They Shall Not Suffer Alone

In October gunmen forced their way into Our Lady of Salvation Church and killed at least 58 people. There implied message was that Christians are not safe or welcome in Iraq.

It is ironic that one of the legacy of the war in Iraq is the extinction of one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Before the Gulf War in 1991, Christians numbered about one million. According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the population of Iraqi Christians is 500,000 with thousands leaving every month. More than 46 churches and monasteries have been bombed since the start of the Iraq war.

Before the Gulf War, the secular government of Saddam Hussein did not persecute Christians in the way it did the Kurds and some Shia communities. In 1978 Saddam Hussein changed the Iraqi constitution stating that only two peoples lived in Iraq: Kurds and Arabs. The Assyrians, the indigenous population of Iraq were to be called Christians Kurds or Christians Arabs. Those who accepted the change were allowed to exercise their freedom. Those who resisted the change and wanted to maintain their Assyrian identity were persecuted. Christians live in Baghdad and are also concentrated in the northern cities of Kirkul, Irbil and Mosul. This northern area was known in biblical times as Nineveh.

The Christians in Iraq are mainly Chaldean, some who still speak the language of Jesus, Aramaic, and Assyrians. The Assyrians are descendants of the ancient empires of Assyria and Babylon. They embraced Christianity in the 1st Century AD. Other ancient Christians traditions exist in Iraq include: Syrian Catholics, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholic Christians. There are also small numbers of Anglicans and Evangelicals.

Besides prayer, what else can the church in the West do to assist our brothers and sisters in Iraq? How do we come along side them in their persecution? Should they suffer alone?

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Spittin' Image

I have been told that my youngest son is a "spittin' image" of his father. Now my son is a handsome looking four-year-old so I am taking that as a full compliment. It is amazing how our children grow up to look like us. My oldest son has similar characteristics of his mother. Walk into a childcare center and you watch as parents arrive and you can match up the kids to their parents pretty easily. I even met a woman one time who considered her dogs as her children. She called them her children. And you know what? After visiting with her, her dogs actually did look like her.

One of the rituals of the traditional church is the children's moments. It is that time in the service where the pastor calls all the children down front and at the same time the parents are squirming on the edge of their seat fearful of what their child will blurt out. One common children's lesson is how we are created in the image of God and how all of are a reflection of God. The pastor may use the illustration of how children look like their parents.

We don't do children's moments in our service and it is a good thing because this lesson would never work. We have children who looking nothing like their parents. Children and parents whose race don't match up. We have siblings who sit beside each other and you never consider them brother and sister. The gene pool of the child who calls the adult mom or dad doesn't match. Why? Because we have taken parenting to another level with the act of adoption. we have brought adoption out of the periphery of society. We have made a conscious decision not to consider adoptive children as second class citizens. Adoption is a reality in our faith community because we understand ourselves as a Kingdom of rescued orphans.

In order for us to take seriously the call of adoption we must first understand our own adoption in the eyes of God. Romans 8:14ff says, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children" (New Living Translation)

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The Sacrifice

There are five basic tenets of Islam that Muslims are required to observe. These five pillars are found in the Qur'an. In most of the Muslim world these five pillars are considered mandatory. One of the pillars of the Islamic faith is the pilgrimage or Hajj. All Muslims who are able are required to make a journey to Mecca.

This year over two million pilgrims participated in the Hajj which included a week-long schedule of events. One of the events that comes at the close of the Hajj is Eid-Ul-Zuha or the Festival of Sacrifices. The festival commences as pilgrims return home from Mecca. For three-days Muslims will gather with family and friends to remember Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. According to the Qur'an, Ibrahim (Abraham) was willing to sacrifice his son, Isma'il (Ishmael) in an act of obedience to God. Because Ibrahim was willing to put God before those he loved, God allowed him to sacrifice a ram instead.

To remember this event, Muslim families who can afford to sacrifice an animal will host a festival at their house where they will invite family and friends over. A portion of the sacrifice will be given to the poor.

