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  • Religious Language and Postmodern Ears: Repent vs. Turn

    by Kent Ira Groff

     
    [ene_ptp]In Lake Wobegon, says Garrison Keillor, “All the Norwegians were Lutherans, of course, even the atheists—it was a Lutheran God they did not believe in.” The theism a lot of atheists reject describes a God I cannot believe in either.
    Many grew up, as I did, with an emotionally or physically absent father, at the same time hearing of God mainly as a male figure, so God seemed distant. Images and language skew our attitude toward the Sacred. Lots of religious words make spirituality seem irrelevant. The word repent is one such example.
    I heard Desmond Tutu tell of brutal killers in South Africa who had slowly cooked people alive at one end of a campsite while enjoying a barbecue at the other end. Later in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, these perpetrators would confess without emotion that they were sorry. They might be staring across the room or down at their shoes as they spoke. But if the victim’s family member would say, “Turn to me; now say what you just said.” Then the confessor would be deeply moved, hardly able to gasp the words.
    In telling this story, the word turn became enfleshed: a simple human act of turning embodies spiritual power. That is exactly what the word shuv in the Hebrew Bible means: “turn”—though it usually gets translated “repent.” And the New Testament Greek word metanoia literally means “turning one’s thoughts” or “changing one’s mind.” Yet when translated into English as “repentance,” both words convey moralistic scruples and miss the basic human connection. So the Bible sounds more religious than it really is.
    If the victim had said, “repent to me” instead of “turn to me,” it would have missed the vulnerable place in the perpetrator’s heart. In this way ordinary words and gestures can have more power than religious language.
    Meanwhile the radio preacher goes on pounding the pulpit: “Repent!” And we go right on driving to the mall to buy clothing made in child sweatshops. The simple language of “turn” can embody more power than “repent.” What if we actually turned our thoughts toward the sweatshops? Or turned toward the real needs beneath our wants?
    What are some religious language barriers that get in the way of genuine spirituality for you?

    Kent Ira Groff, a spiritual companion for other journeyers, a retreat leader and author of ten books, calls himself “one beggar showing other beggars where to find bread.” Portions are adapted from Kent’s book What Would I Believe If I Didn’t Believe Anything?: A Handbook for Spiritual Orphans (Jossey-Bass) and Clergy Table Talk (Energion). Founding mentor of Oasis Ministries in Pennsylvania, he now lives in Denver, Colorado. See www.LinkYourSpirituality.com Email: kentiragroff@comcmast.net

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    Click on a book cover to get more information on that book.

    (Note: Not all books shown are published by Energion Publications.)

  • Mount Precipice — Sent By and As God, but Not Accepted

    by Doris Horton Murdoch

     
    [ene_ptp]In my previous post, I mentioned that I had just returned from the Holy Land. All of my forthcoming posts will consider my spiritual encounters in the Holy Land with Jesus’ confrontation on Mount Precipice being the topic for today.
    There are many mountains listed in the Bible, but in actuality, most of these mountains are globular hills. These hills consist of sand, clusters of grass, caves, and many, many stones. The landscape is dotted with cedar and olive trees. One of the many hills is Mount Precipice. From the crown of Mount Precipice, one can view Mount Tabor (Mount of Transfiguration) and the Jezreel Valley (also known as the Valley of Megiddo; fertile heartland in the location for Armageddon). Mount Precipice is known as the site where an angry Nazarene mob attempted to throw Jesus over the cliff. We read about this in Luke 4:14-30 (NIV):

    Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
    18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
    to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
    20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. 23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

    After hearing the reading, the congregation’s eyes were fastened on Jesus; they were amazed at what they were hearing. It was good! The words were awesome! Then along comes the spoilers in the group. There seems to always be someone in the group that can gather the crowd and cause confusion and dissent. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Joseph was a carpenter; he worked with wood. He wasn’t a man with great schooling and he certainly was not a man of the cloth! Joseph is an honorable man and he has honorable sons, but they surely are not chosen as God’s prophets! A spoiler can plant the seed that causes disunity among families and congregations.
    Jesus uses Elijah’s and Elisha’s stories as examples of how we must have faith and trust that God is in control. God will provide the message and the healing in His time and in His locale. Many times God bases this on the faith of the believers. As we see in verse 28, the group becomes furious with Jesus. How dare Jesus compare His position to the great prophets Elijah and Elisha? Let’s get rid of this false prophet! He is of no value to this community! Just imagine, he thinks He has the powers of Elijah and Elisha! No one will ever equal or exceed the powers of Elijah and Elisha! Let’s get rid of this guy! Throw him off the cliff! As we know, the all-powerful Jesus walked through the crowd and went on his way. Millennium-old rumors say that Jesus leaped from Mount Precipice to Mount Tabor. The Arabic name for the mount, Jebel Qafzeh, translates to “mount of the leaping.”
    Jesus came to loose the chains of slavery for humanity (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 58:6; Isaiah 61:1-2) and to anoint man with the freedom of salvation through His final sacrifice. He came to personally claim the good news. Jesus brought love, forgiveness and healing to humanity. He came to proclaim the Lord’s favor on mankind. And what do we do? Reject Him, starting with His very own community.
    Are we supporting our church family? Are we encouragers of all members? Have we placed any members on the precipice? Have we pushed any members over the precipice? Jesus was about his Father’s business and we all need to hold ourselves accountable of being about our Father’s business.
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  • Mark’s Unsatisfying, but Compelling Ending

