United States

Christianity

Are social media thoughts and prayers helpful anymore?

In the wake of tragedy it has become an automatic social media response for many Christians: Our thoughts and prayers are with… I know, I said it on social media after the shootings in San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, and Aurora. Maybe you were like me and wanted to express your grief and wanted to respond.

However, not everyone sees “thoughts and prayers” as a helpful expression of grief in the face of tragedy.

After the shootings in San Bernardino, The Daily News featured several Republican politicians’ Twitter posts expressing their “thoughts and prayers” for the victims with the headline “God isn’t fixing this”. The response from many Christians was sharp and curt.

It seems that mass shootings are growing. According to The Washington Post, there have been 351 mass shootings in the United States this year alone. That’s 351 “thoughts and prayers” to shooting victims on Facebook and Twitter feeds. To many observers, politicians who claim to be Christian and use “thoughts and prayers” on social media and yet do nothing about reasonable gun control laws, are seen as tone deaf.

As a pastor, I use my own Facebook and Twitter feeds to express grief, sadness, and lament in times of tragedy. I read the “God isn’t fixing this headline” and sat in contemplation. I wondered, “How does the world see Christian “thoughts and prayers” on social media? Is that all we are as followers of Jesus? Thoughts and prayers? Continue Reading…

Christianity

Pope Francis is good for Christianity

As Pope Francis visits the United States, Catholics are full of excitement as the Holy Father visits in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. It is very clear that his leadership will set a very different tone for the Catholic Church. Pope Francis even known to engage in some selfies on social media and his American visit is no different.

At a time when priest scandals, closing churches, and aging membership threaten the growth of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis started his tenure on a positive note. Francis reminded Catholics that Jesus, not the pope, is at the center of the Church. He added that the center should focus on “poor, and for the poor.” Even the selection of his namesake, Francis of Assisi, invokes compassion, peace, and uplifting the poor.

Pope Francis has been known to pay for his own room, rejected lavish apparel, and referred to himself more as a bishop and less as Pope. He’s traveling in a tiny Fiat for this visit. Though these are small things, this type of behavior reflects a Pope that is humble and connected with the average person. Francis is doing more work among Christians in general, not just Catholics. The sex abuse scandals not only eroded the trust of faithful Catholics, but also with the general population. Public polls show that lawyers and bankers are more trusted than clergy. The perception among the “nones”, who make up 20% of Americans, is that churches and organized Christianity is not worthy of their attention.

Pope Francis continues to set a new tone for 1.2 billion Catholics. The tone is not centered in doctrine, Church law, or hierarchy but on bringing unity to the Church and caring for the least of these. The LA Times interviewed one of the faithful and compared the last pope and current pope:

Christianity

Church sign responds to border crisis

As thousands of people stream into the United States from Mexico, people have spoken out against the government’s handling of the border crisis. Children are coming into the United States from Mexico and looking for a better life. Some have criticized the Christian response, or lack there of.

What are Christians supposed to say about this problem?

Some are holding public prayer events. Like this one in Texas:

The collective prayer marked the beginning of “For His Children,” a charity initiative that seeks to provide undocumented migrants with both physical and spiritual support. The event, according to ABP news, was organized by the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and three other charitable organizations.

More than 50 Hispanic pastors prayed at the facility where the undocumented children are processed upon arrival, at the Border Patrol station, and at Sacred Heart — a Catholic church where volunteers have set up a temporary shelter where families can rest before setting out to meet relatives across the United States.

One church took a rather pointed position on the crisis with their church sign. Thinking about would Jesus would not say, College Avenue Presbyterian Church in Oakland, CA posted this sign:

blog

Election Day Communion

Now that the Presidential debates are over, millions of people will be heading to the polls. One of the key voting blocks will have an opportunity to make their vote a spiritual act.

Election Day Communion, a movement started by several pastors, is encouraging congregations and Christians to head to the communion table after heading to the polls. Evangelicals, a targeted demographic by Republicans, are often noted for their conservative stance on political issues. Now, all Christians will have the opportunity to unite around The Table instead of being divisive. Insuring that Election Day Communion does not get partisan, the movement does not endorse a candidate or party.

