And Then There Were Four

Thursday, January 31st

As of today the political field has been narrowed down to just four candidates -- Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, Mitt Romney and John McCain.

As I was reading the USA Today this morning I couldn't help but ask myself, "Is this the best we can do? Surely there are other more skilled, humble, visionary leaders out there than these four candidates!"

Honestly, how is it that out of our 303,342,935 citizens who live in this amazing country we can only rummage together these four people to pick from?

There's got to be a better way to come up with candidates to lead the free world. There's got to be.

My World Famous Chili Recipe

Wednesday, January 30th

Okay, the time has come for me to share my world famous chili recipe. Wolfgang Puck, Rachel Ray, and the FBI have been trying to get it out of me for years. But I have chosen to share it with you, the loyal millions who read my blog on a daily basis (actually, I’m fairly certain that my mom and Terri Stone are the only ones that read my blog, and I told Terri I’d give her the recipe yesterday, so here it is).

Here it is, in print, hereunto before held in closest secrecy and guarded by the Illuminati, the Knight’s Templar, Opus Dei and Millie, our 12 pound Lhasa Apso. Here is my world famous chili recipe. I give it freely as a gift to the world. My savior died on the cross for me, the least I can do is share my chili recipe.

Brian’s World Famous Chili Recipe

Ingredients:
--1lb. ground turkey
--1 packet of McCormick’s Original Chili seasoning mix
--1 can of diced tomatoes
--2 cans of Del Monte Tomato Sauce
--1 can of Kidney beans
--And the SUPER TOP SECRET INGREDIENT -- 1 cup of Jack Daniel's Honey Smokehouse BBQ Sauce
--1 box of Oyster crackers

Directions:
--Brown turkey in skillet (I don’t eat beef—haven’t in 12 years—but that works too)
--Add all ingredients, stir and let simmer in skillet at 300 degrees for 20 minutes
--Place in bowl and add Oyster crackers
--I like adding a little Fat Free Craft shredded cheese on top
--My family likes peanut butter sandwiches on the side

Servings: will feed a family of 5 and one lazy dog

Have a recipe that can top that? Right. Bring it on. You can't touch this, especially you Terri.

Dueling Tongues

Tuesday, January 29th

I found this video on You Tube yesterday and joked with Frank Chiapperino on our CCV staff that we should try it sometime at church. For those of you who don't have any exposure to the nut balls throughout the four corners of the Christian community, what these guys are doing is what is called "Speaking in Tongues." Just watching this makes me want to bring back the Old Testament practice of stoning people.

Can you imagine going to a church that did this?

Why Muslims Convert To Christianity

Monday, January 27th

I found this interesting tidbit about muslims from The Christian Post and Preaching Today...

From 1991 to 2007, Fuller Theological Seminary's School of Intercultural Studies conducted a survey among 750 Muslims who had converted to Christianity. Those surveyed represented 50 ethnic groups from 30 different countries. Here were the nine most-cited reasons for conversion to the Christian faith:

1. Christians practiced what they preached.

2. Christians appeared to have loving marriages in which women were treated as equals.

3. Christian-to-Christian violence was less prominent than Muslim-to-Muslim violence.

4. The prayers of Christians had healed the disabled and delivered others from demonic powers.

5. The Koran had produced profound disillusionment because it accentuates "God's punishment more than his love, and the use of violence to impose Islamic laws."

6. God had used visions and dreams to influence the converts' decision.

7. Muslims can never be certain of their forgiveness and salvation as Christians can.

8. As they read the Bible, the converts had been convicted of its truth.

9. The converts were attracted to the idea of God's unconditional love.

SOURCE: Jennifer Riley, "Analysis: Why Muslims Follow Jesus," The Christian Post (11-16-07)

Good Morning America -- Money & Churches

Friday, January 25th

I thought this clip from Good Morning America was pretty interesting so I had our team tape it and copy it to You Tube. Seems like our church isn't the only one out there trying to help people do finances God's way. Check it out:

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Thursday, January 24th

This morning I began reading my very first Flannery O'Connor short story, A Good Man Is Hard To Find. It was both fascinating and thoroughly disturbing, to say the least. How in the world this demure, southern, Catholic lady was able to think up such graphic and wildly violent images baffles me.

