We're off

With the posting of Luther’s Small Catechism, I now put this blog aside for a month. Tomorrow my wife and I leave for the third part of my sabbatical. We are off to Germany to visit Luther land, visit the sites, eat good German food and drink good German beer, then to Paris for a couple of days, the to Salamanca Spain to visit my good friend Guillermo. We then head back through southern France to Germany where we catch a flight to Tel Aviv for a tour of Israel. I will be back up on the blog in November.
Pastor Dan

Luther’s Small Catechism

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
You shall have no other gods.What does this mean for us?
We are to fear, love and trust God above all things. (Exodus 32)

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God.What does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, practice magic, lie, or deceive using God’s name, but instead use that very name in every time of need to call on, pray to, and give thanks to God. (Leviticus 24:10-16)

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holyWhat does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God, so that we do not despise God's Word or preaching, but instead keep that Word holy and gladly hear and learn it. (Luke 10:38-42)

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
Honor your father and your mother.What does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God, so that we neither despise nor anger our parents and others in authority, but instead honor, serve, obey, love and respect them. (Luke 2:41-2)

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not murder.
What does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God so that we neither endanger nor harm the lives of our neighbors, but instead help and support them in all of life’s needs. (Genesis 4:1-16)

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not commit adultery.What does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God so that lead pure and decent lives in word and deed, and each of us loves and honors his or her spouse. (2 Samuel 11)

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not steal.
What does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God so that we neither take our neighbor's money or property, nor cheat them by using shoddy merchandise or crooked deals to obtain it for ourselves, but instead help them to improve and protect their property and income. (Joshua 7:1)

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
What does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light. (Luke 22:54-62)

THE NINTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not covet your neighbor's house.
What does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God so that we do not try to trick our neighbors out of their inheritance or property or try to get it for ourselves by claiming to have a legal right to it and the like, but instead be of help and service to them in keeping what is theirs.

THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not covet your neighbor's spouse or male or female slave, or ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.What does this mean for us?
We are to fear and love God so that we do not entice, force, or steal away from our neighbors their spouses, workers, or livestock, but instead urge them to stay and remain loyal to our neighbors.

II. THE CREED

The First Article
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
What does this mean?
Answer: I believe that God has created me and all that exists. God has given me and still preserves my body and soul with all their powers. God provides me with food and clothing, home and family, daily work, and all I need from day to day. God also protects me in time of danger and guards me from every evil. All this God does out of fatherly and divine goodness and mercy, though I do not deserve it. Therefore I surely ought to thank and praise, serve and obey God. This is most certainly true.

The Second Article
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
What does this mean?
Answer: I believe that Jesus Christ—true God, Son of the Father from eternity, and true man, born of the Virgin Mary—is my Lord. At great cost he has saved and redeemed me, a lost and condemned person. Jesus has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil—not with silver or gold, but with his precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. All this Christ has done that I may be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as Christ is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true.

The Third Article
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
What does this mean?
Answer: I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith. In the same way, the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church day after day the Holy Spirit fully forgives my sins and the sins of all believers. On the last day the Holy Spirit will raise me and all the dead and give me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true.

III. THE LORD'S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven.
What does this mean?Here God encourages us to believe that God is truly our Father and we are God's children. We therefore are to pray to God with complete confidence just as children speak to their loving father.

THE FIRST PETITION
Hallowed be thy name.
What does this mean?God's name certainly holy in itself, but we ask in this prayer that we may keep it holy.
When does this happen?God's name is hallowed whenever God's Word is taught in its truth and purity and we as children of God live in harmony with it. Help us to do this heavenly Father! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to the Word of God dishonors God's name among us. Keep us from doing this, heavenly Father!

THE SECOND PETITION
Thy kingdom come.
What does this mean?
God's kingdom comes indeed without our praying for it, but we ask in this prayer that it may come also to us. When does this happen?God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us the Holy Spirit, so that by God's grace we believe God's holy Word and live a godly life on earth now and in heaven forever.

