Be warned - a sickness hath made it's dwelling among us. For how long, we know not, but we beseech thee, plead with the Creator Almighty to have mercy on us so that this curse may flee!! I beg thee, stay away, for the stench is truly toxic and none should endure a smell lest ye truly thinketh such torture is bearable. I tell you, NO! It is not. Our comfort is found in this - our attacker is swift and sure. Within four and twenty hours it dost make haste, but it hath a stubborn way and will not relent until all members of this post are its victims. Lord & Lady Sergott hath endured the battle as has master Elijah; maid Grace is now its latest victim and young maiden Magdalene lays innocently by.
May we know the sweet joy of health & happiness by and by...
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
true community
I had a friend stop by my house yesterday unexpectedly needing to talk. I said sure, but we had to go back to my room b/c I was working on laundry. The significance of this lies in the fact that I switched my childcare -- thus I need to do my kids laundry again! And I'm trying to be good and not fall behind. Anyway, we had our heart to heart in the midst of my incredibly dog-haired covered dusty room as I sorted my husband's dirty underwear and socks.
Now, that's love people.
Now, that's love people.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
re-evaluating
i wish i could take credit for this, but it's rich nathan from the columbus vineyard (again). for a bit of background, go grab your bible & read genesis 26:12-18. this is kind of what led me to be so convicted about "lent" this year. i'm usually a total slacker, and who knows how faithful i'll be this year, but there's something to those spiritual disciplines.
There are always enemies, always Philistines, filling up the wells of our lives. Left to themselves, of course, the natural direction of wells is to fill up so that we can no longer draw out water. And spiritually, the direction of fallen humanity is always towards regression, not progress, towards devolution (a downward spiral), not evolution (an upward spiral). We are always in a war. When we stop fighting, when we stop drawing near to Christ, the enemy of our soul always fills up our wells with earth.
What I mean by the filling up of the well, is the overall experience of the loss of intimacy with God. It is the experience where we say to ourselves, “I used to feel God’s presence. It has been such a long time since I felt truly alive in God. I used to be excited by the prospect of meeting with God. My love for God and my desire for God used to burn white hot. I used to treasure Jesus above everything else. But now I find that I am dull to his voice and dull to his correction. I am less concerned about grieving the Holy Spirit. There are a growing number of things that I treasure above friendship with Christ.”
What are the signs in your life that your spiritual well has been clogged up? Let me share with you some of the signs of the clogging up of my own spiritual well. When I see the following occurring in my life, I know that I have given ground to the Philistines (the world, the flesh, and the devil). Perhaps you can identify with some of these signs:
1. I find myself wasting more time escaping into entertainment. I watch more TV, and more movies. I’m online more checking box scores and reading the opinions of sports pundits.
2. I lose my zeal in sharing my faith and looking for divine appointments. Evangelism always flows from an overflow of spiritual life. When my passion for Jesus flags, so does my passion for evangelism. I stop being sensitive to divinely given opportunities to share my faith.
3. I waste money on unnecessary purchases. I stop caring about the fact that I am to show the same concern for the health, comfort, and feeding of other people as I show myself (that is, after all, a part of what it means to love your neighbor as yourself). Instead, I wildly over-balance the comfort, care and feeding of myself compared to what I share with others.
4. I lose self-control in my appetites, in my speech, and in my temper.
5. My conversation drifts towards the utterly secular and away from a focus upon Jesus and the thing that are close to the heart of Jesus. In fact, those subjects begin to carry with them a slight degree of boredom.
6. Old habits start reappearing in my life, especially speech problems such as gossip, slander, sarcasm and bending the truth.
7. Maritally, there is a loss of warmth and relational connection with my spouse. We begin to experience more friction between us. We find ourselves just functioning together, not encouraging one another or praying for one another.
8. I find an unwillingness in my life to sacrifice, to really tighten the belt so that it pinches my flesh. When the well of my life is filled up by the Philistines, I find myself unwilling to “give financially until it changes my lifestyle.” And I find myself unwilling to be really inconvenienced in service. In other words, I become less willing to go out of my way to help someone in need, or to show up at a meeting that doesn’t particularly interest me.
