Author Archives: Steve

God of Holiness, God of War

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Steve
Posted in Religion

I was looking for an article in some old United Brethren magazines when a teaser on the cover of the May 1988 issue grabbed my attention: “Can Evangelicals Regain Integrity?” The article was by Dr. Paul Fetters. I vaguely remembered publishing that article 30 years ago, when I was the editor. I reread it, and found it uncomfortably relevant to today.

At the time, Christians were reeling from affairs by high-profile televangelists Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. Fetters wrote, “During the past year, the Christian church has suffered an enormous loss of integrity. But we didn’t lose integrity overnight. I see three elements which have contributed to it.”

All three points were excellent, as were his three points for regaining integrity. But it’s the first point I’ll cite here: replacing a God of Holiness for a God of Love. He wrote:

“A Holy God is more demanding than a God of Love. In fact, my understanding is that God COMMANDS us to love, but he DEMANDS that we be holy. The problem is, we don’t want anyone to demand anything of us. We love ourselves and others, our objects and objectives, more than we love a God who says, ‘I am holy and jealous, and I will not share the supreme devotion in your life with any other.

“In the past 25-30 years, we have smothered the earth with ‘God is love.’ What would happen if, in the next 25 years, we blitzed the world with, ‘God is holy’?”

Well, it’s more than 25 years. I would say we’ve drifted much further away from a God of Holiness, and have become increasingly infatuated with a God of Love, who will accept and forgive just about anything.

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Using the Presidential Pardon Responsibly

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Steve
Posted in Current Issues

In the 2016 election, prison and sentencing reform were among my top issues. The number of people America incarcerates is a national disgrace. The Bible is clear about seeking justice for prisoners. Jesus himself, in stating in Luke what he had been anointed to do, included “proclaim liberty to the captives” and “set at liberty those who are oppressed.” He spoke of remembering those in prison, and said, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.”

For that reason, I appreciate that President Obama pardoned or commuted the sentences of 1,927 persons. Most were convicted of low-level, non-violent drug crimes, though 500 were nevertheless serving life sentences. Many were victims of mandatory sentencing and over-zealous Three Strikes laws, which mandated life sentences even for minor crimes.

Among those he pardoned, there is only one name you might recognize: Chelsea Manning. The rest were anonymous, forgotten men and women with only this one last recourse. I honor President Obama for focusing on people like this–people society normally casts aside and prefers to forget about. Most likely, all of these were persons Obama didn’t know personally, people he’d never heard of. But a recommendation came to him from the Justice department, and he conscientiously and responsibly used his presidential power to “set the captive free.”

I’m delighted that President Trump is showing the same deep concern for the powerless, the voiceless, the forgotten, the oppressed, the victims of systemic injustice. He has now pardoned six people, and is looking to pardon two more.

  • Republican sheriff, fellow birther, and now Senate candidate Joe Arpaio.
  • Republican Scooter Libby, former chief of staff to VP Dick Cheney.
  • Kristian Mark Saucier, a former sailor who made his case on Fox & Friends, the President’s favorite news show.
  • Businessman Sholom Rubashkin.
  • Deceased (in 1946) black boxer Jack Johnson, whose case was championed to Trump by Republican actor Sylvester Stallone.
  • Republican activist and filmaker Dinesh D’Souza.

Today, President Trump said he is considering pardons for two more persons from his Apprentice TV show:

  • Democratic governor and former Apprentice contestant Rod Blagojevich.
  • Cooking mogul Martha Stewart, who led a spin-off of the Apprentice.

For all of these people, a Presidential pardon or commutation might be their last hope of clearing the hurdles needed to make something of their lives.

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A Truly Christian Voice in the Pundit World

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Steve
Posted in This or That

Michael Gerson is one of the few evangelical Christian voices in the Punditsphere. He carries solid credentials as a political conservative–Heritage Foundation policy advisor, speechwriter for Bob Dole and George Bush, among other things–but places the Bible above ideology, whereas most conservative pundits cite the Bible only when it affirms their ideology. I look forward to Gerson’s weekly columns. They can be prophetic, and they remind us evangelicals that we are citizens first of the Kingdom of God, and only secondly of a man-made country.

