If It Were Not For the Children

Aren’t kids great? They make so many things possible, and even convenient. A veritable world of endless possibilities continues to emerge on their behalf. Just think of the things people would not be able to do if children didn’t exist! For example:

Children give politicians an excuse to introduce a smorgasbord of self-serving policies.
Children give divorcing parents reasons to threaten, recriminate and sue each other.
Children give greedy moms an excuse to press for more child support.
Children give deadbeat dads a reason to disappear into thin air.
Children serve as perpetual guinea pigs for far-out educational psychologists.
Children give advertising agencies irresistibly cute little advocates in commercials.
Children give corporations a golden opportunity to hawk their wares.
Children provide the basis for the school transportation industry.
Children keep child protection experts and safety gurus going.
Children guarantee toy manufacturers an endless flow of new business.
Children provide designers with never-ending call for fads, styles, colors and brands.
Children give all of us a tax deduction, but not nearly enough of one.
Children give the pet industry an endless supply of consumers.
Children make the theme park owners and operators annually ecstatic.
Children supposedly provide the motivation for the radical environmental movement.
Children give producers of TV shows and movies a certain and lucrative audience.
Children give pharmaceutical companies a vast market for drugs of dubious use.
Children provide bureaucrats and social workers with thousands of government jobs.
Children give teachers unions a sure-fire platform to keep tenure and stay in business.
Children make restaurateurs like McDonald’s and Chuck E. Cheeses wildly profitable.
Children—-rather, the possibility of them—-maintain business for birth control makers.
Children—-rather, conceiving and then getting rid of them—-ensure work for abortionists.
Children give rock and hip-hop artists a target for violent and suggestive lyrics.
Children keep grandparents in the parenting mode, covering for the real parents.
Children provide a base for demagogues to exploit for government grants and laws.
Children open the door for change agents to subtly angle for cultural revolution.

Yes, children really are the hope of the world…that is the world of authors, lawyers, social workers, pediatricians, orthodontists, Disney executives, therapists, counselors, child psychologists, children’s-rights advocates, fashion designers, ad nauseum and ad infinitum. Some good, some not so good, all gainfully employed. The total exploitation of children that we witness in our society truly forms the front lines of the culture war.

Parent, minister, teacher, child care worker: do not look at children as a platform for any selfish interest you may possess. God has entrusted them to our oversight to prepare them for the adult world, and for eternity. Don’t coddle, spoil or patronize them. Don’t exploit, ignore or abuse them. The only legitimate goals of those truly interested in the spiritual welfare of children should be to train, protect and challenge them to fulfill their design in the eyes of their Maker.

I can’t tell you how critical it is today for us to redouble our efforts to counteract the destructive effects of a twisted and exploitative culture. Too many have bailed out on their responsibilities. Your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, next-door neighbors and children of friends may not have the vision for children like you do. Reach out to them. Especially encourage them to provide a spiritual education for their children. If they can’t—-or won’t—-put yourself out to do it. You may only have a window of five to ten years to make a difference in the young life of a child. Be the bridge they need into their future. They will thank you in eternity.

Guess Who’s Going To Heaven?

(A little piece I wrote in response to the execution of terrorist Timothy McVeigh.)

Life is just chocked full of surprises, isn’t it? Take the matter of going to heaven. I just found out that Tim McVeigh is “absolutely in heaven,” according to a local Terre Haute clergyman. Yep. An hour or so before he delivered his defiant stare to his bombing victims’ relatives and felt the lethal injection needle puncture his skin, he asked for a certain prayer to be said. Voila! From an unrepentant mass murderer to a sainted seraph; from the man guilty of the worst act of terrorism in history committed by an American on American soil, to instantaneous celestial bliss. You do have to admit that it is more than a little surprising.

