Go Directly to Hate! (Do Not Pass Go)

For several days, "Yes on 8" folks have been gathering on corners waving placards and expressing their support for the California ballot initiative seeking to define marriage solely as between one man and one woman in our State constitution. A few "No on 8" placards have also popped up around the area, too.

Today, however, "No on 8" supporters came out in force, holding up their signs and whooping it up as cars passed (some honking out support) on a couple busy local intersections. I was floored when I saw several of the signs on display bearing messages that accuse those who disagree with their position as guilty of "hate".

"Don't teach your children hate" read one. Another hand made sign had the four letters of the word h-a-t-e woven in among the message to vote no. Mind you, not one "yes on 8" placard had any auxilliary message suggesting that those who took the other view were hateful or stupid or evil. They were simply advocating their support for the traditional definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. But the other side is quite willing to accuse their opponents of "hating" gays and teaching the children to "hate" them, too. It made me wonder what these particular zealots would say to a gay man or woman who, nevertheless, support a "yes on 8" stance (there are some). Do they hate themselves? Are they trying to teach others to hate them too?

This whole issue underscores what is so odious about today's politics. When citizens and politicians take positions on particular issues, they often go directly to accusing their opponents of hate -- of being like Hitler or Nazis and so on. That's a convenient way to demonize the opposition and suppress real debate but it does little to advance our understanding of one another.

Honestly, I felt slimed by what I saw today -- in fact, I felt a little "hated" since I plan to vote "yes" on 8. And those who know me -- and my children -- know that hate has nothing to do with these convictions. Unfortunately, I can't fit all that on a placard.

Song of the "Chocolate" Soldier

C.T. Studd -- his very name conveys potency and substance and his life story bears this out.

In his early years he was a reknowned British cricketeer -- a hero who made his name in sports at Cambridge. Later, however, Jesus Christ became his magnificent obsession. Eventually, Studd left the comforts of home to serve God in China, India and Africa as a missionary. Not only did he serve the Lord on the frontier of nineteenth century missions, but he called many others -- especially students -- into the same service.

Studd was not a man to waste words. He called people to give their all for Christ and His kingdom without hesitation or apology. He had an understandable impatience with those who populated Christian environments but who had never done business with God and tended to flake out or shrink back when challenges appeared.

He referred to them as "chocolate soldiers" who -- though claiming to have a part in God's army -- were prone to melt away in the heat of trial and demand. His comments about these so-called "chocolate soldiers" follows below. As you read them, you may find yourself getting angry and upset about the "chocolate factories" we have built in the life of today's church and Christianity:

Studd wrote --

"To the Chocolate Soldier the very thought of war brings a violent attack of ague, while the call to battle always finds him with the palsy. "I really cannot move," he says. "I only wish I could, but I can sing, and here are some of my favorite lines:

"I must be carried to the skies

On a flowery bed of ease,

Let others fight to win the prize,

Or sail through bloody seas.

Mark time, Christian heroes,

Never go to war;

Stop and mind the babies

Playing on the floor.

Wash and dress and feed them
Forty times a week,
'Til they're roly poly--Puddings so to speak.

Chorus:

Round and round the nursery

Let us ambulate,

Sugar and spice and all that's nice

Must be on our plate."

Over 100 years have passed since these words were first written. Has the pasage of time only made them more remarkably relevant to our own day?

Why You Hate Making Decisions

Some years back, I learned something about the word "decide" that I have often reflected upon and shared with others. When you learn more about this word, you will better understand why it is often hard to make decisions.

The part of the word "decide" that is of particular interest is the "cide" part. It is Latin and means "to kill" (as in: suicide, homicide, infanticide and so on). This means that when you decide something you are by the very nature of the act putting some of your options to death. You are killing off choices. You are slaying some things in order to empower others.

As in any death, there can be a natural and important greiving that goes with deciding. People who marry may need to mourn the death of their singleness. People who choose to become a real part of one church must reconcile the fact that they are letting go of another. People who choose to live in the country may need to mourn the loss of the city lights.

When we choose a particular college, career, car, political candidate -- you name it -- we are admitting that we can't keep our options open for ever. The gavel must fall sooner or later and, when it does, something must die. This is the other side of the blessing of free choice.

It seems to me that one of the problems of our times is that we don't like limiting our choices. We want to keep our options open for ever. We want to wait until we have more data, more certainty, more assurance, less risk. Or we may even punt and let someone else make our decisions for us. "It's too complicated" or "it's too painful" we say. "You do the killing for me".

It would appear that too many of those who declare "until God shall separate us by death" at the wedding altar really mean "until something better comes my way". Too many who sing "I have decided to follow Jesus -- no turning back" really mean "I'll try to have the best of the kingdom and the best of the world too, thank you". But, or course, to decide for the Lordship of Christ is to murder the life we might have lived under our own direction. We can't have it both ways. Really. We can't.

I recently decided to change my life in major ways and say "goodbye" to things I loved a great deal including the security of the familiar (something we middle-aged folks learn to cherish). Sometimes, I chafe against this act of decision. Sometimes I wonder if there is a way I can go back and reconfigure it again and again. But, in my more clear-headed and mature moments, I remember all those things that reinforce the finality of deciding: "pick up your cross and follow Me" (the cross being a symbol of death), "you can't steal second base with your foot still on first" (unless, I might add you are one of the Fantastic Four or the lady in the Incredibles -- neither of which apply to me). And, one of my favorite John Wimber-isms: "Faith is spelled r-i-s-k". You see, we must often decide without guarantees, when its not the perfect time to do this or that, when we can only hope for the outcomes we want.

