Randy Thomas

I didn't watch President Obama's speech.  But I can imagine it went something like this ...

My fellow Americans ... I know we are all broke, well ... except for ... I mean ... you are ...  but suck it up and go help build a new road or blame Wall Street or something.  I hear the IRS is hiring ...

::: scan to the right ::: blah blah blah from the right teleprompter

::: scan to the left ::: blah blah blah from the left teleprompter

This post is a personal experience I have had recently and the resulting reflection.  As such I posted it here and not on the Exodus Blog.  I think it would be fine posted there (and maybe I will cross-post it there later) but it just seems right to post it here.

---

It was a summer night in 1986, 3:30ish in the morning. The bars had just closed, I was buzzed and sitting quietly in the back seat as my friend Rick was giving Kevin ( in the passenger seat and not his real name) and I a ride to our respective homes. Rick's partner Gary was in the back seat with me. He was quiet too.

Kevin however was anything but quiet. Kevin was through the roof mad as hornet about everything and everyone. Kevin smoked cocaine. They called it free-basing back in the day. And even with my drug filled past that was something I was never a part of so I might not be describing it accurately. All I know is that when Kevin did that he was hilarious on stage (a female impersonator) and a nightmare (meanest person you ever ran across) off stage.

I made the unfortunate drunken mistake of trying to say something nice to out of his mind high Kevin and he insulted me up/down/inside/out/right/left and in what seemed like seven different languages only known to drag queens. He made fun of my age, my looks, my stupidity. He threatened me. I was never able to go to that particular club after that ... at 18, I was under age. They all knew that but there wasn't any more winking as this young one produced the horribly botched fake I.D.

You didn't get on Kevin's bad side and not pay a price.

Gary and I just looked at each other with big wide eyes as Kevin peeled the paint off the car with his verbal tirade. Rick tried, and failed, to calm him down. You simply didn't mess with Kevin when he was like this.


We dropped Kevin off and as I watched him stumble to the door of his condo, I can remember thinking how awesome of an artist he was but how miserable he obviously was as well. He made a lot of money and was like ... famous. He had a wealthy partner (from what I heard tell) and amazing (what I thought) friends and yet a very upset and angry person.

I remember Rick (the only sober one in the car) trying to make sure I was alright and not letting Kevin tear me down. I was alright. I was more annoyed with them not letting me smoke in their car than I was about being cussed out by Kevin.

I would only see Kevin a couple more times after that at various parties.

24 years later I friended someone I used to party with during that time on Facebook. I wanted to reach out to him with the love and grace of friendship.  Out of the blue, one of their friends posted a picture of Kevin to their Facebook wall. The problem is that the picture was of a picture of Kevin on the AIDS quilt. He passed away from AIDS a while ago.

I wept.

I didn't even know the man aside from his stage personae and the night he cussed me out and yet there I was ... weeping. Not breaking down with sackcloth and ashes kind of weeping but stirred with emotions that surprised me. I think perhaps it's due in part that my last memory of him was negative.  It might also be due in part that the Holy Spirit was stirring up a love for someone that God Himself knew very well.

If you read my article Grace & Gay Men you will know that I don't believe AIDS is God's curse on gay men. It's a part of this fallen world just like any other disease. And as such, it has killed too many people I love. Even more people I know and love are living with the virus today.

All kinds of questions came to mind about Kevin as I mourned his passing. What was his childhood like? How did God see him? Did he kick his drug addiction before passing? Did he know Jesus? Who are his friends and what would they say about him?

I'll never know. Of course I have no reason to expect to find out all of that. All God let me experience of Kevin was a handful of snapshots. It reminds me of my finite perspective as compared to God's infinite love. God knows Kevin better than Kevin did. God knows us all better than we do of ourselves.

And from what I know of God, He is good. I can trust that His love for Kevin never faltered or wavered. God knows every circumstance, talent, good decisions, bad decisions and so much more about Kevin. God is *very* good. He is merciful and just.

So I hand my snapshots of Kevin to God ... thank Him for giving Kevin life and pray for what the Lord brings to mind.

I like Glenn Beck.  I like his radio show better than his TV show but I don't ever get to listen to his radio show much.  He's funnier on the radio and scream-ier on TV.

The other night (Wednesday maybe?) on his television show he said that tomorrow's "8/28 Restoring Honor" event was not a "Christian thing but a God thing."

m'kay ... ixnay on the istianChray but ok on "God."

It's great that the rally is happening and it is great that people of all kinds of beliefs will be there but what good is it to characterize it not being Christian when I don't think (unless I missed something) many people thought it was a Christian thing?  Most people thought it was going to be a a really really really large peaceful protest over where our country is headed.

Am I wrong?

Also, what is going on in Glenn's head that can excuse taking the "Christ" element out of God?  Maybe he is trying to distance it from the political cultural christianity of the past thirty or so years?