I guess Tim is right up there tooling around the streets of gold with Judas Iscariot. You did know about him, didn’t you? Yeah. I learned this bit of news a few days ago. It seems that Judas suffered some kind of delusional syndrome and he really hadn’t been himself that last week or so before he consorted with the enemy camp, betrayed the guileless Jesus with a kiss on the cheek and sold him for thirty pieces of silver. I am told that history has unfairly painted Judas with a traitor’s brush, conveniently making him the scapegoat for the crucifixion. His distraught condition drove him to become a suicide victim, certainly punishment enough for his innocent mistake. Not wanting to add insult to injury, God had enough grace to ignore his own word and admit Judas into heaven.

Now, I haven’t fully confirmed that the following people have actually made it to “the sunny banks of sweet deliverance,” but early indicators point in that direction. Adolf Hitler, the mad paper-hanger who inadvertently got caught up in his “Final Solution” thing which resulted in the death of six million Jews will most likely be there. (I mean, after all, he was fighting this huge war which probably was a major distraction and prevented him from thinking straight.) Joseph Stalin, the communist leader who ordered the massacre of millions, will undoubtedly make it. His motive was to assist the noble experiment of communism to succeed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, is already there. (If I’m not mistaken, that has been confirmed.) With the likes of Nero, Herod, Genghis Kahn, Pol Pot, Al Capone, Pretty Boy Floyd, and a gaggle of other tyrannical, butcher, mobster, rapist and crazed killer types, heaven could turn out to be a much different place than I had always imagined. (A city jail? The ACLU? Lawyers?)

Even more surprising may be New Jerusalem’s register of missing persons. I thought it was a given that the Apostle Paul would make it, but some think he was too much of a sexist, authoritarian homophobe to gain admission. Apostle Peter, the designated gatekeeper almost secured his place because he stood against racism, but later lost out when he dared to write about his radical views on oppression of women. King David had an outside chance, but he couldn’t overcome his record for waging for-profit and for-vengeance wars. He tried to slip in on his blood relationship to the occupant of the throne, but nepotism is frowned upon in heaven.

And then, there are the poor, duped masses who died while actually thinking that faith in Christ, submission to God, obedience to the Bible, faithfulness, honesty, personal holiness, sacrifice and walking in the Spirit were important factors in going to heaven. Too bad they didn’t understand the real character traits that God measures before granting acceptance. Tolerance, flexible principles, multiculturalism, universal affirmation of all religions, obeisance to Mother Earth and other demonstrations of a fully evolved conscience speak much more to one’s worthiness of karma, i.e. heaven, than all the silly twentieth century pietistic notions put together.

I hope nobody drowns in these drippings of sarcasm, but I am appalled at the barefaced disfigurement of Bible truths. Heaven is not a general philosophical ideal. The New Age, PC crowd didn’t invent it. Neither can these same sacrilegious interlopers redefine the criteria for entering in. God’s Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 21:27. Of course, God stands alone as the final judge of all who enter heaven, but he is eternally committed to fulfill his Word. Certainly, one provision cannot be changed, that which Jesus told Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5

Heaven belongs to God. He alone can tell us how to get there, and he has provided all the information we need in his Word. The Bible takes the “guess” out of going to heaven.

Great Families Seminar Outline (Part One)

Helping Families Achieve God’s Design

This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:32

(This outline was part of a seminar presented to the church in 2006.)

Our culture, as a whole, has long understood that families form the building blocks for society. I have observed that in the church, families provide a critical component of the strength and longevity of a congregation. In a very real sense, strong families are the infrastructure of the church operation. The family unit, however, has never been in greater danger in history than it is today. Apostolic people cannot afford to shrug off this crisis. We need to become proactive in understanding, modeling and training family values for our constituents.

Let us begin by going straight to the pressure points that trouble many families today. This involves looking at the sources of family conflict, how these conflicts break out into open war, the awful emotional costs that conflicts bring about, the dysfunctional results of conflicts and why it will all get worse if nothing is done to counter the damage. We will wrap it up by showing a better way to resolve family conflicts. Few things are more difficult in life than family intervention. Yet, if we do not do something, we will witness the demise of the most important social unit known to man.

