Church Plants

         Church plants, Church starts, mission churches, these are terms you might hear in many churches across America. The typical congregation may come to a point where it has the means to attempt to start a new church in an area where that particular denomination, or the gospel itself, is absent. Generally, an associate pastor, or some elders may volunteer to relocate their worship. It can often be a huge sacrifice. At one moment you are part of a congregation that has finally reached maturity, the pews are filled, the preaching and teaching are sound, your Christian brothers and sisters are there, and you willingly move, the sole reason being to help others find Christ and be nurtured.
         There may be a lot of enthusiasm as you initially canvas the community. You may have a very small core to begin with and you are probably meeting in a school auditorium. As you knock on doors, you might begin with something like "Hello, I'm so-and-so and would like to welcome you to, Grace Church, for example. We meet at the old Andre's Restaurant on Sunday mornings at 11 am. We use the Bible as our guide. I'm sure that you won't find it intimidating in any way. We have a very nice nursery for the children. May I leave a flyer with you?"
          Now I'm sure that this opening varies. Some may begin with the gospel itself. It may be an invitation to join a Bible study or an invite to a picnic with free hot dogs and hamburgers. The methods may differ substantially but the intention is the same and that is to bring them in to hear the gospel. They put a lot of effort and tears in for this goal and are often successful but it is not without problems. If a department store, at Christmastime, has a sign outside that says "Santa Claus is here!" it probably would be a good idea to actually have a jolly old man in a red suit on the premises. It you offer hot dogs, you might want to make sure that you do not run out.
          Whatever you advertise, you have to continue with! If you advertise a friendly church with a nursery then the people that come will come because of that. If you advertise Bible Study, then that is what they want. If you intend to have "love" as your calling card, then they may only want their definition of it. Unfortunately, many of the mega-churches today have been very innovative. One church, that at one time was the biggest church in America, sent out questionieres that asked what it was the people "did not like" about the churches they had been to, the intention being to eliminate what turned people away. I would go about church planting a different way.
          I live in Western Pennsylvania. I believe that I know the area for I have lived here since I was 12 years old. I read the same papers, watch and listen to the same television and radio personalities. We are proud to be Pittsburghers, quite frankly. We speak the same language so to speak . R. C. Sproul is perhaps the most effective teacher of Reformed Theology in the world and he is a Pittsburgher, although now located in Orlando, Florida. I know the people I work with and have worked with for 30 years, and they are the same everyday people who populate this tri-state (Pa., Ohio, W. Va.) area.
       
          It is my belief that there are large numbers of people here who are craving a Christian church that might engage their mind. They want to enter this world of theology for they know that the very thoughts that animate their belief are theological in nature. They are tired of the user friendly church and theology lite. They are itching for the chance to learn more than the necessary basics that have been presented to them in Sunday School after Sunday School, year after year. This same thing happened to me although in a much shorter order. I heard Don Kistler formerly of Soli Deo Gloria Ministries and now associated with R. C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries, on Christian radio and know that there was something here that I needed to know more about. I heard John MacArthur of Grace To You and heard the same type of doctrine that excited my mind as my heart had been excited
         . I began to find books that spoke the same way, mostly from Banner Of Truth from Carlisle Pa.. In my case, I kept at this quest, reading and making phone calls. I set out to find what was missing. Whether it is a church plant of church growth, we have to find these people for they are out there. We don't have to beg or cajole them to come to someplace they have been praying for. We have to be very clear up front with them that this is not a Lets pool all of our thought processes and try to find answers type of invitation. Rather, we graciously let them know that this church of today is the product of something that only partially resembles 2000 years of church history and 6000 years of Biblical history. We will lay the history of the church out before you and you can decide for yourself is more the tact to take.
          In a church plant you will be adding to your church with core members with sound Biblical doctrine and an awareness of how the current church formed and the plethora of doctrinal errors and temptations that are out there. They will be far better equipped to reach out themselves. We have created an intellectual void in the church, gradually, over the past 150 or so years. I write this because I am concerned for those out there looking for a sound church, others do it primarily to grow and evangelize, and we certainly need to pursue this course for the sake of the this nation that needs a strong biblical Christianity!

