[From HillaryNeedsAVaction via The Anchoress]

Random Lost question but it's bugging me so I thought I'd ask.

Is Richard truly immortal/non-aging? Or does he just bounce around in time?

As a follow-up to this personal post about how I was bullied as a child, and this one about anti-bullying laws, I thought I'd give you a few resources. That way if your child, or if someone you know is being bullied, you might be able to get some helpful and encouraging information. Then I'll leave you all alone and quit with the bullying posts. (Unless I ever start an anti-bullying blog.)

Resources

Frank Peretti's book "Wounded Spirit" has been retitled, "No More Bullies". Looks like a great book. This title is an improvement too. (I never knew what it was about before.)

Here is a really fantastic website - BullyPolice.org .

It is full of practical resources to help parents and teachers. It keeps a tally of bullying laws. There's a place for people to talk about their experiences and so much more. It's hands-down the best resource on the web on this topic. (It was started by a mom who's son killed himself because of being beaten by a bully.)

Here's a resource for kids.

I won't be live-blogging the show tonight, but feel free to discuss it in the comments thread.

If any of you Thinklings feels the live-blogging bug, go for it!




**** Comments thread will contain spoilers ****

Some thoughts on the recent Evangelical Manifesto that so many are buzzing about right now . . .

Those who know me know I'm still quite keen on the "evangelical" label, not so much as a word itself but for what it still means and can continue to mean. I'm not ready to abandon it (like "fundamentalist," which was a justifiable abandonment, or what-have-you) simply because it has been loaded by the culture with the baggage of "fundamentalist" or because it has been carried as a flag by political-minded Christians keen on waging the so-called culture war. It's a good word, and it means something too important to give up. Evangel = gospel, and now, when more believers, pastors, and churches are dedicating themselves to gospel-driven renewal, is not the right time to ditch the word. It has the possibility to mean and communicate more now than it ever has, particularly if the Lord will grant us the revival many are praying for.

Os Guinness and others on the Manifesto's steering committee write in the Introduction:

For those who are Evangelicals, the deepest purpose of the Manifesto is a serious call to reform -- an urgent challenge to reaffirm Evangelical identity, to reform Evangelical behavior, to reposition Evangelicals in public life, and so rededicate ourselves to the high calling of being Evangelical followers of Jesus Christ.

Yes. Reform. Good.

What of the Manifesto itself?
For all of the drafters' insistence that it is not a reaction to media bias or political/moral culture wars -- Os Guinness tells USA Today, "Our problem is not mislabeling by the press or rebranding because we have a bad image" -- it is quite verbose on "the marketplace" and civic engagement.

The concerns as drafted are valid ones, good ones, and the exploration of them is incisive and important. These lines from the conclusion are laudable:

“Finally, we solemnly pledge that in a world of lies, hype, and spin, where truth is commonly dismissed and words suffer from severe inflation, we make this declaration in words that have been carefully chosen and weighed; words that, under God, we make our bond. People of the Good News, we desire not just to speak the Good News but to embody and be good news to our world and to our generation.”

Generally speaking, it's a fine and dandy resource. Taking a look at the ongoing accumulation of signatories reveals quite a few important leaders think so too.

However, I do believe the Manifesto is too long to be useful. I mean that seriously. There's nothing wrong with signing this thing, as far as I can see, but what will it do? Anyone remember This We Believe? A bunch of important people signed that too.

Evangelicalism won't be reformed by a long document full of distinctions signed by a who's who, particularly if that who's who thinks signing this thing is one of the most meaningful things they can do.

What we need is a merging of the groundswell of discontent among evangelical laity hungry for the gospel and a commitment by pastors and teachers and writers to center on the gospel. So long as the culture of therapy and politics and popular entertainment maintains its hold on the shaping of the gospel in the life of evangelicalism, signing a manifesto means nothing.

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Joe Carter, who is a signatory, shares his thoughts here.
Justin Taylor summarizes the document here.

As a follow-up to this personal post about how I was bullied as a child, I did a little research. Here's what I found:

Florida is currently working on the toughest anti-bullying law ever.

Although many school districts in Florida... have anti-bullying policies, the law would require each of the state's 67 districts to adopt a policy that complies with the new requirements by Dec. 1.

The law would not spell out which categories of students need protection, a fact that spurred debate in the House, but instead says that bullying or harassment of any student or school system employee for any reason is prohibited. Districts would be allowed to identify categories of students if they choose.

