personal sin

One of the fundamental challenges to actually growing spiritually is self-deception. This is why anyone starts telling you how you should think about any issue, whether it is moral, political, social, religious, whatever, ask them if they believe in sin. If they say, “Yes,” then you know they have to have some concept of a God whom sin is working against. There are standards that are inherent to who we are.

Then when you are being told you need to fear global warming, homosexual teachers, Marxism, the vast Right Wing conspiracy, (fill in the ________), you simply reply, “What is the sin that you are currently struggling with?”

You see actually making the world a better place to live begins and ends with personal transformation. Becoming a different person who can do the things that are necessary for benefiting the life of others. This is the little secret that no “activist” will let out.

Using the metaphor of an organism, we are only as healthy as the individual building blocks of the cells. Sick cells, unhealthy organism. Non-transforming people, society in trouble. No matter how wonderful your ideas are, unless they are being lived out through a person who is dealing with his/her sin and becoming more and more who God would have him/her be, your political views, morals outrages and all the rest are pretty much garbage.

Don’t waste your breath telling me what I need to be doing or not doing until we have a conversation together first about what is the personal sin you are struggling with most lately. Oh, and make sure you let me know anything you tell me you may be dead wrong.

Someone else had all of this in mind.

1 Corinthinans 13 (The Message)
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2 If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

to all the princesses

While settling back in at home after being away for about 10 days, I realize how you just want to stop the world and take a deep breath. There was no time however, as Sunday we had an awesome event for women, young and old, the “Princess Tea.” Hair done, makeup, nails, massage, you name it, the little ones were pampered by the teenage beauty parlor workers and “older” friends. The message is clear.

You are all princesses, daughters of the King.

My highlights were being able to sing “My Girl” to my favorite princess, Kristina, and taking the “Heart Walk.” This was like “The Mummy” walk at Universal Studios except instead of monsters leaping out to scare me, we were guided to stations while Monica read scripture that reminded us about what godly character and the power of the Holy Spirit can do in our lives. Lucky the tent path was dark because this macho prince was shedding a few tears. This was a very healing experience which reminds me of another. I will let you know tomorrow.

Sidenote: Who is reading this from Benin? I would love to know who you are, living in the former site of the great kingdom of Dahomey. E mail me at christcast@gmail.com if you are still reading this.

two by two

(Luke 10:1) After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.

Something I have been considering lately is the sending out of the disciples two by two. Paul continues this process in the early church. Leaders like St. Francis have the same system. Why all this two by two sending?

The obvious answer is support and encouragement in the midst of a “seldom wide open, sometimes neutral, frequently reluctant, occasionally hostile” audience. There is another reason that is compelling.

Christian faith is a way of life. Jesus invites us into this life in God’s Kingdom. We experience this life now rather than simply waiting around for it someday when we “go to heaven.” When we are led by God’s Spirit we live differently. We live well. Hence the going out in “twos.”

The disciple exhibits the power of the good news of Jesus by the way he/she treats his/her ministry partner. Going out in twos provides a visual illustration of a way of life rather than someone just talking about it. The potential disciple of Jesus doesn’t so much discover a teaching they wish to follow, but rather a life they wish to lead. They see the way Christians treat each other and want to be treated that way, too.

So, quit going to church, studying your Bible, praying, and putting that “not perfect; just forgiven” bumper sticker on your car if you aren’t going to get along in your family. Don’t wear a “My boss is a Jewish carpenter” T shirt if you are fond of bagging on Christians of a different denomination. The old saying, “I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care” is not an optional bit of wisdom that is up for debate. If we can’t get our relationships right we will not be seen as right in the faith that informs those relationships.

videoChristcast 1

our church goes to Ensenada to work with brothers and sisters south of the border

Christcast 11 The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code- Why all the fuss? Kristina, Dana, and new Christian friend Rob discuss the movie and book.

Dallas the rock star

I am at a Building Spiritual Formation Communities conference in Long Beach. I have met some wonderful people. Heard from Dallas Willard twice yesterday. Once in a keynote; once in a luncheon. There are about 1500 people here looking for ways to be present with God and opening up to the power of the Holy Spirit. No church growth seminars, no “my church has this program and we reached 20% more Latino marathon runners, so buy this book” or whatever. In the midst of this, Dallas is the rock star. His personality being the exact opposite of a rock star, it works out just fine.

I remember he was speaking at a Christian college to a thousand students in Minnesota and I happened to be there with Faithinkubators and so I brought Melheim to meet Dallas. After his talk, we waited in a line where he was speaking to students, autographing books if they desired.

Each 20-something kid was telling Dallas how their life had changed after reading his books, and they were on the path of moving from being a Christian (fire insurance to make sure I get to heaven) to being a disciple (partnering with Jesus in his Kingdom living now, where I am about doing what Jesus would do if he were me in any given situation). When I got to him, I said, loud enough for all the students around to hear,

“Could you just sign my hand and then I will never wash it off and cherish it forever!!”

Dallas started laughing, grabbed me and said, “I’ll sign something, you knucklehead!”

Well, every keynote speaker, every workshop leader, conversations in the Jacuzzi, elevator, lobby, you name it, you hear “Dallas” so much you think you are back in a Superbowl year with Troy Aikman and Emmit Smith The number of leaders who have been transformed through God’s Word working through Dallas is amazing. The fruits of this in American Christianity will be seen for decades to come. Maybe longer…

It isn’t just America, however. From lunch, Dallas left for the airport to fly to Budapest to meet with Eastern European leaders. He has been impacting Great Britain for quite some time and so we will see what transpires on the continent.

Pray for this man of God that he has the energy and health to continue doing what comes natural and easy through the Spirit. Sharing Jesus.

washing feet

Yesterday I was talking about touch, or more specifically massage. I know that seems like kind of a strange topic (My friend Mike was wondering) but what a remarkably sensitive sense it is. Touch. Jesus uses it all the time in healing. As in,

Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.

The disciples are also encouraged to do it, as well. They must have seen some results.

Acts 8:18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money

Then there is washing feet. When Jesus washed the disciple’s feet it was a very interesting phenomena. We all know it was the slave’s work in Jesus’ day. What we may not know is that slaves were also naked or near naked when they did this. Jesus took off his clothes and put a towel on to dry the feet. It is not as if he had another robe underneath like Harpo Marx. Remember how he used to be wearing several suits and then he would take them off?

So Jesus was near naked, a state of shame, which of course would be repeated when they took his clothes before nailing him to the cross. A metaphor of ultimate servanthood even in the midst of shame? Perhaps.

Why did he do this? Well, let’s let him tell us for himself.

John 13:12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

It is not just the humility of doing servant work that bothered Peter. It is the cultural shame of near nakedness. Still a taboo in many places in the Middle East. Later, Peter is also ashamed of Jesus on the cross. At least he goes and hides.

Jesus tells all of us, “Enough of that. No one is too cool to serve in any way necessary.”

Footwashing is not an option but a model.

massage and life

I had a massage while in Colorado, and the masseuse was wonderfully talented. It was an experience that I will remember for a long time.

The first thing William wanted to know was a life history of my body. It is not as weird as it sounds. Was there any problem I was aware of? Had I had surgery or any other trouble recently? I let him know about surgery on my knee two years ago and that my back got sore once in a while when I travel. Then he was ready..

He said he was going to take about 1 ½ hours. You can either talk or be quiet. I decided to talk, or rather have him talk. I asked William how long he had lived in Colorado and then he went on from there.

From a bed and breakfast built out of hay bales, adobe, and stucco, to meeting his wife at Esalen Institute way back in the day; it was a movie script of a life. I listened and grunted once in a while, lying on my stomach most of the time. It was unbelievably relaxing.

