The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism

With the recent rise of the word fascism in the public debate I thought this would be helpful.

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Bishop Comment on Sept. 11 Fifth Anniversary

ELCA Presiding Bishop,

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,changed the "context" of the church in the United States, and"shattered thousands of lives and galvanized millions more around the country and across the globe," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson,presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The comment was part of his message to the church in anticipation of the upcoming fifth anniversary of the attacks.

The attacks in New York, Arlington, Va., and the crash of aplane controlled by hijackers near Shanksville, in south-central Pennsylvania, killed nearly 3,000 people and left thousands injured.

"In the moments and days following the events of September 11, people responded with prayer and action. Unprecedented numbers of people gathered to pray, to express anguish, and to receive consolation from one another and from the Word of God, "Hanson wrote. He quoted the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, who wrote: "For a brief time our houses of worship were the most important places in the community, and the Bible was a living document of drama encompassing our own."

Hanson noted that faith leaders provided places for people to meet, to grieve and to attend to immediate needs. Sorrow and compassion were offered across ecumenical and interfaith lines,and the world reached out to people suffering in the United States, Hanson said in his letter.

"Five years later the wounds from that day remain just under the surface for many whose lives were devastated -- those still grieving the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of a way of life, or a loss of trust in God," Hanson wrote.

"Terrorism is intended to create fear and mistrust. If our reality is shrouded in fear and mistrust, we have not fully heard the story of God's love expressed through Jesus' death and resurrection," Hanson wrote. He referred to the ELCA Church Council's "Message on Living in a Time of Terrorism," which says we are called to "affirm the Gospel's gift of living beyond fear."

Hanson expressed thanks for the many ways Lutherans responded to the Sept. 11 attacks, including gifts and matching funds totaling more than $10.6 million donated to ELCA Domestic Disaster Response. Funds were used in a variety of ways in New York, the Washington, D.C., area and Shanksville, the presiding bishop said. He also thanked Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service for its work for immigrants and others "who are suspect simply by virtue of their ethnicity or religion," Hanson wrote.

"In a culture that says, 'Get over it,' we as faith leaders have an opportunity to create safe spaces for people to tell their stories, to express their fears and their pain, and to be reminded of God's presence in times of trouble," he wrote. "With deep gratitude, I give thanks to God for the witness of this church."Synod bishop says Sept. 11 "wounded our metropolis and challenged our ministry"

In a message to the Metropolitan New York Synod, the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop, said the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, "changed our world, wounded our metropolis and challenged our ministry."

"I remember how important it was for us to be in touch with each other, to share information, to begin planning together our collective response, to be near one another in consolation. I remember an overwhelming longing among all of us to come together publicly for prayer, shared lamentation, and the presence of our leadership," Bouman wrote.

Bouman recalled that about 10 days after the attacks, national church leaders, ELCA synod bishops, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod district presidents, pastors and lay leaders met at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Manhattan. "I remember walking into the sanctuary, still dazed from our visit to Ground Zero,"he wrote. "I remember how the presence of all of you in that church moved me to tears and to silence."

That experience at Holy Trinity became "part of our shared spiritual landscape," Bouman wrote, adding that the gathering transformed the leaders from "isolated servants of the gospel to a communal servanthood."

"We were transformed because we met God in our mutual prayer, song, embrace, reflection. For me, the transforming moment when fear began to turn toward faith, when despair became tinged with hope, was when we sang together 'My Lord What a Mourning.'" he wrote.

"Five years after September 11 the world cries out for transformation and healing," Bouman continued. "May the life of our synod continue to join the risen Lord in our transforming work."---

The full text of the Rev. Mark S. Hanson's Sept. 11 statement is at http://www.ELCA.org/bishop/m_060901.html on the ELCA Web site.

The full text of the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman's Sept. 11 statement is at http://www.mnys.org/headlines/Bishop_911_commemoration%20.html on the Web.

The ELCA Church Council's "Message on Living in a Time of Terrorism"is at http://www.ELCA.org/socialstatements/terrorism/ on the ELCA Web site.

A variety of worship and prayer resources for Sept. 11 observances is at http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/resources/06-08-25-sept11.asp on the ELCA Web site.

Status Quo

Honesty does not come painlessly: “The truth will make you free” (St. Paul), but first it makes you miserable! That God is against the status quo is one of the hardest things to believe if you are a Christian who happens to profit by the status quo. In fact, most of us don’t really believe it, not in our hearts of hearts. We comfort ourselves with the thought that because our intentions are good (nobody gets up in the morning and says, “whom can I oppress today?”), we do not have to examine the consequences of our actions. As a matter of fact, many of us are even eager to respond to injustice, as long as we can do so without having to confront the causes of it. And there’s the great pitfall of charity. Handouts to needy individuals are genuine, necessary responses to injustice, but they do not necessarily face the reason for the injustice. And that is why political leaders and so many business leaders today are promoting charity: it is desperately needed in an economy whose prosperity is based on growing inequality. First these leaders proclaim themselves experts on matters economic, and prove it by taking the most out of the economy! Then they promote charity as if it were the work of the church, finally telling us troubled clergy to shut up and bless the economy as once we blessed the battleships.

from "Creedo" by William Sloane Coffin

13th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 7:1-23

The young child grew and blossomed
Full of love and joy
Each morning was greeted with a song
And laughter
And a glass of spilled milk
Graciously lapped up
By her best furry friend
Under her chair
And her days were filled with new adventures
Exploding her horizons
With each new discovery
And a fair sampling of dirt
Smeared from soiled hands
To now soiled clothes
Until one day
The clouds seemed to cover the sun
Differently
Than they did before
And she learned not to spill her milk
Though she never did figure out
How
To feed her furry friend
And one day
She learned something new about dirt
And where she could not play
And where she could not wipe her hands
She also learned other things
She could not do
Until one day
While sitting there sad
And very still
She learned
She was a good girl

22

Saturday September 9th, Mark 7: 20 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' " In the original writing there is no numbering. Verse 21 and verse 22 are just one long list. We tend to get caught up on verse 21 and forget all about 22. Perhaps we would be better off putting our focus on verse 22. Wow, how politics as usual would change.

