A few quotes/thoughts from chapter two of Yancey's "What's So Amazing About Grace:

He (William James) wrote of the ascetism of a French country priest who decided "that he should never smell a flower, never drink when parched with thirst, never drive away a fly, never show disgust before a repugnant object, never complain of anything that had to do with his personal comfort, never sit down, never lean upon his elbows when he was kneeling.
- This one connect with me as I still remember when I was an altar boy growing up in the Catholic Church and was blasted by the priest because I went down on a knee to tie my shoes. I didn't know that was a sin.

What I (Lewis Smedes) needed more than pardon was a sense that God accepted me, owned me, held me, affirmed me, and would never let go of me even if he was not too impressed with what he had on his hands.
- That may be the biggest paradigm shift that I have made in the last year or so. God loves us! God is love!! Yes, there is a judgment for those who don't know Him, but for those who do, there is no condemnation, and for those who don't yet know Him, He is there waiting for us. We in the Church need to know the love of God more than the Judgment for non-believers, again, "there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus..."

India's caste system was so labyrinthine that in the 1930's the British discovered a new caste they had not encountered in three centuries of presence there: assigned the role of washing clothes for the Untouchables, these poor creatures believed they would contaminate higher castes by sight, so they emerged only at night and avoided all contact with other people.
Crazy!

I'm very much enjoying my rereading of Yancey's material!

I find it kind of ironic that I am turning into somewhat of a "Desperate Housewives" fan. Not that I condone the behavior on the show, rather I am usually drawn to anything that the evangelical church gets a stick up their you know what for (with exceptions of course) and the fact that it is really a microcosm of our society today. It's life, it's reality, whether we like it or not.

Take tonight's show for instance. I only caught a few minutes, but one of the characters, the one with the red hair (I haven't watched enough to catch all the character's names, only Eva (my favorite), Terri, and Nicolete) and her husband were announcing to their children that they were getting a divorce. In perfect selfish/individualistic tone, the male child asked if he could live with his father since he and his mother didn't get along and the daughter said she didn't care as long as she had her own bathroom. Then, a few minutes later, the dad bought the boy a car and the girl modeling classes or school or something like that. Perfect!

Again, I'm not expert on this show, but I think I'll have to tune in a few more Sunday nights for some humor and a glimpse at the culture we live in.

365 days ago this very minute I was preparing to board a British Airways 747 en route to London and on to Nairobi for my first trip out of the country (Tijuana, Mexico doesn't count). Not only my first trip abroad, but my first visit to the country the Lord laid on my heart many years ago, the wonderful nation of Kenya. I have written about this often and won't repeat the great time we had.

In less than 48 hours, I'll be on another flight to Nairobi on a follow-up trip. I'm very anxious, although I know that I'll once again miss my family greatly, they have to start coming along with me! In any case, your prayers are appreciated, we don't want this to be a tourist trip, our goal is to love, encourage, and support the local Kenyans, have some great fellowship with them, and glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There's really nothing more to it than that. I'll be in touch again before I leave and while on the trip when I can. Blessings!

Vox makes a pretty good statement that I agree with totally:

Also, I prefer to ask questions because I've found, as have many individuals since Socrates, that asking the sort of questions that cause others to think is far more productive than telling them what to think. I believe the ability to doubt and think for yourself is far more useful than the simple transference of blind faith from one authority to another.

There's way too little of that done in the Church, we'd rather toe the party line and not cause any trouble, those that do are often told not to let the door him them on the way out.

I'm on the "Sojourner" email list, meaning I receive a good load of garbage every week from that organization. I will admit that some of it is very good, however, an example of which is shown below, regarding the messages we, especially children, get from the media:

And what are the messages they receive? Dr. David Walsh, author of Selling Out America's Children: How America Puts Profits before Values and What Parents Can Do, identifies six key values that dominate mass media. It is hard to argue with his list:
1. Happiness is found in having things.
2. Get all you can for yourself.
3. Get it all as quickly as you can.
4. Win at all costs.
5. Violence is entertaining.
6. Always seek pleasure and avoid boredom.