9. All of these things are rooted in my agreement with the lie that I can stay in the same spiritual position with God whether or not I fight or wrestle or discipline my flesh, or deny myself, or repent.
Let me ask you a personal question. Do you see any of my nine indicators of the filling up of my spiritual wells in your life? Can you add to my list?
There are always enemies, always Philistines, filling up the wells of our lives. Left to themselves, of course, the natural direction of wells is to fill up so that we can no longer draw out water. And spiritually, the direction of fallen humanity is always towards regression, not progress, towards devolution (a downward spiral), not evolution (an upward spiral). We are always in a war. When we stop fighting, when we stop drawing near to Christ, the enemy of our soul always fills up our wells with earth.
What I mean by the filling up of the well, is the overall experience of the loss of intimacy with God. It is the experience where we say to ourselves, “I used to feel God’s presence. It has been such a long time since I felt truly alive in God. I used to be excited by the prospect of meeting with God. My love for God and my desire for God used to burn white hot. I used to treasure Jesus above everything else. But now I find that I am dull to his voice and dull to his correction. I am less concerned about grieving the Holy Spirit. There are a growing number of things that I treasure above friendship with Christ.”
What are the signs in your life that your spiritual well has been clogged up? Let me share with you some of the signs of the clogging up of my own spiritual well. When I see the following occurring in my life, I know that I have given ground to the Philistines (the world, the flesh, and the devil). Perhaps you can identify with some of these signs:
1. I find myself wasting more time escaping into entertainment. I watch more TV, and more movies. I’m online more checking box scores and reading the opinions of sports pundits.
2. I lose my zeal in sharing my faith and looking for divine appointments. Evangelism always flows from an overflow of spiritual life. When my passion for Jesus flags, so does my passion for evangelism. I stop being sensitive to divinely given opportunities to share my faith.
3. I waste money on unnecessary purchases. I stop caring about the fact that I am to show the same concern for the health, comfort, and feeding of other people as I show myself (that is, after all, a part of what it means to love your neighbor as yourself). Instead, I wildly over-balance the comfort, care and feeding of myself compared to what I share with others.
4. I lose self-control in my appetites, in my speech, and in my temper.
5. My conversation drifts towards the utterly secular and away from a focus upon Jesus and the thing that are close to the heart of Jesus. In fact, those subjects begin to carry with them a slight degree of boredom.
6. Old habits start reappearing in my life, especially speech problems such as gossip, slander, sarcasm and bending the truth.
7. Maritally, there is a loss of warmth and relational connection with my spouse. We begin to experience more friction between us. We find ourselves just functioning together, not encouraging one another or praying for one another.
8. I find an unwillingness in my life to sacrifice, to really tighten the belt so that it pinches my flesh. When the well of my life is filled up by the Philistines, I find myself unwilling to “give financially until it changes my lifestyle.” And I find myself unwilling to be really inconvenienced in service. In other words, I become less willing to go out of my way to help someone in need, or to show up at a meeting that doesn’t particularly interest me.
9. All of these things are rooted in my agreement with the lie that I can stay in the same spiritual position with God whether or not I fight or wrestle or discipline my flesh, or deny myself, or repent.
Let me ask you a personal question. Do you see any of my nine indicators of the filling up of my spiritual wells in your life? Can you add to my list?
Saturday, January 27, 2007
BONK!
Today, Bill was feeling pretty poopy due to we're not sure what, but he was physically incapacitated. So, being the phenomenal wife that I am, I got the kids out of the house for the afternoon so he could sleep. The girls went on a playdate while big "E" and I headed to a local hill to do some sleddin'. He was a superman on this massive hill for about an hour and then he seemed spent. We began to leave but saw friends at this smaller hill and decided to stop by for a few minutes. Literally seconds go by when Eli jumps on his saucer, shoots down this "bunny hill," then BAM! Blood-curdling screams fill the sky!! Eli smacked into a tree. He totally had a goose egg the size of a golf ball RIGHT ON THE FRONT OF HIS HEAD.