Islam is based largely on works. As in many religions (and for some Christians), there is not alway a passion for genuine spirituality. In Islam it is the fear of God's wrath and the consequences of angering him that serves as a motive for their devotion. As believers, we have devotions that we insist are as important as well. We pray, fast, participate in a community of faith, read our bibles, etc but we do it not to appease God but that we may be drawn closer to Jesus Christ.

This is a great time to have a discussion (not debate or argument) with a Muslim regarding the sacrifice of Abraham and the parrellel of the sacrifice of Jesus.
Join me in praying that during this intense time of religious devotions for Muslims they may come to discover the straight path to the Kingdom of God through Isa Al Masih (Jesus the Christ).

Room At The Table

My wife recently found a table on Craigslist. Our current table has four chairs. The new table has six chairs. The other night as the family gathered around the new table for dinner it appeared to me that we now have room for two more people at our table. So silently I have been praying who God might send to fill those two chairs.

"Do you have room at your table?" Before you answer that question remember who you are. Remember that you are a child of God who declares that there is always room at His table. At some point in your life God pulled a chair up to His table and invited you to dine. None of us are natural-born children of God. We are all adopted by the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

There are thousands of orphaned children in our world today that need to feel welcome at a family table. This blog is a beginning on the theology, missional, and ethical dimensions of adoption. I would love to hear your feedback and receive any comments that you may have.
Contact:

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A Squirrel On the Lose

One time when I was little I decided to catch a squirrel. I set a live trap one afternoon and sure enough it was not long that I had me a squirrel. I had not thought it through long enough to decide what I was going to do with it once it was caught. So I decided to put it in an old shoe box. So I forced it in the shoe box with a stick and slammed the lid down. I covered it in duck tape certain that the squirrel could not get out. I put it in my dads building until next morning.

The next morning I suspected the squirrel was hungry so I took it some corn shucks. But to my surprise the squirrel had chewed through the cardboard box and gotten loose in my dads workshop. The only way out of this workshop was through an open window or the open door. So I opened the door and windows. I waited and all of a sudden I saw the squirrel sitting on the ledge of the window sill. Taking a deep breath of air, he jumped down and ran up the nearest tree. I related this story to my grandpa and told him how upset I was that the squirrel did not want to by my pet. He said, “Squirrels are made to be free and in order for them to fulfill the reason they exist they have to roam wild.” God must be left to be free and wild. God must be allowed to roam in and out of your life. God must be given room to work. God cannot be localized, limited, or manipulated.

When things are going well in our lives is when we are most tempted to put God in a box. Maybe it is the human desire to keep things as they are. We are safe as long as God is in a box. Let God out and we don’t know what God will ask of us. Let God roam wild in our lives and we may end up in Africa, Venezuela, or New Orleans. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to tell the truth. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to stand up against injustice. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to answer the call. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to teach Sunday School, preach the gospel, or witness to a neighbor. Let God run wild in our lives and we may have to start taking our faith walk serious. Let God run wild in our lives and we may experience grace. We may be called to love our enemies. We may be challenged to stand when others are quiet. We may be called upon to serve. The only way to truly know this God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Ruth, Esther, the disciples and Paul is to let God roam free in your life. The only way to experience the freedom of Christ is letting Christ have freedom in your life.

Do Not Be Afraid

“Do not be afraid.” For any student of the bible who has wandered through the pages of Scripture, the words, Do not be afraid should create an unsettled feeling deep in our gut. Our exegetical red flags should signal something is about to happen. God is about to act in a decisive way. God is about to do something that will leave the person or persons receiving the message totally changed. There will be no going back to the old way of life. A new course is about to be plotted out. God is about to turn everything upside down. Do not be afraid, God said and then Moses found himself leading the Israelites through the desert for forty years. Do not be afraid, said the prophet Elijah and then he asked the widow of Zerepath to give up her last morsel of food. Do not be afraid Jesus said and then he invited Peter to step out onto the water. Do not be afraid, said Gabriel, and then an unmarried girl became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do not be afraid, God said to me years ago when God called me into the ministry. Do not be afraid, God told a couple when God lead them into a foreign land. Do not be afraid, God said when God closed one door and opened up another for you. Do not be afraid, God said when God asked you to serve in the church. Do not be afraid, was the words you heard when you found yourself in an uncomfortable position for the sake of the gospel. Do not be afraid, was shouted deep in your soul when you were challenged to step out of your comfort zone to share the love of Christ.

