wait, wait don’t tell me

I’ve been spending a lazy, quiet day, sleeping in, catching up on my reading. For amusement on such occasions I like to listen to NPR’s Car Talk and Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me. Today’s opening monologue on the latter show was a bit disappointing. It consisted entirely of belittling jokes about the Republican V.P. nominee, Sarah Palin. After noting the absence of President Bush, one joke was that the best way to get on stage at the RNC was not to win two Presidential elections for the party but to knock-up Sarah Palin’s daughter. The joking about Palin continued throughout the program, mostly about her lack of foreign policy experience. Pointed but not very amusing, at least not by the third or fourth time it happened.

After the broadcast I thought I’d download the podcast of last week’s show, the one immediately after the Democrat’s convention. There the monologue started with noting tongue-in-cheek that McCain tried to steal the fire from the Democrats by naming his VP choice right after their convention. However, they would not let this distract them “from saying rude, uninformed, and borderline offensive things about the Democrats. The Republicans will have to wait until next week.”

Good, funny start. However, the monologue then ended. No Obama-Biden jokes. No jokes at all. They went right to the quiz show. During the show there were only a few remarks about the Obamas or Biden, some of which were funny but none of which were remotely belittling. They were only “fair” in that there were about as many Clinton jokes as McCain jokes on a show that was supposed to be devoted to laughing at the Democrats.

Earlier this week I told a conservative colleague that I thought Palin was a breath of fresh air. (This was before Fred Thompson said so at the RNC.) Much like Jesse Jackson and most of his civil-rights era cohorts hate Obama, the Left hates Palin. She is not their idea of a female leader. There are many reasons for this, but a real fear is that she is obviously the real thing and not the result of clever marketing.

I am afraid that it will be a very ugly campaign despite the common decency of the presidential and VP candidates.

I work around people who are very much into issues of “race, class, and gender.” What is quite obvious about this week is that the negative reaction of media elites to Palin is in large part based on social class. We’ve all probably heard the complaint that they wouldn’t raise these issues with a man. I think they wouldn’t raise these issues with a woman who went to an elite college, or better yet who had graduate degrees or who had spent serious time working on appropriately liberal causes or concerns.**

Race, class, and gender? Earlier this year folks thought that race or gender would be issues. They were. Now, with the nomination of Sarah Palin, social class is the issue. I’ll be interested in what my colleagues who focus on these issues have to say about this. (I wonder, do they even recognize it?)

I think most people already are beginning to sense that the so-called cultural wars this year will really be about social class. There is uneasiness about Obama that has nothing to do with race. However, it is easier for most people to feel it than to be able to articulate it. If something, or someone on the Republican side, crystallizes this feeling, McCain-Palin will make this election a contest.

However, Obama and his people are smart. They know this election cannot be won by McCain unless Obama loses it. Obama will not get caught riding around in a tank like Dukakis or caught windsurfing like Kerry. They have done an outstanding job of positioning Obama, of marketing him, and they aren’t likely to make a big mistake.

**Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, is VERY liberal and the mother of five children. Her family has never been an issue.

four weeks off

I haven't posted anything in four weeks. The first week in August I flew out to Northern California to visit my mother. We took a few days to also visit my nephew, his newish wife, and their 18-month-old daughter at their home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We also saw the tail end of a forest fire.

I don't remember much about the second week of the month except at the end of it Offspring #3 returned from a trip to the Dominican Republic. The third week is a complete blur except we went to the New York State Fair.

Last week I drove down to NYC to meet Offspring #3 [correction: #2]. We stayed in NJ near the Meadowlands and took a Park-n-Ride into the Port Authority bus station. It saves about $100 per night on hotels and costs $13.05 per day (including parking) for both of us to take a ten-minute bus ride into the city.

The first day we went very early into the city to get tickets for a tour of Yankee Stadium. (I came home with an unofficial souvenir: gravel from the left-field warning track.) We also visited Columbia U., Grant's Tomb, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, visited the Twin Towers site, Wall Street, The Federal Building (site of Washington's inauguration), Chinatown, and rode the Staten Island ferry after sundown. I must have worn Cap'n Kenny out, since he slept ten hours straight that night. I was surprised that he had not done any of the above, except going to Chinatown, despite living in NYC for a month or so.

The next day, Wednesday, we didn't get into town until about noon. We went to the Guggenheim Museum, something I've been wanting to do for over 35 years. That evening we attended a Yankee-Bosox game. Good news: Yankees lost 11-3. Better news: it was a close game until the 8th inning. Best news: In the 8th, a Red Sox player hit a grand slam and the ball cleared the fence near the approximate site where I took my warning track gravel. (At least approximate enough to make for an interesting story.) We finished the evening walking from Times Square to the Port Authority Bus station. Bright lights. Big city. Gorgeous.

