Yesterday I spent a long hard day hanging drywall on a new house project for Habitat for Humanity. The Millcreek Valley affiliate is building a house in Lincoln Heights in about 14 days as part of the Build on Faith week. For this project H4H has encouraged several churches and businesses to help build and finance the house. When you hanging drywall six days after the ground breaking you are making good progress. I was asked if anyone from the Vineyard church would be interested in working on the project, so I asked the outreach coordinators and some friends. The coordinators apologized but they were unable to help. Several friends were interested but could not arrange their schedule. Two of my friends were able to make it, Jeff and Tom, and we joined a crew of about nine at the site. I think we had a good time and we completed several rooms. It was hard work and my muscles are sore today.

I have thought about the virtue of practical servanthood like building a house for some time. Acts of random kindness is a very effective tool for people to show God's love to others and to let God cultivate our heart. Building a house is more organized and takes longer to complete. There are many character pitfalls in building a house that are not present in a spontaneous act of kindness. God has presented us with a greater challenge. There are many opportunities to serve and grow closer to God. Each opportunity seems to work on developing a different part of our character. Hmm…

Sidney J. Harris. “Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” [Quotes of the Day]

Herb Caen. “The trouble with born-again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around.”

Eric Hoffer. “Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power.”

[Quotes of the Day]

Both quotes are funny because they cynically poke fun at some our Christian and religous failures. However, I find the second quote very intriguing. I have been thinking about this quote for several days. During my web travels I ran across a personal weblog of a radical atheist who said, “I have no beliefs (opinions that are based on faith with no evidence or scientific grounding)”. What I did not realize until today, was that this person had an absolute belief in the infalliability of evidence and the scientific method as the sole source for determing his belief in other things. I guess you have to start somewhere. I like the scientific method. It is useful and has lead to many advances in science. Maybe it is because of my age, I continue to be humbled about the creation that surrounds me. We know so many neat things compared to a hundred years ago but we continue to find more questions than answers. “Neat answers” appear to be on the endangered species list. As much as we appear to be moving forward rapidly with our use of technology, we seem to be standing still on so many world issues, such as, plagues, hunger, slavery, and wars. We appear to be locked into many of the same problems that have plagued our forefathers. History continues to repeat itself despite our best efforts. Maybe it is because our secular world is looking for answers in the wrong places.

I have come to the conclusion that absolute faith is unattainable in life without lying to yourself and to others. I think that God will continue to show me that I am not as good as I thought I was. It is painful to think that the rest of your life will be a series of humbling experiences. I sometimes wish faintheartedly for a less arduous route. What I do know from my Christian experience is that there is no easy path, to enjoy the trip as much as possible, and to be wary of the abuse of absolute faith. God has a strange sense of humor!

On Sunday evening we celebrated my niece's fifth birthday with some friends. At the dinner table I was somewhat amazed when I heard my wife go into a discussion of the importance of faith in kids. I had brought up the subject since my son went to his first Bat Mitzvah yesterday at the Issac Mayer Wise Temple. Since I was curious I did a fair amount of research on the internet and asked questions to some of the people when I was there. As I found out in my research, Rabbi Wise started the Reformed Judaism movement. The temple's exterior is the basic 1870ish building but the interior decoration is quite amazing. For her Bat Mitzvah, Samantha, had to learn to read and speak Hebrew to do her part in the service. She probably started her studying in the fourth grade. Her parents celebrated her coming of age by throwing a luncheon and party more elaborate than most weddings.

What amazed me about my wife's discussion of the importance of faith in kids was the religous tone of her discussion. To me she was sounding pretty close to the “television version” of a born again Christian. Her personal involvement in our son's religous education is pretty similar to her involvement in the Bat Mitzvah. She read the invitation and noticed how expensive and fancy the invitation was. The good news is that she thinks faith in kids is important. The bad news is that God has a lot of work to do with her.

Commandments fray goes beyond Alabama. Christian proponents have been losing legal battles, but many now feel energized by a new cause. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

I guess the real challenge for the judicial system is whether they recognize the real issue. They believe the issue is about promoting religion in public places. They apologize for the inconvenience and remove the offending monument. They naively believe they have solved the problem.

Christians view the removal of the monument with increasing alarm. The Ten Commandments are core moral statements that are the foundation of our legal system and they are being dismissed as offensive. It appears that the judicial system has embarked on a process to rewrite history. This issue is not about the stone monument, it is about the values of our judicial system. It has become increasingly easy for people of many faiths to see the actions by judges to remove the monument as another step by the United States along the path to a “godless, valueless society”. Even Christians who believe Ten Commandment monuments are counter-productive are drawn into the fray. Their minds search for a sense of judicial balance and sensitivity to their issues. They do not find balance. They find arrogance. Their hearts cry out that this “godless” path is wrong.  They find a dogmatic assault on all references to God in our laws and our daily life. The intertwining of faith with our daily lives, that has proven successful for so many of our great leaders appears to be illegal if you are a judge. I have become increasingly concerned that our judicial system bows to a new set of idols. They worship themselves. 

Alabama Judge Defiant on Commandments' Display. Hundreds applauded Chief Justice Roy Moore's refusal to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the State Supreme Court. By Jeffrey Gettleman. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand the situation is out of control and counter-productive. On the other hand there is a strong backlash against the judicial branch for ignoring their religous heritage and for supporting the “Hollywood” morality. For better or for worse, the programs we watch on television have become our primary influence in helping us distinguish the differences between right and wrong. The results have not been pretty. Instead of clinging to moral principals that have worked for centuries, the courts have gradually succumbed to our present fad in which no one is responsible. Instead of embracing a useful part of our heritage and using it to reduce crime, the courts have opted to throw the baby out with the bath water. Several years ago the judicial system got after Judge Moore for displaying his wooden plaque with the Ten Commandments in the courtroom. Now they are fighting over a large granite slab with Ten Commandments on it in the State Supreme courthouse rotunda. There is too much pride at work here! I guess this is another reason why pride is considered a sin.

