CH-BOLC stands for....

Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course

sounds like cha-bowl-lick

CH-BOLC day 2

So far a lot of filling out forms. Gotta get used to the military way of writing the date 090601 is June 1, 2009. And saying "hoo-ah" all the time too.

1-2-3 ...."hoo-ah"

I did purchase a bunch of uniforms today as well as completely shave my head (yes, totally bald). I would download a pic but this pink-eye is still around so that'll have to wait. I did it myself so there is probably a few missed spots in the back that look funny, but it feels smooth back there and its kinda cool to see the light reflect off of the top of my head. If I wasn't deformed I'd say it looks pretty good.

I still feel like a pastor and not a chaplain, and definitely not a soldier. This is a new culture and it will take some time to adjust. Plus you just cant *not* be something that you've given your heart to for 12 years. One cool thing is that one of the staff seargents looks and acts like Jimmie Walker (aka "Kid dy-no-mite!").

I heard that someone was officially offered that pastorate of Solid Rock. I met Paul and his family and was very impressed. I like him. His girls are adorable.

Well, it's getting later and I've gotta get some rest. I need to worship the Lord and brush my teeth too.

I love my family and miss them a lot!!!!!!!!

CH-BOLC day1

Leaving home yesterday was the hardest thing I ever did. We gathered around the table for one last meal and we all burst out into deep wailing. I'm not sure Ally completely understood what was going on, but she saw everyone else crying and decided to join in with loud and obnoxious screams. I'm not sure if they were genuine or not.

Turning the ignition and pulling out of the driveway was excruciating. As I drove away, I saw Derrick running down Buckery Rd. I couldn't stop. I couldn't turn back. I cried so hard I popped an eyeball.

I literally did pop an eyeball. Well, kind of....I generated a severe case of the ugliest pinkeye you'd ever want to see. On the drive down, it got so swollen, it was like driving with one eye. It was so bad, I had to ask Mickey to cut me.

It didn't get better this morning, so I had to report looking like a freak: with a deep red, swollen, oozing eye. I chalked it up as God wanting to humble me and asked Him for his strength as I prepared for my first official meeting....

Which really wasn't a whole lot outside of filling out some forms. After the meeting, I went to a sergeant for instruction about the pink eye and ended up in the military hospital and getting three prescriptions. It was cool because they never asked about insurance or money.

Now I'm in my room. It's pretty much a hotel room believe it or not; complete with cable TV and internet....I feel odd and out of place. This is beyond my comfort zone and I long to be sitting on my tractor back on Buckery Rd where I was master of my domain. But God is faithful.

--I miss Keri, Emily, Derrick, Tori, Ally, & Nathanael very much.
--Please pray that we get an offer on the house.
--PT (physical training) doesn't start till next week.

grace&blessings

The End of Christian America part 2

(I had this 1/2 written and got distracted.....)


Had a great time in Massachusetts last week. Glad to be back.

Made a couple of contacts this morning. Got a lot on the agenda this week, but I want to check in on the ole blog so here I am.

I haven't forgotten about the previous blog about the end of Christianity in America and I wanted to continue my thoughts on the matter....

The kingdom of God operates very differently than the kingdom of this world. We must never, never forget that. In America, we think it's great that we can worship God freely. We think it's great that the church can not only influence law and government, but actually obtain power to run it. To be in charge, on top, and in power, is considered a sign that things are "going well" for the church. Success is measured by how big the group is, how much $$$ you have, and how much pull you have in forming public policy (we call this power).

So what is happening in America today? Church numbers are down and it's "place" in national politics is not what it was 10 years ago. Recent elections show that evangelical/conservative Christians (and their policies) are not as welcome in the political arena as they once were. State sanctioned gay marriage appears inevitable and roe v. wade isn't going anywhere.

So, do the math....the sky is falling. Bad, very bad times for the church.

There are/will be many folks who are not Christian gloating about all that I said above. They will declare victory in America's culture war. They will pronounce dead the church and talk about dancing on it's grave. It's already happening and I expect nothing less from those folks. Using their rules, they won. Good for them.

