Should Christians Participate in Culture Wars?

On a previous post a wonderful discussion erupted- in part- over Christians in politics and what is the best way to share the Christian message in our culture of conflict.  

We all know about the culture wars- the debates from the right and the left- and the participation of conservative Christian groups in this battle.

Recently the battleground moved next door to me- in Pace, Florida.

As a result of a lawsuit brought upon the Santa Rosa county school system by the ACLU on behalf of two students who claimed the Christian religion  and prayer was being pushed upon them and therefore violating their first amendment rights, limitations were set on speech by Christian students and school officials in that school system. Also some students who were scheduled to participate in their graduation ceremonies were not allowed to do so.  (You can read more about the story here.)

In reaction,  area Christian leaders, students and some area school officials gathered to protest, pray and promote their Christian faith based agenda.

Now I have some questions to ask you based on this:

• Do you have any problems with the ACLU doing this? If pushy political Christians using the system to further their agenda is unwise- is it also unwise for a pushy political secular group to do so? What is the difference?
• Was the big rally a good or bad idea? Does this show Christian solidarity and passion for sharing Christ or was it just a big right-wing political show which once again reinforced the negative sterotype of Christians?
• Since the limitations are now law in that school system- should the Christian students speak up anyway and break that law. Should the students not allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony jump up and grab the mic and be heard anyway? Have their liberites really been taken away?
• Does what the ACLU did alarm you or does what the Christians did in response alarm you? Does it even matter? Do you think God is at all interested in this?

Look forward to your input!

Divorce Among Church of Christ Ministers

As a divorced minister this is a topic I have discussed before, but on a more personal scale.

Recently as a requirement for a research class I wrote a paper on divorce among ministers which- obviously- brought me back to this topic. Through my research here are some of my discoveries:

• That there are quite a few resources available on this topic in both popular Christian literature and scholarly theological journals. Honestly, this was a surprise to me. Going into this project I thought the pickings would be slim.
• That some church systems actually have programs in place to respond to divorce among their ministers- to bring healing and help for all of the family through counseling and patient support.
• That today the majority of divorced ministers who desire to remain in ministry after divorce are given the opportunity to do so.
• That I found zero resources from my own fellowship of the Churches of Christ on this topic. Not saying they don’t exist- just saying I did not find any. (Some of the resources from other churches went back as far as the 1960s.)

Now, the reason for this post is to explore why we are not writing or talking more about this and/or to find out if there are resources about this topic in our brotherhood.

I know/know of around twenty divorced ministers within the Church of Christ/Christian Church extended family. Why aren’t we talking about this more?

The Next Generation?

Nope- not of Star Trek!

I am going to play the prophet on this post. Here are my predictions for the issues our next generation of church leaders will have to deal with:

• Hate crime legislation- One day in the not-so-distant future it could actually be considered criminal just to read or quote texts like Romans 1:26-27.
• Transgender church members- What will you say when brother Sam shows up one Sunday as sister Samantha? Guess what? It is already happening.
• Cloning- How would you counsel someone from Scripture who is considering  cloning themselves? We’d better get ready.  
• Pandemics- What if one really occurs? Among other things- it could devastate the structure of local churches. (FYI- Gateway has recently installed hand cleaner dispensers all throughout our facilities.)
• Virtual church- Instead of a contemporary and traditional service- there will be a virtual service, where everyone stays home, sips coffee in their PJs and worships together via streaming online. They would fellowship through tweets and contribute through bank drafts. (Could be the answer to the pandemic problem.)
• Loss of tax advantages- What might happen if churches lost their tax exempt status or contributions were no longer fully deductable? Less money perhaps? What would that do to ministries, missionaries, etc.?

Okay- what do you think? Are these really the issues for the next generation? Any to add?

Seasons

God gives us all seasons of life and usually it is fairly clear the season in which we belong. Me- I am kind of confused. Being fifty with two kids under eight may be part of the reason. But to borrow from that great country philosopher- Toby Keith- I must admit that I am not as good as I once was in many things.

Lately, I have not been very good at maintaining this blog. Thanks to those who have prodded me recently.

I could blame the yard-work season or the fantasy baseball season or the fishing season or the soccer season or the spring semester season or the mid-life crisis season or any number of seasons, but really I am without excuse.

Since my last post:

• I finished my latest class in the M. Min. program at Harding- Research and Resources. Included was a term research paper. Just got my  final grade- 95. Yay!
• I have been preaching a sermon series on the seven churches of Asia from Revelation 2-3 and have greatly enjoyed it. Fantastic feedback from the church too!
• I (along with some of our other ministers) planned our Summer Sunday Night Live at Gateway.  We take a recess from small groups in the summer and do the traditional Sunday night thing. Our “SNL” will be a more interactive and intimate worship and learning experience.
• I have also planned my summer Sunday morning sermon series entitled “Go and Tell What the Lord has Done for You.” Included will be vid clips of Gateway members telling their God stories.
• I finalized my trip to Lithuania for the summer camp. God willing, I head out on July 2nd.
• I finalized (thanks to a friend and brother) my “bucket list” dream trip to Fenway Park in Boston in June. Cannot wait! Sox vs Braves! (Also have another “bucket list” trip planned for June- to Nashville to a George Jones concert. That’s right- you heard me! The possum rocks!)
• I have enjoyed a vairety of fishing trips- both salt and fresh water. Sometimes I caught ‘em- sometimes I didn’t.
• I have enjoyed seeing my seven-year-old, Taylor, play soccer. She has scored a few goals. Both Taylor and my three-year-old, Jordan, are in ballet and will have their recital soon. They already had the dress rehearsal- they looked liked princesses!
• I have been working to reclaim my yard from the weeds. We recently planted a lemon and lime tree. We shall see how this goes.
• I started fantasy baseball season- so far, not so good. Pitching is killing me.
• I (along with the kids) served my wife breakfast in bed, got her some roses and a ring for Mother’s Day. She deserves more.

Now, I am getting ready for the next seasons- summer semester and hurricane! Let’s hope the latter is no mean one.

And two more things- John Eldredge’s Waking the Dead is a fantastic book. Ditto for Third Day’s song, Revelation.