|
|
|
|
058 <previous< Issue
059 Volume 12 No. 2 Spring 2006 >next>
061 |
|
Table of Contents - Spring 2005
F. F. V. (Friends of Foy Valentine)
Last December, as often he did, Foy Valentine called to ask, “How are the finances? Do you need some help?” In
1995, Foy published the first volume of Christian Ethics Today. Pecking
away on his ancient typewriter (he resisted computers with a passion) and
keeping all records hand-written in proverbial blue-green ink on a yellow pad,
he stated a basic principle of the bi-monthly Journal that has never changed: Christian
Ethics Today will be sent free of charge to anyone requesting it, as long as
money and energy permit. Violence,
Religion, and Politics At the Central Baptist Church in Marshall, Texas, where I was baptized in the faith, we believed in a free church in a free state. I still do. My spiritual forbears did not take kindly to living under theocrats who embraced religious liberty for themselves but denied it to others. “Forced
worship stinks in God’s nostrils,” thundered the dissenter Roger Williams as he
was banished from Massachusetts for denying Puritan authority over
his conscience. Will Fear Win?
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told us as another terrorizing event cast its dark shadow across our world, and our age is throwing his challenge at us again. From that apocalyptic moment to our own resounds the urgent question: Will fear win? Or will we find the courage in ourselves to face the mother of all challenges? The
ancient apostle who gave us our text believed we could. “God is love,
and the one who abides in love abides in God and God in that person. Love has
been perfected in one who abides in God so that we may have boldness in the
time of apocalyptic crisis, for we are in this world just as he is in the
world. There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts fear out, for fear
torments, and a person who is afraid has not been perfected in love” (1 John
4:16b-18). Celebrating President Carter
In weekly Sightings and biweekly “M.E.M.O” and Context, my regular outlets, readers may have noticed that I very rarely “do” presidents, especially sitting ones. Today an ex-president comes into periscope range, since it's exactly a quarter of a century since Jimmy Carter left office. It would seem to be a safe time to get distance on him. Still, this “best ex-president we ever had” stirs slurs—as
in the weeks-ago Wall Street Journal's trashy trashing of his new bestseller, Our
Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis. Carter the politician knows that
politics is not a sport for the timid, and is used to the give-and-take of
criticism, some of which he gives in his new book. Baptists and Christian Realism
At age 27, I am more and more mindful of the political debates that relentlessly vie for the attention of many in my generation. I am also aware that many in my generation are less and less interested in the jockeying of politicians and political parties for favorable position with a majority of the American public. This disinterest no doubt stems partly from a weariness of seeing the stories of political failure that headline our daily news reports. Rancor over wars and rumors of war, disagreements over the inception of life, and arguments about the rights of the homosexual in society all wear on the soul of an individual, tending to lead some to apathy, or worse, cynicism. For the citizen of a country founded on democratic
principles, such apathy is accepted as the right of the individual, though it
ought to raise serious concerns about the future political health of the
nation. For the Christians of my generation who embrace this apathetic attitude
toward political processes, the concern should be much greater.
Updated Saturday, December 09, 2006 |
Stretching Our Hearts and Minds
In the men’s room where I used to work as a caseworker is a poster sign with different quotes. Each quote has an age level beside it where this quote might be a reality. The quote that matches my age level goes like this: “I’ve learned that we grow only when we push ourselves beyond what we already know—age 53.” I wonder how many of us are willing to stretch in
this fast paced, comfort and convenient seeking society? How many of us are
willing to go beyond what we already know to find the truth? Do we seek out the
truth or do we wait around for someone to dictate to us his or her dogma or
philosophy? Why should we grow in this manner? Arguing With
Muslims A while back a Duke student was telling me that he and his roommate were not getting along well. I asked him why. “Because he is a Muslim and I’m not.” I asked him how that made a difference. “When we moved in together, he asked me what my religion was. I told him that I was a sort of Christian. A Lutheran. I told him up front that my family and I weren’t the very best Christians, that we only went to church occasionally, and it wasn’t that big a deal to me. But my roommate has this nasty habit of asking embarrassing questions.” “What sort of questions?” I asked. “Like
after we had roomed together a few weeks, he asked me, ‘Why do you Christians
never pray?’ I told him, ‘We pray all the time. We just sort of keep it to
ourselves.’” A Unique Café Bryce Courtenay wrote a novel, The Power of One, showing how one person, doing what he or she knows to be right, can change a corner of their world for the better. Ann Connor, an assistant professor at Emory University's School of Nursing for the last 25 years, took the message to heart and has been changing lives ever since. She and her husband, A. B. Short, opened Cafe 458 in Atlanta, Georgia—a restaurant for the homeless with a difference.
Confessions of a Former Fundamentalist
I
was raised in a very conservative Southern Baptist family. When I say conservative, my childhood theology lessons would give new meaning to the word, “conservative.” At the tender age of seventeen, I decided that God had called me into the ministry and my preacher father’s response to the news was, “I always knew you would, son.” In addition to God’s call, it was certainly no disincentive that my father and two older brothers were ministers.
Television Evangelist I.Q. Test
The vast majority of TV preachers are “charismatic/pentecostal,” who make claims of miraculous healings if you send in your cash. All the TV preachers on this page are “charismatic/pentecostal.” Take this quiz and find out how much you know about these men. The Vatican in Colorado Springs
Just east of Pike's Peak, a Colorado city has become, in the words of US News & World Report, the “Vatican for evangelical Christianity.” Colorado Springs, founded as a tourist attraction for wealthy Europeans, is the base for over a hundred evangelical church and para-church organizations, including those of prominent figures in the Christian Right: Ted Haggard, pastor of New Life Church, and Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family. What drew these and other organizations to Colorado Springs? Public officials and clergy should heed the answer, because it illuminates an important intersection of religion, public policy, and business. Bribing People to Church: Pizzas and $120,000 Houses By now I’m sure most of us have heard about the big giveaways that many churches have started in order to boost attendance for key services. On January 1, the Houston Chronicle reported that a church in the Houston area gave away a $120,000 house to a woman who attended their three-hour New Year’s Eve Service.1 The church took 100 names that had already been drawn, and added 20 names to that list from individuals who were in attendance, which was a requirement for winning. Out of the 120 people, the list was narrowed down to 12 (symbolizing the 12 apostles). As each name of the 12 finalists was called, that person would come running to the stage screaming with joy (this sounds more like an episode of “The Price is Right” than a worship service). The finalists were then each given a key. One of these keys opened the lock of the front door, which was on the stage. The 35 year-old woman who won the house later said, “It was God’s will.”
BOOK/MOVIE REVIEWS
|
|
|
