During my sabbatical, two experiences occurring within three days of each other reminded me of a text in Philippians, and how challenging it is to walk with discernment in today’s complex world.

This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.               Philippians 1:9–11

Experience #1

For some time, Micki has had a heartfelt longing to greet our returning troops. We finally went up to BWI and joined Operation Welcome Home for an afternoon, preparing bags of snacks and waiting for the plane to arrive with 240 soldiers and sailors.

Unlike the current war in Afghanistan, I have never believed that the second Iraq War was justified. But my political views about the war take nothing from my admiration for the men and women of our armed forces, and the families who must get by without them. They have sacrificed a great deal to fight the evil of terrorism, and I am grateful to them beyond words.

What a thrill to greet each one with loud applause as he or she came through customs, shaking hands, welcoming them home, thanking them for their service and asking God to bless them. They are all heroes, and deserve to be greeted as such on their return.

Experience #2

The following Sunday, I traveled to Washington DC to attend a prayer meeting sponsored by an organization I support, Barnabas Aid. Barnabas Aid exists to support persecuted Christians anywhere in the world. At the prayer meeting were leaders of the churches of Iraq and Syria, in our country to meet with members of Congress.

One of the oldest Christian communities in the world, Iraqi Christians lived in relative stability under Saddam Hussein. While Hussein was a monster in many ways, he had no interest in persecuting Christians. In fact, Hussein’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, was a Chaldean Catholic.

Since the war, all that has changed. The country has disintegrated into a civil upheaval of the major factions, none of whom have any interest in respecting native Christians. Christians have been widely threatened, killed and dispossessed. The British leader of the prayer meeting I attended personally saw a young Christian publicly crucified in the center of Basara, while the Coalition military leader he was visiting indicated that they were committed to not intervene. The Christian population has gone from 1.5 million (in 1990) to 400,000 – many now live in Syrian ghettos, as they forfeited all their belongings and savings. Their plight has received very little coverage in our news media, and less comment by our leaders. They are one of saddest examples of collateral damage in the war against terrorism.

So, in the span of several days: welcoming our troops home as heroes, and then asking God’s forgiveness for the way our nation inadvertently opened a door for the persecution of those who bear Christ’s name.

It would be nice if all moral issues were simple. As it is, we need depth of insight to discern what is best.

No Comments »

On April 21^st, CNN referred to a Facebook page consisting of a tongue-in-cheek prayer asking God to take President Obama’s life. As of the writing of this blog, 1,145,231 people “like” this page.

While I am sad to see yet another hyper-polarized political response, I am more concerned with the support registered by Christians. Some even assert that Psalm 109:8 justifies such a prayer.

May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.

I am very concerned about this, especially since “may his days be few” is clearly explained in the next verse as death.

Please understand that I am not a fanboy of the President. I appreciate some of his initiatives and take issue with others. I respectfully communicate my thoughts directly to him and to my congressional representatives. He has an impossible job, and I would not want it.

The main reason I am concerned is not political. I am concerned because I sense a very serious misunderstanding about how to interpret the Bible in general, and how to pray for our leaders in particular. Please take these remarks, then, not as a political argument, but rather as the comments of a pastor concerned for brothers and sisters whom I love and respect. So I will comment first on Psalm 109, and then more generally on imprecatory prayer (prayers that invoke curses).

I went through all of David’s psalms again to put Psalm 109 in context. The vicious attacks of his enemies were one of David’s most frequent subjects. Most of the time, those enemies were nations and their armies, but sometimes his prayers focused on political enemies among God’s people. David’s pattern was very consistent. Over and over, David cited the desires and intent of his enemies, and then asked God to bring upon those people essentially the same things they wanted to bring upon him.

In the case of Psalm 109, verses 6-18 are a summary of the things wicked men were saying against David, things which David asks God to instead visit upon them (cf. vv. 18-20). David summarized similar sentiments against him elsewhere. In fact, notice how David’s words in Psalm 41:5 closely parallel those Psalm 109:8-9.

My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die and his name perish?”

This explains the stress in verses 9 and 10 on the destruction of David’s children – a wish by his enemies not only to end David’s life, but also his dynasty.