How much of anyone's life is like a fascinating movie? Like, everyone you meet? Probably. Everyone has a story. You just need to ask. You might even get practical advice for your life.

For example, the bottom of your feet, especially below the toes, is the most sensitive area of your body to massage. No wonder I can't go barefoot! It didn't tickle but it was refreshing. Such a feeling of well being. I bought some foot lotion at the airport and I am going to do some massaging of my wife's feet when I get home. Nancy likes it and she deserves such attention.

More on feet tomorrow. Really!

beaver power

Beavers are awesome animals. They cut whole trees down in just a certain way with teeth specifically designed to do such work. Then they drag the tree sections down to the dam, where it fits perfectly, according to their blueprint. I am not talking about a human. I am talking about a beaver.

One thing you have to know, though, is beaver dams look solid, but they are not. I stepped on the dam to do some filming and then, boom, I fell through the dam, got crotched by the log, and was left dangling. As I stopped the initial scream of pain, and I realized I had no breaks, it was actually hilarious. I guess besides engineers, beavers make good nijas!!

I could see them coming slowly toward me, chomping, with eyes burning red, sharpening each others tails with wedges of granite as they are preparing to come for me…

Whoa…

Christcast 10

my Lyman Coleman interview
...working for Billy Graham, the “father” of the modern small group movement, “Serendipity,”
the original creator of the Christian coffee house model over 40 years ago....

Colorado skies

I am in Colorado meeting people who are at the forefront of reaching the next generations with the love of God. I spent a couple of days with the “father” of the modern small group movement, “Serendipity,” who also birthed the Christian coffee house model in the early 60’s, Lyman Coleman. Lyman is the bomb. He is still as creative and energized as ever. He is specializing in men’s ministry currently, and I will podcast an interview soon.

I have seen some amazing beauty in the Sangre de Cristos mountains. In English, the “Blood of Christ” mountains. For those who are teaching Jesus’ death on the cross is not necessary, that all people will be saved in the end, these are the “Masochistic idiot” mountains. Without the atonement, there is no reason for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The passion of Jesus without the sacrifice for our sins is a cruel and sadistic Father screwing over his son. Nice…

a guy thing?

We are starting to do stuff with the high school guys at church. The young women do a cool God Chicks ministry together and so we thought we would expand, as well. We went to MI 3 together and then talked about life at Fatburger. We decided we weren’t naming our group because, “Name? We don’t need no stinking name!”

The high schoolers are looking forward to our time together. Guys enjoy bonding, sometimes similar to women, sometimes different. We’ll see. I am bonding right now in Colorado with my good friend Rich Melheim. Just 5 minutes ago, we were talking about why many men “hate” church. As we talked, I was multi-tasking and looking at the songs for worship this Sunday. Then we laughed as I saw this.

Draw Me Close
Draw me close to you
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say
that I’m your friend

You are my desire.
No one else will do.
‘Cause nothing else
Could take Your place,

To feel the warmth
Of your embrace.
Help me find the way,
Bring me back to You!

You’re all I want!
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want!
Help me know You are near!

Now picture this-- Truck driver, construction worker, middle linebacker…Don’t understand the biblical intimacy metaphors with Jesus as the object of my affection.

Is this a worship song or am I a guy singing an erotic love song to another guy? What is wrong with this picture? And I will certainly wonder about every other guy in the room.

Christcast 9 podcast

Dana and Kristina, father/daughter, go off on Hollywood celebrity and do some gossip mongering!

piling on?

Well, it happened as predicted. I blogged March 28th and 29th about the Christian youth rally in San Francisco that was opposed by the city board of supervisors. State Assemblyman Mark Leno, said, concerning the Christian youth, “They’re loud, they’re obnoxious, they’re disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco.” He later realized he may have been a bit over the top and apologized for the hyperbole. “Not one of my prouder moments,” he said.

I wrote this on the 29th,

For publicity purposes, it is not lost on me that the organizers of the event staged a rally on the city hall steps of San Francisco which had advocated same sex marriages at an earlier date. While they were there, their message wasn’t about homosexuality, same sex marriage, or the like. Looking at their website, and hearing reports from their events, this is not even an emphasized agenda item. I have to say, Battle Cry did this on purpose. I think they are right in getting their word out. I think they are wrong in knowingly providing opportunities for those who disagree with them to look foolish. Again, I go back to one of my favorite sayings, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be helpful?”

Well, sure enough, what I was hoping would not happen, happened. I received a flyer with “THEY’RE LOUD, THEY’RE OBNOXIOUS...” The same quote in all capital letters. The back of the flyer says this.

WE’RE COMING BACK!

“This year in San Francisco we created quite the scene. We’re excited to let you know we are coming back next year.”

The message of the Teen Mania Ministry is one of hope, compassion, and obedience to God’s Word. It is not intolerant or spiteful. So why the publicity stunt behavior? 23,000 seats have already been sold for next years March event. I am sure they will sell out. Why continue to make the city of San Francisco or someone like Mark Leno look foolish? He did acknowledge his foolishness and it isn’t really that necessary to let the world know there is an anti-Christian bias that is alive and well in America. I am not totally saying this publicity is wrong but I am asking the question is this piling on? What do you think? christcast@gmail.com

acts 19-cross

To follow Jesus means giving up one way of life for another. Just what does that look like?

that radical President!

Romans 13
1Everyone 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. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Following the Romans passage means legislating for a change in immigration laws that you think are unjust. It does not mean arbitrarily choosing to follow some laws and not others according to your wishes. As I have mentioned in prior blogs, civil disobedience also means accepting the punishment of breaking the law, not demanding rights that are not present. You don’t have biblical permission to be too quick to civil disobedience in the first place. Remember this…

Jesus, Peter, and Paul who are the primary recorded teachers in the New Testament didn’t advocate breaking the laws of Rome, though Rome was an extremely oppressive and tyrannical government. A practical rule of thumb for civil disobedience is if a government law causes me to sin egregiously, like turning Jews over to be killed, forcing me to have an abortion, or jailing someone because they are not my religion, then I may in good conscience disobey, with the understanding that I must be willing to suffer the consequences.

All too often Christians immediately default to the “Love your neighbor as yourself” card and mistakenly think this means anything goes. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The disciple who “wills the good for himself and does it”, a biblical definition for “love of self,” is denying what he wants way more than giving in to his desires. To “love my neighbor” is to want what God wants for them. This often means doing the thing I don’t want to do and not doing the thing I want to do.


This passage leaves room for the Christian who is a citizen to be politically involved and work to change legislation that reflects their values, whatever they may be. For example, according to our legal system, President Bush does not have any say in immigration other than deportation issues during time of war. Immigration is a congressional issue.

Yet the President can express his support for legislation that reflects his thinking. In this case, he finds himself supporting the widest guest worker policies and his position would be similar to the most vocal advocates for more immigrants. This is why it is so naive and disingenuous when you saw signs in the protest speaking against the President. First, immigration is not in his jurisdiction. Naiveté. Second, he pretty much advocates the same position as the protesters. Disingenuousness.

what do we do?

Leviticus 19
33 " 'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. 34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Romans 13
1Everyone 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. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

OK, so here are two words from God. What do those who follow Jesus do?

First, the Leviticus passage is speaking of a specific nation, Israel, and is not a generalization for all countries. Yet, for the sake of exploration let’s use ancient Israel as our model. To treat the person who is here illegally as native-born would be equivalent to a guest worker visa where taxes are fully paid and benefits are available. At the same time, just like the native-born in Israel, those who could work but refused or those who are criminal would be exiled from the community. This is more like deportation.

A biblically informed response may be to try to influence legislation that would secure the borders of our country and allow guests who have gainful employment. The tension occurs with what you do with people who are here illegally already. Are those who are felons deported? Modeling ancient Israel, yes. What about if you have been here working and you are not a felon?

