A Day Late and A Dollar Short?

First published Friday, Dec. 26, 2008 in The Daily Sentinel


The stockings, once empty, then filled, are now empty again. The tree, almost hidden by presents just yesterday, now sits forlornly in the corner with nothing hiding under its branches. The trashcans are overflowing with discarded wrapping paper, crushed bows, and over-protective, theft-deterrent packaging.

Christmas seems so slow to get here – then so quickly left behind. A few hours (minutes??) of excitement seems anticlimactic following weeks and weeks (or months and months) of build-up. Is this how Christmas is supposed to feel?

I’ve tried to do Christmas differently this year. I worked hard not to get caught up in the materialism of the season and focus more on the spiritual aspects of Jesus’ birth. Then last Saturday in the Toledo Blade, I read a columnist who sneered at my approach:

“Christmas in America,” wrote Leonard Peikoff, “is an exuberant display of human ingenuity, capitalistic productivity, and the enjoyment of life. Yet all of these are castigated as ‘materialistic’; the real meaning of the holiday, we are told, is assorted Nativity tales and altruistic injunctions (e.g. love thy neighbor) that no one takes seriously. America’s tragedy is that its intellectual leaders have typically tried to replace happiness with guilt by insisting that the spiritual meaning of Christmas is religion and self-sacrifice for Tiny Tim or his equivalent. But the spiritual must start with recognizing reality. Life requires reason, selfishness, capitalism; that is what Christmas should celebrate – and really, underneath all the pretense, that is what it does celebrate. It is time to take Christ out of Christmas, and turn the holiday into a guiltlessly egoistic, pro-reason, this-worldly, commercial celebration.”

I’ve seen what following Mr. Peikoff’s philosophy gets us – and to me, the results are simply ugly. A person says this as he’s opening the gift: “I sure hope this is better than what you got me last year!” An entire movie based on the premise of desperation and rudeness being acceptable in order to get that “must have” toy. (Remember the Arnold Schwarzenegger fiasco called “Jingle All the Way”?)

The pursuit of happiness through acquisition is ultimately a dead end. Rather than dismiss the altruistic ideal of love thy neighbor simply because “no one takes [it] seriously,” why not try living into that ideal? I will admit that most Christians do a poor job of following this instruction by Jesus, but that doesn’t make the instruction itself false or unreasonable. Rather, this shows how deeply entrenched self-centeredness is in each one of us.

Unchecked selfishness, disguised as true capitalism, results in the same kind of post-binge regretfulness as drinking too much alcohol at the party. Wake up the next day with an extreme hangover. And unfortunately, that’s what too many Americans are probably experiencing on this day-after-Christmas. They are a day late in discovering the true meaning of Christmas; and when the credit card bills arrive next week, they discover they are a dollar short (or more) of being able to pay for it all. Is this the “reasonable” celebration called for my Mr. Peikoff?

Our economy is in trouble because of the reasonable selfishness followed by too many for too long. And our federal government is sending America into unchartered territory with the quasi-nationalization of the finance industry and automotive industry. Next on the agenda: the healthcare industry. What does all of this mean? I don’t know. What I do know is this: when I focus less on self and more on others, when I take the challenge of loving my neighbor seriously, I experience greater joy and personal satisfaction – with no “day after” regrets.

Perhaps that’s the reasonableness behind Jesus’ words: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done” (Matt 16:24-27 NIV).

Unexpected Generosity is Evergreen: The Christmas Tree

First published Friday, December 19, 2008 in The Daily Sentinel



My mother claimed victory over cancer 25 years ago by going home to be with her Lord Jesus Christ. If I have any talent in writing, it comes from her. I shared this story last year at Christmas, and I think I will make it my annual Christmas tradition – the sharing of “The Christmas Tree.” Merry Christmas!


They were young; they were poor; and it was almost Christmas. Joe and Mary had experienced more than their share of difficulties that year. Because of Mary’s illness, the doctor bills were eating into their small salary with precious little left over for the necessities — much less the luxuries like Christmas. But there was the child to consider: little Joey was only three, yet surely he deserved some sort of Christmas.

Mary scrimped on the grocery budget and managed to save a tiny sum. Together she and Joe went downtown to the variety store. It was filled to overflowing with dolls, games, trucks and cars. Little Joey’s eyes sparkled as they pushed him up and down the aisles. Then he saw it — the item that captured his heart. It was a small red cowboy hat.

Mary’s own heart leaped for joy! It only cost 98 cents. They could afford the hat, plus a set of toy guns, and still have two dollars left to buy a tree. After all, a little boy needs a tree even if he is only two.

Joe and Mary hurried over to the Christmas tree lot. Silently Mary prayed, “Please God, let us find a tree for only two dollars.” Even back then, that wasn’t very much money with which to buy a tree.

It was nearly Christmas Eve, so they knew the trees would be pretty well picked over. When the family arrived at the tree lot, they discovered only five trees were left. Still, when there are five trees — four must be eliminated.

Alone on the lot, they spent as much time picking out their tree as they would have if a dozen trees were under examination. Finally they chose one of the trees that everyone else had rejected.

Joe’s heart was in his throat as he approached the tent to pay for the tree. He had looked everywhere for a price tag, but found nothing. In fact, there wasn’t a sign anywhere on the Christmas tree lot telling the prices of the trees. Joe looked in the tent, but it was empty. Because it was such a cold day, he thought perhaps the salesman had gone to the drugstore across the street for a cup of coffee.

“Mary, you and Joey wait in the car while I run across the street and pay for the tree,” Joe said. And with those words he was off.

It’s hard not to be excited at Christmas when you’re young, even when you’re poor. So Mary and Joey sang Christmas carols and discussed Santa Claus while they waited.

It didn’t take long for Joe to return. He opened the trunk of the car and placed the scrawny little tree inside. He got into the car. Mary looked at him expectantly. “How much did the tree cost, Joe?”

Slowly a tear slid down Joe’s rough cheek. “Mary, it was free! The man who owns the lot leaves the last few trees each year for those who can’t afford to buy one. Our tree didn’t cost us anything!”

Suddenly they weren’t poor anymore. They had gifts for Joey. They had a Christmas tree. They had two dollars. And they had each other.

That night, after the tree was decorated with their small supply of hand-me-down ornaments, the family admired their handiwork. Joey’s eyes were nearly as bright as the star on top of the tree. The red, blue, green and yellow lights created a soft glow.

Joe and Mary thought their hearts would burst with joy. They reached to one another and gently touched hands. Before long, Joey — being a typical little boy — sat down in the middle between them. They knelt, held hands and bowed their heads while Joe said a prayer.

“Dear God, thank you for Mary and Joey. Thank you for our beautiful Christmas tree. Thank you that you love us and take care of this little family. Thank you for sending Jesus, whose birthday we are celebrating.”

* * *

Years have come and gone. Other children joined the family, and money was never quite so scarce. Joey grew just like a boy must; but somehow he always remembered that special Christmas — the Christmas he, his mama and his daddy knelt before the tree and prayed.

And on Christmas Eve, if you were to visit his home, you’d hear him say, “Let’s all bow our heads now.” Then you’d see three children and their mommy quietly listen as Joey, the man, prays.

Christmas Giving

First published on Friday, December 12, 2008 in The Daily Sentinel


Over the last several months, the newspapers, TV and internet have been full of stories talking about our economy. Our government has given billions of dollars to banks and financial services companies. Congress is considering giving billions more to shore up the “big 3” American automotive companies. Speculation is strong that more giving will be required to keep our economy from going even further downhill in 2009.

