Help Stop Trafficking from Nepal to India

I recently discovered a mother and family (homeschooling with 6 kids) who has taken the grief of losing a little one (Tiggy aged 22 months) and turned it into sharing Jesus with some of the world's most vulnerable.  They are raising money to build a home for Nepalese girls (average age 14, but some as young as 6) who are vulnerable to or victims of the Indian sex trade.  Please visit their site to learn more about this terrible problem and to help out by praying and/or donating.


http://www.tiggyshouse.com/

2 Good Movies and a Good Book

We recently got back from a vacation in Houston (which I might post about later).  Right before we left last week, I went and saw two good movies and read a good book.  I didn't have time to post about them then so am just now getting around to it.

Good Movie #1- Courageous
If you haven't seen this movie yet and it is still in theaters, I highly recommend it.  The message about dad's standing up and being a man for their kids was really well told.  There were a couple of spots of rough acting, but the crew from Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof have come a long way.

Good Movie #2- Captain America
This is a good story about serving your country and self-sacrifice and looking at the heart of a person instead of the outside.  It may be rather scary for littler kids (the villain has a red skull face).  There is also quite a bit of violence because Captain America is a soldier during WWII.  The whole thing makes you want to do something big with your life.

Good Book- Wings of a Dream by Anne Mateer
This is a Christian historical romance that I was given to review by Bethany House.  It is set during the influenza epidemic of 1918.  It is a great story about following the Lord's leading even when he is taking you where you don't think you want to go.  Ms. Mateer does a great job of creating a compelling set of characters.  The story revolves around Rebecca and her thirst for adventure.  She longs to get away from her boring life in a small town in Oklahoma and her overbearing mother.  She is sure that she can see the path that God has laid out for her.  But as with much of real life, God's way leads her to an altogether different adventure than she had in mind.

Even though I really enjoyed this book, I can't give it the full 5 stars.  The ending was too abrupt.  I would have enjoyed a little more of the loose ends tied up.  The book just ends at the climax without much thought to the aftermath of her big decision.

Noah for Children

Since I was in the adult class, I can't say exactly what was taught to the kids at my church's Summer Spectacular about Noah.  All I can go on is the decorations and the play that everyone attends.  Even based only on that there several errors and a little PC blather.

There were no dinosaurs on any of the arks accept for the one my kids and I decorated in the toddler hall.  As I was working on this the 9-year-old son of one of the Sunday School teachers told me I was doing it all wrong because everyone knows that the dinosaurs were all extinct long before Noah.  I tried to explain politely that I believed they were alive and on the ark.

The animals that were on the big ark display in the atrium included Dalmatians, poodles, and fresh water fish. 

It seems to me that while our Senior Minister of the Word was on target for accuracy (he even mentioned that there were no fish or poodles on the ark) the Children's Director obviously didn't think it was important.  Or maybe she doesn't agree with a young earth.  Or maybe she is ill-informed about the details of Noah's ark having been around the cartoon version of a tiny craft with animals poking their heads out of windows for so long.

It seems to me when something is as scoffed at as Noah's flood that we need to fill our kids heads with realistic images not cartoony goofiness.  I really appreciate Answers in Genesis and their newest project:  building a life-size replica of the ark completely out of wood.  The project is called Ark Encounter. 

When I showed my kids the graphic from the website, they were amazed at how huge the ark was compared to people.  I would love to take them to Ark Encounter in a few years.  I am sure the enormity of the ark will have even more impact in person.

Literal world-wide flood

  Our Sr. Minister of the Word gave the Noah lessons all three days of our Summer Spectacular.  Several hundred adults were there many of them visitors.  I enjoyed it.  In part, I enjoyed it because I got an answer to one of my questions:  Does this church believe in a literal world-wide flood about 4500 years ago?

The short answer is yes, but we are not discussing the age of the earth or how long man has been on the earth.

