Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it.
James 4:11–The Message
Love Wins
Monthly Archives: April 2011
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Becoming like that which we worship
An old axiom says that we become like that which we worship. If we worship a God of exclusion—a God who has predestined most of humanity to endless torment in Hell, then how is that going to affect how we value people? And how will that view of humanity affect how we live and act towards others? On the other hand, if we worship a God who loves, values and is actively engaged with all of humanity, how will that affect our view of people and how we act towards them?
Danny Coleman. For more, click HERE.
Love Wins
Iris
Our good goat Maggie kidded on April 16, adding little Iris to White Flint Farm.
Iris is cute, but she’s not very smart. Because of the mastitis Maggie contracted last year, one half of her milk bag produces no milk. But Iris will only nurse on that side. With the other half bursting with milk, Iris sucks in vain on the dead side.
One would think that the little goat would wise up if she got hungry enough. But she didn’t. So we had to intervene.
Cherie is bottle feeding her four times a day now.
Just more evidence of how complicated the simple life can get.
Love Wins
Presidential Faith
I can’t think of a single political issue upon which President Obama and I agree. If I still put political rants on this blog I could put up some mighty rants against his administration and his policies.
But he and I have one very important thing in common. We are both followers of Jesus Christ.
Yet over half of the evangelicals in America believe Mr. Obama is a Muslim. I get forwarded emails and see facebook posts from friends of mine who are believers, claiming that the President is a Muslim, that he is going to cancel the National Day of Prayer, that the is hostile to Christianity, etc.
That is a sad fact for many reasons. In truth, Barack Obama is one of the most overtly Christian presidents in my lifetime.
During the campaign the St. Pete Times kept track of candidates’ “God talk” with something they called the Godometer. The idea was to keep tabs on the religiosity of the candidates. At the end of the election, Barack Obama was second in their final rankings, finishing slightly below Mike Huckabee.
And since his election the President has never shied away from proclaiming his Christian faith. Consider these comments from this year’s national prayer breakfast:
“And it was through that experience working with pastors and laypeople trying to heal the wounds of hurting neighborhoods that I came to know Jesus Christ for myself and embrace Him as my lord and savior.”
“It’s also comforting to know that people are praying for you who don’t always agree with you. Tom Coburn, for example, is here. He is not only a dear friend but also a brother in Christ. We came into the Senate at the same time. Even though we are on opposite sides of a whole bunch of issues, part of what has bound us together is a shared faith, a recognition that we pray to and serve the same God.”
“When I wake in the morning, I wait on the Lord, and I ask Him to give me the strength to do right by our country and its people. And when I go to bed at night I wait on the Lord, and I ask Him to forgive me my sins, and look after my family and the American people, and make me an instrument of His will.
I say these prayers hoping they will be answered, and I say these prayers knowing that I must work and must sacrifice and must serve to see them answered. But I also say these prayers knowing that the act of prayer itself is a source of strength. It’s a reminder that our time on Earth is not just about us; that when we open ourselves to the possibility that God might have a larger purpose for our lives, there’s a chance that somehow, in ways that we may never fully know, God will use us well.”
Of course if a President of the other party had said such things the liberal media would be howling about theocracies and separation of church and state. But they stayed silent, probably embarrassed that their favorite son is a unashamed Christian. And of course the right-wing media also says nothing about it, because they want to perpetuate the false belief that the President is a Muslim.
Then consider the fact that President Obama initiated an Easter prayer breakfast. Something no other President had done.
And these are some of his comments from this year’s event:
“To all the faith leaders and the distinguished guests that are here today, welcome to our second annual — I’m going to make it annual, why not? (Laughter and applause.) Our second Easter Prayer Breakfast. The Easter Egg Roll, that’s well established. (Laughter.) The Prayer Breakfast we started last year, in part because it gave me a good excuse to bring together people who have been such extraordinary influences in my life and such great friends. And it gives me a chance to meet and make some new friends here in the White House.
