My New Year's Resolution Suggestion to Christian Fundamentalists

Today New Year's Eve finds my entire life up in the air and rather than panicking, I am choosing to do something I have some control over- the blog. At least there are blogs to give us some sense of control over something!

I have a new story from the coffee shop and I was wanting to write about it anyway. I was running an errand to the post office for my friend 2 days ago, and so I decided to stop in the coffee shop to grab a bite. This is the coffee shop in Quaint Small Town that stays open really late- so instead of closing at 5pm it closes at like 6:30. And once I went there because I was early to the movie theater- a whole 30 mins early and the guy wasn't even at the ticket booth!- and it was already closed before 6:30.

But it was open this time because it was only 4:30. I got myself some soup and sat down. In walked a guy that looked about as old as me, but was actually still a college student home for the break. He was as chatty as I am- a nice surprise to find in the world! Quite quickly I learned that he had traveled all over Asia and he was studying political science at JMU. He said he was agnostic. He somehow volunteered that he was in an international relations class at JMU and that the Tea Party kid always said dumb stuff. I think we got on that point because he was talking about the difference in quality of health care everywhere else in the world.

He also volunteered that the Tea Party kid and the Christian fundamentalist had a hard time in the international relations class when they had to argue views different than their own in class debates. I was intrigued by this so I asked the guy, we'll call him College World Traveler, what his opinion was of the Christians at his school. He said that he mostly associates them with the people who come from Lynchburg to protest things at the beginning of the month. I asked him what they protest. He said social issues, but he said they mostly upset the minorities. When I said what he meant he clarified, "You know, like the views of Falwell."

'Wonderful,' I thought to myself. College World Traveler said that he had encountered too many different religious views to believe one. He had an imam friend, a pastor friend, and a Buddhist monk friend. His grandfather was a Baptist pastor.

We didn't discuss religion specifically really. I was too busy soaking up information from his travels, such as why Singapore has such strict laws about cleanliness. I always thought it was uptight of them to make chewing gum illegal, but he informed me that Singapore used to be filthy and completely infested with rats- who knew?!

I needed to get going, so I just said that I knew he had a good head on his shoulders and that he'd go far in life. But I was just left thinking about what a sad Christian witness there was on the campus of JMU. It reminded me of the pro-life protesters at my Christian college that would set up their 30 foot tall graphic images of aborted fetuses and string signs along the sidewalk saying, "Warning, images of genocide ahead."

There is SO much wrong with that- the main thing being, "hello, what would Jesus say to someone considering abortion?" Would he say, "Be warned murderer!" or would he say, "Come to me troubled daughter"? But also, what about the fact that some people are on the campus to, I don't know... get an education... and probably had tests to go take. What sort of unsettling purpose does that serve? What impression are these protesters trying to leave?

From College World Traveler's report, the idea of Christians was that they were closed-minded, incapable of embracing a perspective outside of the limited understanding they had of the world- being AMERICA- and that they were out to offend people whose beliefs differed from theirs.

Where in that perception do we see the character of Christ?

I remember that I used to have the same view of Christians as College World Traveler. I saw them as anti-abortion Disney boycotters. That is, until a friend invited me to church. At church people loved and accepted me. Was it not Gandhi who said, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ"?

So people- fundamentalists, Tea Party people, "church people" please stop misrepresenting Christ. Take all that energy from your protests and go home and read your Bible. Please read where Jesus talked about LOVE. And please sit in your house and think about what that looks like and don't come out until you can live what that looks like in public. Or if you REALLY want to be so political, please stop slapping the name of Christ on it.

That is all. And for New Year's please resolve to be more Christ-like!

War on Christmas over?

So all, it is after Christmas. We have baked and eaten our cookies. Our presents have been bought and opened. Now we are reading our books, wearing our new sweaters, and playing our new Wii games. I am sitting in my self-made coffee shop- a mug of tea, a book, and iTunes on shuffle. Or Pandora.

Now that we are removed from all the bustle and trying to find a seat in the pew at Christmas Eve service or mass, and we have some time to think, I'd like to share something I'm thinking about. (I think a lot- sorry!)

I happened upon this article about the Lincoln Tunnel's billboard "War on Christmas."

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/11/131988679/War-On-Christmas-Spreads-To-Lincoln-Tunnel?ps=cprs

The American Atheists put up a billboard with the nativity scene that said "You KNOW it's a myth. This season, celebrate REASON!" The Catholic League responded in turn with their own billboard featuring their own nativity background and stating, "You Know it's Real. This Season Celebrate Jesus."

