Congratulations, America!!

Congratulations, America!!! You are 240 years old and have managed to elect the most incompetent, unqualified, and least temperamentally appropriate person to be our President for the next four years.

I'll spare you the pages and pages of how he is unqualified. Just a few instances will suffice. The New York Times listed all the people that he insulted on a two page spread. Numerous other newspapers chose to support Hillary Clinton. The KKK loves him and David Duke wants to be his buddy. But, no, America, you thought that putting the most misogynistic, homophobic, and bigoted candidate into the highest position of leadership in our country was a good idea.

By the time you're hung over and reading this, you might have figured out that you made a major screw-up.

But, it's only four years. If you can keep him away from the nuclear codes and Twitter and keep him from insulting any foreign dictators, you can probably make it through. After all, most government stuff is run by bureaucracy anyway, right? 

Okay. I'm done being snarky. It was the migraine talking.

In reality though, we have a President who has marginalized many minority groups. We have to deal with this. People of color, LGBTQ friends, and immigrants have all been made to feel unwelcome during this campaign. They are scared. How do I know? Because some of them are my friends. It's now time for us to fix the damage that this campaign has done.

We have to love hard. Love when it hurts. Love people you don't want to love (yes, even the homophobic bigot or the immigrant of questionable legality). Love like Jesus loved.

Give. Give till it hurts. Give your time. Give your love. Give whatever someone else needs.

We aren't going to make it through the next four years if we let this administration keep dividing us. That means that people like me who see this election as a huge dumpster fire are going to have to put it behind me because many of the people I love in my family and circle of friends are happy with the outcome of the election. 

We're all going to have to love hard.

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

CCM

As always, please let me know any thoughts or ideas you have in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!

What I'm Up To

School is about to start which means that Chris (Wild Man) is about to go off to college (although I expect he'll be home a lot of weekends) and Patrick (PWM) will be back to teaching. And, I'll be home with the cats during the day. What's someone with chronic migraine to do?

What will I do with myself? I thought about taking a seminary class on Genesis or New Testament Survey. The problem is that my headaches tend to show up at inconvenient times - like when papers are due or when online discussion groups are scheduled. I might try it another time, but I've got a few other things to keep me busy until then.

It turns out that I have a bunch of books that I've purchased or that have been given to me that I haven't read (or started and haven't finished) yet. This fall seems like the perfect opportunity.

• The Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight (almost done)
• Hearing God by Dallas Willard
• A Fine-Tuned Universe by Alister McGrath
• C.S. Lewis: A Life by Alister McGrath
• Confessions by St. Augustine (Lydia and I are reading this together and getting together for discussions every month or so.)
• The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight
• Serious Dangerous Religion by Iain Provan
• Darwinism and the Divine by Alister McGrath
• Ancient-Future Time by Robert E. Webber
• black and white bible: black and blue wife by Ruth Tucker
• The Heaven Promise by Scot McKnight
• The Epistles of St. John by F.F. Bruce

Now that I look at the list, it seems a little daunting. It might take more than the fall, especially since I plan to continue to reading some fiction from the library on the side. As always, friend me on Goodreads (Catherine Martin) to see what I'm reading and what I've thought of my recent reads.

Of course, I'm going to knit. I've got a few projects planned for the next year or two.

• Christmas presents - No, I won't tell you what they are. Some of the recipients read this blog.
• A Fair Isle sweater from a kit from Knit Picks. I actually made this sweater several years ago in XL. Unfortunately, when I was washing and blocking it, I thought I could get away with spinning it in the dryer for a couple of minutes to get a bit of the water out of it. No. It felted. I ordered a couple more balls of yarn and I'm working on another sweater. I've got the sleeves almost done. I'm much more confident on this sweater now that I know how to knit and cut steeks.
• I love modular knitting. I found a cool pattern in a book that I have and I actually have enough yarn to make it!! It's a short sleeved sweater, so I'll probably try to make it for spring.
• I'm working on a double-knit scarf. I wanted to enter it in the County Fair this year, but I've only got six inches done so far and the Fair is next week. I'm on row 70 out of 500. Yeah. I'll enter it in the Fair next year. But, I'll work on it this year.
• For when my head aches and I don't want to think, I'm making a blanket that's mostly garter stitch.
• When I get another itch to organize something I'll organize all my works-in-progress (WIPs).

