Thanksgiving and Washington and History Speaking for Itself

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor - and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be - That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks - for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation - for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war - for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed - for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions - to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually - to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed - to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord - To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us - and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Obligatory Bible in 90 Days Plug

According to a recent poll, 75 million Americans have a lifelong goal of reading the entire Bible. Its a worthy goal for anyone - not just people to go to churches that teach the Bible. After all, its the best selling book of all time, its the most researched document there is, and it is the foundation of western thought.

Did you know that in less than an hour a day, you can read the entire Bible, cover to cover in 90 Days? 12 pages a day. That's it. The whole thing. 3 months and you are done.

I've asked our church to do this with me. Starting yesterday, June 7, by the Labor Day weekend, people who keep up will have read the entire Bible (you can start anytime you want of course.) Not a bad answer to the question "What did you read this summer?"

Too many Christians never bother to read it, which is why they misuse it and fall for the tricks of the TV preachers... and worse. Every person who claims to be a Christian needs to read this book, which shouldn't have to be said, but it has to be said. Christians who do read through the Bible experience amazing life change, sometimes dramatically.

The troubles and errors of the Church in history do not come from the Bible; they come from a misreading and misapplication of the Bible, usually caused by a fruit salad approach to it - pulling verses you like out of context to make a point or defend a bad position. This is also the source of most people's trouble with the Bible who don't believe it. They take a verse here or there out of the greater context and make a falsely informed decision about God. Sometimes they believe a Christian's interpretation that is wrong in the first place. The book is meant to be taken as a whole, not as a collection of glib religious suggestion and gobbledygook.

And for my agnostic friends out there - you can't be a good agnostic and not read the Bible. Don't be a hypocrite agnostic! Read it.

Atheists? Well, a recent Pew Research poll suggests 21% of atheists believe in God. No joke. Guess you better read it too and then decide whether you are an atheist who believes in God or not.

A few years ago, someone gave me a Three Year Bible. I was instantly amused... and somewhat disturbed. The advantage of the 90 day approach is that you can enjoy the story that is told all the way through the Bible, rather than a disconnected bits and pieces you would get in a 3 year approach. When read straight through, its an epic drama, with heroes and villains, sex and violence, fall and redemption, struggle and victory. And in the end, good defeats evil - love wins!

The Bible is a scholarly book, but it isn't written for scholars. Its a collection of stories and history and poems and songs written most often by the worst of sinners. So, while some of it is hard to understand, most of it is easy to understand. Reading quickly, you can just keep moving - the story has its slow moments, but there is a great payoff for each difficult passage.

As well as a good story, this is a book that also makes bold and certain claims about God and our relationship to him, purpose and meaning of life, and eternal destiny. At minimum, its worth an open read, wouldn't you say?

So, this is not intended to start a debate or even to push buttons. Its just to say that this is a great way to read through the Bible, a goal everyone has a good reason to accomplish.

Here are some helps:

A daily reading plan bookmark

My own 3 minute daily podcast with my reading reflections (cheesy music included!) (iTunes required)

You can use any Bible translation you want, however, lots of Bibles have study notes and small fonts and other things that make the task seem much bigger. Additionally, a modern translation will help so you don't feel like you are reading Shakespeare for 90 Days. Please note that "The Message Bible" is not a Bible, its a commentary, so it doesn't count. I recommend the New International Version. (If you are using a Catholic Bible, the "apocrypha" is not included in the 90 Day plan, so you could tack on another month if you really want to.)

There is a Bible published that is specifically designed for the 90 Day plan, reading plan included, as well as some other supplementary material (audio versions, group study materials, etc.) I am setting up a link for these items through our church that will pay a commission that we will donate 100% to a San Diego charity, likely the Rescue Mission. You can find these items here for the time being.

Enjoy your summer reading... let me know if you have any questions.

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Blogging Angst

Angst - |a ng (k)st; ä ng (k)st| noun
a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general. (from whatever dictionary is loaded onto my MacBook)

I have angst. I've had it for nearly a year. Its not the worried or stressful or hand-wringing kind of angst. Its not causing me to lose sleep and its not creating distraction in a detrimental way. Its not the kind that results in not trusting God. But there is a constant angst in me caused by discernment which seems to be suggesting some very big things are afoot.

I appreciate this definition above because my angst is "unfocused." I can't exactly put my finger on it, but it is related to the human condition and the state of the world in general. That's a big subject. And there are very big things going on. I believe a lot of people have this same angst right now.