    by Drew Smith

    [ene_ptp]While all four canonical Gospels narrate women (In John it’s just one woman, Mary Magdalene) going to the tomb of Jesus, the scene in Mark is a bit remarkable to say the least.
    To understand the distinctive nature of Mark’s resurrection story, or, as some have suggested, an empty tomb story, we have to deal first with where exactly this Gospel ends. Anyone picking up a good English translation of the Bible can turn to the 16th chapter of Mark and find that verses 9-20 are bracketed off and the reader is directed to a note that generally reads, “Some of the most ancient authorities end the book at 16:8.” This means that the best textual sources available to us have the Gospel of Mark ending in 16:8, while other sources include verse 9, and still others go all the way to verse 20.
    This is all too complicated to discuss here, so I will simply state what has become the majority consensus on this issue. Although there are still some very reputable scholars who think differently, the overwhelming number of scholars of Mark believe that the Gospel ends at 16:8. Of course, there is the very slim chance that there was an ending that has been lost, but we have no evidence of this.[1]
    It is easy to see why the precarious verses that follow 16:8 would have been added later. All we have to do is read 16:8, where we discover that the women who go to the tomb, where they are told to go tell his disciples to go to Galilee, actually leave the tomb in great fear and they tell no one. Moreover, and perhaps even more troubling, the resurrected Jesus does not appear again in Mark’s story. And so, perhaps it is better to call this an empty tomb story.
    This ending must have been very unsatisfying to someone who felt the need to add a more interesting ending, one in which the disciples are told of Jesus’ resurrection and the resurrected Jesus does appear. In fact, Matthew and Luke, who write after Mark, but who generally follow Mark’s outline, were both unsatisfied with Mark’s ending, and thus they included appearances of Jesus after his resurrection.
    But if the ending of Mark is at 16:8, why would the author end the story here without including something other writers felt was needed?
    Of course, we cannot travel back in time to talk to the author of this narrative we call the Gospel of Mark. Indeed, Mark may not even be the author’s name. Church tradition ties Mark to this Gospel, but the story never mentions that he is the writer. But we can read what is there in the last chapter of the story and propose some reasons why the narrative ends at 16:8 and what this might mean for our own faith and discipleship.
    While having the women leave in fear and tell no one is problematic for us, and while not having the resurrected Jesus appear in the story is even more difficult for us, these may really be the best clues we need to solve the problem of why Mark’s Gospel ends at 16:8 as it is understood within the framework of Mark’s overall narrative.
    First, although Mark does say that the women were afraid and told no one, we must assume that the message of the young man in the tomb did get out somehow. After all, we are readers of Mark’s story, and thus the message was passed on. Since only the women go to the empty tomb and none of the male disciples receive the message directly from the young man at the tomb, we can be fairly certain that these women told someone, even if this is not included in the story itself.
    As to their fear, we should take a close look at similar responses to numinous experiences throughout Mark’s story. Responses of awe, wonderment, and fear characterize the way many characters react to Jesus’ miracles in the narrative. The women’s fear is not a fear as if they are scared from a threat, although that is possible. Rather, they have experienced something from beyond the realm of creation; the in-breaking of God.
    Concerning the missing Jesus, while Matthew and Luke, as well as John, were concerned with this problem, Mark is not worried the least about this. In fact, the absent Jesus works well for his story.
    What we should understand is that Mark’s story is not about believing in Jesus’ resurrection. It is about how one follows Jesus. It is a story about following Jesus in discipleship; perhaps even a manual on discipleship.[2]
    Indeed, we should notice that this Gospel does not begin with a birth narrative, as do Matthew and Luke. Instead, Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus. Thus, Mark’s story begins at the place where Christian discipleship begins, baptism, and takes us through the life of Jesus, a life defined by challenging the religious and political powers. In this way, Mark’s Jesus is the paradigmatic disciple, who proclaims God’s rule of justice, and who, in doing so, takes up his cross unto death.
    The message the young man tells the women, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee,” is a commission to return to the road of discipleship, where one continually follows Jesus to the cross. Thus, Mark’s resurrection story is not so much a promise of what is to come, nor does believing the story require us to believe that Jesus was actually physically raised; again, he never appears again in Mark. Rather, the resurrection or empty tomb story is a story that empowers us to perpetually return to the road of discipleship to follow Jesus.
    It’s not the ending; it is the beginning.
     
    [1] For arguments for the different views on Mark’s ending, see David Alan Black, ed., Perspectives on the Ending of Mark: Four Views (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2008).
    [2] See Philip G. Davis, “Christology, Discipleship, and Self-Understanding in the Gospel of Mark,” in Self-Definition and Self-Discovery in Early Christianity:  A Study in Shifting Horizons, Essays in Appreciation of Ben F. Meyer From His Former Students, ed. David J. Hawkin and Tom Robinson (”Studies in Bible and Early Christianity,” 26; Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990), 101-19.
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  • The Dangers of Religious Illiteracy

    The Dangers of Religious Illiteracy

    by Rev. Dr. Robert R. LaRochelle

     
    At this point in our culture, three significant realities are operating at one and the same time:[ene_ptp]

    1. There is significant variety in the different religious perspectives held by Americans and the number of functioning religious groupings. Religious pluralism is a reality.
    2. There is a real lack of knowledge about religious perspectives outside of one’s own.
    3. With the significant decrease in church and religious education attendance, there is a decline among many people in the knowledge of the religious tradition of which they are a part, especially regarding the depth of diversity inside of one’s own tradition.

    Several years ago, Stephen Prothero wrote a significant work simply entitled Religious Literacy. In summary, Prothero contends that lack of religious knowledge can be dangerous. I agree with him. It seems to me that a lack of knowledge of both one’s own AND other religious approaches can lead to unnecessary suspicion, prejudice, and dangerous activity. Sadly, there are far too many examples of this happening not only over the course of history but also in recent years.
    As I see it, two particular problems have to be confronted head on:

    1. The terrible lack of knowledge most Americans have with different religious perspectives. Failing to seek deeper knowledge all too often leads to terrible biases and actions directed toward those who are ‘other.’
    2. The deficiencies in knowledge that ‘mainline’ Christians have about Biblical interpretation, theology and the conversations and developments within their traditions regarding a wide variety of religious issues. This makes misunderstanding about one’s own tradition an all too common reality.