I can see the truth in that, I even agree with some of it. Now, how to prevent myself and my children from falling further and further into that abyss of Western thought...

The school district I teach in lost a giant of a man yesterday. The former basketball coach and phy. ed. teacher, Jack Wippich, eased through a stop sign yesterday and was bit by a semi, probably dead on contact. It's a tough time for the community, as I believe Jack was the most recognizable member of our community, he probably carried the most clout. I am honored to have spoke with him a few times, and I would see him every morning leaving the recreation facility, we would exchange "Good morning coach" and discuss where he was going to play golf. He'll be sorely missed.

As I've written before, Philip Yancey is my favorite author, bar none. And my favorite book of his is "Rumors of Another World." The theme, as I see it, is that we are so busy looking for the hand of God on this earth that we miss it, it's right before our eyes. He tells many great stories to bring home this point, but one always sticks out to me. I'll paraphrase and quote below:

For the next two and a half years, South Africans listened to reports of atrocities coming out of the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) hearings. The rules were simple, if a white policeman or army officer voluntarily faced his accusers, confessed his crime, and fully acknowledged his guilt, he could not be tried and punished for that crime...At one hearing, a policeman named van de Broek recounted an incident when he and other officers shot an eighteen year old boy and burned the body, turning it on the fire like a piece of barbeque meat in order to destroy the evidence. Eight years later van de Broek returned to the same house and seized the boy's father. The wife was forced to watch as policemen bound her husband on a woodpile, poured gasoline over his body, and ignited it. The courtroom grew hushed as the elderly woman who had lost first her son and then her husband was given a chance to respond...She said she wanted van de Broek to go to the place where they burned her husband's body and gather up the dust so she could give him a decent burial...Mr. van de Broek took all my family away from me, and I still have a lot of love to give. Twice a month, I would like for him to come to my ghetto and spend a day with me so I can be a mother to him...he is forgiven by God, and I forgive him too. I would like to embrace him so he can know my forgiveness if real. Spontaneously, some in the courtroom began singing "Amazing Grace..."

van de Broek never heart it as he fainted on the spot. As Yancey writes, "justice was not done that day, something beyond justice took place." The hand of God broke into our world and touched a life, changed it into something it never dreamed it could be. Just like the quote I read today in "The Shaping of Things to Come," "Do not call people back to where they were, do not call them to where you are. You must have the courage to go with them to a place that neither you nor they have ever been before."

I just partook in an unbelievable time of gluttony. Lisa and I absolutely love Chili's, and we don't get there much, so when we do we take advantage. WOW!

I'm making a list of things Christians do that just make me sick. The problem is that I do many of them myself, although unconsciously. The initial three are as follows:
1) Complaining when people talk against the Bible without reading it, then doing the same with such books as Harry Potter. If you want to bash it, go ahead, but read it first. I haven't, that's not the point, the point is don't do something that you trash others for.
2) You don't have to evangelize every second and every conversation of the day. I don't care which church you go to, and neither does the waitress or the dentist. Smile, leave them a nice tip, encourage them in some way, and if the time if write share what Jesus has done in your life, but don't be THAT PERSON!
3) I hate your holy huddles! Yes, the world may be a bad place, but it's what we have and the commands from the Lord focus more on "go" rather than "retreat."

On #3, I'm reading "The Shaping of Things to Come" among a few other books. This one is mostly review, but I like the theme the authors are using, saying that in a missional vs. attractional church, three things must happen. The first, the church must be incarnational, the second messianic vs. dualistic, and the third apostolic. I won't take time discussing one and three, but I really like two. Giving a little history lesson, the authors describe how the church has been affected by Greco-Roman culture, particurlarly the idea that there is a separation in the world between the "sacred" and "profane" or religious and nonreligious rather than it all being God's. I really like that and I can't think of one church that I have ever been in that hasn't used that distinction, and therefore called us into that community or holy huddle to get away from the world. The commands of Jesus, GO, the commands of the modern church, RETREAT.

