Short answer: yes. As seen in the post that inspired this, from last week by (e:paul), it is perfectly clear. Add abortion clinic bombings, terrorism, and the crusades, and it's simple. Religion brings all kinds of problems into this world.

Then, why, pray tell (haha! pun!) would I so involved in religion?

There's a few reasons: In no particular order--

a. (using letters so this is not confused with my "10 things lists") We are, by nature, religious people. By saying this I mean to say that we are all prone to ask questions about meaning for our life, and we are all likely to give ourselves in worship. I believe that even those of us that deny the existence of GOD have other "gods," because we need them. My devotion to u2 and to the Steelers is borderline religious. I know that is pathetic, but I offer it up as an example. Our tendencies to ask "why," to connect with other people, and to give ourselves to something bigger than ourselves are religious tendencies.

b. Religion is still a force for good. Ironically, religious people invented the ideas of religious tolerance and of the separation of church and state. Although we have been on the wrong side of these issues, too, Christians were the driving force behind most of the positive progressive social movements in this country.

c. The best cure for bad religion is not "no religion," but "good religion." This is just my opinion, of course, but I think that the best way to help Christians that behave badly is not to ask them to abandon their devotion (unlikely, to say the least) but to show them a truer picture of the one they are devoted to. I really do believe that the best picture of true justice and true grace is found in Jesus as shown in the Bible. Name calling, threatening encounters such as the one that (e:Paul) had to deal with are, to put it simply, inconsistent with how Christians are called to act. Good religion seeks the best, not for itself exclusively, but especially for its non-adherents.

d. Personal experience. I know that this is different for everybody, but based on what I know and what I've experienced, I believe that God exists, that he existed on earth in the person of Jesus Christ, and that those statements affect everything about the way that I live my life. I COULD try to make sense of those things on my own, but I am better off trying to do so with other people, and that's the seed of religion.

I think my next post will be a guide for non-believers and believers to deal with scary people of faith.

I'm going away this weekend on (you guessed it) an airplane! Hence the latest installment of the series named after the number of fingers I have right now.

1. Taking off. I like the feeling of being pressed back into the seat and the roar of the engines. (e:Janelle) does not like this, but this is my list.

2. Snacks. I would probably like hell itself if they came around with a cart of snacks. For that reason, they probably don't.

3. Newspapers. I don't even buy one (yes, I am that cheap), but there are always some around airports, and I like to grab one and read it.

4. The little puffer machines that sniff you to see if you have explosives. I don't even know if they have these in Buffalo, but they amuse me.

5. Seeing all sorts of people have to take their shoes and belts off. Sure, its inconvienient, but it also gives me a good, democratic feeling that the bigwig buisness travellers go through the same stuff as schlubs like me.

6. Moving sidewalks. When will the rest of the world catch up to airports?

7. Free internet stations. Ok, so I have only seen this in foriegn airports. The US needs to catch up on this one.

8. Airport drinks. Sure they are expensive, but there is no better way to pass the time waiting for a connection than at an airport bar.

9. My favorite Men's room in Minnesota. Just kidding! I've never been to Minnesota!

The real 9. Landing. It's like taking off, but its where you want to be.

10. Going through the gate after landing, and re-joining people with out tickets. I love it when there is a crowd waiting and people holding signs, even if none of them are looking for me.

Tonight I was driving a kid home from church. He came because his friend invited him--we welcome high school guys on Tuesday nights and we play ball, discuss the Bible together. Its good for our church to have some kids that are a little bit more "street" around.

Anyway, I was driving a kid home, and it was his first time here, so he is kinda checking us out. He asked me for advice about how to deal with a girl he likes (such a ninth grader!), and we talked about that for a while, but then I realized that we are driving through a neighborhood that looks more and more menacing.

"So do you feel safe here?" I asked, tenatively.

"Not really. My best friend got killed here three weeks ago."

The kid's in ninth grade. Not a thug. A sweet, kind, skinny, freshman.

His friend was shot because he hit on a girl, and the girl's brother didn't like it.

No kid his age should have to deal with crap like that.

1. His hair.



2. His car. Dude is a professional athlete, making millions in salary, plus endorsements, but he drives a Kia. Why? Because he doesn't need a fancy car. A Kia seemed good to him.