    What I am saying is that a lack of knowledge unfortunately leads to a reflexive fundamentalism regarding the Bible and a surface understanding of the complexities inherent in confronting the ‘ God question.’ Sadly, those who might not feel connected to churches but hold to an inherently ‘liberal’ view of theology often feel as though they are really outside of the mainstream of organized religion and that organized religion can never really express their own way of looking at the world. This need not be true and it isn’t! Yet, without adequate exposure to serious theology within their local churches, the opportunities for deeper understanding of their own traditions may not happen for many of our young!
    Within the Christian community, we are seeing an ever increasing polarization between ‘conservatives’ and ‘liberals’. Sadly, many of our young are not even engaged in these conversations as they have come to perceive their own churches as places which really do not offer an adequate alternative way of thinking about religious faith. The reality is that those churches rarely do. Therefore, this religious illiteracy is depriving people of the opportunity to learn from such Christian thinkers and practitioners as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Paul Tillich, Dorothy Day, Gustavo Gutierrez, John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg, Martin Luther King, James Carroll, Oscar Romero, and so many more who have really challenged some of the conventional wisdom of the most conservative elements of the traditions in which they were raised. It is also depriving people of experiencing the depth to be found in some of the major conventional thinkers within various Christian traditions, people like Luther, Wesley, Aquinas, Augustine and many more!
    This is truly sad and unfortunate!
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  • Welcoming the Immigrant? Wisdom and Guidance from the Book of Ruth

    by Bruce Epperly

     
    [ene_ptp]The outcry against immigrants is great these days. Candidates vie with one another in terms of who will be harshest in responding to undocumented workers in our land and how to most vigorously protect our southern border from hordes of immigrants from Mexico and Central America. “Build a wall!” one candidate shouts. And, if the Mexicans don’t pay for it, he continues, “We will build one ten feet higher!” Immigrants are blamed for everything from unemployment to terrorism. Even Syrian immigrant children, properly vetted, are seen as threats to national security. Christian politicians are seen as weak whenever they propose a compassionate approach to immigrants and undocumented workers.
    For those who know the Bible, Ruth is not just a sweet love story. It’s a story of immigration in its many dimensions. The story begins with Naomi and Elimelech leaving Bethlehem for Moab to escape starvation. Famine hurts the working poor and the lower middle class hardest.   When there is no choice, people leave their homelands not because they want to, but because they have to, simply to survive. Naomi and Elimelech, like today’s immigrants, cross the border to Moab. We don’t know how they were received, but like so many immigrants today, they work hard, raise a family, and establish themselves in their new land. Their two boys even marry Moabite girls. We don’t know how Naomi or Elimelech felt about this mixed marriage, or how Orpah’s or Ruth’s families responded to their daughters marrying Israelites, but ultimately the two couples were accepted by both families, we suspect.
    Tragedy strikes. All three males die, and three women are left without means of support in a patriarchal society. Hoping to avoid starvation once more, Naomi sets off to her homeland, this time with extra baggage, a childless Moabite widow. Both women band together out of love, but also simply to survive.
    We don’t know if Ruth was accepted at first by the women and men of Bethlehem. She was, after all, a Moabite, and Moabites were viewed as spiritually inferior and morally suspect. Their women were sexually promiscuous, they worshipped other gods, and they were seen as military enemies throughout history. But, as the story goes: Ruth and Boaz meet and marry, have a son, who eventually becomes the grandfather of the great king David. Imagine, David, Israel’s greatest ruler, the descendant of a mixed marriage!
    The story goes on. Centuries later, another child is born, Jesus our Savior, a descendant of this immigrant woman. To add to the drama, this child’s parents flee to Egypt, immigrants themselves, to escape danger like so many immigrant families today. Did the holy family survive in Egypt because someone provided hospitality to strangers and immigrants?
    Christians, especially preachers and politicians, would do well to read their bibles. Sadly, many Christians embrace racist attitudes rather than rational hospitality. They sink to the lowest common denominator, clapping and shouting approval to anti-immigrant harangues and opposing any support for the “least of these,” little children in search of safety and shelter.
    Ruth reminds us that when we welcome immigrants, we may just be welcoming Jesus’ ancestors. Jesus challenges us to see his face in the “least of these” and goes even further to proclaim that God feels the joy and pain of the most vulnerable people we meet.
    A bumper sticker announces, “Honk, if you love Jesus.” In response, another bumper sticker proclaims, “If you love Jesus, seek justice, any fool can honk!” Today’s Christians would do well to go “back to the Bible” and learn lessons of hospitality to immigrants. This doesn’t mean that we make our border porous. It does mean that after properly vetting immigrants, we welcome them into our land as God’s beloved children, who will bless us and our nation by their gifts. (For more on the story of Ruth, see Ruth and Esther: Women of Agency and Adventure, Energion, 2016)
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  • Jesus Offers Freedom from a Regrettable Past

