We have to surprise them with restraint and generosity

Op-Ed Columnist
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: August 21, 2010
New York Times
quote:

I just saw the movie “Invictus” — the story of how Nelson Mandela, in his first term as president of South Africa, enlists the country’s famed rugby team, the Springboks, on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup and, through that, to start the healing of that apartheid-torn land. The almost all-white Springboks had been a symbol of white domination, and blacks routinely rooted against them. When the post-apartheid, black-led South African sports committee moved to change the team’s name and colors, President Mandela stopped them. He explained that part of making whites feel at home in a black-led South Africa was not uprooting all their cherished symbols. “That is selfish thinking,” Mandela, played by Morgan Freeman, says in the movie. “It does not serve the nation.” Then speaking of South Africa’s whites, Mandela adds, “We have to surprise them with restraint and generosity.”

Locked in a Room With Open Doors

Theology Today - Vol. 31, No. 4 - January 1975
http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jan1975/
v31-4-bookreview9.htm

book review:

Locked in a Room With Open Doors
By Ernest T. Campbell
Waco, Texas, Word Books, 1974. 180 pp. $5.95.

The title of the book is one of the twenty sermons compiled by the distinguished minister of the Riverside Church in New York City who addresses one of the most cosmopolitan audiences in America. His theme indicates that people can still be prisoners within when all the doors without have been opened. No reduction of constraint on the outside of life can guarantee freedom within the individual. The volume will be inspirational to laypeople seeking to develop a confident Christian conviction. Professional leaders will enjoy analyzing what one of the best known preachers in the United States has to say in a turbulent period when preaching is discounted.

In the sweep of a year's messages, Campbell applies the gospel to the amplitude of crucial situations. The subjects range over fear, rejection, the paradoxes of conscience, the problem of evil that will not play dead, racial tension, God, the blight and plight of the churches, reconciliation, charismatics, and the cities' jungles. In the warp of abrasive social questions he weaves the hopes and promises of Christ's renewal and the prospect that we shall overcome. He says, "God has the means to win and God means to win. We are called to nothing less than participation in 'The Invincible Kingdom of God.' "

Campbell's sermons prod and probe. They draw blood. They drag the pew-sitter into the street fight. He has to take sides. These messages command a healthy response because they have depth. Their substance is involved with the feelings of people about issues they talk about every place but in the church. The preacher's common sense and Christian witness are sound. He opens his facts, reasons, and observations like a street-corner merchant so the reader can handle the merchandise and see if it is phony. All the time this dialogue is going on there are reliefs of tension by little whimsies and autobiographical materials that make these messages personal.

Those of us who have long admired Ernest Campbell know that he is skillful with words and sentences. He knows how to write a punch line. "Trying to help history along is about as futile as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!" "Some people never feel tall enough unless they have other people under them." "Our estrangement from each other is the clearest indication of our fallenness." "Woe to the man too ambitious for his resources!"

All the striking phrases are not from the preacher alone. His references and allusions are wide and responsible. He knows Jurgen Moltmann as well as Eric Hoffer and Karl Menninger besides Vonnegut, Novak, Marney, and Glasser. The Riverside preacher knows what is going on in the minds of thinkers and the readers, as well as in the Daily News. And the man in his pew knows what is going on in his preacher's heart.

Campbell's sermons would be hard to preach in some small church under the sway of main contributors. He tells what is good about the movements, and he points out the hollow soft spots in the old positions, without gloating over either. His messages pull back the curtains to show all the wires that hold truth together, and he shows some of the patching tapes where it has been torn.

No one could preach these sermons without the validity of his own participation in the struggle. When Campbell talks about prison reform, the words show his natural feelings after having talked with thirty men at Sing Sing. His messages reveal a personal conviction of faith in Jesus Christ and the courage of involvement in social action that suggests "follow me and see for yourself." His words are more daring as an evangelical man of social action than are those of some who stand only on one side or the other. But the price for holding the two together is obviously high as well as rewarding.

These messages suggested that one also peruse again a volume by Harry E. Fosdick and one by Robert J. McCracken, both of whom preceded Ernest Campbell. One is struck by the, fact that this generation of listeners is more media-oriented, fad-fashioned, slogan-centered, issue-oriented, and illiterate as to great Christian words and principles. No wonder the preacher has to earn the right to be heard and to work harder to have something lasting to say.

All three men speak to the needs of their generations with insight from the Scripture's universals. They preach to the moral and the social consciousness as well as to the center of each personality. Each of these great preachers senses the need to have a vision and a version of the Eternal which will appeal to the present but will outlast our governance by the latest opinion poll, especially when it can reverse itself while life's struggle remains as it was.

