I've remained quiet for the most part throughout the recent run-up to the election, but after reading all of the melodramatic status updates and hearing all of the gnashing of teeth and religious posturing of so many within my tiny sphere regarding their personal angst over the results, I have a few things I need to say.
If you have seriously referred to Barack Obama as the antichrist at any point during this process please navigate away from this page. I do not want you here; I have nothing to offer you.
I cannot escape the feeling that most in the Christian community vote Republican based on only 2 issues: their opposition to abortion and their feelings about gay rights--specifically, gay marriage. I do not disagree that abortion is wrong or that homosexuality is a sin--Scripture is clear on those things. What I cannot fathom is that people whom I know to be otherwise astute and intelligent have not realized that the strategy of the entire Republican party, for the past 6 elections at least, has been to use these issues for the sole purpose of inciting such an emotional response from voters that they ignore key issues that are firmly grounded in Scripture as well. And that an unforeseen result of this strategy was that the leaders of the religious right would become hungry to maintain their positions of power and influence within the political arena and subvert their faith to make that happen.
For example, I know of 2 or 3 verses in the Bible that allude to the sanctity of life beginning in the womb, but over 2000 that refer (most of them quite explicity) to our responsibility to care for those who are less fortunate. These verses are replete with specific references to the poor, orphans, widows, aliens (as in 'immigrants', not ET), the sick, etc. etc. etc.
Dr. Dobson literally spent millions of dollars to defeat ballot initiatives providing either marriage rights or partner's rights to homosexuals in states where there was never a hope of defeating them. And even if they had been defeated I suggest that there would have been no change in the fate of the traditional American family as a result. Those millions of dollars spent helping people in need could have made a difference in families if used in a constructive and biblical manner. Perhaps he should change the name of his ministry; he is no longer focused on the family, but rather on politics.
Statistics offer us some interesting insight on some of these political ping pong balls. It is statistically valid to say that during times when the country does well economically and poor people are being helped in real ways--job training; day care for working moms; food programs for children; improved access to better health care; educational assistance--to name a few--abortion rates and divorce rates go down. It is also statistically significant that the Republican party controlled the White House and both houses of Congress during the first six years of Mr. Bush's presidency and during that time they did nothing significant to legally limit abortion or gay rights. I hear people shout that it's the "liberals'" who stopped it, but you know in your heart that that's not true. Ever astute in their political dance, the GOP knows that if they somehow managed to legislate abortion and gay marriage out of existence that they could not be relected. Once their smoke screen was removed and their underlying agenda exposed, only the rich would support them with any consistency.
If you are willing to step back for just a few moments I believe you will see that neither party lives up to its billing. Both have deep flaws that need to be healed. But we as Christians need to be consistent in our causes. We need to be consistent in our ethic--in our call for justice. And we need to consistently hold our elected officials' feet to the fire to see that they are responsive to our beliefs and moral convictions. Does a consistent ethic of life, for instance, say that all life is precious or only the lives of the unborn? Do we say that all life is precious or only the lives of Americans? Is torture wrong or is only the torture of American soldiers wrong? Are we commanded to love everyone or are we commanded to love everyone who isn't gay? Is greed (corporate and personal) always wrong or is greed only wrong when it starts to deplete MY retirement accounts?
And when did it become part of the Apostles' Creed that war is the desirable course of action? When did Christians become the solicitors of doom upon any group that opposes America? When did it become unpatriotic to favor peace? I suppose Jesus was unpatriotic; seems I remember him claiming that his Father is the God of peace; that peacemakers are going to be blessed. I support our soldiers with every bit of faith that I have; my heart breaks at the thought of their sacrifice for my freedom and safety; but I cannot support a political/economic war that had nothing to do with an immenent threat to our country. And I make that statement based on my understanding of the teachings of God.
We have failed our own tests, I'm afraid. We have not maintained a consistent ethic of life or for life. We have sold out to the bidder most capable of inciting our emotions.I believe that you can be a Christian and be a Democrat; and that you can be a Christian and be a Republican. But please be whatever you are because you know what's going on, what the issues are, and because you believe the person you have chosen is most capable of representing those beliefs in a consistent manner throughout the breadth of a well-thought-out and consistent biblical ethic.
Finally, I believe that you cannot be a Christian if you hate--anyone. That's in the Bible too; New Testament; Jesus said it, so did John.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Love Demanded
Our friend, the one with cancer, is all moved in with us now. Actually, it's been nearly 2 weeks since the last stuff came over. The adjustment is ongoing.
One byproduct of her arrival has been the concurrent arrival of the man who would be her suitor. We've known him for several years, and have known of his desire for our friend. He is disabled by Parkinson's Disease, but still lives independently--driving, cooking, etc. Some days are better than others for him, but he does OK. In addition to carrying a torch for our friend, he is the father of another friend of ours. It's all very interwoven, but my current interest in the subject has to do with his tireless pursuit of companionship.
I don't want to use his name, so let's call our lonely friend Pete. I suppose my deciding to write about this is related to how we as people of faith handle our loneliness. And it's not just how the lonely ones handle their loneliness, but how the observers--those of us who get that they're lonely--handle it.
Pete has had to deal with a lot, just like his would-be girl friend (for crying out loud, let's just call her Betty; I'm sick of trying to come up with analogous phrases). He lost his wife when he still had kids to raise. He has a crappy disease that's slowly robbing him of life and quality of life. He is somewhat estranged from his family. (As an aside, don't go banging on the family too hard. I've discovered over the past few weeks that he can be difficult to deal with.) It's been a tough go for him.
As I watch him diligently pursue Betty I am struck by the ultimate futility of it all. She has been very forthright with him in telling him that she does not want a relationship other than a strictly Platonic friendship. He says he has accepted that and is fine with it, but that cannot be true. His loneliness trails behind him like an open parachute. The wind has caught it and he struggles to move ahead. Life, people, streak past at break-neck speed.
We are promised by God that he knows us; loves us. He implores us to release our cares to him; to allow him to bear our burdens--our loneliness. We cannot do it, though. Almost never do we remit our vanity to him. And I think it is vanity. We wear our loneliness like a martyr's shroud. We let it wash over us and through us as we covet the sympathy, empathy, of others for our condition. And as we watch the lonely and make the dance of sympathy for them we secretly celebrate our superiority because we know that we truly do rely on God to strengthen us in our times of loneliness. All the while holding our golden martyr's statues high above our heads for all to see so that they can pay homage to our courage and perseverence.
My God. Am I really that cynical (isn't that a small island nation)? Or is that really what I see; what I've seen in my own life over the years? I know I've worn the shroud sometimes. It feels good to sink into that place where self-absorption rules the day and the pain and suffering of those around us can be ignored. The place where we can feel justified in being completely focused on ourselves. It's quiet there most of the time. Only the little voice that tells us how brave we are--how misunderstood we are--gets through. Such a comfort, that little voice. Oh how we love to listen to how evil and lucky those others are; those others who don't know our pain; those others who shuffle about stupidly oblivious to their own sinful and futile lives. We revel in our own anguish. We eagerly crave the overwhelming waves of self-pity. We drink it; we gorge ourselves on it. God is sad. We have lost our way. The trap is sprung.
Fellowship is God's response. Fellowship with him; real fellowship, not a potluck dinner. The kind of fellowship that realizes that we share in the very nature of the divine (Peter's words, not mine). We are partners with, sons and daughters of, the uncreated creator of the universe. That kind of power, access to that kind of holiness, does not lend itself to loneliness and self-pity. Nor does it allow for hypocritically glaring down our noses at a lonely brother. It demands patience, forebearance, kindness, humility--it demands love. It demands love. It demands love.
Reach out in love. Our fellowship with God, if it is real, demands it (John's words, not mine).
Pray
Mike
One byproduct of her arrival has been the concurrent arrival of the man who would be her suitor. We've known him for several years, and have known of his desire for our friend. He is disabled by Parkinson's Disease, but still lives independently--driving, cooking, etc. Some days are better than others for him, but he does OK. In addition to carrying a torch for our friend, he is the father of another friend of ours. It's all very interwoven, but my current interest in the subject has to do with his tireless pursuit of companionship.
I don't want to use his name, so let's call our lonely friend Pete. I suppose my deciding to write about this is related to how we as people of faith handle our loneliness. And it's not just how the lonely ones handle their loneliness, but how the observers--those of us who get that they're lonely--handle it.
Pete has had to deal with a lot, just like his would-be girl friend (for crying out loud, let's just call her Betty; I'm sick of trying to come up with analogous phrases). He lost his wife when he still had kids to raise. He has a crappy disease that's slowly robbing him of life and quality of life. He is somewhat estranged from his family. (As an aside, don't go banging on the family too hard. I've discovered over the past few weeks that he can be difficult to deal with.) It's been a tough go for him.
As I watch him diligently pursue Betty I am struck by the ultimate futility of it all. She has been very forthright with him in telling him that she does not want a relationship other than a strictly Platonic friendship. He says he has accepted that and is fine with it, but that cannot be true. His loneliness trails behind him like an open parachute. The wind has caught it and he struggles to move ahead. Life, people, streak past at break-neck speed.
We are promised by God that he knows us; loves us. He implores us to release our cares to him; to allow him to bear our burdens--our loneliness. We cannot do it, though. Almost never do we remit our vanity to him. And I think it is vanity. We wear our loneliness like a martyr's shroud. We let it wash over us and through us as we covet the sympathy, empathy, of others for our condition. And as we watch the lonely and make the dance of sympathy for them we secretly celebrate our superiority because we know that we truly do rely on God to strengthen us in our times of loneliness. All the while holding our golden martyr's statues high above our heads for all to see so that they can pay homage to our courage and perseverence.
My God. Am I really that cynical (isn't that a small island nation)? Or is that really what I see; what I've seen in my own life over the years? I know I've worn the shroud sometimes. It feels good to sink into that place where self-absorption rules the day and the pain and suffering of those around us can be ignored. The place where we can feel justified in being completely focused on ourselves. It's quiet there most of the time. Only the little voice that tells us how brave we are--how misunderstood we are--gets through. Such a comfort, that little voice. Oh how we love to listen to how evil and lucky those others are; those others who don't know our pain; those others who shuffle about stupidly oblivious to their own sinful and futile lives. We revel in our own anguish. We eagerly crave the overwhelming waves of self-pity. We drink it; we gorge ourselves on it. God is sad. We have lost our way. The trap is sprung.
Fellowship is God's response. Fellowship with him; real fellowship, not a potluck dinner. The kind of fellowship that realizes that we share in the very nature of the divine (Peter's words, not mine). We are partners with, sons and daughters of, the uncreated creator of the universe. That kind of power, access to that kind of holiness, does not lend itself to loneliness and self-pity. Nor does it allow for hypocritically glaring down our noses at a lonely brother. It demands patience, forebearance, kindness, humility--it demands love. It demands love. It demands love.
Reach out in love. Our fellowship with God, if it is real, demands it (John's words, not mine).
Pray
Mike
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Life Changing
Wow, it's been a while. Quite a bit has happened--is still happening. Let's start with the more mundane.
The girls started school since I last posted. Liz is a junior this year and will be getting her driver's license very soon. She's a pretty good driver, but it still scares me for her to be out there because there is no shortage of idiots and retards driving about with complete disregard for the public safety. Becca started middle school this year--a sixth grader. Man, my wife must be getting old if Becca's in middle school :).
I got a promotion at work about 3 weeks ago--I KNOW...I've only been there for 3 months! It's kind of a convoluted story, but it's basically the job they originally contacted me about in March. Some of the circumstances changed--mostly they removed the requirement to move to Seattle--which allowed me to accept it. So now I'm the Safety and Training Manager. A couple of the guys who now work for me are a little stunned by it, but they are good guys and I don't think it will be a problem. And now I have plenty of work to sink my teeth into, plus I got a very nice raise. SWEET.
Now to the more serious stuff.
Back in the Spring we found out that a friend of ours has kidney cancer--stage 4 (and, apparently, there is no stage 5). She is 60. Her life to this point has been no picnic. I guess it was 20+ years ago that her husband committed suicide leaving her to raise their son. She's been selling real estate for 16 years, which is volatile enough when the market's up. And we all know that it has not been up as of late. This means that her financial situation, which is always in some state of flux (and typically not a good flux) is in the crapper. The real down turn started a few years ago when her son's drinking problem became a drinking and driving problem. His fourth DUI was issued shortly after he drove a friends borrowed car (he had neither car nor driver's license) into the back of a parked police car. Our friend spent everything she had trying to keep him out of jail and he still ended up in prison for a couple of years. There are a lot (and I mean a LOT) of details that I'm leaving out, but I want you to have some idea of what she has faced. And on top of all the other things, she is basically estranged from her family. I think she sees some of them on occasion, but they are not a resource for her now that she's sick and broke. She had to sell her condo a while back and lived with a friend for a while. She finally got back on her feet enough to move into an apartment a few months ago, but that's beyond her resources now as well. It's been a tough go for her, to say the least. None of this is to say that she has no culpability in her situation. Even though she's had some rotten luck, she's also made some bad choices, but most of us have. She's never been able to say no to her son, even when she should have. And now that she's in trouble and he's working, he's still no help. It's very sad and frustrating.
To keep a long story from getting even longer, I'll try to cut to the chase. We were able to help her get some financial help from the church so she at least was able to pay her way out of her lease and pay her health insurance through the end of the year--which is obviously a big deal right now. And we are moving her in with us until, hopefully, she recovers and gets back on her feet. I don't say that to try and glorify what we're doing, but because it provides the context for the rest of what I'm about to write.
Sandi's had a tough time with it all from an emotional standpoint. How can a person whose been through so much now have to face this potential death sentence? Why would God do that to her? Is he so ruthless that he just picks people to punish? Valid questions under the circumstances, I suppose. Our friend thinks she is being punished for something she's done wrong. And it's been overwhelming for her (Sandi) as we've tried to make the adjustments and get everything ready for our friend to move in. There was a good bit of work to do moving stuff around and out of the basement. Plus we've been moving our friend's stuff into a storage unit--at least what of it she won't be bringing here. It's also sad to see your life reduced to a 150 square foot pile of furniture and cloths.
