Out the Door

Watching People Die

As a pastor, I have been at the bedside of numerous people as they lay dying.  There is a marked difference in how people live their last few days and hours on this planet.

Some fight for every last breath.  Struggling to hold onto life as long as they possibly can.  Others, though they may be in pain, are at peace.  Their greatest desire is to express their love for their families and their faith in God.

I have concluded that how people die says a lot about how they have lived.  John Wesley as he lay on his deathbed said, "Best of all God is with us."  Wesley had lived his life seeking to always be aware of the presence of God.   At the end he was given the assurance that God was indeed with him.

I recently conducted a funeral for a saintly man.  Among the very last things he said was, "God bless all the beautiful who supported me throughout my life."  Here was a man who was among the most supportive, encouraging people one could every meet.  That didn't change even hours before his death.   To the very end, he was speaking blessing for others.  He died peacefully surrounded by his family.

I pray when the hour of my death comes, that I might die like a saint of God.  For it will be at that moment that the reality of my faith will be revealed.

Societies worse off 'when they have God on their side'

RELIGIOUS belief can cause damage to a society, contributing towards high murder rates, abortion, sexual promiscuity and suicide, according to research published today.

According to the study, belief in and worship of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society but may actually contribute to social problems.

So begins an article in the London Times, (read more).  This story was also picked up by ABC, who unlike their British counterparts at least offer an alternative.

The study wasn't conducted by an anthropologist or a theologian or a sociologist, but rather by Gregory Paul, a dinosaur palaeontologist.  That such a study with all its flaws would be published is incredible.  Obviously the Journal of Religion and Society is trying to sell a few more magazines.   Paul is a devout evolutionist, who desired to prove "scientifically" that the belief in God was a bad thing.  So he put some criteria together and set out to make his point.  And he succeeded.  If a person is bias against religion, then here's the proof to back up one's worldview.  And everyone knows that most any bigotry, no matter how irrational, can be backed up with "facts" if one tries hard enough.  The statistical data was specifically chosen by Paul, while other relevant information was excluded.  For instance, why didn't he include information about contributions to charities, or how Americans respond to disasters worldwide?   Why did he choose to measure only negative behaviors and not any positive ones? 

When I was in college, I wrote a paper  on "How to Lie with Statistics."  I wasn't advocating lying, but rather showing how one can manipulate data to make it prove just about whatever one wants it to prove.  Can there be any doubt that's exactly what Paul did?

Band of Brothers

I was watching "Band of Brothers" on the History Channel last night (someday I've got to buy the boxed set).  The story line was the siege of Bastone during the Battle of the Bulge.  Easy Company is dug in on the outskirts of the city and under almost continual bombardment by the Germans.  One of the central characters in this eposide was the company's medic.  As he tried to aid the wounded and dying, he slowly withdrew into himself.  Witnessing all the death and destruction sapped the life out of him.  With dwindling medical supplies, few doctors and no real hospital, the sense of powerlessness overwhelmed him.  In the end, it was only his sense of duty which had been deeply instilled in him that kept him going.

I'm afraid the continual images of famine, war, hurricanes and other plagues that are flashed acrossed TV screens eventually can have the same effect.  It's compassion fatigue.  The world's problems are so great and our individual ability to deal with them is so minute in comparison that the easiest thing to do is to withdraw into ourselves.  But like "Doc" we too have a duty to do.

I've always had a problem with the idea of duty or obligation, I suspect it's partly a generational thing.  On more than one occasion I've said, "a person shouldn't do things in the church out of a sense of duty."  And in a perfect world, I think that still holds true.  We do ministry out of a sense of gratitude for God's grace.  We don't live in perfect world, we are not perfect people.  Thus it is the knowledge that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, something which we owe the deepest loyality to that keeps us going, when we lose sight of the greater purpose. 

So maybe, though I'm not completely convince, doing the right thing, even when it's not for the perfectly right motivation can be a good thing.

Solutions equal Problems

I read somewhere years ago, "Our greatest problems are our solutions."  The truth of this statement is seen in the unfortunate bus accident that claimed the lives of a number of elderly people fleeing from Rita. (FoxNews Report) In New Orleans people died because they were left behind.  The solution, don't leave anybody behind, and look at the results.

As long as we think it is within our power to fix things, things won't get fixed.  God said to Paul, "My grace is enough for you.  When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you.”  It is only when we quit relying on our own wisdom and abilities, and admit our weakness that God is able to use us.  "Not by power or by might, but by my Spirit," says the Lord.

We are God's hands and feet.  We are also to "have the mind of Christ."  Without thinking as Christ thinks, the action of our hands and feet (our solutions) while they may be good intentioned, will always lead to more problems.   

