Environmental Protection - An Issue for Christians?

What is a Christian's responsibility toward protecting the earth? According to scripture, the earth and all that is in it is God's creation and he said it was good - at least before the fall of man. It seems that since the time when Adam was kicked out of the garden he was originally charged to tend, the environment has been seen more as something to be used rather than something to be sustained.

Many Christians reason that God gave us dominion over the earth so we have the right exploit it however we choose. Still others think that its "all going to burn" in the end, so why worry about the environment; God will take us out of here before its entirely ruined. Many people just fall into the category of "out of sight out of mind". Once something goes into the sky or the river, it just magically goes away. Just this week, I had to stop someone at work from hosing his waste material into the river. He was very irate that he couldn't do that. This type of person thinks that people who administer environmental rules are just a pain in their backside who keep anything productive from happening or make things more difficult than they need to be.

The Reverend Richard Cizik, of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) provided these thoughts: http://www.thegreatwarming.com/revrichardcizik.html . Of course NAE recently fired Rev. Cizik. To be fair, it wasn't for his stand on environmental issues but for being too agreeable with certain gay rights issues (he supports Civil Unions).

Certainly God loves people but do you think He also has an interest in the earth He gave us to dwell in?

Go Beavs!!!

In case you didn't catch the game, un-ranked Oregon State University (my alma mater by the way) upset the No. 1 University of Southern California Trojans 27 - 21 on Thursday night in Corvallis.

I usually don't follow the Beavers too awful closely. When I was at school there, I think I only went to one football game - they were terrible back then. They were more of a basketball school. The UW is still my team - as awful as they have been the past few years.

Whether you are a Husky or a Beaver, either way USC is the team you love to hate. So this game was especially fun to watch. The Trojans were run over by a freshman running back who stands significantly under six feet. The defense shut down Southern Cal's offense.

Well done...GO BEAVS!!!

Guess Who Is Back

Well I think it lasted about two months, but Bryan brought Austin back last week. Bryan is now living near Jacksonville Beach and couldn't keep the dog at his new place.

So now we have the dog that we never petitioned for custody of back for about the third time and Laura has her shadow to follow her around the house.

Banff Trip

Here are a few of the photos that we took while in and around Banff.

First a couple of shots of our hotel - or "Canada's Castle in the Rockies" as it is called:

Banff is situated in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, within Banff National Park - Canada's first national park. It is a very scenic place. We had beautiful weather most of the time we were there - highs in the low to mid-70's. We did have one drizzly day. Here are a few of the sights that we caught on camera:

If you would like to see more, don't worry. We have 248 photos that we have had developed so others can share in the sights of our trip. Family members are expected to sit through the whole pile and act interested.

Wonderful Children

We had such a great time at Banff! One of the most memorable parts was walking into our room and seeing an assortment of chocolates and a plate of cheese and crackers waiting for us on our table. The tray with the chocolates was hand decorated in chocolate and also contained edible decorations made out of chocolate. In addition, there was a bottle of champagne on ice. Our first thought was what a wonderful hotel.

We were informed upon our arrival that our room had been upgraded to have a better view. Our room was on the eighth floor facing Mt. Rundle and we could see the Bow River and the Spray River from our window - what a wonderful hotel!

However, we noticed that there were note cards on the table too. The first note was from Chrissy, Bryan and Andrew wishing us a happy anniversary. The chocolates cheese and crackers were from our children - what wonderful children! Chrissy had called to set the whole thing up for our anniversary trip. Because she told the hotel that we were on our anniversary, they upgraded our room and provided a bottle of champagne courtesy of the Regional Manager. If Chrissy hadn't called, we probably wouldn't have had such a nice room with such a nice view.

Anyway, when Laura learned that our children had set this up, she spent the next 10 to 15 minutes crying and insisted on calling all three to let them know how wonderful they are and how much we love them. You can see Laura on the photo below teary-eyed as she talks to Chrissy.

Its wonderful having children who are so thoughtful and who remembered us on this special anniversary trip - we love you guys!

The New, Less Aerodynamic Hyundai Sonata

Now that a few days have passed and the shock has subsided, I will report on the devastation perpetrated on my lovely new car.

