What ought to be versus what is...

They are not the same thing. I know some folks that make sport out of finding ways to hurt each other. Much conflict, much pain, with no end in sight. And it is a heartbreaker. Life ought not be that way. Couples that are married to one another ought to live and love in peace and ought to protect each other from the hurts in life. They ought not to inflict the hurts.

Kids ought to grow up with Mom and Dad in the same house, and they ought to say not to drugs. Grandparents ought to see children graduate from school, and the economy ought to be creating jobs for people.

Life does work in the realm of "ought to." Life exists in the realm of what is. There is a corny cliche that I use far too often, "it is what it is." Duh. Of course it is what it is, how could it be anything different than what it is? But that too obvious expression is my way of saying that we need to accept what is, and not pine away for what ought. Because the oughts in life just don't happen very often.

Am I a pessimist? No. Far from it, I am an eternal optimist with an eternal hope. But I am also a realist. And the reality is that life really is not fair, and Moms and Dads don't always make it through the tough times, and people sometmes hurt one another in ways that we cannot understand. That is the reality. That is the sin nature of humanity at work.

We are created for vibrant, personal, intense love realtionships with each other, and with our creator. And we fall so far short. Accepting the truth of that is the first step in reclaiming that. We do not live up to our billing. We do not live in the way we are created to live. What ought to be is not always what is.

But the fact remains that we know what ought to be. Ingrained in to our DNA is something about the ideal, some kernel of knowlege that some thing is better than this thing. We instinctively know that more life and better life is at least possible, if not always handy.

Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to kills, steal, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly."

My life will probably never live up to the life that is all it ought to be. But I still refuse to be content with what is.

What happened to decency?

First, we had Serena Williams loosing her mind at the line judge. Then we have Kanye West making a fool of himself at the awards show. The congressman calls the President a liar in the middle of his speech, which the President may well be, but it is simply against the rules of decency to call him so in public. What is going on?

This degradation of deceny is not limited to the public eye and the celbrity scene. Try looking for common decent service at your local fast food joint. Examine how people speak to one another in the world today.

I'm sure your grandmother had her favorite sayings. My granny said this one regularly- Good manners never go out of style.

And now this...

So last week it was the hate filled preacher in Arizona. This week, the high school football coach takes a bunch of his players to hear a "motivational speaker." Eight of the kids came back baptized born again Christians. Eight decisions for Christ. Powerful and moving I am sure. But the decisions had no family involvement, no counsel with mom or dad or regard for the family's home church or religious traditions.

Can this be justified? Now, I am all in favor of young people believing and being baptized. That part of it is great. Praise the Lord that young people hear and believe. But are these the proper circumstances? Is this morally right? Is this within the rights or responsibility of the coach? Is the church playing the game of converts at any cost?

Number One, Any baptism pool I have ever used takes at least twenty minutes to fill. That tells me that it was planned before hand to be used. And so this was not a spontaneous decision like jumping down in the creek for baptism. Someone had to think in advance that we might have some baptisms tonight.

Number Two, a "motivational speaker" was how this was billed. Not an evangelist, not a minister, not even a Christian motivational speaker. And yet the speaking part clearly encouraged the young people towards repentance, belief, and baptism. This tells me that there is some slight of hand going on. Some kind of deception either aimed at the parents or the kids.

Number Three, for better or for worse, we have successfully separated church and state in this country. And since the public schools are within the realm of state, a school function (or team function) that involves a directly religious and/or spiritual message crosses a line somewhere.

Number Four, why would the sponsoring church fail to counsel with and discuss the kid's decision with the families? Must the convert be baptised immediately? Is there any justifiable reason to not simply sit down with Mom or Dad and talk about baptism before hand? Fear of rejection? Fear of the parents forbidding? That is possible. But that is a much less likely scenario than totally alienating the family and further damaging the overall witness of the church. And making it on CNN.

Look, I am a Christian, I am a minister and I love to see young people make decisions for Christ and be baptised. All in favor of it and I wish more people would get serious about spreading the word.

But we do not need to spread the word under false pretenses. We do not need to practice slight of hand spirituality. We do not need to corrupt our already shaky integrity by high jacking the football team to go to a revival meeting.

