Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Why is common ground so uncommon?

There is very little dialogue these days. There is even less healthy public dialogue. What we have is a culture where talking heads speak to other talking heads. The idea seems to be if I yell enough and repeat myself enough then what I say must be correct or important.


An article about the movie Noah encourages Christians not to attend. They do so by labeling the director as an atheist. It would have been nice if they had dialogued with the actual content of the movie instead of labeling by libel.


Comedian Bill Maher calls God as a mass murderer. It is consistent with who he is and what he believes, but it was also great for ratings.


Where can a person find common ground for conversation when there is a lack of civility and courtesy? Have we lost the ability to listen? Have we lost the ability to allow someone the chance to be heard?


This now creeps its way into church life. We as Pastors find ourselves reviewing curriculum and setting guidelines for small group discussions in the church setting. It seems that common ground and courtesy have even lost their way in our local congregations.


I had someone share a story from a mega church this week. The Pastor was preaching on a fairly controversial political topic. I struggle to imagine what biblical text he used to justify preaching about it. An angered congregant stood up and called him a liar and stormed out of the building. Where did this person learn this behavior? I am not sure, but it was modeled for her a few years ago in our own congress.


Church should be a thermostat and not a thermometer. We should set the expectations for ethical behavior, discourse, and dialogue the way a thermostat determines the environment in a house. In stead we seem to reflect the behavior of our culture and we are no different than the world around us.


How we say what we say says as much about us as what we say.

Monday, March 17, 2014

What would the Shark Tank say about my new church?

I usually blog about current events and topics that are interesting to me. I want to blog about something a little more personal today. I want to write about a church that I Pastor that we started January 1st, 2014. It is called The Path to the Cross Church and we are located in Northwest Houston.


I really like the show Shark Tank. If you have never seen it the premise is pretty simple. Entrepreneurs come on the show and present their businesses and ideas to a group of multi-millionaire/billionaires. The "sharks" can be gracious if the business idea has real potential and the presentation is well done. If not, they can be brutal. It can also become contentious if several sharks begin to bid on the same business.


I have become really intrigued in recent months because for the first time in my life I am an entrepreneur. My wife and I decided to start a new church in late October 2013. Armed with a dream and a handful of potential members, we launched a faith based business.


We had no real business plan. What we had was 35 years experience in ministry on my part and 30 years of accounting and business experience from my wife. We had no money in the church account and no members. In a way it was crazy. It has been the best crazy thing we have ever done.


We began meeting in our home. A dozen people became fifteen people and soon we outgrew our home. That is when miracle number one happened. My wife's boss offered for us to use his facility. ABC Home and Commercial Services is a high profile business on the Sam Houston Parkway. It has a huge meeting room, smaller rooms for small group studies, and a kitchen for our fellowships. It is easy to find and parking is very convenient.


On the first Sunday we had 30 people. By the first week in March, we had 59 people attend on a Sunday morning. How have they come? Word of mouth, Face Book, LinkedIn, a podcast, and signage have led people our way. The church is growing and offerings are growing as well.


The other night I wondered to myself...what would happen if I went on Shark Tank and asked these men and women to support our church financially? What would I say in my presentation? What would their questions be? How would I explain some of the things that have happened that could have only occurred by divine intervention?


The truth is that The Path is an entrepreneurial enterprise. It is also a church. We should do our best to follow the very best business principles that we can. We should also.  remember that not everything about a church fits on a balance sheet. Their are resources and provision that just cannot be explained.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Hollywood and the Bible...It is a strange marriage

In the next few weeks we will have the opportunity to see at least three movies with biblical themes.


"Son of God" has been out a couple of weeks, earning at least $45 million dollars. It was actually already seen on the History Channel last year and this was a part of that original series. I spent hours reviewing the whole series on godsfavoritepodcast.com. You can hear my comments about the movie in the sections where we deal with the life of Jesus. In one of those podcasts we actually say: "You know, they could make a movie out of this part alone." ...and they did.


What is of interest to me is how they marketed it. They did not use the traditional movie approach. They went directly to churches. They encouraged churches to "buy out" movie theaters. This approach seems to have worked well enough. Mark Burnett made another $45 million dollars on something people could have watched on tv for free.


It is intriguing that there is a sub set of Christians who will support almost any movie about Jesus. The response to "The Passion of the Christ" was even more rabid ten years ago. To not see the movie was almost "un-Christian." Robert Parham writes a great editorial on this at ethicsdaily.com.


It will be fun to watch what happens with the next two movies as well. "God is not dead" is almost a remake of the Scopes Monkey Trial, only this time the question is the existence of God and the setting is a secular college campus. Having taught philosophy at a community college, I am intrigued to see how the whole scenario plays out. I am also interested to see how Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson fits in the picture.