Just In Case

         The War On Terror may have started in 2001 but the War Of Terror against us started long before that with bombings in Germany, Lebanon, on the U. S. S. Cole, through various methods and in many other places. What happened on September 11, 2001 seems far from the minds of most Americans today.
         The weather in Pittsburgh today was in the mid 80s with a pleasant breeze. The Penguins came back from a 3-0 deficit to eliminate the Philadelphia Flyers in the first playoff series. The trees are budding the yards are green. Thoughts are turning to summer vacations and various beautifying tasks around the house. Everyone seems to have settled into a long recession. There is always a spectacular news story or reality show to keep our attention.
          Today, we have a serious situation with an outbreak of Swine Flu that has pandemic potential just starting to break. The present administration's decisions on issues that effect this War On Terror are of a great concern to those who follow the issue of national security but the media does an excellent job of downplaying the issues, changing the subject and reporting polls, polls of their own design, that make it seem as if Americans are happy with the trend. So, what can those of us do, who are more than concerned about America?
          There is nothing remotely as important as praying for God's hand upon this situation. This may not result in America turning the corner and defeating its enemies. It's God's will that we need to seek and to realize that His will may not be what we would hope it would be. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to prepare for difficult times and that means stocking the home with essentials that would be needed in an emergency situation.
         Maybe, a more important preparation would be in the mind. America's "Greatest Generation" responded well after Pearl Harbor and many responded the same, particularly our military, after 9/11 but in 2001 we were merely in a malaise. There are two significant differences today. First, President Obama's vision for America is a socialist, global village and decisions in an emergency could be influenced with this in mind. Second, a significant proportion of the public have formed a cult like following where he is viewed as a savior of sorts, or a "Superstar" as someone recently opined.
         Equally as foreboding is a Congress headed by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, Homeland Security by Janet Napolitano, Justice by Eric holder and the ever hovering media that has jettisoned all investigative initiative save for former George Bush administration officials. Consequently, a preparation we need to do, and hopefully it will never be called upon, is to analyse, verify and then digest the thesis that Jonah Goldberg gives in his book Liberal Fascism, for a national emergency, if the trend of the recent economic situation continues, would brings calls for quick action, unimpeded by discussion, debate and certainly not disapproval. So let's take the words of Hillary Clinton to heart. Since when has it been a part of American patriotism to keep our mouths shut and not raise questions about what our government is doing?

Liberty And Tyranny

         Mark R. Levin's Liberty And Tyranny, A Conservative Manifesto (isbn 978 1 4165 6285 6) has been the top selling book on the New York Times best seller list for its first three weeks. I have read a number of conservative books that have come out over the past few years, and generally they are good but not necessarily profound. This book is different. Whereas Jonah Golberg emphasized the political philosophy of fascism, Levin looks at the individual, the Statist who has an ...insatiable appetite for control. His sights are set on the next meal even before he has digested his last.
         This is descriptive of what has happened in President Obama's first 100 days. To the Statist ...liberty is not a blessing but the enemy. It is not possible to achieve Utopia if individuals are free to go their own way...through persuasion, deception and coercion, the individual must be subordinated to the state....he must abandon his own ambitions for the ambitions of the state. Quoting Barack Obama Our salvation depends on collective salvation. Academics, Hollywood and the media are tools of the Statist. He quotes C. S. Lewis, Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. The Founders were highly educated, well informed men who excelled at reason and science but worshipped neither.
          On the other hand, the Statist acknowledges only that law which he himself sets in place, and which is subject to change or arbitrary application on his say-so. Bloody revolutions, such as in France and Russia were always under the flag of democratic populism. Franklin Roosevelt's appointee as Chief Justice wrote no tax, in any amount, large or small can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions...the First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. Chief Justice William Rehnquist disagreed The (First Amendment's) Establishment Clause did not require government neutrality between religion and irreligion nor did it prohibit the Federal Government from providing nondiscriminatory aid to religion. There is simply no historical foundation for the proposition that the Founders intended to build a "wall of separation' that was constitutionalized in Everson (Black). 
          On the trend towards a "living Constitution," Contracts are interpreted, and the intentions of the parties discerned in the context of their original making...the Conservative is an originalist. The concept of an individual's "Right" to a job, money, a home, medical care etc, comes from FDR's Second Bill of Rights as the Constitution's Bill Of Rights were not enough. Levin describes that which we have experienced, of the plot to transform the civil society through the judiciary-without the consent of the people and without regard to the Constitution. And they are well positioned to do so. On economics, The Marxist class-struggle formulation, which pits the proletariat (working class) against the Bourgeoisie (wealthy merchant class), still serves as the principle theoretical and rhetorical justification for the Statist's assualt on the free market. 
          Let's hear from Saul Alinsky, Hillary Clinton's hero, who she wrote her thesis There Is Only One Fight: An Analysis Of The Alinsky Model, the contents of which have been kept secret, Organization for action will now and in the decade ahead center upon America's white middle class. That is where the power is....our rebels have contemptuously rejected the values and way of life of the middle class. they have stigmatized it as materialistic, decadent, bourgeois, degenerate, imperialistic, war mongering, brutalized and corrupt....we must begin from where we are if we are to build power for change. The Statist blames the free market and industry when things go wrong but subsidizes it when necessary in order to extend his own reach, whereas, The Conservative is not a corporatist...not a pleader for oil companies and other corporations. Rather, He defends the free markets...against the tyranny that threatens them. Edmund Burke, the Father of Conservatism, is quoted What is the use of discussing a man's abstract right of food or medicine...I shall always advise to call in the aid of the farmer and the physician rather than the professor of metaphysics.
          The Enviro-Statist continues to revere Pittsburgher Rachel Carson whose work helped ban DDT around the world. Her work has been discredited, malaria flourished and millions of the children she claimed to want to help, died. This book contains a fair amount of statistics on various areas such as auto safety, bailouts, immigration, taxation and global warming. Levin correctly states that Skepticism is essential to science; consensus is foreign. Yet in the hysteria over global warming the Statist attempted to silience opposing scientists and not only claimed consensus as evidence but was dramatically incorrect in such a claim.
          President Obama appointed Carol M. Browner as his "global warming czar"yet the media thought it unimportant that she was recently one of the fourteen leaders of the Socialist International's Commission for a Sustainable World Society. On illegal immigration The Statist,, of course, looks over the horizon and sees opportunity. The demographic changes he is importing and protecting, empower him. The Conservative believes that Immigration can contribute to the well-being of society, but it can also contribute to its demise. On Self Preservation, George Washington said To be prepared for war is one of the effectual means of preserving peace. From Levin; The Conservative believes that unalienable rights attach to all human beings, but it is not necessarily the responsibility of the United States to enforce those rights...However, he also believes that there are times when evil perpetrated by a regime is so horrific that to ignore it tears at the moral core of American civil society. Agreeing with Goldberg, the Statist must denigrate those who obstruct him, And once in power, his threshold for actual civil liberties violations is often lowered. This, Goldberg would say, is an extreme understatement. The book is only 205 pages long and would be a good prerequisite to seriously entering the political arena.