Conflict: Why are you fighting?

Money
Relationships
Discipline of children
Decisions
Habits/Behaviors
Lifestyles
Philosophies/beliefs

External Consequences: Open War

Shouting matches
Constant bickering
Extreme language/gestures/threats
Tension without talking
Preaching/nagging without response
Physical conflict/Destruction of property
Leaving/Escaping
Retaliatory actions: (i.e. tattoos, body piercings, bizarre behaviors, etc.)

Internal Consequences: Emotional costs.

Anger
Depression
Fear
Hatred/Revulsion
Guilt
Insecurity

Dysfunctional results: Now, we’re in a real mess.

THIS IS WHAT USUALLY BRINGS THE PROBLEM TO THE SURFACE!

Nervous breakdown/Psychosomatic symptoms
Resign yourself to live with the problem (martyrdom)
Co-dependency
Drinking/smoking/drugs
Overeating/overspending
Affairs
Pornography/promiscuity
Gambling
Divorce/emotional divorce/separation
Workaholism
Extreme involvement in sports, hobbies, social/church work

Complications from results: It only gets worse.

Improper solutions develop into primary problems
Improper solutions postpone the inevitable showdown
Invention of appropriate storylines to cover up real problems
Destruction of the family

There is a better way!

The family talk

• This is not spontaneous. It is planned, organized and necessary.
• Set a time (be flexible)
• Set the frequency (three to five times a week)
• Find a place (be comfortable)
• Include as many as want to participate (extended family too)

Set the rules

• Each person can talk (crying, shouting is okay)
• Discussion is okay, but talking back is not allowed
• You may challenge another person (disagree, point out fault, etc.)
• A challenge cannot be answered for twenty-four hours
• The session is not over until all agree to end it
• Affirm someone when they say something courageous and honest.
• Everyone must say I love you after they share with the group.

You want us to do what?  Answering objections

My family won’t do it. (Require attendance, voluntary participation)
It won’t work with my family.

You haven’t tried it.
You don’t want it to work.
You are projecting your own surmising of failure onto the family.

We don’t have time

You have time to fight, escape, sulk, do your hobbies, etc.
You will find time for separation, divorce, custody battles, etc.

The CHR Method (Courage, Honesty, Respect)

Courage

The courage to confess your faults
The courage to confront other family members
The courage to express your feelings
The courage to face your problems

Honesty

Honesty in self-analysis
Honesty is expressing all your feelings, thoughts, opinions
Honesty in responding to criticism (no defensiveness, anger, etc.)

Respect

Do everything in the atmosphere of respect.
Do not react emotionally to things you disagree with.
Respect the other person’s feelings. Feelings are real.

What are you going to talk about? (From Boundaries, Cloud and Townsend)

Catching the Virus: Letting the attitude of parents affect your marriage.
Second Fiddle: Failure to leave mother or father emotionally.
May I have my allowance, please?

Financial irresponsibility.
Depending on parents to support lavish lifestyle.

Mom, where are my socks?:

Perpetual child syndrome.
Enmeshed family.

Three’s a crowd:

Triangulation
Turning to an uninvolved third person for comfort and validation.

Who’s the child here, anyway?:

Codependency
Taking care of the irresponsible parent.

But I’m your brother: Irresponsible siblings.

Great Families Seminar Outline (Part Two)

An example of a CHR session

(Mom, Dad, Son, Daughter sitting in comfortable chairs in the family room.)

Mom: Okay, I’ll start it out. I was really hurt the other day when I spent all day cleaning the family room, rearranging the furniture and hanging new pictures and nobody said a word about it. It seems like I am just taken for granted and I am just everyone’s slave. I feel unappreciated and ignored.

Daughter: I’m sorry, Mom. I noticed the room, but you weren’t around when I saw it and so I just got busy with my art project and forgot about it. It looks really nice.