Consider this. Uprooting someone from a life they have been living where they have been a benefit to our society because of their hard work and their children are improving their chances to be contributing citizens of this country in the future…

vs.

Haitians, people from India, Laos and such who are trying to get here legally and who may be spending 20,000-30,000 dollars to get through the red tape it takes to even become a “resident alien,” waiting patiently for years, and their only mistake is they didn’t just cut to the front of the line, break the law and come here illegally.

Who said it was an easy decision…

The Romans passage revisited tomorrow.

did the US "steal" Mexican land?

In some of the immigration protests recently, there have been spokesperson’s who make the claim that the American Southwest is actually Mexican land to begin with. It was “stolen” in the Mexican-American War. Indeed, the Southwest was added to US territory as a result of war. If you read the history of the war, it was not a shining moment in American history, as many, including future President Lincoln realized. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848, and America paid Mexico $628,0000,000 (in 2000 dollars) for the land. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson at the time, "Most of the great results of history are brought about by discreditable means."

Does the US “owe” Mexico the land back? Well, let me introduce the topic of “infinite regression.” This means if one thing is true than you have to go back and the things that led up to that truth are true, as well. Here is what it looks like:

The US gained Mexican territory as a result of war and payment through a treaty. How did Mexico acquire the land?

They took it from the Spanish after they declared independence in 1821. They didn’t pay anything for it.

How did the Spanish acquire the land?

They took it from the Indian tribes that were living in the area. They paid nothing.

How did the various Indian tribes get the land?

They took it from earlier Indian tribes. Paid nothing.

According to anthropologists, the first settlers in American territory came from Mongolia and migrated across the frozen Bering Strait. So, there is technically no such thing as “native Americans,” only early Americans. How did these migrants originally get the land in Mongolia?...Welcome to infinite regress.

immigration and standards of critcism

If we are a global community, which is the primary filter of the world for some people, than if we criticize the actions of individual countries, we would logically focus our attention on the worst offenders. The best stewardship of time, focus, and resources would start with the worst violators and work backwards to the least. By this criteria, whether it is real human rights violations, giving to the needy (public money/ private money), and other judgments, you would rarely get to the USA. Other countries are generally so much worse in so many more arenas that we would spend most of our time addressing their actions.

If we are a collection of sovereign nations, then we can individually hold up higher standards than the rest. We can be self-critical. We do this all the time. The piddling human rights violations such as prison abuse in American institutions pales in comparison to many of the countries in the rest of the world. Yet, as many of our own citizens hold the US to a zero tolerance standard we must always be critical of our country. Without actually expressing this, logically, the reason our own citizens would criticize our country so much is we think we should be different because we are so much better. They would never say this, but it is intellectually honest.

Other countries may not hold themselves to those same standards, may not be as self-critical and so the world media only reports on those who hold themselves to the highest benchmarks, and as a result, of course we appear to be the worse violators as we are doing the most criticizing of ourselves. The immigration issue is certainly one such situation.

Do you know of any country in the world that has more open borders and gives more aid to people who are present, even if they are here illegally? Please e mail me with a link to information about other countries that have looser or more generous standards than the US www.christcast@gmail.com

Currently the United States is criticized for seeking to secure her borders and address the expenditure of resources for people who are here illegally in education, medical help, and government assistance. This is all we hear about in this present time. What about another country like, say, Mexico? Well, we can know this information as Mexico has a southern border with Guatemala and Belize.

For example, 200,000 Guatemalans who entered Mexico illegally were sent back last year. In order to receive government assistance or attend school in Mexico, you must show proof of citizenship with a birth certificate. To receive medical attention, you must have the proper funds. To be in Mexico without proper credentials is a felony. I guess the standards set by the USA are so much higher and that is why you may not even have been aware how restrictive it is in Mexico.

Continued tomorrow…

more on immigration

Had some good responses to the blog from yesterday. Questions were asked about civil disobedience. I covered this on March 7, 8 of 2005. You can look in the archives at those posts. Basically, one can break a law on purpose, if through a thorough study of scripture and reason one’s conscience is guiding the action. At the same time, like St. Paul in Acts 25:10-11, one must be willing and open to suffer the punishment for the crime.

I don’t think this has a bearing on the case of immigrants who are here illegally because this is not a justice issue. It is a matter of national sovereignty, pure and simple. Like any nation under international law, it is the right of the United States, to enforce its sovereignty. The anecdotal evidence of US authorities looking the other way when people are here without the proper documentation notwithstanding, to be here illegally is breaking the law.

The issues of how people are treated by disciples of Jesus regardless of their status, I addressed yesterday. Dignity and respect for fellow humans is a hallmark of discipleship. Approval of all the behavior of fellow human beings is not a sign of dignity and respect. To love one’s neighbor doesn’t mean approving of everything they do.

The challenge for a disciple of Jesus who is living here illegally is they enter a shadow world where they are forced, in one way or another, to lie again and again when it comes to their documentation. If they have children they will have to teach their children to do the same thing. Lie about who they are in regards to their living in the United States.

Now, anecdotally we have all said, “I would do the same thing for my family because the economic conditions of Mexico (for example) are so miserable.” This sounds good but it doesn’t take into consideration the vast majority of Mexicans who choose to remain in Mexico working for change there.

More considerations tomorrow.

Christcast 8

back from a mission trip to Mexico, Dana and Kristina talk about their experience with our neighbors to the south.

the bible on immigration

The Old Testament has much to say about “aliens.” Those who live in Israel who are not Jewish. Examples.

Ex 22:21 "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.

Dt 10:19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

Ex 12:49 The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you."

The “alien in your midst” was to be treated well and was to follow the laws of Israel.

In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of strangers in general. Those you don’t know.

Mt 25:35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

Jesus isn’t talking about government response to immigrants. He is talking about how Christians are to treat people. A person who is here legally or illegally is to be treated as a human being and cared for if in need. These words are addressed to Christians. Jesus has no specific instruction for human government.

The Bible does have clear guidelines for the immigrant who is Christian, as well. For the Christian who is in the United States legally there are specific instructions for public behavior. The same guidelines apply to Christians who are here illegally. Here are the guidelines clearly stated.

Romans 13:1-7
1Everyone 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. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

The biblical picture is not complex on this issue. There is no “gray” here.

If you are a Christian you help anyone in need.

If you are a Christian you don’t break the laws of a country.

The simplistic response to say, “Jesus would welcome the stranger,” doesn’t do justice to the careful thinking of the Bible on an issue like immigration.

May Day

Today is May Day. May Day when I was a kid, was a day we honored the ladies of the neighborhood, by secretly bringing flower baskets to their doorsteps, ringing the bell and running away before they can see us. Can you imagine?

That one custom is a good example to take inventory on how things are going today. Let’s look at the same scenario from a modern perspective.

· In many neighborhoods, I couldn’t even get to the front door. The home is behind gates, or maybe in a guard-gated community.

· I may not even know who the women in my neighborhood are, let alone wish to leave them flowers.

· 12 year old boys letting neighborhood women know how much they appreciate them? A little awkward… Do you feel the sexual tension? Sounds like the beginning of a future Oscar-nominated movie.

· Will I get arrested for leaving a basket unattended on the doorstep of a neighbor? After all, it might be a bomb!

· Will I get arrested for trespassing?

· Will I get sued because I left a basket at one house but not another?

· What if the lady of the house has an allergic reaction to the flowers I brought? Sued again?

Who would have thought May Day could be so bittersweet? Mrs. Kwas, Mrs. Helland, and all you other ladies on Elmwood Drive, God bless you or bless your memory. Happy May Day.

e mail me at christcast@gmail.com

see you Monday

As I mentioned, we are going to Mexico tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. In the meantime, why not listen to some www.Christcast.net Talk to you Monday morning!
Adios!

