OK,OK, You Think It's Too Long

Here's the point to ponder with me: 


"As long as we don't care whether or not church leaders disciple their wives and children... we will never require other men to take seriously their role as family shepherds..."


Baucham's talkin' reform here, but the outcome reverberates beyond the pew. Men with new minds are what revolutions are all about.


The cultural ramifications reach into every strata of the North American experience, beyond  legalized abortion, normalization of same sex attraction, graffiti, illiteracy and litter.


My favorite example:


As long as colleges don't require classes in basic record keeping, the essentials of the stock market, investing and check book balancing, they are NOT DOING THEIR JOBS, AND PARENTS GET ROOKED. They are paying all that tuition for a half baked, HUGELY inadequate education. Why don't colleges require life skills training? Because parents don't demand it.  Why not? Because they are compromised idolators*, lazy, embarrassed at what they haven't figured out themselves, and too caught up trying to pay the horrendous college tab. (*it is idolatry to imagine college will cure what ails us)


Similarly, as long as churches do not major on the men, on mentoring them, exhorting them, discipling and training them to BE MEN, families have little hope of winning the battle for their children in a post-Christian culture.  If the home life of every family remains of little concern to pastors and church leadership in general, men will continue to go home to the privacy of their compromised lairs, mediocre in character and luke warm in their role as shepherd-priest.


An armorless fool in the battle against sin and stagnation.


Ken Burk, where are you?

Voddie Baucham, You are TheMan!

Last night, when I read aloud Baucham's indictment of modern youth ministry and parents who enroll their kids in public schools, I heard groans from the prayer warrior daughter who is heavily invested in her twice weekly youth ministry volunteering; the dear middle child who woke me up Saturday morning wailing on the piano with missions buddy, Heather, singing crazy loud hymns and blessing,  once again, all the stray cats and neighbors.


So, dear SLB, this blog's for you. And since, just this morning, your dear Da' confessed his sorrow at not discipling his kids, and since I have to take a break from Zygote while I process the new damands of adult responsibilty --I must turn 50 in a few short days (!dread!)-- 


I bring you my hero, Pastor Voddie Baucham:

"The list of elder qualifications in Titus chapter one is divided into three categories.  These categories are 1) the elder's home/family, 2) the elder's personal character, and 3) the elder's teaching ministry.  


A closer look at each of these categories reveals not only what elders are called to do, but also what they are called to model, and to whom.

The Elder's Home/Family

The first category of elder qualifications focuses on the elder's family life.  Paul writes, "if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination." (Titus 1:6-7) Obviously, this is an area in which all Christian men are called to excel.  Moreover, not one of us would be willing to say that marriage and family are areas in which we are willing to compromise in the training of our sons.  Hence, elders serve as models for younger men as to what it means to be a husband, father, and manager of a home.

This matter is crucial to our purpose.  I believe one of the greatest obstacles to biblical family shepherding is the way we view elders.  Today, most churches call men to the office of elder/pastor/bishop (the terms are used interchangeably in the New Testament) without the slightest examination of their family.  I know senior pastors who have been voted into churches before their wives ever dawned the door.  How could we possibly be serious about elders modeling biblical family life to the benefit of their flock if the subject is never broached? 

And yet, Paul's teaching could not be clearer.  That is, unless we take his other writings into consideration.  Paul expands on his family-based qualifications in his first letter to Timothy.  There he adds that a man must "manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive." (1 Tim 3:4)  He goes on to ask the rhetorical question, "[I]f someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?" (1 Tim 3:5)  Clearly the apostle intended to emphasize the importance of a man's track record as a family shepherd in determining his suitability for leadership in the church.

As long as we don't care about whether or not a man disciples his wife and children when we are considering him for leadership in the church, we will never require other men to take seriously their roles as family shepherds.  Therefore, the first part of this reformation must occur in the pulpit.  My prayer is that pastors will take it upon themselves to 1) embrace biblical family religion, 2) instruct their churches as to the importance of the practice, 3) model family shepherding to their flocks, and 4) make a concerted effort to lead the church to examine the home life of all future candidates for leadership.

The Elder's Personal Character

In addition to an elder's family life, he must also model general Christian character.  Paul shares this first from the perspective of what a godly man is not:  "For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain." (Titus 1:7)  He then moves on to the affirmative and teaches what an elder should be, such as:  "hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined." (Titus 1:8-9)

Far from being a list of esoteric requirements attained only by men who take vows of poverty, or silence, or celibacy; this is the stuff godly Christians are made of. Granted, elders must be exemplary in these areas, but that is due in large part to their mandate to be examples to the flock (1 Pet. 5:2).  And flowing forth from such godly character is godly instruction.