Other things I want to do between headaches

• Coloring! I've got my coloring books and pencils that are great for a rainy day.
• Pokemon Go! I am having a great time with this game. I've changed my walking routine so that I can stop by a couple of PokeStops for PokeBalls a couple of times.
• Internet Monk (www.internetmonk.com) is doing a study on the book of James that I'm following along with.
• Clean out the basement. We have stuff that needs to be given away and stuff to be thrown away.
• Clean the upstairs closet. This will take all of 30 minutes once I set my mind to it. I hope.
• Re-organize my room. When we made Lydia's room into a room for our exchange student, we emptied her desk's contents into a box and left the box in our room. I need to deal with that box along with other stuff in our room.

Right now, though, the Olympics are on, so I am going to watch the Olympics and knit.

What are your plans for the Fall? Anything interesting?

CCM

Stray Thoughts About the Olympics

Once every four years, I, like much of America, become interested in sports that I otherwise care little about. Like diving and swimming. For two weeks, I'm glued to the TV. Eight years ago, both kids were being homeschooled, so we did a fun unit study on Beijing and sports. This year, it's just me. (PWM is at a conference for educational stuff and Wild Man is working a lot.)

Here are some random observations from the first week.

• Rugby is like football with fewer rules. But, if you already know about rugby, then you already know that. Or there are rules, but I don't know them.
• The Fiji rugby team is very religious. A quick look at Wikipedia shows that 99% of people in Fiji are Christian, most of those Methodist, due to 19th century missionary work. The commentators said that the rugby players not only pray before and after matches, but before and after workouts. Individual players can be seen praying when they are on the sidelines during matches. As a Christian, I think this is cool.
• And, how about Katie Ledecki?! She is killing it this week!!!
• Michael Phelps is cool, too!
• I'm very glad that the commentators are finally talking more about Katinka Hosszu and her swimming than her husband. Yes, it's interesting that her husband is her coach and that she's improved since he became her coach and that he is a maniac at cheering her on, but SHE'S the one doing the swimming! Let's focus on the swimmer - like with all the other swimmers!
• What the heck is with the diving pools turning green? There are some interesting theories!
• It was actually cool enough the other night that the beach volleyball players wore clothes! More than bikinis!
• And, yes, the most amazing gymnast in the world was homeschooled! 
• Field hockey is an actual sport! I thought it was just something to keep us busy in middle school PE class.
• Olympic table tennis is serious, people! I watched some of it yesterday and those athletes were working. No more jokes about ping pong!
• Those "cupping" bruises look painful, but they're supposed to help.
• The kinesio-tape industry must be making a fortune off the Olympics!

That's all for the moment. There's more than a week left for more observations. What have you noticed?

CCM

Spiritual Growth

Let's start off with the fact that I'm not an expert in spiritual growth, OK. I'm trying to walk with Jesus the best that I can, but I'm pretty sure that there are times that he's dragging me along and shaking his head. But, a couple of things about spiritual growth came up that I want to explore. So, here we go.

Al Mohler is quoted as saying, "Our spiritual maturity will never exceed our knowledge of the Bible" by Tim Challies (which I saw on Twitter). On the face of it, this seems like a reasonable statement. After all, the Bible is how we know about Jesus for the most part, so it seems like it's needed for spiritual growth.

On closer inspection, though, the argument breaks down. From a logical and historical point of view, there are problems. It follows from this statement that seminary professors and other well-educated people would necessarily be spiritually wiser than those less able to avail themselves of such knowledge. Yet, I dare say that we all know that this is just not the case.

It also doesn't work biblically. According to scripture, the way to grow spiritually is through trials. James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (See also Romans 5. And Job. And Lamentations.) Our walk with Jesus becomes closer and deeper with the more life that we live, particularly the hardships of life.

This brings me to the other quote I came across this week. "It is spiritually formative to be dissatisfied and unable to resolve it." Dallas Willard. Stop and read that again. He doesn't say that we learn something through resolving it. Rather, his point is that the very state of being stuck and not being able to fix it is the place where God wants us to be. That is the point where Jesus meets us. 

Yes, the Bible is the foundation of our faith. Yes, we study and learn as much as we can about Jesus. But, our spiritual maturity comes not from books and computers; it comes from experience and time with Jesus. When we are dissatisfied and can't do anything about it, it's time to get real with Jesus.

This is why that statement by Mohler was so elitist. It assumes that every Christian has unlimited access to scripture. Many believers have limited access to Bibles and even less to commentaries, etc. Yet, they are not lacking in faith. They are living their faith and walking with Jesus with the scripture they know. I have a feeling that God's OK with that.



CCM

Theistic Evolution and the Authority of Scripture

Does theistic evolution undermine the authority of scripture? First of all, why do I even ask the question? It came up during a conversation on Facebook. Where all good questions come from!

The answer to the question is NO. 