Christians And Governments

         I wanted to reflect a little bit here, after all, I am part of this culture also and apparently blogs have assumed a place in the national conversation today. I previously described how I went back and forth on the issue of the Christian and Politics. I fully acknowledge that the Christian faith in the lives of believers should be the essence of our being. God causes nations to rise and fall. There are dangers in tying our faith too closely to America. By too closely I mean a number of things: We can easily believe that America is a Christian nation where it is not and never has been. Since 1776 it has been a nation with a God-fearing populace, many of whom are Christian, and has been greatly used in the proclamation of the gospel. We can be blind to our failures, which have at times been great. The love that our faith should be built on can be diminished, even disappear, while we defend this nation that we "love." We can fail to remember scriptural admonitions addressed to Israel that it was folly to rely on, not only "their" military might, but military might in general.
         Many Christians look to our defense of Israel as being "God's people" (America) and their duty to defend "God's people" (Israel.) Both are incorrect presuppositions. There is a strong inclination to want to back away from politics and many have done so and are vocal in this opinion. I cannot say that they may not eventually prove to be closer to the truth. Ultimately, I chose the other path. It seemed to me that other's decisions to avoid this area may have been influenced by the extreme difficulties that come with trying to influence our government's policies in this tumultuous era. There are times when you want to quit.
          There are times when you see yourself compromising compassion, so instead of facing this difficult problem, some eliminate it. I listen to these Christians, who I love and many of whom have been the conduit for blessings to me, but they tend to have few, if any answers in helping a nation, greatly in decline. It is a violent life in much of America and our culture is a prime contributor to this, yet they disdain efforts to change the culture. They think it sufficient to just avoid it which is like a fish trying to avoid the water. They do not want to be associated with professing Christians and Christians that have indeed turned Christianity into a nationalistic passion.
          It is a challenge to stand on some issues with a Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or a Glenn Beck. There is little that ties us to them other than we are Americans defending our nation against devastatingly godless philosophies. Even if God should have mercy on this nation and we revert to a former condition, that condition was far from what we should be remotely satisfied with. We live in this world but it is simply a pilgrimage. We face temptation from every side. Our faculties cannot protect us as we must rely totally on God's protective hand on us through this, even as our attempts to change societies bring additional temptations. I hope to write more and participate more, should the Lord even will it, but I realize that these are temporal issues, but temporal issues that affect Christians and non-Christians alike. I think that it would be hard to defend, for example, sitting back and watching generations of our children, who in the past learned to read through the McGuffey Reader, now educated in a culture that treats God as a myth.

.Celebrating Vietnamese Culture

I spotted an article in the paper on a celebration of Vietnamese culture by Vietnamese Americans at the Frick Fine Arts Building on the University of Pittsburgh campus so my wife and I took a drive into Pittsburgh to visit the event. I had spent 18 months in Vietnam in the army in the early 1970s in a non-combat capacity. I developed an affection for the Vietnamese people. They were a victim of circumstances, Communist aggression on one side and the explosion of 1960s American culture on the other.
          I often wondered what what had happened to people that I had known. Tens of thousands of Boat People died trying to escape but many made it to our shores and became as much an American as I am. Walking into the hall had more of an affect on me than I thought it would. Contributing to the feeling was a medical helicopter continuously hovering overhead. The sound of the whirling blades, the flowing ao dai (pronounced ao yai) dresses, the Vietnamese language coming from the speakers and the children running every which way was momentarily overwhelming to me. The only things missing was the faint aroma of nuoc man (fish sauce) and the heat. Vietnamese and American flags adorned the stage.
         I thought of the American soldiers, marines, navy and air force who died or were wounded over there, and the POWs not accounted for. I thought about the Vietnamese left behind to suffer when our Congress cut their lifeline. I thought of how terrified those who boarded their little skiffs must have been. I did smile when I saw one man who was given a plaque of recognition of some sort. It was an informal gathering and here this Vietnamese American, broadly smiling, was wearing a Starter Jacket with Fighting Irish on the back. This event was a celebration of their heritage but it was also a celebration, to me anyway, of diversity of culture but unity of purpose.