The Elder's Ministry of the Word

I once saw a job posting for a Senior Pastor on an online career site.  I don't remember where the church was, but I do remember two things.  First, I remember that it was a very large church (between 5,000 and 10,000 members).  I remember this because one of the requirements was that an interested candidate have a track record of growing a church of that size.  The other thing I remember is their extremely specific requirements in the area of teaching.  They were looking for a candidate who was a strong communicator, and "proficient with incorporating PowerPoint in his messages. PowerPoint!  What a far cry from "He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it." (Titus 1:9)

VB"

High (Priest) Jinx

A Good Friday Paucity

It happens so often that once-upon-a-time I kept a log of the phenomenon. The little pad of paper listed each instance when a word confluence occurs: when the words falling under my eyes jinx with what emanates from the radio/CD player. The silly hope was that some really cryptic message would appear; an extra-biblical word from God or something, because it would happen all the time, and even multiple times a day.

I tossed it in the trash last year after finding it long forgotten in a drawer. Just a bunch of dates and notes on the time of day, which word, who said it and what I was reading... No, the entries did not seem to spell out any urgent sense of meaning.  How just like my dad to feel singled out by God for some serious, urgent MESSAGE. "Be-- sure-- to -- drin---k -yo--our-- O-- VA--L--TINE!"

I confessed this silly need for attention, and confessed the immaturity as the Emergent Church type of sin that it is... I figured if God wants to jinx people, He'll do it while they're reading scripture, not listening to NPR.

But earlier this month, an unprecedented (jinx: Silvia Poggoili just said unprecedented in a story on Good Friday celebrations... no kidding! OOOH!) such coincidence did take my breath away recently. And there I went again, scribbling down the event, date and time and all. I was searching non profit websites wondering where to pay a tithe on $$ from my Mum. As I scrolled down a Living Well Medical Clinic blog [dated 12/28/09, posted 11:48PM!], my eyes stopped at some indented scripture:

             For we do not have a high priest who is 

unable to empathize with our 

weaknesses, but we have one who 

has been tempted in every way, 

just as we are —yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ 

Let us then approach God’s 

throne of grace with confidence, 

so that we may receive mercy 

and find 

grace to help us 

in our time of need

(Hebrews 4:15-16)

Well. There on my radio was Mr. Chas Stanley doing what he does so well, practically yelling in that emphatic, scolding way of his, reciting the exact passage, word for word, same translation, at the same instance and in the same cadence.  Like a slap in the face jolts and stings and turns your head, I had no choice but to take notice of this Word Incarnate begging me to listen. And what was my first thought in response? I am ashamed to say. I wished this word had come from anyone BUT Charles Stanley, my least favorite radio teacher.  Ewwww... I sense the LORD here, taking my critical spirit to task. (--BUT, I say back to Him,  how many needy folk did YOU long to lambast, tempted in every way as you were?!  And, well now, you did call the Pharisees a few names, so name calling is warranted, because you were WITHOUT SIN! I doubt, however, any pharisee reminded Jesus of his dad. In my mind, Stanley and JGM (dad) are so alike in their brassy, demanding overtones. Unlike, I hope, St. Joseph.)

Well, I see a call to pray. To deny self-abasement. To trust Grace. To win confidence by rejecting fear. To recognize The High Priest as my Good Friday LORD, Saviour, Healer, Friend. (AND...to honor your father more?)


Good Friday. Good Saviour. Good Healer. Good Friend. (Good Father!)

Oh, and. It was April 4, 2011. 9:48 AM.  Just so you know.

Still Born

The plans are forming for a fiftieth observance. I will run away. Yay!

Suspending Fear, Refusing (SELF) Judgment

When you are reviled  for past ugliness, and you know you deserve it,  it's hard to go on. It's hard to be forward thinking and not consumed by a dull, background hum of defeat. Apologies done,  now the solution is to shed the power of the accuser by faith, through belief in One Greater who promises restoration. By that faith, you become more than your past.  THEN you SHOULD be able to put on love.  But there is the rub.  He does restore and He does forgive and heal.  People, on the other hand, are not Him. When you don't get the same message from your betters, what then?