I called Ask-a-Nurse, discerned that my son was alert & aware -- deifitely not unresponsive (noted by the blood-curdling screams aforementioned) -- went home, grabbed an ice pack and plopped him on the couch next to Papa.
Ah, the joys of mothering a boy.
I called Ask-a-Nurse, discerned that my son was alert & aware -- deifitely not unresponsive (noted by the blood-curdling screams aforementioned) -- went home, grabbed an ice pack and plopped him on the couch next to Papa.
Ah, the joys of mothering a boy.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Grief
I know it's been a while... I've been stuggling to write b/c I'm dealing with grief. First, my Grace. Her very first best school friend has moved to Chicago. When I picked her up on Friday from school, she bawled and bawled, and was very aware of the loss. She knew & understood that Kelsey would no longer be a regular part of her life & she was already missing that. I had no words for her. I held her and let her cry it out. I also then taught her the great gift of curling up on the couch with a movie when you feel sad. We went to the vidoe store and picked out a few flicks. For a 7 yr old, that was just the trick!
If only it were that easy with my own grief. On Monday, I read in the paper that a high-school buddy of Bill's (who stood up in our wedding) had died unexpectedly in a snowmobile accident. Bill & I recently had been playing phone tag w/ this guy to reconnect as it had been a while and I didn't initially know what to think or feel. Mucha was the kind of guy who seemed to almost "just die" a couple of times due to some careless behavior and this time it caught up to him. Bill & I both wrestled with anger, sadness, guilt, or really the lack there of... Ultimately though, my confidence is in the knowledge that God's mercy is bigga :) than I can comprehend or even begin to imagine and my prayer is that his family knows that mercy is a very real way this week.
If only it were that easy with my own grief. On Monday, I read in the paper that a high-school buddy of Bill's (who stood up in our wedding) had died unexpectedly in a snowmobile accident. Bill & I recently had been playing phone tag w/ this guy to reconnect as it had been a while and I didn't initially know what to think or feel. Mucha was the kind of guy who seemed to almost "just die" a couple of times due to some careless behavior and this time it caught up to him. Bill & I both wrestled with anger, sadness, guilt, or really the lack there of... Ultimately though, my confidence is in the knowledge that God's mercy is bigga :) than I can comprehend or even begin to imagine and my prayer is that his family knows that mercy is a very real way this week.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Bloggin'
This network of bloggers that has stemmed from our church has been a very interesting & blessed thing. It's helped me get to know my community in such a profound way. Much quicker certainly than if we only had Sundays as our chance to see each other. I feel as I travel thru the blog-dom, I learn so much -- not only by what is written, but how it's written. For some it's an open door into every thought that hits them; for some there's more caution; others are lengthy & significant in content, while others are brief yet rich with depth. I love this opportunity to love & learn...
Just out of curiosity, how do you see yourself using this thing called "blogging?" Give me your thoughts so I can continue to learn more.
Just out of curiosity, how do you see yourself using this thing called "blogging?" Give me your thoughts so I can continue to learn more.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Peer Pressure
OK - I'm blogging! Ya happy now?
Seriously, I haven't had all that much to say... Not an interesting thought floating around in this head -- AT ALL. So, don't take it personally, there's just nothing cool going on in my life.
Although, it does feel good to know people are watching, reading, & caring. It's funny how something so sterile & impersonal, like a computer, can be such a vehicle of warmth & unity. (I bet Levi's gagging right about now.)
Anyway, I'll try & do better next time. Much luv, ~ t.
Seriously, I haven't had all that much to say... Not an interesting thought floating around in this head -- AT ALL. So, don't take it personally, there's just nothing cool going on in my life.
Although, it does feel good to know people are watching, reading, & caring. It's funny how something so sterile & impersonal, like a computer, can be such a vehicle of warmth & unity. (I bet Levi's gagging right about now.)
