Licensed Faith

Shawn Byrne's Statement of Faith

Monuments bearing the Ten Commandments and crosses have been barred by courts.  Christmas songs and the colors red and green are banned from schools, just like prayer.  If you think the anti-Christian element has already attacked anything worth attacking, guess again.

The separation of church and state issue recently slithered into a new nook.  This time the victimized Christian stood his ground,valiantly fought his way through the courts -  and won!

As reported by the Associated Press, Shawn Byrne of West Rutland, VT requested a vanity license plate reading "JN36TN," which was a slightly cryptic reference to John 3:16.  It's meaning was clear as a bell - and offensive - to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, which rejected the application in 2004.

Byrne appealed the decision to a federal judge in Burlington who sided with the DMV.  He then went even further to the three judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City.  The court wrote Vermont's "law impermissibly restricts expression from a religious viewpoint and thus violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment."

Shawn can now display his faith on his automobile license plate.  Considering the legal expenses, he now possesses one of the most expensive license plates in history.

We're supposed to believe the state was acting in good faith on behalf of its aggrieved citizens  and that the funds spent by the Attorney General to fight the case in Burlington and Manhattan were justified.  After all, scatalogical (a $50 word for obscene) topics, racial slurs, and references to illegal drugs or genitalia are also banned from plates.  The state seems to think expressions of Christian faith are similar.

According to Annie Youderian of the Courthouse News Service, the state argued the purpose of the ban on religious license plates was to prevent the "distraction and disruption (that would) result from controversial speech and avoid giving the impression the state endorses such speech."   To most people John 3:16 offers hope, but apparently the state thinks that to Vermonters they're fighting words.  And the chances of anybody accusing the State of Vermont of endorsing Chrisitianity are remote.

You wonder what planet they're on when they come up with this stuff.

The state showed flexibility on occasion, allowing "GENESIS" to be used provided the driver said it didn't refer to the Bible but to Phil Collins's old rock band.  As long as Christians could finesse their plates with double meanings and lie to the DMV about the intent they could be approved.  One of the appeal judges observed that Byrne could have gotten the plate if he said his name was John, he's 36 and from Tennessee.

But he walked the walk, didn't lie and won a rare victory for his faith.

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Photo Credit:  Burlington.com

American Christmas



My wife, Lisa, and me at Stockbridge



In old Europe Christmas was a time of celebration when the constant threat of hunger was temporarily dashed by feasts.  Lords and ladies ate venison while the deer's "humbles" - heart, liver, tongue, ears, feet and brains - were given to the poor to make "humble pie."  Commoners would go door to door "wassailing" (essentially legitimized begging) asking the wealthy to give them food and drink.

Caroling, which included dancing, was popular and pantomime plays that often included comic cross-dressing were staged.  Holly was an iconic decoration because the sharp points on its leaves were reminiscent of the crown of thorns and because its white berries, which turned red, symbolized Christ's blood.

The Puritans objected to Christmas celebrations because they considered them to be unbiblical.  They felt the Catholic Church had superimposed the event onto the pagan winter solstice festival and adopted its customs.  Consequently, they believed celebrating the holiday jeopardized their own salvation.

Partly to escape this, the Puritans fled to America and brought their animus against Christmas celebrations with them.  This was serious business:  celebrating the birth of Jesus was actually banned in Boston.  Until the late 19th century most New Englanders were descended from the Puritans, inherited the beliefs and kept Christmas mundane.

In the 1800's America was rapidly industrializing and the family became a place of refuge from the outside world.  Christmas was seen as a way to bring families together and the exchange of presents among family members became common.  The holiday evolved to include festive meals, Christmas trees, decorations, gift giving and....fruitcake!  Christmas has been an official national holday since 1870 and is even celebrated in Boston.

Immigrants brought their old country traditions over and the changes continued.  The Christmas tree was introduced by Germans and became popularized  by Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert, who occupied the British throne  but were of German descent.  Other nationalities enriched the mix with their own practices.

Norman Rockwell painted America as we see it in our hearts.  One of  his pieces is "Main Street at Christmas" and it depicts downtown Stockbridge, MA.  My wife and I visited the town's annual re-creation of the scene.  Vintage cars lined the street, a Christmas tree was displayed in Rockwell's old studio, a 1955 Mercury Montclair with a newly cut tree on its roof sat in front of the stately Red Lion Inn.  A crowd packed tiny Saint Paul's Church to hear high schoolers perform and Santa Claus arrived on a firetruck.  The Londontown Carolers, dressed in 19th century garb, sang traditional songs.  Everyone was in good cheer.

But thinking back, I don't recall any reference to Jesus.  I love Christmas, even the secular traditions, because it all reminds me of Christ.  He is the reason for the season.  But if we magically transported a Puritan into today's Stockbridge, I can imagine him surveying the situation and saying, "See what I mean?"

Have a wonderful Christmas and remember that we've already been given the greatest gift of all.

To see the painting "Main Street at Christmas" please click on http://www.stockbridgechamber.org/christmas.html

Christmas Cheer

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Even though Christmas is under siege each year, many traditions are as popular as ever and are rarely criticized.  One of these is the giant Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

Construction workers erected the first tree just after clearing the ground for the center in 1931.  In Great Fortune: The History of Rockefeller Center, Daniel Okrent notes the 20-foot tree was decorated with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans."  Others say tin foil from blasting caps was used, too.

It's more involved now.  The tree is usually a Norway Spruce between 75 and 100 feet tall and it must be well proportioned.  Since trees growing in forests generally aren't proportional, the chosen tree has usually been planted for ornamentation and given the space to grow symetrically.  Rockefeller Center personnel have scouted for prospects  in the Northeast and Canada from helicopters for years.

The tree is donated - no compensation is offered - and loaded onto a telescoping trailer.  Then it's driven to the city and hauled through its concrete canyons.  Since the load is over double the length of a typical trailer, it's a nightmare cargo but it always makes it through.

The tree is usually around 50 years old, about halfway through its life expectancy.  But it goes out in style, with 30,000 lights on 5 miles of wire.  It's topped by the 9'6," 550 pound Swarovski Star and enjoys several weeks as the grand attraction in the Big Apple.

But it's just one element of a New York Christmas.  Radio City Music Hall does its spectacular annual Christmas Show.  Although heavy with toy soldiers, Santa Claus and Rockettes routines, it also features a living nativity.

Macy's toy department at Christmas is a hoot because they hire out of work actors to hawk gifts.  One year they sold Little Red Riding Hood cloth dolls.  At first, the doll is Red in a long-skirted dress.  But invert the doll, pull the skirt down over Red's head and grandmother appears!  Then - and this is the climax of the show - flip grandma's bonnet over her face to reveal the back of her head and...it's the Big Bad Wolf!!  The guy pitching it had us in stitches.

These are largely secular expressions of Christmas.  Even so, it's good to see that these traditions seem safe from conflict.  Despite the commercialization, they're still based on a celebration of Christianity and you'd have to be monumentally obtuse not to see it.