Churches and charitable institutions are also feeling the pinch because as people become increasingly worried about their personal finances, jobs, etc., they don’t give as much or as often. I’ve already received several letters since Thanksgiving from various organizations asking me to consider a year-end gift to allow them to finish the year strong and prepared for 2009. My own church’s stewardship committee is probably going to send out its own letter to our members asking the same thing.

Christmas is indeed a time for giving. But its often seen more as a time for getting. Consider how we even phrase things about our Christmas giving: “What are you gonna get for Uncle John?” Even our giving is phrased as a getting proposition.

There are some people who want to change this aspect of Christmas. This year, I joined the “Advent Conspiracy” movement. Its goals are simple: Worship fully. Spend less. Give more. Love all. Here’s how they describe it:

Worship fully: “It starts with Jesus; it ends with Jesus. This is the holistic approach God had in mind for Christmas. Entering the story of Advent means entering this season with an overwhelming passion to worship Jesus to the fullest.”

Spend less: “How often have you spent money on Christmas presents for no other reason than obligation? How many times have you received a gift out of that same obligation? Thanks, but no thanks, right? We’re asking people to consider buying one less gift this Christmas. Just one. Sounds insignificant, but many who have taken this small sacrifice have experienced something nothing less than a miracle: they have been more available to celebrate Christ during the Advent season.”

Give more: “Time is the real gift Christmas offers us, and no matter how hard we look, it can’t be found in the mail. Time to make a gift that turns into the next family heirloom. Time to write mom a letter. Time to bake really good cookies and sing really bad Christmas carols (or sing Christmas carols badly). Sounds a lot better than getting a sweater two sizes too big, right?”

Love all: “When Jesus loved, he loved in ways never imagined. Though rich, he became poor to love the poor, the forgotten, the overlooked, and the sick. By spending less at Christmas, we have the opportunity to join him in giving resources to those who need help the most. When Advent Conspiracy first began in just four churches, this simple concept raised more than a half-million dollars to aid those in need. One less gift; one unbelievable present in the name of Christ.”

I offer you an opportunity to challenge your Christmas habits. If Christmas has become dreary instead of joyful, depressing instead of delightful, habitual rather than spontaneous – then join the Advent Conspiracy with me. Do something insignificantly significant for someone else. The “insignificantly” part is usually only from our perspective. The “significant” part is generally from the other’s perspective.

Our general economic principles are based on the idea of scarcity of resources. For one to have means another must be without. Price is based on the demand for what we want in proportion to how badly we want it and how limited its supply. But what if those are false assumptions? What if we could learn to live in an economy based on an attitude of generosity? I think that is what Jesus was driving towards when he spoke about worry:

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:26-33)

Worship fully. Spend less. Give more. Love all. No government bailout required – sounds like the best Christmas plan ever!

Dangerous Christmas

First published Friday, December 5, 2008 in the Daily Sentinel.


Last Sunday marked the beginning of a special time for Christians. Did you catch it? It marked the beginning of the Christian calendar year. Our common calendar has the New Year another month away, but the Christian year begins with Advent, which started last Sunday.

Advent is a time of preparation – preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ. Most of the time, we think about getting ready to celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25th. But that was only Jesus’ FIRST coming. There’s still a SECOND coming to get ready to face.

The Bible tells us about some of the preparations made for both of Jesus’ comings. Isaiah 40 says: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’”

That prophecy came true through the birth and ministry of John the Baptist. Luke’s gospel opens with God sending the angel Gabriel to visit Zechariah and telling him that he’s about to be a father – and his son will be John, the one who prepares the way for the Lord. But the first words out of the angel’s mouth were these: “Do not be afraid.”

God’s activities started with Isaiah, then continued approximately 700 years later with Zechariah. That’s a long time to prepare! And yet, the first words were “Do not be afraid.”
I think these words are still powerful and resonate with us even after a time gap of 2000 years! It is so easy to be afraid right now. The American economy seems on the verge of collapse. Wars are still being waged in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Terrorists are taking over ritzy hotels in India. Protestors ravaged the Bangkok airport in Thailand. AIDS and starvation are killing thousands every day in Africa. There’s no where safe on the whole planet!

And yet, in the midst of this fear, danger, and disaster – we are still supposed to be prepared for Christ’s coming?! Surely, Christmas is not supposed to be this dangerous!

The popular imagery of Christmas in Bethlehem is safely sanitized. Our Nativity set shows a happy baby lying in a bed of straw. Mother, earthly father, shepherds and wisemen gaze contentedly down upon the child. Cows and camels kneel quietly and softly chew their cud.

I don’t think that is anything like the reality of that situation when it occurred! I’ve seen childbirth first-hand three times – and it’s not easy or peaceful. Newborns don’t look like pleasingly plumb 4-month-olds, and they certainly don’t lay there quietly in any kind of bed.

That first Christmas was dangerous! Mothers and babies often died during childbirth. Diseases were rampant. Fleas and rats and other vermin made their homes in stables and on barnyard animals. Joseph is there having to do a midwife’s job – something he probably never expected to have to do in his life. That coming of Christ was very dangerous – but still the angel’s words ring out: “Do not be afraid!”

No matter how bad things may seem, we do not have to be afraid. Danger is irrelevant to God’s grace. You can give you fears to God and receive the peace of Christ in return. And that’s the best way to prepare for Christ’s SECOND coming, too.

Jesus describes his return in rather scary language: “But in those days, following that distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” (Mark 13:24-27)

The second coming of Christ will be both a dangerous day and a joyous day. The difference between danger and joy is preparation. What are you doing to be prepared? Can you wholeheartedly accept the angel’s message: “Do not be afraid”?

Many Reasons for Thanksgiving

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, November 28, 2008



As you digested yesterday’s turkey and all the rest, did you reflect on reasons to be thankful? After all, thanks-giving is what this whole holiday is supposed to be about!! (No, it’s not just the day before the biggest shopping day of the year)

I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I returned from my mission trip to Haiti safely; and as a result of that trip, I am more aware of what we Americans so often take for granted.

I am thankful that I can turn on the water in my bathroom, kitchen, and outdoor spigot at any time and drink the water safely. I am thankful that I have (mostly) uninterrupted electrical service capable of turning on all the lights, electronics, and power tools and appliances in my house with no problem. I am thankful that our sewage system safely and consistently takes away waste products and keeps our homes and businesses clean and pleasant-smelling. I am thankful that I can go to a store and purchase just about anything I can imagine – as long as I have the money to pay for it.

In Haiti, one cannot assume any of those things to be true. The water is not safe to drink. Electrical service is inconsistent and low-powered (I’ve never seen so many 5-watt fluorescent mini-bulbs in my life). Sewers are only in the cities, and only partially effective. The market in Les Cayes (where I stayed) was well stocked with fresh fruit, rice and beans – but not much else. Our efforts to make certain repairs and build certain things at the school and orphanage were often stymied by missing equipment and supplies.

Haiti is a beautiful country filled with many beautiful people, but the country is at least 80 years behind the U.S. in so many ways – especially ones related to basic infrastructure. But I’ve never seen a more resourceful people. How they can do so much with so little is simply amazing! And the hospitality our team received was second to none. A simple “Bon jou!” would be met with mercurial smiles and waves.

I am also thankful for children. The kids at the school and orphanage were incredible – and they thought we “blanca’s” were pretty amazing, too. I sat on a bench at the orphanage as one child after another came up to me and tried to put their fingers around my wrist, upper arm, and ankle. They couldn’t do it – my “big bones” were too big. Then they had me put my fingers around their wrists, arms, and ankles – as Creole murmurs of astonishment were expressed between them. My hair also fascinated them. Straight, silky hair was mesmerizing. And I have enough arm hair that they simply wanted to stroke it like petting a cat. I could have basked in the attention for hours!

