Mile High Rev

REVrant35.6 - What Does it Mean to "Misspeak?"

Clinton: I Made a Rare Error When I ‘Misspoke’ About Bosnia Sniper Threat - America’s Election HQ.

To “misspeak” = to speak or say incorrectly.

A major part of being a pastor involves “speaking.”  One of my greatest fears is “misspeaking.”  To say something incorrectly.  However, there is a difference between saying something incorrectly and speaking untruthfully. 

Senator Hillary Clinton is in a firestorm of controversy over saying that she “misspoke” when she said she arrived in Bosnia under sniper fire on a visit as the First Lady.  She added that they ran to the cars covering their heads.  In fact, she was greeted by a delegation on the tarmac, including a young girl in a wheel chair who read something she had written for Mrs. Clinton.  Comedian Sinbad was on this trip as well, and has a very different recall of their arrival.  Mrs. Clinton makes a bold statement in the linked article – she says this is the first time she’s ever “misspoken” in 12 years.

And now the great debate – is what Mrs. Clinton said “misspeaking” or “untruthful?”

REVved - EASTER 2008 - "March Gladness"

“March Gladness!”  <—I borrowed this edited version of the NCAA basketball phrase (“March Madness”) to sum up the joyful celebration of Easter at FBC this year.  Of course, I didn’t overlook the traditional greeting and response – we used it all morning in church. “Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed” 

I was so excited about Easter that I couldn’t get to sleep last night.  I knew I had to get to bed early because the alarm was set for 4:30 am, but I didn’t feel sleepy…at all.  I think the last time I saw on my digital alarm was 12:34 am.  Jan popped up around 3:30.  I stirred after 4:30.  We were ready to leave the house around 5:30 and arrived at FBC a little after 6:00. As we were leaving our moonlit neighborhood, I noticed by all the darkened houses that we were the only ones up and gently graced the neighborhood with a few light horn taps, to the tune of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today!” 

Our first service (of four) was at 6:30 am.  You should have seen the choir and musicians when we arrived.  They were still making some final adjustments to their music, but they looked great and sounded fantastic - the energy in the room was palpable.  They stayed for all of the services and our Director of Worship, Daniel Sesay, was in rare form.  I was amazed by the energy of our musicians throughout the morning.  Easter music is sublime!  Our song list this morning included, Rejoice the Lord is King(prelude), Shout for Joy (powerful starting song), He Loved Me With a Cross (featuring a moving solo part), My Redeemer Lives (this was the one that had our African worship leader moving and dancing!), Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Christ Arose (an engaging combination of the traditional version with some contemporary additions), and Because He Lives.  I am deeply grateful to our musicians for offering these fresh elements to our worship today.  People loved it!  We also utilized a 2 minute video clip titled, “Easter Office” – a short look at how many people have no idea what Easter really means.

I preached from I Corinthians 15:12–20 – “Don’t Cave In On the Resurrection”  As I’ve done for 23 years at FBC, at the end of each service I invited people to put their faith in Christ.  18 raised a hand indicating they wanted to trust in Jesus today – that I know of.  This is the highlight for me – transformed lives!  As I led them in a prayer of faith, my heart surged with joy.  There is a lot of talk, and even some debate, in the evangelical church today about helping believers grow and mature in Christ.  How do we disciple people?  I know for sure how it starts = STEP 1 – Conversion!  God provided a joyful harvest for us this morning.

While I have to admit that I’m feeling exhausted tonight (I’m not as young as I used to be!), my heart is overflowing with joy.  Or should I say, “March Gladness?” 

REVered - "Silent Saturday"

In the traditional church calendar, there has always been a struggle about what to call the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter.  Of all the options, I prefer, “Silent Saturday.”  Mainly because I think it best describes what happened that day.  Nobody was talking.  I assume many were crying.  And everyone was holding their breath…wondering…is it over?  Jesus is dead.  Is that it?

With respect to “Silent Saturday,” no more blogging today… 

REVered - GOOD FRIDAY 2008

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

Refrain

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.