The movement’s website describes how Election Day Communion started:

joe paterno, penn state

The Story Behind the Penn State, Nebraska Pre-Game Prayer

If it is one thing that came out of the Penn State-Nebraska game, it was not a loss for Penn State. It was a win-win for both teams. Why? Check out how the game started:

That man standing in the center is Ron Brown, an assistant coach with Nebraska. Notice in the picture that in a packed stadium, both teams, game officials, and coaches are present. What a display of unity, support, and class for college football. While many students rioted (or for some, protested) Joe Paterno’s departure, these college athletes stopped and made a statement. They prayed. For some, it may have been a moment of silence, but for others it was a start to the path of healing.

This shows all the world what is at the heart of people in college sports despite the actions of key leaders in the Penn State football program and university. There is still a sense of concern for the victims, the university, and students. They are all in it together. We are all in it together.

Back to the picture.

Who is Brown? And what did he say when this picture was taken? The Washington Post gives us some more info on Brown:

All Saints, Halloween

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

With Halloween upon us all the ghosts, witches, and ghouls come to play… err, trick-or-treat. Poorly made scary movies run non-stop on TV. Millions will give out candy to kids and people will participate in those zombie 5ks. Adults spend about $6.7 billion a year for parties, costumes, and candy. With Americans spending that much money on this festive holiday, is there a sinister evil moving among us, pushing us to celebrate a poorly documented holiday?

There is more to Halloween than we think. Many have made Halloween to be an evil day, which has not always been evil since its inception. What started as a Christian day to prepare for All Saints’ Day (November 1st), Halloween became a spooky, evil, and candy filled observance. The term “Halloween” from its beginnings, had nothing to do with any pagan or evil beliefs. The Christian festival All Hallows Eve morphed into our current word Hallowe’en.

Many believe Halloween is associated with the pagan concept of Samhain, a Gaelic harvest festival in which the beginning of the year and worlds of the living and dead would be thinly divided. It’s true, early Christians converted this practice and aligned it with a Christian observance.

The fact is we don’t really know what happened in the Samhain harvest festival. We have historical records that roughly inform us what the festival was about, but nothing certain. Regardless, the question remains, can Christians celebrate this “evil” holiday?

Professor of philosophy at Biola University (a Christian university), John Mark Reynolds helps us understand how Christians can reject the overtly evil undertones of Halloween:

Christians have the right to reject [the pagan] interpretation. My neighbor’s celebration of Halloween as a pagan festival does not require me to lose All Hallows Eve, because of course in the actual historical memory of the West that is what Halloween is. The day after All Hallows, Christians celebrate the lives of the greatest of the faithful who have died and gone to God. On All Hallows the fact that we will all die is brought home to us. We do fear death, but rejoice in the victory of Christ over death. The costumes and the joy poke fun at the diabolic, they do not embrace it.

Thomas More once said that the Devil cannot stand to be mocked. By spending the night of October 31 filled with fear over what evils might be occurring (and sometimes are), we live in the fear that Satan wants us to live in. By laughing, mocking, and even “cartooning” evil with goofy costumes we can take a posture of triumph with Christ.

We Christians certainly should not take light the power of evil. We do not practice occult activities of the paranormal, but the evils of this world are real. Prostitution, human trafficking, children dying of starvation, murder, and torture are the real evils of this world. We Christians should not fear a kid who wears a Sponge Bob costume and spends a night with his friends enjoying candy. Certainly, there are greater evils than an underwater sponge.

Is Halloween evil? It is, if you want it to be evil. The truth is All Hallows Eve (Halloween, the Christian practice of it) was corrupted. Christians can take comfort in understanding the historical Christian remembrance that is associated with All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day. Teaching our children to remember the “saints” of our lives and the Christian witness encourages us to celebrate All Saints Day. Christians can even make Halloween fun for children by having events in churches or in our communities where children and their parents can dress up, play games, remember our “saints” and share some treats in a safe place.

abc, American Baptist Churches, biennial, celebrate2011

My Social Media in Puerto Rico

Check out the blog this week as I will be live blogging at the American Baptist Churches Biennial in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For you Baptist folks, or observers, I’ll give all the live coverage of events, business meetings, votes, and festivities.

In addition, I’m giving an interactive lecture on social media entitled, “Sink or Swim: Treading the Sea of Social Media” on Saturday at the Pavilion Experiences during the Biennial. Three 50 minute repeating sessions 9 – 9:50, 10 – 10:50, 11 – 11:50 (morning) on June 25th at the Puerto Rico Convention Center. The immediate application will be how to better connect and integrate social media for you, your church, non-profit, or even business.