THE THIRD PETITION
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
What does this mean?
The good and gracious will of God is surely done without our prayer, but we ask in this prayer that it may be done also among us.When does this happen?God's will is done when God hinders and defeats every evil scheme and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful self, which would prevent us from keeping God's name holy and would oppose the coming of God's kingdom. And God's will is done when God strengthens our faith and keeps us firm in God's Word as long as we live.This is God's gracious good will.

THE FOURTH PETITION
Give us this day our daily bread.
What does this mean?
God gives daily bread, even without prayer, to all people, though sinful, but we ask in this prayer that God will help us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanks.What is meant by "daily bread"?Daily bread includes everything needed for this life, such as food and clothing, home and property, work and income, a devoted family, an orderly community, good government, favorable weather, peace and health, a good name, and true friends and neighbors.

THE FIFTH PETITION
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
What does this mean?
We ask in this prayer that our Father in heaven would not hold our sins against us and because of them refuse to hear our prayer.And we pray that God would give us everything by grace, for we sin every day and deserve nothing but punishment. So we on our part will heartily forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.

THE SIXTH PETITION
And lead us not into temptation.
What does this mean?
God tempts no one to sin, but we ask in this prayer that God would watch over us and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful self may not deceive us and draw us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins.And we pray that even though we are so tempted we may still win the final victory.

THE SEVENTH PETITION
But deliver us from evil.
What does this mean?
We ask in this inclusive prayer that our heavenly Father would save us from every evil to body and soul, and at our last hour would mercifully take us from the troubles of this world to heaven.

THE DOXOLOGY
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
What does "Amen" mean?
Amen means Yes, it shall be so.We say Amen because we are certain that such petitions are pleasing to God in heaven and are heard by God.For God has commanded us to pray in this way and has promised to hear us.

Luke 18:1-8 can you hear me now?

Why does this happen to me
I tell my children what I want
and they don’t listen
last week I told them
keep their room clean
and now look
I told them once
once

To enter into a relationship
is more than once
is more than telling
more than holy brevity
it is the now
the then
the when
the ongoing chatter
rather than the occasional thought

Pray constantly Christ says
live in a relationship
not always holy
except it be blessed
by God

God comes down to scoundrels

Sunday October 21st , Genesis 32: 22-23 But during the night he got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He got them safely across the brook along with all his possessions. 24-25 But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he couldn't get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob's hip out of joint. Jacob was a scoundrel, he manipulated his brother to get the inheritance and blessing and then had to run for his life. In crossing the ford of the Jabbok, he was entering into unknown territory. His belief and the belief of others of the day was that God was regional and venturing beyond the Jabbok meant you were venturing beyond the reach of the God of Abraham. We often sing the song of climbing Jacobs ladder, but in the story what we find is that Jacob stays on the ground, it is the messenger of God that comes down the latter. God always comes down, in creation, to Abraham, to the scoundrel Jacob, in Christ and in the last days, in the New Jerusalem, God always comes down. In our lives too, God comes down, to us, even when we are scoundrels. When God comes down, we too find our lives changed.

God wrestling

Monday October 22nd, Genesis 32: 26 The man said, "Let me go; it's daybreak." Jacob said, "I'm not letting you go 'til you bless me." 27 The man said, "What's your name?" He answered, "Jacob." 28 The man said, "But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it's Israel (God-Wrestler); you've wrestled with God and you've come through." Have you ever wrestled with God? Have you ever come before God in prayer time after time after time? Wrestling with God is a great metaphor for prayer. All too often our prayer is gimme, gimme, gimme, or else it is filled with eloquent, but often empty, words of praise. Think of a relationship with a significant other. If all the conversation is give me or false praise, it is soon seen for what it is, shallow. The good conversations with a loved one involve a bit of wrestling, and a whole lot of honesty. When our prayer is wrestling with God, it is honest and the words count little. Wrestle with God today and know that today, tomorrow and the next day, God will always come down.

God-breathed

Tuesday October 23rd, 2 Timothy 3: 14-17 But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. Every part being God-breathed is not the same as every word being infallible. God-breathed scripture means that when you immerse yourself in the word, you find God in every turn of phrase and nuance. Most don’t immerse themselves in the word and are therefore open to being sucked in and ripped off by the rapture racket. The Gospels tell us to love God and love others, the rapture racket tells you that you can leave this place and those who don’t see things your way can go to hell, literally. The Gospel tells us to love our enemies and pray for them, the rapture racket tells us to convert or kill them. The Gospel is about us, the rapture racket is about “me.” “ME” is what original sin and everyday sin is all about. The task God has before you is about love. Amo Ergo Sum!

