Primary elections coming early, quick, another war

Buchanan, Scarborough claimed that a military strike against Iran would be popular, but polls suggest otherwise

On MSNBC, Pat Buchanan claimed that a U.S. attack on Iran is "comin[g]" and went on to assert that a military strike against Iran would be "a very popular initial move." Joe Scarborough agreed, stating that "a military strike against Iran initially would be extraordinarily popular with the American people." But polling data show that most Americans say they would oppose an attack on Iran.

Read More

Where would Jesus be?

Tolerance
Al Qaida/Taliban: Death to the infidels
American Taliban: Kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity
Liberals: Live and let live

Marriage
Al Qaida/Taliban: Marriage is only between a man and a woman
American Taliban: Marriage is only between a man and a woman
Liberals: Marriage is between any two people who love each other

God
Al Qaida/Taliban: God is on our side and will help us kill our enemies
American Taliban: God is on our side and will help us kill our enemies
Liberals: God may or may not exist and will not help us kill anyone

Lectionary 25

Luke 16:1-13

We are a shrewd lot in this world
If there is a buck to be made
We will make it
If there is power to be gained
We will gain it
If there is a way to come out on top
We will damn the ones below
As we climb
We are a shrewd lot in this world
But who have we hurt
(the least of these my brothers and sisters)
who is on the bottom and why
and in the end
what have we gained
what have we lost
if I gain it all
or give it all away
the question is the same
what master do I serve?

Blue Laws?

Sunday September 23rd, Amos 8: 4 Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, 5 saying, "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?" 7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: "I will never forget anything they have done. Very few places if any have blue laws anymore. I remember running into them in the south in a summer job during college. We live in a multi-culture world it is true. Sabbath is different for different people and I feel society should respect the many traditions and not arrange its schedule around just one group to the exclusion of others. Having said that, lack of respect for all traditions doesn’t exactly cut it either. Look around on any given holy Friday or time of prayer for Muslims, Sabbath from sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday for Jews or Sunday for Christians and you will see the economy humming along. In the mean time, we as a society have lost more than just our respect for the third commandment.

Privatize or not?

Monday September 24th, Amos 8: 4 Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, — skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 6 buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat, skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 6 buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. 7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: "I will never forget anything they have done. We as a nation have been under an assault for the last 30 years to privatize more and more the many things the government does. It is more efficient is the argument. They are right, it is more efficient, and that is the problem. In the drive for efficiency, i.e. “Where can I save a buck?” has inherent problems. We have seen some of the results in the recent rash of reports on imports from China along with many an ill in society too numerous to name in anything less than a voluminous book. Can’t trust government they say and indeed government has supplied many poor examples to point at. What is not heard however is that government “is” in a sense, the collective “us,” and of its collective duties, justice, fairness, and what is best for the whole in the long run trumps the bottom line every time. It may not be a good way to run a business, but as business has shown, there are more problems going too far the other way and what we need is a collective government to protect us from bottom feeding business practices, not be in cahoots with them.

Are your sure?

Tuesday September 25th, 1 Timothy 2: 1-3 The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. You don’t have to love who is in power to pray for them. Pray that what is best for the collective we will come to past. Pray that justice will be done. Pray that those who make decisions will be lovers of God and respecters of humanity. Pray that even if the elected leaders haven’t the foggiest idea who God is or what God represents, that even Cyrus, who overthrew the Babylonian empire and freed the Hebrew captives may not have known God, but God knew him. Remember the ones Jesus had a hard time with were the leaders who were sure they knew what was the will of God.

the news will get out

Wednesday September 26th, 1 Timothy 2: 4-7 He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. We are saved by grace, a gift from God. He wants everyone to be saved. So one has to wonder if in the end everyone will indeed be saved and everyone will know Jesus as the one who brings this message. We are all held captive by, and captivated by, sin, All of us. For each one of us, salvation is a gift and through that gift Christ sets all free. News like that will indeed get out.

Networking

Thursday September 27th, Luke 16: 8 The master praised his dishonest manager for looking out for himself so well. That's how it is! The people of this world look out for themselves better than the people who belong to the light. The dishonest manager, when he found himself in a bit of a pickle, quickly set about setting up a network of friends. In this network, each was beholding to the other and would be there to look out for and make sure the other made it through the rough times. This indeed seems like an odd story for Jesus to tell, and yet, the fundamental principal is Christ like solid. When between a rock and a hard place, the dishonest (which can be all of us) will shore up these networks in interdependence where each one looks out for the other. In Christianity we are called to recognize our part in the vast family of God, and recognize others as important elements in our survival in this life. If indeed we would, each and every one, cultivate these relationships for our survival from questionable activities, why are we so reluctant to do so for the positive growth of the family of God.

What are you going to do?

Friday September 28th, Luke 16: 9 My disciples, I tell you to use wicked wealth to make friends for yourselves. Then when it is gone, you will be welcomed into an eternal home. 10 Anyone who can be trusted in little matters can also be trusted in important matters. But anyone who is dishonest in little matters will be dishonest in important matters. Wait! What!?! What wicked wealth is Jesus talking about? I think that step one is to recognize that in God’s world everyone is equal and entitled by an equal share of the wealth n this world. The fact that some are worth billions while others are getting by on less than a dollar a day for their family is not a matter of initiative and enterprise so much as it is the result of an unjust system that we as humanity have managed to fashion throughout the millennia of human existence. Now that we have this wealth, what are we going to do with it, that is the question. Only you have the answer.

Having an affair?

Saturday September 29th, Luke 16: 13 You cannot be the slave of two masters. You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than to the other. You cannot serve God and money. Very few marriages can survive when there is an ongoing affair. No marriage can grow in that situation. How many lovers of Christ are also having an affair with money and trying to make it work?

