The news over this past week has been absolutely terrible, tragic, and unfathomable. Although war is awful, at least we can kind of understand how it happens and we expect the violence that comes with it. But it is impossible for us to grasp what would possess a human being to walk into a movie theater wearing a gas mask, set off tear gas, and open fire wounding thirty-nine people and murdering twelve. These folks just wanted to go see the premiere of a big summer blockbuster and they wound up experiencing a living (or dying) hell. What was he angry about? Is he mentally ill? Has he been possessed by pure evil? I cannot really venture a guess at the answer to any of those questions. That is for a judge to determine. I simply want to comment on this horrible situation as a pastor.
I, like most pastors in the Presbyterian Church (USA), don’t spend a whole lot of time talking about Satan. Many of my friends in different churches spend a great deal of time talking about “the enemy” as though every problem they have is the result of the devil trying to bring them down. Got a cold? It’s the devil. Your teenaged son got caught spray painting profanity on the side of an abandoned building? Satan’s got that boy. I don’t buy that and I always cringe to hear Christians talk like that. That doesn’t mean, however, that I do not believe that there is an “evil one” as Jesus calls him. A colleague of mine in ministry once asked me, “How can you believe in a personification of evil?” My answer was simply, “The harder question to answer is why did Jesus talk about him so often if he does not exist?” Jesus also said, however, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander (Matthew 15:19). Perhaps our “hearts” can be influenced for evil just as the Holy Spirit can work in our “hearts” for God’s good purposes.
When asked if he believed in Satan, C.S. Lewis responded, “There is no uncreated being except God. God has no opposite. . . . The proper question is whether I believe in devils. I do. That is to say, I believe in angels, and I believe that some of these, by the abuse of their free will, have become enemies to God. . . . Satan, the leader or dictator of devils, is the opposite, not of God, but of Michael.” Another time Lewis wrote that “the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” This begs the question, “Was the movie theater murderer evil or possessed by the spiritual forces of evil?” Again, I can’t answer that but he sure seems like as good a candidate as any. There is also the possibility that he is seriously mentally ill, but this sure seems way too planned out to be a manifestation of mental illness to me. But what do I know? I think it also needs to be noted that all of these mass killers are young men. A few years ago Rabbi Schmuly Boteach wrote a book called The Broken American Male. Maybe we all need to read that.
A related news story that is worrisome to me is that gun sales in Colorado have gone up by 40% since the mass shooting early Friday morning. So what are these folks going to do? It is illegal to take a firearm in a movie theater anyway. So are we going to be going into a movie now with several people who legally own their firearm but are illegally carrying them into a public place where they are prohibited? Will more and more businesses allow legally registered firearms? Would it have made a difference or could it have made it even worse if in the screaming chaos of a tear gas filled pitch black theater a bunch of disoriented and blinded people tried to fire back at the murderer? Why any private citizen needs an AK-47 is beyond me, but this is not the venue for me to discuss my views on gun laws, so I will just say that as Christians we should at least ask whether or not a 40% hike in gun sales in the days after a mass shooting is a good thing or a bad thing.
Another news story over the past week or two is that a pizza delivery guy in Atlanta, who supposedly was worried about a rash of robberies of delivery drivers and started carrying a gun, shot a young man who allegedly jumped out of some bushes and tried to rob the driver. The alleged robber survived after being shot in the abdomen and the leg. If the alleged robber did actually attack the pizza guy, I think someone could make a good case that he had it coming, but I want us to consider something that was said in an interview with another Atlanta pizza delivery driver. When asked if he was going to start carrying a gun the man said, “The money isn’t worth shooting somebody over. I’d rather hand over my money than have to kill somebody.” I don’t know anything about the faith background of any of these people, but I think it is a valid question to ask who is really the strongest of these two pizza delivery guys—the one who carried a gun and shot his robber or the one who even values the life of a robber more than his own money? That’s a hard call to make, but I think the second delivery driver is a welcome divergence from a mass murderer, a rush on firearms, and a gun toting Papa John’s driver. At least he stops to make you think.
