Character Assassination as Spectator Sport

I am about to lose my last safe refuge in this burned out, tear-everyone-down culture that we live in. Long ago I lost interest in what is commonly called the news in our day. The problem is that it is usually not the news at all -- it is merely the latest tabloid-hyped rumors and innuendo available, or it is the well-shaped web of political spin and carefully slanted talking points.

Such manipulated gruel is passed off as fact and truth, but is mostly well-dressed lies, only half-truths at best. Character assissination has become spectator sport, and watching it only leads to one's own character being damaged and abused by the words and images that we allow to invade us.

For me, sports has been the last bastion of respite from the personal destruction wars that decimate our cultural landscape in politics and government and even seemingly private matters. But now sports is being reported by young men and women who wish to climb their career mountains on the bodies of those they have destroyed. Sports reporting has increasingly become tabloid journalism in the worst way. So just turn on the television or read the paper to see who is being torn down today. It is all so sad.

What is remarkable is that these so called pursuers of the "truth", will blur everything in the name of ratings. They blatantly muckrake for ratings, and yet on the same show that they pontificate about possible use of performance enhancing drugs, they present a professional wrestler, the so-called WWF champion, as an "athlete." Note to ESPN: professional wrestlers are entertainers, not athletes! And, by the way, a professional hot dog eater is not an athlete either! Give me a break!

Day after day we hear of the steroid investigations in baseball and the alleged doping scandals in track and field and in cycling. No sooner do we celebrate a fabled win in the Tour de France by American Floyd Landis, than we hear that he is under suspicion for high testerone levels. And seven time champion Lance Armstrong continues to be haunted by allegations of drug use, though he never ever tested positive.

Such is also true one of my heroes, legendary slugger Mark McGwire, who hit 583 home runs, and set the single season record of 70 in 1998, which is still the record for a right handed hitter. McGwire never tested positive, because there was no test, yet writers, so sanctimonius on this issue, seem to wish to punish him without hard evidence for a crime that was not even on the baseball books. But since McGwire comes onto the Hall of Fame ballot next year, we are sure to hear about it each week until the vote, and for the next 15 years until his eligibility is over. The same will be true of Sammy Sosa, Raphael Palmiero and Barry Bonds, all great players and worthy of election to the Hall of Fame.

Now I am not defending taking substances that destroy one's body or are against the law or against the rules of a sport. But we are on an ever changing landscape when it comes to performance enhancers in sport, and what I am against is a rush to judgment and the subsequent judging of people from the past by the standards of today. The self-appointed pundits of our culture have been doing too much of that instantaneous judge and jury stuff in recent years, making accusations seem like unfettered truth, even though much of the allegations are largley undocumented and colored in the most murky shades of gray. And the judgments being rushed to in professional baseball are on particularly shaky ground.

Even if the allegations are true about these legendary baseball players (Palmeiro is the only one who tested positive and it was at the very end of his amazing career), who is to say that these fellows were the only ones who took steroids or some other drug during the time of their careers? (McGwire admitted taking the over the over the counter GNC-sold drug called androstenedione, which was legal at the time). Yes, the drug we know he used was LEGAL!

Some criticize McGwire for not being more forthcoming before the congressional committee investigating steroids. I think he was the only one who was not grandstanding on that day. He was perhaps the most honest person recorded on videotape. Everyone else had an agenda, especially the pontificating congressmen. The fact that the very private McGwire would be nervous at such a circus should be no surprise. The fact that he is an honorable team mate who did not wish to throw other players under the scandal train was actually admirable. He knew they had families and real lives and that digging up the past was pointless. We now know steroids are bad. Test for and eliminate them! Case closed. Stop the vultures from picking living men's bones.

But since only SIX players were called, isn't judging him by his performance on capitol hill a bit unfair. How would the hundreds of other players that McGwire played with (and against) have answered the same queries? If Jose Canseco, who is the main accuser of McGwire, is such a beacon of truth, then how do you handle his assertion, under oath, that steroids were "as acceptable in the '80s and mid-to-late '90s as a cup of coffee." Aren't there others who should be asked questions by congress? Or should baseball be treated like football and just say that a testing policy is now in place and that the past is the past. The NFL approach seems far more sane to me.

