Assemblies of Gad

A Shame

2007-04-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

It is really a shame that it took the deaths of more than 30 people at Virginia Tech to knock Ana Nicole Smith off of the cable news networks.

I hate to do this, but...

2007-02-28T19:59:00.000-08:00

I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to turn on the moderation settings for my blog. Somehow spammers have figured out how to post ads for viagra and other pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical products and services on my blog.

:(

Gerald R. Ford

2006-12-27T17:47:00.000-08:00

Gerald R. Ford always held a special place in my heart. He became president before I came of voting age, but he was really the first president I followed through the media. I remember the summer of Watergate and watching the hearings unfold while at my grandmother's house in Tucson. I remember watching Richard Nixon leave and Gerald Ford taking office. Though he was in office a short time I seem to remember his image as a president quite well.

Gerald Ford is the only president I've seen in person. I saw him, and followed him, during the 1977 Tucson Open Pro-Am tournament which took place shortly after he left office. He was paired with Bob Hope and Tom Watson if I remember correctly. I have the negatives of the photographs I took stashed away somewhere.

Today there is a lot of talk about how he was able to compromise and find middle ground between the conservatives and liberals. Today, such talk, I suppose, would mean political death. Nevertheless, I think we could use another leader like Gerald R. Ford today.

Flip Flop

2006-11-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

Here is my first attempt at political satire. I had posted this on another blog site just after the 2004 elections. I stumbled across it tonight. I think it's prophetic.

Election Results

2006-11-08T18:03:00.000-08:00

The so-called Gay Marriage Amendment failed in Arizona last night. This legislation purported to amend the state constitution so that same sex marriages could not occur. The Arizona constitution already defines a marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

The real purpose of this ballot item was to take benefits away from common law marriages and other domestic partnerships for local government employees. The Center for Arizona Policy, a mouthpiece for Focus on the Family, admitted that if this legislation passed they would use it to move toward outlawing the same benefits in the private sector. The margin was narrow. I suspect those who voted in support of the measure where 1) hard core religious-right voters fearful of God's wrath had they voted no; and 2) uninformed voters who had not researched the real intent of the initiative. To my knowledge, ten of thousands of voters remain unsmitten today.

The news outlets are making a point that Arizona is the only state where a gay marriage ban has been turned down by popular vote. Arizona is also the only state that supported a Martin Luther King Day with a popular vote.

Today I am proud to be an Arizonan.

Surprise! Not!

2006-11-03T14:13:00.000-08:00

Why don't I find these kind of things surprising any more?

Evangelical minister faces allegations of gay relationship

Talk radio host fired for insult

In the case of Ted Haggard it is an indication that the flesh is weak for those who are 'called' just like it is for the rest of us. What I find troubling, if the allegations all turn out to be true, is that this went on for three years. I think it's time for all the hypocrites to come clean, let their demons out of the closet, quit condemning others and move toward the 'real' cause of Christ.

The radio host was rightly fired. I've listened to some of these blabocrates in my community and they make me sick. They go after almost everybody with a differing viewpoint and personally attack them; sometimes using childish mockery. One guy named Bruce Jacobs went so far as to imply that a public official with a speech impediment was retarded.

Sickening...

Dirty Campaign Ad Tactics

2006-10-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

I remember listening to radio advertisements for local car dealers when I was younger. There were a few dealers that had one or two announcers who had a schtick they'd go through announcing their latest offers, deals, sales, whatever. I thought we had some pretty talented, creative local personalities who did these ads.

Then, I took my first cross-country road trip.

As I drove through northern Virginia, Knoxville, Memphis and Oklahoma City I heard the same announcers and advertisements I heard back home. The only thing that changed was the name of the dealership. I was disappointed that the talent I thought was homegrown was really just a 'fill in the dealership name here' campaign.

This is the first election year that I have really paid attention to what is being shown and said on both the 24/7 cable networks and the local channels. I guess I was naive to think that the ads for local politicians were homegrown and tailored to local conditions and issues. But, after watching many political ads from around the country that the blabocrats on 24/7 cable networks are discussing I understand better now the 'campaign' involved in some of the local races.

The local campaigns and campaigns from around the country have a 'fill in the republican candidate name here' look and feel.

Two recurring themes that appear in republican against democrat ads are accusations of 'tax fraud' and association with something called the Man/Boy Love Association. The viewer with a discerning eye and ear can probably figure out the 'tax fraud' is not really fraud at all, but a candidate/tax-payer using their right to file extensions with the IRS when filing taxes; something I'm sure a lot of republicans and democrats do. Careful observers can also figure out that some ads are unfairly implying democratic candidates who may have the same position as the ACLU on a civil liberties issue have the defacto endorsement of the Man/Boy Love Association. I suppose this is in response to the Mark Foley mess. Nevertheless, it is a dirty campaign tactic.

I find it interesting and disturbing that the ads for my hometown candidates are almost identical to ads for other candidates around the country. This suggests to me that these republicans are not really interested in the issues. I picture a room full of strategist wannabes poring over voting records, tax documents, news clippings, etc., for any piece of information that will substantiate, in their minds, that they have license to smear.

