I got the write up done and the pictures posted from the mission trip. Check it out here.

I’m home from the mission trip. I have about 150 pictures, not all of which are worth sharing, but I’m way too tired to cull, resize and crop them. But I promised to get them out ASAP, so I have a zip file of the raw images straight off the camera. It’s a 67 megabyte file, but if you must have them right away, then you’ll be willing to wait for the download. Clicky clicky.

I’ll get a write up done soon, but right now I have to stay awake long enough to put together tomorrow’s Sunday school lesson.

TTFN

I couldn’t possibly let today go by without commenting on it’s (non)significance.

Today is, of course, June, 6^th, 2006, or 06/06/2006 (to use Y2K compliant notation), or 2006-06-06 00:00:00 (if you’re talking to a SQL database), or 6/6/6 (if your just a lazy American). Naturally, our society, which is founded on a firm misunderstanding and strict misinterpretation of the Christian Bible, totally freaks out when there are three sixes in anything. Commence the dooms-day rhetoric!

I teach Sunday school for 8th grade boys (Yeah, I know. Pray for me.) and we are nearing the end of my study on the book of Revelation, where this mysterious number is mentioned quite a bit. As 8th grade boys are wont to do, they’ve told me about every urban myth and camp fire horror story concerning this number.

Yes, there are three “sixes” in every UPC bar code in the world, sort of. Yes, the guy who invented the bar code has six letters in his first, middle, and last name. Yes, in the Hebrew numeral alphabet, the letter for W is also the number six (thus WWW = 666). Yes, the Roman emperor Nero’s name using another numeral alphabet adds up to six hundred sixty-six.

But, if you’re going to get freaked out about a date, today is not the day to worry about. Our calendar is all scientific and stuff, but I strongly doubt that the numbers we have assigned to count the passage of time amount to a hill of musical fruit in God’s grand scheme. I would imagine the watches worn by the Heavenly hosts would not synch up well with even the most accurate atomic clocks here on Earth.

Will there be bizarre cultic rituals performed in dark basements today? Sure! But, will Satan’s spawn be born today? Only in a movie remake. (Tell that wasn’t marketing genius!)

If it will make you feel better, when you brush your teeth tonight, look in the mirror. If you don’t have some strange, permanent mark on your forehead that wasn’t there when you brushed your teeth this morning, you can sleep peacefully knowing that you have better than average dental hygiene. Also, you are probably not doomed to the fires of hell. Or are you?

The “Spring Musical” is in full swing. Last night was the first musical run-through with the choir and orchestra. Tonight, will be a full run-through (with dialog and songs).

When I auditioned for the musical this year, I resolved not to complain about it. During previous Christmas and Easter musicals, I have moaned and groaned about spending hours and hours at the church. Not this time.

This is a ministry which is to say I am offering my time to God and I am a firm believer that God does not accept a begrudged offering. Yes, we have spent an average of five nights a week at the church. Yes, I am tired. But if I want God to bless this production and bless people through it, I need to grow up a little and tough it out. I hope I’ve done a better job this time around.

Oh! And I’m not sure I mentioned this, but this will be the first time (since a Christmas pageant in 2nd grade) that I am singing a solo on stage. Scary! I get lots of encouragement from the choir and cast, but I’m still really nervous about it. Fear is foreign to me. I’m usually not afraid of anything other than physical pain. In fact, I’m usually not afraid to belt out a tune, but those are always Dr. Demento tunes and intended to make people laugh. This is totally different.

Oone last thing. Since I am playing a member of the Sanhedrin (Jewish high council) I am expected to grow a beard. HA! I’ll post pictures soon. It’s really pathetic.

St. Paul City Hall has ordered that a “religious display” of a “cloth Easter bunny” be removed from the building’s lobby. How dare they infringe on my right to worship a comically over sized rabbit and psychedelic chicken embryos. According to the Third Testament of Saint Sponge Bob, we are all required to grovel before the Bunny of the Lord and burn offerings of plastic grass in order to receive our reward of eternal gingivitis.

In the past, St. Paul has banned red poinsettias from the building, because, of course, they symbolize the Holy Order of Red Messianic Shoe Shiners.

According to the article, the city’s Human Rights Director, Tyrone Terrill, demanded that the horrible hare display be removed, although no citizens had complained. Well, this citizen demands the removal of Mr. Terrill. If anything in that City Hall is offensive, it’s him.

I’m sure there are oodles of things I could be blogging about lately and you may have noticed a conspicuous lack of posts. Allow me to explain.

The kids in our high school and middle school youth groups are joining with other youth groups all over DFW in a project called “The Way” (http://www.studentsoftheway.com). Part of the project is for kids to fast and pray for the project and pray for the conversion of their lost friends. Fasting is not always about going without food. Fasting is basically giving up something that occupies your mind in exchange for prayer. So, this month, I’m fasting from the net.