Adiaphora

Friday September 8th, Mark 7: 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." Back to basics. When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment he stated that we are to love the Lord with all our heart soul and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of the gospel flows from this. All of the big hot button issues in religion have more to do with what some people would like to see as rules and perhaps even the quest for power, than with the commands of God. If it does not fit under loving God and loving others, it is just adiaphora.

Dirty People

Thursday September 7th, Mark 7: 1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?" 6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. It’s called lip service. Putting on a good show, but lacking anything of real substance. Then sometimes, as the epitome of evil, the real reason for the show is just to hide downright deceit. I love a church where people don’t dress up, it seems more real, a bit dirty on the outside and a bit dirty on the inside. Sometimes, some of our traditions have outlived their usefulness and they need to be jettisoned. One thing to remember about churches, a healthy one is always willing to jettison a tradition for the sake of reaching those who are not yet a part of the church, an unhealthy church is always willing to jettison those who are not in the pews for the sake of keeping their traditions. Most of us are a combination of both.

Not Wal-Mart mentality

Wednesday September 6th, James 1: 26 If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. You often hear the phrase the God helps those who help themselves. It sounds good, pithy, biblical, the only trouble is that it is not in the Bible. The call of the Bible is to help those who cannot help themselves. A living wage, health care, child care are things that come to mind, Wal-Mart mentality does not. In the end, a nation will be judged not by how many millionaires it has, but how it treats the least, lost and lonely. How are we doing on that?

Anger Danger

Tuesday September 5th, James 1: 19 My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Your anger can never make things right in God's sight. I get angry, sometimes very angry. Jesus got angry, sometimes very angry. Sometimes anger is what motivates us to work for justice. Anger is sometimes closer to the will of God than that perpetually fake smile I often see on religious TV. But there is a reason the word anger is part of the word danger, anger can easily slip over edge. Righteous anger is only one small step from self-righteous anger. The danger comes when it starts to feel good. “Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possible the most fun. To like your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain your are given and the pain you are giving back – in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.” Wishful Thinking by Frederick Buechner

Good and Perfect Hope

Monday September 4th, James 1: 17 Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven's lights. Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. 18 In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession. In the midst of the destruction at the world trade center and the Gulf Coast, people find hope. It comes less often from the things you can buy, and more often from the things you cannot buy. Hope is a gift of God. Hope rebuilds houses. Hope brings people back together. Hope surrounds each one of us with loving arms and then sends those arms out to bring hope to others. It is that hope that is good and perfect. As God’s children, created in God’s image, our highest calling is to bring the hope of Christ with us as we reach out, serve, and incite miracles.

Who may dwell in your sanctuary?

Sunday September 3rd, Psalm 15: LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart who has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong. The list of what is good and what is evil from God’s standpoint has often through the ages been manipulated by those who wish it were something different and perhaps more profitable. Who is blameless? The one who speaks truth from the heart. As we remember the events of the labor movement, Katrina’s devastation, and the attack on the twin towers, I am struck by the fact that in real buying power of those at the bottom of the wage scale are worse off than at any time since 1947. I am struck by the continued devastation in New Orleans and the conversation with pastors there who lament what appears to be a land grab to push the poor out through raising rents in some areas and lack of help in others. I am saddened by the number of U.S. casualties in Iraq reaching the number killed in the twin towers, and saddened even more by the number of non-U.S. casualties in a war we are now told has nothing to do with September 11th. Who may dwell in your sanctuary? Each of us, but only through your grace. Help us to speak the truth from our hearts dear Lord.

Nonviolence and the strategy against terrorism

by David Cortright
www.sojo.net

In the months after 9/11, Jim Wallis challenged peace advocates to address the threat of terrorism. “If nonviolence is to have any credibility,” he wrote, “it must answer the questions violence purports to answer, but in a better way.” Gandhian principles of nonviolence provide a solid foundation for crafting an effective strategy against terrorism. Nonviolence is fundamentally a means of achieving justice and combating oppression. Gandhi demonstrated its effectiveness in resisting racial injustice in South Africa and winning independence for India. People-power movements have since spread throughout the world, helping to bring down communism in Eastern Europe and advancing democracy in Serbia, Ukraine, and beyond. The same principles - fighting injustice while avoiding harm - can be applied in the struggle against violent extremism.

Bush administration officials and many political leaders in Washington view terrorism primarily through the prism of war. Kill enough militants, they believe, and the threat will go away. The opposite approach is more effective and less costly in lives. Some limited use of force to apprehend militants and destroy training camps is legitimate, but unilateral war is not. In the three years since the invasion of Iraq, the number of major terrorist incidents in the world has increased sharply. War itself is a form of terrorism. Using military force to counter terrorism is like pouring gasoline on a fire. It ignites hatred and vengeance and creates a cycle of violence that can spin out of control. A better strategy is to take away the fuel that sustains the fire. Only nonviolent methods can do that, by attempting to resolve the underlying political and social factors that give rise to armed violence.

The most urgent priority for countering terrorism, experts agree, is multilateral law enforcement to apprehend perpetrators and prevent future attacks. Cooperative law enforcement and intelligence sharing among governments have proven effective in reducing the operational capacity of terrorist networks. Governments are also cooperating to block financing for terrorist networks and deny safe haven, travel, and arms for terrorist militants. These efforts are fully compatible with the principles of nonviolence.

Terrorism is fundamentally a political phenomenon, concluded the U.N. Working Group on Terrorism in 2002. To overcome the scourge, “it is necessary to understand its political nature as well as its basic criminality and psychology.” This means addressing legitimate political grievances that terrorist groups exploit - such as the Israel-Palestine dispute, repressive policies by Arab governments, and the continuing U.S. military occupation in Iraq. These deeply-held grievances generate widespread political frustration and bitterness in many Arab and Muslim countries, including among people who condemn terrorism and al Qaeda’s brutal methods. As these conditions fester and worsen, support rises for the groups that resist them. Finding solutions to these dilemmas can help to undercut support for jihadism. The strategy against terrorism requires undermining the social base of extremism by driving a wedge between militants and their potential sympathizers. The goal should be to separate militants from their support base by resolving the political injustices that terrorists exploit.