Think about it. Could there not have been others who took them? And what is the measure -- is a single use enough to disqualify a great career? What is the measure, O great baseball writers, who seemingly never make mistakes? You seem to know so much about every little thing in life? But you seem blind to compassion and forgiveness and giving someone the benefit of the doubt, and about taking a look at the good in a person's life, along with the percieved bad things.

Perhaps someone who was coming back from injury or who wanted to keep playing everyday took them. (Which is the main thing steroids do, they help you recover -- they do not help you hit a baseball!) What if even the great Tony Gwynn or Cal Ripken or Roger Clemons had some steroid treatment early in thier careers? Do you throw them under the bus, too? How far do you go? How deep are you going to investigate every player of the last 30 years? What is your measure of truth in testimony? Do you take the word of celebrity seekers and known criminals as gospel?

In a game that has known its fair share of cheaters, from spitballers to ball scuffers (some in the Hall of Fame), from bat corkers to spike sharpeners (some in the Hall of Fame), the current sanctimoniousness of writers and some ill-informed fans is disheartening. Think of the simple change in diet and vitamins (which has produced much larger players over the last 60 years), and the changes in ball parks and their sizes, and the rules changes like raising and lowering the pitcher's mound, and possible tightening of ball seams (the so-called rabbit ball), and you can see how records have been manipulated.

No one can say that the short right field in Yankee stadium did not help Ruth and Maris. No one can say that the Atlanta launching pad that Hank Aaron played in did not give him an advantage. Yet no one questions those records. If you throw out the records of McGwire and Sosa and Bonds, how about all the records their play affected. Do you erase their at bats and runs scored, too? How far do you go in a team game where the games have been over and done for years?

I had a friend who took steroids in the seventies to play football -- he gained 60 pounds of muscle. But he was not a very good football player. Steroids made him bigger, but not a better athlete.

I feel sorry for Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. They saved baseball in 1998, with their mythic pursuit of the home run record. What a remarkable summer that was. But now they have been cast on the garbage heap of time by a consumer culture that has lost its own heart and compassion. I pray they can stand up to the incessant pressure of the media lynch mob. I pray they know Jesus Christ and that they seek His help and strength from the Scriptures. It seems as if not one of the mob bent on destroying them has ever read John chapter eight.

It is no longer innocent until proven guilty. If the press decides you are guilty, that is all that is needed. Childhood memories of recent children are being crushed and discarded, and no one seems to care. The same could have been done to those who idolized Cobb and Ruth, who had multiple skeletons in thier closets, but that injustice was not done to those children, and I am glad.

So I no longer have sports as a cultural refuge. I guess I will just have to read the Bible more often. Of course, the self-appointed truth police may want to drug test the relics of the saints. Such is the way things seem to be going.

Our Citizenship is in Heaven

I am constantly amazed at what the Bible says -- there are amazing statements of faith and promise in the Bible that are often glossed over and sometimes completely overlooked. Too often we try to intellectualize their radical truths away, and somehow turn these dynamic phrases into the pablumic sameness of the world's cultural existence.

But as a canonical Christian (one who believes the Holy Spirit guided and established the canon of Scripture, and, therefore, we must accept it and deal with it as God's Word), I know that the Lord Himself urges me to let His words seep into my bones and to be a lamp unto my feet (Psalm 119:105). When I seek God's wisdom from the Word, the Spirit teaches me in many levels and ways, and it is always wonderful.

Such is the case with Phillipians 3:20-21, which declares our citizenship is already in heaven."20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself." What an totally awesome truth!

Are you living as a citizen of heaven, as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is keeping you from living out your citizenship in the here and now? Heaven has an outpost on earth and we are a part of it! Amen! Amen!

Pray for the Shalom of Jerusalem

The escalated violence in the Middle East brings us great sadness, as people continue to kill and maim each other. The senseless bloodshed has marred and twisted the lives of generations of Palestinians and Israelis in a struggle that began long ago, and that seems to have no end. Yet we see Jerusalem as an integral place for three great faiths, all of which trace their ancestry back to father Abraham. For Christians, the Lord Jesus studied the Hebrew Scriptures and lived faithfully, according to the Law of Moses. He also is written about often in the pages of the sacred Koran of Islam. The connections that one finds in the Middle East are unmistakable. Yet many choose to major in the differences, and peace remains a mist in the desert.