''When you start just putting categories in place, you'll never have enough categories to cover every child, so why don't we say that no child should be bullied,'' said Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, who sponsored the bill. ``The fact is all children will be protected.''

In a 2005 national survey of students ages 12 to 18, about 28 percent reported having been bullied at school during the prior six months.

The proposed law mandates that each district's policy have in place a procedure for reporting incidents of bullying or harassment and the consequences.

Here's the actual text of the proposed law.
Basically it requires schools to have policies in place. Even cyber-bullying is included here.

Sad that it takes deaths to bring our attention to problems, but alas that seems to be the way it is. This law will be named after a 15 year old who killed himself because of bullying.

This brief article about the law has some good statistics about bullying. There's also a really good video clip on the bottom from "The Early Show". It's worth watching.

This story sums it all up for me.

“On April 16, 2002, my son, 14-year-old Jon Gettle, left his home during the night, walked 200 yards to his middle school and hung himself outside the 8th grade hallway. His note said, "Bullying is a problem". Cathy Gettle (NY) – Mother of Jon Gettle

My original post and subsequent comments have led me to start thinking about how to start a ministry for victims of bullying. I just haven't figured it all out yet.

And this video is a reminder of how serious the issue is. (Listen to the words of the song, while you are watching. Multi-tasking, I know, but you can do it :-)



There, but for the grace of God, is where I would have gone.

I found this fascinating.


The dude is so likeable. And funny. And brilliant. This guy needs to continue this. Get out there. Explain and defend the "originalist" perspective.

It's amazing to me how many people don't get it, even after he explains it. People actually said he defended torture after watching this. He doesn't. He's just a rigid originalist, even when it goes against his personal views.

"What makes a principle a principle is one's willingness to apply it to one's own disadvantage." - Stephen L. Carter, Yale Law School

Scalia is a principled man...oh, and did I mention, HE'S COOL! I nominate him for honorary thinkling.

Go watch all four parts.
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Took Grace to a "sneak peek" of kindergarten at the elementary school today. She got to ride the bus, check out the library, and have milk and cookies in the cafeteria. She loved it and can't wait to start school in August. Dada wishes he could make her stay 4 forever.




Read the rest of this entry . . .

This is love.



If you don't think that there is any way that suffering through the tragedies of life can glorify God, watch this video. It's absolutely beautiful. There's a heartbreaking joy in this, and a deep Christ-likeness in this young couple expressed in their love for their baby.

I'm overwhelmed.

[Grateful hat tip to The Anchoress]

Scalia on Court TV:



I know no one here would do this, but I can just imagine someone responding to this by saying, "What about freedom of speech?" To which I respond, "freedom of speech also protects the right to criticize the speech of others."

It’s all about Jesus. Really, it is. A few recent best-selling Christian books have been telling people, “It’s not about you.” That’s true actually. We don’t like to hear that. But it’s true. If all of history isn’t about me or you, then what is it about?

Jesus.

“He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27 NIV).

The Old Testament is all about Jesus. The New Testament is all about Jesus. I also believe that all of history is about Jesus. (I like to think of history as HIS story.) And so I also believe that the story of your family, the story of your church, the story of YOU, is all about Jesus.

Jesus should be on our lips, our minds and our hearts. He should be a part of all we say, do, think, and plan. But not just a part. He should be the basis for all that we do.

Every now and then a new Christian book or Christian teacher takes the churches by storm. (Just a few names I've observed: C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Hal Lindsey, Billy Graham, Max Lucado, Henry Blackaby, Bruce Wilkinson, John Eldredge, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren) When one of these authors gets influential we hear Christians saying their name a lot or quoting their books. What a certain author thinks will be cited in committee meetings and Sunday School classes. There’s nothing wrong with learning from another Christian or quoting an author but every time it happens, I wonder if we shouldn’t be more influenced by Jesus. We should be referring to Jesus, saying his name, talking about what he would think and quoting him.

How can we do that more? I think it happens not only by loving him, but by admiring him, respecting him, and thinking that he is the smartest, most wonderful person you’ve ever known.

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!” (Romans 5:7-9).

What a wonderful savior! My prayer for you is that your life would be all about Jesus. May all that you do, say and live point to and glorify our Savior.

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” (Jude 24-25).

I needed to hear this this morning. Side hug to our friend Jen for the youtube link.