    by Harvey Brown

     
    [ene_ptp]The helicopter hovered ninety feet in the air above Mojinga Swamp. Rappel ropes anchored to the floor were cast out the door as the crew chief shouted above the roar of the aircraft, “Hook up!”
    It really didn’t matter how many times I had rappelled from a chopper, my hands were always sweaty in the heavy leather gloves that protected my skin from rope burns and guided my descent. They also operated as my brake when I clamped down on the sliding rope and pulled it against my butt.
    “Ready?”
    I looked back at the chief and nodded. I knew there were two ways to hook my snap link to the rappel rope: The right way, and the other way—which was known to us soldiers as “the fatal hookup.” I double-checked once again to make sure mine was right.
    “On the skid!”
    We moved from sitting with our legs dangling in the breeze of the rotor wash to feeling for the skid with our boots. In one motion we turned around, brake hand holding us in place on the rappel rope, and leaned back away from the chopper. On the command “GO!” we pushed backwards with our legs and let it fly. Ten to fifteen feet above the swamp my brake hand clamped down and slowed descent as I landed in the mire. I finished pulling excess rope from the snap link, waved “Clear” to the chief, and the helicopter flew away as we prepared to accomplish our mission.
    Our job was to navigate our way back to the small headquarters at Fort Sherman. We each were equipped with only a Ranger knife, map, and compass. No easy task, especially when there are no landmarks in the swamp but a lot of lush jungle foliage limiting our ability to see clearly, or far. We had to trust our minimal equipment… and our training. This was the U.S. Army’s Jungle Operations Training Center—22,000 acres of triple canopy jungle bordered by the Panama Canal Zone, the Caribbean Ocean, Rio Piña, and Limon Bay.
    Our group of three assumed different roles: Compass/navigator, pace man, map reader. We had to take the printed map, orient it to the lay of the land, determine our azimuth (calibrate compass direction in relation to a fixed point, North). The challenge was made more difficult as we had to calculate how far we were going and when to change directions based on the lay of the land, obstacles, and terrain features encountered along the way.
    We didn’t set any records. Nor were we the slowest. But we got home safely. No one was left behind. No one was lost.
    There are obvious parallels between my story of successfully finding my way out of Mojinga Swamp and the necessity for us Christ followers—disciples of Jesus—to embrace protocols that will guide us through today’s cultural morass. Our objective is not a return to the security of barracks by the sea, but to realize that we are a part of God’s forever family and his Kingdom. We feel like we are pursuing Him, only to discover that the God who created this Universe has really been pursuing us. It is when we recognize ourselves as his sons and daughters that we can be embraced in the loving, redemptive arms of Father… the One who sent his Son to save the broken and lost. For all of us need a Saviour, and there is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved.
    Map, compass, Ranger knife. With the exception of the knife, none would be any help if there were no fixed reference point. For millennia, the North Star in the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Cross in the Southern Hemisphere have provided such reference in the night sky. The magnetic needle of the compass will point to Magnetic North. One might sincerely feel that they are going in the right direction. But directions and outcomes only can be predicted with certainty if the point of reference is not mobile or capricious or open to various interpretations based on whims of navigational culture. Can you imagine crew conversations in an airliner cockpit were it not so?
    One of our Energion Discussion Network bloggers writes of abandoning the idea that being homosexual and Christian are incompatible. He states that the Bible is foundational for Christian faith and the starting point for all conversations. The problem “… isn’t whether the Bible is authoritative, but how we interpret it.”
    Granted. Unless the Bible is authoritative for Christian life and faith, there is no fixed point of reference, no true North for our belief.
    No novel hermeneutic can change the clear statements of the New Covenant scriptures. We either must ignore, deny, or attempt to distort the meaning of language by squinting at the text through lenses contoured to refract the truth into conformity with current cultural trends. The God who bore our sins on the tree, the One who can make a sinner into a saint, the One who (as Jude says) can keep you from falling and present you without fault before His glorious presence… and with great joy, is the same Saviour who can heal the sexually broken and wounded. He is the the One who through forgiveness offers us freedom from our past.
    What we think, feel, and understand about the God of the Bible is rooted in a belief system many of us inherit. Those of Methodist persuasion refer to the Wesleyan quadrilateral: Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. Cessationist theology developed as an explanation for the absence of miracles and certain ecclesiastical offices in the life of the Church. But there’s nothing quite like a personal encounter with the power of the Holy Spirit to move someone toward recalibrating their theology.
    I watched this happen in a Conservative Baptist Church in Washington State beginning in 1998. During my ministry there at First Baptist Church, I saw numerous verifiable miracles—some of which had my direct involvement and became front page news in the secular press. Other miracles I witnessed only as an observer. But they were truly miraculous evidence of the same power of the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. As a result, not only did the church’s doctrinal statement change, but the official stance of the Conservative Baptist Association NW changed to acknowledge the possibility that those gifts and offices—previously believed to have ceased—were now officially recognized as existing and also assisting the Church in life and witness. The loving spirit and credible witness of the folks at First Baptist Church helped their association leaders and colleagues to review the Scriptures and shift their theological positions.
    In an earlier blog on this site, Bob Cornwall describes how his brother’s declaration of homosexuality changed what had always been an academic issue into something personal. “What is true for me is true for so many others. Most people who have had a change of mind on the matter of inclusion have done so because of a personal relationship.”
    I believe the last statement is particularly true. Although I am United Methodist, my traveling teaching and preaching ministry allows me to connect with believers from multiple streams of the faith. In every instance where someone has shared with me about their migrating to a position of theological acceptance and empowerment of homosexuality within the church, they have included a backstory—often much like Bob Cornwall’s.
    For each of us there is a backstory—a prequel, as it were—that if known helps us understand the story of today. No matter our sexual behavior or orientation, we are all composites of our life experiences. As one who frequently ministers on topics of sexual brokenness, I have been able to hear the backstory of so many men and women who have trusted me with secrets never before told. One of my great joys is to be able to say, “It’s not your fault,” and invite Jesus and the Holy Spirit to come into deep and previously hidden areas of shame and hurt.
    In my own family, we—like Bob Cornwall—have dealt with some of these issues.
    During the period of our engagement, I met Marilyn’s extended family at her great-uncle’s funeral. Among her relatives was a first cousin, “Don,” from southern Ohio. Don was a hairdresser who conveyed though walk, affect, and flamboyant style a seeming effeminacy that screamed “I am homosexual.” Marilyn, he, and I talked late into the night. Don spoke openly of his broken relationship with his alcoholic father and his dominant mother. He told us of his boyfriend/roommate/homosexual partner. This was 1971. I would get to know Don better through regular family reunions over the years.
    Not long before our marriage, through tears Marilyn revealed that when she was eight or nine years old she was sexually molested by a neighbor—a man who was a part of her father’s Methodist congregation.
    Eleanor (Lou) Vinton is 83 years old now. We attend the same local church. She gave her heart to Jesus when she was eight years old. When she was 13, she began to hang out with a group of girls who drew her into sexual experimentation among them. Before she left high school, she was among those who were pursuing other girls. As she told me last night, for the next 25 years she was “totally in,” participating in every kind of perversion fueled by her brokenness, alcoholism, gambling, and witchcraft. She bought a home with her partner. Yet throughout this whole time she was tormented between two worlds. Trying to gain some separation from the magnetic pull of the death-spiral she felt, Lou left her partner and bought a home in Knoxville.
    Marlene Stokely spent most of her childhood and teen years in rural Appalachia being raped by her grandfather. Marilyn and I became her surrogate parents when she lived with us while attending Asbury University. You can read her amazing testimony (pages 69-72) in my book “When God Strikes The Match: Igniting a Passion for Holiness and Renewal.”
