Where do we go today to learn how to be a husband? How are men supposed to learn the skills of fathering and the art of loving and understanding a woman?
Solomon is dead so we cannot call him on Skype of send a text message to his cell phone and get a wise answer to our questions about love and life. The modern TV shows certainly seem to have run out of wisdom and the Black rappers' music is so filled with rage, hatred and female domination that even the Misogynist Association is scared to listen to them.
Oh, I forgot. We can all learn about how to be sensitive as New Millennium Men by watching The View. Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Walters can teach us to respect women.
As a Christian I would love to learn from some wise people at church but it is rare for a church to have anything to say. Too bad because millions want to learn from the Bible and from experienced older men.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Improving Family Life
Almost everyone I know who believes in the tenets of democracy are extremely concerned about the state of family life in America. As reported in a former post, strong families are central to freedom and a strong, functioning democracy. Yet, over the past few years we have seen a serious erosion of family life and family values.
One of the most serious problems in America arises from the high number of couples that are not committed to working through the difficult issues of family life and give up far too soon on working things out. That leads them to either fore go marriage all together of to divorce leaving children with a single mom and, almost always, chronic poverty.
We have all head the dreadful statistics about the many kids being reared without a man in the home. The results of such a situation are awful. Think of it this way. You coach a Little League Baseball Team and can field only four members but the other teams all have nine men on the field against you. Who do you think will win every game?
How can kids reared without male mentoring compete with those who do have a loving father and mother? We know that monkeys separated from a parent in childhood become violent and unable to have natural sexual relationships. Do we not see the same behavior in many communities today?
The single best way to overcome these problems is by empowering churches and other community groups to help couples and families succeed in marriage and family life. Working with the kids is also important but that requires much work by counselors and experts while strengthening families and couples can be achieved with lay leaders.
Every church in America could have a ministry of strengthening couple commitment and family health. If they did, it would turn the nation around in a decade.
Monday, April 23, 2007
The Only Hope for American Women
I am sometimes stunned by the unreasonable rationalizations of fanatical people who can see massive social, cultural and spiritual oppression in every political setback they see. Sara Gould of the Ms. Foundation for Women wrote recently that the recent Supreme Court decision banning some forms of Partial Birth Abortion was the next to last step in a Nazi style approach to Women's Rights.
Wednesday's ruling was, under the guise of jurisprudence, nothing short of a political and quasi-religious referendum on the rights of women to make decisions about their own lives. In finding for the ban, Justices Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito have not merely endangered the health and well-being of women who seek to exercise their autonomous rights as citizens of this nation; they have also endangered the health and well-being of our democracy as a whole. . . .
The right to a full range of reproductive choices is only the beginning of what we, as a society, have lost in the Court's ruling. By entrenching ever more deeply into our society a belief that women are not due equal rights under the law--not even when it comes to deciding the fate of their own bodies--Justices Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito have put the lives of all women--not just those seeking abortions--in jeopardy.
In little over a week, the depth of misogyny embedded in our culture, and its violent consequences, have been writ large. The Imus incident once again laid bare the pervasive devaluation of women (not to mention blacks and gays) billed as "entertainment" by the very industry that creates and promotes racist, homophobic and misogynist messages. And, as New York Times columnist Bob Herbert wrote yesterday in his column on the shooting at Virginia Tech, the consequences of misogyny can be murderous indeed. The worst forms of violence in this country, Herbert reminds us, have "some debilitating form of misogyny . . . [as] a 'central component.' "
It would seem that on Wednesday, our highest court in the land proved that very point.
Partial Birth Abortion is partially delivering a baby after eight to nine months in the womb and then killing the baby by crushing its skull and sucking its brains out with a very strong vacuum cleaner. So, a child is brought to full term by a mother who then, for some reason, decides to kill it. She finds a Doctor who has pledged that he will never do harm to a patient and never induce an abortion. That doctor then kills the little fully formed and kicking baby as it hangs upside down above the mother.
Every other form of killing babies in the womb has been found to be secretly hidden in plain sight in the Constitution of the United States of America. But to Ms. Sara Gould, this tiny nod to keeping a few children alive has led to mass murders in Virginia, Don Imus type racism and a many attacks on women. (Despite the fact that 50% of all babies killed by abortion are females.)
Wednesday's ruling was, under the guise of jurisprudence, nothing short of a political and quasi-religious referendum on the rights of women to make decisions about their own lives. In finding for the ban, Justices Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito have not merely endangered the health and well-being of women who seek to exercise their autonomous rights as citizens of this nation; they have also endangered the health and well-being of our democracy as a whole. . . .