Make sure you stay tuned into On The Bema and follow me on twitter: @alanrud Here is a little sneak peak of a social media tip we’ll talk about:

http://flash.locamoda.com/wiffiti.com/cloud/cataclysm.swf?id=66244&title=1

change, Church Leadership, Churches, Culture

Why 9 in 10 Believe in God but not Church

Many in the religious right have been running for the hills because this “godless” nation has become too secular. The rhetoric of our nation’s direction is flawed by the growth of atheists and secularists is over played. It seems a recent Gallup study confirmed what has simply is unknown to many: We are still a religious nation. More than 9 in 10 Americans still say “yes” when asked the basic question “Do you believe in God?” Perhaps even more encouraging is that 84% of 18-29 year-old segment and 94% of 30-49 year-old segment answered in the affirmative.

And this is not a statistical bump, but historically, since 1943, the vast majority of Americans believe in “God”.

It would seem that we are still a religious nation, but obviously church leaders want to know how many of those 90 plus percent are Christian. Logically, many ask the question, “If we are such a God-believing country, then why is church attendance so low?”

2011, end of the world, Rapture

35 Things to Know Before the World Ends

This end of the world/rapture business is getting out of hand. I was interviewed on News Channel 10 on Thursday about why the world will not end. I can’t believe a guy like Harold Camping and his crazy predictions make news. CNN followed his crusade and I think they are helping it be news worthy.

If you want to know why the world is going to end, here is the back story from my March 6, 2011 Times Union blog post.

If you believe it’s true, you better get ready! The rapture is happening soon! Get your dogs and cats a place to stay!

There are a lot people getting into this rapture business. So ‘d thought I’d help with a little guide for the end of the world on May 21, 2011:

Churches

Church of England Attendance Up: What It Means for American Churches

Is God still dead in Europe? In the past few decades, report have shown that church attendance and membership are in steep decline in Europe. However, last year a report confirmed stable church attendance among United Kingdom churches. Now, the Church of England reports that attendance in cathedrals is up by 7% this year.

Is this just a Royal Wedding bump?

Not likely. (The Royal Wedding was only a few weeks ago and Westminster Abbey is not a cathedral.) Certainly, excitement around the royal wedding and the televised wedding service could spark some people to get to church Sunday morning. However, it is unlikely the Royal Wedding will encourage a large increase in church attendance.

The Religion News Service reports that Rev. Lynda Barley, head of research and statistics of the Archbishops’ Council, said that non-Sunday church attendance was up 10% in 2010, and “steady growth” in the past decade.

Are traditional churches heading back from the bottom of decline? Continue Reading…

Osama bin Laden

Ding Dong The Wicked bin Laden is Dead

Like you, I was captivated by the story of brave American special forces storming into the compound of a known terrorist who was responsible for coordinating the American attacks on September 11, 2001. There was rejoicing in the streets. Cheering in this country and others.

Christians thanked God and held celebrations. Osama bin Laden is dead! We killed him and all is well! Rejoicing was pronounced.

Really? Rejoicing in killing? Most likely, they rejoiced that closure had occurred.

But, did the killing of Osama bin Laden give closure to widows and families of September 11th saints? Continue Reading…

Obama

UPDATE: Sean Hannity wrong on fellow pastor

UPDATE: Religion Dispatches and others have found the video of Wallace Charles Smith and his comments:

This speech is not a sermon in a church, but at Eastern University’s Windows on the World. Windows on the World is a speaker series that features ideas, thoughts, and feelings of popular speakers. In the academic environment, Smith offered his thoughts that racism was not solved by the election of Obama.

Original post:

Wallace Charles Smith (a fellow American Baptist Churches pastor, my former seminary president, and fellow American Baptist Home Mission Society board director) was thrown into Sean Hannity’s cross hairs this week after President Obama attended Smith’s church on Easter. The Washington Post Reports:

The Rev. Wallace Charles Smith said the church has received more than 100 threats since Fox News channel’s Sean Hannity aired a tape Monday of a speech Smith gave in January 2010 at Eastern University in Saint Davids, Pa.

Shiloh Baptist Church in the District said it has received threatening phone calls and e-mails after an Easter visit from President Obama and a conservative television commentator’s subsequent playing of a videotape in which the pastor said that those espousing racial prejudice do so “under the protective cover of talk radio.”

What did Sean Hannity say that started all of this? It’s not what he said, but what he edited:

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