Pray for the Firemen

Who lost their lives today in Southern California, fighting a fire set by an arsonist. Evidently, the wind whipped the fire back towards the firemen, and they had no chance to escape. Three firefighters died at the scene. One died two hours later. The fifth firefighter has burns over 95% of his body.

Nineteen (19) firefighters have lost their lives this year in California alone. As the brother of a firefighter, my heart goes out to the families.

Update: The fifth firefighter, Pablo Cerda, died as a result of the burns he suffered in the Esperanza fire. Our prayers are with the family and friends.

Praying to Be an Evangelist

This article from the Presbyterian Outlook, (registration required) is intriguing and inspiring. The story is also told here. Pastor Dave Peterson, pastor of a large Presbyterian church in Houston, began building relationships with other pastors. As they met and shared and prayed, a vision came to launch a large city-wide evangelism program called City Fest. It was timely, creative, and ongoing. And it has spawned some genuine community projects of compassion.

Here is the story, but check out the Outlook.

Here is a prayer that Dave Peterson, pastor of a 4,500-member Presbyterian church, has taught himself to pray: Lord, make me an evangelist!

“When I started out in ministry, evangelism was literally No. 13 on the list,” said Peterson, who leads Memorial Drive Church in Houston. Peterson is also co-chair of the steering committee of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s major fundraising drive, the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands, which is raising money for new church development and international mission work.

But as a young pastor, Peterson said, evangelism “was the last thing I was interested in.”

With time and prayer, Peterson began to realize the importance of showing people what faith can mean in everyday life. As he put it, “How do we ever figure the gospel is going to go out in the world unless we start doing something about it?”

So Peterson has prayed hard to learn to be an effective evangelist. And recently he served as co-chair of a massive evangelistic outreach in Houston known as CityFest. It organized churches from many denominations in a blitz of community service and brought an estimated 250,000 people to a festival Oct. 7 and 8 led by Argentinian evangelist Luis Palau.

It was an exciting weekend – but its structure also was a signal to Peterson of what opportunities may be ahead. More than 600 congregations – Roman Catholic parishes, nondenominational megachurches, Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal churches, big and small – worked together on the planning.

They are also cooperating in a new Web site, which they hope will serve as a virtual meeting ground for Christians throughout the community. On the website, people can post information on events, prayer groups, and volunteer and ministry opportunities – everything from the creation of a new Japanese fellowship to programs to assist Alzheimer’s patients and their families.

Before Peterson moved to Texas 11 years ago, some people from the community had caught that vision – they began wondering what might happen if churches in the city started to work together. At first, “it was real slow going,” Peterson said in an interview. “It’s awfully difficult for whatever reason to get churches and pastors working together-- maybe because we’ve got plenty to do in our own congregations, and congregations tend to be somewhat territorial.”

But about five years after Peterson came to town, he realized he didn’t know many local pastors. So he started calling up ministers, asking if he could stop by or if they could meet for lunch. Some were a little suspicious – they wanted to know what he wanted.

But “all I wanted to do was to get to know people,” Peterson said. “I secretly assumed there was a big club of pastors and they were making sure I didn’t get into it.”

After a while, some people approached him with the idea of CityFest, and asked if Memorial Drive would be willing to be the lead church and if Peterson would chair the festival. He agreed, and after a while got some big names on board to help, including the owner of the Houston Texans football team, Bob McNair, and Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr. Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, agreed to be honorary co-chairs.

The planners built a city-wide prayer circle – with Christians praying for nonbelievers around the city every day.

A “share your story” seminar drew close to 5,000 people, who learned more about how tell their own stories of faith, giving them skills “to be able to tell their walk with Christ in a personal way,” Peterson said.

The event, free of charge, was not “like an old Billy Graham crusade where you get everybody into a stadium,” Peterson said. Instead, events were offered at several venues, including a music stage; a sports zone where major league players signed autographs and talked about their faith; a children’s block party; and a “Living It” area with motocross, skateboarding and BMX bicycle demonstrations.

A lot happened before that October weekend, too.

Houston was divided into 42 regions, each with networks of churches from the area. And those regional teams organized a series of “compassion projects,” often working in partnership with local public schools.

Peterson’s church, for example, along with some other smaller churches from the area, worked with a local elementary school that had been built for 250 students and now has 950 enrolled. Many students attend classes in temporary buildings with rusted-out air conditioners “making so much noise it was hard to teach,” Peterson said.

So church volunteers raised the funds to buy and install 56 new air conditioners at Piney Point Elementary, where more than nine students out of every 10 are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch because of low family income. They landscaped the school grounds and built a deck with picnic tables. A book drive for the library brought enough books that each student was allowed to take some books home to keep.