.First Church For The Fit And Buff

         A number of years ago I heard a true story on a Christian radio program, I think that it was The White Horse Inn (http://www.whitehorseinn.org/.) It seems that a man was shipwrecked on a deserted island in the South Pacific. Quite some time passed before he was finally spotted. As the rescue party came to shore they saw three thatched huts on the beach and asked the man about them. "Well" he said "That's the hut that I live in," and pointing to a second hut "and that's the hut where I go to church." The rescuers pointed to a third hut and asked about it. "Oh...that's where I used to go to church."
         Now there was no further information given and I have racked my brain since then trying to figure out why he left the first church hut. I tried to Google this with phrases like man on deserted island leaves church and Church listings: deserted island to no avail. I started my inquiry into this by thinking of reasons why people leave churches. One reason heard often is that "It didn't have a good youth ministry." Well, there were not any children on the island so that wasn't it. Another reason I hear quite a bit is "It didn't have a praise band." Now there would be no electricity to plug in a Schecter Ultracure electric guitar, so that's not going to be it. A third "The pastor doesn't call me enough!" can't be it...no telephones.
          Now I don't give up easily so I decided to change tact. Aside from moving away, there are only two legitimate reasons to leave a Christian church. The first is the pastor puts "Hillary Clinton for President" leaflets on the table in the foyer. Three reasons for voting for Hillary would be 1) you want the village to raise your child 2) your a radical feminist, and 3) you want Socialism. Problems, there are no kids to raise, no village to raise them, no women and your the only person so there is no one to take their money and direct their lives.
         This leaves only one legitimate reason to leave a church and I think, to my satisfaction anyway, that I have solved this riddle. If Christ is not preached, you should try to find another church. Ironically, people do not do this today but this man may have been one of the few. Follow me on this, you go to church a few yards away from a beautiful beach in the South Pacific. You wake up in the morning, pick a fresh pineapple for a juicy breakfast, take a long walk, jog a little, your fit and buff, I mean life is good. There's no need here to preach Christ. And how are you going to sin where Christ would need to be preached? There are no taxes to avoid, no traffic rules to break, no NBC Nightly News, Newsweek or newspaper to curse at, you don't miss church because you watched the Steeler pre-game show. This has to be the reason. When there is no perceived sin, there is no need for a Savior from it. The man obviously left for this reason. What about the new church, you ask. Why didn't he leave it? Well, now he is criticizing the first church daily. He knows that he is sinning. Christ may have been considered in this new church?

Liberty University

         I came across a rather remarkable book the other day on the new releases table at Barnes and Noble. Kevin Roose was a sophomore at Brown University (maybe the most liberal university if America.) A more than budding journalist, he attempted, and fulfilled, a research project that would lead to this book, The Unlikely Disciple, A Sinner's Semester At America's Holiest University.
          He attended Liberty University for the spring semester 2007. He told no one his mission, other than he wanted to see what a Christian University was like. The names of the students he befriended were changed, but not, with their permission, the professor's names. This could have been handled very poorly, but it wasn't. He is a very likable young man, and honest, at times maybe too honest. The book is part cultural studies, part religion (almost Christian) and part, to warn you, R-rated. He comes from an extremely liberal family that worries about his nearness to Jerry Falwell's influence. It was one semester only and he has returned to Brown University.
         Although he mentioned to no one that he was researching a book, he applied himself to every class and discipline required of him. He even went evangelizing to Daytona Beach for Spring Break and sang in the choir at Thomas Road Baptist Church. He admits (in the book) that he is an unbeliever but displayed an openness to what he heard and tried to downplay his perceived Christian belief to others to the lowest level he could. His thoughts are real as are the friendships he developed. He knew next to nothing of the Christian faith going in but was reasonably well versed, from a Fundamentalist perspective, after a semester of Liberty University core classes. His two main complaints were the "homophobia" displayed, some of it accurate and much of it misinterpreted, and the method "Creationism" was taught.
          Ultimately, his complaint being a distinct discouragement of the pursuit of knowledge through questioning accepted tenets of culture and the science of Creationism at the university. As a Liberty student, he asked for and was given an interview for the school paper with Jerry Falwell who died shortly after and just before the author's semester ended. He learned a lot from his experience, unfortunately not nearly enough that could have been presented to him. Liberty University, in my opinion and from a secular standpoint, did not come out poorly in this book. The students are friendly, the professors caring and Jerry Falwell is as strong in his beliefs as he presents to the world, and not a hypocrite.
         The real value of the book is to Christians. I have a quirk, one of many quirks you surely say, where I can differ with certain televangelists to a extremely large degree on theology and methods, but if I have received some sort of benefit in the past from one of them (Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Charles Stanley,) I will not brush that aside and will respect the good they accomplished and hold my failures and paltry accomplishments in comparison. I won't forget Rev. Falwell's uplifting proclamation of Christ and unyielding determination to present his faith on his many Nightline appearances in the 1980s. I feel that I got to know the friends that the author made. They have my hopes for them and prayers for the future as does Liberty University and I'll try to follow the course of this young author.
         Having said that, the sermons mentioned were cultural at times and "How to live your life for Christ" at other times. I wouldn't know if young Kevin Roose heard the majesties of Christ preached, or the unadulterated gospel that first prostrates us and then lifts us up with the amazing grace that Christ provides. He may have. The book should give grave concern to us over bringing politics "into" the church. It should give pause, from the evidence of the authors testimony, to the effectiveness and even the wisdom of beach type evangelism and the "altar call" method itself. It should be a humbling experience for Liberty students to read, as it is me, to see some things that unbelievers see in us. Actually, the book should encourage us. The author spent considerable time baring his soul to us. There is a lot to be learned. As to what this young man receives from this intensive effort, national acclaim will surely come his way, and hopefully the prayers of a lot of Christians whose, although the author may not know it, past, both intellectually and lifestyle, were not a whole lot different than his.