It is important to understand that David’s pattern was not to invent arbitrary curses to call down on his enemies. Rather, he first reflected to God what his enemies were saying or doing against him, and then in essence asked God to turn their curses back upon them. That is what David is doing in Psalm 109:8, and why that verse was referenced in Acts 1 to speak of Judas, who bought a field with his blood money reward and found that his true reward was death.

This makes Psalm 109 one of David’s many applications of a basic Old Testament summary of justice.

If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured.   Leviticus 24:19-20

A fundamental definition of justice in the Old Testament is that a person’s “reward” should exactly mirror what he or she has earned. Those who do right should be proportionally rewarded, while those who do wrong should be proportionally punished. This is exactly how God will judge the world one day (cf. Romans 2:6-16).

However – and this is important – before Judgment Day, this kind of retribution is both required of, and limited to, the authority of civil government.

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.
Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.   Romans 13:1-4

Why is this the authoritative function of government? Because since the Fall, God has temporarily suspended the weight of his divine judgment upon the human race in order to establish and spread his gospel of grace. Because of that, God authorizes human government to put boundaries around sin so it can’t again rise to the level it once did in Genesis 6. God raises up every governmental leader to administer a taste of his righteousness until Judgment Day – every leader, from Nero to Lincoln. (And a nation’s prosperity depends in part on how well its leaders do their job.)

David sought the condemnation of evildoers because that was his job as King. Because of his office, it was his responsibility to ask God to glorify himself by judging those who wished evil against God’s Anointed King. He wasn’t speaking personally as a citizen; he was speaking as the King. (Note that before he was King, he refused to seek personal retribution against King Saul).

It is true that Christians share in Christ’s kingly office, and part of that office is the judgment of the world (Luke 22:28-30), but we will not take part in that until Jesus does, himself (Revelation 6:9-11).

In this age, the administration of retribution is forbidden to private individuals. In particular, Jesus’ commands his followers …

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”   Matthew 7:1-2

It does not matter whether or not they are friends of the gospel.

The people [in a Samaritan village] did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them.   Luke 9:51-56

It does not even matter whether we consider them our enemies.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”   Matthew 5:43-44

Notice that Jesus specifically instructs us that the business of retribution accurately summarized in the Old Testament is off limits (outside of government) to anyone who wants to follow him.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”   Matthew 5:38-42

So how are we supposed to pray for our leaders? We don’t have to wonder; we are clearly told.

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-3

Paul taught this in the context not of a Lincoln but of a Nero. He prayed for Nero – not that God would destroy him but that God would bless him, thanking God for raising up someone for the purpose of curbing sin. Why? Because as important as the deficit and health care and housing prices and foreign policy are, what is most important is the simple social stability that allows Christians to bring a taste of Christ’s kingdom into our hurting world. And if we aren’t willing to use every opportunity we already have to minister God’s grace, what difference would more prosperity or a better foreign policy make in the perspective of eternity, anyway?

In America, we are free to debate social issues as robustly as we like. We are free to participate vigorously in the election of those who lead us. We are free to disagree with policies and argue for alternatives. Christians have a perspective the fallen nations need to hear, and we honor God by courageously sharing it, openly declaring what is good and what is evil. There is even room for civil disobedience, when giving Caesar his due must give way to giving God what is due him.

But it is a serious mistake for Christians in this age to call down judgment upon anyone, especially civil leaders. Did Daniel pray for Nebuchadnezzar’s death? Did Esther ask God to strike down Xerxes? Did Jesus pray for Pilate’s ruin? Can anyone imagine Paul “liking” that Facebook page?

As for prayer, we may humbly ask God to forgive us our national sins – in which we all have a share. We may ask God for just and wise leaders, perhaps even better leaders than we deserve. We may ask God to guide the leaders he has already given us, and graciously overrule their folly. We may pray for Christ’s return, when perfect judgment will be rendered.

But asking God to send fire from heaven before that day is sure to earn us the same rebuke given to the original disciples.

