Green Eggs and Spam

Music from Romania

Everything Forevermore
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCQYXAT0bYc]
Michael Gravitt is a friend of mine from Chattanooga, TN. While life led me a bit further west to Memphis, he was led to Romania. That's quite a ways from Chattanooga, let me tell ya.

Michael is a talented, caring, and dedicated man of God who gave up everything he owns here in the US and moved with his family to a country outside of the normal mission "push" (look up the 10/40 window) because he felt in his heart a calling to the people. His wife is from Romania, so fitting in is a "bit" easier, but he is still a "Stranger in a strange land."

This YouTube video is a song he wrote for their worship services. No, it is not going to make it to a radio near you soon, but I think it will have an even greater audience because it is "True Worship." It is worship from the heart of man to the Ear of God.

I try not to be so "out there" in most of my post of a religious nature, but if Michael can be "out there" all the way to Romania, I guess it should be easier for me to do it here in the "Land of the Delta Blues"

Gospel moment

This is another awesome video from YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOLlFsj8sso

Gospel may not be your "thing" but this one will make you skin tingle.

Makes you wonder if there had been a Pastor present to give an invitation, how many would have give their lives to their Creator.

Listen to Janet Jackson's statement and think about it

Funny Comics and more

The Mad Pigeon shares a few funny editorial cartoons.

I've been quite silent recently on a great deal of these topics. Primarily, it has been because I don't really have the time, with a new job, house hunting, trying to maintain familial relationships across a 600 mile gulf in a different time zone, trying to take over the world....you get the picture.

I have a secondary reason is which even worse,...I'm discovering I don't really agree with the MSM on any topic and, while I admire President Bush, I find I often don't agree with him either on many things. While I have very well defined views on morality and what I feel is the difference between right and wrong, it seems I am now a stranger in a strange land (pardon me Heinlein) where relativity rules the day.

The whole of "what's right for you, isn't right fo me" flies in the face of the fact there are several social, cultural, and moralistic moors which are unyeilding and unchanging. Yet we, as mankind, are rushing headlong into the abyss where any thought, action, or deed can be explained away, justified, and forgiven by the populace. We are making muderers into heros and heros into murderers.

We consume everything in excess, from fuel to food, from solitude to relationship, from legalized ways of altering our mind through medication to illegal way such as huffing and meth. What ever happened to living a life outside your own desire to fulfil your own cravings and lusts? What ever happened to looking out for your family, your neighbor, your community, your friends? Whatever happened to putting others first and trying to reach out to those without hope, those without help?

And we Christians, are we any better than the rable we point our fingers at and cry, "but by the grace of God, there goes I."...? We wall ourselves away in our four walls and preach to ourselves messages of wealth and prosperity while in the shadow of our doors the world lies dying!?! We "walk" in our lives balanceing decisions by asking WWJD, "What would Jesus do?" and then we walk off and do what we want to do anyway, using the same relativism we point our fingers at in disgust at the world around us. We eat fancy meals, drive big, gas-gussling cars, wallowing in our excess and we claim to be God's chosen?

Do not misunderstand me, I am not advocating the life of "poverty" or the total denial of self. We've tried that before as Christians and fallen into error as well.

Whay I AM saying is we have thrown out the biblical principle of BALANCE, moderation, control. When we, not just as followers of CHrist, but humans in general learn to abide by that one priciple, all the others will come in line.

Jesus said the greatest of all the comandments were two in number, Love God with every fiber of who you are, and Love your neighbor as if he were you. I believe number three on that list, which rounds out the first two is, Live in a balance in all things. It is only by striving in this way we can gain anything of value in our lives.

Sorry for the ramt, but when you post infrequently, sometimes it just flows.

Technorati : Iran, Religion, politics

The Pre-Holocaust

Read the article Here.

I remember studying this as a part of the events of WWI with disbelief.  It was almost like a foreshadowing of the Holocaust in WWII.