He did a good job of sticking up for the fact that the genealogy is of real people who lived 900+ years (as opposed to clan leaders or other mumbo jumbo).  He did a good job explaining the local/universal debate and defending the universality of the flood.  These were the reasons he gave:
1.  It is the simplest reading of the text.
2.  Why else would God insist on a boat instead of migration?
3.  The year long duration of the flooding/drying process seems out of league with a smaller flood.
4.  God promised to never do this again, but there have been many catastrophic floods since then.
5.  Jesus and Peter use the flood of Noah's day as an example of God's ability to judge the whole world.
He also mentioned the flood traditions from around the world, and how there would have been plenty of space for all of the kinds of animals.  He also pointed out that there would have been only one doggish animal not coyotes, wolves, etc.

Here are some other nuggets of interest that I gleaned.
Enoch means dedication.  He started walking with God the year Methuselah was born.  Methuselah's name means when he dies judgement comes.  Methuselah long life shows God's grace.  (FYI, Methuselah died the year of the flood.) 

We must have a supernatural worldview not a purely natural one.  This is the most rational explanation of the marvels we see around us.

The source of trust is what you are trying to build.  What are you trying to build with your life?  What does it show that you trust?  Build something now that will survive when judgement comes.

Obey even when it doesn't make sense.  For example, how can being dunked under water have anything to do with my spiritual life?

Faithful move upstream in a downstream world.  Sometimes this might involve moving upstream against even religious people. 

God shows he remembers us with deeds (wind to recede the waters), signs (olive branch in the dove's mouth), and his Word (speaks to Noah, gives covenant).

True faith looks for a way to respond to grace.

Examples of unanswered questions

I thought I should clarify the last few sentences of my previous post.  "There is no platform to make concerns known. There is no platform for dialogue and debate. There is no platform to share new ideas gleaned from scripture. There is no fellowship in the Word only the dissemination of information and the acceptance of it by the masses."
In these sentences, I am referring to dialogue, debate, fellowship between the masses and the leaders.  In a church of 5000 people with about 50 leaders (elders, ministers, etc.), I realize that they can't all sit down and listen to each persons complaint, question, or concern as a group.  And I realize that on a one on one basis they are generally willing to listen to and study with individual members.  Our leaders are caring, god-fearing people as far as I can tell by my limited exposure to them.  The only one I have any kind of relationship with is the Missions Minister because I see him almost weekly as I'm on the missions committee. 

I have been thinking/praying about what would be a viable solution to this longing for open and frank discussion.  So far my best thought has been a congregational convention.  I know that several denominations have conventions.  Ours doesn't, but I thought that a congregational convention would be a breath of fresh air to me and would deepen the sense of body and community.  I would especially enjoy an open mic session where everyone could ask questions of all the elders/ministers and everyone could hear the response and follow up with questions of their own.  I think that this would increase the transparency of our church 100 fold.  It would allow members with similar questions to know that they are not alone. 

Here are some of the questions I would ask:

Why are we not allowed to actively promote 40 Days for Life as part of our pro-life ministry?  (I help found the ministry and I am still fuzzy on the answer to this question.)

How much of our $10,000,000 auditorium renovation is repair and how much of it is upgrade?  (In a financial responsibility small group study that was sponsored by the church in the run up to the fund-raising drive, this was one of the guidelines for spending in your family.  For example, are we getting a new TV because ours broke or because we want a trendy upgrade?)

How will the Christian university we are starting in Africa be different than a secular university in the areas of science, economics, history, government, etc.?

In the missions committee, we often discuss the "felt need" of a people group as a springboard to a ministry that gives our missionaries an easier tie to the people.  I think that one of the "felt needs" of Americans is weight loss.  Are we willing to look into being of service to our community in this way?
What are other felt needs of the residents of Tarrant County and how do you see us reaching out to people who feel these needs?

Why is the biggest celebration that goes on at this building on Halloween and called "Fall Festival" instead of at Christmas or Easter?  Why are the decorations at Christmas entirely secular with 6 trees and no nativity scene?

When the Wednesday night kids classes were moved to the chapel so the teachers could get their rooms decorated for Summer Spectacular (our VBS), why was Evan Almighty chosen as the movie for elementary students?   Is playing a movie that doesn't uphold the Bible as accurate really a wise thing to show impressionable kids?  Does this church uphold that a literal world-wide flood happened 4500 years ago?  (Our Summer Spectacular theme this year is Noah.)