Christmas is all around us.  My hometown still puts up a creche on public property, the town I live in decorates a tree on the common and wherever I go, when I say "Merry Christmas" it's happily returned with a smile.  The ACLU, headquartered in NYC, can go broke trying to stamp out Christmas but many see them as misguided, intolerant, mean spirited grinches.  Try as they might, they can't eliminate the faith that's dyed into America's fabric.

Instead of focusing on the critics, let's appreciate that millions of us freely, openly and joyfully show love of Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Photo credit:  offbroadway.broadwayworld.com

Mel

     

The play Jekyll and Hyde is about a kind man,  Dr. Henry Jekyll, who becomes obsessed with man's nature of good and evil and questions whether they can be separated.  He creates a potion that splits them apart and injects himself with it.  His evil side - Mr. Edward Hyde - takes over his body and transforms Jekyll into a disheveled menace with extraordinary strength and energy.  He stalks the city, commits murders and relishes the power of unfettered evil.  In the end, the transformations begin happening spontaneously so Jekyll kills himself to end the terror.

The acting, singing, musical score, choreography and orchestra were stellar and made for a great evening.  It was staged in the old high school auditorium in Ludlow, MA by the Exit 7 Players, a regional theatre company.  Ben Ashley performed the role of Jekyll/Hyde and received a standing ovation.  Ben's day job is installing security systems.

The duality of the human personality is undeniable.  Christianity chalks it up to Satan who, depending on the church you belong to, is either a living presence or the name for the "Mr. Hyde" part of our psyche.  In either case, it crystallizes our struggle between good and evil.  Depending on personality, upbringing, stress, peer pressure, occupation and a million other factors Satan can - and does - cause even strong Christians to fall short of their ideals.

Actor Mel Gibson financed and directed the movie The Passion of the Christ. When Jesus is nailed to the cross, Gibson's hand holds the spike to signify his own sinful nature. Because of its huge success and Christian subject matter many felt others would seek to damage Gibson's career.

He was subsequently arrested for DUI, spewed anti-Semitic slurs, screamed insults and threats at his ex-girlfriend and was investigated for domestic violence.  As his image crumbled my wife thought the media was "making him look crazy."  I noted that Mel always looked crazy, in the best possible way, and it was part of his charm.  Maybe that wild glint in his eyes is a window into a monumental struggle with Satan.  It's possible he's been out of control all along but an adoring press and film industry quashed it.  Maybe making a Christian movie did go too far and he became a target.

Gibson could only have made The Passion of the Christ if he genuinely had faith.  This doesn't excuse his conduct.  As a Christian he can ask forgiveness, work to change his behavior, be forgiven and move on.  But he does seem to be in a turbulent struggle with evil and, like other Christians, sometimes darkness wins.

Mel's fall is a gift to a media that enjoys reporting hypocrisy as though it gives lie to Christianity.  They miss the point that our faith has ideals we aspire to but fall short of.  Gibson's failure to live up to them speaks to his humanity, not his faith's viability.  Mr. Hyde lives in all of us and Christians work to control him through Christ.  Fortunately, our transgressions aren't usually subject to eager public finger-pointing like Mel's are.

Photo credit:  hollywoodjesus.com

Miner Miracle



The Chilean Miners awaiting rescue



The 33 miners were hoisted up after being trapped 2,000 feet underground for 69 days.  They survived on a teaspoon of tuna per day and drank oil-tainted water for 17 days with no sign of rescue.  Then a small drill poked through the ceiling.  After 30 failures, the drill reached them because topographer Macarena Valdes acted on a hunch and adjusted the drill angle one degree, a significant difference in a hole that deep.  Ms. Valdes calls it "75% science, 25% miracle."

It was "like being in a filthy sauna where the air is full of dirt" that caused burning eyes, coughing and "athlete's foot from hell" according to one miner.  The only light came from their helmets and truck headlights.  It was a spooky and scary environment, especially with new cave-ins continuing.

The miners, all wearing donated Oakley sunglasses, were met by a medical team with gurneys ready to whisk them into a makeshift hospital staffed by doctors and psychologists.  But once released from the rescue capsule they were alert, happy and active.  The second guy out, Mario Sepulveda, was ebullient as he strode among the crowd, hugged everybody in sight, led a cheer and passed out souvenir rocks. They practically needed tranquilizer darts to settle him down.  In an understatement, Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich said, "I have to humbly admit that the miners health is more than satisfactory."

How could this be?  Dr. Sheryl Bishop, a social psychologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, is an expert in survival in extreme conditions.  She theorized that clearing away debris to allow the rescue shaft to be drilled was key to their psychological well-being.  She said, "It gave them something concrete to do, and that gave them the psychological stamina to endure the wait."  It's also thought the emergence of leaders helped create cohesiveness that gave the miners hope.

Or maybe Christian faith had something to do with it.

Early on the miners requested 33 bibles.  Typical comments included, "There were moments when we thought we would not get out.  But there was always faith in God, that with His help we could be rescued," "We prayed and prayed.  It was a dark, black hole.  We were buried alive. We were all so scared.  We begged God to help us," "The devil was down there and so was God.  I didn't see either but I felt both.  They were in a battle for our souls.  And God won," and "We 33 miners are walking hand in hand with God."

Secular experts can theorize that hope came from leadership and shoveling rocks, but this makes little sense.  Try this:  the next time you're in a fix find a leader, move a pile of debris and see where it gets you.  Or keep in touch with God like the miners.  They don't have fancy degrees but they've got common sense and can tell you exactly where their hope and strength came from.

To see "Super Mario" Sepulveda's rescue please click on http://www.nowpublic.com/world/chile-miners-rescue-live-second-miner-mario-sepulveda

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American Exceptionalism

Plimouth Plantation recreates the Pilgrims' settlement.  A wood stockade surrounds dwellings inhabited by historically knowledgeable actors pretending to be Puritans.  Modern dress and devices fascinate them and you can find yourself struggling to explain how your camera works.  In my experience they never, ever come out of character.

They landed in Plymouth on December 26th at the start of a brutal winter that killed half of them. Those remaining drew on their faith, learned to survive and celebrated the first Thanksgiving the next fall.

Survival took bravery, resilience, determination, endurance, ingenuity and unremitting faith in God.  Other qualities sprang from their faith, including a work ethic, fairness, honesty, reliability, equality and personal responsibility.  These became traits of a nation built by generations of people who shared the same values.

Christianity was woven into the American character.  Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly, nor too often, that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."  Thomas Jefferson concurred:  "I have little doubt that the whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator, and, I hope, to the pure doctrines of Jesus also."  This mindset was codified in the U.S. Constitution.

Americans have the right to worship as they choose.  But whatever their faith, there's a Puritan ethic in the American psyche that crosses religious boundaries and it's been there from the beginning.  All presidents have paid homage to it, including Roman Catholic John F. Kennedy who said "God's work on earth must truly be our own."

It's called American Exceptionalism and faith in God is a primary component.  It's central to our national identity, but it's been under siege for decades.  Lawsuits seek to ban crosses from hilltops, Christian flags from cemeteries  and Christ from Christmas.

Why?