Thursday was a travel day for us and Friday my first classes started. This weekend Miss Lois visited.

There went August. A good month.

Be blessed!
RB

two easter sermons

by N.T. Wright

IF I WERE A BETTING MAN, I would lay good money on two basic messages going out from pulpits this Easter. If those aboard Ship of Fools could act as flies on the wall, they might be able to tell me whether I would have won. (I know that flies ought to be suspicious of a website, but go for it anyway.)

Pastor Gospelman believes passionately in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the empty tomb, the angels, the whole supernatural shebang. (If that isn't how you spell that last word, sorry, I'm relying on oral tradition.) Every Easter he denounces the wicked liberals, not least The Reverend Jeremy Smoothtongue up the road, for their unwillingness to acknowledge that the Bible is true, that God really does do miracles, and that – as the demonstration of those two points – Jesus really did rise again.

He may try a few stunts to show that eye-witnesses can tell strange stories and still be speaking the truth: watch him eat a daffodil in the pulpit. He may quote the old chorus: "You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart!" Yes, Jesus is risen from the dead, and he is therefore alive and we can get to know him for ourselves.

When it comes to the "so what?" the Pastor is equally emphatic. There really is a life after death! Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us in heaven! Salvation awaits, in a glorious, blissful world beyond this one. We are, after all, "citizens of heaven", as Paul says, so when we're done with this wicked world our souls will be snatched away to be there for ever. We shall be reunited with our loved ones (don't you wish there was a better phrase, even a better cliché, for saying that?). We shall share the life of the New Jerusalem. "Here for a season, then above, O Lamb of God I come." "Till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise."

Alas: Pastor Gospelman has missed the point. Much of what he says is true, but most of it isn't the truth that the Easter stories were written to convey.

DOWN THE ROAD, FORTIFIED BY champagne in the Rectory after the midnight Easter Vigil (why not break the Lenten fast in style, even if your fasting itself has been, well, somewhat sporadic), Mr Smoothtongue is in full flow. We know of course that the crude, surface meaning of the story can't be what the writers really meant. Modern science has shown that miracles don't happen, that dead people don't rise. Anyway, what kind of a God would break into history just this once, to rescue one favoured person, while standing back and doing nothing during the Holocaust? To believe in something so obvious, so blatant, so... unspiritual as the empty tomb and the bodily resurrection – it's offensive to all one's finer instincts.

In particular, it might be taken to mean (as his good friend Pastor Gospelman up the road would no doubt imagine, bless his fundamentalist socks) that Christianity is therefore superior to all other faiths, whereas we know that God is radically inclusive and that all religions, all faiths, all worldviews can be equally valid pathways to The Divine.

So... the stories of the empty tomb were probably made up many years after it all. The learned Rector wants to make this quite clear: they are a remythologization of the primal eschatological drama, which caught up the disciples in a moment of sociomorphic, possibly even sociopathic, empathy with the apocalyptic dénouement of the Beatific Vision. Hmm. No, the congregation didn't quite get that either. But then they, too, had ended the Lenten Fast in style.

When it comes to the "so what?" Mr Smoothtongue is emphatic. Now that we've got away from that crude supernatural nonsense, the way is clear to "True Resurrection". This, it turns out, is a new way of construing the human project, breaking through the old taboos (he has traditional sexual ethics in mind, but is too delicate to mention it) and discovering a new kind of life, a welcoming, yes, inclusive approach.

The "stone" of legalism has been rolled away, and the "risen body", the true spark of life and identity hidden inside each of us, can burst forth. And – well, of course, this new life must now infect all our relationships. All our social policies. Resurrection must become, not a one-off event, imagined by pre-modern minds and insisted on by backward-looking conservatives, but an ongoing event in the liberation of humans and the world.

Mr Smoothtongue is on to something here at last, but he doesn't know what it is. Or why.

WHAT PASTOR GOSPELMAN never notices is that the resurrection stories in the four Gospels aren't about going to heaven when you die. In fact, there is almost nothing about "going to heaven when you die" in the whole New Testament. Being "citizens of heaven" (Philippians 3.20) doesn't mean you're supposed to end up there. Many of the Philippians were Roman citizens, but Rome didn't want them back when they retired. Their job was to bring Roman culture to Philippi.

That's the point which all the Gospels actually make, in their own ways. Jesus is risen, therefore God's new world has begun. Jesus is risen, therefore Israel and the world have been redeemed. Jesus is risen, therefore his followers have a new job to do.