Why doesn't theistic evolution (or evolutionary creationism) undermine the authority of scripture? Because the Bible is not a science book. Genesis one was never intended to tell us about how the universe was created. 

The Bible is a reliable source of information about God and his plan for humanity. The first chapter of Genesis is a creation hymn of the ancient Israelites that was intended to differentiate them from the rest of the Ancient Near Eastern World. It was to show that one God created the world instead of the pantheon of gods that other civilizations claimed.

Even though I firmly believe in evolutionary creationism, I take the Bible very seriously. The Bible was inspired by God. It is not to be taken lightly. But, neither is it to be always read literally. Every portion of the Bible was written in a certain time and place and to a certain people. It is our responsibility as readers of the Bible to learn all we can about the context of the text so that we can make a reasonable interpretation.

So, when we read the first chapter in Genesis, we see that it is a poetic hymn written by a pre-scientific people. (Note: Calling ancient Israelites "pre-scientific" is not intended to be disparaging. These people were intelligent, but their culture had not yet developed the scientific method so their understanding of the universe was different from ours.) Reading the Bible this way is not frivolous or "loose". It is trying to understand the text for what it is.

For more reading on this topic, I would highly recommend anything on the BioLogs website or anything by Denis Lamoreux, a theologian and biologist. 

Your thoughts??

CCM

Tow Trucks, Sanders, and Jesus

I came across this article in the Huffington Post the other day. I wasn't going to write about it, but I posted it on Facebook. A friend commented on it and then I commented on his comment and my comment got so long and I just decided to write an entire blog post on it.

The basic story is this: A disabled young woman with psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia (she's got other illnesses, but those are most pertinent) was in a car wreck. After the wreck, someone was able to move her car off the highway so she was safe. The tow truck arrived, but the tow truck driver saw the Sanders sticker on her car and said that he was a conservative Christian and that he, in good conscience, could not tow her. He said that she was safe in her car with the air conditioning on while she waited for another tow truck.

Folks, this is what happens when we can pick and choose who to serve based on "sincerely held religious beliefs." First it was bakers and photographers for gay people, now it is tow truck drivers leaving disabled women on the side of the road for having different political beliefs. We're going back to Jim Crow, but based on whatever the heck we want. This is wrong. And, it's not Jesus-like. Jesus would have baked the cake, taken the pictures, and towed the woman's car. And more. Because that's what he tells us to do. (Matthew 5:38-48)

 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Matthew 5:40-42

Jesus is telling his followers that if a Roman soldier tells you to carry his load for a mile (which they were allowed to do), that they should not only carry it a mile, but carry it for two miles. We are to do more than is required, even for our "enemies". (The Jews weren't exactly friends with the Romans.)

It's pretty clear to me, here that Jesus is telling us to do more than is required to be a loving neighbor. And to be loving to people with whom we disagree. In fact, to whom might even be our enemies. I don't consider Sanders supporters to be my enemies (my daughter is one!).

My friend commented the following: 

And the people that won't do concerts or do business in NC? How about the mayor on NYC saying don't go to Click Filet? Do they get a pass on this?

My response:

Traditionally, it is the purchaser of services that chooses to whom they give their custom. This allows for competition in the marketplace. For example, we tried to entice people to purchase yarn from us by carrying different types of yarn than the yarn stores in Appleton and Stevens Point. But, in this country, a public establishment, like a business, is not legally allowed to discriminate in who they serve, hire, etc. (Note: this applies to public establishments, not private. So, churches are exempt and are free to choose not to hire women, or those with whom they disagree.) A business that is open to the public is legally required (and I would argue, ethically required) to serve anyone to chooses their business.

When someone disagrees with a business's policies or stance on an issue, an individual or group of people can choose not to give their custom to that business. For example, the Southern Baptist Convention for years encouraged people to boycott Disney. Liberal groups have encouraged people to boycott ChikFilA. Conservatives are choosing to boycott Target. These are all legal and ethical ways to show one's lack of support for a business. No one can make you choose to shop at a particular business.

Yes, this is the opposite of businesses who can't choose who to serve. But, remember the sit-ins of the 60s when African Americans were lynched just for the right to be served in the same establishments as whites. Public accommodations are for everyone, no matter their race, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. 

I can shop in any store I want. No one can turn me away because I'm a woman or a Christian. No one should be able to refuse to tow my car because I'm a Republican. The very idea of having to have a set of towing companies for liberals and a set for conservatives is laughable! It just reeks of Jim Crow! We won't stand for that kind of discrimination by race and we shouldn't stand for it for any other reason.