    When Nathan was 8, he was raped by a man who lived in the same apartment complex. Not long after he wandered into a room in his home to find his father and several other men naked, passed out, and cuddling with one another. “I started having homosexual dreams, and began to live for the times I could connect with pornography or other ways to try to live out the fantasies that kept coming.”
    John was a gifted singer who traveled with an internationally famous Christian music group. Ultimately promoted to music director, he harbored homosexual fantasies. “When I was in graduate school, I buckled under all the pressure and went on a homosexual binge for months. And once I started, I felt like there was no way out. It was all consuming.”
    You may well know the story of musician and composer Dennis Jernigan. If not, you probably would recognize one of his most famous compositions, “You Are My All In All.” When Dennis shared his story with me, I was amazed at his transparency and vulnerability, to say nothing of the miraculous work of God in his life. Delivered from a life of homosexuality, he is the father of nine, and a trusted mentor, friend, resource and brother for those who seek the same freedom he found in Jesus. http://dennisjernigan.com
    And now, my backstory (or, as the late Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story”). Like the vast majority of pre-pubescent males of my generation, my first sexual contact was same sex contact. Sleep-overs, back yard camping trips, friends’ homes with swimming pools and changing rooms became locations and opportunities for sexual discovery. I remember an elementary school trip to Washington, D.C. where in a hotel room full of sexual neophytes my friend Pete introduced us to the process of masturbation. I made discoveries that night that would change my life. I had no idea what orgasm was, let alone how good it could feel. So I decided to reproduce that effect as often as possible.
    At our local Boy Scout summer camp, there were young adult staff members… and to us 11-13 year olds some of the coolest people on the planet. “Frank” was the waterfront director, wore a pith helmet, had his own camper trailer on the grounds, and looked like a young Rock Hudson. Every Scout there wanted to be like him. And I was thrilled after summer camp season was over to connect with Frank through Boy Scout patch collecting. Before long Frank would pick me up at my house, take me to a more secluded area, and let me—a young teen who wouldn’t see a driver’s permit for years—drive his new Pontiac with bucket seats. He made me feel very special. I relished all the attention… not realizing that I was being groomed for the future.
    When I was 16 and had a driver’s license, I began working after school for a wealthy architect in our city. Much of the modern downtown skyline was designed by him and his firm. I ran blueprints, operated a new reproduction device called a Xerox (that should date me pretty well), and as the office boy kept a steady supply of draftsman materials and coffee for the other architects and draftsmen. Not long after beginning there, “Mr. Thornbury” asked me if I would walk down to the car dealership and pick up his Lincoln that was being serviced. Soon, I had added “occasional chauffeur” to my list of tasks. Driving well-respected, statewide known Mr. Thornbury in his big Lincoln was pretty heady stuff. There were days when I would drive to his house, leave my car, and depart from there for the day’s trip or tasks.
    One Saturday, when we returned to Mr. Thornbury’s house, he invited me swimming to cool off and relax after the long trip to Atlanta. I jumped at the chance, changed in the upstairs garage apartment into one of the extra bathing suits, and hit the pool (which was secluded in the woods on his estate). We returned from the swim to the rooms over the garage, and as I was changing, Mr. Thornbury came into the room naked and asked if I could massage his shoulders. But first he showed me a Playboy magazine, and some homoerotic souvenirs that were supposedly reproductions of ancient Greek art. I knew what was coming, but my need for male approval, physical touch, and the possibility of his pleasuring me was enough for me to barter my desires for his request. I was disgusted when he tried to kiss me and told me that he loved me. That was intimacy. Love had nothing to do with it. Orgasm was my drug of choice. I would negotiate a fix, but I did have my principles. His contact with my genitals was as far as it would go. And as I remember, it went there with some regularity.
    I entered the University of Georgia when I was 17. I ran into Frank who was now working at the University. “Let’s do supper. My place tonight. We’ll throw some steaks on the grill.” So I showed up at Frank’s at the right time, like any true freshman, ready to enjoy a good, free meal. Liquor flowed freely, and before I realized it I was so drunk I could hardly stand. “Better spend the night here at my apartment. You are in no shape to drive.” He showed me to the bedroom, where there was only one double bed. “Looks like I’ll just have to share it with you,” he said.
    Much of the rest of the night is remembered through a drunken fog, but what memories there are remain etched indelibly in my mind. I was awakened by Frank’s hand slowly, lightly, moving up my leg, The pace was so slow at first I thought it was incidental contact. But the path was not. I did not move, wondering if what I thought was happening was really happening. Frank had never done anything overtly sexual with me when I was younger. But he was emboldened because alcohol consumption has an inverse effect on inhibition. My consumption was excessive, and my inhibition was virtually non-existent. By the time his hand reached my shorts, he could tell there was a response. I still didn’t move because this surreal moment was a little scary.
    Frank turned on the bedside lamp. “Gotta go to the bathroom.”
    When he returned, he said, “Let’s go see a buddy of mine. He’s a neat guy.” So I staggered to Frank’s Mustang and he drove across town to another apartment complex. More drinks. Frank’s friend, a math instructor, was in the back and came out to meet me. He went back to where he came from, and Frank showed me to a bedroom where I could lie down. “Go ahead and rest. There’s somebody coming over my buddy wants me to meet.” That was fine with me. My head was swimming and I really needed to lie down.
    Sometime later the door to the bedroom opened and Frank’s buddy came in. “You doing OK?” he asked. As he quietly closed the door I mumbled, “I guess so.” He sat on the side of the bed. “Let me help you get more comfortable,” he said as he undid my belt and slipped my jeans off. I did not resist. Soon I was undressed and this stranger started to perform oral sex on me. Even through my drunkenness I was fully aware of being used, but because of the sexual pleasure it brought me I submitted to his overtures. After ejaculation the stranger flipped me over onto my stomach and attempted forced entry. I emphatically said, “NO!”, but he tried again. This process repeated itself several times. I had neither the strength nor coordination to gain physical control of the situation. But my assailant could not force penetration. Eventually, he got up and disgustedly left the room.
    Steve Kindle, Editor of our Energion Discussion Network, wrote an article on another website, entitled, “Ex-Gays: The Big Hoax.” His conclusion reads: “Gay men and lesbians can’t change their orientation any more than straights can. Since God made each of us in our own special way, why would we want to?”
    Interestingly, I both strongly agree and disagree with his conclusion. There is no doubt that God has made us unique and special. To finish, my article (if you have read this far) clearly dispels the assumption that homosexuals can’t change their orientation anymore than straight individuals can.
    Back to Marilyn’s first cousin Don: A life-changing encounter with the Holy Spirit in an Assembly of God Church in Cincinnati set him onto a path of restoration and wholeness. Married to Lisa, a lovely woman who was a flight attendant, they have two sons who are now young adults. His family is active in many aspects of church life, and Don and Lisa are key players in the church’s drama ministry.
    Eleanor (Lou) Vinton: One night, sitting by the fire with pills and a bottle of whiskey, she cried out to God. “Jesus came and stood right in front of me, just as real as you are,” she said. Then Jesus spoke clearly to her. “Why don’t you try it my way?” Lou surrendered to grace. For almost 35 years, “Grandma Lou” has actively given herself through Teen Challenge and other recovery ministries to those struggling with addiction, brokenness, and hopelessness.
    Nathan: God used a dance team in his local church to reach into Nathan’s heart when he was a teen. His skill and dedication to his craft led him to a prominent national youth ministry, where the leader helped him discover healing and wholeness through the sanctifying power of the blood of Jesus. He is now a gifted preacher, choreographer, and Christ-follower who lives to make Jesus famous.
    John: John lost all hope after his homosexual binge. In his despair he reached out to a Christian counselor and author, who helped him walk back into the reality of grace and wholeness through Christ…who not counting our sins against us, but is restoring and redeeming us. Today, John is married and has three lovely daughters. A successful businessman, he reaches out to others who are broken and hurting.
    Me: As for me, since I derived sexual pleasure, I did not really understand that as a teen I was being sexually exploited. I did not understand pedophilia. Or workplace sexual harassment. Or rape. Father has wonderfully restored my life. He has given me the grace to tell the unvarnished truth about my own sexual brokenness. And he has opened amazing doors to help others discover that His forgiveness is the only way to find true freedom from our past.
     