Last year only 25 parents belonged to the Parent Teacher Association. People noticed, however, when 400 church volunteers showed up. The principal told of one mother who came up and said of the volunteers, “These people don’t even have kids who go to this school.”

So that mom, inspired by their example, volunteered for the PTA – which this year has 75 members, triple the membership of just a year ago.

And, while CityFest is over, the regional teams haven’t disbanded – they’re planning more compassion projects. “What we’re trying to do is demonstrate to the city that the church is not a problem to be managed, but an ally to be engaged with in battling the chronic problems cities face,” Peterson said.

“Our basic hope is that churches can take the lead in making Houston a great place for kids.” His mantra: “We’d like to raise one generation of whole and healthy children in Houston, Texas.”

That’s something he suspects can bring people together.

I wish there were more stories like this one! (H/T Hans at Presbyweb)

I Love Meetings

I just got home from my first session meeting at Arcadia Presbyterian Church. It was a long one. We had many things to discuss, and I am quite sure the discussion deteriorated towards the end of our time together. And yet, I came away with several impressions.

The first is that the session leaders clearly love the Lord Jesus, and they love this church.

The second, is that the session was wonderfully moderated by Senior Pastor, Jim Conner. With so many controversial issues at the table, he toed the fine line between allowing discussion to occur, and steering the discussion away from dangerous shoals. And he did it with a sense of humor.

Third, there are a LOT of things happening at APC. They are beginning to rethink everything, and they are in the midst of a building renovation, and they are thinking of restructuring, and they are discussing budget, etc.

Fourth, the San Gabriel Presbytery's Executive Presbyter, Ruth Santana-Grace, did a fine job of presenting her own vision, and the work of the presbytery. She also did a good job of answering questions that were gently put, but with real teeth in them. I am not sure how the more strident session members felt, but Ruth acquitted herself well, I thought.

Fifth, I came away somewhat disturbed at the general lack of the knowledge of the Presbyterian Book of Order. One session member wanted "the Presbytery" to do something about the property trust clause in the Book of Order. Well, who is "the presbytery" but its members: namely pastors and elected elders? The representatives from APC can make that motion to clarify that position at the presbytery meeting, as is their right.

In addition, there is palpable fear that "the presbytery" will come and seize their property. Well, as the moderator of Administration and Finance at the presbytery, I am not inclined to make such a radical move. Nor am I sure that the presbytery has the will, nor the inclination, nor the desire to make a preemptive strike like that.

There are some legitimate concerns in these days of distrust between local congregations and the national denomination. However, the big bad denomination is going to come take away their property without at least first going through the Synod and the Presbytery.

Sixth, a lot of time and energy was spent talking about "us", and very little time and energy was spent talking about how to reach the area with the gospel. Though we took time out to pray twice, we were entirely APC-focused. Granted, with the huge building and restructuring issues facing APC, it is only natural. And yet, the underlying vision of reaching people for Christ was by and large unspoken. Perhaps, as a newcomer, I missed the signals of this, or was not part of earlier discussions where this was a topic of concern. I believe the session recognizes its need for a clean, clear, concise vision statement.

I am grateful to be on board, and hope that the next session meeting will be shorter.

When Is It No Longer the Christian Faith?

Presbyterian pastor John Shuck writes thoughtful and controversial comments in his blog, Shuck and Jive. Yesterday's post listed some suggestions by Robert Funk on "Radical Reformation." Funk is one of the founding members of the Jesus Seminar, one of the greatest fraudulent academic exercises in the history of biblical scholarhip.

So Funk has ideas to radically reform the church, with which Pastor Shuck agrees, I take it. One of Funk's proposals to radically reform the church is this:

We should give Jesus a demotion. It is no longer credible to think of Jesus as divine. Jesus' divinity goes together with the old theistic way of thinking about God.

Well, isn't that wonderful? It would certainly fit the spirit of the age we are living in. After all, if modern people can't understand or do not like the concept of "divinity", why bother with it?

Funk's suggestions for radically reforming the church are stunning in their gutting the church of anything meaningful, other than human-centered wishful thinking, grounded not in experience nor history, but in some scholar's cherished ideas about the way things ought to be.

If the church followed even a handful of Funk's suggestions, it would cease being the church. If Funk, and Shuck, wish for the church to not be the church, that's their right, I suppose. But how do these suggestions actually help the church? One could have lots of fun thinking of ways to "radically reform" Dr. Funk, and Pastor Shuck, but then they would cease to exist.

10 Biggest Computer Flops of All Time

Having lived through several boom and bust cycles in my 18 months working in Silicon Valley in the early 1980's, this list warmed my heart. "Mistakes were made" seems to be the motto over those go-go years.