We need to remember the truth in history and refuse to allow others to "write it off", otherwise it WILL be repeated.

ABCNEWS.com: Did Jesus Ask Judas to Betray Him?

Did Jesus Ask Judas to Betray Him?

I can't believe the stretches this world is attempting to discredit a man who's been off the face of the planet for almost 2000 years.

Set the issue of the validity or lack there of of the document mentioned in the article aside for a moment. It is the quote below which got my juices running.

The scholars interviewed by "Primetime" agreed that the real importance of the Gospel of Judas is the window it provides into what some early Christians were thinking. But they acknowledged that some in the organized church will not like the discovery of this Gospel.

"Absolutely, they won't," Pagels said. "Some will be very offended, and they'll say this proves that all of those texts are rubbish, because it's an utterly preposterous idea that Judas could have been involved in a secret mystery with Jesus."

But that would miss the point, she added. "The Christian message is a message about faith and hope and, you know, the relationship between God and human beings. It's not a matter of historical fact. "

(Emphasis added)

That is just the kind of rubish the world and its fallen angel want us to buy into. "It's all about faith, no need to reason it out or look for proof. The proof simply isn't there and we should be happy just living by faith and accepting everything"

That way of thinking will open us up for any wind of doctrine which may blow us around. There IS historical evidence for Jesus and his mission on earth. We can be rational THINKING Christians rather than mindless, mush-headed believers.

As to the document's validity, we know it was written more than 100 years after the resurection of Christ and is the purported gospel of a man who died at roughly the same time as Christ. Those facts alone along with the fact early church fathers rejected the gospel as false, just as they did the other false gospels used for the foundation of the book, "The Da Vinci Code", leads me to a short term conclusion of agreeing the document is a valid artifact from the second or third century, but it is as much a gospel as this collection of ramblings I call a blog.

Technorati : Jesus, Judas, Religion

in the name of JESUS

<a href="http://www.kindnessinjesus.org/index.htm">in the name of JESUS</a> is a website and ministry dedicated to doing what Jsus would do if he were here and not just asking "WWJD"

Some of you may say <blockquote>How can this be <em>real</em> ministry? They aren't "witnessing"</blockquote>

Ministry is not about "witnessing". It is about helping the hurting and showing Christ, not by saying, but by being. This "being" Christ to others does more to promote Him than any chest-thumping, over-bearing "witnessing" could ever accomplish.

I think it was Paul who said, and I paraphrase, one person plants, another waters, and yet another harvests, yet all is done for God's glory. It is through these acts of love the seed is planted. If we are blessed, we see the seed take root right away, but most of us must be content with planting or the longer process of watering.

It does work. My father-in-law was a "devout" atheist. (yes they can be just as devout as some hard headed Christians) Yet through his daughters planting a seed in her youth, and my watering by refusing to condem him and being willing to discuss religion with him and my parents showering him with love at a Christmas he visited with us as we traveled to their house, an act for which he continued to say thank you even years later, his heart softened to the point he was realizing some very important truths in his last visit with us before his death due to cancer.

I do not know if, in his last hours, he ever made it back to Christ, but I do know the chance existed ONLY because of love and kindess shown to him by followers of a Mandifferent than the others who normally villified him.

I think, instead of asking "WWJD-What Would Jesus Do" it would be better to "DWJD-Do What Jesus Did"

Technorati : Christian, Christianity, Jesus

Christmas Spirit?!?!

A few thoughts on Christmas spirit:

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OK!! I am getting a little tired of the Christian PC police. This is getting rediculous!

I am a Follower of Christ and I do not see a reason for the angst these folks have at someone choosing to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. What kind of example are we making to others around us by trying to force our religious views on them? This is getting out of hand and I for one, am tired of the "Christian" populace of this nation giving Christ a bad name. If we do not stop what we are doing now, the backlash will be unspeakable when it comes, and it WILL come.