Dana

a new mindset

Obviously, teens that plan on shooting up their high schools are few. The news is going to jump on anything and keep it going as long as possible. With the media saturation of violence and revenge, coupled with societies’ narcissist emphasis (I wonder what kind of toilet paper Brad and Angelina use?), is it a wonder there aren’t more of these cases?

Do you want a low risk that you as a teenager will go nuts or you who are parents want low risk for your children following this path of destruction? A key remedy is serving others.

A year helping out AID’s orphans in Uganda would do wonders in the mindset of teenagers with no hope who think the whole world is against them. Maybe closer to home, volunteering weekly at the local Alzheimer’s day center or a nursing facility being a listener and friend.

My children and I are going with a church group on a four day work trip to Mexico tomorrow morning. Do you think self-absorbed attitudes can be adjusted in something like that? Of course. It is interesting how life looks far different when you are reaching out for the sake of others rather than focusing on you.

So drop whatever you are doing and spend some time thinking about what you do for those who are in need around you.

more on teen violence

Yesterday, I started blogging about the kids in North Pole, Alaska who were going to shoot their classmates and teachers. There is also this case from last week in Columbus, Kansas and high school students doing the same thing to “celebrate” the 7th anniversary of Columbine.

My daughter, Kristina, and I did an extended podcast of this which you can access from the blog or I tunes link www.Christcast.net In it we talk about a variety of issues related to teenage violence, school shootings and such.

Two quick things you notice. In many of these school shootings or plots, it is smaller towns. So much for the violence of cities such as LA, where we live. It is especially ironic, since there has to be a lot of evidence pointing to something going on with the teens, as Columbus only has 3300 residents, and North Pole, Alaska, 1600. You can’t hide “strange-goings-on” in these settings. Indeed, at least in the Alaska case, a parent tipped off the police.

Another thing to notice is these school shootings or plots tend to be white kids. Gang activity in urban areas tends to be African American and Latino, but the teenage angst shooters are white? Violence is equal opportunity, I guess.

Christcast 7

school shooting plots, teenage violence, what's going on? Dana and Kristina examine the issue.

murder and narcissism?

All right here we go again.

First, I spent the weekend with a group of about 50 high school students and worked with them on the wonders of God’s created world from a faith/science perspective. What a considerate, respectful, fun, and wild (normal) group of teens. We were in the local mountains at a church camp, and it even snowed! For southern California, actually a treat.

So no news for a weekend. Then I have to look at this. Six seventh grade students arrested for allegedly plotting a massacre at their middle school. A small town in Alaska is understandably on high alert as these kids were planning on knocking out the computer system and phone system, so they could buy time to kills students and teachers before their escape. “Why?” is the obvious question we always ask at times like this. It is always best to let the perpetrators speak for themselves.

According to the police chief, here is what they were talking about.

The seventh-graders wanted to seek revenge for being picked on by other students, Lindhag said. They also disliked staff and students, he said.

You have to be kidding. If I killed everyone who picked on me when I was in junior high, there would be a lot a bodies to recover from the streets of Racine, Wisconsin. How about you? Or even more absurd, what if we killed everyone we disliked at that age? Would there be anybody left in any town in world?

This is an outrageous example of individual and group narcissism. If I am the center of my own universe and I become a victim of alleged unfair treatment, I guess automatically my conscience just goes out the window.

From the Weimar Republic of Germany in the 30’s to the murderers of 9/11, to the hallways of North Pole Middle School in Alaska, when you see yourself as a victim, and you are your own god, then you get this. It is also the foundation of most human sin. Turning in upon yourself. St. Augustine and later, Martin Luther, called it et peccator curvatus. One metaphor for sin is this, “curving in upon oneself.”

We are all capable of being narcisstic, curavtusing peccators. Self absorbed to such an extent that we lash out at anyone who dares look at us with anything other than worship and admiration. That is a pretty typical human condition. Once we start murdering, our evil becomes Evil.

More tomorrow.

let's just be honest

Do you see the discrepancy from yesterday’s blog? There is much criticism of some Christians trying to “shove their religion down my throat” because of opposition to such moral issues as same-sex marriage and abortion. Whatever your thinking on these topics, there are definitely worldview implications that influence your thinking.

The logical disconnect is when people try to pretend like you can make “values neutral” decisions on something like same-sex marriage or abortion, but use your values when it comes to legislation coming to the aid of the poor and needy. If you want to try to have it both ways and be logical, it doesn’t work.

As I said yesterday, let’s be honest and admit that we do use all kinds of worldviews to influence our thinking and our government’s legislation. Same-sex marriage and abortion may be supported by legislators in spite of certain worldview implications, but let’s be totally clear that using moral/values judgments occur all the time in a wide variety of ways. Then we can come to the table of public policy on equal footing.

shoving your religion down someone's throat?

My friend Missy is doing a paper on revitalizing downtown LA. We started talking about the homeless. As with many urban areas in the US, there are many homeless people who live down there. According to a recent court case about homelessness, the most in the country. Here are some quotes from an article about this.

In her ruling, Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw said that Los Angeles' Skid Row has the highest concentration of homeless individuals in the United States. She said that about 11,000 to 12,000 homeless people live in Skid Row, a 50-block area, bounded by Third, Seventh, Main and Alameda Streets."Because there is substantial and undisputed evidence that the number of homeless persons in Los Angeles far exceeds the number of available shelter beds at all times, including on the night" the plaintiffs were arrested or cited, "Los Angeles has encroached upon" the plaintiffs' 8th Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment) protections "by criminalizing the unavoidable act of sitting, lying or sleeping at night while being involuntarily homeless," Wardlaw wrote.

For now, I am not going to talk about all the issues of homelessness. I would like to quote a friend of the plaintiff’s in this case.

Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, hailed the ruling "as the most significant judicial decision involving homelessness in the history of the country. The case stands for the proposition that in America homelessness is not a crime."…

"I think what community leaders need to do now is deal with the problem, not by criminalizing homelessness, but by developing shelters, mental health programs and jobs," Rosenbaum said. "That's not only humane,(emphasis mine) it is economically and socially wise. Once they do that, so many other social problems in the community, will be alleviated, including the high population in the county jail and pressure on emergency health services and foster care, he added.

What is that all about? I have no idea what the word, “humane” means from an ACLU standpoint. This is an organization that has systematically attempted to get all references to religion out of the public square. They are also the plaintiffs in many lawsuits, like Kitzmilller vs.Dover School District, that hold (my summary paraphrase) that strict Darwinian evolution can absolutely not be questioned in the classroom, because even questioning that all of life is a product of random, purposeless chance smacks of religion.

OK, say I agree. Then why are you trying to shove your religion down my throat by making a moral value judgment that it is the government’s role to help the homeless? “Humane?” What benchmark of morality are you basing that word upon?

According to one take on the Darwinian theory, the most healthy organisms reproduce and respond to the environment and random mutation through adaptation. While, “survival of the fittest” is not an accurate assessment of this process, it certainly is used by Darwinist’s in the vernacular. So, what would be in my best interest, or the interest of my little subset family of the species homo sapien sapien, to use “scarce” resources that we possess to help homeless people? Do you see where this is heading?

Helping the homeless, those in poverty, those who are at risk, these are all hugely religious actions based on religious benchmarks. Atheists do caring and compassionate things too, but there is no logical explanation using the Darwinian model that would explain their source for the moral behavior. I have read attempts (an example) by Darwinan theorists or atheists, and they are not even close.

Is helping the homeless bringing religion into a state issue? Of course it is. Let’s just be honest and admit we put our “religion” into our politics and in the public square all the time.