No Comments »

Today finds me deeply grieving over the oil spill following the April 20th tragic loss of a British Petroleum oil rig 48 miles off the Louisiana shoreline. The latest estimate is that 200,000 gallons of oil are fouling the Gulf of Mexico every day. Current plans to contain the leak on the sea floor may take several weeks and are untested at these depths. Long term plans are also iffy and will take three months or more. If twenty wildlife refuges and 400 species are threatened after only ten days, what about three months from now?

I thought I was used to corporate and governmental foolishness, but I was not ready for this. Sealing a leak a mile below the surface seems to have everyone shrugging their shoulders. BP’s original environmental impact analysis for this rig stated that a huge spill was “unlikely, or virtually impossible.” Their plans for responding to oil spills did not even address the possibility that their seafloor equipment might fail. Now, because such a major spill is “unprecedented” at a depth where water pressure is well over a ton per square inch, no one knows what to do.

So if they did not even think to prepare for such a disaster and are not certain how to deal with it, why were they drilling at this depth? Why were they allowed to drill at this depth? It reminds me of the proverb …

One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.  Proverbs 14:16  ESV

In this case, the cost of our recklessness could be enormous. I hope they can drop containers to restrict the oil flow soon. I hope the leak does not increase five-fold, as some have speculated. But this man-made disaster has the potential of eclipsing any other that has come before. Multitudes of God’s creatures could be destroyed, and entire ecosystems could be wrecked. I believe God cares about these creatures and the home he specifically designed for them. I’m not talking about “animal rights;” I’m talking about something much more important. I’m talking about God’s good pleasure, or in this case his displeasure. It matters when we make God sad … or mad.

Of course, that displeasure will also extend to the way countless livelihoods and entire communities will be ruined, and how an enormous amount of our grandchildren’s money will be invested to mitigate the consequences. My point is simply that what we have done in the Gulf is the kind of irresponsible behavior that displeases God in the extreme. It is reckless and careless, what he labels as the work of fools. Not that oil drilling or even offshore drilling is foolish in itself. We have been so shortsighted in our energy policy that such dangerous activities must be considered. But it is absurd to risk huge ecological disaster without first being reasonably certain we can handle catastrophic failure.

We didn’t risk the lives of a handful of astronauts without years of expensive testing and fail-safe preparations. We would never think of building a nuclear power plant in a populated area without adequate safety controls in place from day one, instead of hoping that they might figure out a way to deal with a complete meltdown in the unlikely event such a thing occurred. It is mind boggling to discover that deep sea drilling has been attempted without any thought given to massive failure.

Why do we do such things? I am reminded of another proverb, one which I think of as complimentary to the one quoted above …

The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.  Proverbs 17:24  ESV

Wisdom looks for what is right and pursues it responsibly. In this day and age, I would think that wisdom would put all available resources into developing a sustainable energy plan, investing in whatever research we need in order to expand energy resources in reasonable safety.

Foolishness builds castles in clouds. It overlooks problems in plain sight to search the horizon for huge profits. Foolishness gives little thought to risk or realistic planning for possible failure.

I dearly hope my concerns are unfounded. I pray that BP will demonstrate remarkable skill and seal the leak they caused within days.

But it is increasingly likely that the Gulf of Mexico and its creatures will be horribly wounded for decades to come. Economic calamity is already predicted for the region, and the tragedy may be only just beginning. At the current rate, this leak will release in two months as much oil as the one of the worst ecological disasters in history, Exxon Valdez. But what if the leak expands five-fold, as some fear, poisoning the Gulf of Mexico with 1,000,000 gallons of oil each and every day? (I am not comforted that the future of the Gulf is in the hands of an underinsured private company facing billions in lawsuits.)

And what if it takes four months to stop the flow of oil? Or six months? What if it turns out that we simply do not yet have the technology to seal multiple oil hemorrhages a mile under water? What then? Apparently, no one asked such questions. Certainly no one demanded answers.

Recklessness and carelessness. Overlooking wise precautions to search the ends of the earth for treasure. The consequences could be staggering.

But amidst all our concern about the economic and human impact of what we have done, let us please not forget the worst part of it all: we have offended our Creator. Our foolishness has trashed his property, endangered creatures he loves and injured people in his image.

