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Should We Watch/Support The Biggest Loser?

A couple of days ago I saw that Jillian Michaels, the trainer from NBC's The Biggest Loser was being sued over the diet supplement that she endorses. My initial reaction was why does a top notch trainer, who talks about a healthy diet and exercise as the best means of weight loss, endorse a weight loss supplement? Money!

That started me thinking about the show itself, what is The Biggest Loser? Well, on one level its designed to take a group of morbidly obese people and give them the tools they need to lose weight and develop a healthy lifestyle. That's a good thing.

On another level it's also a game show in which the winner gets a large check and each week people who are in desperate need of help get voted out and sent home to fend for themselves. For some reason the public seems to think it is OK to do this with morbidly obese people but I wonder if the viewers would still be there if the illness was cancer or some other terminal disease? Part of problem is that the very thing the show is trying to address, obesity, has now become a game show and the result is that morbid obesity is not seen in the same light as cancer or other potentially terminal illness, remember it is terminal.

I have to confess that I do watch the show, perhaps I will stop though as it just keeps getting worse in terms of product placement. Every time Bob takes contestants off campus they mysteriously end up at Subway! And I ask myself is this a show about getting healthy or for promoting Subway. If you've ever watched the show you'd swear that Extra gum is the best way to curb your appetite and sweet cravings. When the trainers arrive in the kitchen it's time to learn how Ziploc bags can keep your food fresh or how Jennie-O turkey can be a low fat, high protein tasty alternative to beef, not any turkey, Jennie-O! Don't drink tap water, make sure you use a Brita filter! And this year Walgreens has got in on the act too with several of its own brand first aid items.

When Marshall McLuhan warned us that "the medium is the message" this is exactly the kind of thing he had in mind. Turning a serious health issue into a game show should not be acceptable and yet we have allowed it to become an extremely popular show.

We don't need a TV show to raise our awareness of the obesity pandemic here in the USA. We certainly don't need a game show that votes people off because they failed to lose weight quickly enough, aren't they the very people that need the most help?

Sally Jenkins, Tim Tebow and tolerance

Every once in a while you find someone who can honestly disagree with someone's position on an issue but truly defend their right to be heard, even at the expense of groups that would share their position. Sally Jenkins is one such person who in today's Washington Post is able to address the pro-life ad starring Tim Tebow and while disagreeing with Tebow's position is thoroughly complimentary of Tebow as a person and the kind of guy our society should be delighted to have.

Tebow's Super Bowl ad isn't intolerant; its critics are

I'll spit this out quick, before the armies of feminism try to gag me and strap electrodes to my forehead: Tim Tebow is one of the better things to happen to young women in some time. I realize this stance won't endear me to the "Dwindling Organizations of Ladies in Lockstep," otherwise known as DOLL, but I'll try to pick up the shards of my shattered feminist credentials and go on. (read more)

Relief Agencies Need Cash Not Goods

When a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti is brought to our attention we often think, "Oh wow, I have to do something." But let's make sure the something we do is the right thing.

Cash is best donation after disaster, aid groups say
Earthquake-devastated Haitians need donations of cash -- not clothes, food, medicine, or other relief supplies, as well intended as they might be, aid groups said Thursday.

Such "in-kind" donations can at best take up valuable space in cargo shipments and waste aid workers' time in sorting through the items, charities said. At worst, the food or medicine could be unusable or even dangerous.

"Sending donated goods oversees is an appealing idea because it makes you feel like you're really helping while at the same time recycling things that are no longer of any use to you," writes former aid worker Saundra Schimmelpfennig in her blog about the impact of aid. "Unfortunately inappropriate donations can do more harm than good and it often costs more to ship used goods than to buy new goods locally." read more

Yes we might like the idea of providing hands on opportunities to make a difference but let's make sure we are getting as much bang for our buck as we can and that we're not making life more difficult for the aid agencies. Right now World Vision can multiply a gift for Haiti Relief and Long Term Support by three, the same is true for several of their other giving options for Haiti and other projects.

There are organizations like Church World Services who encourage you to make care kits to their specifications and they will get them to the people who need them. If you feel this is what you need to do then go for it, it really does make a difference and for some people the value of hands on work is what they need. (Personally I'd rather send my money knowing that an organization can get far more for the same amount I spend on the care kit supplies but I don't say that to put down the work of CWS).

If you haven't responded to this great need in our world today, please do.

"Kill Thy Enemy" - Gunsights made to "biblical standards!"

