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The death (or redefinition) of evangelism

What's the point of evangelism - and its intended byproduct, personal conversion/transformation - in a world that doesn't embrace an absolute "Truth"?

Pastor Michael Caine has a few (good) things to say about it:

"Finding our voices to talk about what we believe and why is part of our responsibility and calling. Not because we have right answers from on high others must accept lest they perish. But because we’ve been put here with others to play our part in a conversation much larger than us."

Here's the link to his entire post: The Decline of the Mainstream and Evangelism.

Book Review: Common Prayer

Follow this link my review of Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro.

Book Review: Common Prayer

Slayer Goes To Church

A little heavy metal fun at the expense of Pentecostal exuberance:




And then there's Benny Hinn's "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor":




I once had someone bemoan to me that "nothing happens" in many mainline churches. Not sure the above is what he was looking for, but something is definitely happening!

Wheat Bread Month!

Really - according to the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association, it's Wheat Bread Month.



So please make sure you eat the whole grain - bran, germ, endosperm and all. And eat your crusts. It'll make your hair curly/straight/blond/black,etc.

Dude, you have no Qur'an!

These must be watched in succession - "Dude, you have no Qur'an!"





Good on you skater dude Jacob Isom. Nice autotune too...

RIP - RJD

The 'Holy Diver' has taken his final swim - 5/16/2010.

I grew up in the 80s - class of '87... The music of the era for white kids was big and loud - punk, hair rock, and heavy metal.

Though I've acquired a finer taste for heavy metal over time - there's no denying how influential bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Rob Zombie and Metallica were in the 80s. Without exception each of these bands, and a myriad of others, pay homage to the music and vocal stylings of Ronnie James Dio (RJD.)

Like the music or not, Dio is recognized as a pioneer in the heavy metal and progressive metal genres - first with Rainbow, then for a while with Black Sabbath and then as a solo artist. When asked about the 'dark' nature of his lyrics, he once said something like, "you can't fully embrace the light unless you've experienced some darkness."

And he seems to have had a heart for moving people toward the light. He and his wife founded the organization 'Children of the Night' which helps adolescent runaways, sexual abuse victims and prostitutes in Los Angeles get off the streets and reenter society.

So rest well 'King of Rock and Roll' - musician, husband, father, grandfather, son, and inspiration to many musical innovators around the world.

An update from Arizona

UCC minister, activist, community organizer and all-around great guy, Noel Anderson, is keeping me in the loop regarding actions in opposition to Arizona's new immigration law - SB 1070.

Here's his report from a Friday evening (May 14) protest in Nogales, Ariz. It is the U.S. side port of entry with Nogales, Sonora, Mexico...

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Over 100 people gathered on the U.S. side to rally against the SB1070 law calling it unjust, unethical, uncompassionate and just plain racist. A mix of Latino and African American Freedom Riders bused in from Dallas and Texas to send the message clear they denounced this law and felt the responsibility and necessity to come to Arizona in order to support and be part of this growing movement to repeal SB1070.

Local speakers such as the Nogales Mayor who was part of passing a city resolution against this law stepped forward. Some of the Freedom Riders had actually been part of the original freedom riders down to the South during the Civil Rights Movement. Many organization are calling for a Freedom Summer to organize with greater strength over the next three months to repeal the law before it’s inception on July 28th.

In Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, protesters were present all morning and all afternoon blocking traffic from entering the United States. There was a boycott decree put out for the Friday and Saturday to ask Mexicans to not cross to Nogales on the U.S. side to show their economic power, while the stores remained empty all day.

Most people don't realize that “at least 23,400 jobs in Arizona depend on the more than $7.35 million that Mexican visitors spend every day in stores, restaurants, hotels and other businesses, according to a University of Arizona study sponsored by the state’s Office of Tourism(see link below).”

Not only was business empty or non-existent on the U.S. side, but shop keepers on the Mexican side said that business has been much slower as well since the Governor Jan Brewer signed the law, because people aren't coming to Arizona, and not visiting the border as they used to.

http://blog.taragana.com/business/2010/05/03/mexicans-hold-their-noses-and-shop-in-arizona-despite-anger-over-immigration-law-56645/

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Noel has updated images on his Facebook page too.

