Two Brothers Coming Together:

Jefferson Bethke, achieved something that lots of young adults--and not a few of we older adults--hope to achieve.   He  produced and starred in a video that went viral.  When I watched it last night over 16 million others had already done so.  Even better Bethke's message is worth the four + minutes it takes to watch it (not counting the slow buffering because of the demand).  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1IAhDGYlpqY

The young man skillfully contrasts religion--the version he lambasts sounds a lot like American Evangelicalism

--and Biblical Christianity.  Much of what he has to say is right on.  I encourage you to watch his video.  

Another Internet citizen, who in some ways looks a lot like someone Bethke is criticizing, Kevin DeYoung, wrote a thoughtful, though admittedly less artful, and interesting, response/analysis of Bethke's poem.  When you have time, it is worth reading.  (here) 

  What impresses and encourages me is the response.  You can find the link at the beginning of DeYoung's piece, but here it is in part:

I just wanted to say I really appreciate your article man. It hit me hard. I'll even be honest and say I agree 100%. God has been working with me in the last 6 months on loving Jesus AND loving his church.  (Bethke)

 Thanks for your email. It confirms my impression of you-humble, sincere, a real love for God and the gospel. . . . What can I do to help you? . . . I don't want people to take this in the wrong direction. . . .  Let me know if there is something I can do. (DeYoung)

This is a paradigm that I see way too infrequently.  Brothers who love the Lord reaching out in honesty and love to one another.

  

Lord make me like Barnabas.  Someone who helps a brother.  Amen.

 It's STTA. 

Displaying the Ten Commandments:

I just saw that the Giles County 10 Commandment case is back in the headlines.  It will likely surprise no one to hear that the case is being driven as a result of a suit brought by well less than a handful, maybe one student and a parent ( here).

The Giles County display includes a number of historic documents

I am thoroughly convinced that our schools and other public institutions would be far better places if the there was a greater awareness of and adherence to the Decalogue.  Yet as I think of the horrendous persecution inflicted on Christians in some lands dominated by Islam, I certainly want my nation to respect the faith of nonChristians.  The rights of minorities--even minorities of two--need to be respected.  

I'm not saying the display at Narrows High School--a school, by the way, my pastoral associate attended--constitutes discrimination, or coercion.  I'm not sure that any of our founding documents guarantees the right to never see anything that makes one uncomfortable.  Since the two complainants in this case have remained anonymous, I don't know, but if they are like others who have similarly complained in other cases, their problem is "I am an atheist.  Seeing this display makes me feel that I am not a welcome part of this public--as in, "paid for by my tax money."--institution."  Do atheists demand the right to practice atheism, or the right to not practice theism?  (Here is one atheist's viewpoint on the dispute in Giles.)  Either way they have that right, and I endorse it.  I'm open to being convinced, but I don't see that this display violates either right.

I won't be filing an amicus curiae in this case.  Instead I'm advocating for a far more effective and, as far as I know, totally legal, display.  I'm advocating that we live out the principles of the Ten Commandments in our everyday life.  Start with #1.  Live in such a way that it clearly shows that there is one God and that He is my Lord.

Stay tuned.

 

It's STTA.

Ultimately the law shows out profound need.  When you see that look here to see the soul-u-tion.

Protecting the right to believe the unpopular:

I had forgotten about the proposed case.
Asra Q. Nomani, a Muslim woman and former Wall Street Journal reporter wants to sic the IRS on the likes of me. To be honest, Ms. Nomani has congregations that gather in Mosques primarily in mind, but her reasoning and proposed action applies to any of us who believe that the tenets of our faith include any substantive difference between male and female. Al Mohler does a good job pointing out the issues, here.

Yesterday I attempted to deal with the later half of 1 Timothy 2. (Check our website later; the message should be posted.) This morning Mohler's article reminded me of the enforcer that Ms. Nomani and her allies want to make the upholder of their view of things. Whether you agree with him or not, it is clear that the Apostle Paul maintains that there are differences between women and men, and their place in the church. If I understand her reasoning correctly--a line of thought shared by others--Ms. Nomani thinks that the considerable force of the IRS should be unleashed on the likes of me--a prospect that chills my bones even in the July heat.

Like Mohler, I have no interest in arguing Islamic Theology. It is clear, however, that Nomani's argument is one that is based in the truth claims (many of which I reject) of Islam. She claims that Mohammad did not require the gender-separation, practiced in many 21st Century Mosques, therefore modern Imams should not. It is this apartheid that is at the root of her objection. See here.


Ms. Nomani is in no way forced by the IRS or any other government entity to participate in a place, or system, of worship that she regards as faulty. I have no idea what mechanisms exist within Islam for the reform of practices, especially forms of worship deemed to not be in keeping with the teachings of their founding prophet. As one who considers himself both a Protestant and an Independent, I could (but I haven't been asked) give advice on one route leading to reform.

Bottom line:
I really have little if any interest in what goes on in the Mosque where Ms. Nomani worships. I am vitally interested, and I maintain that you should be, in the idea that the force of government agencies should be involved in telling religious organizations what they should and should not believe. (I do acknowledge that the government ought to be involved if women or others are forced to be involved in a system to which they object. Ms. Nomani is not being so coerced.)

If I am to be free to publicly interact with some of the Apostle Paul's unpopular thoughts, then I must be willing to grant other religious entities the freedom to teach beliefs with which I disagree.

It's STTA.