I wish I could be there for the grand spectacle of it all.  It will definitely be something for the history books.  I believe most of what the event is about needs to be done. Just interested to see what actually happens.  This week it seems he is going after the spiritual angle more than anything else.  Although I don't watch him that often, I didn't sense that being the primary angle before.

Excuse me but ... did you just giggle?

The question was asked,

Surprised to not see a bunch of activists outside.  Didn't see any signs for Governor or Senate primaries either. Is there a law about that during primaries or something?

Did voting give me a headache?
___

Today I exercised my civic duty and personal right to vote!  I headed on down to the polling place on the way to work and voted for, among other races, Marco Rubio to be the Republican candidate for Senate and Bill McCollum to be the Republican candidate for Governor.

Voting for Rubio was easy.  Crist twists in the wind of political fortune and will apparently say whatever needs to be said to be elected. So he will run as an independent.  It's weird to go from supporting him (I voted for him) to losing all respect but ... there it is.

I was going to vote for Rick Scott in the Governor's race but something in my gut didn't like the "unknown."  The known was scandalous enough.  McCollum has got his own baggage but at least he is a known quantity.  After the horrid negative campaigning I wish I had a third or fourth option but alas ... I ended up voting for McCollum.


One thing I have noticed is that the anti-incumbent attitude is opening the door for some really rich business people who got to be rich by knowing how to work their own systems.  That could be a good thing ... or not.  The business world can produce the exact same kind of political wrangling, manipulation and corruption.  The difference is that in the business world you either produce or your fired ... no elections there.

Is it possible for a person of modest means to be elected to a high office?  Earthly systems are SO completely human!

I actually woke up with a headache that turned into a migraine. I was out of meds so went to the doctor. They gave me a shot of migraine meds that got rid of the headache but made me feel really weird for a couple of hours.

I guess I am really tired of politics if I end up getting a migraine after voting :).  So, it will be a Fox News evening as I watch the polls closed and the winners announced.

So Elton John got lambasted by gay activists for performing at Rush Limbaugh's wedding.

And ...

Ann Coulter is being lambasted by conservative activists for her future speaking engagement at "Homocon 2010*" run by the gay group GOProud.

Does anyone see any similarities?  I do:

• Here we see the top female (Ann) and male (Rush) conservative voices engaging some in the gay community on their terms.  
• We also see people who identify as gay reaching out to social conservatives with a measure of civility.

There are pro's and con's to everything.  I have no doubt there are other motivations by all parties ... but I wonder if these events might indicate that we are finally moving beyond the typical culture war rhetoric of the past 30 or so years?

I'm still pondering and watching.

Granted, my first concern is faith based issues and I am not currently involved in public policy (aside from voting and a little bit of blogging here and there.)  Regardless, I find these two situations interesting beyond politics to the broader cultural implications.

***

*Homocon is the actual name GOProud came up with, not me.

Here is a great short interview with Franklin Graham who very succinctly puts proper context on President Obama's faith journey while also explaining how to become a Christian.  It was a great response in that it was informative, to the point and not judging President Obama's heart.






So why did I put the "apostate" in the title?  Because in the Muslim world Obama is "apostate" for renouncing Islam and having accepted Christ.

I am not a theologian but I have learned more about the Church Obama belonged to and if the black liberation theology and collective salvation elements are true then I believe they are following a false gospel.  Regardless, Graham is right on to explain the process of becoming a Christian and if Obama has done that (a transaction that does boil down to him and God alone) then we have to assume that he is saved (a Christian.)

Now is he an apostate Christian?  I would say the fruit of his life (actions) leans that way.  He obviously (to me at least) puts his faith in politics and his own leadership first.  I never see him preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and dependency on God. I do see him always preaching about public policy being the road to justice, self-sufficiency and quality of life.

And to be fair, I don't hear Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin dedicating their speeches and shows to Jesus.  FOX News doesn't dedicate each show to the name of Jesus Christ. The accountability questions for apostasy could be made in many ways that might make many "conservatives" squirm as well.

Back to the question at hand, Is Obama an apostate Christian?  I don't have an answer and don't think I have to have one.  I think it is right to ask these questions because a person's spiritual life is very important. Especially if that person is the leader of 300,000,000 people and maybe the most influential man on the planet.  While it is right to ask the questions and judge his actions, I don't think it is our right to judge the man's heart.

Question: If Obama were to have a press conference about his faith and declare that Jesus is Lord of is his life ... would that put an end to the speculation? ... Would you believe him?  How would you view him, the same or differently?

Years ago, like 2004 - 05?, I decided to have a post dedicated to facilitating THE LONGEST COMMENT THREAD EVER!!!!  It was a joyous time in the previous iteration of this blog.  We got over a thousand comments! But through the various migrations, imports, exports and what not... it got mangled and now sits in a very messy raw data file on my computer.

One of the great things about that thread was that it was often hilarious.  We met new people through it and some really good online fellowship and friendship resulted.  Cheryl reminded me of that on Facebook the other day and I asked, "Should we try to do it again?" She said, "Why not!"

