And what president would not proclaim a NDP?  Especially considering this “Fun Fact” also found on the site – “33 of the 44 U.S. Presidents have signed proclamations for National Prayer. Four of the Presidents who did not sign a proclamation died while serving in office.”   Apparently not declaring a NDP can lead to divine wrath.  In what way is that a “fun” fact?

I don’t think I will wait for the NDP.  I need to pray now.

After graduating from high school in Michigan, Mary (not her real name) decided to spend some time as a nanny before going to college. She responded to an ad and arrived at the appointed time to a wealthy home in a north Chicago suburb. The horror was just beginning. The ad agency was only a front, and Mary was abducted to be a sex slave. Five years later she was able to sneak a postcard out of the Cincinnati bar where she was being held with just her initials on it. Stirred with hope, her family went to the bar. By the time police arrived, she was gone. Two years later, the FBI finally found and freed her, to return to her home – pregnant and addicted to heroin.

This is not an isolated incident; it is one of the world’s 27 million most terrifying secrets: that there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in human history. Yes, you read that right, 27 million. And it is not just in foreign countries. There are 300,000 young women, ages 10-17, who are trapped in sex slavery in North America.

When I learned this, I was as shocked as you may be right now. I thought that through the work of people like William Wilberforce and John Woolman that slavery had been abolished. It looks different now, but slavery continues to thrive, as slave traders in 2007 making more money than Nike, Google and Starbucks combined.

Then, I hear a national media personality proclaim that we should flee from any church that speaks of “social justice.” I am not sure what he meant by social justice, but I think I know what God means when he says things like, “”Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6, NIV) or “…And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice” (Micah 6:8, NASB) or the words of Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind…” (Luke 4:12, NIV) There are numerous other passages, such as Amos 5:7-27 and Isaiah 1:12-17 that make it clear that God expects faithful worshipers to seek justice. And this is not just “Old Testament stuff” as Jesus makes clear in the parables of the good neighbor in Luke 10:25-37 and the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46.

As followers of Christ, can we turn a blind eye to fellow human beings who are bought, sold and used? Can we claim to love God and speak for him when we fail to speak for those who have no voice? While the issue seems overwhelming, you can make difference. Learn more about the issue by talking to your pastor or visiting some of these websites: International Justice Mission (ijm.org), Not for Sale (notforsalecampaign.org) or Call + Response (callandresponse.com). Read a book on the topic, such as Not for Sale by David Batstone or Renting Lacy by Linda Smith. Write to your elected officials to raise the awareness. Buy products that are certified slave free. Pray about how you can be involved. There are many other ways listed on the websites above. There are 27 million people out there like Mary, and with God’s help, you can make a difference in their lives. God calls us on us to “let justice roll on like a river” (Amos 5:24), and that river begins with us.

If you are in the area, our church will be hosting a showing of Call + Response on April 14th.  For more details check out covchurchcheboygan.com

• As a whole I like the TNIV, and think it’s a good translation.   It provided a good balance of trying to convey another language into English.
• I think much of the “controversy” was not so much about the actual science/art of translation as about other issues, such as suggestions that using gender-neutral language will lead to ordaining homosexuals  (yes, I’m serious – see this interview with Wayne Grudem)  Such sensationalism did little to help the issue.
• I’m a little disappointed in CT; this article seems to have been written to create a little bit of controversy.  Viral marketing by Zondervan?

The thought that occurred to me as I read the announcement about the new translation was “Now, what translation am I going to use for memory work and with my family?”   I have long used the NIV and a little over a year ago, the congregation I serve purchased NIV Bibles for use in worship to replace the NLT ones that were there.  I wondered afterwords if we should have gotten TNIV, but the NIV was much more widely used so we went with that.   At home however, we had begun to use the TNIV.   Personally I had also begun to use the TNIV for my own devotional reading and was beginning to use it for the discipline of Scripture memory.

I understand the desire by publishers to produce new translations to reflect changes in the English language but I wonder about the effect the multiplicity of translations has on the spiritual formation of the church as a whole.  I am convinced that some of the central spiritual disciplines are reading Scripture and memorizing Scripture.   The goal of the new translations (ESV, HCSB, TNIV) has been to encourage people to read their Bibles more and to provide people something they enjoy reading more and also will understand better.  I am all for that, though I wonder how many folks really need another translation (or specialty Bible) more than they need to simply read the ones that they have.