Christcast 6

why do so many young Christians drop out of faith life by their 20's?
According to studies in America, 80-90%!! "Sex, booze, drugs, well, ya
there is that...but is it something more?

I interview a 20 year old friend, Nick, who shares his take on the
issues.

6-6-06

6-6-06 I knew it was coming. It was only a matter of when. I passed an all black billboard today with this written in white.

6-6-06

The signs are all around you

I don’t know whose ad it is or for what, but it finally has arrived. Public acknowledgment that June 6, 2006, or 6-6-06 for short, has arrived. Biblical prophecy scholars, heavy metal fans, and horror movie buffs all know the number.

Revelation 13:18

18Wisdom is needed to understand this. Let the one who has understanding solve the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.

“Mark of the beast, dude! 666! All right!” (in my best Spinal Tap accent)

Not that June 6th is not famous already. June 6, 1944. The invasion of Normandy. D-Day. We are not speaking German now, (not that there is anything wrong with the language/ aber es ist gut Hitler ist nichts unserer Fϋhrer), in some measure because of that day.

Yet 6-6-06 will be analyzed for other reasons. The mark of the beast, the anti-Christ, my birthday. Oops! It slipped out. Just don’t get too worked up. As of today, I have no tattoos…

gospel according to LA

what does it mean to be in mission in Los Angeles?
-Easter message

trials of teenage faith

trials and tribulations of trying to be a disciple as a teenager, including my kissing game story- from my Easter Vigil message

another Easter

Easter is a highlight day for Christians. We are all excited to celebrate the risen Jesus and it is a day that has faith written all over it. Unlike Christmas, our other big day, no one has figured how to take advantage of Easter from a commerce standpoint. I suppose a lot of ham is sold, and of course this is prime easter lily season, but other than that, what? Plastic eggs to be filled with candy? All right, I’ll give you that, too.

Yet, Easter remains, well, Easter. Even the media and magazines didn’t put a damper on Easter. Every year they put out something that is supposed to get us thinking that maybe the Bible isn’t accurate after all, though it was all written within 20-70 years after the time of Jesus, and there are, oh, 24,633 manuscripts of various length, from sections to the whole New Testament, all compiled within 300 years of Jesus. This is compared to number two in ancient writings, The Iliad by Homer, all 634 manuscripts. The single copy of the Gospel of Judas from 300 A.D. was proclaimed, “One of the most significant biblical finds in the past century.” First it is not a biblical find. The Dead Sea scrolls would have something to say about significant, as well. And it is such an important find, that the leading authority on such a manuscript, James Robinson, is not a key scholar consulted. Must be quite a find.

Well, actually the quote is from an ad from the National Geographic Channel, about TV show that has been shown repeatedly. I caught part of it being shown still again, yesterday. It’s been kind of like a small car crash. “All right move on, there is nothing to see here.”

This Gospel of Judas is a single manuscript probably written 130-140 years after the time of Jesus by another group of Gnostics, talking about secret stuff that only a few get to know. Body evil/ spirit good, Jewish stuff no good, seems I have heard this tune before. Yes, there are about 280 of these pseudopigrapha books around already. In my pod cast, which can be played or downloaded from www.Christcast.net, I speak with my friend Matt in a little more detail about this.

Oh well, at least they didn’t try to get me to believe Jesus didn’t really walk on water this Easter season. Wait a minute. Yes, they did!

what is Holy Communion?

Holy Communion is a relay race where we hand over faith to the next generations. A message for young people celebrating their first
communion.

Good Friday

Today roughly 2/3’s of the people of the world will go about their business and not pay a moment’s notice to something going on. War? Global warming? Avian flu? No, something much more devastating and catastrophic then these.

About 2/3’s of the world’s population does not identify as “Christian,” and today they will not give thanks to their Savior for what he has done for them.

On this Good Friday, in spite of his love, in spite of his hope, in spite of the evidence that he lived, died, and was resurrected from the dead, in spite of the fact that the Holy Spirit is drawing all people to God through Jesus, in spite of all of that, billions will go about their daily lives without giving it a second thought.

What Jesus offers freely will not be accepted. This has nothing to do on Jesus’ part. It is not his way to force anyone to listen. It doesn’t matter if you live a “good” life. It doesn’t make a difference if you are a “good” person. There is not a person living who could not do better.

This has everything to do with saying, “Thank you,” to someone who has just saved your life.

Thank you, Jesus, for saving me.

travel lightly

When I think of being a disciple of Jesus in this world I think of the phrase “travel lightly.” When Jesus sent his disciples out on a training run, he takes this literally.

9"Don't take any money with you. 10Don't carry a traveler's bag with an extra coat and sandals or even a walking stick. Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed. 11Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy man and stay in his home until you leave for the next town.”

When you study the model of Jesus and his disciples, I don’t think we are called to be them, but rather like them. The same model of character, integrity, commitment, passion, and urgency. Not necessarily you are to go out preaching from town to town living on other people’s hospitality. Now, this may be your call, but it is not a general call for all disciples. We aren’t all called to be fishermen, either. Though trying it out can be fun.

Traveling lightly in life is a model we can follow, however. Not getting too caught up in any human cause or interest that can take away from our primary focus on Jesus and living in his Kingdom now. When you look at the big picture, you see traveling lightly is the best view of reality.

This is why prayer is so powerful. Prayer connects us to the creator and sustainer of the universe and all that exists and it connects us to the needs of the world. We wash the world with our prayers and we go about living the Kingdom life and we become an irresistible influence in a world crying out in despair. We answer with ourselves and the hope Jesus brings through us.

astounding tolerance?

The museum of tolerance had exhibits that unwittingly showed how astoundingly tolerant Americans prove to be. When you enter the museum there is a huge picture of several current events that showed murder out of hatred for an individual or group. Two I would mention are the murder of an abortion clinic doctor and the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi.

Since the Roe vs. Wade decision in 1972, how many abortion clinic murders have there been, either at the clinic or staff murdered off campus? 1000? 500? 100? How about 7. Total.

An interesting side note is the murderers were not all self-professed “Christians” either. Bombing abortion clinics is often used as evidence that there are radically violent “Christian” terrorists, of which I have no doubt there may be people who call themselves “Christian” who commit terrorism. It’s just they need better PR because we are not hearing about it.

After the September 11th attack, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner, was killed in Mesa, Arizona. He was a Sikh, which is not Islam, but a blend of Muslim/ Hindu/ other faith. His picture is in the exhibit as a hate crime murder against a Muslim who wasn’t Muslim. Well, how many more hate crime murders have there been against Muslims since 9-11, besides this?

100? 50? How about 0? Yes, none. Two more murders after 9/11 are in dispute as to reason for the crime, and the FBI did not classify them as hate crimes. One was a man killing a Muslim man dating his ex-girlfriend. According to FBI hate crime statistics for 2001-2004 (the latest report) all hate crimes against Muslims in America look like this.

Incidents of hate crime

Year/incidents/murders and manslaughters/assaults
2001/ 554/ 0/ 95
2002/ 170/ 0/ 34
2003/ 155/ 0/ 33
2004/ 193/ 0/ 26

Besides the murders and assaults, the rest of the incidents are verbal assault or intimidation.

Do you see what I mean by astounding tolerance? Some people because of philosophical or religious belief consider abortion, murder, and yet, how few actually lash out violently against people they would consider accessories to murder.

When it comes to bigotry against Muslims, the American response has been amazingly calm. By any figment of the imagination, an attack of the magnitude of 9/11, followed by war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and yet bigots in America have lashed out so rarely.

I spoke to the docent of the museum about these observations and wasn’t it interesting that two of the major exhibits really were an unbelievable exception of the general trend of what is overwhelmingly tolerant about our nation’s people. She said they are teaching zero- tolerance.

