Gulf Coast Memories...

Some shots of my most recent trip to Mississippi and New Orleans:

A friend's beautiful home. It's progressing slowly...as funds and volunteers are available. A group from Altoona, PA, worked on the floor the week I was there. Once it's finished, my friend will generously open her home to give volunteers a place to stay while they work on other homes in the area. ...and a neighboring house. So much is done. So much more yet to do. And the media has forgotten the plight of the people of the Gulf Coast as they've moved on to today's "hot" news item.

Acres and acres of "Katrina Cottages", waiting to go to families in need of housing. Sitting in a big old field...all tied up in bureaucratic red tape (can't you see it?) People are slogging through layers and layers of governmental crap in order to get one of these cottages to live in for 2 years while they work on rebuilding their homes and lives. Trouble is, months can tick by on the 2-year time limit while people wait for their paperwork to get stamped, stapled, spindled, etc...and they could end up just getting settled in to one of these lovely little cottages right before the government comes to boot them out.

Lingering marks of Katrina and FEMA in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Many houses still bear the spray-painted markings which signified to rescue teams that a house had been checked.

But the sun was shining...and people were getting married...and the street vendors and artists were out in full force. Sometimes, you could almost forget that there are people living under the overpass in a "tent city" just a few blocks away. Or that a huge part of the Lower Ninth Ward is still boarded up and looks like it's been bombed.

Beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde.

Let's just say they didn't last long. And I felt miserable. But it was worth it.

The newly-rebuilt St. Peter's-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church. It's beautiful. We attended the church service there Sunday morning. I've come to this church nearly every trip to the Gulf Coast--it's been a huge source of encouragement to me to see this faith community rebuild on its original foundation. Because THIS is what it looked like after Katrina:

And this is my "Katrina angel"...

...she's always been my symbol of hope in the midst of deep despair. My original shot of her was in January 2006 (see below)...and the world around her has changed drastically as the "angels" in human form have come from around the world to help rebuild the lives of the people God loves on the Gulf Coast.

From SimpleChurch Journal --I like this.

Church Membership:

Terms You Will Not See In the Bible:
• “This is my church.”
• “I go to church.”
• “I am a member of ‘such-and-such’ church.”
• “I belong to the ‘such-and-such’ church.”
• “I attend church.”
• “I was accepted into membership at church.”
• “My pastor.”
• “Come to my church.”
• “I changed churches.”

Terms You Do See In the Bible:
• “We are all one body…” (Eph. 4:4)
• “There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism…” (Eph. 4:5)
• “Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit…” (Eph. 4:3)
• “You are members of God's family.” (Eph. 2:19)
• “For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace…” (Col. 3:15)
• “…for we are all members of one body.” (Eph. 4:25)
• “the church in Jerusalem,” “the church in Antioch” (Acts 11:22; 13:1)
• “let us aim for harmony in the church…” (Rom. 14:19)
• “Christ and the church are one.” (Eph. 5:32)

Remembering Rich...

Even after 10 years, I still get choked up when I listen to this song. Hearing it again tonight opened a door...but that's for another day.

"Calling Out Your Name"--Rich Mullins

Well the moon moved past Nebraska
And spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills
And angels danced on Jacob's stairs
Yeah, they danced on Jacob's stairs
There is this silence in the Badlands
And over Kansas the whole universe was stilled
By the whisper of a prayer
The whisper of a prayer

And the single hawk bursts into flight
And in the east the whole horizon is in flames
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

I can feel the earth tremble
Beneath the rumbling of the buffalo hooves
And the fury in the pheasant's wings
And there's fury in a pheasant's wings
It tells me the Lord is in His temple
And there is still a faith that can make the mountains move
And a love that can make the heavens ring
And I've seen love make heaven ring

Where the sacred rivers meet
Beneath the shadow of the Keeper of the plains
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

From the place where morning gathers
You can look sometimes forever 'til you see
What time may never know
What time may never know
How the Lord takes by its corners this old world
And shakes us forward and shakes us free
To run wild with the hope
To run wild with the hope

The hope that this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain
And I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

And I know this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And with the prairies I am calling out Your name

Gloating...because I can

So...how 'bout those Cubbies? :-)

First place in the Central Division. 1.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Cardinals. Second best record in the National League at .700, not far behind Arizona at .737. A five-game winning streak--currently the best in the NL. Derrek Lee is in 2nd place for most HRs (7) so far this season.

What a sweet feeling. It's nice to be on top. Hoping it lasts. Now if I could only make it to Wrigley for a game this year...that would just be wonderful!

One for the "bucket list"...

I rode in a Hummer tonight.

And not just ANY old Hummer. It was a loooong black Hummer limo. Complete with champagne.

Through the generosity of a dear lady whom I'm privileged to call "friend", I attended a fundraiser event tonight for an elite Catholic high school...the high school Bret Favre attended. It was pretty amazing. Food was provided by around 70 local restaurants (NOT the McD/Taco Bell type!) and it was all delicious--we wandered around for an hour, sampling some of the Gulf Coast's best food (Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, for example).

There was a really good band playing, several bars set up around the yard/pool, a huge silent auction and (we left too soon), a very large fireworks display--I wish we could have stayed for that!

Some serious money was spent tonight...and I'm sure some really serious money was pouring in. Makes porkburger sales look pretty pitiful.

Social Justice...Part 2

This is the 2nd of 5 segments of an article by Rich Nathan. It's getting some interesting discussion over at sojo.net.