A nonviolent approach should not be confused with appeasement or a defeatist justification of terrorist crimes. The point is not to excuse criminal acts but to learn why they occur and use this knowledge to prevent future attacks. A nonviolent strategy seeks to reduce the appeal of militants’ extremist methods by addressing legitimate grievances and providing channels of political engagement for those who sympathize with the declared political aims. A two-step response is essential: determined law enforcement pressure against terrorist criminals, and active engagement with affected communities to resolve underlying injustices. Ethicist Michael Walzer wrote, counterterrorism “must be aimed systematically at the terrorists themselves, never at the people for whom the terrorists claim to be acting.” Military attacks against potential sympathizers are counterproductive and tend to drive third parties toward militancy. Lawful police action is by its nature more discriminating and is more effective politically because it minimizes predictable backlash effects.

Gandhi’s political genius was in understanding the power of third party opinion. He did not try to challenge the British militarily but instead organized mass resistance to weaken the political legitimacy of the Raj. The nonviolent method, Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, undermines the authority and “moral unction” of the adversary. Gandhi realized that political struggles are ultimately a battle for hearts and minds. In all his campaigns, he assiduously cultivated the support of third parties by avoiding harm to the innocent and addressing legitimate grievances. These are essential insights for the struggle against terrorism. The fight will not be won on the battlefield. The more it is waged on that front, the less likely it can be won. The goal of U.S. strategy, said the 9/11 Commission, must be “prevailing over the ideology that contributes to Islamic terrorism.” Nonviolent resistance is the opposite of and a necessary antidote to the ideology of extreme violence. Gandhi often said, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” Better to keep our eyes open as we search for more effective means of eroding support for extremism, while protecting the innocent and bringing violent perpetrators to justice.

David Cortright is the author of Gandhi and Beyond:
Nonviolence for an Age of Terrorism (Paradigm Publishers, 2006)
and co-founder of the Center on Global Counter-Terrorism Cooperation.

Year of the Lord's favor?

Luke 4:16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
(Commonly thought to be the year of the Jubilee in which there was to be a great economic leveling of society every 50 years)

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

So How is the religious right doing on that year of the Lord’s favor (Jubilee) thing?

Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity

Full Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/28wages.html

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and DAVID LEONHARDT
With the economy beginning to slow, the current expansion has a chance to become the first sustained period of economic growth since World War II that fails to offer a prolonged increase in real wages for most workers.
That situation is adding to fears among Republicans that the economy will hurt vulnerable incumbents in this year’s midterm elections even though overall growth has been healthy for much of the last five years.

The median hourly wage for American workers has declined 2 percent since 2003, after factoring in inflation. The drop has been especially notable, economists say, because productivity — the amount that an average worker produces in an hour and the basic wellspring of a nation’s living standards — has risen steadily over the same period.

As a result, wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s gross domestic product since the government began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits have climbed to their highest share since the 1960’s. UBS, the investment bank, recently described the current period as “the golden era of profitability.”

Until the last year, stagnating wages were somewhat offset by the rising value of benefits, especially health insurance, which caused overall compensation for most Americans to continue increasing. Since last summer, however, the value of workers’ benefits has also failed to keep pace with inflation, according to government data.

Power Paradox

Paradoxically, now that we've become the most powerful nation in the world, we haven't the same positive influence we once had when, as a people, we were weakest. The American way of life is not the automatic choice of other people, as frequently it has been fashioned not to the enrichment but to the detriment of others. And at home the hammer of freedom is so frequently divorced from the chisel of justice that the common good, often as not, is identified with the good of those in power

"Creedo", by William Sloane Coffin

Nonviolence

The trouble with violence is that it changes not too much, but too little. Nonviolence is more radical because it is more truthful. Violence always ends up calling on lies to defend it, just as lies call on violence to defend them. By contrast, truth is naked, vulnerable as Christ, its only weapon Christ’s own, God’s love. So the very love of God that found oppression, poverty, and corruption intolerable, this same love, rather than inflict suffering – even on those imposing it on the poor – took suffering upon itself. What can only be said cynically of another – “It is better that one man should die than that an entire nation perish” (ah, the demands of national security!) – can be said in utter truthfulness about oneself: “It is better that I should die rather than a single other person perish.” That’s finally how truth disarms, and there is no better way.

From "Creedo" by William Sloane Coffin

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The Armor is for Amour

Sunday August 27th, Ephesians 6: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. It is way too easy for us to fall into the trap of assuming that our struggle is with others. We make our list of enemies, we draw lines, we decide who is in and who is out, and then we sit back and feel good about it. What we find is that we have just fallen into the trap we were suppose to remain strong against. Once we start drawing lines, we find ourselves on one side with “the powers of this dark world” and Jesus on the other side with those we have excluded. Time to suit up, be strong, and love one another. The Armor is for Amour.

Peace is no fun for the powers of darkness

Monday August 28th, Ephesians 6: Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. First thing of note is that in the midst of all the military talk, the armor is all defensive, not offensive. No first strike here, only the power to withstand. The second thing of note is that we get ready to withstand this onslaught because we hold onto the gospel of peace. Peace is no fun for the powers of darkness, they would much rather we have some enemies to attack, that way everyone looses.

Election Guide

Tuesday August 29th, Ephesians 6: Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And we will pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. There is no lack of people trying to tell you what the Bible says on this subject or that. “Never do people do evil so cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. The true miracle is that there is not more downright wickedness in all the religious institutions of the world.” (William Sloane Coffin) The best way to find out what the scripture says is to read it yourself. This year, before the election, sit down and read one of the Gospels from start to finish in one setting. Then pray, and then vote. It is a good way to make decisions in all of life.