The right to a full range of reproductive choices is only the beginning of what we, as a society, have lost in the Court's ruling. By entrenching ever more deeply into our society a belief that women are not due equal rights under the law--not even when it comes to deciding the fate of their own bodies--Justices Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito have put the lives of all women--not just those seeking abortions--in jeopardy.
In little over a week, the depth of misogyny embedded in our culture, and its violent consequences, have been writ large. The Imus incident once again laid bare the pervasive devaluation of women (not to mention blacks and gays) billed as "entertainment" by the very industry that creates and promotes racist, homophobic and misogynist messages. And, as New York Times columnist Bob Herbert wrote yesterday in his column on the shooting at Virginia Tech, the consequences of misogyny can be murderous indeed. The worst forms of violence in this country, Herbert reminds us, have "some debilitating form of misogyny . . . [as] a 'central component.' "
It would seem that on Wednesday, our highest court in the land proved that very point.
Partial Birth Abortion is partially delivering a baby after eight to nine months in the womb and then killing the baby by crushing its skull and sucking its brains out with a very strong vacuum cleaner. So, a child is brought to full term by a mother who then, for some reason, decides to kill it. She finds a Doctor who has pledged that he will never do harm to a patient and never induce an abortion. That doctor then kills the little fully formed and kicking baby as it hangs upside down above the mother.
Every other form of killing babies in the womb has been found to be secretly hidden in plain sight in the Constitution of the United States of America. But to Ms. Sara Gould, this tiny nod to keeping a few children alive has led to mass murders in Virginia, Don Imus type racism and a many attacks on women. (Despite the fact that 50% of all babies killed by abortion are females.)
Depression and Anxiety can be Reduced
Why do so many people suffer from depression and anxiety today, especially in wealthy countries? Both of these, "Mood Disorders" are on the rise despite our wealth and access to medications. However, we can reduce them and we ought to do so.
If we practiced good, basic Christianity in our homes, churches and counseling centers Mood Disorders would be reduced tremendously. Going to church is good for us even if the church's teachings are weak and confusing, just imagine how much better off we all would be if we attended congregations that taught about mutual confession, healing prayers and living daily by grace.
The Bible teaches that every Christian struggles with ongoing sin, guilt and hearts filled with deceitfulness. The Bible tells me this and it confirms exactly what I have known from personal and pastoral experience. The Bible does not sugar coat human weaknesses nor water down the necessary answers to evil.
For example, the half brother of Jesus, wrote about healing in his manual on practical ministry we call The Book of James:
13 Is anyone among you suffering from evil causes? Let him pray.
Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
14 Is anyone among you physically sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the mentally, emotionally and relationally weak, and the Lord will raise him up.
And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
Despite the clear teaching of the inspired, infallible and inerrant scripture, many preachers and teachers try to ignore "Thorns in the flesh" of sin, guilt and illness. We desperately need to teach the therapeutic power of mutual confession, mutual forgiveness and mutual prayers.
The Roman Catholic Church has made this passage into a formal role for the Priests and that has been a positive thing as far as emotional illness is concerned. However, just imagine the power that could be released if every Evangelical, Charismatic, Fundamentalist and Mainline Church in America actually practiced healing through teaching its members how to confess to one another and receive confessions from one another.
I have taught this passage from Cincinnati to Singapore, from San Francisco to Scandinavia from Missouri to Moscow and have seen God do wonderful things. When leaders practice First Century Christianity lives are changed and people are healed. People are thirsty for reality and relief rather than denial.
Many people initially tried to battle AIDS by ignoring its connection to sexual sin. They played PC politics and as a result millions of people died.
Many contemporary churches try to deal with sin, guilt and shame by acting like they do not exist. That will not work. There must be an antidote that is simple and easily accessed. A forgiving, nurturing, mutually confessing church family that operates like A.A. would do it.
A.A. does not ignore sin, guilt and shame and apply mutual confession so it works as a therapeutic community. Take them away and the 12 Steps are meaningless. Take them out of the church and Easter is meaningless. No wonder depression and anxiety are on the rise.
If we practiced good, basic Christianity in our homes, churches and counseling centers Mood Disorders would be reduced tremendously. Going to church is good for us even if the church's teachings are weak and confusing, just imagine how much better off we all would be if we attended congregations that taught about mutual confession, healing prayers and living daily by grace.
The Bible teaches that every Christian struggles with ongoing sin, guilt and hearts filled with deceitfulness. The Bible tells me this and it confirms exactly what I have known from personal and pastoral experience. The Bible does not sugar coat human weaknesses nor water down the necessary answers to evil.
For example, the half brother of Jesus, wrote about healing in his manual on practical ministry we call The Book of James:
13 Is anyone among you suffering from evil causes? Let him pray.
Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
14 Is anyone among you physically sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the mentally, emotionally and relationally weak, and the Lord will raise him up.
