Party Mouth

Last week I attended an after-work party at a co-workers home in honor of a person who is leaving our employ, and with whom I have worked very closely over the last year.  There were only two Christians there, myself included and most of the group had been working in the same office suite for several years.  We shared food and drink, laughter and conversation.  I wish it could all be positive, but it was not.  Most of the drinks were alcoholic, and though I left early enough to avoid seeing anyone drunk, people had certainly "let their hair down".  What bothered me more than anything else was the amount of "catty" behavior being displayed, the all-out gossip and the tendency to bash those who were not in attendance.  One other person who had left even before I had was also the target of some rather unkind remarks.   Frankly, it had me wondering what remarks were made about me after I left the party.

As Christians we are called to be different from the world.  Does it really take being able to gossip and verbally abuse people behind their backs in order to have a good time?  If this were a church setting I would probably be taking people aside and encouraging them to go to the altar and repent of their behavior!  As it was I was happy that I had an excuse to leave early. 

My attitude and opinion of people at work has certainly changed.  I am not as likely to be open and frank in a personal sense with these people as I was before.  It is not that I was personally attacked, but I cannot be certain that the possibility does not exist.  I cannot trust them.

Can people trust you?  Do they know that if you are friends to their face that they are friends when they are not with you?  If not, maybe you need to go to the altar and discuss the situation with God, too.


"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."     Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

.

The Boston Bombings

(Note: This was written as a devotional for our prayer night at the church the day after the bombings at the Boston Marathon)

 

After an incident like yesterday’s bombing in Boston we are forced to ask, “How could a good and loving God allow such things?” and “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  How could God allow a little eight year old boy to be blown to bits.  How could a beautiful 29-year old woman from Medford be killed.  How could God let over a hundred people suffer injury, some of them changed for life, like the two brothers who each lost a leg? 

I do not want to sugar coat this or offer platitudes.  Pat answers and theological niceties are not what we are looking for at a time like this.  If all we have is some lukewarm answer then Christianity is not worth the effort.  On Sunday I will address this further, but I want you to know now that God does have a plan and He is in control.  He says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  He has given us a beautiful gift, but one that has a sharp edge, and that is the gift of free will.  Some people use their free will to help others and to love people.  Some use it to strike out and hurt people.  God’s desire is that we would choose love, that we would choose light.  But simply having the ability to choose means that some will choose hate and darkness.  This is the human condition. 

God however, offers us two more gifts.  The first is that He promises to walk through the valleys of life with us.  “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.”   (Ps 23:4)  He will never leave us or forsake us.  He will weep with us, as His son Jesus Christ wept with Mary and Martha.  But He has the power to change things, and this is where we hold our ultimate hope. 

His third gift is found in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God”.  God can change things.  He can use them, no matter how bad things seem to be, He can use them.  This is His ultimate gift to us. I am not going to lie to you, sometimes I look at events in life and I wonder how God could ever bring anything good out of those things.   Sometimes it might be a long time before we can see anything good.  Sometimes it comes in very unexpected ways.  But I have seen it with my own eyes…I know it happens.  So when life throws me a curve ball I can confidently expect that somehow, some way, God is going to bring good out of it.

It is not wrong to ask God “why”.  It is not wrong even to yell and scream at God.  He has big shoulders; He can take it.  And He WILL answer.  That is all part of prayer.  That is why we come here tonight, to tell God we don’t understand what has happened, to ask ‘why’, maybe even to be frustrated with it all.  But in doing so, we know He will answer.  And in the asking, and in the answering, it will all be changed and given significance.   

 

. 

I Am A Vermonter

I read a book a few years ago which stated quite emphatically that it was impossible to be a 'Mainer' unless you had not only been born in Maine, but that you could claim to have lived there all your life and have at least 3 generations of ancestors who had also been born in and lived in Maine.  Even so, the people along Rt. 1 in southern Maine were suspect, since they had been tainted by the proximity of New Hampshire and Massachusetts!

 

With the mobility of our society it has become harder and harder to find people who fit these qualifications anywhere, even here in Vermont.  There are a few people, don't get me wrong, but people move around all the time for the sake of school, jobs and relationships.  I myself have a hard time claiming any one place as having 'grown up there'.  An Air Force Brat, we lived in Maine, North Carolina, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  My dad retired to Massachusetts and that is where I graduated from High School, went to college and met my wife.  Both of my children were born there.  But to each of those places I was, as we say in Vermont, a 'foreigner'.  I always felt out of place.

 

So, what place can I claim affiliation with? New England, certainly. Except for four years in North Carolina...a little slice of Hades for me...I have lived somewhere in New England.   (New England for me, being a true Yankee, the western and southern edges are defined by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont!)  I have, however, found my true home in Vermont.  This is not a home defined by birth, since I was born in Maine.  I did not graduate from a High School in Vermont, nor did I go to college in Vermont.  From the first days we lived here my wife and I felt, somehow, that we had finally come home.

