Book Review: Transforming Church in Rural America

I have mixed feelings about Shannon O'Dell's Transforming Church in Rural America, and they are similar to feelings I have toward other books that focus on growing churches.

On the one hand, I believe that there is too great an emphasis on growing urban or suburban churches with talented, gifted pastors, while rural churches struggle to find shepherds that are capable or caring. I have felt for a long time that rural churches were the neglected step children of the family of God.

On the other hand, though, I am extremely uncomfortable with marketing the church, and designing campaigns to increase attendance, membership, tithing, etc.

For the most part, O'Dell makes a compelling (and Biblical) case for pastors to follow their call into communities hungry for good leadership. The story of his own transition from mega-church to small town pastor is entertaining and enlightening.

He then uses lists, acronyms and diagrams to outline the model he developed to implement a multi-campus mega-church into rural Arkansas, and while I applaud his results, I just think that rural America has needs that are different than urban or suburban America, and that these needs should be met head on, not through systematic formulas that worked in the big city.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book when O'Dell recounted his struggles accepting the call and then transitioning through the culture shock of taking over a small church. It's just the step-by-step plan for making every church bigger that gives me pause.

A Victim Follows the Golden Rule

I don't know if Julio Diaz is a disciple of Christ, but he sure acts like one.

When he was robbed at knifepoint in New York, he gave the mugger his wallet. Then he offered the robber his jacket, saying he would be cold if he was planning to rob people all night.

It gets better from there...

Declaration of Dependence

Today, I issue my Declaration of Dependence.

When I was nine years old I watched the Democratic National Convention on television. We (my mother, my brother and I) were living in a one bedroom house in rural Arkansas at the time and my mother was working at a job she hated to provide for us as best she could. The family who lived just down the dirt road from us had no indoor plumbing, and for a toilet they used a toilet seat that straddled two cinder blocks perched over a hole dug in the ground. I could sense that we were not that well off, and watching the convention was like a religious experience for me, a tent revival. The speeches and themes spoke to me and I was converted. I, at nine, was a Yellow Dog Democrat.

This would shape me for the next thirty-four years, as much of my identity was shaped by my self-identification as a Democrat. My heroes tended to think like me, and my friendships depended upon shared convictions. In my thirties, I became a newspaper editor and then went on to write editorials, waving the party flag and thinking up clever ways to point out the flaws of Republicans. I also went after conservative Christians who seemed to be missing the entire point of Christianity.

I'd also, you see, developed a theology over the years, and was struggling with what it meant to be a follower of Christ in twenty-first century America.

Questions arose, some of them raised by my children, like, "Daddy, what does allegiance mean?" When I explained that it was a promise of loyalty and devotion to a person, group or cause, my seven year old daughter told me she couldn't do that, that her allegiance was to God.

Over the past few years I have increasingly scrutinized my loyalties to government and to God. I have explored the views of the Anabaptists, the Mennonites, and the Quakers, as well as the views of the Catholics, the Baptists and the Presbyterians. I have read the work of leaders who were convinced that all Democrats were going to hell, and the work of leaders who felt it would be the Republicans taking the expressway south. And I have become very uneasy.

For years I was convinced that all Republicans were maliciously selfish, but that didn't square with some of the people I met who supported the Republican party because their conviction that abortion was murder precluded any support they could give the Democrats. These were good people with strong convictions.

At the same time, I was meeting more and more Democrats who were singularly focused on their own pet issues (gay rights, pro-choice, etc.).

Through intensive Biblical study, prayer and conversation, it became clear to me that, at nine years old, I pledged allegiance to the Democratic Party and it had become an idol. All of my faith and worship had been given to them to the exclusion of God. The Democrats could save us, I thought, if we just gave them a chance. But they never did. And they never will. And, of course, neither will the Republicans. Or the Tea Partiers.

So, today, I issue my Declaration of Dependence.

