The UmBlog

In the last month, a Canadian family who  let their son die of diabetes because they believed Jesus was enough to cure him were condemned in court for murder. Children's death by believers in the christian tradition of faith healing happen every year in the United States and Canada . It is obvious to those outside of their sects that they have read the Bible too literally.Yes, in the gospels Jesus does heal many people of illnesses. In the Acts of the Apostles, his disciples heal some people as well. There are indeed promises that some afflictions just need more prayer and that anything good asked of God will be granted. But experience has proven to be a regulator on how literally some promises should be taken. (Evidence photo found here .) Jesus is not always enough to keep people alive. Sometimes insulin is needed as well. Most devout christians do not follow Paul's advice to Timothy when they have an upset stomach and drink a little wine to treat it. We understand Paul...

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) revealed today their majority opinion on the federal Defense of Marriage Act , signed by President Clinton in 1996. In particular, section 3 of the act prevented homosexual spouses from receiving federal marriage benefits. The SCOTUS found this section violated the 5th Amendment 's Due Process clause , which made the law unconstitutional. I support the effect, although I don't understand the legal methodology, see the court's opinion in PDF . I support this ruling because I'm proudest of my country when it helps minorities. I'm also terribly ashamed of it when it hurts minorities, see yesterday's ruling on the Voting Rights Act . I believe, and I used to believe differently about this, that wanting my gay neighbors, friends, and co-workers to be treated fairly under the rule of law, to not have any fewer benefits than I do for no crime on their part, aligns with Jesus' Golden Rule . Treating others the way...

I picked up my first N.T. Wright book, Simply Jesus , because it was on sale for Kindle, just $2. He has stirred up controversy in some circles, but in this book, I see no reason why any conservative evangelical would be threatened by his ideas; unless you are threatened by ideas that are no identical to your own. The irony of the book title, as Wright explains, is Jesus is not simple. He uses the metaphor of the Perfect Storm throughout the book. The three forces of "nature" Jesus wades into are imperial Rome, apocalyptic Israel, and a fresh move of God. Wright strives to find a third way between those who believe Jesus was a really good man who left a good example and those who believe Jesus is a lifeguard trying to pluck people out of a river heading toward a deadly waterfall. His assertion is that Jesus came to install a new kingdom, God's kingdom, that succeeds by living out his teachings, such as the Beatitudes and the Golden Rule. Jesus is not simple becaus...

Personally, it's been a rough month. The day my last post went online, the one about forgiveness, I wrote it earlier in the week and scheduled it to post later, my son was hit by a reckless driver with a suspended license. Although the truck ran over and killed our dog, it sent my son air borne so that he landed in the grass. His injuries are minimal, not what his doctors expected from such an accident. He is still recovering and healing physically. As a family, we are all still recovering emotionally. We miss our dog. We are looking for a replacement still. After Blizzard Nemo left it's two feet of snow at my house, I spent many hours shoveling. The long repetitive exertion leads me an enjoyable mental zone: contemplative, meditative, in the moment, peace. There's something that occurs in the haze of exhaustion, something not accessible behind a snowblower. I started praying as I dug, lifted, and tossed the snow. I was thankful for the miracle of my son's accident...

I recently finished The War , a Ken Burn's documentary series on World War 2, which was excellent, and my ears pricked up when he mentioned a book by an enlisted Marine, E. B. Sledge , this is my response to that book, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa . In fact, the library offered me a 2007 reprint with the endorsement of Ken Burns . The documentary mentioned that Sledge suffered from PTSD for most of his life after the war, though his book barely mentions his post-war life, excepting a few mentions of nightmares. His book, although highly valuing the esprit de corps of the Marines and the love for his fellow soldiers, wants us to know the depravity of humanity which he witnessed in the Pacific theater in two significant battles in which no quarter was offered by the Japanese and was barely offered by the US, since most Japanese offering to surrender used it as a ruse for suicide missions. Sledge is honest about his hatred for his enemies even though he seems to be a m...