We started the moving process last Saturday and will finish tomorrow. As the day approached I found myself getting angry about having to deal with it. I didn't realize what it was at first. I could obviously tell I was getting crabby and short tempered, but I really had to stop and think about why before I figured it out. Then I had to deal with how I felt about that. It seemed very selfish and that made me feel pretty crappy. But it's really about the disruption, isn't it? We don't want to have our lives disrupted by anything. We have plans and visions of how things are supposed to go--and they're typically very short-sighted--and when something interrupts that we get all pissed off; often not even realizing why. The more I thought about it the more I realized, thankfully, that I wasn't mad at our friend. I just didn't want to be bothered with all the things we had to do to get ready. I don't like that I felt that way, but I had to deal with the fact that I did. It made me sad about me and I hate that too. Once things were finally under way I was glad to be started and actually started to finally feel good about what we were doing. Working has a way of doing that.
Tomorrow's the big day; the final move--then she'll be in and staying with us and we can settle into the time of helping her become part of our family and working to get her on the road to recovery. It's sad and hard an dreadful, but also uplifting and good. We have a ministry to her, whatever the outcome, that's as important as any we've done. If she recovers, we thank God for the miracle of life and help her get on her feet again. If she doesn't (and we have to prepare for that as well) then we thank God for the miracle of life and we figure out how to grieve and continue on.
Pray for her and for us during this emotional time.
Mike
The girls started school since I last posted. Liz is a junior this year and will be getting her driver's license very soon. She's a pretty good driver, but it still scares me for her to be out there because there is no shortage of idiots and retards driving about with complete disregard for the public safety. Becca started middle school this year--a sixth grader. Man, my wife must be getting old if Becca's in middle school :).
I got a promotion at work about 3 weeks ago--I KNOW...I've only been there for 3 months! It's kind of a convoluted story, but it's basically the job they originally contacted me about in March. Some of the circumstances changed--mostly they removed the requirement to move to Seattle--which allowed me to accept it. So now I'm the Safety and Training Manager. A couple of the guys who now work for me are a little stunned by it, but they are good guys and I don't think it will be a problem. And now I have plenty of work to sink my teeth into, plus I got a very nice raise. SWEET.
Now to the more serious stuff.
Back in the Spring we found out that a friend of ours has kidney cancer--stage 4 (and, apparently, there is no stage 5). She is 60. Her life to this point has been no picnic. I guess it was 20+ years ago that her husband committed suicide leaving her to raise their son. She's been selling real estate for 16 years, which is volatile enough when the market's up. And we all know that it has not been up as of late. This means that her financial situation, which is always in some state of flux (and typically not a good flux) is in the crapper. The real down turn started a few years ago when her son's drinking problem became a drinking and driving problem. His fourth DUI was issued shortly after he drove a friends borrowed car (he had neither car nor driver's license) into the back of a parked police car. Our friend spent everything she had trying to keep him out of jail and he still ended up in prison for a couple of years. There are a lot (and I mean a LOT) of details that I'm leaving out, but I want you to have some idea of what she has faced. And on top of all the other things, she is basically estranged from her family. I think she sees some of them on occasion, but they are not a resource for her now that she's sick and broke. She had to sell her condo a while back and lived with a friend for a while. She finally got back on her feet enough to move into an apartment a few months ago, but that's beyond her resources now as well. It's been a tough go for her, to say the least. None of this is to say that she has no culpability in her situation. Even though she's had some rotten luck, she's also made some bad choices, but most of us have. She's never been able to say no to her son, even when she should have. And now that she's in trouble and he's working, he's still no help. It's very sad and frustrating.
To keep a long story from getting even longer, I'll try to cut to the chase. We were able to help her get some financial help from the church so she at least was able to pay her way out of her lease and pay her health insurance through the end of the year--which is obviously a big deal right now. And we are moving her in with us until, hopefully, she recovers and gets back on her feet. I don't say that to try and glorify what we're doing, but because it provides the context for the rest of what I'm about to write.
Sandi's had a tough time with it all from an emotional standpoint. How can a person whose been through so much now have to face this potential death sentence? Why would God do that to her? Is he so ruthless that he just picks people to punish? Valid questions under the circumstances, I suppose. Our friend thinks she is being punished for something she's done wrong. And it's been overwhelming for her (Sandi) as we've tried to make the adjustments and get everything ready for our friend to move in. There was a good bit of work to do moving stuff around and out of the basement. Plus we've been moving our friend's stuff into a storage unit--at least what of it she won't be bringing here. It's also sad to see your life reduced to a 150 square foot pile of furniture and cloths.
We started the moving process last Saturday and will finish tomorrow. As the day approached I found myself getting angry about having to deal with it. I didn't realize what it was at first. I could obviously tell I was getting crabby and short tempered, but I really had to stop and think about why before I figured it out. Then I had to deal with how I felt about that. It seemed very selfish and that made me feel pretty crappy. But it's really about the disruption, isn't it? We don't want to have our lives disrupted by anything. We have plans and visions of how things are supposed to go--and they're typically very short-sighted--and when something interrupts that we get all pissed off; often not even realizing why. The more I thought about it the more I realized, thankfully, that I wasn't mad at our friend. I just didn't want to be bothered with all the things we had to do to get ready. I don't like that I felt that way, but I had to deal with the fact that I did. It made me sad about me and I hate that too. Once things were finally under way I was glad to be started and actually started to finally feel good about what we were doing. Working has a way of doing that.
Tomorrow's the big day; the final move--then she'll be in and staying with us and we can settle into the time of helping her become part of our family and working to get her on the road to recovery. It's sad and hard an dreadful, but also uplifting and good. We have a ministry to her, whatever the outcome, that's as important as any we've done. If she recovers, we thank God for the miracle of life and help her get on her feet again. If she doesn't (and we have to prepare for that as well) then we thank God for the miracle of life and we figure out how to grieve and continue on.
Pray for her and for us during this emotional time.
Mike
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Flying High
I had one of those days today that do not come that often. One of those days where you can look back at it and say, 'Wow. I don't think I would have changed anything about that.' Such days are rare and need to be cherished.
First, today was the big preaching day. Three weeks ago, Bruce asked me to speak during the 2 Sunday morning services at our church today. I was very excited about it for a couple of reasons. First, I love to preach anytime God provides the opportunity; and this was a big one. Coming right on the heels of our return from the mission trip, it felt like the culmination of something that had been gaining momentum for a while. And I think that turned out to be the case. Even the disappointment from finding out that I'm not really in the running any more to be our interim preaching pastor didn't tarnish it. (As I noted in previous posts, our church is currently without a head pastor. In the interim, they are going to hire a pastor who will fill in every Sunday for the 2 services until a new pastor is called. I had hoped that I might fill that interim role, but that is apparently not to be. And that's alright. God has plenty of other things for me to do.) I felt empowered by the Holy Spirit in a way that I haven't felt very often in the last couple of years. I felt very much like God was using me to accomplish something bigger than myself. And that is an amazing thing. When I was finished, I was drained but confident that I had delivered the message I was supposed to. And that is a feeling that inspires awe in me every time it happens.
After church we had lunch with friends and that was a great joy. It was one of those times when I could pull back from what was going on and truly appreciate the pureness of life in the simplest things. Smiles and conversations take on a surrealistic quality that make them somehow special, even though they are in essence no different than a thousand other smiles or a thousand other conversations. But it's as if a heightened awareness of God's presence in the world allows us to experience people as he does, if only for a few moments in time. Those moments become untainted by rancor, selfishness, worry, busyness. It passes; but the memory of it is like a drug.
After lunch and a brief repose, I went flying. My friend, Scott, has his pilots license and a plane (how jealous am I) and had invited me to fly with him. We probably spent an hour and a half aloft and I got to fly the plane for about 30 minutes. And I mean I actually was doing the flying. How cool is that? I mean it's not like I was doing loops and barrel rolls, but I made the turns, changed altitude, picked landmarks. It was amazing. And seeing God's incredible creation from that vantage point, while doing something I always dreamed of was a most excellent exclamation point on a most excellent day.
And then I got to go to Sno Biz (awesome shave ice) with 2 of my 3 favorite girls--Sandi and Becca.
God is good--all the time.
Mike
First, today was the big preaching day. Three weeks ago, Bruce asked me to speak during the 2 Sunday morning services at our church today. I was very excited about it for a couple of reasons. First, I love to preach anytime God provides the opportunity; and this was a big one. Coming right on the heels of our return from the mission trip, it felt like the culmination of something that had been gaining momentum for a while. And I think that turned out to be the case. Even the disappointment from finding out that I'm not really in the running any more to be our interim preaching pastor didn't tarnish it. (As I noted in previous posts, our church is currently without a head pastor. In the interim, they are going to hire a pastor who will fill in every Sunday for the 2 services until a new pastor is called. I had hoped that I might fill that interim role, but that is apparently not to be. And that's alright. God has plenty of other things for me to do.) I felt empowered by the Holy Spirit in a way that I haven't felt very often in the last couple of years. I felt very much like God was using me to accomplish something bigger than myself. And that is an amazing thing. When I was finished, I was drained but confident that I had delivered the message I was supposed to. And that is a feeling that inspires awe in me every time it happens.
After church we had lunch with friends and that was a great joy. It was one of those times when I could pull back from what was going on and truly appreciate the pureness of life in the simplest things. Smiles and conversations take on a surrealistic quality that make them somehow special, even though they are in essence no different than a thousand other smiles or a thousand other conversations. But it's as if a heightened awareness of God's presence in the world allows us to experience people as he does, if only for a few moments in time. Those moments become untainted by rancor, selfishness, worry, busyness. It passes; but the memory of it is like a drug.
After lunch and a brief repose, I went flying. My friend, Scott, has his pilots license and a plane (how jealous am I) and had invited me to fly with him. We probably spent an hour and a half aloft and I got to fly the plane for about 30 minutes. And I mean I actually was doing the flying. How cool is that? I mean it's not like I was doing loops and barrel rolls, but I made the turns, changed altitude, picked landmarks. It was amazing. And seeing God's incredible creation from that vantage point, while doing something I always dreamed of was a most excellent exclamation point on a most excellent day.
And then I got to go to Sno Biz (awesome shave ice) with 2 of my 3 favorite girls--Sandi and Becca.
God is good--all the time.
Mike
Final Romania Post
We've been back in the U.S. for almost a week now and I wanted to add a closing chapter to the story. When I last posted, we were packing for the trip home. We obviously made it, but not completely uneventfully. First, I slept virtually none at all the night before leaving--maybe an hour and a half. Then the first 2 legs of the journey went off without a hitch: Bucharest to Munich and Munich to Chicago. And, of course, as soon as we got back into the states the whole thing went into the crapper. All the flights, including the one we were booked on, from Chicago to STL were cancelled. I still don't know why. The weather was perfect in St. Louis and just a light sprinkle in Chicago. Plenty of other flights were taking off. We ended up renting vans and driving the final leg of the trip. None of us had any intention of spending the night in Chicago after being gone for 11 days and spending the previous 20 hours either on planes or in airports. We finally made it home about 8 PM--roughly 3 hours later than expected, but home nonetheless. Hooray. I make this pledge to you today: Unless I have absolutely no other option, I will never fly to, through or out of Chicago O'Hare Airport again so long as I live. For the second time in less than a month I was nearly stranded there for no apparent reason. Heck with that.
A few quick final observations about Romania:
A few quick final observations about Romania:
- We couldn't flush toilet paper through their system (no one can; it wasn't just because we were American), so after you wiped the TP had to be deposited into a waste can positioned next to the toilet.
- There are blueberries in Romania that are smaller and sweeter than the ones we have here and they are FREAKING DELICIOUS!
- Romanian roads are, generally, very rough.
- I got to drive a car while I was in Romania.
- I have 3 Romanian friends on Facebook now.
- I desperately hope to return to Romania next year.
Pray for peace.
Mike
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Day 11--The Final Hours
It is the end of our 11th and final day in Romania. As I write this it's 11:45 PM local time and we leave for the airport in Bucharest in 4 1/2 hours. Our flight to Munich leaves at 7:15 and the odyssey ends in St. Louis at 5:15 CST (GMT -6). That's 21 hours from get up to touch down--a long day by any standards.
Today in Romania was full as well. We all had church services to attend in various villages that started at 0930. Each group provided a speaker, a song or two and had a story and craft time at the village churches. I had the privilege of speaking at Maranata, which is Pastor Vasile's church here in Campina. Bruce, Josh and Chris spoke at the others.
By 1:00 we were all back at the Vasile home and having lunch, which was, yet again, amazingly good. The aftermath of that was naps all around. I think that today was the day when everyone started to feel some of the exhaustion that has been creeping up on us each day. We have been so busy and so fully engaged in the ministry work that we didn't notice it. But now that we have begun to wind down and look forward to returning home, the adrenaline has ebbed and we're running on fumes. Thank goodness we don't have to drive the plane.
The evening service saw us all gathered at Maranata in Campina for a celebration service. All the pastors and their families from the village churches as well as the people who had served as volunteers during our Bible clubs were there. There was much singing in Romanian; each team gave a report on how their week went and then did a song; then all of the Americans and the Romanian volunteers sang a song together in English and Romanian. Once all of that was finished Bruce preached about what it means to be devoted to the gospel of Christ and to the fellowship of believers, using the last 15 verses or so of Acts Chapter 2. How do we stack up when we compare ourselves to the first century church?
We spent a lot of time after the service hanging around at the church and talking with the friends we made during the past 10 days. It's hard to believe we can feel so close to people we've only known for such a short time, but we've shared a lot during these few days, and we share a common love for our Savior; and we labor together for the cause of Christ. It's funny, but we shared a lot of email addresses with the younger friends we made. I don't know why, but I didn't expect that. I also made a couple of new Facebook friends. Weird, huh?
After church we had a late supper (around 9 PM) and took some photos. Emi Vasile had taken the photos from the past week and made a slide show for us with full written commentary. It was quite hilarious; especially the parts where he was picking on Dan. This is a very special family, the Vasiles, and I know that in the days and weeks to come, after returning to America, I will miss them a great deal. And I hope to begin making plans right away to return next summer. Maybe Sandi and I can come together. I hope so.
It's after midnight now and we are all packed. The kids are still running around outside. Some of the adults are sleeping and some (like yours truly) are not. I hope to catch a couple of hours before we have to leave for the airport, but we'll have to see how that plays out. This should be the last post from Romania. Maybe I can provide a wrap-up tomorrow night if I can stay awake long enough. I know I speak for all of us when I say that we are very anxious and excited to see all of our loved ones again.
Until tomorrow.