I pledge allegiance to God, as I should have done years ago. This is what the early Christians were executed for, committing treason against Rome by refusing to give their allegiance to an earthly kingdom.

Neither party seems particularly interested in the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, or fruits of the Spirit. Both parties pursue war without counting the costs. As Shane Claiborne writes: "We vote every day by how we live, what we buy, and who we pledge allegiance to." I refuse to cast a vote that does not further the kingdom of God "on earth as it is in Heaven." (Matthew 6:10) Instead, today, I pledge to cast my vote daily, through relationship, acts of mercy and kindness, love and worship. This is really the only way any of us can change the country we live in. We have to stop waiting for Washington, D.C. to do it, because they simply do not care.

For an understanding on how I came to this Declaration, I suggest the following:

Books:

Mere Discipleship, by Lee Camp

On Civil Government: Its Origin, Mission and Destiny and the Christian's Relation, by David Lipscomb

Dissident Discipleship, by David Augsberger

Jesus For President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals, by Shane Claiborne

The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, by Shane Claiborne

Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals, by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

New Monasticism: What it Has to Say to Today's Church, by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

God's Economy: Redefining the Health and Wealth Gospel, by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, by David Platt

Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe, by Mark Driscoll

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, by Ronald Sider

Organizations:

Jesus Radicals

The Ekklesia Project

The Simple Way

Plough Publishing

Hope & Forgiveness

I've gone back and forth in my faith for the past few years. It seems that every time I do, though, I read something like this.

In San Diego, a jet crashes into a man's home, killing every single loved one. Does he sue the pilot?

No. He forgives him and prays that he will not suffer anguish.

More Good News

Roy Blunt is abdicating his position as House GOP whip.

"With another election behind us, I still believe that conservative ideas define where the country wants to be and needs to be," he writes. "Yet, in part due to circumstances beyond our control, we were not successful in 2008."

Circumstances beyond their control? That's the kind of attitude that will help them lose the next round too.

Donald Miller: From Reagan to Obama

I have always been a Democrat. In 1976, when I was 9 years old, I watched the Democratic National Convention, enraptured. Everything they said made complete sense to me.

Naturally, as a fan of Jimmy Carter, I was never in danger of becoming a Reagan disciple.

But a lot of people were.

A writer I greatly respect, Donald Miller, has written an essay on his transformation from Reagan Republican to Obama Democrat.

Read it here.

Obama Win Sparks Black Church Fire

Are we, as a country, really going to go back down this road?

Just hours after Barack Obama became the 44th president, a black church in Springfield, Massachusetts was burned.

I've heard the "jokes," of course, about Obama being assassinated, but I pray to God that we're not going to enter a new era of racial violence and intolerance.

Traded for Bats

I'll get to politics in a second, but how'd you like to be John Odom?

John Odom, a minor league ball player, was traded this past week for 10 baseball bats.

The headlines and first grafs are funny, but the story is (a little) complex. Odom had some immigration issues that prevented him from playing for the Canadian team, and was originally to be traded for a player who refused to moved to Calgary.

Unfortunately for Odom, though, he will probably be known for the rest of his life as the guy who was traded for 10 bats.

McCain Opposes GI Bill

John McCain's opposition to the GI Bill appears to be rooted in a concern "that a generous education benefit would persuade soldiers and Marines ending their tours to pursue an education rather than reenlist in the overstretched military." "He's the odd man out," VoteVets chairman Jon Soltz said of McCain. "You have 55 co-sponsors on this bill, and he's not one of them. He has to lead or follow."

Murtha Says McCain Too Old

Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Wednesday that Republican Sen. John McCain is too old to be president. Murtha is 75, four years older than McCain. He says they are nearly the same age, and the rigors and stress of running the country is too much for guys their age.

I think he has a point.

The presidency is hard on people. For years I've noticed the dramatic physical toll it takes on presidents, looking at their bodies age twice as rapidly as they would have otherwise.