I brought this book along with me on vacation, but I'm an abnormal person. This is not light beach reading. This book is about a wrestling match between the author and God. It's not a flashy, staged, professional wrestling match with a certain outcome, but more of an amateur match, at the high school level. This is not an insult of Kent Annan's writing, but, if you've ever been to some of those high school matches, an analogy to the long and drawn out contests between kids who are evenly matched and make slow progress. If I may reach for a Biblical metaphor, this is like Jacob's long night of wrestling with God, from which he emerged, crippled but with a stronger faith (see Genesis 32). The earthquake in Haiti, which killed his friends, yet also enabled others to fly to the US for expert medical care, and destroyed his friends' homes and churches, and fractured families, fractured his faith and crippled his soul. He found solace in the blues catalog of the Bib...

Paul tells the crowd in Athens, God overlooked people's former ignorance about these things, but now he commands everyone everywhere to turn away from idols and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead. Acts 17:30-31. Paul talks elsewhere about the resurrection as essential to the faith he was teaching. 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have p...

I'm in the process of reading for review my complimentary copy of a new biography on Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas . It's over 600 pages and some of the quotes are so good Image via Wikipedia that they can't wait until I'm finished. Also, I fear there will be too many to quote in one review. Here is one on the distinction between Christianity and religion. In this lecture, Bonhoeffer tipped one sacred cow after the other. Having dealt with the idea of Christ as no mere great ethicist, he proceeded to explain the similarity of the Christian religion to other religions. Then he came to his main point: the essence of Christianity is not about religion at all, but about the person of Christ. He expanded on the theme learned from Karl Barth that would occupy so much of his thinking and writing in the years to come: religion was a dead, man-made thing, and at the heart of Christianity was something else entirely - God himself, alive. "Factually speaking," he said, ...

My friend Justin McRoberts came over once and ate peanut butter and jelly at my house with my family. We are tight. We disagree alot over political things, but he is my brother in Jesus and tells great stories and sings great songs. He has a great story on his blog about sitting next to an autistic guy on a flight to Chicago and what that guy taught him about community. I have another friend who is also a musician. Justin has an acoustical folk sound but Ryan AKA Serious Griggs raps for Jesus . He partnered with a great brass rock band and added his talents which has a great video. Joe's Jottings has a great post on the difference between religion and gospel.

Thanks to Uncommon Descent with many more links on this topic.

What would Christmas look like if we did it like Jesus did and gave ourselves to those who won't appreciate it, won't thank you for it, and won't reciprocate for it? And I'm not talking about your mean uncle. Consider the gift of clean water. HT: Justin McRoberts

Here are our three Indian Runner ducks. This is their abode and pen. They live behind chicken wire, in a dog house filled with straw, and, at night, behind a board held against the opening with cinder blocks to keep the coyotes, foxes, skunks and raccoons out. We feed them in the morning and afternoon and we keep their water bowls full, but not clean. I think they like it dirty. We bought them as big handfuls a few months ago, hoping we'd get all girls. No one is laying yet, still too early, but the big duck has a curled feather at his tail, which usually indicates a non-egg layer. These ducks belong to my children, one for each, but I end up doing alot of their pen and house maintenance. I must admit I enjoy it. My grandfather came east from an Iowa farm, and I must be feeling my heritage when I'm slinging a little bit of hay around. The beautiful weekend past enabled me to get them in better shape for winter. I dumped out the dirty hay. I put a pallet underneath their house, ...