Write me on your skin

So... I'm thinking about getting a tattoo - rather, thinking about getting two of them.

At nearly 41 I know this is a crazy thing. The last time the thought passed my mind I was about 27 and wanted to get a full-back Celtic knotted triangle symbolizing the Trinity. Not sure if it was the $1200 or the three six-hour sessions in the tattoo artist chair that turned me off...

With age comes realism. I'm still looking for something spiritual, but not quite as huge.

Twenty years ago (that is SO hard to believe) one my my favorite bands, The 77s, wrote the song "Tattoo." The main refrain says "If you say I'm written on your soul, then write me on your skin." Just awesome - it's sort of 80s/90s, but take a listen to it and anything by Mike Roe you can put your hands on.

Speaking of hands - the theological dimension I'm leaning towards came from a project I was working on that communicated the merging of spirit with human effort. The phrases "Spirit of God" and "Human Hands" combine to mean a lot to me personally - guided by God's spirit, we are agents of change and transformation.

So to be really cool, it has to be in a biblical language. Right? The Hebrew for spirit/breath of God (as in Genesis 1:2) is Ruach Elohim. Human hands is Yadayim Adam. Here's the image...

Anyone want to contribute to these puppies being inked around my biceps?

The whole project leads to a few bigger questions. What theological/spiritual concept moves you deeply enough to consider adding to your "bodily testimony?" What would prevent you from doing so? Do you think there is any comparison of such tattoos to religious identifiers of old and not-so-old (tonsure, collars, tunics, saffron robes, kirpan, etc.)?

Boobquake theory falls flat

Not since the invention of the push-up bra has cleavage received so much attention!

Purdue University student Jen McCreight was more than a little offended when she read an Iranian cleric's explanation of the recent spate of earthquakes...

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media. Sedighi is Tehran's acting Friday prayer leader.

To test Sedighi's theory, McCreight encouraged women to dress as immodestly as possible on April 26, letting it - er, well - all hang out for the sake of science. The moniker "Boobquake" was chosen as the event's name, seeking evidence that scantily clad women are at the root of adultery and God's wrath that results in natural disasters.

Now, McCreight is a self-confessed nerd - a scientist at heart. And she's kept us abreast of her quantifiable analysis of data from the Boobquake event.

Not only did Boobquake not produce more earthquakes - the mean magnitude of all reported earthquakes on the event day was less than average! I think it is safe to say that science has laid bare a mountain of misconceptions regarding cleavage as the root of all evil, impropriety and natural disasters.

All kidding aside (because Sedighi certainly wasn't kidding...), this is the sort of garbage we are used to from religious fundamentalists.

A "pact with the devil" - an urban legend about the establishment of Haiti's self-governance - was Pat Robertson's explanation for the massive earthquake there in January.

And we can't forget similar statements from Robertson and other dangerous manipulatives who found it easy to blame the San Francisco earthquake, the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina on the pervasiveness of "immorality" - especially hoe-moe-sex-you-ality and abortion - in US society.

We shouldn't be surprised. But we should be alarmed.

As progressive, rational, science-loving (not fearing) believers - Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc. - we owe it to society and the world to stop blaming God's wrath for disasters.

Bertrand Russell - my favorite author of my favorite book, "Why I Am Not a Christian" - targeted religion, specifically Christianity, as a fear-based system.

I read him while in seminary and really understood what he said. He's unfortunately right in many ways. So many people use religion as a means of control - and employ fear (fear of hell, fear of punishment, fear of leaders, blood sacrifice, etc.) as their primary weapon - that I really couldn't disagree with his analysis and reasoning.

But I do disagree with his conclusion - that all religions are necessarily rooted in fear. I'm one of many people (ordained or not) who really sees it as our mission to dispel fear from Christianity - we like to call it "progressive" Christianity, others have called it "liberal" in the past. We believe that love, not fear, can be the root of religious belief - hope, not cowering, can be a response to a God who in some way, shape or form, ordered the universe and gave us examples of the holy to learn from and follow.

So thanks to all of you who participated in Boobquake 2010; for laying bear the twin peaks of reason and truth - not only for science, but in helping to redeem the character of God with your lovely lady lumps.