 

I do have one overriding claim to Vermont that people born and raised here may not have.  I CHOSE to live here.  I made a conscious decision to live here.  Even in the hard times...I have been laid off three times while living here...I did not move away.  I love the people here.  Not the 'foreigners' whose 'foreign-ness' is defined by the high-handed assumption of city-fied superiority and who would move away at the first chance for a warmer climate or a better job, but those people who have worked hard to stay here despite the challenges.  Many of those old-time Vermonters are being priced out of the housing market because  'out of staters' are driving prices up.  But still they stay and struggle on.

I love these people who know what a 'deer camp' is, and first day of deer season is practically a state holiday.  These are the same people who still speak in local metaphors which we the locals all understand but sound like gibberish to out-of-staters.  They have a huge sense of being very independent; Vermont was, along with Texas and Hawaii, an actual sovereign country before becoming a state.

Vermonters are those people who, like one of my brand-new neighbors in late 2000, stopped his pickup truck and pulled me and my UHaul trailer out of a ditch and refused to even talk about me giving him a twenty-dollar bill.  Why?  Because we were neighbors.  People like the guy who gave us a gallon of freshly boiled maple syrup, just 'because'.  Like my next-door neighbor who gave me his friendship from the very first day, and who I was honored to be asked to perform his funeral when he died of cancer.  People like the wonderful sixth-generation former dairy farmer in my church, who along with his wife would give you the shirt off his back if he could help you.  Or the 'new' Vermonter who along with his wife recently became American citizens, and came over with another friend  to help me cut down and limb several hazardous trees in my yard...and wouldn't even stay for lunch.  We all need more friends and neighbors like this.

 

Abraham was promised a land to be his, and Moses led his people to a land 'flowing with milk and honey'. 

 

So, I am a Vermonter.  This is my 'promised land'. I chose to live here.  And that makes all the difference.

“The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’"  Gen 24:7 (NIV)

.

The Church and the world

As I grow older there are more and more things that I see changing.  Some are for the better, and others not so much.  This week, for instance, the Supreme Court of the United States is reviewing two cases which may change the face of America.   Those two cases have to do with the California Prop 8 ban of same-sex marriage and the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  With a wide range of possible outcomes depending on individual rulings, there is a pretty good likelihood that the Court will strike down at least some of the restrictions put into place.  It is even possible that a ruling will strike down all state bans and make same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.  So, what does this mean to Christians, and to the Church in particular?

• First, my personal opinion is that I do not care who, what or how many you sleep with, within limits of course...such as being of the age of consent. 

• Second, if you are a Christian, I expect you to hold to God's Word.  Period. 

These statements are going to be offensive to perhaps everyone on some level, which I consider good.  I think it is time to stand up and be offensive.  For the typical Christian, to say, "I don't care who you sleep with" is tantamount to saying "I agree with same-sex marriage".  To be perfectly frank I do NOT agree with it, but I believe our government has backed itself into a corner and has become stupid in the extreme.  Think of it as taking a laudable but flawed premise to the logical conclusion. I believe it is inevitable that same-sex marriage will become the law of the land. 

What no one seems to see is the landslide that will follow.  When marriage ceases to be based on biology and historical norms, the door is opened to define marriage any way one chooses.  Why not define marriage as encompassing unions between multiple partners (polygamy/polyandry/group marriage), between currently proscribed ages (adult-child marriages), interspecies marriages (bestiality) or between animate and inanimate (objectisexuality).  The problem lies in that the SAME arguments made for same-sex marriage can be made for each of these different 'lifestyles'.  In fact, it is already happening.  In the Netherlands one can form a cohabitation agreement called a 'samenlevingscontract' between multiple partners, and others have broken down the prohibition of bigamy through the court system using the same arguments used for same-sex marriage.  The United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and Saskatchewan, Canada recognize polygamous marriages formed elsewhere.  On TV here in the US we have a popular television show called 'Sister Wives' in which a man showcases his life with four wives and their families.  In Paris, a woman performs a marriage ceremony with the Eiffel Tower. An organization in the USA has actively advocated relationships of adult men with underage boys.  

Even traditional psychology and biology are under attack, now.  Current gender theory points to either ONE gender, differentiated, or many gender flavors defined by physical, psychological and other factors.  Neither theory believes there are two distinct genders, male and female.

So, tell me again...why should we not allow two men, one dog and three women to marry?  On what basis do you make that decision, if not biology or Western definition?  Eventually, in the current environment, marriage itself will become meaningless in the eyes of the world.