Anyway, I'll try & do better next time. Much luv, ~ t.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Staying focused
I'm trying to stay focused. Church is taking on a life of it's own and I don't want to get caught up b/c then it so quickly can become a program and I don't want to lose the friendships I've started. I want them to stay real and sincere. So I'm trying to keep my eyes on Him who began this good work... keep my heart in tune w/ my first love, my truest friend who will be there when all else is passed & dust... keep my mind at peace in the awareness of his faithfulness... keep my souls open to wherever this journey leads...
Bethany & I were talking the other day about staying fresh and keeping our paradigms, our thoughts of God, moldable so we don't get trapped in what we think we know as true, but rather stay true to what is essential to the gospel. It's funny how quickly I can lose my saltiness when I cling to anything other then Jesus. And it's not about doing church or the things I think are how to follow him. It's not about eloquence on a Sunday morning or at a hospital bedside. It's about me decreasing & him increasing.
Bethany & I were talking the other day about staying fresh and keeping our paradigms, our thoughts of God, moldable so we don't get trapped in what we think we know as true, but rather stay true to what is essential to the gospel. It's funny how quickly I can lose my saltiness when I cling to anything other then Jesus. And it's not about doing church or the things I think are how to follow him. It's not about eloquence on a Sunday morning or at a hospital bedside. It's about me decreasing & him increasing.
Monday, January 01, 2007
1/1
This morning as we werw loading the kids into the van to head over to Grandma's, I was taken back by the day & I sensed God was telling me something. First, it's our 13th anniversary today. I thought back to that day. We were married in Atlanta and really had more like a 5 day wedding extravaganza. We spent the whole time (pretty much) surrounded my some really wonderful friends. We even spent our official first day married having dinner with & going to a movie with the last 10 or so who hadn't flown home yet. It made me smile as I remembered.
I then thought about the last few days and the rain and dreariness. It's been almost oppressive. I then breathed in deeply the fresh January air and said to the Lord, what's the deal -- it's January and this is beautiful, breathtaking, and freakish... God then said, yeah, that was 2006; but THIS IS 2007.
Happy New Year.
I then thought about the last few days and the rain and dreariness. It's been almost oppressive. I then breathed in deeply the fresh January air and said to the Lord, what's the deal -- it's January and this is beautiful, breathtaking, and freakish... God then said, yeah, that was 2006; but THIS IS 2007.
Happy New Year.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
a year ago...
... we held our last Sunday night service in Depere
... there were less than 10 of us (including munchkins)
... my heart was breaking at the thought of starting over, again
... I was stuck in unforgiveness & regret
... Scott & Amanda were our only friends & support
... meeting my soon to be sis-in-law for the first time
... Bill still worked at Family Services
... my kids missed their papa
... I was still just getting my feet wet @ Bellin
... Beth & Levi decided "YES"
... there were less than 10 of us (including munchkins)
... my heart was breaking at the thought of starting over, again
... I was stuck in unforgiveness & regret
... Scott & Amanda were our only friends & support
... meeting my soon to be sis-in-law for the first time
... Bill still worked at Family Services
... my kids missed their papa
... I was still just getting my feet wet @ Bellin
... Beth & Levi decided "YES"
God is good. Amen.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Chick flicks & chocolate
Saturday nite (TONIGHT), my place, 7pm. Come one, come all for some joyful female bonding! Let me know if you're in!
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Holiday Hungover
I feel like I've been hit by a Mack Truck. I'm not even going to tell you about my house... it goes w/o saying that it's akin to Hiroshima. And now we have Maggie's bday & Bill's bro is coming tomorrow.
ugh, I think I need some alka selzer...
ugh, I think I need some alka selzer...
Monday, December 18, 2006
A friend
I have this interesting friend at work. She's visited Adullam once, even enjoyed it; but essentially feels she's not there yet. OK, fair enough. What's ironic though, is any time there's crap stressing her out at work or home, she asks for prayer. Like one night, I saw on the callerID that she had called and when I returned her call, she told me she had a horrible headache and needed me to pray with her. Today, she had to go to the doctor and have some in clinic procedure done and she was tripping out. She wanted me to pray with her, walk w/ her to the doc's office, and hang in the WR till she went in.