While we do all we can to practically deal with this, let’s also tell God that we are heartsick, ask his forgiveness, repent of our foolishness and humbly rest in the grace of his Son, who took all our pollution upon himself.

No Comments »

Part of what defines our culture are the blockbuster movies that “everyone” sees. Talking about them not only communicates what we think, but helps us work it out. So, how do I, with my Christian faith, respond to the science fiction movie Avatar?

Underneath the love story and background of environmental concern, the main message of the film is about gaining a radically new identity. A man without hope gets to play with a false persona that is more intimate with other people, the environment and even to “god.” This pretend identity trades despair for hope and isolation for belonging. Then, through the miracle of science fiction, he actually becomes that new man!

This is a good piece of science fiction, as it touches on our deep sense of personal brokenness and longing to be someone else – someone better than we are. In the real world, such change seems impossible, so science fiction is used to play with the “what if” scenario of radical personal change – what it would feel like to really become a whole person.

As I watched the moving story, my heart ached for non-Christians enjoying it as I did. Because science fiction isn’t real. Real trees aren’t connected like brain neurons, and even if they were, being “remembered” by a living but temporal ecosystem is hardly eternal life. I realized that millions of people will come away from this film teased into acknowledging their ache for harmony, beauty and enduring life, only to leave the theater realizing that such hopes can never be realized.

In other words, the movie raises a desire for reconciliation without any hope of actual redemption. The movie is pantheistic, and pantheism can never offer redemption. Pantheism worships the creation, and the creation is broken. It is a physician who cannot heal himself. The world can only be saved by its Creator.

What I found fascinating is how even such a pantheistic film has to borrow so heavily on Christianity in order to depict the planet’s salvation. Someone from the “outside” takes humanoid form to become one of the afflicted, suffers rejection (even hanging on something like a cross), dies, and is resurrected as a glorious king to bring about a great victory over the forces of evil. Avatar is not Christian storytelling, but it is good storytelling. And like so many good stories, it echoes the gospel.

Most folks are content to enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the movie. Others want to argue about Director Cameron’s environmental politics. I think Avatar presents a wonderful opportunity to explain where the inspirational elements of the film come from. In conversation, I would ask, “Do you think such harmony, beauty and enduring life is really possible?” “If such a place existed, do you think you would fit in?” I would discuss our common, deeply held desire to be someone better than we are.

Then, I would surprise them with my amazing hope that such things are more than science fiction! I would reference the beauty of the film while sharing that there actually will come a day when the planet is no longer frustrated – a day when the mountains sing, the rivers clap their hands, and our fellow creatures no longer have reason to fear human dominion. I would share my own experience of “a second birthday,” and how I am even now discovering my new identity in Christ. While the film is fresh on their minds, I would explain how all this is possible because our Creator literally incarnated his personhood in a human body like ours in order to destroy our real foe, and I intend to spend eternity enjoying the society he is creating.

Avatar’s phenomenal success testifies to the deep longing millions have to be reborn. Such an ache is not in itself a readiness to trust the Living God, but it does give us a platform for creative and compassionate discussion.

People think Avatar is over-the-top beautiful? … wait till they hear the real gospel!

2 Comments »

This is the eulogy I gave for my Mom, Faye Parkinson, at her memorial service on October 24, 2009.

The BBC was founded, Johnny Weismuller broke the one minute 100 yard freestyle, Warren Harding introduced the first radio into the White House, construction began on the original Yankee Stadium, and the Eskimo Pie was patented – all in 1922 when Faye Wilson Whitmore was born.

Every one of you who has ever written a eulogy knows how impossible it is to summarize a life in a few moments … and how important it is to try. Faye’s story spanned over eight and half decades. It was a tale of faithfulness to family and to education. Spiritually, Faye’s story was a cliffhanger right up the end.

Her father was trained as an electrical engineer in Montana, and her mother was in nursing when she married. Growing up out West in the late 1800‘s, they were tough, practical, independent people willing to take a risk. Their risk was migrating to romantic Florida to strike it rich raising oranges. They accomplished the Herculean task of clearing away jungle and getting an orchard going just in time for … the Great Depression.