.Decisions

         Former CIA chiefs Michael Hayden, Porter Goss, George Tenet and John Deutch appealed to the White House in March, not to release interrogation memos because it would compromise intelligence operations. The administration released the memos on Thursday and absolved the CIA officials from prosecution. Austrian Manfred Nowak, a United Nations representative responded with calls for more information to be released and prosecution if necessary, and, compensation to the victims. Today, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega lambasted President Obama at a function of the Fifth Summit Of The Americas. Ortega brought up the Bay of Pigs in 1961. President Obama's response included "I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old.
         Too often, an opportunity to build a fresh partnership of the Americas has been undermined by stale debates. We've all heard these arguments before." Hillary Clinton was asked about the Ortega diatribe, her response was to change the subject " I thought the cultural (dance) performance was fascinating." When asked a second time, "To have those first class Caribbean entertainers...all on one stage and to see how much was done in such a small amount of space, I was overwhelmed." There is a lack of coherency in the quick decisions, the planning and the apparent failure to consider any consequences except from the Conservative opinion.

A New Day?

         There is a scene from the 1957 classic The Bridge On The River Kwai with Sir Alec Guinness and William Holden which I would like to bring up...again. British prisoners were forced to build a bridge that would enable Japanese soldiers to cross a gorge by rail on their way to fighting and killing American and British soldiers. Guinness, as Colonel Nicholson, was driven by proper military protocol to such an extreme that he lost touch with the reality of who the enemy was. His fortitude, even under torture, inspired his men to follow him blindly. Holden, as American prisoner Spears, may not have had a military career as his goal, but was not deluded by that which he did not have either.
          The bridge was built with great pride and Colonel Nicholson attached a plaque to it as he stiffly walked across the wooden panels, admiring the work of the British soldier. Spears had escaped and reluctantly returned to blow up the bridge. The operation had almost gone off perfectly but Colonel Nicholson, now in total delusion, followed the detonation wires that were exposed, foiling the surprise. Confronting Spears, his anger at this gold bricking, undisciplined American is shattered as mortar rounds explode around him. He suddenly comes to the harsh realization that the American and others were sent to blow the bridge up. As he falls on the detonator, blowing up the bridge he built, he looks skyward and says "What have I done?"
          I wonder if any Americans who voted for Barack Obama and saw the picture of him beaming as he grasped the hand of Hugo Chaves question their decision? And this, a day after the Obama administration had religious symbols covered at Georgetown University while Obama spoke from the podium, and this the same day that the administration said that this was a "New Day" for relations with Cuba. No, what it is, is a "New Day" for America, one the radical left has planned for a long time.

Homeland Security???

         There is a ray of hope for people in many places of the world. The United States, the troubled older brother, has reached maturity. His barging into family gatherings with swagger and pomposity is lessening quickly. With so many problems in the world, what was not needed was a spark, a wild bull. He has shown true humility and seeks the wisdom of others. Perhaps, just perhaps, the violent of the world will be appeased and we can live together, maybe not in perfection, but peace.
          So the big brother has mellowed, but the elephant is still in the room. Europeans and Americans that hold to this dangerous, even treacherously naive belief ignore the uncomfortably obvious, that the present administration may have only two years with a Democratic Congress and may itself last only four years. President Obama is moving fast in his radical agenda, faster than most analysts believed that he would. The poll results that you read are fashioned and reported by a media that knows the elephant is there and puts up a big picture of President Obama in front of it. Several news outlets reported that our Department of Homeland Security, headed now by Janet Napolitano, developed a report that warns of the possible forming of right-wing extremist elements such as disgruntled returning veterans, abortion and illegal immigration opponents and such.
          The administration distanced itself from the language but that is the pattern, to have subordinates do the work and then claim innocence of it. A report as "broad" as this is not by accident, not business as usual and in itself is inciting. Any person that truly lives by the tenants of this Constitutional Republic, takes his citizenship seriously and works within the method proscribed within that Constitution is subject to being relegated to a dangerous community. Every excess of the fringe will be attributed to us. This is the modus operandi of those who seek change through bifurcation and alienation.