Such a trip. I'm totally unabashedly bold with her about Jesus and yet she's totally living in a way that some may call "sinful;" and yet, she still comes for prayer.
Such a trip. I'm totally unabashedly bold with her about Jesus and yet she's totally living in a way that some may call "sinful;" and yet, she still comes for prayer.
Friday, December 15, 2006
She just sensed it
So I was pretty exasperated today & flat out bummed. I think it's a combo of hormones & tiredness, plus the fact my husband was gone the majority of the week... anyway, Billiam & I have been trying for a few weeks to get some time for a grown-up night out and time after time, something's come up. This weekend we were trying again and we were just not connecting on which night and what we would do... we were then bickering and well, missing the point. All I know, is I was in need of rejuvination.
My neighbor, Lora, thru the power of the heavenlies, must have sensed this and called me right as I was beginning to work up the strength to bathe my children (trust me, it's exhausting). She offered to take Maggie for a little solo time during which she bathed & fed the little critter. Eli stayed back with me (Grace is spending the night @ a friend's). Bathing him & feeding him was actually enjoyable. FYI - if you haven't experienced an evening with my darlings and are curious, please review my blog dated 12/13/06. Make note of how creative they can be when overtired and overstimulated.
Anyway, my point is I'm so grateful for having a woman, a sistah, who gets it and knows when I need a little help. It seriously made a world of difference -- for all of us.
My neighbor, Lora, thru the power of the heavenlies, must have sensed this and called me right as I was beginning to work up the strength to bathe my children (trust me, it's exhausting). She offered to take Maggie for a little solo time during which she bathed & fed the little critter. Eli stayed back with me (Grace is spending the night @ a friend's). Bathing him & feeding him was actually enjoyable. FYI - if you haven't experienced an evening with my darlings and are curious, please review my blog dated 12/13/06. Make note of how creative they can be when overtired and overstimulated.
Anyway, my point is I'm so grateful for having a woman, a sistah, who gets it and knows when I need a little help. It seriously made a world of difference -- for all of us.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
UGH!!!
I got so frickin angry at my kids tonight! Well 2 out of 3. Wanna guess who?? Here's the story: I'm in the kitchen working on dinner, Grace is practicing her piano, and I hear lots of silliness occuring behind door #1. I finish dinner, help Grace with one little bit of her music, go to open the closed door and suddenly witness the chaos that has ensued. Big E & M thought it would be great fun to take out all the clothes in her dresser, and pack them in every bag/ backpack they could find. I help an opposite opinion and proceeded to firmly announce that they do not get to eat until this is all cleaned up -- meaning clothes put away in drawers, toys off the floor... All I keep hearing though as I proceed to the kitchen to get dinner served is lots of giggling and a light-saber. I hollar again, get it done!! Once more, get it done!! And again, get it -- CRASH !!Suddenly Maggie's crying - the cry that makes one think, maybe somebody's bleeding this time -- I dash to the room only to find her dresser had fallen along with everything on top and within it.
Once I assessed the situation and realized that no one was bleeding or dead, I FREAKED!!!!!!!!!!! They seriously did some damage... broken glass... screwed up the dresser... I'm hoping my screams put the fear of God in them so such a nifty little idea never drifts into their dear little heads again. I'm not sure though b/c my son is all about calling me on right now for using the "F" word. Little sh#t.
Did I mention that Bill's out of town until Thursday?? This is only day one.
BTW, somebody comment... I'm starting to get a complex...
Once I assessed the situation and realized that no one was bleeding or dead, I FREAKED!!!!!!!!!!! They seriously did some damage... broken glass... screwed up the dresser... I'm hoping my screams put the fear of God in them so such a nifty little idea never drifts into their dear little heads again. I'm not sure though b/c my son is all about calling me on right now for using the "F" word. Little sh#t.
Did I mention that Bill's out of town until Thursday?? This is only day one.
BTW, somebody comment... I'm starting to get a complex...
