Happy Memorial Day!

Searching online for an appropriate flag image to post for Memorial Day, I ran across this T shirt commemorating the human flag that 10,000 Tucsonans formed shortly after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. It's hard to believe that it has been over eight years since that history-making event, and yet, in many ways, many Americans have already forgotten the passion that it ignited. In the spirit of Memorial Day, may we never forget the sacrifices that many soldiers, sailors, and airmen have made for our freesom; and in the spirit of 9/11, may we remain ever-vigilant for the cause of freedom.

And yet another...

NASA Director: This could be the worst disaster NASA's ever faced.
Gene Kranz: With all due respect, sir, I believe this is gonna be our finest hour.

Great ending challenge to a great message!

Yet another movie recommendation from Pastor Allen

One of the great things about the movies that Pastor Allen references in his messages is that they are often classics that many in the congreagation may not have seen. Now we can add these to our rental lists!

In the case of High Noon, Pastor Allen recalled the scene in which the sheriff appealed to the town's pastor for help and wise council, but came away empty-handed. "I just do't know," was the pastor's pitiful response. In speaking of injustice we see here on earth (the subject of the sermon), may it not be so among us!

Revisiting Micah

Micah 3:
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?

2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

Pastor Allen's commentary from the Sunday sermon on these verses:

The Prophet speaks to his generation and holds up a plumblne for God's people to measure themselves by. The prophet has no coercive power; he is a moral voice. When the king repents (at the word of the prophet), the people benefit.

Rollercoaster ride

At a dramatic point in his message last Sunday, Pastor Allen held up a copy of World magazine with the image of rollercoaster on a steep incline (above). The lead article for that issue was "Is Christianity doomed?" If you would like to read the article, you can check it out here To read the whole aritcle, you would need to become an online subscriber or take advantage of their sample subscritpion for $5.00 (a real bargain, in my opinion, but you might get hooked).

As Pastor Allen mentioned in his sermon Sunday, I will be launching a new adult Sunday School class on June 13 based on articles from World magazine, so this is a good opportunity for you to become acquainted woth WOrld in case you may want to attend.

Loving God

In Sunday's message, Pastor Allen used a quotation from Chuck Colson's book, Loving God, to illustrate the necessity for our putting hands and feet onthe gospel while we are here on earth. Here is the full context of that quote:

"Jesus went on to demonstrate in his ministry a deep compassion for the suffering and forgotten. He fed the hungry, healed the lame, gave sight to the blind. He was concerned not only with saving man from hell in the next world, but delivering him from the hellishness of this one. His messgae of social justice was just as unsettling and convicting as it was in the time of AMos - and as it is today."

T shirt apology

In his sermon Sunday, Pastor Allen told the story of a FEMA photographer who asked two volunteers helping the clean up efforts after a tornado in Mississippi to remove their Salvation Army T shirts because he didn't want "anything faith-based" in the photographs. In one news report, it was revealed that the second shirt the ladies put on, which had the name of a local church, was also unacceptable to the photographer.

Eventually word got back to U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, who happened to be a member of one of the sponsoring churches. Rep. Harper contacted FEMA administrator Craig Fugate (above), who has now apologized to the sponsoring church, the Salvation Army, and to Harper as well.

Since yesterday's blog was about the Manhattan Declaration, I'll point out that one of its tenets is that Christians should be given religious liberty (at least as much as, say, a Muslim woman wearing the head covering her faith requires). In this vein, we should congratulate the two ladies for going to the congressman to get this straightened out.

Manhattan Declaration revisited

We had our penultimate Manhattan Declaration Sunday School class yesterday, and the class came up with some great ideas for further support of this movement. Next Sunday we have invited Pastor Allen to join us for the final session, in which we will continue to explore the question, "What is the next step for those of us who have signed?"