For those who want to read the story without buying the book, you can find it online HERE. It's just 10 or so pages long.

I'll be processing this piece for a long time.

Wrap Up on Mad Money

Wednesday, January 23rd

We just completed our three week series called Mad Money. We called it that because when people live by God’s principles in their finances, people INITIALLY think they are crazy. It was a play off of the passage in 1 Corinthians 4:10 where the apostles called themselves “Fools for Christ.”

Doing life God’s way can seem foolish, at least initially, especially in the area of our finances. But over time, as people continue down the path of American greed and we continue down the path of frugality and generosity, people will begin to realize, “Maybe these guys aren’t so crazy after all!” As Christian financial counselor Dave Ramsey says, “If we live like no-one else now, we can live like no-one else later.”

In the sermon series I challenged everyone to make three commitments. Each week’s sermon was focused on teaching one commitment…

1. I COMMIT TO LIVE WITHIN MY MEANS AND AVOID CONSUMER DEBT

2. I COMMIT TO TITHE AN AMOUNT THAT EQUALS 10% OF MY INCOME TO GOD THROUGH CCV

3. I COMMIT TO CULTIVATE AN APPROACH TO LIVING THAT CONSISTENTLY BUILDS WEALTH INSTEAD OF DEPLETING IT.

Since the series was only three weeks, I left out the fourth commitment that I would have loved to have put in there to round it out...

4. I COMMIT TO ALLOW GOD TO USE THE WEALTH HE HAS ENTRUSTED TO ME TO CHANGE THE WORLD

Yesterday a new guy to CCV emailed me and shared with me his story. I thought it was pretty inspiring. Here it is...

Brian,

I scheduled myself off today from everything to spend time walking and riding my bike in the cold with my family today. After some hot chocolate, I listened to all three Mad Money sermons via the website. Yes, the cold did not short circuit any brain synapses. I actually wanted to listen once again to the hope that these messages will give people if they only apply them.

You see, Karis and I just started attending church here for about a month now. We have 2 great young boys, Dominic and Gabriel and we had a home church back in the State College area that was fantastic. We have been purposely "Living like no one else now in order to live like no-one else tomorrow" for many years now. Four to be exact. We have tithed every bit of 10%+ to our local church and we have never gone without anything. We have no consumer debt at all and our cars were paid for in cash. We moved from a near 3000 sq.ft house with land to a small modest townhouse that is almost half the square footage of our last home. We made it a goal not to forgo the most precious gift I can give my family -- my undivided attention to my God, wife and children.

In the beginning when I decided that "enough was enough" we found it to be very difficult to cut back since it was our habits that lead to many financial decisions that could have been better handled if we had proper thinking. We found it difficult to say no to friends when they asked us to go out to the movies, dinner or ball games. We shamefully said "no" since we didn't have enough in our budget that month to do the things we thought we were entitled to do. My wife started cutting my hair. My personal spending, clothing allowance and sport entertainment was severely cut in order to meet our financial goals. My wife made some drastic sacrifices as well. Our bad habits outweighed our duel professional and business incomes.

Today, we are in an area of greater influence. Karis is home with the boys and is not concerned about tomorrow’s bills. I am doing what I love to do and we continue to live well below our means. At my current age of 40, we have a written goal for me to retire from daily work at 46, but this will not by any means help me to retire from my mission.

John Maxwell shares. "Let me spend a day with you and I will tell you where you will be in 5 years.” My habits and thinking got me to where I was then and where I am today.

I humbly write this to let you know that it was someone like you that shared this information and it set us free. I pray that other families vigorously apply what God placed on your heart and mind to share.

Mario

Pastors...Executive Pastor Online Now Live!

Tuesday, January 22nd

A lot of pastor friends of mine that read this blog serve their churches valiantly without the help of a skilled Executive Pastor by their side. Finances, infrastructure, buildings, budgets, etc. -- a myriad of things distract us away from our primary skill set and calling.

I'm thrilled to announce that Kevin Stone, my right hand man and gifted Executive Pastor here at CCV, has created an online "virtual executive pastor" for those who don't have one. Need job descriptions for almost any position on your staff? Help with strategic planning? Budgets? Help is available now. You can avail yourself of the expertise of Kevin and dozens of Executive Pastors around the country by simply joining Executive Pastor online.