Gay policies pose test of Episcopalian loyalties. Church's confirmation of a gay bishop this week stirs controversy among faithful. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

I think I need to comment on the election of a gay bishop. My path to Christ is a direct result of my frustration with the Episcopal church. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the Episcopal church. I grew up in the Episcopal church. My parents still go to an Episcopal church in Virginia. My wife's uncle is active in a local church in Cincinnati. Everything points to the Episcopal church as the logical way for me to be more religous except that it didn't work for me.  My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and wife picked the Vineyard as a “modern” church we all could go to. I was sceptical but I quickly changed my mind. I enjoyed the music but I relished the fact that I had begun to enjoy the Bible. When the pastors spoke, they picked Bible verses that spoke to me! Most of all I enjoyed going to church!

So here is where I get back into the love/hate relationship. A couple of years ago the Vineyard sponsored an introduction to Christianity program called Alpha. The program originated with the Anglican(i.e. Episcopal) church. It is through this program I accepted that I had a personal relationship with Christ and he is my savior. I could not of gotten to this point without the Vineyard. Despite my frustrations with the Episcopal church I could not have gotten here without them.

Tonight I was at an Alpha Alumni dinner at the Vineyard. Almost 1000 people have gone through the program at the Vineyard and the program leaders talked about several fascinating extensions to the Alpha program. Then they brought the regional director for Alpha, an Episcopalian minister and doctoral student at Asbury Seminary.  He made a few jokes about how stodgy Episcopalians are. We laughed. He talked about evangelism and Alpha but I got the impression that Episcopalians are divided on the worth of evangelism and Alpha. Obviously the Episcopalians are divided on gay policies, too. Some ministers say the church will get over it quickly. They point out that the church members fussed when they ordained women ministers but quickly got over it. Homsexuality is a sin. The Bible is pretty clear on this subject. I disagree with homosexual activists on how many people are homosexual. From the homosexuals I have met, I believe that very few were wired from birth to be homosexual. It appears to me that most are making a lifestyle choice. They could go either way. I believe the gay bishop falls into this category. He has made a lifestyle choice. Some may view his election as reaching out to the gay community. I think he is a terrible role model and it is tough for me to take him seriously. I don't think it unreasonable to expect a higher moral standard for a bishop.

You don't have to be perfect to be a good role model and people shouldn't expect perfection. We all don't choose to be role models, we are chosen. Our only choice is to be a good role model or a bad one.

Charles Barkley

How will America respond to militant Islam? Responses from Asia Times Online readers to my contention that radical Islam yet may defeat the West (Why radical Islam might defeat the West) of July 8 ranged from accusations of anti-Islamic bigotry to the claim that the West, if need arise, simply will kill a billion Muslims. Neo-conservative circles in Washington think neither of accommodating the claims of radical Islam nor of a war against Islam, but rather of an “Islamic Reformation”. [Asia Times]

An interesting article that outlines two scenarios that counterbalance the threat of militant Islam. Both scenarios are dependent on an increase in the textual criticism of the Koran and the personal search for a divine truth. The theological foundation for Protestantism and the Reformation came from scholars who went back to the original Jewish documents. According to this article Jewish translations and commentary provided much of the impetus to the Reformation. Modern day Islam and Catholicism at the time of the Reformation seem to have a similar weaknesses to textual criticism and an intolerance to opposing interpretations. The conflicts between modern society and Islam have forced many Muslims in America into a personal search for the divine truth about Islam. They are not happy with what they have found and have started to criticize the Middle Eastern interpretation of the Koran. Muslims in the United States and Europe tend to be more moderate and are having real problems with trying to be a Muslim in a modern society. The solutions from the Middle East are unacceptable. A schism has formed and it may require a reformation to make Islam palatable to Muslims in America. If Islam does make a better connection with their American Muslims, then evangelical Protestants will connect with Muslims and fill their spiritual needs. I go to a church that is growing by bringing in people from the streets and other churchs. They suceed by being modern, relevant, tolerant, and very spiritual.

The disputes are part of a national debate over how entangled religion and government can be. [Christian Science Monitor]

In contrast, in mid-July a federal judge in La Crosse, Wis., ordered the city to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a city park because, she said, it made some community members “feel they were not welcome, that they did not belong in La Crosse unless they followed Judeo-Christian traditions.” The monument had been there since 1965.

“The First Amendment guarantees persons of all faiths that the government will treat them with equal concern and respect,” wrote US District Judge Barbara Crabb.

I am fascinated who those community members are. It appears that these community members are more comfortable with murder and robbery than a Ten Commandments monument that they can ignore.  I can see where these people would be uncomfortable with religion being pushed down their throats but I do not see how a Ten Commandments monument pushes religion. They are not going to get follow up phone calls from a monument.  The Ten Commandments are some of the moral foundations our legal system are built upon. That is not going to change. Many faiths share these same values. The primary purpose of Ten Commandment monuments is to focus our attention on the concept of right and wrong. That is why you see these monuments and displays primarily at courthouses and schools. If a monument stops just one person from committing a crime, it is worth it!

Months Before Debut, Movie on Death of Jesus Causes Stir. With his movie, “The Passion,” under attack as anti-Semitic, Mel Gibson is trying to build a defense before it is released. By Laurie Goodstein. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

From what I read this movie is the most realisitic depiction of the events leading up to the death of Jesus. There lies the rub. What looks like realism to some Christians looks like anti-Semitism to Jews.