What A Beautiful God
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
(By Mike Steinsland) - This Sunday at church my pastor was talking about his new born son and sort of cluing me in to what being a father is like; and I have to tell you that it is really beneficial to understanding God’s love for us, but one of the stories he told me hit me really hard. I attend the Mayfair Community Corps, also known as the Korean Corps. Cultural practices are a little different and so he was telling me about how his son sleeps between himself and his wife. Then he said that he went to the doctors, as people do with babies, and the doctor, who is not strictly American in practices, told him that as an American she is supposed to tell him to let the baby sleep in his own crib all night to teach independence in the child. I don’t think I had ever thought about a baby being independent, but it just really showed me how much importance Americans put on being independent.
My pastor said that the doctor didn’t really believe that the baby should be independent of the parents; that he should still sleep with them to cultivate dependence on them, but in America it is not okay to say that as a doctor. So what does this all mean about our walk with God? Why would my pastor tell me this? That’s simple; it was God telling me that I haven’t been talking to Him lately, that I’ve been too independent of Him, and that I need to come back. I was startled, I mean, I try to read the Bible everyday, I sing songs of praise everyday, how was I so independent of Him?
Sometimes when you ask difficult questions the answer you really want is that there was a mistake, but God isn’t wrong. I was falling away from God. I’ve been living an American life. I went to high school, moved out of my parents’ house and went to college, and now I’m graduating and trying to find a job. Seems simple enough, but nowhere in that simple plan is there even a trace of God. The problem is all I’ve been seeing is that I am about to go to the next step - I’m going to graduate; I’m going to find a job. The problem as a Christian with reducing life to such a simple statement is that you don’t give God the credit He deserves. I certainly don’t deserve any credit for graduating, I don’t do any work, and I don’t have any hope of finding a job without God. So of course I’ve been estranged from Him!
This leads me to a really great question: Why do we value independence so much? It’s probably a historical tradition of triumph over our oppressors, but this means that in asserting our independence from God, what we equate Him with is an oppressor. That just doesn’t sit too well with me, because God has always been good to me, but I still turned away from Him. There is good news! I am not the only person who has done this. In fact, if we check out our Bible (which I hope you will), early on we find out that God’s chosen people try to become independent. You can read the stories yourself, (which I hope you will), but the good news is the God will always welcome me back. I remember in high school while I was attending the Des Plaines Corps, we would talk about how to be in the world and love God without loving the world. When we say “world” we mean earthly things/possessions or anything that the world inspires in us, which is usually sinful. Why is it sinful? When we love the world we do not take things in moderation, which is the trick, when we live in the world with God we admire the world as God’s creation but understand that there are bad things in it.
When we divorce God from the world we are left with corruption, which makes me think of my favorite image of hell which is a place devoid of God. There is a way out of this thinking: crawl back to God. It’s difficult sometimes to admit fault. I still struggle with sins that I did in high school (such as ignoring God), and it’s really embarrassing and humbling to just crawl back to God and ask for forgiveness. This is great because this is one of the most beautiful times you can have with God. When you ask for forgiveness you admit that He is Sovereign and that you need Him. This is what it means to be dependant on God, to need Him, to be accountable to Him, and it is completely beautiful.
So back to my pastor. He had a difficult decision to make. Should he teach his son independence? This is what he and his wife decided: Joshua, their son, would sleep by himself in his crib until he started to cry, and then they would bring him to their bed and he would stay there for the night. This is where he explained what fatherly love was like. The first night he felt like he abandoned his son and he couldn’t sleep. He kept listening to the baby monitor waiting for that tiny voice to call out. He could hear the rustling in the crib, and he waited, and then he heard a tiny squeak and he ran to his son. I can’t think of a more wonderful illustration of God’s love for us. God is like the father who can’t sleep because He is worried about us in our independence. He is waiting, and He will run to us with all His might at the first outcry. I hope this has helped. I mean, Jesus said to have faith like a child, and as a child shouldn’t we know that God is always there and will come whenever you call?
Posted By: Anonymous at 11:55 AM : Link : 0 Comments
Justice?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
(By Amanda Keene) - After doing research on the amount of money put into the corrections system in the United States, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that expenditures on corrections alone have increased from $9,000,000 in 1982 to $59,000,000 in 2002. Looking at this dramatic increase of expenditures, it is interesting to note that of the 272,111 offenders released from prison in 15 States in 2000, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% re-sentenced to prison for a new crime. Does this make sense that so much money is going into putting offenders in jail when they will just later return after serving their time? Changes need to be made in how offenders are treated and how they are prepared to be reintegrated back into society.