America has grown an entitlement culture that violates exceptionalist principles.  In order to justify this system its advocates challenge the very idea of exceptionalism, and this effort requires discrediting the Christian faith that provides its moral underpinnings.  The antagonism spawned in the universities, bled into politics and infected the press.  The apparent goal  is to delegitimize exceptionalism and Christian faith to enable secularists to supercede God as the ultimate authority.

A godless system has already been tried:  it's called communism.  The result is an elite that prospers while the rest of the population loses its freedom and becomes impoverished.  Stalin killed millions trying to create a master class; Mao's Cultural Revolution did the same.  This is less likely to happen when nations are tethered to God and not the whims of men.  Christians, for whom God is the ultimate authority, are inconvenient for secularists who wish to usurp God's position for themselves.

Ever since that winter in Plymouth generations of exceptional people have passed down faith in God, freedom  and an ethic that made America special.  But these are being whittled away by intelligent people who are either clueless about the ramifications of what they're doing or they're deliberately trying to install humans and their ideas in the place of God.

Either way, no good can come of it.

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Eat Mor Chikin



 The Holstein cows have a sense of humor. They dress up as construction workers, flower children, birthday partiers, cheerleaders, football players and shepherds.  A note on the wall of their clubhouse reminds members that September 24th is "Cow Tipping Awareness Day."

Chic-Fil-A Sales Representatives

They wear sandwich boards displaying messages like "Punt the burger, pass the chikin," "Lose that burger belly," "Take a vacashun from beef," and "Eat Mor Chikin."  The spelling needs help but it's been an effective self-serving effort to reduce the number of cows who get eaten.

It's the advertising campaign for Chick-Fil-A, the second largest quick-service chicken purveyor in the U.S.A.  The company is privately owned and infused with the Christian faith of its owners.  Chick-Fil-A's purpose statement reads "That we may glorify God by being a faithful steward in all that is entrusted to our care, and that we might have a positive influence on all the people we come in contact with."

Company president Dan Cathy spoke at Colorado Christian University.  Jean Torkelson reported on Cathy's remarks about staff selection and training. He said "We are a discriminatory employer - unashamedly."  The company interviews prospective employees intensively to determine their values, honesty, integrity, chemistry with others, competence, character and harmony with the company's values.  Forbes Magazine's Emily Schmall reports the company "wants married workers, believing they are more industrious and productive."  It's also an indicator of success: "If a man can't manage his own life, he can't manage a business."

Vetting can take a year and involves multiple interviews.  The company's training manager was initially interviewed seven times and rejected.  After reapplying and enduring 17 more interviews he was hired.  "Bureon Ledbetter, Chick-Fil-A's general counsel, says the company works hard to select people who "fit."  "We want operators who support the values here.""

""Those who (are selected) say they like the member-of-the-club feel. "It is very difficult to get in, but once you're in, you're in for life" says one franchisee. "I tell my people, "I'm not working for Chick-Fil-A, I'm working for the Lord."

The diligence in hiring is effective: only a 3% turnover rate among headquarters staff and store operators and 60% among hourly workers compared to the industry average of 107%.  For the right person with character, motivation but little money Chick-Fil-A offers the opportunity to become a franchisee for $5,000.  By comparison, KFC requires a million dollar net worth and $25,000 in cash.

Financial success has spawned charitable works including a college scholarship foundation, boys and girls camps, fourteen foster homes, and a family center offering marital conferences and programs for families.  All from treating customers with importance, providing service, friendliness, honesty and integrity, giving people encouragement (Cathy asks, "Do you know how to recognize a person who needs encouragement?  If they're breathing") and generally applying biblical principles that include being closed on Sundays.

Chick-Fil-A's extraordinary record demonstrates the effectiveness of timeless biblical concepts in today's fast-paced, technological and demanding business environment.

To meet the cows go to www.chick-fil-a.com then click on "The Cows"


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Modern Martyr

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

What's a peaceful, loving Christian to do when he sees evil?  Mennonites and Quakers are committed pacifists who won't respond with violence.  Churches under Hitler became docile wards of the government that stayed silent to preserve their safety.  But German theologian Deitrich Bonhoeffer saw things differently.

Joseph Loconte, reviewing the book Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas in The Wall Street Journal notes that amidst the capitulation of churches in the Third Reich, the 27 year-old Bonhoeffer "challenged the legitimacy of a regime that contravened the tenets of Christianity."  He believed German churches were obligated to help the victimized even if they weren't Christians.  He also believed Christians should go further and stop the political/military machine that was persecuting them.

Bonhoeffer was a pacifist until he saw the evil around him and decided to fight it.  He wrote, "Only at the cost of self-deception can observant Christians preserve a facade of private blamelessness clean from the stains of responsible action in the world"  His pacifism withered when he was compelled to demonstrate love for his fellow man by stopping the carnage.

He became a double agent for a military intelligence agency that was home to anti-Hitler conspirators.  In addition to conveying information to the group of resisters, which was called the "Black Orchestra" by the Gestapo, he obtained falsified travel documents and met with foreign officials to pave the way for recognition of a new government once Hitler was deposed.

Bonhoeffer was arrested for misusing state funds to transport Jews out of Germany.  While he was officially charged with embezzlement, the arrest was part of an effort by the secret police to destroy the Black Orchestra.  Later, the Operation Valkyrie attempt to kill Hitler with a briefcase bomb narrowly failed and led to the frenzied elimination of anti-Reich elements.  Still imprisoned, Pastor Bonhoeffer's involvement in the conspiracy was uncovered. He was given a perfunctory military trial and sentenced to death.  Like other conspiracy leaders he was stripped and hung from a meat hook on a noose of piano wire as the executions were filmed and used to warn others.

An observer said,"At the place of execution, he said a short prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed...In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God."

Bonhoeffer had stood at a crossroad in Nazi Germany.  Should he stick with his pacifism or actively resist evil that was destroying millions of lives?  He justified Christian resistance this way: "Before other men he is justified by necessity, before himself he is acquitted by his conscience, but before God he hopes only for grace."

God is graceful, and knowing Dietrich Bonhoeffer's heart He no doubt lovingly embraced him.


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Godless Morality

Cotton-top Tamarin Monkeys

Science - hard nosed, quantifiable indisputable science - is the Holy Grail of popular culture.  Intellectuals seek status, fame and fortune by debunking previously held notions and replacing what they've destroyed with something they've found.  It's presented as truth and accepted as fact.

Dr. Marc Hauser, PH.D. was a renowned scholar at Harvard University in the field of evolutionary psychology.  He theorized that morality is the result of evolutionary processes rather than being given by God.

He co-authored "Godless Morality" with Peter Singer in 2006, stating "It is important for us to be aware of the universal set of moral intuitions so that we can reflect on them and, if we choose, act contrary to them.  We can do this without blasphemy, because it is our own nature, not God, that is the source of our morality."

In other words, even though these "moral intuitions" theoretically developed for good reason over eons, it's OK to violate them because they're not from God.  It's impressive that moral relativism, where morals are personal and subjective, is supported by such an elite source.