Heading to church in an hour. Think LOVE, not fear of judgement. PUT - ON - LOVE  (Colossians 3:14 (New International Version, ©2011) ...

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

"My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches of understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." - - Colossians 2:2-3 

LORD, keep me from feeling small over a past I cannot change, focused instead on your mandate to plan acts of love, and be about building a future I can change. 

Outgoing Mail

Outgoing mail this morning:

Thank you note to good ol' Roberta, age 93. We love that sprightly gal.

BD Note to friend. Home-made, took less than 30 mins.

Third: another apology note ( ! ), this one related to AmZyg's moral inventory theme. Hearkens back to a gathering in our church parking lot to welcome home a daughter after her two weeks away on a church missions trip.  The first one off the bus was a paid staff member whose t-shirt sported a loud and large ABERCROMBIE & FITCH across the upper chest.  My mouth spang into action, as it is sorely wont to do. Pulled my jaw up off the pavement and (prob'ly) waved my finger, "You wore THAT all the way home, representing our church?"

My dear daughter, ashamed and embarrassed, scolded me. I've never been off the hook, really.  Now and then, I'd stew over [recognize the theme?] feeling misunderstood, and ponder how I might educate my kids and this pastor re: the horrific reality of who these AF people are. {uh, isn't your son one now? cosmic jokes abound...} Was I out of  bounds to expect everyone to just KNOW how orgy-istic Abercrombie is?  To expect staff on a baptist payroll to just KNOW that FocusOnTheFam staged protests in 2003 over catalogs that went from vaguely pornicious to vulgarly pornicious?

No. You were just out of bounds for wanting to shame someone in public.

Obtaining that 2003 catalog has been on my mind ever since. Seemed like an obvious means by which to defend myself, but I only got around to doing the Amazon search this February.  Had a brilliant idea to just print out one offending page, since the whole obscene thing runs $15, so I did, & then left the ugly thing out on my kitchen desk. It got just the disgusted reaction I expected: various kids and hubby kept flipping it upside down so they wouldn't have to look at it. {OS, the AF sell-out, prob'ly wasn't one of them.} I grilled them, "Instead of hiding the image, why don't you become outraged and vow to alert AF that you oppose this?" No response.

I guess they oppose my outrageous outrage more than they oppose porn, and I suppose I have myself to blame for that.  It's not about porn, it's about my demeanor. My anger management issues  have spawned a litter of porn permissive offspring. Great.

Nevertheless.

I finally ran across Mr. AF t-shirt wearer one day last week, and what'ya know, the print-out was actually in a file I was carrying.  I begged him for a minute of time, showed him the despicable scene, explained that I'd taken a lot of heat for my alarm that day, and asked him to indulge me in my desire BE UNDERSTOOD. He was nonplussed; like he was used to seeing that kind of junk all day everyday. He shrugged and described how he DID actually walk out of AmericanApparel recently after seeing their in-store posters.  Ah! He maybe gets it. SOMEONE gets it. I wanted to tell him  about my anti-American Apparel billboard "campaign" last summer, but he'd already had enough of me. And I didn't want to learn his protest was just a one-time thing, that he probably just orders their stuff on the web now...  Accommodation to 'undress' is just the way of the world, and as the world goes, so goes my church, my friends, my kids... ug.

(This IS the man, btw, whose single greatest contribution to OS's life was to persuade him that guys should walk around the house in only speedo underwear. Seriously. He comes home from a weekend retreat strutting his stuff in brand-new Hanes, scoffs at my exasperation, and, well, another battle ensued that day... Least he didn't wear the G-Unit cap from the same pastor, as he strutted.)

Nevertheless, a written apology was called for.  It was insensitive to give him no warning that I was about to flash a page of porn in his face, and it was insensitive to force his attention when he was in a hurry to get somewhere.  And it's definitely childish to feel defensive over the matter five years after the fact.  But AmZyg admits, that's just who she is. A happy four year old who's grudge holder setting is stuck on Overlydramatic Overdrive.

With the clock ticking on my nine month count down, I still have a few more amends to complete:

-There's the college room-mate to whom I owe a twenty seven year old apology for picking a fight over how to squeeze the toothpaste tube. We refused to speak to each other after that. She lives where? Irvine?
-There's that university professor I lied to about finishing my senior project, so technically, I did not really earn my B.A.
-And then there's the YMCA summer camp director who I finally chatted with last month, but who, when I asked to meet, hung up on me!