Dad: It looks beautiful, honey. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. And I’m sorry if I make you feel unappreciated. You’re not my slave. You’re my wife and I’m very glad about it, too.

Mom: Thank you, Dear.

Everyone: I love you, Mom.

Dad: Okay. (pause) So, I’m supposed to tell you how I feel about things?

Daughter: That’s the idea, Dad.

Dad: I’m okay. I feel okay.

Mom: About everything?

Dad: Well, maybe not everything…but I don’t like to talk about stuff.

Daughter: You and Jack sure talk a lot when he comes over.

Dad: Yeah, but…we’ve got a lot in common. It’s not a problem talking to him.

Mom: Just try it with us. Do you get mad at us for anything? Tell us.

Dad: Well, I get tired of working my tail off every day and bringing home the paycheck just so everybody can run up to me and ask for money or things and run off to do their own thing. I don’t ask for much, just a little respect and some thanks. Actually, I feel like I am just a piece of furniture around here. There. Is that what you wanted to hear?

Mom: That’s it. It’s called sharing. At least now we don’t have to guess how you feel.

Everyone: I love you, Dad.

Daughter: Dad, I want to challenge you on what you just said. You said you don’t ask for much. I think you do ask for a lot. You make us tiptoe around when you don’t want to be bothered. We don’t dare touch any of your tools or you jump on us with both feet. You threatened to take away the car keys if didn’t get my grades up. That was fair, but when I brought home three A’s and two B’s, you just said, ‘It’s about time.’

Dad: Wait a minute, I---

Mom: Honey, you can’t answer back for twenty-four hours.

Dad: But I didn’t say---

Son: The rules, Dad. You can’t break the rules.

Daughter: Anyway, Dad, I thought you should have been happy about doing better in school. Now, as far as my feelings are concerned, I feel really happy because I finished my art project today and I really like the way it turned out. I worked on it for three weeks so I had a lot invested into in. But, I also feel a little bummed because I won’t be able to enter it in the contest because we have a choir concert the same weekend and I have a special part so I can’t get out of it.

Mom: Your project was wonderful, Sue. It made me proud of you that you have so much talent.

Dad: Well, after your challenge, I don’t know how I feel. I’m just teasing! I didn’t see the end result, but I’m sure it is beautiful. I am looking forward to seeing it.

Everyone: I love you, Sue

Mom: John, you’re next.

Son: I don’t have anything to say.

Dad: How about your new job?

Son: It’s okay.

Mom: Do you like the people you work with?

Son: Yeah. They’re okay.

Daughter: That’s not what you told me.

Son: Shut up.

Dad: Hmmm. Sounds like we have something going on here.

Son: I don’t need to talk about anything.

Mom: Courage, honesty, respect. John, we will respect you whatever you share with us.

Son: (long pause while everyone waits patiently) A guy was smoking weed on break yesterday. He offered me a puff.

Dad: Did you take it?

Son: (Almost inaudibly) Yes.

Dad: Did you say yes?

Son: I said yes.

Mom: (Pause) Did you like it?

Son: No. Well, yeah, but it wasn’t like I got stoned or anything. It was just a little puff. The guy said I didn’t do it right. It takes practice to really get high.

Dad: (Irritated) Have you ever studied the effects of marijuana on people? Do you know the trouble it can get you into? I can’t believe you did something like that.

Son: Here we go. This is exactly why I didn’t want to talk about it. I’m not going to be a drug addict or anything. Thanks, Sue. (Gets up to go to his room.)

Dad: John, I’m sorry. Don’t leave. It’s not going to help. Sit down and let’s talk about it.

Son: (Sits back down.) I just don’t want to get harassed.

Mom: Why do you think you smoked it?

Son: I don’t know. I was just curious, I guess. I know a lot of kids who smoke weed. It’s cool. (pause) Maybe I wanted to look cool. (pause) That’s not a very good reason. I know I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry.

Everyone: I love you, John.