Every once in a while a news story comes along that just leaves me shaking my head, this is one of them. A top gunsight manufacturer, Trijico, is inscribing its sights with raised biblical references.

As the BBC report states, "The markings include "2COR4:6" and "JN8:12", relating to verses in the books of II Corinthians and John. Trijicon, the US-based manufacturer, was founded by a devout Christian, and says it runs to "Biblical standards"."

As the company states on its website, "We believe that America is great when its people are good. This goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history and we will strive to follow those morals."Someone needs to give these folks a brief theology lesson beginning with, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and that no one is good except God. America could be great if its people were good but its people are not good, we, like all people, are sinners standing in the need of grace.

So what are the inscriptions? The BBC reports...

The inscriptions are subtle and appear in raised lettering at the end of the stock number.

John 8:12 reads: "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The nod to part of the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians, found on the company's Reflex sight, references the text: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

I don't know about you but I don't think this was what Jesus and Paul had in mind for their words. Perhaps we could suggest some other texts for them, "love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you." "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty give him something to drink."

There is nothing more frightening to me than nationalism tied up with religion. I should know, I grew up in Northern Ireland.

Image from Boing Boing
 

Church, Cruising and Royal Caribbean

So Royal Caribbean has taking some some hits for allowing its cruise ships to continue to dock in Haiti after the earthquake has claimed so many lives. I even read that one passenger was sickened by the ship stopping there because, "tens of thousands of dead people are being piled up on the streets, with the survivors stunned and looking for food and water."

I found this an interesting comment because so many of the people of Haiti were looking for food and water before the earthquake. Indeed many of the islands that these cruise ships stop at suffer from a great deal of poverty, perhaps none greater than Haiti. If your cruise ship stops in Jamaica at Ocho Rios, try going a few blocks inland from the resort and you'll also have your illusion shattered.

If your idyllic cruise is ruined because the illusion that everything is OK with this world is stripped away and the reality of suffering people in this world is made known to you then I say that's a good thing and before you drop several thousand on your next cruise perhaps you should take a closer look at your charitable giving. (Way too long a sentence!) If you want to go on a cruise go, but don't close your eyes to the world or live in a fantasy land while you are there, be aware of the issues in every port you stop.

Now that I've started I might as well keep going...

One of our local Christian radio stations is sponsoring a cruise. You can find a link to it right underneath the link to help the people of Haiti!Perhaps its just me but I don't see how the church of Jesus Christ can justify going on cruises together where, as the brochure says you will, "enjoy your well-appointed
stateroom, the elegant restaurants, swim in the two pools, and of course be pampered in the spa
and salon. There’s even a complete fitness center to stay in shape after all the fabulous food we’ll
encounter." Sounds like several of the seven deadly sins are being justified here.

Of course they add "I think you’ll agree with us that the best part will be the opportunities throughout the cruise for praise and worship with (Don Moen, Robin Mark, and Lenny LeBlanc!)." But Micah says we are to, "act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with your God."  Or as Isaiah reminds us, "Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

Let me be clear, I'm not a killjoy and I don't think every vacation is bad. Indeed I thoroughly enjoy vacations. I think it is wonderful when Christians with additional resources left after contributing faithfully to their local church can afford to go on educational trips to Israel or follow Paul's journey. I think its wonderful when we can go on short term mission trips to see and gain an appreciation of poverty firsthand. But let me be clear, giving to the local church must come first for the follower of Jesus.

I do question a Christian radio station that decides to host a luxury cruise.

Pat Robertson, Haiti and You!

OK, no surprise Pat Robertson sees the earthquake as God's judgment on Haiti. Did anyone expect him to say anything else? Surely not, he also said, "right now, we're helping the suffering people and suffering is unimaginable." In that he is correct.

So what are we going to do? Lambast an old man who in giving ultimate sovereignty to God perhaps draws what some might consider crazy and inappropriate conclusions. Or agree with him that right now we are to help suffering people. I only hope that every critic of Pat Robertson (and I'm no fan) steps up to the plate and gives some time or money to help those in greatest need right now in Haiti.

If you speak up against Pat Robertson and don't do anything for those in need then you are only declaring your own self righteousness and are no better or perhaps even worse than those you would condemn.

Which is worse, saying what Pat Robertson said and then doing something to help or condemning Pat Robertson and doing nothing?

Here's the clip from the show...

Tiger Woods - a game of integrity

I suppose I'm just another voice among the many who have weighed in on the Tiger Woods "scandal" but here's my thoughts anyway.