Twinkies??

Wednesday October 24th, 2 Timothy 3: 3-5 You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant. Spiritual junk food is epitomized in the series, “Left Behind.” Looks like scripture, sounds like scripture, may even taste like scripture, but it leaves a sour taste in your mouth and a sour soul in your very being. It is easy to get all caught up in the “me” theology. Adam and Eve record the first instance with that tree thing. The hard job of scripture is loving others, because let’s face it, it is often the case that those others are not so lovable. That is when it is good to remember that you don’t have to like someone to love them. Loving them is not about them or how they respond, it is about you and how you act toward others.

Listen

Thursday October 25th, Luke 18: 1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him. There are many old sappy movies about the unjust power person and the powerless coming and coming and coming until they finally get justice. Sometimes the process changes the unjust person, sometimes the powerless figure is changed, but often change happens. Jesus is teaching about prayer. It is in the persistence that change happens, at least to the person praying, if not to all involved. When we pray unceasingly, perhaps it is God’s way of getting our attention until ultimately we can start to listen.

God gets powerlessness

Friday October 26th Luke 18: there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' 4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' Justice is God’s intention for humanity. Power gets in the way. The ones on top for the most part think they are being just. The ones on the bottom know inside and out every nuance of injustice perpetrated upon them. The Daily show recently poked fun at one such example. Our current administration prefers that a patient and a doctor have the freedom to work things out between them, not realizing that those without insurance probably don’t have a doctor and even most of us with insurance don’t have a doctor who has the time to sit, listen and work things out. The power people just don’t get powerlessness. God gets powerlessness. Christ came as a babe in a manger and died on the cross. God gets powerlessness and helps us turn that into the Kingdom of God for all through prayer.

Pray!!

Saturday October 27th, Luke 18: 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" So pray unceasingly. Come before God and wrestle with God. Don’t worry about the words, or posture, or process, or eloquence, or proper order of things, just come with your heart open. Come with fierce determination, or raging anger, or awed disbelief, or faith riddled with doubts, just come, again and again and again. And things will change.

Halliburton (1) Democracy (0)

Well it seems that the fledgling Iraqi democracy has learned a lesson. Bush established democracy is less about freedom than profit, especially if the profit is for the Halliburton subsidiary, Blackwater. There are $$$$$$$$$$$ at stake and no two bit fledgling government is going to tell us who runs things.

Blackwater Resumes Guarding U.S. Envoys in Iraq
By ANDREW E. KRAMER

BAGHDAD, Sept. 21 — American diplomats on Friday resumed travel in convoys escorted by Blackwater USA, the private American security contractor, three days after the Iraqi government banned the company following a shooting in which at least eight Iraqis were killed.

It was not clear if the resumption of convoys was a signal of some political compromise between the State Department and the Iraqi government, which had demanded that the United States drop Blackwater as its protector, or whether it simply meant that American officials felt they could not afford to remain grounded. The State Department relies on Blackwater for its security outside the fortified Green Zone.

American Embassy officials have declined to give details of an investigation of the shooting on Sunday in Baghdad’s Nisour Square, but a preliminary report by Iraqi officials found that Blackwater guards had fired at Iraqis in their cars without provocation. Mirembe Nantongo, a spokeswoman for the American Embassy, said a limited number of diplomats traveled outside the Green Zone on Friday. They were likely to be accompanied by Blackwater guards, she said but declined to give details. “As a general rule, in a limited manner, Blackwater is operating,” she said. Ms. Nantongo said the decision to resume diplomatic convoy traffic had been taken “in consultation with the Iraqi authorities,” but she would not elaborate on whether the Iraqis had approved the Blackwater escorts, after the din of official Iraqi criticism toward the company earlier this week.