Lectionary 24 rejoice

Luke 15:1-10

Praise God for the Lord who loves
Praise God for the Lord who cares
In the midst of my weakness
When I am lost
Unable to find
Even myself
There is One who seeks
One who finds
Me
The lost
And rejoices in the correction of our folly
Rejoices with the angels
Rejoices with song
Rejoices for us
And with us
Often before we are aware
We were lost
“Isn’t it strange how things happen?”
“It was just one of those days”
“I’ve decided to make a change”
These are the words we use
Rejoice and be glad,
For that which was lost has been found
Are God’s thoughts

God and Moses come down

Sunday September 16th, Exodus 32: 7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' The people were liberated from slavery and brought to the holy mountain. While the leader was absent for a short while they went back to worshiping that which they had made, that which was under their control. God sent Moses down, down out of the mountain. It seems as if God is forever either coming down into the messes we create, or is sending someone down as a messenger to lead us out of those messes. For God, it is always Grace, for God it is always coming down. Our tendency on the other hand is to always try to configure a god we can control. Our calling as the children of God is also to come down. Come down out of our Church towers and self induced righteousness and into the dirty lives of those around us, and in the process, our own dirty lives also. Lives filled with gods created for us to control. And while down there, be messengers of Grace.

Time for a test

Monday September 17, Exodus 32: 9 "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation." 11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "O LORD," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Test time Moses, everyone take out your pencil and paper and write a paragraph on what the God of creation, the God who came to us in the form of Jesus would do in this situation. Test time Moses, God will even through in a bit of a curve to see if Moses falls for it. Moses passed, he did not fall for the angry God thing and say, yah, let’s go get them and show them a lesson they will never forget. Moses did the God thing and said, I will go down.

Grace poured over us all

Tuesday September 18th, 1 Timothy 1: 12-14 I'm so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn't know what I was doing—didn't know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus. If you ask most people to describe a Christian, unfortunately they would tend to describe the above person, someone who brings invective and witch hunts and arrogance. Religion tends to do that, to say, “my way is the right way and all others are going about it wrong.” Into this, Christ comes down and injects grace. Grace into our lives and hopefully, into the lives around us. Christians and not any better than anyone else, they just have some half-baked idea who to thank.

Hi, My name is Dan, I am a sinner

Wednesday September 19th, 1 Timothy 1: 15-19 Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I'm proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever. Step one in AA is to admit you have a problem. Step one in Christianity is to admit you have a problem and can’t do it on your own. In fact, the problem is, you want to do it on your own. As the children of God we walk in a perpetual state of forgiveness, not so much for the evil things we have done as much as for the self centered things we want to do. Christ calls us to move our focus from me to thee.

Still alive today

Thursday September 20th, Luke 15: 1 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." This is the preparatory paragraph for one of the main sections in scripture, the stories of the lost and found in Luke. The ones Christ is directing these stories of finding the lost and rejoicing to are the major religious leaders of the day. They represent the tendency in religion to drift off course from righteousness and ritual to holier than thou and institutional tradition. We still do that today. The current trend in the world for the melding of fundamentalism and political power, whether it be Islamic fundamentalists in the Mideast or their counterpart, Christian fundamentalists in Washington, is contrary to where God is calling us as well as dangerous. It is into an earlier version of our current religio-political system that Jesus tells the stories of lost and found and rejoicing. It is into our current situation that we need to hear them anew with grace filled ears.

Rejoicing Grace

Friday September 21st, Luke 15: 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. In telling a story with familiar elements to it, Jesus was able to get beyond the boundaries and barriers that we all throw up to protect ourselves. The listeners knew sheep, and they knew how to handle them. The message is one of grace and forgiveness. Our rules and regulations often get in the way of grace. They set up systems that must be followed. For Christ’ message of grace, we are called to rejoice at one being found, not finding, the way. Our walk as the body of Christ is one of celebration at each new infusion of Grace into this world. These are not new concepts. They are concepts we use every day, just not for one another. Every day of worship is a day of celebration of God’s Grace. Every day of life is about its discovery anew.

Are you going to the party?

Saturday September 22nd, Luke 15: 8 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The way these stories are told in Luke also represent Grace. The first is told about the shepherds, the marginalized males in society. This second story is told of women, who were also marginalized in this society. The third story of lost and found and rejoicing is told of the wealthy land owner and the prodigal son. All elements of society were included in this Grace filled ministry of Christ. In each case, the story line is the same, something is lost, something is found, and there is rejoicing. These first two stories are complete stories, the third one is open ended. In the third one, the older brother, representing the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, are still choosing to remain outside the party. The party however is still going on and the older brothers among us and in us are still invited to rejoice.

What is the cost

Lectionary 23
Luke 14:25-33

What is the cost?
can I have it my way?
can I have it God’s way?
Can I
I
Maybe that is where the problem is
I
can i
put myself before
God
and still be I
or must i first find myself
on my knees?
Christ has loved me
and offers me salvation
i am saved by the Grace of God
Through the faith of Christ
And yet have the power
To say no
Can i have it my way?
Yes,
But why?

After a long journey, stay connected

Sunday September 9th, Deuteronomy 30: 15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. After a generation in the wilderness, the people were poised to enter the promise land. There were still choices, though not many. They could remain in the wilderness, as nomads, or enter the land promised to Abraham. It was not free, it would require effort on their part to remain connected to the promises to Abraham. Remaining connected to God’s promises also did not mean a free ride of everything going well all the time, free will then, as it does now, takes it’s toll. And so it is with us, do we remain connected to God’s promises? Or do we let our gift of free will take us down the path of least resistance? Most of us spend most of our time on the wrong path, for that there is forgiveness.

Choose life

Monday September 10th, Deuteronomy 30: Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Most of us will want to choose life. But what that means is to also choose to love God, obey God, and hold fast to God. Let’s just say, we don’t do so well at this shall we. And that is where the forgiveness of Christ comes in.