Those who are drug offenders are most times put directly into prison in order to serve their punishment for their crime without the alternative to drug treatment programs. An evaluation that was done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that only six months after drug treatment, 60% of the drug abusers remained drug free, and drug related offenses declined from 28% to 7%. Drug treatment plans do work and cost less that putting a person into prison, yet treatment is not usually given as an alternative.
After an offender of any sort is released from prison, he or she many times does not effectively re-integrate back into society. An offender may be denied work because employers do not want to hire a person with a criminal record. General education within prisons can vary from quality education to no education at all. The percentage of state prisoners who are participating in offered educational courses decreased by more than 8% between 1991 and 1997 because funding for the courses ceased. This happened despite the fact that there is growing evidence of how educational programming reduces recidivism. This lack of education leaves ex-offenders without basic skills that are needed for job employment. Without employment, ex-offenders are many times faced with poverty since they do not have income coming in to provide for themselves and/or their families. This all results in something I like to call a vicious cycle.
One year ago, the Second Chance Act of 2007 was enacted. This is great because it provides the following:
1. The establishment of new and innovative programs to improve offender reentry services
2. Drug treatment programs as an alternative to imprisonment
3. Creation of mentoring and other transitional services for reintegrating offenders into the community
4. Reentry research on juvenile and adult offender reentry
This is a big step, but more can be done. We need to take more of a look at how to give ex-offenders basic life skills that can be useful to them in their reentry into society. I’m writing about this specific topic because I work with many men who are struggling with these issues after coming out of prison. They were released from prison but were never taught how to deal with their substance abuse issues, so they go right back into the destructive habits. They can’t hold a job, which means that they don’t have income, which means that they can’t afford housing, which eventually results in homelessness.
What can we do? Pray would be the most obvious. Pray for these men and women, the organizations who provide services for them, and the government. Praise God for the work that He is doing already, and pray that He would continue to bring to the minds of those with influence the things that need to be changed within the prison system and community. Also, if you are interested in following different bills and acts being talked about in Congress and the House of Representatives, you can go to the following website: http://thomas.loc.gov/. You can type in key words such as “prison”, “recidivism”, or “reentry,” and you will see a list of different pieces of legislation that are still in the process of being passed, as well as legislation that has already been passed on this issue. You can look up other issues as well, and know that you have a voice. You can write to your legislators and government officials about different social injustices that you are passionate about seeing changed. Look up pieces of legislation on the topics you are passionate about and urge officials to pass bills or acts that will bring justice. All it takes is some time, and I know you all have time….just get off Facebook for 10 minutes! So I challenge you to make a difference and actually take some action! Don’t just sit around and wait for someone else to do the work, because then it will never get done.
“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” –Micah 6:8
Posted By: bukiewicz at 5:27 PM : Link : 0 Comments
Patience in an Instant Society
(By Colin Thompson)
Patience is the greatest of all virtues
- Cato the Elder
We live in an instant society. You hear a song you like on the radio? Download it for $0.99 on iTunes. It’s even easier if you have a phone you can just get it directly to wherever you are. Hungry but don’t want to cook. I’ll take a number 3 (ketchup only please!), to go. Need to mail something to a relative who’s birthday you forgot? No probs! Next day delivery is available most anywhere in the world. I could list things like this all day thanks to the internet.
So where does patience fit in to our lives? After all, we have these phrases from our history like “Patience is a virtue” (ca. BC 200) and “Good things come to those who wait” (ca. AD 1500). How do these fit with the lives we live today and what does the Bible teach us about patience? Is patience just another word for apathetic waiting?
Patience is given a place among the fruits of the spirit which we are to have and show to others (1 Thess. 5:14). When I think of patience, I see someone sitting in a room waiting. I think the word “waiting” sums up what we commonly think of when we hear the word patience. This does not always go along with the actual definition of patience. Dictionary.com defines patience as quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care or diligence.
Margaret Thatcher said “I am extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.” It’s easy to be patient when things are going our way. Our view of our way does not always follow God’s way though. It is in these times that our true capacity for patience is revealed. We steadily persevere while seeking the right way to go (Hebrews 12:1). We diligently pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Patience is not always a passive event. Perseverance and diligence are not passive words. They are active! Sitting around and waiting is not all there is to patience!