Monday, December 11, 2006
It's a beautiful thing
The people in our church, our community, are truly touching my heart. I'm amazed at how people are genuinely seeking each other out and becoming friends; sincere, authentic friends. As Lora would say, "it's a beautiful thing." Seriously, when Bill & I say, we're in awe of you all, we mean it. We never could imagine in our wildest dreams how this desire of a godly, committed, covenant community would actually feel. We kept getting a taste of it at different times in our journey, but it never quite clicked. I'm so grateful for God beating us up before and shaping our hearts into obedient hearts that seek Him first so that His kingdom could come and He's making this whole thing the way He wants. It's such a beautiful thing...
BTW - if you haven't yet ventured over to some of my friends linked to the right, please do so. You'll see what I mean.
BTW - if you haven't yet ventured over to some of my friends linked to the right, please do so. You'll see what I mean.
Friday, December 08, 2006
God is amazing
I just have to take a moment & allow myself to attempt to realize how amazing my God is. Have you ever felt like that? Bill & I have been thru such a ragged-journey and genuinely questioned if we heard God right when we began this church plant and if we were even called to ministry. It's just so different this time. Failure, success, it doesn't matter, because He's in control and I'm starting to feel the flow. It's an amazing sensation when you stop fighting what He's doing and simply let Him do it. All those trials to make us obedient, to sharpen our senses, to still our hearts so we might hear His whispers... it's all worth it.
It's just been amazing.
PS - to my beloved friends in Adullam (and neighbors), thank you for being with us and becoming family. Seriously - we're seeing our dreams realized here. Thanks for being in my life.
It's just been amazing.
PS - to my beloved friends in Adullam (and neighbors), thank you for being with us and becoming family. Seriously - we're seeing our dreams realized here. Thanks for being in my life.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
End Times
I had this interesting epiphany yesterday. While at work, I was doing some research on organ donation. I'm on the hospital's Donor-Life Committee. Granted, some people have strong opinions about this but, hear me out... Many clergy refer to this whole process as a miracle. And I've been mulling over this: is it a miracle? Are we messing in God's territory? Shouldn't we be seeking a supernatural healing? And then it dawned on me -
As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:7-8)
People say that science & faith cannot exist. I think God has blessed us with a new way of healing; not that it replaces prayer -- if God wants to heal supernaturally, he will!! But how awesome is God that he allows us to participate with him in the healing thru the gift of medical technology. It's like a practical way the Kingdom of God is at hand. We're doing what he said we would do -- it just doesn't always look like we expect.
As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:7-8)
People say that science & faith cannot exist. I think God has blessed us with a new way of healing; not that it replaces prayer -- if God wants to heal supernaturally, he will!! But how awesome is God that he allows us to participate with him in the healing thru the gift of medical technology. It's like a practical way the Kingdom of God is at hand. We're doing what he said we would do -- it just doesn't always look like we expect.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
inspiring & convicting
Our Regional Overseer fowarded this to us yesterday. I found it both inspiring & convicting. In case you don't know, Rich Nathan is the Lead Pastor for Vineyard Columbus in Ohio. It's one of our community's largest and is truly making an impact on that city by getting involved in practical yet profound ways. Anyway, he's also a significant voice in shaping Vineyard theology. Read it & let me know your thoughts...
Note: The following is a condensed summary of the talk Pastor Rich Nathan delivered at the “Voting Our Values” rally last Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. A link to the full text appears at the end, or you can download audio of the entire speech (mp3).
As I travel around the country and interact with a wide variety of evangelical leaders, I have discovered a changing landscape. I believe we are going to see an entirely new trajectory for evangelical political involvement over the next decade. Let me tick off five developments among evangelical leaders and lay people that I am particularly grateful for.
First of all, I am grateful that there is a broadening of the list of people who are now considered spokespersons for the evangelical movement. There are lots of us evangelicals who have found ourselves increasingly uncomfortable with the media’s selection of a few people of decidedly conservative politics who are regularly called our spokespeople. Whenever I hear this handful of people talk, I think, "this person doesn’t speak for me."
