Jews

Christianity

What the Bible says about refugees

Donald Trump’s executive order denying refugees and immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries entry into the United States has led to widespread outcry across the political spectrum. Despite promises, even Christian refugees have been turned away from the United States. Being a nation of immigrants, this policy is antithetical to the notion that America is the land of liberty and freedom. Politically and morally, policies and provisions that exclude a religious group is ethically wrong.

For Christians, such rejection of refugees and those seeking safety runs counter to what we read in the Bible. Here’s what we discover in the Bible on refugees, strangers and political aliens: Continue Reading…

blog, Islam

Christian news site scrubs Islamophobic opinion

I opened Facebook this morning to read this headline, “Why I Am Absolutely Islamaphobic”. I clicked the link and read the opinion piece by Rev. Gary Cass and was disgusted by what I read.

I posted the Charisma News article on my Facebook page only to find that the original post was pulled: there is a 404 error. Brian McLaren has a lively comment section on his Facebook page.

I think it is obvious what happened here. After such blow back from Christians, Charisma had to delete the article. David Hayward (NakedPastor.com) has a good response. I mean come on, the title explains that this pastor and CEO of a “Christian defamation” organization is clearly anti-Isalm. Gary even has his own page over at Right Wing Watch – so you know he’s legit.

Here’s a few nuggets of Cass’ craziness from the original opinion article:

My fear is not an irrational fear based on uniformed prejudice; rather it’s an historic, clear eyed, informed, rational fear. ISSA is doing to America journalists what every true follower of Mohammed wants to do to you and yours; subjugate or murder you. They believe they have been given a mandate by Allah (Satan) to dominate the world.

And then Cass paints all Muslims with one brush stroke: Continue Reading…

social media

Social media atonement and confession?

Would you ever tweet, blog, or Facebook your sins? Is social media the place for confession and atonement?

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement for Jews, occurred last week. Yom Kippur is the day of repentance for past sins, to seek forgiveness, and to make amends. NPR featured a fascinating twist on this holy day. A synagogue in Miramar, Florida invited congregants to use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to share their wrongs. Cantor Debbi Ballard explains how social media can connect her congregation to confession and restoration:

…let’s use the technology and have it enhance our atonement today by tweeting or texting our sins away, and looking at those sins on a big movie screen. And then letting them roll past us so that we can let them go, so that we can live a more powerful life this year. I think that’s what Yom Kippur and atonement is about.

It may seem odd for some to share their “sins” on social media. Who wants to leave their confession in a world that caches and stores your information for the world to see? Ballard explains the value of interactive and communal confession: Continue Reading…

religion

Religion scholar: Nothing wrong with Nazi assignment

Here in Albany, the story about the school teacher who assigned a “think-like-a-Nazi” essay brought the region into a collective gasp. In turn, the school district issued an apology and put the teacher on leave. However, the story suddenly turned national as the USA Today and Washington Post picked up the story.

Just about everyone who read the story thought the assignment was a bad idea. However, Boston University religion scholar, Stephen Prothero thinks that no harm was done when the teacher gave the Nazi related assigned. He writes:

I think it’s Greenfield [New York City Councilman] who is lacking in common sense here. And it’s the superintendent who is being illogical.

I suppose it is possible that the teacher is a closet Nazi attempting to reconstruct the Third Reich in Albany. But isn’t it more likely that he or she is trying to teach students about the dangers of propaganda and the horrors of the Holocaust?

Consider the student who felt “horrible” about doing this assignment. Is that really a bad thing? How are high school students today supposed to feel about Nazism and the Holocaust?

Apparently, what they are supposed to feel (and think) is nothing, because the lesson high school teachers are going to take away from this fiasco is to avoid this topic at all costs, lest they risk losing their jobs.

When I was an assistant professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta, I used to teach Nazi theology. My students read sermons by Nazi theologians arguing that Jews were evil and were responsible for killing Jesus. They also read a book called “Theologians Under Hitler” by Robert P. Erickson, who tried to explain how and why Christian thinkers could come to believe that exterminating Jews was somehow Christ-like.

What do you think? Is Prothero on target here?

Israel Trip

Israel Day 8: Saving Children, Israeli General, & Suffering

Wolfson Medical Center

There are those who think health care in this country is poor, but what about billions of people who have no health care?