The second assertion that will irritate people is I expect Christians to hold to the Word of God.  In effect, this means we are going to be out of step with the world...and in my opinion this is a very good thing.  We ARE different from the world.  If we were not different, then what is the point of our faith?  It also means the world is likely to become even more critical of the Church.  For one thing, although we may recognize that the world has given legal authority to same-sex marriage, the Church cannot give God's blessing to something that is outside His Word.  Despite the efforts of some theologians to legitimize so-called 'Gay Theology', the Bible is very clear that this is not a correct interpretation. In the Church of the Nazarene in particular we are forbidden from performing same-sex marriage blessings or ceremonies.  Even if this were not so, any local church which I pastor will never perform such a ceremony...I will resign first. Gays and lesbians are welcome in my church, but they must realize that our church is not, and will not ever be, 'open and affirming'.

During the Civil Union legislation passed in Vermont in the early 2000's, the legislation was narrowly modified, largely due to the efforts of one of our Vermont pastors, to exclude religious organizations from having to cater to same-sex couples.  For instance, if a local church refused to perform a wedding or host a reception on it's grounds which it felt was inappropriate, then it would not be allowed to do so for anyone at all under the guise of 'equal public accomodation'. Eventually that situation might change.  It might even become defined as 'hate speech' for a pastor to say any of this.  If so, the church might be driven underground. 

The idea behind this post is simple.  I want to point out that no matter what the world does, the Church cannot expect Christian behavior out of people who are not Christians. Our standards are not the standards of the world.  We are held to a higher standard.  Paul says all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial or constructive.   We are called to do that which builds up, that which is good for people and what God has told us is beneficial.   No matter what the issue is...abortion, same-sex marriage, pornography, theft of intellectual property, terrorism...we don't expect non-believers to act like believers and we do expect believers to act as God wants them.  Maybe we need to be less concerned with the world's outrageous behavior and more concerned with doing God's will.


“ 'I have the right to do anything,' you say—but not everything is beneficial. 'I have the right to do anything'—but not everything is constructive."  1 Cor 10:23 (NIV)

.

The Myth of Security

I have been quiet for some time now, but it is time to start commenting again.  As I write this particular entry we are in the height of leaf season in Northern Vermont. The temperature is starting to fall and we turned on the heat in my house last night.  The season is undeniably beginning to change.

The seasons are changing in other ways, too. Last Spring my secular workplace informed our entire office that we would be closing down and all operations would be moving to New Hampshire.  When the dust settled we found that half the staff was to be laid off, including myself.  For the third time in twelve years I was to be looking for a new job because of a layoff. 

When I began my adult working life I considered the possibility of being laid off to be remote.  Layoffs were something that happened in mismanaged large companies and I had no intention of going there. Then reality hit.  The first time I was laid off was when I was in college and working for the City of Lowell (Massachusetts) in the Library, due to Proposition 2½.  I was laid off one day, and picked up the next day on another budget line item.

So, what have I learned?  First, there is no such thing as ‘security’ in this world.  Everything is temporary, especially jobs, and especially when you are working for someone else.  You can mitigate the risk, but it never goes completely away.  Sooner or later you will likely face a job loss.  Second, God will take care of you.  Always. 

When I was laid off this last time I went back to my office and prayed.  I thought about where I was in life, what God had done in the past, and asked myself one crucial question, “Did God still want me to stay in Vermont?”  Strangely enough, the answer I received came out of silence.  God had previously called me to Vermont.  He had NOT told me that He was done with me here.  Therefore, I knew that God would provide me with work to enable me to stay here.  He did.  Within two months of my layoff date I had a job offer.  The work environment is ideal, the job is flexible, I ended up working for a Christian supervisor, my job has a certain prestige to it and I work in a fertile field. 

When you go through hard times, ask God what He wants you to do.  Ask first, not last, and listen to Him.  Sometimes the answer will come even through His silence!  And know that He will take care of you no matter the answer.

 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  Phil 4:6 (NIV)

Did you forget?

Sometimes it is so easy to forget what we have right close to hand. Maybe being close makes you takes things for granted, maybe you get used to something and don’t even think about it. Like a New Yorker who has never bothered to visit the Statue of Liberty or a Bostonian who has never gone to see the USS Constitution. Sometimes maybe we are even intimidated by what other people think of what THEY have. I have a cousin who visited from Texas when he was about 12 years old. When we asked him what he thought about New England, he said (in that annoying way Texans can have), “I’m absolutely amazed…we drove across three states in one day. In Texas we couldn’t get from one end of the county to the other in one day!”

So when you start talking about things like National or State Parks, and how big they are or how many attractions are there, you might think of a place like Yellowstone, or the Great Smoky Mountains. HUGE places with large expanses of wilderness. Places that loom large in our minds.