So ... here we are!



Now I know there are big dog blogs that can get thousands of comments in a matter of days ... but we are going to go into a reality where they don't exist and create our LONGEST COMMENT THREAD EVER!!!! ... AGAIN!!!!

If this takes off anywhere near what the last one did we could have many more comments than before.  We have a more robust commenting system than before and social networking wasn't around last time either.

Now, I do have a comment policy but I will be much more lenient.  I won't stand for porn, personal attacks or attacks on people on a post-gay journey (ex-gay's) or Exodus.  That didn't seem to be a huge issue before but I won't let it be one this time.  So, all you beloved hippie libber friends of mine ... post all you want.  You will also note that there are ways to post pics and videos ... again ... don't abuse that privilege or you will be cast out of the LONGEST COMMENT THREAD EVER!!!! ... AGAIN!!!!

And you will be sad and lonely for the rest of your days if that happens.  We don't want sad and lonely.

I will also have life changing awards of written praise for those that post mile-marker awards. Seriously your public profile will be the HUGEST most famous online profile if you happen to be that person.  The first award will be given at 50 comments, then 100, then 250, 500, 1000 and then every 500 more after that.  If you think it needs to be different intervals ... leave a comment!

Nobody ever accused me of not having big vision :).

So...get to commenting!  I will update this post with the LCTE-A!!! Mile Marker Winners.  Don't forget to click the Twitter and Facebook share buttons at the bottom of this post to invite your social network friends to participate.  Because you know that all your dreams will come true if you do ... right?

Let's do this.

AWARDS:
10:27 PM EDT - The fiftieth comment award goes to Melanee!!!! Here is the follow up blessing.
11:05 PM August 23rd, 2010 EDT - The One Hundredth comment award goes to Stan!!! Here is the follow up blessing.

There are around 300 million Americans in the United States and every single one of them seems to have spoken out publicly about the Ground Zero Mosque except for a five year old named Benny and me.

Now Benny has not spoken out yet because he is too busy singing along with his favorite movie The Lion King and/or taunting his sister with the lizard he found on the back porch.  I haven't spoken about it, until now, because not everyone has to have an opinion about everything.  I wanted to make sure I actually had one I believed in before posting.

And I guess if Miss America can have an opinion I can too.

To the side that says this is about diversity, tolerance, religious liberty and private property rights ... I am not buying into the idea that the Mosque is being built to "heal wounds" or build bridges with non-muslims.  If that was truly a primary motivation it would seem by now that this mosque would actually produce the opposite and is hurting that effort more than helping.  In fact all of those wonderful traits are actually being employed (abundantly) through the non-violent dialog, advocacy and protest regarding this situation.


I won't go into all the weirdness going on with the Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Sun Tzu (wonderfully creative blogger pseudonym don't you think?) over at Big Peace already has.  In our land it is more than possible for that mosque to go in where Rauf wants it but is it for the good of society, his neighborhood, that they do so? Obviously no.

To the side that wants to compare this mosque with Mecca and how infidels (non-muslims) aren't even allowed in that muslim "holy" city altogether ... I don't think that is a good tactic.  Mecca doesn't claim to have freedom of religion, speech, assembly, religious conscience, religious liberty, an appreciation for Lady Gagaggle's "artistry" ... and on an on.  They don't claim to be "U.S. friendly."  They are not us and to hold them to our standard of freedom may reveal a glaring example of their theocratic oppression vs democratic freedom but it is ethnocentric to say that because we afford these things that they should as well. From another angle, it is actually hypocritical on our part for some others to say that since they don't tolerate "infidels" Mecca we don't have to tolerate the Ground Zero Mosque in New York City.

That's a red herring of a diversion when there is obvious and simple reasons why that mosque should be built somewhere else.

• A vast majority don't want it there.
• Strong history of Muslim's erecting trophy buildings on the sites of what they consider victories usually acquired through bloodshed.
• Mixed messages, lack of transparency and insensitivity of the Imam in charge.

... you know ... that kind of stuff that the other 299,999,998 other Americans have already discussed.

And to Gutfeld's idea of putting in an Islamic friendly gay bar next to the mosque, you get reluctant props for bold use (effective?) of satire but seriously ... grow up dude.

::: knocking can be heard on the back of my monitor as a little gecko climbs over my keyboard :::

Well, it looks like Benny is ready to share his opinion now ...

Benny, "... they should let Simba live there ... can I have ice cream now?"

I posted this on the Exodus Blog earlier today but because it is so personal I wanted to include it here too.

***

Facebook is crazy.  And  little bit scary.

Almost every significant (still living) relationship I have ever had is represented in my friends list.  It's been an astounding adventure to reconnect with people from almost every stage of life from my past to present.