Why doesn't our church take a stand against evolution by hosting creation science speakers especially when the Institute for Creation Research is only a few miles away?

In a recent sermon, the new minister mentioned that it was a Christian's responsibility to fight global warming, eat organic, recycle, etc.  This seems a dangerous road to be going down.  Much of the green movement is more concerned about "Mother Earth" than about people especially the poor.  Global warming (if it is occurring at all) is not likely caused by people.  Can you please explain further what this church's view is of these issues?  Would some of the leaders be willing to watch the DVD series Resisting the Green Dragon by the Cornwall Alliance and give your collective opinion in a future meeting? 

What are common lies taught to our kids by the public school system and what are some ways that parents can combat them?

I am sure I would have more as the answer to these came in.  Some of these questions are recent, but others I have been trying to get a solid answer on for months or years. 

Thanks again for your input.

How important are beliefs?

I am not sure how to go about describing my dilemma so you may have to be patient with me as you read.  In  the churches I attended growing up, there was much emphasis on believing biblical truth especially when it came to how assemblies are conducted and the basics of turning to Jesus for salvation.  But there was little emphasis on reaching out beyond the walls of the building.  There was little emphasis on life transformation.  Someone was considered a "faithful Christian" (as opposed to someone who had fallen away) if they attended the assembly regularly (preferably 3 times a week) and if they agreed with the aforementioned truths.

Of course, there was much fighting over some of the "truths".  The most ridiculous one I can remember was when we lived in a small town in Iowa.  One tiny congregation refused to meet with the bigger (but still small) congregation because the bigger congregation refused to agree to stop wearing gold based on I Peter 3:3.  "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes."



Then a shift occurred.  A movement started that was in many ways a breath of fresh air.  It started emphasizing "salvation issues" as the truths and basically shucked all others in an attempt to create more unity.  With this movement there came a realization that some verses (truths) could be interpreted different ways by rational people (like I Peter 3:3) and there could still be unity among them (you don't have to agree  on everything in the Bible to get along). Without common belief in other truths (Jesus died a literal death and rose again in 3 days), unity would be pointless.

Yet, to most people that I know, unity simply means sitting in the same auditorium listening to the same sermons, giving money to the same collection, and possibly supporting the same missionaries.  If I start talking about unity, I will get off the main point of this post, but I believe there is more to it than that.

 The church I currently attend is the best church I have ever been to.  There is an emphasis on letting God transform your life.  The congregants are encouraged to get out of the church building and go on mission trips or help tutor kids in low income neighborhoods.  These things are sadly missing from most churches I am familiar with.  This church also tries to allow for freedom in the small truths.  They call it being grace centered.  I do not think you would be ridiculed for not wearing gold, but insisting that everyone do so would not be tolerated.

When we first started attending (5 years ago), I had little knowledge and gave little thought to world views.  I had never thought about what the Bible had to say about economics or civil government.  I never thought much about the dangers of the postmodern idea that people get to decide what is true.  I never realized the depth of evil that springs from replacing God the Creator with billions of years of evolution.  My own worldview has become stronger over the years.  I can see more clearly the destructive fruit of an unbiblical worldview. 

So now I am growing more and more concerned that the leaders of my congregation do not share my worldview on many issues (evolution, economics, civil government, etc.).  Now my dilemma is:  How much does their worldview on these issues matter?  How far should one go along to get along?  And what about other issues.  There is no platform to make concerns known.  There is no platform for dialogue and debate.  There is no platform to share new ideas gleaned from scripture.  There is no fellowship in the Word only the dissemination of information and the acceptance of it by the masses. 

So I would love to hear your thoughts (and the scriptures to back them up).  Thanks so much.

Great New Book

I recently received Paradise Valley by Dale Cramer from Bethany House to review. It was one of the best books I have read in a while. I chose it as a book I would like to review because I really respect the Amish. This book is based on events in the 1920’s when the state of Ohio jailed some Amish dad’s for not sending their kids to the government run consolidated school. As a result, some of the Ohio Amish community seek freedom to raise their kids in the Amish way by moving to Mexico. Mr. Cramer shows how they stick to their beliefs and are willing to sacrifice for them. He shows their love of family and their willingness to work hard. After reading this book, I respect the Amish even more.