Oh, I hate my life.  Ya know that previous post about "getting prayer back"? Lie.

Mostly.

Stand True Ministries: No one says it better

An answer to people who are asking me why we want to completely defund Planned Parenthood when they do so many other good things.

It seems many people don’t understand the full scope of what Planned Parenthood is; the name itself is so deceiving that is causes confusion.  Planned Parenthood has done a good job of painting themselves as an organization that is there to help women and keep them safe; nothing can be further from the truth. Lets start with the something that should automatically discount everything they do: abortion.  I hate using the word abortion because it is an attempt to sanitize the act of killing a human child. Planned Parenthood also uses terminology like “terminate a pregnancy” in their attempt to dehumanize the child in the womb. Planned Parenthood not only specializes in abortion, but they are the nation’s largest provider of abortion. In 2009 Planned Parenthood killed over 25% of the babies who were killed by abortion in the US.  They are so focused on abortion that they mandated earlier this year that all of their affiliates must provide abortion. The fact is that even if they just killed one child per year, we should have nothing to do with them, let alone the 332,278 abortions Planned Parenthood claims to have done in 2009.  If we were talking about an organization that killed three-year-olds as part of their business, no mater how minute a part, this topic would not even be open for discussion. Planned Parenthood also claims that the taxpayer money does not actually pay for abortions.  This is an insane argument, as the money still goes to the organization and the organization is killing babies.  If that taxpayer money helped pay for the rent on the building where the abortions take place, the electricity that powered the suction machine used to do the abortion and the salary of the “doctor” who performs the abortion, then taxpayer money is paying for abortions. How about birth control? Doesn’t Planned Parenthood offer free or cheap birth control to women who cannot afford it?  This is another question that many people have asked me lately. There are several problems with this argument to keeping Planned Parenthood funded.  First of all, it really makes no sense to me why I should have to fund other peoples sex lives.  Planned Parenthood would argue that the government needs to stay out of people’s bedrooms, and that they have no business knowing what goes on or regulating sexual activity.  If that is the case, then how can they argue that the government should use our tax dollars to fund what goes on in the bedroom? The other issue with this argument is that fact the much of this birth control can be abortifacient in nature, meaning it can cause early abortions. Every form of chemical birth control has a mechanism that makes the uterine wall hostile to embryos, which causes early abortions when break-through ovulation occurs.  For more detailed information on this topic go to: http://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Feb/17/short-condensation-does-birth-control-pill-cause-a/ Yes, Planned Parenthood also does provide some other services such as STD testing, although they have now renamed it STI testing.  In their pursuit to lesson the stigma of promiscuity and youth sexual activity, they now changed the term to Sexually Transmitted Infection.  The word infection, like abortion, is a sanitized and minimized term meant to lesson any stigma. Let’s not forget the beloved founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger.  Sanger is still honored by Planned Parenthood every year with the Margaret Sanger Award.  This alone should be enough to make everyone’s hair stand on end, as Sanger was an ardent eugenicist and hate-filled racist. The racism was also documented in some of the first undercover stings preformed by Live Action.  Phone calls to Planned Parenthood asking to donate money to kill black babies were received happily.  Over the past several years, videos were released by Live Action showing Planned Parenthood covering up child rape, sex trafficking and pimps seeking services for 13-year-old prostitutes. Margaret Sanger’s Racist Comments here: http://wp.me/pKipa-7W See Live Actions Video Stings here: http://www.liveaction.org/traffick I will offer another simple analogy. Imagine if you were donating money to your neighbor who was handing out free food for poor people in your neighborhood.  This might be one of the only sources of affordable healthy food for many people in your neighborhood.  Then one day you find out this neighbor also was giving food to several child molesters so they can keep the children they are molesting alive.  He is also killing some of the toddler children of parents who no longer want to take care of those kids. Would you still donate to him because you wanted to make sure the good work he was doing could continue?  Would you be against law enforcement shutting him down because then those poor people could not get food? Think about this: Planned Parenthood murders young children — over 300,000 of them in 2009.  Planned Parenthood has been caught red-handed offering help to pimps and sex traffickers and should be shut down and investigated for criminal charges. So my answer is yes; even though there are things they do that could be perceived as beneficial or good, I want Planned Parenthood defunded and shut down. They remind me of a dentist standing out on the street corner after school handing out “free” candy every day, knowing that when the kids have tooth decay, he will recoup all of his candy expenses on their fillings. For Christ I stand, Bryan Kemper