Mike
Saturday, August 2, 2008
More Day 10 Stuff
Well, it turns out that I am a prophet. If you read the earlier post from this morning, you will note that I signed off by saying that we would have fun and pie today--we did both.
We started the day by sleeping in (those of us who wanted to), which was fine by me. Breakfast at 9:00 was followed by a quick trip into the city to grab a couple more souviners and, thank the Lord, a Diet Coke. They have been difficult to come by on this trip and I was jonesin' a little bit. The call it Coke Light in Europe. I also picked up a football jersey--Romanian national team; very cool.
After we returned from the market, we went straight to the picnic, only it wasn't in the forest as I mentioned in the earlier post. Apparently the forest is quite popular and has limited space, as we were ejected from our spot by a group that got there ahead of us. We are nothing if not flexible, though, so we moved the entire operation to a field very near the Vasile's home that offered limited shade, but a very fine football venue; and the Romanians do love their football. However, it turned out that someone knew of a better spot near Mislea which is were our Bible club was yesterday. It really was a great spot for the barbecue with plenty of shade and a nice breeze. It did not lend itself to great football. The grass was rather tall and there are these ankle and shin eating plants that are interspersed throughout the area. They have these razor sharp thorns that ravage the flesh of clumsy Americans and adroit Romanians alike.
(As a quick aside, I am assuming that everyone knows that when I say 'football' or even 'futbol' I am referring to soccer. But, as you probably also know, everyone in Europe calls it football so while I'm here I call it that too because I want to be really cool. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.)
Anyway, after the football game (and yes, I did play) it was a short wait until lunch was served. And it was, indeed, all meat plus baskets full of grilled bread. It was barbecue heaven and very tasty. I didn't count everyone who came, but I'd guess we had at least 50 people attend; all either pastors and their families or volunteers who helped us throughout the week. The groups often overlap.
By mid-afternoon, the party was winding down so Chris and I went with Timi and Dan Vasile back to Campina to set up goals for a real football game at the field where we had begun the day. Part of doing that was to go by Dan's work and pick up wood frames that would serve as the goals and load them on a work truck that was there and haul them to the field. Dan had to drive the truck and his brother, Timi, is not old enough to drive so I ended up driving Dan's car from the work place to the soccer field. How about that? I got to drive in Romania. And then I drove the car back to the house after the game.
I discovered that Dan Morris, in addition to being a pie maker extraordinaire, is a good footballer. I am not, although it turns out that I'm not half bad as the keeper (that's soccer talk for goalie). We played for at least a couple of hours then made our way back to the house for showers and supper.
Then was the highlight of the day: Dan's pies. He had made a very large apple one, but the real killer was the 2 blueberry pies. I don't even like blueberries and these pies were incredible. A lot of it had to do with the local berries they picked up from a vendor along the highway a couple of days ago. These berries are smaller that the ones in the States and firmer and sweeter. I can eat many of them and they make a spectacular pie. I thought we were going to have to sedate Lucy before we could even get the pieces passed around. That girl likes her some pie. And she eats faster than any human being I've ever known.
We have church in the morning so we'll be scattering out to go to the various places. Chris, Josh, Ken and I will be speaking again. Pray for us as we prepare to deliver God's Word. Tomorrow night everyone meets at Pastor Vasile's church, Maranata, here in Campina for a celebration service and Bruce will preach there. After that, it's only a few hours until we head for the airport and begin the long journey home. I know I speak for everyone when I say that we miss our families and are very grateful for being allowed to come on this trip and be blessed by this service. We are excited to be coming home.
Maybe one or two more posts before I pack it away for the trip. Pray for peace.
Mike
We started the day by sleeping in (those of us who wanted to), which was fine by me. Breakfast at 9:00 was followed by a quick trip into the city to grab a couple more souviners and, thank the Lord, a Diet Coke. They have been difficult to come by on this trip and I was jonesin' a little bit. The call it Coke Light in Europe. I also picked up a football jersey--Romanian national team; very cool.
After we returned from the market, we went straight to the picnic, only it wasn't in the forest as I mentioned in the earlier post. Apparently the forest is quite popular and has limited space, as we were ejected from our spot by a group that got there ahead of us. We are nothing if not flexible, though, so we moved the entire operation to a field very near the Vasile's home that offered limited shade, but a very fine football venue; and the Romanians do love their football. However, it turned out that someone knew of a better spot near Mislea which is were our Bible club was yesterday. It really was a great spot for the barbecue with plenty of shade and a nice breeze. It did not lend itself to great football. The grass was rather tall and there are these ankle and shin eating plants that are interspersed throughout the area. They have these razor sharp thorns that ravage the flesh of clumsy Americans and adroit Romanians alike.
(As a quick aside, I am assuming that everyone knows that when I say 'football' or even 'futbol' I am referring to soccer. But, as you probably also know, everyone in Europe calls it football so while I'm here I call it that too because I want to be really cool. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.)
Anyway, after the football game (and yes, I did play) it was a short wait until lunch was served. And it was, indeed, all meat plus baskets full of grilled bread. It was barbecue heaven and very tasty. I didn't count everyone who came, but I'd guess we had at least 50 people attend; all either pastors and their families or volunteers who helped us throughout the week. The groups often overlap.
By mid-afternoon, the party was winding down so Chris and I went with Timi and Dan Vasile back to Campina to set up goals for a real football game at the field where we had begun the day. Part of doing that was to go by Dan's work and pick up wood frames that would serve as the goals and load them on a work truck that was there and haul them to the field. Dan had to drive the truck and his brother, Timi, is not old enough to drive so I ended up driving Dan's car from the work place to the soccer field. How about that? I got to drive in Romania. And then I drove the car back to the house after the game.
I discovered that Dan Morris, in addition to being a pie maker extraordinaire, is a good footballer. I am not, although it turns out that I'm not half bad as the keeper (that's soccer talk for goalie). We played for at least a couple of hours then made our way back to the house for showers and supper.
Then was the highlight of the day: Dan's pies. He had made a very large apple one, but the real killer was the 2 blueberry pies. I don't even like blueberries and these pies were incredible. A lot of it had to do with the local berries they picked up from a vendor along the highway a couple of days ago. These berries are smaller that the ones in the States and firmer and sweeter. I can eat many of them and they make a spectacular pie. I thought we were going to have to sedate Lucy before we could even get the pieces passed around. That girl likes her some pie. And she eats faster than any human being I've ever known.
We have church in the morning so we'll be scattering out to go to the various places. Chris, Josh, Ken and I will be speaking again. Pray for us as we prepare to deliver God's Word. Tomorrow night everyone meets at Pastor Vasile's church, Maranata, here in Campina for a celebration service and Bruce will preach there. After that, it's only a few hours until we head for the airport and begin the long journey home. I know I speak for everyone when I say that we miss our families and are very grateful for being allowed to come on this trip and be blessed by this service. We are excited to be coming home.
Maybe one or two more posts before I pack it away for the trip. Pray for peace.
Mike
Day 10 in Romania
We are going to 'the forest' (not sure what that means yet, but Lucy says it's OK) for a barbecue today. It will include the pastors of the Baptist churches we have been working with as well as their families; and also the people who assisted us as translators and other things throughout the past week. Apparently a Romanian barbecue is meat--and just meat. That's my kind of barbecue. Don't mess up the flow with a bunch of silly vegetables and fiber. It should be fun.
I guess the photo seen here needs a little explanation. It seems that Dan made quick friends with a brick maker who also had a pet chicken (Dan's the one on the left). All the details are a bit fuzzy, which, under the circumstances, is probably for the best. My most reliable info says that Dan wandered onto the operation by accident and, being the engineer that he is, had to see how it worked. Then he asked for a brick as a souviner and was offered a wheel barrow full of them. They settled on 2 bricks of different sizes so that Dan could have a variety. As far as I know, the chicken pics were free as well. Pastor Vasile suggested that there might be sinister designs involving the bricks and Dan's mother-in-law, but he (Dan) insists that nothing could be farther from the truth. He intends to paint pastoral scenes from the Romanian countryside on all 6 surfaces of the larger brick to present to his lovely bride. Laurie, you are a lucky woman.
We will have fun today and homemade pie tonight.
God bless.
Mike
Friday, August 1, 2008
Day 9 Update
This was the final day with the kids, which was tough. We were at our third village for the week and this one for only one day. But it's still easy to get attached to the kids. We had only 12 today, but they were great with the stories and games and the crafts. Pastor Sylviu the Brother Daniel from the local church stayed with us all day, which hadn't happened any of our other days. They hung out with the kids some, played the games some and even did some of the crafts. The kids responded well and several prayed to accept Christ at the end of the day.
Lucy's team had a smaller group than we did, with only 11 kids, but they also talked about how much more attention you can give to the kids that way. I think we would all like to have larger numbers, but there are pros and cons to each. The best bet is to be excited about what the Lord provides and work within those parameters.
Bruce's team had about 30 plus kids and had an adventure at a brick-making operation (or at least Dan considered it an adventure; but he's an engineer). Ask Dan about it sometime. He'll be glad to share.
It's very late and I'm very tired. I'll share more tomorrow and Sunday as we finish up our trip.
Pray for peace.
Mike
Lucy's team had a smaller group than we did, with only 11 kids, but they also talked about how much more attention you can give to the kids that way. I think we would all like to have larger numbers, but there are pros and cons to each. The best bet is to be excited about what the Lord provides and work within those parameters.
Bruce's team had about 30 plus kids and had an adventure at a brick-making operation (or at least Dan considered it an adventure; but he's an engineer). Ask Dan about it sometime. He'll be glad to share.
It's very late and I'm very tired. I'll share more tomorrow and Sunday as we finish up our trip.
Pray for peace.
Mike
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Day 8 Update
For Team B (my team) it was another good day. We had 25 kids again and they were attentive and engaged and very well behaved. We started the day in a small field about 1/4 mile from the church; which is better than yesterday when we walked very nearly a mile to a field that was very overgrown and difficult to use. Apparently the pastor had not known about the close one, but the kids did because they play soccer there. It worked out great for us. We only had to move once for a group of cows (vaca) to be driven through. We did have one little girl step in a fresh pile in the morning. And Stacey managed to get it on my shorts while we were cleaning her shoe--I still owe her one for that. After lunch we took the boys back to the field for games and while we were playing soccer one of the kids made a sweet slide tackle on one of the other kids and both of them went down in a fresh pile of poo. They were the subject of much sport after that; and they had to guard each other the rest of the game because no one else would get near them.
Team C, Bruce's team, had an interesting day. The village Orthodox priest had shown up ahead of them and told the kids who had come for the club that they had to go home because the clubs were bad and God didn't like us (Baptists). Apparently the kids didn't put too much stock in it because they just left by the front gate and circled the block and came in by the back gate. They still had about 45 kids for the day. And Pastor Vasile along with the local village pastor had a chance to talk to the priest for quite a while, which has been a challenge for them, and at least reach a reluctant truce. It's quite astonishing to see how much power the priests in the villages hold over the people. They can keep them from associating with the evangelical churches by refusing to provide any sacraments of the Orthodox Church to the entire family of someone who crosses over. And as far as the people are concerned (because it's what they've been taught since they were infants) the sacraments of the church are required to get into heaven. The priests also teach religion in the schools in the villages and they will fail a kid who angers them or whose family angers them. It's really amazing how opposite from God these types of activities are and they're being done in the name of God. How little we seem to learn from our history, we silly humans.
Bruce's team also ran into a snag when the rain started about 3:30. With a couple of hours left in the club time, they had no shelter except for a small overhang. Dan and Ken were able to spend some time with some older kids on the soccer field at the school where they were holding the club. Emmi went with them to interpret and they were able to share the gospel and a couple of the kids accepted Christ. Plus Dan then got to play soccer with them. Very cool.
Team A, Lucy's team, had a pretty good day although when the rain drove them inside they were in rather cramped quarters. But they made it work for them and the kids did great. There was, however, one incident that we may not have heard the last of--on a potentially international scale. I'm not really allowed to discuss the details, but ask Lucy or Chris about the inner tube, child dragging debacle. Perhaps they can provide the details.
Oh, and I ate 10 of the little dessert cakes that Pastor Silviu's wife made for lunch for teams A and B. Apparently that makes me some kind of dessert hero. All I know is that they were puerta bene.
We are off for another day. Please pray for us.
Mike
Team C, Bruce's team, had an interesting day. The village Orthodox priest had shown up ahead of them and told the kids who had come for the club that they had to go home because the clubs were bad and God didn't like us (Baptists). Apparently the kids didn't put too much stock in it because they just left by the front gate and circled the block and came in by the back gate. They still had about 45 kids for the day. And Pastor Vasile along with the local village pastor had a chance to talk to the priest for quite a while, which has been a challenge for them, and at least reach a reluctant truce. It's quite astonishing to see how much power the priests in the villages hold over the people. They can keep them from associating with the evangelical churches by refusing to provide any sacraments of the Orthodox Church to the entire family of someone who crosses over. And as far as the people are concerned (because it's what they've been taught since they were infants) the sacraments of the church are required to get into heaven. The priests also teach religion in the schools in the villages and they will fail a kid who angers them or whose family angers them. It's really amazing how opposite from God these types of activities are and they're being done in the name of God. How little we seem to learn from our history, we silly humans.
Bruce's team also ran into a snag when the rain started about 3:30. With a couple of hours left in the club time, they had no shelter except for a small overhang. Dan and Ken were able to spend some time with some older kids on the soccer field at the school where they were holding the club. Emmi went with them to interpret and they were able to share the gospel and a couple of the kids accepted Christ. Plus Dan then got to play soccer with them. Very cool.
Team A, Lucy's team, had a pretty good day although when the rain drove them inside they were in rather cramped quarters. But they made it work for them and the kids did great. There was, however, one incident that we may not have heard the last of--on a potentially international scale. I'm not really allowed to discuss the details, but ask Lucy or Chris about the inner tube, child dragging debacle. Perhaps they can provide the details.
Oh, and I ate 10 of the little dessert cakes that Pastor Silviu's wife made for lunch for teams A and B. Apparently that makes me some kind of dessert hero. All I know is that they were puerta bene.
We are off for another day. Please pray for us.
Mike
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Some General Observations About Romania
- It is a beautiful country. I don't know exactly what I expected, but it is different than that. It is very rural and pastoral and the mountain ranges are quite spectacular. I can see why so many tourists come here now.
- Campina, where we are staying, is a fairly large city as suburbs go and it is very common to see horses and cattle--both tended and untended--traveling on the streets. There is much poo as well.