I was raised playing golf, my dad played for Ireland and while I never reached suck lofty levels I have always enjoyed banging the little white ball down the fairway and into the hole. Long before I knew the intricacies of the rules of golf I was taught two lessons about the game. First you always play the ball as it lies and second when you break a rule you come clean about.

As far as I know, golf is the only sport in which you call penalties on yourself. When I played rugby if the referee wasn't calling a certain penalty we'd encroach in that area, looking for any advantage we could. When I was on the golf course and accidentally grounded my club in the bunker or the hazard, even though it went unseen, I called the penalty on myself.

With stellar programs like The First Tee, that seeks to develop character and values in young people through the game of golf we are reminded what  lies behind this game and what makes it different. Tiger Woods has failed to allow the game to transform his character the way it should.

We all make mistakes and from time to time we all break the rules. The lesson from golf, is that when this happens we admit what we have done and we allow the penalty to be assessed and then move on, we keep playing. Without this belief in the honesty and integrity of the players golf would fall apart, for there is no way to monitor the actions of every golfer on the course at all times. 

All the great golfers know that the integrity of the game transforms how we conduct our lives off the course as well as on the course. Tiger Woods, may win more tournaments than any other golfer to play the game, he may eclipse Jack Nicholaus' record for wins in majors, he may make more money than any other person to ever play a sport, but he will not be the greatest golfer ever if the lessons on the course don't translate into how he lives his life.

I hope he can become an example of someone who comes clean, admits his wrongdoing, accepts the penalty and can move on to great success in life. He should know that his life is a public life and it matters what he does off the course, just as it matters what I do outside the pulpit.

It is true for all of us that it matters how we conduct ourselves privately, may this very public incident cause us all to pause and reflect on the penalty strokes we may need to call on ourselves.

A Time For Peace

Last night I sat down to watch, "Joyeux Noel." It has become a holiday tradition for my to watch this movie based on the actual events of Christmas in the tranches of World War I. I highly recommend the movie and then don't forget to watch the interview with the Director in the special features section, you'll be surprised to learn that even the cat in the movie is based on a true story from the war. 

It is a powerful movie and a powerful true story.

It is also well articulated in Stanley Weintraub’s book "Silent Night."

So what is the story? It was Christmas Eve 1914, the War had been raging for several months and to celebrate Christmas the German high command had sent miniature Christmas trees to the men on the front lines. They set these trees up on the parapets and lit the candles. The British soldiers had been sent ‘Princess Mary’s Christmas Boxes’ filled with goodies from home. As the German, British, and French troops settled in for the night, a young German soldier began to sing the well known carol “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.”  Soon others joined in. When they had finished, the British responded in English singing “Silent Night, Holy Night.”

A ceasefire was called for Christmas day. One by one the men from both sides left their trenches and met in no-man’s land. They shook hands, exchanged gifts, and shared pictures of their families. Informal soccer games took place and a joint service was held to bury the dead of both sides (In the movie the mass is given in Latin and beautifully transcends the language barriers of English, French and German).

The higher ranking officers, who were not at the front, were not pleased when they heard of this. Men, who have come to know each other’s names, play together, seen pictures of each other's families and exchanged gifts with one another are much less likely to want to kill each other.

Indeed when the fighting resumed the men who had participated in the ceasefire spent a few days simply firing aimlessly into the sky. The war didn’t start back in earnest until the frontline troops were relieved and new troops who hadn’t participated in the ceasefire where brought to the front. The war would rage until the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918.

Here's John McCutcheon's song that I post each Advent season.

Do They Know It's Christmas

Well, its been a lot of years since it was written but the need is still there. There are plenty of hungry people in the world this time of year, and I'm not one of them. "So tonight thank God it's them instead of you!" Bono said this may have been the hardest line he has ever had to sing because there is an element of honesty to it.

How is God stirring your heart this advent to think about those who won't be sitting down with family to a sumptuous feast, who don't even know if they'll be eating at all?

It's been my favorite Christmas song for almost 25 years now.

A Call To Treason? Maybe... What do you think Paul means?

 
Do you ever find a particular verse of Scripture just eating away at you? Gnawing its way deep into your being? I've had that experience recently.

Paul's words in Romans 12 as he quotes from the Proverbs have been gnawing at me now for a while. It is a chapter that opens with Paul's call to no longer, "conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." It is then followed by a call to live humbly, exercising the gifts we have been given to support the body of Christ and then, as in Corinthians, he talks about love.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Good stuff!But then comes the hard stuff...