It all started in August of 2008. Two years ago I was on sabbatical and had a thought, "Hmmm... I wonder if my high school friends have found facebook yet?"  Two hours later I had found 15 of them and was quietly tripping out on how much life had changed for some and was completely the same for others.  This has led to a roller coaster ride of connecting the past with the present.


There was E. and he still is a gadget geek.  B is STILL all about rock'n'roll and looked a bit high in his profile pic.  There is M. who taught me how to dance. She is still beautiful and successful (always knew she would be.)    There is K. who lived across the street from me as a kid.  He actually had read my testimony on Charles Colson's book, "The Good Life." K. shared with me how surprised and convicted he was when he read it and realized it was me.  He apologized for abandoning our friendship in high school.  He knew I struggled with homosexuality, he knew I was in an abusive household (he actually saw some of the verbal abuse on a couple of occasions) but he didn't know what to do about it and disappeared from my life.  Today he is a strong Christian and "repented" for his teenage immaturity.  I met him face to face not to long ago.  It was amazing to see the echoes of the kid I once knew in the face of the man he has become.

Then, just this summer, I reconnected with my best friend in high school and her family.  That too was amazing.  Not only did I laugh and laugh with an old friend that I had laughed and laughed with as a kid ... I met her great husband and saw both of their countenance and gifts in their wonderful son.

Earlier this year I reconnected with a woman who I credit with the Lord using to save my life from substance abuse and eventually leading me to Him.  I love her as a sister and wrote this blog post about her.

All of these facebook connections have brought up the same questions in my heart: "I wonder what they are like now? Same? Different?  What kind of reaction will they have about my own life and beliefs?"  With a few, I have to admit to some fearful questions of "are they going to bite my head off with anger because I voted against their bill in the YMCA Youth Legislature?" "Do I need to make amends?" Then there was a question that bothered me as purely selfish, "Do I really want to walk through that door?" Then Jesus reminds me that HE is the door.  He is the one that decides who I relate to and reconnect with.  I have to be ok with how they may or may not react.  If something negative comes up then I will face that with God's help.

As I have reunited with these amazing people, my highly relational self along with the Holy Spirit's guidance, has vividly recalled some of the intensely fun times, some mundane but you-are-my-friend-so-we-hang-out-every-day times along with very difficult trials that occurred within these friendships.  And those memories have all cemented a bond of love I have for these friends that will not ever go away regardless of what they do, don't do or believe.

The past few months I have reconnected (through facebook) with two people I dearly love.  They identify as Christians and gay now.  I literally hadn't talked to one of them in 20+ years and the other only once very briefly 9 years ago.  They were my friends during a four year time frame that is really a blur for me.  I was drunk or high almost *all* the time I knew them.  Both of these two have seen me in situations that only God knows about and I am so grateful that the Interwebs wasn't around to upload video too!

So, I sent the facebook friend requests and both answered positively without any pretense or animus.  In fact both were very genuine.  They are the loving friends I knew them to be.  I look forward to catching up with both of them.

God purposed that we could never be fully ourselves by ourselves.  We bear His image in wanting to know and be known.  Granted I am an unabashed (some would say high maintenance :) ) extrovert with a very high verbal quotient.  But even you stoic low maintenance introverts know that you need relationships/friendship to be fulfilled in life.  I don't have to build a metaphorical bridge to create an idealized language of agreement that might lead to some temporary "can't we all just get along?" warm fuzzies.  I just have to look into the eyes, invest in the lives, of the people around me and be aware of God's love for their hearts that resonates from His Spirit to mine.

No pretenses, just live.

Fear has no place in my mind with these friends because I have seen and still see God's gifts within them and the gift that they are to me.  We've shared, to quote Prince, "this crazy little thing called life" together. We may strongly agree or disagree, and we do in some ways, but that has nothing to do with the love I have for them and the Greater love of God who is the Author of every breath and saw fit to allow us to be friends. As I continue with great friends in my life today, I rejoice in reuniting with friends from my past.

Thank you Lord..

Have you noticed, lately, how public apologies have become statements of innocence? It seems that the notion of shame has gone by the way side.

For example, last week a New Hampshire State Representative posted some tasteless and offensive statements regarding his dislike for Sarah Palin. This representative, Timothy Horrigan, resigned because of the inappropriateness of his remarks. He issued what has been reported as an 'apology':

"I apologize to anyone who feels they need an apology from me. And anyone who feels the need to be angry at me is free to be angry at me. I made some mistakes, but I am not ashamed of who I am. I am not ashamed of anything which I am. Nothing anyone says to me is going to change the way I feel about myself -- especially if you don't know me," he wrote on his website.

Amazing. An apology without shame. And one that puts the burden on the disapproving instead of on the wrong-doer.

We all have done things for which we needed to apologize. I remember, as a kid, the hot feeling in my face and ears that occurred after I was caught doing something I shouldn't. I remember each heavy step I took walking to whichever party where I needed to make amends. If I, as a child, had issued such a statement as the one by former Representative Horrigan, my father's head would have exploded.