Whom will you serve?

Wednesday August 30th, Joshua 24: 14 "Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." We all have a whole closet full of gods we serve. Take stock some time on where you spend your money and where you spend your time, and most importantly, where you spend your mental time, that is where you will find your gods. Serving the Lord God, is a conscious effort. Who will you serve this day, the gods in your closets or the Lord? To not choose is to choose the closet.

Created in and for relationship

Thursday August 31st, John 6: 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." We were created in and for relationship. We are related to the God who created us and loves us and in God we find our life and ability to live and love in this world. Jesus, as the son of God continues this relationship and calls us into an intimate relationship with himself and this creator God. We are also created in relationship with one another. The creation of the human family is told in the creation of Eve from a part of Adam. We are part one of another, and just as we were created in the image of, and in relation to God, we were created from and in relation to, one another. We are created from the dust of the ground and are created in relationship with this earth from which we were formed, and called to care for and love this creation. This is the threefold creation relationship; Created by God, from the earth, for one another in a loving relationship with all.

No escape

Friday September 1st, John 6: 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. John’s Gospel was written to a group that largely consisted of Gnostics who believed in the dualistic nature of humanity, with the pre-existent spirit living within the earthly body. You could call them first century Mormons. For them, the Spirit was good, and the body, or sarks, was evil. Jesus’ talk of eating his flesh and drinking his blood would have been a major offense to them. It most likely turned their stomach. Here John is bringing the dualistic aspect of Spirit and Body together. It is not a matter of escaping the evil of this world in some spiritual journey, but rather, living in and loving this world and those who live in it as brothers and sisters in Christ.

To whom shall we go?

Saturday September 2nd, John 6: 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." Jesus’ saying was hard for his followers back then to take, just as it is hard for his followers today to take. There are people out there who are hard to love. It would be much easier to only love the loveable and those like us. It is easier to create in and out groups and “axis’ of evil” than it is to love one another. That is, until we realize that Jesus has the words of eternal life. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself. It’s not easy, it is work. It is also, life.

Essence of evil

I think disguise is the essence of evil. Doing an evil thing doesn't make a person evil. But calling the evil good, believing the disguise - that's when real trouble begins. And if disguise is the essence of evil, there is surely no better disguise than the cloak of religious piety. Never do people do evil so cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. The true miracle is that there is not more downright wickedness in all the religious institutions of the world.

"Creedo" by William Sloane Coffin

12th Sunday after Pentecost

John 6:56-69

We study the words and signs
--(trapped)
and try to understand
--(trapped)
the Greatness
--that is God
the words come to us
limited
--to a fraction
of the message of Love
by our words
--(trapped)
How can we understand
How can we really know
The expanse
--the expanse of God’s word
when we are trapped by words
and what they mean
only in relation
to what we know
--in this life
trying to understand
--the workings of the spirit
locked in our own intellect
and limited by it
Christ said we are free
Free to see
--to know God
through Christ
through eating Christ’ body
--and drinking Christ’ blood
through knowing Christ
--not from a distance
but right here
now
by what Christ does
to me
--(faith)
from deep within

Open Letter to Dr. Laura

Dear Dr. Laura,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.

a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted disciple and adoring fan.

Life is consequential

Life is consequential. We are punished not so much for as by our sins. We do not so much break the Ten Commandments as we are borken on them. Consequential for us as individuals, life is even more so for the nations of this nuclear world. Hadn't we better learn to be merciful when we live at each other's mercy? If we do not learn to be meek, will there be any earth for anyone to inherit?

"Creedo" by William Sloane Coffin

Myers-Briggs type prayers

ISTJ – Lord help me to relax about insignificant details beginning tomorrow at 11:41.23 am e.s.t.

ISTP – God help me to consider people’s feelings, even if most of them ARE hypersensitive.

ESTP – God help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they’re usually NOT my fault.

ESTJ – God, help me to not try to RUN everything. But, if You need some help, just ask.

ISFJ – Lord, help me to be more laid back and help me to do it EXACTLY right.

ISFP – Lord, help me to stand up for my rights (if you don’t mind my asking).

ESFP – God help me to take things more seriously, especially parties and dancing.

ESFJ – God give me patience, and I mean right NOW.

INFJ – Lord help me not be a perfectionists. (Did I spell that correctly?)

INFP – God, help me to finish everything I sta

ENFP – God, help me to keep my mind on one th --- Look a bird – ing at a time.

ENFJ – God help me to do only what I can and trust you for the rest. Do you mind putting that in writing?

INTJ - Lord, keep me open to others’ ideas, WRONG though they may be.

INTP – Lord help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.

ENTP – Lord help me follow established procedures today. On second thought, I’ll settle for a few minutes.

ENTJ – Lord, help me slow downandnotrushthroughwhatIdo

Amen.

Some people use the Bible the way a Drunk uses a Lamppost, for support rather than illumination

I think they forgot the following text among others: 2 Timothy 4:19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. 21 Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.

WATERTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job - outside of the church.
The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on Aug. 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.

The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."

The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.

"I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to" outside of the church, LaBouf wrote Saturday.
Mayor Jeffrey Graham, however, was bothered by the reasons given Lambert's dismissal.

"If what's said in that letter reflects the councilman's views, those are disturbing remarks in this day and age," Graham said. "Maybe they wouldn't have been disturbing 500 years ago, but they are now."

Lambert has publicly criticized the decision, but the church did not publicly address the matter until Saturday, a day after its board met.
In a statement, the board said other issues were behind Lambert's dismissal, but it did not say what they were.

snow

Just got back from Lutheran Community Camp at Victory Bible Camp. It snowed. God has a sense of humor.

Humankind

Humans are so the universe will have something to talk through, so God will have something to talk with, and so the rest of us will have something to talk about.