What we do need is to love people, respect people, share the Word of God in a peaceable and rational way. What we do need is to look and act a little more like Jesus, and a little less like used car salesmen.

One step closer

Another Sunday has come and gone, this one the Labor Day weekend. Five Sundays remaining in Branch. Five Monday night classes left to teach. Tick. Tock.

When this odessey began in the middle of July, I know that this limbo time would seem like, well, limbo. As we progress towards the culmination, the time speeds up, and the days begin to click by, and we are slipping ever closer to the future.

And the future is bright.

Under my skin!

Oh, you religious people out there. You bother me to no end.

Pastor Steven Anderson of Tempe, Arizona seems to think that he is pretty right on with Jesus. He prays for the death of the president. He condemns the homosexuals because their particular sin is so much worse and different than everybody else's sin. Especially his. He has no education from any sort of Bible college or seminary because he feels that the titles given in higher education are a violation of God's Word. Which of course is found in the King James Bible of 1611. And any and all other versions of the Bible including the Greek and Hebrew are false and not inspired.

And yet, he seems to have a following. Amazing to me.

When Jesus was walking around in Palestine some two thousand years ago, he met a lot of people. He loved people where they were, who they were. He accepted sinners, even sat down to supper and a cup of wine with them. In fact, if I recall, he was known as a friend to sinners.

In fact, the only people Jesus ever had a real problem with, the only ones that he disliked and had harsh words for were the religious people that thought they had it all figured out. The religious people that wanted to point fingers and accuse and decide who was good enough for God and who wasn't.

Religion is a poison. Religion convinces you that you are A-OKay. Religion is doing the right things so that God likes you better. Religion says God likes me better than you, and if you think I think and act like I act and beleive these things, then God will like you too.

It is a lie people. Religion is a lie. God is a person, not a doctrine. Jesus was a man, not a theology. Religion brings hatred and destruction. Jesus saves the souls of men.

And I am radical enough to think that if Jesus were walking around in my town today that maybe, just possibly, He might even like me. And maybe He would stop and hang out and talk for a while. Put on a cup of coffee and shoot the breeze. Talk about life, share a laugh, maybe do something about my golf swing. I don't know.

When I read the Bible, I find a Savior that accepts people, with all their flaws and failures, and He shows Grace and Mercy and Love. And while He certainly is not happy with everything we do, and He does not condone all our behavior, He loves us anyway.

You know that corny expression

about starting a new chapter in life, turning the page, and new beginnings? The reason that the cliche is so worn out is because it is so true.

With every new chapter, all the excitement and anticipation of the great adventure, comes the sadness and angst of closing out the previous chapter. And that often entains broken relationships, sad goodbyes, and a sense of loss and emptiness. That's kind of where I am.

It is assuredly the right thing in so many ways. The right place, the right people, an opportunity that is extraordinary and wonderful and exciting, everything that I had hoped for and more. There is a thrill of anticpation of knowing that God in heaven is smiling on my life and I am going to be just exactly where He has chosen to send me. The bonus is found in being close to home, back to our roots, and at least the possibility of being in the place that will be my life's work. It's heavy. It's awesome.

But what about my Thursday morning golf partners? Who will join them? What about these wonderful children that I have seen born and grow and start school? What about these young couples that I have counseled and brought together in matrimony and peace? Who is going to watch over them now? What about these little old ladies that have told me exactly how they want their funerals to be? Will someone be there to hold their hand as they walk their final journey?

Unfortunately, it will not be me. And that hurts in a way that I did not anticipate. My hero, a guy named Paul, said that he had to become all things to all people so that a few might be rescued. As much as I want to be like him, I'm going to have a tough time of being there for some folks I care for.

The old proverb says that all good things must come to an end. And one day, we all leave where we are and go someplace else. Whether that is a move across town or across country or across the universe, it is bound to happen. The leaving is hard, but it is inevitable. Someone more suited and more talented than I will counsel the couples and minister to the aincients. And the sun will rise again, and the rain will fall and next years rice crop will come and go, and the democrats and republicans will argue. And wherever we go, all of us can know that we are doing what we can do in the place we are doing it.

What a mixed bag. What an adventure this life is.