Priesthood of all

Tuesday September 11th, Philemon: 10-14 While here in jail, I've fathered a child, so to speak. And here he is, hand-carrying this letter—Onesimus! He was useless to you before; now he's useful to both of us. I'm sending him back to you, but it feels like I'm cutting off my right arm in doing so. I wanted in the worst way to keep him here as your stand-in to help out while I'm in jail for the Message. But I didn't want to do anything behind your back, make you do a good deed that you hadn't willingly agreed to. First things first, Paul did not really father a child, in modern terms, he mentored a leader. While on Sabbatical, our congregation is taking care of all the duties, leading worship, sharing the message, leading the singing, serving the meal and even a baptism. In listening to the services on line, I sometimes feel like I have fathered a child. It is wonderful and exciting to listen to all this happening. When the people of God step up, wonderful things happen and the spirit is alive and full in the congregation. In this text, even Paul, in jail, could anticipate the joy and excitement of the congregation. Welcome to the priesthood of all believers.

Filled with expectation

Wednesday September 12th, Philemon: 21-22 I know you well enough to know you will. You'll probably go far beyond what I've written. And by the way, get a room ready for me. Because of your prayers, I fully expect to be your guest again. 23 Epaphras, my cellmate in the cause of Christ, says hello. Paul trusted in God. Paul is sitting in jail. Paul lived in constant anticipation of what God had in store for him. Even prison was just another opportunity to witness, and even in prison Paul could anticipate the joys God still had before him. If we could only live our life that way, filled with expectation and joy and hopefulness, perhaps we too could see the spirit’s leading in all of life.

More than a fad

Thursday September 13th, Luke 14: 25-27 One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. Being a follower of Christ is not just something we do occasionally; it is a description of who we are. To be a follower of Christ, one is called to put other things in life aside. Being a Christian is more than just a fad, or in the case of the modern church, an anti-fad fad, it is a day by day walk with the God of all creation. If you don’t “get into it” you just are not connecting. This is a calling by Christ, as the popularity grows, to see the seriousness of following and the consequences of following.

Make it work for God also

Friday September 14th, Luke 14: 28-30 "Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: 'He started something he couldn't finish.' 31-32 "Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can't, won't he send an emissary and work out a truce? In all of life we make decisions to do one thing or another. We are also called to put the same diligence and perseverance into following Christ. It is the process of bringing Christ from the periphery of our lives to the center of our lives that brings wholeness to life. We do this all the time with things that cost money, can we do it with life also.

Fair and Balanced life

Saturday September 15th, Luke 14: 33 "Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple. Love God and Love Others, that is the command according to Christ. Most of us love self and fit in others and God when we have the time or energy. Luther on the other hand said that he was so busy that he could not possible get everything done if he did not spend a couple hours a day in prayer. Perhaps in our business to get everything done, we need to set priorities in the direction of the God side of the equation. Maybe then life would be a bit more balanced.

Just makes you go hummmmmmm!?!

From Associated Press
By PAULINE JELINEK and KATHERINE SHRADER

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Iraqi government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months and its security forces have not improved enough to operate without outside help, intelligence analysts conclude in a new National Intelligence Estimate released Friday.
Despite uneven improvements, the analysts concluded that the level of overall violence is high, Iraq's sectarian groups remain unreconciled, and al-Qaida in Iraq is still able to conduct its highly visible attacks.

"Iraqi political leaders remain unable to govern effectively," the 10-page document concludes. A copy was obtained by The Associated Press in advance of its release Thursday.

And from the New York Times

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 22 —
President Bush delivered a rousing defense of his Iraq policy on Wednesday, telling a group of veterans that “a free Iraq” is within reach and warning that if Americans succumb to “the allure of retreat,” they will witness death and suffering of the sort not seen since the Vietnam War.

“It’s not up to the politicians in Washington, D.C., to say whether he will remain in his position,” President Bush said of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq.

“Then as now, people argued that the real problem was America’s presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end,” Mr. Bush declared in a 45-minute speech before a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention here. He added, “The world would learn just how costly these misimpressions would be.”

In urging Americans to stay the course in Iraq, Mr. Bush is challenging the historical memory that the pullout from Vietnam had few negative repercussions for the United States and its allies.

Sabbatical

Our old boat and Sandhill cranes

Peregrine Falcon with prey

Time to sit

Lectionary poem Luke 14:1-14

Once I view the world
with a what can I get out of it
attitude
Jesus looks with pity
on my choice
Once we view one of the least of these
my brothers and sisters
as the least
we say more about ourselves
and our view of God
than we do of them
humble thyself
in the site of the Lord
humble thyself
and you will be raised up
to life
love
God
humble thyself
and seek only to be
a child of God

Great Reversal

Sunday September 2nd, Proverbs 25: 6 Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among great men; 7 it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman. What does the Lord require of us but to show justice, love mercy and walk humbly before your God. When we don’t we risk possibility of being made a bit more humble than we wish. God’s way of greatness in the world is, and has always been the great reversal. The first shall be last and the last shall be first, the greatest among you shall be the servant of all, on and on throughout scripture. This is based on the truism that for the most part, when one wants to get ahead in the world, often times success comes at the expense of others. We have been able to work up pretty good blinders, we only see the success, not the victims of success. God calls us to the win/win world of serving others, the world calls us to the win/lose of making it big.

Angels over for dinner

Monday September 3rd, Hebrews 13: 1 Keep on loving each other as sisters and brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. The twofold commandment to love God and love others is, according to Christ, the culmination of all the Law and prophets, it is the summation of the gospel. Loving others sounds good on paper, doing it however, takes work. Loving others as a sister or brother means getting to know them as one would get to know a brother or sister. Entertaining strangers, even those with whom you may not see eye to eye, just might mean you are entertaining angels, it might also mean that you have just welcomed in someone who is downright weird, or perhaps even dangerous, but you won’t know that until you get to know them. It all comes down to getting to know them.

