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Recently our President sought an action of the US Congress to authorize some sort of strike against Syria after the government reportedly used chemical weapons. The Russian President countered with an unprecedented article in the New York Times suggesting that President Obama’s claims about Syria and America’s responsibility were patently false. Who do we believe?

                In June of this past summer the United State Supreme Court struck down provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress in the late 1990’s. In the majority opinion Justice Kennedy suggested that the motives behind that congressional legislation were sinister and even mean spirited.

                A recent performance by a former Disney television star at the Video Music Awards suggests that moral boundaries have eroded to the point of non-existence.

                Apparently the United States Constitution and once agreed upon moral standards no longer have the authority once ascribed to them.  We could list multiple sociological reasons for the disappearance of the moral authority once agreed upon by many of those sharing the geographical space called the United States of America.

                The shifting and sliding of morality should not surprise those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. Our own history as Southern Baptists points to a struggle over authority. Do we accept the Bible as authoritative for all areas of life or are we free to pick and choose areas to which the Bible can and does speak?  

                While many of us who serve as pastors and in other leadership roles in our denomination remember the Conservative Resurgence, many of those who attend our churches have no recollection at all of those events much less the theological arguments that were raised on both sides of the issue. Instead, as we argued and debated, many in our congregations were battling their own issues of authority as they, their children, and grandchildren struggled with issues of sexual identity, failing marriages, and questions about reproductive technologies.

                The erosion of authority is no myth. The results are being seen and felt by most of us. The challenge of eroding authority is not met by withdrawal or even loud protests but rather, in the words of Carl F. H. Henry “the preaching of the Gospel, in the interest of individual regeneration by the supernatural grace of God, in such a way that divine redemption can be recognized as the best solution of our problems, individual and social” (The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism [Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,1947], 88-89.).

In an unprecedented move, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote an open letter to the American people and their political leaders in today’s NT Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html?_r=0). His claim that the chemical weapons used in Syria were by rebel forces and not the government, As a matter of fact, every claim our President made Putin countered.

I am no expert in presidential power but I understand the precarious position in which our President now finds himself. Does this argument continue in the newspapers? Are we to hear another speech from the White House? Where does Congress fit into this particular context?

I am no prophet nor the son of a prophet yet I see the shifting of the balance of power in our world away from the US and towards a more European centered balance. Though we may still have one of the most powerful standing military forces, we may very well have given up the moral strength to use them.

If ever God’s people needed to pray for our President, now is the time.

I recently completed John Milton Cooper, Jr.’s biography of Woodrow Wilson (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009). Wilson is rather a tragic figure in many ways. His meteoric rise to the office of President is unlikely to be repeated in our era of political intrigue – though there was plenty of that in his own rise to power. 

However, what struck me about Wilson’s life was the last segment of his life- his unsuccessful campaign to enlist the support of the United States Senate in his dream oif creating the League of Nations. Cooper writes a compelling – though at times a bit uneven- account of Wilson’s life. If you are interested (like I am) in politics and the history of the US I heartily recommend Cooper’s work. (My goal is to read at least one biography of every US President…I still have a ways to go.)

As Cooper recounts,

On the speaking tour that he would make in September 1919, he would look at the  children who flocked to see him and say, “I know, if by chance, we should not win this great fight for the League of Nations, it would be their death warrant.” This was going to be the fight of his life – one that would cost him more dearly that any other and would, if he lost it, be believed, “break the heart of the world.”

Indeed, the failure of the Senate to ratify the treaty that would have created the League of Nations, broke a heart…Wilson’s.

All of us have unfinished business- dreams that we have aspired to, goals we have set, and hopes that have fueled our hearts when times were hard. At what cost will we pursue these dreams, goals, and hopes. Wilson’s pursuit may have cost him his life, and perhaps his reputation. As Cooper closes his work he writes, 

“Wilson, along with Lincoln and Jefferson, would come to be one of the best remembered and most argued over of all presidents. “

This is an article I recently submitted for publication in our local newspaper…

‘Community’ according to Wikipedia “can refer to a usually small, social unit of any size that shares common values.” The glue that holds communities together are the shared relationships among the group. Shared values are often shaped by the ebb and flow of the relationships that hold the group together. This past summer our church (Community Baptist in Winston) experienced how relationships can enrich and change a community.

                In July our church hosted 270 teenagers and their adult sponsors for a WorldChangers project sponsored by Lifeway Christian Resources.  These folks from five western states (Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, and Wyoming) worked on 25 projects in Green, Winston, Dillard, and Canyonville. Most of the projects were in individual’s homes helping with landscaping and yard work, painting, rebuilding decks and porches, building fences, and in one case putting new siding on an existing home. The scope of work these teens and adults performed was amazing. But even more significant than the work are the relationships that were initiated and continue to exist through social media sites like Facebook.