Along with that, I watched "Girl, Interrupted" last night. I know, the movie is like ten years old or something but I always wanted to watch it and never did. I really enjoyed it, as much as you could enjoy that type of movie. One quote from Susanna (Winona Ryder) at the end as Lisa (Angelina Jolie) was chasing her really struck me, "I've wasted a year of my life, and maybe everyone out there is a liar. And maybe everyone in the whole world is stupid and ignorant. But I'd rather be in it. I'd rather be f...ing in it than down here with you."

Finally, I decided just this evening that I am going to stop reading whatever I am currently on and re-read at least two of Philip Yancey's books that I own. My next blog will focus on a story from "Rumors of Another World," and I hope to share some insights from the two that I choose periodically the next few days.

I know that Jesus and the NT is clear that where your heart is, there your treasure lies also, and not to worry about things of this world, but the following strikes fear into my life, that one day I could wake up and all invested funds would be inaccessible or just plain gone:

The world has changed since the attacks of September 11, 2001. One risk that has not received much attention by the news media—most likely because Wall Street doesn’t want you to know about it—is the threat to your wealth and portfolio should another attack target America’s financial infrastructure. After the September 11 attacks, U.S. financial markets were closed for four days. During that time, you were locked out of buying or selling any of your U.S. stocks, bonds or mutual funds. In contrast, if you had assets safely stowed away in a secure, neutral country such as Denmark, Austria or Switzerland, you could continue trading any foreign securities you owned, as markets in these countries were not affected by the attacks. If there are future attacks on the U.S. financial markets, they could be conducted with weapons of mass destruction with even more devastating impact. It’s possible that U.S. markets could be shuttered for days or weeks. In the meantime, the U.S. dollar could be decimated and the vast majority of U.S. investors would be powerless to protect themselves financially. Read the case study, “Nightmare On Wall Street,” to learn what could happen to your Wall Street wealth and your U.S. domiciled investments when terrorists strike America again. Link: http://www.wolflaurelnews.net/wallstreet.htm

This is an interesting choice of words from USATODAY.com:

The Vatican had no comment, noting that the pontiff — a Bavarian native — and his secretary were away on vacation.

Were they together? This is kind of spicy news, better word choice would have been wise.

Some interesting news from K-house:

A day after the horrific terrorist attacks on London the nations that comprise the Group of Eight (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) announced its decision to give $3 billion to the Palestinian Authority. In their infinite wisdom, the G8 nations pledged the substantial sum "so that two states, Israel and Palestine, two peoples and two religions can live side by side in peace." However the message received loud and clear by the Islamic community was that terrorism pays.

Alan M. Dershowitz, a criminal law professor at Harvard Law School and the author of The Case for Israel, commented on the G8 nation's allocation of funds by saying "The primary cause of terrorism is not occupation, humiliation, or desperation... The primary cause of terrorism is that it works. And it works because the craven international community gives into it and rewards it. It also works because too many Islamic leaders praise it and too few condemn it. Terrorism will continue as long as potential terrorists believe they will benefit from using that tactic."

...Over $1 billion in aid has already been pocketed by greedy government officials. Investigations into the Palestinian Authorities financial mis-management has also revealed hundreds of millions of dollars that were diverted to accounts in Switzerland and Tunisia. There is even evidence that direct budgetary assistance to the PA from the EU and UN has been used to fund terrorism and pay rewards to the families of homicide bombers.

As I keep saying, the West, of which America is the largest donor, keeps forking over the money and Muslims hate us more and more as we do. The money couldn't go to a better cause!

There are some things in life you will never forget. Another one happened to me yesterday. I was biking home from returning some movies and going past a house that in the past I have sensed some domestic issues. On the way through, I heard, clear as day, "Don't f....ing talk to me when I am on the phone, I was just on the phone with grandma and you were f....ing talking to me." This from what appeared to be a middle-aged lady. At first, the optimist in me told me the lady was talking to her husband or another adult. But the pessimist won out, telling me she was talking to her child who must have been shrieking in fear. I wanted to do something, but I knew all I could do was pray as my heart went out to that young one. Dear Lord, surround yourself around that household, let that child know how much you love him or her, wrap them in your arms of love, set your peace on that house, not only for the children, but for the adults as well. Let reconciliation and redemption take place, as only you can!