In Psalm 122, there are prescient words -- "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels."

We need to remember that the Hebrew word which we have as "peace" is actually "Shalom", which means much more that our understanding of peace. Shalom is a wholeness and well-being in the sense of everything working together smoothly, particularly in the sense of being at one with God. Jerusalem was established after all David's warfare and was not troubled militarily, but the need for keeping in step with the LORD was always a matter for the prayers of the faithful. The need for peace -- peace with God and peace with each other, remained. So peace here, shalom, is an inclusive term. Not just military peace, but wholeness and inner peace and peace with others in fellowship ways. So when we pray for peace, let us pray for all kinds of peace, including the peace that comes through full knowledge of the Messiah, Yeshua, who is the Prince of Peace.

Jerusalem remains the city special to God, from which He seeks to bless all mankind. It is a city which is in as great a need of God's Shalom as any other city. There are all the modern stresses and strains, with the added stress from the evil of some of its enemies, who are trying to push the Israeli people into the sea. Jerusalem needs prayers for its protection and defense. So let us pray for peace and cessation of war, and for the futures of the children, both Israeli and Palestinian, and look expectantly for the total peace of Jerusalem, which will happen with the coming of the Messiah. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! (Rev. 22:20)

Creation Care -- Pray for the Environment

Care for the environment, (and the awakening to our human capacity to damage it), is coming to the forefront of the Christian agenda. We can see a world in big trouble, creation groaning under the burden humans place on it, and we need to respond with caring acts, thinking of the futures that our children and grandchildren face. We need to care for God's creation.

Creation is God's first Scripture, declaring His greatness. Read Psalm 19:1-4: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."

We look forward to a time when a congregation’s concern for the environment will be as natural as its care for the sick and the poor, because a sick envioronment makes people sick and poor! We look to the Churches leading public debate back to this most fundamental of all concerns -- care and stewardship of the lands and the world that God has given to us. May God raise up new seekers of justice like Amos to proclaim this truth.

Evangelical Christian leaders like author and pastor Rick Warren have called for us all to be involved in "creation care." The National Association of Evangelicals, in its Evangelical Call for Civic Responsibility, stated last October: "We affirm that God-given dominion is a sacred responsibility to steward the earth and not a license to abuse the creation of which we are a part. Because clean air, pure water, and adequate resources are crucial to public health and civic order, government has an obligation to protect its citizens from the effects of environmental degradation."

Amen to that! It is time for us to sing a new song of caring for our environment. "Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth . . . Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy." Psalm 96:1,11-12.

Mirrors of Christ's Light and Love

Have you ever come upon a lake when there was not a breeze in sight, and the water becomes a mirror of unspeakable beauty? A recent reflection came to me that we most clearly mirror Christ when we become still and know that God is God, when we seek to reflect His beauty, truth and grace. We, God’s image and likeness, (Genesis 1:27) are to become like mirrors.

In 2 Corinthians 3:18, we are described as "beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord." When we behold His glory, we will be "transformed into the same image"—that is, the likeness of Christ. God's people are called to reflect God's glory. To do that we must make it our habit to behold His glory. We must read and meditate on His Word. The more we read adn meditate, the more like Christ we become. That is the miracle of Scripture and its affect on transformative sanctification. The Spirit uses the Word to frame our lives. We must pray and trust God's Holy Spirit to work in our hearts. Only then can we obey His commands and depend on His promises.

Whose glory are you reflecting today? A poet wrote that the face is a mirror of the heart—do people see the light of Jesus in yours?

Making Good Choices -- Choosing Life!

Now is the time to begin making good choices – success in all of life, in every area, comes from making good choices. Choose love, choose peace, choose freedom, choose life, choose Jesus.

The human body is "fearlessly and wonderfully made" (Psalms 139:14), and in itself was created by God to heal itself. But, for the body to continually do this, we must provide it with the proper nutrients in their proper proportions. Whenever possible, we need to eat foods in the perfect natural way which God created them, unaltered by man.