Life was hard for them. Their four children were taught to depend on themselves and each other, and not to find false comfort in religion. Faye told us that she always wanted to go to church as a child, but never had the opportunity. It’s been interesting for me to go through her old newspaper and magazine clippings. So many of Faye’s clippings had religious themes, and warm thoughts about Jesus, even though they were from what you might call a secular point of view.

Florida made some good memories, like her marching band that one first place (she played the baritone). But, as it was for all but the wealthy few, hardship was the name of the game during the Depression. The family scraped by any way they could – renting rooms, Faye assisted in a photographic studio. What a tribute to her parents, Albert and Halle, that all the kids went to college and were prepared for bright futures. Patty would become one of the Army’s first women lawyers; Jean would head up a department at Rutgers University. Faye set her sites on invading the male-dominated world of pharmacy.

But during college, she met a genuine WWII war hero – a decorated young civilian pilot who few as the engineer on 53 bombing missions, and was rewarded by being sent to Pensacola for enough college to fly as an Army pilot. They fell in love, and after an unsuccessful attempt by Bob to love the orange business, they were off to Bob’s hometown of Eastport, Maryland, where Bob carved out a career at Friendship Airport. (Excuse me for being sentimental, but I still like “Friendship” better than “Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall.”)

Life didn’t work out quite as Faye thought it would. At first, sexual harassment in the workplace short circuited her pharmacy career. And then, there were soon three boys to raise. She turned to education, helping the next generation love learning the way she did. She spend 26 years in the Anne Arundel County School System, mostly at Severna Park Elementary, where she touched hundreds of lives, several of whom have kindly written to me upon hearing of her death to tell me how much she meant to them when they were in third grade. Eventually, she rose to Vice Principle at Oak Hill.

In fact, I think my most vivid memory of Faye – vivid because it was reinforced so many nights all through my early years – was of Mom grading papers. She was always grading papers.
Faye was the last survivor of four siblings. Jean just died a couple of years ago. David and Patty are buried at Arlington. David was a pilot on D Day. He survived the war, but was later killed in an air crash testing new equipment. I was seven years old and was there when Mom got the telephone call – it was just about the only time I ever saw her really cry.

Faye taught me a love for learning, for reading, for science, for thinking. I read through all the classics in our small library at home, and hungered for more. My brothers were more normal – into hydroplaning and bicycling and other good stuff. I was the bookworm. It must have been a challenge to raise three fellows with such different interests.

As a child, I remember long road trips to Florida to see her parents, and how good the free orange juice tasted when we crossed the Florida State line. I remember hot summer days at Ocean City with huge french fries and arcades. My idea of heaven as a six year old was to hold out my hands in front of an Ocean City arcade, and watch my parents fill them with nickels – which is what you needed to play those wonderful machines. Faye made the best crab cakes in the whole world, and a truly remarkable lima bean casserole. Most people go camping in a tent. Occasionally, we would take out the 16 foot runabout that Dad and Mom built with their own hands in he back yard. They would throw over an anchor on some river or creek, throw a tarp over our heads, and we would camp out on the water.

She and Bob left Eastport in 1960 to build their dream house on the water at Weems Creek. What a project! I have never worked harder than I did at her side – clearing the land, hand mixing never ending loads of concrete for a large patio, building terraced steps down a 60 foot embankment to our pier, digging out the hillside to add a special family room. Faye especially enjoyed caring for the flowers and landscaping.

During those years at Weems Creek, when I was a young teenager, we would occasionally, at her initiative, watch Billy Graham Crusades together on television. Each time surprised me, because she always echoed, almost in a parrot-like way, her parents’ dislike for conservative religion. She was raised that way, and didn’t see any reason to change. Even so, Mom seemed to look wistful – but each time, we both agreed that the gospel he was selling didn’t really make any sense. Trusting in Jesus for salvation and eternal life, public confession and baptism – that was not for us.