Mom: Are you glad you told us?

Son: (Slight smile) Yeah. At least I got it off my chest.

Dad: John, I want to affirm you for confessing to us tonight. It was the right thing to do.

(Music closes scene.)

What just happened in this family?

Everyone was made aware of real feelings that had been suppressed.
Inaccurate statements and feelings were challenged.
Intimate feelings of self-worth and purpose were shared.
The family endured a shocking confession and responded with love and support.
The family just diffused possible sources of tension, anger and conflict.
Everyone was more secure in their love and concern for each other.

Possible statements in CHR:

Daughter: Mom and Dad, I really don’t like it when you guys fight all the time.
Son: Dad, I feel like you don’t care about the family when you come home so late.
Daughter: Mom, I really get mad when you nag me so much.
Mom: Sue, it bothers me that you don’t let me look at your cell phone call history.
Son: Dad, I wish you would take a few minutes to ride bikes with me.
Daughter: Mom, all you ever see are the negative things I do.
Mom: John, you frustrate me when you just throw you clothes down anywhere you like.
Son: Mom and Dad, why don’t we ever take a vacation?
Dad: John, I have a real problem with some of your friends.
Mom: Sue, it’s not fair for you to run to Dad after I say no and get him on your side.
Daughter: Mom and Dad, I feel like you give John more attention than you do me.
Son: Dad, I feel like you yell at us all the time. I wish you would stop.
Dad: John, you were late for curfew last night. Want to talk about it now or later?
Daughter: Mom, you don’t seem to care about our schedules when you want us to do something.
Mom: John, it really hurts when you talk to me so disrespectfully.
Son: Dad, I don’t like it when you spend so much time over at your buddy’s.
Mom: Sue, you worry me when you spend so much time in your room by yourself.
Son: Mom, it makes me feel really bad when you say I’m stupid and I can’t learn anything.
Daughter: Mom, it bothers me when you let yourself get overweight.
Son: Dad, I have a hard time respecting you when you don’t go to church.
Mom: John, when you lie to me I feel that I can’t trust you.
Dad: Sue, it doesn’t make me feel good when you keep asking me to buy you things that you know I can’t afford.”

Let Jesus rule your family.

He is your peace.
He is your strength.
He is your joy.
He is your life.

The Smiles of June

Graduation time triggers thoughts about success and goals in life. Typical…and boring…commencement speeches will repeat in stadiums and gymnasiums across the country that graduation is not the end, but the beginning. Grinning graduates, excited about finishing school but nervous about the next step, need to know what they are going to do with their lives. I know it’s too big to think about—-but it is too important not to. 

The only specific reference to success in the KJV Bible is Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”  The concept of success, however, runs throughout the scriptures.

I offer here some random thoughts about success: Some people think of success as achieving one’s goals, but this definition is far too simplistic. A hit-man for the mob may be judged successful if he kills someone without leaving a trace of evidence. A junkie who has just cut into a pure batch of cocaine may feel successful. A rogue corporate officer may define success as destroying one company to benefit another. Although they committed suicide in their evil act, nineteen Islamic militants considered themselves successful when they caused the carnage and devastation of 9/11.

But success is far too personal to be defined across the board. First, what a person does to become a success must be acceptable in our society, it must be consistent with one’s own identity and it must match our understanding of God’s will through his Word. Second, success may never be an achievable goal. It changes so often that it renders many attempts to define it as ridiculous.

On the other hand, if we can’t truly define success, can we truly define failure? And, is failing to succeed succeeding to fail? Is failure ever a success or can success be failure? These seem like silly questions, but they help us to think more critically about what we are doing with our time, resources and lives. For example, if one succeeds at being a lawyer when he or she really wanted to be a doctor, is it success? If you ultimately fail in achieving a noble goal, are you a failure? Is true success found in the process or the outcome of a project? Can we succeed and fail simultaneously or on different levels of the same project or in differing roles in life? Is the man who succeeds in business but fails in his marriage a success or failure? Is the woman who gets what she wants in life but loses her soul a success? If we factor in all the successes and failures of individual lives, does a calculus exist whereby we can crown them as an overall success or pronounce them as a decided failure? Is the perception of success or failure in the eyes of the world more relevant than some arbitrary or objective measure?