The biblical view of the history of humankind and of each individual man or woman is contained in the first three chapters of Genesis. We are created to serve God by loving him and each other in freedom and joy, but we invariably choose bondage and woe instead as prices not too high to pay for independence. To say that God drove Adam and Eve out of Eden is apparently a euphemism for saying that Adam and Eve, like the rest of us, made a break for it as soon as God happened to look the other way. If God really wanted to get rid of us, the chances are he wouldn't have kept hounding us every step of the way ever since.

"Wishful Thinking" by Fredrick Buechner

Ubiquity

Every automobile bears on its liscense plate a number which represents the number of years that have elapsed since the birth of Christ. This is a powerful symbol of the ubiquity of God and the indifference of the human race

"Wishful Thinking" by Frederick Buechner

The Alphabet Versus The Goddess

An interesting thought worth pondering, click on the title link above for more information.

In the book, The Alphabet Versus The Goddess, Leonard Shlain proposes that the invention of writing, particularly alphabetic writing, rewired the brains of the people who learned how to communicate using this culture-changing tool. Great benefits to society followed. However, a precipitous decline in feminine values manifested by women's status, goddess veneration, nature, and representative art occurred in tandem. For example, the European witchhunts followed closely in the heels of the printing press. The return of the image in the modern age through the medium of photography, film, television, and the internet have brought about a sharp rise in the values denigrated during the 5000 year reign of patriarchy and literacy.

Spirituality

Spirituality means to me living the ordinary life extraordinarily well. As the old church father said, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive."

"Creedo" William Sloane Coffin

God is love

If, as Scripture says, "God is love," then human freedom is real. As Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor properly discerned, freedom is a burden, choice is scary. But freedom is the absolutely necessary precondition of love. We are not slaves but children of our Father, free to do good, free to sin. So when in anguish over any human violence done to innocent victims, we ask of God, "How could you let that happen?" it's well to remember that God at that very moment is asking the exact same question of us.

William Sloane Coffin "Creedo"

October Surprise

On the 27th of last month I wrote the following on my blog.

That which you do onto the least you do onto me
Watching the news while on vacation getting in a little granddaughter time. I wonder, with the elections in November and poll numbers down the tubes, will Bush attack Iran or Syria in October in time to swing the elections?

Now there is this article from Seymour Hersh.

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reports in this week's issue of the New Yorker that Israeli officials visited the White House earlier this summer to get a "green light" for an attack on Lebanon. The Bush administration approved, Hersh says, in part to remove Hezbollah as a deterrent to a potential US bombing of Iran.

Hersh disagrees with me and does not feel there will be an attack before the elections but rather after the elections during the lame duck period. It is my prayer that it will be neither, it is my fear that it will be one or the other.

Pastor Dan

Please read the following link for the full article.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/14/1358255

11th Sunday after Pentecost

John 6:51-58

You presence we feel
As we gather
At the table you have set
With your life
Where partaking
Is more than just
--the Bread
----and the wine
it is of You
you life
the word of God
that pushes us beyond
our understanding
beyond our comfort
to who You are beyond our life
to what we are
beyond an understanding
that anything could ever be
the same
for to partake of you
brings
--us life

Let the simple come

Sunday August 20th, Proverbs 9: Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city. "Let all who are simple come in here!" Wisdom was highly regarded at the time of Solomon and in some cases was considered the calling of what would now be known as the Holy Spirit. Here the calling is for all who are simple to come into the place prepared. All who are simple seems like an odd definition. But think of those who are not simple, those who weave complex plots to get ahead, to out due the other person, to take advantage, in other words, the movers and the shakers in society, they are the excluded ones. In Matthew 5 and Luke 6, Jesus said it something like this; blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor, blessed are the persecuted, blessed are those who hunger and thrust. Perhaps we should have these words above church doors, as well as congressional doors, let all who are simple come in here.

Shades of gray

Monday August 21st, Proverbs 9: Wisdom says to those who lack judgment. "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding. There is an old saying from the world war days that goes, “there are no atheists in fox holes.” It is the simple, those without all the know it all demeanor that are open to learning, just as it is the person in a fox hole, with bullets flying overhead, who finds themselves stripped of all pretense, who can finally hear God. What they are open to learn is the way of God. It is very hard to teach someone who knows it all, the first step to hearing the word of God is to drop what you think it says. Today we have a religious atmosphere in which the fundamentalists of all the major religions are busy fighting other fundamentalists, and sometimes calling them names like terrorists. Fundamentalists see black and white, for us or against us, it is the simple that see a sea of gray and are willing to ask God to help them navigate it.

Your path

Tuesday August 22nd, Ephesians 5: 15 Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully, worthily, and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise, sensible, intelligent people, 16 Making the very most of the time, because the days are evil. And we could add to that that these days are evil also. The advice stands, live purposefully, worthily and accurately. Laura Beth Jones in her book “The Path,” points out that in life we either live our mission in life, or we live someone else’s mission in life. The call of a Christian is to find the path that God has for you in your life. Where are you called in life? How are you called to serve? Where is that intersection between your passions and the teachings of Christ? Instead of following along dumbly, open your Bible, think, read, and pray. There are many churches that will be distributing voting guides this fall to tell Christians who to vote for, I refuse to let them in the church. What I ask everyone to do is to take a block of time and sit down the week before the election, pick one of the Gospels, read it all the way through, pray and then go vote. Make the very most of your time.

Super size that

Wednesday August 23rd, Ephesians 5: 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the Holy Spirit. Ever since the garden experience we have been trying to fill that emptiness inside with something we ingest. Whether it be the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, rotgut whiskey, super sized fast food or finely aged Pinot, we try to get back to that connected garden feeling. The only ingesting that works is ingesting the word of God. Remember the food pyramid, starting with sweets and fats with one serving and working its way down to 6 or more servings of grains? The bottom or base of the pyramid is often missing, the one that says that a healthy diet, one that will fill you up and take away those hunger pains, it to add 8 or more helpings of prayer and scripture reading every day. If you want you can super size that without negative consequences.