I’m thankful for my own family. My wife came to the Detroit Metro airport at midnight to help retrieve our team. By the time we reached home, it was after 1:30 a.m. – but my daughter stayed up to give me a tremendous bear hug as soon as I walked through the door.

Finally, I am eternally grateful to God. The circumstances that allowed me to go on this trip had to have been God-led. Touches of the divine surrounded me throughout my experience, and I am forever changed. What an amazing God to create us with such diversity and unity. American and Haitian, black and white, rich and poor – the differences mattered much less than the commonality we found worshiping the one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I pray that you, too, have many reasons to be thankful – perhaps some less obvious, but nevertheless important. In these uncertain economic times, we can still remember to thank God for all that we do have, for all that we can do with what we have, and how we can continue to improve ourselves and others by living in Jesus’ name. As you hang the Christmas decorations, don’t let go of Thanksgiving too quickly. An attitude of gratitude will make your Christmas spirit that much better during the next four weeks!

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV)

Too Much Baggage

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Nov. 14, 2008.


When our children were younger, packing for a trip was more exhausting than the trip itself. We were still living in Texas, and we came to Ohio for Christmas with my wife’s parents. Our kids were something like 6 months old, almost two years old, and five years old. We crammed the van full of diapers, porta-cribs, bottles and formula, clothes, toys and Christmas presents. It took up every open space in the van and a suitcase topper attached to the roof.

After that Christmas, we never attempted to take our young kids so far again. It was simply too much baggage!

Why do we carry around so much baggage? I’m not talking just about when we go on vacation or holiday, but also about what we have all around the house – collections of junk, clutter, and chaos! But even more, I wonder about all the emotional baggage we carry with us no matter where we go. Do you know what I mean? The resentment over something that happened last night – or even last century; the disappointment resulting from unmet expectations, broken promises, or plain bad luck; the fear of change, going into unknown situations and circumstances, and even wondering if the job will still be there next week.

I had to deal with a lot of baggage recently. Actually, I wasn’t sure how to deal with the baggage. By the time you read this column, I will be in Haiti as a member of a mission team. I will be there for eight days, helping to build chicken coops, repairing a school from the ravages of this past hurricane season, visiting with people in their homes, and worshiping together in the local church.
Haiti has been in the news quite a bit recently. Two schools in one week have collapsed, killing more than 80 students and injuring many more. The school I am assisting is not in Port-au-Prince, but in the “boonies” – even for Haiti! Port-au-Prince is the capital of the island nation – the poorer side of Hispaniola; the Dominican Republic occupies the other half of the island.

Haiti has a rich history and a poor present. The original peoples of the island were decimated by Spanish colonists – both directly through slaughter and indirectly through importation of European diseases. The population was reestablished through the importation of Africans as slaves to their European colonialists. Conditions in the island, however, prevented the population from being established through natural propagation. Too many died each year to ever establish a second or third generation of slaves. As a result, African cultures remained more intact as additional waves of slaves were brought into the country.

Perhaps this stronger memory of freedom in Africa helped the slaves of Haiti to overthrow their European rulers in 1804 and establish the second oldest independent republic in the Western Hemisphere, trailing the United States by only about 30 years. But the Haitians seemed not to understand the principals of peaceful transfer of power, and so the nation has experienced continuous warfare, assassinations, military juntas, and dictatorships for most of its past 200 years.

The island’s fertile soils have been exhausted by overuse, the forests cut down for fuel, and now the island nation is especially vulnerable to natural disaster and human mismanagement. I will be in the area near Les Cayes, which was mostly cut off from the rest of the island after the hurricanes this summer. Thousands have died from starvation, polluted water, and lack of medical care. Although only 100 miles from the capital, it takes more than 10 hours to get from Port-au-Prince to Les Cayes by car or truck. You might say Les Cayes is in the “boonies” of all boonies.

Just from my quick history lesson of Haiti, you can see the amount of baggage this nation carries. Somehow, it cannot seem to get past its past and get on to a brighter, more hopeful future. Our economic downturn in America over the last two months is nothing like what the Haitians have dealt with for more than two centuries!

My baggage getting to Haiti is severely limited. I get two suitcases that will be checked, and two carry-ons. But my suitcases aren’t “mine” – they will contain much-needed medical supplies that can only get into the country through bribery and bargaining. Everything that I need – clothes, toiletries, toilet paper, supplies, etc. – have to fit into the carry-ons. And that was not easy to do! I had to let go of a lot of “essentials” in order to take the really essential with me.

When I think about the difference between that family trip for Christmas and my trip to Haiti, I am humbled by what God has done in my life. I now know how little I really need on my own, and how much I rely on God to take care of the rest. I don’t have room for fear, distrust, resentment, and anger on this trip. But I have plenty of room for peace, patience, kindness, goodness, selflessness, and generosity. How about you? What is in your baggage?

Was God in the Election Results?

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, November 7, 2008


I promise that this will be my last column on the subject of presidential election politics. At least for a while. I am greatly fatigued by this presidential election season – and I feel like it’s gone on for next to forever. But I also feel strongly that there are a few more things to think about before we move on to the next election season.

Last week, I wrote that this nation will persevere and move on – no matter which candidate was elected on Tuesday. Now we will see if I’m right. Listening to some of the analysis and commentary on the election, however, there seem to be many who disagree with me. I’ve heard Obama supporters say that his victory over McCain signals dramatic change in this nation – change that will lead us from the brink of disaster to which Bush led us over the last eight years, and that would have become certain under McCain. So they thanked God that Obama won and brought new hope for America.

I also heard some reports on McCain backers who said that the Obama victory WAS the disaster – and there is no room for hope now that the “liberals are in control.” Even before the election, there were many who considered McCain-Palin to be “God’s Ticket,” and prayed ferverently for an outcome different that what actually happened on Tuesday.

So where was God in this election? Did God create an Obama victory? Or did the forces of evil prevail by defeating McCain? Can we even determine God was (or was not) intimately involved in the election outcome?

When the Apostle Paul talked about government to the Christian church in Rome, he told them this: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Rom 12:21-13:2)

I find it interesting that Paul talks about the government starting with an instruction: “do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” There are many who believe that government is evil – a necessary one, perhaps – but still evil. Yet, Paul says that we Christians should overcome evil with good. So even if government IS evil, we can’t run away from it or ignore it; rather, we must be God’s agents of transforming evil into good. And so Paul says to submit to the governing authorities, for they are in authority because God established it.

A lot of people are challenged by that statement. “How could God establish the authority for someone as clearly evil as Adolph Hitler in Nazi Germany?” some might say. “If God is willing to establish that kind of authority – to put that kind of man in charge of a nation – then that’s not a God I want to follow.”

On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln is seen as either the greatest President of the United States of all time, or a close second right behind the Father of the Nation George Washington. Both of those presidents are often described as men God ordained to lead this nation in its crucial moments of birth and attempted division. “God brings great leaders to lead great nations. As long as we stay on God’s side, then we will always have a great leader.”

The problem with both of these perspectives is that they are based on our perceptions – and not on what God was actually saying through Paul. God does NOT establish the authority of specific leaders, or even specific governments. Instead, God established the concept of authority itself. “The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Paul says. He does not say, “Caesar’s authority has been established by God,” even though Nero Caesar was the absolute ruler in that time period. So God created the IDEA of government, but not how the government is organized, nor by whom it is led.

As much as I would love to claim that United States democracy is God’s specially approved and blessed form of government, I cannot. God himself is not revealed to us as a president, governor, senator – or even community organizer. God is revealed as Creator, Lord and King! We don’t get to vote God into office, nor can we vote God out. Rather, we can submit to God’s authority or rebel against it. And rebelling brings judgment against the rebeller.

