More than an Election

At every election the respective candidates talk about the importance of the election. How this is the most important election in our times and how this election will change the course of the future. Yeah, whatever. Politics are politics…

This year, however, I think it’s different. There is something riding on the ticket. Something huge. Barack Obama is a bi-racial American. He is black. And I think, putting aside all politics and all possible political  achievements. I think it is huge that there is a possibility that for the next 4, hopefully 8 years, my children will grow up through most of their childhood with a black family in the white house. I think that would do wonders, beyond the political achievements that Obama might accomplish. I believe it will make a tremendous difference in the life of my children and all Americans as far as their understanding of race relations. That is indeed something to look forward to.

Family is off limits

Let me just make it clear that I fully agree with Senator Obama, that families should be off limits. Especially candidate’s children. Obama came out strongly and clearly the day after it was made public that Palin’s daughter was pregnant. And he said very clearly that people’s families should be off limits. And yes, I absolutely agree. Neither one of the campaigns should take advantage of the situation.

But… I’m not part of nor supporting Obama’s campaign. I’m a voter and I’m free to use anything and everything to make a sound judgment on whether I’m voting for the right candidate. Just like I take McCain’s POW experience as a testimony to his character, I will also take Palin’s decision as a mother to make my judgement.

Does it matter that the VP pick has a pregnant daughter?

First of all, to the conservative right wingers and left-wing opportunistic. Chill out! If Dick Cheney can have a lesbian daughter and be proud of the grandchild given to him by his lesbian daughter and partner… then Sarah Palin can have an unmarried pregnant teenage daughter. For purposes of election.

But, as a pastor. I’ll just put this out there. Let’s say a highly successful couple with five children came to my office. And they said “Pastor, we just found out our oldest daughter is pregnant.” Before I even dealt with the pregnancy of the daughter I would say to the couple. “Look, I know you two are very busy and very successful at your jobs. But look what you have done. You have worked so many hours and spent so little time with your young children that you are in the situation you are in right now.” Now, I know, I know that it might have happened even if the mother stayed at home full time and the father worked from his home office. It might have happened. But it didn’t. They were too busy chasing their careers that they ignored their kids enough for this to happen. So the first thing I would say to BOTH the father and the mother, is to cut back your work hours and pump up your home hours. If one of them asked “Pastor, I’m about to get a promotion that will require A LOT more of my time… what should I do?” I would say “Don’t take it.” No, I wouldn’t say “Pray about it.” I expect them to have prayed about it before they came to me. I would say don’t do it. Because this is going to add greater stress to your family. Husband OR wife, I would say that this pregnant teenagers will need her father AND her mother in the days to come. So they should not take the job. You get the point…

I know some of your reading this might think it’s sexists. But I would say this whether it was the father or the mother. If Barack Obama’s daugther was pregnant out of wedlock and Michelle Obama stayed at home full time, I would still tell Barack that this is NOT the best time to run for president. This is the time to be the man of his own household.

Which leads me to question McCain for picking Palin if he knew her daughter was pregnant. And it makes me question Palin… I think I could trust a “hockey mom” in the White House. Sure. But could I trust a hockey mom who decided to run for the VP at an extremely difficult time for his own daughter? Would I trust such great decisions to a person who decided that the care of a special needs baby is not as important as her political ambitions? I don’t know about that… See, for me it’s not about gender roles. It’s about parental roles. Political roles are conferred to you by a political system. Parental roles are coffered to you by God himself. The priority needs to be straight.

Why just race?

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s there was a fast move in the Christian community to move embrace the racial reconciliation theme. So a number of churches were started with the intention of being multi-ethnic. The multi-ethnic church was the goal and prime example of  Christ power to wipe out divisions. There are certain degrees of success and failures through those churches but I wonder… why just race? We are racial divisions the only and main focus of such divide? What happened to social and economic divisions? Why is it that rich and the poor do not worship together? Why can’t the college educated and the illiterate worship together? Why just race?

James Dobson’s case of Matthew 7:5

James Dobson has made a very public criticism of Barack Obama’s speech on faith and politics. His criticism of a Democratic candidate for president is not surprising. These days he is highly critical of both Democratic and Republican candidates. The logic of his criticism however is quite faulty and extremely naive.

In his reponse to Obama’s claim that James Dobson was to the right what Al Sharpton was to the left, Dobson ridiculed that criticism by claiming that Obama was esentially comparing apples to oranges. He claimed that he was not a religious leader, he was not a pastor or a theologian. He state explicitly that he is a psychologist and his PhD from USC is in childhood development. So for Obama to compare Dobson to a religious leader was absurd. First of all, it doesn’t matter what you claim to be, it is your public role that matters. And whether he’ll admit it or not, Dobson is a religious leader for the right.

