I Pledge Allegiance...

So, Harry and I had one of those talks today that I never see coming. He was talking about different things they do at school and mentioned saying the pledge of allegiance. He asked me if I say the pledge of allegiance. And I said "no".

He asked me why and I explained that I pledge my allegiance to God and to Jesus. I explained that I also feel allegiance to the church and to our family. Then he asked me what "pledge" means. I explained that it meant promise, and that a pledge of allegiance is a promise to be loyal, to stand by the decisions of those who you pledge allegiance to. And that I can't make that promise to America. I don't hate America and I appreciate that I have freedoms as an American that others might not have, depending upon where they live. Still, in the end, I cannot promise my loyalty to my country the way I would to my wife or my son or my church or, especially, my God.

My not saying the pledge of allegiance is not an indictment on those that do so much as an effort to say what I mean. There are those whose allegiance the United States can count on and so it makes sense for them to say the pledge. But there are too may things that the United States cannot count on me for (including working in the military) for me to be able to say it and mean it. 

This is one of those areas where I'm afraid to stand out and yet feel that I can't avoid it. It's a stand that I don't force on others, but one I must make myself. I do whatever I can not to be obnoxious about it or draw attention to it (other than the occasional blog), but I know that it still bothers people when they stand next to me at a ball game or event and I stand quiet next to them. And I don't like to bother people. But I can't see any way around it.

Bankruptcy

Check out the latest post at the Austin Inklings blog.

Bankruptcy

"It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable, treatable diseases and hunger. That's mad, that is mad...Bankruptcy is a serious business and we all know people who have lost their jobs, but this is moral bankruptcy." -Bono

Why I'm Done Shopping At Lifeway

Chip Turner, a spokesman for Lifeway Resources, told The Christian Post recently...

"We have removed the September/October issue of Gospel Today from our shelves because the cover story, featuring female pastors, clearly advocates a position contrary to our denomination's statement of faith, the Baptist Faith & Message."

A few reasons why this bothers me:

1) I think this is a misunderstanding of scripture and that scripture allows for (and even encourages) female leadership. However, I understand that there are those that disagree with me and would leave it at that if

2) I didn't also object to the idea that we can't be trusted with a plethora of ideas, even those we disagree with. Why not allow us to make the choice about buying this magazine the same way as you allow us to choose whether to buy the George W. Bush faith memoir? Still, Lifeway is a business and can make its own choices about what to sell. I'd just respect them more for it if

3) Lifeway were to consistently take this stance when it came to disagreements on doctrine. I find it hard to believe that every author that hits shelves has been carefully vetted for doctrinal agreement. In fact, Gospel Today had previously featured female pastor Paula White on the cover, but the issue wasn't pulled. Which makes the whole thing seem less like principles and more like posturing. But that doesn't bother me as much as the fact that

4) Lifeway is still willing to sell customers the magazine! They keep it behind the counter like pornography in order to make the point that it is bad, but they aren't willing to actually lose money over this.

Well, they have lost mine. And they probably won't miss it, since I didn't shop there much. Still, let it be said I try to put my money where my mouth is. Lifeway spokespeople make the point that they are free not to sell items they find objectionable. They are absolutely right. And I am free to give another store my business and to encourage you to do the same.

I recommend BookPeople.

Enough Is Enough

I encourage you to visit and comment on my most recent personal blog post. Thanks.

Enough Is Enough

Last night, the Theology Book Club that I meet with once a month entered into one of the most compelling conversations I have had with a group of Christians in some time. The book was Richard Foster's Life with God, which discusses the recurring exchange between God and humanity, "I am with you...will you be with me?"

As we began to discuss what it would look like for Christians to be with God (notice He does not say "I believe in you...will you believe in me?") we were drawn back to the prophets and to Jesus and their heavy emphasis on an end to violence and a giving up of "stuff" in order to do justly to others. We were struck that one of the key points of the gospel (not that we didn't know this already) was that those who have are called to have less so that those who don't have might have enough.

What was amazing was that the discussion went beyond "what if"s and moved into actual set goals. My dad (who is part of the group) vowed to purge his library and donate to those in need. One person talked about no new clothes bought for a year. I came hope prepared to do a bit of both (Rachel and I have decided on no new clothes except to replace something worn through and I am going to get rid of as many books as it takes to fit all of them on my current bookshelves -no new bookshelves). 

I don't say this to hold up this group as some sort of supergroup. Just the opposite. What we realized is that we were considering the bare minimum requirements of following Christ, of really being with God. 