Be aware of bait and switch

Tuesday September 4th, Hebrews 13: 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, Hebrews along with Paul’s writings are often used as a proof texts to show that God is opposed to homosexuality. I must agree, the writer of Hebrews and Paul do not seem too keen on the idea, but then the basis for their understanding of human sexuality was based on a heterosexual only model in which procreation was the goal. Their examples of homosexuality were pedophilia, prostitution or pagan idol worship. They had no concept, individually or socially, of committed long term homosexual relationships. There is also a tendency with these authors to associate other damaging elements of society as sin, gluttony, greed and covetousness being chief among them. In our society we need to be aware of the bait and switch, churches that point the finger at homosexuality as an example of what these writers meant while at the same time diverting our attention away from their major concerns, helping Christians maintain lifelong committed, healthy, and loving relationships being one. Freeing ourselves from our love of money, and all the greed, covetousness and gluttony, individually and socially, that obsessive love of money spawns.

with such God is pleased

Wednesday September 5th, Hebrews 13: 7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Once again the message is that true caring for and worship of God is to do good and share with others. It is the great command as Jesus defined it, love God and love others, and live and focus your life finding out what that means on a day by day basis.

that shirt is sooooo last year!!

Thursday September 6th, Luke 14: 1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: O how we like to step up and get noticed. The fashion industry lives on this compulsion. Most social psychologists will point out that real maturity and satisfaction with life come not with getting ourselves noticed but with being recognized for the depth of our character. Character comes from humble service, for their rest, we try to cover our shallowness with the latest fashion.

character

Friday September 6th, Luke 14: 8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." The way to build character is to practice humility. Humility is associating with the least, lost and lonely and helping them overcome the injustice that put them there. Sometimes you will not be invited up, those are the better times, it is a recognition of your successful association with the least, lost and lonely. In the end, God notices, and that is enough.

Help the needy not the greedy

Saturday September 7th, Luke 14: 12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Just take a look at the difficulties inside the beltway and Juneau these days. From the lobbyists scandals to the Veco dealings, to Coconut road, it is “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Jesus calls us to scratch the backs of those who cannot scratch your back. Help the needy not the greedy and your life will take on meaning.

Ready to leave the lake for now

As I prepare for leaving the lake cabin and heading back to Anchorage, I look out over the lake, a few clouds drifting low in the mid August early fall. The water is starting to rise with the new project to bring more water into the lake, up about three inches in the three weeks I have been here. The boat is put away and winterized and ready for next summer.

God has blessed me with some interesting views of life. Most mornings and most evenings there have been four Sandhill Cranes strutting in front of the cabin, with their guttural, almost prehistoric, croaking sounds. I have been able to drift close to the Loons on the lake only to watch their necklaced bodies dive deep only to come up quite some distance away. A lone Bald Eagle has passed over many times, sometimes only to be chased by the Ravens. I even saw a Peregrine Falcon flying along with the heavy burden of a shorebird victim in tow, soon to be met up with by its mate as they looked for a quite place for lunch, without some fool in a boat trying to take their picture.

I have done some reading while here, enjoying Coffin and C.S Lewis, and finished Barbara Rossing’s Book, the Rapture Exposed. This is an excellent look at Revelation and the whole Rapture racket that is sweeping our nation in both religion and politics. I have done some writing, finishing up for the most part (still a few loose ends) a series of reflective poems on the Gospels for the three year cycle and most of the lesser festivals.

Now comes the task of cleaning up my mess here and getting ready to move on to the west coast.

US slips to 42nd position in life expectancy

click on the title above for the article in Ecconomic Times

WASHINGTON: The United States has fallen behind many industrialised nations in life expectancy rankings, although Americans are living longer than ever, a media report said.

Fortyone countries have gone past the US, which include not only Japan and many in Europe but also Jordan, Guam and the Cayman islands, the report said.

"Something's wrong here when one of the richest countries in the world, the one that spends the most on health care, is not able to keep up with other countries," Dr Christopher Murray, head of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington has been cited in the report.

A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. The life expectancy now ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier, according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Centre for Health Statistics.

Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, had the longest life expectancy, at 83.5 years, followed by Japan, Macau, San Marino and Singapore.

The shortest life expectencies were clustered in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region that has been hit hard by an epidemic of HIV and AIDS, as well as famine and civil strife. Swaziland has the shortest, at 34.1 years, followed by Zambia, Angola, Liberia and Zimbabwe.

It is being pointed out that several factors have contributed to the United States falling behind other industrialised nations.

Heading the list is the fact that 45 million Americans lack health insurance as opposed to universal health care in Canada and several countries in Europe.

Besides, US has one of the highest obesity rates in the world with nearly one-third of adults of 20 years and above obese and about two thirds are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Racial disparities are also seen as a factor as Black Americans have an average life expectancy of 73.3 years, five years shorter than white Americans.

Black American males have a life expectancy of 69.8 years, slightly longer than the averages for Iran and Syria and slightly shorter than in Nicaragua and Morocco, it has been pointed out.

The report published in The Washington Post says that forty countries, including Cuba, Taiwan and most of Europe had lower infant mortality rates than the US in 2004. The US rate was 6.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births. It was 13.7 for Black Americans, the same as Saudi Arabia.

Murray said improved access to health insurance could increase life expectancy. But, he predicted, the US won't move up in the world rankings as long as the healthcare debate is limited to insurance.

Policy makers should also focus on ways to reduce cancer, heart disease and lung disease, said Murray. He advocates stepped-up efforts to reduce tobacco use, control blood pressure, reduce cholesterol and regulate blood sugar.

LEFT BEHIND:

The Skewed Representation of Religion in Major News Media
from Media Matters www.mediamatters.org

It would surprise few people, conservative or progressive, to learn that coverage of the intersection of religion and politics tends to oversimplify both. If this oversimplification occurred to the benefit or detriment of neither side of the political divide, then the weaknesses in coverage of religion would be of only academic interest. But as this study documents, coverage of religion not only overrepresents some voices and underrepresents others, it does so in a way that is consistently advantageous to conservatives.