If you're serious about helping more and more people find the love of Christ and grow deep in their faith, linking up with this Executive Pastor possse may be one of the most important things you do all year. Check it out...

http://www.executivepastoronline.com/

Thanks for Feedback!

Monday, January 21st

Thanks everyone for your feedback on the email that I posted on Friday. You'll notice that I took it down. My goal was to post it for a few days to gather some initial feedback to help us formulate a comprehensive church-wide survey that we will be asking everyone to take in a few weeks. Your thoughtful comments really helped me hone in on what questions to ask and how to ask them. Thanks for taking the time to comment and please make sure you take the church-wide survey coming out in early February!

Abortion Rates Drop...Good News?

Thursday, January 17th

This morning's USA Today has a small article buried in the back about abortion rates in the United States.

The article states, "The abortion rate in the USA fell to it's lowest point in more than 30 years...the number of abortions, which peaked in 1990 with 1.6 million, dropped to an estimated 1.2 million in 2005. That's down 8% from 2000."

While on one hand I'm overjoyed by the fact that abortions are on the decline, I can't help but wonder what kind of sick society we live in when 1.2 million babies are murdered and we talk about it as glibly and coldly as one discusses the latest interest rate reduction.

90 Day Tithing Challenge

Tuesday, January 15th

For the past two weeks we’ve been in a series called Mad Money. We ripped the title off that nutty guy, Jim Cramer, on CNBC.

We’re called it Mad Money because when people begin living by God’s principles in their finances, their neighbors, friends and co-workers INITIALLY think they're crazy. However, as Christian financial planner Dave Ramsey says, “If we live like no-one else now, we can live like no-one else later.”

People may think we’re mad for bucking the culture’s pressure and doing finances God’s way, but they won’t think we’re crazy five years from now when their still in debt up to their eyeballs and we’re debt-free, enjoying having money in the bank, and watching God do some pretty amazing things through the tithes and offerings we give to him.

In this series we’re asking people to make three commitments:

The first week we covered Commitment #1: I COMMIT TO LIVE WITHIN MY MEANS AND AVOID CONSUMER DEBT

Last week we covered Commitment #2: I COMMIT TO TITHE AN AMOUNT THAT EQUALS 10% OF MY INCOME TO GOD THROUGH CCV

The third one we’ll cover this weekend. It’s a commitment about building wealth.

As a part of last week’s message we handed out commitment cards for people to take our 90 Day Tithing Challenge – tithe for 90 days and if you don’t see God’s blessing and hand in your finances, the church will refund your money.

Here’s what was on the card:

90 Day Tithing Challenge

___ I already give to God, through CCV, 10% of my income and have seen God’s faithfulness in the area of my finances. I commit to continue to give a tithe equal to 10% of my income throughout 2008. I do not need to participate in the 90 Day Tithing Challenge.

___ I would like to test God's faithfulness by accepting the 90 Day Tithing Challenge. I agree that starting next Sunday, my household will give to God, through CCV, a tithe equal to 10% of my income. At the end of the 90 day period, if I am not convinced of God's faithfulness to bless my life as a result of my obedience to his word, then I will be entitled to request a refund of the full amount of contributions made during this 90 day period.

I understand the following requirements:

*I understand that this form must be completed and received by the CCV Finance Team at the beginning of the 90 Day Tithing Challenge starting next Sunday.

* I understand that my tithe must be paid online, or by check or cash in an offering envelope, so that my tithe can be properly documented.

* I understand that I cannot seek a refund for any contributions made prior to the beginning of the 90 Day Tithing Challenge. I also understand that I cannot request a refund until the 90 Day Tithing Challenge is complete.

* I understand that any request for a refund must be received by the CCV Finance Team within 30 days of the end of the 90 Day Tithing Challenge.

I’m proud to say that 317 households filled out the card! Pretty cool stuff.

If you’re one of them please email me over the next 90 days and share with me your story of God’s faithfulness and blessing in your life! I love watching/helping people do finances God’s way and reaping the benefits of financial freedom – not getting rich, but getting free.

Cool stuff.