Obviously, we can wander all over the philosophical and academic definitions of success with nothing to show for it but confusion. How can we arrive at a useful definition of spiritual success? This may only be done by looking at the world around us, by understanding the person within us and by measuring ourselves according to the divine plan revealed to us. We can’t do this in a single session, but we may be able to at least identify some major areas of concern and start the process.

The failures of Abraham Lincoln have been widely publicized. He did not win an election to public office until he became president in 1860. Yet, by most accounts, history acknowledges him as one of the greatest presidents ever to occupy the Oval Office. Thomas Edison failed over a thousand times before he found the right filament for incandescent lighting. We remember King David as one of the most beloved and successful of all biblical characters, yet he also represents the most miserable moral failure in scripture. Jesus Christ, in the strict terms of his contemporary society, was a colossal failure.

Have you ever tried to challenge some of your own ideas of success? Although you may pick these perceptions apart intellectually, you will find it extremely difficult to rid your minds and heart of their lingering effects. Do you want to make a lot of money? Do you want academic degrees? What kind of car, house or other possessions do you want? Do you want financial security? Do you want to get married, and to whom? If you have children, what do you want them to become? Where do you want to live? Do you want a particular job? Do you want a promotion to a certain position? Do you want out from under someone else’s control? Do you just want a change in the circumstances of your life? Do you want people to think highly of you? Do you want to achieve a certain thing? (i.e., invention, justice or victory?) All of these things may be elements of success, but all of them fail if they stand alone. The best definition of success is this: “Success is something that happens on the way to fulfilling the will of God in your life.”

In the final analysis, success is not something you can achieve as a single goal. You cannot simply go out into the world and get success, even if you achieve all your goals! All your achievements must be reconciled with the will of God in your life. That alone represents the totality of success.

No Column This Month

I have decided not to write a column this month. I fully intended to write one, but several things happened that discouraged me. I started to think about why it just wouldn’t work out. The more I thought about it, the more I entertained the notion that I may not write next month either.

First, I read over my job description. Nowhere did I find that the District Superintendent has to write an article each month for the district newspaper. If I preside over district conferences and board meetings, sign annual fellowship cards and represent the district at General Board meetings, I’ve basically fulfilled all the obligations of the office. Beyond those requirements, I’m supposed to look after the goings-on in the district; you know…things like mediating disputes, appointing committees, giving permission for this and that, and a few other insignificant official actions. But I don’t think I was elected to agonize over a blank sheet of paper (or a blinking cursor on a computer screen) and fill it up with words. I’ll admit that sometimes I enjoy writing, especially when I have something on my mind that I really want to say, but other times it is just a huge chore. I just figured that this month I would exercise my rights and refuse to write a column.

Then, there is the time factor. Despite popular opinion, I do not have more than the same twenty-four hours in a day that others have. Sometimes, I just get inundated with stuff I have to take care of, and my time for peripheral do-gooder jobs flies out the window. Some might wonder if fishing trips, time-shares and championship courses distract me, but that’s definitely not the case. It’s the work of the ministry, organizational duties, church administration and fulfilling family obligations that swallow up time in huge gulps. Just when I think that I have an hour or so cleared out to write, the phone rings, the doorbell clangs, or “You’ve got mail” speaks to me from my artificial intelligence apparatus. One phone call can rearrange an entire week. I don’t know why I’m telling this to you. You know all about busy schedules and unforeseen interruptions. That’s why you understand perfectly why I can’t write a column.