Porn Sunday

Here are some startling but not overly surprises facts:

• Number of pornographic web sites: 4.2 Million
• People who regularly visit Internet porn web sites daily: 40 million
• Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home: 47%
• Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites: 65% male - 35% female
• 30% of unsolicited e-mails contain pornographic materials
• Women, far more than men, are likely to act out their behaviors in real life, such as having multiple partners, casual sex, or affairs.
• Porn revenue is larger than the combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises.
• US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC at $6.2 billion.

Those statistics come from XXXchurch.com, which is encouraging churches to designate October 9 as Porn Sunday.  Obviously if the church is going to be speaking to where people live, then talking about porn is a must.  Porn or what is a hare's breath away from porn is unavoidable in America.  However, many pastors and churches feel much more comfortable burying their heads in the sand and thinking that the people in their congregation couldn't get catch up in that trap.  It's there, the question is will church leaders have the courage to face up to this reality as ugly and destructive as it is and bring a Biblical perspective and help to their people.  Having personal counseled several individuals (including a couple of other pastors) who have found themselves addicted to porn or are married to someone who is, I know the importance of breaking the silence.

XXXchurch has a number of resources to assist pastors in addressing pornography.  If people can't find truth and deliverance from guilt and shame at church, where can they turn?  The answer is nowhere, and so they continue to get sucked in, feeling trapped and in despair. 

Many congregations host AA & NA groups, maybe it's time we start acknowledging that there are those who need and want to break free from the addiction to porn.

How do we supervise pastors?

A judge recently reduced the judgment against the West Missouri Conference in it's civil suit filed by Teresa Norris from the jury award of $6 million down to $3 million.  Norris sued the Conference contending that it failed to provide adequate supervision of one of its pastors.  Norris claims she was raped by UM pastor David Finestead.  Rev. Finestead has never been charged with a crime.  Read more

The question becomes, how does the Church supervise its pastors?  Do we follow the UCC model which is that anyone accused of sexual improprieties is immediately placed on leave, or the RCC model that, at least in the past, ignored and denied any wrong doing?  I don't believe either is an adequate response.  The UCC model places pastors in a highly vulnerable position.  Anyone for any reason could make an accusation and the pastor and his/her family suffers.  This method assumes "guilty until proven innocent."  People can and are vintictive.  If a pastor offends a church member, and I believe the gospel is often offensive to human nature, that one individual can do irreversible harm to the pastor who was simply trying to fulfill his/her call by bringing an unsubstatiated charge.

I fear that the threat of litigation will undermine the proclamation of the gospel.  Already I sense an attitude among denominational leaders, "don't do or say anything that might tick someone off.  And if you do, you can be sure that you'll be hung out to dry."  Now certainly this isn't being openly said, but it is an underlying message, that I've been hearing. 

On the other hand, doing nothing isn't the right answer either.  Clergy face the same temptations that are common to all people and some that are not.  Clergy must be held accountable.  But how is that done?  Unfortunately, at least in the UM church it's not done very well.  A district superintendent can't meet with a pastor for a hour once a year and completely discern the condition of that pastor's soul.  We as UM have in place the system for clergy to hold one another mutually accountable, but we lack the trust and love for one another for the system to work.  Pastors must learn how to be pastors to pastors.  We've done a better job of being competitors, each one trying to justify his/her ministry in front of each other. 

One of the first thing that has to happen for this to change is for pastors to stay at one place for longer periods of time.  It takes time for trust to be developed.  For what I'm talking about isn't a professional obligation, but a personal relationship.  I dare say, those clergy who have abused others, lack significant personal relationships with other clergy.

Party aims to ban marriage

I regularly check in on Steve Beard's culture watch blog for news from around the world.  Here's a story out of Sweden that should catch our attention. Party aims to ban marriage

A new political party in Sweden says it will abolish marriage if it gets into power.

The Feminist Initiative, which expects more than 20% of the vote in next year's election, claims marriage "is not about love, but about ownership".

FI founder Tiina Rosenberg, said: "Instead of marriage we want to promote a co-habitation law that ignores gender and allows more than two people in a partnership."

But she said in allowing relationships to involve more than two people, the FI did not want Sweden to fall back into a "patriarchal structure" with one man having a harem of women.

"A man who lives with eight women in a patriarchal structure, where the man decides and the women obey is not what we are aiming for," said Rosenberg.

And in order to encourage men to vote for them as well, the party's all-female board is also calling for the introduction of a six-hour working day.

Is it so unthinkable that one day a similar movement might not arise in America? Already the word "marriage" is being redefined by the courts and legislatures in a number of states.  How long can it be until "progressive" thinkers, The People for the American Way, National Organization of Women, Queer Nation, the ACLU and other like-minded people see the wisdom in doing away marriage once and for all.

