Trying to follow

How do we truly love our neighbor? If I may contextualize a bit: Jesus says do as the homosexual prostitute did when he, not judging or condemning, had compassion and cared for the needs of the church-goer who had been left for dead in the alley outside of the ministry she worked at, even after a fellow church member and a pastor drove by. (LUKE 10:30-37).
Some in our community feel that loving your neighbor is best done by voting yes on Amendment 1, I’m fearful of that action. We must be very clear that Amendment 1 is NOT a stand against homosexuality as sin, but a political statement concerning the rights of those already practicing homosexuality. It is already illegal for same-sex couples to marry in Tennessee, the amendment merely attempts to change the wording to directly prohibit. This is not a definitive statement, only a few thoughts.
Jesus’ public condemnations where almost always directed to the Religious authorities within the religious community that he was a part of. In the early church we see most rebuking and moral standards being dealt with within the church, not to non-Christians. Paul even says, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?” (I Cor. 5:12)
The Support for Amendment 1 is coming primarily from churches. The loudest statements being made by churches in Tennessee are a statement to oppress homosexuals (it’s not to “support family,” just ask a homosexual what they think). If this is passed it will define in many minds a view of Christianity and Church in direct relation to this issue. Literally using a secular governments physical force and laws to mandate religious views.
How did Jesus address the idea of using physical punishment to uphold morality? He said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone.” (Jn. 8:7) We are not to use the law as a means to force adherence to our moral standards. You want to love your neighbor who is a homosexual? Go hang out with them, be with them. Work with One-in-Teen, sit at the bedside of someone dying of AIDs whose family has disowned him or her. That is where you can share Christ love.
Before we try and take the speck out of others eyes (and I think by “brothers” Jesus meant other believers), have we made sure there is not a plank in our own? I’m not sure exactly how we go about doing that but I have some ideas of statements that we could make to the greater community that would at least be a step in that direction.
I have two suggestions for possible proposals and resolutions that I think we can as a Christian body collectively pass and send to every major organization that is fighting for gay rights. First as it relates to the support of marriage. I think we can be humble and admit that Christians have not been a very good example of the sanctity of marriage. We can let the world know that we know that we too are sinners and fail to live up to God’s ideals. We can explain to others that God is and will forever be the one who has defined marriage, and no matter what we the church or the rest of the world does we cannot change that. And we can commit to being an example in years to come of what true marriage is, as a union before God.
The second statement I think we can make, relates to the homosexual people who this impacts. We, the church, have been a horrible example of Christ love to the homosexual community for years. Christ would have sat by the bedside of dying homosexuals in the height of AIDs in this country, yet we stood outside with signs saying they would burn in hell (or we passively stood by while those statements were made). We can beg forgiveness from the homosexual community for the hurt and hatred that has been dealt to them by members of the Christian community. We can commit to spending much more time personally showing and spreading the love of Christ in genuine ways to people who practice homosexuality.
If you believe it is best and most loving to vote Yes on Amendment 1, then I pray you are doing equally as much to assure the that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons know the love of Christ. I fear the repercussions of living in this state if the Marriage Amendment is passed. How will I remain in this community? How will I tell my homosexual friend that I chose to remain a part of a community that voted in a way that to her shows so much hate? Lord help me.

(edited from a previous writing)

It appears Habitat for Humanity in Nashville is right in the midst of a major building project. This week they are building ten homes in the Providence Park neighborhood, “the nation’s largest contiguous all-Habitat community.”

First of all, let me say that I think it is wonderful that these families are having homes provided for them. I think Habitat is doing some amazing things through out the country and for that they should be commended.
I’m also curious about the “all-Habitat community.” I wonder what sort of implications that type of development has. From my understanding Habitat primarily builds home for lower income families who wouldn’t otherwise be able to become home owners. That seems to translate into a low tax base for that community (i.e. a low income neighborhood). Once the Habitat spotlight leaves the neighborhood, will it be faced with all the extensive problems that typically face low income neighborhoods?
I really don’t mean this as a critique. Rather, I’m just curious about if those sorts of aspects have been thought about in regards to this project or others like it. In the past I’ve tried to research a little about gentrification, housing and location and I haven’t come up with many clear answers on any of it.

Tomorrow I’ll post about another Nashville area project that is going on and the troubling things it acknowledges about our geographic layout.

(warning: Extremely sarcastic posting ahead)

It took twenty four years of my life before a life changing piece of mail found it’s way into my mailbox. It’s wasn’t a bird, it wasn’t a plane, it was Skyangel!

I’ll be honest, I was a little skeptical at first, a Christian TV and Radio satellite service? But then I read the testimonies and I was won over. I kid you not, this is what one of the “viewers” wrote:

“If you want to become a better Christ-follower, more disciplined, if you want to be the best you can be for Christ, this [Skyangel] is what you should get for your family…”

After all how could you go wrong with Sky Angel’s programming? They offer, “programs that re-energize your faith and connect you with things that truly matter.” And according to Sky Angel there are a lot of things that truly matter: sports, HGTV, and Fox News to name just a few.

There is a lot of worthless stuff out there on the airwaves and I think it makes sense to be proactive in avoiding that stuff in your home. Sky Angel goes one step further (and many steps too far) and pitches it’s stations as the definitive answer on what “Christ-Centered” is. According to Sky Angel the most Christ-centered new is Fox News. According to Sky Angel HGTV and TV in general is an opportunity to “re-energize your faith.”

I started to call them and found my self getting terribly ill and the thought of talking to a sales person trying to sell me faith through television. They are selling Television in the name of Jesus! My guess is Jesus would be stomping through and smashing a few satellite dishes on his way these days.

The Product is You

I was watching the news on TV on Friday morning (the Today Show to be exact). I always come away with stuff to talk about after watching any TV, and yesterday was no exception. The clip that peeked my curiousity was about the President traveling around the country on Air Force One doing last minute campaign stops for close Republican senate races. This news bothered me a little bit (and this is not a rant against Bush, this goes for any president). Here are a couple of reasons:

• I understand the President has some political party ties before he is actually elected as President. But once you are President, my understanding is that you represent ALL the people, not just those from your political party. It seems to me that if your going to be using your clout as President to endorse political candidates, then you should probably be doing it during your time off.
• That being said, do President’s get time off? It does seem like one of those “always on” types of jobs.
• For example, does the president have his own personal car or plane? If he does, I’d much rather he use his own plane, then Air Force One, which I helped pay for and all the fuel our tax dollars are going to go to, if he’s going to fly around the country promoting politicians. Personally, it sort of seems like stealing paper clips from the office or writing off a meal out as a “business meeting.” Using Air Force One as a backdrop for someone else’s campaign sort of seems like cheating.
• Finally, and this is direct to our current president. The polls seem to indicate a lot of people don’t think President Bush is doing a very good job in office right now. That being said, you would think he might consider spending a little more time there, rather then flying around the country preparing campaign speeches to help ensure his Republican chums win their states.

Am I the only one who think’s it’s a little wrong, unfair, disappointing, waste of money, unethical and terribly misrepresentative for Bush to be wasting his time on this?

One of my favorite blogs to keep up on current issues is this one, from this magazine. Today they posted
an intriguing post about women’s issues.

At the Seattle Times, Alicia Mundy ponders a disappearing phrase in politics: “women’s rights.” Explaining why the phrase has only cropped up in a handful of public talks given by female senators and congresspeople, Mundy notes:

“…the battle to control the dictionary and define the paradigm is crucial to the partisan power struggle in D.C. Espousing women’s rights can get even the most mainstream female lawmaker marginalized as a radical feminist or even labeled a “feminazi” by radio talk-show hosts.”