the scientists had to say, we'd still believe the earth is flat and that the earth is the center of the universe].

I'm sure that there are a few extreme environmentalists who are 'consumed with trying to preserve the planet forever'. But, more of them (more of us) just want to able to hand their children a planet worth living on- a planet that doesn't look and smell like a global garbage dump; a planet that has a few trees and animals left on it; a planet that still has some potable water and soil that can grow good veggies; a planet that still has few places worth visiting just to enjoy the view they offer. 

[BTW- In climbing Kilimanjaro 18 months ago, I noticed that there wasn't much left of the mountain's famous glacier. 


-In traveling to the far eastern corner of India, I discovered that it is hard to find even one beautiful bird flying free in the Naga Hills where the hornbill once dominated the skies along with hundreds of other aviary delights. 

-In crisscrossing Africa over 16 years, I've found that there really are no animals left in the Dark Continent except for those that have been imported (especially dogs and donkeys) and those protected in the national preserves (and even these are slowly passing. Zambia has two white rhino left in the whole country. They are alive only because they are living under the watchful eye of armed guards in the Mosi National Park). 


Just wondering whether my grandkids will have the privilege of seeing the 'snows of Kilimanjaro', the 'Big Five' of Africa, or vista worth beholding.

For the rest of the comments made by the author quoted above, go to his blog: http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/A148_Evangelicalism-and-the-Environmental-Movement?q=I+ve+told+environmentalists

Trees Matter to God? Come on.

Twenty years ago, I pushed for the name "Oakbrook Church" for what was then our crippled, little Christ Baptist Church of Reston, Virginia. Isaiah 61:3 is the Biblical passage that inspired the new name: "And they shall be called 'Oaks of Righteousness', a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor." 


I think Isaiah is saying something like this: "Just as God planted trees in order to display his glory, so he plants us for the same reason." As God's people, we seem to get the second part of this statement (i.e. that we are made for God's glory). However, most American Jesus-lovers miss the first part (that earthy things- like trees- are also made for his glory). 


I wonder: "Is this why so many feel free to exploit the natural world in any way that suits them or seems expedient? Is this why the customary message preached in the American pulpit makes much of heaven but little of earth? ("God I hope there's a heaven because there ain't much earth left that's livable!")


According to Isaiah 61:3, trees and earthly stuff matter to God just as we do! Maybe we need a new narrative that includes the redemption of trees, rocks, and creeping, crawling things too. 


Just maybe it is supposed to work this way: "God redeems us and then we redeem the earth."  Hmm. ("And all the trees shall clap their hands!")

Tied to the Mast

We all love a sense of certainty, don't we? Certainty can lead one to feeling secure (even if the certainty is only an illusion).


Here's a question: "Should we continue to tell the same old story of God, Jesus, salvation history, and our narrative concerning where this whole thing is all going... without rethinking whether we (or 'they'- i.e. those who passed it along to us) truly got things right in the first place?"


What if the larger story line (as told by family and friends throughout history) actually took a detour from the Biblical narrative years ago? What if we've now become defenders and promoters of a narrative that is no longer able to bring life to this world? 


In these days of life in my 50s, I am trying to re-read the Biblical narrative without giving in to the siren voices of Church history. I am trying to forget what my teachers taught me and to enter into a conversation with Scripture anew. This is not easily accomplished. Those sirens continue to sing from the shore begging me to join them (and thus to stay faithful to the same old company line. [But what if the company line is faithful to the sirens of Church history but not the Spirit of God?]). 

And so, with some measure of fear, I tie myself to the mast and keep looking straight ahead.