The story is focused on one family- The Benders. The Benders have been blessed with 13 children (one dead and one mentally challenged) but not all are equally fleshed out in the story. It focuses on the father, Caleb, and his 15-year-old daughter, Rachel. Though these two are the focus of the story you get glimpses in to the thoughts of many of the other characters.

One thing that I liked about the writing was Mr. Cramer’s truthful style. Strengths and weaknesses are given to all of the characters. He doesn’t sugar coat the harsh realities of the struggles the Benders face, yet this isn’t a heavy book that weighs down the soul. It is almost as though he has opened a window to Paradise Valley as it really was.

This is a first book in a new series about Caleb Bender’s daughters. I read the whole thing in a couple of days. I cared about the characters and wanted to see what happened to them. I also wanted to learn why they made the choices they made. I am really looking forward to the next one!

Filling in Transcripts

I have noticed a trend that is obvious in public schools, but is also lapping over into homeschools.  This is what I call transcript filling.  It seems to me that many homeschooling families give up the freedom of education that they once enjoyed in elementary and junior high when they get to high school.  They stop thinking about what they think is important for their kids to learn and start worrying about what the state requires.  They begin the process of what I've dubbed transcript filling.  By this I mean they start trying to check off the list of classes mandated at public schools for a "recommended" or "advanced" high school diploma.  They often do this with little regard for any level of mastery.  They also do this with little regard for the importance of the subject in the student's future life.  It is all about checking off stuff so that the kid can get into college.  That is the point that is so sad to me.  You can still get into college (good ones even) regardless of what is on your high school transcript.  I will give you an example. 

Let's say that my kids and I choose freedom.  Let's say that my son's transcript looks something like this.

4 English credits
3 Math credits (taken as dual credit at Tarrant County Community College)
2 Spanish credits
3 Science credits
1 US Constitution credit
1 World History credit (maybe related to ancient civilizations and the Bible)
1 US history credit
1 Biblical economics credit
5 Electives like cake decorating and marksmanship

With this transcript he would only be eligible for the "minimum" degree in Texas and would therefor not be able to get automatic admission to a state university like say Texas Tech.  But wait. . . He'll already have 9 college credits.  If he takes one more class and has a 2.5 GPA (that's 2 B's and 2 C's), then presto he is back into the automatic admission category. 

From Texas Tech's website for transfer students
ASSURED ADMISSION. If you present the required combination of transferable hours and GPA below, you are assured admission. GPA is cumulative for all transferable courses from all schools attended, and courses taken for grade replacement are used for GPA calculation only if the same course is repeated at the same institution where it was originally taken.

Transferable Hours	GPA Requirements
12 - 23 hours	2.50 cumulative
24 or more hours	2.25 cumulative

So it wouldn't have mattered if all we studied in high school was underwater basket weaving and the Bible, as long as he had a diploma and could take 4 community college classes with decent grades.

But let's say that your kid is bound for bigger and better things than Texas Tech.  Let's say that he is going to a private Christian college like Patrick Henry University.

The College requires that a minimum of 18 high school level courses be completed. The following courses should be completed prior to admission to Patrick Henry College:

• English: Minimum of four courses. To be well-prepared, students should pursue a well-rounded, college preparatory English program that emphasizes literature, grammar, and composition. Examples: grammar, literature, composition, speech, and debate. Please note: Competitive speech and debate may count for one English course.
• Mathematics: Minimum of three college preparatory courses, which must include: algebra I, algebra II, and geometry. Examples: algebra (I & II), geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, and calculus. To be well-prepared, students should take courses at least through trigonometry.
• Science: Minimum of two different college preparatory courses. Examples: biology, chemistry, and physics. It is preferred that students complete three courses and that those courses include labs.
• History: Minimum of two courses, which must include at least one comprehensive course in U. S. history and one comprehensive course in world history.
• Government: Minimum of one course. The course should cover material on local, state, and federal government.
• Foreign Language: Minimum of one course. Examples: French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Latin, or Greek. It is preferred that students complete two consecutive courses.
• Electives: Minimum of 5 courses. Examples include Bible, fine arts, logic, rhetoric, music, economics, geography, and computer courses, as well as courses in areas such as biblical worldview and apologetics.

