My Niece Has Cancer

My fourteen-year-old niece, D. A., has been diagnosed with Lymphoma. The doctors are very optimistic. She begins chemo soon in Lexington, Kentucky, after a bone marrow tap to complete her tests. She had a PET scan today. 

She is a Christian. From what I’m told she shows real faith and courage. You can imagine how her parents have felt. They found strength today in the doctors positive outlook. 

Prayers are appreciated.

“Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” ~ James 5.11 KJV

mourning

I just learned by email that two elderly church members from Wales have died, Vera Machell and Hilda Pimm. Both were widows. I was their pastor for nearly seven years. It hurts.

See Me

Self is always struggling for expression, for attention, sympathy, and praise. Such a terrible truth, that self can resist God! 

The first work of submission is an admission of our corruption, our inability to move toward him on our own. To have communion with him we must first confess our complete dependence on his first moving toward. We have no claim on God in ourselves. 

Shame, how we resist her accusing truth about our sin! We despise the shame of the cross so that we can keep our proud, mocking self alive in the very face of Christ. 

Who am I to be crucified with Christ today? 

Abortion, homosexuality, genetic engineering, animal rights, racism, politics...What should be the Christian response?

Questions of Professional and Personal Ethics: Should a Seventh-day Adventist Pastor, or Christian for that matter, be proactive against or for such things as abortion rights, homosexuality, genetic engineering, animal rights, racism, politics, etc.? Or do we simply act as reactors when the issues come up? Do commit to silence? Do we take a moral stand on a case by case basis, to groups, or remain ambivalent? If we care about these issues, how should we express that care? How much should we let the possibility of offending others or concerns of personal security influence our behavior or even our thinking on such issues? How do we preach, teach, or in some other way share the gospel meaningfully and with power in our postmodern context without undermining the principles of the gospel as defined by the person and work of Christ? How does or how can the gospel of Christ meet these issues in the public space? How do we address these concerns in the specific light of the Biblically defined identity and mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? 

I am not asking rhetorical questions here, but exploring out of personal need and a sense of moral responsibility, particularly as a pastor. 

I have deactivated my facebook account

After five years as a user I have deactivated my Facebook account. No trauma, no elation. If I thought it mattered that much I would say more about it. Perhaps that is my biggest reason. It just didn’t mean much to me anymore. 

That isn’t to say other reasons don’t exist. Facebook as a social experience is by nature superficial and safe. The nature of the media distorts the whole concept of meaningful communication. And then there has always been the feeling of being used, an object to be shared or sold to the market place. 

My arrangement here at Squarespace is more open and straightforward. I pay the money and they provide very good service. No advertising. They let me mind my own business. 

I’ve heard that blogging is old school now. I guess the fact that I don’t care, that I expect people to meet me here on my own terms, all print and no eye-candy, confirms it. I’m fine with that. 

With Facebook gone I’ll do more here. I cannot keep from writing, from sharing what’s on my mind. I try to edit the thoughts in a way that makes them worthwhile to others, a way that makes them readable. I few may check in from Facebook. I did get some traffic through links I posted there. Google makes me easy to find. 

I feel a certain selfishness in my attitude. I know that I should have taken more interest in my friends. The truth is I just never found Facebook a good way to connect for the long term. It cannot replace the meaning of a flesh and blood connection. There was something about the interface, the whole clutter and noise, that put me off. 

I could say more about the experience, but I don’t have that much interest in it now. I’m moving on.