Yet, the hypocritical point came soon after Dobson rejected playing any role as a theologian or Biblical scholar. When Obama spoke of the Bible Dobson very quickly claimed that Obama was distorting the Bible and he had a wrong interpretation of the Bible. Hence, no one can criticize Dobson for his religious pontifications because that’s not his official role. Yet he is qualify enough to tell the world that some one else’s view on religion is wrong.

In question was Obama’s raising of the Levitical laws for modern living. Dobson claimed that it was wrong to bring up Old Testament food restrictions, teachings on slavery, and punishment as laws that should be obeyed today. He claimed that in light of New Testament laws all those things were irrelevant. I personally believe that the Old Testament HAS TO be read in light of the New Testament, and vice versa. Otherwise neither testemant makes sense. We do have only one bible… But Dobson forgets that in light of New Testament teachings, teachings from Jesus himself! He and all Christians should stay out of politics because there is no New Testament grounds for Christians to be involved in politics, helping or preventing people from taking political office. I can’t see any Biblical teaching that leads to that.

Dobson claims that Obama is “deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology.” Sure, he might be but he’s certainly not the first. Seems to be a case of Matthew 7:5

Children are Missing Something

            It is only normal that today’s parents would want to help their children have a head start in life. As a parent of young children, I am inevitably aware—by choice and by force—of the latest trends in childrearing. Some of these trends seem positive and should be encouraged. The move towards a more natural and organic lifestyle for children, for example, is something that has long and short-term benefits. But more often than not, I have encountered trends that at first sight were hard to believe. The Wall Street Journal featured an article a year ago on the new trend of using baby-naming services. Parents pay anywhere between $50 to $500 dollars for a professional to name or invent a name for their child. The rational behind this service is to pick a name that will help your child stand out in school and hopefully in life. There is also the increasingly popular trend to unnecessarily hold children back in school so they can be top of their class the following year. And of course, there is the highly popular (yet arguably ineffective) Baby Einstein series, which promises a Nobel Prize winning physicist by watching TV!

            Though sometimes bizarre (and always expensive) all of these trends offer a service that parents believe they need: To give their children an advantage in life. Yet as I see these trends come and go, I can’t help but to notice a very large gap in these services. We enroll toddlers in exercise groups so they can develop their muscles and not be last-pick at the playground. We buy the latest smart-toys so they can be top of their class. We feed them healthy foods and avoid high fructose corn syrup. But these things alone will not ensure success in life.

            We have known for a long time that human beings are complicated and multifaceted beings. Therefore, proper human development must include every aspect of the person. We must properly develop our physical bodies for health. We must learn to interact with others in order to develop socially. We must also learn and be intellectually stimulated to remain mentally active. And so Dr. Ben Spock thought us that feeding and clothing (physical needs) the child is not enough, we must also hold them and teach them (emotional and intellectual needs). Yet in our drive to raise a well-rounded child we cannot ignore the fact that humans are not only physical, emotional, intellectual, and social, but we are also spiritual. We are spiritual beings. There is something about humans that sets us apart from plant and even animal life. We are spiritual. The spiritual development of children is something that has been culturally neglected leaving us with an undeveloped humanity.

            This is a central problem in modern times. We have moved religious life from the public/communal field to the private world. Our children, and the new generation of adults (parents of today’s children) are left spiritually retarded because we have few public places to learn and develop our spiritual selves. We have the physical body, intellectual competence and social skills of adults. But we have the spiritual knowledge of little children, when we last went to Sunday School. We know what to do to make our bodies healthier and live longer but we don’t know what we live for. We have the social skills to form relationships but we don’t have the Fruit of the Spirit, central for sustaining those very relationships.

            At Providence Presbyterian Church we will not capitalize on a parent’s inherent desire to help their children. We are not offering a service to parents who want well-rounded children. Instead, we have been called by God to come along families and offer this central component for the proper development of children and adults. We offer public spaces of learning and discussion where children and adults can exercise their spiritual muscles. After all, every single person is in need of Spiritual development, it’s what theologians call Sanctification. The process of growing closer to the Holy God who called us to be His.

 

John Calvin’s thoughts…

Who better to quote than one of the greatest thinking pastor of all times… 

John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion

Book III. Chapter 7. Section 6.