Well, not so elite anymore.  Hauser somehow supported his theory by watching endangered cotton-top monkeys, little critters about the size of a squirrel.  He was convicted of scientific misconduct in 2010 by Harvard after it was proved he had manipulated data.  The dishonesty was revealed when graduate students under his tutelage suspected fraud and blew the whistle.

The case became known because it was partially  federally funded (who knows why the feds would fund this, but that's another question) and the agency made it public.  Otherwise, according to Michael D. Smith, Dean of Harvard's faculty of Arts and Sciences, the usual sanctions could have included:

1.  Correcting the papers called into question.

2.  Involuntary leave.

3.  Additional oversight on other research.

4.  Restricting applications for research grants.

5.  Restricting contact with students.

Notice that publicizing the conduct isn't on the list.

Harvard considers sanctions for scientific misconduct to be confidential, so in non-federally funded studies fraudulent papers are quietly corrected, penalties are secret and the public is left believing the publicized original conclusions.

In the end, Hauser's predispositon against faith will undoubtedly find voice at Harvard or whatever other academic institution hires him.  And those who naively believe he's objective will be nudged toward skepticism of God.

Colleges tend to be anti-faith hotbeds.  If Harvard University buries wrongdoing out of sight, you have to wonder how much other "hard nosed, quantifiable, indisputable" - but biased and wrong - notions about faith enjoy credibility from academic communities.

All of this is apparently OK when you construct morals that ignore God. The institutions might even justify their slap-on-the-wrist mentality by seeing such violations as victimless crimes.  After all, the only thing damaged is the truth.

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Role Reversal

Like other players in the National Football League, Plaxico Burress sometimes pointed skyward after scoring a touchdown.  Amidst the crowd's cheers it was a silent show of respect to God and a departure from the self-absorbed antics of some peers.

In February, 2008 Plax scored the last-minute game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII.  He was a champion at the top of his game and was showered with adoration in a Manhattan ticker tape (actually "computer printout") parade with the rest of his team.  I was there with my son, Drew, and thousands of other fans.

Nine months later he stuck a loaded .40-caliber handgun in the elastic waistband of his sweat pants and went drinking at the Latin Quarter nightclub.  He shot himself in the thigh when the weapon accidentally discharged, ending both his season and his career with the New York Giants.

Worse, he had violated gun laws and was sentenced to two years in prison.  At Rikers Island he was greeted with the jeers of inmates who yelled insults as he was put into protective custody.  As Laura Italiano and Kevin Fasick of the New York Post wrote, he "got a zero's welcome."  Cheers to jeers, hero to zero: a classic role reversal.

Players like this can present a problem for the press and for Christians.  Reporters are reluctant to report on matters of faith partly because they're not sure how serious players are about it.  And it's difficult for the faithful to explain hypocritical behavior by ersatz "Christians."

Burress exemplifies this.  After scoring the Super Bowl touchdown he knelt, pointed up to God and later gave glory to Him for helping him overcome his knee, ankle and back problems.  But his long history of being late for team meetings, missing practice, nonpayment of debts and taxes, numerous motor vehicle violations, twice being slapped with restraining orders by his wife, and various other episodes had put him in the "not sure how serious his faith is" category.

When reporters know their subjects have genuine faith they often acknowledge it.  Kurt Warner, a two-time NFL MVP is one.  So are coaches Tony Dungee, Lovey Smith and Mike Singletary.  They're all self-effacing guys whose faith defines who they are.  They walk the walk and are respected for it.

"Walking the walk" impresses people even if they don't understand it.  Christians who live their faith are its best representatives because they exemplify higher standards.  On the other hand, those who claim to be Christian but behave otherwise are either frauds or are in a struggle to overcome their weaknesses.  In either case, they don't represent the faith.  Generally, the longer we're Christians the closer we follow the ideals.  If Plax is really a Christian he's more toward the "beginner" end than Kurt, Tony, Lovey or Mike.

The sporting press was fair in not publicizing Plax's purported faith earlier on and also in refraining from taking cheap shots at Christianity later.  Our hats should be off to them.

Burress's winning catch and gestures to God can be viewed at http://vodpod.com/watch/949227-plaxico-burress-superbowl-touchdown

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Daily Show Science

The Daily Show is a hugely popular program on the Comedy Network.  It stars Jon Stewart who is a witty, smart, cool creator/reflector of popular culture.

Morgan Freeman appeared as a guest promoting Through the Wormhole, the show he narrates on the Discovery Channel.  Mr. Freeman is among almost everybody's top five actors because of roles in The Shawshank Redemption, Driving Miss Daisy, Unforgiven, Bruce Almighty and many others.  He won an Oscar for Million Dollar Baby.

Part of the interview went like this:

Stewart:  "They talk about how there's five times the amount of dark matter and dark energy in the universe than there is regular matter and energy, but what the hell does that mean?"

Freeman:  "Exactly."

Stewart:  "What do they tell you?"

Freeman:  "This is where we get into the God part of it.  You know, whatever scientists don't know becomes a God factor."

Stewart:  "And they will even say that?"

Freeman:  "Yeah, we get to the point when we say, "Well, we don't know how that happens."

Stewart:  "And they say well maybe it's..."

Freeman:  "...the God factor."

Stewart:  "So after all these years and the incredibly sophisticated tools that we use to scour the skies, they just come back to, basically, "I think the Sun God did it?""

Freeman:  "Basically."

Stewart's line got a chuckle from the audience, but Morgan wasn't laughing.  He knows many scientists believe in God and "the God factor" is one of the reasons. 

This condescending mockery is typical of people who dismiss faith without thinking it through.  Stewart should consider the Anthropic Principle that states the universe is set up to enable us to exist and if it were set up any differently, we wouldn't be here.

For example,  the timing of Earth's rotation coupled with its distance from the Sun is necessary for liquid water (instead of ice or steam) to exist.  We've also learned that the intensities of gravity, electromagnetism and nuclear forces are critical;  our hospitable environment would vanish if any of them were even slightly different.  The list of factors is lengthy and continues to grow.

Skeptics contend our environment is a random confluence of directionless elements that happened to lead to life.  But there are many thousands of these factors, from the water cycle to atomic half-lives to sound wavelengths that must be just right.  Is it really believable that a universe perfectly designed for us "just happened?"

You can't even bake a cake without directing the right ingredients, mixture, heat and time in the oven.  But people like Jon Stewart think it's plausible to believe our finely tuned universe assembled all by itself.

It would have been interesting if Mr. Freeman had responded, "No, Jon, the Sun God didn't create the universe.  The God of the Universe did.  Think about it and let me know if you come up with a more sensible answer."

The interview can be seen at www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/06/morgan-freeman-explains-wormholes-dark-matter-and-time-itself/ 

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Freeman:

Ryder Cup Religion

Samuel Ryder was an English businessman who made a fortune packaging seeds in small packets and mailing them to workingmen who could afford the penny each packet cost.  Ryder was a devout Christian whose preacher suggested he play golf to get fresh air and improve his health.  He took it up at age 50 and became a six handicapper.

Ryder sponsored a number of tournaments including the famous Ryder Cup.  Each team - one from Europe and one from America - consists of 12 golfers who compete in 28 matches over three days.  Team USA automatically includes the year's top eight players along with four more selected by the team captain.