With two weeks to go before the mid-terms it will only get worse.

Hindsite

2006-10-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

I know hindsite is 20/20 and I have been and will be criticized for this, but I am not surprised by 1) David Kuo's new book called Tempting Faith, nor 2) the attack on David by the religious right.

I've had many discussions during the past few years with others who firmly believe the Bush administration could do no wrong. They are convinced he is a man of God - ordained if you will - to lead this country.

My argument has been that those who lead under Bush has been using the perception of godliness to gain the non-discerning Christian vote and that some religious leaders are using this to their advantage. As with any leader, Bush will continue to keep the support of many faithful who cannot be swayed under any circumstances. My prayer is that enough people will read Kuo, John Dean, Jim Wallis and others and realize that pleasing the religious right is damaging to politics and the separation of church and state.

Online Church Fights

2006-09-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

Brian at For God's Sake Shut Up! posted an interesting blog with a related link about how members of some churches are using blogs in intra-congregation conflicts. The question was raised about whether or not blogging at the congregation level is healthy for churches and whether blogging should not go any lower than the denomination level.

There are many important issues for which there needs to be healthy discussion. Unfortunately, some church environments are not conducive to openness of thought and voice. Threats to openness include outright censure for what is said and gatekeeping by individuals in the congregation hierarchy. I've experienced both. Blogs and emails, I believe, are a legitimate way for church leaders to measure the pulse of the congregation. Who knows, they may even help drive sermon topics to address congregation concerns.

Dan Scott's Thoughts

2006-09-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

I'm adding a link to the Blog of Dan Scott, associate pastor of Christ Church in Nashville. Dan is the former pastor of a church I used to attend in Phoenix. I didn't realize it at the time, but I have to say he has probably had more influence over me as a Christian than any other person.

It was probably the mid 90's when I first heard Dan Scott's sermons. He had just come to our church following the departure of the previous pastor. Dan was like a breath of fresh air. I particulary appreciated the depth and intellect behind his sermons. He was not uptight like a lot of christians. He reads a wide variety of materials from religious leaders, business leaders and philoshophers and he is not afraid to weave their lessons into his messages.

A couple of years ago Dan's wife Trish suffered an aneurysm. At that point he began sending e-mail update to his parishoners who were interested in her well-being. They told of Trish's progress and setbacks. They also gave insight to what it was like to have a loved one in her condition. Throughout the updates Dan's love, compassion and intellect are apparent. These updates, and others, are available through his blog.

You can also hear some of Pastor Scott's sermons through the Christ Church website.

Manifestation?

2006-09-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

This has been an interesting week. We attended last Sunday's service at the Assembly of God-based church we've been attending. This week's sermon was about sex. The sermon was presented during the "Lost" series. I googled the "Lost" series online and it is apparently part a canned sermon set that is available through a site called 'WiredChurches.com, a ministry of Granger Community Church. If you go to a purpose-driven megachurch and visit WiredChurches.com or Pastors.com chances are you'll see some familiar graphics. These seem to be the primary distribution points for canned sermons that are probably delivered simultaneously by numerous seeker type churches on any given week.

Now to the point of this entry: We knew going in to last week's service that this sermon was going to about sex. My wife and I discussed whether or not we wanted our 13-year-old daughter to hear the sermon and thought it would be good to hear. My wife has discussed sex with my daughter from a healthy perspective with our own opinions on abstinence, respect and so on. We expected the sermon to follow the same tack and tact. We were wrong.

The sermon began with an excerpt from the TV series "Everybody Loves Raymond." The clip centered on Ray's desire to have sex with his wife, but she was clearly not in the mood. The sexual innuendos and double entendres in the clip were obvious and hardly moral enough for a Sunday worship setting even in my liberal opinion. Following the clip the pastor sat at the pulpit and, as is his custom, began with a couple of jokes. Again, the jokes were way off-color and totally inappropriate for a Sunday setting. It even included, for some reason, an image of an associate pastor's head superimposed on a photo of a person sitting on a toilet seat--something to do with flushing sins away. Within a couple of minutes my wife had written a note on the bulletin that she was completely offended by the pastor's "potty" humor. The sermon continued, however, it continued in a way that really made my wife seem uncomfortable. There were more jokes and speaking with an approach that seemed to be more from a 17-year-old teen boy's perspective.

The topic of last week's series certainly needed to handled with more seriousness and respect than it was. After just a few more minutes my wife wrote another note that she was ready to leave. But, we stuck it out 'til the end. I'm glad we did because it helped emphasize a point I've been trying to make with my wife for some time--that the canned, mass distributed sermon series in use at many churches are indicative of the lack of originality on the part of church leaders. I don't want a slick message and PowerPoint presentation that I can see, eventually, at any number of churches. I want to hear a message from a leader who was on his knees before God at 2:00 a.m. pleading for the words to deliver on Sunday.