As in many areas, the decisions journalists make when deciding which voices to include in their stories have serious consequences. What is the picture of religious opinion? Who is a religious leader? Whose views represent important groups of believers? Every time a journalist writes a story, he or she answers these questions by deciding whom to quote and how to characterize their views.

Religion is often depicted in the news media as a politically divisive force, with two sides roughly paralleling the broader political divide: On one side are cultural conservatives who ground their political values in religious beliefs; and on the other side are secular liberals, who have opted out of debates that center on religion-based values. The truth, however is far different: close to 90 percent of Americans today self-identify as religious, while only 22 percent belong to traditionalist sects.

Yet in the cultural war depicted by news media as existing across religious lines, centrist and progressive voices are marginalized or absent altogether.

In order to begin to assess how the news media paint the picture of religion in America today, this study measured the extent to which religious leaders, both conservative and progressive, are quoted, mentioned, and interviewed in the news media.
Among the study's key findings:

Combining newspapers and television, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed in news stories 2.8 times as often as were progressive religious leaders.

On television news -- the three major television networks, the three major cable news channels, and PBS -- conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed almost 3.8 times as often as progressive leaders.

In major newspapers, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed 2.7 times as often as progressive leaders.

Despite the fact most religious Americans are moderate or progressive, in the news media it is overwhelmingly conservative leaders who are presented as the voice of religion. This represents a particularly meaningful distortion since progressive religious leaders tend to focus on different issues and offer an entirely different perspective than their conservative counterparts.

Healing on the Sabbath

Luke 13:10-17

Child of God you are free
Stand up
To the powers that be
Holding up the law
Intended for life
Freedom
Healing
And used all too often only as control
Stand up
Celebrate the Sabbath with a smile and a shout
Celebrate the Sabbath and keep it holy with joy
Celebrate the Sabbath and send the devil packing
Out of your life
Forget the cry of the controlling
Holding up the law
While running from it
The law was made for do’s
And we have turned it into a book of don’ts
From life
To death
Stand up and celebrate
Sing with joy and thanksgiving
And on the seventh day God rested
And it was good.

Fight terrorism with goodness

Sunday August 26th, Isaiah 58: 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah is addressed not to individuals as much as to nations. Let’s read this from a national point of view. Have we done away with the yoke of oppression by cutting taxes on the top 1% and corporations? When we refer to others as “empires of evil” have we done away with malicious talk or pointing fingers, or have we helped to open any conversation that could result in good? Is delaying the minimum wage at a time when the discrepancy between CEO’s and wage earners is at an all time high spending ourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfying the needs of the oppressed? Perhaps the best way to “fight” terrorism is to promote agendas and programs and budgets that will let out light rise in the darkness.

Primary experience or boondoggle

Monday August 27th, Isaiah 58 13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken. I will not kid myself, not all spiritual worship is in church. There are many glorious moments out in this great land, especially here in Alaska, where one can have an invaluable primary experience with God. Most worship is considered a secondary experience with God, in that it is often public remembrance of other experiences. However, over the years the average attendance at worship has gone from two Sundays a month to one Sunday every five weeks (no scientific data, only my guesstament) Perhaps this is a reflection on society in general or the church in general or particular, but whatever the cause, it is a call to implement some change. Suggestions anyone?

more grace than evil

Tuesday August 28th, Hebrews 12: 24 You've come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God. He is the Mediator of this covenant. The murder of Jesus, unlike Abel's—a homicide that cried out for vengeance—became a proclamation of grace. On the cross, Jesus took all the evil humanity can give and proclaimed that it is not more evil than the good God can give. In the book and film, “the last temptation of Christ,” the depiction was the final and strongest argument to just give into to the tempters plan for the world. The gift of grace was Jesus’ “no” to the temptations of this world, temptations we all succumb to, and “yes” to God’s way of self-giving love and the gift of eternal life for all.

Fire and Grace

Wednesday August 29th, Hebrews 12: 28-29 Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire! Fire is often used as a metaphor for cleaning and purifying. It takes all the extra stuff in our lives and clears it away. It leaves what is pure in the refining process. What is all the extra stuff that gets in the way of true worship in your life? What needs to be cleared away in order to experience a fuller revelation of God in your life?

it's a gift

Thursday August 29th, Luke 13: 10-13 He was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis that she couldn't even look up. She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over. "Woman, you're free!" He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, giving glory to God. The Sabbath was made for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath. Jesus was one to break Sabbath rules, but it was to do good rather than personal pleasure. Worship helps to set us free also. When we are free for the day, when we can focus clearly on our need for rest and refreshment, when we can connect freely to our loving creator God, then we have received the Sabbath gift to humanity. The response that helps keep the process going is to stand straight and tall and give glory to God.

Shake it up

Friday August 30th, Luke 13: 14 The meeting-place president, furious because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the congregation, "Six days have been defined as work days. Come on one of the six if you want to be healed, but not on the seventh, the Sabbath." Sometimes the established order of things needs to be shaken up a bit. Sometimes the healing that is needed is to spend the day in worship. If one were to try to work all the time and forgo sleep day after day, soon, among other things, you would become very unproductive. So it is with the Sabbath. Without it, all those things we strive for in life just become a blur.

sometimes it is about others

Saturday September 1st, Luke 13: 15-16 But Jesus shot back, "You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. So why isn't it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?" Rules are often about what others are doing wrong according to our standards. All worship should be about freeing ourselves from the burdens of life. Our burdens are not the same as those of others. More times than I can count I have given what I considered to be a sermon that totally missed the mark, only to have someone tell me how it spoke right to what they were dealing with. I may wonder what I said or what they heard, but it matters little. God works in many ways to untie us from the burdens of life and to free us for a life of worship.

