PreacherMike

There is a very important meeting that Colin Powell is involved in today. And we hear very little about it because we’re fascinated with stories like the Laci Peterson case. (Is there any defensible rationale for why a case like that gets so much attention–as tragic as it is?)

This tragedy that approaches the devastation in Rwanda from a decade ago doesn’t receive much press, we’re told, because it isn’t in our “national interest.” But to go with our national interest, don’t we also have national values?

Darfur, an area of Western Sudan near the Chad border, is described by the U.N. as the #1 humanitarian crisis in the world today. Something very close to a genocide is being carried out with the endorsement of the Sudanese government. Pro-government Arab militias have been raping and slaughtering black Africans–a kind of ethnic cleansing.

Thousands have been raped and murdered, a million have been displaced, and more than 120,000 have been forced across the border into Chad to live in refugee camps. The U.S. Agency for International Development has estimated that at least 300,000 more will die of hunger this year.

Please join me in prayer today about that meeting. Something tough needs to emerge from the U.N. Security council. But way beyond that, let’s pray for the kingdom of God to continue to break forth in troubled places.

Two hundred years ago today (June 28, 1804), Barton W. Stone and five others signed a document called “The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery.”

In 1801 several of these men had preached in a popular revival at Cane Ridge in Kentucky. They reacted against rigid Calvinism, calling on people to make decisions. As a result, some were faced with disciplinary actions by their churches. So in 1803 they formed a coalition of similarly-minded churches and called it the Springfield Presbytery.

But one year later, they dissolved the coalition. They realized that it was divisive. Included in the “Last Will and Testament” were these words: We will, that this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the body of Christ at large; for there is but one body, and one Spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling.

Not bad words to revisit 200 years later.

I’m a member of the Highland Church which is part of a group (denomination) known as Churches of Christ. But much more important than that is that we are part of the larger body of Christ–made up of followers of Jesus of many nations and many denominations.

I’m worn out from baseball. All-star practice is in its second week. Our first game is July 1.

On the first day of practice, I gave the parents and the players the “this isn’t all about winning” speech. As the first game gets closer, I think I need that speech played back to me!

This morning I once again give thanks that Claritin D is now available over the counter.

Life’s small pleasures. Well-executed drag bunts, well-thrown off-speed pitches, well-behaving parents, and Claritin D.