A good quote from the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding's quaterly newsletter:
"...notes that while many of our kids are committed to causes like human rights, the environment and global awareness, there are general youth trends affecting our young people, our school, and our world that are very alarming...these include violence and vandalism, stealing, cheating, disrespect for authority, peer cruelty, bigotry, bad language, sexual precocity and abuse, increasing self-centeredness, declinling civic responsibility (leave it to the government - JP) and self-destructive behavior."

As a teacher and one who works a lot with youth, I would have to sadly agree.

Please read the following article and note my two responses on the bottom:

The G8 and global poverty: God is acting
by Jim Wallis
For the first time the world has the knowledge, information, technology, and resources to end extreme poverty as we know it, but what is still lacking is the moral and political will to do so. We believe that generating such moral will is the vocation of the religious community. And today, we believe that God is acting on the issue of poverty.
First, God is acting among us as religious leaders and faith communities, drawing us together as never before across theological and political boundaries in a moral, spiritual, and biblical convergence. Three weeks ago, many of us joined an amazing procession of religious leaders from almost every major faith tradition in America in a service at the Washington National Cathedral. Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, South Africa, noted the moral convergence of such a wide spectrum of American religious life and pronounced this a "kairos" moment - when regular time ("kronos") gives way to a spirit-filled moment in history and a new sense of time takes over.
God is acting in our culture. Artists and musicians are playing a critical role and a new generation of young people are committing themselves to this cause.
God is acting through new leadership in Africa where democracies are taking responsibility and acting in new ways to end corruption and create more transparent governance that makes effective aid more possible.
God is acting through the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations - the G8. We are here at an historic moment of great opportunity, and the world needs a real breakthrough. The recent agreement to cancel $40 billion in debt for the world's 18 poorest nations is a very important step. We urge our leaders to finish the job by canceling all the debt for all impoverished nations.
We are pleased that wealthy countries in Europe and the U.S. are giving more in aid, and we urge them to increase it further. It is not a time for pilot projects or symbolic gestures. It is time for real substance - and many countries are now doubling aid. We urge the U.S. to provide an additional 1% of its budget - $25 billion over the next five years. It is a small price to pay for what is at stake - our security, our humanity, our faith. We call on the U.S. government to announce a new and dramatic increase in aid to Africa, and we urge President Bush to use his leadership with Congress to secure as much as $2 billion in the fiscal 2006 budget. If we do, it will be the best and most effective money we will spend this year.
At heart, I am a 19th-century evangelical; I was just born in the wrong century. The G8 and global poverty: God is acting
by Jim Wallis
For the first time the world has the knowledge, information, technology, and resources to end extreme poverty as we know it, but what is still lacking is the moral and political will to do so. We believe that generating such moral will is the vocation of the religious community. And today, we believe that God is acting on the issue of poverty.
First, God is acting among us as religious leaders and faith communities, drawing us together as never before across theological and political boundaries in a moral, spiritual, and biblical convergence. Three weeks ago, many of us joined an amazing procession of religious leaders from almost every major faith tradition in America in a service at the Washington National Cathedral. Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, South Africa, noted the moral convergence of such a wide spectrum of American religious life and pronounced this a "kairos" moment - when regular time ("kronos") gives way to a spirit-filled moment in history and a new sense of time takes over.
God is acting in our culture. Artists and musicians are playing a critical role and a new generation of young people are committing themselves to this cause.
God is acting through new leadership in Africa where democracies are taking responsibility and acting in new ways to end corruption and create more transparent governance that makes effective aid more possible.
God is acting through the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations - the G8. We are here at an historic moment of great opportunity, and the world needs a real breakthrough. The recent agreement to cancel $40 billion in debt for the world's 18 poorest nations is a very important step. We urge our leaders to finish the job by canceling all the debt for all impoverished nations.
We are pleased that wealthy countries in Europe and the U.S. are giving more in aid, and we urge them to increase it further. It is not a time for pilot projects or symbolic gestures. It is time for real substance - and many countries are now doubling aid. We urge the U.S. to provide an additional 1% of its budget - $25 billion over the next five years. It is a small price to pay for what is at stake - our security, our humanity, our faith. We call on the U.S. government to announce a new and dramatic increase in aid to Africa, and we urge President Bush to use his leadership with Congress to secure as much as $2 billion in the fiscal 2006 budget. If we do, it will be the best and most effective money we will spend this year.
At heart, I am a 19th-century evangelical; I was just born in the wrong century. The evangelical Christians of the 19th century combined revivalism with social reform and helped lead campaigns for women's suffrage and child labor laws, and to abolish slavery. One of the most famous revivalists, Charles Finney, developed the idea of the "altar call" in order to make sure he signed up all of his converts for the abolition movement. Today, poverty is the new slavery - imprisoning bodies, minds, and souls, destroying hope and ending the future for a generation.
God is acting, and the new altar call in our time is a call for faith, then a commitment - to Make Poverty History.
I urge you to respond to this altar call by signing a letter to President Bush organized by the ONE Campaign, asking him to lead in making poverty history. We are sponsoring this campaign along with an amazing group of individuals and organizations, including Bread for the World, Bono, Rick Warren, and many others. This is one of the most important things we have asked you to do. President Bush and our nation need to hear from as many people as possible.
One of the most famous revivalists, Charles Finney, developed the idea of the "altar call" in order to make sure he signed up all of his converts for the abolition movement. Today, poverty is the new slavery - imprisoning bodies, minds, and souls, destroying hope and ending the future for a generation.
God is acting, and the new altar call in our time is a call for faith, then a commitment - to Make Poverty History.
I urge you to respond to this altar call by signing a letter to President Bush organized by the ONE Campaign, asking him to lead in making poverty history. We are sponsoring this campaign along with an amazing group of individuals and organizations, including Bread for the World, Bono, Rick Warren, and many others. This is one of the most important things we have asked you to do. President Bush and our nation need to hear from as many people as possible.