Horrigan's statement defies the understanding of remorse, shame, and repentance. It serves more as a middle finger to the powers that be that censured Horrigan instead of demonstrating any shred of consciousness that something wrong had been done.

What is worse is that Horrigan's statement is not a singular incident. Politicians are becoming artful in denying the fact that they did something of which society disapproves. Charles Rangel and Maxine Waters comes to mind.

When shame dies, it sends enormous signals about what is happening in society. It signals that our standards have become arbitrary and, as such, our sense of right-ness and wrong-ness are now products of politics and the media.

Pontius Pilate asked rhetorically "What is truth?" as Jesus Christ stood before him. I believe Pilate was shrugging his shoulders at the prospect of standing for what he knew was right before a politically inspired mob that simply wanted what they wanted.

I guess the death of shame is nothing new.

Tonight I went to the local CVS store and I was reminded that I live in a purple state. I saw no less than three of those annoying COEXIST bumper stickers where each letter is some religious symbol.

The reason I say they are annoying is that we already do "coexist." Some coexist well and some don't.

Regardless, I saw three of them in one parking lot in one trip. Then, when I headed back to my car I saw the bumper sticker in the picture accompanying this post. It was on the car parked next to mine. The peace sign in the "O" of Obama was ironic considering someone really did try pretty hard to scratch the bumper sticker off. A violent looking act for a peace sign.

So what's the story behind the scratched up Obama sticker? Did the owner of the car vote for Obama and grow weary of him? Did some stranger walk up and vandalize the sticker and the owner just hasn't noticed yet?

Then it occurred to me that most people make judgments and assumptions about other people's bumper stickers. That's kind of the point of bumper stickers (to illicit reactions) but I wonder how far those snap judgments go?

Probably as far as the next red light where we go our separate ways.

I am hoping for change in 2012.

From BBC News:

Peru's health ministry has sent emergency teams to a remote Amazon region to battle an outbreak of rabies spread by vampire bats.

Four children in the Awajun indigenous tribe died after being bitten by the bloodsucking mammals.

Health workers have given rabies vaccine to more than 500 people who have also been attacked.

Some experts have linked mass vampire bat attacks on people in the Amazon to deforestation.

The rabies outbreak is focused on the community of Urakusa in the north-eastern Peruvian Amazon, close to the border with Ecuador.

...

Vampire bats usually feed on wildlife or livestock, but are sometimes known to turn to humans for food, particularly in areas where their rainforest habitat has been destroyed.

Some local people have suggested this latest outbreak of attacks may be linked to the unusually low temperatures the Peruvian Amazon in recent years.

Or maybe the people were attacked because there were ... oh I dunno ... tons of rabid vampire bats flying around like they were straight out of hell, crazy eyed, fangy, foamy and hungry.

I guess the opportunistic point being made by the journalist writing the story is that deforestation, climate change, has driven the bats toward humans and vice versa but that isn't proven in the article. No experts were even quoted or studies cited.  Seems to me that the core story is that (vampire bats + vulnerable humans) rabies = tragedy.

I am all for protecting the environment and responsible use of that environment but I am also for killing evil rabid flying beasts before they kill children and adults.

Yes, that is a random out of nowhere post but ... that's how I roll sometimes.

Just say no to vampire bats, especially rabid ones.

I posted recently that I had just started reading the book by John MacArthur Ashamed of The Gospel. Today I am posting that I am unable to finish it.

At first I was quite interested to see him go after modern apostasy with what I hope was intellectual rigor. While I still think he is very smart and makes some *very* good points ... I can't finish the book. He just goes on and on and on and on about how awful things are.

I get it, and agree to some degree.

But there seems to be a complete cynicism of *all* things in current western ministry. He gives a couple of caveats but goes to great extent to really denounce the western church. One example (as far as I have read) is he seems to make the arts seem pretty stupid and a distraction. If I am understanding him correctly he believes that we should *always* be calling (or in his words "preaching") people to repent of their sins in everything we do publicly. There seems to be a great depreciation of relational evangelism and a high emphasis on fearing God's wrath before hearing God's love.

On the other hand I agree with him that we don't stick to "T"ruth. We often do shrink away from simply stating the absolute truths God puts forward in the Bible. We don't call people to repent of their sins maybe as often as we should. I agree that we often enter into way too many futile arguments of no eternal value and that some artistic efforts are anything but (branding, manipulation and money makers.) I agree with him that the western church, as a whole, is spiritually immature and distracted by media/entertainment saturation.

I don't know that he is a straight up legalist but I think where the church needs a good "in your face" type of wake up call ... it seems he believes there needs to be a turn toward a legalistic (my description) minimalism that strips out all post-modern creative relational dynamics to force the church back into a modernist box.

The kingdom of God is not post-modern OR modern. It is transcendant of earthly systems while existing amidst all earthly systems (among authentic believers.)  I think MacArthur agrees with that and I may be too harsh in my simplification of what I have read so far but that is my initial thought and the reason I won't be finishing the book.