This last week I spent some time in a place fairly close to us in Vermont, in upstate New York in the Adirondack Park. Small pickings compared to the western parks, right? You want the truth? The Adirondack Park is the largest park and the largest state-level protected area in the contiguous United States, and the largest National Historic Landmark. It is larger in land area than the state of Vermont (9,400 sq-miles versus 9,250 sq-miles), covering 6.1 million acres. It is larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined! There are more than 3,000 lakes and 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of streams and rivers. Many areas within the park are devoid of settlements and distant from usable roads. The park includes over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of hiking trails; these trails comprise the largest trail system in the nation. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adirondack_Park)

Yes, sometimes it is easy to forget what you have when you are so close to it. Don’t we do that in our spiritual life, too? We forget who and what we are in Jesus Christ. We forget the Kingdom of Heaven is not just for when we die, but it lives within every believer! We have a vast power contained within us, with the Holy Spirit giving light and life. But we forget, and our light is hidden under a basket, so to speak. I am convinced that our quality of life is thereby infinitely diminished.

I went back to our family’s home-away-from-home this last week, Inlet, New York in the Adirondack Park, and re-discovered what I had lost. I found myself longing for the woods, the waterways and the life that is there. I even longed for the smell of the forest. And I find myself longing for the life of the Kingdom of Heaven, here on earth. It is not far, it is close. But I have hidden it away.

It is time to find it again. Would you join me?

"As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ "
Matthew 10:6-8 (NIV)

.

The Consequences of Atheism

A recent book by Stephen Hawking's, "The Grand Design", has caused more than a little stir in both scientific and theological circles. I'm sure I will get questions about this sooner or later, especially since Vermont has a fair contingent of atheists.

The most radical theological statements which Hawking makes in his book are, "Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist", and "It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the Universe going." In other words Hawking has explicitly rejected the possibility of any Deity or the necessity of Deity in creation.

Rather than touching on the various arguments for or against these statements, I'd like simply to focus for a moment on the implications of what he said, and explore the meaning of atheism in everyday life. Here are a few things for thought.

You are composed of several pounds of chemicals and a fair bit of water. Everything you are is simply a result of chemical reactions within your body. Each perception you have, every thought you have, every emotion you feel is simply a chemical reaction. A complicated reaction, perhaps, but just a chemical reaction in the end. Love is not real, neither is pain, joy or grief.

The sensation of being 'alive', or having thoughts and feelings, is basically a chemical reaction which creates an illusion of self-awareness. 'Alive' is simply just a temporary state of chemical equilibrium.

All creatures, plant and animal, are the same and have the same level of significance. There is a matter of scale and influence which sets the more complicated organisms apart, but in the words of PETA co-founder and President Ingrid Newkirk, "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy" (Vogue, Sept 1, 1989).

There is no afterlife. There is no soul, no Nirvana, no Heaven, no Hell and no Happy Hunting Grounds. When your body ceases to function sufficiently well to support what we call 'life' or 'self-awareness', you will simply return to your constituent chemicals and what you were; the essential part that makes you who you are will be forever gone.

There is no reward for good behavior, there is no punishment for bad behavior except for the consequences of our own actions here. Other people may impose consequences upon you (fairly or not) but that is all that can happen.

When something bad happens to you, there is no underlying purpose. If you can get away with doing something to benefit yourself, even at the expense of others, go ahead and do it. There is no outside basis for morality, so don't worry about it. Ethics is a constructed fable.

There is no 'absolute truth' where behavior is concerned, it is simply a matter of your own desires being satisfied. Since you have only a small amount of time on earth and it all ends in oblivion, you might as well enjoy your time here. Party up! Get drunk, shoot up, sleep around. Just make sure you enjoy it all.

Since all life is simply a chemical phenomenon, there is nothing sacred about it. Want an abortion? Go ahead! Want to kill someone? No problem (just don't get caught)! Do what feels good and don't worry about others...they can look out for themselves.

Does this seem harsh? These are simply the logical consequences of following a belief in atheism. That is not to say that you cannot construct an ethos based on atheism (i.e. all human life is unique and can never be duplicated, so it is a crime against the universe to harm another person), but it is entirely optional and completely relative to the person.

The biggest issue I see with atheism and with the viewpoint of people like Hawking is that there is no hope anymore. This life is all there is. "Life sucks, then you die." As a Christian, I believe that there is indeed hope, and hope in the sense the ancient Greeks knew...not "pie in the sky thinking", but "confident expectation". It has been said that man can live without most things, but he cannot survive without hope. In what, or in whom, do you put YOUR hope?


"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." 1 Cor 15:19-20 (NIV)


.

No Religion?

Living here in the North Country you hear lots of interesting comments. This area is part of what is known as the 'burned over' region, where religion in general has seen better days. According to a recent survey Vermont has the lowest per capita level of church involvement of all fifty states. Does that mean that people don't have spirituality as part of their lives? No, not really.