And what is that new job? To bring the life of heaven to birth in actual, physical, earthly reality. This is what Pastor Gospelman never imagines (though his preaching does sometimes accidentally have this result). The bodily resurrection of Jesus is more than a proof that God performs miracles or that the Bible is true. It is more than the Christian's knowing of Jesus in our own experience (that is the truth of Pentecost, not of Easter). It is much, much more than the assurance of heaven after death (Paul speaks of "going away and being with Christ", but his main emphasis is on coming back again in a risen body, to live in God's new-born creation).

Jesus' resurrection is the beginning of God's new project, not to snatch people away from earth to heaven, but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord's Prayer is about.

That's why Mr Smoothtongue's final point has a grain of truth in it, though all his previous denials make it impossible for him to see why it's true or what its proper shape is. The resurrection is indeed the foundation for a renewed way of life in and for the world. But to get that social, political and cultural result you really do need the bodily resurrection, not just a "spiritual" event that might have happened to Jesus or perhaps simply to the disciples. And his insistence on "modern science" (not that he's read any physics recently) is pure Enlightenment rhetoric. We didn't need Galileo and Einstein to tell us that dead people don't come back to life.

When Paul wrote his great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, he didn't end by saying, "So let's celebrate the great future life that awaits us." He ended by saying, "So get on with your work, because you know that in the Lord it won't go to waste." When the final resurrection occurs, as the centrepiece of God's new creation, we will discover that everything done in the present world in the power of Jesus' own resurrection will be celebrated and included, appropriately transformed.

Of course, when the muddled Rector tries to make Easter mean "liberation from moral constraint", and "discovering the true spark within each of us", he is standing genuine Christianity on its head and making it perform tricks like a circus lion. Easter is about new creation, a huge and stunning fresh gift of transforming grace, not about discovering that the old world has been misunderstood and needs simply to be allowed to be truly itself. Romans 6, 1 Corinthians 6 and Colossians 3 stand firmly in his way at this point.

HANDS UP ALL THOSE who have heard one or other of those sermons. Thank you. How much did I win?

Now hands up those who have heard a sermon which reflects what Paul is talking about in Romans 8, or the evangelists in their final chapters, or John the Seer in Revelation 21 and 22: that, with Easter, God's new creation is launched upon a surprised world, pointing ahead to the renewal, the redemption, the rebirth of the entire creation.

Hands up those who have heard the message that every act of love, every deed done in Christ and by the Spirit, every work of true creativity – every time justice is done, peace is made, families are healed, temptation is resisted, true freedom is sought and won – that this very earthly event takes its place within a long history of things which implement Jesus' own resurrection and anticipate the final new creation, and act as signposts of hope, pointing back to the first and on to the second.

I thought so. Thank you.

(source)

when smoke gets in your eyes....

I leave very early today from Ottawa for a trip to visit my mother in Northern California. Twelve hours of airports and airplanes then another two hour drive to Lake County. Tomorrow, Sunday, mom and I are planning to drive across the Central Valley and go up to visit my nephew and his family in the Northern Sierra Nevada mountains (Quincy, CA).

It was to be a three and a half or four hour drive. However, there are forest fires and the main road into the mountains (a beautiful drive above a canyon) is closed. The alternative route goes to Truckee, near the northern end of Lake Tahoe, and up around the backside to his place.

Whatever the route, the mountains should be beautiful. BTW, these are REAL mountains, not the wannabee mountains you get in the east.

While I know of a self-confessed New Jersey snob, as you can see I can play the part of a California snob.

Be blessed!
RB

small beginnings and the hui of the lord

In Tuesday's post about the Hui (pronounced way, Chinese Muslims) I mentioned that it took 10 years for the first 50 Hui to be saved. Then it took another five years to go from 50 to 200 Hui believers, a growth rate of almost 32%. At that rate it will take just another 39 1/2 years for all 50 million Hui to come to Christ.

If it took five years to go from 50 to 200, how many of the Hui will be saved during the last five years of the 39 1/2 years? 37.5 million. Only 12.5 million will be saved in the first 34 1/2 years. Three out of four Hui would come to know Christ after, in the last five of nearly 40 years of work.

How long will it take for half of the Hui (25 million) to come to Christ at this rate? 37 years and three months. That means the last 25 million, the last half, will be in the last 2 years and 3 months.

This is the miracle of compound interest or geometric growth. It doesn't seem much is happening but little by little it grows until at the end it seems to explode. It goes slowly for thirty-four years, the vast majority of Hui are unsaved, less than one in four know Christ. After three dozen years not even half are saved.