Was it pure accident or perhaps something purposeful - something deep and dark in her soul? We will probably never know for sure. All I do know is that in backing my car out of her mom's driveway, Laura turned, bringing the right front fender into contact with the bumper of Phil's truck (actually, I think it really is Sally's). Fortunately, there was no damage to the truck and most importantly, no one was hurt. Phil wasn't even in his truck, though he was able to watch the whole thing.

So why would I even suggest that it might be anything other than an accident? Maybe because of the pattern. I refer, of course, back to March 1987. Back to the only other time in my life that I owned a new car. Back to a time when I first met Laura. At that time, when we were dating, she also tried to scar my lovely new car by tearing the arm rest off of the door. I know she did something else to my new car during that time but my mind has blocked it out - a repressed memory.

So, what to do? The insurance company can arrange to fix my car, but what will fix the anxiety I feel?

Two Down, One to Go!

Or is that three down three to go?

A week ago, Bryan moved out of the house to live with three friends in a house in Fruit Cove. In case you are curious, no it isn't any closer to his work at Jacksonville Beach than here at home. But he is living with friends and at least he doesn't have to cross the River to get there. Oh, and he also took Austin (the dog) with him - making three down. Now we just have Andrew and two cats to go - three more.

Bryan is living in a very large, four bedroom, three and a half bath house that his friend Steve is purchasing. So far, it sounds as if the guys have it made - or should I say maid? They have a number of girls who are friends of the guys who come over and clean house. One even washed Bryan's clothes. He didn't have it that good at home.

Then there was the question about the square cut out of the carpet in Bryan's bedroom. We noticed it after he moved out. It really made me curious. The square had been hidden under Bryan's bed. It turns out that some time ago, Bryan took a bowl of chili mixed with BBQ sauce into his room to eat and spilled it on to his carpet. He couldn't get the stain out so he cut out the carpet and covered the hole with carpet that he cut out of the back of his closet. I'm sure he didn't say anything since we were often telling the boys to be careful with food and questioning them about stains on the hallway carpet leading to their rooms.

Now we will begin to change the room into my Northwest room/office. We'll move the computer desk in there from the kitchen so we have more room for cooking and eating. There may be a problem however. Laura wants to make the room for Emma when she comes over - book shelves full of her children's books, bed, etc. - we shall see...

Andrew Graduates!

On Wednesday evening, June 4th 2008, Andrew graduated from Edward H. White High School at a ceremony held at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. This culminated twelve years of schooling starting with Crystal Springs Elementary, Trinity Christian Academy (Middle School and part of High School), home schooling (Junior year), and Ed White (Senior year).

Andrew's entire family (including grandparents) and Jamie attended the ceremony - Chrissy drove up from Pompano Beach, my Mom and Dad flew in from Washington State, and even Bryan came after he got off work. We are all very proud of his accomplishment (I touched the diploma to ensure that it was real!)

Bryan is Sworn In

Bryan was sworn in this afternoon and received his badge in a ceremony at the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. Chief of Police Bruce Thomason led Bryan and Sandra, the other rookie officer, through their oath of office and then Laura was invited to pin on Bryan's badge.





The Chief made a short speech, emphasizing that the new officers need to embrace and live the values of the Department which were posted around the room - both as police officers and in their private lives. He also welcomed the rookies into the family of the Jacksonville Beach Police Department.

Bryan's first day on patrol will be Sunday. So far, he has been going through orientation - human resources stuff, touring the facilities, getting outfitted with equipment.


Tuesday night, Bryan brought home all of the stuff that had been issued to him (except for his gun) - rain gear, flashlights, uniforms, handcuffs, and riot gear. It was like Christmas in May. I think Laura got as much or more of a kick out of it than did Bryan.

"A Day of Love" Outreach Event

Here are some photos that I meant to post earlier this week. As you can see, the event was quite well received - clothes give away; blood pressure check; fish fry; snow cones; drinks; big inflatable toys; etc... Just to show the community on Franklin Street that they aren't forgotten and that somebody cares.

As great the amount of clothes given away, it sure didn't seem to put a dent in the amount remaining. Funny how that keeps happening. We'll need a warehouse soon to house the clothing ministry.

The fish fry was also a major hit. It helped that the fish was awesome tasting (the grits on the other hand were still grits). One man made about eight take out plates of fish and fixings and took them with him - I guess when you don't know where your next meal is coming from you take what you can when it is available.

