What can happen when you don’t toe the Christian church party line? Check out this article – thanks to Ope for the heads up.

Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: July 30, 2006
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes.

Bill Alkofer for The New York Times
The Rev. Gregory A. Boyd leads a congregation outside St. Paul.
The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?

The result? 20% of the congregation (1000 people) bailed because the church was “no longer doing what it was supposed to be doing: supporting the Republican way.”

Read the whole article at:
Jesus & Politics

I’m binging – on books – its been a while since I had a break in school that allowed me to take the time necessary to read. And read. And read. Forget the brown paper bags, tied up with string – reading is one of my favorite things.

I didn’t really plan on binging, but the finishing of school, coupled with some external motivations (the revisiting of a prophetic word from Frankfurt, Rob Bell’s lecture & my desire to continue developing my reference base) led to a purchase of several books from the Bell recommended reading list – so far, I’ve gone through:

We’re sitting in the living room (or is the family room? How can you tell which is which?) watching the skies over our house filled time & time again with almost constant flashes of lightning. Thunder booms. It’s the first real thunderstorm that I can remember in a long, long time. It’s Moby & PJ’s first one – they’re… concerned. Me too, though I’m attempting to be strong for the Weez.

Got around to looking at the “Duffy cam” & the weather overview of our area looks so non-threatening. It belies the furor in the air.

I’m pondering the lyric to “How Great Thou Art” – because rolling thunder is pretty stinking scary to me. The other things the author mentions are kinda awe-inspiring, but the thunder drives me under the bed.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, the Stargate SG-1 & Stargate Atlantis season premiere’s are on tonight. Good times. Plus, for those of you (OPE?) that would like more information on the world of Stargate than you ever knew you needed, you can check out:

Intro to Stargate

You’ll thank me later.

I’m done. Reached

THE END

of my undergraduate career.

Next?

its 11:25 as I type this – no blog during school today, as I couldn’t bring myself to type anything whilst I was agonizing over the idea of Geologic Surface Structure. I’m studying for my final Final – the last test I’ll have to take before the University of Nevada says that I have successfully completed my course of study at their institution, resulting in a degree.

Someone asked me what happens or changes once I graduate. Good question – to me, its an accomplishment that I waited about 12 years for the opportunity to resume… I’m not going anywhere; no job change; not looking to continue higher ed at the U of N. Just… done.

I’m hoping for some good coffee tomorrow; not really looking past that, though I do know that I am down to my final 2 days of class, w/just 1 lab remaining… All fo this will be completed as of 10:10 a.m. on Thursday, 7/13.

Friday night, the Bean, me, & some buddies piled into the EX & drove to Sacramento for a lecture. You may be wondering why, after enduring dr. brimley’s endless summer days, I would intentionally subject myself to YET ANNUDAH lecture, its because it was to listen to one of the more engaging speakers I’ve encountered: Rob Bell, the teaching pastor of Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (I totally kiped this picture of him from the blog of someone else that attended.)

The two hour lecture began in the ancient, near-Eastern Hebrew poetry known as Genesis 1, navigated subatomic particles, a visit to Flatland, the significance of numbers to Hebrews, SpongeBob, the myth of “the secular” & how, inevitably, humans degenerate into weighing their ultimate worth by what they are able to produce (what they do…) Bottom line, we have been made in God’s image, & that means something – part of which isn’t discovered until we learn to Sabbath.

The phrase that keeps bouncing around my noggin is: “God didn’t make us as Human Do-ings, but as Human Beings. It’s only in obeying God’s instruction for rest, play, & re-creation that we truly can be the humans we’re created to be.”

Another one is: “to be human is to be spiritual; there is no separation between secular & spiritual – everything is spiritual. We’re created to do all we do, words & actions, to the glory & honor of Christ.

I’m betting that this lecture will be a) turned into a book; b) put out on DVD; c) both. The vast amount of material discussed bears several re-visitis. In the meantime, I’m stewing on the Do-ing vs. Being, especially because the next place we’re going at Hillside (September & October) is into exploring the Sabbath rest.

Today, I’ve learned that in an earthquake, a jar of peaches is not as good as a can of peaches. Why, you might ask? Because a jar of peaches is made of a container of glass, which is breakable. Cans are made of a metal alloy, (tin?) which is more resistant to breakage. Too true, too true.

3 more days. 2 more labs. 1 test. I’m not counting test day as a class day, as the test will take no more than 30 minutes, no double counting.