When Insults Had Class

Monday, January 14th

Undoubtedly since it is a Monday there will be a few of you that won't be in the greatest of moods. A friend forwarded me something the other day. Normally I hate forwards and I am too polite (or chicken) to ever tell her or anyone else to stop. Yet, this was just too funny to not pass on.

When Insults Had Class

An exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:

She said, "If you were my husband, I'd give you poison.”
He replied, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." -- Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" -Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know."- Abraham Lincoln

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." - Winston Churchill in response.

"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." Jack E.Leonard

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

Lady Astor to Churchill: "You are totally drunk and despicable."

Churchill's reply: "Ah yes, but later this evening both of us will go to sleep. And in the morning I will be sober and a leader; you will still be ugly and rude."

Keeping My Word

Friday, January 11th

Here's the latest edition to the Jones household. Her name is Maggie. She's my youngest daughter's kitten and is just as sweet and playful as can be.

People that know me know I'm not really fond of cats, so they ask how this came to be. Well, it all started out when I told my youngest daughter that I needed her to go into goal at a premier level tournament in Lancaster in November. She said, "Only if you'll get me a cat."

Because we had only already lost twice and we REALLY needed a win, I ignored conventional coaching wisdom (like bargaining with your players) and conventional marriage wisdom (like asking your life partner before you make a promise to your kid) and went ahead and promised that if she went into goal AND we won the game that I'd get a cat.

It was raining. The team we were playing was incredible. We were down two of our top defenders. I figured it was a safe bet. After four great saves and an incredible effort by our entire team I knew I was in big trouble. I figured she'd forget our little wager and we'd go home quietly. No such luck.

Well, here she is. I kept my promise. I'm still in trouble with my wife.

The Exorcist, Heads Spinning Backwards, and Biblical Truth

Thursday, January 10th

Lately someone asked me what I thought about demon possession. Not real fond of the terminology, I felt I needed to clarify my own thinking on the matter. Here’s some ink I put to paper on the matter…

I’ll never forget seeing the movie The Exorcist when I was a kid. I’ll admit it. I’m a wimp. I can’t watch scary movies. Growing up I couldn’t even watch The Incredible Hulk on Friday nights with my family. If you saw The Exorcist you probably can’t shake the images from your mind either—the little girl urinating on the floor; a man’s voice booming from her mouth; the monstrous transformation of her face and body; legs and arms strapped to a bed; an anxious priest sent to set her free; a wicked looking gargoyle leaping from her body. I was freaked out for weeks. Ever since, every time I think of demon-possession I think of that movie.

Unfortunately, Hollywood has a way of controlling and changing a person’s understanding of important issues. Think for a moment of the movie JFK. Largely based on conjecture, Oliver Stone influenced a whole generation of minds concerning how one of our beloved presidents was murdered. If a person sees that movie, whether or not it was based on fact, they will have a hard time thinking of John Kennedy’s assassination as being pulled off any other way than through a conspiracy with multiple accomplices. When Hollywood gets there first, the impression unfortunately sticks for a long time.

Such is the case with demon-possession. When we read the Bible and stumble across words like “Satan” and “possession” and “evil spirits,” for better or worse, our minds wander back to The Exorcist and other movies like it. However, as in the case of JFK, the movie The Exorcist and others like it are based largely on conjecture rather than the simple and plain teaching scripture. Fortunately, things rarely happen like they do in the movies, especially when compared to the vision for our lives laid out in the Bible.

The word “demon-possessed” occurs twenty times in the entire New Testament. Nineteen times it occurs in the gospels (Matthew 4:24; 8:16; 8:28; 8:33; 9:32; 12:22; Mark 1:32; 5:15; 5:16; 5:18; Luke 4:33; 8:27; 8:36; John 7:20; 8:48; 8:49; 8:52; 10:20; 10:21) and only once in the Book of Acts (Acts 19:13).

When we begin to study this issue we are immediately faced with a translation problem. Being physically “possessed” (the way a tenet possesses or occupies a house) by a demon is not what the Biblical writers were trying to communicate.