(Thanks to Marcy D. for modeling. Other blog post titles that didn't make the cup were "Boobquake experiment an udder failure" and "Boobquake finds massive outpouring of support".)

Online Marriage Prep!

I get an amazing number of press releases every day. Some are pertinent to the work I do for the UCC, some are loony and some are just funny/interesting. I received one today that was on the funny/interesting - sort of sad - side of things. A little of my own sarcasm is inserted below, so be forewarned...

You say you're too busy to attend a traditional marriage preparation course?

Say you value your privacy and don't want a professional prying into all the neurosis that are sure to sabotage this and all future relationships?

Then the good folks at theMarriageGroup have a great program for you.

No need to worry if you and your future mate have and overbooked double-carreer, see you when it's convenient for me, lifestyle - you can complete this marriage preparation course in the privacy of your own home. There's no need for your (might-be-)special(-when-I-find-the-time) someone to be in the same room with you.

Of course, honest discussion between you and your partner is the cornerstone of the program - but there's no need to air any misgivings or acknowledge shortcomings in front of a total stranger! What good would that do anyway?

Evangelism - Monster Truck style

This unique door hanger found its way into our offices. What was the big draw of this past weekend's Anniversary Sunday service, you ask?

Palm Sunday? The beginning of Holy Week? The cries of "Hosanna" preceding "crucify"?

None of the above...

Bible preaching, great gospel music and a MONSTER TRUCK EXHIBITION.

"If the people are silent, the monster trucks will shout out praises." (Luke 19:40, paraphrased...)

Immigration Reform Rally

Immigration Reform Rally from United Church of Christ on Vimeo.

Immigration Reform Rally in Washington D.C. on March 21, 2010. Over 200,000 people rallied on the National Mall to urge President Obama to take up the issue of immigration reform as his next legislative priority. Many faith groups were present to urge for more humane treatment of migrants and to protect the unity of families. UCNews was covering the rally in conjunction with Ecumenical Advocacy Days held in the capitol the same weekend.

Video and production Gregg Brekke

This one's for the ladies...

Thanks to the efforts of many in the ecumenical community, there is a day set aside to highlight the need for gender equality, human rights and empowerment as it relates to women.

Church World Service has a great story on their efforts and there are lots of other resources on the web as well.

Given the importance of women in everyone's life (you have a mother, right?) it's good to be reminded that many women suffer injustices simply because they are women.

Speaking of women - happy birthday Melissa (my sister!)

Dr. Horrible is great

I'm probably late to the game - but I recently heard about the Dr. Horrible web-o-vision series in a end-of-year TV review. The reviewer commented that some of the best television wasn't even on TV - it was on the web. The highlight of this genre was "Dr. Horrible's sing-along blog" - a campy superhero/supervillain story starring Neil Patrick Harris:


The conflicted villain is endearing, the superhero a shallow dolt and the love interest of both a sweet and caring soul. I'll leave the plot exploration to you - if you are familiar with writer Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame), you will recognize familiar story elements (one word - "shrapnel") deployed in new ways.

The three webisodes run about 45 minutes and the DVD is available for purchase.

Vote for Change - promote bicycle transportation!

Please take a moment to click the widget below and let the incoming Obama administration know that promotion of bicycle transportation is one way we can reduce our dependency on oil, improve the environment and begin to increase the health of Americans!

A Holiday Greeting (in disco)

Because nothing truly expresses the joy we find in the Advent of the Christ child quite like DISCO!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Comma Sutra?

Probably #1 on the things the UCC should NOT consider using in their advertising campaign...


And here, modeled by Stillspeaking marketing queen, Gwen Thomas:


Full story: This t-shirt was found at a tourist shop in Thailand by two representatives of the UCC Global Ministries group. They thought it was uncanny that it would be printed red-on-black, just like the Stillspeaking campaign - so they brought it back for the rest of us to see. Too funny!

Sermon: There's Nothing New Under the Sun

A reflection on Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Rev. Gregg Brekke
Delivered 10/29/2008 at the United Church of Christ Amistad Chapel service in Cleveland, Ohio.


Change. It is on the minds of Americans – on the minds of people around the world.

If you have any doubt, just look at your 401k account. There has been a little change there - you may feel like all you have left is spare change... Bad change – a reduction in value of at least a third for most of us. That is change I didn’t ask for.