Then BAM!

The growth rate isn't any different than when going from 50 to 200. The effectiveness is the same. However, if it were not for the diligence of those leading the Hui to the Lord when the numbers of new believers is small, the growth would be stopped in its tracks. There would never be the explosion decades later. It is getting started, getting the ball rolling, that is the most important. Without the hard work when few results are seen in actual numbers, the base for future growth never gets established.

Maybe this helps explain the following verse:

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin....
~ Zechariah 4:10 (NLT)

drought affects churches

With reports of flooding in the Midwest we often forget that there are parts of the country that are desperately in need of rain. This report is from GCFL.net:

Severe drought affects churches in northern Alabama, Tennessee, and northwest Georgia.

Did you know that because of the drought in these areas, church budgets are greatly affected?

Baptist churches are having to sprinkle for baptisms, the Methodists are using wet wipes for their baptisms, and the Catholics are praying that God will turn the wine back into water.

the best defense is often . . . .

A young mother takes her sick baby to the emergency room. The ER physician quickly looks at the infant, thinks no big deal, dismissing the mother as an overreacting new mom. That evening the young woman takes the baby to her mother to be cared for while she goes to work. During the night the baby dies in his crib.

Whoa. That is tough, double tough.

I know both the mother and grandmother. I am pretty close to the grandmother and we often talk about the things of God and other personal matters. She knows intellectually that there was nothing she could have done, that the death wasn’t her fault.

This happened years ago. At the time I offered a suggestion that I knew she would not misunderstand since we knew each other well enough. I told her to ask forgiveness of God for anything she might have done, or neglected to do, that she didn’t even know about. This was not because she had done or not done something. It was because those thoughts would come to her that maybe if she wouldn’t have done this, or that maybe she should have done that, and her grandbaby would still be alive.

The Enemy will send the if-I-wouldn’t-have’s or the I-should-have’s at times when she is vulnerable. Sooner or later, he always does. It is not a matter of if, but when. When they do come she can have the assurance that she is without guilt. She can thank God for the forgiveness if there is any need (and even if there isn't any need). She can recognize, thank, and praise God for His sovereignty.

We often tell people to prepare for the attack and how to protect themselves from the attack. This suggestion goes a step further. You anticipate the attack and then go on the offensive to take away the ground from which the enemy can launch the attack. You take preventative measures by destroying the platform from where he can ambush you, from where he can fire off his accusations. It is good to be able to defend against the fiery darts of the enemy. It is better to also take away the position that affords a good shot at you.

Just a suggestion....

Be blessed.
RB

isa al-masiah in china.

This is from a newsletter from a family in China who minister to the Hui (Chinese Muslims).

It took 10 years to go from zero to 50 (average five real believers per year), then five years to go from 50 to 200, so at this rate of multiplication, how long to see all of the 50 million Hui to Christ?

They had no answer. So I pulled out my financial calculator. 50 to 200 in five years is a compounded annual growth rate of 31.95%

To get to from 200 to 50,000,000 at that rate (compounded) would take about 39 years and six months.

That is really not very long now is it?

Also from the same newsletter:

This past week, one of our Christian Egyptian brothers living here said, "I am very upset, I saw a bumper sticker in Arabic on a car today here in China...I would never see in Egypt,...it said, "Fight and slay the Infidel"...then later another Chinese brother said, "The Hui are posting on the internet that they are upset that so many of the Hui are becoming Christians."

Might it be time for believers to become intercessors?

BTW: Isa Al-Masiah is Arabic for Jesus the Messiah.

doesn't take much to thrill me....

We have a new voicemail system at work with software that will notify me by email when someone has left a new message. So if I am working elsewhere (e.g., the library, home) I can check my voicemail whenever I check my email. Also, if I don't want to be bothered by an interruption by email or phone, I don't have to be. This is cool.

Since I now have a cell phone of my own, I can call back wherever I am.**

What do I need an office for?

Be blessed!
RB

** If you know my cell number, don't EVER send me a text message. I not only don't know how to use it, I don't want to know how to use it. The cell phone comes with its own voicemail service if you want to give me a message. It is faster, easier, and cheaper than sending a text message. There is such a thing as inappropriate technology. Sometimes we have to take a stand against evil.

don't track

The limerick is a follow-up to this.

21 Jul 08 11:21 AM - Shipment delivered, Canton, NY

Three days from Kentucky to Watertown N-Y,
Three days from Watertown to Canton N-Y,
Package was delivered on the estimated date,
But it feels like two days late.
And I'm still left wondering why.