 

Moreover, that we may not weary in well-doing (as would otherwise forthwith and infallibly be the case), we must add the other quality in the Apostle’s enumeration, “Love is patient… and is kind, is not easily provoked,” (1 Cor. 13:4). The Lord commands us to do good to all without exception, though the greater part, if estimated by their own merit, are most unworthy of it. But Scripture gives the most excellent reason, when it tells us that we are not to look to what men in themselves deserve, but to attend to the image of God, which exists in all, and to which we owe all honor and love. But in those who are of the household of faith, the same rule is to be more carefully observed, inasmuch as that image is renewed and restored in them by the Spirit of Christ. Therefore, whoever be the man that is presented to you as needing your assistance, you have no ground for declining to give it to him. Say he is a stranger. The Lord has given him a mark which ought to be familiar to you: for which reason he forbids you to despise your own flesh (Gal. 6:10). Say he is mean and of no consideration. The Lord points him out as one whom he has distinguished by the lustre of his own image (Isaiah 58:7). Say that you are bound to him by no ties of duty. The Lord has substituted him as it were into his own place, that in him you may recognize the many great obligations under which the Lord has laid you to himself. Say that he is unworthy of your least exertion on his account; but the image of God, by which he is recommended to you, is worthy of yourself and all your exertions. But if he not only merits no good, but has provoked you by injury and mischief, still this is no good reason why you should not embrace him in love, and visit him with offices of love. He has deserved very differently from me, you will say. But what has the Lord deserved? Whatever injury he has done you, when he enjoins you to forgive him, he certainly means that it should be imputed to himself. In this way only we attain to what is not to say difficult but altogether against nature, to love those that hate us, render good for evil, and blessing for cursing, remembering that we are not to reflect on the wickedness of men, but look to the image of God in them, an image which, covering and obliterating their faults, should by its beauty and dignity allure us to love and embrace them.

Why We Serve

         On Easter Sunday, at 2pm thirteen members of my Presbyterian Church drove off to Long Beach, Mississippi to help in the Hurricane reconstruction efforts. I was blessed to be among the missionaries this time. It was a powerful experience to reflect upon God’s work and His call in our lives and our Church. Our team arrived to help finish up a house for Mr. Moses and Ms. Myrtle. Two elderly long time residents of Long Beach who lost their homes during Katrina. We were able to finish installing the tiles, the laminate hardwood, the trim, their kitchen cabinets, finished off the rail in the front door and we even installed their ceiling fans. It was truly a blessing to see and hear the joy of Mr. Moses and Ms. Myrtle as they saw their home near completion.

 

            As the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina moves further and further back from memory, questions will continue to rise on whether there is still a need for such work. While we were in Mississippi we heard others ask about the merit by which those we served deserved the houses that the church was building for them. On the very day that I returned from the trip I was asked “Doesn’t the government have to help these people? Why is your church going?” And of course the most popular question I hear “Doesn’t it make more sense to send the money you spend on the mission trip and let them hire someone down there?” (I’m not a professional contractor but installing tile floors and kitchen cabinets, only 1/3 of what we did, would have cost more than the expense of our entire trip).

            Ultimately, all these questions seek one single answer. Why do Christians serve? Why do we feed the hungry and clothe the poor? Why do we build houses for people who might or might not deserve them? Why do we build nice houses for people who had houses that were falling apart before the storm? Why do we serve?

            Jesus revolutionized our understanding of sacrifices when he made himself the sacrifice. A sacrifice used to be something you gave up at the temple for your forgiveness. When Jesus Christ became the sacrifice, He gave himself up for your salvation. You gave up nothing but you gained it all. Jesus gave up everything to gain what was already His. Hence, a post-Jesus sacrifice is not a “sacrifice” at all. You don’t really give up anything. In the same way, when Jesus spoke about the poor and needy He revolutionized our understanding of service. In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus makes it clear that whatever we do for one of the least of these we did it for Him. Jesus not only put himself on the side of the needy, but He made himself one of the needy.

            I used to take my used clothes to the Salvation Army donation box thinking that I was doing something good. I really believed that giving my old clothes away and taking cheap canned foods to the food pantry was a good and Christian thing to do. I believed that until I was convicted of the Matthew 25 passage. When I give my coat to someone who does not have one, I actually give it to Jesus. When I give food to someone who is hungry, I’m actually feeding Jesus. If Jesus was standing right in front of me and he was cold, would I give him my old coat? Probably not. I still take my clothes to the Salvation Army but I buy new stuff to give to the poor, not for the poor but because I believe I’m giving it to Jesus.

So why do we serve? Because Jesus said that is how we serve Him. Why do we build nice houses for people who might not deserve it? Because Jesus said that is how He wants us to serve Him. We build houses much nicer than the people living in it could afford because we don’t build it for them. We build it for Jesus. That is why we serve. We serve because we worship a servant King. 

The Gandhi in all of us

Jesus Died for Me… So What? 

 

            Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948 ) was a lifelong Hindu who had been interested in Jesus from his youth when he was sent to England to study law. Throughout his life he made it clear that Jesus was an inspiration to him. After his assassination in 1948 they found a picture of Jesus next to his bed with the inscription “He is our peace.”