Now, finally getting to the point.  I first started using the NIV for memorization.  I have recently switched to the TNIV.  Now, will I switch to NIV2011?  What translation will I use with my kids?  And more than just for me and my family, I think about the church as a whole when we use so many different translations.  There is something powerful about being with Christians from other congregations and parts of the country and being able to say the Lord’s Prayer together.  Or to sing a song together where we all know the words.  But, what happens when we begin to all use different translations.  Will my kids grow up with another translation, such that we won’t be able to say the 23rd psalm together when I am old and perhaps sitting in a nursing home?  Or, in my own congregation, we have been trying to memorize some Scripture together as a body.  Even though we use the NIV as our standard translation, we have folks who use KJV, NLT and RSV.   Which means for them, when we memorize Scripture and recite it together on Sunday morning it’s not the same thing they read when they come to the passage in their Bible.

I don’t know what it all means, but I wonder if publishers think about any of these things when they are creating new translations?  Because I do.

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.

[This was an article I wrote for the Cheboygan Tribune.  I also posted it over at my church's website.]

For many, the day after Thanksgiving is the day to wake early and, armed with sale ads, stake out the stores for the best bargains on what has come to be known as Black Friday. The name apparently refers to retailers moving from being in the red to in the black (i.e. making a profit). In the Christian church calendar, Black Friday this year falls two days before the start of Advent, the days of preparation before the celebration of Christmas. Here in America, shopping and Christmas go together like hamburger and french fries. [Warning: I am going to say some things now that may make you a little uncomfortable, make you squirm a little and maybe even consider changing the way you do things. Please keep reading.]

Every year people tell me how overwhelmed they are by the shopping and the chaos of the Christmas season. Credit card bills soar. Stress levels peak. in the midst of it all, we lose sight of what matters most – that God put on flesh and bones and moved into the neighborhood (John 1:14, The Message) – that Jesus, the Son of God became a man to live among us and die for us. But don’t we give gifts to remember God’s gift to us? Yes, but do you really want me to think that anyone is thinking of God’s gift to us as they rip open the 86 elaborately wrapped packages under the tree? Do you want to try and convince me that the diamond earrings, 18V cordless drill, iPod, Barbie and Halo III help anyone grasp the height, depth and width of God’s love and sacrifice? Do I really think that a bigger present is going to lead my child into worship of God? What kind of character am I forming in myself and my family by shopping and spending?

Perhaps another Friday will help us regain perspective, what we know as Good Friday. Good Friday refers to the day on which Jesus was crucified, offering his life up as a sacrifice, demonstrating the way of discipleship, providing atonement for our sins and reconciling the world to God. What looked to the world like weakness was God’s greatest display of his glory. What seemed to be powerless was, along with the resurrection, the most powerful moment in history. What are you shaped by – the cross or the cash register?

Let me suggest a few simple steps that you might take to help you focus on Jesus this season, to turn from the idol of consumerism and worship the one who alone is worthy of praise. First of all, I give you permission to spend less this Christmas. Not just because the economy is bad but because it will be good for your soul. It will be an opportunity to say “I will not be a part of a consumer culture that seeks happiness in material things. I will not go into debt (further) and be farther into bondage into the empire of this world which worships wealth and power. Instead, I will worship the one who came helpless in poverty” Second, because God’s gift of his Son was relational and personal, when you do exchange gifts, make them something personal and relational in nature. Make something yourself. Put together a scrapbook. Record yourself reading for your grandchild, or yourself laughing. Rediscover the joy of giving less expensive gifts that are more meaningful and relational in nature. Third, remember the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40). Give some of the money that you saved to those in need, whether it be through local or global ministries. Help the local Salvation Army pay someone’s heating bill or help provide a well for a village through Living Waters, Int’l. Sponsor a Compassion Child or buy some extra groceries for the food pantry. That kind of giving will be an incredible act of worship and will shape your heart to be like Christ. Black Friday or Good Friday? Which one will start your holiday season?

