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Saturday, July 29, 2006
Althouse Presents Stunning Pictures
She snapped some beautiful shots of a Jennifer Steincamp light show at the San Jose Art Museum. Go take a look.
It's a Well-Written Post...
...but I may have missed its point. Readeriam thinks I did. She may be right.
What Should Christians Do in Response to the Current World Crises?
The Saturday afternoon service at the congregation I serve as pastor, Friendship Lutheran Church, usually brings together a handful of people. A preacher might ordinarily be depressed by the paltry attendance, but I love this service.That's partly because it's a stripped-down affair. There's nothing fancy about it. No pomp in this circumstance.
We open with prayer and sing a song. After that, I ask someone to read our Bible lesson for the weekend and then I give my message.
What comes next is what I like best about the service. It's a segment we call, "Questions and Blessings." I ask people to respond to the lesson or the message, to pose questions, to share an insight or praise God for a blessing, or to simply bring up some spiritual issue with which they'd like us all to wrestle together.
Tonight, understandably, the discussion quickly moved to the current conflict in Lebanon and the continuing war in Iraq, as well as the ongoing threat of global terrorism.
How, one participant wondered, are we to manifest the goodness and glory of Jesus Christ, as our lesson this weekend prays that we Christians will do, in a world seemingly hell-bent on violence and death? What should we do?
Those are good questions.
My answer to both of them may seem simplistic. But I think it's the right answer: We should pray.
But what should we pray?
Honestly, I'm not wise enough to know how the current crises in international affairs are to be resolved. I have my opinions, to be sure. But the older I get, the more aware I become of the limits of my knowledge. I don't know it all.
To paraphrase the late, great Frank Laubach, even if I were miraculously granted ten minutes each day to provide advice to people like George Bush, Ehud Olmert, or even, Hassan Nasrallah, the chances are very good that my advice would be wrong. Even if my motives were unimpeachable. Even if I prayed for God's guidance over the advice I gave to them.
I would likelier give bad advice than good because I'm human, prone to error, apt to follow my own predispositions in spite of all my good intentions to the contrary.
But God is the One Whose counsel is always right. "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgements are true and just!" (Revelation 16:7)
So, this is what I pray as I consider the violence in our world:
- That God's will and not our own, be done
- That God would open the hearts and wills of leaders to make right decisions
- That Christ would go to those leaders incessantly, with His counsel and will
- That peace will come to troubled hearts and troubled nations
Pray!
[Thanks to Andrew Jackson of SmartChristian.com for linking to this post.]
[Thanks also to Matt Brown of Good Brownie for linking to this post.]
Meanwhile, To Understand the Anger Felt By Some Westernized Arabs Over the War in Lebanon...
...I go to Rambling Hal's site. You might want to do the same thing. Even if you don't agree with her--and chances are very good that you won't, it's informative to read what she has to say. This is the perspective of a young, educated, cosmopolitan, professional woman in Jordan. Hal often rails against the oppressive attitudes and policies of her own and other predominantly Islamic countries. But she is furious with Israel's strategy in Lebanon. Be warned: Hal's language can sometimes be coarse.
Big Pharaoh and Dawisha Both Disdain Arab Street's Celebration of Nasrallah
Both Big Pharaoh, a blogger in Egypt, and Dr. Adeed Dawisha, an Iraqi-American professor of Political Science at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), analyze the pathetic respect being given the head of Hezbollah by "the Arab street."
While Dawisha is far more critical of Israel than is Big Pharaoh, they reach similar conclusions about Nasrallah and crew. Both are furious with Hezbollah for initiating this war with their attack on Israel.
While Dawisha is far more critical of Israel than is Big Pharaoh, they reach similar conclusions about Nasrallah and crew. Both are furious with Hezbollah for initiating this war with their attack on Israel.
Friday, July 28, 2006
There's Larry Flynt and Hugh Hefner
And then, there's another despoiler of culture, the political pornographer, Ann Coulter.