In Romans 12:17, the Apostle Paul writes, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” In 1 Peter 3:9 we read, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” I am in no way implying that anything good should be done for the murderer of all those innocent people in that movie theater. Please do not misunderstand me on that very important point. The civil government exists to protect its citizens and to punish those who commit crimes such as these, although a crime of this scale is practically unprecedented. What I mean is that we cannot let the evil that is done by others cause us to react to them with our own evil acts. When that happens “the enemy” that my friends talk about all the time has won.
I am a big fan of the Christian Bale Batman movies and had planned to go see the new film in the theater sometime in the coming weeks. I in no way fault anyone associated with the film, but I’ve decided to wait until it comes out on Blu Ray disc several months from now. I’m not usually like that but there’s been some weird stuff going on in connection with that movie so I think I’d be nervous the whole time and unable to enjoy the movie. All I can really do at this point is pray for the families who are mourning, for those who are healing, for a community (which isn’t very far away from Columbine) that is in shock, for those involved in the film who feel awful about the connection between the crime and their film, for a just punishment for the killer, and that God would even turn this man’s heart so that as he hopefully lives the rest of his life in prison or on death row he might come to know the peace offered by our Lord Jesus Christ and do something good for other prisoners.
What terrible news. If it wasn’t for the good news I don’t know how any of us could keep going in this messed up world.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Ministry on the Edge
I cannot remember how I learned about Dton Naam Ministries, but I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that one of its founders is from the Oklahoma City area. Also, I did some work with Oklahomans Against Trafficking Humans and attended several informational sessions and conferences through them so there is probably some connection there. Although I cannot remember how I learned about it, when I was trying to think of an international example for last week’s sermon, providentially I believe, this particular ministry came to mind immediately. I couldn’t remember the name of it so I googled “ministry-Bangkok-ladyboys.” As you can probably imagine, that pulled up some interesting search results, but to my delight the third website listed was that of Dton Naam Ministries, a name which I recognized immediately. I looked in the staff section and found Celeste McGee from Midwest City, Oklahoma. That’s her!
Celeste McGee is a Southern Baptist who graduated with a BS in Family Psychology from Oklahoma Baptist University and then received her Master’s in Marriage and Family Counseling from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. She felt called by God to help to free women from prostitution. She visited Bangkok in Thailand and spent a summer with a non-profit doing just that. She was overwhelmed by the scope of the problem there. More than anything, however, she was surprised by the number of young men and boys who were engaged in prostitution, especially the kathoey or “ladyboys” of Bangkok. According to Wikipedia, “Kathoey is a Thai term that refers to a transgender person or an effeminate gay male in Thailand. While a significant number of Thais perceive kathoeys as belonging to a third gender, including many kathoeys themselves, others see them as either a kind of man or a kind of woman.” That’s who a Baptist girl from Oklahoma wanted to reach for Jesus Christ.
She gave up her beloved dog, sold pretty much everything she owned, got a little more training in Virginia, then moved to Bangkok, Thailand to work with the ladyboys. I’m not sure how, but at some point she met a Christian Thai man named Golf, along with his wife and daughter, and they began the ministry together. Golf is a gifted musician and, in many cases, the only positive and safe male the ladyboys have ever met. At some point an American woman named Bethany who also had a heart for this ministry came to work with Dton Naam. Bethany moved to Bangkok and as a part of her training she, of course, needed to learn the Thai language. In those classes she had the following experience. This is quoted directly from the Dton Naam blog:
Last week I had an interesting experience as I was sitting in Thai language class. It started with my Thai teacher making fun of ladyboys. My teacher from the previous module had also done this several times in class, usually when one of the male Korean students slipped up and used a feminine Thai term instead of masculine, she would use it as an excuse to call him a ladyboy. On Friday my module #2 teacher was doing something similar. I was struck by how much of a joke ladyboys are in Thailand. It is similar to how people in America make fun of gays, using “gay” as an adjective for things that they don’t like. “That movie was so gay!” “This homework is so gay!”
I haven’t given anyone at my language school intimate details about what it is that I do in Thailand. They know I’m a Christian. They know I’m working for a Thai foundation that helps young men and women. They know I have no salary. They don’t know that the majority of my time is spent reaching out to ladyboys.