- It is quite common to see people traveling by horse-drawn cart once you get out of the cities. They are also in the cities, but not so often. They travel on the roads just like the cars except on the main national highways.
- I saw a man who appeared to be quite poor who was sitting in his horse cart at the end of a side rode, waiting to guide his rig out into the flow of traffic, and he was gesturing wildly and talking in a very animated way on his cell phone. That made me giggle pretty hard for some reason.
- American culture and influence are present here in a much stronger way than I could have imagined. From clothes to music to television and movies, I see the effects of our culture. I don't necessarily see that as a good thing (although sometimes it is), I just see it. For example, so many Europeans speak English as their second language that nearly all the signs in the tourist towns are in Romanian and English, or just in English. And away from the tourists areas the signs are probably still about half English. I did not expect that either.
- There are many oil wells, at least in this part or Romania, and they leave the derricks in place and just build the pumps underneath them. So there are the big grasshopper-looking pumps pumping away with the entire structure of the derrick, now abandoned in place, looming above.
- Every house--and I mean every one of them--has a fence; and the gate is always closed and it is impolite to pass through it until the owner knows you are there and invites you in.
- I don't think I've seen a house yet that didn't have at least one dog. And most of them--at least the larger ones--are named Rocky.
- Many dogs roam the streets and sleep wherever they want--and that includes the street. One particularly suicidal dog plopped down for a nap in a lane of traffic on a railroad crossing. They are unaffected by traffic or horns.
- My beautiful wife would not be able to ride in a car in Romania--at least not with her eyes open.
- A blinker in Romania is not a courtesy or a request, but a warning--ready or not, here we come.
- On 2 lane roads the slower cars will get as far to the right as they can so that the faster ones can pass them in the middle--while oncoming traffic does the same thing. Exhilarating, to say the least.
- I would enjoy driving in Romania.
- A lot of people here ride bikes, scooters and motor driven bikes; in the road.
- In the countryside, the men urinate beside the road as the need arises with no regard for being observed by approaching traffic.
- Romanians love football, but not the American kind.
- The poorest homes nearly all have a TV satellite dish. The government apartments are covered with them on the outer walls.
- 98% of Romanians profess to be Christian; 87% of those identify with the Greek Orthodox church.
Romania Day 7
It always seems to be late when I'm working on this--oh well. I've been collecting photos from everyone for the last several hours and uploading them to Picasa. Be sure to check them out at www.picasaweb.google.com/mcarojcc. I still have some uploading, but I hope to finish tonight.
The village time was much different today than it was on Monday and Tuesday. We only had about 20 kids and they were, for the most part, very well behaved. We had no issues with the games or the crafts or even the stories, really. They participated and listened and seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was like the kids in Minier Village had come from another planet; or been a bad dream. But when we were talking about it afterward, Josh said something that made the rest of us on the team think--he said it was too easy; that he missed having at least some challenge from the hard kids. In a way I can agree, but it's also nice to be able to feel like we are accomplishing some of what we set out to. The truth is ultimately that God is in charge and all we can do is put it out there no matter which planet the kids are from. We give them our best effort every time and pray for them and there's nothing else we can do.
I thought I'd give a bit of a run-through on what we do with the kids so you can have an idea of what our days are like. The clubs start at 10 AM and we try to arrive at least a half hour before that. The ride can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as 90; like Bruce's team has today and tomorrow. Once the kids start to arrive (they trickle in a few at a time in the mornings) we have them get a name tag (a must) and then start playing with the parachute. Once the bulk of the kids have made it in we get them all seated on the parachute and introduce ourselves (for a day one) and then sing some songs, pray together and head into a Bible story. We have 4 stories that our team is using--this is from among the 8 or 9 that we had available to us. Our stories are the feeding of the 5000 (which Adam tells on day one); Jesus heals a blind man (which I tell on day one); the birth story (Stacey-day two) and the crucifixion/resurrection (Josh-day 2). Each story has a craft which goes along with it so we'll tell one story in the morning and do the craft and then tell the second story in the afternoon and do the craft. We have also taken individual photos of the kids which we print out overnight and take back on the second day. The kids have painted picture frames the day before and then they finish decorating them and we put the pics in for them. They are always thrilled to have the photos. One little gypsy boy in Minier Village stared at it as if he had never seen a picture of himself in his life. Maybe he hadn't. Intermingled with all this other stuff are games which I refuse to describe individually, but they're typically physical but designed so that all the kids can play.
That's all for now. Check out the photos and keep us in your prayers.
Mike
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Days 5 and 6
We started our work in the villages yesterday (Monday). Each team went to a different village to run the children's Bible clubs; these will be 2 days and then move to the next village. The village where our team served the past 2 days is one that has a high percentage of gypsies (I know) and is very poor. We had 48 kids show up the first day and 58 today. I couldn't believe how many there were. I suspect some of them came out of sheer boredom--especially the older ones. But most of them just want to be with someone who will pay some attention to them. And we had plenty who did anything they could to get it. In fact, Monday was probably the most challenging ministry experience of my life. Several of the older kids were very difficult to control which made it that much more difficult to maintain the attention of the younger kids, who were barely holding on anyway. The entire team was exhausted by the time we sent the kids home, a full 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Speaking of the team, besides Stacey, Josh, Adam and me, we have 4 local teens who are helping us out--Christina, Eliza, Alin and Samuel. They provide a lot of stuff we need, especially translating skills. We are learning some Romanian words though; stuff like 'come here', 'go over there', 'sit down', 'be quiet', 'line up'; all the basics.
Day 2 in the villages (day 6 of the trip) was today. After yesterday I was braced for the worst, but hoping for better, fulling expecting that God would have his way regardless of how difficult it seemed to us. Things were certainly not as chaotic as yesterday, but still plenty eventful. I had a talk with the older boys first thing in the morning and that helped keep them somewhat in check. Some of the little ones were testing us, but it was overall a much better day.
We took digital pics of the kids yesterday and used a small photo printer to print them out overnight and took them back today. It was amazing and humbling to see how much appreciation they had for something as simple as a photo; something so taken for granted by us that we can't fathom the thrill it is for them.
Each day consists of games, stories, crafts, songs, etc. that we do with the kids. The second day focuses on the stories of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. We had 2 kids in our group who talked with Stacey and Christina and prayed to accept Christ. I always wonder if the kids really understand what's going on. And Lord knows how hard it will be for them to get any real reinforcement of what they have heard the past 2 days. But I pray that their experience was real the that they will be able to find support for their faith in that poor village.
The other groups had 40 and 38 kids yesterday and then 50 and 38 today.
So far it is thrilling, frustrating, exciting, fulfilling and everything in between.
Mike
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Quick Review of Day 4
This will be a quick review because I am dead tired. It's 11 PM here and I think the trip over is really starting to catch up with all of us. We start the all day children's ministries tomorrow so we will need some rest.
Today each of the 3 teams went to a village church and participated in the services. Josh, Chris, Ken and I spoke at the different venues (Josh broke off from our team and spoke at Maranata in Campina, which is Pastor Vasile's church). Our team members also gave testimonies at the churches and did some music.
It was very interesting to see and hear how they do worship here. Much of the service centers around prayer and it is open to anyone in the congregation who feels led...and most of them do. People all around the room, including the teenagers, will pray and this will happen 2 or 3 times during the service. I could only understand 2 or 3 words that they were saying but it was moving to hear the passion of the people as they prayed and to hear the others respond to what was being said. One of the few words I know is the Romanian word for 'thank you' and it would be repeated many times during each prayer.
It's wonderful to see how these folks have so much less than we and they still have sweet and honest worship. The service lasted about 2 hours; and this is the typical time for Sunday mornings here.
We lunched with the pastoral families at each church and the meal at each, according to the descriptions I got from the other teams, was a small feast. After we returned to the Vasile home we prepped for the coming week with our teams and then had a bit of free time before going as a group to the Sunday night service.
This was a different Sunday night service than normal for the Vasiles. The final Sunday of each month 6 different churches--from 6 different denominations--in this part of the country get together for a joint evangelistic service. There were a lot of people there...more than I ever expected. It was a very good service except the guy who preached the main sermon went for about an hour and a half. Poor Adam fell asleep and nearly fell into the floor from the pew. Funny stuff.
It's been tough to keep up the posts on the schedule I had hoped to because internet access can be rather spotty. I'm also trying to keep up with the photo uploads so keep checking the link in the posts from Saturday and Sunday.
Pray for our mission.
Mike
Today each of the 3 teams went to a village church and participated in the services. Josh, Chris, Ken and I spoke at the different venues (Josh broke off from our team and spoke at Maranata in Campina, which is Pastor Vasile's church). Our team members also gave testimonies at the churches and did some music.
It was very interesting to see and hear how they do worship here. Much of the service centers around prayer and it is open to anyone in the congregation who feels led...and most of them do. People all around the room, including the teenagers, will pray and this will happen 2 or 3 times during the service. I could only understand 2 or 3 words that they were saying but it was moving to hear the passion of the people as they prayed and to hear the others respond to what was being said. One of the few words I know is the Romanian word for 'thank you' and it would be repeated many times during each prayer.
It's wonderful to see how these folks have so much less than we and they still have sweet and honest worship. The service lasted about 2 hours; and this is the typical time for Sunday mornings here.
We lunched with the pastoral families at each church and the meal at each, according to the descriptions I got from the other teams, was a small feast. After we returned to the Vasile home we prepped for the coming week with our teams and then had a bit of free time before going as a group to the Sunday night service.
This was a different Sunday night service than normal for the Vasiles. The final Sunday of each month 6 different churches--from 6 different denominations--in this part of the country get together for a joint evangelistic service. There were a lot of people there...more than I ever expected. It was a very good service except the guy who preached the main sermon went for about an hour and a half. Poor Adam fell asleep and nearly fell into the floor from the pew. Funny stuff.
It's been tough to keep up the posts on the schedule I had hoped to because internet access can be rather spotty. I'm also trying to keep up with the photo uploads so keep checking the link in the posts from Saturday and Sunday.
Pray for our mission.
Mike
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Romania--Day 3
Today was our second day in the country and with the family. It was a tourist day for us when the family took to see some sights and buy some souvenirs. We went north out of Campina toward the Carpathian Mountains where we passed through a couple of resort towns geared toward tourist and business visitors. They cater to conventions and sightseers in the warmer months and skiers during the winter. They are very beautiful places with amazing views of mountain peaks and expansive valleys spread below. I never thought of Romania as such a place.
Our final destination for the trip was a town called Bran and its famous castle called, appropriately enough, Bran Castle. There are a ton of pics showing the inside and outside of it at this link. It's notoriety is based upon it's being the point of origin for the Dracula legend. Construction on the castle began in 1377 and the tour of it was pretty amazing. I recommend seeing it if you have the chance. However, the odds of you having as exciting a visit as we are very small, as one of our team--Nick--managed to fall approximately 10 feet down the side of a rock ledge in a small, but impressive, cascade of rocks ranging from pebbles to about melon size. He received a cut on the bridge of his nose, a badly scraped right knee, a gashed left knee and an ankle injury that may or may not be a fracture. We won't know that until he is able to have it x-rayed tomorrow. It was quite an adventure. Dan doctored him as much as we could (we had climbed up to the entrance to the castle) and then he and I carried Nick back down to the valley and placed him in the care of the Vasile family while we caught up with the rest of the group for the castle tour.
In spite of the pain and frustration of the injuries, Nick has been a great sport; because, as soon as we determined that he wasn't permanently damaged, we had a bit of fun at his expense. There are also pics of this at the link above. Dan was actually taking a picture of him as he began to fall which captured him just as gravity reclaimed it's dominion over him.
Our supper tonight was great. We had grilled sausage and beef with fresh bread, tomatoes and the most incredible jam I've ever tasted--and I'm still not sure what kind it is. Bruce knows, but he's holding out on me. Also, we have met all of Pastor John's (pronounced Yon) kids now. He has 3 sons--Andre, Emmi and Timmy; and 2 daughters--Christina and Ewana. Timmy (13) and Christina (16) are still in high school and Emmi is still in college. They are all great people who are already like family to us.
Tomorrow we go to some of the local churches that Pastor John has planted to help with the services. Chris, Ken, Josh and I will be preaching at various ones and Lucy will be singing. Pray for us in these efforts as we will be working entirely through interpreters.
More tomorrow.
Mike
Our final destination for the trip was a town called Bran and its famous castle called, appropriately enough, Bran Castle. There are a ton of pics showing the inside and outside of it at this link. It's notoriety is based upon it's being the point of origin for the Dracula legend. Construction on the castle began in 1377 and the tour of it was pretty amazing. I recommend seeing it if you have the chance. However, the odds of you having as exciting a visit as we are very small, as one of our team--Nick--managed to fall approximately 10 feet down the side of a rock ledge in a small, but impressive, cascade of rocks ranging from pebbles to about melon size. He received a cut on the bridge of his nose, a badly scraped right knee, a gashed left knee and an ankle injury that may or may not be a fracture. We won't know that until he is able to have it x-rayed tomorrow. It was quite an adventure. Dan doctored him as much as we could (we had climbed up to the entrance to the castle) and then he and I carried Nick back down to the valley and placed him in the care of the Vasile family while we caught up with the rest of the group for the castle tour.
In spite of the pain and frustration of the injuries, Nick has been a great sport; because, as soon as we determined that he wasn't permanently damaged, we had a bit of fun at his expense. There are also pics of this at the link above. Dan was actually taking a picture of him as he began to fall which captured him just as gravity reclaimed it's dominion over him.
Our supper tonight was great. We had grilled sausage and beef with fresh bread, tomatoes and the most incredible jam I've ever tasted--and I'm still not sure what kind it is. Bruce knows, but he's holding out on me. Also, we have met all of Pastor John's (pronounced Yon) kids now. He has 3 sons--Andre, Emmi and Timmy; and 2 daughters--Christina and Ewana. Timmy (13) and Christina (16) are still in high school and Emmi is still in college. They are all great people who are already like family to us.
Tomorrow we go to some of the local churches that Pastor John has planted to help with the services. Chris, Ken, Josh and I will be preaching at various ones and Lucy will be singing. Pray for us in these efforts as we will be working entirely through interpreters.
More tomorrow.
Mike
Friday, July 25, 2008
Romania Trip Days 1 and 2
I'm doing the first 2 days together because they have completely run together for us. We have not slept, other than a fitful nap on the various flights, (and not even that for most) since we left St. Louis on Thursday at 7 AM. That was over 30 hours ago. We lost pretty much a full day in transit as it is now 10:30 PM in Romania.