The current team is laden with serious Christians including Captain Corey Pavin, Assistant Captain Tom Lehman, Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Zach Johnson and Stewart Cink.  All regularly attend a weekly Christian devotional group which is usually held in a hotel event room and draws up to 100 participants.  According to John Paul Newport writing in The Wall Street Journal and quoting Christian golfer Paul Azinger, "'It's non-denominational, very comfortable, very easy, and anyone is welcome - wives, caddies, media people, guests, anyone who wants to come.'  It's more like a traveling church for tour participants who hope to be otherwise occupied on Sunday mornings, the traditional time for church, playing in the final round of that week's event."

In England the players' faith has drawn ire.  For example, "After Zach Johnson won the 2007 Masters, he said 'Being Easter, my goal was to glorify God, and hopefully I dd that today.'  Some European media outlets made cracks. 'Another American winner, another sermon,' said the Times of London.  The Daily Telegraph wrote..."(S)tatements suggesting Jesus was there at his shoulder and therefore not "looking after" the other 60 competitors seem a bit presumptuous."  The complaint is that Christians consider themselves somehow special.

Lehman, who the British press once called "Saint Tom," responded, "I know that's the message that comes across sometimes.  To be told you're somehow missing something, or inferior, or that somebody else is more favored than you, that can be really aggravating and infuriating.  It's perceived as arrogance or pride.  But I don't know anybody who intends to make that impression."

Mr. Newport, the WSJ writer, puts it this way:  "From my experience as someone who grew up in an evangelical Christian home but has lived most of his adult life in a secular milieu, one of the most unfathomable parts of born-again Christianity for the uninitiated is often the deeply personal nature of believers' relationship with their God.  God is not a vague concept but an everyday, particular presence in their lives.  So when a devout Christian athlete thanks God after winning something, it's not so much of a stretch as it might appear to some."

The Christian view is summed up by Fowler's golf  balls, which are marked "4:13" for a verse in Philippians:  "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

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Twistians

The Oxford English Dictionary has 20 volumes and over 300,000 entries.  According to Max Davidson in the Canadian National Post, a committee looks at thousands of possibilities and approves new entries four times a year.

Fiona McPherson, a Senior Editor at Oxford, notes "words have to pass a few basic tests before they can be deemed to have entered the language.  They have to have been around a reasonable amount of time and be in common use."

Recent rejects include:

Blogish  A variety of English that uses a large number of initialisms (think texting).

Earworm  A catchy tune that gets stuck in your head.

Fumb  Your big toe.

Nonversation  A pointless chat.

Here's one they didn't review:

Twistian  (twis'chen) n.  1.  One who manipulates Christianity to justify un-Christian personal, political or cultural biases.  2.  A person or publication that reports stories about twistians (see 1.) without challenging the veracity of their claims.  3.  A person or publication that selectively reports information putting Christianity in a poor light while downplaying other aspects of a story that would provide a balanced account.

Last week's aborted Quran burning is loaded with twistianity.  Pastor Terry Jones is virulently anti-Islamic, which is his right.  But it's not right to use his church as a platform to throw gasoline on a cultural fire.  Loving your enemies and practicing the Golden Rule are elemental Christian ideals ignored by Mr. Jones.  The National Baptist Convention's Julius Scruggs, the Vatican and most other Christians condemned his event, but he didn't call it off until he received world-wide coverage and got interviewed on the Today Show.

Jones could have burned the books as a private citizen, but that wouldn't have gotten as much attention.  Instead, he exploited a faith of peace by inflaming passions, endangering soldiers and enabling the media to present a jaundiced view of Christians.  He touched a nerve in people who've been absorbing Islamic taunts for years but failed to convey a cogent message while he and the Christian faith were pilloried.

Columnist Mona Charen observed, "(Jones) became news because he fulfilled a need for the press.  They had to have another side to the ground zero mosque story.  Why?  Because members of the press are total suckers for "both sidesism."  There is nothing they like better in a news story than to present two conflicting views and to announce that "both sides" are guilty of provocation, mistrust, violence or bad faith."

Charen notes, "A significant minority of Muslims is on a hair trigger for violence and murder.  Everyone knows this."  The media's effort to cast a misguided book burner as emblematic of a Christian faith that's the equally culpable "other side" of a conflict with Islam is truly twisted.

It was a perfect storm:  a twistian preacher and an even more twistian media.

"Twistian" isn't in the dictionary since I just made it up.  But it should be:  there are plenty of twistians out there, especially professional ones in the press.

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High Flight

Back in ancient times television was broadcast over the airwaves and was only on until 1:00AM.  At that magic hour the local station would air a signoff message before shutting the transmitter off, leaving the TV showing only the irritating static we called "snow."  A favorite piece was called  High Flight, which showed a silver military jet dancing across the sky as the narrator spoke these words:

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence.  Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand
And touched the face of God.
Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee, Jr.  RCAF
Killed December 11, 1941

Viewers watched this many times and often knew the words by heart, but it was too compelling to turn off.  Closeups showed the pilot as he fought the glare of the sun and flew among the clouds.  When the deep, rich voice says, "Up, up the long delirious burning blue" the sleek airplane spirits up above the clouds to the sound of moving orchestral music.

It's great imagery, especially the part about the pilot putting out his hand and touching "the face of God."  These words are spoken with emphasis while the music transitions to a reverent male chorus whose singing is punctuated by bells.  It was moving to see the pilot in the place mankind has imagined God to be for thousands of years.  As the poem says, he's in a place of "high untrespassed sanctity" which is certainly the kind of place where we expect to see God.  The signoff offered a comforting thought to take to bed:  the idea that someday we will touch the face of God.

There was an implied message in the airing of this piece and the roles of science and technology  in making it possible.  It was this:  no matter how advanced mankind becomes, God is real and He transcends everything.  The man in his airplane didn't challenge God - he stood in awe of Him.  It was simultaneously humbling, uplifting and comforting as it validated the faith of most Americans.

In the pre-cable days there were three major broadcast networks and High Flight could be seen on all of them.  Now the networks never sleep and there's no need for signoffs anymore.  But one has to wonder, with the hundreds of commercial networks today, how many would dare to air High Flight if they ever did need to sign off.

High Flight can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzQYd_INSOg&NR=1&feature=fvwp

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DC Revival

My cousin Dave and I walked down toward the Lincoln Memorial.  It was around 9:30AM, it was already getting hot and the foot traffic was becoming more dense and slow-moving.  It converged on the sidewalk around the Washington Monument, which is on a hill overlooking the Reflecting Pool.  At the other end of the pool Lincoln's statue gazed down on Americans assembled shoulder to shoulder with a sense of shared purpose.

We couldn't get close enough to see the stage but there was a jumbotron on the other side of the trees.  We went there with thousands of others from all over the country.

The "Restoring Honor" rally was conceived by Glenn Beck, the controversial radio and TV personality who  talks largely about politics.  But the event avoided political topics for its 3-1/2 hour duration.  Military heroes were honored for their sacrifices and Americans who exemplified the touchstones of hope, faith and charity spoke.