I love Chris Matthews. But for him to compare her to the young George Will, as he does in the linked piece, is wildly inaccurate. Will always knew his stuff. Coulter is a verbal flame thrower.
In fact, I feel that we have miscategorized Coulter. She's no pundit. She's a stand-up comic. And not funny.
I love Chris Matthews. But for him to compare her to the young George Will, as he does in the linked piece, is wildly inaccurate. Will always knew his stuff. Coulter is a verbal flame thrower.
In fact, I feel that we have miscategorized Coulter. She's no pundit. She's a stand-up comic. And not funny.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Christian Faith: The Basics, Part 27
I know. I know. I just announced yesterday that I was putting this series on hold. But I got inspired.
Continuing to use Martin Luther's Small Catechism as our "skeleton" and specifically, explicating the Creed, I want to begin to talk with you today about God the Son, Jesus the Christ.
We start with the grand finale of the beautiful overture to the Gospel of John:
How is that? Because his words cut to the very core of what it means to confesses that, "Jesus is Lord." That is, "Jesus is over everything and everyone." (In another place, John quotes the risen Jesus describing Himself as, "the Alpha and the Omega," which is to say that He's the start and the finish, the beginning and the completion.)
Christianity is a faith rooted in the belief that God has revealed Himself to the world, repeatedly. And definitively.
Christian faith isn't based on the singular word of some toga-wearing holy man or some latte-drinking, pipe-smoking pseudo-intellectual, or a treasure-hunting, scam-selling opportunist telling us, "This is what I think God is like..." Or, "This is what God told me exclusively..."
We don't need to speculate about God's nature.
We don't need to accept the word of one person, the way Islam or Mormonism expect us to do.
God has revealed Himself to lots of people. In fact, the Old Testament describes how God slowly, patiently built up a whole people, revealing Himself in countless ways to many over the centuries, preparing that people--the Hebrews--to become the family into which the Savior would be born.
And then He showed up.
God the Son.
Jesus.
None of us, at least none of us in our currently earthly states, could look the perfect God of the universe square in the face. But God wanted to establish a relationship with the whole human race. And so, He became one of us, veiling His glory, sharing our humanity, walking among us. The divine became human. The prince became the pauper. The King became the servant. Jesus made the heart of the Father known to us. God Himself.
But why? That's a story. The best story.
More on that, God willing, in the next post of this series.
Continuing to use Martin Luther's Small Catechism as our "skeleton" and specifically, explicating the Creed, I want to begin to talk with you today about God the Son, Jesus the Christ.
We start with the grand finale of the beautiful overture to the Gospel of John:
No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. (John 1:18)Like another Gospel writer, Mark, John never gives an account of Jesus' birth. We have to rely on Luke and Matthew for our narratives of the Christmas story. But it's John's prologue, read by candlelight and framed with the singing of Silent Night that steals our hearts and stirs our minds at Lutheran churches each Christmas Eve. It's John who succinctly and eloquently captures the essence of Christmas.
How is that? Because his words cut to the very core of what it means to confesses that, "Jesus is Lord." That is, "Jesus is over everything and everyone." (In another place, John quotes the risen Jesus describing Himself as, "the Alpha and the Omega," which is to say that He's the start and the finish, the beginning and the completion.)
Christianity is a faith rooted in the belief that God has revealed Himself to the world, repeatedly. And definitively.
Christian faith isn't based on the singular word of some toga-wearing holy man or some latte-drinking, pipe-smoking pseudo-intellectual, or a treasure-hunting, scam-selling opportunist telling us, "This is what I think God is like..." Or, "This is what God told me exclusively..."
We don't need to speculate about God's nature.
We don't need to accept the word of one person, the way Islam or Mormonism expect us to do.
