HER Church

This shouldn't be a surprise, but I am still a little dumbfounded. I don't even know where to start. I guess the first question I have about www.herchurch.org is what kind of self respecting man would attend such a church.

The name of the web site alone should be enough to run off a real man (there I go making judgements about people I have never met). Of course after actually visiting the web site it turns out my judgements were right on. Of course I am probably sexist. In reality it appears, based on the pictures I saw, that people of the male gender actually do attend this "church."

I wish this site were some kind of joke, but it is not. The underlying issues is serious. There are a lot of weird churches out there, but this is an ELCA church. I know the ELCA is having some problems on many levels, but this is ridiculous. Luther would be horrified by a church like this claiming to somehow be associated with his teachings.

A friend of mine is a lead pastor at an ELCA church not far from us. I know him and his theology well. He believes in the Bible and loves God.

I bring this up for two reasons. First, those in the ELCA who still believe in the God of the Bible need our prayers. Second, we must draw lines in the sand. This second part is difficult. Our culture tells us we must be accepting and loving towards everyone no matter what they believe. Sometime we really need to follow the example of Jesus and call snakes, snakes and vipers, vipers.

Carbon Credits, Indulgences, & an Inconvenient Truth

With the earth warming and man running around destroying everything it seems there is a simple solution. The solution is Carbon Credits (hereafter called indulgences). Rather than actually doing something to limit the "Carbon Foot Print" of mankind we can simply write a check to Al Gore or whoever it is that is planting trees in an effort to "offset" the treasure chest of grace in our favor.

Whatever you think about Global warming let's be honest. Those who are running around spreading this inconvenient message would have been great Catholic Priests back in the day. Not only do they want live High on the Hog (whatever that means), but they want to make everyone else pay for it. They are just like the Pharisees praying on the corner. They live in extravagant houses that take lots of energy to heat and light while flying around in their private jets, but don't worry!!! They purchase Carbon Credits so everything will be OK!!

So Here is my idea. When the offering gets low just hit your congregation up for a few indulgences. I guess it's not a new idea, but it is being recycled in politics. I say keep your money and spend it on a hybrid car that can't pass emissions.

Speaking as a Former Fetus...

What a great title!! I wish it was original with me. Sometimes perspective is everything and this title alone gives us perspective on the infanticide that has been taking place in America since Roe v. Wade. Thank God for at least 5 sane minds on the Supreme Court!!

Click on the Title to see the article that originally used this title.

Is Scripture Sufficient for Faith and Practice??

I have to be honest, the title of this post is worded very carefully to make a specific point. Evangelicalism and certainly the Alliance holds to a very high view of scripture. We believe it is the word of God, but do we really believe it is sufficient?

Think about this for a minute. When God speaks His word is infallible and authoritative, right? So no matter who God speaks to or in what circumstances His word is perfect and never mistaken. If that is true then when God gives someone a message that message is as authoritative and infallible as scripture itself. WOW that scares me a little bit.

I wonder if many Christians who claim God has spoken to them really want to continue to claim that kind of a word from God. It seems to me that would create all kinds of theological problems. If Scripture is sufficient for faith and practice, then why do we need additional messages from God?

Should We Vote for a Morman?

The presidential election is a long ways off, but it isn't too early to start asking ourselves some tough questions. As a Christian I believe that if Mit Romney was to die his eternal destiny would not include entering the pearly gates. Should that really stop me from voting for Mr. Romney?

Who knows what will happen between now and November of 2008, we may not ever have an opportunity to chose Mit Romney that Tuesday. Still for those who take part in primaries it is a valid question. What if it was between Rudy and Mit or Newt and Mit? I don't know at this moment what I would do. I do know that Mit's eternal destiny will not influence my decision and I don't think it should influence yours either. Let me explain:

First, let's keep things in perspective. We are not asking him to be our spiritual leader. This is not ancient Egypt or some other place that will anoint him as some kind of spiritual leader. President Bush is not and should not be our spiritual leader. As president his role will not be to propagate Mormonism and the American public along with the main stream media would not allow him to do that.

Second, when is the last time (prior to "W") that you considered a person's eternal destiny as a factor when deciding who to vote for? If you are like me you have probably never given it much thought. If our current president was an Atheist I would have still voted for him.

Third, Romney's values and belief's closely match those of a Christian worldview. We do not live in a theocracy.

I don't know who I will vote for in the primaries or in November 2008. Whatever your political views or criteria for choosing who you will vote for that persons eternal destiny would not be part of the decision making process.