So to answer the question that headlines this column, God was present in the election results – but only as far as we remember how Paul started his own discussion of politics: do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. I have no doubts that Barak Obama has the capability to do good – he, too, was made in God’s image. I also have no doubts that Barak Obama has the capability to do evil – he, too, is a sinner who falls short of God’s glory. So no matter whom you voted for, please join me in praying for President-elect Obama, that he would more closely follow God’s authority as he lives into his own authority as president during the next four years.

Neither a Borrower Nor Lender Be

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, October 10, 2008.

With the elections happening next week, this post is still timely...

The Bible talks a LOT about money. Most people know that – but they are less sure of what the Bible says specifically about money. In one of my Sunday school classes recently, I handed out a sheet that contained many different sayings. The class was asked to identify which of them are biblical, and which come from somewhere else. Here are some of them:

• God helps those who help themselves.
• Do to others what you would have them do to you.
• Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

So do you know which is biblical and which is not? Only the saying in the middle come from Scripture. Both the top and bottom are extra-biblical. So while they may express an IDEA that could be biblical, the sayings themselves are not.

The economic turmoil of the last several weeks, experts tell us, is because we have a broken credit system. Banks are hoarding cash and refusing to lend to one another. Millions of mortgages are in default. Millions more are unsustainable because the loans are substantially greater than the actual values of the houses themselves.

And now the credit collapse is affecting more than just mortgages. Car loans are harder to get approved – and when approved are for substantially higher interest rates. Even credit cards – the most proliferate form of credit – are not as easy to come by. Jobs are endangered by the lack of business credit. Companies with uneven cash flows can no longer get short-term loans to make payrolls, so people may start losing their jobs because the cash isn’t there to pay them. Guess what that does to the mortgage default rate and bankruptcy courts?

This could be a vicious cycle. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman called it an “economic perfect storm” and he doesn’t know how much worse things could get. Neither do I, but William Shakespeare’s advice in “Hamlet” seems apt today. In Act I, Scene 3, Polonius gives his son Laertes words of wisdom before the son departs on a journey:

“Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Those words are not biblical, but they are wise. Credit – lending and borrowing – is much like oxygen. We need oxygen to breath, yet it is also one of the most dangerous and unstable substances found in nature. Mix oxygen and flame, and trouble can erupt. Mix credit and greed, and the same thing happens.

Ezekiel 18:7-8 offers a word picture of what righteousness looks like, and it has this to say about borrowing and lending: A righteous person “does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked. He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest.”

Ezekiel sounds similar to Shakespeare. Lending and borrowing are acknowledged, but not encouraged – and especially separated from greed. We may not be able to affect what goes on between the big banks, or between the federal government and Wall Street, but we can affect what happens on Main Street. We can limit the ability of a certain group of people from taking advantage of those most vulnerable to the credit trap.

On November 4th, Ohioans will vote on Issue 5. It’s a confusing item on the ballot because a “yes” vote equals saying “no” to predatory lending. Payday lenders want Ohioans to vote “no” on the issue so that they can continue their business practices without the restrictions placed upon them by the Ohio legislature earlier this year. They want to charge the equivalent of a 391-percent annual interest rate for two-week loans ($15 per $100 every two weeks). If Ohioans vote “yes” to Issue 5, then the interest rate will be capped at 28 percent.

Twenty-eight percent compared to 391 percent? The latter sure seems like usery to me! Payday lenders have spent a lot of money confuse this issue and make it about jobs and a “scary” government database. A spokesperson for the payday lenders’ coalition Ohioans for Financial Freedom asks, “We’re taking away one of the few lending options Ohioans have left? That’s ridiculous.”

What’s ridiculous is targeting people who struggle to make $300 a week with loans that they will pay back only by taking out new loans – and forking over another $15-30 every time. I don’t consider that to be a lending option, I consider that to be oppression and usery. As a Christian, the only way I can be true to myself is to vote “yes” on Issue 5 and do all I can to do unto others as I would have them do unto me.

Fools Rush In

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Oct. 3, 2008



My wife and I went to a major department store last week to look at new bath towels. This is an errand that I complete only every decade or so. When I buy bath towels, I like to buy the really good ones so that they will last a really long time.

As we came off the escalator, we were surrounded by CHRISTMAS! Christmas trees, Christmas angels, Santa Clauses, snowmen – if it was Christmas-related, it was on display (except for Nativity scenes, but that’s another column).

I looked at my wife and asked if we had somehow lost six weeks in a time-warp as we came up the escalator. (I watch a lot of Star Trek, and much stranger things have happened to Kirk, Picard, and Janeway.) My wife reassured me that I was still anchored in reality – well, that may be somewhat debatable – and that the store had simply rushed us into the Christmas buying frenzy.

We also went to a major home improvement warehouse store – and they had Christmas stuff out, too! It seems that retailers can’t get us into thinking about buying for Christmas soon enough. And so they rush into the season, even before the last days of September are behind us.

Frank Sinatra sang a song about fools rushing into things. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. And so I come to you my love, my heart above my head.” Frank’s rushing had to do with romantic love – but we rush today into EVERYTHING.

Picking on retailers for rushing Christmas is easy. They are so visible in their rushing – too blatant for subtlety. But what about the rush to this presidential election season? How long has the 2008 campaign gone on? It seems we’ve heard from and about McCain and Obama (and Clinton and Romney, and all the other wanna-be’s) since the day after the last presidential election. And how about the financial bail-out bill? That $700-billion package was rushed to Congress so fast that most of us were still trying to figure out what it was, much less why it was needed.

Rushing also happens on a more personal level. We rush to school, rush to work, rush to judgment. Whoops! Maybe I rushed to that last category. Let me repeat it again: we rush to judgment.

Sometimes it’s over relatively harmless things. My wife tried a new recipe for dinner. My kids looked at it and curled up their noses even before tasting it. Their rush to judgment worked out well for me. I though the meal tasted delicious – and there was more for me!

But rushing to judgment can also be severely damaging. We see someone who looks different, and immediately decide that person is unlikable. We see a house that looks more inviting to raccoons than people and decide whoever lives there must be bad. Or we see someone’s palatial home and decide that person must be good.

Rushing is truly a foolish thing. We rush when we do not take the time to do things right, thoroughly, or completely. Rushing leads to mistakes. Rush the curing of concrete and it will crack. Rush the completion of homework and careless mistakes lower the grade.

The opposite of rushing is not procrastination or laziness. The true opposite of rushing is pacing. Making decisions with careful consideration; following processes in a timely fashion. Here’s how the Apostle Paul put it:

“Here's what I want you to do. While I'm locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.” (Ephesians 4:1-3 “The Message Bible”)

Only fools rush in. As Christians, we are called to wisdom – and we have the One most Wise to guide us. So even if you see jingle bells in July, remember that Jesus is more than a season of shopping, and the political and financial crises of the moment will not defeat Him – or us!

Is the Bail-Out Good News?

I got behind in posting to the blog. Now I'm catching up... ;-)

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.


The big headline this week is the $700 billion bail-out plan for the financial services industry proposed by President Bush’s administration. I am flabbergasted by the sheer size of the proposal. Do you have any clue how big 700 billion is?

Thomas Sowell, a syndicated columnist tried to explain the enormity of the number by comparing it to a trillion seconds. He claimed this week that “a trillion seconds ago, no one on this planet could read and write. Neither the Roman Empire or the Chinese dynasties had yet come into existence.”

Unfortunately, Sowell did his math wrong. There are 31,536,000 seconds in one year (60 seconds x 60 minutes x 24 hours x 365 days). That means it takes just under 32 years to equal a trillion seconds. Even I was able to read and write 32 years ago.