So last Friday while my teacher was joking about them and making the rest of the class roar with laughter I stared down at my textbook and pretended to be taking notes. Nothing about it was funny to me. I watched as the teacher turned to the whiteboard and wrote kathoey (the Thai word for ladyboy) in big black letters with her marker. And as I sat there I was struck by the ridiculousness of my life.
What would my classmates think if they knew that the object of their jokes was the very reason I had come to Thailand?
Did they have any idea that every single day after class I go back to my workplace and am greeted by a group of the friendliest people I have ever met, who…just happen to be ladyboys?
What would my teacher think if I told her that the majority of my Thai homework has only been accomplished because Cee, my ladyboy friend, helped me?
Actually, I was quite tempted to tell my teacher about who helps me with my homework just so I could see the expression on her face. (Would’ve been priceless!) But of course I cannot say any of these things. So, I just shook my head and scribbled in my notebook, pondering the absurdity of my existence.
I was also angry. When it comes to people that I care about, I am very protective. In the 6 weeks I have been here, I have come to love and deeply care for the Dton Naam students so much. Mostly because in our daily times of prayer and worship, the Lord has given me glimpses into His heart and shown me the depth of His love for them.
The folks at Dton Naam have found that almost 100% of those in prostitution, whether male or female, experienced sexual abuse as a young person, all of them at the hands of men. Celeste comments, "Even though I had worked with survivors of sexual trauma in Texas, I often felt overcome by the depravity and pain in the Thai women’s stories, how incest almost seemed normalized, gang rapes expected, domestic violence tolerated, boyfriends cheating… so of course they rationalized prostitution. “Why not receive money for how they’ve already been treated?” They’ve rarely been treated as precious and valuable women, the whole concept of dignity and honor never allowed to take root.” Celeste, Golf, Bethany, and the others want to breathe God’s grace into the lives of these people who are all created in the image of our loving God. Grace is something that the staff of Dton Naam talks about a lot in their blog. Here are some more words about grace from Bethany:
"A difficult thing about living in this city is maintaining a healthy view of men, when so many of the men we come across are sex-buyers. When I first became aware of the issues of prostitution and the sex industry, I was angry towards the men who perpetuate this problem. God has convicted my heart since then, giving me His eyes for these men. In them, I see the same slavery and brokenness that those in prostitution have. I see the same hollowness and need for healing in their eyes. And I see just as much of a chance for Jesus to step in and transform them as I would see with anybody else."
Dton Naam shares this grace with the ladyboys, who work in “bars,” which are really brothels, and provides for them Thai and English classes, life skill classes, counseling, group support, fellowship, recreation, Bible classes, worship, opportunities to serve others, and alternative job training and options through their own coffee shop. They do all of this in the name of Jesus Christ. In one of their blog posts they quote the book Radical by David Platt where he says, “We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.” Celeste and the others at Dton Naam live that out in an environment that would make most of us cry and run.
Sharing grace; that’s what they want to do, and that’s what they’re doing. Some of the ladyboys decide not only that they are not to be a prostitute, but they are not to be a ladyboy anymore. Others who come into the ministry continue to dress as ladyboys and to have effeminate tendencies because that is who they feel they are at their core. Celeste writes, “For me, helping women and men involved in prostitution is not about “evangelizing” or pushing my religious perspective onto them. My role is simply about loving them, being their friend, and making other options of work available to them. During this process, something brilliant happens and I get to watch an amazing relationship break out between the Almighty God of the universe and His precious child whom He is wooing. Only He can bring about lasting, healthy change and this is why I stay where I am, doing what I do.”
There are some cool, brave people out there doing things through the power of the Holy Spirit to spread the Kingdom of God. It can strengthen all of us to learn about what God is doing all over the world, encouraging us to do Kingdom work right here in Fayette County.
Remember this week what Madalyn sang to us this past Sunday:
In heaven's eyes there are no losers
In heaven's eyes no hopeless cause
Only people like you with feelings like me
Amazed by the grace we can find
In heaven's eyes
May you find this week that the horizon of God's grace in Jesus Christ is much broader than you ever imagined it could be.