It was August 28, 2010 - exactly 47 years after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech on the same steps.  Dr. King was warmly remembered for his dream that his four young children would "live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."  His niece, Alveda King, fondly spoke of "Uncle Martin" and attendees applauded when his name was invoked by speakers of various colors.

Christian preachers like Dr. King drove the civil rights movement, but since that time Christianity has been ridiculed, slandered and attacked.  Secular Humanism, which denies God and believes man's reason is sufficient, has replaced faith as our philosophical paradigm.

Where has this gotten us?  Out of wedlock births have exploded.  Frivolous lawsuits have replaced reconciliation, forgiveness and fairness.  The idea that sometimes things happen that aren't anyone's fault has fallen victim to the notion that there's always a victim.  A crazy quilt of business, racial, sexual, union, environmental and other interest groups narrow-mindedly fights for government favor without regard for the greater good.  Teachers fear lawsuits for either disciplining students or supportively touching them.  Regulations have crippled the ability of businesses to compete and wrecked entire industries.  Politicians spend billions on problems that can't be solved by money.  And we've been splintered  to the point where many people see ethnicity as more important than country or faith.

The result?  First moral, and now fiscal, bankruptcy.

We went to Washington, DC to express our disagreement with the government's actions and were surprised the rally turned into a religious revival.  But think about it:  Beck is right.  The result of man's ruling according to his own opinions without the guidance of a greater power is clear.  It has failed.

At the end of the program hundreds of thousands of people sang Amazing Grace together.  It was a moving moment that made you wonder  what would happen if the rest of the country had the same mindset.


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Cordoba House

Islamists hope to build a thirteen-story mosque 600 feet from Ground Zero.  It would be named 'Cordoba House' after the Great Mosque of Cordoba, which was built to commemorate the Muslim conquest of Spain.  Islamists historically build mosques at conquered sites, and the symbolism of a mosque that close to the WTC attack is well understood by Muslims.

Despite the raw nerve exposed by the proposal, officials and commentators are falling over each other to promote it and congratulate themselves on their self-righteous tolerance.

Tolerance seems to be a one way street.  Saudia Arabia built the largest mosque in Europe near the Vatican but won't allow any church within its borders, even though 800,000 Christians live there.  They also forbid celebrating non-Muslim holidays and wearing crosses.

Egyptian mobs assault Christians with impunity, sometimes after being whipped up by an imam exhorting them to cleanse the city of infidels.  The police invariably show up afterward and coerce the wounded into accepting a "reconciliation" that precludes prosecution of the attackers.

According to Moheb Zaki in The Wall Street Journal, Al-Azhar is "the world's preeminent Sunni Islamic Institution."  It teaches that "Christianity (is) a pagan religion;" "killing a Muslim is punishable by death, but if a Muslim kills a non-Muslim he is not subject to capital punishment since the superior cannot be punished for killing the inferior;" and "the compensation for manslaughter for a woman is half that for a man, but for a Christian or a Jew it is one-third of a Muslim."

Some Muslims also suffer from intolerance.  A Saudi court sentenced a young man to 90 lashes and four months in jail for kissing a girl.  In Iran homosexuals and adulterous women are executed by stoning.  They're wrapped head to toe in a white shroud and buried waist-deep in the center of a 30-foot circle of men who hurl fist-sized rocks at them.  Death is slow and torturous.

Apologists blame extremists but moderates can be dicey, too.  After 9/11 The New York Times reported that American Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki "is held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West."  The NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams highlighted an "American-Muslim lifestyle network" founded by banker Muzzamil Hassan and his wife Aasiya.  Its mission was to counter negative images of Islam on television.

Al-Awlaki later mentored the Fort Hood killer, the Christmas Day bomber, and the Times Square bomber.  The Hassan's marriage ended when she filed for divorce and he beheaded her.  None of them ultimately behaved with moderation.

Cordoba House supporters condescendingly claim to reject bigotry.  But the Muslim sense of superiority and scorn for Christianity and America are clear.  Even a cursory look shows that the Muslims are the bigots - and they're proud of it.

Our "sophisticated" elites are oblivious to the obvious.  If they're concerned about human rights, they should stop kowtowing to Islam and embrace Christianity.   It's time they recognized human rights rest on a Christian foundation that's held in contempt by Muslims.


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Mr. Tom

Delmar, NY is in the verdant Catskill Mountains not far from the mighty Hudson River.  It's an upscale village that's been declared one of America's best communities.  Kabul, Afghanistan is different.  It's too dry to grow much vegetation and its river is just  trickle most of the year.  It has only a passing acquaintance with the modern world.

Tom Little, an optometrist from Delmar, went to Kabul in the 1970's and spent most of the next thirty years treating Afghans.  He and his wife Libby raised three daughters there as Tom supervised clinics for the International Assistance Mission.  This quiet, shy man learned the local language and wove himself into the community he was committed to helping.  They lovingly called him "Mr. Tom."

Little trekked into the treacherous mountains to serve shepherds, subsistence farmers and their families.  Many had never seen a doctor, let alone an optometrist or dentist.  On his last trip he led a team that included a surgeon, dentist and nurse. Dr. Karen Woo, the surgeon, asked NBC if she could bring a camera on the trip but they thought it was too dangerous and wouldn't give her one.

NBC was right.  After two weeks of hiking between villages the team was stopped by the Taliban.  As reported by NPR, "Little shouted, "Who are you?"  The attackers hit Little on the back of the head with a gun.  He fell down and they shot him."  They killed everyone in the party except for one Afghan who begged for mercy while reciting verses from the Quran.

The survivor reported "the attackers were very happy - even dancing with each other."  They said they killed them because they were "spies who tried to convert Muslims."  Nobody who knew the victims believed this.  IAM has been a registered Christian organization with the Afghan government since arriving there in 1966.  IAM Director Dirk Frans explained "Our faith motivates us but we do not proselytize.  We abide by the laws of Afghanistan" that make proselytizing illegal.

If Mr. Tom opened minds to a loving faith it was by providing a Christian example.  Jennifer Gish of timesunion.com noted, "Tom Little knew the dangers, he'd lived them through three decades, but the man who brought eye care to the most remote places of Afghanistan couldn't see his life any other way."

His devout Christianity - the thing that drove him - deserved attention.  But it was ignored on Meet the Press when a panelist noted that "This is exactly what Hillary Clinton is trying to do.  More civilian projects."  Secretary Clinton called the victims "heroic, generous people."  Neither mentioned they were Christians or the fact they've been providing help without fanfare for decades.

Ms. Clinton eventually gave religion a plug: "Muslims around the world join people of other faiths in rejecting last week's murder of humanitarian workers in Afghanistan."  Based on what evidence?  The silence of the Islamic community is deafening.

And the disregarding of selfless, valiant Christan faith is appalling.

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Big Chill

The Big Chill leaves a different impression 27 years after its release.  The cast included soon-to-be stars Glen Close, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, Tom Berenger, Jeff Goldblum, JoBeth Williams and Meg Tilly.  It struck a chord with thirty-something baby boomers who related to the friendship, casual drug use, sexual disinhibition, differences between friends after years of traveling different paths, and the love of Motown music.