It looks as though that my son's "minimum" diploma is just fine for them.

There are all kinds of alternatives for ways to get into college and there are all kinds of colleges to get into.  There is even one Christian college doesn't have any academic requirements and selects students based on other criteria.  It is called Rivendell Sanctuary.  Its students graduate with an AA degree.  Every university I have heard of, accepts AAs without question regardless of where the are from. 

So I don't understand why more homeschooling families with high school students don't pursue freedom.  Why not follow what interests your child?  Why not fill their days with subjects you actually think are important to their future?  Why just check off some list given to you by the government?  Maybe I will understand it more when my kids get to high school, but I certainly hope not.

Raising Kids to Do Hard Things Day One

My husband and I just got back from the Raising Kids to Do Hard Things Conference in Dallas. It was a day and a half of presentations my Gregg Harris (father of Joshua, Brett, and Alex Harris). Friday evening had two sessions.

The first one was about why God commands us to do hard things. One thing that I thought was interesting in this session was his point that God has used the curses of Adam (struggle to provide) and the curse of Eve (struggle in bearing children) to bring about the good of a godly household. He also pointed out that sin is a problem of not really believing that God is good and wise and that his ways for our lives are good (for us) and wise. He reminded us that we are here to glorify God. He went on to explain that glorifying God means putting his goodness on display.

The second session was about the seasons of life. He used Jeremiah's instructions to the Jewish exiles to show that there are for seasons of life: 1) Individual 2) Householder 3) Elder 4) City Father. He said that whatever stage you are in you should focus on that and do well at it because it prepares you for the next stage.

I really recommend signing up if Mr. Harris is doing one of these conferences in your area. The next ones are in Atlanta, DC, and Orlando. There may be more beyond that. It is definitly well worth your time.

Appleseed Project

This past weekend, my husband signed me up for the Appleseed Project. This is a rifle marksmanship program that is taught by volunteers with the Revolutionary War Veterans Association. My husband is a very good shot even at 500 yards. I on the other hand could not hit the broad side of a barn. My husband has tried to teach me, but my arms get tired before I really learn much. And I grew impatient because I wasn't able to hit the targets. I didn't really know what to expect during this weekend, but I was willing to go because I knew it would mean a lot to my husband.

I was very frustrated the first half of the first day. We were doing everything in the prone position so my arms weren't getting tired, but I couldn't align myself properly with the rifle. They gave me a loaner and that made all the difference. I started making progress right away. In the final set of targets that I did, I shot the 100 yard size silhouette 4/10 times from standing in 2 minutes. Now that might not seem great (and it isn't), but you have to take into account that I didn't hit the paper AT ALL the first time we did it. I also hit all 4 of the 400 yard size silhouettes the proper number of times in less than 5 minutes during the final round.

So if you have any interest in learning a little more about our history (during the lunch breaks) and learning to shoot a .22 rifle better, I recommend signing up for an Appleseed near you. Ladies and kids are free (though there were range fees where I was). The age of the kids allowed depends on the range rules. At our range, the kids had to be at least 12.

Teen with Integrity

Yahoo! News had and interesting article about Zach Nash, a 14-year-old who disqualified himself from a golf championship. He inadvertantly had too many clubs in his bag and turned himself in after winning the championship.

The story made me wonder, "Would I have the guts to do that?" Or would I start making excuses, "I didn't know the extra club was there; it was an accident." "It's a dumb rule; why should I have to obey it."

I like the way the author said it a the end of the article. . .
"Now, it's easy to go and tee off --pun ver much intended-- on golf's drop-the-hammer rules, on Wood for bringing the extra club to Nash's attention, or to Nash himself for failing to count the club. But all that misses the point. This is a stor about honest and doing what's right, even when what's right makes zero logival sense. Sure, Nash could have rationalized away keeping an extra club, but where's the honor in that?"