3. He's super fast.

4. He hits REALLY hard


5. He's a Pittsburgh Steeler.

6. He never lifts a weight over 15lbs. Sure, he trains really hard, but its all speed, flexibility, and repetition. He believes this sort of training is more conducive to football then lifting weights. I'm not going to argue with him.

7. He's anti-Gatorade. He thinks water is better for you and Gatorade is all marketing.


8. He's a spiritual guy.

9. He's Samoan. I don't know why I like that, but its cool.

10. He's not even that into football. Well, he likes playing, but he doesn't watch it at all. I guess we are different in that way, but I appreciate that he is interested in other things.

1. Lot's of "dark heroes," i.e good guys that do bad things or bad guys that do good things (well, guys and girls actually, even if it is guys in most cases). Really, there's only one completely good guy in the whole thing, and his contemporaries thought he was a bad guy.

2. The language. It was written, mostly, in Hebrew and Koine Greek. Both are relatively simple, for ancient languages. The Greek used was not literary (Attic) Greek, the language of the marketplace, which means that it was written to cross languages and cultures.

3. It surprises me. Still. Even after reading it as much as I have, the Bible still kicks my ass. Martin Luther used to call scripture, "my enemy," because he said, "it destroys me."

4. It's an underdog story. The younger brother gets the inheritance. The slaves get land of their own. The Romans get beat, non-violently at that! Remember the term "David and Goliath story" comes from a book that is full of David and Goliath stories.

5. It's honest about where it comes from. For example, there are four different accounts of Jesus' life, and while they DO converge, they DON'T completely line up. Rather than just pick one, and "get the story straight," early Christians included all four in the Bible, because all four had value. Some thing with other sections of the book (actually, the Bible is better described as a library than a book, but I digress . . .)

6. It reads well. The church has tried to ruin this, by chopping the stories up, or always skipping ahead to its favorite parts, but exodus is exciting! So is Mark. Esther is regarded as great literature by plenty of people who could care less about whether the Bible is "God's Word" or not.

7. It reads even better in community. It raises questions that have to be discussed. It's a "book club" kinda book. (Instead of a book you club people with, which is how it often gets used!).

8. It really does show me God. Sometimes its easy, other times its hard, but God is revealed in that book.

9. It also shows me humanity. No where is it clearer how dumb/selfish/stubborn we can be, but also what God can do with stupid humans like us. It's a pretty good mirror

10. It's got a happy ending. (like this list, I hope). Despite other interpretations that have become popular in recent years, the Bible isn't about how sinners finally get their comeuppance. The Bible is a love story, and thus it ends with a wedding. Humanity and God are made one again, and there's no more death or pain or sickness. Is there judgment? Yes, but that is second to last. The story ends well (and many would argue [using the Bible no less] that it ends well for everybody, not just Christians).

Next: 10 things I like about Troy Polamalu, unless somebody makes a better suggestion.

Felly reminded me of a favorite song. Enjoy. well, only if you like Steelers football. You see, we have a great player named Troy Polamalu. Some people (even some tv announcers) have a hard time saying his name. The twin muppets get it right.

Today they are giving test drives of scion cars, with $15 SPoT coffee gift certificates.

I am happy to get $15 of free stuff (and a t-shirt to boot), but the whole experience made me less likely to buy a scion (and I liked the brand before today!). The reasons I am disappointed are that the new models are bigger, and that they are trying SO hard to be cool. I really would rather buy a car than an "image," especially when the image that they seem to be selling is "poser."

But go and drive the car by the blockbuster on Elmwood and get the free stuff anyway.

1. It exposes me to new music that I like, something I desperately need.

2. It's free, the best cost ever.

3. I love to give a quick "thumbs up," when really good music plays, like Derek Webb.

4. I get to feel a sense of indignation when it plays something lousy, and I give it a thumbs down.

5. The thumbs down kills the song playing, and it moves on to something else.

6. It showed me "Omar and the Howlers," who I had never heard before, but sound pretty good.

7. It sounds good on my new speakers, complete with a subwoofer, all of which came to me in a yard sale.

8. Thanks to those amazing tubes of the internets, its available at home and work and wherever else.

9. It gives me the satisfaction of being a part of a musical genome project, or something like that.

10. I think I can listen to what my friends like, too--but I haven't checked that out yet.

Haven't posted a sermon in a while, but I really do write one just about every week. Keep in mind, they come out of my mouth significantly different than what you see here, because there is give and take with the congregation, and I sometimes stray from my notes.