A Copy Cat Already?

A student in St. Johns County Florida was arrested for a plot to kill 100 students.

Things We Shouldn't Know

I am as curious as anyone about the state of mind the shooter had at Va Tech. I want to know what caused him to do such a horrible thing. I watched the video on TV because of my curiosity. Still I am not so sure it was good for me to see it. Perhaps this is the very kind of thing that should be voluntarily edited.

The networks have the right to do whatever they want with it. It was given to them. That said these networks will not even show a fan running out onto a football field. They won't do that because they do not want to encourage others to do it. Shouldn't the same logic be applied here? Showing this kind of behavior benefits no one. There is no upside it is disturbing.

Someone running out onto a football field or baseball field is pretty insignificant (and really stupid), but 32 people dead is not. This shooter referenced his idols (those who perpetrated Columbine) on this video. In essence this was a copy cat shooting. Instead of simply saying this guy was mentally ill (a case that could easily be made without the video of him with guns) we provide food for the sharks. This guy became famous in his death! That is what he wanted and we gave it to him. Now we have told any wanna be mass murderers that they too will become famous in their death if they do something like this.

We would have been better off not seeing these disturbing videos and not hearing the disturbing audio.

Nice job networks, way to show some self discipline!!

Jumping on the Gun Law Bandwagon

I hate to say it, but my mom was right again. Before I elaborate on what exactly she was right about let me make some things clear. Guns scare me. I love hunting and I enjoy shooting guns of all kinds. Still I have witnessed guns going off accidentally. Fortunately care was being taken and the gun was pointed in a safe direction! The only thing that got hit was the dirt. Of course one of my brothers accidentally shot his middle toe off with a deer rifle while deer hunting. Fortunately no deer were harmed in the incident.

Last year a student at Virginia Tech got in trouble for legally carrying a concealed hand gun to class. He had a permit to carry the weapon and was not breaking any law by doing so. Virginia Tech evidently believed a gun free zone was the best way to keep students safe. I wonder if we would be talking about this tragedy in the same way had VT decided to allow students who went through the necessary applications and training to acquire such a permit to carry on campus?

The thought of incompetent or unqualified people carrying around a hand gun scares the living daylights out of me. Still I continue to think about what my mom said, "if we outlaw guns only the outlaws will have guns!" It turns out in the gun free zone VT had created that adage was true. I guess mom is smarter than I thought.

Christianity and the Fairness Doctrine

I don't care what your political views are! Actually I do, but not for the moment. Whether you are liberal or conservative this is a big deal. The Fairness Doctrine (some of you may remember this idea from the mid 80's) is making a comeback. Basically this doctrine says if you propagate a conservative view you MUST also provide a liberal view on public airways. The reverse is also true.

At first this idea sounds good. You might be thinking, "hey this may allow my viewpoint to be heard by people who may not want to hear it, and that would be good!" Ya, you might be right about that, but is that really what you want? The opposite is also true. For the moment this doctrine is focused on political speech, but again what is good for the goose is good for the gander.............. OK, I don't know what that means but my grandma says it, so it must be good. I think it means that if this principal applies to political speech why wouldn't it apply to religious speech?

Imagine for a moment holding a church service in which you were preaching the gospel story (hopefully that is every Sunday) This service was going so good you thought an alter call might be appropriate. You had given a convincing presentation of the gospel story and there were many "unbelievers" attending that day. many people responded to the gospel, well say 15. What a day!!! Then when you were done a Muslim got up and pointed out all the flaws in your argument and presented the "Muslim gospel." If you think your services are long now, just wait!!

Of course this is crazy, it would never happen right! Don't be so sure. The right to free speech does not guarantee the right to be heard. We have to earn the right to be heard. That is as it should be. Examine the problems of preaching God's word in countries that do not allow free speech in a similar fashion to the United States. That should motivate you to pay attention to this political issue. Perhaps persecution is exactly what the church needs, but I would like to try without it.

The Culture of Entitlement and Laziness

In a society ruled by consumerism and ME, ME, MEness I am amazed at the lazy attitude so many teens and twenty somethings have toward their job. You would think those who demand so much of the world to revolve around them would understand something as simple as customer service.

No longer does anyone really need to be good at there job in order to keep it. All they have to do is show up on time and look busy most of the time. Never mind having any sort of competence. It seems so many people need a basic economics lesson. In other words: The company exist to make money, the customer consumes the product or service, so if the individuals who work for the company do a good job of providing the product or service the company makes more money and the employees make more money as well (if it is a good company).