The Atheists spent $20,000 for their billboard and the Catholics spent $18,500.

Why did the Catholic League spend $18,500 on a billboard? Jeff Field of the Catholic League said, "This is the time of year that the secularists, these atheists, choose to assault our Christianity and our religion. We decided that we're not going to let that happen."

People, I ask you- is it worth $18,500 to defend Christianity with a billboard? Did that prove that Jesus is the Savior of the world?

This brings me to reflect upon what appears to be more of a war on culture than actual Christianity. Come on, what is Christianity about if it can be debunked with a billboard? Or defended by one for that matter. What are we really trying to defend? The NAME of CHRIST? Does Jesus need us to defend his good name against the atheist billboards?

If the birth of Christ and the basis for our entire faith can be assaulted by claims that it's a myth, then what is a good way to fight back? Hello, prove that Jesus lives! We're not defending religion, or doctrine, or even the Scriptures. We're loving and serving a living Savior. So let's show them the resurrected Lord in our love, in the fact that Christ still does miracles today, and the fact that we don't have to sink down to the same vacant debating.

If atheism is all about reason, we need to present them a God who defies reason. We don't win in the intellectual arena with atheists, I'm sorry. We are ill-equipped in our evangelical apologetic training that only serves to arm us with enough to make us dangerous. Like seriously in danger of looking ridiculous to the atheists. I work with an atheist. She's great. She knits hedgehogs. But for fun one day she brought in some Jews for Jesus tracts and we all laughed at how ridiculous they were.

The problem oftentimes is that all our faith has boiled down to is religion. And doctrine. We've lost the sense of wonder at the miraculous. So doctrine must be defended and it all becomes this great argument over absolute truth and reason. I think it's all an indictment on the Church that we have become the sort of people that Paul warns Timothy to have nothing to do with- people who have a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5). I don't even want anything to do with religion. 2 Corinthians 3:6 says: "He has made us competent ministers of a new covenant- not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

So people... Catholic League- lets offer the Atheists something better than debate. Let's offer them LIFE.

PS- If this is something that interests you, I highly recommend going to the link for Joel2Generation and listening to the podcast called "What is the big deal about Christmas?"

Taking Donations for Worthy Cause = Christmas Dinner

Merry Christmas everyone! One of my friends said she got worried about me when I hadn't posted for a while, so I'm posting to let her know that I'm alive and having a nice Christmas.

I want to post about how to get to know your neighbors on Christmas... Run out of flour.

My friend's husband suggested making Christmas pizza for Christmas dinner, to which I sort of smirked, but apparently my friend's homemade pizza is special pizza. She made ginger snap cookies yesterday, and I made banana bread with the 5 bananas that had gone downhill before we could eat them, and there were hopes of oatmeal-cranberry-raisin cookies. And homemade pizza dough!

But alas, none of that would be possible without flour! We scoured the cabinets to no avail. My friend was beating herself up for thinking she had more, but I said, "Hey, that's what neighbors are for!" Nobody turns down a door-to-door smiling person with an empty ziplock bag on Christmas! And I even had some extra champagne to use to barter.

I went to the first door and was greeted by a fluffy tailed orange cat and a guy who was a journalism student home from school. He needed some flour for some popovers he was making (I don't even know what those are!), but I got a cup from him. He said they didn't drink alcohol. I said I'm sorry, I also believe that Jesus turned the water into grape juice for that first miracle. ;)

We still needed more flour. I tried another door. No answer. Then I went to another house (thankfully my friend lives in a rowhouse complex). There was "Take These Broken Wings" blaring from inside. A very broad man with a bald head opened the door. He said he was cleaning. I proposed my barter- flour for champagne- and he said he'd love to give me flour and he liked champagne! I got a whole 2 lb bag!

So now I have met my friend's neighbors who she didn't know before. It was really nice for these strangers to open their door and invite me in, especially since I was taking flour handouts. It showed me another side of not being able to be entirely self-sufficient all the time- it creates opportunities to get to know the people around you.

Last year during the big snow storm I had to borrow a snow shovel from the house directly next door to the house I grew up in. I think my family has lived by those people for probably at least 15 years. They didn't know who I was. I said, "I live next door." They said, "Which house?" I said, "Uh, directly next door." That was sad.

How fun would it be to pick a cookie recipe, and intentionally NOT go to the store? You could do something like oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip. You could go around door to door like a scavenger hunt, asking people if they have different ingredients, but without telling them you're really just trying to get to know neighbors. I think it'd be fun. But then again I LOVE strangers!