"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Genesis 1:31 We need to avoid refined, highly processed foods, stripped of the nutrients God put in our foods to nourish our bodies. It is God's perfect will for us to not get sick, but to live healthy, fulfilled lives. We can accomplish that by obedience and healthy living, by being proactive, with actions that help prevent health problems and maintain God’s perfect health!

We cannot expect to break natural laws (created by God) and expect our bodies to function perfectly. We must do our part if we expect God to heal us, if we are breaking natural laws and not taking care of the body, a Holy temple of the living God (2 Cor. 6:16). We must confront our wicked ways of eating and living, and repent. We must humble ourselves, and repent and change our ways.

2 Chronicles 7:14, which is often referred to when talking about revival of America, also gives us a pattern for America’s number one health problem – obesity. Its basic spiritual principles fit other individual and collective problems, too, but it hits the national epidemic of obesity dead on. “If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

The Path to Good Health is in Your Mouth

On July 12, 2006, God gave a word to me in a prayer meeting with a group of trusted friends as we prayed together for strength and revelation. It was short and simple, but so very profound!
“The path to health is in the mouth, what goes into it, and what comes out of it.”

As I have reflected on this word from the Lord, its power and wisdom amazes me. What we eat and drink goes into our mouths, and the choices we make in these areas are so important. What we say and pray also comes out of our mouths, and it is a key to our spiritual life. What we decree in Jesus Name can change things, and what we eat can directly change our bodies. Our words need to align with God's word, and should be positive, not negative. What we eat and what we say both effect us in huge ways. They go hand in hand for our health.

Life is an adventure...and it can pass you by if you aren't looking for it. How do you look for life or have an adventure with it? Live it the way God intended for you to...live it to the fullest. Love and respect yourself - get healthy and take care of your body and soul, look for the best in people - even if they are the worst, look for the best and rejoice in that. Begin to take advantage of the pathway to health and blessing that God has provided for you.

For too long good Christians have been influenced by our culture in the things we eat and the way we prepare them. It is high time that we shake off the bondage of the culture and set ourselves free from ways of eating that foster addictions to sugar and flour and fried foods. I must do this -- and so do many others in America. And if we love our children, we must help them build a good foundation of eating and lifestyle habits. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6.)

Taking care of our temples (our bodies) is a responsibility many of us Christians need to work on. America is becoming a health wasteland, because in large part to bad choices, both individually and collectively. Chronic disease is epidemic in the United States. Cancer is the number one killer. Diabetis, Lupus, Krohns disease are on the rise. More children are being born with ADHD and autistic. One big contributing reason: American diet. Our immune system is hammered with chemicals, preservatives, nitrites, sulfites, phosphates, and heavy metals. All of this can contribute to chronic disease and cancer.

On top of all this, we have record pollution rates in our environment. The healthiness of water we drink is suspect in many parts of the country. Manmade electromagnetic fields invade our bodies on a regular basis. The air we breathe is often laced with bad things. To add insult to injury, the greenhouse effect and other negatives from our out of balance ecosystem are contributing to global warming, rises in skin cancer, and severe climate changes that affect the health of many people. Bad choices beget bad situations. We must humble ourselves, respond to God's truth, and repent and change our ways.

The Amazing Bible and Its Central Truth

The Bible is a truly amazing book, and there is much evidence of an unseen hand bringing it all together. Note this fact: the King James Bible has 31,174 verses — an even number — so there is no one "center" verse, but there are center verses, which echo the same truth. The 15,587th and the 15,588th verses, within Psalm 118 (Psalm 118:8-9, to be exact). They state: "8 It is better to trust in the LORD, than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD, than to put confidence in princes." Modern day princes are governmental leaders, and we learn more and more that they, in their utter human-ness in this broken world, are not he source of our well-being. We must put our trust in the LORD!

The absolute center chapter of the Bible is Psalm 117 -- and it is the shortest chapter, with just two verses -- "1 O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him all ye people. 2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Praise ye the Lord!" There are 594 chapters up to (and including) Psalm 116, and 594 Chapters from 118 on (including Psalm 118). So at the very center of the Bible is the call to trust the LORD, and to sing His praises, for He is merciful and kind to us, and His truth endures forever.