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    Click on the author’s picture for his bio and on a book cover for more information on a book.

  • Negative Experiences Can Produce Positive Results

    by Iris Subel Davis

     
    [ene_ptp]A few years ago, I went through a difficult period that is described in God’s Promise of Victory. By way of introduction to this monthly blog, I’d like to offer this first entry to the reader as an insight into some of the topics that might be discussed in this forum.
    Disclaimer: These entries are purely a mental dialogue offered up as a point that might be considered prayerfully and in context with wherever the reader might be in his/her personal walk of life.
    Today, I was on a trip with some of my family. One of our members had asked us to take her back to multiple sites in our city that were a part of her childhood and deeply imbedded in her heart for reasons that only she would know. We asked her to make a list; I plotted a route; and off we went.
    As the day went on, she began re-counting tales of her life that correlated with each location. She was laughing as she re-told events in her life that others would have found shocking. We were not sure whether to laugh with her or offer condolences. Some events, quite clearly, had had a profound impact on her. Another family member, who was obviously uncomfortable with her memories, made a statement about how everything that came out of her mouth was negative. He sorely missed the point of today’s trip, for her and himself.
    Later, as I read my daily devotion, I was taken to Job 40 where the Lord asked Job, “Where were you when I formed the world?” God repeatedly pointed out to Job that He alone is responsible and in control of all moments in one’s life. The main point of the devotion was to “take notice.”
    As I read that, I thought about how many people do not like to take notice of the negative things in life. Clearly, today, my family member wanted to re-visit the places where things happened that helped shaped her into the strong, resilient woman that she has become.
    Re-visiting negative memories once you are healed is actually quite healthy—and normal. We often need to see these “monsters” in the light of our new reality as a way of understanding that we suffered, endured, grew, and moved on. I imagine that everything looked quite different to her today, as many of the places she had not seen in over 65 years. My heart rallied for her as she looked her demons in the eye and said in her heart, “My Jesus helped me overcome you, satan.”
    My heart also broke for our family member who could not see the heritage of strength and courage that runs through his veins. I pray that one day it will become clear before it is too late for him to appreciate the person that is right before him.
    I shared this experience because I want you, the reader, to know that whenever I write here—I will be thinking of that. I learned through my life experience that being willing to talk about the negative can help so many people. It isn’t to glorify the negative. It is to illustrate to others; to shine a light on; to help lead others towards an alternate route that they might never have considered out of many of life’s deepest, darkest times.
    If just one person grasps the concept, it was meant to be. Please feel free to comment below with any questions or concerns that you might have. I am not a counselor; just a person with a lot of life experience. If you provide your email address, I will follow up with you.
    Thank you for stopping by, and I’ll see you next month!

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    Click on the author’s picture for a bio and on the book cover for information on the book.