The story we've been taught, since birth, is the story of the American dream. It is a narrative that teaches that every life stage is marked by having more. But the Christian narrative is different. It asks that, at every life stage, we have enough, and only enough, in order that others might have enough. What if all American Christians committed to simply not having more next year than they have this year? What if the money and time they saved on pursuing more was given over to the pursuit of justice and mercy and the Kingdom of God? What might that look like?

When Money Becomes Sacred

"Money is sacred, as everyone knows. So then must be the hunger for it and the means to obtain it. Once a man is in debt he becomes a flesh and blood form of money, a walking investment...And so we spread death everywhere. But that sacred hunger...justifies all. The trade is lawful, they say, and that is enough. Well, it is not enough for me."

-from Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth

To Be Fair To Sarah Palin

I won't be voting for McCain in November. I should say that up front. I should also say that I'm not impressed with what I've seen of Sarah Palin, so far, and disagree with her on a number of issues.

However, I think we are duty bound to do our homework, to critique the guy we're planning to vote for (something I do on this blog) and to acknowledge when the man or woman we're not for isn't getting a fair shake. While I think a lot of the criticism of Palin in the press is fair and constructive, here's one that concerns me.

I am, as a pastor, hyper sensitive to those who might tie the agenda of Christ with the agenda of country. I don't like either side speaking of America as "the last best hope for mankind" (and both sides have) and I don't like the idea that we can simply say God is on our side and then assume he is (I agree with Lincoln, who said, "I am not so much concerned with whether God is on our side as with whether we are on His.")

That said, I was concerned with this quote attributed to Sarah Palin about the plan for war in Iraq being God's plan. That's the sort of heresy and hubris that has me wanting to throw stuff. But I do my homework and I looked at the clip.

What she says is that we must pray that whatever plan we choose is God's plan. To quote her directly, "that's what we must make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan." 

She isn't saying "there is a plan and that plan is God's plan" (the "God is on our side" that Lincoln derided), but we must pray "that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan" (the "we are on His" that Lincoln praised).

Get this. I don't like that Palin claims she's strong against stuff that she only got strong against once it wasn't cool to be strong for it (Bridge to Nowhere) and I don't like how excited she gets about guns, especially semi-automatic ones. And I don't like that she seems to imply, later in the same video, that the Alaskan pipeline she's working for IS God's will. But let's be fair to Sarah Palin.

She never says (at least in that video) that the war in Iraq was God's plan. She said we must pray that whatever plan we choose is God's plan. That is my prayer as well.

There are reasons not to vote McCain/Palin. Just make sure they're informed reasons.

The Year of Living Biblically

Now that this is out in paperback, it's worth reminding you why you should all take the time to read it. Here's my initial review/interview on the book and author.

Come by BookPeople and pick up this book.

What's Mine Is God's (but not yours)

We are perfectly willing to say that our possessions belong to God and not to us, unless God asks us to give them to somebody else.

Exhibit A

People often peruse my cd collection and ask why I don't listen to more Christian music.

Here's one reason.

We Call That Cancer

Modern capitalism has created a world totally different from anything known before...increased production has become an end in itself...growth is for the sake of growth and is not determined by any overarching social purpose. And that, of course, is an exact account of the phenomenon which, when it occurs in the human body, is called cancer.

In the long perspective of history, it would be difficult to deny that the exuberant capitalism of the last 250 years will be diagnosed in the future as a desperately dangerous case of cancer in the body of human society -if indeed this cancer has not been terminal and there are actually survivors around to make the diagnosis.

-from Foolishness To The Greeks by Leslie Newbigin

BookPeople Blog

Putting in my plug for the new BookPeople blog. If you're looking for recommended reads from the best booksellers in Texas, look no further.

Getting Away With Murder

If you want to get away with murder, attack a people, not a person.

Rove V. Rove and Community Organizing

This is what the Daily Show does best.

And, while we're on the RNC, why all the condesension towards community organizing? Do the Republicans really want to be the party that snidely proclaims "you can try to make a difference, but we'll mock you for it"?

The Strange Disparity

The two staggering facts in the life of the prophet are: God's turning to him, and man's turning away from him. This is often his lot: to be chosen by God and to be rejected by the people. The word of God, so clear to him, is unintelligible to them. 

What baffles the prophet is the disparity between the power and impact of God and the immense indifference, unyieldingness, sluggishness, and inertia of the heart. God's thunderous voice is shaking heaven and earth, and man does not hear the faintest sound. The Lord roars like a lion. His word is like fire, like a hammer which breaks the rocks in pieces, and the people go about unmoved, undisturbed, unaware.

-from The Prophets by Abraham Heschel