Churches in general here are small. Roman Catholic parishes can tend to be large, but in many cases their numbers are not very enlightening. People tend to be kept on the rolls long after they have ceased attending. The largest Protestant churches are two Alliance congregations running in the multiple hundreds, perhaps low thousands, but still small compared to churches in the Bible Belt. Most Protestant churches have some sort of process where if they haven't seen you in a few years, you'll be labeled as inactive. My own pragmatic cut-off is to regard anyone who has not attended church or mass in two years as an unchurched person, whether they are on a church roll book or not. If they have not been in a church for six months, I look at them as inactive members. All this assuming, of course, that they don't have a good reason for not going to church. Someone who is bedridden, in a nursing home, deployed in the military or similiar circumstances does have valid reasons for not going to church.

Vermonters are funny in regard to spiritual matters. On the one hand they are fiercely independent. They don't trust most authority figures including spiritual authorities. On the other hand, they want the comfort of community. They want structure, but not rules. They are willing to deal with diversity, but have little idea what others really believe and don't care to learn.

We knew someone a few years ago who moved back south after living in Vermont for a few years. They told us that they couldn't stand living here anymore, that Vermonters were cold and unwelcoming people. Our experience has been totally the opposite. We have found Vermonters, especially the old-time residents, to be very warm and hospitable. They are, however, upset about the fact that 'flatlanders' have come into the state in droves over the last 30 years and changed the character of the state so dramatically. They feel as though Vermont has been hijacked from under them. In many ways this is true.

So, how do you reach a people who have spiritual thoughts and inclinations, but don't want to think about them, who are upset about outsiders coming in and taking over, feel they belong to a spiritual fellowship when they haven't attended for 30 years or who want the comfort of community but don't want to join in any formal way? I am still struggling with this. I know that God has insight into all of this. I know, too, that His power is superior. I know He wants ALL to be saved. So I'll keep praying, keep talking to people as a friend rather than as an authority figure, and leave the rest up to His Holy Spirit. After all, this is His field of harvest, not mine, and His job to convict others (John 16), not mine.

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)


.

My brain fell out, dude...

Well, I guess my brain must have fallen out somewhere along the way, here. At least, that is the impression I get from what I've been reading on the Internet. Usually I have enough common sense to avoid reading comments on articles when I'm surfing, but sometimes I just slip. Lately I've noticed that the comments fit a pattern of sorts. Whatever the problem is, the source of the problem is President Obama, or it's ex-President Bush's doing. Occasionally it is Clinton, either Hillary or Bill. When the problem turns on religious or ethical matters, the problem is invariably resting on the shoulders of anyone of any religion who is stupid enough to believe that nonsense.

"Stupid enough to believe that nonsense?" Yup, that's what they say. If you'd just give up all that religion, those myths and legends meant just to control people for the benefit of the clergy and the church then there would be peace in the world and all our problems would just go away. Hmmm...I guess I just don't have what it takes to see any of those benefits I'm supposed to be getting as one of the evil clergy. I want to know where all that money is going, because it is certainly not in MY bank account. As a matter of fact, last time I looked I was working as a bivocational pastor for the equivalent of about $4 an hour! I could make alot more money with a lot less hassle and trouble if I worked at a fast-food joint. "Do you want fries with that?"

It annoys me when people lump other people into any sort of stereotype. "Always" and "Never" are two bad words when it comes to describing classes of people, and most times individuals as well. And the other thing that annoys me is when people base their opinions on bad history. "Christians are just stupid people who don't know how to think for themselves, and they have been responsible for more deaths than anyone else throughout history". Yeah, right. The entire Spanish Inquisition accounted for about 3,000 deaths over a 200 year time span, while the atheistic Stalin killed 20 million people in about 20 years. Sure, there have been some people who have done bad things in the name of Christ, and there are some people (maybe alot) who are Christian and who don't think more than your average houseplant, but some of the most brilliant minds in history have been Christian. And there are plenty of examples of non-religious people doing bad things in the name of selfishness and who don't want to think.

The short and long of it, cut out the stereotypes and start using your head for more than a hat rack. I'll do the same, and I'll stop reading the comments on internet articles for good measure.

"Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels." 2 Tim 2:23 (NIV)

Ad Hominem

'Ad Hominem'. If you've ever taken a philosophy class or been in a debate club this term will be familiar to you. An "Ad Hominem" is a personal attack upon a person or group which bears no relation to the argument at hand and is therefore termed a 'fallacious argument'. Usually the technique is reserved to those who have exhausted all other means of winning the debate and are trying desperately to wrest some measure of satisfaction from the exchange.

In addition to being a 'fallacious' technique, it is mean-spirited and cruel. In it's most vicious form it results in a physical assault upon the other individual, or angers the other enough to provoke them likewise. Think of the little kid who loses an argument and throws dirt clods at the other child.

It seems to me that I am seeing more and more this kind of behavior. I read an article this week wherein a liberal commentator referred to his conservative opponent as a 'republi-tard', and another comment which referred to the conservative side as a 're-puke'. Showing their true colors the liberal commentator in the first case, who would likely advocate for minority groups, uses an insult which denigrates people who are mentally handicapped. In a sense, they shoot themselves in the foot with their own remarks.