Consider these hard economic times pure joy, my brothers and sisters. Did you know that’s in the Bible? Well, not exactly those words. What James 1:2 says is “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever your face trials of many kinds,” (TNIV). Is it fair to take James words and use them the way that I have? I think so. I have been spending a lot of time with James lately (through his letter), trying to understand what he has to say to followers of Jesus in 2008.

James wrote his letter maybe 15 years after the death of Jesus to Christians who had been scattered by persecution. They were facing challenging economic and social barriers as they were excluded because of their faith. We are facing challenging times also, although I don’t think it is as directly connected with our faith. Or, at least in the sense that Christians aren’t refused at the gas pumps because of their faith. In the midst of difficult times, James tells these Jesus-followers that they should consider their trials pure joy.

Is James suggesting a pie in the sky attitude that pretends as if the world is not as bad as it really is? Should we just say, “I don’t care if I can’t afford groceries, I’m a happy Christian!” No, I think James offers us spiritual insight into dealing with hard times. We should consider them pure joy, he says, “because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:3-4, TNIV) When we face hard times, we should see in them an opportunity for God to grow and shape us, for our faith to be fired and transformed.

As our economy falters and uncertainty rolls in over the horizon, we have a choice to make. We can despair and complain. Or, we can consider the hard times pure joy by seeing them as an opportunity to build our dependence on God. By seeing that these hard times might help us to evaluate what is truly important, if there are material possessions that we have idolized, to ponder where we have truly put our trust. James does not tell us that we have to enjoy the difficult times. I am not saying that we ought to be happy when friends and family lose their homes. Nor am I suggesting that we ought not to pray for economic vitality.

What I am suggesting is that in hard times like these, we can embrace the opportunity for spiritual growth in ourselves and in others. We can say to God, “Lord, please use these challenging times to shape and mold us into the image of your Son. Show me the ways that I have been conformed to the pattern of this world. Renew my mind and help me be transformed. In these hard times, purify my faith, like gold in a fire.”

I had a rowing coach in college who would tell us, “Pain is only weakness leaving the body.” We didn’t enjoy the pain at the time, but on race day, we were glad that the weakness had been purged through the pain. Our faith life is much the same. We don’t have to enjoy the difficult times, but we can rejoice in the way those painful days produce a mature faith. I close with the lyrics of a song by Keith Getty, “When trials come, no longer fear, for in the pain our God draws near, and fires a faith worth more than gold. And there is faithfulness is told.”

On Friday, Robert Webber, author and theologian died after a long bout with pancreatic cancer. Most of my connection with Bob comes from reading his books, particularly his books on worship which were always insightful and challenging. (He wrote over 40 books including editing a massive 7 volume encyclopedia on worship). But, I also had some connection with Bob as he and his wife had bought a house in my hometown of Sawyer. The first time I met him was when he visited my father’s service station. I should know better by now, but we have a tendency to elevate writers in the Chrisitian world to some sort of superhero status. He was in many ways just an ordinary guy, who needed gas for his lawnmower like everyone else.The ECC website has a good article here on Webber including some comments from fellow pastor Joel Kruggel in which he talks about the way in which Webber continued to serve God until the end. Although Bob was suffering from pancreatic cancer, he continued to write until his death, drawing joy from this service to the Lord. My prayers are with his wife during this time.

Bob Webber’s attitude to the end is what connects him with the second death that affected me this weekend – that of Maron “Buck” Buckley. Buck’s death was not as expected as Bob’s but instead came quickly. He went in for a simply surgery a few weeks back, after which he developed pneumonia which his body was never able to overcome. Buck was one of the first people I met when I moved to Chebogyan; in fact he and his wife allowed us to live in their house while they were gone for the winter until we could find a home of our own. Until the end, Buck was always concerned with others. I had asked Buck if he would donate some items for our Habitat for Humanity banquet and even while he was in his hospital bed, he made sure that his wife got those items to me. The banquet took place while he was in the ICU and he never learned how much the items had raised. Not that it was all about the money, but I think he would have been honored to learn that someone appreciated his work so much. Similarly when he was able to communicate only by spelling words in someone’s hands, he was thinking of his children and their family. To the end, he too served others and so served the God that he loved. Along with the announcement of Bob Webber’s death that I received from AEF were the lyrics to a hymn which Bob had used at an Easter Vigil. For the death of any follower of Jesus they are a wonderful reminder:

Thine is the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
Endless is the victory, Thou o’er death hast won;
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave clothes where Thy body lay.