Bryant M. Kirkland
The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church
New York, New York

The LORD loves the alien

Exodus 23:9:
"Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt."

Leviticus 19:33-34:
"When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God."

Deuteronomy (10:19):
[The LORD] defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

Yes, but I am

quote from Eboo Patel, "The Faith Divide," Washington Post
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/
2010/08/my_evangelical_heroes.html#more

One of my favorite faith stories is about an American Christian minister stationed in Europe during World War II. His congregation sends him money so that he can come home for Christmas, and he uses that money to help a group of European Jews flee from Hitler's death camps to safety.
One of his congregants writes him an angry letter, scolds him for not using the money for its intended purpose, and ends with the exasperated line: "The people you saved weren't even Christian."
"Yes," wrote back the minister, "but I am."

A winner is always part of the solution

Coach Traub, performance consultant:
http://www.coachtraub.com/inspirational_stories.html

A winner is always part of the solution;
a loser is always part of the problem.
A winner always has a program or response;
a loser always has an excuse or explanation.
A winner always says “Let me help you,”
a loser always says “That is not my job.”
A winner sees an answer in every problem;
a loser sees a problem in every answer.
A winner exclaims “It may be difficult, but it is possible;”
a loser cries “It may be possible, but it’s much too difficult.”
A winner makes a commitment;
a loser makes promises.

1. What is the difference between negative competition and healthy competition? How could you promote healthy competition at your place of work?
   
2. In your next business negotiation, how might you create an environment where both you and the other party “win”?
   
3. Are you “winning battles but losing the war”? Where do your priorities fit in when it comes to winning?
   
4. What could you do to affirm the winning qualities in other people?

Olympic champion Jesse Owens once put it like this: ‘There is something that can happen to every athlete, every human being - it’s the instinct to slack off, to give in to the pain, to give less than your best . . . the instinct to hope to win through luck or your opponents not doing their best, instead of going to the limit and past your limit, where victory is always to be found. Defeating those negative instincts that are out to defeat us is the difference between winning and losing, and we face that battle every day of our lives.”

Who is a hero?

"Who is a hero? He who turns his enemy into a friend."

~ The Talmud

a little radical and exciting

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/
2010-08-11-teenchurch10_ST_N.htm?csp=34news

Chris Palmer, youth pastor at Ironbridge Baptist Church in Chester, Va., says its youth group enrollment slid from 125 teens in 2008 to 35 last winter.
He pulled participation back up to 70 this year by letting teens know "real church, centered on Jesus Christ, is hard work," Palmer says. "This involves the Marine Corps of Christianity. Once we communicate that, we see kids say, 'Hey, I want to be involved in something that's a little radical and exciting.' "

how to read troubling biblical passages

quote from The Reason for God
by Tim Keller,
founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City

a recommendation for how to approach sections of the Bible that seem confusing:d

Many people run from any consideration of the Bible once they find such a biblical passage. I counsel them instead to slow down and try out several different perspectives on the issues that trouble them. That way they can continue to read, learn, and profit from the Bible even as they continue to wrestle with some of its concepts. One possibility I urge them to consider is that the passage that bothers them might not teach what it appears to them to be teaching. Many of the texts people find offensive can be cleared up with a decent commentary that puts the issue into historical context.

equally loved, sinful, and redeemed

"We are all equal in the eyes of God: equally loved, sinful, and redeemed."

~ author unknown

Does God need a religion?

"I know that religion needs a God, but, does God need a religion?"

Posted by: nigelhawes999 | August 3, 2010 11:40 AM
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/
susan_k_smith/2010/08/in_the_name_of_christ.html

Confusing Vows and Vowels

My nine-year-old nephew, Phillip, was a ringbearer in my wedding. At the wedding rehearsal, the singer asked when she should begin singing.
The pastor answered, "After the vows."
She asked: "What are the vows? I'll need a cue."
Phillip compounded the confusion as he explained: "The vowels are A-E-I-O-U. There is no Q!"

~Amy Rosa, Flint, MI. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare."

Founding Fathers on Religion

“The Account of The Declaration”
Thomas Jefferson notes regarding the birth of the Declaration of Independence
www.ushistory.org/declaration/account/index.htm

“With the help therefore of Rushworth (a popular book, John Rushworth’s “Historical Collections”) whom we rummaged over for revolutionary precedents & forms of the Puritans of that day, preserved by him, we cooked up a resolution, somewhat modernizing their phrases...”
Note: dictionary definition of Puritan:
“A member of a group of English Protestants who in the 16th and 17th centuries advocated simplification of the deeds and ceremonies of the Church of England and strict religious discipline.”