From this past week’s columns:

“According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, white evangelical Protestants are the least likely group in America to affirm an American responsibility to accept refugees. Evangelicals insist on the centrality and inerrancy of scripture and condemn society for refusing to follow biblical norms — and yet, when it comes to verse after verse requiring care for the stranger, they don’t merely ignore this mandate; they oppose it….It indicates the failure of the Christian church in the moral formation of its members, who remain largely untutored in the most important teachings of their own faith.”

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Can’t Believe I Did This

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Steve
Posted in It's My Life

I’ve been proofing our denominational website, which I manage. I came across this sentence which I, a highly trained editor and writer, most definitely wrote.

“We ask church’s to review the National Conference Covenant every two years….”

Somebody should be fired–not only for gross incompetence, but for embarrassing his mother.

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The Evil of Separating Families as Government Policy

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Steve
Posted in Current Issues

A couple weeks ago, my stomach turned when Jeff Sessions made it official: traumatizing immigrant children is now official American policy. When a family comes here illegally, rather than put them in a family detention center as previously done, the children are now ripped from their parents and placed in government care. The idea is to punish the parents by hurting their children.

Currently, an estimated 700 children are separated indefinitely from their parents. An estimated 100 of these children are under the age of 4. The government knows best regarding children? Right now, RIGHT NOW, there are children crying because they want to be with Mom and Dad and don’t know why any of this is happening. And it’s not necessary. The Obama Administration made accommodations to keep families together. Trump could, too. But the President, by all accounts, is the prime advocate for this policy.

THIS is now America?

I’ve been so disgusted, so revolted, that I’ve not even wanted to write about it. The Gospels clearly show how much Jesus loved and valued children, and he had harsh words for those who would harm children. Surely, Jesus is not pleased when he sees America–this country he has richly blessed–cause such distress for the young, innocent, and vulnerable.

Michael Gerson, an evangelical Christian opinion writer–a REAL evangelical, theologically, rather than one of those persons polls describe as “evangelical”–was similarly disgusted, but had no such qualms about putting it in writing.

Gerson wrote: “The debate over a border wall is a policy matter. The separation of children from their parents as a deterrent is a human rights abuse. And the Trump administration, at its highest levels, cannot tell the difference….Our country’s most basic commitment — and its limiting principle — is universal human rights and dignity. This does not prevent the government from enforcing reasonable immigration laws. It does forbid the government from inhumanity in the ENFORCEMENT of immigration laws.”

World Relief, the NAE relief organization with which the United Brethren Church is affiliated, issued a statement saying, “The way we treat asylum-seekers is proof that we can be a nation of laws and a nation of grace. The US government should do everything in its power to keep arriving families together, not separate them.”

For those of you who are inclined to support the President’s policies no matter what, I encourage you to think about this. What does the Bible say? And apart from the rationale you hear from conservative pundits, how do YOU, in your heart as a Christ-follower, really feel about forcing children away from their parents?

The prophet Nathan loved his king, but there came a time when he had to confront him and say, “David, on this, you are wrong.” And there were consequences.

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Thank You, Cyrus: Prophecy, Finally, is Fulfilled

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Steve
Posted in General silliness

Jeanine Pirro has apparently taken on the title of Theologian in Residence at FoxNews. She declared that by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, Donald Trump has fulfilled Bible prophecy.

It relates to Cyrus, king of Persia, who said Jerusalem should be inhabited, and formed a caravan of Jewish captives to go rebuild Jerusalem. Cyrus, according to God, had not acknowledged God (whereas Donald Trump, according to James Dobson, is a born-again Christian), and he commanded Cyrus to assemble “fugitives from the nations,” to open doors, and not shut gates (which is not in tune with Trump immigration policy). However, Theologian Pirro looks past those trivialities and sees Trump as a 21st Century version of the pagan king Cyrus.

Jerusalem actually became the capital of Israel in 1948. But THAT apparently didn’t fulfill Scripture. As American Exceptionalists know, nothing counts until the United States says it counts. Now that the US has endorsed Jerusalem as the capital, Scripture is fulfilled. Finally.

Growing up in the 1970s, I read “The Late Great Planet Earth” and other prophecy books. They all mentioned the Fig Tree prophecy from Matthew 24. As interpreted by Hal Lindsey and friends, Jesus was saying that when the nation of Israel is re-established, “this generation shall not pass” until Jesus returns. Lindsey said a biblical generation was 40 years. Therefore, Christ would return within 40 years of 1948, when Israel was re-established.