I wanted to host this breakfast for a simple reason -– because as busy as we are, as many tasks as pile up, during this season, we are reminded that there’s something about the resurrection — something about the resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ, that puts everything else in perspective.
We all live in the hustle and bustle of our work. And everybody in this room has weighty responsibilities, from leading churches and denominations, to helping to administer important government programs, to shaping our culture in various ways. And I admit that my plate has been full as well. (Laughter.) The inbox keeps on accumulating. (Laughter.)
But then comes Holy Week. The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross.
And we’re reminded that in that moment, he took on the sins of the world — past, present and future — and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.
In the words of the book Isaiah: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this “Amazing Grace” calls me to reflect. And it calls me to pray. It calls me to ask God for forgiveness for the times that I’ve not shown grace to others, those times that I’ve fallen short. It calls me to praise God for the gift of his Son and our Savior.
And that’s why we have this breakfast. Because in the middle of critical national debates, in the middle of our busy lives, we must always make sure that we are keeping things in perspective. Children help do that. (Laughter.) A strong spouse helps do that. But nothing beats scripture and the reminder of the eternal.
So I’m honored that all of you have come here this Holy Week to join me in a spirit of prayer, and I pray that our time here this morning will strengthen us, both individually as believers and as Americans. And with that, let me introduce my good friend, Bishop Vashti McKenzie, for our opening prayer. (Applause.)”
I can only imagine how he must feel when he reads that so many of us believe he is lying about his faith. The reward he gets for boldly proclaiming his belief in Christ, is to be called a liar.
I didn’t vote for Mr. Obama and I have no intention of ever doing so. But bravo to him for having the courage and the character to declare his faith.
I’ll end with this statement from the President at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast:
“My Christian faith then has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years. All the more so, when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time, we are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us but whether we’re being true to our conscience and true to our God. “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.””
Well said Mr. President.
Love Wins
Backyard chickens
Just a few years ago anyone who kept chickens in their backyard would have been considered weird by the vast majority of Americans. What was once normal and commonplace, had been abnormal, unusual and often even illegal. But lately the tide has turned, dramatically. The number of folks keeping chickens has surged in the last couple of years, and the movement is still gaining momentum. All over America municipal ordinances forbidding the keeping of chickens are being repealed. Backyard chickens are returning to America.
When we moved back to the farm eight years ago, I couldn’t find a prefab chicken coop anywhere. I bought a book with building plans and I got quotes from a contractor (being incompetent to do it myself). Eventually I bought a portable storage building and converted it into a coop. We have 45 chickens living happily in it today.
But now there are lots of places selling coops, mainly the portable kind that can house a few chickens and be easily moved around in a backyard. Folks have discovered what I’ve been saying on this blog for years: chickens are easy to keep and once you’ve had eggs from naturally raised hens you won’t ever want to eat the factory version again.
It seems that yardbirds are in style. Now it’s hip to have chickens in your yard. Cool.
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First and Last
We know from much experience that everything that is priced will sooner or later be sold. And from the accumulating statistics of soil loss, land loss, deforestation, overuse of water, various sorts of pollution, etc., we have reason to fear that everything that is sold will be ruined. When everything has a price and the price is made endlessly variable by an economy without a stable relation to necessity or to real goods, then everything is disconnected from history, knowledge, respect, and affection–from anything at all that might preserve it–and so is implicitly eligible to be ruined…If we put wants (cheap food) first, we put needs (healthy soil, water, and food) last. If we put consumption first, we put health last. If we put money first, we put food last.
Wendell Berry
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Fooderal Confusion
President Obama recently presented Wendell Berry with a National Humanities Medal. At the same time his Secretary of Agriculture, Monsanto lapdog Tom Vilsac, was paying homage to the barons of industrial agriculture at the so-called Commodity Classic. You can read more on that HERE.
