clear river

The Parade of the Broken

I went to court this morning up in Rockville with a family to see what the outcome would be of a hearing involving their son.  After a couple of hours witnessing a string of drunk drivers come before the judge, we learned that his case (not a DUI) would be continued at a later date. The mom apologized for having taken my time when no outcome occurred. I told her that it wasn't a problem, that I always found time in court interesting because you were able to watch the parade of the broken. I didn't mean it in a harsh or condescending way at all. It's what is is. Broken people  standing before a judge, asking for mercy and hoping they get it.  I thought about how stark it all was. There was no place to hide. Everyone in the courtroom knew why you were there. Everyone knew what you had done.  For all the "dealing" that goes on, courtrooms are  brutally honest places.  It's not the only place to see the parade. We see it every Sunday in church services. The difference is that church services are not brutally honest places.  Churches are places we hide. Our brokenness is undercover. We are ashamed and would prefer that nobody know the real condition of our souls.  WE don't want to know the real condition of our souls. Depravity scares us when it should free us.  I am coming more and more convinced of the depths of my own depravity. The lying , lusting , coveting, slothful  being that needs forgiveness not as a spot remover but  as a continual bleaching bath from which I never emerge.  As C.S. Lewis said "I've never had a selfless thought sense I was born."  Even my most heartfelt worship precedes from a tainted heart. Even my most effectual prayers are diluted with self interest. Even my most generous acts are garnished with pride.  There was a time when this would send me into a guilt funk of  the worst kind. It still pushes that way but now I'm more willing to be in the parade. I'll march. I'll carry a banner. Put me on a float. Walk me down main street to be gawked at.  The only thing  I need to know is that at the end of the long parade of the broken comes the Broken One who was bruised for our iniquities.   One  of  my favorite songs is by the  group Waterdeep from their CD "Everyone's Beautiful".  The song is called "He Will Come" and includes this in the final chorus:

He will come, He will come
He'll remove His flaming garment
Place it on the lowest harlot
And we all will see His face

I cry almost everytime I hear the song.  I'm in line for the garment.  All of us in the parade are.
This Sunday, when I take my place in the communion line,  I'll give thanks for the sweet parade and pray that one day the honesty won't scare us as much as the grace amazes us.

The Laughter Just Beyond The Door

Michael Spencer on Johnny Carson.

When I was a little boy, we lived in a very small house, and my bedroom was connected to the living room by one door. My bed was in the corner of this big bedroom, and I would go to bed- depending on my age- at 8 or 9 or 10. And I would lay there in the dark, listening to my parents watching television. A big black and white set in the corner, with three channels from Evansville, Indiana. CBS, 25. ABC, 7. NBC, 14.

Beyond that door, beyond the barrier, was the adult world, and the sound of it was the sound of Johnny Carson and my father's laughter...

Go Firefox

Firefox pulling down Internet Explorer.

What To Say At A Naked Party

Frederica Mathewes-Green from her Christianity Today article.

What to Say at a Naked Party

Three common strategies to check sexual 'liberation' no longer work.

Anyone who's been on a college campus lately will confirm the depressing report delivered by Vigen Guroian in this essay. As someone who does a lot of campus speaking, I've seen my fair share of posters announcing sex-toy workshops, transgender celebrations, and, on one Ivy League campus, an open invitation to a "naked party." What's a naked party? Anybody who wants can attend, but you have to take off all your clothes to stay.

It makes you want to weep for the children, for girls in particular, who deserve to be protected from this carnival of leering and molestation. Guroian hits the target in his demand that colleges do more to provide such protection. But what about the students themselves? How can we help them resist this expectation?

There are three typical strategies, and I don't think any of them works. The first is practical: We tell students to abstain because immorality leads to misery. But the libertines in the audience don't see evidence that this is so; they're having fun, for the most part, and it doesn,t look like anyone is harmed. The second is romantic: We tell students that marriage is glorious. Once again, they don't see a lot of evidence of that, not in the lives of married people they know, perhaps especially in the lives of their parents. What they saw at the breakfast table for the last 18 years doesnt look that great, and what they did last night didn't feel that bad.

 

Take out the Bible ad we need more space for the phone sex and booze ads!

Is Rolling Stone Afraid of the Bible?

The magazine is suddenly squeamish of religion. At least in one case.
By Mark Moring in C.T.

The latest issue of Rolling Stone just arrived in my office. It's loaded with ads that promise us the world: better cars, better music, better TV, better sex, a better environment—but nary a word about a new Bible.