Kill Or Convert, Brought To You By the Pentagon

Max Blumenthal
from: "The Nation" www.thenation.com

Actor Stephen Baldwin, the youngest member of the famous Baldwin brothers, is no longer playing Pauly Shore's sidekick in comedy masterpieces like Biodome. He has a much more serious calling these days. Baldwin became a right-wing, born-again Christian after the 9/11 attacks, and now is the star of Operation Straight Up (OSU), an evangelical entertainment troupe that actively proselytizes among active-duty members of the US military. As an official arm of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, OSU plans to mail copies of the controversial apocalyptic video game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces to soldiers serving in Iraq. OSU is also scheduled to embark on a "Military Crusade in Iraq" in the near future.

"We feel the forces of heaven have encouraged us to perform multiple crusades that will sweep through this war torn region," OSU declares on its website about its planned trip to Iraq. "We'll hold the only religious crusade of its size in the dangerous land of Iraq." The Defense Department's Chaplain's Office, which oversees OSU's activities, has not responded to calls seeking comment.

"The constitution has been assaulted and brutalized," Mikey Weinstein, former Reagan Administration White House counsel, ex-Air Force judge advocate (JAG), and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, told me. "Thanks to the influence of extreme Christian fundamentalism, the wall separating church and state is nothing but smoke and debris. And OSU is the IED that exploded the wall separating church and state in the Pentagon and throughout our military." Weinstein continued: "The fact that they would even consider taking their crusade to a Muslim country shows the threat to our national security and to the constitution and everyone that loves it."

On the surface, OSU appears as a traditional entertainment troupe that brings cheer to American troops around the globe. Founded by champion kickboxer Jonathan Spinks, OSU performs comedy, acrobatic stunts and strongman displays. Its roster of entertainers includes a former WNBA star, the Flying Wallendas, a ventriloquist, and former boxing champ Evander Holyfield. "We make no bones about the fact that we are speaking directly to the soldiers of the greatest fighting force of in the world," OSU proclaims. "No ‘mamsie pamsie' stuff here!"
But behind OSU's anodyne promises of wholesome fun for military families, the organization promotes an apocalyptic brand of evangelical Christianity to active duty US soldiers serving in Muslim-dominated regions of the Middle East. Displayed prominently on the "What We Believe" section of OSU's website is a passage from the Book of Revelations (Revelation 19:20; 20:10-15) that has become the bedrock of the Christian right's End Times theology: "The devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, and whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life, shall be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

With the endorsement of the Defense Department, OSU is mailing "Freedom Packages" to soldiers serving in Iraq. These are not your grandfather's care packages, however. Besides pairs of white socks and boxes of baby wipes (included at the apparent suggestion of Iran-Contra felon Oliver North, according to OSU) OSU's care packages contain the controversial Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game. The game is inspired by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' bestselling pulp fiction series about a blood-soaked Battle of Armageddon pitting born-again Christians against anybody who does not adhere to their particular theology. In LaHaye's and Jenkins' books, the non-believers are ultimately condemned to "everlasting punishment" while the evangelicals are "raptured" up to heaven.

The Left Behind videogame is a real-time strategy game that makes players commanders of a virtual evangelical army in a post-apocalyptic landscape that looks strikingly like New York City after 9/11. With tanks, helicopters and a fearsome arsenal of automatic weapons at their disposal, Left Behind players wage a violent war against United Nations-like peacekeepers who, according to LaHaye's interpretation of Revelation, represent the armies of the Antichrist. Each time a Left Behind player kills a UN soldier, their virtual character exclaims, "Praise the Lord!" To win the game, players must kill or convert all the non-believers left behind after the rapture. They also have the option of reversing roles and commanding the forces of the Antichrist. (Video preview here).

Producers of the Left Behind videogame were faced with a storm of controversy after Christian blogger Jonathan Hutson exposed its eliminationist overtones in a series of posts on the website Talk2Action. Statements by the Anti-Defamation League, the Conference on American Islamic Relations, the Christian Alliance for Progress, and others condemned the game and demanded that Walmart pull it from its shelves. Even Marvin Olasky, the evangelical publisher, intellectual author of "compassionate conservatism," and a force behind the George W. Bush Administration's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives," denounced the Left Behind videogame. In a blog post on the website of his World Magazine, Olasky described the game's content as akin to "the way homicidal Muslims think." As a result of the fallout, Left Behind Games fired its senior VP and released three board members.

This controversy has not deterred OSU from encouraging US troops to play virtual rounds of kill or convert after a hard day of house-to-house searches and counterinsurgency warfare against Iraqi insurgents. What's more, OSU's "Freedom Packages" include a copy of evangelical pastor Jonathan McDowell's More Than A Carpenter -- a book advertised as "one of the most powerful evangelism tools worldwide" -- that is double-published in Arabic. Considering that only a handful of American troops speak Arabic, the book is ostensibly intended for proselytizing efforts among Iraqi civilians.

OSU has cultivated support from the Department of Defense for years. After a private October, 2005 meeting between OSU's Spinks and Defense Department officials, OSU was invited to perform inside the Pentagon. This week, Pentagon employees and active duty service members are expected to enjoy a breakfast with Spinks and Baldwin, followed by an OSU performance in which they will receive "spiritual encouragement via a Biblical message." The events will be held respectively in the Pentagon Executive Dining Room and the Pentagon Auditorium. Spreading the Gospel to US troops is only one of many crusades Baldwin has waged in the name of the Lord. During 2006, Baldwin frequently stationed himself on the sidewalk outside a pornographic video store in New York. There, he photographed the license plates of people entering the store and threatened to publish an ad in a Nyack paper publicizing the names of those who patronized the store. "In my position, I just don't think I'm supposed to keep my faith to myself," Baldwin told a group of Texas Southern Baptists in 2004. "I'm just doing what the Lord's telling me to do."

Soon after his appearance at the Pentagon, Baldwin ships out to Iraq for OSU's "Military Crusade." With its cadre of celebrity entertainers pushing End Times theology, and the overt support of the Defense Department, OSU is hoping to transform Bush's surge into a battle of biblical proportions. They just can't keep their faith to themselves.

