"Leave it All Behind?"

"You can leave it all behind, sail to Lahaina, just like the missionaries did so many years ago. They even brought a neon sign, 'Jesus is coming.' Brought the white man's burden down, brought the white man's reign." So go the lyrics from the song "The Last Resort" by the Eagles. It went through my head as we visited Lahaina today. The irony in that song is that, they did not "leave it all behind" at all. Rather, they brought everything with them, "they brought the white man's burden down, brought the white man's reign." I have been to Hawaii only two times in my life. Both times, I have sought to "leave it all behind," even if for just a short time. Each visit, I have sought to experience that spirit of aloha that I hear about - graciousness, kindness, peace, "shalom," if you will. I am aware that my mere presence at a hotel in Kaanapali contradicts that sentiment somewhat. However, my sincere hope is that myself and my family conduct ourselves in a way that both reflects aloha and inspires it in others. That is my hope. Today, I went to one of my favorite snorkeling spots - Honolua Bay. The conditions weren't great, but I still had a great time. While in the area, I kept seeing bumper stickers on cars that read "Save Honolua." They listed a web site, www.savehonolua.org, so I checked it out. I looked up the web site and found out, if the information is correct, that developers are trying to develop this area for housing, tourism, etc. It reminded me of another lyric from "The Last Resort." It went, "put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and people bought 'em." I decided to make a small contribution to the save Honolua campaign. I don't understand why we feel the need to always develop places that have a natural beauty unto themselves. That's just my opinion. Whether you agree with me about Honolua, or disagree, that is absolutely fine. But, here's the thing. I hope that we can all continue to work towards aloha, shalom, the reign of God.

Another Day in Paradise...Sort Of

The family and I are spending a week in Maui. My wife has a lawyer's conference, and Corran and I are accompanying her. Honestly, who schedules a conference in Maui? Do they really plan to get any work done. Well, hopefully, I will come back with a tan and some good sermon material. Yesterday, I fulfilled one goal that I had for the trip. I wanted to see a sea turtle. I didn't get to see one on my last trip. So we were snorkeling at Black Rock, which is a pretty touristy spot in Kaanapali. I came up for a moment to defog my mask and a girl says to me, "hey mister, do you know there is a turtle under you?" (I am 46 years old, I still don't like being called "mister" or "sir" etc.). Anyway, I put the mask back on immediately, and sure enough, right below me was a Green Sea Turtle. I swam with him for about 50 yards. It was awesome. This photo that I took does not do him justice, but here is a photo. I have also included photos of a few other fish, and something really interesting looking called "lobe coral."
This place is so beautiful, it boggles the mind. However, on my first morning here, as I was literally thanking God for the opportunity to be here, I was reminded that estimates from the Myanmar cyclone are upwards of 100,000 casualties, and so many more injured and displaced. The military government is resisting allowing aid workers into the country. Sometimes, the way the world is just boggles the mind. I want to encourage everyone to continue to hold the people of Myanmar in your prayers. Pray that the military government's heart might be softened so that they will allow the world to come to their aid.

Pray for Myanmar, and thank God for Hawaii, and some day, maybe, we can make sense of it all. But, then again...

A Rare Find

I just finished reading Greg Boyd's book "The Myth of a Christian Nation." It was incredible. It was literally a life-changing book. There are hundreds of quotes from Boyd's book that I would love to share. Instead, I will just recommend you read the book. His basic premise (with which I agree) is that Christians too often seek to build the kingdom of God through earthly means. By that I mean that many Christians actually believe that if we get the right candidates in office, the right policies, in place, etc., the kingdom will come. The problem with this thought process is that human institutions are not capable of bringing in the kingdom. America is a wonderful country, and we have many freedoms that are worthy of celebrating. However, the kingdom of God, Boyd says, will not be built by "rights," but by "self-sacrifice." (Can you guess which one is a kingdom virtue?) Boyd compares the kingdom of this world with a "power over" mentality while the kingdom of God is a "power under" mentality. Boyd really does a great job of making his case and you really need to rad the book to get the full weight of his point. However, one quote illustrates well the contrast between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God. He writes, "When God flexes his omnipotent muscle, it doesn't look like Rambo or the terminator - it looks like Calvary" (p.32) Another great quote that I truly found refreshing is when Boyd criticizes the church for trying to be moral guardians for the world. First, Boyd writes, "as people called to mimic Jesus in every area of our lives we should find it significant that Jesus never assumed the position of moral guardian over any individual, let alone a culture at large" p. 128). He also mentions that scripture clearly forbids us from judging others. But, where I think he shines is when he points out the hypocrisy of how the church fulfills its function as "moral gaurdian." He uses the illustration of how, after a dramatic special on public television in 2004 about the plight of children in Cambodia and Thailand that are being sold as slaves, their was little or no audible outcry from the church. However, during the Super Bowl, when Janet Jackson experienced her now famous "wardrobe malfunction," Christians were suddenly up in arms! (p. 140) wonder which of those two things bothered Jesus more.