Still, $700 billion is a huge price to pay for this bail-out. Why do we need so much money for Wall Street? In all the news reports I’ve read or heard, I haven’t received a straight answer to that question. In truth, nobody knows if that number is too high or too low.

I am reminded of the old saying: the bigger they are, the harder they fall. It seems in this situation we have to add a “to” to the saying: the bigger they are, the harder they are to fall. The bail-out is deemed necessary because these companies are too big to fail. Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac, AIG, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and others must survive or our entire financial system will crash – sending the whole economy into a downward spiral that makes the Great Depression of the 1930s seem like boom times.

How did we get into this mess? Granted, I am not a Wall Street Wizard. I do not have an economics degree from Harvard, Yale or even Podunk Community College. But even I can understand how this mess was created: greed.

I am well acquainted with that sin. I had some pretty severe expressions of it in my own life. Before becoming a pastor, I rose through the ranks of marketing professionals to achieve worldly success. My household income in 2001 was nearly $200,000. But because of greed, I was flat broke. I spent more than I earned (even at that income!), borrowing heavily to enable the spending. And I didn’t pay back what I owed consistently or sufficiently enough to get out of debt and break the cycle.

I wasn’t a bad person, I just didn’t know how to handle my money. And I am not alone. All across the country, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and car financiers make billions of dollars off of people like me. The “subprime” credit industry offers credit to people who have already shown they don’t know how to successfully manage credit. So I could borrow money only by paying too much for the privilege. When I went to buy a new minivan, I got the financing for it – but with a 20% annual percentage rate when “prime” borrowers could finance the same vehicle at around 6.5 percent.

That kind of income opportunity attracted the so-called blue chip financial firms. They saw this as “easy money.” So much cash flowed into the coffers of creditors that one’s ability to repay no longer was a factor. Greed overruled logic.

My financial world collapsed when my six-figure income ended. The brutality of logical consequences forced me into a bail-out of my own. After exhausting all retirement savings and shredding the credit cards, selling my house at a loss just to get rid of the mortgage, I still owed more than I could pay. Bankruptcy court became my only option. In exchange for wiping out my past debts, I have to live with a terrible mark on my credit record for 10 long years.

Now, Wall Street wants the benefits of “bankruptcy” without the consequences – and the Bush Administration seems to want to give it to them. But how about all the folks who have also been caught in this illogical lending game outside of Wall Street? Is this a case of “the smaller they are, the easier to make them fall”?

The Bible is a resource that should be considered in dealing with all of this. It has a lot to say about money, sin, and bail-outs – er, forgiveness. 1 Timothy 6:9-11 declares that “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

I think that section of scripture sums up rather succinctly the situation we’re in today.
But what about forgiveness? Jesus told a story to Simon the Pharisee to explain God’s grace:
“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Jesus asked. Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

If we take Jesus’ story at face value, then forgiveness should be offered – even to Wall Street executives. But even in forgiving, we do not have to reward their sin. Therefore, salary limits, taxpayer stockholding, and relief to the consumers at the bottom of this calamity are all good ideas.

Jesus said that he came to preach good news to the poor. I wonder if $700 billion is a big enough number to refinance all those troubled mortgages into terms that people could more easily pay off? Now THAT would be good news to the poor, today.

Assessing the Damage

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Sept. 19, 2008


Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast last weekend, unleashing ferocious winds, an 11-foot storm surge onto the beach, and pounding rain. I spent my first year after college in that part of Texas. My wife and I lived in Brazoria County, right next to Galveston along the coast south of Houston.

Watching the news reports, I saw pictures of places and buildings that I recognized. Unlike most hurricane reports, these affected me personally. I KNEW what those places were supposed to look like – and instead they looked like a war zone.

I also have family in the greater Houston area. I called last Friday before the storm hit to find out what they planned to do. My aunt said they were going to ride out the storm rather than evacuate. They lived far enough inland from both the Gulf coast and Galveston Bay that they didn’t think the surge would do anything to them. They were more concerned with the wind and rain, but they’d done all they could to secure their property. The rest they had to leave in God’s hands.

My grandmother is also down there. Up until a couple of months ago, she was living with my aunt. But she’d fallen and broken her hip, so she had been moved to a rehabilitation center until she was able to move around again on her own. The rehab center was also not evacuating. They’d secured their facilities and done all they could to make the patients and residents comfortable in an obviously uncomfortable situation.

Those of us more than 1000 miles away from Houston did little to prepare for the storm. Why should we? We aren’t in the path of the hurricane – right? Well, Ike certainly had more in it than we expected!

As Ike continued up from Texas, through Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and even Ohio – we all got a close-up and personal experience of what a hurricane can do. My cousin in Louisville is without power. My brother-in-law in Dayton just got his power back yesterday. Columbus is still trying to recover. The Columbus Dispatch reported six confirmed deaths from the storm, millions without electricity, and many even without running water. They have a helpful section on their website: “Deal With the Aftermath.” But I wonder how those without power can access the internet to learn what to do?

We have become so completely dependent on basic services that we take them for granted – until suddenly they aren’t there. We make all kinds of plans for how to spend our time – until emergencies rip those plans to shreds. We have priorities for our money – until we have to spend it on survival rather than pleasure.

Jesus talks about misplaced priorities and false assumptions in the “parable of the rich fool.” Found in Luke 12:13-21, Jesus describes a landowner whose fields produced an abundant crop – so much abundance that it wouldn’t all fit into his barns. He had a problem, but he thought he had the right solution when he said to himself: “This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’”

Isn’t that what we do? We think we can take life easy – except when we can’t. And while we think we can take it easy, we become increasingly oblivious to those around us who are struggling to survive. Assessing the damage from Hurricane Ike shouldn’t be limited to what the storm did to our trees, our property, our basic infrastructure. We should also assess the damage we have done to our souls BEFORE the storm. Have we become like the rich fool, content to eat, drink, and be merry?

Here’s what God said to the landowner: “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

My aunt and her family came through the storm with little damage. They even had electricity restored before the weekend was over. My grandmother didn’t fare so well. Last Sunday evening, she was incoherent. The initial diagnosis was that she’d suffered a stroke. Because of Ike, the hospital had no neurologists who could examine her. For the past several days, no one could see her in the hospital because it was on emergency power only and therefore operating in “lock-down” mode.

I don’t know whether or not God is about to bring my grandmother home, but I do know that she is ready if this is her time. She has spent her life assessing the damage, asking God to forgive her participation in destructiveness and self-centeredness, then working to bring others into a state of readiness to meet God, too.

For me, assessing the damage from Ike is intensely personal. But no matter how much – or how little – Ike affected you, take time to assess the damage. Especially to your soul. Work to live differently post-Ike than you did pre-Ike. Don’t make the mistake of the rich landowner. Live for God and your neighbor rather than just for yourself.

Attacking Religious Freedoms – Real and Imagined

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday September 12, 2008


Yesterday was the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States. People paused for moments of silence to somberly remember those who lost their lives on that day. There is no doubt that what happened on September 11, 2001 was an attack on the United States and its commitment to freedom, liberty, and democratic process.

In particular, religious freedom was under attack. The men who hijacked commercial airliners and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as crashing into the Pennsylvania countryside, were religious extremists – determined to force their religious views onto the United States through fear and intimidation.

Other times, though, we defend ourselves against religious attacks and enemies that aren’t necessarily real. I received word of such an attack this week: an email that claimed our federal government – through the U.S. Mint – was attacking a core symbol or our religious heritage.

The email said, “The U.S. government to release new dollar coins. You guessed it ‘In God We Trust’ is gone!!! If ever there was a reason to boycott something, this is it!!! Do not accept the new dollar coins as change. Together we can force them out of circulation. Please send this to everyone on your mail list!!!”