Have you ever had times when prayer seems hard? Not that you're not praying, but just that you don't really have words anymore? I find myself in the uncomfortable position of no longer being able to dictate my plans for fixing our situations to him, because sometimes life just beats my pair of jacks.

Prayer's easier when I can just tell God what to do and slap an amen on the end of it. It's a lot harder when the words don't come because I've already worked through plans A through Z. and I'm running out of letters.

That's one of the awesome things about God's love, the gospel. It's for the helpless. People like me.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. - Romans 8:26

Go check it out...

and I'll just have to live vicariously through you because I've got T-Ball today.

I have an mp3 player that I pretty much just use while doing yardwork. A few months ago I went to the dollar store looking for presents for the kids and bought them "the Wind in the Willows" on audio CD. They listen to it in bed while going to sleep. While there I bought "The War of The Worlds" by H.G. Wells on audio for myself. I've heard the Orson Wells radio broadcast, and I've seen the Tom Cruise movie, but that's it. I thought it would be cool to hear the original. It's been sitting in my desk drawer all this time.

So I finally put it on my mp3 player this morning. Only the file it was put in also had Megadeth's Greatest Hits. On the player each file started with a number. So chapter one was followed by Megadeth's song 1, and chapter 2 was followed by the next Megadeth song and so on. Chapter, megadeth song, chapter megadeth song...

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

The end of each chapter is a kind of a cliffhanger...totally enhanced when you hear heavy metal music after final words like, "the second craft had landed" or "the missle was headed right for us". And me being weird like I am, I listened to parallels between the song and the chapter, and there almost always were some. (Songs like "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars" for example.)

The chapters are VERY short. I'm thinking about doing a series here on the blog where I summarize a chapter, then share with you a few Megadeth lyrics that I heard, so you can experience what I experienced, sort of. (So far, I'm on chapter 7).

But who knows, I may never get around to it. I like the idea though.

Have any of you read "War of the Worlds"?

Have any of you read (or listened to) a book and created your own soundtrack for it?

Mine happened totally randomly but I still feel like the creator, kind of a mad scientist. (Cue loud guitar music here.)

Liveblogging tonight's Lost




Spoilers follow . . .




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Read the rest of this entry . . .

The Red Balloon just got released on DVD.



I remember watching this movie as a kid...in school. They put up a screen, and a film projector and we watched it... a lot. When it was raining at recess, "Red Balloon". When it was the end of the semester or a friday afternoon with no curriculum, "Red Balloon". When the teachers needed a break, "Red balloon". When Field Day was over, and they needed to kill 30 minutes, "Red balloon".

Oh the agony. Is there anyone out there who knows why we had to watch this thing? Are there any schoolteachers out there who taught during the 70's and 80's? Why did you make us watch this?

I always figured that grown-ups saw something in it they thought kids would appreciate. Whoops, you were wrong on that one.

Man was I ever thrilled the rainy day our 7th grade science teacher brought Star Trek: The Trouble With Tribbles. Of course, even "It's alright to cry" was better than "Red Balloon".

(Our second most common film was the Donald Duck mathematics cartoon.)

What movies were you forced to watch over and over in school?

Okay, so I'm hearing here and there that expounding on God's sovereignty and glory when people are hurting and suffering is not good. It's not, um, pastoral or something. Not what people need, I guess. Not helpful.

Help me out here, folks. 'Cause nothing has helped me more in the craptastic times of my life (and let me tell you that just because I haven't blogged something doesn't mean I haven't gone through something) than to know my God is large and in charge.

Let's see, Piper and Edwards, et.al., aren't to be our go-to guys in times of trouble, because they espouse:

- God is in control of all things.
- God works everything to the good, including the evil sinners do.
- God will not let evil go unpunished.
- God has conquered sin and death.
- When we share in Christ's sufferings we are preparing to share in his glory.

Yup, nothing helpful there.

Senate Passes Resolution Saying McCain Is Natural Born.

Sen. John McCain was born to American parents in the Panama Canal Zone some 71 years ago. Does that make him the kind of “natural born” citizen the Founding Fathers determined could serve as president?

Yes, the Senate agreed, and senators passed by unanimous consent a resolution to that effect Wednesday.

Not that there was much doubt about it. Even Democrats, including rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, have said they didn’t see a problem with McCain meeting the constitutional requirement that only a “natural born” citizen could serve.

Still, there had been questions in the minds of some bloggers because McCain was born Aug. 29, 1936, in the Panama Canal Zone while his father was stationed at a U.S. naval base.