We flew from STL to Chicago to Munich to Bucharest for a total in transit time of around 20 hours in the air and then had a couple of hours left in vans to reach Campina, and Pastor Vasile's home--our final destination. The travel was more or less uneventful once we got Bruce and Conner back off of the plane to Toronto that they mistakenly boarded while we were in St. Louis. Also, after last year's team arrived in Bucharest with none of their checked bags, we were only missing one--Ken's bag with his clothes in it. Fortunately, we all packed an extra change of clothes in our carry on bags for just such a contingency. So long as his bag catches up to us tomorrow, he will be fine. Of the 12 of us on the trip, 3 have been here before and 9 of us are 'newbies'. But the pastor and his family have taken us in as if we are lifelong friends. They are wonderful people with great hearts for God.
Once we arrived at the Vasiles' home around 3:00 PM local time, we unloaded our stuff, claimed our rooms and had a brief meeting with the team. Many of us grabbed quick naps prior to supper at 6:00. It was a great meal, nothing exotic or out of the ordinary except that we had fresh peaches that were delicious.
After the meal several of us went out into the neighborhood where they live and passed out flyers for an upcoming evangelistic event that a cooperative of local evangelical churches have organized. We were accompanied by his younger son and daughter, Christina (16) and Timmy (13). We were out for a couple of hours and walked quite a distance. We met a lot of people and most of them were quite nice. I learned some Romanian words from Christina, which I used haltingly during my meeting with the locals. Josh used them quite freely and with a fair amount of comic effect. Especially when he stopped at a home along the way and bought a watermelon from a man who was selling them in his yard. Very funny stuff.
We are readying for bed (thankfully) after having met with an American missionary who lives in Bucharest. He stopped by to see Pastor Vasile and Bruce and Lucy. We had more cookies, fresh pears from the family's tree out back and Josh's watermelon to top it off. We are exhausted and happy. Tomorrow we do some sight-seeing (hopefully to Dracula's castle) and then on Sunday we will help with church services in 3 of the local village church plants. I will be speaking at Miner Village, Bruce at one of the others and Chris at a third. Then we will all attend the main joint service with the local churches in Campina.
Click this link to view photos of the first couple of days-- http://picasaweb.google.com/mcarojcc/Romania2008
God bless...please pray for us. I am going to try and post some pics, but that may or may not work out. If they are not available on the blog, I will also have then on facebook.
Mike
We flew from STL to Chicago to Munich to Bucharest for a total in transit time of around 20 hours in the air and then had a couple of hours left in vans to reach Campina, and Pastor Vasile's home--our final destination. The travel was more or less uneventful once we got Bruce and Conner back off of the plane to Toronto that they mistakenly boarded while we were in St. Louis. Also, after last year's team arrived in Bucharest with none of their checked bags, we were only missing one--Ken's bag with his clothes in it. Fortunately, we all packed an extra change of clothes in our carry on bags for just such a contingency. So long as his bag catches up to us tomorrow, he will be fine. Of the 12 of us on the trip, 3 have been here before and 9 of us are 'newbies'. But the pastor and his family have taken us in as if we are lifelong friends. They are wonderful people with great hearts for God.
Once we arrived at the Vasiles' home around 3:00 PM local time, we unloaded our stuff, claimed our rooms and had a brief meeting with the team. Many of us grabbed quick naps prior to supper at 6:00. It was a great meal, nothing exotic or out of the ordinary except that we had fresh peaches that were delicious.
After the meal several of us went out into the neighborhood where they live and passed out flyers for an upcoming evangelistic event that a cooperative of local evangelical churches have organized. We were accompanied by his younger son and daughter, Christina (16) and Timmy (13). We were out for a couple of hours and walked quite a distance. We met a lot of people and most of them were quite nice. I learned some Romanian words from Christina, which I used haltingly during my meeting with the locals. Josh used them quite freely and with a fair amount of comic effect. Especially when he stopped at a home along the way and bought a watermelon from a man who was selling them in his yard. Very funny stuff.
We are readying for bed (thankfully) after having met with an American missionary who lives in Bucharest. He stopped by to see Pastor Vasile and Bruce and Lucy. We had more cookies, fresh pears from the family's tree out back and Josh's watermelon to top it off. We are exhausted and happy. Tomorrow we do some sight-seeing (hopefully to Dracula's castle) and then on Sunday we will help with church services in 3 of the local village church plants. I will be speaking at Miner Village, Bruce at one of the others and Chris at a third. Then we will all attend the main joint service with the local churches in Campina.
Click this link to view photos of the first couple of days-- http://picasaweb.google.com/mcarojcc/Romania2008
God bless...please pray for us. I am going to try and post some pics, but that may or may not work out. If they are not available on the blog, I will also have then on facebook.
Mike
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Off to Europe
I leave with the rest of our team for Romania tomorrow. I'm very excited about what God is doing in my life right now and I think this trip may be a tipping point; I hope so.
One issue we are facing with the trip is purely logistical. Lufthansa, the airline we will be flying from Chicago to Munich to Bucharest, is in the process of taking a strike vote among their ground crew employees. There should be no chance of interference with our flight over, but the trip back could be more eventful. I wonder what it would be like to be trapped in Europe by an airline strike. There are worse things, I suppose. Too bad the dollar's so weak right now.
On a related note, the saga with my missing laptop continues. Here's a shipping company recommendation...do not, under any circumstances, use DHL if what you are shipping absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. Apparently their guarantee only applies if it works out that you actually get your package. I am very frustrated with them at this point. On the other hand, if this is my biggest worry, life isn't too bad.
Pray for peace and our mission trip.
Mike
One issue we are facing with the trip is purely logistical. Lufthansa, the airline we will be flying from Chicago to Munich to Bucharest, is in the process of taking a strike vote among their ground crew employees. There should be no chance of interference with our flight over, but the trip back could be more eventful. I wonder what it would be like to be trapped in Europe by an airline strike. There are worse things, I suppose. Too bad the dollar's so weak right now.
On a related note, the saga with my missing laptop continues. Here's a shipping company recommendation...do not, under any circumstances, use DHL if what you are shipping absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. Apparently their guarantee only applies if it works out that you actually get your package. I am very frustrated with them at this point. On the other hand, if this is my biggest worry, life isn't too bad.
Pray for peace and our mission trip.
Mike
Teaching Again
I taught at the college gathering tonight at the Realm. It's been a while since I taught in that type of setting and it's always a rush. The group was very engaged and we had some lively discussion at the end. I even got to pretend that it worked out the way I planned it--although that is what I had hoped for.
The lesson was on what it means to have a Christian world view. In order to have a viable ethical construct upon which to base our moral choices, we must have a biblical foundation. Ethical systems built without it fall apart in the face of moral relativism. Without a concept of God as the ultimate authority for our system, I cannot ultimately defend any ethical precept as being independent of human whim. It becomes just another victim of logic; I cannot logically assert and defend the position that my ethic has more authority than yours unless the source of it is outside of human control and influence.
Part two of the teaching news is that I will be preaching the 2 Sunday morning services at FBCH on August 10th. It is kind of my audition for the interim preaching job while we search for a permanent replacement for David in the head pastor's slot. I would honestly like to be considered for that position, but I don't think there would ever be a chance I could be chosen. My experience is limited and my pedigree lacking in the PhD department. I believe that with God's help I could do it, but I don't know if God would support my desire any more than the church would. Anyway, the interim gig will likely be 8 to 12 months. It would give me a great chance to sharpen my gift and skills, get some valuable experience and get some exposure for other speaking/preaching opportunities in the years to come. It might even get me a shot at a pastor's job somewhere else.
My true prayer is that if God gives me this chance that I will approach it with total humility and a full commitment to see lives changed through what God says through me. I want to be good at it and enjoy it and grow because of it. My best learning takes place when I am allowed to teach others.
I'm torn by what to preach on. I have several messages on my heart at this point and just pray that God will make one of the choices clear to me.
Pray for peace.
Mike
The lesson was on what it means to have a Christian world view. In order to have a viable ethical construct upon which to base our moral choices, we must have a biblical foundation. Ethical systems built without it fall apart in the face of moral relativism. Without a concept of God as the ultimate authority for our system, I cannot ultimately defend any ethical precept as being independent of human whim. It becomes just another victim of logic; I cannot logically assert and defend the position that my ethic has more authority than yours unless the source of it is outside of human control and influence.
Part two of the teaching news is that I will be preaching the 2 Sunday morning services at FBCH on August 10th. It is kind of my audition for the interim preaching job while we search for a permanent replacement for David in the head pastor's slot. I would honestly like to be considered for that position, but I don't think there would ever be a chance I could be chosen. My experience is limited and my pedigree lacking in the PhD department. I believe that with God's help I could do it, but I don't know if God would support my desire any more than the church would. Anyway, the interim gig will likely be 8 to 12 months. It would give me a great chance to sharpen my gift and skills, get some valuable experience and get some exposure for other speaking/preaching opportunities in the years to come. It might even get me a shot at a pastor's job somewhere else.
My true prayer is that if God gives me this chance that I will approach it with total humility and a full commitment to see lives changed through what God says through me. I want to be good at it and enjoy it and grow because of it. My best learning takes place when I am allowed to teach others.
I'm torn by what to preach on. I have several messages on my heart at this point and just pray that God will make one of the choices clear to me.
Pray for peace.
Mike
Miscellanea
Liz got back from her Mexico mission trip Sunday. She was very tired, but excited about the trip--I guess. It's hard to really get any real conversation out of her about it. I've been able to hear conversations she's had with friends about it and they indicate that she was effected by it in a good way. I hope it will turn her heart even more toward Jesus and toward service.
I leave with our team for Romania in 2 days; actually in less than 36 hours. How cool is that?! We've been keeping a journal of our daily Bible study for the past 30 days and I can look back at it now and see God preparing me for what he has in store for me; not just in Romania, but well beyond.
I came back from a business trip to Columbus, OH last Friday sans one laptop computer. How stupid was that? I left it in the hotel room on the desk right next to where I was standing when I packed the cord, mouse and other peripheral gear. It's been an adventure trying to get it shipped back so that it will arrive before I depart for Europe, but it left there today and is supposed to be here by 10:30 tomorrow. I checked online and it is definitely on the way. I still can't believe I did that.
Becca got to see the Jonas Brothers tonight. It was a total surprise for her. Sandi bought the tickets about a month ago with one of Becca's friend's mom so they could go together. Pretty cool deal for her. I can't believe our baby girl is starting to grow up. They'll both be gone before you know it.
Sandi and Becca were in Alabama for just over a week and got home last night. I was glad to see them home again. I missed them a ton.
I leave with our team for Romania in 2 days; actually in less than 36 hours. How cool is that?! We've been keeping a journal of our daily Bible study for the past 30 days and I can look back at it now and see God preparing me for what he has in store for me; not just in Romania, but well beyond.
I came back from a business trip to Columbus, OH last Friday sans one laptop computer. How stupid was that? I left it in the hotel room on the desk right next to where I was standing when I packed the cord, mouse and other peripheral gear. It's been an adventure trying to get it shipped back so that it will arrive before I depart for Europe, but it left there today and is supposed to be here by 10:30 tomorrow. I checked online and it is definitely on the way. I still can't believe I did that.
Becca got to see the Jonas Brothers tonight. It was a total surprise for her. Sandi bought the tickets about a month ago with one of Becca's friend's mom so they could go together. Pretty cool deal for her. I can't believe our baby girl is starting to grow up. They'll both be gone before you know it.
Sandi and Becca were in Alabama for just over a week and got home last night. I was glad to see them home again. I missed them a ton.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
More Greed
I have seen, in several different places--including on TV--advertisements for foreclosure bus tours. This is where realtors create an 'event' of sorts that involves renting a bus and taking prospective buyers on a tour of all the foreclosed homes in the area.
I realize that neither the buyers nor the realtors created the foreclosures, but something about it seems wrong somehow. I can imagine how someone who has been foreclosed upon must feel when they see the banners and commercials. They've lost their home. We're not talking about vagabonds or drug addicts or mean people, but families with children and jobs and friends and churches. (I realize some of them may be mean or on drugs or whatever--don't be stupid). Listen to the way that sounds in your head--they've lost their home.
Must we consistently make our way by treading on the backs of others? It makes me very sad. I fear we've lost our way in this country.
Someone forwarded an email to me recently that was very disturbing. It was quite lengthy and was basically all about how everyone who isn't like them should go somewhere else--to another country, preferably. It was cloaked in a great deal of flag waving and patriotism. If you don't like America then get the f@@@ out of it--that sort of thing. There's a lot of underlying fear in a message like that. I believe people sense that we are on the verge of upheaval in our country and, whether they can verbalize it or not, whether they are conscious of it or not, people can sense that and it makes many of them afraid. People can be very mean when they are scared.
I guess I have a bit of fear about it as well, but it's that kind of fear when you know something weird is going to happen and it will make you feel a way you don't usually feel, but the anticipation is very exciting as well. It's a bit like riding a new roller coaster for the first time, or going white-water rafting for the first time. You can see the power and feel the fear/anticipation/excitement/adrenaline rush and you like it but too much of it might overwhelm you. Your brain seems to actually crackle or hum.
But there's a real fear also in this coming change. It's that pit-of-the-stomach fear; that whistling-past-the-graveyard fear. The kind that knows if things go wrong the consequences will be dire; perhaps crippling--or fatal. My fear is that once the upheaval occurs the status quo will have won. The fear-mongers will rule completely and America will become even more egotistically committed to this nationalistic colonialism that is increasingly isolating us from the rest of the world in a way that is moving far beyond being just inconvenient.
If that happens, we will suffer and fall. It makes me very sad.
In the sage words of Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility". If we wield that power with impunity (and we have been), we will suffer and fall.
It makes me very sad.
I realize that neither the buyers nor the realtors created the foreclosures, but something about it seems wrong somehow. I can imagine how someone who has been foreclosed upon must feel when they see the banners and commercials. They've lost their home. We're not talking about vagabonds or drug addicts or mean people, but families with children and jobs and friends and churches. (I realize some of them may be mean or on drugs or whatever--don't be stupid). Listen to the way that sounds in your head--they've lost their home.
Must we consistently make our way by treading on the backs of others? It makes me very sad. I fear we've lost our way in this country.