The college classmates are suddenly reunited when one of their group slashes his wrists and dies.  The opening scene shows a man being dressed - by an undertaker.  It's the sole appearance by Kevin Costner, whose face isn't shown and whose other scenes were cut by the director.  The group buries its friend and decides to stay together for the weekend.

The world was turbulent fifteen years earlier when they were in school with war, riots and assassinations. Protests, terrorist acts, the sexual revolution and drug use challenged "The Machine" and "The Man."  Like the characters in The Big Chill, many moviegoers had participated in demonstrations, gone to Vietnam, been told not to trust anyone over 30 and naively believed that their self-proclaimed moral superiority - and sheer numbers - would transform the world.

It went without notice that there was a dearth of good ideas about what to turn it into.

The deceased character, Alex, was the only rebel who didn't assimilate into society like the lawyer, businessman, journalist, housewives, actor and radio host.  His demise provoked reflection and introspection about the pragmatic roles they had assumed after jettisoning their idealism.

It's an entertaining movie, but today it just seems to be self-absorbed navel gazing.  One thing is clear:  despite their material successes these are empty people who have no idea where to turn for fulfillment. When the film ends they're reflexively destined to climb back on their respective treadmills.

At one point Alex's young girlfriend Chloe is asked about happiness.  She responds, "I haven't met that many happy people.  How do they act?"  If she had visited my church or one of thousands of other Christian churches,  she would have known.  She would have known because faith provides the hope and direction that secular life doesn't and it changes the lives of people who lack meaning, solid moral standards and hope for a future that transcends material wealth.

At the funeral a friend played Alex's favorite tune, "You Can't Always Get What You Want."  It's great, especially the way the organ music transitions into the french horn as the Rolling Stones sing the original.  What do we want?  Wealth?  Status? Power?  Alex apparently rejected all of these, searched for something else, found nothing and terminated his pointless life.  If he had found Christ his life would have had a purpose and Chloe would have known what a happy person looked like.

Maybe The Big Chill is what happens to a soul when spirituality succumbs to emptiness.

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Same Time Next Year

In 1969 I began my college career at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.  It was a fitful year that included dealing with newfound freedom, the ratcheting up of the Vietnam War, the institution of a lottery that determined who would be drafted to fight it, and adjustment to the academics (including the philosophy course that cost me my faith).  I didn't know anyone when I arrived so making friends was important, too.

Some friendships became life-long.  The following summer a bunch of us got together at my family's place in Massachusetts.  It's been an annual event ever since and a highlight on all our calendars.  We thought it was downright amazing  when we gathered for the tenth time; last weekend was the 41st.

We've lived most of our lives now.  Marriages, a divorce, kids, health problems, triumphs, failures, career changes, business partner problems, good times and hard times.  We've all lost parents and are concerned about those who are still with us.

For forty years we've charged into this weekend and had a great time just being together.  Competition has always been important.  Early on we played "touch" football, basketball and water polo; somewhere along the line we transitioned into golf.  Usually we're fired up and live in the moment for the whole extended weekend.

Things were a little different this year.  Instead of mentally reverting to the youngsters we were when we met, we've been cornered by reality.  George can't loosen up in the morning; Mark suggests yoga classes like the ones he takes to help this.  Nobody's short term memory is what it used to be; Neil swears by fish-free Algal-900 DHA for it.  Steve's been thinking about his own end of life and has his final resting place planned; my wife and I have been thinking about those arrangements, too.

We usually only see each other on this weekend, so we have time-lapse views of each other's lives devoid of day to day clutter.  Because of the way we fast-forward through life together, it seems like yesterday that we had a sense of indestructibility and boundless futures. But a heart attack, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, macular degeneration, cancer and the deaths of siblings have demolished the illusion of invincibility.

The end of this life is eventually, unavoidably coming.  The question is "Then what?"  My wife Lisa and I will cross into paradise and earthly difficulties will evaporate.  Only God and my friends know what's truly in their hearts and what's in store for them.

Christianity lets us see beyond the grave.  Its optimism and happy anticipation of the future - even after death - is a lifeline to the hereafter that's disregarded by far too many people.

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Entry closes on 7/31/10.




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Maz's Miracle

It was an amazing thing.  Mantle, Maris, Berra and all the other Yankees were on defense in the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the World Series.  The game was tied 9-9 when Ralph Terry delivered a slider to Pittsburgh's Bill Mazeroski, which Maz smacked over the left field wall to win the game.  It's the only time the World Series has been decided by a walk-off home run ("walk-off" means the game ends with the hit and the players walk off the field).

As recounted by John Moody in The Wall Street Journal, Pirates outfielder Gino Cimoli recalled they were "just a bunch of ordinary guys" who slew the invincible Yankees.  Pittsburgh had come from behind to clinch the pennant by winning 30 games in the last inning.  It was nerve-wracking:  "(Manager Danny) Murtaugh had a bum stomach and couldn't stand to watch the ninth in the dugout.  He'd go back to the locker room and drink Maalox."

They won the Series and it's celebrated every year.  Moody writes, "each October 13th, often in stinging sleet, a recording of the broadcast of that game is played in front of the last remnant of the Forbes Field wall still standing."  Hundreds of fans gather to celebrate the event  and savor the moment - at exactly 3:36 PM - when Maz knocks it out of the park again.

Today Pittsburgh is a sparkling modern city.  But in 1960 it was a grimy steel town with sooty air and polluted rivers.  It hadn't changed much since "O. Henry called it the "low-downdest hole" he had ever seen and its inhabitants as "the most ignorant, ill-bred, contemptible, boorish, degraded, insulting, sordid, vile, foul-mouthed, indecent, profane, drunken, dirty, mean and depraved."  You didn't have to coax O. Henry to tell you what he really thought.

The city's renewal saw mills close and jobs disappear.  Forbes Field was demolished and the Pirates play in a park on the banks of the Allegheny River.  The waters are clean, the air breathable and you can run your finger over an exposed surface without getting a black film on it.

Maz's miracle is a colorful metaphor for what Christians experience.  Whether we have an "Aha!" moment where we find faith instantly or come to it gradually through seeking, it's a defining event in our lives.  For Pittsburghers that's what Mazeroski's home run was:  an unforgettable shining moment in a depressing, declining city on the verge of transformational renewal.

Tough times followed, but  memories of the miracle remained.

Isn't this like our faith?   We experience a personal miracle when we find Jesus and realize eternity is ours.  When tough times come the inspiration stays with us and helps bring us to a clear, bright future. Like the fans every October 13th we celebrate Jesus's miracle, but unlike them the resurrection is remembered by Christians 24/7/365.

Maz's miracle is a great story that coincided with Pittsburgh's impending rebirth.  But the only rebirth and redemption that counts comes from Christ.

"The Greatest Home Run Ever" can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix848GU0gNo&NR=1

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The Dunking Dinka

Southern Sudan is an arid land of endless summer and sparse vegetation.  The Dinka people who live here are nomads who raise cattle and periodically move to better grazing areas.  The cattle, with two-foot long horns that rise straight up, are their lifeblood and are protected by male tribe members who sometimes use spears to fend off lions.