McCain is 71. Reagan was 68 when he ran for president in 1980. Historically, though, Reagan's administration was already coming off the rails by 1984, when Reagan was 72, and Alzheimer's had already started eroding his mind.

Should there be age limits, though? Is there a point where a person's age (and only their age) excludes them from public service?

Where are the Bootstraps?

I think I know why we have so many poor people in this country.

Since childhood, I (and probably you) have heard statements including the words "yourself" and "bootstraps." Or, when speaking of someone else, we hear that they pulled themselves up (or need to) by their bootstraps. So, if more Americans would pull themselves up by their bootstraps, they wouldn't have to sponge off the government. Right?

Here's the problem.

I don't own any bootstraps. Do you? Do you even know where to buy bootstraps (and you'd have to buy them, because nobody's giving them away)? I don't either. I just did a pretty extensive search online for bootstraps and all I found were some biker/s&m type things that I don't believe apply in this case.

So, how the hell are people supposed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they can't get any bootstraps? Imagine a dialogue like this:

Poor Person: God, I'm so broke. My life is caving in around me!
Disinterested Person: Well, maybe you should just pull yourself up by your Hank Aaron Rookie Card.
Poor Person: Where can I get one of these Hank Aaron Rookie Cards?
Disinterested Person: You should already have one.
Poor Person: I don't.
Disinterested Person: Then you need to get one.
Poor Person: But I don't know where to get one.
Disinterested Person: Then you're just lazy. I knew it! Moocher!

Somebody. maybe Wal-Mart, needs to look into this and import some bootstraps from other countries. I bet China has them! Without bootstraps, I'm afraid, poverty is going to continue to rise.

I couldn't make it up if I tried. This is currently for sale on eBay.

"In this way, in increments both measurable and not, our childhood is stolen from us -- not always in one momentous event but often in a series of small robberies, which add up to the same loss." -- John Irving

Into Great Silence

This weekend, I plan to see Into Great Silence at the Plaza Frotenac here in St Louis. It's a quiet, pastoral documentary about the lives of Carthusian monks in remote France.

Watch the trailer here.

Change of Direction

Time for a change.

For a long time, this blog was a repository of my editorial columns. At one point, I had thousands of readers, from all over the world.

Then came the 2004 election, and I lost faith. I tried to regroup, but I just couldn't, and my disgust with the whole Washington circle jerk festered until it seemed I would never read another newspaper.

I've gotten a little better, and am back to reading the New York Times, the St Louis Post-Dispatch and Time magazine, though I do not devour the political coverage like I used to.

My interests have changed.

So, I have a choice: either leave this blog out there, whipping in the wind, essentially dead, or change it along with my interests.

I've chosen the latter.

I have embraced the arts more than I used to. I've always been a voracious reader, a connoisseur of music and a lover of films. I have dabbled in photography and some of my work has been well reviewed.

And then there's the writing.

Since my early teens, I have wanted to write a novel. Fear and excuses have kept me from this dream, but no longer. I am currently developing a novel that has stuck with me for a long time and preparing myself mentally and physically for the endurance race that will be required to complete it.

So, this blog will now reflect my changing focus: the progress of my book, music I love, movies I've seen or want to see and so on. If this doesn't interest you a whit, please feel free to move on. Otherwise, I'll see you in my posts.

A Turning Tide?

A week ago I was reading the Election Scorecard over at Slate and thinking that the Republicans were going to, yet again, snatch the election and eventually, no doubt, save my soul and teach me to vote for the white, upper middle-class Jesus who favors tax cuts and war. This, of course, left me quite pensive and, well, depressed.

Then a gift dropped on our laps. Mark Foley, Florida congressman, homosexual and pedophile, was brought down by lurid emails and instant messages between himself and teenagers working as pages for congress.

This is just the story to bring me out of my hiatus.