Maybe, in our Christian context, “good things come to those who wait” is not the right way to look at patience. Patience is a combination of attitude, self-control and knowing how to handle a situation. For us, we have someone to look to in every situation who can provide us with the answers and direction we need. The next time someone invokes the word patience with you, don’t become immediately frustrated. Go to God and persevere, diligently praying for His leading. Be actively patient!
Posted By: bukiewicz at 5:26 PM : Link : 0 Comments
All That Glitters Isn’t God
(By Anwar Smith) - Are there any sports fans out there? You know that motley crew of individuals that will scream, cheer and clap for a team of men or women that you most likely have never met and that you have nothing in common with other than the fact that you enjoy watching the game they play. I am guilty of being one of those individuals; I played football in high school and college and I somehow feel a deep, internal connection to those athletes that represent my city on game days. I hesitate to say it but, I used to be one of those that would skip Sunday Service at church if that meant I could see the coin toss and the opening kick off. Don’t judge me! Football season only consists of 16 regular season games and a couple of playoff games. I will not speak of you addicted to the 82 game basketball and hockey seasons and the whopping 162 games of baseball season. Sports have become a major part of our society. We vilify some teams; we glorify others and furthermore make excuses for others (will someone please explain the Billy Goat curse placed on the Cubs). Yet no matter how we feel about our favorite teams it rarely stops us from rooting for them and choosing our hero to place above all others.
All hail the superstars of sports! We buy there jerseys because we want to show our support of them. We buy the products they endorse because somehow we believe that these athletes will only support what’s best for us. If anyone asks why athletes make so much money; it’s because we support them by buying tickets, jerseys, team salt shakers and more. We love these guys and girls; we place them on pedestals; we idolize them; we give them an almost god-like place in our culture. I asked a 9 year old kid once who would he rather be like: Lebron James or Jesus Christ. His answer, “I don’t know, how much does Jesus get paid.”
Forget the triumphal entry; I’m not riding anywhere on a donkey. Give me a long term contract, with a fat signing bonus and salary and I will ride into town in a Lamborghini or, better yet, fly into town in my private jet. Sports salaries have become unbelievable these days. Just look at what the Yankees have decided to pay its new starting pitcher CC Sabathia! This 28 year old baseball player has just signed a contract for seven years worth 161 million dollars. Each year, this athlete will make 53 times more money than the President of the United States. To bring this down to our level; if you had a really good job making $100,000 a year, it would take you 1,610 years to earn what Sabathia will earn in just 7.
Ladies and gentleman, with all that said, we must take a step back and realize that all that glitters shouldn’t be given the place of God. Money may make you rich, and it may give you a place of prominence on the sports field but it often times does not instill in these people any morals, integrity or values. Michael Vick was once one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL with a long term contract worth well over $100 million, he is now in a Federal Penitentiary and filing for bankruptcy. Plaxico Buress, with his “small” $25 million contract, recently accidentally shot himself in the leg with an illegal handgun and then later got cut by his team. Adam Pacman Jones, had a large contract and a lot of promise but he was suspended by the league because he couldn't stay out of trouble, the latest being his involvement in a shooting at a Las Vegas strip club. Finally, my hero of old, Michael Jordan, got a divorce from his wife after 17 years of marriage. Many close to the family believe that his infidelity while traveling with the Bulls was the leading factor.
We idolize these human beings because of their worth and status. We cheer for them and name our children after them. The fact is that in many cases, money and fame often does little more than put you on a platform to display to the world the “sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1). Proverbs 28:6 says: “Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse.” These superstar athletes are simply sinners in need of a savior just like you and I. They may run faster, jump higher and throw farther but in the end they too will stand before the Lord to take an account of what they did on this earth. Whether you’re a fan of King James, Kobe, Tiger or Danica; in light of eternity their wealth and fame will only last but a fleeting moment. You and I have something that is eternal, something that will never lose its luster and never disappoints its followers (fans). Jesus Christ is worth cheering for; He is the only one that deserves our unhindered adoration. If you want to be a part of the entourage of real a shining superstar, you need to look no further than the Son.
Posted By: bukiewicz at 5:23 PM : Link : 0 Comments