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Is it just me, or is everyone in a comercial frenzy this year? I have seen people buying things which seem to be, quite frankly, stupid purchases. I mean, how many 2 year olds need a desktop computer of their own? Is everyone just nutty or what?

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I wish people's "Christmas spirit" would extend a little farther than their "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". I saw a poor store clerk berated because she wasn't moving " fast" enough and someone had to wait in line. I had been watching her and she was obviously new to her job, probably a holiday temp, and she was doing OK on what had probably been a couple of hours of training. She was almost in tears as the person in line verbally abused her and then accused her of overcharging her. I do have to applaud her supervisor, though. She came over and took charge of the situation and read the customer the riot act with a smile on her face and then went on to comfort the clerk after the customer had left. I also made a point to move to her line and do my best to encourage her. The saddest part of the whole thing is the original customer is not only a Minister in a local church (no I'm not going to ID them) but after berating the poor girl, had the audacity to proclaim that "Jesus loves you anyway" and try to leave a tract. It made me embarassed to even call myself a Christian

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Well that'll do it for now, but I'll write more later

Technorati : Christianity, Christmas, Religion

Over Reaction Central

While I don't agree with everything Pia of CourtingDestiny.com usually has to say, I must agree with the posting made here.

The post says

I'm a New York Jew; a life long Democrat and a card carrying member of the ACLU. Much of the time I'm very disappointed in the Democratic party, but at this moment it's better than the alternative. I don't believe in all of the ACLU's causes, but I believe that everybody has a right to be represented.

But when I read blogs that blame the ACLU and/or minority groups for taking Christ out of Christmas, I have to say that as a Jew I, and most Jews, want you to celebrate Christmas. On Christmas Jews traditionally went to the movies and ate Chinese food. We think it would be good if you spent time in church or with your family; as we liked it when the theaters weren't packed.

The post then goes on to say

Before the news of the mega churches closing I wrote a post in my personal blog about the Christmas/holiday season mess. One of the comments was from a Jewish blogger, Neil, who is usually very witty and tres lite. He really struck a chord; couldn't stop thinking about his comment and asked for permission to quote him.

Frankly, I think one of the things that makes our country so great is that the majority religion has tried so hard
to make minorities feel comfortable. Where else have Jews and others been made to feel as equals and as comfortable with Christian holidays? Certainly not in many European countries where you are considered Jewish first, then a citizen of that country.

New York is not the rest of the country. I think it would be nice to bring back some of the religiosity to Christmas in big cities, so it isn't such a consumerized holiday. Thank you, Christians, for being so good to the rest of us. You can now celebrate Christmas a little more openly.

However, things are different in smaller cities and towns around the country. Those places have a habit of mixing up religion and public policy. It is places like those where I don't think it appropriate for the public sector to promote religion symbolism and ideology.

Here is where I want to delete most of what I wrote before Neil's comment. It feels too silly. As Jews we do feel grateful to the Christians in this country for allowing us to be full citizens. We're grateful because our great grandparents weren't, usually, allowed to own land, have a profession or be citizens of their towns. They were allowed to be conscripted into the Czars army so they could wipe out Jewish villages. We're grateful that they left and came to this remarkable country.

It is important we who are of the "majority" religion in this country remember why this country was founded in the first place: FREEDOM!

Taking our religion and shoving down other people's throats just because we know we're right runs opposite, not only of the wishes of the founding fathers, but the desires of the Founder of our Faith, Christ Himself! In another post, I defined Tolerance as:

I acknowledge your right to believe or do as you believe even if I believe you are dead wrong. It means respectfully disagreeing on some matters while recognizing common ground where it exists. This is also a two-way street and I expect the same respect I give.

We did we as a nation decide tolerance was making everyone think and act like us?

The post finishes up with

Many of us are fully assimilated; marry outside our religion; feel and look WASPier than the biggest WASP. But there's always one moment when something happens that reminds us that other people view us as different. I know that most people are rational; that most people don't believe this. (Did a Google "ACLU" "Christmas" search and this was the number one document.)