I guess I don't have any deep new insight for you for Christmas, except for the fact that there are actually people who live in those apartments and houses next to you. And back in the day people used to know their neighbors, and do stuff with them, and even let them watch their kids. So maybe, for a new New Year's resolution or something you could try to meet just one or two!

You Can't Steal Christmas

Today I realized the real meaning of Christmas! It came after my friend got her purse stolen from Kroger.

For weeks we have had it in mind to go to the farmer's market that's only open on Saturdays and Wednesdays until noon. The until noon part was the biggest hindrance, as we mostly we find ourselves transfixed by children's television or talking until about 11:30 on Saturday or Wednesday and by then it is always too late. Or we'd be all ready to leave the house at 10:30 and then remember it was Monday. But today was different. My friend was motivated to leave the house at 11:10 and so I stayed home with the baby. She returned at 12:10 with only one small bag. I was disappointed- we were excited to clean the farmer's market out, so I was confused at the sight of only one bag.

"I went to the market and then to Kroger. My wallet was stolen from my cart when I was at Kroger." my friend said when I asked about the sole bag. My first reaction was, "What?! This is Quaint Small Town... these things don't happen!" Apparently everyone at Kroger was shocked too.

Once my friend came home and called the non-emergency police line we decided to pray for the person who stole the purse. We forgave and blessed them, and asked for them to be so convicted (my friend actually had her Bible IN the purse, along with these Scripture cards in the wallet), that they'd return the purse and everything in it. We prayed that if the person was so desperate before Christmas to steal a purse that they would know the love and freedom of Christ.

This was such a big event in Quaint Small Town that THREE policemen came to the house! But right before they arrived my friend called the store to tell them she'd be coming with the police to file the report and they informed her that the entire purse had been found- and nothing was removed from it! Not even her credit card. She only had $1 in cash and a money order, and not even those were taken!

That was a quick answer to prayer.

So although my friend was never able to purchase the cart full of cookie makings and Christmas dinner makings that she came for in order to prepare for Christmas, as well as much-needed diapers, her beloved Bible was returned, along with everything she needs like her driver's license.

Before we learned that it was all found we also stopped to praise God. For the enemy to take such a cheap shot we figured God must have some pretty amazing things in store. And we both realized, as did the Grinch, that you can't steal Christmas.

And I finally realized what Christmas is about. Only Jesus could enable my friend and I to forgive and bless the person who stole from her. And we really meant it. And we prayed that we wouldn't even need to file a report because it would all be returned- and that's exactly what happened.

So thank you Jesus.

Pondering...

Today I am feeling, as my parents used to call it, "droopy" and so I am able to do even less than usual, which means, not a whole darn lot. I am still thinking about Christmas, and trying to balance what is cultural and what actually has to do with baby Jesus. I feel rather removed from any Christmas cheer going around.

Which is why I probably noticed the lady checking out my groceries when I went to the store for my friend yesterday. She looked rather worn down, but she asked, "Ready for Christmas?" as she was scanning. (Apparently political correctness has not traveled south to Quaint Small Town...) I replied, "Eh, I don't know if I'm ever ready. What about you?" She quickly told me- I was in the 15 items or less line- that she didn't much feel like celebrating this year. Her father was in a nursing home, she was having to travel a lot to see him, and she had no other family. I asked her if she went to church. She said she mostly works on Sundays. She also was generally unable to go to the Wednesday night group.

That's when I volunteered my friend. I said, "If you ever want to meet for tea and Bible study, please call my friend. Or call if you just need someone to talk or pray with." The lady ripped off some blank receipt paper and I wrote my friend's phone number. I told her to call any time. I asked her if I could pray for her and her father when I got home, which my friend and I did. And we prayed that if the lady needed encouragement, that she would call.

I now have volunteered my friend for at least 3 people to come over for tea. (If you read the post about the mini-marshmallows btw, the salon ladies couldn't find a time for a Christmas party before they left town, but they are still up for tea and Bible study when they return.)

I share this to show that you don't have to have 3 hour long deep coffee shop discussions with intelligent musicians to connect with someone. I just try to see people as people. My dad taught me that. Everyone has a story. Everyone is trying to get through life with all its trials and joys.