I am glad to have read as much as I have. It got me thinking and was a bit of correction I needed to hear. I hope the western church will hear it as well.

I'd be interested to hear the opinions of those who are fans of MacArthur's views.

Many Christians are critical of deliverance ministry. They often discount the smack on the head, fall down, be heeeeealed approach to complex life issues.

This is not to say that God is no longer in the business of miracles or is not big enough or real enough to directly and mightily intervene into the lives of His children. The criticism of deliverance ministry is based more on a fuller understanding of the body of Christ and its role in the redemption and restoration of lives.

Orthodox teaching of ecclesiology demonstrates that brothers and sisters in Christ are intended to come along side to minister, bind up, and help one another walk out of brokenness. While some missionary friends witness to the power of healings, exorcisms, and manifestations of the Spirit in certain contexts, most orthodox churches speak of combining the power of prayer and healing with accountability and mentoring.

Why then, with the rich teaching and tradition of New Testament church ministry, are most evangelical and orthodox churches practicing deliverance ministry? The answer is: by default.

Deliverance ministry essentially promises that God will take away - instantaneously - your infirmities, addictions, problems, and brokenness. No follow up needed - God has removed your problems "as far as the east is from the west." Should issues resurface, its a lack of faith in God's deliverance.

Most evangelical churches talk a great talk when it comes to support, mentoring and discipleship. They often point to their small group programs or caring ministries as examples of assistance. Some may have a recovery types of program.

But bring up a specific issue, like drug or alcohol addiction, sexual brokenness, or emotional issues and the talk of support becomes an outsourced referral. Few programs are proactively in place and most help is a desperate exercise in rounding up some response to issues that are commonplace not anomalies. We have spent so much time and energy on kids ministry, church growth, and worship music that people walking in with their guts spilling out of their bodies quickly recognize that to fit in you've got to stuff it.

Most evangelical churches, therefore, are practicing low-key deliverance ministry. Don't bring up sexual promiscuity, addiction to substances, child-hood abuse, or emotional brokenness. Since you came to Christ, life should be good, your problems should be solved, you should be healthy and whole -just put your kids in youth group and get involved in a small group, and you're good to go! Don't you remember that spiritual smack on the head when you went forward at the altar call?

Wouldn't it be better if we not only said that the church was a hospital for sick people but acted that way? Sick people don't go to the hospital in secret and get shuffled off to a side room so that the reputation of the hospital can remain in tact. We actually use flashing lights and sirens for the most serious cases. In fact, hospitals today brag about the fact that they are experts in stoke care, cancer treatment, or neonatal illnesses.

I think the church needs to get over its attempts at image management and become intentional about how it is going to meet the brokenness of every member of its congregation - not just the "identified sinners." Let's celebrate transparency and accountability over putting on airs of having it "together."

The source of this rant is that my church has committed to honesty and accountability by encouraging every member to be a part of its 12 step program. I am not an addict or alcoholic, but the brokenness and powerlessness of my life is as if I were. The 12 steps are not exclusively a way of sobriety from substances, but a powerful way to give our lives and our wills over to God. While I have been a committed member of many evangelical churches for most of my life, I have never experienced the kind of accountability and full measures of delivering myself over to God before.

If your church has it all together, then great. My suspicion is, however, that most churches have been whistling past the issues of brokenness for too long and are unprepared and immature in their approach to accountability and mentorship. Let's pray that we can catch up before sirens wail is all we hear.

Last night I was doing local politics. Local politics always takes place at someone's kitchen table or in their living room. No barren office, no third-hand copier, no folding chairs. Instead, warm atmosphere, scratch pads and napkin holders, and comfy couches.

As part of the ambiance, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and orchestra was playing in the background a medley of show tunes, patriotic songs, and, shall we say, musical kitch. One piece that came on was "When I Wish Upon A Star", which was the theme song for The Wonderful World of Disney. TWWD was must see Sunday night TV for me growing up. I remember it came on right after Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, where you got to see lions chasing zebras and giraffes, and hippos filmed under murky water. A better one-two TV punch for kids was tough to find (unless of course you combine Batman with The Green Hornet - even if you had to turn the knob to change to one of the other four channels).

My sister and I actually got excited waiting to watch Fess Parker as Daniel Boone, reruns of Mickey Mouse cartoons, or even tours of Disneyland. And who could forget the two hours features like the Parent Trap or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? When the fireworks went off over Cinderella's Castle, we knew we were in for at least an hour of wonder and entertainment.

With a zillion cable channels now available, including Disney, kids get to watch non-stop overly contrived trash any time of day. They can't go outside to pretend their Daniel Boone or Marlon Perkins chasing a crocodile because zero-lot lines make it pretty much impossible to enact an adventure worthy of wonder. And you can forget about playing in the real outdoors with today's news stories of child abductions.