Psalm 119, with its famous verse 105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet," is the longest chapter in the Bible. What is more, Psalm 119 is an acrostic, written with 8 verses for each of the Hebrew consonants in order, so verses 1-8 each have a first word beginning with 'aleph and verses 9-16 each have a first word beginning with beth, etc.

The next time you pick up a Bible know that it is much more than a book or a collection of books. It really is God's Word and it has been inspired and nurtured and preserved by the Holy Spirit so that you might read it and use it in this time and place. These words are good medicine for your mind and spirit and healing to your very bones. May they seep into your being and give you comfort, joy and peace.

Morning Has Broken -- God is the First Artist

Sermons in Every Sunset -- Whispers of God's Greatness

Every time I see the sun rise or set, I am in total awe. Last summer I rose early one Saturday during a weekend at a church camp on Lake Okoboji in the Great Lakes region of Iowa. Seeing the myriad colors of that rising paints my mind each time I remember it. We see thousands of reasons to believe in God every day. His creation trumpets His praises, even when we are spiritually deaf. As Romans 1:19 and 20 proclaims: “But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being.”

God created the world and that God interacts with God’s creation. Since I was a young boy I have been reciting the Apostle’s Creed Sunday after Sunday, both in the Methodist Church of my childhood and the Presbyterian Church of my adult years. “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth” has been uttered untold billions of times by Christians around the globe. Seeing God as Creator is foundational that is to our doctrine and affirming it is to all the other tenets of our faith.

Recently, I came across one of my favorite books, Faith Seeking Understanding, where I was once again transformed by the Scripture -based words I found there. Theologian Daniel Migliore writes eloquently of the good creation: “The Bible proclaims the Good News in its very first verse, “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth”(Gen 1:1). The creation of the world is the first of the majestic and gracious acts of the triune God. It is Gods calling “into existence the things that do not exist” (Rom. 4:17). While the good news of God’s free grace has its center in the liberating and reconciling work of Jesus Christ … the sovereign goodness of God is already at work in the act of creation. The triune God who eternally dwells in loving community also welcomes into existence a world of creatures different from God. The creation of the world, its reconciliation in Jesus Christ, and its promised renewal and consummation are all acts of the one triune God and they all exhibit the astonishing generosity and beneficence of this God.”

The doctrine of creation affirms God’s care for the created order and is the basis for renewed attention to the stewardship of the world in Christian ecological theology. We have a responsibility to care for God’s creation in our dominion. Migliore points out that God values and takes delight in all creatures and that “all creatures are able in some way to give glory to God the creator.” He goes on to write that “while the stars, the trees, and all the animals do not speak or sing of the glory of God in the same way as humans do, in their own way they too life up their praises to God, and for all we know they do this with a spontaneity and consistency far greater than our own.”

These thoughts echo the feelings of my adopted brothers and sisters of the Tlingit nation of Southeast Alaska, who have long held a belief in the sacredness of creation and the special relationship to the one God that every part of creation shares. The Tlingits, most of whom are Christians but still hold some core beliefs of their original Native philosophy, speak of the need for respect of the Creator and all of Creation. The Creator is called the “Diki En Kowoo” which means the Spirit above. For Native Christians, the Diki En Kowoo came to earth and walked as a man. His name was Jesus and he was a tribal person of brown skin in a land far away. The elders of my village often say “He was Respect in human form – no one respects the creation more than the Creator. We must show our respect for the Creator by respecting His creation. All life is sacred.”

So it is that when I read the eloquent words of Migliore I heard the whispers of the ones who adopted me and their ancestors. It is special to see that the doctrine of creation honors God and all that God has created and that creation is good. With spiritual eyes wide open, aided by the spctacles of the Word, we can see the co-existence and interdependence of all created beings also strikes a chord in my mind. During my five years in the wilderness of Alaska I was privileged to see nature as few see it, guided by such experts as Native fishermen and hunters, as well as whale watching scientists on Frederick Sound. Again and again I saw the circle of life played out with amazing natural precision. A thousand miracles dance on the northern Pacific each moment of the day, and God writes dissertations as the salmon return and pens sermons in every sunset.

He Has the Whole World in His Hands! -- Including You and Me!