Category: News & Current Events

Deja Vu All Over Again

I haven’t been following the news from Kip for a while. I realized that it all sounds the same and it frankly wasn’t healthy to focus on it. Yesterday, however, Pinakidion pointed me to this article on their web site.
On top of the bragging of their accomplishments, crediting the spirit for what was ultimately their idea and twisting a passage of scripture to validate their plans, it turns out everything old is new again.

  • LA is the center of all things again (“With the Spirit now establishing Los Angeles as the “Jerusalem” of our new movement …“)
  • There’s a new 5 year plan. (“… the time has come for a definitive plan to accomplish Jesus’ dream to evangelize the world in our generation. … After several months of intense prayer and numerous discussions, we are setting before our fellowship The Five Year Plan!“) The old 5 year plan was the Evangelization Proclamation of 1994.
  • There are new pillar churches (“To evangelize the world, pillar churches will be planted in the following mega-cities …“)
  • Campuses will be targeted. (“campus converts provide idealistic, unencumbered workers and future leaders“) Sitting as we are next to the 60,000 student Ohio State University, I keep looking for the ‘targeting’ of Columbus. So far, we are spared.
  • A new charity, originally named “New Hope” to be established in 2009, and …
  • … A ‘New Hope’ tax to go with it . (“2% of plantings’ weekly contribution will support this worldwide charity“)

Does this sound eerily familiar to anyone (besides Pinakidion and me)? So, the last time this sort of plan fell flat, lies had to be told to ensure it’s success (See Pinakidion’s post) and it’s pursuit led to the hurt of many, and cost Kip his job and many friends. Yet, here it is again, a little more modest, but in essence the same.
My question is, did we sound so shallow, selfish, arrogant and foolish back in 1994? Absolutely, I cannot see how we couldn’t have. If anything we were more brash.
Prayerfully, the experience has taught me some things. I think it has. It doesn’t seem to have taught Kip much.
You know what’s amazing – God will use this foolishness and arrogance and people will be led to Him, just as they were even at the height of the foolishness of the ICOC. God is good. I just hope and pray that the fallout in souls wounded in the march to do great things might be slight.

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

Philippians 1:15-18

Farewell Cinderella

I’m an emotional Dad of three girls, so I have a hard time not misting up when I hear Steven Curtis Chapman sing his new song Cinderella. The first video is the song, the second is the story behind it. I can so relate to the story behind this song. That is me, frustrated, short tempered and later full of regret.
Today, however, this song is even harder to listen to as news came that yesterday, Steven Chapman’s teenage son struck and killed his 5 year old sister in the driveway of their home. This is one of the girls, Maria, that inspired this song. Imagine, you’re a new driver and not only have you been involved in a fatal accident, it was your baby sister. And Dad’s a famous Christian artist. And he wrote a hit song about her.
I can’t imagine how hard that must be for the entire family. Can’t. Imagine. My heart and prayers go out to the family.

Discount Tire Quietly Proclaims the Gospel

I’ve used Discount Tire several times over the past few years. I’ve bought 2 sets of tires for my van, the wheels and tires for the T’bird and just a few weeks ago a set for the Mazda. I’ve liked them because they have the best prices and great service. They were great getting the wheels right on the T’bird and treated it with kid gloves putting them on (hand jacking and hand torqing the lugs). When I tried to save some money on tires for the Mazda and was very disappointed with how the cheaper ones drove, they exchanged them for a different brand with no questions asked, giving me full credit for what I had paid, even though I had put 600 miles on them.
The other day, however, I found a new respect for the company. Visiting the Discount Tire web site to look up tires for our new camper, I saw this simple message across the top:

All Stores will be closed on Good Friday, March 21st from 12:00 to 3:00.

There was no link to a press release, no further explanation, just a simple notice. Those particular hours on that particular day piqued my interest. Those are the traditional hours observed when Jesus hung on the cross. I went digging, and found this article called Easter Surprise from a year ago commenting on an NBC story on religion in corporate America or something. It was what I found this in a comment by a user named ‘acumen’ that brought me here (via Google) however (emphasis mine):

I realized yesterday (Good Friday) around noon that I had a tire going flat. I drove to my vendor, Discount Tire, to get it checked. As I pulled up I was a bit nervous seeing all the bay doors closed. I pulled up to the door and saw a sign stating they would be closed between 12:00 and 3:00 in respect of Christ’s anguish and death on the cross.

No press release trumpeting their piety, only a simple act of respect. This quiet gesture speaks louder than all the proclamations of the religious. I’m not one who is lead to observe anything special in those hours, but I have a profound respect for the leaders of Discount Tire for doing so. They could have simply closed all day, or for the afternoon. Instead, they chose to quietly, respectfully & deliberately proclaim the Lord’s death, perhaps judging (rightly I think) that this gesture would make a greater statement.
Well done.