In the original Greek the Biblical authors used either participle phrases such as “being demonized” or verbal phrases such as “having a demon.” Neither meant to convey that a demon had literally taken up residence inside a person’s body the same way air takes up residence inside a blow-up doll. Rather, the Biblical writers wanted to communicate that a demon had interacted with a person to such an extent that the demon was able to influence the mind, body and soul of a person. The image here is of a spiritual entity whose primary goal is to torment the spiritual nature of a person-his or her soul. Interacting with a person’s body is secondary in nature.

A demon is not interested in taking up residence inside your body for geography’s sake. The interest a demon has with you is your soul -- tormenting it, dominating it, changing it, and ultimately keeping it from uniting with Jesus. Therefore, I would like to suggest that we do not use the word “demon-possession,” because that is not totally accurate. Rather we should use the word “demonized.” Demon-possession conveys the idea that a demon lives inside a person’s body. Demonization conveys the idea that a demon is trying to influence a person’s soul.

Let me give you an example. In Acts 5:16 it says, "Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed."

Notice that word “tormented.” It comes from the Greek participle ochloumenos. Ochlos is the Greek word for “crowd” or “mob.” All of us have been in large crowds and have been squeezed on all sides. In a mob, when you are in the middle of it, you are being pressed from every angle.

That’s the image here.

What is being conveyed in Acts 5:16 is a group of people who have demons going after their souls. None of them have a demon living inside them.

The only people who have actual demons living inside them are Penn State fans, but that's a subject for another blog post.

Presidential Victories for God?

Wednesday, January 9th

A good friend of mine sent me the following article from the January 8th edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I think it was quite informative given the volley of responses back and forth on my post about voting for an atheist president.

Victories for God?

The victories by Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee in the Iowa caucuses last week make one thing clear: In America's heartland, the God strategy works. Recent history suggests it won't stop there.

In this approach presidential candidates make their religious faith demonstrably public and wield it as a campaign centerpiece. Out is a traditional wall of separation; in is a "bridge between church and state" that George W. Bush -- who used the God strategy to perfection in 2000 and 2004 -- offered early in his presidency.

This is not how it's always been.

God and religion have always been part of U.S. politics, but our analysis of more than 15,000 public communications by political leaders from Franklin Roosevelt's election in 1932 -- the beginning of the modern presidency -- through six years of George W. Bush's administration revealed a striking increase in public religiosity beginning in 1980.

That year, in response to Jimmy Carter's personal faith story, Ronald Reagan ran a campaign shot through with religious themes and calculated visits with newly mobilized evangelicals. This approach was so successful that subsequent presidents have followed suit. The result is that presidential candidates today use religion as a political weapon: to organize and explain one's values, to justify policy plans and, most importantly, to divide the electorate into allies and enemies.

The victors in Iowa last week used the God strategy to a degree rarely seen in modern history.

Barack Obama's public embrace of faith began in 2006 with a keynote address at Sojourners magazine's Call to Renewal conference. Syndicated columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. said the speech "may be the most important pronouncement by a Democrat on faith and politics since John F. Kennedy's Houston speech in 1960 declaring his independence from the Vatican." Later in 2006, Mr. Obama spoke at an AIDS summit hosted by Rick Warren, a conservative who is one of the most prominent evangelicals in the world.

Since then, Mr. Obama's religious politics have only grown. He often begins speeches -- including the address in February 2007 during which he announced his intention to seek the presidency -- by giving "all praise and honor to God," and regularly cites the biblical story of Joshua. In Iowa, Mr. Obama had a faith steering committee and his campaign held forums across the state titled "What's faith got to do with it?"

Still, he lagged behind Mike Huckabee in his religious politics.

Early on, the little-known Southern Baptist minister compared himself to biblical underdogs David and other Old Testament prophets. He wowed Christian conservatives at the Family Research Council's Values Voters Summit in October, saying "I think it's important that the language of Zion is a mother tongue, and not a recently acquired second language." Mr. Huckabee began to surge in Iowa polls not long after, a rise he attributed to divine intervention.

Mr. Huckabee sealed his ascendancy by airing perhaps the most religious ads in U.S. presidential history. A signature spot featured Mr. Huckabee saying, "Faith doesn't just influence me; it really defines me," as the words "Christian leader" flashed across the screen. In another ad, Mr. Huckabee asked viewers to remember the real meaning of the holiday season: "the celebration of the birth of Christ." When this message stirred up controversy, Mr. Huckabee adroitly painted himself as the target of secularists.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Huckabee: Two presidential candidates, two political parties, a common approach -- and the same result.