I was skeptical. Anything that comes via email (especially with lots of forwarding) with that many exclamation points deserved some quick fact checking. One of the best resources for dealing with internet rumors is www.snopes.com. I went to that website and did a search on “dollar coin” and found out the following:

“In 2007, the U.S. Mint began a series similar to the 50 State Quarters program launched in 1999. The new series, the Presidential Dollar Coin program features dollar coins identical in size, color and composition to the earlier Sacagawea dollar, each one bearing the likeness of a former president on the front, and a representation of the Statue of Liberty on the back. The email erroneously asserts that the new dollar coins do not include the phrase ‘In God We Trust.’

“Actually, the coins incorporate a few new design features not found on other current U.S. coins. The year of minting, the mint mark, the motto from the Great Seal of the United States (‘E Pluribus Unum’) and the national motto of the United States (‘In God We Trust’) are instead included as edge-incused inscriptions. That is, all of these elements appear on the edges of the new dollar coins rather than on their fronts or backs.”

So, clearly, the U.S. Mint is NOT trying to take away our religious freedoms. Christians who cherish “In God We Trust” are probably the guiltiest of spreading this email rumor without first checking the facts. We want this nation to remember – even if only symbolically – that we are a people who claim to trust God. So the call to boycott spreads with the speed of light – but at the expense of the real truth.

Jesus spoke about truth extensively in the Gospel of John. “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So if the Son sets your free, you will be free indeed. I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 8:31-32, 36; 14:6)

Therefore, as Christians, we are obligated to seek the truth because all truth comes from the one who IS Truth. So before you hit that “forward” button on your email, stop and seek the truth. We don’t need to make up attacks against our faith, they are really out there.

The California Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that clearly attacks religious freedom. In the case, “Benitez v. North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group,” the majority ruled that sexual liberty trumps religious liberty. So although both the US Constitution and the California State Constitution guarantee the right to religious freedom, the Court ruled that a doctor can be compelled to provide a medical procedure – one completely elective and non-life-preserving – even if doing so becomes a violation of the doctor’s religious beliefs.

A little more than five years ago, Guadalupe Benitez (shown below with her partner and three children) sought to be artificially inseminated so that she and her lesbian partner could have a child. The doctor to whom Benitez initially approached for the procedure had moral qualms about impregnating a woman without a husband. Syndicated columnist Maggie Gallager wrote, “When a man at a bar has such qualms, he’s a ‘mensch’ [a decent, responsible person with admirable characteristics]. When a doctor at a fertility clinic has the same moral qualms, the California Supreme Court says she is now an outlaw, an evil discriminator.”

So in a state and nation that promises to protect religious freedoms – California has now truly restricted religious freedom. And the freedom is restricted even in the midst of such an abundance of medical choices that persons like Benitez could easily find another doctor without these religious beliefs -which is exactly what she did. But unsatisfied with getting the service she wanted, Benitez wanted to punish the doctor for attempting to exercise religious beliefs because they “violated her sexual identity.” Now all doctors who believe in the sanctity of one-man, one-woman for life as God’s original design for what constitutes the best family can no longer apply that religious belief in their actions.

James 2:17 says, “Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.” When government denies anyone the opportunity to act according to their faith, it’s guilty of trying to kill that faith. So which attack is more diabolical, the supposed disappearance of ‘In God We Trust’ on a coin, or the very real disappearance of freedom to act according to one’s faith? Which freedom is worth protecting – even worth dying for?

A Crash Course in Palin Politics

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday September 5, 2008


A week ago hardly anyone had heard of Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Then suddenly her name is on the lips of every person interested in presidential politics. I am even more behind the times than most. I didn’t know anything at all about her – not even that Republican candidate John McCain had named her as his running mate – until the same day she gave her speech to the Republican Party Convention last Wednesday night.

My preparations for her speech included a crash course in the media coverage leading up to Wednesday night. And I am amazed at one aspect of the reporting: Sarah Palin is being accused of seeking office to the detriment of her family by some of the same people who have screamed the most loudly that women can take on any role and be just as good as a man. Now that they’re confronted with the reality of a woman who might just take that idea seriously enough to prove it, they suddenly think she has no business being governor of Alaska – let alone potentially the Vice President of the United States of America – when she’s got five kids, including a four-month-old son with Down’s Syndrome.

Why is that? What makes Palin unacceptable as the Republican VP candidate when we almost had Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential candidate? Is it that Clinton’s one daughter is grown and Palin’s two daughters are still young? Is it because Chelsea Clinton has not become pregnant out of wedlock and Palin’s 17 year-old-daughter Bristol is? Or is it that only Democrats should lead the way to women’s breaking of the political glass ceiling in America?

I am not at the point where I am ready to declare my vote, but I am at the point when I can declare my dislike for how this election has been covered. I am ready to stand up for unbiased reporting in the media. And I am ready to stand up for the truth that women CAN be both great mothers and great career people – no matter what career that may be.

Of course, sacrifices must be made when one is striving to both raise a family and make a difference in the world. That’s true for both mothers and fathers. Several times in my family, my wife chose to give up career-enhancing activities and opportunities in order to meet family obligations. And I’ve been Mr. Mom – devoting myself full-time to raising my kids rather than building my career.

Jesus recognized that family obligations and other obligations can often come into conflict. Here’s what he said in Matthew 10:34-37: "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

Some people have interpreted that passage to mean that family doesn’t matter to Jesus. But that’s not what Jesus is saying. Rather, he emphasized the choices that must be made when one is truly committing him or herself to a cause – in this case the cause of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus calls us to action, we are expected to respond – even if Mom, Dad, or other family members disapprove. Love God first – then you have the right resource to love family.

So does Sarah Palin love her family? Watching them on TV Wednesday night, I would say, “yes.” Does she love them more than politics? That’s impossible for me to decide. If God has called her into politics (including becoming candidate for Vice President), then responding to that call DOES become more important than family. It’s a tough decision – and only Palin can make it. Voters can affirm it or reject it; but they cannot decide it. Nor can the media – as much as they may want to try.

God called me into ministry, and I thank God every day that my family was behind me and supported me in becoming a pastor – even though it meant giving up so many things and accepting so many changes in their lives. Others who have been called into ministry tell a different story. A spouse or child cannot handle the change; relationships break down. Divorce ends the marriage. Estrangement ends the parenting. But those called by God must be willing to accept that loss and have faith that God will use the loss to bring a greater good in its place.

Maybe we need a VP candidate who causes us to think about these things. We certainly have a Savior who does.

Coming Soon!

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Aug. 15, 2008



I learned the other day that a new Star Trek movie is in the works. I am a confirmed “Trekker,” so this is big news for me. I went on the Internet to learn as much about the new movie as I could. The last movie, “Star Trek: Nemesis,” was very disappointing. I hope the new movie will be much better.

Going online, I uncovered rumor after rumor about the new Star Trek movie. The variations on plot lines, casting, and release dates reminded me of one of my favorite “Star Trek-isms”: infinite diversity in infinite combinations (or IDIC). The movie is going to be about Jean Luc Picard; no, it’s going to be about Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. But wait! How can they even think about putting 70ish actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy back on the bridge of the Enterprise? Besides, didn’t Kirk get killed about 4 movies ago?

Well, its official: the movie is going to be about Kirk and co., but going back in time to BEFORE they came together on the original Enterprise on the original series – using all different actors in their 20s to fill the roles. Uh-oh, that could be troublesome for Star Trek purists like me.