According to ACLU "Christmas haters" everyting refering to Christ inpublic has to go. But try as they might, they can't take the spirit out of Christmas, something this group is in dire need of. Boy talk about selfishness

Yes let's talk about being selfish; selfish is the same woman saying the following.

The Constitution can be read front to back, sideways, upside down, and nowhere does it read there needs to be a separation of church and state. Good grief! The framers would have been very dense or dumber than a box of rocks, to put separation of church and state in the most "intentionally" misunderstood document, and then proceeded to have a nation built on God and in every aspect of their lives

Good grief, indeed. If this is true then I have to not only be grateful to you, but bow down to your religious superiority, and that is where I draw the line.

Just understand that we're not your problem. You are. If a person can find G-d in a concentration camp, any American can find G-d anywhere. It's up to you to put Christ back in Christmas, not us.

I could never celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday. Why? It is the symbolic observation of Christ's birthday no matter how you look at it. But selfishly I want you to celebrate it so that I can see the trees, lights, decorations and even go to some Christmas parties. That's right; Christmas parties at peoples homes. Every other year my friends make an Italian feast in their Tudor house in Forest Hills Gardens, a picture perfect Ives & Currier Christmas community. It's wonderful, but I will never have a Christmas dinner in my apartment.

Merry Christmas; Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Winter Solistice. I will call this season whatever you want me to call it as long as The First Amendment remains intact. And I will always be grateful to the USA for allowing my family to live as full citizens for over a century. Grateful but I will never feel less an American than you do. And I thank G-d for organizations like the ACLU that make sure I will always be a full American.

Quite frankly, I feel we Christians should be ashamed of ourselves! We preach the message of Christ and yet refuse to live the life of a servant. We must remember we share this planet with others who believe differently that we. While we may feel and know they are wrong, we MUST respect their right to believe as they do. It is ultimately their choice as to who/what they believe in and while we may tell them what we think, THEY ultimately must choose. We have NO right to force our convictions upon them. Convictions which are accepted by force are not truely accepted.

Technorati : ACLU, Christmas, Religion

Pluralism and Evangelical Christianity

Below is an article from the Chicago  Tribune.  I copy and past it here so you don't have to register.

Can You Believe It! 

Gasp! I share goals with evangelical star

By Eboo Patel, the founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core and an adjunct faculty member at Chicago Theological Seminary
Published December 11, 2005

`He's that evangelical guy, right? Is he a freak?"  

Those were the questions my friend asked me when I told her that I had recently seen Rick Warren, pastor of an 80,000-member megachurch and author of "The Purpose-Driven Life," speak at the Aspen Institute.

She is a rising star at a blue-chip law firm in Chicago and has been involved in a variety of causes that advance multiculturalism. Apparently, her commitment to diversity had no room for the 25 percent of America that considers itself evangelical Christian.

Evangelicals are the target of the last acceptable prejudice among secular urban liberals.

Progressive Christians can be equally condescending. One mainline Protestant minister told me that if evangelicals would just read the books of Princeton scholar Elaine Pagels, they would recognize that their beliefs were narrow and rigid and be ready for change.

I wonder if he had read Rick Warren.

I am an American Muslim.

I believe that Prophet Muhammad brought God's final revelation, the Holy Koran, to humankind. This is not based on empirical observation or verifiable fact. It is a matter of faith.

While there is significant suspicion of Muslims in many segments of American society, the secular urban liberals and progressive religious believers I know rarely question the premise of my faith. They do not ask me to read books by their favorite scholars so that I may be enlightened by their views. They do not roll their eyes when I make a reference to Allah in conversation. They certainly do not assume, based on my Muslim identity, that the briefcase I bring to business meetings is filled with bombs.

Why is the basic principle of getting to know a person before painting him with a negative stereotype not applied across the board? Why do so many liberals see a theocrat whenever they hear the word "evangelical"?