Someone forwarded an email to me recently that was very disturbing. It was quite lengthy and was basically all about how everyone who isn't like them should go somewhere else--to another country, preferably. It was cloaked in a great deal of flag waving and patriotism. If you don't like America then get the f@@@ out of it--that sort of thing. There's a lot of underlying fear in a message like that. I believe people sense that we are on the verge of upheaval in our country and, whether they can verbalize it or not, whether they are conscious of it or not, people can sense that and it makes many of them afraid. People can be very mean when they are scared.
I guess I have a bit of fear about it as well, but it's that kind of fear when you know something weird is going to happen and it will make you feel a way you don't usually feel, but the anticipation is very exciting as well. It's a bit like riding a new roller coaster for the first time, or going white-water rafting for the first time. You can see the power and feel the fear/anticipation/excitement/adrenaline rush and you like it but too much of it might overwhelm you. Your brain seems to actually crackle or hum.
But there's a real fear also in this coming change. It's that pit-of-the-stomach fear; that whistling-past-the-graveyard fear. The kind that knows if things go wrong the consequences will be dire; perhaps crippling--or fatal. My fear is that once the upheaval occurs the status quo will have won. The fear-mongers will rule completely and America will become even more egotistically committed to this nationalistic colonialism that is increasingly isolating us from the rest of the world in a way that is moving far beyond being just inconvenient.
If that happens, we will suffer and fall. It makes me very sad.
In the sage words of Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility". If we wield that power with impunity (and we have been), we will suffer and fall.
It makes me very sad.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A Tale of Two Cities
I am in New Orleans for a couple of days on business and I got a tour of the city today that I bet most people don't get. A friend of mine who grew up here (he lives in Baton Rouge now) picked me up at my hotel this afternoon and drove me around his old neighborhood. After that we went through the 9th Ward and then to the more popular tourist areas. The picture I got is one of extreme divergence; hope vs hopelessness; rebirth and neglect; vitality as opposed to poverty.
"Jack" is African American and he grew up in a government housing project which has since been torn down. We drove by the site and he showed me the tree that the balcony of his family's apartment used to overlook. Across the street from that balcony is a store where some of his old pals still hang out doing nothing in particular. Jack told me that, as a youth, he had seen several shootings in front of that store. It was almost an off-hand remark, as if he were telling me that he used to buy ice cream there when he could scrounge the spare change. We drove up and down a lot of streets there--places where I wouldn't have been safe if I were alone. The tour commentary consisted of things like "That's where my father-in-law lives", "That's the church I grew up in", "That's where my wife lived", "This is the street where I sold most of the drugs I used to sell", "This is the corner where I was talking to one of my boys when a guy came out of that house right there and started shooting at me". I asked him what he did when the guy was shooting at him and he said, "I ran my ass off, man" and kind of chuckled.
Damn.
Most of the houses still have the large spray-painted "X" on the front with the numbers and letters in the quadrants showing that they had been searched and whether or not any bodies had been found. Most of them were in various states of disrepair--shingles missing, doors askew, windows boarded on some. Most of them needed paint or siding repair. Most of them have people living in them regardles of their condition.
The 9th Ward was worse--much worse. Many of the houses that were there are simply gone; pushed to the ground and loaded on trucks for the landfills; not worth the cost of repair; never to be rebuilt. One thing that Jack told me that seemed to him to be most tragic about the missing homes--missing families--is that the homes they lost represented, in many cases, their family history. They were literally handed down from one generation to the next. Extended families living together, expanding in one direction and shrinking from the other as new children were born and the old folks died off. That's gone now, carried away by floods, bulldozers and dump trucks. He showed me where his grandmother's house used to be. Now there are only weeds and scrub brush. We went by Fats Domino's house, still intact, still in the hood. I was surprised that it didn't really stand out from the others except that it was painted a subdued yellow and had the letters "FD" in black about a foot high on the front gable. It is slightly larger than the other homes on the block, but not opulant by any standards. Perhaps a testament to his committment to his roots, and to the fact that celebrities are much better compensated than they were when he had his hayday.
We talked a lot about what it was like for him growing up in that situation and how he got out of it. He said he never took drugs, ever. But he also didn't blanch about selling them to support his family; always carrying a pistol for protection against the junkies and other dealers. He always worked regular jobs too, once he was old enough. And it was always about being able to make something better for his mom. He was finally able to move her out of the projects into a house several blocks away, but after a couple of years she wanted to move back because all of her friends were still in the housing.
His work ethic was part of what got him out of there, but it seems like part of it was also almost accidental (providential?). A chance meeting while he worked at a gas station got him a better job that turned into a career that made enough money to get him a better life. His brothers and sisters all got out too. They have jobs and careers and families and none of them live in the poverty they grew up in. I've never met her, and Jack didn't say so (I forgot to ask), but I bet his momma had a lot to do with it. How could all those kids succeed where so many others had failed if it were otherwise?
What's funny (not funny haha, but funny 'damn') is that even though he's from there, his history is there, he says he feels scared now when he goes back and talks to some of his old friends and visits some of the old places. He's succeeded where others haven't and there's a tension because of it. There's a sense that he's in danger from those who would want what he's got in his pockets or in his truck. There's also the possibility that someone with a long memory might still hold a grudge and decide to act upon it. Maybe it's true--we can never go home.
We went from the 9th Ward the short distance to the heart of the city, where all the tourists go. We saw Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, Convention Center, Riverwalk, French Market. We went past giant hotels and the world's largest land-based casino--Harrah's. I bet you had no idea that it was in New Orleans--me neither. In all of those places we saw what is possible when civic powers put their minds, talents and money to the task of recovery. And we also saw what is of value to us in this country in contrast to what is not, even when it's located only a few short blocks away.
Poverty is not about race or geography. It's about what we decide is morally acceptable. It cannot be solved by governments alone, but it cannot be solved without significant committment from them either. The answers are not simple and the solutions will not be quick, but we are commanded by our God to help those in need. As the rich get richer off of the blood of the poor and the shrinking middle class we are in grave danger ("we" meaning us Christians) of coming under the judgment of that God.
Poor children need a quality education, adequate food, health care. Poor working moms need help with child care; both in terms of having an adequate supply and the money to afford it. Families need access to counseling and other benefits that will help them to stay whole and stable. And there must be jobs, real jobs, jobs that pay a living wage and provide fulfillment and self esteem.
All of you ultra-conservative scoffers can mark this down. God has laid out quite plainly the moral responsibility of those who have to assist those who do not. There are 2000 verses that refer to justice for the poor and disadvantaged. We will not be exempt from them when we stand before God. Don't believe me? Read Matthew 25, especially starting around verse 30. Please do not be condemned by the hypocrisy that Jesus so deeply loathes.
Pray for the poor. Pray for peace. More to follow.
Mike
"Jack" is African American and he grew up in a government housing project which has since been torn down. We drove by the site and he showed me the tree that the balcony of his family's apartment used to overlook. Across the street from that balcony is a store where some of his old pals still hang out doing nothing in particular. Jack told me that, as a youth, he had seen several shootings in front of that store. It was almost an off-hand remark, as if he were telling me that he used to buy ice cream there when he could scrounge the spare change. We drove up and down a lot of streets there--places where I wouldn't have been safe if I were alone. The tour commentary consisted of things like "That's where my father-in-law lives", "That's the church I grew up in", "That's where my wife lived", "This is the street where I sold most of the drugs I used to sell", "This is the corner where I was talking to one of my boys when a guy came out of that house right there and started shooting at me". I asked him what he did when the guy was shooting at him and he said, "I ran my ass off, man" and kind of chuckled.
Damn.
Most of the houses still have the large spray-painted "X" on the front with the numbers and letters in the quadrants showing that they had been searched and whether or not any bodies had been found. Most of them were in various states of disrepair--shingles missing, doors askew, windows boarded on some. Most of them needed paint or siding repair. Most of them have people living in them regardles of their condition.
The 9th Ward was worse--much worse. Many of the houses that were there are simply gone; pushed to the ground and loaded on trucks for the landfills; not worth the cost of repair; never to be rebuilt. One thing that Jack told me that seemed to him to be most tragic about the missing homes--missing families--is that the homes they lost represented, in many cases, their family history. They were literally handed down from one generation to the next. Extended families living together, expanding in one direction and shrinking from the other as new children were born and the old folks died off. That's gone now, carried away by floods, bulldozers and dump trucks. He showed me where his grandmother's house used to be. Now there are only weeds and scrub brush. We went by Fats Domino's house, still intact, still in the hood. I was surprised that it didn't really stand out from the others except that it was painted a subdued yellow and had the letters "FD" in black about a foot high on the front gable. It is slightly larger than the other homes on the block, but not opulant by any standards. Perhaps a testament to his committment to his roots, and to the fact that celebrities are much better compensated than they were when he had his hayday.
We talked a lot about what it was like for him growing up in that situation and how he got out of it. He said he never took drugs, ever. But he also didn't blanch about selling them to support his family; always carrying a pistol for protection against the junkies and other dealers. He always worked regular jobs too, once he was old enough. And it was always about being able to make something better for his mom. He was finally able to move her out of the projects into a house several blocks away, but after a couple of years she wanted to move back because all of her friends were still in the housing.
His work ethic was part of what got him out of there, but it seems like part of it was also almost accidental (providential?). A chance meeting while he worked at a gas station got him a better job that turned into a career that made enough money to get him a better life. His brothers and sisters all got out too. They have jobs and careers and families and none of them live in the poverty they grew up in. I've never met her, and Jack didn't say so (I forgot to ask), but I bet his momma had a lot to do with it. How could all those kids succeed where so many others had failed if it were otherwise?
What's funny (not funny haha, but funny 'damn') is that even though he's from there, his history is there, he says he feels scared now when he goes back and talks to some of his old friends and visits some of the old places. He's succeeded where others haven't and there's a tension because of it. There's a sense that he's in danger from those who would want what he's got in his pockets or in his truck. There's also the possibility that someone with a long memory might still hold a grudge and decide to act upon it. Maybe it's true--we can never go home.
We went from the 9th Ward the short distance to the heart of the city, where all the tourists go. We saw Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, Convention Center, Riverwalk, French Market. We went past giant hotels and the world's largest land-based casino--Harrah's. I bet you had no idea that it was in New Orleans--me neither. In all of those places we saw what is possible when civic powers put their minds, talents and money to the task of recovery. And we also saw what is of value to us in this country in contrast to what is not, even when it's located only a few short blocks away.
Poverty is not about race or geography. It's about what we decide is morally acceptable. It cannot be solved by governments alone, but it cannot be solved without significant committment from them either. The answers are not simple and the solutions will not be quick, but we are commanded by our God to help those in need. As the rich get richer off of the blood of the poor and the shrinking middle class we are in grave danger ("we" meaning us Christians) of coming under the judgment of that God.
Poor children need a quality education, adequate food, health care. Poor working moms need help with child care; both in terms of having an adequate supply and the money to afford it. Families need access to counseling and other benefits that will help them to stay whole and stable. And there must be jobs, real jobs, jobs that pay a living wage and provide fulfillment and self esteem.
All of you ultra-conservative scoffers can mark this down. God has laid out quite plainly the moral responsibility of those who have to assist those who do not. There are 2000 verses that refer to justice for the poor and disadvantaged. We will not be exempt from them when we stand before God. Don't believe me? Read Matthew 25, especially starting around verse 30. Please do not be condemned by the hypocrisy that Jesus so deeply loathes.
Pray for the poor. Pray for peace. More to follow.
Mike
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
My Trip to Frisco
On the lighter side of things, I was in California late last week and had to stay through the weekend. My friend, Rickey, and I decided we would make the relatively short drive from Sacramento to San Francisco on Saturday afternoon and take in some of the sites. Little did we realize that we had decided to visit the bastion of gay pride during national gay pride week. Quite a surprise for us. Our friends and coworkers have made quite a bit of sport of us. Oh, well...it's still a beautiful city and we got some great pics of the Golden Gate Bridge; and the people of California as a whole were very friendly--and I don't mean it like that so stop smirking.
A Difficult Message
I'll be leaving for Romania in a few weeks on a mission trip. It's my first one and I'm pretty excited about it; about the chance to be placed where God will stretch my abilities and gifts and force me to rely on him more than I probably ever have. As part of our team's preparation for the trip we are doing 30 days of Bible studies and journaling our thoughts.
Since beginning this process about 9 or 10 days ago a lot of what I've read and contemplated has drawn me back to the idea that God has something for me to do that I either haven't figured out or haven't been listening closely enough to hear. Consequently, I've approached these studies as not only a way of getting ready for our mission, but also as a possible way that God plans to communicate to me what the next part of my journey will be. I think I may have gotten a glimpse of that this evening.
Our reading was from Jeremiah 1:4-10. It's the passage that describes Jeremiah's commissioning for his mission as well as God's equipping of him for that mission. The comments about the passage talk about how Jeremiah was being assigned the task of giving the Israelites a message that they did not want to hear and to which many of them were not going to listen. In fact, as you read on through the book you find out that they tried to kill him on more than one occasion because of his unrelenting proclamations. I see in this somewhat of a parallel to where my passions have turned over the past couple or 3 years--the church's abandonment of the cause of social justice in exchange for political clout.
When I talk about the church in this context I am well aware that there are still many people involved with programs and ministries that help the outcast and downtrodden, but the vocal leaders of the conservative evangelicals in America have consistently and stridently preached the gospel of conservative politics in the name of some of the most divisive issues in the history of this country: abortion and homosexuality among the most volatile. And because the Republicans have given loud and consistent lip service to the conservative stance on these issues the evangelical leaders have fallen into lock-step behind them and endorsed their candidates and their agenda carte blanche. They have preached this agenda from the pulpits of their churches and touted it on every national media outlet to which they could garner access. They have told us that to vote against this party is to vote against Christ. In fact, I have heard church members say that anyone who votes Democrat is not really a Christian. As I have studied church history I believe we must go back many centuries to find such complete and utter idolatry and sin within the church.
I don't care which party's candidate you vote for, but how dare you have the audacity to tell me that the veracity of my faith resides within a voting booth! I will prayerfully vote my conscience regardless of a candidate's affiliation and I hope to be damned (literally) if I ever allow anyone to convince me otherwise. I made that mistake once and it shall never happen again.
The Republicans lie about their intentions in order to rally our votes and the Democrats have for decades (until quite recently) dismissed us as incapable of having real input on issues that they have failed to realize do have moral implications.