The movie I am most anxious to watch is "Noah." The lead character is portrayed by George Clooney. It has a stellar cast and a huge special effects budget. Like the epic "The Ten Commandments" which came before, it promises to be epic.


Read the fine print before you go. My paraphrase of the television commercial is this: "Though we have taken great liberty with the biblical text, we think we have captured the spirit of the story." This really is nothing new. Watch "The Ten Commandments" again; this time with a bible in one hand and a remote in the other. Hollywood has always taken liberties. Even "The Passion of the Christ" was a much more Catholic rendering of the story than most viewers realized.


My curiosity is the way in which "Noah" is laid out. Will the movie reflect current thoughts on life and death, responsibility to one's neighbor, and even global warming and climate change or will it reflect ancient Jewish thought and theology? I am willing to invest a few bucks and catch a matinee. Unfortunately, unlike watching from home, I will be unable to throw my pillow at the screen when they same something really stupid.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Faith, Food, Fitness, and Focus

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. For several years I have taken on the spiritual discipline of Lent. It is the idea that we "give up" certain physical habits or patterns and we "take on" certain spiritual disciplines. All of this is meant to sharpen our focus as we head toward Easter.


It was a Catholic priest, Father Richard Neuyer, who showed how little effort and time I spent toward preparing for Easter. His question was simple: "How can you celebrate on Easter Sunday, if you haven't grieved through Lent?"


I have chosen to take on "The Daniel Plan" for my Lenten discipline. It is a book by Rick Warren, author of the Purpose Driven Life, and several Doctors.


My inspiration actually came from Colin Cowherd of ESPN television. He spoke one day of how small choices make huge differences. Two cookies a day can mean two pounds of extra weight at the end of the year. Two pounds a year for thirty years means a person is obese. It is not the occasional binge that gets us in trouble. It is a series of small bad choices repeated over and over.


The book is built on four interconnected principles. Rick Warren says that all four are necessary for success; and better yet, their is a synchronistic and geometric benefit is all four areas are addressed carefully and passionately.


So here is my plan:


Faith: I will spend thirty minutes a day in intentional prayer and devotion time; not in sermon prep or church work, but just time alone with God.


Food: I will eat the foods laid out in Daniel chapter one, as practiced by Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I will eat fruit, vegetables, and water.


Fitness: This is one area I actually do well. I walk two miles every day with my dog. I will just double the laps.


Focus: This is the tough one. Not sure this one will work itself out. I will let you know.


I hope that you would choose to embrace Lent. Not sure what your needs are, but it is a good pursuit.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

A Baptist Seminary in Lebanon?

I had the chance to meet a man named Nabil Costa last week. He works for the Arabic Baptist Theological Seminary in Lebanon. His is an incredible story,


I had to confess to Nabil that I did not know nearly as much about Lebanon as I thought. It is a small country. It is roughly the size of two to three good sized counties in Texas. Lebanon has coast line, forests, mountains, and dessert. There are three million Lebanese inside the borders of this country. One third are Christian, One third Sunni Muslim, one third Shia Muslim.


Lebanon lies due north of Israel. Because of conflicts with Israel in the past, Lebanon's relationship with the United States is tenuous at best.


But tucked away in the middle of Beirut, there is a small group of people with a global vision.


They tape bible studies and put them on satellite television for all the Middle East and North Africa to see. They have a high school in the heart of Islamic Beirut. Islamic parents willingly sign a release allowing their children to be taught the Bible. They do this in trade for the quality of education their children will receive.


They have sixty students in their seminary. These are pastors from all of over the Middle East and North Africa. Their belief is simple. People in Tunisia will respond better to a Tunisian Pastor than an American Missionary.


They also have an incredible opportunity at their doorstep. Almost one million refugees have flooded Lebanon from war torn Syria. Most of these are Islamic people. Christians in Lebanon are at the front lines distributing aid to these Muslim refugees. Being able to put aside political differences for the good of people is admirable.


I will lead a group of ministers and laity to Lebanon this September. It will be a trip which will try to raise awareness of the issues Christians face in this part of the world.


It is one thing to be a Christian in Texas. It is quite another to be a Christian in Beirut.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Frank Underwood...Hero or villian?

It seems that the world sits still on Thursday evenings at 9:00 p.m. That is when Scandal airs; and it will return at the end of February in all of its glory. I would agree that Kerry Washington is a woman of immense talent and beauty. The banter is wicked and fast and the ensemble cast has chemistry. Having said all of that...


For best drama portraying politics in Washington...the winner is...House of Cards! In a land slide.


Season two came out on February 14th. I guess this done so all the singles who did not have dates could watch all thirteen episodes and end up in a chocolate induced, ocular fixated coma, with a subtle smile etched on their faces.