The question now is whether this strategy has legs beyond Iowa. As the candidates worked through New Hampshire, they found voters a bit more cautious about intimate relationships between religion and politics. But soon after the New Hampshire primary comes South Carolina, where faith runs wide and deep. Indeed, Mr. Obama's campaign presented a "40 Days of Faith and Family" focus there in autumn.

One thing is for sure: We're light years and a religious political revolution from John F. Kennedy's candidacy in 1960, when he famously declared that "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute," and "I believe in a president whose views on religion are his own private affair."

That was a winning message then. Today it would be a voice in the wilderness -- on both sides of the partisan aisle.

David Domke is a professor of communication and the head of journalism at the University of Washington (domke@u.washington.edu). Kevin Coe is a doctoral candidate in speech communication at the University of Illinois (kmcoe2@uiuc.edu). They are authors of the just-released "The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America" (http://www.thegodstrategy.com/).

There Is No God

Tuesday, January 8th

LSU 38
OSU 24

O God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smoulder against the sheep of your pasture? (Psalm 74:1)

Do not fret because of those who are evil...for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. (Psalm 37:1-2)

Those who surround me proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them. May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise. (Psalm 140:9-10)

A Different Kind of Christmas

Tuesday, January 8th

The Sunday before Christmas I killed my sermon for the day and went on a twenty-five minute rant that began by me saying,

“People just don’t get how stupid and anti-Christian Christmas has become."

And ended with,

"Should we celebrate Christmas as a family? Absolutely. But just realize that God wants you to celebrate the holiday of Christmas no more than he wants you to celebrate the Holiday of St. Patrick’s Day. A Christ follower could never celebrate Christmas the rest of his or her life and God would be cool with that."

I thought people were going to tar and feather me and kick me out on my can. Instead, at the end of my 25 minute talk, people applauded.

I talked about how the Bible never told us to celebrate Jesus' birth and how Christmas came to be in the first place and how by promoting the "holiday of Christmas" the church gives people the impression that we condone living an unchristian lifestyle (ie. God is cool with going into debt and God himself has created a holiday to bless us with more material stuff).

You can listen to it online or podcast it by clicking HERE.

Anyway, I share that because there's been such a surge at our church to create a counter-cultural approach to celebrating Christmas next year that we're creating a "CCV Christmas Covenant" that we're going to ask all of the families at our church to read, sign, and practice this coming Christmas.

Here's a preliminary cut at a first draft that I shared in my message this past Sunday:

CCV Christmas Covenant

As a family we will seek to make Christ the center of our Christmas holiday celebration by…

1. Creating a modest budget and commit as a family not to buy any gifts on credit (and share budget as a family if appropriate).

2. Going together as a family to serve the poor at an outreach event set up by the church.

3. Adopting a child/family locally or oversees and purchasing items they need in proportion to the money we spend on ourselves. (Question – “Are we sacrificing to give this gift?”)

4. Reading the Christmas story (Luke 2) on Christmas Eve as a family and asking each other something like, “What’s the greatest gift Jesus gave you this year?” and ending with someone praying.

5. Create a family “savings jar” and save money as a family from Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve and bring that offering to CCV’s Christmas Eve services and give towards the annual benevolence event to take place the following year (On Christmas Eve we raised enough money to build 2 homes in Mexico for two impoverished families and send 40 volunteers...pretty cool stuff).

6. Make a gift “from the heart” for each person of the family (cannot be purchased…meant to be a memento that expresses the love we have for that person).

Let's do Christmas different next year...both at CCV and beyond!

Voting for an Atheist President?

Friday, January 4th

In a previous blog I made the comment that, “I think someone can be a great decision maker, a great leader, and a person committed to values that Christians embrace and not have any faith.”

To which a friend of mine commented,

“I’m going to call “foul” on your faith comment. This seems to contradict your normal thought process, especially concerning faith. Are you sure you would want somebody making as you say “billion dollar decisions that impact the globe” to a person with no faith? And there is no such thing as a person without faith. Everybody believes in something. I think the issue with candidates running for public office is that people want to know if the candidate believes in something bigger than themselves. So I don’t buy that you actually believe that you can have a great leader who does not have a foundation in faith.”