Easter

         I don't celebrate Easter, as it is celebrated in American and Western culture, and haven't since God had mercy on me and opened my eyes to my eternal condition and what happened on that first day of the week on that cross on Calvary. I came into the faith in Pentecostalism so the initial reason for not celebrating Easter was probably more do to the fact that it is the mix of a pagan custom and Christian belief.
          My theology today is Reformed. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is proclaimed and celebrated 52 Lord's Days of the year, so having one day (Easter) to specifically proclaim what happened in the tomb on that morning is confusing to say the least. This is NOT a political blog. I mention Barack Obama only because it was he in the news today on this subject. He attended church today for the first time since his inauguration, a malady that much of America suffers in that it is somehow meant to satisfy the perceived basic obligation of many.
          Fox News reports that the pastor of the Episcopal church across the street from the White House "made no mention of the Obama's in his sermon. Instead he talked about the North Carolina Tarheels..." He also stated "I'm a fairly charitable person...but I hate the Yankees." This light banter, used to endear the pastor to visitors, is everywhere today and evidence of many churches that are Christian in name only. The main reason I bring up the Obama's experience is another comment, a theological comment that the pastor made. He said " I can't explain Easter to anyone. It just can't be done. It's like a professor trying to explain one of e. e. cummings poems." Again, according to Fox news he "called Easter an event based on faith, not on logic."
        The problem with this last statement is more than semantics. It is not that he could just have chosen better words. We, as a nation, generally do believe the the resurrection is all faith and no logic. No... it is also logic. Please hear me out on this. Salvation comes by grace, and only by grace in that it is of nothing we ever did, could do or even desire. Salvation comes through faith, and only through faith in that that is the method God has chosen to bring us to Him. That faith, is in Jesus Christ, only in Jesus Christ, and only in the Jesus Christ that Scripture reveals.
          I take issue with the pastor's interpretation because it infers that belief in the resurrection must be all faith and no logic because faith is void of facts and logic requires facts of which there are none concerning the Resurrection. The facts of the Resurrection are plentiful. There are testimonies of Pagan historians and Jewish historians on the problems caused that day by scattered soldiers and an empty tomb. There are facts in that we know how humans react in certain situations, and how the apostles reacted in those days, and the conclusion looks to logic to explain what must have happened.
          If we, as the pastor recommends, say that there are no facts and no logic here and we must simply believe that it happened, we do a great disservice to all non-believers in that we who believe essentially say that "We are all dummies that just believe, and God has not given us the slightest intellectual evidence of the belief we have, and by the way, do you want chuck your mind and come with us? " I have to reiterate and amplify a little here. There are many things that are beyond even our imagination. I have mentioned this before, to me personally, the biggest mystery of all is how God could have mercy on someone such as myself! It is not that some belief cannot be based soley on faith. It is that the fact of the empty tomb and thus the resurrection of Christ is not one of them.

Pre 9/11 Strategy

         President Obama is pursuing a strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan that has been labelled pre 9/11. President Clinton wanted to deal with the more moderate Taliban. It didn't work. Common sense would say "Let's not try that again," but that's just what we are going to do. So, our president is tacking a course that took us in a circle for seven years the first time. The same strategy seams to be in the works in Iran as we are hoping to bypass Ahmadinejab. We seem to be bypassing Afghan President Karzai and Israel. We are attempting to bypass the Constitution also. It's not simply a strategy, it's a scheme. Certainly, strategies can be changed but there is usually a diplomacy involved whereas in a political campaign, such as the one conducted this past fall, allies can be changed without the slightest concern for the scorned. Are we running foreign policy like a senatorial campaign, or presidential primary, or say a White House Travel Office? Hillary Clinton is a formidable adversary in a Democratic Convention but it will not translate into a war against terrorism. It's a sobering thought, to say the least, if indeed we are trying to schmooze our adversaries while stiffing our friends.

Mrs. Miniver

         The English film, Mrs. Miniver has been called by some the greatest movie ever made. A series of newspaper articles were written in London about the fictional character of Mrs. Miniver who saw the gaiety of a rather comfortable "middle class" life morph into the severity and sorrow of life in World War II. At the start, Mrs. Miniver was preoccupied with fancy new hats, her husband was equally taken by purchasing a new car. Their son, attending Oxford, is enraptured by the myriad of intellectual and social issues that are opening up to him, along with the affections for a young lady. During a church service where the family's minds seems to be on anything but the gospel, the announcement is made that England is at war.
          Out of necessity, life changes. The horror of 9/11 brought on numerous comments about how America "would never be the same." It didn't happen, at least not the way it was envisioned. Our "war on terror" today has taken on a pre 9/11 strategy. Admittedly, this movie and the articles it was based on, were meant to encourage the English and challenge us. Admittedly also, I write often on the good but mostly bad influence that filmmakers can have but there is more than enough evidence of the determination of the British people and its army, navy and R.A.F, and the historical importance and accuracy of the happenings of "Dunkirk" that is pictured in this film.
          England had its protesters and its dissenters but it also had Winston Churchill and an overall indomitable spirit that would not be defeated. There is a scene in the middle of the film that deserves relating. Mrs. Miniver captures a German pilot that crashed, held her at gunpoint and then collapsed from his wound. Mrs. Miniver's compassion is displayed on the young man that is very much like her own son in the R.A.F.. That compassion is given a dose of reality as the pilot responds to the compassion with promises that those who come after him will kill tens of thousands.
          This movie was released in 1942. Churchill said that Mrs. Miniver had done more for the allied cause than a fleet of destroyers. (I've heard so many different variations of the quote that I don't know the exact wording) I researched the film for facts and saw a review that spoke of the improbability of the character, the "slick propaganda" and general silliness of parts of the movie. Here is part of our problem, whether we face more war on our homeland or not, there is sufficient evidence that we may find ourselves in a similar situation as the Miniver family and others and the same determination is indeed possible and may be required of us. There is a "false logic" that pervades much of debate today, if you can call it debate. As for criticism of the film, when challenged with a strong argument, the tactic is to find just one or two inconsistencies and then declare the whole argument (film) invalid. It works with a public that does not wish to work through issues to find truth. I won't reveal any more of the film in case you haven't seen it, except to say that it ends with a church service and the same hymn sung but a truer reverence (albeit incomplete,) different worship and different priorities.