If you have never heard those words or its been a while since you have, then don’t be surprised if they come to you at unexpected moments. Don’t be surprised if you wake up in the middle of the night with the urge to do something different. Don’t be surprised if you are sitting in church one Sunday morning trying not to fall asleep when all of a sudden God knocks you out of your pew. Don’t be surprised if you find your self in a situation and something tells you that is what you were made for. Don’t be surprised if you hear the words, “Do not be afraid!” And find your world turned upside down. Don’t be surprised because God is a God of surprises. God loves to surprise ordinary common folk with impossible tasks. Do not be afraid, is a signal that you are about to be taken on a wild ride with the One for whom nothing is impossible!

It was the message given to Mary by the Angel and it is the Good News given to us. “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God,” is our invitation to act courageously for the sake of the Gospel. It is the invitation to believe the incredible, to accept the inconceivable, and to embrace the impossible. It is a call to begin a journey that demands all our courage, all our strength, all our faith. It is a summons to plunge headlong into the unknown. It is the call to travel unfamiliar territory. The request to love neighbor, love enemy, and to live for the Kingdom of God. It is an enticement to use our talents, treasure, and time for the purpose of God’s Kingdom. Do not be afraid, God is with you! Be a neighbor to someone in need! Do not be afraid, God is with you! Find time to minister to the hundreds of teenagers in our community who are searching for role models. Do not be afraid, God is with you! Invest in God’s kingdom. Do not be afraid, God is with you! Be a peacemaker instead of violence. Do not be afraid, God is with you! Answer the call into the ministry. Do not be afraid, God is with you! Respond to the voice that calls forth overseas to missions. Do not be afraid, God is with you! Pray for a friend. Do not be afraid, God is with you! Offer forgiveness to an enemy. Do not be afraid, God is with you! Keep promises, speak the truth. Do not be afraid, God is with you! Visit a new neighbor, invite them to church, build a relationship. Do not be afraid, God is with you!

Let's Talk About Sex

Our sub-Christian culture has confused secrecy with privacy when it comes to talking about sex. Keeping sexuality secret has created harm when it comes to discussing important moral/ethical issues that revolve around sex. Secrecy enables sexual misconduct among clergy, misconduct of political leaders to control through sex, and even child pornography to become a serious reality in our culture. Treating sexuality in a secretive way also creates challenges to discussing the topic among our children. In discussions of sexuality privacy plays an important role, secrecy should not.

According to Genesis 1:31, "When God saw everything he had made, and indeed, it was very good." This includes sexuality. Sexuality is a part of God's creation and God's creation is very good. The Genesis account says, "So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them"(1:27). Sexual distinctions are a part of God's creation.

Some argue that the main purpose of sex is procreation. They quote, "God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it . . .'"(1:28). What is interesting in this passage is that procreation is seen as a blessing of God a part from being created in the image of God. Procreation is an added blessing of God's design for human sexuality. It is not the sole purpose of sexual relationships. The birds of the air are also told to "be fruitful and multiply" but they are not made in the image God.

God does not create a need for which their is no fulfillment. Before the woman existed was man some type of asexual (androgynous) being? It seems apparent from the text in Genesis 2 that nothing changed in the man before the creation of the woman or after the creation. (Other than a loss of a rib). Adam was created in anticipation of the future. He was created with sexual desires. He looks out over the landscape of creation and a "helper" could not be found. When he is introduced to the woman he fully realizes his sexuality in his sexual counterpart. Sexual desire, sexual appetite, is a God-given gift to be enjoyed between husband and wife.

Not So Silent

Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright round yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace…

One of the reasons this hymn is so popular is because it paints an image of a “perfect” Christmas. It is the kind of Christmas we all say we want but often never get.