Back to the original post. A man used the argument that he should not serve a woman with whom he disagrees because he's a follower of Jesus. I just can't go there. Jesus was always hanging out with people with whom he disagreed. And there's no evidence that they always changed their ways and became his followers. He certainly didn't require him to become his followers before he would love them.

And here's a radical idea. That Sanders supporter might be a Christian!! Is it so hard to believe? The tow truck operator used one little bit of identification to decide that she was his "enemy" without talking to her or learning anything about her. Who knows?

In any case, as Jesus followers, we are required to live in this world. We are to be lights shining in the darkness. We can't do that when we tell people that we won't associate with them. We have to know people, talk to them, love them. We can't do that when we label them from a bumper sticker and then refuse them service.

And, yet once again, we are back to LOVE!! Jesus wants us to love people, whether we like them or not. And to love them practically. Even when it hurts. So go love someone!!!

What do you think about all this??

Is God Angry with Liberia?

It appears that some of the clergy in Liberia think so. I disagree. At least as far as God is angry with anyone. The clergy who made this statement believe that God is angry with Liberia for the sin that the those in the country have committed and allowed to be committed, so God is permitting the Ebola virus “plague” to spread throughout the country.

God can certainly judge cities and nations as He did in the Old Testament. He is, after all, God. But, in the Old Testament, He made it very clear to a city or country that He was judging them before He wiped them out or allowed them to be conquered (i.e. Sodom and Gomorrah). In more recent times, natural disasters haven’t been accompanied by clear warnings or words from God. And this Ebola catastrophe doesn’t appear to be an obvious judgment since it covers multiple countries and is affecting people of all ages, races, occupations, etc.

A few years ago, a tsunami occurred that was devastating to Indonesia and other countries.  Was this God’s anger for something that Indonesia did? In the 19th century, the volcano Krakatoa erupted and killed many people. What about the Lisbon earthquake? And we can’t forget the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

We live in a world that God created with these natural forces that sometimes cause upheaval for the humans that He also created. Ebola virus lives naturally in fruit bats without too much fuss. Every once in a while, it will get into a human and cause a small epidemic. But, now that humans don’t always live in villages, Ebola is able to spread farther and cause more havoc.

Why does God allow these things to happen to us? I ask that a lot. Why does God allow me to have chronic pain? If God is so good, why do natural disasters happen? Why is there cancer? Why can’t we all live to a ripe old age and die quietly in our sleep? (Of course, if that was the case, my medical career would never have been needed.)

I have no idea. And the Bible is not clear. The book of Job is a whole book asking this question with a couple of chapters with God answering “Because I’m God”. Jesus talks about the rain falling on the just and the unjust. God is God. And He’s big enough that we don’t always understand Him.

The question of a good God allowing bad and evil is the one thing that shakes my faith sometimes. I don’t understand why God allows what He allows. But, if I could understand Him, would He be God? No. God is bigger than I am. In every way. And, in my experience, obeying God and walking with Jesus has worked out, so I’m sticking with Him.

No, I don’t think God is angry with Liberia. I believe Liberia is experiencing a natural disaster which is pretty miserable. I agree with the three days of prayer and fasting. I believe that God answers prayer. And the rest of us should also pray for Liberia and the rest of Africa affected by Ebola.

What are your thoughts?

YesAllWomen

As a response to the mass shooting at UC Santa Barbara yesterday, there has been a new Twitter hashtag/meme going around – #YesAllWomen. People (women, in particular) are sharing their thoughts about sexual harassment and why all women should be concerned about it.

I spent a while last night reading a bunch of the tweets and was appalled at how many women have been sexually harassed and assaulted and how their lives are still being impacted. (It’s amazing what you can say in 140 characters!)

As much as I can support this campaign, though, I don’t really “get” it personally. I think I’ve led a really charmed life. I’ve never been sexually abused. I’ve only been sexually harassed on my orthopedics rotation in medical school and I think that was kind of required. Sure, lots of patients were sexually inappropriate with me, but they weren’t in a position of power, so their comments were easy to let go. I spent ten years working as a family physician, but I was in a group that was not hierarchical and in which I was an equal with the other male and female partners. Even the larger medical group was very egalitarian. There were a number of women in the upper management levels and I never felt like any of us were treated differently than the men.

So, I’m the oddball, it seems. (Not that I’m complaining!) Because it’s not just the women on Twitter that have been sexually harassed and abused. I know many women of my own acquaintance to whom this has happened. I know that violence against women, on many levels, is real. I know that I’ve had to teach my daughter things that I’ve not had to teach my son – don’t leave your drink unattended at a party, keep your wits about you, be careful about walking on campus after dark. And PWM and I have been careful to teach our son to go against the grain and treat women well.