  • A Cup of Cold Water

    by Chris Surber

     
    [ene_ptp]I never imagined God would lead me to live in a place like Haiti. My first mission trip to Haiti was less than 3 years ago and it was my first mission trip anywhere. For years I’d ministered to what we would call the “least of these” in America. It was meaningful ministry but it was nothing like this.
    My wife went to Haiti a few months before my first trip. God broke her heart there. She subsequently dragged me to Haiti and He broke my heart too. On that first trip nearly three years ago I met a little girl with a big smile that is now a part of my family. I met Carmelie on a dusty, dirty, scorching hot hill in Haiti. Christina met her on her first trip. She was thirsty and asking Christina for water. I met her a few months later when my wife dragged me to Haiti. She asked us for water and in my mind all I could think was that poor little kid was still thirsty.
    I took her around the corner, emptied my water pack into a cup. I gave it to her. She drank every drop of that ice cold water. I was as shaken as uncertain as to why I was so struck by the simple act of giving this little girl some water. I thought I must be the most prideful person to want to pat my own back as to the kind deed I had done. Maybe I was just congratulating myself on the inside for being such a benevolent man. Maybe I was just losing my mind at the sight of the most immense poverty. It was lack on a scale I didn’t really know existed.
    Later that day I was sitting with my wife in the bed of a little barely running truck when it hit me. God brought Matthew 10:42 to my mind. “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” I’ve ministered in all kinds of contexts but this was the first time all of the trappings and veneer that had been unknowingly cluttering my understanding of what it means to just be obedient to God’s call to the poor were stripped away. It was just me, a poor little girl, and a cup of cold water.
    God moved Christina and me so much in Haiti that we decided to spend 2015 living there as a family. She and I and four kids packed up and went on mission. We founded “Supply and Multiply” as a kind of family project to make a difference in Haiti. In barely two years it has grown to be an impactful presence in Montrouis, Haiti. We have done and are doing more things than can easily be mentioned here. From an Elderly Care Home with several full time staff and residents, to bringing scores of mission teams to Haiti, to ministering to children, to opening our lives and hearts up to the poor, and walking alongside so many people as simple fellow pilgrims on this journey, God is using our simple offering of obedience and growing it in every way.
    We’ve recently moved back to Virginia to Pastor a church as we continue to nurture the ministries we established in Haiti through our Haitian staff, and leading mission teams there several times a year. We all came back speaking a second language (Haitian Creole). That little Haitian girl came back with us too. Living in Haiti has changed our family in nearly every way. It has sharpened our sense of God’s heart for Christians to live simple lives on mission for Him. It trimmed a lot of fat off of how we think about stuff and possessions. It has made Christian and me stronger leaders in the local Church.
    Most of all, it has given us a crystal clear view of what it means to live a life on mission for Christ in this world. I’m presently writing a book entitled “A Cup of Cold Water” to be published with Energion. It’s a discussion based on Matthew 10:42, where Jesus says, “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”(ESV) The central theme of the book addresses how to do that in real terms in the real world in our lives.
    The book examines how we are to live as those called to fulfill the Great Commission: to lead people to Christ for eternal life, and obey the Great Commandment to love people in this world. Jesus calls His disciples – us – to preach the Cross and live like people dying in light of the Cross. Shout salvation and live compassion.
    Jesus commands us, His disciples, to preach the good news, the good news that He died for sinners and rose again; that He defeated death and the grave, and we can have new life in Him. Jesus also tells us to feed, clothe, care for, and love the least of these. God is calling us to abandon ourselves to lives of Christ-centered compassion. When we do the world sees Jesus on the Cross in us.
    What if He’s calling us to life on mission – and what if we lived on purpose. Go therefore and make disciples and as you go, be a living witness to the power of the Gospel. What if we preached it and lived it. What if it’s simple and what if we simply lived it out? A couple of times a month for the next few months I’ll be sharing the thoughts that are driving this book here. I’ll be asking some “What if” questions about discipleship and service.
    What if we just took the attitude that where people are starving we should feed them? Where they are hurting we are called to help them? All people are spiritually poor. We must preach the saving Gospel that saves souls. What if we started seeing our call in this world to simply and directly be the incarnation of Christ to a hurting broken world in every area of our life? What if we made our Christian walk about sharing a cup of cold water with people in need as an expression of the Gospel having taken up residence in our lives?
    What if it’s simple? What if we simply lived like people God has changed? Is it possible that would change some things? What if?

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    For more information about any of this author’s books, click on a book cover.