First, as I have noted in this space many times before, government intervention has proved to be essentially fruitless. I say that somewhat in jest, of course the government has done some good, how can you not with the billions of dollars thrown around year after year. The problem is the money never gets to where it needs to go. Case in point, last summer I sat down in the US Embassy in Kenya and talked to a man named Tad Brown, great man, a man who was in charge or HIV/AIDS in Kenya. He stated that the US Gov. had allocated $75 million last year to AIDS in Kenya. The organization I was there with, HEART, a grass-roots organization doing great work, asked how they could get some of that to help their cause. I'll never forget his answer, he said they couldn't, the US pays some company a million dollars to dole out the money to different organizations to do the work, and HEART didn't have the resources to receive any of the money. So I guess what it takes is a large infrastructure that will insure no money gets to the people in order to get aid to help the people. Makes sense.

Second, Wallis states that evangelicals of the 19th century were far more open to social reform, true, but they didn't have the government taking all of their money either. John Stossel in his book "Give Me a Break" cites that "In the 1920's, 30 percent of American men belonged to mutual aid societies, groups of people with similar backgrounds who banded together to help members in trouble..." Today, they rarely exist, as Stossel cites the majority who think "Why do it ourselves when we already have huge welfare bureaucracies? We already pay taxes for (such organizations as) HUD, HHS. Let the professionals do it."

I admire the passion of men like Wallis and Bono and like, but what they are calling just won't work. I know they have done much work among the poor themselves, and I applaud them for it, but what they need to do is call their followers to more action rather than relying on the gov.

I've been saying the following for a long time, now there is research to back it up:

A Nation of Deists: The dominant American religion is a far cry from
Christianity
By Gene Edward Veith
Sometimes recognizing a problem requires finding the right words to name it. Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton have coined a phrase that describes perfectly the dominant American religion: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

Those authors are researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and have written up their findings in a new book: Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford University Press).