On Tuesday, the State Department halted all diplomatic travel outside the Green Zone. The move seriously handicapped its operations at a time when the focus of the American effort in Iraq has turned to contacts with tribes, local leaders and citizens. In its only statement on the shooting, Blackwater said security contractors fired in response to an insurgent attack, an account disputed by the Iraqi Interior Ministry. The ministry concluded that the shooting had begun when a Blackwater guard fired at a car that did not stop quickly enough, killing the driver, a passenger and a baby.

The ministry has recommended an overhaul of the rules for private security companies here, including revoking a law written by American administrators shortly after the invasion granting such companies immunity from Iraqi law.

Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, has demanded that the State Department drop Blackwater as a security contractor, something security experts said was unlikely because of the department’s heavy reliance on the company. There was no official Iraqi response on Friday to the resumption of convoy traffic. The State Department has set up a joint 16-member commission, together with the Iraqi government, to analyze the events of Sunday and to recommend ways that security procedures for diplomats need to be changed.State Department personnel are based principally in the Green Zone in Baghdad and in provincial reconstruction teams at 10 locations around the country. In addition to Blackwater, the State Department has contracts for personal security with two other companies, Triple Canopy and DynCorp.

Violence continued to displace Iraqis. Between 50 and 100 Sunni families fled their homes in the Baghdad neighborhood of Washash around midnight on Friday after being threatened by members of the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia, according to an Interior Ministry official. After a senior leader of the Mahdi Army was killed in an ambush several hours earlier, militiamen began moving through the area with loudspeakers, telling people to leave, said Sheik Abu Hasan, one of those displaced. American forces came to the area, he said. Though they did not stop the flight, they helped the families reach the Sunni Arab neighborhood of Adel in safety. The ministry official said that four Sunni women from the neighborhood were killed. “We had no other choice but to leave our houses at once,” Sheik Abu Hasan said. “What shocked us a lot was that as soon as we reached the main streets, we saw Iraqi and American forces who were showing and directing us to the highway.”

Also on Friday, in a sign of mounting turmoil amid Shiite groups in the south, two aides to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered Shiite cleric, were assassinated in Basra and Diwaniya, in the latest of a string of attacks on the cleric’s followers. An Iraqi police official said Friday that 25 people had been arrested in connection with the assassination on Sept. 13 of a Sunni leader, Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, who had worked with the United States in Anbar Province to fight insurgents, The Associated Press reported.

Luke 17:11-19 Master heal us, almost

Jesus, Master, have mercy on us
Heal us and forget us
A bit show
For all to see
Something we can tell our friends
And it will give you a few points in the process
Jesus
Almost master
Heal us
So we can go about out way
Doing what we want
With no thought of you
(your faith)
Except the story of the day
When you healed us
Except for that one
Outsider
That Samaritan
Who broke ranks
(has healed)
It was a good thing to do and all that
But really
Has he no self
Self
Self Respect
To go groveling like that
All Jesus did was say go to the priests
Show yourselves
(you)
Nothing new here
Same ol’ same ol’
Does he really want us to worship
Thank
Him
For doing nothing?
Thank Him
(and saved)
For our religion?
(you)

Sunlight please

Sunday October 14th, 2 Kings 5: 2 Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." The young slave girl simply spoke up, told a part of her story. The response send the heads of power into motion. She had no power, she was a young slave girl, and yet her voice carried wisdom and touched the seed already planted by God. How often do we keep silent because we don’t feel we have the wisdom or power to speak or do anything? In keeping silent, perhaps what we are thwarting are seeds that God has already planted. We are not the ones that make faith grow, we simply direct it to a little sunlight.

Action or illusion of power?

Monday October 15th, 2 Kings 5: 13 Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Naaman was a great king and was not about to do some silly thing like washing in the river, a foreign river at that, to be cleansed. How often do our preconceived ideas get in the way of God’s grace in our lives, and in the lives of others. Naamans servants knew the ways of grace. Slaves operated in the realm of grace. Their master had power over them to do anything he wanted. Sometimes accepting grace requires humility, that’s a little tough for someone who thinks they are in charge. When has your concept of power kept you from action? When was the last time you cried in front of others?

Live as if you Know it!