It obviously didn’t happen by 1988. Why? Well, thanks to Jeanine Pirro, we now know. Although Jerusalem became the capital in 1948, the United States hadn’t acknowledged it. Scripture is clear that the approval of the United States is needed, a fact Hal Lindsey, who lacks Jeanine Pirro’s theological credentials, conveniently chose to ignore.

So now, thanks to Donald Trump, we can finally start the clock. Within 40 years of May 2018, Christ will return. You can count on it.

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Dreams of Unwanted Upper Mobility

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Steve
Posted in It's My Life

Three times during my 40 years working at the national office, I have dreamed that I became a bishop. I remember the number of times, because these are very scary dreams–for me, and for the future of United Brethrenism. If you work in business, perhaps you have a scary dream about becoming a district manager or CEO. If academia, about becoming the college president or, worse, a philosophy professor. For me, it’s becoming a bishop.

The third dream occurred just last night. After being selected, I met with church leaders and said, “Let me tell you about myself.” I then began telling them all the reasons why it was a really bad idea for me to be bishop, beginning with my speaking abilities and proceeding through my lack of Bible training. Then I reached the fact that I wasn’t ordained–a basic requirement for being bishop. At that point I realized I was dreaming, and I woke up.

It was a great relief. All was still right with my world.

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Guess Who’s Sitting Beside God?

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Steve
Posted in General silliness

Before the election, Pat Robertson said on CBN, “God came to me in a dream last night and showed me the future. He took me to heaven and I saw President Trump seated at the right hand of our Lord.”

Forget for the moment that, according to the Bible, Jesus is the One sitting at the right hand of God. President Trump, as we know, doesn’t play by the rules, and it’s perfectly rational to assume that a narcissist would claim the best throne in the house. But let’s put that aside and return to Robertson’s amazing dream.

Here’s what’s running through my mind. Okay, you went to heaven, and there, right in front of you, was God Himself. And what you noticed was, Hey, there’s Donald Trump! Your attention was not drawn to the Creator, but to Trump?

Rev. Robertson, tell us what God looked like. What was it like seeing the Almighty (I’m referring to God, the one on the right) sitting there right in front of you? Tell us what you saw. What was He wearing? Did He glow? Was He sitting back straight in the throne, or leaning forward? Did you look into God’s eyes?

But apparently, the only thing Pat Robertson noticed was Donald Trump. Not God, but Donald Trump. I think that’s been happening a lot lately.

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Leave Paul Ryan Alone

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Steve
Posted in Politics

Sometimes people don’t have ulterior motives. Sometimes people mean what they say. Sometimes people hold good values and make decisions on that basis. Sometimes these people are politicians.

I think Paul Ryan is such a person. He says he’s leaving office to spend time with his family, to be an onsite Dad. Why can’t people just accept that? Instead, pundits are speculating that the REAL reason is based on political considerations. Often, when politicians say they are resigning “to spend more time with my family,” we all know that’s not the real reason. But sometimes it is. With Ryan, I believe it is.

The guy wants to be a Dad. He talked about that before becoming Speaker, and he’s talking about it again. That’s a good thing to want to be, and a good example to set.

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When the “Other” United Brethren Church Went Away

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Steve
Posted in This or That

Fifty years ago, the “other” United Brethren church pretty much disappeared, leaving us as the only United Brethren player on the field. It was April 23, 1968, when the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with the Methodist Church to become the United Methodist Church. Some EUBs grumble that it was less a merger and more like being wholly absorbed by the Methodists.

There were actually two denominations called the Church of the United Brethren in Christ between 1889 and 1946, when the other group merged with the Evangelical Association to become the Evangelical United Brethren. (My second piano teacher, in Harrisburg, Pa., was an EUB pastor’s wife. She used to fall asleep in her wood rocker while I went through my lesson.)

A few EUB congregations refused to go along with the 1968 merger, and instead joined our group. In the process, they lost legal title to their church buildings and had to start over. Some of them, including a cluster around Columbus, Ohio, became (and remain) good, strong churches.

When we began in 1800, we had a good relationship with Francis Asbury and his Methodist folks. They tried to get us to merge with them, but we resisted. We also entertained the idea of merging with the Evangelical Association, which also started in 1800. So our groups had been circling each other for a long time. The EA and Methodist mergers didn’t happen until long after our group split off in 1889.

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