There may be those who say, "This couldn't happen in America. We're a Christian nation, with churches in every city and burg."  The same could have been said at one time about Sweden.  That doesn't seem to have had much of an impact there. 

I remember when Sweden began performing sex change operations and when they began holding marriage ceremonies for homosexuals and the shock that rippled across the evangelical world.  Those are now everyday events across America.  Can this new social change be very far behind?

At present the church in America is well in step with the culture.  Surveys show that there is little difference in lifestyle between church goers and their unchurched neighbors.  The day is quickly approaching when the church will either have to be starkly counter-cultural or apostate. 

Animal Funerals

The Washington Post had an article recently titled, "For Furry Family Members, Religious Rites of Passage."  It told stories of individuals arranging funerals for their pets and the clergy who conducted them. 

Now I'm a pet-lover and throughout my life I have had dogs, fish, and cats as pets.  I have cried on more than one occasion when one of these animals died, but I would never consider having a funeral for one.  Certainly the grief is real for people whose pets have died and as a pastor comforting those who grieve is part of my charge.  But there's a point when too much is too much.

Contrary to what some believe animals are incapable of loving their owners and are not eternal beings.  In both cases, these are attributes of God which God endowed to humanity when human beings were created in God's image.  This is not to say that animals are not valuable companions.  I like the majority of pet owners regularly talk to my dog.  It is to say that animals are not on the same level as humans in the created order.  Humans were created a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5).  Animals were created to be companions for humans (Genesis 2:18).

The Post article quotes Kevin Treston, a friar at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, "St. Francis had the idea that animals are our brothers and sisters, and through them we see the goodness of God.  Their creation shows that God has passed by the way, like footprints in the snow."

I think Francis was right.  However, there has to be a balance.  TV commercials that refer to pet owners as parents drive me nuts.  Animals are a gift to humans from God, but as 10's of thousands of human beings die every day from starvation and preventable illnesses "pet parents" spend millions pampering their pets, going so far as making sure they have a beautiful funeral at their local pet cemetary.  And somehow, I just don't think that's right.

It's all about love

Dean Synder is the pastor at Foundry UMC in Washington, DC.  It's the congregation President & Mrs. Clinton often attended while in the White House.  Rev. Synder is a thoughtful, articulate pastor, but I have trouble with much of his liberal theology.

In a recent posting on his blog, he spoke of baptizing a man who had been raised Moslem.  Synder uses this opportunity to explain his basic understanding of Christianity.

What draws people is the love of God in Christ Jesus.  I myself do not manage to be very loving, but Christ is. If I can manage to get myself out of the way, the love of Christ will do the work.

It is not about religion. Frankly, Christianity is not any more loving than any other religion. Christians are no more loving than anyone else. All these debates we have about who can belong and who can't are about religion. All these debates about what makes us acceptable and what doesn't are about religion. Most of us are much better at being religious than we are at being loving.

There's much that I agree with here, however where Rev. Synder and I part ways is in our understanding of love.  For Synder, love is all about acceptable.  While that's where love begins, the love of Christ accepts us and all people wherever we are in life, true love doesn't leave us there.  Love moves a person beyond simply being accepted toward holiness.  Jesus accepted the woman caught in adultery and confronted those who would have stoned her, but he didn't stop there.  Jesus said to her, "Go and sin no more."  Jesus accepted the ten lepers and healed them, then told them to go to show themselves to the priest in accordance with the law.  Jesus accepted the rich young ruler, then told him to sell everything and give it to the poor. 

Acceptance without growth and change isn't love, it's enabling.   Jesus accepted and accepts all who come to him, regardless of their past.  But Jesus never stops there, he calls each one to a life of holiness and discipleship.

The real source of terrorists threats

From Foxnews.com, "Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, Allah willing," the masked man says on the tape that ABC said it received Saturday. The man — believed to be an American — speaks in unaccented English.

"And this time, don't count on us demonstrating restraint and compassion," he says on the tape, aired Sunday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

What kind of fanaticism considers the murder of thousands of men, women and children acts of restraint and compassion?  What kind of demonic force motivates humans to take their lives in an attempt to kill as many other people as possible? 

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton responded to the video taped warning, "The statement was meant to instill fear, and fear is the most potent weapon the terrorists posses."  He's absolutely right!  The force behind the terrorists is the spirit of fear.  2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that this spirit of fear is not from God.  And if it's not from God, then there's only one other source of spiritual power in the universe, Satan.  Because of that, we must always remember, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground." (Ephesians 6:12-13a).