Ah, Springtime in Ohio …


You know, whet the National Weather Service cancels the Winter Storm Warning for your area in favor of a Blizzard Warning, you might be in trouble.
Here’s how the forecast went:

  • Thursday night 11:00 news: 6-10 inches by Saturday afternoon.
  • Friday morning at 6:45 as Jess got on the bus: 8-14 inches by Saturday afternoon.
  • Friday morning when I got to work at 8:30: 12-15 inches by Saturday afternoon.

We were supposed to have 1-3 by the end of Friday, I shoveled 5″ off the driveway after work. The top picture is what I saw at 8:00 this morning, the one at left is after cleaning the driveway again. Should have a couple more inches to shovel by the time the day’s out. Judging by the pile on our swing set, we’ve gotten at least 12″ so far.
Church is by small groups tomorrow because the school we meet in won’t open the building for us, but I’m doubting we’ll get out of our neighborhood by then.
byevad, I’m working on matching you.
UPDATE 2PM: Just shoveled another 3″ – 4″ and judging by the radar, we’ve got a couple more hours of snow coming. I’m thinking we’ll be close to 20″ before it’s over, which is crazy. Cleveland is supposed to get it even worse.
The neighbors are using their Suburban to tow their kids down the street on their sleds. Fun, I’m sure, but doesn’t seem too bright.
UPDATE 7PM: Well, the snow finally stopped after 5 and the sun actually came out briefly. Audrey and I measured 12-13 inches in a couple of spots in the middle of the yard, but it’s been blowing a lot and that could be less there due to that. I’m pretty sure that we got well over the predicted 15 inches, closer to 18, but maybe it just seemed that way as I shoveled it. 😛
I added the shovel shot for byevad. Yeah, not quite the same as his but hey, the ground was bare 36 hours ago!
UPDATE SUNDAY: Well, the official total is 20.4 inches, breaking a single storm record from 1910 (15.3 inches) and the 15.4 inches since midnight Saturday broke a 24 hour record from 1987 (12.2 inches). See, I wasn’t crazy after all!

Hero Girl

No commentary required:

Detroit
Little girl saves mom: A 7-year-old Detroit girl with learning disabilities was critically wounded when she took six bullets intended for her mother. Alexis Groggins was with her mother, Selietha Parker, in an SUV when Parker’s ex-boyfriend, Calvin Tillie, allegedly jumped into the vehicle and started firing a 9 mm pistol. Crying, “Don’t hurt my mother,” Alexis threw herself in front of her mother and was hit by six shots. One bullet pierced her right eye, and other shots hit her chin and jaw. Her mother was struck by two bullets but sustained less serious wounds. Groggins’ classmates at Campbell Elementary School have placed a teddy bear at her desk, awaiting her return. They have named the bear Hero.

From The Week Magazine (subscription required – and worth it).

The World Without Us

This past week or two on NPR, I twice heard mention of this book, The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. I’m not sure what the first one was (perhaps Marketplace or Weekend Edition), but the second was on a short program called Earth and Sky (broadcast the week of Sept. 13th).
The premise of the book is actually interesting, to a point. What if the entire human race suddenly disappeared? What would happen to the Earth? I haven’t read the book, but it’s interesting to consider how all that we have built would start to crumble pretty quickly. The NYC subways would flood, buildings collapse and cities would be overrun by plant and animal life.
Of course, there’s more to the book than just the intellectual exercise of what the Earth would become without us. There’s the implication that the Earth would be better off without us. More than that, Weisman seems almost giddy when talking about it in the Earth and Sky interview:

it turns out our planet would do really, really well. It would really flourish without us around.

Referring to visiting a remote jungle area to experience it, he says:

It didn’t feel exotic to me. It somehow felt complete, when I went in there my body just sort of responded and said, yes! We have a memory within us of what this world was when it was fresh and new, and it was extraordinarily exciting to feel what it’s like to be in something that pristine.

Mmmm-kay.
I find the notion that man is somehow a curse on this pristine planet rather condescending. That we do nothing but harm to an otherwise ‘complete’ ecosystem is rather presumptuous, even a bit arrogant. There’s something ironic in a scholarly sentiment, which taken to it’s logical conclusion, means the death of the human race, including the scholars.
What’s really missing here, of course, is the truth that man is not simply a part of creation, but the focus of it. Read the Genesis creation account and you see man at the focus of the work of God. Man is the last thing created, the climax of God’s creation energies. God pronounces each act of creation as ‘good’, but man makes it ‘very good’. It is man that is created in God’s image. Most importantly, it is man that is given dominion over the planet, and the only creature given a charge by God:

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis 1:28

God created the Earth and gave it to us. We were charged with making it ours, to rule it, to subdue it. I do not think that gives us license to pollute and destroy, nor to I believe that we have taken that responsibility seriously. We’ve been careless and selfish with what God has given us. Much as we do on an individual level with our own possessions, we have done with the Earth. Nonetheless, this planet is ours, given to us by a loving God who set it in just the right place in space for us to thrive.
So, yes, perhaps the Earth in some ways would be better without us. But it would be devoid of it’s purpose. It was made for man to inhabit. That’s why it is here, to remove us would be to remove its meaning. Imagine a home with no family to occupy it. It’s meaning is gone, it’s reason for existence removed. It’s a sad, soulless shell, merely a collection wood, bricks and paint, nothing more. An Earth without man might be less polluted and greener, but it would be empty and soulless. Just another ball of dirt and gas floating through space, missing it’s reason for being.