A change in life

Thursday August 24th, Ephesians 5: 20 At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. One of the true joys in life is to live in a state of blessedness. To be able to look around and truly see that all that you have and all that surrounds you is a gift from God and is a blessing in your life, even seeing a blessing in some of the things that do not seem so good, the hard times, the struggles and yes even the pain. Not that everything is a blessing from God, but sometimes, just the ability to make it through today in spite of all the rough terrain is the blessing. Call upon the Lord in everything in your life, and watch your life change.

Life within you

Friday August 25th, John 6: 53 But Jesus didn't give an inch. "Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. These words would have been very offensive to his hearers. The idea of eating flesh and being in contact with blood was an abomination. All the safety nets we surround our life with, our rules, our customs, even many of our beliefs, they can be roadblocks that keep us from Christ. Making Christ the very essence of our being however, that is where life comes from. Being a Christian is less about doing, or a way of doing than it is about a way of being. It is about Christ being the very center of our life, our all in all. What rituals, beliefs, rules, customs get in the way of having Christ the center of life? If it does not fit into loving God and loving others, it is just a distraction.

God's standards

Saturday August 26th, John 6: 54 The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. Getting ready for Christ is what life is all about. Rather than making sure everyone else is doing things right we need to focus on whether we are treating others as the children of God. Rather than making sure everyone else is living a moral life by our standards, we need to focus on whether we are living a moral life by God’s standards. God’s standards are simple, love God with all your being, and love others as brothers and sisters in Christ, whether you like them or not. That rather excludes war doesn’t it?

Don't be ridiculous

Sunday, August 20
Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58
by John Ortberg
Found in "The Christian Century" by clicking title link above

In Garrison Keillor's mythical Lake Wobegon, Pastor Ingqvist is alarmed when he glances at Dear Abby columns and notices how often she refers her readers to ministers. Talk to your minister, Abby counsels a 14-year-old deeply in love with a 50-something married man serving serious time in a federal penitentiary.

. . . as she pours out her love for Vince, her belief in his innocence, the fact that his wife never loved him . . . not like she, Trish, can love him, and the fact that despite his age and their never having met except in letters, there is something indescribably sacred and precious between them; all the pastor can think is: "You're crazy. Don't be ridiculous.

"Thou shalt not be ridiculous. Paul says, "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." When Paul wrote that wonderful sentence he probably was sitting in an upper room in Athens. It was late at night, quiet, and all the fools were asleep. He could write the simple truth, and no fool was around to say, "Huh? What do you mean? Are you saying I shouldn't go for the world long-distance walking-backward record? But I can do it! I can walk backward for miles."

One of the marks of the human condition is that it is not simply depraved or lost; it is also ridiculous. Paul says that as we relate to each other we are to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to the Lord in our hearts and giving thanks to God at all times. But even in the church we end up spending more time fighting about the kind of melodies we should sing, and whether the Lord God prefers organ or guitar. People split churches over how loudly the songs should be amplified. We are ridiculous.

Things are no better outside. Imagine what the world might be like if CEOs of large corporations would go into Watts or Cabrini Green and sing and make melody in their hearts. Or if Israelis and Palestinians spent a day singing psalms and hymns to one another. When we are alone at night and all the fools are asleep, it is not hard to imagine such a world. But why does it remain so ridiculously remote?

Of course, folly in the tradition of ancient wisdom literature involves something more tragic than wasting energy trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records. Foolishness, in this way of thinking, is not so much a disease of the intellect as of the will. The fool says in her heart that there is no God; or that she will live as god, which is perhaps the same thing. The fool thinks he needs bigger barns for the riches that he in his cleverness has accumulated, and forgets that the night when his construction project is finished is the night he has scheduled a massive coronary. You can be a fool and still find good work in Cambridge, Massachusetts, or on Madison Avenue. Sometimes it helps.

Paul said of fools: "Their god is their stomach." They have a philosophy of life that was perhaps best articulated by Sesame Street's Cookie Monster: "See cookie. Want cookie. Absorb cookie. Seek ye first the cookie." Some of the highest-IQ people in our world stay up late at night trying to find new ways to convince us that we are nothing more than a collection of appetites. See. Want. Absorb. What would Paul say to a society whose magazine covers feature well-coiffed, aerobicized versions of the Cookie Monster? "Thou shalt not be ridiculous."

Scholars tell us that the ancient Hebrews had a fierce appetite for wisdom. They loved wisdom so much that they spoke of her as a person: Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? . . . Listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways . . . For whoever finds me finds life." They hoped for the coming of wisdom as we hope for the resurrection of the NASDAQ.

Then wisdom became a person. He came so that hungry people and thirsty people could finally be filled. (To be hungry and thirsty, Dallas Willard writes, is to be driven by unsatisfied desires. We live in a hungry world.) Wisdom was born in a manger and died on a cross, and in between said that our only shot at ever being filled up is if we follow him in the life of self-emptying love. He said that our only hope for being filled is to be filled with him, to absorb him, to follow in the way of the one who emptied himself and thus became the fullness of all things. See Jesus. Want Jesus. Absorb Jesus.

Paul said for such people a new kind of fullness is possible. "Don't get drunk with wine"—Don't consider yourself a giant appetite to be gratified . . . but "be filled with the Spirit." I grew up in circles where we stayed far away from wine, and were not all that sure about the Spirit. But it is in the Spirit where true fullness lies, in "the shy member of the Trinity," as Dale Bruner says, the member who is always pointing beyond himself. The fullness of the Spirit comes only when we are emptied of all the ego and self-preoccupation that promises so much and delivers so little; emptied of all that is foolish and dying and ridiculous. It is the Spirit that Jesus was so full of that the life came spilling out of him as well.

Be careful how you live . . .

Joined at the heart by Paul Stroble from The Christian Century

Joined at the heart
Sunday, August 6
Ephesians 4:1-16

A newspaper cartoon depicts two men tied to a post and surrounded by enemies. One says to the other, "Someday we'll look back on this and laugh." While the apostle Paul doesn't strike me as the kind of person who'd crack a joke or offer a sarcastic quip in a tight situation, he does share this ability to look positively at a crisis situation.