In our discussion yesterday we realized that there are a number of Dove Mountaineers who still may not have read the declaration or know little of it. I would refer anyone reading this blog to look back in the January archives for this blog (specifically the 20th through the 23rd) for the earlier discussions. Subsequent posts related to the Manhattan Declaration can also be located by clicking on the phrase "Manhattan Declaration" next to "Labels" at the end of this post. And here is a direct link to the Declaration text.

Another resource

On Sunday Pastor Allen used a quote by British Professor Nigel Cameron: "The greatest evil is not that we have the power to destroy the next generation, but the power to produce it." Cameron was speaking, of course, of cloning.

This thought led me to a great resource called "The Christian Institute," whose mission is "Christian influence in a secular world." The site, which can be seen here has many thoughtful articles of interest in the midst of our current culture wars.

In particular, I like their list of Biblical arguments against cloning:

1.Human cloning creates human beings – from conception
Whether it be “therapeutic” or “reproductive” cloning – both techniques create human life.

Life is sacred from conception. The embryo has personhood at conception regardless of how that conception comes about. Once a new life has been created through cloning there is no moral distinction between it and any other embryo. All embryos deserve our protection.

“Therapeutic” cloning is morally repugnant because it creates life with the specific aim of experimentation and destruction. The stem cells are extracted for research and the embryo dies. Pro-lifers have called this practice “technological cannibalism”.

2. “Reproductive” cloning is also morally indefensible on the following grounds:
Human cloning is biological manufacturing by man not creation by God
Human cloning, and particularly “reproductive cloning”, puts the choices about a new life in the hands of a person rather than God. It will be left to the scientist to decide which embryo appears fit for implantation and which should be discarded. Human cloning usurps God’s position as the Almighty Creator. Job acknowledged, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21).

Under this new regime man, and not God, chooses the desired characteristics of any resultant children. It gives man control over the next generation. Cloning gives humans control over human fertility and therefore over the design/genetics of future generations. Thus man exerts a tyranny over future generations. As C. S. Lewis said:

“In reality, of course, if any one age really attains, by eugenics and scientific education, the power to make its descendants what it pleases, all men who live after it are the patients of that power. They are weaker, not stronger: for though we may have put wonderful machines in their hands we have pre-ordained how they are to use them.”

3. Children are a gift from God
Children are a gift from God. No one has a ‘right’ to have children even though they may be earnestly desired and infertility is usually found to be deeply distressing. However, cloning and many forms of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) make commodities out of children who are “made to order”. Procreation is taken out of God’s hands and given to man.

4. Cloning breaks the link with parentsGod created man and woman; He instituted marriage for their mutual benefit and for the procreation of children. God told Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”

In this way human relationships are based on relations between a husband and wife, their children and the wider family. God’s creation of the marriage relationship, and its central place in the procreation of the next generation, is for our benefit.

God’s intention is that children are procreated using genetic material from both their parents. With cloning the genetic material comes from only one ‘parent’. The child will be the genetic brother of the ‘father’ or the genetic sister of the ‘mother’. This profoundly undermines God’s intended order for procreation.

More Square Inches

When I was writing about Kuyper's quote in yesterday's blog, I remembered that this phrase, "Every Square Inch" is also the name of a very good radio program on Christian worldview put out by the Arizona Christian Worldview Institute. I have been meaning to list this group as a resource on the blog for some time, and yesterday the director Keith Shull was kind enough to send me a copy of their logo for use here on Dovemountaineers. You can learn more about the institute and their activities here.

Every Square Inch...

In his message Sunday, Pastor Allen alluded to a quotation by Abraham Kuyper, a late nineteenth century Dutch theologian whose writings still influence many in the Reformed world today. Kuyper championed the belief that God's sovereignty is still still active, as the continued acts of God preserve and sustain His creation, both by His Sovereign hand and through his covenant people on earth.

The quote Pastor Allen read was:

"Oh, no single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"

This is a powerful expression of the need for a Christian worldview in all our avenues of thinking and behaving - philosophical, academic, and practical, as well as theological.