Jesus Christ did not deal in half-truths and pompous judgmentalism. He spoke quite plainly and vehemently about our responsibility to care for the less fortunate and to deal with everyone from a position of love--the unconditional kind. The people he chose to follow him and represent him were not the powerful and political, but those who would stick the biggest bur in the saddles of those very types. If he were physically present on earth today I believe he would spend his time in the inner cities and in the towns devastated by corporate greed. He would be in the homes of people who were dying because the have no insurance and therefore cannot be treated for their diseases. He would wander the villages of third world countries where boys not old enough to date are kidnapped and forced to commit genocide; where young girls are gang raped and killed because they belong to the wrong clan or tribe; where people are beaten to death because they did not support the current dictator. I can see him in the middle east tending to the wounded Palestinians and Jews in the West Bank and Gaza; or in Baghdad cruising the alleys for those in need, both spiritually and physically. I submit to you that these are the places where the real acts of terror are being committed. I do not believe that he would ever set foot in the White House--regardless of by whom it was occupied--unless it was to chase out the 'money-changers' with a braided whip.
This message is not popular with those who hold sway within evangelical circles. But I believe they see the approach of their demise. They see a generation of Christians rising up who will think for themselves and will not be swayed from the cause of Christ by the lure and promise of political clout. I think that God is calling me to this cause. I also believe that it will cause me pain in the places where I have normally felt safe and welcome. My heart breaks for the poor and abused and it fills with anger at those who ignore or exacerbate their plight. I believe that a new journey begins for me tonight.
Pray for peace--real peace.
Mike
Since beginning this process about 9 or 10 days ago a lot of what I've read and contemplated has drawn me back to the idea that God has something for me to do that I either haven't figured out or haven't been listening closely enough to hear. Consequently, I've approached these studies as not only a way of getting ready for our mission, but also as a possible way that God plans to communicate to me what the next part of my journey will be. I think I may have gotten a glimpse of that this evening.
Our reading was from Jeremiah 1:4-10. It's the passage that describes Jeremiah's commissioning for his mission as well as God's equipping of him for that mission. The comments about the passage talk about how Jeremiah was being assigned the task of giving the Israelites a message that they did not want to hear and to which many of them were not going to listen. In fact, as you read on through the book you find out that they tried to kill him on more than one occasion because of his unrelenting proclamations. I see in this somewhat of a parallel to where my passions have turned over the past couple or 3 years--the church's abandonment of the cause of social justice in exchange for political clout.
When I talk about the church in this context I am well aware that there are still many people involved with programs and ministries that help the outcast and downtrodden, but the vocal leaders of the conservative evangelicals in America have consistently and stridently preached the gospel of conservative politics in the name of some of the most divisive issues in the history of this country: abortion and homosexuality among the most volatile. And because the Republicans have given loud and consistent lip service to the conservative stance on these issues the evangelical leaders have fallen into lock-step behind them and endorsed their candidates and their agenda carte blanche. They have preached this agenda from the pulpits of their churches and touted it on every national media outlet to which they could garner access. They have told us that to vote against this party is to vote against Christ. In fact, I have heard church members say that anyone who votes Democrat is not really a Christian. As I have studied church history I believe we must go back many centuries to find such complete and utter idolatry and sin within the church.
I don't care which party's candidate you vote for, but how dare you have the audacity to tell me that the veracity of my faith resides within a voting booth! I will prayerfully vote my conscience regardless of a candidate's affiliation and I hope to be damned (literally) if I ever allow anyone to convince me otherwise. I made that mistake once and it shall never happen again.
The Republicans lie about their intentions in order to rally our votes and the Democrats have for decades (until quite recently) dismissed us as incapable of having real input on issues that they have failed to realize do have moral implications.
Jesus Christ did not deal in half-truths and pompous judgmentalism. He spoke quite plainly and vehemently about our responsibility to care for the less fortunate and to deal with everyone from a position of love--the unconditional kind. The people he chose to follow him and represent him were not the powerful and political, but those who would stick the biggest bur in the saddles of those very types. If he were physically present on earth today I believe he would spend his time in the inner cities and in the towns devastated by corporate greed. He would be in the homes of people who were dying because the have no insurance and therefore cannot be treated for their diseases. He would wander the villages of third world countries where boys not old enough to date are kidnapped and forced to commit genocide; where young girls are gang raped and killed because they belong to the wrong clan or tribe; where people are beaten to death because they did not support the current dictator. I can see him in the middle east tending to the wounded Palestinians and Jews in the West Bank and Gaza; or in Baghdad cruising the alleys for those in need, both spiritually and physically. I submit to you that these are the places where the real acts of terror are being committed. I do not believe that he would ever set foot in the White House--regardless of by whom it was occupied--unless it was to chase out the 'money-changers' with a braided whip.
This message is not popular with those who hold sway within evangelical circles. But I believe they see the approach of their demise. They see a generation of Christians rising up who will think for themselves and will not be swayed from the cause of Christ by the lure and promise of political clout. I think that God is calling me to this cause. I also believe that it will cause me pain in the places where I have normally felt safe and welcome. My heart breaks for the poor and abused and it fills with anger at those who ignore or exacerbate their plight. I believe that a new journey begins for me tonight.
Pray for peace--real peace.
Mike
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Again, Dobson?
Dobson's at it again...protecting the families of the world by doing everything in his power to support the right wing political agenda. And I would say the same thing if his attack was leveled at McCain instead of Obama. As an aside, Dr. Dobson vowed just a few months ago that he would never support McCain because he wasn't conservative enough. He has since reversed himself. Interesting.
I won't go through the whole thing again (see the previous post), but when are the ultra conservative evangelicals going to stop being the mouthpieces for a political party (and underlying agenda, which, by the way, has nothing to do with forwarding the cause of Christ)? When will they shut the crap up and start listening to God (Matthew 25:31-46; Phill. 2:3-5)? When will Christians (or, at least, church-goers; there is a difference) stop allowing ourselves to be led around by the nose at the whims of politico-evangelicals with personal agendas?
I fear the answer to the last question is, perhaps, never. It is much easier to assume that everything they say is correct than it is to search for the truth and think for ourselves; especially in this age of instant misinformation when so much comes at us so fast. It's much easier to live on the falsely energized emotional roller coaster than to admit we are not always right. God is always right, but not us. How many atrocities have been committed and falsehoods perpetrated in his name?
Check out this quote from Jim Wallis' latest blog:
The United States is not the Christian theocracy that [evangelicals] seem to think it should be. Political appeals, even if rooted in religious convictions, must be argued on moral grounds rather than as sectarian religious demands -- so that the people (citizens), whether religious or not, may have the capacity to hear and respond. Religious convictions must be translated into moral arguments, which must win the political debate if they are to be implemented. Religious people don't get to win just because they are religious. They, like any other citizens, have to convince their fellow citizens that what they propose is best for the common good -- for all of us, not just for the religious.
Please think for yourselves. If you disagree with me or anyone else that's fine. But do so in a coherent, cogent way that indicates you have reasoned through your thoughts and the issue at hand. Do it in a way that is biblical and allows for dialogue. Do not paint me or anyone else as evil just because you disagree with us. That determination remains the exclusive purview of God and God alone. And that is biblical--check chapters 2, 3 and 14 of Romans for starters.
Until the church fully ejects itself from protection mode and starts to truly think globally, we have little chance of fulfilling the callings placed upon us by Matthew 25 or Matthew 28.
Pray for peace, wisdom and patience, as will I.
Mike
I won't go through the whole thing again (see the previous post), but when are the ultra conservative evangelicals going to stop being the mouthpieces for a political party (and underlying agenda, which, by the way, has nothing to do with forwarding the cause of Christ)? When will they shut the crap up and start listening to God (Matthew 25:31-46; Phill. 2:3-5)? When will Christians (or, at least, church-goers; there is a difference) stop allowing ourselves to be led around by the nose at the whims of politico-evangelicals with personal agendas?
I fear the answer to the last question is, perhaps, never. It is much easier to assume that everything they say is correct than it is to search for the truth and think for ourselves; especially in this age of instant misinformation when so much comes at us so fast. It's much easier to live on the falsely energized emotional roller coaster than to admit we are not always right. God is always right, but not us. How many atrocities have been committed and falsehoods perpetrated in his name?
Check out this quote from Jim Wallis' latest blog:
The United States is not the Christian theocracy that [evangelicals] seem to think it should be. Political appeals, even if rooted in religious convictions, must be argued on moral grounds rather than as sectarian religious demands -- so that the people (citizens), whether religious or not, may have the capacity to hear and respond. Religious convictions must be translated into moral arguments, which must win the political debate if they are to be implemented. Religious people don't get to win just because they are religious. They, like any other citizens, have to convince their fellow citizens that what they propose is best for the common good -- for all of us, not just for the religious.
Please think for yourselves. If you disagree with me or anyone else that's fine. But do so in a coherent, cogent way that indicates you have reasoned through your thoughts and the issue at hand. Do it in a way that is biblical and allows for dialogue. Do not paint me or anyone else as evil just because you disagree with us. That determination remains the exclusive purview of God and God alone. And that is biblical--check chapters 2, 3 and 14 of Romans for starters.
Until the church fully ejects itself from protection mode and starts to truly think globally, we have little chance of fulfilling the callings placed upon us by Matthew 25 or Matthew 28.
Pray for peace, wisdom and patience, as will I.
Mike
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The Question of Gay Marriage
The word on the street (and in the papers) is that upwards of 30 million dollars will be spent between now and November by activists on both sides of the gay marriage debate in California. That is when an amendment to the state constitution which would ban gay marriage will be decided by voters. The thing about this story that most interests me is the amount of money (a combined 27 million dollars was spent in the other 24 states that have already decided this issue with constitutional amendments) and, more specifically, the sources of much of it. Among those in favor of the amendment are the traditional conservative groups, most of them Christian; and among those one of the more generous contributors is expected to be the Colorado-based Focus on the Family.
I don't doubt, or intend to contradict, that the Bible teaches against homosexuality. I also understand that the issue is highly charged and emotional for many Christians. But I guess what I don't understand is how this issue is a priority worth millions of dollars for an organization that claims to focus on the family in a country where there are many other issues that are destroying families in a much more devastating way and at a much more rapid rate than anything associated with homosexuality ever will.
Nearly 50 million Americans have no health insurance in the richest nation in the history of the world. In a recent conversation about this issue with a friend, he said he didn't want any of his money going to support people who would not support themselves. Well, here's a newsflash: the vast majority of the people here who are uninsured are working full time, often at more than one job, and they still have no insurance because their employers either can't or won't provide it. And I defy any of these self-righteous capitalists to provide the basic necessities of life to their families on wages that typically don't produce incomes above the poverty level, much less find additional resources to purchase personal health insurance. And many millions of the uninsured are children who, obviously, are at the mercy of their situations.
Speaking of poverty specifically, check out the quote below taken from Wikipedia and based on U.S. Census and world poverty statistics:
Poverty in the United States refers to people living in poverty in the U.S. Within the U.S. the most common measure of poverty is the "poverty line" set by the U.S. government. The official poverty threshold is adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index. Poverty in the United States is cyclical in nature with roughly 12% to 15% living below the federal poverty line at any given point in time, and roughly 40% falling below the poverty line at some time within a 10 year time span.[1] While there remains some controversy of whether or not the official poverty over or understates poverty, the United States has some of the highest absolute and relative pre and post-transfer, poverty rates in the developed world.[2][3] Overall, the U.S. ranks 16th on the Human Poverty Index.[4]
Those under the age of 18 were the most likely to be impoverished. In 2006 the poverty rate for minors in the United States was the highest in the industrialized world, with 21.9% of all minors and 30% of African American minors living below the poverty threshold.[5] Moreover, the standard of living for those in the bottom 10% was lower in the U.S. than in any other developed nation except the United Kingdom, which had the lowest standard of living for impoverished children.[6]
Do you understand how utterly unthinkable it is that the U.S. is the LOWEST ranked developed nation?! Do you understand how many families are destroyed by poverty in this country every year? Do you have any idea how many millions of children suffer from easily treatable conditions in this country every year because they have no access to the finest medical treatment available in the world today? Do you have any idea how insignificant any detrimental effect gay marriage may have on American families will be compared to the answers to the above questions?
I would ask Focus on the Family to reconsider their allocation of significant resources to a cause that will ultimately pale in its influence on American culture and families when compared to the good their millions of dollars could do for the poor and suffering of this country. Or, if they insist on following through with their windmill-tilting campaign, please change the name of their organization. Let's call it Focus on Politics, or Focus on Media Attention, or Focus on Failure or something similarly appropriate; but do not tell me that your focus is on what's best for American families. If my family where falling apart because we were about to lose our home, or our child was sick and I couldn't provide care for him or we were just plain hungry because we couldn't afford to buy food, I truly don't think that I would believe that situation would be corrected or improved by banning gay marriage in California or any other state.
Read Matthew 25, especially where Jesus tells us what's important to him, and let me know what you find in there about gay marriage.
Pray for peace.
Mike
I don't doubt, or intend to contradict, that the Bible teaches against homosexuality. I also understand that the issue is highly charged and emotional for many Christians. But I guess what I don't understand is how this issue is a priority worth millions of dollars for an organization that claims to focus on the family in a country where there are many other issues that are destroying families in a much more devastating way and at a much more rapid rate than anything associated with homosexuality ever will.
Nearly 50 million Americans have no health insurance in the richest nation in the history of the world. In a recent conversation about this issue with a friend, he said he didn't want any of his money going to support people who would not support themselves. Well, here's a newsflash: the vast majority of the people here who are uninsured are working full time, often at more than one job, and they still have no insurance because their employers either can't or won't provide it. And I defy any of these self-righteous capitalists to provide the basic necessities of life to their families on wages that typically don't produce incomes above the poverty level, much less find additional resources to purchase personal health insurance. And many millions of the uninsured are children who, obviously, are at the mercy of their situations.