I have had such attacks used against me. They are frustrating, annoying and vicious. They are also a sign that I probably have already won the debate, but that does not make them any more pleasant to experience.

My point is this: we should never resort to 'ad hominem' attacks. They do not work and we usually hurt ourselves when we use them. If you find yourself at the point where you are tempted to use one, re-think your position. Is there something you have missed, or do you need to consider changing your viewpoint? Insulting someone's mother or ancestry does not mean that you have won the argument, it means you have already lost.

"Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels." 2 Tim 2:23 NIV

.

Grace and Growth

It’s interesting that when you talk to Christians you get such a different view of life. We really look at life through a different set of lenses than the world at large does. I am becoming more convinced though, of the factor of growth in the Christian’s life, because I’ve met so many at different points in their walk. But sometimes we forget that the grace we’ve received from God needs to be transmitted to other people through our hands. I think this is what leads to the charge among many non-believers that the church is full of hypocrites, one way or the other.

First, people outside the walls of the church see a group calling themselves followers of Christ and notice there are various forms of behavior that don’t jive with the speech. In other words, they see behavior at odds with our profession of faith in Christ. Sometimes our walk does not appear to be very holy.

Second, when someone comes into the church we somehow expect that there is going to be an overnight change in behavior. Sometimes this does happen…I’ve seen alcoholics lay a bottle on the altar and never go back. But often the process is a bit slower. Someone comes into the church and people start grumbling about how they smoke or go to bars. Certainly these are not behaviors we condone. Nevertheless, what they may not see is that the person has overcome some tremendous sin in their life and the smoking and drinking, bad as they might seem, are minor in comparison. Eventually those will disappear, but for right now they need the grace of God administered through our hands. I’m reminded of my dogs at home. When they poop in the kitchen I don’t like it under any circumstances, but when they at least hit the paper I praise them! Maybe we’ve forgotten what it feels like to be a new Christian. Maybe that in itself is reason for us to go to our knees.

Third, sometimes we do have cases in the church where the grace of God is not tied to repentance. When someone is in the midst of witness-destroying behavior and claims that God’s grace covers it all, there is a problem. They do not acknowledge that repentance is needed. It is important to remember that without repentance, there is no forgiveness. You cannot be in the middle of sin and simply expect God to keep whitewashing it. We do not keep sinning to display God’s grace, Paul was clear on that in Romans 6:1-2 ( “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” ) Growth demands change, and Satan is happy if he can keep a Christian stagnant.

As a pastor I walk this line all the time. I see sin in people’s lives, but I have to consider the whole person, where they come from and how far along the journey they are. Do I say something now, or wait? How can I show this person God’s grace? How can I help them, not push them away?

The important thing to remember is to talk the talk, but walk the walk, too. Without the one, the other means nothing.

.

Taking his ball home

There are times when you have a discussion with someone of an opposing viewpoint and you wonder if it did any good whatsoever. I had one of those discussions yesterday. I was reading a post where the author, an avowed conservative, was saying that Wisconsin had a small victory for gay marriage advocates. I disagreed with an assertion it was not possible to oppose gay marriage without resorting to the Bible, and therefore any opposition is invalid.

To refute this argument I simply stated one of his premises and then broke it down logically, showing what the basis for current law is, and then what would happen if that basis was removed to allow gay marriage. He responded and we were off and running. However, despite the logic of the position, he refused to acknowledge the weak points in his arguments and even at one point 'put words in my mouth'. He never did address the primary issue. Final conclusion? He stated that I was wrong and said he was going to stop responding to me. In other words, he couldn't argue with my statements, so he took his ball and went home.

We in the church need to be aware of one of the points I was trying to drive home with him. Many issues we deal with, both individually and publicly are not driven by logic, but by emotion. "I'm right because I say so!". When faced with logical or even physical proof that they are wrong or mistaken, the evidence is ignored because emotion trumps everything else. I am a big believer in the usefulness of the 'apologetic' method. However, many people will not be swayed by logic. Even those who might be swayed will take a long time to come to their own conclusions.Bottom line, they must OWN the decision they make, not go on someone else's arguments. "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Cor 4:4 It is the work of the Holy Spirit to change people's hearts and minds, not ours. We can present the truth, but only God can change a heart.

The eye of the beholder

I had a discussion a few days ago with someone about one of our local parks on the shore of Lake Champlain. It was stated that the beach was filthy, dirty and unhealthy, and the park itself was not suitable for families, especially with children. Having just talked with the park supervisor who stated that the beach is cleaned daily, the water quality is tested daily and was rated good at this time, and that there were two park employees on duty when we were going to be there I felt pretty comfortable with going there.