Joseph, Mary, and little baby Jesus had a lot of hardship to deal with too. The only room this world made for them was with the animals. They weren't at the center of the Christmas parties (or the census registering parties in the inn). They were poor, and I can't imagine it was terribly comfortable for young Mary riding all the way to Bethlehem on a donkey, so pregnant she was about to pop. But then Jesus is born, and he is put to bed in a feed trough. Then the shepherds came, and an angel, and there was this star so bright nobody had ever seen anything like it, and then these rulers came with stuff so expensive Mary wondered what they'd do with it.

And she pondered it and stored it up to treasure in her heart.

So I'm doing a lot of pondering. I'm pondering all our traditions and how nice it is to have ornaments that tell stories, like the paper angel made back when you or your child was in kindergarten. I'm thinking about the concept of "the Christmas spirit" or "Christmas cheer" and I'm wondering if it can be separated from a consumerist culture focused on purchasing. What does that mean for the downtrodden, the lonely?

All the pondering eventually leads me back to baby Jesus. The baby who grew up like all children, and learned a trade. Whatever high expectations there were for him, and whatever his fate, he still had to learn what every child has to learn. He had to have someone change his diapers. And no matter how impressive he spoke in the synagogue when his parents lost him at age 12, he wouldn't be doing any miracles for about 30 years. Emmanuel, God with us, just played in the dirt with the other neighborhood kids.

I can't even move beyond my pondering to any solid conclusion to end this post. So perhaps I will conclude by inviting you to spend a little more time pondering in the days leading up to Christmas. To really think about what baby Jesus means to you- and if you're up to it- the world.

The Real Meaning of Christmas?

Well if any of you have been to church, then the answer is... yes- JESUS! But then how do we celebrate the birth of Jesus? We decorate a Christmas tree and buy Christmas presents.

Just like what my atheist friend posted on Facebook that's she's doing with her family. That gave me pause.

I wanted to go to church to 'celebrate Christmas' today. After all, it is my last Sunday of Advent. And the other Sundays I was in church, it was not a liturgical church, so we just sang ordinary praise songs about the cross. (I have to say, I get bored of liturgy rather fast, but I never understood why some denominations waited until Christmas Eve to start singing Christmas songs. There are just too many Christmas songs to fit into one Christmas Eve service!) So my friend and I tried to go to church today. We didn't go to Small Church because we decided to take a break. Enough said about that. Somebody said there was a charismatic church a couple towns over. We looked them up online and were going to check it out. I thought that was where we were headed today. My friend had just looked up churches in the nearby town and found one that said it was "Evangelical." Really what my friend is looking for is a church where people praise God with tambourines.

So we get in the car and I think I'm going to the charismatic church and she thinks she's going to an evangelical church with high hopes of tambourines. Where we ACTUALLY ended up was a Brethren church. My friend did not expect what we encountered. Nice old people. The nicest old people ever. And a choir. And, you guessed it- no tambourines! My friend's hopes were so dashed we left before they sang the first hymn. Yep, walked right out with the poor, kind old people looking at us all confused and saying as we left the building, "Leaving already?"

I didn't even get to go to a church service. No Christmas songs for me.

And that left me wondering, "What is Christmas really about, anyway?" Most people say "Being with family" (sort of like Thanksgiving). Well that sucks for those of us who aren't with family, or would rather not be with family.

Ok, so it's about showing the love of God in the gift of Jesus by giving gifts. We show generosity and the love of God by giving gifts to poor kids and to those we love. Well this year, I feel more like the Angel Tree recipient. If you were on my gift-list this year, sorry you are not getting a present.

Now I am left with no church, no Christmas songs, no gifts, and no family. And baby Jesus in the manger. What do I do with you, baby Jesus?

I was thinking about this when my friend's baby woke up. He's been awful fussy lately and we think he's starting to teethe. My poor, weary looking friend went to the cradle and I asked her if she wanted me to rock him back to sleep. Perhaps that was her Christmas gift, she looked so happy. So I rocked the baby under the vent in the bathroom (it seems to be a soothing sound) and I sang Sweet Little Jesus Boy to him. I also sang Away in a Manger.

And there was this precious little life in my arms, looking at me with drooping eyelids, and it was like he was saying to me "My life is in your hands. Please take good care of me. I need you to do everything for me. I can go to sleep once I know you will keep me safe." And so I sang, and rocked, and patted.

Sometimes when I'm on rocking duty in the rocking chair I try to see myself like I see him, except I try to see God rocking me to sleep. It's really hard to picture, as I am not actually a mom. But I try to think how much we try to give that baby everything he wants and needs. And he still cries and flails like he's desperate to know it's all going to be ok.