I’ll be at Kirmont Presbyterian Camp this Thursday through Saturday with Wyatt, as well as Jana, Mark, Landon, and Logan Miller. We’ll see you on Sunday!
Yours in Christ,
Everett
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Walking by Faith, Not by Sight
I would imagine, however, that I am not your average viewer of these films and shows. I actually have a yellow legal pad that I keep with me while watching them and I write notes about the role that faith plays in the films. As it might not go over that well doing a sermon series entitled Jesus and Zombies, I’ll use most of that material for my blog posts over time. Today I want to share with you what I learned from a movie in this genre that I saw recently called The Book of Eli, which is a movie based on a graphic novel that stars Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. Before I get into it, let me say that I did not like this movie. Usually these two main actors make good stuff, but in my opinion it was boring, disjointed, and it crossed the line into farce. For the first three-quarters of the movie I kept going back and forth about whether or not I just wanted to cut my losses, delete it from the DVR, and go on to something else. But right when I was about to give up on it, the last half-hour actually got interesting. I am going to ruin the plot for you because I do not want you to waste two hours of your life on this movie like I did.
An all-out nuclear war has decimated much of humanity and society. Those who did somehow survive have to contend with the fact that the nuclear fallout has caused the ozone layer to pretty much disappear. The earth has no real protection from the sun’s rays. Everything is dried up and you have to stay covered up if you are outside. The entire world is gray, dirty, and desolate. As you can probably imagine, rule and order no longer exist and there are bandits everywhere ala the Mad Max movies. For thirty years, Eli, played by Denzel Washington, has been walking west carrying the very last copy of a very important book. We find out that he is doing it because he heard the voice of God tell him to do it. He will do anything to protect the book, which often involves going samurai on bandits and marauders who try to attack him. He doesn’t know where he is going. All he knows is that God told him to carry it west. At the same time there is a villain, reminiscent of evil land barons in Westerns, played by Gary Oldman, who has for years been looking for a copy of this book because he knows that if he can control the book he can use it to control others and to reap selfish gain from it. As you can probably imagine, the villain and the carrier of the book are about to cross paths.
The reason that there is only one copy left of this book is that most people said that it was that book that caused the apocalyptic war. So the survivors gathered up all copies of the book and burned it. Somehow one copy survived; that is the copy being carried by Eli, who before the war was just a simple K-Mart employee. “One day, I heard a voice,” Eli tells a young woman who ends up tagging along with him. “I could hear it as clear as I can hear you talking to me now… It led me to a place where I found the book buried in some rubble and the voice told me, ‘Carry the book west,' and told me that a path would be laid out for me, that I’d be led to a place where the book was safe, told me that I’d be protected against anyone or anything that stood in my path. I’ve been walking ever since.” For the past thirty years Eli has not only been carrying and protecting the book, but he has been reading it every single day for thirty years.
The young woman, named Solara, who ends up traveling with Eli notices immediately that he acts differently from everyone else. She is the stepdaughter of the villain and had been offered to Eli as enticement to give the villain the book. Eli refuses to take advantage of the girl and instead has her sit down with him at
Eventually the villain tracks down Eli and Solara and a bloody gun fight ensues. The villain holds a gun to Solara’s head and says he will kill her if Eli doesn’t give up the book. After 30 years, Eli finally hands it over. He cannot protect it any longer. Later on, Solara says to Eli, “I didn’t think anything could make you give up that book.” Eli responds to her by saying, “All the years of carrying that book and reading it every day, I got so caught up in keeping it safe that I forgot to live by what I learned from it.” She wonders what it is that he has learned from the book. “Do for others more than you do for yourself,” he says. “That’s what I got from it anyway.” Protecting Solara’s life was more important than protecting the book.