For sure, when certain Christian fundamentalists threaten pluralism, either by suggesting the joining of church and state or by denouncing people of different backgrounds, they need to be checked. But claiming that all people who have a personal relationship with Jesus want to deport Muslims or create a theocracy is wrong. Moreover, it is dangerous to our pluralism because it alienates a wide segment of the American population and gives grist to the extremists among them who say, "See, these liberals are assaulting our identity. Fight back or watch your Christian principles die."

The Aspen Institute is about as far from middle America as you can get. It is decidedly not Rick Warren territory. I think the audience entered a little suspicious, and Warren surprised them. He never asked, "Who has yet to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior?"

Instead, he talked about tolerance: "I love the fact that in this country we have freedom and diversity side by side. You can bring your ideas to the table and I can bring mine and we can have a frank and respectful discussion. That's the definition of tolerance I believe in."

A woman stood up and asked, "I'm not Christian, am I going to hell?"

There was a murmur in the room. It seemed like a question on a lot of people's minds. Warren shifted a little in his chair. He was not shy about what he believed, but this was clearly not the conversation he wanted to have. Still, the woman had asked, so he answered.

"Heaven is God's home, and I don't tell him who gets to get in. I do believe that, as it says in the Bible, no one gets to the Father except through Jesus. That's what I am betting my life on. You are free to bet your life on other things. Even if we disagree on salvation, we can still work together on issues we both care about."

In my question, I admit to baiting Warren a little to see how he might react. I stated that I was an American Muslim who led an organization called the Interfaith Youth Core that brought young people from different faiths together to build understanding through service projects. I asked him whether the evangelical community would be interested in being involved in these interfaith service efforts.

Warren could have stopped me after I said that I was a Muslim and suggested that I start building a personal relationship with Jesus. Instead, he smiled and opened his arms wide and said, "Bless you. We need more interfaith volunteer efforts in this world."

Somebody asked how the phenomenal success of his book had changed Warren. Not much, he said. He still drives a 4-year-old Ford and does not own a second home. Success has allowed him to expand his initiatives fighting AIDS and poverty in the Third World. He currently gives 90 percent of his income to those ministries. In fact, from Aspen he was heading to Rwanda to help with the ongoing reconciliation and development efforts.

Warren and I have very different religious beliefs and politics, but we have a whole set of common values that we can take action on together. My Muslim principles call me to help lift people out of poverty, to give people with AIDS lives of dignity and to reduce the modern slavery of sexual trafficking. Certainly these are areas where progressive Christians and secular urban liberals can join us.

American pluralism is about people with radically different belief systems working together on matters they share, going their separate ways on issues they disagree on, and living in mutual trust as neighbors regardless. Pluralism is the most precious part of our civic fabric. In other parts of the world, people kill each other over different beliefs.

It is OK with me if evangelicals think we will be separated in eternity, as long as we can live in peace on Earth together.

Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune

While I find it amazing evangelicals continue to come under fire and intolerance because of a few, I do find it quite heartening there is some semblance of hope.

At the heart of the matter is the idea "tolerance" equates "acceptance".  This could not be further from the truth.  "Tolerance" is also NOT the free flowing relativism which seems to pervade our society.  "Tolerance" quite simply means I acknowledge your right to believe or do as you believe even if I believe you are dead wrong.  It means respectfully disagreeing on some matters while recognizing common ground where it exists.

To bad many of those who Preach tolerance are not as quick to practice it.

Should the "Christian Church" be saved?

The following is taken from a review of Barna's "The State of The Church 2005" from The Ooze

In 2005, Barna states, "The nation's population growth has fostered an expansion in the number of people who avoid churches." The Chef estimates this figure to be 100 million customers in the U.S. A figure he says is growing by one million annually.