We desperately need a change in our culture and it’s important to work for it now. But, ultimately need to be like Jesus. Jesus loved women. He talked to women and taught women in a culture that was completely dismissive of women. Jesus sees women as more than equal with men. Jesus sees us as brothers and sisters in Him, not just filling a role in our family or in society. He sees us as HIS family members. It’s only when our culture gets this message that we’ll truly understand equality.

What do you think?

November 12, 2013

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

things that we have heard and known,

that our fathers have told us.

 We will not hide them from their children,

but tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and the wonders that he has done.

Psalm 78:1-4

This was part of my Bible reading for  today and it really reminded me of how important it is that we teach our children scripture every day while  they still live  at home with us. the context of this passage is that it is a psalm that is encouraging Israel not to forget the great things God has done for the nation of Israel. If you continue reading, the psalm continues with a recitation of God’s provision in taking Israel out of Egypt and how he provided for them in the desert.

I think it can still teach us today the importance of carrying on the tradition of teaching our children our faith while they live at home with us. In our family, this has meant Bible studies integrated into our homeschooling as well as reading the Bible at night. The kids were both in AWANA and then middle school and high school youth groups (although Wild Man is the one who really has gotten into youth group). But, we also try to make our lifestyle one of faith, a life where we are showing love to those around us, to our friends and to those less fortunate. We want to demonstrate a life of prayer, where it’s not weird to just stop and pray for something or someone.

There’s no guarantee that our kids are going to stick with Christianity, or at least our Evangelical version of it. We are now watching Rosie Girl start to spread her wings and debate lots of theological and social issues with friends as she tries to decide what she believes about God and Jesus. Wild Man is just a few years behind her and he’s also trying to sort out the whole “relationship with Jesus” thing. The Bible doesn’t come with a set of instructions on exactly what to do with each kind of kid. Sigh. All prayers and suggestions would be appreciated.

Psalm 139

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

This section of Psalm 139 is one of my favorite passages of the Bible. The poetry is exquisite, but the words and message are even more beautiful.

The psalmist reminds me that I can’t escape God’s spirit. And why would I want to? I am fully known only by God. He has known me from the moment of my conception and He has supported my growth through my entire life. Nothing that has happened to me has been a surprise to God – not my headaches, not my work (or lack thereof), not my good days, not my bad days, nothing.

What a blessed thought – the creator of the universe is able to know me individually. And I can know Him. And it only makes sense for me to do what it takes to walk every day closer to God. He’s big enough to manage the universe and yet makes himself small enough to care about me. Amazing grace.

Faith: A Choice or a Gift

In some of the books and blogs I’ve been reading lately, the authors have talked about becoming agnostic or atheist because they are no longer able to believe in God or Christianity. They say they “can’t” believe.

What does this mean? Does this mean that they are unable to will themselves to believe somehow? Does it mean that the preponderance of evidence is so strongly against God or religion that their intellect will not allow them to believe? I’m not quite sure I understand.

Until a few years ago, I didn’t understand doubt at all. Faith was easy for me. It’s still not too difficult most of the time. There are times, though, when doubt creeps in and I feel like I have to make myself believe again. It’s almost like I could “not believe” if I became careless. Does that make sense. But, then, a few hours later, faith goes back to being easier for me. (It’s a little harder now than it was in my 20s, but it seems easier for me than it is for some people.)

So, is faith a choice that we make? Do we say that we believe in God even though we don’t understand and our intellect is pushing us away from it? Or is faith a gift? God gives us the faith that we need to believe? In that case, why would God give some people faith and not others? Is faith the part of the equation that we need to do in our spiritual walk? Or at least need to be open to faith?

I have far more questions than answers on this topic. I’m inclined to say that being open to faith is the step we have to take – even when our intellect questions things. That’s not to say that we overrule our intellect, but that we allow for the spiritual things to coexist with our intellect and see where that takes us. I think.

What are your thoughts? Do you believe in God? In Jesus? In Christianity? Is it easy for your to believe? Do you have to consciously choose to believe? Is faith a choice or a gift?

Faith, Certainty, Doubt

I am a Christian. This means that I believe certain things about the world and about religion and God. But, I am not equally certain about all my beliefs. Sometimes, I doubt. Sometimes, I even doubt about the “biggies”, like whether God really exists or really cares about me. Thankfully, those doubts don’t come very often.

What is faith? According to the book of Hebrews, it is “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”(NIV). Ephesians 2:8 tells us that our salvation is by grace and through faith, not from our works. Faith is from God, not something we muster up ourselves. But, in Romans, we are told that faith comes by hearing the word of God. So, it certainly sounds like we can put  ourselves in a better position to increase our faith by studying the Bible and hearing preaching.