I have a few comments on this:

• Following the ABC report, Foley checked himself into rehab. Color me cynical, but I suspect that this is just way to hide from the press for thirty days.
• From CNN: "Foley's attorney, David Roth, said Foley had never had sexual contact with a minor and said any assertion that Foley is a pedophile is 'categorically false.'"
• Okay, we've seen this one before. It's only a matter of time until victims start crawling out of the woodwork.
• Also from CNN: Roth added that "Mark Foley wants you to know he is a gay man."
• Well, this sets homosexuality back about 20 years. All evidence suggests that gay men are not usually pedophiles.
  
• "Though the attorney would not provide the religious affiliation of the clergyman who allegedly molested Foley, Foley lists his religion as Catholic, according to a congressional directory."
• This whole "I was molested by clergy at a young age" defense lacks any imagination whatsoever, which, of course, is not atypical for a republican.

Then, there is the whole vast left-wing conspiracy rhetoric being tossed around. As usual, it's not that a criminal act occured, it's that someone reported it to the media. Who to blame, who to blame? I know, the Democrats! I'm surprised they haven't blamed Bill Clinton yet (it's coming). Again, from CNN: "In addition to expressing his support for Hastert, Boehner also wrote in his letter to the editor (of the Washington Post) that the timing of the allegations against Foley was odd." Get that? The timing of the allegations (which, incidentally, Foley has admitted to) was odd. Not the criminal behavior of a U.S. congressman, just the timing of the truth coming out.

Well, in the aftermath of this, at least the dems will get a one seat gain in the house. The republicans have put another shill up in Foley's place, but Foley's name will still be on the ballot (not the new guy's). Only a diehard republican voter would, I believe, check the box (or touch the screen) of a pedophile.

Good things those "family values" people are running the show.

Back from the Dead

Wow.

It's been one hell of a summer, and my blog has pretty much been in an ICU unit.

The truth is, I needed a break. I got so infuriated at the news media's servile stance that I completely unplugged for a few months.

Now I'm plugged back in and it's the same crap, with the mid-terms on the horizon.

So the blog is back, open for business.

Killing the Infidels for Points

Oh. My. God.

I just stumbled across this, but apparently it's been around for a while. I don't have time to read it thoroughly now, but plan to later. In the meantime, I encourage you to read about it.

A company is developing a video game aimed at the "christian" market, where players praise the lord while killing the infidels.

Really.

You need to read it to believe it.

Dixie Chicks are Still Pissed

They're not ready to make nice, goddammit! Good for them!

I bought this CD the first day it came out, as a show of support.

States of Ignorance

According to 50 separate but concurrent statewide opinion polls conducted by SurveyUSA, only three states have positive job approval numbers for the president - Utah, Wyoming and Idaho - making Utah, Wyoming and Idaho numbers one through three on my list of states to avoid at all costs.

Here's a beautiful map, courtesy of Whiskey Bar:

Ironweed Films

I want to recommend something to my progressive friends.

Ironweed is a subscripton service that, each month, sends a DVD to you for only $14.95. The DVDs are progressive documentaries and in recent months have included Street Fight, Salt of the Earth, Seoul Train, Power Trip, Wetback and, this month's selection, The Education of Shelby Knox.

My wife and I have found the DVDs to be well made and very thought-provoking and a great value.

Find out more about Ironweed here. Or, cut to the chase, and subscribe here.

William Blake

In the universe, there are things known, and things that are unknown, and in between there are doors. - William Blake

About 300 public high-school districts are considering offering a course based on the book The Bible and Its Influence. The textbook looks at the Bible’s influence through the history of Western civilization.

Well, it seems that Christian professional wrestling is taking off in the Bible Belt. According to this story, Ultimate Christian Wrestling is a hit in Southern states where attendees can see sweet body slams and hear the Gospel

A Pennsylvania man must pay a visit to the county elections board to explain why he signed his voter registration form “God.” Paul Sewell said that his signature is more of a legal mark than official signature but added that “it shouldn’t be a problem” with the elections board. And, yes, “God” is a republican.

