Archive for May, 2007

The Myth of a Christian Nation

Published
by
Mike
on May 31, 2007
in Books, Salt and Light and politics
. 106 Comments

Thanks so much for the spirited “audience participation” yesterday. I was coaching last night and haven’t yet had a chance to get all the way through the comments. But something good has to happen as we listen to each other.

I’d like to recommend as a follow-up to the discussion Greg Boyd’s The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church.

Here are a few words where he explains his position:

“My thesis . . . is this: I believe a significant segment of American evangelicalism is guilty of nationalistic and political idolatry. To a frightful degree, I think, evangelicals fuse the kingdom of God with a preferred version of the kingdom of the world (whether it’s our national interests, a particular form of government, a particular political program, or so on). 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.

“For some evangelicals, the kingdom of God is largely about, if not centered on, ‘taking America back for God,’ voting for the Christian candidate, outlawing abortion, outlawing gay marriage, winning the culture war, defending political freedom at home and abroad, keeping the phrase ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance, fighting for prayer in the public schools and at public events, and fighting to display the Ten Commandments in government buildings.

“I will argue that this perspective is misguided, that fusing together the kingdom of God with this or any other version of the kingdom of the world is idolatrous and that this fusion is having serious negative consequences for Christ’s church and for the advancement of God’s kingdom.

“I do not argue that those political positions are either wrong or right. Nor do I argue that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics. While people whose faith has been politicized may well interpret me along such lines, I assure you that this is not what I’m saying. The issue is far more fundamental than how we should vote or participate in government. Rather, I hope to challenge the assumption that finding the right political path has anything to do with advancing the kingdom of God.”

I’d still like to also recommend Balmer’s book.

Pledging Allegiance in the Assembly?

Published
by
Mike
on May 30, 2007
in Church of Christ and politics
. 160 Comments

A friend of mine told me how perplexed she was that in a Christian assembly where she was visiting last Sunday morning they said the Pledge of Allegiance. I kid you not.

The Christian assembly is the place where we remember that there is only one ultimate allegiance, and it is to Jesus Christ. It is where we remember that any other ultimate allegiance is idolatry.

The early church didn’t pledge allegiance to Rome. They confessed Jesus as Lord — which was a political statement over against the confession that Caesar is Lord.

Aren’t we to be good citizens? Of course — whether we live in Mexico, Chile, Vietnam, Afghanistan, or the United States. No one nation is God’s nation. He is working in visible and (often) hidden ways in all countries.

There are settings where I say the Pledge of Allegiance. I’m thankful to be a citizen of this country; I deeply appreciate the sacrifices that have been made; and I do see my Christian obligation to be a good citizen. (I’ve written before about the need I sometimes feel to tell people that I’m not talking about the deepest allegiance of my life. Countries come and go; but the kingdom of God keeps encroaching!)

But historically, the Christian assembly has NOT been the place where people pledge their allegiance to a flag or a country. It’s not a place where they celebrate patriotism. Rather, it is a place where they remember that Jesus Christ alone is Lord. It is where they remember the words of Jesus: to come follow him, to turn the other cheek, to love enemies, to have only one Master, to serve one another, to go into all the world, etc. The assembly has been a place where we remember our status as “aliens and strangers” in this world whose true citizenship is in heaven.

You can find earlier blogs that are related here . . . and here.

Guadalupe Peak

Published
by
Mike
on May 28, 2007
in General
. 16 Comments

Yesterday was my third time to climb Guadalupe Peak — my second time with Chris. He was six the first time, so this was a very different experience.

It was a father/son trip with a couple buddies. Richard and Brenden and Kyle and Colin went with us to the tallest point in Texas (8749 feet). We spent the night in Pecos — you haven’t lived until you’ve spent a night in Pecos, TX! (blizzards all the way around at the DQ and a couple cheap rooms at the Motel 6) — and drove to the trailhead yesterday morning. Beautiful weather — couldn’t have been better. Perfectly blue, with a high in the low 70s. Wildflowers everywhere, benefitting from the extra rain this spring.