Interestingly enough, while the villain is trying to break the lock that keeps the book closed, Eli and Solara continue heading west. They drive through the abandoned streets of what used to be San Francisco until they come to San Francisco Bay. They get in a rowboat and head out toward Alcatraz Island. They’re coming to the end of Eli’s thirty year journey, yet he doesn’t have the book. Armed guards meet them at the dock demanding to know their business. “I have in my possession the last remaining copy of the Bible,” Eli yells out, although we know that he doesn’t anymore. Meanwhile, the villain gets into the book and finds that the pages are blank except for little bumps. It’s in brail! As a viewer you realize that Eli was blind this whole time. That’s why he wore sunglasses all the time, never looked anyone in the face, and had such a strong sense of smell. Ah, I should have known! He really did walk by faith and not by sight.
Back on Alcatraz Island, Eli and Solara are admitted into the old prison where there is a group of people, who like the monasteries during the dark ages in Europe, are collecting and preserving the important books of human civilization. The professorial British man in charge of the library asks Eli where the book is. “Get a pen and some paper,” Eli says. “Lots of paper.” They sit down together and Eli says, “Write down everything I tell you exactly as I say it.” The man, somewhat confused, nods in agreement. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” Eli begins, followed by them showing how day after day he would lie down on a couch with his eyes closed and continue to recite the entire Bible from memory as someone wrote it down. He didn’t need the book after all. After thirty years of reading it, it was inside of him.
Psalm 119 is the longest psalm, actually the longest chapter in the Bible, I believe. It is basically a love poem written for God’s Word. It includes such statements as, “My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to your word” and “The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words” and “Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long” and the famous “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Perhaps from The Book of Eli we can take the lesson that in order for us to live by the Word of God, we need to read the Word of God, and not just every now and then, but every day. Every time I find that I am growing distant from God, I realize that I have not been spending enough time in the Scriptures.
I will end with something I once heard a Jewish rabbi say. He said, “In studying God’s Word we do not put it in our hearts; we put it on our hearts. We put it on our hearts and then when life breaks our heart, the Word is already there and it can flow in.” Perhaps the chances of the super-flu or nuclear war aren’t really that high. I’m not too worried about aliens either, and I haven’t quite started putting together my contingency plans for zombies or dragons, but life does have its very real challenges and its tragedies. You know that; you’ve been through it or you’re going through it now. So, like the character Eli, put the Word of God inside of you little by little every day, and someday when you really need it, it will be right there and it will flow into your heart.
Grace and Peace,
Everett
Thursday, July 5, 2012
26 Hours in the Steel City
1. There is a great deal of diversity in the Presbyterian Church (USA). As I walked around it was nice to see people of all skin shades and even to hear people speaking to one another in Spanish, Korean, and even Arabic. There is also a lot of political and theological diversity there as well. In the exhibit hall the Pro-Life Presbyterians booth was right across from the More Light Presbyterians, which is a group within the PC(USA) that lobbies for full inclusion of LGBT persons. The woman who sews beautifully artistic ministry stoles was right down from the web design and social networking booth. The PC(USA) looks a lot like the USA. The difference is that everyone there, regardless of their differences in appearance or views, agrees that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. That’s what holds us together.
2. Our beloved Cincinnati Reds have their hands full with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sitting by fellow Presbyterians from Alaska, Florida, New York, and Iowa, I attended the Pirates-Astros game on Tuesday night. PNC Park is a great stadium that is pretty similar to Great American Ball Park in appearance, size, and
3. Fundraising dinners are fine, but I’ll take a cheeseburger at the Rusty Keg over chicken and rice pilaf served on fine china any day. Plus, it’s cheaper. Throw in some of Lori Iverson’s potato/cheese/bacon casserole and one of Arlene Thompson’s homemade pies and I’m set.
4. I would like for our congregation to have a relationship with one particular mission co-worker, couple, or family serving somewhere in the world. I spent a
5. Put a couple of hundred Presbyterians in a beautiful Art-Deco ballroom with marble walls and the acoustics will raise our voices to heaven. I was at a breakfast during which I participated in some of the most beautiful and worshipful singing I’ve ever been a part of. I could not help but get a bit emotional as we sang, “It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
6. Big changes are likely coming to the PC(USA), many of which a lot of folks in this congregation will not agree with and may even be upset about. What I always remind people of is that worship and ministry take place locally. We are too busy
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