Thursday, October 28, 2004

Real Life

Why didn't Jesus teach Sunday School or set up a non-profit healing ministry when he had the chance? What about cushioned pews and sanctuary-expansion projects? And where was Jesus when it came time to set an eternal foundation for the Church by writing out a set of focused doctrinal statements?

I'll tell you where Jesus was. He was asleep on a boat. He was having his feet washed by a woman's tears. He was stopping to heal a blind man on the side of the road and feasting with sinners. He was taking his own sweet time, making the trip to Bethany (where Lazarus lay sick and dying, dead). He was standing on shore, inquiring about the fish.

Jesus lived.

Read the full article.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Science vs. Faith

For thousands of years, the Church has insisted that it has the answers. Those who question are labeled heretics.

But do you still believe that the earth is at the center of the universe?

Aristotle came up with the teaching, but it was the Church that adopted the idea and backed it up with scripture.

"He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." - Psalm 104:5

So what happens when science comes along with a new idea? What if the earth isn't the center at all? What if it's the sun?

Martin Luther called Copernicus a fool for suggesting a heliocentric solar system. After all, Luther said, "Scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, not the earth."

Then, when Galileo insisted that Copernicus really did have the right idea, the church put him on trial — twice — and condemned him to a lifetime of house arrest.

Read the full article.

Just War?

Militants attacked a convoy of mini-buses and killed 49 soldiers in Iraq, according to weekend news reports. If it hadn’t been for the number of dead, we might not have noticed. The daily count of killed and wounded no longer shocks us. It is a common story.

It seemed to start off simply enough, this intervention. And there were plenty of reasons for doing what had to be done: an evil dictator, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, regional instability.

But all those excuses, boiled down, equal only this: Oil from the Middle East powers our free market economy, and Iraq sits on the world’s second-largest known supply. Saddam Hussein’s resistance of the western world threatened our financial security. His rumored weapons programs and ties to terrorist groups gave us all the evidence we needed to justify a pre-emptive strike.

Where has the Church been? Some believers have opposed the war. Others have stood on their Sunday soap-boxes and preached the righteousness of violence on behalf of the oppressed.

But violence can never defeat violence. And Christians who support the idea of a "just war" may not be serving the same God that Jesus called his Father.

Read the full article.

Missing the Point

In church one day, I found myself dreaming, looking through the window at a field of cheat grass and Hawthorne trees. A fence separated the field from church property.

On one side (our side): a clean, strong-standing building, asphalt lot, cement curbing, sculpted shrubs, flowering trees. It's our idea of cleanliness, right-living.

On the other side lies 10 acres of "open country" in the middle of the city: a Catalpa, wild apple, stand of Hawthornes. Birds hide their nests beneath the blackberry brambles along the banks of the canal. Blades of grass wave in the late summer breeze.

There's something else across the fence: children.

We talk so much about being a light in our communities, making a difference. But I fear we've missed the point.

Read the full article.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Sex Sells

Pornography.

On the surface, it seems American culture is obsessed with sex, but the kind that sells is more about separation than intimacy.

"It represents the lowest level of human engagement," writes John Walsh. "It emphasizes the mechanical, athletic side of attraction and downgrades, or makes redundant, the emotional, tender, quirkily personal territory of relationship that makes us most vulnerably human."

And the results are in: Psychologists say loneliness is the most common problem they deal with in the United States. Depression runs a close second.

We are a people in need of connection, but we live in a land satiated with the symbols of relationship while almost utterly devoid of its reality.

Read the full article.

Monday, October 25, 2004

Realistic Expectations

T.J. Myers says his peers expect him to accomplish great things.

Myers is president of the National Honor Society, president of the chess club, captain of a competitive quiz team and a recognized artist with a backlog of orders for his scroll saw woodcuts. But the Homedale High School senior said he's not interested in taking on the world or becoming famous.

"All I really want to do is go to college, get a job and help people," Myers said.

Myers works a few hours each week, tutoring students for the Boise State University Educational Talent Search program.