A big storm rolled in just as we were getting off, as you can see in the last picture:

Here are a few of the pictures:

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New Pitching Rules

Published
by
Mike
on May 25, 2007
in Baseball
. 19 Comments

Little league coaches have had to adjust their strategy this year because of a major change in the pitching rules. A much-needed change, in my opinion.

Formerly the rules specified how many innings a kid could pitch. But that’s tricky, because an inning could involve three pitches or it could involve forty-plus pitches.

The problem is showing up in sore arms and damaged arms with younger and younger kids. Just this morning I heard a report on middle school kids having to have “Tommy John surgery” because of too much pitching at too early an age.

The new rules don’t specify innings; rather, they limit the actual number of pitches. It’s inconvenient at times, of course. E.g., in my last game, I needed to limit both my first two pitchers to forty pitches, so they’d be available to play the top team two days later. In the last inning, we were leading 10-5 with two outs and one strike on the last batter. But that’s when my pitcher hit the magical forty. So, we had to stop the game to bring in pitcher #3. We all waited while he warmed up and delivered three more pitches to end the game.

Inconvenient, yes. But still the right thing to do.

And much of the reason this is necessary is that too many adults get too carried away and will do nearly anything — including taking a chance on a kid’s arm — just to win.

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“Here is my theory: I am all the ages I’ve ever been. You realize this at some point about your child — even when your kid is sixteen, you can see all the ages in him, the baby wrapped up like a burrito, the one-year-old about to walk, the four-year-old napping, the ten-year-old on a trampoline. . . . So how can I be represented by a snapshot, or any one specific aging age? Isn’t the truth that this me is subsumed into all the me’s I already have been, and will be?” - Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually)

Preacher Search

Published
by
Mike
on May 23, 2007
in Church of Christ
. 99 Comments

The most recent Christian Chronicle has an ad by a church that is looking for a preacher. “Evanglistic Pulpit Preacher Needed.”

Part of the ad says: “We are looking for a man who wants to be right not radical, a man of wisdom and understanding who truly believes the song ‘Just As I Am’ and permits the gospel to change people’s lives according to “THE faith once delivered to the Saints.” Change agents, misguided, or unlearned men who desire to forget the old hermeneutic pattern of, who is speaking, to whom is he speaking, and when is he speaking, or Command, Example, and Necessary Inference need not apply. We are seeking a man to continue these God inspired biblical traditions taught by men of faith like those listed above [G. C. Brewer, C. E. McGaughey, Rex Turner, Sr., John Henry Clay].”

Just this reflection: My guess is that if they find someone who really believes the song “Just As I Am,” he won’t get the job.

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Just a few more recent pictures:

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Baseball

Published
by
Mike
on May 22, 2007
in Baseball
. 49 Comments

I don’t just like the idea of baseball.

I like the smell of it. I like the crack of the wood bat or the ping of the aluminum bat. I like teaching a kid how to lead with his hips as he swings. I like a sore arm and shoulder from throwing 20 too many fastballs the night before at practice. I like calling pitches for my son. I like seeing a kid that can’t catch still hustle to the fence, hit his cutoff man, and stop the double from being a triple. I love hot dogs at the stadium. I like seeing the #9 batter get his first hit of the season. I like seeing a kid lay down a bunt. Shoot, I just like seeing a kid look down to third and SEE the bunt sign. I like seeing the two teams line up after the game and shake hands, remembering that there are more important things than who won.

I like almost everything about baseball.

Except the Yankees.

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Oh, yes. The robe? Check this out.

Joining God in His Work

Published
by
Mike
on May 21, 2007
in missional and preaching
. 23 Comments

This weekend was full of chances to call people to the way of Christ:

A wedding (my third this spring) — for “the girl next door.” Literally, the young woman who was six when I became her minister and seven when we became her next door neighbors.

Senior Sunday — 59 seniors were listed on the back of the bulletin. That’s a lot of people. And it’s the first time I can remember a “whoop” every time it was mentioned that someone was going to Texas A&M. (We’ll be checking hidden security cameras later to find out where that was coming from!)