In the middle portion of Ephesians, Paul refers to himself as a prisoner for the Lord (chapters 3, 4 and 6). Some scholars believe Ephesians is a pseudonymous letter, but whether or not Paul actually wrote Ephesians, he did suffer in prison during his ministry, and he wrote Philemon and Philippians while in prison. In these letters we see Paul taking himself, his readers and his congregations from despair to hope, from sorrow to joy, and from suffering to gratitude.

Buddhists have an explanation for the suffering that Paul endured. They would say that he was burdened with something he hated (prison confinement, hunger, pain, fatigue), that he desired freedom from that thing, and thus he suffered. Most of us can understand this: we can think of situations from which we couldn't immediately extricate ourselves. Some of these were relatively minor: a traffic jam, a long line, a full waiting room. Others fell under "big stuff": an illness, an unsatisfactory job (or joblessness), an overseas tour of duty, perhaps even incarceration.

One of my mother's favorite westerns features the hero and "damsel" tied to a bundle of dynamite, with the long fuse burning ominously. Figuratively speaking, we all understand the predicament. But here's where Paul leaves many of us behind, and makes that turn from despair to joy. Paul's prison experience, even with the deprivation and pain involved, does not create in him self-pity or complaint. Instead, with Christ's help, Paul makes of his situation a positive metaphor. He is an "ambassador [for the gospel] in chains" (Eph. 6:20). He stresses that, as he is bound in prison, so should his congregation be "bound in peace" by its faith in Christ, who has freed us from the captivity of sin and death in order to be "joined" as a common body.

Paul's is a remarkable vision. When Christians are joined together they find strength rather than distress. They will be stronger together because they are together in Christ. It's when they split up that they get into trouble.

Verse 12, "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ," is well known in contemporary studies of parish ministry. A bewildering number of texts and "paradigms" have appeared over the years on the interrelated topics of parish leadership, church volunteerism and the "equipping" and "liberation" of the laity. Laity should be given permission to lead and minister; they shouldn't have to butt against parish bureaucracy and entrenched, change-resistant thinking. In the spirit of Ephesians 4:12, parish ministers are to equip the laity rather than performing and controlling ministry themselves. They are to help the laity become empowered by the Spirit.

Parish leadership texts vary widely from the technical to the readable. My favorite is The Equipping Pastor: A Systems Approach to Congregational Leadership, by R. Paul Stevens and Phil Collins (Alban Institute), because it clearly recognizes the complexity and uniqueness of individual parishes. Other books take God's own work for granted and consider primarily our human efforts. I once browsed through a church growth text and noticed that the author didn't get around to discussing prayer as a factor in congregational ministry until chapter nine. "Should have recognized it at the start!" someone had written in the margin. Our lesson from Ephesians corrects that unintentional Pelagianism. In the context of the church, what are leadership abilities other than gifts of the Spirit? To treat them as anything else is to miss the whole point. Furthermore, a congregation and its leaders cannot "equip the saints" without also (as Paul puts it) "building up the body of Christ" and encouraging "the unity of faith," "maturity" and "the measure of the full stature of Christ."

Paul's words are good to remember in serving congregations. What is the point of all our committees? Does "ministry of the laity" mean getting a bunch of jobs done (because someone has said they need doing) or, as Paul puts it, does lay ministry mean the "knitting together" of Christ's body "by every ligament"? How well do the various aspects of the congregation contribute not only to ministry but also (and perhaps especially) to unity, faith and Christian maturity?

As Christians, we are joined together, responsible for one another's Christian walk and well-being. Paul talks about "one body and one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." So when someone we know is in trouble—some metaphorical fuse is burning in his or her life—we're there for that person, praying, talking, listening and helping. We "bear with one another in love," with "humility, gentleness and patience."

Of course, it's easier to describe that kind of fellowship with good religious words than actually to pull it off. In a New Yorker cartoon 15 or 20 years ago, the Three Musketeers were crossing their swords together. But instead of saying, "All for one and one for all," they declared, "Every man for himself!" Too often we say "one body" and don't mean it at all. What makes Paul's prison reflections so remarkable is that he isn't thinking primarily of his own drastic situation, or of how he's going to get himself out of his tight spot. Instead he is thinking of invisible bonds of peace, bonds that are far stronger than any of his chains.

Hide and seek, Elijah style

1 Kings 19:4. Elijah had defeated the prophets of Baal and Asherah in the contest on Mt. Carmel, and had them all killed. Ahab told his wife what Elijah had done and she swore an oath to find and kill Elijah. So, he ran away and hid himself in the wilderness near Beershebah. a solitary broom tree: It "grows principally in desert, hill, and rocky areas in Israel and the neighboring lands. There it is often the only source of shade. Usually it is a bush 4 to 12 feet height with a linear shape; the twigs bear small leaves and white, pea-like fragrant flowers in spring." Sometimes we seek a little comfort from the small things in life. What are the little things you are hidding under to escape God's calling?

10th Sunday After Pentecost

John 6:41-51

We ate from the manna
Provided
For all to eat
When the people were in need
And were filled.
We were given the land
And the knowledge
To make our people Great
And were filled.
We were given the word
Sustaining us
Through time of hardship
Forgotten too often
Through times of prosperity
It added a richness
--to our lives
a wholeness
without which
--we would not exist
and we were filled.
We hunger Lord
For the living Bread
That will sustain us
Through hardship and prosperity,
We long to come to You
Drawn by
The love that has been
And the love that lives now
Eternal
And to be full.

Not all smiles

Sunday August 13th, 1 Kings 19: 3-5 When Elijah saw how things were, he ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south of Judah. He left his young servant there and then went on into the desert another day's journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all—to just die: "Enough of this, God! Take my life—I'm ready to join my ancestors in the grave!" Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush. Following the will of God is not all smiles and happiness, and sometimes even the best and strongest just get worn out. Even when we run however, God does not leave us alone in our pity. God seeks us out, renews our strength and sends us on our way, whether we like it or not.