My silent prayer for some time has been for something to happen which would help my wife realize there is a difference between a marketing plan and God's plan. In my eyes, this past week was a manifestation of God and an answer to prayer. Further manifestation occurred mid-week when my wife, who was still bothered by the sermon, called the Assembly of God District Council to voice her protest. She spoke with an administrator in the Superintendent's office. When my wife discussed the content and flavor of Sunday's sermon, the administrator was clearly surprised and agreed that it was inappropriate. The following day, my wife received a call from the District Council thanking her for the call but that they were not going to take any action or discuss it with the pastor in any way. As the daughter of a minister who is keenly aware of how the district council has handled questionable, offensive practices in the past my wife found this hard to swallow. Needless to say she shared her two-cents worth with the council and ended the call. That was the last straw for her as far as this church goes. She does not want to go back.

Where to next? Who knows? We visited a small Presbyterian church a few weeks ago and spent time with the pastor of that church after the service. One thing is for certain, this pastor said the best, most heartfelt prayer I've heard in a church for a long time. I think we need a small church, a small community, a village where we are more than just headcount to bolster "church growth" rhetoric, a source of income to finance overbuilt campuses and targets for conservative propaganda.

Matthew 23:23

2006-08-26T15:58:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was the quarterly tithing sermon at our church. The pastor was careful to point out the weekly shortage in tithes and offerings and that the "average tithe amount was between $11 and $12 per attendee based on 6,000 in attendance" (I believe the attendance count is overstated). The pastor went on to say he needs a $22 average to meet expenses.

Near the end of the canned, "Purpose-Driven" sermon the pastor cited Matthew 23:23:

"How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law-justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things. "

Though he read the entire passage, the pastor focused on the first four words of the last sentence -- "You should tithe, yes..." -- but ignored the rest of the sentence about the "more important things" like law-justice, mercy and faith.

The reason I bring this up is that I am troubled by the lack of mercy in evangelical churches. Perhaps I haven't found the right one. I did attend an evangelical church in the city center which was directed toward mercy by its pastor but he didn't last long. This was about the time that there was rhetoric on "family" based christian radio that criticized compassion ministries and he was hounded for being too liberal and left to return to his roots where he is doing quite well.

As for me, I am bent toward what the Lord called "the more important" things. If you take care of the important things I believe the other things like church finances will take care of themselves (or at least the Lord will take care of them for you).

SBC and public education

2006-06-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

I just saw this article about the Southern Baptist Convention's refusal to support a resolution calling for an exit strategy to withdraw SBC kids from public schools. While I don't often agree with the positions that come about from the SBC's gatherings, I like this decision. There are a couple of points made in this article that I like:

First, if the mission of Christians, as the SBC says, is to exert "Godly influence" it must take place where those who can be influenced go to school, live, work and play. I do not believe this influence has to be overt and it can be accomplished by living and acting like role models. It will not be successful by hiding from the world in Christian-only environments.

Second, there are indeed thousands of Christians who are teaching in our schools. Withdrawing Baptist students and implying that SBC members should not be a part of public school systems is a slap in the face to those who have chosen an honorable profession. If a resolution like this was passed, I'm a fraid it would be closely followed by a resolution to forbid Southern Baptist teachers from teaching in public schools.

On a personal note: My children were home schooled for several years. We escaped from home schooling and transitioned to public schools just this year. Both of my children transitioned very successfully. The reason for transitioning to public schools was a combination of financial and ideological factors from my point of view. The first item above was an important one since I disagree with this Christian isolationistic approach to life. We belonged to a home school group which was very cliquish and very isolationistic. It was supposed to be open to all home schoolers, but it was apparent from the start that if you didn't fit in a particular religious mold you were not too welcome. When we announced our kids were going to attend public school folks we used to interact with several times a week immediately and completely severed ties with us. I suppose they didn't want to be considered guilty by association with folks who didn't have such a narrow-minded view.

That's their loss.

Why go to that church?

2006-05-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

Why go to that church?

That's a question I ask of myself and a question others ask of me. Why not just assert myself in some way and escape a place I sometimes can't stand to be?

The answer is not that easy.

I have never been comfortable in a church...at least in the evangelical type. As they have become more contemporary they have lost elements that I would consider 'traditional.' A cross cannot even be found on the campus of the church I attend. And believe me, I have searched. What could have easily been a display of the three crosses atop Calvary in any church has been replaced with three video screens that show the pastor and his purpose-driven Powerpoint presentation.

Why is it hard to leave? The family I love feels at home there. My wife's background is firmly evangelical (her father was a pastor, despite his flaws which have brought many ministers to shame) and she finds the church very comforting. But, I don't even think she realizes how much things have changed from the days of listening to 'fire and brimstone' sermons when she was young.

My background was non-religious at best. My parents were both Catholic but never stepped into a church unless someone was being baptized or had died.

We've spent many hours discussing (sometimes debating or REALLY arguing) about trying another church. However, the false notion that various Christian churches are not really on the same 'team' overshadows any prospects of trying something new.

So, I'll sit there and mutter to myself on Sundays. This blog will give me an outlet. Will anyone read it? Who knows?