His name in the Dinka language means "special blessing" and was given to him because of his mother's earlier miscarriages.  He said he was born in 1963 although no documentation exists.  Descended from nobility, he lived a comfortable life and was able to afford a dowry of 80 cows for his wife's hand.  The Dinka are a tall, lean people and his family was, too:  Dad and Sis were 6'8" while Mom was 6'10".  Even compared to them he was tall at seven feet seven inches.

His cousin in Khartoum suggested he try basketball.  Disregarding his father's opinion that the sport wasn't appropriate work, he joined a police team despite having a congenetically clawed right hand.  When someone suggested he dunk he took one step, slammed the ball and hurt his teeth on the way down.  He was eventually spotted by an American coach, played college ball and became a player in the NBA for 10 seasons.

Manute Bol left for the states in 1983, the same year the Arab government implemented Sharia, or Islamic Law.  The cultural animosities between the Muslim leaders and the Christian Dinkas intensified with the implementation of a jihad, or holy war.  The oppression in Darfur is a result of this.

Bol's story was told after his death last month.  The gangly African was a committed Christian who spent his money trying to help Sudanese refugees.  As recounted by Jon A. Shields in The Wall Street Journal, "Most NBA cats go broke on cars, jewelry and groupies.  Manute Bol went broke building hospitals."  After his retirement from basketball he made money to give away by becoming an absurd clown posing as a jockey and hockey player; he once boxed William "Refrigerator" Perry, the massive former Chicago Bears lineman.  Through it all he maintained his legendary sense of humor.

Bol's Christian charity cost him his life.  He died from a painful skin disease contracted while doing relief work in Sudan.  But, as Shields put it, the "Christianity exemplified by Bol is rarely understood by sports journalists.  For all its interest in the intimate details of players' lives, the media has long been tone deaf to the way devout Christianity profoundly shapes some of them."

"Obituary titles for Bol, for example, described him as a humanitarian rather than a Christian.  The remarkable charity and personal character of other NBA players, including David Robinson, A.C. Green and Dwight Howard, are almost never explicitly connected to their own intense Christian faith.  They are simply good guys."

The world will miss Manute Bol, the dedicated Christian.

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Pearls Before Swine

Jesus said "do not throw your pearls before swine or they will trample them under their feet."  Pigs were contemptible because they were ritually unclean and anyone touching them was unfit for temple worship.  Jesus's metaphor taught the futility of trying to spread the word to those who will never accept it.

Stephan Pastis, who began his cartooning career doodling in law school classes, draws a syndicated comic strip called "Pearls Before Swine."  Its unique features include the injection of the artist himself as a character (smoking a cigarette although he doesn't smoke in real life) and collusion with other comics. 

In one strip Pastis is on a phone call from Jeff Keane, who does "Family Circus."  Keane complains that one of his characters is getting hit with sunflower seeds and Pastis is mystified.  But in the final panel two "Pearls" characters are looking down past the panel's border.  One says "Bet you can't hit him in the ear."  To which the other responds, "Watch me."  In Keane's comic Mom is shown sweeping,  glowering at her son Billy and asking "Who threw sunflower seeds all over this floor?'

The strip's name isn't faithful to its biblical source.  Its main character is "Rat," who is self-absorbed, cynical, megalomaniacal, insensitive, insulting, condescending, sarcastic and smarter than the other main character, "Pig."  Likeable but hopelessly naive, Pig routinely talks to inanimate objects, eats pork products like corn dogs, and is the unreceptive recipient of Rat's nuggets of "truth."

While Jesus talked about believers speaking of God to unhearing swine, Rat speaks of secularity to the clueless Pig.  In one strip Rat offered a "pearl" in the form of a letter:

"Dear life...
I am writing you to express my dissatisfaction.
First, I didn't ask to be here.  You put me here.
That started us off on a bad foot.
Given that rocky start, I'd think you'd strive to be a good host.
But no.  You fill this place with unpleasant surprises.
As if that's not enough, at some point I apparently cease to exist, in a manner that is most likely shocking, painful and tragic.
Can you say "rip off?"
Please provide a refund."

Then he turns to Pig, of all people, and asks "WHERE DOES ONE SEND THESE?"

For unbelievers it's great black humor because it's a widespread sentiment with no answer.

We all have the same questions but secularists have no hopeful answers.  No answers at all, in fact.  But Christians know they're in an imperfect world where we're called to act in a humane, caring way with faith in a God who will ultimately remove us from these trials and provide a peaceful eternity.

And unlike Rat, Christians know who to bring their concerns to.  While hapless Pig is supposed to be the naive character, it's Rat who cluelessly misses the boat on the biggest question in life.


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Korean Convert

Kim Jong-Il is the "Eternal President of the Republic" of North Korea, a man who's glorified by parades, adulatory poems memorized by members of the military, and the absolute submission of his subjects.  The ersatz Juche religion (est. 1955) changes its beliefs according to circumstances and has elevated him to god-like status.

Other gods need not apply.  The three Christian churches in the capital city of Pyongyang are showpieces to give an impression of religious tolerance, but in the rest of the country Christianity is illegal.  Up to 60,000 believers are imprisoned in concentration camps and some are publicly executed.  In a singular achievement the country has occupied the #1 spot for eight years running as the world's worst persecutor of Christians.

Kim Seung-min was an army captain and allowed to travel.  He found a disconnect between the wealth of the elites ("Dear Leader" sometimes gives Mercedes Benzes for birthday gifts) and the incomprehensible poverty of the population.  On one trip he came upon a common sight: a pile of bodies killed by starvation.  But this time he was unnerved by the people surrounding one corpse, mesmerized by lice marching away from it to find a new, live host.  It was clear that North Korea's god dictated hopelessness, despair, fear and apathy.

Kim escaped to China where he met Christians but didn't accept their faith.  Coming from a place where history books teach that Christian missionaries crucify children probably made him wary. He was captured by the Chinese and deported.  Crossing a bridge to his homeland and realizing he was destined for execution, he wished he could sing a song of praise to the Lord but didn't know any.  He vowed that if he lived he'd learn some.

He was tortured and sentenced to death.  On the trip back to Pyongyang he jumped out the window of a moving train, made it back across the border, reunited with his Christian friends and came to faith in Christ.

Kim now operates Free North Korea Radio from South Korea.  This isn't easy.  Interviewed by Michael Gerson of The Washington Post, Kim said "Korean socialist groups held demonstrations, forcing us to move from location to location.  In the mail, we got axes covered in blood.  North Korea sent spies.  Hackers attacked our web site.  At some point, all of us started carrying Tasers for self-protection."  He now has bodyguards. 

His informants report happenings in the North and he transmits the stories back across the border to radios and cell phones smuggled in from China.  In an ironic twist - or maybe an act of God - officially atheistic China was where Kim "first found the true meaning of the cross." And today it provides the tools that enable his mission.

Kim's journey from despair to hope is inspiring and the hand of God is evident.  A life-changing conversion in an underground church awakened him to the only God who can sustain him - and his name isn't Kim Jong-Il.


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