Officer Bryan On Duty

Monday morning Bryan reports for his first day on the job with the Jacksonville (Jax) Beach Police Department. Since graduation, Bryan passed the State law enforcement exam, had a final interview with Jax Beach including the Chief of Police, took a physical, and qualified on the firing range.

He will start out in the Patrol Division. Check here for more information about the Jax Beach Police Department: http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org/index.asp?nid=17

Last Monday was his last night with UPS, where he has worked for several years. Now he will have to get used to working days and sleeping nights.

Bryan Graduates from the Police Academy

Last Thursday, April 24th, Bryan graduated from the Police Academy at St. Johns River Community College (actually it is called the Criminal Justice Training Program). Laura and I are very proud of him for how hard he has worked at this. He has been commuting to the campus in St. Augustine, about an hour each way, every day for about nine months. Class usually let out about 10:00 p.m. at which time he had to rush back to the westside of Jacksonville to get to his job at UPS.

Bryan earned both "High Academic Honors" and "High Liability Honors", the only one in his class of 35 to do so. Bryan has been single-minded about going into law enforcement for many years now. This shows what he can accomplish in an area he is passionate about.

Next week he will be taking his State Exam down in Deland, Florida. The following week he has an interview with the Chief of Police with one of the local police departments - the last step in their hiring process. We are praying that all will go well with both the exam and the interview. I'm confident that Bryan will make an excellent police officer.

Washing Feet

Last night at our Maundy Thursday service we included Foot Washing as part of the service. I must admit that I was very curious when this was in the planning phase about how this would go over with the congregation. Its been years since we've done foot washing at West Jax.

Obviously, many people feel uncomfortable with the idea of someone handling or washing their feet. Because of this, we didn't push to have everyone participate. Twelve volunteers were identified prior to the start of the service to have the elders and pastors wash their feet - all others present were also invited to participate - which several did. One of the children even asked if they could come back for a second time. A number of people came forward and asked to wash the feet of the pastors and elders - this was a very humbling experience for me.

It's even more humbling to think how Christ, God incarnate, was willing to wash the feet of His disciples. The Son of God performing the task that in His day was only done by a servant. But I guess that is the point. This is quite a contrast to "leaders" today.

While foot washing might not be culturally relevant today, I wonder what menial tasks are. What seemingly lowly acts of service might come my way that would give me the opportunity to serve someone else - to love another as Christ loved - sacrificially. I pray that I would never think so highly of myself that I would miss the opportunity to show Christ's love in this way.

Please Forward This To Everyone in Your Email Address List…

Chain emails are something I can’t stand. They show up from co-workers, family members, and especially fellow Christians warning against some great evil that is about to happen. You are implored to pass it on to everyone you know. Of course the people who send them usually don’t forward this type of thing, but “this one is different”.

Its not that I can’t just delete them – I can. However, at best, it makes me wonder about the gullibility of people; at worst, I think it is very damaging to the Kingdom of God.

There seems to be a very predictable formula for concocting a good email rumor. You start with a good serving of some group we know and distrust/dislike (e.g. liberals, ACLU, politicians). Add to that a subject that either pulls at our heart strings or gets our blood boiling (e.g. religious freedom, our troops, the flag, little children). Include an impending deadline and some people with some official sounding titles. End with a plea to send the story forward to everyone you know. Enjoy, your chain email rumor is ready. I’m not sure what people get out of creating email hoaxes, however, if they use the standard recipe they can be pretty much assured that people will pick it up and run with it.

So how can this be damaging to the Kingdom of God? Its not just about passing on slander and gossip, which I believe the Bible clearly defines as sin, but I think at the heart of it is the issue of credibility. The rumors make their way into discussions or sermons or even calls to action at church. As Christians, we are called to tell people some pretty incredible news – The Son of God came and died and rose again. If I was not a Christian and I knew that Christians commonly passed on untrue information and stories, I would never believe them. I would not believe what they said about Jesus nor would I believe anything they had to say about answers to prayer from God. Trustworthiness is something that should describe the character of all Christians. It is import because it is the nature of God – it is import to God being able to use us for His purpose.

Lastly, people have asked, “How am I to know?” as an excuse when passing on one of these hoaxes. Sometimes it is hard to tell what is true or not – but I believe if we are passing something on as true, we should be fairly sure that it is. Did it come as an email chain letter? That is a good indication right there that it may be false. You can also check out such web sites as snopes.com or truthorfiction.com. These sites might not be faultless but at least they do provide some background documentation.