I think this angst is somehow related to the fact that while I believe most people have this angst to some degree, and most people also believe that most people share this angst, it doesn't seem like anyone knows how to effectively discuss and respond to this angst over these big things going on, and the people who should be talking about these big things going on don't seem to have a clue that big things are going on. Someone needs to address this angst in a productive way. It seems to just linger, like a storm visible off shore threatening to create destruction, yet promising to relieve drought; but the weather channel won't acknowledge its presence.

Are you following me? If so, it can only be because you have this angst too. I think this angst is emotional and spiritual. There are big things going on.

Why am I telling you this, my faithful yet dwindling blog audience?

I think this angst of mine is the biggest block to my blogging. Because it is unfocused, it is difficult to even know where to start working it out. Every day, I have something I feel like I could blog about, but its difficult to get started because of focus - where do I start? It gets overwhelming and time consuming. My blogs could easily be thousands of words on a subject, whatever it is, and I don't have time to type all of that. This makes it especially hard to blog on serious subjects where I want to be thorough. If you know me, you understand that I can be a bit wordy (I recently preached a sermon that clocked in at an hour and six minutes. Take that Rob Bell!)

Another block is that some of my readers are people from my church where I pastor, which means some readers will take very seriously things I have to say about serious matters. So I need to becareful to post disclaimers, indicating whether my thoughts are strong conviction or mere speculation or commentary, especially when dealing with unspoken angst that many people are feeling but not expressing. Have no fear, remaining faithful readers, I'll still post some fun and an eventual exhaustive explanation about why Lost is the best show on TV.

I have some angst that Lost is not going to end well next year, but that's another issue.

Why am I inspired to blog now all of a sudden?

Well, another blogger, another pastor, found a way to express some of the angst he is feeling about changes coming to the church world. This is only a part of the angst I feel, but its relevant to it and a good place to start. Even if you aren't familiar with church terms or how church works, the issues discussed impact our culture significantly, whether you go to church or now. This relatively unknown blogger posted an article was picked up my major news magazines and websites and has caused a lot of buzz, especially in church circles. So I thought I would use his articles, entitled The Coming Evangelical Collapse to spur some writing of my own. We'll see if this works...

Disclaimer: These articles will cause you to think about your angst. Also, I don't necessarily agree with all of what is written, and my perspective is more optimistic - the changes he suggests are coming will lead to very good things in my view. But change is a comin', and I don't mean the political slogan tomfoolery we think of currently.

You can read all three parts at the link below. Feel free to comment on my blog if you wish to express your angst. I'll use this to inspire some blogs in the coming days.

If I can keep it short...

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/the-original-coming-evangelical-collapse-posts

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PS: "Tomfoolery" was not in my MacBook dictionary. A moment of angst about whether I should have stayed with a PC soon followed, but was quickly resolved.

Truth - Independent from Ideas

I have much to write about concerning issues observed during our recent election. Mostly, I an troubled with how unconcerned we are about what is actually true, and how reality governs what actually happens. I recently made this statement in an email conversation with a similarly concerned person in my church:

"With the decline of investigative journalism, the politics of scientific funding, and the corruption in the education system, “truth” is left to be revealed only by consequence rather than wisdom and aforethought. Sadly, the Church has not risen above the culture in these matters, and the truth remains hidden until it wreaks havoc with people and the nation."

I'll write more on this, particularly on the role of the Church in society at a later date (read: as soon as I have time to get my thoughts together on this.) Below is a video someone sent me that illustrates this point to some degree. Looks like Peter Schiff took a lot of heat for being right.



Truth - "conformity with fact, or reality."

Reality - "something that exists independently of ideas concerning it."

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Obligatory Lost Announcement

LOST - Catch up by January 21, 2009...

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Something to Post About

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to have the time to write. Like the typical new years resolution, it petered out well before the calendar turned to February. However, I am determined to keep working toward the goal of becoming a regular blogger.

There has been much to write about since my last post, including 2 interesting holidays, but those will come around again next year so I’ll save it. I’ve sprained my ankle pretty seriously too in the past couple of weeks. But ankle pain can’t be blamed for a lack of typing. And Lost is so fantastic! Matthew Abaddon deserves his own post. I’ll get to that eventually.

But now, there is something great to write about today. As I type this, I am somewhere over Central America, in heavy turbulence, hoping my relatively decent airplane coffee doesn’t bounce out onto my friends next to me. In a couple of hours, we’ll be landing in El Salvador.