God has revealed Himself to lots of people. In fact, the Old Testament describes how God slowly, patiently built up a whole people, revealing Himself in countless ways to many over the centuries, preparing that people--the Hebrews--to become the family into which the Savior would be born.
And then He showed up.
God the Son.
Jesus.
None of us, at least none of us in our currently earthly states, could look the perfect God of the universe square in the face. But God wanted to establish a relationship with the whole human race. And so, He became one of us, veiling His glory, sharing our humanity, walking among us. The divine became human. The prince became the pauper. The King became the servant. Jesus made the heart of the Father known to us. God Himself.
But why? That's a story. The best story.
More on that, God willing, in the next post of this series.
The Gulf Between Classic Conservatives and the Neocon/Religious Right is Widening
As a pastor, I visit with a lot of folks here in the reddest part of the red state of Ohio. I rarely bring up politics with people. But sometimes, as the news of the day comes up in conversation, my predominantly Republican neighbors share their opinions.
That's why I found this David Broder article so interesting. The sentiments it reports among long-time conservative Republican activists reflect many of the comments that my conservative Republican neighbors are making these days.
Most of the evidence is just anecdotal, of course. But it appears to me that the Republican coalition is at risk of cracking at its seams.
One bit of emprical evidence for this suspicion may be what's happening in Ohio's gubernatorial election. Republicans have enjoyed something like one-party rule in Ohio for nearly two decades. But polls show that Democratic guberatorial nominee Ted Strickland is up by twenty points over the Republican Ken Blackwell as we head for the November election.
There are no doubt many reasons behind this: Strickland's proven vote-getting ability among Republicans and independents, suspicions over Blackwell's handling of elections in his role as Secretary of State, and the single-digit approval rating for the current Republican Governor.
But down below the surface, one sees that it's because Blackwell hasn't won over his fellow Republicans that he's in trouble here. While Strickland enjoys support from 81% of his fellow Dems, Blackwell has 61% of Republicans in his corner.
One possible explanation for Blackwell's failure to excite his base is his close identification with the Religious Right. He's been known to carry Bibles to political rallies, he's countenanced questionable political fund-raising in churches, and he gives stump speeches during worship services.
Many Christians, including me, don't like the second or third activities enumerated above at all. No matter how authentic Blackwell's faith may be, using the church to advance one's political career leaves a bad taste in the mouths of even conservative Bible-believing Christians.
The winning Republican coalition knit together over the past twenty years and exploited most recently by George Bush and Karl Rove to gain squeaker wins in two consecutive presidential elections, has included classic conservatives and the Religious Right.
The conservatives could stand being with the RR so long as conservatism held sway in the resulting governmental policies. But now, it seems that the agenda of the Religious Right has overtaken the Republican Party and that leaves conservatives dismayed.
Of course, Democrats, being Democrats, are likely to find ways to muff the opportunities for midterm election gains that Republican divisions have given them in 2006.
And here in Ohio, the same poll showing Strickland's twenty-point lead over Blackwell also shows that 26% of the electorate remains undecided about the gubernatorial race.
Interestingly though, in this year when the tide seems to be running against Republicans, Senator Mike DeWine, a classic conservative, is only eight points behind his challenger, Sherrod Brown, with 18 percent of those polled undecided.
Nonetheless, it appears that the gulf between conventional conservative Republicans, with their beliefs in small government, frugal spending, unobtrusive policies, and foreign policy realism, on the one hand, and the allies of the Bush Administration, with its robust neoconservative policies, on the other, appears to be widening.
[Thanks to Ruminating Pilgrim for linking to this post.]
[My friend Rob Asghar has linked to this post, perhaps with a bit of relish.]
[Thanks to Article 6 Blog for linking to this post.]
That's why I found this David Broder article so interesting. The sentiments it reports among long-time conservative Republican activists reflect many of the comments that my conservative Republican neighbors are making these days.
Most of the evidence is just anecdotal, of course. But it appears to me that the Republican coalition is at risk of cracking at its seams.