  • On Needing Each Other

    by David Moffet-Moore

     
    [ene_ptp]This is my first blog on the Energion Discussion Network; thank you, Henry, for the opportunity. My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Knote, gave us an assignment to write an essay about what we wanted to be when we grew up. I did not pick astronaut, fireman or cowboy. I wanted to have a Ph.D. and be a published author. Henry has been part of fulfilling that childhood fantasy. Again, thank you. Now let’s see if I have anything worth reading!
    I grew up in a Methodist parsonage and learned as much about ministry by watching my Dad as I did in seminary, or at least it seems that way sometimes. Dad put in long hours, loved his church members, and bore his burdens quietly. He never returned to a church once we left it. He was always a solo pastor, never on staff or with staff. I grew up thinking of him like the Lone Ranger, except without Tonto. Each episode ended with him riding out of town on Trigger, saying “Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!” and then, “Who was that masked man?” “Why, that was the Lone Ranger!”
    The Lone Ranger works alone, never complains, does his job without expecting assistance or appreciation, never asks for help or seeks companionship, and, once done, never returns. My Dad was a Lone Ranger pastor; I am not! I will take all the help I can get. I readily seek out those who might have answers for my questions or solutions for my problems. I am big on being part of a team. Throughout my ministry I have recruited people with the necessary skills, with energy and commitment to do the assigned tasks, and who appreciate the opportunity to work together. One of my slogans is “Working together for the common good and the glory of God.” “TEAM” stands for “Together Everyone Achieves More.”
    Ministry can be a very solitary profession and I am an extreme introvert; still, I know I need others. I depend on clergy colleagues and prioritize opportunities for fellowship with other clergy. We are social creatures and I believe we are born needing one another.
    Genesis 2:18 records, “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’” Jesus, though being God in the flesh, still gathered others around him, to eat and travel, sleep and live together as his disciples. Even God has companionship in the doctrine of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In his mission travels, Paul depended on the company of others: Barnabas, Silas, Luke and Timothy.
    The only place I know where scripture defines an individual Christian is 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Paul defines us individually based upon our membership in the body, emphasizing the intimacy of our unity, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Cor. 12:26)
    In undergraduate, I took a course in the role of the frontier on our American psyche. One of the lessons we learned was the myth of rugged individualism. Even on the frontier, people found ways to socialize and support one another: barn raisings, quilting bees, harvesting together. Even the mountain men gathered for their regular ‘Rendezvous.’ We are a people who find our individuality while gathered in community.
    I was in a two-year course in spirituality titled, “The Academy for Spiritual Formation.” It was sponsored by the Upper Room in Nashville, Tennessee. One of our speakers was a Greek Orthodox priest and professor. The Upper Room has a large chapel and beside it a smaller prayer chapel, with a sign over the door, “Alone with God.” When the priest saw it, he spontaneously laughed. “Alone with God? How can one ever be alone with God? With God, we are with all the saints and angels in glory! With God, we are never alone!”
    So, when I am not at a colleague group, not attending a conference, or sharing with a fellow pastor, when I am studying for the sermon, or struggling late at night with a problem, I remember: with God, I am never alone. As great as my need is, God’s grace is greater still, and by that grace I will never be alone. Thanks be to God!
    I’ll end with an advertisement: I urge you to check out the Academy of Parish Clergy, an international and interfaith association of parish professionals. We emphasize personal growth, professional development and mutual support. With regional colleague groups, an annual conference and a quarterly journal, it’s a way for us to support one another even when we are separated. www.apclergy.org.

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    Click on a book cover to get more information about that book.

     
     
     

  • Can we remove the cross from our preaching and have an authentic Christian message?

    by William Powell Tuck

     
    Recently I was talking with a minister friend of mine as we were both preparing for the Lenten/Easter season. He observed how difficult it was for him to think about preaching on the cross. I understand something of his reluctance and timidity in speaking about such a theme. But I have been daring enough in my ministry to try and focus attention upon the cross of Jesus. It may not be easy. But, as a minister, I must. There is no way a preacher can possibly preach about all that is involved in the great message of the cross in a few words. Thousands of books have been written about the cross; thousands of sermons have been preached on it. Yet all of them have only touched the edge of the truth contained in its message. But preach it we must, I believe.
    The gospel writers struggled to understand why Jesus was crucified, but, nevertheless, the Apostle Paul, without hesitation, put the cross at the center of his preaching. If the church is to be the authentic Church–authentic Church–the cross will always be at the center of our preaching and way of life. The church cannot really exists as “the Church” without the memory and the impact of the cross being a vital part of our message and ministry.
    On another level we need to observe that many nominal Christians today have removed the cross from the church. As E. Stanley Jones once said, “Many have been inoculated with a mild form of Christianity and they are immune to the real thing.” Unfortunately, that is often true. For many nominal Christians, their basic approach to religion is to ask: “What can I get out of religion?” The church is perceived as a great community club where one can pick and choose whatever one wants from its selection. It is there to be used at my con­venience. “The church exists for me. I make no commitment to it.” ‘I don’t give any time, effort, energy, or money to it. It is there for my consumption, to meet my needs. “Some proclaim a “prosperity” gospel and substitute what a person can get out of religion instead of the cross Jesus has called us to take up and follow him.
    I received a folder in the mail several years ago from a new church which was being started in the east end of Louisville, Ken­tucky. Among other things in the brochure about the new church there were these words: ”A simple promise. Promises are easy to make but hard to keep. That is why the new church family of (name of the new church) makes only one simple promise–‘A positive and enjoyable Experience.’ That’s it! No strings attached. Come and go without any obligat­ions just enjoy yourselves.”
    That’s the Church Jesus founded? Can we really believe that? That view represents in my thinking the heresy of our day! Too many want a church with no strings attached! And many today have bought into this philosophy about church. It is a sad commentary on the church today. Jesus was never interested merely in trying to draw crowds of people around him. One of the heresies of our day is to assume that if you have large crowds, you have a great church. Jesus warned the crowds around him to be aware of “the sandpapered edge” in following him in discipleship. To the crowds he exclaimed: “You must be willing to forsake father and mother, brother and sister to follow me” (Luke I 4:26). To Nicodemus, the great religious leader, Jesus might have said: “I am flattered that you want to talk to me.” But, no, he declared to Nicodemus: ”You must be born again.” To the rich young ruler, who came to him seeking advice on finding eternal life, Jesus didn’t say: “Welcome to my band. It is so good to have you. We can use your money. We need you.” Instead he said, “Go and sell all you have and give to the poor and come, follow me.”
    Jesus was interested in making disciples and not attracting crowds of people. He was interested in disciples who were willing to take up a cross and live his way of life. The medicine of the church always has a warning on its label which reads, “Repent and be converted.” If you and I would follow Jesus Christ, we must be transformed. Our lives are to be made over in his image and we are to become different persons as we follow in his way. I know that the cross was a difficult word when it was originally preached, an offense to some and a stumbling block to others, and it continues to be so today. But I do not believe we can preach the message of Easter without first proclaiming the message of the cross. Can we ignore Christ’s call to discipleship and remove the cross and offer only peace, pleasure, wealth and ease and be proclaiming the real message of the Gospel? I personally think not. This is what I have struggled with in my Lenten book, The Church under the Cross. To disregard the cross is to ignore the central message of the death of Jesus and the reality of the atonement.

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    Click on a book cover for more information on Dr. Tuck’s books.

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