I like to think about faith as believing that Jesus is walking right beside me even though I can’t see him. That fits well into my theme this year of “walking”. Some days, it’s easier to believe than others. Some days, I talk to Jesus, and I feel like he’s answering right back, either through Scripture or even things other people say or do. Other days, not so much.

There are some things in the Christian faith that I’m almost always certain about. (Note the almost. Some days are so hard that I’d probably beat Peter to denying Christ. Sigh.) Most days I can recite the Apostle’s creed with certainty.

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead, and buried:

He descended into hell;

The third day he rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;

The holy Catholick Church;

The Communion of Saints;

The Forgiveness of sins;

The Resurrection of the body,

And the Life everlasting.

Amen.

And then there are things that I want so badly to be sure of. I believe God created the universe billions of years ago and guided biological evolution to get this world to the state it’s in today. But, I’m not enough of a theologian/Ancient Near East scholar to explain in detail why I can legitimately interpret the Bible in that light.

I really believe that God intended for men and women to be equal and to have equal roles in the church and that all of the Old Testament laws putting women in submission to men were a result of the Fall. Most of the time, I’m completely sure of this. But, not always.

And I’m never sure what I believe about end times theology except that I really don’t believe that God intended us to interpret the Bible using flip charts and trying to figure out the exact day of the Second Coming. I know God wants us to be ready and to live every day as if it’s our last.

What is Certain in my faith? Jesus. At the end of a three day long migraine, he’s still there. I pray, sing, read my Bible, and Jesus is right there. Yes, he’s saved me from Hell. But, mostly, he’s saved me from insignificance. He’s saved me from insipidity. He’s saved me from wallowing in my own pain. He’s saved me from myself.

What causes you to doubt? How do you handle these threats to your faith?

Learning Obedience Through Suffering

I ponder suffering a lot. Not as much now I’m on some meds that seem to be working pretty well, but I still have enough headaches that I think about suffering a fair bit.

I read the following passage in Hebrews 5:7-8 tonight.

7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

The chapter is about how Jesus was able to be our high priest and pay for our sin because he was human like us, but without sin. What caught my eye, though was the phrase “he learned obedience from what he suffered.”

I’ve given up trying to figure out all the “why”s of my migraines. I have migraines. I no longer have a medical career. I don’t know why. I have learned lots of things, but I have quit asking “why”.

Jesus learned obedience through his suffering. Have I? Have I become more obedient to God in the last several years? Or have I wallowed in self-pity? What does being more obedient look like? Every day is different. Obeying God involves different things when I have a migraine than when I’m having a good day. Am I willing to learn to obey God through this hard time in my life?

What do you think about this passage? Other ideas?

Outraged

Believe it or not, I’m not all that outraged about Plan B being over the counter for teenagers. As safety goes, it’s a reasonably benign medication. Teenagers can do more harm with a bottle of acetaminophen or ibuprofen than a couple of tablets of levonorgestrel. And, it doesn’t cause abortion or the failure of implantation of a fertilized egg. It causes either failure of ovulation or fertilization.

Why am I outraged, then?

I am outraged that teenager girls feel like they need sex in order to feel loved.

I am outraged that rape is so prevalent in our culture and that we don’t treat it as the heinous crime that it  is.

I am outraged that teenagers and parents can’t talk openly about the need for contraception.

I am outraged that our culture is completely sex-saturated.

I am outraged that sex is no longer a special and sacred bond between a husband and wife.

I am outraged that almost no one, even Christians, takes God’s plan for sexual intimacy seriously.

In short, I am outraged that any teenager would need the morning-after pill without a prescription.

What we need is Jesus. We’ve been educating abstinence and comprehensive sex ed for 40 years, but teens and young adults are still having babies without the benefit of marriage and getting sexually transmitted infections. Our culture knows plenty about sex. What they need to know is the love of Jesus.

And that requires a lot more work on our side than just giving information. It means fewer programs and more living. It means getting out of the churches and into people’s lives. And it takes lots and lots of prayer.

What About Those Who Never Hear?

In a couple of recent books, I’ve come across the question, “What happens to people who never hear the Gospel?” I know people who have left Christianity over this question. Jesus is the only way to salvation, but there are millions, and perhaps billions, who haven’t heard about Him. What is God going to do with all those souls in eternity?

First of all, the Bible is clear that the only way to salvation is through Jesus (Acts 4:12). And those of us who are already believers are commanded to spread the Gospel far and wide (Matthew 28:19-20). The responsibility for Christians is clear.