Fair

At the beginning of February, Thomas Sowell wrote three articles called the "Fallacy of Fairness parts I,II, III". I was interested in these articles (and have kept them in my stuff to post about pile for all this time) because of what some mean by social justice. When some people say this, I think that they mean that life should be fair. But as Mr. Sowell says, "If by 'fair' you mean everyone having the same odds for achieving success, then life has never been anywhere close to being fair, anywhere or at any time. If you stop and think about it (however old-fashioned that may seem), it is hard even to conceive of how life could possibly be fair in that sense." I quite agree. Everyone has different advantages and disadvantages from the start of life and throughout it. Even in Heaven some will be given 10 "cities" to rule and some will have only one. Whatever you think the "cities" in the parable are, there is still varying levels of reward/responsibility.

Now if by fair you mean that people shouldn't be discriminated against, then I completely agree. Here are some of Mr. Sowell's thoughts on the subject:

Many people fail to see the fundamental difference between saying that a particular thing-- whether a mental test or an institution-- is conveying a difference that already exists or is creating a difference that would not exist otherwise.

Creating a difference that would not exist otherwise is discrimination, and something can be done about that. But, in recent times, virtually any disparity in outcomes is almost automatically blamed on discrimination, despite the incredible range of other reasons for disparities between individuals and groups.

In Part II, Mr. Sowell continues this theme with a discussion of a school district in Berkley.

The point is to close educational gaps among groups, or at least go on record as trying. As with most equalization crusades, whether in education or in the economy, it is about equalizing downward, by lowering those at the top.

This is not justice (social or otherwise). These sorts of actions rob those who can/are doing well to achieve their full potential. Do we really want everyone to be equally poorly educated? Mr. Sowell then continues:

Those with that vision do not want to even discuss evidence that students from different groups spend different amounts of time on homework and different amounts of time on social activities. To admit that inputs affect outputs, whether in education, in the economy or in other areas, would be to undermine the vision and agenda of the left, and deprive those who believe in that vision of a moral melodrama, starring themselves as defenders of the oppressed and crusaders against the forces of evil.

Redistribution of material resources has a very poor track record when it comes to actually helping those who are lagging, whether in education, in the economy or elsewhere. What they need are the attitudes, priorities and behavior which produce the outcomes desired.

Justice is allowing the legal or natural rewards/consequences of ones actions to come to rest. The just thing is to reward those who excel in school. Mercy allows for helping those behind change their study habits, etc. But it is injustice to truncate the learning of those who are excelling or pass people who are failing.

Then in Part III, Mr. Sowell continues:

Society may lavish thousands of dollars [in the US about $9700 per student] per year on schooling for a youngster who does not bother to study, and yet when he or she emerges as a semi-literate adult, it is considered to be society's fault if such youngsters cannot get the same kinds of jobs and incomes as other youngsters who studied conscientiously during their years in school.

It is certainly a great misfortune to be born into families or communities whose values make educational or economic success less likely. But to have intellectuals and others come along and misstate the problem does not help to produce better results, even if it produces a better image.

I feel like I must say it again. Education of children is the responsibility of the parents not "society" or the government. If a child comes out of school semi-literate, it is because of the failed responsibility of the parents. An awesome example of a parent taking responsibility is the mother of Dr. Ben Carson (pioneering pediatric brain surgeon). She was a poor, illiterate, black woman raising her sons alone. She also suffered from extreme depression. Yet she encouraged her sons to learn and do well in school and set high standards for them. I highly encourage you to watch the move Gifted Hands to learn more about this amazing woman and her amazing son.

Mr. Sowell continues,

But criteria exist precisely to have a disparate impact on those who do not have what these criteria exist to measure. Track meets discriminate against those who are slow afoot. Tests in school discriminate against students who did not study.

Disregarding criteria in the interest of "fairness"-- in the sense of outcomes independent of inputs-- adds to the handicaps of those who already have other handicaps, by lying to them about the reasons for their situation and the things they need to do to make their situation better.

Not allowing people to experience the consequences of their actions is often an injustice. If everyone won the race, the slower people would not be motivated to train harder and do better. If everyone passes and your parents don't care, where is the motivation to learn to read? Justice allows natural consequences to take place.