Best High School Prank

This is slightly old news, but since it happened in my kid’s school district – and is such an awesome, fairly harmless, prank – I needed to share.
On August 24th, the Hilliard school district’s 2 High Schools, Darby and Davidson, met for the first time on the football field. It was to be a big game and was held at the local pro-soccer team’s stadium.
Inspired by a similar prank pulled by Yale students over rival Harvard, Davidson senior Kyle Garchar set up the prank in this video, achieving better success than the college students at Yale did in 2004. He spent 20 hours planning it and the results are hilarious.
He paid for it, though, according to the Columbus Dispatch, Davidson’s principal gave him a 3 day in school suspension and barred him from school activities for a semester. That’s pretty harsh, in my view, for a prank that was pretty harmless. I suppose the language was a bit harsh (“We Stink” would have been kinder, but a little harder to pull off), but other than emarassment and bruised feelings, what harm was done? The principal said they expected good sportsmanship. Fair enough, and punishment is appropriate, but that’s over the top for what amounts to a good practical joke in my view.
Watch and enjoy. Oh, and Darby had the last laugh, beating Davidson 21-10, breaking Davidson’s 15 game winning streak.

Letter to The Week Magazine

I enjoy The Week Magazine, especially sections like it’s Good Week For/Bad Week For and Only in America.
In this week’s issue, however, the Only In America section had the following, one sided and inaccurate portrayal of a church’s apparent insensitivity:

A Texas mega-church canceled a veteran’s memorial service after learning the deceased was gay. The Rev. Gary Simons of High Point Church initially approved the service to honor Cecil Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War and recently died, at 46, following heart surgery. Twenty-four hours before the service, however, Simons changed his mind after learning of Sinclair’s sexuality. The decision was “not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle,” Simon’s said. “It’s not that we didn’t love the family.”

The basic facts here – that the church offered their building and then rescinded that offer the day before after learning he was gay – are true. But there were many details left out that show how the church’s decision was the right one under the circumstances.
I wrote the following letter to the editor to clarify. I don’t expect it to be published as The Week only publishes letters 2-3 times per year.

I read with disappointment the short paragraph detailing High Point Church’s decision to cancel a memorial service for a gay man 24 hours before it was scheduled to happen. On the surface, this seems to be a blatant example of religious bigotry, but a simple visit to the church’s web site reveals the other side of the story.
Yes, it is true that the church (the entire staff, not simply Rev. Simon’s, as you reported) rescinded their offer to host a memorial service after learning he was gay. However, it wasn’t simply the fact that he was gay that lead to that decision. It was upon seeing the inappropriate photographs of men toughing each other’s genitalia provided to the church staff for a video presentation, learning that an associate of an openly gay choir to officiate and learning that there would be an open mike for sharing that they concluded that this would be an event not simply remembering the man, but celebrating the homosexual lifestyle.
From the High Point Statement:

Allowing an openly homosexual service in our facility would condone homosexuality as a lifestyle. While we open our doors to everyone, including homosexuals who desire a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, we cannot and will not allow our sanctuary to be used by outside organizations or individuals who want to flaunt or glorify any immoral lifestyle. We cannot condone what the Word of God condemns.

Other facts left out of your article:

  • The church secured and paid for an alternate location for the service, which the family declined.
  • The church went ahead and produced the video, minus the inappropriate images, and provided it to the family.
  • The church prepared and delivered food for the family and one hundred relatives and friends.
  • Several church staff members went to the memorial service in support of the family (where their initial concerns about the tone of the service were confirmed).

Certainly, there are examples of “Christians” acting in unChristlike ways toward homosexuals, but this was not one of them. Too many highly visible men and women have made hateful statements, not only against homosexual behaviour, but against homosexual people. None of this changes the fact that God in the Bible speaks clearly against homosexual behaviour, as it does against any sex outside the context of marriage as well as lying, stealing, murder and many other things. A church claiming God’s name and representing Him on Earth, must stand for the things He stands for and against the things He stands against. This is what High Point Church was doing.
It seems that High Point Church was put in a compromising, no win position where someone was going to get hurt either way. It made the tough, but proper, choice of sticking true to the principles of scripture by both prohibiting the celebration of sin within their walls while providing for the family in other ways.

How about lunch?


Wanna do lunch?
If you see your city, or one nearby, on the map at right, you could come visit me for $20 round trip. Seriously.
Of course, you’ll have to pay to check your bags or to have a beverage or snack (you can even pay $10 to board before the commoners!), but pack light and eat before you board and you’re good.
Skybus is a new Columbus based airline with at least 10 seats on every flight for $10 each way. Other tickets are $20-$30, still a good deal. Brand new planes and all non-stop flights too (as long as you’re either coming to or leaving Columbus).
It’s a good time to live in Columbus.

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