In the morning, we arrived at the Wolfson Medical Center in Tel Aviv. We met Tamar and she shared with us about To Save a Child’s Heart. To Save a Child’s Heart works with communities around the world who have children that need serious heart surgeries. The surgeries cost around $10,000. These children come from countries where there is no medical expertise in heart surgery. Surgeons are Jews and Muslims working side by side with their patients, some of which are Christians. These surgeries take place in Israel.

A doctor with To Save a Child’s Heart

The medical team travels abroad to diagnose and treat children with these heart conditions. Many travel hundreds of miles to be seen by the doctors of To Save a Child’s Heart. Around 40% of patients come from Arab counties. After the surgery, children are able to live a full and vibrant life. Since 1996, more than 3,000 children have been saved from 44 different countries around the world. And, many of these children are Palestinians. There are over 70 Wolfson staff and doctors that work with the To Save a Child’s Heart organization. The organization raises money from private and public (including the European Union) funds to cover the cost of the evaluations and surgeries.

Medical team

Next, we traveled to the port city of Jaffa, where St. Peter received the vision that he should eat unclean food from God , as recorded in Acts. This marina area provided great views of the sea. Lunch was curbside at a great bakery.

In Jaffa.

Israel Retired General

Israel Trip

Israel Day Five (Part II): The Old City

We departed from the Tent of Nations and went to the Old City section in Jerusalem. We traveled through a maze of covered and partly covered streets to make our way to a number of Holy Sites.

The first stop we made was to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is said to be the place where Jesus was crucified and buried.

Entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The recent conflict between Palestinians and Israelis left many of the Holy Sites to be easily accessed because the conflict scared many away. It was very safe. As you walked into the church, at the top of the stairs, there was a small line to see the traditional death place of Jesus. You must bend down to touch the marker of the crucifixion. There is a glass floor over the rock where Jesus was killed.

A stairway leads to Calvary (Golgotha) site.

Next, we walked down the stairs. As you come back to the first level, there was an amazing mosaic of the burial of Jesus:

Beside this huge mosaic, is the Stone of Anointing – said to be the place where Jesus’ body was prepared for burial:

Again, because of the low crowd factor, we decided to stand in a short line to see the tomb of Jesus. But the tomb isn’t what you think it might be. The tomb, said to be Jesus’, is encased in this huge wooded structure call The Edicule. The structure has two rooms. The first holds The Angel’s Stone, said to be a fragment of the stone from the sealing of the tomb after Jesus’ burial. The second room is the tomb itself. Both these rooms are very small and dark.

You are not allowed to take pictures and only candles light the rooms. As I entered the second room, the tomb room, I thought to myself the likelihood of this rock as the tomb of Jesus. I thought it was odd that Jesus’ death and burial sites were so close. Despite this, I prayed. There are several priests outside that ensure that the line moves quickly. You only have about 10-15 seconds to be in the tomb room. Nevertheless, it was a very cool experience. You can see a 360 view of the structure here.

Next, we went directly to the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall. The wall is as close as Christians and Jews can get to the original Temple site. As I stood in the temple plaza, my brain was taking in all the sights. Hundreds of Jews praying at the Wall.

It is crazy to think that you are touching Herod’s outer Temple wall. Those stones (the large ones) have been around for 2,000 years. As the Sabbath drew near, we watched Jews rushing around to get things done before the Sabbath since no work is permitted.

We ended our day with Michelle and Natanel Cohen, who are a part of a group called Shabbat of a Lifetime. We traveled to their home and they led us in a traditional home Shabbat dinner. We joined in the liturgy and ate a wonderful meal. We learned about customs, beliefs, and history of the Shabbat.

Israel Trip Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 part I – Day 5 part II – Day 6 – Day 7 – Day 8

Israel Trip

Israel Day Three: Jerusalem

Travel from Nazareth to Jerusalem

We left Nazareth this morning as the sun was rising in the sky. Perhaps something I didn’t convey in my last post is the culture and nature of Nazareth. Nazareth is in the mountains. Houses are built on the sides of hills. Rain and water are in low supply and the locals have holding tanks above their house and apartments. Most dress in very trendy and modern. There are some funny signs around here such as “Lady Clinic”. I’m guessing that’s a health clinic for women.

It was explained to us that many of the buildings and homes are built illegally. Many are Palestinians and as such, do not have permission to build. So, many buildings are left unfinished. Many of the dwellings would fail Western code standards. Our hotel was generally very modern, but no clothing irons or wash cloths.