I am travelling with 12 other people on a mission to the small village of San Jose El Naranjo. In the coming week, I plan to write and post more about this village and what we see there. More importantly, I’ll write about what God is teaching me this amazing and fun team of people who are in for a currently unrevealed spiritual life change. I don’t know what God will reveal to me during this trip, but I have to say I haven’t been as excited about what cannot be known of his providence for a long time.

On Saturday, February 22 (or “22 February” as they keep making me write it), we will begin by touring a water project that is bringing safe water to our village. This project is key to the overall mission with this village for the simple reason that without safe water, people die and can never escape poverty. Our church and others have contributed financially to this project through a ministry called Enlace. I’ll write more about this later, hopefully with some pictures.

Our team is carrying nearly a ton of baggage. Literally, almost a ton. The tonnage mostly consists of 400+ new school backpacks full of new, much needed school supplies. We’ll be giving those away later in the week. Because mosquitoes love me, malaria medicine also adds weight to the scales.

The day started out a bit rough and a long time ago in a different country. I went to sleep around midnight, enjoyed the sound of car alarms for a couple of hours and got up at 4 am to finish packing and some other work. Because it was raining in San Diego, it took us nearly an hour to get to the airport, normally about 20 minutes away. Drivers in San Diego put their vehicles into park on the freeways when we get just a little drizzle. Apparently, so do airline pilots in San Diego because we sat parked on the tarmac for two hours in the rain waiting to take off.

That delay created some anxiety for us because it became clear that we would likely miss our connecting flight in Houston. I was getting ready to call my Houston friend Robert and announce a surprise overnight visit. Oh and by the way, I’ll be bringing 12 of my friends and a ton of luggage. Really, almost a whole ton! Did I mention that?

But as the whole country seemed to be delayed today, our connecting flight was also delayed. Oh, as feared, our connecting flight was at the farthest possible gate from our arrival gate. We all had to run several miles through the massive stale popcorn smelling Bush airport and we barely made the connection – out of breath and sans a much desired Starbuck’s pickup.

I’ve completely messed up my customs form. With my contact lenses, I can’t read very small print.

I believe the hotel we stay at the first couple of nights in San Salvador has wireless Internet, so I anticipate being to post a couple of things. I would be more certain about that, but I took 8 years of French instead of Spanish and that makes it hard to read the hotel website. French – yeah, I have lived in Southern California my whole life, what language should I learn? French (see last sentence, two paragraphs up.) I’ve never known anyone personally who speaks French for a legitimate reason.

Anyway, if you are reading this by 22 February, or 23 February, it means I and my team have arrived safely, we have not been jailed for trafficking school supplies, and our hotel indeed has Internet service.

I look forward to telling you how things are going.

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No Friday Blogs And No Osteen Tickets

Its difficult for many people, including myself, to take a day off. A real day off. Its one of my goals this year. For me, Friday is the best possible day. So, no blogs on Fridays.

Last night, my wife and I did go out for dinner with her parents. One the way home, we got stuck in unusual traffic waiting to get into a show at Cox arena, at San Diego State University. Who was playing? Joel Osteen.

I didn't buy a ticket.

But 12,000 other people did.

I've never read his books and I've hardly watched him on TV so I'm not going to give much commentary. He has lots of critics and supporters, many of whom I suspect haven't read his books or watched him on TV either. People often criticize or endorse people or movements that they don't know much about simply to satisfy a need to have an opinion or a side. Its much the same way we pick US Presidents.

But it is interesting that thousands of people are coming to his church and road show, and not all of them consider themselves to be Christian or religious in any specific way.

Critics of Osteen worry that his message of "God has good things in store for you" that focuses on self-improvement neglects the deeper theological teachings on matters of sin and redemption. Someone was quoted in our local paper saying that by focusing on self-improvement, Osteen turns God into a "cosmic bellhop who is there to make sure Americans are having a good time."

Whether or not his teaching is incomplete is not my point here. Like I said, I really haven't paid that much attention. But seeing so much interest in that kind of message reminds me of a great quote by CS Lewis from the book The Weight of Glory:

"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." --C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"

We are far too easily pleased. Clearly, we often miss the wonderful things that God has in store for those who put their faith in him. Perhaps what we miss most is the deep joy of blessing others because we have been blessed.

Something to think more about...

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