One bit of emprical evidence for this suspicion may be what's happening in Ohio's gubernatorial election. Republicans have enjoyed something like one-party rule in Ohio for nearly two decades. But polls show that Democratic guberatorial nominee Ted Strickland is up by twenty points over the Republican Ken Blackwell as we head for the November election.
There are no doubt many reasons behind this: Strickland's proven vote-getting ability among Republicans and independents, suspicions over Blackwell's handling of elections in his role as Secretary of State, and the single-digit approval rating for the current Republican Governor.
But down below the surface, one sees that it's because Blackwell hasn't won over his fellow Republicans that he's in trouble here. While Strickland enjoys support from 81% of his fellow Dems, Blackwell has 61% of Republicans in his corner.
One possible explanation for Blackwell's failure to excite his base is his close identification with the Religious Right. He's been known to carry Bibles to political rallies, he's countenanced questionable political fund-raising in churches, and he gives stump speeches during worship services.
Many Christians, including me, don't like the second or third activities enumerated above at all. No matter how authentic Blackwell's faith may be, using the church to advance one's political career leaves a bad taste in the mouths of even conservative Bible-believing Christians.
The winning Republican coalition knit together over the past twenty years and exploited most recently by George Bush and Karl Rove to gain squeaker wins in two consecutive presidential elections, has included classic conservatives and the Religious Right.
The conservatives could stand being with the RR so long as conservatism held sway in the resulting governmental policies. But now, it seems that the agenda of the Religious Right has overtaken the Republican Party and that leaves conservatives dismayed.
Of course, Democrats, being Democrats, are likely to find ways to muff the opportunities for midterm election gains that Republican divisions have given them in 2006.
And here in Ohio, the same poll showing Strickland's twenty-point lead over Blackwell also shows that 26% of the electorate remains undecided about the gubernatorial race.
Interestingly though, in this year when the tide seems to be running against Republicans, Senator Mike DeWine, a classic conservative, is only eight points behind his challenger, Sherrod Brown, with 18 percent of those polled undecided.
Nonetheless, it appears that the gulf between conventional conservative Republicans, with their beliefs in small government, frugal spending, unobtrusive policies, and foreign policy realism, on the one hand, and the allies of the Bush Administration, with its robust neoconservative policies, on the other, appears to be widening.
[Thanks to Ruminating Pilgrim for linking to this post.]
[My friend Rob Asghar has linked to this post, perhaps with a bit of relish.]
[Thanks to Article 6 Blog for linking to this post.]
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Putting 'Christian Faith: The Basics' on Ice for Now
I'm taking a hiatus from my Christian Faith: The Basics blog series for now.
I had to stop a series one other time. I was writing about servanthood and didn't feel quite ready to do the series the way I wanted to do it. Later, I was able to present 40-Days to Servanthood, one of the most widely-read and well-received sets of posts I've presented in four-plus years of blogging. So, I'll keep things percolating and keep on praying and have at the series again sometime soon.
There are twenty-five parts to the Christian Faith: The Basics series. You can use the Google This Blog function to find them.
Of course, I'm going to continue blogging here at Better Living!
I had to stop a series one other time. I was writing about servanthood and didn't feel quite ready to do the series the way I wanted to do it. Later, I was able to present 40-Days to Servanthood, one of the most widely-read and well-received sets of posts I've presented in four-plus years of blogging. So, I'll keep things percolating and keep on praying and have at the series again sometime soon.
There are twenty-five parts to the Christian Faith: The Basics series. You can use the Google This Blog function to find them.
Of course, I'm going to continue blogging here at Better Living!
Doomed To Be a Fine Character Actor
Jack Warden died on July 19.I first became aware of Jack Warden when he starred in the forgettable, Wackiest Ship in the Army, one of a spate of World War Two-related sitcoms that began with 1962's McHale's Navy and included Hogan's Heroes.