I wanted to make sure my response wasn’t buried in the comments section of the blog. Here was my response,

“Have you ever had a great teacher who wasn't a Christian? A great doctor who wasn't a Christian? A great auto-mechanic who wasn't a Christian? The best teacher I ever had in grad school was agnostic. I believe what I wrote: Someone can be a great President and have no faith whatsoever. In my mind someone is a "Christian politician" because he/she votes the way Jesus would, not because they push their faith in public and say "God bless America" at the end of their speeches.

For instance, if I remember correctly, you didn't hold Ronald Reagen in very high regard because of the unChristian way his policies hurt people. But can't we credit Reagen with infusing personal faith into the rhetoric of the presidency (at least in our current political context)? I believe that Ronald Reagen could profess a Christian faith, and lead "unChristianly" while an atheist could lead as a President the way Jesus would. The issue, in my mind, is track record. You show me how you've voted/governed and I'll make the decision whether or not you're a Christian politician. It's simply substance over style/rhetoric.”

Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee are now the frontrunners going in New Hampshire. Both have overly used Christian rhetoric in their campaigns to get the “faithful” to the booths.

But have they voted the way Jesus would have in their past political situations?

Would Jesus vote pro-choice as Obama has in the past?

Would Jesus endorse and promote capital punishment as I have heard Huckabee has in his career?

Substance. Voting history. Verifiable evidence of an attitude of discipleship in votes and legislation makes one Christian. “Christian,” “God,” “Faith,” and a few others words mean nothing when tossed in by speech-writers.

With this in mind, I have met atheists who live out the message of Jesus better than some Christians. There may come a time when one such person runs for office.

Given the choice between an atheist who leads like Jesus but has no faith vs. a politician with a faith soaked in lukewarm American Christian religiosity, there’s absolutely no question who I’m voting for.

Born Standing Up

Thursday, January 3rd

Between Christmas and New Year's I read Steve Martin's book Born Standing Up, a glimpse into Martin's life before he became famous and why he eventually walked away from stand-up altogether.

The last line of his foreward sets the tone for the whole book:

"In a sense, this book is not an autobiography but a biography, because I am writing about someone I used to know. Yes, these events are true, yet sometimes they seemed to have happended to someone else, and I often felt like a curious onlooker or someone trying to remember a dream. I ignored my stand-up career for twenty-five years, but now, having finished this memoir, I view this time with surprising warmth. One can have, it turns out, an affection for the war years."

A few things touched me about the book:

1. How much of a people person Martin really is but how over time the demands of comedy and celebrity changed him. It was sad to read.

2. How much he relished the years before he "made it" and how much he hated stand-up after he was filling stadiums.

3. The way he eventually re-connected with his father before his death. After going to the Hollywood preview of Martins' movie The Jerk, someone asked his father what he thought of the movie. "He's no Charlie Chaplin" is all he could muster.

4. Finally, Martin's story re-affirmed for me that the "journey is the destination."

Tis the season for Politics

Wednesday, January 2

As we head into Iowa’s caucus on Thursday the whole country seems to be talking politics. Here are a few things that puzzle me about this whole process:

Experience: I never understand why people think that experience in Washington is a negative thing for a political candidate. I’m a much better pastor with 20 years experience than when I only had one year under my belt. I’m sure it’s the same with your job. Relationships, trust with those in various roles, etc. -- all that takes time to build.

Faith: I don’t get the whole preoccupation Americans have with a candidate’s faith. I think that a president could be a great president and still be an atheist. Are we trying to elect someone who will turn this country into a Christian Iran? I think someone can be a great decision maker, a great leader, and a person committed to values that Christians embrace and not have any faith. I’m tired of candidates using faith to doop the flock into voting for them.

Image over substance: Sound bites, gaffes, well-timed appearances, one-liners, make-up before press-conferences, etc. We’re electing someone making billion dollar decisions and setting policy that will affect just about everyone on the globe. Surely we’re more interested in the substance of a candidate’s thought process when approaching critical issues related to our country’s future and not whether some talk-show host thinks they’re fantastic.