Ethical Challenge

         It doesn't sit real well with me whenever I see a group (large or small, Republican or Democrat) gathered on the steps of the Capitol showing unity over a specific issue in front of the cameras. As great as this form of government has proven to be, politics has always been an ethical challenge. Seniority builds authority, which is okay in theory but when it demands unconditional obedience, it is just another form of tyranny. I am all for a party whip taking charge, trying to form consensus and using the authority vested in him/her to formulate plans and bring order but never through intimidation nor attempting to convince a member of Congress to go against conscience. Also, playing to the media is distasteful and unnecessary since every member of Congress can inform their constituents who are eager enough to keep up on issues.
          The seniority of 30 and 40 year members can prevent needed reform and give us the worst possible committee chairs. The congressman's salary is $174,000 plus "P"erks. It probably should be about $120,000. The real disease in the profession is in what many will do to keep their jobs. The entitlement mentality is a disaster that eats away at our motivation to work and be productive but it won't be touched for it might disengage the voter base that is deceived by the ultimately destructive policy. I am against gun control as the radical left presents it for their goal is nefarious, their methods are increasingly deceptive and their reason emanates from ideology, but when someone can buy an AK-47 from a vendor on his way into a gun show (as recently happened), then we are as intellectually and ethically guilty.

Images

         A long time ago, in a cave, an instrument of some sort was taken up and the result was a picture on the rock of an animal. Later on, people would carve the face of a "god," or an animal on wood and place it in the center of their community. Then began the sculpting of the image from granite, marble, silver or gold. Eventually a face was imprinted on a coin that was exchanged within the community, the state and the world. A bust or a profile was improved upon in a major way with the exact likeness of the person painted on canvas. Next came the photo followed by the recorded voice and then the moving film.
         There were apparitions of a "being" claiming to be Mary, the mother of Jesus, there are holograms and then there is the imagination. Let's see, I don't think that I have seen a picture of Dobie Gillis for quite a few years but I can picture it very well, and yet just today I saw The Lone Ranger in a book on the 50's, and yep, it's just like I remembered. Images...I can open a photo album and see an image of myself when I was 8 lbs.
         Peter, James and John saw Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration and many Bible personages saw images given to them by God. We see images on a Rorschach Test or clouds. Plato said that the concept of a "horse" is real, that there is a form of a horse somewhere beyond our physical life and when we see a horse today that it is only something like the real "form" of horse. A philosopher closer to our times, Ferdinand de Saussure would say to Plato "Horse? Horse? There is no horse. Now there is something that you can jump on and say giddy up, but there is no horse., We just call it a horse" Sigmund Freud would say to de Saussure "Do you dream about a horse...I mean ...this thing you can jump on and say giddy up?" But I digress, let me get back to images.
          A decade ago, feminists held the first conference with reimagining as the concept. They reimagined the Bible in a "new" way. It is a concept that seems to have taken hold of many areas of our lives. Many try to reimagine the Constitution. Others reimagine what an author originally had in mind. We reimagine inanimate objects, a gun is a killer. We reimagine concepts, marriage is gender interchangeable. We reimagine people, Hillary Clinton is well qualified to be Secretary of State. We are Postmoderns. Patriotism can be what you want it to be, as can justice and liberty. Maybe tonight I'll dream about buying a resemblance to the form of a horse, throwing a de Saussure on its back and going for a ride.

America's Influence

         In a similar vein to yesterday's post, I want to write a little bit on America's influence in this world. There is an element in American society that has existed for some time, well over a century, that believes that America is an enemy of good people everywhere. We have given these people ammunition for their argument but it is a popgun compared to the evidence on how we have positively effected the world. Our consumerism has hurt us and been passed on to the world. Our corporatism has often taken advantage of smaller nations. Our entertainment industry sickens us and others. We have made errors in the past, sometimes out of arrogance, sometimes out of misplaced good intentions but three things should be considered before using this argument.
         First, our enormous wealth highlights our role in a world where culture moves as slowly as climate change. Capitalism is the property of most nations in the free world, we didn't invent it and anyone can and does misuse it. The alternative socialist mind tries to assuage its own guilt. By trying to "help" the unfortunate, it is trying to legitimize its own existence. When they achieve full power they, as in the case of the Soviet Union or China, subjected their people to intolerable conditions and hated Capitalist societies that prosper even more. In the last sixty years, the United States , both its government and its individuals, has literally poured wealth into all areas of the world. It has seen suffering and rallied to alleviate it. The same innovation and entrepreneurship that built its economy has fought disease, hunger, malnutrition and ignorance. Secondly, the United States came to the rescue of Europe when faced by domination of Hitler and afterwards rebuilt much of what aggression destroyed. European, Asian, South American and African nations have survived because of the intervention of America. Everywhere, people were given hope by our freedoms and willingness to inject ourselves into other's problems. Third, the gospel has emanated from this country in a most powerful way, in fact, this is surely the reason God has blessed us to begin with.
         Admittedly, we are hurting now, yet missionaries reject the consumerism inflicting us and go out into the world's most dangerous places while Christians send their monies. President Obama is, to say the least, unimpressed with the first reason, seemingly ignorant of the second and downright disparaging of the third. The Administration, Democratic Party and media such as Newsweek and Time seem to be very confident that Americans will applaud the dismantling of their history. More likely it is a ploy to feed the information as if it is a fait accompli. Our government was not designed for such change through populism or adventurous politicians. These policies that are off the drawing board and presented as if an American consensus exists, will be challenged and debated.