Faye took more pictures than anyone I’ve ever known. Unfortunately, they have deteriorated quite a bit – it was a lot of work just restoring the few we have on display today. But she was a good photographer. Working in the darkroom for hours led to chemical allergies, but she continued to take pictures as long as she could remember how to work a camera. Her landscape photography was remarkable. And that helped her with another passion of hers, which was oil painting. Her passion for landscapes led her through all 50 States in her lifetime. She actually put together one picture-book for children, though it was never published. She did, however, publish my Dad’s memoirs. How we wish she had also written her own.

When Dad died, she began the last 15 year chapter of her life in this world. Her next house was designed the way she liked it – bright and airy, rather than dark and moody. She became involved in her community as she had not been before – especially with quilting and genealogy and exercise. And she suddenly found a vigorous voice when it came to politics. She attended church here occasionally, because she always supported her sons. Micki knew that same support – Faye drove Micki to her own mother’s funeral when my injured back had me laid out. Faye was definitely a second Mom to Micki.

The last 10 years were hard for Faye. Her mother had sunk into deep dementia before she died, and her younger sister, Jean, went down that same, long path. Faye cared for Jean as long as she could. She also enrolled in a John’s Hopkins program testing Alzheimer’s treatments. This meant that she had regular screening, and against all our hopes, it soon became evident that she had the same disease.

Our grief is focused today, but it’s been smeared across ten years of losing Mom a little bit at a time. It’s not like she became a different person – she didn’t. Right up to her last illness, her caretakers remarked about her graciousness and warm smile. She had a great smile. And I can tell you that I never heard her complain about her condition – not even once.

The disease didn’t change who she was; it’s just that there was less of her every week. At first, it was just her short-term memory. Then she began to forget things, and confuse people. The folks who cared for her in her Alzheimer’s unit thought my name was David, because she referred t me as her older brother). Once, she thought I was her Dad – but that’s understandable because I look a lot like him, especially in the way I’m follicly-challenged (bald). It didn’t matter though. She was always glad to see us – I think she recognized us, even if the names were hard. And besides, we always remembered her.

There was one short period that was fun – that when she started having great-grandchildren. There were a few weeks when I would go in and tell her about her grand-children, and it each time, it was as if she had just heard it for the first time. That was fun.

But that was all that was fun – for me, anyway. Frankly, my faith was greatly challenged by her Alzheimer’s. For several years, I agonized with God over her deterioration. The Bible says that God always works good out of difficult circumstances for those who love him. Mom never told me that she loved God – and even if she did, I wondered how could God ever use such a scourge as Alzheimer’s disease?

And then, and I believe it was partly in answer to prayers, there came a period – before serious confusion took over – when Mom got younger. She began to react to flowers and trees and nature with the wonderment you usually only see in children. I believe that the Alzheimer’s actually reduced her mental age – took her back for a short while to the days of her youth, when her interest in God had been redirected by her parents. And then, back before even that.

She said she wanted to come to church regularly. And through some very special people here who brought her every week, she got to know some genuine Christians outside of her own family. She liked what she saw. She sat in the front row here a couple of years. True, she often went to sleep during the sermon, but there’s nothing really unusual about that(!) She asked for a Bible, though by then she couldn’t read it. We did get some very child-like books about God’s promises and such, and she liked it when I read to her from them.

Then one week, both to me and to others, she worked very hard to ask something. Her ability to frame sentences was so frail that it took her three tries that week to communicate it to me. She wanted to be baptized. She wasn’t content to just sit there and enjoy her new faith; she wanted to go up front and be baptized for all to see. Her faith was childlike, but it was one of the last fully rational things she ever did. The God who turned the cross into the gate to eternal life had actually used the Alzheimer’s for good!

And consistent with her new faith, Faye changed. While she didn’t always respond a whole lot to me as I droned on, or sang to her – yet, whenever I read the Bible, or prayed, she would get a big smile, or raise one hand up toward heaven. And she did give me a smile whenever I told her how much I was looking forward to spending eternity with her.

I miss Mom today. I know I will see her again, though – not with confusion on her wrinkled face, but with that winning smile of hers. The smile that will forever delight the God she was moved to seek so long ago, and finally found.