We traveled from Nazareth to Jerusalem, we drove through many farms. Olive trees, lime or lemon trees, banana trees, and other agriculture. One the interesting things about Galilee is that many of the people around the area do not fish! Commercial fishing is not allowed in Galilee because the lake supplies much of Israel with water. They don’t want pollution. Most of the people in the time of Jesus, around Galilee were not fishermen but farmers.

Israel Trip

Israel Day Two: Nazareth & Galilee

Our first meeting of the day was with Bader Mansour at the Nazareth Baptist School. Bader is the General Secretary of Baptist Churches in Israel. Also, Badar is an alum of the school and shared that he came to Christ through one of his teachers. His Bible teacher was kind and loving and he wanted to know more about his teacher. Bader found that only Jesus Christ could make someone truly loving and kind.

Ruth Clark (President of ABC-USA, Badar, & Roy Medley (General Secretary of ABC-USA)

The school is the only Baptist school in Israel and evangelical school of its kind. Chapel is every morning and the school has close to 1000 children. The school founded in 1930s by Southern Baptist missionaries but now the school is privately run.It is one of the best schools in Israel as people register kids 3 years early to make sure their children get into this quality grade school. The school is made of 75% Christian and 25% Muslims.

Bader shared with us some important facts. As an Arab Palestinian Christian, he faces some challenges with the nature of his work. As a minority, Arabs are often treated as second class citizens. Bader enjoys citizenship but there are cultural hurdles.

There are about 3,000 Baptists in Nazareth. Of the 100,000 people in and around Nazareth, most Christians are Orthodox Christian. There are about 25,000 Christians total but it is mainly a Muslim city. One third Christian and two-thirds Muslim.

Israel has about 10 million people total and about 200,000 are Christians. Many churches are a part of the Arab Evangelical Convention. These groups include Baptists, Assembly of God, Brethren, Nazarene, and Christian Alliance. This convention is not official, but rather a defacto recognized group based on verbal agreements. The last recognized church groups were the Anglicans. Many Southern Baptists wanted independent churches but in Israel can’t do that. Churches need to be apart of a large group in order to be recognized to do weddings, funeral.

Mary’s Well.

Next, we went to Mary’s Well. Lots of beautiful icons. This site is the Greek Orthodox site of the Annunciation, that is the angel’s visit to Mary telling her that she was going to bear the savior of the world. There was a large icon where a woman was kissing Mary’s image. A worn spot from people kissing the icon can be seen in the picture. One embarrassing note: There was an American who approached the chancel steps and rather disrespectfully looked into the chancel. A guard came and closed a curtain thereby ending anyone’s view.

Later in the morning, we drove through Cana to the Sea of Tiberius, also called the Sea of Galilee . It is only a 45 minute trip but would have been a 4 day journey if we walked! Check out the picture of the ads in Cana. The region is very mountainous. We pass through olive groves and other agricultural land. We arrived at Tiberius, which sits on the lake. It is mainly a resort town. We took a boat out on the Sea of Galilee and a storm came upon us very quickly. It made me think of the story of the disciples on a boat and a storm came up on them quickly on the same lake. This is of course the famous story of Jesus walking on water. This is also near the area of Capernium

Then, we traveled to nearby Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount address. The top of the mount is a Catholic site and it is very peaceful and lush. In 2000, John Paul II held mass there and there were over two million in attendance. We sat down under a pavilion and the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 were read. It was a moving experience. This is also the area that Jesus would go and pray privately. No wonder Jesus came here often, it’s an awesome place to be. You can see for miles.

Just down the hill, we went to the site of Peter’s Primacy. This is the site that is said to be where Jesus told Peter that was the Rock (Petras) and upon the rock, he would build his church. There is a small chapel there where people can pray and sit. There is a large rock that is inside and the church is built around it. Pilgrims left prayers there, mostly Catholic and Orthodox Christians. We walked down about 100 yards to a small beach. There, I read the group John 21, which is the scripture that tells of Jesus’ post resurrection appearance to the disciples. The disicples were in a boat fishing but caught nothing. Jesus called to them to fish on the other side of the boat and caught a huge load of fish. Afterwards, Jesus feed them fish and bread for breakfast.