Both candidates for president are talking about change. Either it’s the change that we need or the change we’ve been asking for. Some how, some way, after next Tuesday there will be change. But this is merely promised change…

For others around the world change is a constant factor – often leading to life altering circumstances. Regime change, change in local government, change in ruling religious authority – has meant exodus and genocide and exploitation. Surely this is change they didn’t ask for.

In the midst of all this change – how can the Teacher be right? How can he say that there is nothing new under the sun? Doesn’t he recognize how change often brings with it suffering and fear?

I believe we are living in days where the words of the Teacher from Ecclesiastes ring truer than any time in our lives. When we have plenty yet we are not satisfied; and all we work for is taken away…

It does seem a wearisome toil.

And for those who already live at the limits of their income, we see the cost of living increasing in disproportionate measure to increases in wages. People of all income levels have had to make choices about how they spend their money.

It is surely a wearisome toil.

Home foreclosures, bank buyouts, a decrease in charitable giving – including to our churches, if that matters to anyone here – is a load of bad news on top of bad news.

All does seem to be vanity, and a wearisome toil.

I don’t mean to reiterate our current situation to increase fear or raise anxiety – these feelings are already present for most of us. But I am aware that situations like this have happened before – in recent memory and throughout history.

From many camps – political, economic, sociologic and religious – there is a race to find out who we can blame for the financial mess the world is in. We can blame deregulation, we can blame corporate greed, or we can blame the devil.

But somewhere we have to look at ourselves and wonder how the desire to have what we cannot afford, to gain what we didn’t truly work for, and to put our needs before the needs of others, is at the heart of the problem. Our “eyes have not been satisfied with seeing.” Window shopping hasn’t satisfied us, owning is the only option.

And so I think it is appropriate to ask myself, how did I find comfort in the lure of easy money. The camera I bought at 18 months without interest, or my no-interest car loan that is now finally paid off. If I, and millions others just like me, had not demanded access to easy money – would the banking system have needed to respond with higher and higher risk investments?

The tiresome nature of our desires is more than we can express, it is a vanity.

The Teacher of Ecclesiastes not only warns about vanity and how quickly what we want most dearly fades, but also warns that we need to remember those who have gone before us, not just so that we can learn, but so we will be remembered by and leave a legacy to those who come after us.

My parents were children growing up in rural America during the depression and WWII. Any of you with parents of that similar generation will certainly have heard the stories of how hard these times were, how their worlds changed due to economic circumstances.

I heard the proverbial stories of walking five miles to school – into the wind, uphill, in the driving snow. I heard stories recounting the great floods and subsequently droughts that ruined harvests and forced many families to the brink of starvation. I understood the hyperbole in the story about plowing the back 40 with a blind three-legged mule…

But for all the stories of hardship and loss, what most sticks in my head and resonates through my heart are the stories of how people came together to help one another.

One farmer had a steam powered threshing machine and would work with the others to harvest their grain. In turn the other farmers helped him plow. In turn others grew and cut hay – distributing it to the dairy farmer who in turn made sure everyone in the area had fresh milk.

There were less pragmatic but touching stories too. Families who lost fathers and sons in the war had little to worry about when planting and harvesting times came – everyone knew what they must do. My father and his classmates were required to bring wood to heat their elementary one-room schoolhouse. They would take turns “filling in” for those who were unable to bring wood.

It was what you did – it was the right thing to do. I am so glad I have those stories – no matter how my parents and I have gotten along through the years, their memories are a legacy of a time when community meant more to people than the value of their 401k. When a community was considered strong only when its most vulnerable members had what they needed.

I’m no seer – none of us can predict how long this recession (some are saying depression) will last, no one knows if it will get better soon.

Wise people have recognized this uncertainty.

The Teacher of Ecclesiastes says the turmoil of today is old news; there is nothing new under the sun. He writes probably after the third return from exile – and possibly when Alexander was conquering Israel. Being subject to foreign rulers was not new under his sun – how faithful people respond however is new.

Jesus says we shouldn’t be alarmed by wars and rumors of war. He even gave us a warning about filling our earthly storehouses – who knows when it will all be taken away. Nothing new, vanities – but how faithful people respond will be their test.