When we reached the park we found the picnic tables were clean, a fresh bag in the garbage can and no trash strewn around. There was some lakeweed along the shore, but it was an overcast day and we were concentrating on the barbecue, the volleyball game and bocci ball. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Looking around, my daughter made a comment to me about how clean everything was. She has just spent the last four years in the Chicago area at school, and she helped out with a children's ministry. Going to the cleanest of parks in the Kankakee, IL area, she said they always had to check the ground for smashed glass, the bathrooms for used syringes and were cautious around the water where literally anything might have been tossed in. She said that maybe the beach wasn't as clean as it could be by Vermont standards, but by Illinois standards it was a paradise!

It made me think about the fact that sometimes we are so conditioned by what we are used to that we have trouble seeing conditions for what they are. Like an artist who has to unlearn 'seeing' in order to draw....to learn to draw what IS rather than what the eye fills in. Or the person who is abused, but since that is all they know they think it is normal. God wants so much more for us than just what we are immersed in. His future for us is bright, shiny, clean and new every day. I thank God for the clean beaches of Vermont, and for the vision God has for us that lifts us beyond what we know.


.

The Tower of Babel

In the book of Genesis 1 there is a story about how the people’s of the earth decided to get together and build a large tower to reach to the heavens. God knew their pride and folly and decided to confound them. Now He could have simply reached down and swatted them like flies, but He chose a more subtle approach…He made them unable to communicate with each other by giving them multiple languages to speak. As they grew frustrated they eventually wandered off in language groups to found their own nations and the Tower of Babel was forgotten.

In a Sunday sermon a few weeks ago I told the church that ‘we have lost it’. What is ‘it’ and who are ‘we’? ‘We’ are the church and “it’ is the ability to speak to the outside world. We have become so insulated in our own little cocoon that we have forgotten how to speak to the people around us. When we get together we have a special ‘church language’ we speak and everyone knows what we mean. Even more, when we present our (very valid) concerns to the people outside the walls of the church, we present them in the same way we might discuss things with someone inside the church, and the person doesn’t understand. A month or so ago in Vermont we urged our people to contact their representatives concerning the issue of same-sex or genderless marriage. When I called my representatives one of them asked me why I felt the way I did. I gave her three relevant and valid concerns she could evaluate and weigh, and in language she could understand. What I did NOT do was quote scripture to her and tell her I did not believe in genderless marriage because the Bible says it is wrong. That would have been correct, but she would not have cared for nor understood the arguments. She would simply have put me down as a religious crackpot.

I have related on this blog discussions with my doctor concerning my diet in relation to my colitis. I understand where he is coming from, what arguments he can accept and those he cannot accept. If I speak outside of those terms he will dismiss me out-of-hand. When I present an argument to him in favor of the SCD diet in terms he can relate to, citing formal studies supporting it, he is more understanding and receptive.

The whole point is this…no matter what the issue, we need to understand that speaking to an unbeliever as though they were a believer is pointless. Like Paul before the Areopagus in Acts 2, we present the argument in terms that our listener can understand. That means we must not only know the Scripture, but we must know the meaning behind it and be able to relate it to everyday life in the 21st Century in our cultural setting.

Yes, we’ve lost it. But we CAN find it again…indeed we MUST find our collective voices again, or face being marginalized.

1 Genesis 11:1-9
2 Acts 17:16-34

.

Like Lemmings Off A Cliff

There are many things about being a minister that are not apparent at first blush. The amount of work that is required is one thing. Another is the amount of emotional energy (and sometimes physical energy) that it takes. Hazards include the likelihood of embarrassment while speaking in front of crowds. And caution is needed in dealing with people because of the possibility of lawsuits for giving bad advice or simply being in the in ’wrong place at the right time’ and having people jump to conclusions. Another hazard is saying the wrong thing during an election season and potentially losing the church’s tax-exempt status. Well, it is election season, and I will refrain from making any rash statements either from the pulpit or from this forum that would be construed as supporting a particular candidate or party.

However, one of my previous posts dealt with the subject of the right and duty of a citizen to vote. Maybe it is just me as I get older but I am noticing more things this election season that have managed to make e upset than in any previous election. For instance, does anyone know the name of the Libertarian Party candidate? Green Party? Constitution Party? Have you seen an ad for them or has one of the third party candidates been included in any of the debates with the Republicans or Democrats? The last time I looked the United States was a multi-party republic, not a two-party system. Yet the third party candidates are ignored.

The mainstream media has long been demonized in this regard. They do not seek out such third party candidates since they are not as popular and won’t generate as good ratings as the major party candidates. To be fair, people don’t seem to realize that media, although it carries a burden for public service, is a business and as such it seeks out customers who will generate the greatest revenue. The major parties have money to spend and people want to hear them, so they get the lion’s share of attention.