Refrain

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.

Refrain

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.

**********************

Good Friday Services at FBC TODAY – 3:00, 5:00, and 7:00 pm

REVisited - Rampant Bad Judgment - II

In REVrant 35.4, I addressed rampant bad judgment. Here’s a postscript:

“In July of 2006, the world-famous geneticist William French Anderson was convicted of child molestation.  In a press conference, his attorney said, “Nothing about having a 176 I.Q. means you have good judgment.”

“The Buzz,” World – 7/29/06, p. 12

REVrant 35.5 - Jesus Missing from Holy Week Headlines...So Far

During one of my sermons this past weekend, I made a point about the apparent cultural consensus to eradicate all mention of Jesus from public discourse and news media – print or visual.  As an illustration I posed the probability that even though this is “Holy Week” and hundreds of millions of Christians world-wide are making preparations for Good Friday and Easter (pastors, in particular!), there would be no attention given in popular culture this week.  I added that I figured we might see a brief reference on Friday – featuring pilgrims in Jerusalem, or perhaps a mass by the Pope on Easter, or a re-run of the archaic 1950–something religious movie, “The 10 Commandments” (that has nothing to do with Holy Week), on Friday or Saturday night, but that would probably be the extent of the coverage.

So far, I’m right.  I haven’t looked at every possible source – that’s impossible.  But I’ve checked the biggies – network news, cable news, and big name newspapers.  Nothing so far.  (If you’ve found anything, let me know, and I will stand corrected.)

There’s been plenty of coverage of Obama and his pastor, Hillary, McCain, a new tape from Osama, China & Tibet, floods in the heartland, the roller-coaster financial market, the Fed’s 3/4 point interest rate cut, the McGreevy’s alleged indiscretions, Spitzer’s prostitute, Jason Elam’s free agent visit to the Atlanta Falcons, and “March Madness!”  But…I searched in vain to find even the slightest attention for Jesus and His followers. 

If you were in services at FBC this past weekend, you also know that I gave you a homework assignment.  To say the name of Jesus out loud in public at least three times between then and Easter Sunday morning at 6:30 am.  Something tells me that our efforts (and the efforts of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world) in doing this are about the only way anyone is going to even hear the name of Jesus this week!  I did it in a hair salon last night before I got my hair cut.  “What have you been up to this week,” I was asked.  My reply – “I’ve been getting ready to preach about the resurrection of Jesus Christ four times this weekend!”  

Nothing monumental happened to anyone who heard me (that I know of), but it made me feel great to speak the name of Jesus with no worries about what anyone would think.  There’s still time for YOU!

JESUS is the name above all names!

 

REVrant 35.4 - Rampant Bad Judgment

Judgment = “the ability to come to opinions about things; good sense”

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve made the following statement in the past year – “I wish you could teach good judgment.”  In over 30 years as a Sr. Pastor, I’ve seen far too many instances of bad judgment.  And of course, bad judgment normally leads to bad consequences.  I don’t mean to suggest that I always make the right choices or decisions.  But some people seem to be serial “bad judg-ers!”  They make one bad choice after another.  And they never seem to learn from it.  Consequently, they live “from the frying pan into the fire” – lives.

Episodes of bad judgment produce predictable questions: “Why did he say that?”  “What was he thinking?”  “Didn’t he think his wife would find out?”  “Why would you expose children to that?”  “Where did she think the money was coming from?”  “Doesn’t he know that emails leave a trail?”  “Did he think we were going to ignore that?”  “What was she thinking?”  “Why write a letter like that?” You get the idea.  You just shake your head and wonder, “Where was his (or her) judgment?”

The past few days the media spotlight has been pointed at Pastor Jeremiah Wright and his famous parishioner, Barack Obama.  As I watched some of the news coverage tonight, guess what I was thinking about both the Rev. and the Candidate? “Where was his judgment?”  