After interviewing over 3,000 teenagers, the social scientists summed up
their beliefs:
(1) "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth."
(2) "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions."
(3) "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself."
(4) "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem."
(5) "Good people go to heaven when they die."

Even these secular researchers recognized that this creed is a far cry from Christianity, with no place for sin, judgment, salvation, or Christ. Instead, most teenagers believe in a combination of works righteousness, religion as psychological well-being, and a distant non-interfering god. Or,
to use a technical term, "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

Ironically, many of these young deists are active in their churches. "Most religious teenagers either do not really comprehend what their own religious traditions say they are supposed to believe," conclude Mr. Smith and Ms. Denton, "or they do understand it and simply do not care to believe it."

Another possibility is that they have learned what their churches are teaching all too well. It is not just teenagers who are moralistic therapeutic deists. This describes the beliefs of many adults too, and even what is taught in many SUPPOSEDLY evangelical churches.

Mr. Smith and Ms. Denton recognize this. MTD has become the "dominant civil religion." And it is "colonizing" American Christianity. To the point, these secular scholars conclude, "a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but is rather substantially morphed into Christianity's misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

Consider how many Christian publications, sermons, and teachings are nothing but moralism. Sometimes morality is reduced to the simplistic MTD commandment "be nice," though often real morals are inculcated. But the common assumption is that being good is easy, just a matter of knowing what one should do and trying harder. The biblical truth that bad behavior is a
manifestation of sin, a depravity that inheres in our fallen nature, is skimmed over. And so is the solution to sin: a life-changing faith in Jesus Christ.

Consider how many Christian publications, sermons, and teachings are primarily therapeutic. It is true that Christ can solve many of our problems. But much that passes for Christian teaching says nothing about Christ. Instead, it consists of pop psychology, self-help platitudes, and
the power of positive thinking.

Consider how many Christian publications, sermons, and teachings talk about God in a generic way, but say nothing about the Father, who created and still sustains the world; the Son, who became Incarnate in this world to win our salvation; and the Holy Spirit, who works through the Word of God to bring us to faith.

Christianity is about grace, not moralism; changing lives, not making people feel better about themselves; the God made flesh, not an uninvolved deity. And that is better news than Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

Well, we brought Maiya home this morning. It's been very surreal, it's going way too well. She sleeps all day, Lisa feels great, Maiya is transitioning pretty well, we're really waiting for the bottom to drop out on us. We do know it will get harder as she gets a little older, but we're enjoying it for now. We took a walk this evening and agreed that if we have another child (I'm happy with two) that we would for sure try to have it in summer again. It's so unwinding to be able to walk outside on a beautiful night rather than being a prisoner in your own home on those dreadful winter nights.

Regarding that post I made earlier this week, the one linking the article, I want to clarify what I think of it. First, as I posted, I found it very interesting, and part of my agrees with what the author is saying. We do have way too much in America and I do believe it has led to complacency and ignorance on the part of the church. However, on the other hand, I don't think that we should feel guilty about the things that we have. I don't think God desires that for us, I think that comes from the Enemy. Now, if the Holy Spirit is leading us to live a simpler life, we should obey and simplify where He calls. But if we are content and aren't hoarding and understand everything is the Lord's, we shouldn't feel guilty, just be ready to give when the Lord leads.

I'll end with this example that I think it pertinent. The author, as they all do and I have in the past, cites third world poverty and depravity as our encouragement to live simpler and give more. However, a recent thought interested me on this matter. I'll be going to Kenya in less than three weeks, and the Lord has raised up around $2000 for me to be able to give to the people. Part of that Dan (the gentleman going with me) and I want to buy some new suits for some pastors who are grossly underpaid to help them out a little. Now, their response will be ecstatic, they will relish in this opportunity for some nice new threads. Notice that they won't decline on the count that there are hungry people around them and the money would be better served going to them. No, they'll praise God for what He has given them and seek to serve Him even more. And we shouldn't always worry either. Sometimes we have to take the blessings of the Lord and praise Him for what He has given us.

The following is a link to an interesting, although not perfect article. It made me think:
http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=1149