New York Times

         Secretary of Defense Robert Gates today announced sweeping cuts to weapons spending programs including the F-22 that I mentioned in a previous post. The rationale is that conventional war is becoming less likely and we are preparing for smaller wars that are most likely ahead. Its really rather remarkable to live through, what would in the future be considered a major turning point in a nation's history, in a more pessimistic description, to see our country be taken to the cleaners before our very eyes. A possible confrontation with either Russia or China or their well supplied surrogates, are the farthest things from the minds of those making these decisions. Every enemy that this nation has, has to be utterly exuberant. Everything is going their way.
         The front page of today's (Tuesday) New York Times is very typical of the problems Americans have in discerning what is going on in the world and our nation. The NYT released the results of its latest poll. 998 people were contacted in a country of 300 million. The Pew Research Center released their poll a few days ago. The NYT highlighted the 61% favorable opinion for Barack Obama, the Pew poll highlighted the extreme contrast in opinions of Democrats from Republicans and vice versa.
         There is a "science" in taking a small number of responses and applying them to an entire nation, there is also a "science" in forming the questions. For instance, two questions were "Is your opinion of the Republican (Democratic) party favorable or unfavorable?" Republican, Democrat and total results were given. Sounds simply, but the results conveniently ignore that fact that so many Republicans view their own party unfavorably because they have not opposed the machinations of the Democrat Party enough.
          Over the years, I have seen polls constructed in very subtle ways to influence the results. The front page article on the defense budget "shift" made it sound like money was just being moved from one area to another. A third article America Seeks Bonds To Islam, Obama Insists" quotes Obama in a speech to the Turkish Parliament, " The United States has been enriched by Muslim-Americans" he said. "Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know because I am one of them." The NYT commented "The line was a bold one for Mr. Obama, who has been falsely described as a Muslim. The claim persists on some right-wing Web sites." The problem here is that it implies falsely, as President Obama's rhetoric consistently does, that Republican presidents did not respect Muslim countries or Muslim Americans, or seek greater and friendlier ties. Another persistent problem is the referral to right-wing Web sites. Has the NYT ever used the term left-wing? 
          I have, on more than one occasion, used the shotgun pattern as a guide to interpreting human actions. If you are not familiar with a shotgun pattern, most pellets hit the center of a target and the holes get fewer the further outside the center. Every group, whether it be liberal or conservative has those on the fringe. William Ayers would be on the outside fringe. Liberals should not be associated with Ayers unless they espouse the same views. The Pew poll doesn't play politics with the poll. There is a polarity in America that is enormous and entrenched, and they highlighted that.

Terror

         I did not write a post for yesterday's topic of War On Terror. The administration and Hillary Clinton have said that the term was not going to be used anymore. The word terror implies a perpetrator of that terror, and a reason for our enduring it. It is now called Overseas Contingency Operation. 
          The Bible seems to talk about terror in three ways; The terror that God, through the Israelites, would inflict upon their enemies, the terror God inflicted upon the Israelites when they rebelled and the terrors that we experience when we are confronted with the judgement of God. An example of the first would be Genesis 35:5 "And they (Jacob in this instance) journeyed, And the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob." An example of the second would be Jeremiah 20: 4 "Behold I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the King of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and slay them with the sword." And of the third, an example would be 2 Corinthians 5:11 (Paul writing to Christians) "Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..."
          Today the terror of other men upon us may have been downgraded but no one can downgrade the terror that God can inflict upon us by men because of our waywardness, or the terror of the unbelieving soul in judgement. David, in Psalm 95:1 reassured the people when they abided in the Lord "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day." Scripture tells us to fear not when we trust in Christ. It is summed up in Like 12:4 (Jesus Speaking) "And I say to you, My friends. do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear; fear Him, who after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him." 
          Its important to consider the next two verses "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows...and ...Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of God will also confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God." The gospel preached without the law will not convict. The law preached without the gospel will not save. The War On Terror that we fight (notwithstanding the administration's abhorrence of the term) is a result of our ambivalence towards God. Hopefully, we will utilize this lesson and humbly seek God's hand upon us once again. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln called for a day for national prayer and humiliation, George Bush proclaimed a similar day. We were a God fearing nation but that is changing fast. Maybe we have already been led off to Babylon. Ultimately, we should be thankful for the concept of terror, for without conviction, why would we run to Christ, and as a nation, why would we humble ourselves before God?

Divided

         We are a nation and a culture split down the middle. Tuesday's special election for the congressional seat in New York vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand who was appointed to the Senate, has a 25 vote difference at this point and will be decided by absentee votes. We are still waiting for a result in the Minnesota Senate race. A jury today found for Ward Churchill in his lawsuit concerning his firing from the University of Colorado. In elections anyway, one half of America is of a mind that resembles the first centuries of this nation. They hold to tradition as to how we think, reason and reverence God. The other half is an intellectual colony of Europe's move towards socialism, the global village and toleration, out of fear, for anything other than Christianity. Our Constitution is in danger of being relegated to the scrap heap of history, a document "useful in its time" but outdated. If the former wins this struggle for the future of America, it will be through the workings of a Constitutional Republic. If the latter should win, it will be through usurping power with the help of a culture that has a very short attention span when being warned of impending disaster.