In 2002, Barna suggested that there are greater than 300,000 Protestant and 20,000 Catholic churches in the U.S. He contrasts this with the 50,000 post offices and 15,000 McDonald's that serve our nation. He writes, "the church has less impact on our culture than any of those less prolific entities, despite missions that are much less significant or compelling."

Hmmm... I guess the old "location, location, location" mantra has fallen to the wayside here. Imagine having a business with 320,000 locations in the U.S. amidst a population of over 100 million customers who have never sampled the fare, and you can't seem to break the cycle of those folks consciously avoiding your locations. In fact, their numbers are increasing.

Again, if the church were a publicly traded company, I can assure you that the Board of Directors would be screaming for an immediate "corporate restructuring" that would likely require the immediate downsizing of the existing physical plant, sweeping changes in strategic plans, and a wholesale housecleaning of present management. Perhaps it's time to act upon the agenda of the shareholders within the Christian franchise who agree with Barna that, "We have learned that maintaining the status quo serves neither God nor the people He loves."

When your franchise's performance is benchmarked against the U.S. postal service and your outfit comes out on the short-end, perhaps it's time for a change. There is a very vocal, well-regarded cadre of authors, theologians, academicians and laypeople who now agree that: "Christianity cannot survive in anything like it's present form." Chef Barna remains at the forefront of this movement adorned with the same sandwich board and megaphone he has used for the past twenty-five years.

Personally, I am not so sure if our "brand" of Christianity should be saved at all. It is totally disheartening to see people ground under the wheels of this big bus we call mainstream church in the US.

We have focused so long on the institutions we can not imagine our lives without them and now we pledge allegeiance to them rather than the head of the Body. I am not saying we should do away with organized religion, but I am saying we need to refocus organizationsfrom building organizations to building people.

We recently finished a six week "in-house" retreat focusing on "Come Thirsty" by Max Lucado. As I went through this study and even lead a small group in my home discussing the book and the sermons for the six weeks, I realized just how thirsty I am. I "do" all the right things, but in doing so, I neglect to go to the WELL and rely and rest in Him.

City Church here in Chatt. has a beautiful campus with several buildings and a worship center which seats a great number of people. It sits not far off the main roads and many time traffic is diverted right by the church because of construction and road work on the main streets.

A few weeks ago they had one of those days where a HUGE number of people were diverted and the Urban and Global Missions Pastor, Kevin McNeely had a brain storm. As a part of Come Thirsty, the church had purchased bottles of water with the Come Thirst logo and the church address. As people started to cut through the church parking lot to cut the corner, Kevin started handing out bottles of water to any who would stop and take one. No sermons were preached, no invitations to church given, just a bottle of water and a smile. On a day where the tempature was over 90 this brought a few smiles. Before long, Kevin had moved out of the church parking lot to the street itself handing them out to the cars who were stopped due to the stop sign and further down the line. Some refused the water, some looked at this "pastorally" dressed man (that in and of itself unusual for Kevin) but most smiled as they accepted the water, and Kevin's greeting. The Sr. Pastor, Dr. Mike Chapman and Executive Pastor Jerry Justice soon joined Kevin and handed water to all takers. One man on a Motercycle didn't slow down, but the woman on the back of his bike held out her hand and took a bottle as they roared by...

These Pastors gave out over 300 bottles of water that afternoon in a small period of time. While some will ascribe all kinds of motivators to this action, including getting attention, you have to realize I only know about the event because my wife was there. They did not treat it as some huge marketing ovature, but just a chance to give some hot, possibly thirsty people some water. They did not even mention it in church the following Sunday. As a matter of fact, outside the offices, I am one of the few who have even spoken of it.

What will the 300 people who took the water remember from that encounter?

The beautiful church campus they rode by? Possibly.

The individuals who gave them the water? More likely.

The smile and a piece of joy from the heart passed on to them? Definitely.

Until we realize the "church" is not about organizations but more about living breathing organisims, we will continue to loose the battle for their hearts.

Technorati : Christian, Religion