Stuff out of Washington shouldn’t surprise us, I reckon. But still…
Love Wins
Generosity
Studies show that people who are religious are more generous and charitable than those who are not. Many are surprised to learn that religious participation is the single greatest predictor of charitable giving. In fact, those who regularly participate in religious activities give four time more to charity than those who do not.
Interestingly,while religious people of all political persuasions are more generous than non-religious people, religious folks who are politically conservative, perhaps surprisingly, are the most generous of all. And this is true even exclusive of giving to churches and religious causes. Even if such giving isn’t counted, religious conservatives are still the most generous givers in America. Religious conservatives are not only more likely to give to give to explicitly non-religious causes, they are also more likely to give their time and even their blood.
Below is a link to a fascinating discussion of this phenomenon and an excerpt with comments from Arthur Brooks, a professor of Public Administration at Syracuse University, author of Who Really Cares. I strongly recommend reading this:
In fact, recent studies have shown that religious conservatives are the most generous givers to charity in our country. Arthur Brooks of Syracuse University performed a detailed study on which segments of society give to charity and which do not. “When I started doing research on charity,” Mr. Brooks wrote, “I expected to find that political liberals — who, I believed, genuinely cared more about others than conservatives did — would turn out to be the most privately charitable people. So when my early findings led me to the opposite conclusion, I assumed I had made some sort of technical error. I re-ran analyses. I got new data. Nothing worked. In the end, I had no option but to change my views.” Brooks found that the single biggest predictor of whether someone will be charitable is their religious participation.
Religious people are more likely to give to charity, and when they give, they give more money: four times as much. And Arthur Brooks notes that giving goes beyond their own religious organization:
“Actually, the truth is that they’re giving to more than their churches,” he says. “The religious Americans are more likely to give to every kind of cause and charity, including explicitly non-religious charities….It is one of the bitterest ironies of liberal politics today that political opinions are apparently taking the place of help for others.”
Brooks also notes that religious conservatives are more likely to give time to charities, and even to give blood.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/219537/right-cares/interview
Sadly, it seems that many “liberals” and non-religious people who advocate for social justice and help for the poor, just don’t put their money where their mouth is. For many of them (and I realize of course that there are many very generous non-religious political liberals) they must believe they satisfy whatever obligation they feel to be charitable, by voting a particular way.
Imagine how much good could be done if these folks would step up and be as charitable as their religious conservative fellow citizens.
And ponder why, as a group, folks who are religious are more generous in all ways than those who are not.
Love Wins
Living Up to the Light We Have
John Wesley was the founder of Methodism and a tireless evangelist. He devoted his life to spreading the gospel and initiated a revival that swept the English-speaking world. So what did he say on the question of whether God’s grace and mercy extended only to “Christians”? Are only those who assent to certain propositions–only those who “believe” certain things–admitted to the kingdom of Heaven? Consider this, from his sermon “On Faith”:
The next sort of faith is the faith of Heathens, with which I join that of Mahometans. I cannot but prefer this before the faith of the Deists; because, though it embraces nearly the same objects, yet they are rather to be pitied than blamed for the narrowness of their faith. And their not believing the whole truth, is not owing to want of sincerity, but merely to want of light. When one asked Chicali, an old Indian Chief, “Why do not you red men know as much as us white men?” he readily answered, “Because you have the great Word, and we have not.”
It cannot be doubted, but this plea will avail for millions of modern Heathens. Inasmuch as to them little is given, of them little will be required. As to the ancient Heathens, millions of them, likewise were savages. No more therefore will be expected of them, than the living up to the light they had. But many of them, especially in the civilized nations, we have great reason to hope, although they lived among Heathens, yet were quite of another spirit; being taught of God, by His inward voice, all the essentials of true religion.
No more was expected of them than living up to the light they had? God’s inward voice can teach the essentials of true religion to those who aren’t “Christian”?
If John Wesley were alive today and made those comments, he’d catch some heat. But he’d be in good company.
Love Wins