Tuesday October 16th, 2 Timothy 2: 11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. If we die in Christ we will live eternally in Christ, it is the promise of the resurrection to all of humanity. If we disown Christ we will be disowned, not because Christ will disown us, but because our free will allows us only two options, to accept God’s grace or to reject God’s grace. Having said that, I am not sure we even have the option to accept God’s grace, but perhaps only to actively reject it. Having said that, I am not sure even rejecting it is a permanent thing, but perhaps something only for this life because even if we are faithless, Christ remains faithful, because that is who Christ is. Our calling is not to get to heaven, it is to live here and now knowing that is where are going.

Insanity

Wednesday October 17th, 2 Timothy 2: 14 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. In the realm of faith, we argue over words. We argue over land. We argue over who is “part of the kingdom” and who is not “part of the kingdom.” Jews, Christians, Muslims are all the children of Abraham to whom was given the promise that he would be the father of a great multitude, like the sands of the desert. Most of human history has been arguing over where this pile of sand is better than that pile of sand. Over the centuries the religious bickering has produced only a few products, millions of God’s children killed, and billions of God’s children not wanting anything to do with God. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over hoping for different results.

blessed differences?

Thursday October 18th, Luke 17: 11-13 It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14-16 Taking a good look at them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." What! Show ourselves to the priest!?! They have never done anything, we’ve tried that before, I don’t believe in the priests’ authority, I believe in God and all that but……….. I don’t put much stock in organized religion, and on and on and on………………… Humans have a tendency to feel that God should intervene in their lives in a special and personal way. Then they have something to compare, “my personal intervention is better than your personal intervention” sort of childishness. God has given us the gift of religion, and many different religions and faiths, so we all have an opportunity to connect with God in a way that is culturally relevant to us. It is the human condition that turns these blessed differences into things like intifada’s, jihad’s, and born again rapture theology, or perhaps it is our human condition with a little nudge from Screwtape or Satan or some such.

"Thank you" life

Friday October 19th, Luke 17: They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus' feet, so grateful. He couldn't thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan. Luke likes to use the Samaritan’s as examples of those who “get it” in order to help the supposed insiders “get it.” God’s grace extends to all. Our act of receiving this grace with gratitude helps us “get it.” In your prayers, how much is “give me,” and how much is “thank you?” Perhaps a bit more on the “thank you” side of things would be more helpful, not only to say it, but to live it. Go live a “thank you” life.

Saved for

Saturday October 20th, Luke 17: 17-19 Jesus said, "Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?" Then he said to him, "Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you." When we think saved, we often think saved from. Perhaps the real gift is when we are saved for. Perhaps this outsider was saved for the purpose of showing the way to the insiders. Perhaps this outsider was saved for the purpose of showing the way to other outsiders. When we turn to give thanks, we open a bit more to what God wants to do in our lives.

Iraq ends US security firm licence

From Al Jazeera

The Iraqi interior ministry has cancelled the operating licence of a US security firm after it was involved in a shootout that killed eight people, a senior official said. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, a ministry spokesman, said 13 people were wounded when Blackwater USA staff opened fire in a Baghdad incident involving an attack on a US motorcade. "The interior minister has issued an order to cancel Blackwater's licence and the company is prohibited from operating anywhere in Iraq," Khalaf said on Monday. "We have opened a criminal investigation against the group who committed the crime."The spokesman said witness reports pointed to Blackwater's involvement but said the incident, in a predominantly Sunni area of western Baghdad on Sunday, was still under investigation.

US troops are immune from prosecution in Iraq under the UN resolution that authorises their presence, but Khalaf said the exemption did not apply to private security companies.'Unaccountable' operativesBut Robert Young Pelton, the author of Licence to Kill who lived with Blackwater operatives in Iraq, told Al Jazeera that the security contractor was effectively accountable to no one."There is ongoing debate in America as to what they should object to, whether it is military law, local Iraqi law or even UN law, no one has quite decided," he said. "If you ask the industry they say they are subject to many laws, but in the case of a shooting on Christmas Day when Blackwater employees shot the vice-president's bodyguard there have been no charges filed."

Blackwater, based in North Carolina, provides security for many US civilian operations in the country. The company was not immediately available for comment.