"I have this skill with academics," Myers said, explaining why he decided to work with other students. "I should put it to good use and help people."

Read the full article.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

What Really Matters?

I write a weekly feature for the local paper: Kids You Should Know. These are students who excel in sports, get good grades, head up community service projects, win awards.

They're good kids.

Something's started bothering me, however, about my weekly interviews. It seems they're all the same. Every star student wants to make a difference, to be remembered. And every single one is following the same path — get organized, stay focused, work hard.

These aren't bad things, but they aren't good things either. They're neutral. How is a person to know if he's focused on what really matters, striving toward a worthy goal?

Read the full article.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Stealing Time

Today, I took time to wash the dishes. Took my own sweet time — stole it back from the concerns of a busy schedule. It was a moment of conscious rebellion.

Too often, I consider myself a slave to the duties of work and ministry, forgetting that every moment is a gift from God. And the greatest part of this gift? God gives me complete control, free will. So today, I lived like a king. Took charge.

I ran the water, hot.

Watched as suds spilled over bowl and spoon and glass.

Listened to the tune of muffled chinks and clinks. Glass bumped bowl and spoon tapped glass in a clumsy, underwater dance.

Read the full article.

God?

What is God?

A fire-tailed comet, coursing through the skies above, breathing fire and rock, looking down on us from his throne among the stars?

A sudden storm, scorching the earth with jagged beams, splitting tree, crushing stone, laughing a thunderous guffaw as he dips beyond the horizon?

Read the full article.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Terrible Storm

A kind of terror has struck the community in which I live. A recent spate of violence has neighbors on edge, people hiding in their homes and praying for the storm to pass.

Almost 1,000 students were evacuated from a local school as police stood their ground against an armed man, holed up across the street.

Another man, Sigmund Goode, 21, was shot and killed in broad daylight by a gunman in a moving vehicle.

A passing car pulled up to another vehicle in a busy intersection. Gunfire from the passing car hit the 18-year-old occupant of the stopped vehicle in the face.

Read the full article.

Monday, October 18, 2004

The Science of Prayer

My life is immersed in busyness. I claim a way of living steeped in God's loving presence, but my activity proves me wrong. Take prayer, for instance. I know its importance. I've studied Jesus' teaching on the subject. But I forget. I am distracted.

Last night, I came across a series of studies on prayer, and I was reminded again of its effectiveness and my need.

In a 2001 study of women undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfers, the test group (those women being prayed for) had twice as many successful pregnancies as those women in the control group.

A 1998 study on the effectiveness of "distance healing" found that AIDS patients receiving prayer had fewer and shorter hospitalizations than those not being prayed for.

In a 1988 study of 400 patients in the San Francisco General Hospital cardiac care unit, those who were assigned prayer had fewer cardiac arrests, needed artifical respiration less often, and suffered from pneumonia at 1/4 the incident rate of those not receiving prayer.

God is real, and he listens. This is good news.

Read more like this.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Student Leader

At Caldwell High School, the title "student leader" is often followed by the name Danielle Taylor.

That's because Taylor, 17, is captain of the volleyball team, captain of the dance team and chair of the Caldwell Mayor's Youth Advisory Council.

Counselor Anita Wilson described Taylor as the kind of student who does everything and does it well.

Taylor said she's just trying to make the most of her senior year and make a difference in her community.

"When I leave (high school), I want to be proud of who I am," Taylor said. "I want people to know they can depend on me. I want them to think that I set a good example and that I was responsible."

Read the full article.

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Atypical Athlete

Carlos Rendon is no typical high school athlete.

But the Skyview High School cross country runner said typical isn't what matters. Instead, his focus is on having fun and getting better.

Rendon, who has cerebral palsy, said it took him almost half an hour in seventh grade to run an entire mile. In the last five years, he's cut that time down to just over 12 minutes, and he plans to keep improving.

"It doesn't really matter if you win or lose," Rendon said, adding that he doesn't compare himself to other kids. "It's about how you feel about yourself at the end of the race."

Read the full article.