Speaking of poverty specifically, check out the quote below taken from Wikipedia and based on U.S. Census and world poverty statistics:
Poverty in the United States refers to people living in poverty in the U.S. Within the U.S. the most common measure of poverty is the "poverty line" set by the U.S. government. The official poverty threshold is adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index. Poverty in the United States is cyclical in nature with roughly 12% to 15% living below the federal poverty line at any given point in time, and roughly 40% falling below the poverty line at some time within a 10 year time span.[1] While there remains some controversy of whether or not the official poverty over or understates poverty, the United States has some of the highest absolute and relative pre and post-transfer, poverty rates in the developed world.[2][3] Overall, the U.S. ranks 16th on the Human Poverty Index.[4]
Those under the age of 18 were the most likely to be impoverished. In 2006 the poverty rate for minors in the United States was the highest in the industrialized world, with 21.9% of all minors and 30% of African American minors living below the poverty threshold.[5] Moreover, the standard of living for those in the bottom 10% was lower in the U.S. than in any other developed nation except the United Kingdom, which had the lowest standard of living for impoverished children.[6]
Do you understand how utterly unthinkable it is that the U.S. is the LOWEST ranked developed nation?! Do you understand how many families are destroyed by poverty in this country every year? Do you have any idea how many millions of children suffer from easily treatable conditions in this country every year because they have no access to the finest medical treatment available in the world today? Do you have any idea how insignificant any detrimental effect gay marriage may have on American families will be compared to the answers to the above questions?
I would ask Focus on the Family to reconsider their allocation of significant resources to a cause that will ultimately pale in its influence on American culture and families when compared to the good their millions of dollars could do for the poor and suffering of this country. Or, if they insist on following through with their windmill-tilting campaign, please change the name of their organization. Let's call it Focus on Politics, or Focus on Media Attention, or Focus on Failure or something similarly appropriate; but do not tell me that your focus is on what's best for American families. If my family where falling apart because we were about to lose our home, or our child was sick and I couldn't provide care for him or we were just plain hungry because we couldn't afford to buy food, I truly don't think that I would believe that situation would be corrected or improved by banning gay marriage in California or any other state.
Read Matthew 25, especially where Jesus tells us what's important to him, and let me know what you find in there about gay marriage.
Pray for peace.
Mike
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
The quote below is from Dr. King's letter, which was written in 1964 as a response to the disingenuous and hypocritical panderings of an array of local clergy who had condemned the civil disobedience of local African Americans.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.
I read Dr. King's letter several years ago, but as I was re-reading it tonight this paragraph jumped all over me. It's as if he saw 40 years into the future. Read the entire letter (please) at the following link:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/frequentdocs/birmingham.pdf
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.
I read Dr. King's letter several years ago, but as I was re-reading it tonight this paragraph jumped all over me. It's as if he saw 40 years into the future. Read the entire letter (please) at the following link:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/frequentdocs/birmingham.pdf
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Various
Dana Carvey has a new HBO special called "Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies". I probably won't watch it, but I thought the name was cool. I cannot speak to the voracity of the statement.
Still no word on the prophetic warning from yesterday's post, but I'll never rest until we have the truth.
I had barbecue for supper--a half rack of ribs and a rather large pulled pork sandwich; plus fries. I think if I sneeze I'll crap my pants.
I love my daughters and my wife more than anything and I miss them terribly when I'm on the road. Seeing them for the blessing they are is very humbling.
I read once that the average American will meet 10,000 people during their lifetime. That's a lot of opportunities to influence people. Don't ___ it up by being a jerk.
Pray for peace.
Mike
Still no word on the prophetic warning from yesterday's post, but I'll never rest until we have the truth.
I had barbecue for supper--a half rack of ribs and a rather large pulled pork sandwich; plus fries. I think if I sneeze I'll crap my pants.
I love my daughters and my wife more than anything and I miss them terribly when I'm on the road. Seeing them for the blessing they are is very humbling.
I read once that the average American will meet 10,000 people during their lifetime. That's a lot of opportunities to influence people. Don't ___ it up by being a jerk.
Pray for peace.
Mike
Monday, June 9, 2008
Warning--Prophetic Alert
I can't believe it. I was flipping channels and what might appear to others to be mere chance but I know was Divine guidance, occurred. As I landed on Daystar it just so happened (Just so happened...HAH!) that Manna-Fest (get it?) was just coming on. AND, the host was preempting the regular programming to provide a prophetic alert because he had received a word from God that is going to be vital to all of us believers; I think it was about Iraq because he followed up the precursor with a reminder of how God had given him a vision about the invasion 8 or 9 years before it happened; really; he had a drawing of it. And just when he was about to spill the beans about the new prophecy------the screen went all snowy. Man, what rotten luck. No doubt the devil, or some of those Godless terrorists, jacking with the broadcast to keep us from getting this invaluable piece of heavenly intelligence info. It will probably turn the tide in the war when we get it. And I will get it. No paltry force of evil-doers can overcome me. Keep checking back. I'll post it as soon as I get it. Rock the prophecy.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
A Gift of Song
This video is of my daughter, Liz, singing (she is amazing), being accompanied on guitar by her friend, Emily, who also has a great voice. Could fame await them? You be the judge.
I have hair growing where?!
OK...I want to get serious for a few minutes so buckle in.
Do you think God sits up in heaven (is it up? where is it really...heaven, I mean) and just giggles and snickers when guys get old enough to start having hair grow in places it never used to? For example, our ears. Why in the world do we, after living 35 or 40 years without hair growing on and in our ears, suddenly wake up and discover we have 2 extra places to shave? You look in the mirror one morning and instead of the guy you're used to seeing there's a hobbit or something (no, wait...hobbits have hairy feet; well, you get the point). And don't even get me started on the nose hair thing. For cryin' out loud! And the worst thing of all is the guys who don't shave the extra follicles. GROSS! What do they think, that they're French? Guys, I know it's not fair or fun, but just shave it. You look like a creeper when you don't.
Do you think God sits up in heaven (is it up? where is it really...heaven, I mean) and just giggles and snickers when guys get old enough to start having hair grow in places it never used to? For example, our ears. Why in the world do we, after living 35 or 40 years without hair growing on and in our ears, suddenly wake up and discover we have 2 extra places to shave? You look in the mirror one morning and instead of the guy you're used to seeing there's a hobbit or something (no, wait...hobbits have hairy feet; well, you get the point). And don't even get me started on the nose hair thing. For cryin' out loud! And the worst thing of all is the guys who don't shave the extra follicles. GROSS! What do they think, that they're French? Guys, I know it's not fair or fun, but just shave it. You look like a creeper when you don't.
Pray for peace (and hairless orifices).
Mike
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Sunday School
Isn't that a weird phrase? I always get the image of people who don't know what Sunday is and have to be taught all about it. The test always has the same question on it: What day comes after Saturday and before Monday?
I was actually in Sunday school today (but not to learn what Sunday is). It was my first day with the college ministry. There was an interesting (well, sort of interesting) discussion about why people choose to either show up or not show up each week. For example, if I choose to go to a ball game or the races or just sleep in does that mean that I'm disrespecting God or church or community or something. I guess it comes down to attitude; these kinds of questions usually do. Am I blowing off church because I figure whatever I'm going to do is more important; or because I just selfishly prefer doing what I want to do? Maybe I'm very faithful and really struggle with the decision but ultimately decide to skip church this time because what I'm doing is important also, or just an unusual opportunity.
I don't know the answer for sure. I really do think it's about attitude. Someone pointed out that Jesus made it a point that the day of meeting in and of itself is not the important thing. It's about communing with God and contributing to the welfare of other believers. If I also come to church on a different day or night, plus have a Bible study that I go to does that make Sunday less important? Can't I be a Christian even if I don't go to church at all? The fact is, Sunday is not sacred, and you don't have to be in church to be saved. But there are tons of biblical reasons to be with other believers. Sunday is the day when we have traditionally gathered. I like going and I also think I contribute to others when I'm there--in addition to what I get out of it. It also gives me a chance to serve; another thing I am commanded to do.
If you go because you think you have to and there's no joy or sense of worship and gratitude toward God--stay home.
Attitude is everything.
Pray for peace.
Mike
I was actually in Sunday school today (but not to learn what Sunday is). It was my first day with the college ministry. There was an interesting (well, sort of interesting) discussion about why people choose to either show up or not show up each week. For example, if I choose to go to a ball game or the races or just sleep in does that mean that I'm disrespecting God or church or community or something. I guess it comes down to attitude; these kinds of questions usually do. Am I blowing off church because I figure whatever I'm going to do is more important; or because I just selfishly prefer doing what I want to do? Maybe I'm very faithful and really struggle with the decision but ultimately decide to skip church this time because what I'm doing is important also, or just an unusual opportunity.
I don't know the answer for sure. I really do think it's about attitude. Someone pointed out that Jesus made it a point that the day of meeting in and of itself is not the important thing. It's about communing with God and contributing to the welfare of other believers. If I also come to church on a different day or night, plus have a Bible study that I go to does that make Sunday less important? Can't I be a Christian even if I don't go to church at all? The fact is, Sunday is not sacred, and you don't have to be in church to be saved. But there are tons of biblical reasons to be with other believers. Sunday is the day when we have traditionally gathered. I like going and I also think I contribute to others when I'm there--in addition to what I get out of it. It also gives me a chance to serve; another thing I am commanded to do.
If you go because you think you have to and there's no joy or sense of worship and gratitude toward God--stay home.
Attitude is everything.
Pray for peace.
Mike
Friday, May 30, 2008
Corporate (corporate?) Stupidity
OMG! Just when I think that we (Americans) might have turned the corner and started to become a bit more reasonable (or at least less idiotically reactionary) I read a story like this one: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7427206.stm?lsm . It seems like we actually desire to be ruled over by the stupidest people we can find (i.e. Ms Malkin--see the story link above). But, thank God that our media does their job in fueling this ignorance by creating a story where none should exist. How else would we ever be able to root out and destroy these hideous plots by subversives and terrorists. And, finally, where would we be except hopelessly lost without the keen decision-making prowess of the courageous souls in charge of corporations like Dunkin Donuts? How would they ever survive if the entire readership of such a tower of intellectualism as Ms Malkin were to suddenly refuse to purchase their deep-fried treats? Think of the economic chaos if several dozen neo-stupid, overweight extremists switched from Dunkin to Krispy Kreme. We could be plunged into civil war and anarchy (well, the anarchy could be fun).
Thank you, Dunkin Donuts. Thank you, Ms Malkin. Dear God, please help us.
Thank you, Dunkin Donuts. Thank you, Ms Malkin. Dear God, please help us.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
As a follow up to the previous post, my older daughter has been one of the kids trying to defuse the anger and disgruntlement (is that even a word?). She has gotten a bit frustrated a couple of times--a natural part of the process. The cool thing is that she's trying to work through it and keep loving people. Mistakes are part of the journey; it's how we learn. But she's doing well with this situation. She's becoming a young woman, a leader. I'm proud of her.
Mirror Image
I have been a spectator recently of a bit of drama that is developing within the youth ministry at our church. A small but vocal minority of students have begun to speak out with great rancor and venom about the things within the ministry that displease them. How quaint. As an observer, I have been alternately proud and ashamed; proud to see how many of the students have been supportive of their ministery and their minister and how they've tried to keep a dialogue going with a background of love; and ashamed to see how well our kids have learned to imitate their parents' tendencies within the church. (This is obviously true of one particular kid who is the instigator).
We have argued and vilified one another in the name of due diligence to protect our liturgical preferences and doctrinal positions until our children see it as their birthright to act similarly. Can we be satisfied with this legacy? But, there are glimpses of greater things; students who want to find the Godly solution. They can seem a bit clumsy at it in their youth--we all remember what it's like to have only the desire to rush in and start fixing things regardless of if it's all higledy pigledy. The sad truth, though, is that their efforts seem clumsy because they haven't really had a good example to follow.
It's not too late to change our legacy. It's never too late to love one another...they will know we are his disciples by our love for one another (John 13).
Pray for peace.
Mike
We have argued and vilified one another in the name of due diligence to protect our liturgical preferences and doctrinal positions until our children see it as their birthright to act similarly. Can we be satisfied with this legacy? But, there are glimpses of greater things; students who want to find the Godly solution. They can seem a bit clumsy at it in their youth--we all remember what it's like to have only the desire to rush in and start fixing things regardless of if it's all higledy pigledy. The sad truth, though, is that their efforts seem clumsy because they haven't really had a good example to follow.
It's not too late to change our legacy. It's never too late to love one another...they will know we are his disciples by our love for one another (John 13).
Pray for peace.
Mike
Monday, May 26, 2008
No Place Like Home
Do you ever have those moments when nostalgia rushes in on you and covers you up like a hot wind? It starts with being a little homesick; maybe it was triggered by a song lyric or a vague memory. Then it kind of swells up inside of you with adrenaline and an almost overwhelming desire to just break and run; dump everything you're doing, pack what fits in the back of your truck and just take off. Most people, especially women, don't understand what it means to a man to be respected and liked by the men he knows. And that's especially true when what you grew up knowing and valuing in life was the rougher things--backing your buddy's play, standing your ground, knowing you could survive almost anything, knowing you could take a life if that's what it took to protect those you love. How do you explain that so that it makes sense to someone who never felt it? How do you translate the feeling you had sitting on a tailgate on a dirt road with your best friends in the world--simple, honest, strong friends who all loved each other without ever having to say it--singing at the top of your lungs or laughing together about something stupid with a long-neck beer in your hand? How do you mourn the loss of that feeling? How do you quell the anger at the fear you feel knowing you may never have that feeling again? What's the cure for the blues you get when you feel like you're looking back at more of your life than you're looking forward to?
I can't answer all of those questions, but there are some things I know about me that are just as important. There's nothing like the pride of being the father of daughters. Daughters who love God and have hearts that break for people who are in need. There's nothing like the feeling that swells in a dad's heart when his little girl (who isn't really little any more) stands on a stage and sings a song so beautifully that angels walk away with their heads down. What can compare to looking into the face of a girl whose outlook on life is so pure and excited that it's impossible not to be uplifted when she's around? What in life could match the realization that a woman has loved you enough to stay true for over 20 years--and not nearly all of them have been easy for her?
Well......damn. Seems like life has more questions than answers. Who would have thought?
I can't answer all of those questions, but there are some things I know about me that are just as important. There's nothing like the pride of being the father of daughters. Daughters who love God and have hearts that break for people who are in need. There's nothing like the feeling that swells in a dad's heart when his little girl (who isn't really little any more) stands on a stage and sings a song so beautifully that angels walk away with their heads down. What can compare to looking into the face of a girl whose outlook on life is so pure and excited that it's impossible not to be uplifted when she's around? What in life could match the realization that a woman has loved you enough to stay true for over 20 years--and not nearly all of them have been easy for her?
Well......damn. Seems like life has more questions than answers. Who would have thought?
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