The US embassy in Baghdad said a state department motorcade came under small-arms fire that disabled one of the vehicles, which had to be towed from the scene near Nisoor Square in the Mansour district. Shooting investigatedA state department official said the shooting was being investigated by the department's diplomatic security service and officials working with the Iraqi government and the US military.

Late on Sunday, Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, condemned the shooting by a "foreign security company" and called it a "crime". Tens of thousands of private security contractors operate in Iraq - some using automatic weapons and body armour, helicopters and bulletproof vehicles. They also protect journalists, visiting foreign officials and thousands of construction projects.

Blackwater has an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq, and at least $800m in government contracts. It is one of the most high-profile security firms in Iraq. The secretive company is based at a massive complex in North Carolina.

Until the September 11 attacks, it had few security contracts, but since then, Blackwater profits have soared. It has become the focus of numerous contractor controversies in Iraq, including the May 30 shooting of an Iraqi believed to be driving too close to a Blackwater security detail.

Witness testimony

Iraqi police said the contractors were in a convoy of six four-wheel-drive vehicles and left the scene after the shooting. Hassan Jabar Salman was hit by five bullets while trying to flee the scene of the incident in his car, he told the AFP news agency while recovering in Baghdad's Al-Yarmouk hospital. Salman said he heard an explosion near Al-Nisoor Square and saw the convoy two cars ahead of him. "The foreigners in the convoy started shouting and signalling us to go back. "I turned around and must have driven 100 feet [30 metres] when they started shooting. "There were eight of them in four utility vehicles and all shooting with heavy machine guns," he said as he lay wrapped in bloodied bandages on the hospital bed. "My car was hit with 12 bullets, of which four hit me in the back and one in the arm."

Watch Al Jazeera's Inside Iraq on private security contractors

Luke 17:5-10 Increase our faith!"

Increase our faith Lord
Help us do the things you do
Heal the way you heal
(if you have)
Cast out demons the way you do
(faith)
Believe the way you do
Increase our faith Lord
So we too
(as small)
Can do great things
Control the forces of spirit
(as a mustard seed)
And nature
Doing great things for all the world to see
(you could say)
Just think of the good we could do
(to a mulberry tree)
The books we could write
(Be uprooted)
The lives we could right
The wonderful things we could do for the world
(and planted in the sea)
If
You would increase our faith for us
We
We
We
(it will obey you)
Would learn to serve

How long?

Sunday October 7th, Habakkuk 1: 2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? 3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? It is tempting in the midst of evil and injustice to point to God and ask how long will it take for you to do something. At the same time God is looking at us and asking “how long will you continue to tolerate this?” In our latest war, Washington has learned to sanitize it. Get control of the media and redefine what is mainstream by moving the bar way to the right while at the same time criticizing the media for being left wing so that any images or reports that do make it through can be discredited more easily. No images of the dead and wounded coming home or the battles being waged. No images of the million plus Iraqi civilians, men women and children killed and maimed, only an occasional young token boy or girl being treated in our hospitals. And we can be content to see how the football game is going and how the stock market is doing. God asks, “How Long?”

Lingering time is not a lounging time

Monday October 8th, Habakkuk 2: 1 I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. 2 Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. At the end of time the Kingdom of God will come down to humanity, the Holy City will descend and God will be with God’s people and peace and justice will prevail. In the mean time it is up to us. How do we bring about God’s kingdom in the here and now? How do we live in the already not yet? We live as if the Kingdom were already among us. We live as if Christ himself will knock on the door and come in and have a cup of coffee with us in the morning. We live in disgust at the injustice hatred and war we have perpetrated, so much disgust that we actively try to do something about it. The lingering time is not a lounging around time, it is an actively living the kingdom time.

Choice between nothing and nothing is nothing

Tuesday October 9th, 2 Timothy 1: 5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible. I often hear from a young couple that they do not want to influence their children in religion. They want to raise them free to make their own decisions about church when they grow up, and therefore that is why they don’t want to get involved in a church. Let me see how straight I can be with this one. Hellooo- think about it. Think about your teenage and young adulthood years. Did you go to a church or not go to a church because that is what your parents wanted? Once out of the house, I don’t think so. The job of teens and young adults is to establish the self. A friend of mine, who is a Lutheran pastor, has a son who upon meeting and marring the girl of his dreams, converted to her faith, Judaism. Having been brought up in the faith, his adult choices were which faith, not if faith. Not raising them in the faith so they can make up their own mind is making up their mind for them. It is raising them to not have a faith tradition to which they may rebel, reject, vary or accept. A choice between nothing and nothing is nothing.