Where do today's kids have the opportunity to wonder? It's not in school; kids have figured out that school is for social engineering, self esteem building, and testing - not creativity and developing an excitement for learning. It's not after school in backyards and playgrounds; those times have to be supervised and we all know you can't have any real fun with grown-ups around. And it's certainly not on computers and video games because those venues are simply cleverly disguised behavior modifiers teaching kids to press buttons in specific sequences depending on the on-screen prompt.

I'm grateful that my upbringing included fights with sticks, dirt-clods, and slingshots. It included getting filthy dirty from head to toe and bringing home frogs, praying mantises, and lizards. It often meant borrowing my dad's shovels and leaving them in some vacant lot for days while we were building a fort, bike jump, or dam.

I'm not so sure what kids do now to entertain themselves. Perhaps the limits of four channels and your favorites coming on only one hour a week was a good thing. It certainly helped me wonder.

Tonight I had dinner with Alan at a local Cracker Barrel Restaurant.  They already had not just Halloween decorations up ... but Christmas decorations as well ...


For srsly? Halloween is 59 days away and Christmas is 114 days away.  114 was the temperature for the day by the way ... ok maybe I am exaggerating a little but only a little.  The witch was fun, she danced and stuff.  Cute little demonic witch thing!

Commercial businesses must be desperate.  I don't think I have ever seen decorations for the holidays this early before. Ok... just had to share that.

As mentioned earlier on this blog I am reading Ashamed of The Gospel by MacArthur.

I am reserving an extensive review because I am only through the second chapter and it is some meaty stuff. It may take a while to digest all that he is pointing out.  I can say that I agree with almost all of what he is saying but he sure does come across as harsh.  I want to hear him out before I mention any potential disagreements.

But one thing stood out to me that I wanted to put on the blog tonight.  He writes in Chapter 2 about a person who says that they won't go to church because ... (parenthesis mine)

“I’d go to church, but there are too many hypocrites.” I (MacArthur) always think, Well, we have room for one more. The objection itself is hypocritical. Of course there are hypocrites in the church. That’s one of the truths we glean from this account in Acts 5.

Not only are there hypocrites in the church, there are liars, manipulators, gossips, sexually struggling and on and on.  I must be lucky because even though every church I have been a part of since I became a Christian had all the very same human frailty as any other human organization/assembly, the churches I have belonged to acknowledge that.  There was/is an understanding that we are going to let each other down and do bad things from time to time ... but that doesn't mean we abandon or ignore opportunities to make amends and grow. Church isn't an option or a place where I get to be vulnerable and everyone else has to be perfect.

We humans are an inconsistent lot. Even at our best we tend to prove our worst from time to time.

From what I can tell, all of the criticisms leveled at the church for relational problems and dysfunction are no better than what one finds in the world. Some say that shouldn't be so because of righteousness and seeking to do good. I don't understand that. The Bride of Christ (Jesus' very disciples) betrayed Him. Peter lied, they ran away, they hid, they didn't do a darn thing to even try to stop His torture or crucifixion.

The original disciples were Christian hypocrites of the literal first order. The only legitimate "righteousness" and "goodness" in the church from the very beginning is Christ's alone.

But Jesus didn't give up on them. And Thank God, Jesus, He didn't! He doesn't give up on us either. He fulfilled the law of God. He completed the Atonement, He makes a way for us to come Home to God. And it was that future hope that helped Him to endure being spat upon, whipped, tortured and crucified. He didn't abandon us because of our frailty ... He pressed through because He loves us beyond them.

If Christ, who had every reason to abandon His Church didn't to the point of Crucifixion, why would I walk away over an offense? If Christ didn't abandon His church because of love for Her ... do I really have an excuse? Do I have His vision for His future Bride? Am I committed to sacrificial selflessness for HER (our) welfare before my own?

I am not Jesus but He does call me to emulate Him and from what I read in the scriptures He didn't roll His eyes, complain bitterly and walk away. He saw past our present inconsistency to our future Glory in Him. I will seek to do the same!

Well, anyway, those are just a few thoughts I had this evening.

The Feartainment Industry uses legitimate issues to have us personally invest in them.

I have been thinking about the whole News Bad News Feartainment News Industry (politics, most activism, Main Stream Media and increasingly New Media) ... and it intrigues me.

The word Infotainment (information entertainment) is often bandied around and that is accurate because it seems many (including myself at times) don't really watch the news for the sake of the news and analysis, we watch the news as entertainment.

Cable News has turned into the ultimate "reality show."  Think about it, it has the perfect recipe of beauty, beasts, snarky, gossip, survivor mentality, one-ups-manship, branding of personality, hero's, villains, cliff-hangers, plot twists and corporate sponsorship.