Jeremiah 2:13

13for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.


luke 14:1, 7-8

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. . .

7When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, 'Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." 12He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."


Did you ever notice that you can't feel an elevator moving?

Sure, you can feel when it starts up, and when it slows down, but when speed is constant, you don't notice it.

Which is just one way of pointing out that we are all relativists. At least about some things.

It's hard to judge "fast" and "slow" without a point of reference. But we can always tell "faster" and "slower."

Here's a tricky question: How much money does a person have to have to be considered rich?

So much depends on circumstance, on who is around you, or where you have been.

Now some things aren't relative, right? The speed limit is 65, regardless of who you are, what you think, or what you drive.

But even then, other variables come into play. When I drove a Buick LeSabre, I got speeding tickets all of the time. Why? Because I would speed accidentally. Everything was so smooth. Since that car, I've always purchased little cars.

Have you ever gone 65 in a Geo metro? It feels a lot faster than 65 in a Buick! Same speed, different feeling.

This week was move-in week for so many college students. When I was a freshman, moving into a dorm was the greatest thing I could imagine! How many of you would be excited to move into a dorm now?

This goes to show us that we are feeling people. We like to think that we are rational, but we aren't. We always compare. I want my lawn greener, my car newer, my phone smarter, and my computer faster! We don't know what we have until we compare.

That's what's happening in today's Gospel lesson. Jesus saw the pharisees scrambling for the best seats--establishing their hierarchy. If this story took place on the first day of summer camp, the pharisees would be comparing their flashlights. For some reason, every kid, on the first day of camp, wants to have the biggest and best and fanciest flashlight, and they've all got to compare.

Every kid at camp needs a great flashlight, And every church needs a tall tower and an organ with lots of pipes. Or a bigger projection screen, or prettier stained glass. Or a preacher that can really preach, or a really long list of members, but guess what?

Jesus says, in this story, says "don't reach for status." Not in what seat you have, not what stuff you have, and not even in what your church can do.

Take low status.

And in doing so, you will find joy.

Why? It's the elevator effect. We can feel the change of speed, not the speed itself.

And when we start out humble, God who loves us and wants the best for us will bless us. When we choose to lower ourselves, we can feel God lifting us up.

I'm going to ask a silly question today.

How much does God love you?

Can you quantify that?

On a scale of 1-10, does God love you at about 8.5?

This is what Jesus said: "Greater love has no one than this; that he lay down his life for his friends."

In Jesus, we see that God loves you, and me, and us, enough to die for us.

And he always has.

And always will.

The writer of Hebrew says it this way, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

Do you see the problem?

It's the elevator effect.

We are loved eternally, and infinitely. But because we are loved eternally, we can stop noticing how we are loved infinitely.

And when we stop noticing, we don't stop searching for that love. So we try to find meaning in other things. This is what God was talking about inJeremiah when he said "they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water."

We trade the fountain for a cracked cistern. A spring for a tub. We take the ever-flowing loving kindness of God, meaning and purpose and worth, and we put that aside to focus on getting somebody that we don't even like to like us. or we focus on doing well in our career. Or making sure people notice us. Or making sure we feel good.

No matter what we use to make ourselves feel worthwhile, be it sex, drugs, money, power, popularity or comfort, ITS NOT NECESSARY. God has already deemed you worthwhile.

Which frees us to take the "lower seat," which I believe means, "you can put that other thing that you think makes you worthwhile aside."

And in stripping away all the lesser stuff, we discover the greater stuff.

That's why this table is so simple. We've got bread, we've got juice. When we gather around it, our new family is with us, and God is with us.

And we have all need.

Friends, this is, at the same time, a simple meal and a great banquet. We humble ourselves as we approach, because we are not worthy to eat at the King's table, but he is inviting us to a higher place.

1. Sleeping in.

2. Seeing anti-labor folks take a day off to celebrate labor.

3. Football season is approaching!

4. Getting projects done (this is a new one for me, but I think I will like it)

5. 4 day weeks are SO much faster than 5 day ones.

6. Cooking out.

7. Beer, be it on Sunday Night or Monday afternoon.

8. The annual outdoor brunch that (e:Janelle) and I host.

9. estrip birthday parties (our first--sorry that we had to leave early!)

10. I'm only going to come up with 9 today--I don't have to do ANY work!