How do you live it?

Wednesday October 10th, 2 Timothy 1: 8-10 So don't be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus. News flash, death is defeated, now how will you live your life? News flash, life is vindicated in a steady blaze of light, now how will you live your life? Most people of faith wrongly believe they have to earn their way into heaven in some fashion. In the Abrahamic faiths of Islam, Judaism and Christianity there is the message that God created and called us good. God acts in history to bring about faith and God loves us and would no more condemn us, his children, that you would condemn any of your children. Having said that, children always have a way of going places were a loving parent would rather they not go, the scriptures of all three Abrahamic faiths are full of such stories. But the question is, knowing that you are saved, knowing that you are going to be with God, knowing that God loves all people and calls us to live lives of justice and integrity, how do you now live?

Lifelong walk

Thursday October 11th, Luke 17: 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" Interesting request, as if it was up to Jesus to increase their faith. On the day we were married I knew I loved my wife, but did I really know I loved my wife. Over the years and trials, fights and making up, struggling together, being there for the other person, having her be there for me. All of these things over the years and many yet to come increase my faith in our love for one another. Increasing your faith is a lifelong walk with Jesus.

Aim higher

Friday October 12th, Luke 17: 6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. I don’t know if faith can anthropomorphize a mulberry tree and make it obey better than our children, but I have seen faith move mountains of injustice and greed. I have see faith erase years of brokenness and infidelity in relationships. I have see faith offer forgiveness and reconciliation to a murderer who killed several children in a small communities school building. I have seen faith, however small, do things far beyond getting a mulberry tree to follow your verbal commands. Aim higher.

Back to the garden

Saturday October 13th, Luke 17: 7 "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' " Back to the garden. The first sin on the temptation of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was the temptation to possess all knowledge and therefore, be like God. Our calling is simply to do the will of God, to love justice, show mercy and walk humbly before our God. It is tempting to be like the student who wanted to do all the extra credit work in school hoping it would completely negate and overshadow the lack of doing the basics in class. Do your homework first, love justice, show mercy and walk humbly before God, then the extra credit of throwing mulberry trees in the water.

Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus

Life is good
Family and friends gathering for meals
Dripping with milk and honey
Life is good for the children of Abraham
Busy with the day to day duties of making money
Being at the right place
Connecting with the right people
Busy
Something seems different today
The front steps
Seem somehow empty
But I can’t seem to put my finger on why
O well,
I must have been dreaming
Life is good for a child of Abraham
Who is busy
And on track to the good life
In time
The business and the good times also come to an end
In time all of life levels out
In time the busy stops for us all
Almost
Hay you, boy
I know you
I dropped trinkets and change in your bucket
(without ever working to change the bucket)
You owe me
Water!
Now please!
And tell my family
If they are not too busy to listen

Report from Jerusalem Post: US to attack Iran in 8-10 months

Germany's unwillingness to impose further sanctions on Iran has pushed the United States closer towards a decision on a military strike, FOX News reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, Germany's decision has spurred senior US army officials to try and convince US Foreign Secretary Condoleezza Rice to abandon once and for all the diplomatic route of preventing a nuclear Iran. The report further stated that the date of preference for an attack against Iran is in eight to 10 months - after the US presidential candidates for both the Democrats and the Republicans have been chosen, but before the major presidential campaign kicks off.

The report stated that the attack would be comprised of two main strategies: cutting off the Iranian gas supply, which the US hopes would pressure the Iranian people towards action against their government, and an aerial bombing campaign, which would be meant to paralyze Iranian defenses and allow American bombers to destroy the nuclear facilities.