The only difference is that while The Bachelorette is a show I have never ever watched and doesn't affect me in the slightest, the Feartainment Industry does.  Some examples of this difference is with reality shows Snookie might get arrested, somebody may be forced to eat an insect, suffer a Simon Cowell scolding, lose to a 5th Grader ...  and we feel bad for them. Whereas the Feartainment News Industry brings the consequences home to us.  I don't care who has immunity (or whatever) on Big Brother 12 but I do care if the real life Big Brother strips me of my own religious liberties, undermines the three branches of government with inherent checks and balances destroyed.


That personalizing fear gets the adrenaline pumping and can be quite a Rush. <-- get it? ... "Rush" ... come on ... I thought it was clever.

The phrase of "politics of fear" came to mind and that is also true.  Politically and otherwise, fear can unfortunately be a cop-out motivator because it is the easiest to exploit (in my opinion.)  My question for pondering is, "has our number one motivator for entering into the Wall of Sound become personal fear?  Are we being motivated and entertained by personal fear?

I googled the word feartainment and found a man who did a well produced scary video where he screams and cusses a lot about not watching fear based drivel like disaster movies on the hellivison.  He then goes down a long list of things to be truly concerned fearful about.  I would post the video here (I agree with him on some things) but dude is seriously upset and likes to cuss. Back to the point ...

Fear is a God-given emotion to help us be more aware of danger.  However, fear is to inform ... not define.  Fear generates power. On the negative side of this we can potentially let that power consume us negatively or give it to someone/something else that promises to alleviate our fear but ends up only furthering their own agenda that perpetuates fear ... not so much the answers we actually need.

The positive side of fear can be used to help evaluate a danger's true potential and consequences and then turn our attention toward vision and strategy to combat the threat.  There are plenty of fear-worthy things out there but that does not mean we have to be consumed by or live in fear.  Again, fear should inform, not define.

But it seems that the Feartainment News Industry is only interested in making money and gaining power off of our attention and personal investment.  We have to know what is going on but we don't have to look to that same industry for our sense of personal safety.  The Feartainment News Industry is not the mechanism by which we arrive at final conclusions and strategy to make a positive difference.

***
Sidenote:  I don't see this post as comprehensive.  It's just reflective of what I am currently chewing on in my head.

I just bought Ashamed of The Gospel by John MacArthur in the iBooks store because I usually rotate between memoir, fiction, Christian thought for my extra get into an actual book reading and it was time for some Christian thought.

This is an updated release of his first edition of the book (which was printed in 1993.) I just got through reading the first preface (to the 2010 edition) and I think my head is going to explode. In a good way .... very thought provoking.

I mean, there is so much to consider that I am afraid to even try to quote some of it because it could prove his point about the Internet not being sufficient for worthwhile exposition and dialog!


Well, even with that risk, I do want to quote some of it that really stood out to me regarding the interplay between the Internet and post-modern thought.

Attention spans are getting shorter, literacy has suffered dramatically, and logic itself is frequently dismissed as unnecessarily pedantic. The Web is well-suited to a culture where what we feel is deemed more important than what we think. The Internet hosts millions of forums where people trade opinions and aphorisms, and these often become the electronic-data equivalent of acrimonious yelling matches. Internet forums are notorious for the profanity and hostility that dominate them. If you want vivid proof of human depravity in abundance, eavesdrop on practically any unmoderated Internet forum, including the ones devoted to discussing theology.
...
Moderns were convinced that a basic foundation of settled scientific knowledge would easily provide a trustworthy authority by which all truth claims could be tested. That process in turn would eventually bring about a uniform consensus regarding all the fundamental realities of life and human existence.

When those expectations were finally extinguished by countless buckets of cold reality, modernism itself lay utterly discredited amid the smoldering ashes. Whereas the modern mind had sought uniformity, certainty, and order, postmodernism canonized the opposite values: diversity, doubt, and defiance.

“Question everything” is the postmodern manifesto.

Combine those values with the ease of Internet communications, and what you get is what you see: the elimination of practically all distinctions between knowledge and ignorance, authority and incompetence, expertise and ineptitude.
...
All those developments were already discernible in the early 1990s, and that is precisely what prompted me to write this book in the first place. Evangelicalism’s growing superficiality, a spiraling loss of confidence in the power of Scripture, the relentless pursuit of worldly fads, and a steady drift away from historic evangelical convictions were already widespread and serious problems. Those trends were all driven by evangelicals’ obsession with pleasing the world. It was obvious (to anyone with eyes to see) that the market-driven approach to evangelism and church growth was headed for disaster.

ummm... wow. And that is nothing compared to the totality of what he discusses ... all in the first preface!

He also really goes after Emergent "Conversation" movement and how pitiful Western influx of spiritually shallow entertainment came in under the guise of relevant evangelism to the former Soviet Union. His criticism of those efforts are harsh. If what he saw is true, and I have no reason to believe they aren't given the circus we see all to often, they deserve harsh criticism.

I don't claim to be an intellectual but I love reading and listening to smart folk. It looks like MacArthur is that as well as passionate for The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am truly looking forward to reading the rest of this book.