What happens to those who never hear the Gospel is less obvious. I don’t think the scriptures are explicit on this topic.

What do we do? As Christians, we obey God. Sharing our faith is not optional.

As for what happens to those who never hear the Gospel, we have to trust in the justice and mercy of God. I don’t know how God will work things out, but I know that I trust Him to be loving and righteous. There’s a lot about God that I don’t understand and this is one of those things. But, I don’t want to pretend confidence I don’t have.

What do you think about this topic? Any other ideas?

Grace and Faith

 

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,^[c] and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

In the above passage from Luke 7, Jesus is having dinner with one of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the most learned about the Jewish law and the most careful about keeping every last bit of the law. Unfortunately, some of them had become so focused on the letter of the law, that they had completely lost the spirit of the law (to love each other). Jesus had his harshest words for the Pharisees and other religious leaders of the day.

During (maybe after or even before – the text doesn’t say) the meal, a woman who was apparently known in the town for being a sinner came into the room and began to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears, dry them with her hair, and anoint them with a precious ointment.

Who was this woman? Well, Simon knew enough about her to know that she was a “sinner”. Was she a prostitute? Perhaps. Maybe she was known for dealing unfairly with people in the marketplace. Maybe she had a child without being married. There are all kinds of things that could mark her as being a sinner. And everyone apparently knew she was a sinner. She certainly did. When she came to Jesus, this great teacher, she didn’t come to him for teaching or to talk to him as any kind of social equal. She came in tears. I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that they stem from her knowing her place in that society and how she feels about it.

And then she washed Jesus’ feet. In our culture, this is pretty creepy. At least, it is if you aren’t paying someone for a pedicure. We wear shoes and don’t have perpetually dirty feet. But in that culture, it was the job of a servant to wash someone’s feet. And it must have been especially nice for Jesus to also have a nice smelling ointment on his feet since he walked around all day in the dust.

What really struck me in this passage, though, is that Jesus tells her “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Washing Jesus’ feet was a nice thing, but it’s main effect was to show her faith. She wasn’t forgiven of her sins because she washed Jesus’ feet. She was forgiven because of God’s grace. It was there no matter what. But, this “sinner” woman (like any of us are any better) took hold of that grace through faith. And Jesus knew of her faith. Faith doesn’t just sit inside of us. It comes out somehow. In this case, the woman washed Jesus’ feet – the evidence of her faith. This was her version of accepting that gift of grace.

Every day, we have the chance to act in faith. Grace has already purchased out eternal life, but grace is also making us more holy every minute of every day. Every time that I choose to act in a way that puts others first, I have acted in faith.

My word for this year is Walk. The woman who washed and anointed Jesus’ feet reminds me to walk every day in faith, knowing that God’s grace (unearned favor) is always there. Here is another reminder to get up every day and walk with my savior.

P.S. James 2 has a good discussion on the role of faith and works in the life of a Christian.

Upcoming Graduation!!

 

Rosie Girl has one more month of school left before she graduates. That is just about impossible for me to believe. It feels like yesterday that she was learning to read. And now, she’s accepted into the college and department that she was hoping for.

Homeschooling was an easy choice for us. Rosie Girl did the 3 year old preschool program just for something to do and to give PWM and Wild Man some time together. It was obvious, though, that she was already academically pretty well established and would be fine without anymore preschool.

I was working as a family doctor with a crazy schedule at the time. I would be on call about every 9th night and then have most of the next day off along with my usual half day off. Homeschooling made sense for us with that kind of schedule. We didn’t want to be bound to the public school schedules if we didn’t have to be.

PWM was the kids’ primary teacher until they were in 3rd and 6th grades – when I got severe headaches and had to quit working. By then, we enjoyed homeschooling. We liked being together as a family, but we also liked the field trips and other activities like dance, piano, and sports that the kids were part of.

When I quit working, we had a serious debate about whether home education was still the best thing for our kids. We never were “afraid” to put our kids in school. We always felt that we would be their primary influence. The question was “what is best for the family right now”. Every year, the answer was to home educate.

Wild Man was diagnosed with dyslexia during 4th grade, which wasn’t surprising. Homeschooling was great for him because we spent a couple of years focusing on him learning to read while I read his other subjects aloud to him. Now, in 9th grade, his only dyslexia symptoms are slow reading and poor spelling.

Both kids have taken classes at the Wegauwega-Fremont Middle School and High School in an attempt to help our family become part of the community. They have enjoyed the classes, but, in discussions, haven’t wanted to be in school full-time.