I am sick of being ignored when I go to consume my product of choice and having to settle for a poor product. Certainly this is a parenting issue, but you would think in the many years most of these students spend in the school system they would find some time to explain the free market to students. I guess there is probably enough blame to go around to the employers as well. Of course lets not for the workers themselves.

All I ever hear from so many people is a bunch of whining and complaining, "I don't get paid enough, so I'm not going to work hard" (maybe that is why they don't get paid well), "I don't have health insurance" (as if that is somehow the companies fault. Work a little harder and maybe you will get some benefits, they aren't free for the company to provide so it is just like a pay raise), "I am not doing my job because I don't like it" (fine, go live in a homeless shelter and see if you like that!). The list seems endless!!

I have only two words for those people, MAN UP......That should work for the men at least.

For the women I have different words they are the same as "man up" except they are more gender sensitive. I would simply say them, but I am afraid that would be too direct for the ladies. I figure if I beat around the bush and imply the meaning women will understand more clearly what I am trying to say only they won't take any offense to it. Of course I am beginning to wonder if my choice of many words is really keeping me out of trouble. As with my wife I am afraid that in my attempt to be more considerate and gentle I have simply dug a deeper hole than if I had just come out and said what I was thinking.

Don't Mess With a Woman

I don't intend to make light of the issue, but if you think words are not powerful, think again. A pastor's wife in Tennessee decided enough was enough. Her husband evidently criticized her too much. Evidently divorce was not an option, but murder was.

This is a tragic story and it should remind us of several things starting with how powerful our words are and ending with our need to be real and honest regarding the troubles we face.

Click on the title to read the story.

A Life Without Hope

Growing up I learned about cars. I can find my way around a car and fix most problems. I know enough to avoid getting ripped off by crooked mechanics. I don't particularly like working on cars, but I am glad my dad taught me. In many ways I feel sympathy for those who don't know much about cars. When something goes wrong with their car they probably feel pretty hopeless. Many of them probably hope they don't get ripped off by a dishonest mechanic.

Many people feel a sense of hopelessness in life at some point. They will begin to ask questions about life and its meaning. Some give up on life. Some may not realize the hopeless life they are living!

What a privilege it is to be ambassadors of Christ! What a privilege to bring a message of hope to the world. The question is, "are we actually bringing a message of hope or are we simply relishing the fact that we have that message?"

It's The Churches Fault!

The "church" is the culprit of many things. It is the church that has, at times, done such things as support Hitler, performed witch hunts, used political power for unworthy causes, protected pedophiles, and probably other horrible things. When the church does perpetrate evil, it should be held accountable!

Many evils the church is given credit for perpetrating are not really the church's fault at all. In many circles the church is viewed as being harsh and judgmental. Sometimes it is, but more often than not it is more a perception than a reality. We all have stories about we have been judged or hurt by someone. I know I do. I am not convinced the church is nearly as judgmental as they have been made out to be.

I have experienced two things that I believe show this perception to be at least partially false. First, I have seen to many people with a guilty conscience claim judgmentalism when there wasn't any. I have watched people who have sin or some other kind of struggle claim people were talking behind their back, avoiding them, or judging them in some way when people didn't even know anything was going on.

Second, I have found that when people are brave enough to be honest about their struggles more often than not the church responds with love and a desire for restoration.

Maybe it (whatever it is) is not the fault of the church as much as the fault of fallen humanity in general. Maybe we should quit blaming the church for everything and simply do our best to practice biblical Christianity.

Where is the ressurection? A new question

For many years I was pretty much scared of the Old Testament. It intimidated me! Still does some times. It seems to depend more on the historical context than the New Testament. It also seems to require a better memory than God has given me. Still over the past few years I have developed a longing for the Old Testament and a better understanding of it. My theology has morphed and changed into a more complete (still needs a lot of work though) understanding of God's redemptive plan. As I have been preparing for Easter I decided to go to the O.T. After all that is pretty much what the apostles had to work with.

This has given me a new question. Where is the Resurrection? I don't mean in the New Testament. I am very familiar with all the evidence of the Resurrection of Christ. What is baffling me right now is the lack of a more specific prophecy regarding the Resurrection of Christ. The general theme of Resurrection appears in several passages like Ezekiel 37 and Daniel 12, but it is a general theme. God took time to accurately and specifically foretell a messiah and savior who would go to the cross and endure significant torture. God took time to foretell the birth of Christ in a pretty specific way, why not the Resurrection?

This isn't rhetorical, I would love some thoughts!!