REVered - Nails & Good Friday

Several years ago we started a tradition to launch Holy Week.  At the end of our Palm Sunday services, we invite people to stop at the exits to pick up a nail from the baskets the ushers are holding.  I ask them to carry it with them until Good Friday.  I suggest that they place the nail in a prominent spot for the next 5 days.  The point is to focus on the fact that Jesus was nailed to the cross because of our sins.  I want to personalize it.  That’s why I ask everyone to take a nail with them.  The stories people have told me through the years are amazing.  God uses that little physical reminder in incredible ways, including opening doors to witnessing.  A friend told me on Sunday that last year he carried his nail in his pocket through a metal detector at the airport and subsequently had the opportunity to talk about Jesus to two TSA Agents.

We end each Good Friday service (3, 5 and 7 pm) by asking people to take their nail and pound it into a huge wooden cross - we have 3 stationed throughout the room.  Jesus died for you.  Pounding a nail into a cross is a vivid reminder of that reality.  The only sound heard as people leave is of loud hammering of nails into crosses.  A sobering reminder of the death of Christ by crucifixion – for the sins of the whole world!

If you can join us at one of our services this Friday, please do.  If not, I invite you to focus on a nail.  The point is obvious.

John 19:17 -18 – “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).  Here they crucified him, and with him two others — one on each side and Jesus in the middle.”

 

REVealing - Under Pressure, Obama Prepares for Race and Unity Speech

Under Pressure, Obama Prepares for Race and Unity Speech - America’s Election HQ.

THIS will be interesting! 

Without clarifying where he stands on the anti-white, anti-government, and anti-America invectives of his pastor, Obama is not going to stand a chance.

REVrant 35.3 - "Obama’s Church Fires Back" - But They're Shooting With Blanks

Obama’s Church Fires Back - America’s Election HQ.

You’d have to be living under a rock to not know that Barack Obama’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright, was in the headlines last week for many of the controversial statements he made in his sermons.  Apparently, over the weekend, his church members stood up to defend their pastor and are alleging that this is an attempt to attack the history of the “African American church.”  Huh?  The pastor has said and done some very controversial things and now the media and/or politicians have to take the blame?  Because there is a conspiracy against the African American Church?  Unbelievable.

Let me review where I stand on this matter.  As I blogged earlier, any headlines with the word “Pastor” in them catch my attention.  I want to be clear:

1. I don’t believe Obama should be held accountable for every statement ever made by his pastor in any sermon he ever preached.  (Any more than I would suggest that people at FBC are accountable for everything I’ve ever said.)

2. Jeremiah Wright is in trouble for statements HE made.  They’re on videos.  They were aired all last week.  Words matter.  The suggestion that responding negatively or strongly to these statements is somehow tantamount to “racism” or an “attack on the African American church” is preposterous.  I’d respond strongly no matter what the race of the pastor making these statements.

I strongly object to a pastor…

a. Endorsing a political candidate from the pulpit as Wright has clearly endorsed Obama.

b. Using the “N-word” during a sermon when referring to the fact that he believes Hillary Clinton has never been called by this racial slur.  If I used that word in a sermon, I would pay heavily for it, but he gets a free pass because he’s black?  I don’t think so.

c. Saying that instead of singing , “God bless America,” we should be singing, “God **** America,” for what America has done to the oppressed, and in particular, to oppressed blacks in the US.

d. Alleging that the American government came up with the AIDS virus to specifically target killing black people.  I believe the Pastor implied that it was strategic genocide against blacks – funded by the white government establishment.

e. Taunting white Americans by insinuating that we asked for the 9/11 attacks because of American foreign policy.

I could go on…but I think you get my point.  That his church would be defending remarks like this makes me wonder about the character of such a flock.  They’ve obviously been listening to Wright for nearly 30 years.  If they are good with this, then perhaps their response reveals a core belief in “conspiracy” – that the white establishment is all about oppressing blacks.  If so, their charges would be consistent with that presupposition.

They also make me wonder how Obama is going to handle this.  If he joins the church in “firing back, “ I imagine his chances of securing the Democrat nomination are negligible, at best.