Lectionary 20

Luke 12:49-56

Let Peace Roll Down
Like a river
Into my soul
your soul
our soul
Let it roll
into the land
and people
and heavens
The Lord has come to bring peace
and yet I know
and God knows
that this peace brings a burning love
a fire to ignite into love
those who hear
it is a fire that keeps us
from hiding
behind our false selves
It’s time to let it burn
It’s time to be true
and let God’s peace
BURN

Filling Heaven and Earth

Sunday August 19th, Jeremiah 23: 23 "Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away? 24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD. When Jacob crossed the river and wrestled with the messenger of God he realized that God was not just the God on his side of the river, but was also the God of the lands beyond the river. Today we still tend to impart that kind of territorial thinking to God. The territory is less geographic and more ideological, which do a large degree is geographic, but territorial none the less. In the face of that, God declares that all of heaven and earth is the dwelling place of God. Our responsibility to care does not stop at any border, whether geographic or ideological. For our Lord, they are all the children of God.

Read on

Monday August 20th, Jeremiah 23: 29 "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? If our aim is to find Biblical support for our way of thinking then with a little practice we can hit the mark every time. If our aim is to be true to the message God has given us in the word, then the mark that is often hit is our hearts. If you haven’t been brought to your knees in response to something that came to you through scripture lately, you’re probably not reading scripture enough for your own good.

How much stuff do you carry

Tuesday August 21st, Hebrews 12: 1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. The trouble with pioneers is we tend to take the trappings of their journey with Jesus and add them to the trappings of other pioneers and add them to our own trappings. Before long we have a church that is more burdened than enlightened by the past. It is one thing to learn from those who have gone on before us, it is quite another to take their garbage with us. How much good, but useless stuff is in your pockets?

More than circus and bread

Wednesday August 22nd, Hebrews 12: When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! There is always a tendency to tame the Gospel. That was the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Give them a circus and bread and they will gladly pay lip service to you is what the tempter said in a nutshell. The temptation is there for us also. Love God and Love Others, it sounds so simple but try doing it and you just might find yourself on the outs with more than just a few of your friends.

Zeal

Thursday August 23rd, Luke 12: 49 "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! The word used here for fire can also mean passion, or enthusiasm. Having that kind of zeal for the word of God in this world compels us into all sorts of actions and activism. The trouble is when we see those who disagree with us as enemies rather than the children of God who disagree with us. Growth comes more through conversation than conflict.

Passion

Friday August 24th, Luke 12: 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." Intense passion of belief will do that, it will tend to bring about divisions. If left unattended to, the division will only fester. We are not called to lesson our passion for our beliefs, but we are also called to love one another, including those who think we are idiots because of our beliefs.

time to clean

Saturday August 25th, Luke 12: 54 He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? Sometimes all those charts of the rapture enthusiasts just get in the way of seeing the big picture. We so want to find a scriptural interpretation that supports our prejudice that we fail to see how it affects our brothers and sisters in this world. In the end no one is raptured off this earth, but Christ the Lamb comes to live with us. Perhaps instead of destroying it for fun and profit, we should start cleaning the place now.

Lectionary 19

Luke 12:32-40

I heard the man tell
anyone who would listen
He had it all figured out
with charts and grafts
and the book of Revelation
Dissected into number and verse
with each word and phrase
given a new meaning know only to
the one doing the talking
before me on the T.V. Screen
The time was figured to the
day, hour minute
so that these who follow such things
could…………………
Could what?

I heard the man tell
and all were listening
that he wasn’t sure
as he faced life’s end
square in the face
he didn’t know
and yet had faith in the God of love
his family had gathered to be with him
in his final hour
Met with peace, dignity, stories and even some laughter
by a man
who knew only
God’s love
and was ready
Two men standing on a hill
One filled with faith and questions
The other with only his will

Note: He called me to his side and said he wanted to tell me something and told me he did not like beards, but he thought I was ok even with one, then he laughted and so did his family. He asked me what heaven was like, all I could tell him was all we had were attempts to discribe something beyond beauty in discription. We all prayed and he died later in the evening. Months earlier when he decided he would have no more treatments, he carved me a cross with butterfly wings. Not the same as the one above but similar. I think of his faith and smile whenever I see it. When I am home I will take a picture of it and post it.

You can trust God not to do it your way

Sunday August 12th, Genesis 15: 2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." We tend to think in such a linier fashion. Not our fault really I suppose, we are rather bound by this time thing. Abe received the promise, his concern was how he would pull it off, God’s concern was to get Abe to trust him that no matter how it worked out, if God was in control, it would be good. We do the same, I often tell others to pray, trust God and then go ahead and get to work, trusting that God can work through them and what they are doing. It is hard not to worry at these times, but worry is our way of, at least in part, being in control, or wishing we were. So I should be saying, Pray and trust God, get to work, don’t worry. Or as the angels say, “fear not.”

Bible believing or God believing?

Monday August 13th, Genesis 15: 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Again, linier thinking would have us to believe the offspring are all physical offspring. When you get to the stars and sands analogy, that is where the faith children come into play. For the most part, that would be you and I. That still doesn’t explain all those stars or all that sand. Maybe that is because we keep rejecting stars or grains of sand, not blond enough, not bible believing enough, not sinless (in the way I define it) enough, don’t use the right name for God they call him Allah or Tau or something like that. And the list goes on and on and on. After 4000 years, maybe we should be more God believing, more faith believing than bible believing.

Foundation of life

Tuesday August 14th, Hebrews 11: 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. At this time in scripture there was still a rural preference. The nomadic way of life was considered good and the settled way of life bad. Stories such as Cain and Ables offering and Sodom and Gomorrah reflect this sentiment. But if we could be so bold as to assume a God inspired flow through the multiple stories, authors, and writings that make up scripture, then let us turn to the Holy City in Revelation. If there will ever be such a city with foundations and whose architect and builder is God, it will be the Holy City. In that city, which was the dream of Abraham and everyone who calls themselves a child of God, the river is for life, the trees for the healing of nations, the gates are never closed, all are welcome and God is among us. That is a foundation to build a life toward.