...Second, I’m grateful that there is a broadening of the evangelical agenda beyond the two hot-button issues of abortion and gay marriage. Evangelicals are saying, “How did we ever allow ourselves to become convinced that the entirety of the biblical agenda for our political involvement can be reduced to just two things – abortion and gay marriage?”...It is also certainly the case that we, as a society, must provide necessary support for women and children, not only during the 9 months of pregnancy, but also after. But I have to be honest with you, and tell you that I was quite disappointed with the statement on abortion that is in the “Voting God’s Politics” brochure. While the statement regarding capital punishment is absolute and unequivocal, stating “our nation’s use of the death penalty should end,” the statement on abortion waffles and calls for “common ground policies that dramatically reduce the abortion rate.” We lawyers would say that the abortion statement contains “weasel words.” I believe the statement on abortion needs to be more absolute.
...Third, I’m grateful that evangelicals are moving away from our prior unreserved, unquestioning support for American military action around the world. Many evangelicals are now saying, “How did it come to be that we who claim to follow the Prince of Peace are stauncher advocates of war than any other demographic group in America?” And even those of us who do not come from a pacifist tradition, but rather a just-war tradition, have begun to ask, “How can some of our most recent wars be considered just?” You know, St. Augustine, the father of the just war tradition, said, “We Christians may, on occasion, legitimately go to war. But we always do so with great reluctance and with tears.” Many of us evangelicals have asked ourselves: Shouldn’t we Christians be the most difficult to convince, of any group of people, regarding the legitimacy of war? Shouldn’t we have the strongest presumption against war and require the government to have the highest burden of proof before we reluctantly, and with tears, go along with war?
...Fourth, I am grateful that I am witnessing a shift among evangelicals towards the view that with God’s help, it is possible to change this world. The traditional evangelical view of the world is that the world is hopelessly fallen. Or to use the great 19th century evangelist, D.L. Moody’s line, “The world has hit an iceberg and the ship is going down. The only thing we can do is pull as many people as possible into the life boats.” So, for a century, many evangelicals have believed that it is an absolute waste of time to try to improve this fallen world, since to do so would be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. But without being naïve regarding the fallenness of this world, or the difficulty of change, there are many evangelicals who are saying, "World change is possible with God’s help."
...And fifth, I am grateful that many more evangelicals are saying, "We are not going to be in the pocket of any political party." We have woken up from our naiveté and we recognize that pre-election day promises have not translated into post-election day action. So the evangelical vote is more and more up for grabs. And that is a good thing!
Now, having stated what I’m grateful for, I need to briefly share with you three cautions regarding evangelical political involvement. I want you to notice, by the way, that my talk has more positives than negatives. The Puritans said that one of the measures of the truth of a sermon was that there would be more positives than negatives.
My first concern is to warn churches and pastors against partisan political involvements. It is impossible to be a biblical Christian without preaching on and working for justice, for the poor, or caring for the earth, or committing ourselves to peace-making, or committing ourselves to racial reconciliation, or being commitedly and consistently pro-life. But once churches and pastors begin to translate these broad value statements into very particular policy choices, we can unnecessarily divide the Body of Christ and obscure the gospel message.
...I’m also concerned when churches don’t realize that the church uses different language than the language of politics. … Churches ought to speak prophetic language, not political language. It is not wrong to speak the language of politics, the language of compromise and “half a loaf is better than none,” when we are in the political arena. But church is not that arena. In church we speak prophetic language, the language of kingdom absolutes and moral imperatives – the language of Fannie Lou Hamer and the prophets Amos and Jeremiah, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
...My third concern is that we Christians, whenever we engage in politics, remember the third and last clause of Micah 6:8. You remember Micah 6:8. “He has shown you, O people, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Christians in politics often focus on the first two statements: doing justice and loving mercy. But there is an atmosphere in which our doing justice and our loving of mercy needs to be practiced … if we Christians come towards this world as servants, bearing the basin and the towel; if we commit ourselves to doing what we believe to be the will of God with humility; if we approach each other with humility and a willingness to listen and be persuaded; to learn and to be reconcilers; if, in other words, we “walk humbly with God,” then we will be faithful witnesses to Christ and will be used by him to be healers of this world.
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