I remember at Tandem Computers, working on the plant newsletter on a brand new IBM XT with a 10 MB hard drive, and an HP plotter for a printer, which was slower, but more colorful than our regular drum printer. At the time, I thought, "Who would ever use up 10 whole megabytes of space?" Just call me "Mr. Vision."

My favorite in the list was # 7, Windows ME. I owned one notebook computer with ME on it, and it was an unmitigated disaster. The article states that some people thought "Windows ME actually stood for 'Microsoft Experiment', 'Moron Edition', 'Mistake Edition', and 'Memory Eater'."

You mean, that's NOT what ME meant?!?!?

Why Overtime With This Guy?

Many Americans breathlessly followed the John Mark Karr arrest and extradition this summer in connection with the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case. I was not one of them, and was surprised and disappointed in the media firestorm over this admittedly confused man. The case was dropped after law enforcement personnel "lost" the laptop computer that had child pornography on it, which was a lynchpin of their case against Karr. How does one lose the key evidence in a case like this, anyway?

Anyway, I opened up my browser this morning, only to find a CNN headline of John Mark Karr, who appeared on Larry King Live. I thought to myself, "Why is this guy's 15 minutes of fame being extended?" I suppose my even commenting on it extends his 15 minutes even further. But I find the media attention to this admitted perverted man both salacious and in poor taste. But hey, that's what sells, right?

I loved the ending quote: "I've just got to live my life, this attention is negative, it's not something you want," Karr said.

Not wanting the attention?!? The self-centered child abuser seems to want nothing but attention, negative or otherwise. The only downside for him is that the media's interest in real news lasts about as long as my dog's interest in food. Once the food is gone, so is his interest in it. So, no one is paying any more attention to poor JMK? Let's book him on Larry King where he can protest his innocence, (other than shopping for children to have sex with in Thailand), and protest how little he likes the attention. That's rich! And sad. And the culture eats it up.

Move along, there is nothing to see here. I just wanted to point that out.

Save Darfur

Amazing how a congressional sex scandal (or an land investment scandal on the other side of the aisle) can derail people from some of the crucial issues of the day. I came across this website today, and would urge you to either contribute, or send the email to President Bush and to Secretary General Annan, or both. (H/T HH)

Top 15 Finds From Biblical Archeology

Walter Kaiser, Jr. (not Indiana Jones) has provided his list of the top 15 archeological finds that have impacted biblical interpretation over the years. Here is the link to his article. Looks interesting to me, how about you? (H/T Hans at Presbyweb)

How Do They DO That?

Turning 50 last week was not as traumatic as I had feared. I was a little unnerved, though, when I got home from my time in San Francisco to discover in my mailbox a friendly invitation from the AARP! That's right. Exactly on my 50th birthday, the AARP found me. I am now, I guess, a somewhat senior citizen. My body feels like it some mornings, but my mind certainly does not. My only question is, "How do they DO that?" Talk about effective, targeted marketing! Impressive.

Well, here's the proof, direct from the AARP to my mailbox to my scanner through Photoshop to you.

Something to Aspire To

A young man drops out of high school to play video games, excuse me, professionally? Yup. And he's earning money at it, too. Lots of money.

JUPITER, Fla. - When 18-year-old Tom Taylor dropped out of high school because he wanted to play more video games, most people were skeptical. Now he's known as Tsquared on the gaming circuit. He's earning six figures and has product endorsements and a video game tutoring business.

He's one of about 100 professional gamers associated with Major League Gaming, a video gaming league founded in 2002. When they're playing well, pros might bring home a few grand a month.

"I take risks," he told The Palm Beach Post. "In order to get paid, you have to take risks. I think I took the biggest risk I could take, dropping out of school to play video games, and it paid off."

Six months after he started gaming full time, he signed his $250,000 contract. He also got a publicist, a financial adviser and media training.

"I guess some people are just born with talents in certain things," he says, "like Michael Jordan was born to play basketball. I feel like I was born to play video games."

Forget those college applications and the SAT's, just sit around the house, glued to the tube playing mindless video games. Well done.

I'm Half a Century Old!

Yesterday I turned 50. I did not celebrate my birthday, as I was grading ordination exams, and then I drove home from San Francisco in the late afternoon and evening, making the 424 mile trip in a little more than six hours, you do the math.

The cartoon below depicts the life cycle of a playwright, but could be applicable to a Presbyterian pastor as well. I just wish my mom and dad were here to celebrate with me.

There are probably a lot of gag gifts and things for turning 50. Here's a book on turning 50, with a quiz.

Q: Why is a failed romance more painful for people over 50?
A: You wake up with an aching heart AND an aching back.

Q: How can you increase the heart rate of your 50-year-old husband?
A: Tell him you're pregnant.