Gandhi was once asked what Jesus meant for him. He went on to describe what an inspiration and great example Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount had been for him. When asked if he would ever become a Christian he replied “I did once seriously think of embracing the Christian faith. The gentle figure of Christ, so patient, so kind, so loving, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek, I thought it was a beautiful example of the perfect man…” But he never became a Christian. When asked why, Gandhi explained that he could accept Jesus “as a martyr, an embodiment of sacrifice, and a divine teacher, but not as the most perfect man ever born. His death on the Cross was a great example to the world, but that there was anything like a mysterious or miraculous virtue in it, my heart could not accept.”

Gandhi’s relationship with Jesus is unfortunately a very popular one today. In fact, I would even argue that Gandhi’s relationship with Jesus was more intimate than many who claim to be Christians today. Gandhi read and understood the teachings of Jesus and made an effort to apply it to his life, with an arguable level of success. But what was Gandhi missing that kept him from being a Christian? Based on his writings on Jesus it is undoubtedly clear that Gandhi understood who Jesus was and what he came for. Gandhi understood everything about Jesus, except the Cross. He saw the Cross as a “great example to the world” but his heart could not accept that there was anything more on that Cross than a good man being put to death.

Gandhi, like many before and after, missed the very point of the Cross. As someone who understood the Bible he claimed that he could accept that the Cross had a subjective influence on the world. It was an example. It inspired the world, it leads us beyond ourselves and challenges us to live sacrificially (which is central in all Eastern religions). But because Gandhi understood the Bible and he understood what it took to be a Christian, he could not accept what the Cross actually claimed to do. He could not accept that the Cross actually had an objective effect on him. He could handle the inspiration of the Cross but he could not accept the power of the Cross in his life. Gandhi saw Jesus the way we go to the museums. We look at the pictures and the sculptures, we have a subjective experience from looking at the art on display, but then we go home and life goes on. Nothing actually happened to us as a result of our visit to the museum. We are still the same people living the same lives.

As the Easter season approaches every church in American will be a bit more crowded. Many families will put on their best clothes and visit the churches like we visit museums. But my challenge to you is to not miss the point of Easter. It doesn’t matter if you know that Jesus died. It doesn’t even matter if you know that he died for you. What matters is believing that there was an objective change in you on that Cross. Because Jesus Christ hanged on that Cross you are now objectively different. You are not the same person you would have been without the Cross, your life does not go on as usual. Commit  yourself to going to a church for the next few months. Go and find out the power of the Cross in your life. 

 

God is good…

I finally sold my house!! After 8 months… But it was amazing how it happened. The house wasn’t sold and we kept dropping the price. We dropped it so much we were the cheapest house for the sq ft. in our neighborhood. It didn’t matter to us that much because we weren’t losing money and it was more important to move. So my prayer was that God would give it to some poor hard working family who otherwise couldn’t afford a house. After all, I only got this house because I sold my house in NJ for a $70K profit… Not by the sweat of my brows but by the boom in the housing market. So I figured, this house was a gift so let it be a gift to someone else.Last Friday a couple came to see the house, their realtor commented to my wife about my library and all my Christian books. She mentioned that I was a pastor and he mentioned that his clients were Bible translators. I thought it was very nice. When the contract came in I googled their names and found out that they were not just Bible translators but they were this guy’s son:  http://www.farsinet.com/dibaj/  I was like, holy smokes… God was saving this house for the son of a martyr.Then we go and get ready to put an offer on a house. It was a dream house way WAY out of our budget. 50K more than our max price. But I figured, “hey, what do I have to lose?” So I put in a low lowball offer. My realtor assured us that it would get rejected and the owners would probably get offended. My wife said we shouldn’t offend people like that. I said, “Hey, making an offer is free… What do we have to lose?” Besides, I told our realtor what our maximum budget was for a house. So he did it because he is a friend. He sent it in. Within an hour he calls me back and all I hear is laughing. He laughs and laughs and kept saying “You won’t believe this.” The very first counter offer was exactly the price I had just told him was our maximum. Not a penny more. I said “See how God is good to me?” Man… The hand of God at work. He was holding my house for the Iranian Christians while frustrating the owner of the other house so she would be willing to let it go for so little. If we had sold the house when we wanted to we would have never even had a chance at this house. This new house wasn’t on the market until 3 months ago. And had we sold our house  a month ago the owner of our dream home wouldn’t have been that desperate to sell. Everything works for the good of those who love the Lord. Indeed God is good.  I always preach about trusting in the goodness of God and I try to exemplify it in my life. And time and time again… the goodness of God always overwhelms me.