So, What are you doing here?

Monday August 14th, 1 Kings 19: 7 The angel of God came back, shook him awake again, and said, "Get up and eat some more—you've got a long journey ahead of you." 8-9 He got up, ate and drank his fill, and set out. Nourished by that meal, he walked forty days and nights, all the way to the mountain of God, to Horeb. When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep. Then the word of God came to him: "So Elijah, what are you doing here?" So, what are you doing here? God has fed you, nourished you, and blessed you beyond belief, now, what are you doing here? You have been blessed, now in the kingdom of God how are you to be a blessing? What a Joy it must be for God when we sometimes get it and respond in love to the world God has created. Why not try it today?

Honest Bible Believing

Tuesday August 15th, Ephesians 4: 25 We are part of the same body. Stop lying and start telling each other the truth. Last Sunday I listened to a TV preacher expound on the story of the rich man and Lazarus. His concern was that preachers do not tell the truth and preach on hell. The story in his mind was about the horrors of hell and how all must be saved in a Bible Believing church that teaches about hell or else they will go to hell themselves, as was the case with his father. I feel sorry for him, I feel sorry for his dearly departed father. For me the story is about the breakdown of the family of God, our failure to see each others as brothers and sisters in Christ. The rich mans sin was that even in hell, he still saw Lazarus only as someone to be used and do his bidding. I think we do need to start telling each other the truth, and the truth is that there is more said about the evils of social and economic separation than almost everything else in the scriptures except faith. Believe and care, or as Christ put it, love God and love others. All the rest is window dressing.

Be Kind, merciful and forgiving

Wednesday August 16th, Ephesians 4: 26 Don't get so angry that you sin. Don't go to bed angry 27 and don't give the devil a chance. 28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Be honest and work hard, so you will have something to give to people in need. 29 Stop all your dirty talk. Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say. 30 Don't make God's Spirit sad. The Spirit makes you sure that someday you will be free from your sins. 31 Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. 32 Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ. As Christians the temptation is always to worry about what others are doing wrong rather than what we are not doing right. I often hear Ephesians used as a “power over” text, pulling out the “woman be subservient to your husband” part. In reality, Ephesians is about what each of us should be doing, not about how we think others should act. It is a text about the oneness of God’s creation and the unity we share with one another.

Amo, Ergo Sum

Thursday August 17th, Ephesians 5: 1 Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children. 2 Let love be your guide. Christ loved us and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God. We have been ruled by the phrase, I think therefore I am, God calls us instead to live by the phrase, Amo, ergo sum, I love, therefore I am. It is in loving that we are connected to the love of God. It is in loving that we live out the fullness of the connectedness of all of creation. It is in loving that we experience the fullness of Gods grace as we show that grace to others. Let love be your aim in life, and live by the motto: Amo, Ergo Sum.

I shall lose none

Friday August 18th, John 6: 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. God created the heavens and the earth and called it good. At each stage of creation it is pronounced good. God’s word creates not only the world, but also the goodness that holds it together. It is Gods will that that very same goodness of creation be extended to the world today. Christ said to love one another as I have loved you, and when Christ loved, he reached out, he healed and he gave of himself. We live the love of God when we love one another. Side note for those who might not know it; bombs, guns and rockets are not love.

Do you hear the oneness?

Saturday August 19th, John 6: 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Salvation and goodness come from God. They are given to us in the message and ministry of Jesus. We are the ones who receive that goodness. The receivers are not in charge of who else might be receiving. The grace that comes from God, if indeed it be grace, extends to all. Out job is not to judge, but to live as brothers and sisters in Christ. Do you hear me Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Sunni, Sheite, W? Do you hear the oneness and love of Christ?

God is still good

I meant to say that our Radio is Now working, for some reason the edit feature is not working

God is good

Our radio is not back in operation. Just click on the radio link to the left and enjoy. It is a wide range of music from Amy Grant, to U2, to John Prine to many others and all mixed up with Biblical commentary and the Gospel of Mark. Enjoy.

spam

I turned on the word verification on the comments section for this blog. I know that is an extra step for those who wish to make comments, and I am sorry for that, but it is an attempt to stop a spammer on this site.

Pastor Dan

Some people have no morals

I haven't figured out how to block this guy. I hope you are all smart enough to ignore him.

Anonymous said...
Here are some links that I believe will be interested

Sojourners/Call to Renewal on Defeat of the "Trifecta" bill (Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act)

This comes from Sojourners. It is interesting to note that both of Alaska’s senators, Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski voted in favor of this bill.

August 4, 2006

American inequality almost took a giant step forward with the Senate's effort to gut the estate tax. And it's unconscionable that House leaders pushed this effort at the expense of a straightforward vote to help working families by a long overdue raise in the minimum wage.

When a nation is at war, when deficits are rising at record rates, and when everyone knows that even more budget cuts are coming that will directly and negatively impact the nation's poorest families and children, you don't give more tax breaks to the super-rich. Those who want to retain the estate tax are willing to reform it to make sure that family farmers and small business people are not adversely affected. But this bill is a misguided ploy that highlights the failure of our political leadership.

We must continue the moral resistance to such unbalanced social policies and a lack of political integrity that allows a process like this to happen. In the name of social conscience, fiscal responsibility, equality of opportunity, protecting our communities, and the very idea of a "common good," it's time for the moral center of American public opinion to say "enough." We thank those senators who did just that by opposing this bill.

It is important that the minimum wage be increased. But the long-term damage this bill would do offsets the gains from a wage increase for poor Americans. This political manipulation is unjust. It disrespects those working hard and playing by the rules, as well as all of us looking for better political leadership.

Contact: Yonce Shelton, senior policy director,
202-328-8745 x603
yshelton@sojo.net

COSLC Web Radio

Our Web Radio is temporarily not working due to technical difficulties. We hope to have it up and working next week. Please check back later for the best in Christian oriented music and Biblical commentary.

Pastor Dan