The Founding Fathers called “for a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer” and further in that same paragraph Jefferson states, “ To give greater emphasis to our proposition, we agreed to wait the next morning on Mr. Nicholas, whose grave & religious character was more in unison with the tone of our resolution and to solicit him to move it.”

George Washington’s Farewell Address
http://www.gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/farewell/transcript.html#p20

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men & citizens. The mere Politican, equally with the pious man ought to respect & to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private & public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the Oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure--reason & experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of Free Government. Who that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric."

Declaration of Independence:

“the Laws of Nature’s God”
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”

moralistic therapeutic deism

from Thin Places, by Amy Julia Becker
on Faith, Family, and Disability
http://blog.beliefnet.com/thinplaces/

Patheos ran an interview with Kenda Cressey Dean, author of the new book Almost Christian: about the religious/spiritual views of American teenagers. It's a fascinating, if sobering, interview. Here's an example:

You refer to this "moralistic therapeutic deism" quite a bit in your book. Can you unpack this term for us?

That's the name the NSYR came up with to describe the "belief system" of the majority of teens surveyed. The shorthand of moralistic therapeutic deism is that religion helps you feel good and do good, but God pretty much stays out of the way. Now, you can call on God if you need God to solve a problem, but God's track record on solving problems is pretty bad. So the primary God-images that the kids had were either as the "cosmic therapist" or the "divine butler." The therapist serves as the one who helps you feel good about yourself; the guidance counselor image comes to mind here when working with teenagers. The divine butler is somebody who comes when called upon but otherwise stays away. Those images were identified in the study as being dominant among teenagers. And that was very true with the teens I talked to as well. They believe that:

A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.
The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
God does not need to be involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.
Good people go to Heaven when they die.

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/thinplaces/#ixzz0sODdDVDL

aware of the needs of others

"Your heart is so much more than a vessel for romance. It has been described as the king, with the mind as the king's adviser. When faced with a decision, the king may ask his advisers for advice, may even send him out into the world to gather information, but ultimately it is the king that makes the final decision. Even though the advisers do not always agree with the king's decision, the king is invariably right, because the king's view not only sees the bigger picture but is also aware of the needs of others."

Ed and Deb Shapiro, authors of Be The Change, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World

the purpose of life

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

when character is lost

“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost;
when health is lost, something is lost;
when character is lost, all is lost.”

~ Billy Graham

being able to remake ourselves

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.”

~ Mohandas (Mahatma) Ghandi

You do not have a fire hot enough

"But he said to them, 'You do not have a fire hot enough to make me play the coward.'"

~ 4 Maccabees 10:14 NRSV

Always Be Prepared

Quote:

The greatest going-over-the-side I ever heard of (and this is not by way of recommendation) happened at Wheaton College about 40 years ago.

Wheaton's president, V. Raymond Edman, a godly man, was speaking in chapel one Friday morning. He had just finished telling about the time he had carefully rehearsed for an audience with the then-emperor of Ethiopia. His application for the students, whom he felt had slipped into a spirit of irreverence in their worship, was simple: you must always be prepared to respectfully conduct yourself in the presence of the King of Kings.

Having made his point, Dr. Edman suddenly slumped to the floor and died. Having spoken of entering the presence of the King, he did it himself. He left, apparently, at the moment of God's choosing, whom, we trust, watches over our leave-decisions, too.

~ Gordon Macdonald

violence and methodical, sophisticated and civilized coldness

Israel's Holocaust museum grapples with Holocaust diminishment
CNN's Izzy Lemberg sent this report on a major Holocaust conference in Jerusalem:

Yad Vashem, Israel’s main museum and research facility for preserving the memory of the Holocaust–including concentration camps like Auschwitz, above–devoted much of its annual conference on Monday to grappling with the challenges of Holocaust denial and diminishment. . . .

Alain Finkielkraut, a prominent French philosopher, keynoted the event, arguing that “Post-Nazi Europe knows that neither culture nor progress is a safeguard against ferocity."

"It knows that modernity does not necessarily overcome cruelty," he said of Europe, "and that the most egregious evil is produced by a combination of unleashed violence and methodical, sophisticated and civilized coldness."

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/15/israels-holocaust-museum-grapples-with-holocaust-diminishment/?hpt=Sbin