Committing acts of decision, committing that kind of murder is, in fact, the way we grow and shape our lives. Looking back down the chain of things we have decided is our history and our history is pretty much the story of our decisions.

Who Do You Care About?

We started a new VCMN facebook group. First, you sign up for facebook and put together a profile (free). Then you can join a group like ours. The group can post topics for discussion. It's a great way to connect.

Today, I started a new topic for the VCMN group to discuss: Who Do You Care About? What follows is my opening post. Feel free to visit our facebook group and read what people are adding or join in with a post of your own:

When we start talking about "mission", it's easy to get quickly overwhelmed. The needs out there are just SO huge. So, a good place to begin thinking about mission is to ask yourself who you care about. It might be a person, a family, a people group (Jr. High Students), a neighborhood, etc. But -- even if you are not exactly sure how to help them -- you find that you really care about them. So who do YOU care about?

For me, I find myself caring about young adults is their 20s and 30s. I care about them because they are really starting to exert their influence on culture and society but, to my mind, so many have been given little real help on how to live life by their elders (including -- and maybe especially -- in the church).

I want to see them become FOCUSED (a tall order in this hyperactive world) and confident. In a day when it is so important to "matter", I want to see scores of them find meaning in the simple qualities of personal character, spiritual maturity and long-term commitment even though these things are not "hot" or flashy. I ache to see the next generation of leaders raised up with their feet solidly planted on terra firma but their arms wide open to the myriad possibilities their lives will provide them to tell the world who they are and who God is in their lives.

Lark News - "A Good Source For Christian News"

(Picture from Lark News exclusive story captioned: "Obama Heals Hundreds")

For those who know the pleasure of sitting down with one of those checkstand tabloids that feature Bat Boy, the Prophecies of Nostradamus and the latest chapter in Elvis's post-life life, I give you: Lark News (http://www.larknews.com/) the self-described: "Good Source for Christian News".

This month's Lark online includes the hair raising story of the youth pastor who "dropped an f-bomb" during a church board meeting, or this shocking report straight outta Pontiac, MI:

"Listeners of Christian talk radio were surprised and dismayed to learn that the same slate of programs has been playing on Christian radio stations since 1988, and that the entire façade of Christian radio has been run out of a basement complex in Michigan."

For the record, Lark News has been my source for a certain sort of edification for several years now, and it is my privilege to share it with you. You can even find a handy link to http://www.bonofatigue.com/ ("It could happen to U2") there.

There is no charge to log in to Larknews.com and even read your horoscope (after harsh warnings about the biblical ramifications of astrology). Mine, for example, wisely counseled me: "Don't get bogged down in Leviticus this year". Hmmmmmm -- something to think about, for sure.

So, don't delay: go to Larknews.com and order your "Home Schoolers Gone Wild" t-shirt or catch some of the latest and hotest stories to come over the (Christian) wires.

Building the Perfect Candidate

My perfect presidential candidate doesn't exist. But if they did, they would possess certain qualities that would make them, well, perfect. I will list a couple of them and then invite you to add one of your own.

Let's see if we can build the perfect candidate.

1. They would be unapologetically, consistently and irreversibly pro-life.

2. They would tell us that the wild economic horses have already run out of the barn and propose drastic (even painful) solutions for both the public and private sectors instead of simply throwing more funny money at problems.

3. They would confront the corrupt public education system and tell them that they must now compete on a level playing field with private schools, etc.

The Exchange Goes On -- and Escalates!

As I mentioned, I am in an exchange with people over at Alan Hirsch's blog over the place of knowledge and theology in the true experience of the divine. Even my son, Andrew, weighed in over there. Today, Alan re-opened the discussion with more quotes and people jumped right in.

Here's what I put up (prompted in part by a quote someone named Scott pulled from a Brennan Manning book):

Scott, my brother:

I love Brennan Manning, have read a number of his books and heard him speak on several occassions. But, wherever that quote came from, it is just… stupid (sorry!)
Do I really need to throw away EVERYTHING I know about Jesus every five years? Everything? The doctrine of His virgin birth? My fierce conviction (I’m counting on this) that He died in my place? His bodily resurrection? Do I really need to “relearn” all of that? Whatever point about keeping it real with Jesus was trying to be made by the author of that quote is, for me, obscured by the overstatement.

I get it that worshipping our knowledge of God is both limiting and idolatrous. But where I’m struggling is how the alternative is being framed. But, then again, I’ll be straight up enough to tell you I’m coming from an a particular flow of Christian experience and I’m trying to protect something that I believe matters. So here’s the deal…

I love to see God “show up” and blow our minds. I pray for it. I have a lifetime of experience in Pentecostal / Charismatic circles with 25 years in the Vineyard movement to date. But, sadly, I have seen incredibly goofy and even harmful stuff peddled to people in the name of throwing away everything about God so as to be open to the experience du jour (supposedly of Him) and I ache over the harmful backlash I have witnessee, and pastored people through, on the back side. Others, with different backrounds and experiences, may be contending in their comments for other things and I’m okay with that. Maybe they could share a little more about that in future posts.

The very alive church in Jerusalem, in Acts, testified to both the miraculous transcendence of God and to regular doses of “the apostles doctrine”. There is this thing called “the faith once and for all delivered to the saints” in Scripture. There is a foundation. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”. Maybe that’s what Alan and others are trying to awaken — first, fear the Lord, then explore the knowledge. Cool. But knowledge, doctrine, the actual intellectual construct of the law and the gospel is never, as far as I can tell, cast aside. Instead, it seems to be necessary to point us to authentic experiences of the divine.

I guess I think of it like this:

If I have a container and it is filled to overflowing with water, then Praise God, my cup overflows. But if I pour water into thin air because I have no container at all, what’s the point?