(Have you ever noticed how lamely uncreative network programmers are? When, by some miraculous, involuntary turn of events, a new idea makes it past their office transoms and onto the air and, with little thanks to them, becomes a hit, they suddenly order fifty clones into production. "You like 24? Okay, we'll give you fifteen more episodic adventure stories just like it." "You like news magazines like 60 Minutes? Here, have a 48-Hours, a 20/20, and, to prove that we're creative enough not to use a number in the name of our news magazine, a Dateline." "Reality shows? Try this one. We call it The Idol Survivor Dances with the Iron Chef on the Runway."
(McHale's Navy, I'm sure, was partly inspired by the stage and film success of Mr. Roberts. While that was a comedy, the reality of war was never ignored as it was in these 60s sitcoms. Indeed, the title character dies at the end of the production.)
Fortunately by the time the Wackiest Ship sailed onto and off of our TV screens, Jack Warden had already established himself as a fine character actor and a quick perusal of his filmography on imdb.com demonstrates that he maintained a full four-decade-plus run of film appearances.
I'm especially fond of three Warden performances. The first was as Juror #7 in the incredible Twelve Angry Men (1957). He's a creep whose primary concern isn't doing justice, but escaping the jury room in time to watch a ball game.
His elderly friend of the family in Sandra Bullock's While You Were Sleeping (1995) may have been a bit cliche, but Warden pulled it off well. The part showcases his ability to be tender as well as tough.
His portrayal of the wonderfully flustered Max Corkle in Heaven Can Wait (1978) was part of the glue holding that Warren Beatty vehicle together.
Warden made numerous guest appearances on various TV serials and starred in no fewer than three, each doomed to fail. He never made it as a TV headliner. Nor was he ever a movie star. He was doomed instead to be a fine film character actor. There's nothing wrong with being second fiddle.
(See here and here.)
A: Ken Jennings
Q: What Salt Lake software developer is so desperate to maintain his tenuous hold on near-celebrity status that, on his web site, he bites the hand that presented him with it?
Time to get a life, Ken.
Time to get a life, Ken.
Second Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson: Ephesians 3:14-21
Ephesians 3:14-21 is the lesson around which our worship at Friendship Lutheran Church will be built this weekend. You can find the first pass at the lesson, with general comments here.
14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
(1) The phrase, "for this reason" refers back to 3:1, in which we're told that Paul is imprisoned for the sake of preaching the Gospel about Jesus Christ to Gentiles.
(2) Although going to one's knees was not an unknown prayer posture in the Biblical tradition, it was not the most common stance for prayer. In the Bible, most instances of people being on their knees refer to subservience to some powerful earthly person. Given the Ephesian culture's penchant for sychophancy to Roman authority, this image of prayer may be a deliberate way of saying, "God is greater than all the Roman governors, emperors, or gods to which you give homage. It's to the living Father of the universe that I bow."
15from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.
(1) There's a play on words here that isn't apparent in English. The Greek word for father is pater. The word translated as family is patria, which can be aptly translated as clan, race, nation, or patrimony. The sense of the two verses that begin the lesson is: "I bow down in prayer to the Father Who fathers every people." As one scholar notes of this passage, "God is the archetypal father."
16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit,
(1) Paul presents part one of his prayer for the Ephesian church. He asks that the Ephesian Christians be filled with strength in the power of God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit given to all believers in Jesus Christ.
If believers are filled with the Spirit, why do they need to be filled again? Billy Graham deals with this well in his fantastic book, The Holy Spirit. He says that out of the abundance of His life, God gives His Spirit to all when they come to believe in Christ. But those believers can also be filled again and again, for their consolation; for reminders of God's love, presence, and power in the midst of trying circumstances; and for sharing Christ with others by our words and actions.
(2) God has a storehouse of strength for us, drawn from "the riches of his glory." This is not the last time that God's glory will be mentioned in the passage.