One subtle influence that the media does carry though is the capability to sway an election. It is subtle because even the observing and reporting of public opinion can change the atmosphere. The way it works is this…a media outlet conducts a poll, which shows that politician “A” has a 5-point lead over politician “B”. People listen to the results of this poll and some give in to the natural reaction to want to be ‘on the winning side’. So when the poll is repeated the following week politician “A” has a 10-percent lead. People begin to doubt the ability of “B” to win, so some more decide to vote for “A”. This is a natural thing for people to do who want to be on ‘the winning side’, yet if the media had not performed and publicized those polls, maybe the election would have been closer or the results different.

What happens to an election when the media begin reporting those same poll results and predicting which states will go with which candidate and allocate electoral college votes weeks, perhaps month in advance of the election? Such and such state is solidly Party A and so all those electoral college votes go to them, while this state and that one are solidly behind Party B. The feeling people have is that they should vote in a certain way, or that their vote doesn’t matter anyway since their state is expected to go in a particular direction. Essentially the media is determining through use of polls the results of an election that hasn’t even been held yet!

What else am I doing here besides complaining? There is only one thing which can stem the tide of these influences, and that is for an educated voter base to resist going with the crowd simply for the sake of going with the crowd. I am encouraging you to look beyond the polls, look beyond reporting by the mainstream media, get educated in the platforms of not just the two major parties, but the minor parties as well. And above all, vote for who you really want in office despite potentially being on the ‘losing side’.

Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual--or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.
Samuel Adams

The fact is that if we all follow each other like lemmings off a cliff, ultimately we are all losers in this contest.

Putting in our “two (per)cent’s worth”

It is September 11, 2008, now seven years since that fateful day in 2001. I can still remember exactly what I as doing as I watched the reports on television of the plane hitting the first tower and watching in disbelief as the second one hit. It seems that so many things happened and we said that the United States would never be the same. One thing that happened was that people suddenly became interested in world events and politics. People began to pay attention.

This last Tuesday was Primary Day in Vermont. There were four ballots this time….Republican, Democrat, Liberty Union and Green parties. I left work, went to the grocery store and headed home. My wife and I headed to the polls at 6pm; they were due to close at 7pm and we hoped we wouldn’t have to wait too long in line to vote. After all, a lot of people wait until after work to vote. We needn’t have worried.

When we walked in, we were greeted cheerily by the three poll workers. No one else was voting. As we turned in our three unused ballots and submitted our used one, the man at the ballot box told us that we were numbers sixty and sixty-one for the day. “Sixty and sixty-one? You’ve got to be kidding”, I said. “No”, he replied, “ you and your wife represent about two percent of the total vote for your precinct”. Doing the math, it actually comes out to slightly over three percent. Our precincts cover quite a bit of territory and there are only TWO polling places for our town and neighboring town precincts.

What happened to “we’ll never be the same again” after 9-11? I think people went back to the thought that their individual lives matter more than the impact that they might have voting. The life of the community is secondary. Maybe they feel that their vote doesn’t make a difference. It was disturbing too that the ballot we took had numerous spots where no one was running for office, and not a single office on the ballot was contested!

As a minister I cannot use my position to endorse a candidate or a party. But my faith and beliefs also tell me that voting is not simply a citizen’s right, but it their duty to vote. Our freedoms depend on people getting involved, perhaps especially as people of faith! I don’t care how you vote or who you vote for, but get out and get involved! You may not feel you have the time or knowledge to run for an office but your vote is needed. My wife and I represented over three percent of the vote from that precinct. Elections have been won or lost on less than that.

Don't just vote for who you think will win, simply to be on "the winning side", vote for who you believe is right. If appropriate, vote for a third party!

Another thing, when someone is elected, don’t simply criticize them. Pray for them and remember what we are told in Titus 1:1-2, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.”

We had a wakeup call in 2001. Let’s not waste it.

Letting it all hang out

I try to approach life with a little logic, a modicum of humor and a lot of faith, and try to keep the whining down to a dull roar. Sometimes, though, it gets to be a bit much. Vermont is a unique state in some ways, very conservative in some respects and very liberal in others which creates a bit of tension for all sides.


Coming in to work this morning I was behind a car which displayed a small decal in the window, advertising for all to see that the person driving (or perhaps the person owning) the vehicle is homosexual. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly care what this person’s sexual orientation is. He, and it was a male driver, could prefer sleeping with an anatomically correct stuffed animal for all I care. I really don’t want to know those details and I’m not sure why it needs to be displayed and broadcast to everyone on the road. I am not homosexual, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, metrosexual or any of the other variations people are constantly inventing and I do not advertise it one way or the other. Yet we hear from the spokespersons of these lifestyles who say they just want to be treated like everyone else. So then, why the need to advertise your sexual preference with window stickers, decals, bumper stickers and such? Wasn’t the point supposed to be that our sexuality is something private and nobody else’s business?


Maybe the heterosexual, married and faithful majority should come up with its own symbol and make its preferences known. Now, don’t treat me any different from anyone else. Hey, I’ve got the right to hang my preferences out for everyone to see, too…right? After all, it’s private.