Small World Tapestry

Congratulations to the leadership of Tapestry for collecting such a large gathering for their Spring Brunch and Quilt Show! I showed up just as it was breaking up so as to chat with the speaker, Victoria Robinson of Sierra Vista, and we had a great reunion! Victoria and I taught together at Shiloh Christian School in Sierra Vista in the late '90's before we both moved away. I had not seen her since she and her chaplain husband moved back a couple of years ago.

Several of my Dovemountaineer friends told me both on Saturday and Sunday how much they were blessed by Victoria's talk on Women Mentoring Women. If any of them would like to share their thoughts in the comments section of this blog, it would be greatly edifying to the rest of us! I can say that it was always a privilege to listen to Victoria, both in the classroom and at chapel, when we were at Shiloh. Some people are gifted communicators, and others have Biblical wisdom - Victoria combines both attributes wonderfully!

In our chat after the meeting, Victoria shared a story with me about one of our former Shiloh students. One of her speaking engagements was to address a Valentine's Day dinner in Savannah, Georgia, for two hundred ladies whose husbands were currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Victoria said it was apparent that many of these ladies were probably not regular churchgoers, and they were greatly blessed (and somewhat amazed) to be served dinner by pastors and elders from the sponsoring churches. It was one of those magical evenings in God's appointment book, made all the more special because she was introduced at the platform that evening by one of our former Shiloh young ladies who is now married and living in Georgia. Victoria's favorite comment was by one of the sponsoring pastors: "We called off church tonight for this event - so we could be the church!" It made me think of Kim Ritt's military ministry and other kinds of outreaches we do here at Dove Mountain!

In that same vein, it was a blessing to see Mike Jones and Keith Long humbly working to pack up the event. Do more DMC men need to be involved in this next time? Let us know, ladies!

Born Again Barbie?

I can't resist giving props here to yet another brilliant children's message by Steve Johnson yesterday. To illustrate redemption, Steve doused a couple of Barbie doll knock-offs (which he confesses were from the Dollar Store) in Hershey's chocolate syrup, tossed them into a giant garbage can, and then, after thoroughly explaining Christs' redemption, fished them out clean and new (obviously a matching pair previously stashed away) from the depths of the trash. Gasps heard all around the room.

Back in real life, Steve had to take dear Annette to the emergency room later in the service for severe abdominal pains. As of this morning he still did not know a diagnosis, but apparently the baby is not in danger. He text from the waiting room stated it may be a gall bladder problem. Pray for Annette!

National Day of Prayer report

Last night I was privileged to participate, along with over one hundred other Christians, in a National Day of Prayer observance at our sister church, Rincon
Mountain Church. Five eastside churches were represented in this gathering, and the unity in Christ was evident around the room, where attendees were seated in prayer circles of about eight to ten each. Using the seven prayer emphases identified by the National Day of Prayer Task Force, local leaders came to the front and led those present in a corporate prayer for that topic. Then individuals around the smaller circles were free to pray aloud on each topic. Those moments produced a pleasant "hum" as we heard souls praying all around the room at the same time.

The seven emphases identified by the National Day of Prayer Task Force are churches, education, business, media, government, military, and family. I was asked to be the prayer leader for the education topic, and I appreciated the words written by the national task force about this topic, which I have reprinted below:

"The goals, content and approach of modern-day education have changed dramatically from the schooling children received when our nation was first conceived. Formal, public education was just taking shape at that time as the newly formed government took responsibility for helping parents with this aspect of their children’s upbringing. In the early schools of America, biblical faith was unapologetically woven into classroom teaching. Many teachers were local pastors, and a reverence for the Almighty and His precepts was viewed as an integral part of true knowledge.