Two Dissimilar Items of Interest

The first item I would like to bring to your attention is this article on the biblical illiteracy of the general "Christian" population especially the youth. I don't understand how people can claim to be God seeking people and not have read what he wrote. I think that part of the problem is that people don't seek truth about anything anymore. If something can't be learned without really trying, it appears that most people don't really think they should learn it. This quote from the article sums it up pretty well.

In general we spend far less time reading anything at all in this culture, much less dense and demanding books like the Bible. Not long ago I met with a student who was struggling in one of my courses. When I asked her what she thought the trouble was, she replied, in a tone suggesting ever so slightly that the fault was mine, "Reading a lot is not a part of my learning style." She went on to inform me that students today learned more by "watching videos, listening to music, and talking to one another." She spoke of the great growth she experienced in youth group (where she no doubt spent a lot of time watching videos, listening to music, and talking with people), but her ignorance of the Bible clearly betrayed the fact that the Christian formation she experienced in her faith community afforded her little to no training in the actual reading of Scripture.

The next is a video by a scientist that did experiments to see what happens to plant when exposed to ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide. It is definitely worth the watch.

Social Justice Research

In thinking about and researching my questions on social justice, I have been reading this post by Peter Greer and Phil Smith the authors of The Poor Will Be Glad. Here are some paragraphs that highlight the complexity of the subject and how our good intentions can have bad consequences.

After the genocide [in Rwanda], Jean seized an opportunity to begin a small poultry business to provide his neighborhood with eggs. He managed to scrape together funds to purchase several fowl, and his business grew. Later, a church in America “adopted” the village where Jean lived and worked. The church decided to donate clothes and supplies. They also imported eggs from a neighboring community and gave them away. Suddenly, this one village was flooded with surplus eggs. It is not difficult to imagine what happened to Jean’s business: people went first to collect the free eggs and bought Jean’s eggs only when the supply of free eggs was depleted. The market price for eggs plummeted in Jean’s village and, as a result, Jean was forced to sell his productive assets, his chickens.

The next year, after Jean had left the poultry business, the church that had supplied the free eggs turned its attention to another disaster in another part of the world. Jean’s community had no capacity to produce eggs locally and was forced to import eggs from a neighboring town. The cost of these eggs was higher than the eggs Jean had sold, so both Jean and his village were hurt economically by the good intentions of one American church.

Have you ever donated your used T-shirts to your local thrift store? Often these are bundled and shipped to Africa. This business of secondhand Western clothing, called the mivumba trade in East Africa, decimated clothing production in countries like Uganda and Zambia that previously had thriving textile industries. Several other countries, including Nigeria and Eritrea, have imposed significant tariffs on foreign imports to avoid a similar fate. It is hard to comprehend that our used T-shirts could harm local producers on another continent, yet the American church must learn to be aware of such consequences in our increasingly interconnected world.

The Blind Side

I am excited about this movie. I probably won't see it in the theaters because it is sooo expensive, but I am on the edge of my seat for the DVD to come out. One of the things that made me excited to see it was this article on One News Now. In it is this quote:

Bullock says thanks to the Tuohys [the family in the movie], who attend Grace Evangelical Church in Memphis, she now has "faith in those who say they represent a faith." Getting to know Leigh Anne Tuohy, says the actress, showed her that religious faith can be authentic. "She was so open and honest and forthright," Bullock shares, "and I said, wow, I finally met someone who practices but doesn't preach."

If you would like to see trailers or learn more about the movie, go to the official website here.

Unity and Truth

My mother and I have an ongoing conversation about unity and truth. It is obvious that unity among believers is a biblical principle. But unity has to be around something. Something more than being able to tolerate one another's company while listening to sermons. Unity has to do with a purpose. It would seem pretty obvious from scripture that the purpose would be the Great Commission: making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe Jesus' commands. All of these things involve truth. For people to work together in a unified way on these things, they have to agree on some basics. For example, you have to agree on either infant or believer baptism.