The original Star Trek was produced in the late 1960s. Watching reruns or DVDs of those episodes, the aura of 1960s fashion and special effects make them incredibly cheesy by today’s standards. When Star Trek: Next Generation aired, creator and producer Gene Roddenberry wisely set that series about 70 years into the future from the original series. The then-current production techniques used for the series helped everything looked so much more “hi tech” than before, and yet the future setting protected the integrity of the original series.

After Roddenberry’s death, a different producer conceived “Enterprise” as a series set back in the earliest days of Starfleet – nearly 150 years BEFORE Captain Kirk took the bridge. But the Enterprise series was produced using 21st century production technology. As a result, it made Kirk’s time appear less technologically advanced and cheesier than ever.

Why does any of this matter, you ask? My response is that Star Trek has become more than casual entertainment for me. It is a metaphor for exploring core understandings of human nature, the implications of philosophical, political and religious understandings, and the role technology has in shaping those explorations. Star Trek lets us as the basic Why? What? and How? questions of life.

Amazingly, the Bible does the same thing. Scripture also asks those questions, but even better than Star Trek, it offers answers that have divine inspiration, authority and applicability to us! My Bible reading this week took me to the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. I haven’t read this prophet’s writings in a while, so it was startling stuff – almost like something brand new.

During his time, Jerusalem is filled with people who ignore God, including the king and all his court. The Babylonians have defeated the previous empires – the Assyrians and the Egyptians. And now Babylon is doing some “mopping up” by taking the little kingdoms, too. That means Judah and its capital Jerusalem.

Habakkuk asks God the basic “why?” question of all time: “Why do you tolerate wrong?” (Hab 1:3) He goes on to list the injustices that he sees all around him, and yet the wrong-doers are not punished. Then he asks again, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (Hab 1:13)

Then God responds: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Hab 2:2-3)

God goes on to promise that all things will be made right; but things will get worse before they get better. But no matter how bad it gets, remember that God is still present, still prepared, and still will make things right. But God doesn’t give many details about the how or when. In short, God says this: “Have faith. Trust me.”

If you are like me, then sometimes trusting God is hard. Maybe the hardest thing any of us are ever asked to do. Just like the new Star Trek movie, God has something coming soon. I don’t have to trust that Paramount Pictures will do Star Trek right by me, but I do have to trust that God will do right – not by me, but by God’s own standard of holiness.

I pray that each of us will be able to proclaim along with Habakkuk (in Hab 3:17-18): “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior.” It’s coming soon! God will not prove false. Wait for it! It will certainly come and will not delay.

Taking the Road Less Traveled

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008


Did you ever study the famous Robert Frost poem written in 1920 called “The Road Not Taken”? It was part of my high school literature class. We had to find all kinds of deep meaning in the poem’s lines:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Of course, the simple meaning is that each of us have choices before us that are equally inviting, and we should not regret the choices we make once we make them. A deeper meaning is that there are some choices that take us away from the majority, and those choices are often superior to “crowd think.” (But of course, don’t tell that to media producers. TV and movie executives would prefer to attract the masses with banality than make higher quality, but less lucrative offerings.)

But last week I discovered a new application of this poem: my daughter just got her driver’s license. You better believe that I’m encouraging her to take the roads less traveled as she gets used to being behind the wheel! Most kids her age have already had their driver’s licenses for as much as three years, but we took the less travelled route and didn’t pursue the license until she truly needed to have it. Truth is, in Racine, she could get everywhere she needed to go by walking or riding her bike. Now that we’re somewhere else, the car is much more necessary.

Along with the driver’s license comes the need for insurance. I was prepared for our insurance costs to go up, but I’m glad I was sitting down when I heard the first quote! Adding our newly licensed driver more than doubled our monthly premium. That’s rough!! So I didn’t stop at my first quote, I shopped around. I took the other path and didn’t stop until I found an insurance carrier who would raise our premiums by only $23 per month. You better believe I won’t be going back to that first way!

But all these roads and choices and costs brought me back to how we respond to God. What choices do we make when it comes to God? Are all choices equally valid? Can we go back and try again if the path turns out to be a dead end?

Of course, the answers depend on the particular faith perspective of the persons making them. A Buddhist, for example, would say “yes” to the “trying again” question; that’s the whole point of reincarnation. A Christian might also say “yes” to that question, but mean something very different. For a Christian, “trying again” refers to the forgiveness we receive from God every time we confess our bad decisions to God. But once this life is over, there is no going back; your time is up.

I know there is much popular appeal to the idea that all religions are simply different paths to the same destination. After all, we reason, who are we to judge a person’s faith? Isn’t that up to God? Well, yes it is. And that’s precisely the point at which the argument breaks down. God DID choose one path. And that path was promised to a man named Abraham, passed through a reluctant leader named Moses, travelled on through a poet/shepherd/warrior/king named David, was challenged, amplified, and renewed through prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, and finally was completed through Jesus Christ – God Incarnate.

All of this was God’s choice, not ours. That’s why Jesus made the exclusivist claim in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Were it not for Jesus Christ, no one could get to God. His choices in life, his death, and his resurrection all paved the way, bridged the chasm, opened the door to an eternal relationship with God. Once done, there was no going back to any other way.

I encourage you to get on the road with God – no matter what anyone else thinks about that decision. I promise that you will find the road that makes all the difference!

Where is it?!

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, August 1, 2008

The movers pulled out of the driveway after unloading all of our belongings into the new parsonage. I went back inside the house to be confronted by over 400 boxes, furniture that needed placement, and a kitchen still being remodeled. Things were a mess!

Looking through the chaos, it was tempting to simply throw my hands up in frustration. How did we ever accumulate all of this stuff in the first place? Didn’t we give a whole bunch of stuff away BEFORE we moved? And where do we begin to make sense of it all now that we’re here?

I started in the bedroom. I need a functional bed, a dresser, and a closet. But wait, where are those bed slats for supporting the box springs? Where are those screws to attach the rails to the headboard? Where are the felt pads to go on the feet of the dresser so the legs don’t scratch the hardwood floor?

OK, let’s try the bathroom. I need a working shower, toilet and sink. What happened to the screws for the shower curtain rod? Where did I put that razor and shaving cream?

Hmmm, maybe the kitchen? Nope. The refrigerator needs to go in the spot where the wall was torn out, and several more cabinets are being replaced. There’s no room to put the plates, glasses and pots – even if I could find them!

Alright, then, I’ll take my books over to my new office at the church. There aren’t enough book cases in the office, so let’s take some from the house. My son dutifully assists in shifting 20 boxes and three book cases from the house to the church. I start unpacking the books. But where are the shelves? I can’t stand it anymore!!

We looked everywhere for those shelves. I thought maybe they’d gotten lost in the garage. I searched through the tools, trashcans and other boxes. No shelves. I went down to the basement; maybe the movers put the shelves down there. Lots of buckets, lots of boxes, some shelves – but not THE shelves. I was ready to give up. They were lost and I was not about to find them.

Every time I turned around, something seemed to be missing. “Where is it?” almost became a hypnotic mantra. I mumbled as I wandered through the house, “Where is it? Where’s it? Wheresit? Wherst? Wherrrrrrr!!!

Jesus told a story – several stories, actually – about lost and found situations. In Luke 15, Jesus tells about the shepherd who goes out to look for his lost sheep, the woman who lost her coin, and the father who lost his son. These are some of my favorite stories in the whole Bible. I think they are especially important today in our “here today/gone tomorrow” culture. There are things important enough to look for when they’re lost, to hold on to beyond the moment, to cherish and celebrate when they are found.

The woman who lost her coin had this to say: “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin!”