Obviously, I can’t stay off line all month. I am a web developer. It’s my job to do some surfing. But I know I spend way too much time blogging. So until March 1st, I am limiting myself to surfing on my lunch hour. And during the day, whenever something comes to mind that I would usually pop open a browser and look up (that’s not work related), I’ll restrain myself. Instead of spending a few minutes googling and/or blogging something, I’ll spend a minute praying for our kids, for “The Way”, and for revival in our town.

With only an hour for recreational surfing, I won’t have time to read all the nitty gritty political news, nor all the wacky web sites that spawn most of my blog posts. I’ll keep the white board going and I’m going to finish the climbing wall post (volume three), but that’s about it.

So, when you come back by and there’s nothing new to read, take a minute and pray for the kids of the Way. Thanks!

In another follow-up (I promise no more follow-ups this week!), I posted about NBC’s controversial “Book of Daniel”. NBC announced it’s flushing this floater. The American Family Association (one of many groups who vocally opposed the show) claims that over 670,000 people sent emails to NBC through the AFA web site asking that the show be dropped. A total of nine NBC affiliate stations refused to air the show. Even NBC execs admit they hard a hard time finding sponsorship for the show. To top it all off, the show absolutely bombed in the ratings.

The AFA posted a quote from the show’s creator and producer Jack Kenny (although, I could not find another source for this quote).

“The AFA and bullies like them are hard at work to try and prevent you from seeing these beautiful shows, and that is censorship-pure and simple. And that is both un-Christian and un-American.”

I always get a big belly laugh out of openly non-Christian (Christiophobic?) folks preaching about what is or isn’t Christian.

I was able to find Kenny’s earlier response to the attacks on the show. Before it was cancelled, Kenny posted this diatribe which was picked up by TV.com.

“For a while I thought I was the only one who was really angry about this. Angry that this Small Minority of Loud-Mouthed Bullies (SMLMB) had decided to take control over what you get to watch on your television … Soon they may have to step in and approve anything you might want to say out loud, in the privacy of your home. Or maybe what you might think in your mind. If it weren’t 2006, I’d think it was 1984!

…

“Maybe I was taking this too personally – y’know, my show, my idea, my baby. Maybe I needed to seek out other opinions. Objective opinions.”

He goes on to say that he found some blogs where people where defending the show against this “religious attack”. These were his “objective opinions”. I found a much better and truly objective opinion. The “Real Live Preacher” whose blog I frequent, did a short review of the show for Salon.com. It’s very telling.

“I wanted so badly to like ‘the Book of Daniel’ … I wanted to like it if only because some of the religious right are soundly condemning it. I usually can’t pass up an opportunity to distance myself from those guys. But I couldn’t like it. I just couldn’t. Not because it is sacrilegious, but because it is bad. It is very bad. This is a bad and boring show.”

Many of the counter attacks say that Christians didn’t even watch the show before condeming it. While I don’t have to take heroin to know it should be outlawed, I did find the show’s official web site, where you can see still photos of the show and read the plot lines of all five episodes. Now, I can say, in all honest, having read the show’s content, “Wow, that was not only offensive, it really sucked!”

I recommend reading all of Kenny’s whine-fest. Toward the end, he talks about growing up in Catholic school and sheds light on the root of his disgruntlement with religion. The last paragraph he talks about Jesus as a friend and confidant that helps you when you stumble. He’s so close, but he still doesn’t “get it.” It really is sad to see how the lost can get so close to the answer, but their anger and bitterness (usually caused by hypocritical church goers) prevents them for allowing Christ into their lives. It’s a stinging reminder to us on the “religious right”. The fact that Jack Kenny hates us doesn’t mean we can hate him. He’s a lost soul and God loves him.

I’ve had this story sitting here for a while. Today there is fresh news on the topic.

NBC is rolling out a mid-season replacement show called “Book of Daniel”. The show centers around a “Liberal Episcopal” priest, hooked on pain killers who has face to face conversations with a “hip, modern Jesus.” Yyyyeah. I’m sure that won’t offend anybody.

It gets better. Ed Vitagliano, from the American Family Association, has viewed the premiere episode and tells us about the wholesome, every-day-Christian family and friends that Rev. Daniel hangs with. (Full review article)

“His wife struggles with an alcohol problem … while his 16-year-old daughter is arrested for selling drugs … his 16-year-old adopted son is having sex with the bishop’s daughter, and his brother-in-law has run off with his secretary – after stealing more than $3 million in diocese funds … Daniel’s oldest son is a proud homosexual, and in one scene the mother is shown encouraging the 23-year-old that soon he will find the right guy and settle down. Daniel’s secretary, according to press reports, is a lesbian who begins an affair with his sister-in-law in a later episode.”

I wonder if the person who came up with this show has some kind of vendetta against the church or maybe even has no idea what Christianity is all about? Hmmm. Well, it just so happens that “the series is written by Jack Kenny, a practicing homosexual who describes himself as being ‘in Catholic recovery,’ … and isn’t sure exactly how he defines God and/or Jesus. ‘I don’t necessarily know that all the myth surrounding him (Jesus) is true,’ he said.” (from another AFA article)

I found an “inside-Hollywood” blog that described the show thus:

“It actually looks a lot like Desperate Housewives – lots of houses shown, with various people having sex and/or hiding secrets.”