Kevin Spacey is brilliant at portraying Sam Underwood, Democrat congressman from South Carolina. Don't let partisan politics keep you away. This is no West Wing liberal slant. Underwood could be LBJ or Tom Delay. I think he is probably some combination of the two.


Underwood's wife is the stunning Robin Wright who you might remember as "Jenny" in Forrest Gump. Well "Jenny" has grown up and is a tour de force as the congressman's partner and political confidant and silent conspirator. Her Emmy last year gives testimony to her immense talent.


Season 1 is a must if you want to understand the story lines. Thanks to Netflix you can watch all thirteen episodes at your leisure; commercial free. If you want to know what the future of television looks like watch these episodes on your computer or I-phone at Star Bucks and you are there. I have grown so weary of commercial interruptions on regular tv, that this seems like a guilty pleasure to watch all of this uninterrupted and at my own convenience.


The dialogue moves quickly so you will not want to multi task. There are a couple of "tricks" used in story telling that are intriguing. First of all, Frank Underwood narrates much of the story. He breaks the fourth wall and looks directly at the viewer as he narrates the action. This is not Ferris Beuller. This is not SNL. Frank Underwood looks at the screen and speaks to you and somehow it works.


The second trick of the trade is that text messages appear on the screen. If your television is small like mine, prepare to move close enough to see. If not, you will miss crucial dialogue.


There are no charachtures like you find in Scandal. Is there any more annoying character in all of television than Cyrus Beane? The acting is much more subtle and understated in House of Cards. It takes awhile to begin to like these charahcters. They are not easy to like, but like most protagonists, you find yourself rooting for the Underwoods.
This is grown up television. It is not meant for children or young adults. There is not nearly as much violence or profanity as; let's say, a Martin Scorsese movie, but it is present.
Some might watch this and wonder if there is any redemptive quality to it, other than the obvious excellence and craftsmanship of the show. It is a story of power and corruption. Perhaps it is a cautionary tale. That will not be clear until the end of the series. Until then, this can be enjoyed in much the way the Godfather series was. It is of a world that only a very few of us will ever know, but something about it resonates.
Maybe it is because we feel so powerless at times, that we cheer for someone like Frank Underwood. Rather than giving into those in power, he takes and ceases it.
But in the end we are reminded of Lord Acton's famous quote: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.



Tuesday, February 11, 2014

I am a flag waving American

It is time for the Olympics again. There is the song with kettle drums and trumpet fanfare. There are the five rings, where supposedly, every nation's flag is represented by at least one of those colors. We have athletes who amaze us with their talent. We also have the medals; gold, silver, and bronze. Oh yeah...and we have politics.


I was fanatical about sports as a child. I especially loved the Olympics; but they were always tainted. I was unable to understand as a seven year old why a black man would raise his fist in the air. I watched in horror as Jewish athletes were taken from their dormitory and killed. I was disappointed  when differences could not be resolved and that conflict led to the boycotts of 1980 and 1984.


In those days it seemed that every victory was a national tribute and every loss a disgrace; especially against Russia. The basketball travesty in 1972 was erased by the Miracle on Ice. The cold war of my child hood elevated [or deflated] the Olympics much beyond such a sporting event. This was war.


I watch the Olympics with new eyes. I see the joy of athletic competition. I watched a sixteen year old snow boarder from Stowe, Vermont. My wife and I had coffee at the snow lodge where she learned her craft. She fell on her second run, lost her chance at a medal, shrugged her shoulders and smiled. She will be back in four years.


This was no national incident. It was a sixteen year old who gave it her all and fell just a little short...and I was proud. Not just proud to be an Amercian; but proud of her and her work ethic and her ability to put aside the "agony of defeat" and soak in the moment.


There are still politics. There are fears of terrorism. Accommodations have been woeful in places. The Russians have accused American reporters of reporting these issues to disparage Russia's good name. In reality, we as Americans are somewhat spoiled and reporters are used to having toilet paper and light bulbs. Go figure.


The problem goes deeper than politics. Adults have a way of "projecting" their emotions onto young athletes. What would posses a fifty year old man of wealth to call a nineteen year old basketball player a "piece of crap?" Why would people send death threats to an Alabama kicker for missing a field goal against arch rival Auburn? Why do parents of nine year olds scream at their children at Little League games?


Sports give us an outlet. They allow us to project our anger and insecurity and fears and frustrations on athletes who could not care less how we think or feel. Brad Creed once said: "A college basketball game is 10,000 horribly out of shape fans yelling at ten kids to kill themselves for the sake of glory of their beloved institutions."


Surely we can rise about such sophomoric behavior? Probably not. But this much I know.


The Olympic Games are at their best when they are just that. Games.