My brother and I, Rez Day 2008

Last night we watched The Hiding Place on DVD. It had two strikes before we watched it, when it was made and who made it. I feared early 70's cinematography and outfits and hairstyles. It was made by Billy Graham's outfit, World Wide Pictures Inc. However, this movie rocked! The moviemaking was great and there was not a whiff of the Christian amateur feel. It's a powerful story on its own, but that hasn't stopped filmmakers from ruining a story before. My wife enjoyed the book . Corrie Ten Boom makes a cameo at the end of the movie and reaffirms the line in the film that no matter how deep the pit we are in, God is deeper. Here is a summary of her story . She, her sister and her father hid Jews from the occupying Nazis in Holland. They were eventually betrayed. They were arrested. The hiding place of the Jews was not found so they lived to escape. Her father died in jail. She and her sister ended up in a Nazi concentration camp. Her sister eventually died in the camp....

Squanto ended up on an English ship in 1605, either bribed or kidnapped. Several tribes' members were kidnapped also by Thomas Hunt who then tried to sell them in Spain. Friars interrupted the sale and eventually ended up serving as a slave or indentured servant in England for 9 years under Ferdinando Gorges then John Slaney. Gorges was a principal of the Plymouth company. Slaney was the principal of the Newfoundland Company. In 1619 he made it back to the Massachusetts Bay area, finding his people wiped out. His services as a trade intermediary were necessary as trade dried up after the kidnappings. The Pilgrims arrived on his tribe's abandoned area in 1620. Squanto was living with the Wampanoag at the time and their chief Massasoit who used Squanto as an ambassador. Squanto enjoyed his influence too much and used it for personal gain among the Indians. He tried to trick the Pilgrims into military maneuvers against other tribes to prove his influence. His deceit was exposed a...

great article . Why do people yell? Why do Christians stand on street corners and condemn people who are “going to hell in a hand basket?” Why do Christians say STUPID things like… “Get saved or microwaved.” “Get right or get left.” “Eternity, smoking or non-smoking, the choice is yours!” I think they do this for one main reason… It’s Easy! No, seriously, it is easy to yell, scream and condemn people that you do not know…it is much harder to actually develop a relationship with someone who is a heartbeat from hell, be their friend, LISTEN to their story, ANSWER their difficult questions…and wait patiently for years as God draws them to Him. THAT’S HARD! And so Christians have taken the stupid easy way out and just yell at people–and it does not work! Please spare me your e-mails on this! I have never asked someone, “How did you come to Christ,” and they replied, “Some really nice man with a megaphone yelled at me and said that my skin was going to fry like bacon unless I received ...

The rivalry was ancient. This time the home team looked much stronger. The early rounds were tit for tat with no breakthroughs. Eventually the home crowd began to cheer for the away team. But being the typical crowd their support waxed and waned. In the last inning, the crowd was going nuts for the away team. The team had driven deep into the home teams end zone. Yet the home team made a magnificent defensive stand. The crowd was impressed and resumed cheering for their team again. The defense was drawn into an elaborate and risky offensive draw which they swallowed hook, line and sinker. The April Fool's plan was so unbelievable that some of the teammates, despite being told it ahead of time, were fooled and caved into the defensive pressure. They were exhausted and really wanted to believe the team captain but could not see how such a foolish plan would actually work. The home team sacked the away team's quarterback. His back was on the ropes. The K.O. was coming. The fly bal...

HT: Bradley Wright

Bill Lamorey is a CC pastor in Connecticut who started his church recently. He makes a very astute observation, I am convinced that most Christians in the U.S. get enough spiritual food and rest and not enough exercise (let's be honest, eating is much more fun than exercise -physically and spiritually). The result is we've become morbidly obese (spiritually speaking) and consumption crazy ("feed me, feed me, feed me"). Much of it is the fault of pastors and church leaders when we create cultures of consumerism and do not encourage our church bodies or provide opportunities for them to get spiritual exercise. Shame on us all! I pray that you, me and people in churches all over America will push back from the table, burp, wipe our mouths and say. "We're full, lets' go get some exercise and bring some new people to the table who are starving!" in the land of plenty (and the land of the obese), the U.S., the lethargy is hard to overcome. unfortunatel...

in its first week this blog got more hits than i get in a month but with posts like this , i'm not surprised.