                The teenagers came from all sorts of different backgrounds and different kinds of communities. There were young people from big cities and small, isolated towns. There were teens that had rarely if ever traveled outside their hometown. There were teens that have travelled widely in the US and across the world. But what linked these students together was a passion to see how God can work through even menial tasks such as pulling weeds and cleaning yard debris.

                Not only did teens from around the western US work together but the project demonstrated how believers from various churches can cooperate with one another and local businesses for the purpose of changing a community. We haven’t solved the problems of unemployment and economic depression that continue to challenge our community. We haven’t changed the patterns of family disintegration that are occurring all around us. What we have experienced is a change in how we look at one another and how we can lay aside things that separate us and build on what brings us together. Our community will never look the same because of the changes these teens and their sponsors created- physically and spiritually.

In light of the recent Supreme Court decisions about marriage (U.S. v Windsor, available at http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-307_6j37.pdf) our church is rethinking our relationship to the government  at both federal and state levels. I was recently asked why we maintain a 501(c)3 status with the IRS and if in so doing we are obligated to align our bylaws with current state and federal law. It is a complex issue and one that I am looking for advice. 

Currently we are in the process of adopting a section in our bylaws defining marriage (you can see the suggested language we are using at – http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/content/docs/issues/church/Suggested-Lang-Church-bylaws.pdf. There have been several changes suggested to the language which we are working through with our deacons. 

The larger question remains: what kind of relationship do we maintain with both the state and federal government?

Thoughts? Responses are welcome.

WORLD CHANGERS RELFECTIONS 7/15/13

THESE ARE RANDOM REFLECTIONS THAT I AM TILL PROCESSING…

                Lessons learned: People are extremely generous when given an appropriate challenge and opportunity; People want to be involved in projects bigger than themselves;                         People are hungry for affirmation.

God creates opportunities for us to trust Him more

God opens doors we’d never dream of opening ourselves

God demands obedience and faithfulness…

 By Wednesday afternoon/early evening we learned there are people here by divine appointment. There are people here at random, and there people here searching for something they can’t seem to find at home. Lord, give me the discernment to know the difference between those that come my way. Teach me to discern the heart of people.

Thursday evening’s service was the “Concert of Prayer” a truly moving and worshipful way to lead students to pray for Winston, for their own family and community, and for one another. Deep and lasting friendships have been made during these few short (though they certainly FELT long) days!

Friday, the adversary attacked through a local family…upset by something, one member of the family verbally abused several staff, another family member called the church- I spent ten minutes with her on the phone, then one family member went through the parking lot and jotted down the name of churches represented and sent a very scathing email making accusations that had no basis in reality. I alerted the police and asked people to pray for protection. 

The days leading up to WC I prayed like never before. Lord, may that hunger for prayer, the longing for You to fulfill Your promises drive every day of my life!

Few books have challenged my understanding of what it means to serve God as Nik Ripken’s book, The Insanity of God. He and his family- at significant personal cost-  experienced a faith shattering journey that needs to be read by every follower of Jesus. The accounts of believers across the world who have gladly suffered for the privilege of following Jesus has shaken my complacency and my tendency to accommodate the gospel in order to ‘fit’ in the community I serve.

Nik’s own journey in one of the most God-forsaken places on earth- Somalia in the early and mid-1990’s- is worth the price of the book. The second half of the book as Nik recounts the stories of believers across the world who have suffered for the privilege of knowing and sharing Jesus is  compelling reading. To listen in on the joy and peace that people have experienced in some of the worst conditions imaginable challenged me to rethink the ‘hard’ places in my own life. 

If you need something to rekindle your enthusiasm for following Jesus- READ THIS BOOK! IF you are content with what God is doing in your life-READ THIS BOOK!

Reading Nik Ripken’s “The Insanity of God” is an eye opening and personally indicting read. The accounts he shares in the book- now ten years or older- are slowly changing my understanding of the purposes of persecution from God’s perspective. As Ripken recounted the experiences of many Chinese believers I was shaken. The believer he shared with wouldn’t consider anyone for leadership in their house church movement UNLESS THEY HAD BEEN IMPRISONED for 3 years! 

Here in our world we seek to avoid persecution by accommodation and blending in to our surrounding world. The recent Supreme Court ruling on marriage has been written about elsewhere by others more qualified. One thought I stumbled across- and I can’t remember where- was that maybe now that our society more resembles the worldview of Rome in the first century perhaps the church can recover a worldview shaped by the New Testament book of Acts!

May we count it all joy when we are chosen to suffer for the sake of the name Jesus- for there is no other name my which we must be saved!

The author of The Insanity of God  is Nik Ripken not Nate as previously posted. OOPS!