What will be our response in a time of upheaval, change and need? Will we merely admit defeat to the forces of the market? Will we seek to find blame and demand that someone pay? Will we “stop doing and pray something” as I’ve heard advocated from one corner of Christendom recently?

Or will we learn from the wisdom of the past, our forbears? Will we learn from other Teachers like Gandhi who said “you must be the change you want to see in the world?”

You see, real change has nothing to do with a new president. It has nothing to do with an overhauled and tightly regulated banking system. But as Christians, we have two ideals of what this sort of change looks like.

Real change has everything to do with what the Greek writers of the New Testament called evangaleon – “the Good News” and basilia tou theou – “the Kingdom of God.”

So are we ready to be Good News? I’m talking about being Good News, not just talking about it! Are we ready to be the Kingdom of God? Again, being the Kingdom of God, not just having a Bible study to discuss what the Kingdom of God may or may not mean!

When I read my Bible and study the first Christians I see that people were drawn to this new religious expression because it met their needs: spiritual, emotional and physical. It gave them a place to belong, and it included them in a vision that was bigger than their current condition offered.

It gave them hope when political and spiritual oppression all seemed a wearisome toil. Early Christians believed their work would change the world and remove an oppression they had become so accustomed to they no longer noticed it.

And their hope wasn’t limited to the afterlife as some promote – it wasn’t escapism; that happened later in Christian theology – the first Christians’ hope rested in the community of believers being Good News and offering the Kingdom of God to one another and to the world around them. That hope rocked the world of early Christianity.

My community of Lakewood has over 20 churches offering an evening meal – all are invited, no questions asked. They even work together so they don’t overlap. Almost any day of the week you can get a hot meal in Lakewood from a Christian church – that is being Good News; that is offering the Kingdom of God.

Several churches I know have started a backpack program where they work with schools to send meals home with at risk elementary students over the weekend. They may not eat on the weekend if it weren’t for the food secretly stashed in their packs – that is being Good News; that is serving the Kingdom of God.

Another church I know is taking donations of bicycles, repairing them, and giving them to low income workers so they can get to jobs that would have been out of reach by foot and are not serviced by public transportation – that is being Good News; that is showing the Kingdom of God.

I could go on and on – my email box receives a steady stream of similar stories. So although there is bad news, and worse news being heaped upon bad news, I am sure there is hope. I am assured that Jesus was teaching his disciples, and teaching us, to be Good News.

Economist and sustainability author, Anna Lappé, says, “Hope doesn’t come from calculating whether the good news is winning out over the bad. It’s simply a choice to take action.”

May it be said of our generation and in this time that we were Good News, that we offered hope to the most vulnerable, that we put others before ourselves. There may be nothing new under the sun, but the moment is upon us to prove that Good News lives continually and the Kingdom of God is present in the hearts of those who call upon Christ as their hope in all times.

Amen.

Tally Time

OK, I've been eating vegetarian since July and bicycle commuting for nearly two months. Thought it would be a good idea to do a tally of my energy/cost/CO2 savings to see the total impact ONE person making MINOR changes can have...

First - some of the base numbers:

• my bicycle commute to work is 14mi round-trip
• I've commuted 36 of 40 possible days for a total of 403 miles (adding in grocery runs, etc.)
• my car gets about 22mpg in the city
• gas averaged about $3.50/gal during this period
• cheap downtown parking costs me $3.50/day

I've saved over 18 gallons of gas and reduced my CO2 emissions by 332 pounds (11.5lb/day)

I've saved $217 in gas and parking.

I burn an extra 336 calories per day by bicycle commuting to work.

On the vegetarian side there are additional savings...

The production of food for the average vegetarian (not vegan: I eat eggs, dairy and some fish) emits 7.3lb/day LESS in greenhouse gases versus an omnivore. That results in an extra 800lbs of reduced CO2 emissions since July.


I wanted to see what this meant FOR ME on an annual basis, so I did a little more math with the assumption that I keep going:
>> 120 gallons of gas saved
>> $1,340 saved in gas and parking
>> 2000lb (1 TON) of reduced CO2 from bicycle commuting
>> 2665lb of reduced CO2 from eating vegetarian
>> 2500 miles bicycle commuting and 75,000 calories burned!

That is some good motivation...