Yyyeah. That’s just what TV needs. *Sigh*

Already the uproar is having some effect. Two NBC affiliates, one in Indiana and one in Arkansas have announced that they will not broadcast Book of Daniel. I hope that more local stations will do what Hollywood never will: recognize a crappy, inflammatory, anti-God show for what it is and refuse to air it.

Well, I’m going to have to call up our local NBC affiliate and let them know that if they air this show, I’m going to have to watch Monk instead. (Oh, wait. I would be watching Monk anyway. Nevermind then.)

In my scripture reading today, God gave me a good laugh and a good lesson. There should be little doubt how I feel about vegetarians. While I admire their self-discipline, I can’t help but think that if God didn’t want us to eat animals, he wouldn’t have made them out of such delicious meat.

Today I read Romans 14…

vs. 2 “One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.”

While that verse was good for a laugh (and may well end up on my white board) the next verse stung a little.

vs. 3 “The man who eats everything must not condemn the man who does not, for God has accepted him.”

Oof.

This is a great passage about judgment and as judgment has been a topic of this blog a few times, I’d like to share what this verse taught me.

There are those who would jump on this verse (taking it out of context) and say that it is wrong to judge anyone for anything. That is simply not scriptural. The Bible is very clear that, as Christians, it is our responsibility to lovingly and compassionately help brothers and sisters in Christ to see and overcome their sins. What Romans 14 warns against is petty legalism.

Case in point: There are those in the Church (including the pastor of my church) who believe that alcohol is so dangerous that it should be avoided entirely. The Bible does expressly forbid drunkenness. But Jesus himself drank wine. (Yes, I’ve heard the arguments about how it was only grape juice, not alcohol. Buy some Welch’s, put it in a clay pot and set it out in the sun for a couple of weeks. Then tell me it’s not “strong”.)

So is it wrong to drink wine? Am I sinning if I have a margarita on a hot summer day? The Bible is not clear. What Romans 14 is telling us is that, in such matters, follow your own conscience and don’t judge other Christians for following theirs. If you can not point to a chapter and verse in the New Testament that explicitly forbids or allows something, don’t impose your conviction on others. Simply follow your heart and let others follow theirs.

By the same token, if you are with someone who has a strong conviction which you do not share, be the bigger man and don’t temp your brother to go against his heart. It would be wrong for me to have a margarita while eating lunch with my pastor because he has a strong conviction against alcohol. This is not hypocrisy, rather politeness, showing respect for his convictions. However, if I did not know about his convictions and ordered up a cold one, it would be equally wrong for him to judge me for drinking as I clearly would not have the same conviction he has. Out of respect, he should politely decline to drink without delivering a fiery sermon.

One last thing on Romans 14. (This is the part I struggle with most.)

vs. 22 “So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. …”

In other words, if someone has a conviction that you don’t share, don’t strike up a debate on the subject. I loves me some scriptural debate, but in these cases, I must keep it to myself. Aww nuts.

*sigh*

Could someone please tell me when we changed the definition of democracy? I seem to remember a time when it meant majority rules, i.e. the opinion of the majority is of highest precedent.

However, sometime in the last ten years or so someone changed the definition to whiniest rules, e.g. if two atheists are louder than two million Christians then the atheists make the rules. For some odd reason, our culture has decided it is better to offend the majority in order to avoid offending the minority. Where is the logic in that?!

I tend to be a realist. I don’t take to mushy traditions or revisionist history. I am very vocal about the fact that Christ was probably not born on December 25th; that most of our Christmas traditions (including gift giving and tree decorating) are likely derived from pagan rituals (just like Halloween and the Easter bunny). I will not argue that December 25th has any historical, spiritual significance.

However, this is the season in which we observe Christ’s birth. This time of year would have no significance whatsoever if the early Christian Church had not decided to observe Christmas at this time of year. Do you really think that retailers would pull out all the stops to lure in shoppers for “Winter Solstice” or “Yule Feast”? Would there be parades and a national holy day (er… sorry… holiday) for the “Saturnalia” or the rebirth of Sol? (With all due respect to my Hebrew brethren, Hanukkah is a great celebration, but so is Yom Kippur and kids don’t get out of school for that!)

My wife posted a poignant essay on her blog. The summation of this essay is that we, as Christians, should not be surprised when secular America takes Christ out of Christmas.

We can’t blame a world that has rejected God for not doing the job WE have been called by God to do! … If you know Jesus as your Savior, it is YOU who is supposed to say “Merry Christmas”…

While I totally agree that it is not Target’s job to promote Christianity, I think it is totally retarded for anyone to celebrate the “Holiday” season devoid of Christian symbols. If you are offended by the fact that this holly-jolly, gift-giving, peace-on-earth time of year is based entirely on the birth of Christ, then you should try to get yourself elected to the Senate and propose a Constitutional Amendment outlawing Christmas. Otherwise, shut your trap and have a Merry Christmas!!