3 Comments »

“Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us …. we have become orphans …” (Lamentations 5:1–3)

Mom died today.

I’m certainly grateful that her final struggle is done. Anyone who has cared for a parent with Alzheimer’s knows that you lose a little more of that special person with every visit. It is a great comfort knowing that one of her very last rational decisions brought her to faith. Faye was well cared for in both assisted living and at the nursing center.

Still, one is never ready for the day when you become an orphan. After Dad’s death fifteen years ago, I expected this day to arrive. But a parent is an irreplaceable thing. When the relationship orbits closer, and when it arcs farther away, a parent always provides … not a second home, but a second haven. A face that recognizes you as none other can. A door that always opens. A history that is part of what you are.

When both parents are gone, there is an emptiness beyond the grief of losing someone you love. However much they have done for you and however old you are, when they are gone, you become an orphan. Nothing – not even your web of friends and family – can change the fact that you have become profoundly alone in a new way.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18–19)

Jesus understood this aloneness as the legacy of human death. Praises to God for every parent and child reunited in the new heavens and new earth. But Jesus came to eliminate my orphan-ness even more fundamentally. He restored familial roots with my Creator that were torn and shredded by sin. The cross reconnected me with a parent’s love that will never pass away – because this Parent will never pass away. I feel alone in my little world decorated with past memories. But I will never be alone in the universe I have yet to shape in eternal fellowship with my Lord.

Being an orphan is hard. But bless the Living God – he loves orphans.

20 Comments »

Transforming Grace is no more … on the radio.

For years now, every Sunday morning at 9:30, radio listeners in Baltimore were greeted by an SPEP sermon wrapped in the compelling theme music of Transforming Grace. (For those interested, it was “Point Reyes,” from Tim Janis’ CD, Water’s Edge).  Recently, however, WRBS decided to restructure their programming, and the 9:30 teaching slot was eliminated. They kindly offered us an attractive alternative slot, but the change gave us the opportunity to reevaluate our communication strategy. What do we want to communicate? Who are we trying to reach?

With decades of media experience between them, our own Craig and Andrew worked with other church leaders to help us through the necessary decisions to move forward. They helped us expand our vision to see the possibilities of an internet-based communication strategy. Consequently, the considerable money we planned to invest in radio over the next three years will, instead, be invested in developing the infrastructure and expertise necessary to record and transmit content over the web.

Some of our new goals;

• Stream live (and recorded) worship video to shut-in’s and people who for some reason cannot make it to church on Sunday morning. This will expand Transforming Grace availability beyond the confines of one half hour a week in the Baltimore area.
• Make teaching content of all kinds accessible anytime online. This would be great for us (think of making up one class at home instead of having to take a whole church course over), and great for anyone searching the web for good teaching.
• Provide  training that is integrated with the web, providing some content at our convenience at home, thus better leveraging the face-to-face time we spend in discipleship.
• Provide media to warmly welcome and orient local folks looking for a church home.

The same equipment and expertise used for these projects will also be available to create media for other venues if we so desire – such as CD’s DVD’s, TV and radio.

This is a three year plan that will require some cosmetic upgrades to our facility as well as technical upgrades behind the scenes. It may also present a learning curve for a number of us, so please ask God to give us grace.

Hopefully, it will all be worth it as we continue the legacy of Transforming Grace by making God’s Word much more available.

2 Comments »

Q:You probably have already seen this video. [popular video of a wedding party enthusiastically dancing down the aisle]. My parents and I are at a disagreement over this video. They say that it’s in appropriate to enter the ceremony that way, that it’s a sacrament that’s meant to be taken seriously. I believe that God would want you to delight in such a union and as long as the actual vow part is serious it shouldn’t matter how your entrance is. I was just wondering what your take on this is?

A:Yes, I have seen the video. No surprise that it raises disagreements. The Bible talks about what a marriage is, but not about what kind of ceremony is most appropriate. Experience tells us that to a large extent, ceremonies are a matter of one’s culture. In America, culture is split not only along ethnic, regional and economic lines, but also – and largely – along age lines. What your parents might find culturally appropriate and what you might find so are two different things.