Boyd is an evangelical, so much of his criticism is aimed at the evangelical wing of the American church. However, I am the product of an evangelical college and a liberal seminary (Westmont and Claremont, respectively) and I am aware that the phenomena that Boyd describes apply to the left ad the right. The book gives us plenty to think about, pray about, and act on. It might make you a little angry, but it might read like an answered prayer.

There's No Place Like Home

It is time for a wee bit of art - poetic art, to be exact. I was watching a new version of the musical "Camelot" a few nights ago on PBS with Gabriel Byrne as Arthur. It was great. Even my five year-old son really enjoyed it. Anyway, it got me thinking about the idea of "Camelot," about places that are special - even holy. To Christians (and Muslims and Jews, for that matter), Jerusalem is just such a place. But, are there other places in the world that are holy? Maybe as "second-tier" places? I wrote a poem back in 1998 about my home town of Genoa, Ohio. What a great place. It is a small farming community in northwest Ohio, about 2000 people total population. We left when I was eight years old (1969), but I am still a Buckeye in my soul. Here is the poem "Genoa."

Walking Washington Street
again, with a man's shoes
and a child's heart
remembering every crack
of the ancient sidewalk,
knowing the secret
that I am not just walking
in Genoa.
I am walking
in Camelot.
Do the boys I observe
recklessly riding their bicycles
know that they are
on holy ground?
Or is it just the ground
beneath my feet
that is holy?

God bless you all. Thanks for tolerating my attempt at art. I will go back to preaching now.

Try to Love One Another...

I was so inspired by the piece on Speaking of Faith that I mentioned in my previous blog that I purchased Gregory Boyd's book, "The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church." I am only about 1/4 through the book, but I am already blown away. Boyd's basic thesis is that "a significant segment of American evangelicalism is guilty of nationalistic and political idolatry...Rather than focusing our understanding of God's kingdom on the person of Jesus - who, incidentally, never allowed himself to get pulled into the political disputes of his day - I believe many of us American evangelicals have allowed our understanding of the kingdom of God to be polluted with political ideals, agendas, and issues." (p.11). Those are some serious words. And Boyd is speaking from within the evangelical community. I am excited to learn how he works this all out systematically. But, I have to say that I like where he is going.

One of things that Boyd does to illustrate his point is to contrast of the kingdom of God with the kingdom of this world. One such contrast is that Boyd says the kingdom of God is about "power-under." What he means is the power of self-sacrificial love for humanity. This focus is contrasted with the kingdom of this world's focus on "power over," essentially having the means to coerce someone into behaving they we want them to. There is a great quote that powerfully illustrates this contrast. Boyd writes, "when God flexes his omnipotent muscle, it doesn't look like Rambo or the Terminator - it looks like Calvary! (p. 32)

So, I am reading the news today and I see this article about a college softball game where a girl hit a home run, but injured herself running around first base. She would have been called out is someone from her team tried to help her, so two girls from the opposing team lifted her up and carried her around the bases, thus eliminating themselves from playoff contention. You can read more about it at this link: http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/8091708?MSNHPHCP>1=39002. This is precisely what I think that Boyd meant by "power-under." This story is inspiring because it demonstrates an ethic that is contrary to the "win-at-all-costs" mentality of the "power-over" kingdom of this world. In a humble way, these young women perfectly demonstrated the ethic of the kingdom of God.

The Extreme Center (Revisited)

A friend recently sent me the following link to a great program called "Speaking of Faith." In this particular program the moderator interviewed three different evangelical leaders from three different generations. In light of the sermon series that I just preached, I was thrilled to hear Christian leaders echoing some of the ideas that I have had for some time. Christians should be involved in the moral issues of the day. But, how we conduct ourselves says as much about us (if not more) and about the God we worship as the positions that we take in the "public square." I invite you to sit down and listen to this interview. It inspires me to see the church reflecting critically on the way that we engage society. My prayer is that conversations like this one take place not just at pastor's conventions, but in big and small churches all over the country.