Today’s schools are a far cry from those early classrooms. The influence of postmodern thought has left its mark on twenty-first-century education, introducing concepts such as pluralism, 'tolerance,' and the rejection of absolute truth. While the textbooks used in colonial days promoted a faith-based worldview, today’s curricula are replete with materials that accept ­ and, in some cases, even condone ­ immoral activities and lifestyles. Meanwhile, revisionist teachings about our country’s founding remove any reference to the Christian underpinnings that have long set our nation apart and helped it thrive.

With this type of atmosphere pervading our classrooms, it’s especially critical that we pray for our nation’s public school teachers, administrators and students. Ask the Lord to raise up a new generation of dedicated educators who will commit themselves not only to an honest, accurate presentation of all subject matter, but who will also serve as positive role models for their students. In addition, let’s not forget to uphold our local school boards in prayer as they make decisions about the various curricula that are used across the country."

Pray for safety, morally sound instruction and wholesome environments.

■Deuteronomy 11:18-19
■Psalm 34:7
■Matthew 19:14
■Psalm 90:16-17

Social networking

I'm all for it.

Social networking, that is. In my own humble way, that's what this blog is intended for. The trouble is, Dove Mountaineers now have four presences on the web, most of which do not reference each other:

www.dovemountainchurch.org
www.dovemountaineers.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16772256762&ref=ts
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11949062141274&ref=ts

The latter two are facebook groups. You can choose to join with or without an exclamation mark, or both. Both facebook pages reference the church website (first URL above), but neither mentions Dovemountaineers.

Maybe this doesn't need to be coordinated.

Maybe it does.

Any volunteers?

In his sermon this past Sunday, Pastor Allen quoted (as he has several times before) from Cornelius Plantinga's book The Way It's Supposed to Be. Plantinga is a theology professor at Calvin Seminary. Curious about the origin of the title of the book (which is about sin and it effects in modern day culture), I found this introductory paragraph of the book online:

"In the film Grand Canyon, an immigration attorney breaks out of a traffic jam and attempts to bypass it. His route takes him along streets that seem progressively darker and more deserted. Then, the predictable Bonfire of the Vanities nightmare: The man's fancy sports car stalls on one of those alarming streets whose teenaged guardians wear expensive guns and sneakers. He does manage to phone for a tow truck. But before it arrives, five young street toughs surround the attorney's disabled car and threaten him with considerable bodily harm. Just in time, the tow truck shows up and its driver - an earnest, genial man - begins to hook up to the sports car. The toughs protest: the driver is interrupting their meal. So the driver takes the group leader aside and attempts a five sentence introduction to metaphysics: "Man," he says, "the world ain't s'pposed to work like this. Maybe you don't know that, but this ain't the way it's s'pposed to be. I'm s'pposed to be able to do my job without askin' you if I can. And that dude is s'pposed to be able to wait with his car without you rippin' him off. Everything's s'pposed to be different than what it is here."

A British Bank...

No one can say that all of the literary allusions in Pastor Allen's sermons are stodgy and "deep," as evidenced by his quoting from Winnie the Pooh and Mary Poppins last Sunday. Even a quotation from children's literature can serve as a valuable illustration!

Just for fun, here are the complete lyrics of the song Pastor Allen excerpted in his message:

A British bank is run with precision
The British home requires nothing less
Tradition, discipline and rules must be the tools
With out them disorder, chaos, moral disintegration
In short you have a ghastly mess

The children must be molded, shaped and taught
That life's a looming battle to be faced and fought
If they must go on outings those outings ought to be
Fraught with purpose, yes, and practicality

These silly words like supercali... supercali...
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Yes, well done, you said it
And popping through pictures
Have little use, fulfill no basic need
They must face the honest truth
Despite their youth they must
... learn about the life you lead
Precisely!

They must feel the thrill of totting up a balanced book
A thousand ciphers neatly in a row
When gazing at a graph that shows the profits up
Their little cups of joy should overflow

It's time they learned to walk in your footsteps
To tread your straight and narrow path with pride
Tomorrow just as you suggest, pressed and dressed
Jane and Michael will be at your side