Thine is the glory, risen conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er death hast won.

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
Lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
Let the church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing;
For her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.

No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life;
Life is naught without Thee; aid us in our strife;
Make us more than conqu’rors, through Thy deathless love:
Bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.

Thine is the glory, risen conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er death hast won.

(Lyrics by Edmond L. Budry)

Thine is the glory, risen conqu’ring Son!

A diet for our spiritual life is a good metaphor, because if we are to be healthy and grow spiritually we need to, as one writer put it, “eat this book (the Bible)”. We feed ourselves spiritually through service to others, listening to sermons, prayer and singing. One of the primary ways we are fed and formed is through the Bible, God’s written word to and for us.

My problem for a long time with this was that I didn’t see the Bible as the meal; I read it like a recipe book. I went to the Bible to find answers to particular issues: how do I pray, how to raise kids, how to manage my finances, what Jesus said about sexuality. Those and questions like them are answered, though not always as clearly as we would like (or think). I read the Bible for information, to answer questions, to know more about God. But, I have been learning that maybe I should be focusing less on information and more on formation. That is, I think we need to be reading the Bible more to be shaped by it, to allow God’s word to form us, not just inform us.

The image of eating the Bible is a helpful one. When we eat something, it is assimilated into our bodies and into our lives. When I was growing up, I remember hearing the phrase, “you are what you eat.” The same is true in our spiritual lives. When the prophet Ezekiel was given the task to speak to the people of Israel, God commanded him to eat a scroll and then speak to the people of Israel (Ezekiel 2:8-3:3; cf Jeremiah 15:16 and Revelation 10:9-10). The picture is of the prophet assimilating God’s word into his whole being so that when he speaks, God’s word will naturally come forth just as the food we eat is unconsciously assimilated into our bodies and is put to work in our words and actions.

I want to close with some thoughts on how you might begin a spiritual diet this year and how you might feed on the Bible, not simply studying it but taking it into your life in such a way that “it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus’ name, hands raised in adoration of the Father.” (Eugene Peterson)

Set apart a regular time for reading. It doesn’t have to be the start of the day, but a time when you are at your best and can be apart from the stress of life to open your life to God. Find a system so that you regularly cover the whole Bible On the other hand, don’t be in a hurry to just get through it – reading ththe Scriptures is not the time to practice your speed reading. Come to the Bible with the intent of knowing the will of God and the intent to do it. As you are reading ask, “God, what are you saying to me here?”. The goal is not to master the text and get all the answers – good interpretation is necessary – what you are seeking is for the text to shape and form you.

This is just a start of what a spiritual diet might look like. May the word of Christ dwell in you richly!

Probably the most interesting was a session on providence, preaching and pastoral care. The topic dealt with how we deal with the whole suffering and evil “problem.” Crammed into 60 minutes, we had a quick theological review and then some practical insight into what this means for a pastor. It had some good things to think about. Of course, it all comes down to your theology of evil and suffering. Do all things come from God? Does God ever punish Christians, or was all the punisment taken by Christ at the cross? What does Paul mean when he says “all things work together for good” – does he mean each and every thing or that the sum total of all things works for good, but maybe not every individual event has some redemptive value?

It seems to me that the Bible does not answer some of the questions which we have. As the one presenter pointed out, the book of Job has Job complaining and questioning God about why, after having gotten all knds of bad advice from his friends. Then God shows up, and says, “Look a hippo.” Almost like I do with a screaming two-year old.

All in all, a good conference. I will definititely consider it in the future.

I missed part of the opening worship service because I went to the Eerdman’s bookstore instead. Lead me not into temptation. A great selection of books, but I was most excited about their “seconds” section which had many books at 60-70% off, including some of their books for young readers.

The best workshop for the day and perhaps my favorite of the whole symposium was entitled “The Embodied Preacher.” It was given by Todd Farley of Mimeistry. We spent an hour learning about how to use our body for more effective preaching. It was an interesting concept to learn about better preaching from a mime. He did talk during the presentation, of course. Some people in the congregation I serve might like it if I acted more like a mime, i.e. said less. It was some very practical stuff. I won’t be doing the trapped in a box thing anytime soon but if I can use some of what I learned, it will help me communicate.