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/evangelical_politics/

Love is the True Christian Fundamental

Today, we talked about how we love because God first loved us. It got me thinking of the first sermon that I preached at Light of the Canyon. It was called "Fundamentals." Here is an excerpt.
I love baseball. I love everything about baseball. I love the smell of the fresh cut grass in the outfield; I love the sound of the crack of the bat as it makes crisp, clear contact with the ball. I love the roar of the crowd, I love hot dogs…I love baseball. One of the most powerful memories of my childhood is the first time I took my seat at Tiger Stadium in Detroit to witness my first live major league baseball game. All of my heroes were there, Al Kaline, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan. It was absolutely awe-inspiring.
One of my favorite memories, however, is how my dad and I shared our passion for baseball. Whether we were playing catch in the yard or watching a game on TV, one thing remained constant. And that is how my dad used this time together to teach me about the game. From practicing throwing, catching, or fielding in the yard to discussing strategy while watching the game on television, my dad had one mantra that he would say over and over again until it was indelibly imprinted on my consciousness. “Fundamentals,” he would say. “The game is won or lost on how well you execute the fundamentals.” Years later, when I coached little league baseball, I would repeat this refrain for my own players. I think they probably received it about as passionately as I did when I was their age. They would smile, and laugh and their silly old coach, and then ask when we were going to learn the double steal, or the hidden ball trick, or more importantly, what snacks were being served after the game. And then I would explain it to them. Even if they know all of the trick plays ever devised, and even if they can hit the ball a country mile, unless they can consistently execute the fundamentals of catching, throwing, hitting, and base running, they will never be a good team. These fundamental skills are the foundation upon which a skillful player is developed. Without sound fundamentals, even the best talent will waste away. I might add that this is not just true in baseball; it is true in any endeavor. In music, you must learn your scales before you can play Mozart. In art, you must learn brush strokes before you can paint like Picasso. And as any professional athlete, or musician, or artist will tell you, and certainly as my dad told me time and time again, the only way to develop these skills is…practice, practice, practice.
The fundamental Christian truth, simply put, is that before we develop the doctrines and dogmas that define us, before we establish the social classifications that separate us, before we determine which church structure is the most “holy,” or which worship style is the most edifying, we must first learn to love…That’s it. That’s the whole shebang, the secret of the universe in a nutshell. Love one another. Love your family, love your friends, love the people of your church. But also, love the stranger, love those that believe or live their lives differently from you, love the people that are difficult to love. Love them into knowing Christ themselves. Love first, ask questions later. Love is the true Christian creed. For without love, the rest of it is simply talking loud.
The reality is that this simple, fundamental truth is as revolutionary today as it was when Jesus first proclaimed it with his words and with his life. Jesus declared with the simple act of sharing a meal with tax collectors and sinners that love is above the law, love is above dogma, love is above prejudice, love is even above religious authority. This is the truth that defined Jesus’ ministry, and it was also the truth that brought him to the cross.
And in this we have our hope. For I know that the gospel that Jesus proclaimed is that love will win out. And I rejoice because we have been called to the glorious task of sharing God’s love with the world in which we live. We are called to make real the promises of the truth of Christianity, and it is a task that is being carried out all around us. When a group of people from this church venture to Mexico to be in service to our friends south of the border, love is winning out. When volunteers come out to share Christ’s love with the young people of our community at Vacation Bible Camp, love is winning out. When the hungry are fed, and the sick are cared for, and those who are in prison receive visits, the church is proclaiming that love is the force that guides us. When people of diverse backgrounds are able to come together and celebrate God’s gracious love in Jesus Christ, we are proclaiming that the love that unites us is stronger than the walls that divide us.

One Good Reason

This Sunday, we are concluding our sermon series on "Three Good Reasons Not to be a Christian." We have been looking at some of the ways that the church has failed to live up to the mission that God has set for us. We have looked at how the church has failed to incorporate the learnings from science into its theology, how it has been too judgmental when it should have been gracious, and how the church has bought in to our culture's love of violence. However, this week, we talking about why it is good to be a Christian. Ultimately, Jesus Christ did for the world what it could not do for itself. He "put the world to rights" to quote N.T. Wright, and he inaugurated in a new kingdom. Yes, the church has failed throughout its history. The church has also produced Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., William Wilberforce, John Wesley, and many, many others. It is through the church that God's gracious love is manifest. "God is love, and those in abide in love abide in God." That is the truth that the church must live into, and with God's help, we will.

By the way, if you are interested in what is coming up, check out the attached video.