Is Social Justice a Distraction from the Gospel? (Part 2 of 5 by Rich Nathan)

Social justice is not a distraction from our commitment; it is part and parcel of the gospel of the kingdom. We read in Mark 1:15:

"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"

What is the message of the kingdom? Certainly the center of the message is the proclamation that through one's faith in Jesus Christ (the King), a person can be eternally saved. Thus my church regularly calls people to put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be born again and enter God's kingdom.

But that is not the circumference or totality of the message of the kingdom. The ultimate goal of the kingdom goes beyond the salvation of us as individuals (wonderful as that is) and involves the restoration and renovation of the entire universe. The message of the kingdom is a fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah's vision in Isaiah 65:17, 20-25:

"See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. ...

"Never again will there be infants who live but a few days, or older people who do not live out their years; those who die at a hundred will be thought mere youths; those who fail to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord.

This message was echoed by all the prophets. So the prophet Micah says this in 4:1-4:

In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken.

The apostle Paul speaks about the cosmic sweep of this message of the kingdom. He tells us that not only we, but the entire creation, will be freed from the curse of the fall (Romans 8:19-21). In Ephesians, the apostle Paul again enlarges the scope of the message beyond our individual salvation when he says in Ephesians 1:9-10:

[H]e made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment; to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

This enormous plan, involving the renovation and restoration of the entire universe, is what we pray for when we pray the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

So when we Christians feed the hungry in the name of Jesus, or heal a sick person in the power of Christ, or work for peace in this war-torn world, or help reconcile a marriage, or extend help to immigrants, or work for the responsible care of the environment, these actions are not a distraction from our commission to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Rather, we are living out our calling as kingdom people to partner with God in bringing about the healing of the entire universe.

Welcome, genius!

So, I saw this "what's your blog's reading level?" thing posted on some guy's blog while I was blog-surfing tonight. Thought I'd test it out. It says things here are at "Genius" level. I have NO idea of the judging criteria--just thought it would be amusing to check it out.

For the record, the blog from which I lifted the link was "College, Post-Graduate" level.

I think I quote a lot of smart people... :-)

Quoting a guy who's quoting a guy...

...and he says it so much better than I could. I'm looking forward to reading Parts 2 through 5.

What Doing Justice Means for My Church (Part 1 of 5 by Rich Nathan)
I've always wanted to be part of a church that seeks to be and to do everything the New Testament calls the church to be and to do. I've described this kind of church in the past as a holistic church, or a church that works on all eight cylinders. In other words, it is not enough if my church is known as a great worship center, or a great preaching church. The New Testament demands more.

New Testament scholar N.T. Wright gets us right to the heart of the matter when he says:

For generations the church has been polarized between those who see the main task being the saving of souls for heaven and the nurturing of those souls through the valley of this dark world, on the one hand, and on the other hand those who see the task of improving the lot of human beings and the world, rescuing the poor from their misery. The longer I've gone on as a New Testament scholar and wrestled with what the early Christians were originally talking about, the more it's borne in on me that distinction is one that we modern Westerners bring to the text rather than finding it in the text. Because the great emphasis in the New Testament is that the gospel is not how to escape the world; the gospel is that the crucified and risen Jesus is the Lord of the world. And that his death and Resurrection transformed the world, and that transformation can happen to you. You, in turn, can be part of the transforming work. That draws together what we traditionally call evangelism, bringing people to the point where they come to know God and Christ for themselves, with working for God's Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. That has always been at the heart of the Lord's Prayer, and how we've managed for years to say the Lord's Prayer without realizing that Jesus really meant it is very curious. Our Western culture since the 18th century has made a virtue of separating our religion from real life, or faith from politics. When I lecture about this, people will pop up and say, "Surely Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world." And the answer is no, what Jesus said in John 18 is, "My kingdom is not from this world." That's ek tou kosmoutoutou. It is quite clear in the text that Jesus' kingdom doesn't start with this world. It isn't a worldly kingdom, but it is for this world. It is from somewhere else, but it is for this world.

Social justice is simply a commitment on the part of Christians to improve the lot of human beings in this world, particularly the lot of the most marginalized to whom God shows particular concern. The God of the Bible is both a God of justification (declaring us right with God) and justice (putting the world to rights).

Social justice was the historic practice of the evangelical church before the 20th century. It would have been unthinkable for leaders like John Wesley or William Wilberforce to consider someone to be a good follower of Jesus Christ who was not actively involved in improving the social conditions of people in this world.

Doing justice is one of the major themes throughout scripture. God hates religion without an accompanying commitment to social justice:

I hate, I despise your religious festivals; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! ( Amos 5:21-24)

I have several hopes for my church regarding social justice. I hope that we become a church that breaks out of the boxes that church tradition tries to impose upon the evangelical church -- namely, that evangelical churches are not supposed to be involved with improving the social conditions of people in this world. My hope is that members of Vineyard Columbus would seek to walk in the shoes of those whose perspectives are shaped by poverty, racial oppression, and personal suffering. My hope is that the tilt of the hearts of Vineyard Columbus members would be toward the poor (and not just the rich), toward the sick (and not just the well), and toward peacemaking. I have a hope that Vineyard Columbus would not exist for itself, but for Christ and for the world.

Thomas Blackaby on pastors and churches...

"Instead of leading their people to find the heart and mind of God for their own congregations, some pastors seek to copy other “more successful” congregations that have blown past the norm, set new standards, and developed innovative approaches for reaching their communities. These churches have successfully marketed their strategies, and multiple thousands of other churches around the world have bought into their techniques and methodologies. We love to buy other people’s techniques because it means we don’t actually have to come up with our own. We don’t have to do the hard work of going before the Lord on bended knee or going without to fast and pray to seek the heart and mind of our Master. We can open a book or watch a DVD and, poof! There it is already prepared for us!"