How in the world did God ever trust us with Himself in the flesh? His parents didn't celebrate his birth with their families. Right after his birth they became refugees in a land that represented slavery to them because the ruler of the day wanted him dead. He was brought into a world of poverty and despair. And he asked us to care for him.

Perhaps if God Himself chose to be dependent on us, I don't feel quite so bad for having to depend on others right now. Maybe I looked in the face of Christmas in my friend's baby. So maybe this year, if I don't put any ornaments on a tree, or drink hot chocolate by the fireplace while we all take turns reading the Christmas story, or if I don't even wrap one present that I went out to purchase, maybe I'll still be ok. Maybe it's enough to know that God is rocking me, His child, to sleep in His arms and that He trusts me to care for His Son.

To Believe is to Begin

Thank you Brooke Fraser for singing that line over and over so I'd pay attention to it...

Sometimes I get some really cool new insight from Scripture and I wish I were a pastor so I'd have someplace to preach about it. I think about what a good sermon my new thought (from God of course) would be, and then I remember that pastors have to preach EVERY Sunday, and then I don't want to be a pastor any more. But I still want to share my thought. So now I have a blog. Wonderful!

Ok, here's my mini-blog sermon on Luke 1. You can read it yourself- I will paraphrase in the Liz American Slang Version. We have Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were married and they really walked with the Lord the way you're supposed to. Unfortunately they had no kids and they were sort of old, so they were running out of hope they'd ever have any- short of a miracle. Zechariah worked at the church and it was his turn to lead the worship service. He had been praying for God to give them a kid. And then an angel shows up and announces to Zechariah that he will have a son, tells him how AWESOME he's going to be, and what his purpose in life is going to be.

And Zechariah responds, "How can I be sure of this?" and then states the physical limitations on them having a child.

I love the angel's response. He says, "Look man, I am GABRIEL. I'm an angel, and I've just come from HEAVEN- hello- where I hang out with GOD, and you are wanting something more certain than what I just TOLD YOU?! And furthermore, because a message straight from God didn't seem good enough for you to believe God will do it, you can be silent until your kid is born and you name him John."

Then there is Mary. She really followed God too. She loved Him and told Him she'd do anything He wanted. No matter what. And she meant it. She was going to marry this great guy Joseph and her family was all excited.

Then she got a visit from Gabriel as well. (He must've been making the rounds.) He tells her, "Mary, God really liked the fact that you love Him so much you said you'd do anything He wants. He has chosen you for this really big task- to be pregnant with God as a human!" And although shocked, Mary asks a clarifying question: "How will this be, since I'm a virgin?" I think that is a good question. Gabriel explains how it will happen in terms that probably seemed quite practical from a heavenly perspective, but still made no sense to poor Mary- because it was impossible.

And Mary says. "Ok I'll do it. Sign me up."

Now there is a lesson here about how we respond to what God tells us. We can doubt the word that was spoken because it doesn't make sense, or we can choose to believe it- even though it doesn't make sense.

Both Zechariah and Mary got a message from the same angel, straight from God, telling them to expect God to do impossible stuff. One responded with doubt and the other responded with faith. I don't think it's difficult to see which was which.

I'd like to say that I'm more like Mary. People who know me know I've been believing impossible stuff for a while. But unfortunately I STILL tend to respond like Zechariah. Humorously enough I had my own Zechariah experience. God told me something was going to happen, and it seemed ridiculous and I was tired of hearing ridiculous sounding things, so I told God, "Eh thanks, but I don't believe it." Then the hearing in my left ear went out at dinner while I had guests over. Then the loss of hearing turned into ringing. After the guests left I decided to pray with a friend about the cause of the mysterious ringing. I got no further than, "God why is my ear ringing?" Then He said, "I will TELL YOU why your ear is ringing. It's because you did not believe what I told you. So now, like Zechariah, your ear will ring until you believe."

You would think this would immediately convince me to believe God. OH NO... it took me 3 WHOLE DAYS to decide to believe Him. I am THAT stubborn. I'm not proud of it, but it's true. And even after I convinced myself to believe my ear continued to ring for 2 more months. It was quiet, not terribly annoying. Sort of like when a mosquito is hovering near your ear. I could go about my day and not have it drive me crazy. But every now and then I'd mute the t.v. to see if it was still there. And is was, quietly reminding me that God was serious about what He told me.

Thankfully after about 2 months it stopped. But now whenever God wants to get my attention my ear rings.

And now I listen.