17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
(1) The notion of Christ dwelling in Christians is a theme of last week's lesson from Ephesians. (See here, here, and here.)
The idea of Christ living in believers in Him is consistent with Paul's view, as expressed to the Athenians, who were fond of erecting monuments to gods, when he said:
18I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
(1) The knowledge that Paul prays the Ephesians will acquire is the capacity to comprehend how great the God we meet in Christ truly is. The grandeur of God and his appreciation of the uniqueness of Christ is what attracted scientist Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, to faith in Christ.
(2) See here.
19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
(1) To know something that surpasses knowledge is to experience something beyond intellectual entrapment.
(2) The thing to be known is the love of Christ. Knowing that fills us with the fullness of God because, as John reminds us, "God is love."
20Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
(1) In the Church and in Christ, may God's glory be apparent for all coming generations. This is, as mentioned in my first pass at the passage, a doxology, a word of glory for God.
(2) Once again, the emphasis is on how God's glory comes to live in believers of Jesus.
14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
(1) The phrase, "for this reason" refers back to 3:1, in which we're told that Paul is imprisoned for the sake of preaching the Gospel about Jesus Christ to Gentiles.
(2) Although going to one's knees was not an unknown prayer posture in the Biblical tradition, it was not the most common stance for prayer. In the Bible, most instances of people being on their knees refer to subservience to some powerful earthly person. Given the Ephesian culture's penchant for sychophancy to Roman authority, this image of prayer may be a deliberate way of saying, "God is greater than all the Roman governors, emperors, or gods to which you give homage. It's to the living Father of the universe that I bow."
15from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.
(1) There's a play on words here that isn't apparent in English. The Greek word for father is pater. The word translated as family is patria, which can be aptly translated as clan, race, nation, or patrimony. The sense of the two verses that begin the lesson is: "I bow down in prayer to the Father Who fathers every people." As one scholar notes of this passage, "God is the archetypal father."
16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit,
(1) Paul presents part one of his prayer for the Ephesian church. He asks that the Ephesian Christians be filled with strength in the power of God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit given to all believers in Jesus Christ.
If believers are filled with the Spirit, why do they need to be filled again? Billy Graham deals with this well in his fantastic book, The Holy Spirit. He says that out of the abundance of His life, God gives His Spirit to all when they come to believe in Christ. But those believers can also be filled again and again, for their consolation; for reminders of God's love, presence, and power in the midst of trying circumstances; and for sharing Christ with others by our words and actions.
(2) God has a storehouse of strength for us, drawn from "the riches of his glory." This is not the last time that God's glory will be mentioned in the passage.
17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
(1) The notion of Christ dwelling in Christians is a theme of last week's lesson from Ephesians. (See here, here, and here.)
The idea of Christ living in believers in Him is consistent with Paul's view, as expressed to the Athenians, who were fond of erecting monuments to gods, when he said:
"The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands..." (Acts 17:24)Jesus was getting at this same point when He told the Samaritan woman He met by the well at Sychar:
"...the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24While things like altars, candles, and stained glass may help people to worship the God we meet in Jesus Christ, they aren't necessary. Christ doesn't dwell in things. He dwells in living people, who draw their life from Him alone.
18I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
(1) The knowledge that Paul prays the Ephesians will acquire is the capacity to comprehend how great the God we meet in Christ truly is. The grandeur of God and his appreciation of the uniqueness of Christ is what attracted scientist Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, to faith in Christ.
(2) See here.
19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
(1) To know something that surpasses knowledge is to experience something beyond intellectual entrapment.
(2) The thing to be known is the love of Christ. Knowing that fills us with the fullness of God because, as John reminds us, "God is love."
20Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
(1) In the Church and in Christ, may God's glory be apparent for all coming generations. This is, as mentioned in my first pass at the passage, a doxology, a word of glory for God.
(2) Once again, the emphasis is on how God's glory comes to live in believers of Jesus.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
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