Homeschooling has given our kids the opportunity to pursue their musical goals in ways that they might not have had time to if they were operating on a school schedule. Rosie Girl is going to study music composition at UWSP starting next year. Wild Man plays percussion in the high school band, but loves playing percussion and various guitars in the church worship band.

Looking back, I can see about a million things that we could have done differently with homeschooling. But, I don’t regret that we continued to homeschool. The kids are both happy and outgoing children. We aren’t caught up in one of the seriously fundamentalist versions of homeschooling that over-shelters children. Our kids have jobs in the community along with friends from the schools.

Rosie Girl has an academically strong record and I think she’ll do OK next year. She has some challenges ahead (deadlines, I’m looking at you). I’m optimistic that she’s up to them. Wild Man has three more years here at home. His needs are quite different than Rosie Girl’s needs were at this time in school, so a lot of things will be different. I’ve also learned a lot. (Rosie Girl, I’m sorry that you were our guinea pig. That’s what happens when you’re the firstborn.)

I’m looking forward to Rosie Girl’s graduation. It’s a big milestone for her, but also for me and PWM. Our first child graduated from our little home school. And she’s going on to bigger and better things!!

And I couldn’t be more proud of her!

The Gospel is Jesus

What is the gospel?

The gospel is not our denomination. It isn’t Evangelicalism. It isn’t Catholicism. It isn’t “do it your self-ism”. The gospel isn’t being Baptist, Methodist, or Lutheran. The gospel isn’t even being part of The Evangelical Free Church in America.

The gospel is not what we do. It is not reading the Bible every day. It is not praying The Daily Office. It is not memorizing scripture. It is not doing church activities. It is not even helping the poor and fighting for justice.

The gospel is not Young-Earth Creationism. The gospel is not Theistic Evolutionism.

The gospel is not complementarianism. The gospel is not patriarchy. The gospel is not even egalitarianism.

The gospel is Jesus.

The gospel is the good, old-fashioned, soterian gospel of “asking Jesus into your heart” that I grew up with in the Southern Baptist churches of my childhood. It’s going to heaven after death.

The gospel is more than that, though. The gospel is Jesus, all the time. The gospel is the kingdom of God, ushered in by Jesus. We are living out the gospel every day that we walk with Jesus.

The gospel isn’t our denomination, but our denomination gives us a place to live out the gospel with other believers.

The gospel isn’t what we do, but we act the way we do because we walk with Jesus.

The gospel isn’t what we believe about origins, but our faith in Jesus allows us to discuss our theology with others without rancor.

The gospel isn’t what we believe about hierarchical or egalitarian relationships, but it informs all of our relationships.

The gospel is Jesus. Jesus is the gospel.

Love

 

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

I Peter 4:8

 

 

That’s all I have to say today.

Preach It, Brother!

30 or 31 years ago, I went on a summer mission trip to the Bronx, New York, New York with our church’s youth choir. Our activities for the week included teaching Vacation Bible School at a couple of locations throughout the Bronx, performing our musical in a number of venues, and doing a little sightseeing.

On our first full day, a Sunday, we worshiped at Bronx Baptist Church. We had stayed Saturday night at the YMCA in Manhattan and had pastries from street vendors for breakfast. The church building wasn’t very large and was unair-conditioned. There were open windows, but there was only about a foot between the church building and the next door building on one side. Otherwise, it was a rather pretty and traditional church.

Our choir sang a couple of songs. We did a toned-down version of our choreography because, of course, it was Sunday morning. We needn’t have worried about the choreography. There were a couple of groups that sang after us that danced with far more energy than we were at all used to on a Sunday morning in our very suburban, very “white” church at home!

Our youth pastor, Richard, preached the message that Sunday morning. By the time he started, it was already getting late because of all the music that we’d had. Not only that, but we were quite warm and getting hungry. Richard started preaching and about the time he hit his stride, the congregation started “helping”. The men tended to say things like “Preach it, Brother!” and “Go on!”, while the ladies said, “Yes”, and “Oh, Lord!”

Unfortunately, we choir members weren’t feeling so spiritual. At least, I wasn’t. I was hot and hungry. And the congregation members kept yelling, “Preach it!” And Richard kept preaching! They said, “Go on”, and he went on! I wanted to stand up and yell, “Stop preaching – we’re hungry!”

Of course, being the well-behaved church girl that I was, I did no such thing. But, I was incredibly relieved when we were allowed to go downstairs to the fellowship hall for a delicious homemade spaghetti lunch!! And we went on to have a great week.

 

P.S. This is the only time I remember wanting Richard to quit preaching! He really is a very good speaker and I enjoyed my years being in youth group.