You might be interested to check out 2 Samuel 6:12-22, when David introduced energetic, joyful dancing into an extremely holy ceremony. The issue there was both his dancing and what he was wearing. Who was right, he or his wife? Notably, the Lord does not chasten David.

If this were an real issue in a family (i.e., planning for a wedding), I would encourage everyone to:

• Think through what a wedding is, and how its nature can best be expressed. It’s one thing to disagree over how to express holiness and joy; it’s another to disagree, for example, on whether or not a wedding is a holy occasion at all. If everyone agrees on its nature, then the discussion will make better progress.

• A couple can be married privately by a Justice of the Peace without any ceremony. The choice to have a wedding ceremony is a choice to involve many parties – the couple, the parents and relatives, the guests and the church. All of those parties must be appropriately considered.

• Remember that God is honored when people show deference to each other (Romans 12:10 and Philippians 2:3-4).

I think that it is great that this video has prompted discussion over wedding ceremonies. I suspect that it will seriously encourage Americans to create ceremonies that move away from tradition and more honestly reflect their beliefs and sensibilities. This should give Christians the opportunity to make their ceremonies a more effective testimony of their faith.

1 Comment »

So much is being written about the death, funeral, music, career, family, etc., etc., etc. of Michael Jackson that I have little to add. (One of my favorite posts is at View from Here).

My own observation has to do with the fact that Jackson’s mega-event funeral did not involve any church.

The influence of the church in society at large (outside of its doors on Sunday) is almost non-existent. In the US, religion has been successfully corralled to Sunday worship with only a few exceptions: weddings and funerals. That is to say, people who never darkened the door of a church could be counted on to do so when attending a loved one’s wedding or funeral. The broad church being what it is, that did not mean that people actually heard the gospel on these occasions, but they nevertheless remembered the significance of Christianity as an organized religion.

For some time now, this last small vestige of religion’s specialness has been dissolving. More and more weddings are conducted by civil or para-church clergy in a non-church context. Funerals have been something of a hold-out, however. True, a funeral home is not a church – but they have in the past been made to “feel” like church, with churchy music and a minister-type presiding from up front.

I think Michael Jackson’s public funeral may have been a milestone in normalizing the non-religious funeral. We would not have expected the music industry to do anything different than what it did. But I suspect that the cultural size of the event – out of all rational proportion – shattered the stained glass barrier that constrained funerals within a religious setting. Michael Jackson epitomized “it’s OK to be what you want to be.” Nothing new there. But a funeral with such huge cultural clout without any church connection has, in my view, marked as “complete” the marginalization of religion in America. I think millions of the young and young middle aged will think, “that is the kind of funeral I want” – lots of sentiment along with a little flash and glamor, but with none of the restrictive quality of church standards and fixed ideas.

Spirituality is in; religion is out. That has been the trend for some time.  But Jackson’s funeral was such a powerful cultural role model that I think it may serve as the tipping point for the younger half of society to sever organized religion from its last tie with our culture: funerals. Exalting sentiment and artistry over character and rational hope in so strident a manner will coax the anti-religious approach to death out of the closet and into the new mainstream.

Given the state of religion in our country, that may not be an entirely bad thing. It does, however, signal the need for an entirely new approach to the church’s witness. We must, of course, cultivate biblical religion all the more, showing by example what godly religion is supposed to be. But at the same time, we must finally accept that we cannot depend on the old cultural advantages of religion. We must approach our witness as a minority group, concentrating on gospel clarity, our own character, and expressing God’s common grace to our society.

No Comments »

I have not been active in blogging for some time. Partly, I was confused as to how to target some messages to my congregation and some to the wider community. I have decided to create a category called “for SPEP’ers” and will link to that category from our church e-news.
So, I’ve reactivated this site. Since many comments will represent my personal views rather than my pastoral communication, I’ve moved my blog from the church web host to my own. Unfortunately, that meant that I lost all previous comments and links within posts. Sorry about that.
Also, please be patient as I rebuild the various features I once had, and perhaps add some others.
Thanks.

No Comments »