Solomon tells us that “a happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing” (Proverbs 17:22, AMP ). God undoubtedly has a sense of humor; we need only look at some of the animals He created (it’s hard not to smile at the sight of a hippo, a monkey, or a puppy). Or think of some of the married couples you know: don’t you think God was smiling at the wedding as He looked ahead to the interaction of the wildly different personalities that will be living together?archive: culture
9/11 made no great changes in our faith
The latest study from The Barna Group “shows that despite an intense surge in religious activity and expression in the weeks immediately following 9/11 the faith of Americans is virtually indistinguishable today compared to pre-attack conditions.” It goes on to say: “five years removed from that fateful day, spiritually speaking, it’s as if nothing significant ever happened. People used faith like a giant band-aid – it helped people deal with the ugliness of the event but it offered little in the way of deep healing and it was discarded after a brief period of use.â€
That doesn’t surprise me. As the study notes, Americans are both resilient and stubborn, and lasting change — transformation — takes time. What I find most interesting in the summary of this study is the point that church leaders need to plan for their response to tragedy and disaster: “Is there a clear strategy for helping people focus their faith questions and explorations — not merely to achieve short-term relief and regain emotional equilibrium — but to point them toward a process of deeper life transformation?… The job of spiritual leaders is not just to help people cope with tragedy but to break through their spiritual hard-headedness and orient them towards God’s deeper purposes for their life.â€
action: first steps
In yesterday’s post, I talked about the need to pray for our culture, and I promised to offer some ways to act…
marked with an X
One area of prayer that I know I need to grow in is prayer for the nation, or more broadly, prayer for our culture. I’m a U.S. citizen, but through the Internet I can easily read the blogs of writers in the UK, Africa, Australia, anywhere in the world. And likewise, I can be influenced by thought and materials from anywhere. It’s a given — almost a cliché — that we live in a global culture, but it behooves me to consider this influence and extend my prayer to cover all the peoples and nations that can and do impact my life.
Through the kind of confluence that the Holy Spirit is so good at creating, this need for broader prayer was brought into sharp focus this morning. Let’s see if I can bring together the various threads and make it into a whole…
John Adams on Independence Day
The letters of John and Abigail Adams are some of my favorite readings in American literature. It’s sweet to see how much they loved and missed each other while John was away from home serving his country, and we have the added benefit of getting their insights into the beginnings of the United States. In his letter of July 3, 1776, John has this to say about the celebration of Independence Day and the value of the struggle:
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.
God bless America!
realistic issues <> moral issues?
A story from PBS’s Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly discusses issues of abstinence in Uganda’s highly successful AIDS prevention campaign. Edward Baligonzaki, a pastor in Kampala, says, “We are talking about young people who are having a body, who have feelings. We are bound to lose the war the moment we turn physical health and realistic issues into moral issues.” But Stephen Langa, Executive Director of Family Life Network, contends that “realistic issues” and “moral issues” are inseparable: “This word here, morality, is a word that is not politically correct. The minute you say the word morality on HIV, they say ‘Aha! You’re judgmental.’ Now, you see, morality is what separates us from dogs and cows.”
Let’s be clear: “physical health” here means “sexuality.” While some “physical health” issues might be separate from morality (do I wear a padded insole to help my feet?), sexuality is not. According to Scripture, sexual behavior is implicitly moral because it involves not just bodies and feelings but the spiritual beings inside those bodies; as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin.” Anything I do that impacts another person has a moral component. I would respectfully suggest to Pastor Baligonzaki that he lost the war the moment he tried to separate morals from the discussion.
help persecuted Christians
While the world focuses its attention on Abdul Rahman, Compass Direct reports that two more Afghan converts to Christianity are in jail, and a third has been hospitalized after being beaten for his faith…. If you would like to learn more about persecuted Christians and find opportunities for helping them, these are good sources:…
the most important thing
One Million Dads sent an email asking members to contact Revlon and Dyson about their advertising during ABC’s new show Sons and Daughters. The email included the dialogue between a mother and her 13-year-old daughter regarding her parents’ level of intimacy. The mother says that sometimes after couples marry, they discover that sex just isn’t […]
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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