By the way, please don’t forward this to anyone! ; )

Biblish

During church services, my mind often wanders to the question of whether visitors understand the message due to the words being used.

Organizations, industries, and cultures adopt terms and words that the group understands – often shortcuts to more complex ideas – but that others outside of the group don’t readily use or understand. In addition to facilitating communication, using this jargon helps people feel like they belong, that they are part of the group. The Church is no different. We’ve adopted words and developed phrases to express Biblical truths and meanings that are often gibberish to the community around us. I call this Church Speak or Biblish. I’m as guilty as anyone in using Biblish.

Years ago, this wasn’t such an issue as it was fairly safe to assume that in America, most people had a church background and were “schooled” in the use of Church Speak. Today, this is a fairly poor assumption as a large percentage of the population is un-churched. In his book “Evangelism That Works”, George Barna reports that in one study, only one-third of those questioned knew what the phrase “The Gospel” meant – and that’s one I would think most people would know. What about other words and phrases such as “washed in the blood”, “lamb of God”, “hedge of protection”, “testimony”, “Great Commission”, “born again”, “in the flesh”, “witness”, or even “sin”.

Should we care?

I believe we should be a missional church (that’s probably another example of Church Speak). By missional, I like Tim Keller’s definition of, “adapting and reformulating absolutely everything it did in worship, discipleship, community, and service--so as to be engaged with the non-Christian society around it.” Keller says a couple of things regarding communication and being missional:

“The missional church avoids 'tribal' language, stylized prayer language, unnecessary
evangelical pious 'jargon', and archaic language that seeks to set a 'spritual tone.'”; and

“The missional church avoids ever talking as if non-believing people are not present. If you
speak and discourse as if your whole neighborhood is present (not just scattered Christians),
eventually more and more of your neighborhood will find their way in or be invited.”

We are seeing more and more new people from our surrounding community attending services Sundays and Wednesday evenings. Many of these people don’t have a church background. We need to be intentional about the language we use so that they can understand and feel part of the church.

The Business of Business is...Greed

Exxon Mobil Corporation announced the largest annual profit ever by a U.S. company - $40.6 billion! (they also held the previous record of $39.5 billion, which Exxon Mobil reported for 2006). This all at a time when record fuel prices are pushing up the cost of everything else - including food, heating, and transportation.

The quote, "The business of business is business", supposedly stated by Economist Milton Friedman, is drilled into Business majors in college. I certainly heard it when I was working toward my Masters Degree in Management. It goes along with the belief in a free market and capitalism. But how far should that mantra extend? Does business have any obligations or duties to the society in which it flourishes?

For many years, I've considered myself a conservative Christian and tended to vote Republican. Lately, I've become very uncomfortable about the strong ties between Republican policy and big business. Republican politicians seem to think that what is good for business is good for everybody. It bothered me that the first place that Mitt Romney visited upon arrival in Jacksonville during the Florida Primary campaign was Gate Petroleum. Republicans talk about conservative values and expect Christians to fall in line behind them. Is greed a conservative value? If it is, I guess I need to rethink the idea about being conservative. My Lord certainly spoke out against greed and taking advantage of the poor.

I'd probably give up on Republicans except that Democratic politicians leave me cold too.

"Christian" Candidates

In his book "God's Politics" author Jim Wallis states:

It is important to remember that the particular religiosity of a candidate, or even how devout they might be, is less important than how their religious and/or moral commitments and values shape their political vision and their policy commitments. If one's religious and ethical convictions don't shape a condidate's (or a citizen's) public life - what kind of commitments are they?"

What do you think? I tend to agree. I think a lot of politicians snooker Christians into voting for them by playing the religious card. But it is one thing to talk about it during the campaign and another to do it when in office. A Christian politician's efforts in office should reflect the image and values of Christ - ALL of them - not just a couple select Christian hot-buttons intended to get them re-elected.

Otherwise, I'd rather vote for a non-believer who is committed to fighting poverty, bringing justice, strengthening the family, the sacredness of life, being honest, and protecting the environment, to name a few. Things I think my Lord would be interested in.

A Tragedy?

So who the heck is Heath Ledger???