There is an interesting story in The Christian Science Monitor about how religion is growing in Africa, especially Christianity and Islam. Another trend in several West African countries is a blending of the two religions; click here to read the article …

Christians and the SOTU

The Los Angeles Times has an article about evangelical Christians across the country who are gathering at State of the Union “watch parties” tonight.

The article discusses various political trends in the evangelical community and how, in spite of the perception that all Christians have Republican voting cards, many in fact have differing views on the issues that Bush will be addressing tonight

Wendell Berry on Rats & Roaches

"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry

From SojoMail

Jesus Christ Action Figure

You know you want it.

The commercial is hilarious.

Today in History

Prohibition started at midnight in 1920, a move growing out of American evangelical attempts to reform the nation's morals. Sacramental wine was excluded from the ban, and its sales rocketed.

In 1327 the Archbishop of Canterbury deposed King Edward II. The former king was then killed in a way far too unsavory to put into words. Suffice it to say that if I were to do so they would have to include "red hot poker" and "where the sun don't shine".

Today in History

Today is the feast of St Paul the Hermit. A contender for the position of first Christian hermit, he was so holy that when he died two lions came and helped dig his grave.

The original church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, built by Emperor Constantius (though not single-handedly), was burned down in 532 in a riot in protest against the docrine that Christ had two natures. This made way for the building of the Emperor Justinian's awesome cathedral, which still exists, but is now a museum.

Martin Luther King was born at 501 Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia, today in 1929. This is now an official holiday in the United States.

"The church must be reminded that it is not the master of the state or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state."
-- Martin Luther King

Today in History

Today was the popular medieval "Festival of the Ass", a theatrical representation of the biblical flight to Egypt.

Muslims in Bradford burned Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses".

Lewis Carroll, children's writer, Cambridge maths lecturer and son of a clergyman, died in1898.

"There's glory for you!"
"I don't know what you mean by 'glory'," Alice said.
"I meant, 'There's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"
"But 'glory' doesn't mean 'A nice knock-down argument'," Alice
objected.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, "it
means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less."

-- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking-Glass"

President Bush's Speechwriter Speaks!

This is freakin' hilarious. Andy Dick plays Bush's speech writer.

Watch it here.

The Return of a Friend

I was pleasantly surprised today to learn that Crap & Drivel, one of my favorite blogs, is back up and running. C&D features the rants and rabid insights of a friend of mine (I wrote about him in a previous post). He dropped off the planet for awhile (a change of jobs was inevitable, as you'll see from his blog).


Please be warned, Crap & Drivel is definitely adult reading material, but it is wonderful stuff, more so for me perhaps because I know the man behind the curtain.

Pat Robertson: Please Forgive Me (and put my theme park back on track)

Pat Robertson sent a letter of apology to Omri Sharon, son of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, asking forgiveness for his moronic and offensive remarks.

Robertson wrote, "I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel for remarks I made at the time concerning the writing of the holy prophet Joel and his view of the inviolate nature of the land of Israel."

Might have something to do with Israel pulling the plug on the "Christian Themepark" project headed by Robertson.

Money talks, bullshit walks.

Today in History

George Fox, the earliest leader of the Quakers, died in 1691. His revolutionary spiritual idea was that everyone has an inner light from God. This convinced him that the Bible is of secondary importance, that outward rituals like baptism are pointless, that all people are equal, that women can preach, and not to take his hat off to his betters.

In 1547 the Council of Trent published its decree on justification. It rejected Protestant ideas of justification by faith alone (as it understood them), and insisted that being right with God depends on real lived-out righteousness rather than fictional righteousness. In fact behind the misunderstandings and different definitions there's little difference between the two sides, but unfortunately it took four centuries for anyone to notice.