Baccalaureate for Wylie High School. We actually had six Wylie graduates from our youth group this year, which was as many as I can remember. (We’re largely an AHS youth group.)

There were so many strengths in my ministry training — especially in languages and exegesis. But there were some holes, too. I don’t remember anyone ever saying, “By the way, here’s what you do when you’re asked to be involved in a funeral.” Or a wedding. To say nothing of church leadership, conflict resolution, etc. So many good changes have been made in the last three decades in ministry training.

The biggest change is helping ministers understand how to lead a church (or plant a church!) that knows how to live as missionaries in a broken world. It’s long past time for the church to quit throwing its weight around, whining because America has changed. It’s time for us to join God in what he’s doing around the world in bringing good news to the poor, to the broken-hearted, and to the outcasts.

Maintenance Completed

Published
by
GKB
on May 17, 2007
in General
. 13 Comments

As of a few hours ago, PreacherMike is fully live, serving you posts and comments from its brand new servers at a new hosting company.

Sadly, due to an upgrade in the software we’re using here, the old “template” is no longer compatible, so we’re going with a different look. There are a great many advantages to this new layout, which I’m sure you’ll discover as you play around. The key features are the LiveSearch option (just type and wait and see the results appear like magic!) and the LiveCommenting. Also, there’s a new little section which shows you the most recent comments on various posts.

One feature you’ll probably want to take advantage of is the new ‘Subscribe to Comments’ option. At the bottom of the commenting window you’ll find a place to check a box if you wish to be updated on future comments. This way, you enter your email address, and if you want to follow a particularly interesting post or discussion, you’ll be automatically notified of updates.

As with any transition, there are likely to be some potholes or speedbumps, so feel free to leave a comment with any “issues” in the comments section of this post.

Peace,
GKB

Grace (Eventually)

Published
by
Mike
on May 17, 2007
in Books and faith
. 12 Comments

A few snippets from Anne Lamott’s new book, Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith.

Often the people with the deepest insight looked as ordinary as any old alcoholic or serial killer. They might look like Siddhartha or Ananda Mai Ma, but odds were they resembled your bipolar cousin Ruth, or Mr. Burns from The Simpsons.

. . . It really is easier to experience spiritual connection when your life is in the process of coming apart. When things break up and fences fall over, desperation and powerlessness slink in, which turns out to be good: humility and sweetness often arrive in your garden not long after.

I will never known how hard it is to be developmentally disabled, but I do know the sorrow of being ordinary, and that much of our life is spent doing the crazy mental arithmetic of how, at any given moment, we might improve, or at least disguise or present our defects and screw-ups in either more charming or more intimidating ways.

That’s me, trying to make any progress at all with family, in work, relationships, self-image: scootch, scootch, stall; scootch, stall, catastrophic reveral; bog, bog, scootch. I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things; also, that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace’s arrival. But no, it’s clog and slog and schootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark.

It’s so hopeless. What are we going to do? I don’t know. But I suppose, while we are on the subject of weight, we might as well address the neck. The neckage. The situation is deeply distressing: the wattle and the wrinkles that gather like Roman shades. The liver spots. The soft pouch like a frog’s vocal sac, or the gular pouches of Komodo gragons that now connect the chin to the neck. But it could be so much worse, as is usually the case, because at least the neck is recessed. God recessed the neck for a loving, caring reason. While the face is right out front, She set the neck back, out of direct light, in the shadows. Sure, you can still see that gravity is having its say, because the neck is where it all shows — it’s like the thighs of the head.

Joy is the best makeup. Joy, and good lighting. If you ask me, a little lipstick is a close runner-up. . . . Pretty lipstick makes you look so much less tense and mean.

Maintenance

Published
by
Mike
on May 16, 2007
in General
. 8 Comments

Thanks to Greg Kendall-Ball for working on a new host site for me. The change is happening today. All the functionality of the site has been restored (commenting, etc.), but we still need to work on the aesthetics. Stay tuned. It will start looking more normal about midday. AND . . . I’m back from Nashville . . . staying in town for a while . . . and planning to return to regular blogging.