More on the time thing. Even when a sufficient amount of time becomes available to compose a column, I have to decide on the judicious use of that time. Wouldn’t I be better off by doing something more beneficial to me and what I’m doing in my place of ministry? Can I honestly say that secluding myself in my office turning phrases and checking synonyms rises higher in the priority list than studying, teaching, counseling, planning and all the other ministerial tasks? Or, shouldn’t I be out there mowing the lawn, getting the tires balanced and rotated and doing all the other necessary appointments in life? A column seems to be far less important when I weigh it against everything else.

But, there are other reasons. Writing is hard. Ideas are scarce (good ones, that is). Things that I would sometimes like to write about have to be edited out in the interests of diplomacy. Who reads this stuff, anyway? What difference would it make if I didn’t do this? Critics don’t need me to entertain them. Thousands of alternative columns appear in other magazines and newsletters. The crisis I’m writing about this month will be forgotten by the time this goes to press, making me seem behind the times. And I never know when I’m going to write something dumb and will feel embarrassed when I see it in print or when I have to eat my words.

You may think that I’m letting everybody down. I’ve thought about that, too. It’s risky, but I’ll go ahead and say it: Get over it. Most of us are adults here. We all know a lot of people who just don’t do what everyone else expects them to do. They don’t need a reason. They’d be insulted if you asked them why they didn’t do something, or why they didn’t attend a particular meeting or why they didn’t support a certain cause. What do we do about it? Nothing. We shrug our shoulders and say, “Oh, well.” People disappoint people all the time and life goes on. You don’t actually believe that other people’s agendas ought to rule your life, do you? Of course not. One man’s mandate is another man’s option. I’ve got to be responsible for my own personal, individual vision. If that vision doesn’t include writing a column, so be it. Organization should never become a noose around one’s neck, should it?

Yes, I think I’ll wait until I have something really powerful to say before I churn out another column, or at least until something strikes me as novel and fun to write about. For the time being, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I won’t be writing a column this month. For those of you who really need to read a column, there are plenty of other writers out there to choose from. Also, there’s always the opportunity for you to sit down and write a column yourself. Think about it. Thank you for your understanding.

A Question of Priorities

It’s the old “nature/nurture” debate; the chicken or the egg; the “catch-22”, the irresistible force versus the immovable object. It has seesawed countless times throughout our human dialogue, whether in ecclesiastical circles or society at large. Some clever person frames the question so as to elicit a certain answer, and when the respondent coughs up the reply, he immediately becomes a fool, or worse, an infidel.

Take the question: Do you love souls or do you love God? Or, how can you befriend the sinner without contaminating your relationship with God? Or, should the church strive to be relevant or separate? Or, should we sacrifice vigilance on the altars of a mega-revival vision? Most often, such unresolved conundrums pool up like standing water at a swamp bottom, offer no healthy release, and polarize people into opposing factions.

I’m speaking of progress as opposed to regress; outreach to the sinner versus holiness for the saints; the choice between evangelism and discipleship. For too long, the debate has been posited as one or the other. One school contends for full-bore evangelism, bringing as many of the “great unwashed” as possible into the confines of our steepled edifices, ignoring all the attendant sights, sounds and smells. The opposing view maintains that the overarching principles of true discipleship make purity imperative, and throttle any growth that challenges holiness teachings. The question has no easy answer because variegated perspectives cast it in different lights. Either holiness precludes revival, as the argument goes, or else evangelism simply excuses unrestrained worldliness. Both sides see the other as the agent of destruction.

Unfortunately, these entrenched views mark the beginning of the present dialogue, not the end. With minds made up, with two and three generations invested into one particular side, with years of freely expressing disagreement—-sometimes infused with inflammatory terminology—-the contention turns hot and cold, but never off. For the militant, “compromise” is a vile word, and thus every attempt to reach an understanding or to orchestrate a truce fails before it starts. Absent this understanding, withdrawal and isolation emerges as the preferred path. Yet, these intransigent attitudes need not rule the day.