I know: Rolling Stone, the king of rock 'n' roll magazines, isn't the first place we'd think to look for an ad for God's Word. But Zondervan, the nation's largest Bible publisher, tried to buy an ad in RS for Today's New International Version (TNIV), but got turned away. According to a story in USA Today, the rock mag told Zondervan it has an unwritten policy against accepting ads containing religious messages.

The rejected ad shows a contemplative 20-something guy and includes the title, "Today it makes sense more than ever." The text at the bottom of the ad says, ". . . [Y]ou wonder where you can find real truth. Well, now there's a source . . . It's the TNIV . . . It's written in today's language, for today's times—and it makes more sense than ever." The Bible's cover is shown in the lower left corner.

There's no use of the word "God" or "Christ." But apparently Rolling Stone objected to the word "truth" in the ad's text. "It doesn't quite feel right in the magazine," Kent Brownridge, general manager of Wenner Media, parent company of RS, told USA Today. "We are not in the business of publishing advertising for religious messages."

Really?

Bush a Satanist? The comedy never stops...

FOXNews.com - Politics - Bush Shocks Foreigners With 'Satanic' Sign.

Gosh Katha.... how about "Thou shalt not kill?" How does that work for ya?

Jesus to the Rescue? by Katha Pollitt in The Nation.

Wallis often points out that the Bible mentions poverty thousands of times and abortion only a few. I'm not sure what this tells us--first we eradicate poverty and then we force women to have babies against their will? But in any case, Wallis is wrong: The Bible doesn't mention abortion even once. Wallis cites the text antichoicers commonly use to justify their position: "For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13). Say what? Nothing about abortion there, pro or con. Nobody who wasn't sure that somewhere in the Bible there must be a proof text against terminating a pregnancy would read that meaning into these words.

Gosh Katha.... how about "Thou shalt not kill?" How does that work for ya?

Snap, Crackle and Pop

Click the pic ...

Humbly Proud to Be an American

Can you be that? Humbly proud? I guess it works. I am always moved on inauguration day.  I love the pomp and party. Love the music, the protocol, the possibilities that people feel on a day like this.  Bush gave a good speech - it traveled the edge of unreality but never camped there.  If only we could see freedom on such a grand scale.  Best moment of the day? Protestors on the parade route. Why? It just proves the reality of this vision called America.
I have traveled in many places. I have felt the cold stare of a Red Army office as I crossed the border into China and experienced the fear that the nation feels. I have walked the dreary streets of Moscow and seen the deadness in the eyes of her people. I have been in a number of places in Africa and know first hand from people involved in the government that resistance means assassination.  I have marveled at the beauty of Paris, the royalty of England, the sadness of Holland and the poverty of Laos. These and other places I have had the privilege of seeing. Without fail I have on every occasion felt immensely grateful as I came through customs and a agent said "Welcome home Mr. Ling." It is my home and for all my life I will thank God for all those who built, who dreamed, who died and prayed for this grand and glorious country.

Went to see The Aviator tonight with Ron, Pete and Tennison from the YWAM Montana base. Quality guys all.  I’ve know Tennison for just a few years but Pete and Ron I share a 15 year friendship with. Hard to believe I’ve been coming here that long. The movie was pretty amazing. The film recounts the period of Howard Hughes’ life from the late 1920s through the 1940s, an era when Hughes was not only directing movies but test flying ground-breaking aircraft he designed and created.  Martin Scorsese does a remarkable job with the direction and look of the movie. The cinematography is outstanding with the lens helping us to see the world as Hughes might have seen it. Leonardo DiCaprio handles the role of the tortured Howard Hughes and his descent into madness with noteworthy skill although he still comes across a bit “boyish” in his look.

Cate Blanchett seems to overact at first in her role as Katharine Hepburn but she settles into it nicely. John C. Reilly, ever the great character actor, gives a restrained but standout performance as Noah Dietrich, the bookkeeper, who for some reason doesn’t go insane working for Hughes! Alan Alda, who plays Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster, will never quit being Hawkeye Pierce and that’s a fact that just isn’t going to change. To me, his performance is the weakest, especially during the senate hearings where Hughes takes him on. Other stars are sprinkled throughout the film. Alec Baldwin plays, well, Alec Baldwin. Gwen Stefani does a bit part as Jean Harlow, Jude Law plays a hyperactive Errol Flynn, and the great Willem Dafoe does a 4 minute walk-on bit as reporter Roland Sweet.

It’s a film to make you wonder how men accomplish great things. Its been said that Christians don’t always make good pro athletes because they lack a “killer instinct.” Could the same be said of business and politics? It's a dirty playing field. When you look at the world of Hughes, you have to wonder what role faith might have played in his life. Would it have made possible a redemption not only of his soul but of his mind? The scripture says that fear has torment. Never clearer than in Mr. Hughes.