There was never any question in the mind of THIS blogger.

I was born on a U.S. Military base in a foreign land to two natural born U.S. Citizens and we were there because my father was serving our country in the U.S. Military! It has driven me bonkers when my citizenship has been questioned because I was born in a foreign country! Even gov't agencies have questioned my citizenship before. In middle school, kids used to say, "You sure don't look like you're from another country." But grown-ups and agents of the gov't should know better. Good grief people.

So thanks to McCain, it's settled. (And now I'm over 35) So if any of you want to write me in, feel free. ;-)

This week Phil posted this story about the son of a murder victim forgiving the murderer, and if you'll check the comments you'll see not a little bit of outrage. He's apparently forgiving too quickly, too stupidly, too unjustly. This reminds me that forgiveness is weird and it will always be a scandal. And that's why I thought I'd share this slightly edited reprint of a post of mine that originally appeared at BCC is Broken in August 2006.
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Imagine you are one of the early church's first members. You are sitting in a home with a few other believers, sharing a meal. You pray together. You sing a few Psalms. Someone recites a bit he's heard of Jesus' biography. Then someone gets up to read a letter to you from some guy named Paul.

Paul is a guy who used to go by the name Saul. It's possible he is responsible for the murder of someone you know, perhaps even your parents or one of your children. Now you have to sit and listen to someone read not just words from this guy, but instructions from this guy. Since his conversion from Christ-hating enforcer of the Law to card-carrying Jesus freak, he's not just one of your fellow Christians. He's an authority over all Christians recognized by nearly everyone.

It is possible this arrangement would not have sit well with you.

Imagine you're attached to Peter, a guy who has his problems, but who has been with Jesus from the beginning. And this newcomer Paul actually exerts authority alongside (over?) Peter!

What in the world can explain the rise of Paul's recognized authority in the primitive church? The first explanation that comes to my mind is the authority over all authorities himself -- Jesus. If you were an early church member tempted to dismiss or disregard the teaching of a guy who used to push the killing of the ones you love, maybe you thought of something you heard Jesus said from the cross. In that excruciating place where Jewish officials like Paul had taken him, Jesus hung there dying and wished forgiveness even on the unrepentant revelers carrying out his execution.

The difference between Saul the persecutor and Paul the apostle was Jesus. The very road Paul was taking to kill Christians became his road to becoming one, because Jesus put up a roadblock and intervened. Revenge became repentance.
The difference between an early church member despising Paul's leadership and embracing it was Jesus. The same Pauline letter that might have irked became an encouragement.

Isn't that completely illogical? What weirdos this following Jesus thing makes us. C.S. Lewis was once asked what the main difference between Christianity and all other religions was, and he answered, "Oh, that's easy -- grace."
Grace isn't just amazing; it's ridiculous. It's revolutionary to our thoughts and feelings. It humbles the powerful and empowers the humble.
Jesus didn't die so you could learn how to be a better person. He died because you can't be. (That's grace offending your sensibilities right now.)

The grace of Jesus is a foolishness that, when believed, brings power to save (1 Cor. 1:18).

Grace is that bizarre missing ingredient that mucks up all human foibles, flaws, and fears. Grace is the thing that turns lives upside down. It is a sweet, beautiful irritant.
Grace is scandalous. It makes murderers into apostles, it makes victims into forgivers. It erases irreconcilable differences.

Have you been scandalized by grace lately? Has Jesus shocked you through someone's granting grace to you?
When was the last time you offended someone's expectations by extending grace to them?

This is what I see as the big idea of the Church on mission: Not that we entertain the masses as well as the culture, not that we provide a fun and relaxing atmosphere for folks tired of the stodgy church down the street, and not even that we are friendly or "relevant" or easy to understand. No, the scandalous beauty of our churches should be that we believe in bringing grace to the hopeless, to the hurting, to the shamed, to the discarded, to the confused, to the powerless. And to the despised. If we aren't about Jesus, the savior of sinners, we aren't about the Gospel. And if we aren't about the Gospel, then all the sentiment and sap in the world isn't going to make us about grace.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners -— of whom I am the worst.
-- 1 Timothy 1:15

Great quote regarding this most recent round of pop Che Guevera worship:

I can’t imagine what it must be like to hold an ideology where Wal-Mart outrages me more than the slaughter of 600 people.

[From Libertas, via Brandywine Books]