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.Do not think you are superior.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

So why should I feed my enemy when he is hungry and give him a drink when he is thirsty? Apparently this is one way to show your enemy you love them. OK, but surely giving aid to the enemy is an act of treason in the eyes of the state.

Imagine you are part of the Roman army laying siege to Masada (these verses went written with 21st century enemies in mind), what is you goal? To force them to surrender by depriving them of access to food and water, the main military strategy behind a siege. Now as part of that Roman army you are a Christian and you read Paul's words, what do you do? Do you feed your enemy and get them something to drink? What do you suppose would happen to a Roman soldier providing this sort of support for the enemy?

I wrestle with these verses, they gnaw at me because they are not simply a call to provide basic needs for even our enemy but rather they go against the powers the state uses to suppress and defeat the enemy. How do you think a first century Roman would have read these words? What would Paul say if he were to write this to 21st Century America?

Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world, clearly we are to live by a different standard, a different way than the nations of this world would have us live.

Remembering 8 years later - just war?

Eight years ago the waitress at Perkins came over to our table and told John, Buck and myself that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. We waited for the punchline but it never came, it wasn't a joke. I spent the rest of the day in my office watching the days events unfold on the TV. I wept.

Having grown up in Northern Ireland and having worked with Prison Fellowship I knew something of terrorism and even counted some former terrorists among my friends. I had witnessed bombs going off, I had friends who had lost family members to terrorists but this was something different.

When I moved to Virginia in 2004 this particular attack became a lot more personal as several members of our congregation worked at the Pentagon and one of our members, Bud Boon, lost his life in the attack. It was a very moving moment for me when I entered the Pentagon to give the invocation at a change of command  ceremony and we entered the building where the plane had hit.

What I don't get are the tens of thousands of lives that have been lost in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since then. I suppose its Jesus teaching to love your enemy that causes me to pause here. Perhaps its Paul reminding us of the proverb to feed our enemy if they are hungry and to give them something to drink if they are thirsty that causes me pause.

I know there is a long tradition of just war theory but every major Christian body outside the USA and many within, rejected the war in Iraq as a just war.

A truly Christian just war theory allows the believer to question every order to discern whether it meets the criteria of a just war. In reality this makes this position untenable for military service and is only one small step away from pacifism. What the nation and the military want is a patriotic just war approach where people will follow orders and act because the authorities determine they are just, the authorities are not to be questioned. But this is not and never has been the Christian position.

I mentioned in an earlier post how Ray Davey responded to seeing Dresden afrer the allied bombing. Certainly the bombing of Dresden like the current campaigns demonstratecd superior military strength on the part of the US and the allied forces, but is that the way of Christ?

H1N1 - Swine flu and churches...

Yesterday evening the question was raised as to what action we were going to take as a church to reduce the risk of spreading swine flu throughout our congregation?

The suggestions ranged from making sure we had an ample supply of hand sanitizer available, to issues around various elements of our worship service. Some folks suggested doing away with our greeting time thereby avoiding having to shake someones hand. Then there was the issue of passing the offering plates and communion trays, could we contaminate one another this way?

We will almost certainly be adding a couple of hand sanitizer dispensers but I'm not sure if anything will change during the worship service itself.

As we potentially face the worst flu epidemic (pandemic) in years how are your congregations being proactive regarding this health concern?

Perspective - Running the Sahara

Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab and Kevin Lin set out to run across the Sahara. Their journey is documented in the movie, Running the Sahara. It is a quest that would take them 111 days. They would run through six nations, starting in Senegal then on through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Egypt. The total distance they covered around 4,300 miles. They struggled through extremely hot days and bitterly cold nights. They all struggled through injury, extreme fatigue and dehydration in to make it to the Red Sea.

As they were making their way across Niger the word came that they may not be able to get into Libya and this began to eat away at Kevin who thought about quitting and going home. At this point in the documentary Charlie talks with Kevin and tell him that if he doesn't want to do something exciting then he should just go and run a marathon! 

For most people running a marathon is the ultimate challenge, a few of us take it further, Iron Man triathlons, ultrarunning etc. Once you move beyond the marathon and look back you know the distance is no longer an issue and you have new perspective on it.

If as followers of Jesus Christ we could only learn to gain a better sense of perspective, if we could only learn to see things more clearly from God's perspective I think we'd be a lot better off. How do we do that? Simply by learning to more fully abide in Christ (John 15). Sure it takes time, energy and commitment to do this, but then most things that are worthwhile do.

This is not only a film about an adventure that three men take it also serves to raise awareness for clean water projects in Africa, supporting the work of H2O Africa.