It is commendable to teach zero-tolerance. I just thought it would be encouraging to let students going to the museum know, wherever they are getting their tolerance, at least in terms of not striking out with violent behavior goes, keep it up.

Christcast 5

The Gospel of Judas & wiping out 90% of the world's population using eco-terrorism!

acts 15- everyone

weighed down by rules and regulations?
confused by moral relativism?
-meet King Jesus

scapegoating

When touring the Museum of Tolerance Holocaust exhibit, you see the various ways the Nazi’s tried to dehumanize the Jews and others. Blaming the Jews for Germany’s woes after World War I was a long process. It didn’t just happen overnight. The amazing thing is we are talking about less than 1% of the population. That’s how many Jews were in Germany. It doesn’t take a large group of people to become a scapegoat for everything.

After the Holocaust, small groups of people would necessarily be wary of how any society would look at them. Perhaps they would go out of their way to try to make sure they are treated with respect and dignity by the dominate culture in as many ways as possible.

I think this is some of the thinking behind the “gay rights” movement today. According to recent studies, adults who identify exclusively as homosexual are about 1 to 1.5% of the population of America. Yet, there are times when you hear some extreme things being said about them. As if the ills of American culture are in some part due to the homosexual behavior of some of her citizens.

Whether you think homosexual behavior is unhealthy and a sin or not, you can understand why those who identify as homosexual would be very sensitive to any rhetoric they sense is dehumanizing in any way. I don’t agree with many of the tactics and methodology of “gay rights” advocacy groups, but I understand their passion and urgency. It wasn’t long ago, those who were identified with a pink triangle patch were put on those trains and sent to the camps in Europe only later to be murdered.

True tolerance is respect and courtesy toward another, though you disagree with them. Those who are on all sides of this topic would do well to remember this.

museum of tolerance

I went to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles on Friday. We saw how genocide and mass murder continues today in places like the Sudan. However, the thing that was most striking about the Holocaust was the efficiency and planning. 6 million Jews, along with 9 million Gypsies, Communists, homosexuals, and other targeted groups were systematically murdered in only a few years! You look at the blueprints of the “Final Solution,” the intricate details, and you forget that these were scientists, mathematicians, military and political leaders, sitting down and strategizing for the sole purpose of calculating how to murder the most people, quickly and cheaply.

The Holocaust was not a side issue for Nazi Germany. It was the dominate factor. They were using trains to ship the victims to the camps that could have been used to ship troops for the war effort. Military failure on the Nazi’s part was at least partially due to their obsession to murder as many Jews, and others they considered unworthy, as possible. It really took away a lot of energy, focus, and resources from the military campaign.

Just recently, plans have been revealed that showed the Nazis were ready to go in to Palestine and work with Arab collaborators and kill off the Jews who lived there. Only defeat of Rommel’s Army stopped those plans from moving forward.

As I am writing this I am realizing this was only a little over 60 years ago! These evil events are still fresh events in the overall minutes and hours of history. This was not some ancient primitive culture going on a warpath. This was a sophisticated, brilliant, death machine made up of human parts.

Stop and think about all of this today.

other faiths

This morning I was speaking to a Jewish friend about the Passover Seder we experienced at our church Wednesday night. I asked him if he is celebrating Passover and he said, “No.” Then he proceeded to tell me he doesn’t go to temple or observe any days, not even a weekly Shabbat. He made sure I knew he is a believer, though.

I told my friend I was going to bug him every so often to at least observe Shabbat each week. I invited him to think of it as acknowledging God and keeping his heritage going another generation. He thanked me, and said he would think about it.

This is a good approach for Christians to take in your relationship with people of other faiths. Encourage them to be involved with their faith practices. That usually is a surprise to them. If a Christian is interested in talking to them about faith at all, they may have a preconceived notion that you are trying to show them why your way is better and they should follow your path. Now, I do want all people to trust in Jesus, and one of the ways Jesus works is to keep people who continue to seek God, looking, from within other faiths. If they are not practicing any faith, there may or may not be an end to their seeking.

There is a school of thought that says it is easier to share the Gospel with an atheist then with someone of another faith. I don’t always find this to be the case. When someone opens themselves to a God outside of themselves, it is a general opportunity for the Spirit to draw them to consider Christ. It isn’t always a closed door. Also, this is evidence you respect their faith and are courteous of their worldview.

Of course if there is child sacrifice or something than it we need to talk…

friends

We had a Passover dinner last night led by a Jewish Christian pastor from Chosen People Ministries. He led us through the Seder and showed the symbolic connections of Jesus’ Last Supper and the Passover Meal. The clarity of the Christian faith coming out of Judaism was fascinating.

This morning I met with two new friends who are Muslim who introduced me to their organization, Global Cultural Connections. They work to foster dialogue and understanding between Muslims, Christians, and people of other faith. We spoke of what we hold in common, and their warm and gracious invitation to be in relationship with their community was very encouraging.

I know these unrelated events that occurred in a 24 hour period are not indicative of anything more than people getting together. It did however say something about where we live. In a strange but wonderful way, the lay of the landscape that is America has something to do with it.

Shalom
Salaam
Peace out

reaction to the "no better than bacteria" story

Well, the story I blogged on yesterday still didn’t make it to the national news. Other than a story responding to the negative reaction to Eric Pianka’s position. It did make the Drudge Report however, and now the “nation” knows. I went to Panda’s Thumb, kind of an anti-intelligent design website that I read on occasion, and it was interesting to see their response. They tried to characterize Forrest Mimms III, the original critic of the speech, as a “disgruntled creationist” though I could find no evidence of his “creationism” in any of his web materials, and he is called a “crazy kook,” on the website, as well. Panda’s Thumb is actually a pretty good website to see the weaknesses in the intelligent design argument, as well as see the weaknesses of Darwinist’s pointing out the weaknesses of the intelligent design arguments!!

Following this story is kind of fun, because Eric Pianka denies making such claims, but because of the internet, you can go to class evaluations of his courses at University of Texas, and, sure enough, you see one student responding in this way:

"Though I agree that convervation [sic] biology is of utmost importance to the world, I do not think that preaching that 90% of the human population should die of ebola [sic] is the most effective means of encouraging conservation awareness."

Today, you can’t find this evaluation, because it is no longer there!

This is an extreme view taken by an extreme evolutionary biologist and should in no way be conclusive that Darwinian evolutionists want humanity destroyed. In fact, I agree there is good evidence for many tenants of Darwinian theory (the processes of adaptation and natural selection, for example), and so I wouldn't characterize the average evolutionist as extreme, and I am certainly not saying they are advocating the destruction of humanity or such.

However, this is a good example, of the clear use of morality and value judgments in the science classroom which are metaphysical topics by nature, and according to Darwinian advocates, this supposedly is not to be allowed in the science classroom!

acts 14- human

As Paul and Barnabas continue to be used by God with healings and signs and wonders, some Jews try to stop them, Gentiles try to worship them, Paul may have been murdered…All in a days work.

no better than bacteria

The agenda of many Darwinian evolutionary biologists has been assumed to be political and not pure science for quite some time now. This is why some of them continue to bring school systems to court to try to stop schools from allowing teachers to talk about the weaknesses and challenges to Darwinian evolution. I am so used to the misinformation that is being spread through mainstream news that nothing really shocks me anymore when it comes to the agenda of some Darwinists. Except this. Which happens to be a true story. I still haven’t seen it in mainstream media. Yet…


Eric Pianka, University of Texas biologist, just received the distinguished Texas Scientist award from the Texas Academy of Science last month. He had the videotape of the award’s ceremony shut off before he gave his speech. There were tape recorders in the room, though, so one gets to hear what went on anyway. Hence, you understand the turning off of the videotape.