Jesus said this: “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

I eventually found all the missing screws, bed slats, toiletries, etc. and made progress in turning the house into a home. I even found the missing book shelves. They were in the church! During the moving process, the shelves had been taken out of the book case and set aside. They were set aside because one of them had slid out of place and slammed directly onto my son’s finger! In the midst of helping him deal with his pain, we put the shelves against the wall in the hallway and forgot about them. And I walked right by them at least a dozen times before they finally came to my attention.

I was so excited to see those shelves! Hooray!

But my joy is nothing compared to God’s joy when we find God. How often do we pass right by the most obvious signs and indications of God’s presence? How long are we going to ignore Him? What does it take for us to stop trying to lose ourselves in everything else but God? Have you lost your joy in the Lord? Are you looking for a peace that passes understanding?

Where is it?! Right here! In the church!!

Going, But Not Gone

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday July 18, 2008


By now, much of Meigs County – at least those who follow the goings-on in our United Methodist Churches – know that my family and I are moving. We left on Tuesday for my new appointment at the Grace United Methodist Church in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Perrysburg is a south-side suburb of Toledo, thus I went from one corner of the state to the other. So far in my six years in Ohio, our family has lived in the Columbus area, Springfield, Troy (near Dayton), and Racine. That’s just about every major section of the West Ohio United Methodist Conference. Yes, Methodists are known for moving their pastors around, but I may be the extreme example of that!

For some people, the idea of moving gives then such a severe case of shudders that they avoid even thinking about it—much less actually doing it! One member of my congregation told me he wasn’t moving until he had to go six-feet underground and the address marker said “Rest in Peace.” Perhaps you feel the same.

I, however, get excited about new places. During the spring of my junior year in high school, Dad had a job offer that would cause our family to move from where we had lived for the past 10 years. My parents called me in for a discussion; they wanted to get my reactions and thoughts about the move before making their final decision. Although it meant spending my senior year in a new high school, I surprised them by saying I was in favor of the move!

Moving gives people a chance to re-introduce themselves, to establish new relationships, and create new impressions of themselves in others. Moving also helps us to learn more things about ourselves that we might not have learned without the stresses of the new places, people and circumstances.

It’s certainly been true for me. After a decade growing up in Canyon, I was deemed unexceptional by my peers. I wasn’t considered one of the most intelligent, most athletic, most musical, most klutzy, most nerdy, most funny — or most of anything. I simply was part of the “furniture.” But after moving to Duncanville, I got a chance to change that reputation (or lack of reputation). I became a lot more visible through my musical abilities, and by the time the “Senior Most’s” voting took place, I was a finalist for “Most musical boy.” That would not have happened in Canyon!

With every move, I also leave a part of myself behind. In Canyon, I left behind my best friend. And even though I haven’t seen him in more than a decade, I still think of him as one of my best friends. Moving from Racine, I will leave behind strong relationships with many friends. During my last Communion service, I called each person by name as they came forward to receive the bread and cup of Christ. Several times, I had to hold back the tears as I said, “Bob, the body of Christ broken or you. Mary Ann, the body of Christ broken for you. Christ’s body broken for you, Roger….”

The poignancy of the moment with each member of our church family is something that I will cherish forever. I am reminded of the words of thanksgiving and praise that the Apostle Paul wrote to the many people in the different churches he helped establish during the first century:

“I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.”
(1 Corinthians 1:4-6)

“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.”
(1 Thessalonians 1:2-4)

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 1:3-6)

Paul and I have several things in common—our constant moving from place to place as God leads, the joy experienced by getting to know people who love Jesus Christ, opportunities for sharing Jesus’ love with others so that they become part of the family, and trusting that God will continue the good work started even though we are no longer there.

God is present in Meigs County, and that will continue to be true – no matter what pastors may come and go. God has given me the privilege of participating in His work for a season here with you, and I am forever changed by what I have experienced here. Thank you, Racine United Methodist Church, Meigs Cooperative Parish, Southern Equal Opportunity Ministry, River City Players, Southern Local Schools, and too many individuals to list here, for allowing me to be part of your lives—your disappointments and fears, and your hopes and dreams.

Thank you also, Daily Sentinel, for the opportunity to share through this column. It is one of my favorite ministries, and the feedback I have received from across the community has been tremendous. And I am especially thankful that I can continue writing this from my new home and have it appear in the Sentinel in the future! After all, I’m going, but not gone!

A Birthday Present to America: More Faith, Less Politics

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, July 4, 2008. Getting closer to catching up!


The other day, a columnist in the paper complained about the amount of attention being paid to the religious faiths of the various candidates for president. He wanted less religion and more politics. And I think he expected to get great shouts of “AMEN!”

He might have that reaction from some people, I am not one of them. I want our candidates to be driven more by faith and less by politics. Right now, it’s almost as if the candidates are putting a religious veneer over a thoroughly secular political mindset.

Our politicians remind me of the “jewelry” I used to get out of the nickel-vending machine when I went with Dad to get my hair cut. The barber’s shop had four or five little machines that held all kinds of goodies in little plastic cocoons. You put in your nickel, turned the crank, and out popped your prize!

I once got a golden ring. I was so proud of that ring; I showed it off to everyone. “Look, Mom! See what I got at the barber shop! It’s so beautiful; I’m always going to wear it!”

That night, as I got ready for bed, I looked again at my “beautiful” golden ring. But there was something wrong! All around the ring, my finger had turned green! It was even green on the two fingers on either side of my ring finger. “Mom!” I screamed. “I’m being poisoned by my ring!”

Of course, what really happened was my golden ring was actually cheap metal and the greening had to do with the veneer rubbing off and the “real stuff” showing through.

In many ways, I think our presumptive presidential candidates are showing some "green" in their faith.

John McCain eagerly sought the endorsement of certain religious leaders, thinking that they would add to his credibility as a presidential wanna-be. John Hagee was one such leader. He is pastor of a mega-church in San Antonio, Texas, and his television and radio ministries reach thousands more people across the country. McCain looked at Hagee and said, “Wow, there’s someone whose endorsement I could really use.”

McCain’s pursuit of Hagee’s endorsement was not religious – it was political. I suspect McCain had no idea what theologies Hagee believed in or preached. That was detail stuff that didn’t matter. Except it did. Once the veneer of the Hagee endorsement wore off, Hagee’s extreme theologies of God, Israel and end times were so off-putting to mainstream Americans that McCain disassociated himself from the Hagee endorsement.

Less religion and more politics? I don’t think so!

On the other side of the political parties, Barak Obama has not done much better. At a recent campaign appearance in Detroit, Muslim supporters were snubbed and two women wearing traditional Muslim headscarves were banned from sitting behind the candidate to prevent them being photographed or televised with Obama. Why? Because of the persistent Internet rumor that Obama is secretly a Muslim and terrorist sympathizer.

The Obama campaign has gone out of its way to keep Obama’s image from being “sullied” by Muslim supporters – that’s a political decision, not a religious one!

Obama has intentionally expressed his religious views in many venues. He claims to be a Christian who emphasizes the social justice portion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s the part of Jesus’ message that proclaims good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and release from oppression to the oppressed (see Luke 4:14-21). It’s one of the few scriptural claims that Jesus made himself. Yet, Obama’s politically driven lifestyle oppressed two women because of their differing faith. Actually, because of their differing attire.

I am disappointed in both candidates. Let me see your REAL FAITH rather than your REAL POLITICS. People are desperate for REAL CHANGE in this country – and so far, what I’ve seen is more of the same ol’ same ol’. Wouldn’t it be nice if either candidate would truly live his faith? Let me really see what God is doing in your life, and maybe that will be all the politics I need to make an informed voting decision come November.

Today, marks the birth of our nation through the declaration of independence from Britain. I cannot think of a better birthday gift for our country than politicians who put their faith first, their families second, and their nation third. With the right priorities, we can make a difference.