I think that many churches try to stand for as few truths as possible so that they can be unified with as many people as possible. They usually summarized them as Statements of Faith. This is a super-condensed version of my church's:

1. There is one true God having three persons (God the Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit).
2. God loved us so much that he sent his son, Jesus. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died, and was raised again. In his death, he took on the sins of the world so that God's justice and mercy could remain intact.
3. At the point of salvation, each Christian is physically indwelled by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps the Christian make righteous choices and transforms us into a new person.
4. The Bible is without error and full of truth. It is God-breathed.
5. We are created in the spiritual likeness or image of God, but he allows us to choose to love him and act according to his commands. The first man, Adam, chose to sin, and now every person lives in a marred creation with a marred spiritual nature. As a result, every person will eventually choose to sin and subsequently become separated from God.
6. Salvation is a gift of God and cannot be accomplished by works. When we decide to trust God, we obey Jesus' command being immersed in water and demonstrating Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
7. The church is the body of Christ and the family of believers. As such it is our duty to love others and share the Gospel to win as many as possible.
8. Those who follow Jesus will spend eternity in Heaven with him. Those who reject Jesus' will spend eternity in Hell without him.

While these eight things are all well and good, they don't address many issues. For example, can you tell from this if we have women elders or deacons? Can you tell what our position on evolution or do we even have one? The list could go on.

Some people would say that since these are not "salvation" issues that it isn't worth taking a firm stand on them. So that is my question. . . What is worth taking a stand over?

The Lutheran denomination is wrestling with this issue right now. Some congregations are separating from the ELCA because they believe that ordaining non-celibate gays and lesbians is something that they cannot be a party to. I agree with them. But some would say this is wrong because unity is more important.

And is separating from one another necessarily disunity? My mother pointed out that Paul and Barnabas separated over John Mark. But were they bringing about disunity? They basically went their own way and REMAINED FRIENDS. That is often lacking when congregations part ways.

I, for one, wish that my church would take a stronger stand on many things. For example, pro-life issues, the biblical role of government, and creationism. But if they did, many people would leave. Others might come. How important is staying in the same congregation? How important is standing for the truth? Any thoughts?

Texas

In a previous post, I have said that Texas isn't my ideal place to live, but it does have its advantages. Gov. Perry has come up with a commercial touting Texas' good points as part of his campaign for re-election. I was impressed in spite of my self. The freedom score part especially piqued my interest. You can read more about the study here.

Here's to You Mr. Robinson

I don't watch basketball so I didn't watch the basketball hall of fame inductions. But my mother does and did. She said the highlight of the whole thing was David Robinson's speech. So I watched it for myself on YouTube. She was right it was speech less about self and more about God, family, and friends. I think that he did a good job honoring God and encouraging people to seek Him without being overbearing.

Productivity

A friend e-mailed me an interesting (and convicting) article from American Vision about productivity. The main point is that increased productivity comes from "sacrifice, i.e. from forbearing present consumption plus ideas and work. Increasing productivity always comes at a cost."

The author laments that Americans have gone away from this principle that lead to our success.

For the last century Americans have gradually adopted an economic doctrine completely hostile to the spirit of their Puritan forefathers and to common sense in general: That not sacrifice, but consumption is what produces economic growth. We think we have found the way to both eat the cake and have it at the same time. If we eat more, buy new cars more often, spend more money on entertainment, these will somehow make us richer and more productive.

The author has some pretty pointed (and true) thoughts about the current government plans to "fix" our economy.

Even simple common sense tells us that production for consumption and investing for economic growth are two completely different activities, and they compete for our resources. The more we consume, the less we will have to make our life better in the future. And vice versa, the more we sacrifice and save, the more we will have to invest and make ourselves more productive.

I encourage you to read the whole thing. It really made me think and want to be more productive.

8 Days in an Upturned Boat

Three Texas fishermen were rescued after 8 days in their upturned boat. They had a little fresh water and very little food. To me, this was the most interesting part of Yahoo's article:

"It was on a day-to-day basis that everybody had their breakdown," Tressel Hawkins told NBC's "Today Show" Monday. "The power of prayer had us feeling safe as far as knowing that we were going to make it out of it, but didn't know how long that we were going to have to endure this."

It is pleasant to hear stories of people's faith in hard times.

I am excited for their families. The 8 days of not knowing must have been terrible.