Of course by now I know. I guess I had heard the name before when all the flap about the movie "Brokeback Mountain" came out and I remember him now from "The Patriot". But this is getting ridiculous. In the last couple of days I've seen articles about how his massage therapist found him and called Mary Kate Olsen before she ever called 911; what Jack Nicholson had to say when he heard; how playing the character "the Joker" emotionally drained him; how Mel Gibson had distanced himself from him; and how Daniel Day-Lewis had paid tribute to him on Oprah. And that was just on FoxNews.com.

Maybe Joseph Stalin was correct when he said, "The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic."

How many thousands died today from preventable diseases such as malaria or AIDS; malnutrition; unclean water; exposure to the elements; or war. I didn't see one article on those people today or even this week on any of the news sites. Yet Hollywood and the press are going crazy over the death of this one man from a suspected drug overdose.

Uncounted numbers of people have their lives torn apart or die every day in this country due to drug dependency problems. Yet, unless their name is Lohan, Spears, or now Ledger no attention will come to it.

Heath Ledger's death is a tragedy - a waste. It's just too bad that the thousands of people who die each day from preventable causes have become a faceless statistic. Maybe death on such a large scale is beyond human comprehension. I probably couldn't handle the enormity of the tragedy. But I do know the one who knows and cares for each life lost, for each life caught up in the entanglements of this world. May He break my heart daily for those who go through life's struggles unnoticed and uncared for by our society. That is a tragedy.

A Dog in the Fight

I probably shouldn't use that title with what went on with the Michael Vick scandal and all, but...

Recently we've been hearing alot about HIV/AIDS in Africa at church. A week ago, Children of the World presented a concert at the church. Some of the children were orphans due to AIDS. They presented some very moving videos and testimonies about the ravages of this disease. Today Paul and Pastor Sam are leaving to travel to Africa with World Vision to see first hand the impact that AIDS and poverty are having there. The Advent Christian General Conference is moving towards a partnership with World Vision as part of our denomination's outreach strategy. World Vision is a Christian-based organization that is much more knowledgeable and capable than us when it comes to addressing hunger, lack of clean water, lack of education and opportunities, and health issues around the world. I especially like World Vision's strategy of addressing the needs of the entire community, including health, clean water, and agriculture. When the opportunity arises and after trust has been gained, they also address spiritual needs, but in a low-key way. They treat communities in a holistic way.

The focus on AIDS is because of the enormity of the problem. AIDS is killing off the leadership of families and communities. A whole generation may be wiped out leaving the elderly and children to care for themselves. Why specifically Africa? Because of the 3.1 million deaths worldwide reported yearly by the Yale AIDS Watch, 2.2 million of the deaths are in Africa. Thinking of it in terms of the tsunami that devastated parts of Indonesia -150,000 lives lost to that disaster and the world couldn't stop talking about it. There was an overwhelming response. But in Africa, over 150,000 lives are lost every month to AIDS. A tsunami every month, and hardly a word.

As Rich Sterns, head of World Vision, notes, the lead in the fight against HIV/AIDS and in showing compassion to its victims has been from "the homosexual community, Hollywood, rock stars, political liberals, the U.S. government, the United Nations, secular humanitarian organizations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation." Where has the Church been? I think the Church has been caught up in the blame game - that people are reaping what they sow. The Church disapproves of behaviors such as drug use, promiscuity and homosexuality - behaviors that can lead to contracting HIV. Some even believe that this is a judgement from God on sinners. Therefore, the Church is less than compassionate about people who contract this disease. The question of prejudice also come to mind in regard to Africa. People have questioned whether the loss of life that is occurring there would be tolerated in any other area of the world.

The Church does have a dog in this fight! Our Lord has called us to be the light of the world; to take care of the widows and orphans, the hungry, sick and the naked. To show compassion, love and grace to people. As Pastor Sam stated last Wednesday night, just because we didn't cause it or just because we don't see it doesn't take away our responsibility to do something. I am encouraged that more and more evangelical Christian churches and organizations are catching a hold of that idea. I applaud the leadership of the Advent Christian General Conference for taking the step of sending representatives to Africa to better understand how we can fight against this evil and to show the love of Christ.

AIDS in Africa or elsewhere may not be the fight that pulls at your heart. Maybe that is not where God is leading you to give or to serve. There are plenty of other needs out there in this dark world - plenty of other fights. The important thing is to pick a fight and jump in!