Evangelism and growth do not negate holiness. If I understand the mission of the church, our number one mandate is to reach the lost. In his gospel, John wrote that Jesus “must needs go through Samaria .” (John 4:4). In his parting words for the fledgling band of disciples, ”Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15 ). The compelling burden for Paul to reach the world drove his entire ministerial career. But if increased numbers watered down the doctrines and practices of the church, then the primitive church would have miserably failed in its mission. We know that didn’t happen. The first church maintained high and stringent standards, even with meteoric growth.

Holiness teachings do not stop evangelism. Clearly, God’s people must be graced with inward and outward holiness. “… and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14). Liberal leanings, which erode biblical holiness, must never characterize the church. At the same time, neither can we succumb to an unreasonable fear of zealous evangelism because it may potentially poke holes in our wall of separation.

It comes down to a question of priorities. This does not mean establishing priorities between evangelism and holiness, but of timing and need. For the lost sinner, holiness means nothing if he is not evangelized. Even if we clean him up to look like a saint, but he still has an unregenerated heart, he remains lost. On the other hand, the church that loses its holiness distinctive has nothing to offer to the lost world. Whatever evangelistic thrust it makes has no meaning beyond the generic programs of countless other church groups and denominations.

For the lost, our priority must be evangelism. In discipling the saint, the priority must be holiness. Contention only erupts when we see the two goals as mutually exclusive. When we achieve the proper balance and timing between the two, the contention subsides. That means that saints and sinners must sometimes rub elbows, and it means we must exercise wisdom in every situation, but it produces the end result of a church that is both growing and healthy.

Jesus provides us with the pattern. “And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.” (Luke 19:7). Love without compromise. Jesus had his priorities in order.

New Corporate Buzz Words for the 21st Millennium

I don’t intend to clutter up this site by passing along more flotsam and jetsam of the internet, but once in a while, levity keeps us sane.  I do like new words, so this is still apropos to my theme.

Blamestorming: Sitting around in a group discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
Body Nazis: Hard-core exercise and weight-lifting fanatics who look down on anyone who doesn’t work out obsessively.
Seagull Manager: A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, and then leaves.
Chainsaw Consultant: An outside expert brought in to reduce the employee headcount, leaving the top brass with clean hands.
Cube Farm: An office filled with cubicles.
Idea Hamsters: People who always seem to have their idea generators running.
Mouse Potato: The online, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato.
Prairie Dogging: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people’s heads pop up over the walls to see what’s going on.
SITCOMs: What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids. Stands for Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage.
Squirt the Bird: To transmit a signal to a satellite.
Starter Marriage: A short-lived first marriage that ends in divorce with no kids, no property, and no regrets.
Stress Puppy: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.
Swiped Out: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.
Tourists: People who take training classes just to get a vacation from their jobs. “We had three serious students in class; the rest were just tourists.”
Treeware: Hacker slang for documentation or other printed material.
Xerox Subsidy: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one’s workplace.
Alpha Geek: The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person in an office or work group. “Ask Larry, he’s the Alpha Geek around here.
Chips and Salsa: Chips = hardware, Salsa = software. “Well, first we gotta figure out if the problem is in your chips or your salsa.”
Flight Risk: Used to describe employees who are suspected of planning to leave a company or department soon.
GOOD job: A “Get-Out-Of-Debt” job. A well-paying job people take in order to pay off their debts, one that they will quit as soon as they are solvent again.
Irritainment: Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying, but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The O.J. trials were a prime example.
Percussive Maintenance: The fine art of attacking an electronic device to get it to work again.
Uninstalled: Euphemism for being fired. Heard on the voicemail of a Vice President at a downsizing computer firm: “You have reached the number of an uninstalled Vice President. Please dial our main number and ask the operator for assistance.” See also Decruitment.
Vulcan Nerve Pinch: The taxing hand positions required to reach all the appropriate keys for commands. For instance, the warm re-boot for a Mac II computer involves simultaneously pressing the Control Key, the Command key, the Return key and the Power On key.