Dr. Pianka advocated that it would be a good thing if some group of people would spread the Ebola virus so that 90% of the world’s population would die. In this way, the planet earth would better survive the rages of humanity. Dr. Pianka said this about humans.

“We’re no better than bacteria!”

This is not a joke. Witnesses and the taped evidence confirm it. The most unbelievable news of all, is this. After this speech, Dr. Pianka was given a standing ovation from the members of the Texas Academy of Science!!

So, if you are a Darwinian evolutionist and you think those of us who question that Darwinian mechanisms are the sole explanation for all things scientific, and we say you are holding on to some teaching that is not science, but philosophy, and we say we are concerned by some of the strong political aggressiveness you exhibit to prevent simply following the evidence wherever it leads or questioning any of the teachings of Darwinian evolution using science to critique. This is some of the non-science stuff coming from your "camp" that is frightening.

If you are in this camp and agree with Dr. Pianka, I’ll continue to debate the science, if you will actually sit down at the table and talk about it. But when it comes to philosophy, I think I have a superior view of reality and it is time you consider what I have to say before you start killing my fellow humans, whom I love and respect.

In the meantime, I need to hear the condemnation of this viewpoint by other Darwinian scientists. I will be watching the net for responses. I would argue this is a make or break time for open and honest Darwinian evolutionists to speak up.

fascist?

Fascism- A term that originated with the political movement led by Benito Mussolini from 1922 to 1943 in Italy. More loosely defined, fascism has no characteristic benchmarks that clearly point to any specific government system.

In general, a fascist government would have strong total control over all aspects of life in a given country. Originally, Fascism was seen as an opposition movement to Communism, and yet it appears to be remarkably similar in outlook.

Today, “fascism” is almost always used incorrectly. In modern terms, it means,

“something that someone I disagree with is.”

Like calling someone a “Nazi,” calling someone a “fascist” is a lazy way out of having to actually articulate a position and defending it intellectually. Whenever I hear the term “fascism” or “fascist” used, I know the person either isn’t confident of the reasonability of their position or they have no idea what they are talking about and use “fascist” as a way to attempt to gain influence without having to think.

Christcast 4

Dana and Kristina have a dad/daughter talk about teachers going off on
politicals in the classroom, and taking the dreaded SAT's.

jobs Americans won't do?

Back to immigration matters. As I mentioned, I am only focusing specifically on sound bites and phrases. Clarification, not opinion one way of the other. For example, responding to some of you who responded to me, yes indeed, the amount of money that is going out for medical, education, etc. is higher than the taxes going in by undocumented workers. For my wider views on this topic, my friend Matt and I talk about it in Christcast #3, which can be accessed from the blog site or downloaded from the sidebar.

Next sound bite.

The illegal immigrants are just taking jobs Americans won’t do.

Yes and no.

Yes- In agriculture, for example, farm conglomerates find they will not be able to harvest perishable crops relying on American workers. Even when offering higher wages, from harvesting Washington apples to Wisconsin cranberries, the reports are the same. When advertising for citizen workers (a requirement in many states), there are not enough Americans who respond to do the work.

No- In other employment opportunities, it may not be so much American workers are not willing to do the jobs, as if they are too menial or difficult, rather they don’t pay enough and they don’t include normal benefits. For the same reason businesses use foreign plants, lower cost/ lower wages, they hire undocumented workers for less. Do you know how you test this out theory anecdotally?

Look at areas of the country that do not have undocumented workers in any numbers. Northern Minnesota, North Dakota, etc. All sorts of jobs get done by American citizens, no matter the job. Every possible employment opportunity, including, believe it or not (I can just hear the Midwest accent, “What the heck do you need a gardener or a cleaning lady for?”)…maids and gardeners.

SF youth rally followup

I have a picture of worshippers at the San Francisco youth ministry event. Unlike the comment of Mark Leno, Assemblyman, San Francisco (D), "they're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting and they should get out of San Francisco," these kids appear to be what everyone talks about but nobody actually sees. Multicultural teens and 20’s coming together to improve their lives and make a difference by serving others.

Next time you want to say something illogical, do your homework. The bands and speakers of this event are about as moderate an evangelical as you are going to get. To call them “fundamentalist” simply means you have no idea what that term really means.

For publicity purposes, it is not lost on me that the organizers of the event staged a rally on the city hall steps of San Francisco which had advocated same sex marriages at an earlier date. While they were there, their message wasn’t about homosexuality, same sex marriage, or the like. Looking at their website, and hearing reports from their events, this is not even an emphasized agenda item.

I have to say, Battle Cry did this on purpose. I think they are right in getting their word out. I think they are wrong in knowingly providing opportunities for those who disagree with them to look foolish. Again, I go back to one of my favorite sayings, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be helpful?”

I think of Martin Luther’s explanation of the Eighth commandment.

We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.

You knew you were going to get a rise out of some fringe groups (no one could have predicted the Board of Supervisors off the wall response), so why did they do it? Saying this I realize these are teenagers and young adults and they have an edge to their methodology along with their strong, but gracious message.

A footnote: Mark Leno did recant a bit on his rhetoric.

On Monday, however, Leno struck a more reasoned tone, acknowledging that his rally cry was "not one of my prouder moments." He said the youth group was "welcome in San Francisco," even though he does worry that its religious rhetoric could "under a cloak of love" feed a "fearful world's appetite for hate."

I will address that last phrase tomorrow, but it is good to see Assemblyman Leno is being a little more careful.

acts 13- sent

God reveals himself through the Bible, nature, and signs of wonder. Here we see God working behind the scenes developing the African church and expanding the mission elsewhere.

Christcast 3

Dana and buddy Matt talk about immigration policy, the biblical picture of how to treat the "undocumented worker in your midst," and Christian views of politics in general.

not in San Francisco?

I have to pause from talking about sound bites. You may have missed this because of all the news about immigration, but, yes, it happened.

There is a Christian youth rally meeting this week in San Francisco called, “Battle Cry for a Generation.” 25,000 kids and youth pastors arriving in San Francisco for worship, prayer, and workshops. Jack Hayford, from our own local Church on the Way is one of the keynote speakers. Christian rockers including one of my all time favorites, Delirious, are performing. In other words, normal moderate evangelicals.

Well, before the event even started, the San Francisco supervisors passed a resolution warning that a Christian youth gathering could "negatively influence the politics of America's most tolerant and progressive city."

Again, before the youth even arrived, listen to what this politician had to say.
Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, told counterprotesters at City Hall on Friday that while such fundamentalists may be small in number, "they're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco."

Here is a post from the website of a protesting group.

ALERT!!! Right wing Christian fundamentalist bigots are coming to San Francisco this Friday and Saturday to hold a fascist mega-pep rally called "BATTLECRY FOR A GENERATION." They are recruiting youth and their rallying cry is "Reclaim the values that made this nation great."

Kudos to the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board (not mistaken for a right wing newspaper) who posted this response. Speaking of the organization, they write:

Its goal is to spread Christianity and to help young people recognize and resist the cultural influences of a "stealthy enemy" that includes "corporations, media conglomerates and purveyors of popular culture." Its Web site (www.battlecry.com) speaks of "casualties of war" that include drinking, drug use, teen sex, pornography, abortion, suicide and violence.
We may disagree with certain aspects of the Battle Cry agenda -- on issues such as abortion rights, religion in schools or acceptance of an individual's sexual orientation -- but the attempt by counterprotesters and some of the city's elected officials to call them "fascist" and "hateful" was totally at odds with the tone of the ballpark event and the approach of the Web site.
The gathering was not an "act of provocation," as the supervisors claimed. It was a get-together of young evangelicals whose lifestyles and religious views just happen to be in the minority here -- apparently making them open season for politicians to chastise.
The young people who came to San Francisco to affirm their faith and enjoy a day of rock music deserved better. They deserved to be welcomed by a city that was as tolerant and progressive as its sanctimonious supervisors like to profess.