But here's the thing, the church is called to operate under the values of the Kingdom of GOD. Success in the church is defined very differently and comes under different conditions. Strength is found in weakness and smallness and vulnerability. God moves powerfully from the bottom up, not from the top down.

It all started with that Constantine rascal. Connie is considered a hero by many Christians who evaluate success using the worlds yardstick. He's the guy who made Christianity the state religion in the Roman empire in the early 300's. The emperor before him, Diocletian, was all about persecuting and killing Christians. Under Diocletian, Christians had to do their thing "underground". There was no freedom to worship in those days. They weren't winning elections. They weren't formulating policy. They weren't making rules. They were objects of legislated hate and ridicule.

A couple of intense dreams experienced by new Emperor Constantine changed everything. He became a Christian and made Christianity the state religion. Christianity went from running from the government to being the government overnight. Obviously, more and more people became Christians. Christian morality and ideals became law, and folks were free to worship Jesus openly. We now had the power. We made the rules. The church has valued this place of authority ever since.

And while I can see the positive motives behind such a value. I think it has robbed the church of it's true source of it's power. I think Emperor Constantine's institutionalizing of Christianity emasculated the church.

But this is getting too long......I promise to continue this in another post.....
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Now back to 1 Cor 13:8-13 for me--looks like that passage will be my swan song.....

The End of Christian America

Brian Miller sent me a link to a Newsweek article titled "The End of Christian America". http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583/page/1

I wanted to comment on a few things it says. I've been thinking about this stuff for some time now.

The hingepoint of the article is the result of a recent survey that found that "the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent". There were other numbers given to reveal that the number of those claiming to be Christian has gone down during the same time period and that less folks consider America to be a Christian nation.

Should we be scared? depressed?

I'm not. I've been aware of this for some time. I've brought it up in sermons. In all honesty, I see it as a positive trend.

Where do I start?

Well, first off, the number of cultural Christians has greatly decreased. By cultural Christian I mean those who would claim to be Christian but have no real relationship with Jesus. They call themselves Christian, might even go to church (on Easter and Christmas), but there is nothing to speak of regarding genuine faith in Jesus. They were Christian because that was the box they checked. They felt it was important to identify themselves as something, and Christian seemed more appropriate than Muslim or Jewish.

Today, folks are less inclined to feel compelled to identify with a larger group. Plus I would venture to guess that the possible answers to these surveys make it easier to claim no religious affiliation (just a hunch on that one).

I remember growing up seeing the church filled with folks (in my judgmental opinion) had no idea why they were going to church. They just went because it was the thing to do. Well, these folks had kids and their kids have grown up and seen through the empty religious crap and don't feel compelled to identify themselves as something they are not.

So, the end result is less what? Less Christians or less people calling themselves Christian? I'd rather have a committed army of 100 than a lukewarm army of 500. If these numbers indicate the death of anything, it's the death of mainline, cultural Christianity, which the prophets of the Old Testament would heartily welcome.

No problems here. For me less is more. I think the Kingdom of God functions better when it is the underdog. When it is looking up form the bottom, rather than looking down form the top. Which brings be to my next point......

Question: was Emperor Constantine good or bad for the kingdom of God?

I'll make that my next post.

My Tuesday prayer

This morning I start the process of preparing for next Sundays message. No writing or study or anything like that--just a small prayer, asking God to lead me in the right direction. My prayer is that I would be sensitive to His "prompts", as I believe He will give me more than a few in the next couple of days.

These promptings will come as I live my life. I've got a number of phone calls to make today. It's quite possible God will answer my prayer in one of these conversations. I've got some paperwork to do and things to file. It's possible that one of the papers I'll be holding will contain God's message. Maybe it'll come when I run, or when I'm driving a Northwestern school van....but it will come.

For 10+ years God has faithfully answered my Tuesday prayer. Sure, sometimes He answers it on Saturday night (ugh), but He answers.

My job is to be on the lookout, to be waiting with a sense of vulnerability and hope. I hate to think of all the messages I've missed simply because I wasn't looking.

Thank God for His grace.

chance

This is a real cool video. I went "whoa" a few times watching it. Nothing overtly spiritual here. By the way there is another new entry below this......