We all know the reality of Christmas is far from perfect. Children who get up at the crack of dawn are cranky by 10 a.m. In receiving guests you quickly realize you forgot a gift and go rushing to the bedroom looking for something that looks new and can be disguised behind wrapping paper. After all those guests are gone, the sink is piled high with dirty dishes. And the worst, the toy does not fit together the way explained in the instructions. Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright . . .

The good news is that Christmas does not need to be perfect to be Christmas. God does not wait around until our lives are perfect to give us the gift of Christmas. The gift of Christmas comes regardless of and in the very midst of our imperfect, incomplete, and disordered life. Casseroles burn. A not so friendly game of family feud erupts. Perfectly decorated and cleaned homes look like war zones after all the presents are unwrapped. A baby is still born.

On that first Christmas morning, it is anything but calm. Bethlehem is overcrowded. Israel is being occupied by an outside force whose version of peace was ushered in through military oppression. The city is in an uproar. The people are anxious and fearful. A baby will be born regardless of the housing conditions. Shepherds leave their flocks and search through the chaos for a newborn.

We seek God through the special, the peaceful, and the calmly prepared moments. Instead God comes to us in the ordinary distractions of life. God comes to us in the busyness. God comes in the midst of our struggles. God comes in the midst of our mistakes. Life is not perfect. Christmas is not perfect. But peace is announced and a baby is born. This Christmas may not be silent, but it can still be holy.


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Brown Jacket

I have a brown jacket. I love my brown jacket. As I see it the only good thing about cold weather is I get to pull my brown jacket out of the closet. I don't know why I have such an affection for my brown jacket. I have never really been a coat wearing kind of guy. Maybe brown is my color.
Not everyone feels the same way about my brown jacket. The office staff where I work actually convinced my wife into a scheme of kidnapping my brown jacket. One morning she stuffed it down in a bag and brought the innocent jacket to my work and gave it to the ladies in the office. For days I wondered the house hunting for my brown jacket. I tore through my closet on the hunt for my brown jacket. I asked my wife if she had seen my jacket. I asked my children if they had been playing with my jacket. I was grieving over my jacket. I have other coats in the closet but they are not brown. Finally, the day came when the evil plot was revealed and the jacket was returned to me in all of its brownness.
For good or bad, I have become identified with my brown jacket. What identifies you? When your name is spoken in a crowd what do people say? Hopefully, it is more than the dude wearing the brown jacket.

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Self-Preserving Politics

Self-preservation is the behavior that ensures the survival of an organism. For example, if something causes us pain then we will try to find what it is that is causing the pain and put a stop to it. If we become afraid, we will turn away from whatever is causing the fear. We will seek safety. Self-preservation is not just for the living. It is for the dead as well.

In Ancient Egypt, the mummy and the pyramid were elaborate attempts at self-preservation. One of the first things that a pharaoh would do when taking the throne was to draw up the plans for his burial place. To construct a pyramid, stones averaging 2.5 tons had to be hewn out of rock quarries by laborers with hand tools, hauled across the desert, and carried up ramps to be put into place. Archaeologists estimate the Pyramids at Giza took around 25,000 workers 80 years to build. The primary purpose of the extravagant pyramids was to protect the Pharaoh’s body. The body itself was mummified for maximum preservation. A team of 70 embalmers spent 70 days performing the task of preparing the Pharaoh’s body for burial.

The pharaohs used large amounts of their kingdom’s wealth and work force to preserve themselves. They act of self-preservation contributed to the downfall of the Egyptian kingdom.

The only thing that has changed with political leaders mummifying themselves is that now they do it while they are alive. Politics is about self-preservation. The ads we see on television are about either preserving their position in politics or putting themselves in a position to later preserve their position in politics. Self-preservation in politics leads to the reality that persons desire to rule over their fellow humans no matter what form of government. Jesus says, "you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them" (Matt. 20:25). In this passage Jesus does not condemn the fact that some "lord" over others. He just states the fact of reality. So even if Lincoln can stand in a field in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and declare we are "government of the people, by the people, for the people," it doesn't mean that we are governing ourselves. It means for democratic rule that those we elect in office, the rulers who "lord" it over us, will hopefully listen to us. At least that is the hope of my participation in democracy.