One final word from one of the youth attending.

Christian Gallion, a 15-year-old in town with his Assembly of God youth group from Humboldt County, shrugged off being called "fascists" by counterdemonstrators.

"It doesn't bother me," Gallion said. "It's a beautiful city, and we don't have anything against the protesters."

Ahh, maturity.

do undocumented immigrants pay taxes?

Hot topics are always around us. When I listen to people debating various issues and using sound bites here and there, I always want to pause and figure why someone is saying what they are saying in the way they are saying it. I am going to check out sound bites of various issues and then give an observation.

Disclaimer: I am not trying to defend or critique any of these positions. I just want to make the process clearer.

Sound bite:

Illegal immigrants don’t pay taxes.

First, obviously taxes are paid with every purchase made in places that have sales tax. Taxes are paid on any gasoline, cigarettes, or liquor, etc.

Second, because the government requires employers to withdraw taxes from employees checks, undocumented workers have social security taken out in these cases. They use fictitious tax ID numbers. This is currently bringing in approximately 7 billion dollars a year into Social Security. The irony, of course, is the worker will not see a dime of this when he/she retires.

Third, there is an IRS tax number program where undocumented workers can pay taxes. I could only find the latest study on the net concerning this program from 2001. That year in this program there were 366,000 tax returns on 7 billion dollars of wages, and 305 million dollars in taxes paid.

Now there are arguments about the ethics of using fictitious numbers, the amount of government money that goes out to undocumented immigrants and the rest. I am only addressing the specific claim made above.

more on sex ed

Yesterday, what I quoted from a public school sex ed curriculum is just a sample. I will give you one more and then that’s all.

From Focus on Kids, teachers guide, University of Maryland Department of Pediatrics:

State that there are other ways to be close to a person and show you care without having sexual intercourse. Ask youth to brainstorm ways to be close. The list may include holding hands, body massage, bathing together, masturbation, sensuous feeding, fantasizing, watching erotic movies, reading erotic books and magazines…

As a parent, I have spoken to my children about sexuality frequently. I teach others, as well, including a sex ed curriculum with 5th grade boys and their fathers each year. Every one gets all psyched for “The Talk!” But…

Somehow, we never got to that list above. Though we do talk about responsibility, character, appropriate intimacy and such. We talk about how God designed our sexuality. How we are the same. How we are different. Frankly, we talked about anything we wanted to!

Presently, you can’t do that in a public school. Parent involvement is pretty much limited to a form you have to fill out at the beginning of the year that states you don’t want the school giving your kid condoms. If you don’t fill out the form, students receive the condoms as requested. Obviously, you are never notified of this either.

There is an article in the Washington Post today with critics of the abstinence education for sex ed. Why are we spending so much money on that program?

Actually we spend 12 times as much on contraceptive based sex ed programs in schools than on abstinence programs. Also, I mention again the 40% drop in out of wedlock births with students who have made pledges in an abstinence type program.

All right, so what to all of this?

If parents and church promote healthy sexual discussion and inform children in age appropriate ways the nuances of who we are as men and women and the gift of sexuality, including the sacred intimacy of husband and wife, then you will have the best of all worlds. Without parental support, or no church affiliation, then school is next in the line of discussion and information in our society.

Abstinence education, coupled with information about STD’s and birth control done with decorum and set in the ideal for sake of discussion might be the best chance we have in a public school. By “set in the ideal,” I mean when you are talking about birth control, for example, use language like, “Some married couples choose to prevent pregnancy by using a condom. Here is what they look like, etc…” How we teach has a great impact along with what we teach. The sexual activity of teenagers is way lower than what the media portrays and so a good place to start is simply making clear that “everyone isn’t doing it.”

what about sex education?

What about sex education? Like any emotional, physical, and spiritual health issue, the primary mentors of sexual matters is best left to parents. Having a school teacher be a child’s primary source for such an important and intimate arena of life is not beneficial from a philosophical or biblical standpoint. Saying this, if parents are not involved, for public interest, sex education is instituted in schools to mixed results.

The good news is virginity pledge education like “True Love Waits,” lowers the out of wedlock birthrate by 40%, according to the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, known as "Add Health." This abstinence-only type education is criticized though, because anal sex or oral sex and the corresponding sexually transmitted diseases are increased as these sexual practices are considered “virginal” by some of the kids. Also, when some abstinence- only educated kids break their pledge and have sexual intercourse, they are less likely to use condoms.

So, what is the answer? Not yet, even worse news is the present comprehensive sex ed curriculums, that say a little about abstinence but a lot about everything else. If you are a parent reading this, you are going to be shocked. If you are a teenager, you are going to see what you are missing if you are going to Christian high school! Here is an excerpt from one such “comprehensive” curriculum, Be Proud! Be Responsible!:

Invite [students] to brainstorm ways to increase spontaneity and the likelihood that they’ll use condoms…. Examples: …Store condoms under mattress; Eroticize condom use with partner…Use condoms as a method of foreplay.… Think up a sexual fantasy using condoms….Act sexy/sensual when putting condoms on…. Hide them on your body and ask your partner to find it. Wrap them as a present and give to your partner before a romantic dinner. Tease each other manually while putting on the condom.

I don’t want to appear prudish, but come on….!

root causes?

Political analysts like to refer to “root causes,” when they are dealing with issues. Now, taking into consideration what I wrote about yesterday, what is a key “root cause” to child poverty?

Not being married when you have children.

There is a 70% drop in the poverty rate if mothers are married when they have a baby. From 55% poverty for children in a single mother household to 17% poverty rate for married couples. But what if the man or woman do not want to get married? As I reported yesterday, 75% of the mothers and fathers-to-be are linked romantically at the time of birth.

There is no way around it, root causes will warrant a moral conclusion here. Is having a baby without being married values neutral? Major religious teachings say it is wrong. For the sake of argument, let’s just say there are sexual connotations to religious pressure to prevent unwed births. Is it wrong for any other reason?

An atheist would have to conclude it is not in the best interest of the average child to have unmarried parents. A logical atheist would have to conclude it is in the states best interest that children are born into families where the parents are married.

How do you teach this? Can the state teach in a values neutral approach that it is wrong to have babies if you aren’t married?

Another alternative, of course, for prevention of poverty purposes, is to encourage abortion. Let’s see how that would fly in teaching. Remember yesterday’s statistics for children born out of wedlock?

Asian 15%
Anglo (white) 35%
Latino 45%
African-American 70%

Logically, the atheist might conclude that a great challenge to child poverty in America is the majority of African-American children born out of wedlock. Then does state education include classes that encourage African-Americans to abort their babies? That would be racist to the extreme.

Think on this some more.

"fatherless" child

God has compassion on all people, and at the same time he focuses on specific people at times. “Widows and orphans” are one such category. They are mentioned 26 times in the Bible as a group worthy of God’s aid. Actually, in the King James Version the term for “orphan” is “fatherless” and for anecdotal reasons, this might be one time where the more inclusive translation may not be as helpful.

Take America, for instance. What is the most vulnerable people group in terms of poverty? Children raised with no married father in the home. According to the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, developed jointly by Princeton University’s Center for Research on Child Well-Being and Columbia University’s Social Indicators Survey Center, if women and men are married or marry when they have a child, the rate of poverty drops 70%. It is not as if the guys are just fly-by-night lovers either. 75% of the mothers are in stable romantic relationships with the father-to-be at the time of birth, and are quite marriageable.

The latest Health and Human Services Department study shows non-marital childbearing in America is at 35% of all births. To break it down even more is:

Asian 15%
Anglo (white) 35%
Latino 45%
African-American 70%

Think on all of this and I will make some observations tomorrow.