Q: What do you call a 50-year-old man with no gray hair?
A: Bald.

Q: How can people tell when they've entered their autumn years?
A: Their shadows are wider.

Q: Is there anyone over age 50 who still looks great in leotards?
A: Yes. Superman.

Very funny. Ha ha.

Once when asked, "How's life?", Mark Twain is reputed to have said, "It beats the alternative."

And always remember the wisdom of Indiana Jones, "It's not the age, it's the mileage."

I'm Back

The previous two posts should indicate that I am back from San Francisco. I was there for five days to help grade ordination exams for the Presbyterian Church. I was part of the San Francisco Reading Group of the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations.

For four days, we read exams on Worship and Sacraments, and we read biblical exegesis exams on Hosea 5:15-6:6 (for Hebrew) and Luke 4:1-13 (for Greek). It was an exhausting, but enjoyable experience. I hope to do it again next year.

We stayed at Mercy Center, a Catholic in Burlingame. It was a fantastic facility. Unfortunately, it is only a few miles from the San Francisco airport, which makes it convenient for those flying in, but it is not the quiet, idyllic place one usually associates with retreat centers.

I came across this post while Googling, and it describes some of the ordination exam process. There are some pictures of the Mercy Center, and if any Presbyterian students read this post, there is some really, really, really, really good advice on taking the ords on Ariel's blog.

Reading the papers was difficult, especially the ones that were not up to par. Each exam (and we had 460+ for about 45 readers, you do the math) is read twice. If there is a discrepancy in the grade (one pass, one fail), the exam is read a third time. The two concurring grades are kept, the minority opinion is tossed. I found it hard to be as discerning as I would like to be. I also found it hard to fail someone. Sitting in judgment on someone else's exam (read: future!), was spiritually draining. And yet, there were some simply awesome papers.

And I met some new friends while there, John was a soccer referee from Minnesota, and Terry is a pastor in Arizona. Glenn was there from our presbytery, and I got reacquainted with some folks I used to know in San Jose, including Bob, who was on my CPM when I was under care, lo these many years ago.

Overall, a tiring, but rewarding experience.

A New Hero for Today's Youth

According to reports from ABC News and other outlets, a hero has emerged from the terrible shooting this week in the Amish country of Pennsylvania.

The oldest of the five Amish girls shot dead in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse is said to have stepped forward and asked her killer to "Shoot me first," in an apparent effort to buy time for her schoolmates.

Rita Rhoads, a midwife who delivered two of the victims, told ABC News' Law and Justice Unit that she learned of 13-year-old Marian Fisher's plea from Fisher's family.

What's more, Fisher's 11-year-old sister, Barbie, who survived the shooting, allegedly asked the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, to "Shoot me second," Rhoads said.

"They were amazing," Rhoads said, "absolutely amazing. There was a tremendous amount of calm and courage in that schoolroom."

"Marian, the oldest one, did ask to be shot first," Rhoads said. "The faith of their fathers really was embedded in them. … How many adults are willing to do that? Not many."

Marian Fisher is being buried today, along with Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7, and sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7.

Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, is to be buried on Friday.

Rhoads' revelations come as the mystery surrounding the alleged motivation behind Roberts' attack deepens.

Roberts entered West Nickel Mines Amish School on Monday and shot a total of 10 girls before turning the gun on himself.

Rhoads said that before killing himself, Roberts uttered three words — "Pray for me."

If the reports are accurate, this is an awesome story. And why wouldn't they be accurate? The Amish do not seek publicity, they do not want their 15 minutes of fame, when their eyes are fixed on eternal life. If anyone fram that Amish community appears on Montel or Oprah or Ellen, there will be a run on ice cubes in Hell.

What courage! Would that today's youth, obsessed with Britney and Gilmore Girls and the latest fashions and bling pause to consider this young Amish girl. Her moral courage astounds me, and shames me, and inspires me.

We can rant all we want about the government, about Iraq, about the price of gasoline, about global warming, about vulgarity on the big screen, about lax sexual morals, about our neighbor. And yet, when the day comes for us to step up and take action, to put ourselves in harm's way so that others may have a chance, what will we do?

Criticism is easy. I know, I do more than my share. But when all is said and done, someone has to do the heavy lifting. May these young sisters leave a profound legacy in this land of freedom and opportunity, and sadly, violence.

Mark D. Roberts on the Church

Pastor Mark D. Roberts has posted an excellent series on "What is a Church?" at his website. I always find Mark's writings engaging, sound, thoughtful, and insightful.

I especially like yesterday's post on where people get their ideas of church.

1. Past experience of church


2. Pop culture


3. The news


4. A projection of their personal needs and preferences


5. Analogous institutions

Check it out.