Opponents to a military strike claim that an attack would require at least one week of intense bombing, and that it would only set the Iranian nuclear program back a few years, the report said. Two other claims of the opponents is that an American strike would provoke Iran into attacking Israel, and that abandoning diplomatic action would negatively impact Iraq and the US troops stationed there.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411396419&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Sunday September 30th, Amos 8: 3-6 Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster! Catastrophe is just around the corner! Woe to those who live in luxury and expect everyone else to serve them! Woe to those who live only for today, indifferent to the fate of others! Woe to the playboys, the playgirls, who think life is a party held just for them! Amos was talking to a nation in which the wealthy were gaining more and more of the wealth and power. Once they gained the political power, they began to change the interpretation of the laws in a way that would favor their continued acquisition of wealth. The trouble is that wealth, even though it continues to rise, is still somewhat of a set entity. If one group gains wealth and political power, they do so to the detriment of others. It is a situation in which there are winners and losers and in time, fewer and fewer winners making it bigger and bigger with more and more losers making up the difference. This was causing a very unhealthy nation, both politically and spiritually that was ripe to fall. In the United States, the top 1% owns 50% of the wealth and in the last three decades, their contribution to the general well being of society, their taxes, have been cut approximately 50%. Perhaps we too should head Amos’ warning.

Lust

Monday October 1st, Amos 8: 5-6 Woe to those addicted to feeling good—life without pain! those obsessed with looking good—life without wrinkles! They could not care less about their country going to ruin. 7 But here's what's really coming: a forced march into exile. They'll leave the country whining, a rag-tag bunch of good-for-nothings. We again return to the two commands of Christ, love God, love others. In the second half of that commandment, we are called into community. We are called to view the world in a “what is best for us”, rather than “what is in it for me”, mentality. It sounds so simple, and it is simple to comprehend on the surface. As with most things that are good for us, there is often a big gap between our understanding and our doing. As you look at trends in our world, from the architecture of our dwellings to our domestic and foreign policy, there is a headlong drive toward the “what is in it for me” side of things, and if the “what is best for us” side gets a piece of the pie, it is only because the “us” is defined in very narrow terms. We find ourselves in a society whose attitudes are not much different from one Amos was speaking to. We all know what is to be done, very few are willing to make the sacrifice to do it. It is the calling of the church, and that is you and I, to help society turn it’s collective heads from the lust of inward gazing to outward awareness. Buechner defines lust as the craving for salt by a man who is dying of thirst.

Root problems

Tuesday October 2nd, 1 Timothy 6: 6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Money is not the root of all kinds of evil, it is the love of money. I have known many persons of wealth who were giving, kind, generous and humble, and many who were not. I have known many persons with very little wealth who were giving, kind, generous and humble, and many who were not. It is less our possessions than our desires and attitudes that get us on this one. Contentment for ourselves and a drive to help others is the key.

Foundational

Wednesday October 3rd, 1 Timothy 6: 17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. It is when we turn from the obsession of getting ahead at all cost and focus our energies on living a good life that is steeped in loving God and loving others that we become rich. It is the foundation on which life for ourselves and life for our community can be built. Focus on foundation building in your life and you might be surprised at how well the rest of life comes along.

Those "made" poor

Thursday October 4th, Luke 16: 19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. As you read through any of the Gospels, you will find a God-preference for the down and out. It is not so much that God wants us to be down and out as it is humanity does not care for them. Oscar Romero, a Bishop from El Salvador who was assassinated by the government for his advocacy of the poor, referred to the improvised in his nation in a word that did not mean “poor,” but rather a word that meant, “those made poor.” The rich man in Luke’s story is not a sinner because he is rich, but rather because he never noticed Lazarus at his gate.

Reach down

Friday October 5th, Luke 16: The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' 25 "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' The sin of the rich man is brought to light in hell, where even here, he sees the role of the impoverished as one of serving those who contribute to their being impoverished. Affirmative action has become a dirty word in our current world, primarily because it is seen as grubby hands reaching up rather than the hands of the well heeled reaching down.

Ever widening circles

Saturday October 6th, Luke 16: 27 "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 30 " 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 31 "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "
The rich man still gets is wrong, he does not have five brothers. Jesus redefined family not as flesh and blood, but rather as caring communities who reach out to those who are the least, the lost and the lonely. Our calling is not so much to surround ourselves with those who are like us, but rather to work at liking those who surround us in ever widening circles.

the Surge

Wonderful little youtube from Move on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulE6Ep1PFHc