Our last stop was Capernaum. Capernaum is an interesting place. Jesus spent a lot of time in and around this area. There are still ruins there from the 5th century. In addition, there is a church built on top of Peter’s house, the traditional site where it is said where Peter lived. Remains of a Byzantine church is below the current church. Next to this church, is a synagogue from the 5th century. The structure was at some point razed and it appears that the remains where reconstructed as the building had modern concrete in spots. This synagogue was likely a place that existed in the time of Jesus. The Gospels mention that Jesus was confronted by a demoniac while teaching there.

It was amazing to walk around where Jesus walked. To think about his journeys around the Sea of Galilee. He looked out the same area we visited. It makes you feel just a little closer to the Gospels then just sitting back home in the States.

Israel Trip Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 part I – Day 5 part II – Day 6 – Day 7 – Day 8

: Ruth Clark (President of ABC-USA, Badar, & Roy Medley (General Secretary of ABC-USA)

: Mary’s Well.

Rick Warren

Rick Warren’s purpose driven weight loss

Rick Warren, a mega-church pastor and author of The Purpose Driven Life, latest weight loss ministry has raised questions about the purpose of a church. Warren has lost 60 pounds under a new ministry called “The Daniel Plan“. The Daniel Plan is based on the story of Daniel only eatting vegetables. The weight loss lifestyle ministry employs healthy eating, regular exercise, stress reduction, prayer and small groups meeting in church member’s homes. Apparently, the ministry is effective. The church claims to have lost over 250,000 pounds among its 30,000 members.

What sparked this ministry? Warren explains his revelation to CNN:

On that particular day, I was baptizing 858 people… That took me literally four hours. As I’m baptizing 858 people, along around 500, I thought this … ‘We’re all fat. But I thought, I’m fat,” he said. “I’m a terrible model of this. I can’t expect our people to get in shape unless I do.

This weight loss ministry for Warren’s Saddleback Church is catching on. Dr. Oz is now partnering with the church and is providing a fitness and diet plan.

Is Rick Warren’s latest announcement a gimmick for weight loss or is there something deeper going on?

Pastoral

A Taste of My Own Pastoral Medicine

As I write this blog post I’m traveling on a plane heading to 37,000 feet and living in fear. I wonder when I will become dizzy, experience vertigo, pass out, lose my breakfast, or if my head is going to explode. Gross, I know. I have never been a woozy air traveler, but everything just changed.

After waking up one morning last week with maddening ringing in my head and unable to hear in one ear, I found myself sitting in a doctor’s office. “Well, we don’t know what you have but we have some good ideas. We need to run some more tests. Until then, I would not recommend loud places or air travel.” My doctor said.

Gulp. “I have to fly next week and I’m leaving the country the week after that.” I said. The doctor rolled his eyes and asked, “Do you have to fly?”

As I sat and listened to the extended directions on medications, tests, dangers of flying, and theories into sensory hearing loss from my physician, I could not help but think of the sermon I just preached to my congregation:

blog, News

What ‘Blood Libel’ Means

In a newly released video, Sarah Palin reacts to the shooting in Arizona and responds to critics by using the phrase “blood libel.” Watch the 7:43 minute video:

Palin states in the video: But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn.

As I noted in my last blog post, clearly the few comments or use of a graphic depicting targeting sights could not be the single cause of the shooter’s motivation. Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post outlines the issue:

Church Leadership, pastor

The Nature of Pastoral Ministry

Several bloggers are writing about a paradigm shift in pastoral ministry. The model of a pastoral ministry 60-80 hours a week is slowly changing and for good reason! Who can sustain their sanity, a family, and a job at that rate? Maybe that is why many people think of pastors as male, bald (or have bad hair), look disheveled, and are over weight. I know of some pastors that are literally killing themselves in their work by being at church four or five nights a week.

Three blog posts are worthy of your attention. My friend and fellow pastor Elizabeth Hagan recently wrote about “Being Off Duty as a Pastor” on her blog Preacher on the Plaza. Her piece was picked up by the Associated Baptist Press. Props to Elizabeth! Her most pointed comments might come to a surprise to many lay people:

But, as you might imagine, all of this can be quite weighty on a pastor when everyone expects him or her to be at everything. My week, as is the case with almost every pastor I know, is filled with hard choices of what invitations to accept (and don’t take this to mean I don’t want to be invited to things, I consider it an honor and an important part of my work, so I tell my church to keep them coming). If I say “no” to a birthday party or graduation ceremony or even an anniversary dinner, it doesn’t mean I don’t love my congregation.

Older Posts

On Facebook