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Realized a couple minutes ago that the endorphins must be firing off in my head. Feeling great. Saturday afternoon, Panera wifi room, 71* outside. And I’m here in Philly with the best job I’ve ever had, a sense of peace and contentment, and enough rest left over from hanging out with some crazy prayer people last night. Life is good.

I’m even wearing my “too close for missles, I’m switching to guns” t-shirt that my sister-in-law gave me.

This self-depricating shirt can be purchased for the wimp in your life from randomshirts . This arrows on this shirt point to my non-existent biceps which is probably the reason this shirt was given to me in size small. Wearing this shirt will accentuate the mortality and vulnerability of anyone who wears it.

I am considering a retaliatory purchase of this shirt for the both of them:

But, Life IS Good . I’ve got opportunities to pay off debts, practice my instrument, give back to society a bit, and mentor/train my prayer team at church. Can’t complain. Some dude in Sweden even emailed me about a Clementi sonata I recorded years ago. As my Bon Jovi-quoting brother (who gave me this shirt) would say, “Have a Nice Day”.

As a prayer junkie, and former prayer leader for several years (at a daughter HOP) until recently displaced, I was stoked when in January 2006 the IHOP began webcasting. Now I could plug back into prayer even though I was 2 hours away from any semblance of a prayer house. There was a nice, unobtrusive (albeit bland) backdrop that was incapable of detracting from the prayer and worship that was happening.

Enter GOD TV makeover this week. …So is the room Blue now? Or is it Orange? Come back, beloved Beige – martyred for the masses. I haven’t seen my favorite hue (vomit green) yet, but I suspect it comes out between 345-4:10 AM.

I remember life at a few church plants right before moving into that first building. Oh, how we were admonished against taking sides based upon opposing Interior Design doctrines that would, if not repented of, surely split the church.

Call it schadenfreude if you must, and I shall duly repent, but from reading several unofficial blogs, the trials of this makeover might begin to approach Biblical levels. I guess it’s refreshing that people aren’t that different even in a prayer community such as IHOP – this too shall pass.. next time you remodel the prayer room!

I’m sure I’ll get used to this eventually… good luck friends as you acclimate to the volitile hues of your new prayer room!

“The antislavery meeting here, opened in 1856, brought many leading abolitionist speakers as guests of George Corson and his wife, Martha Corson. Built over a carraige shed, the hall could accomodate up to 200 visitors. The family’s 1767 homestead had already long been a station on the Underground Railroad. Later, 1881-1895, Abolition Hall was the studio of son-in-law Thomas Hovenden, who painted “Last Moments of John Brown”.

*The quote comes from Senator Sam Brownback who draws a parallel between the abolitionist cause and the pro-life cause. Both maintain the humanity of people as people, rather than a piece of property. Brownback on Monday announced a possible candidacy for a Presidential run in 08. With the likes of McCain, Guiliani, Clinton, and others, Brownback may be the only pro-life candidate.

In my haste to generalize my perspective of the prevailing tone of blogs and articles regarding this subject I did not allow the readers to check them out themselves, and have been appropriately chastised for it. Thanks Sharla & Diana for the correction.

I suggest you read Sharla’s entry since it indeed has a redemptive tone to it which I did not mention in my post. If Sharla will pardon me for the breach of blog protocol and more importantly for the inference from the title which she specially chose to clash with the compassionate tone of her blog. I didn’t give the reader an opportunity to appreciate this, but it made for a great punch line.

Diana’s comment is correct because the point of this blog is to defy the contentious spirit to be found just about everywhere. I’m 0 for 2 on this one. This post was probably better suited for Christians Behaving Badly, the blog where I “redemptively” point out such gaffes which are more typically committed by professing celebrities on reality shows to our collective dismay!

Here’s the proverbial finger (lowercase although I may deserve Uppercase for this transgression) pointing back at me. Thanks for commenting and I’ll be responsible with future posts and sources.

This individual was the head of a political wing of the church and had been becoming very high profile. However in no way would I lump him in with the profiteering TV pastors we all are cynical of. I’ve seen his fruit of his earlier work and values and have walked around in the prayer center on the campus. After what I’m writing on this blog, I’m gonna be extra careful about degrading the profiteering TV pastors and “christian” tv. It’s easy to do, but from this point on I need to shut up and let God figure it out!

…So when later that evening [November 2] the founder of New Life church was in the crosshairs I did the following:

- Was in pretty intense prayer for him, and especially for his integrity to “shine like the noonday sun” according to Psalms

- Sent him an email saying that I appreciated his ministry, commitment to citywide unity, and to 24 hour prayer

- Mentioned something about if any of these allegations turned out to be true that I still believe in God’s purpose for him and will pray for restoration regardless

Turned out, enough of it is true. No noonday sunshine here… The double speak and damage control was awful to behold. I don’t think I would have done much better in his place though… anyone who has spent any time as a leader flirting with compromise I hope would be able to relate to this sentiment.

So anyhow, the reaction on the christian blogosphere is rough. People talking about it without any hint of brokenness or sorrow at what has been lost. People speaking with some apology, but no real compassion underneath in many cases.

One prominent Christian magazine had an article from a pastor who fell 20 years ago in a high-profile ministry to sexual sin.  He claimed in his letter to grieve for the current man’s situation and family, but his tone was slightly bitter, and his stated compassions for those involved seemed hollow.

Another blog with a similar conciliatory ending also began with shock value, calling the man and other fallen pastors “screw ups out there”.

I want to make it clear that this sort of thing is not unexpected. I propose that if we want God to get any possible redemptive glory out of any of this, then we need to watch how we blog about this stuff. All of my above gripes are with a few “christian” perspective blogs. The secular community is capable of voicing the less edifying stuff! PrayerSpot proposes we admit the facts, refrain from speculations and from looking the other way, and just support the church.

At this point I am becoming more disillusioned with many of my fellow bloggers/blog readers than I am with the latest scandal. Mind you, the morning everything went south in Colorado I was impressed in my heart about how easy it is to criticize our leaders in the church, especially those of a more self-proclaimed type. These ones especially are most prone to say, own TV networks and make bold statements that might not be too palatable even within its intended context!

The situation for me is that I live in a city that has legalized gambling, and work across the river where the courts have decided to alter God’s original intent for marriage, without even holding it up for the people to vote on (as if it were for people to decide). When I hear the likes of Robertson on tv, I am more inclined than ever before to agree with some or many of his statements, because the culture around me is increasingly hostile to what I know to be true and right.

Therefore I was thinking about this idea of just holding my tongue the next time some TV preacher says something offbeat and is pounced upon by the media.

More in Part 2…

Regarding the failure of South Dakotans to pass the bill eliminating all non-essential pregnancy terminations last week:

If abortion had been banned in SD and ultimately in USA at *this* point, [evangelical] people would have a big sigh of relief and would have rolled over back to sleep again. I believe God is calling mainstream evangelicals, even mainline churches and religious people to the kind of prayer, fasting, and crying out that some of us are entering into. The esther fasts*, 40 day fasts, and daniel fasts** of a few bands of noble, brave, and obedient people was not meant to pacify the vast majority of nominal believers who haven’t taken any firm action yet. God I think has restrained – delayed the power to enact relatively painless change.

* an esther fast is 3 days without water (as hard-core as it gets)

** a daniel fast is a fast from any rich or fancy/flavorful food