Future or fortune

Wednesday August 15th, Hebrews 11: 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. We still have our separate nations, tribes, religions and languages. Heavens we even, through the marketing expertise of the media, have red and blue states. God’s vision is one of relationships, people getting to know one another, all brothers and sisters in Christ. Scripture points us toward it, we run from it and start wars. There is more money to be made in war, there is more of a future in seeing others as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Fear not, little flock

Thursday August 16th, Luke 12: 32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Don’t be afraid, fear not, common precursors to Holy announcements. It is fear that keeps us from seeing the kingdom among us. It is fear that allows us to separate ourselves into different factions and groups and decide theories and formulas for just and unjust wars and jihads. It is fear that keeps us from fully trusting in God, thinking we need to run the show a bit more ourselves. It is fear that keeps us from reaching out boldly and truly living as the children of God. Into the is world, the message comes, Don’t be afraid little flock, for the Father is, and has been, pleased to give you the kingdom.

City focus

Friday August 17th, Luke 12: 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What does it mean to live the kingdom life without fear? Luke gives us some examples, and the all focus on God. Keep your inner eye, your soul if you will focused on the kingdom. Keep the Holy City in mind daily and try a bit more each day, to live it.

Plant a tree

Saturday August 18th, Luke 12: 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." When Luther was asked what he would do if he knew the world would end tomorrow, he said he would plant a tree. A tree that takes time to grow, because no one knows the hour. A tree that takes time to grow because if you are living in the kingdom already, why would you do anything different. A tree that takes time to grow because that is a good way to live a life caring for the creation God has given us. A tree that takes time to grow, because we are not raptured off this earth somewhere up there to watch it’s destruction, but because the final vision is that God comes to live with us and when that happens it is always good to have a tree to sit under and have a conversation with God.

Lectionary 18

Luke 12:13-21

It’s mine
All mine
I worked for it all
and saved
and slaved
taking what the Lord has given me
and giving only to myself in return
Mine all mine
until someday when I retire
when I rest after seven
days, years, decades
rest on what I have heaped up
in layers
between my fears and I
between my soul and I
It’s mine
but I can’t shake this feeling
that maybe
I lost it

Meaninglessness or love one another

Sunday August 5th, Ecclesiastes 1 & 2: 2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." 12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Wow! This guy needs his meds, or then again, maybe he just has discovered what we all need to discover in life, that if all we are after is our own gain, what we gain is nothing. Descartes used the term, I think, therefore I am (Cognito Ergo Sum) What God calls us to is I Love, therefore I am (Amo Ergo Sum). It is not he unexamined life that is meaningless, it is the one which is lived only for the self. When you are done, all you have left is the empty shell of yourself. God calls us into relationships. We are called to love one another. John even connects it with the promise, this is what will make your life complete, the opposite of meaninglessness, to love one another as I have loved you.

live it now

Monday August 6th, Ecclesiastes 1&2: 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. All too often, our view of life becomes too much like a clothes line, we start at one end and hang things on it until we get to the end, and hopefully, at the end God will reward us for all the things we have done. Instead, God calls us onto a path, one where we are surrounded by others and by the God who always comes down. If all we do in life is for some end goal, we above all creatures are to be pitied. If life is lived as part of the body of Christ, full of give and take, sharing with one another and seeing in every blade of grass and every child’s eye, the presence of God, then we are living the kingdom life right here and now. And in that, there life is filled with meaningfulness.

heads up!

Tuesday August 7th, Colossians 3: 1-2 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective. God created the world and said it was good. God created humanity and said it was good. As we travel on the path of life, surrounded by the saints of God (though some would not consider themselves as such) our eyes are focused on the kingdom. The final chapters in Revelation have that vision for us. The holy city, coming down, open to all, all peoples refreshed by the water of life, healing for all nations, gates to the city always open. Head down living builds border fences, kingdom living builds welcome gates.

Where do you stand?

Wednesday August 8th, Colossians 3: 9-11 Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ. Every time we draw a line in the sand, Jesus is on the other side. Every time we build a fence, whether it be literal or with the new building material, paperwork, to keep people out, we shut ourselves off from the savior. Every time we go to war, the ones killed, on both sides, are the children of God. Every weapon that is produced steals bread from the mouth of hungry. Every morsel of bread that is shared, is shared with Christ.

fix it for me Jesus

Thursday August 9th, Luke 12: 13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Too often we want Jesus to solve our problems, and the problems we want solved are to be solved in our favor. Instead of a “fix it for me Jesus” approach to life, we are called instead to a life of living and loving relationships. Jesus asks us the question, how are you going to handle this in a kingdom way? How are you going to solve this problem with your brother or sister in Christ. Step one is to see the other as you brother or sister in Christ. Hint, guns, missiles and bombs take you in the wrong direction.

"I" or "we"

Friday August 10th, Luke 12: 18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." 20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' We have all met someone with “I” trouble when they talk. Everything is about them. It is good to note that most of us have “I” trouble with the way we live, especially when it comes to $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Kingdom life is not “I” life, it is “we” life. Look around and see the world your children and grandchildren will get, will it be as clean and healthy as the one you received? Look around at the children of God in your community, (remembering Jesus definition of neighbor in Luke 10) are they better off than before? Is everyone better off or does the system you support help those with power and possessions more than those without?

Down, always Down

Saturday August 11th, Luke 12: 21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Where does your spirit focus? Salvation is not just “God and I” salvation is about the “we.” In the “Left Behind” series, people are raptured off the earth. In Revelation, the Holy City, with God a part of it, comes down to earth. Remember God Always comes Down.