A further thought on the CIA and other intelligence agencies...

Having worked for the last five years in Northern Virginia I served as a pastor for a large number of people with high level security clearances. Some of them worked for the military, others for the various private companies performing classified work for the government and still others for one of the intelligence agencies, both FBI and CIA.

At times we had spirited debates about the role of the United States in the world and the implications of Jesus teaching on certain aspects of their work but they were all passionate about their relationship with God in Christ. The sought to grow in their knowledge and love of Jesus and cared deeply for the needs of the poor in the world. 

I have been to heavily influenced by Bonhoeffer, Yoder and Hauerwas to fully understand how they can reconcile their line of work with their faith but I have the utmost repsect for them as brothers and sisters in Christ and I pray that they more closely reflect the ethos of these agencies and the government that the abuses that we see.

CIA, Torture, and the Sinful Nature

With the declassification of the report on the interrogation of terror suspects there has been much said about the behavior of some CIA operatives, simulated drowning by waterboarding, simulated executions by threatening with guns and drills, even going as far as threatening to kill someones family if there was another attack on the United States. Many people have cried out and said that such behavior is un-American and not becoming of the way the United States should operate in the world. Others have said that these were necessary actions to help prevent further attacks to Americans and that while some of them may have pushed the envelope of acceptable practice they are justified if they save lives.

What do I make of all this? Simple, I'm deeply saddened but not surprised by it. As a pastor/theologian I understand the nature of humanity is the nature of humanity and is not dependent on someone's national identity. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that in our fallen nature, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure." The apostle Paul reminds us that unless we have found freedom through Christ and live according to our new spirit-filled nature we are bound under the old sinful nature.

There is not a question in my mind that under certain circumstances people, all people, have the capacity to do great harm to others, particularly if they believe that in doing so a greater good will be served. History bears this out time and time again, where educated smart men and women, do awful things to others, the holocaust, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur, Apartheid in South Africa, the Crusades... We could go on and on. Some might say, 'well we don't do those sorts of things in America.' Really, what about slavery and the native Americans, how long did it take to give women the right to vote? The truth is that all people have the capacity for great evil. We don't like to think of it like this we prefer to talk about the side of the coin that we have great capacity for good, which with God's help is indeed true but we can do evil all by ourselves.

And that's exactly what we have here, evil. Not necessarily evil people, certainly they are fallen people but then we all are and we all need redemption. It is evil actions we are talking about here, and yes there are consequences for such actions, and no they (either those who carried out and/or those who ordered these barbaric methods)  should not simply be given amnesty because they were working for the government.

What makes these particular action un-American or un-civilized? The answer I believe is a theological one. It has to do with the rule of law. One of the understandings that the reformer John Calvin had of the law was that it served the purpose of ordering and restraining sinful creation. America is a nation built on the rule of law, it is what prevents us from slipping into anarchy, it is what allows us to have peaceful transitions in government, it is what allows us to repsect (even when we disagree) with court decisions. When we see the rule of law being undermined it makes us uneasy, and rightfully so, for it threatens to undo the stability that exists in our governmental structures. 

Everyday I pray that God's name would be revered and that God's kingdom would come and will be done on earth in the same way it is being done in heaven. Then all this nonsensical violence all this evil will be gone. Until then I will continue to serve God and proclaim the peace that is our in Christ so we can become peacemakers in this world.   

Frist and Filibusters

I was going to wait and see if the Republicans would enforce a rule change and bring an end to the filibuster on judicial nominations before writing about it. I am still hoping that it won’t come to this, but I can’t hold my tongue any longer!

The Democrats have allowed most of George W’s nominations to go through, what’s the big deal about them saying no to a couple of them? All this talk about the filibuster being an attack on religious freedom, I’ve rarely heard such nonsense. Sorry Jim Dobson and Chuck Colson, I think you’re wrong on this one. There are many followers of Jesus who vote Democrat and, yes, there are elected Democrats who also follow Jesus who don’t want these nominations to go through.

What was the President thinking when he sent these names back to the Senate for the second time? Did he really think that they would be approved this time when they weren’t before? Did he think that with the stronger Republican base that they could force the rule change through and have these candidates endorsed?

The filibuster is a wonderful tool when properly used. When the checks and balances between the Executive and the Legislative break down due to party affiliation (remember the Founding Fathers believed the President should be above party politics) the filibuster allows for a substantial minority to ensure that extremes are avoided. To change the rules would set a dangerous precedent that we, as a nation, irrespective of party alignment, should oppose