Today is St Mungo's Day, a 6th-century evangelist in Scotland and Cumbria.

Pat Robertson's Wallet Smote by God

Israel is refusing to do business with Pat Robertson, the leader of a right-wing coalition to build a Christian “heritage center” (read "theme park") in Israel’s Galilee region, after he said that Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment.

Think he'll go on TV and say something to the effect of, "God has smote me for running my big mouth. I would just say, Woe unto any televangelist who shoots off his big mouth."

Doubtful.

Today in History

In 1569, the first state lottery was started in England. Christian opponents to its latter-day successor might be interested to hear that the tickets were sold from the West Door of St Paul's Cathedral.

Thomas Hardy died in 1928, aged 88. His extraordinarily beautiful novels and poems are pervaded with a lifetime's angry disappointment with God for not existing.

O man-projected figure, of late

Imaged as we, thy knell who will
survive?

Whence came it we were tempted to create

One whom we can no longer keep
alive? -- Thomas Hardy, "God's Funeral"

Today in History

William Laud was executed. He was the first Anglo-Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, and best buddies with King Charles I. The Puritan Parliament hated him so much for making their churches smell Catholic that after they failed – not surprisingly – to convict him in court of treason, they simply passed a law saying that they could take his head off anyway, which they did at Tower Hill, 1645.

In 314 St Callistus died of natural causes, and so became the first Pope not alleged to have been martyred.

In 381 Emperor Theodsius outlawed all religion in the Roman Empire other than the Christianity of the Nicene Creed, confessing "the single deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit". Rome became a one religion empire.

James Dobson on Congress & Gambling

James Dobson: "If the nation’s politicians don’t fix this national disaster, then the oceans of gambling money with which Jack Abramoff tried to buy influence on Capitol Hill will only be the beginning of the corruption we’ll see. Some religious leaders want new ethics rules for Congress, but that’s only a band-aid fix. Politicians need to root out this infection. Gambling – all types of gambling – is driven by greed and subsists on greed. That makes it morally bankrupt from its very foundation. Gambling creates addicts, breeds crime and destroys families. We need courageous office holders who will begin the process of shutting down lotteries, casinos and other gambling outlets."

Today in History

An unsuccessful Lollard uprising hit London in 1417, led by Sir John Oldcastle, a thin, devout, moralistic man, immortalised by Shakespeare as the fat, debauched, godless robber, Falstaff. The Lollards (literally, "mumblers") were disciples of John Wyclif, rejecting transubstantiation and the Pope and wanting English Bibles. If they'd patented their theology, they could have made a fortune off the Protestants 100 years later.

Hadrian VI became Pope in 1522. The would-be starter of the Counter-Reformation, he was neither popular enough nor long enough at Rome to achieve the reforms he wanted. One reform he did successfully implement, though, was banning the clergy from wearing beards.

Today in History

Vikings attacked Lindisfarne and destroyed the church before they were repelled and shipwrecked, in 793. Within 50 years they had done the same to most of the towns, churches and monasteries of the British Isles.

In 1198, Pope Celestine III died. A powerful Pope, he once kicked the German Emperor Henry VI's crown off his head while Henry was kneeling before him, just to emphasise who really held power in Europe.

Galileo Galilei died in 1642. His invention of the telescope forced him to cast doubt on the theological doctrine that the sun and moon are smooth, perfect and immutable spheres in tuneful orbit around the earth.

Today in History

Today is the Church of England's birthday. This day in 1531, the English bishops accepted Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church of England, instead of the Pope, allowing him to ditch his wife and find another better at bearing males.

In 367, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and champion of the deity of Christ, wrote a letter to his followers in which he listed which writings they should consider truly biblical rather than just a good read. This was the first time anyone hit the spot on the 27 books of our New Testament, no more, no less.

It is St Lucian's Day, a 4th-century priest and martyr. According to a late legend he was drowned at sea and his body returned to land by a pious dolphin.