And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
Despite the clear teaching of the inspired, infallible and inerrant scripture, many preachers and teachers try to ignore "Thorns in the flesh" of sin, guilt and illness. We desperately need to teach the therapeutic power of mutual confession, mutual forgiveness and mutual prayers.
The Roman Catholic Church has made this passage into a formal role for the Priests and that has been a positive thing as far as emotional illness is concerned. However, just imagine the power that could be released if every Evangelical, Charismatic, Fundamentalist and Mainline Church in America actually practiced healing through teaching its members how to confess to one another and receive confessions from one another.
I have taught this passage from Cincinnati to Singapore, from San Francisco to Scandinavia from Missouri to Moscow and have seen God do wonderful things. When leaders practice First Century Christianity lives are changed and people are healed. People are thirsty for reality and relief rather than denial.
Many people initially tried to battle AIDS by ignoring its connection to sexual sin. They played PC politics and as a result millions of people died.
Many contemporary churches try to deal with sin, guilt and shame by acting like they do not exist. That will not work. There must be an antidote that is simple and easily accessed. A forgiving, nurturing, mutually confessing church family that operates like A.A. would do it.
A.A. does not ignore sin, guilt and shame and apply mutual confession so it works as a therapeutic community. Take them away and the 12 Steps are meaningless. Take them out of the church and Easter is meaningless. No wonder depression and anxiety are on the rise.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
There is Evil Out There
Over the past few days we have been bombarded with sounds and pictures of evil. When the Bible describes the world it always has a ring of truth because there is an admixture of pain and redemption; evil and good; sickness and healing; death and resurrection. Unlike myths about King Arthur and old time monarchs the Bible's stories do not cover up the sins and griefs of humanity.
The massacres in Iraq and the USA by paranoid men with guns can cause us to despair but Jesus calls us to have hope as we place our faith in Him. I trust in God but I also believe that there are evil people who must be stopped or they will destroy us.
Some of the people I admire seem to think that all we need to do to get peace in the world is "be nice". They are like a woman who recently called a local radio talk show and angrily denounced President Bush because he has not stopped the violence in the Middle East. He should just go over to Iraq and tell the Shia and the Sunni to make nice with each other.
It occurred to me that this lady had wonderful intentions but she is out of touch with reality. The Shia and Sunni branches of Islam have been warring for several hundred years and they know nothing of forgiveness. The war in Iraq may have been a blunder. We do not know if it was right or wrong decision in the long run. The current pain is great but only after many years will we know if the decision to take Saddam out of power was wise.
However, one thing is sure. There are and always will be evil in the hearts and souls of many people and it is usually in the long term interest of good people to take them out. I wish someone had taken Mr. Cho out of society before he killed 32 innocent people. I wish someone had taken Stalin and Hitler out but no one did and they killed millions of innocent people.
God alone is good and we need His power and love each day. We also need to pray for people in power because their decisions have enormous consequences.
The massacres in Iraq and the USA by paranoid men with guns can cause us to despair but Jesus calls us to have hope as we place our faith in Him. I trust in God but I also believe that there are evil people who must be stopped or they will destroy us.
Some of the people I admire seem to think that all we need to do to get peace in the world is "be nice". They are like a woman who recently called a local radio talk show and angrily denounced President Bush because he has not stopped the violence in the Middle East. He should just go over to Iraq and tell the Shia and the Sunni to make nice with each other.
It occurred to me that this lady had wonderful intentions but she is out of touch with reality. The Shia and Sunni branches of Islam have been warring for several hundred years and they know nothing of forgiveness. The war in Iraq may have been a blunder. We do not know if it was right or wrong decision in the long run. The current pain is great but only after many years will we know if the decision to take Saddam out of power was wise.
However, one thing is sure. There are and always will be evil in the hearts and souls of many people and it is usually in the long term interest of good people to take them out. I wish someone had taken Mr. Cho out of society before he killed 32 innocent people. I wish someone had taken Stalin and Hitler out but no one did and they killed millions of innocent people.
God alone is good and we need His power and love each day. We also need to pray for people in power because their decisions have enormous consequences.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Media Give Killer Cho a Morning Show
Michael Welner, an ABC News consultant and a forensic psychiatrist, appeared on Thursday's Good Morning America to slam the media for gratuitously airing videos sent by deceased mass killer Seung-Hui Cho. Welner even referenced the network frenzy over fired radio host Don Imus by saying, "Just listen, if you can take Imus off the air, you can certainly keep [Cho] from having his own morning show."
On GMA, Welner delivered an impassioned plea for the networks to stop airing the killer's footage:
"If anybody cares about the victims in Blacksburg and if anybody cares about their children, stop showing this video now. Take it off the Internet. Let it be relegated to YouTube. This is a social catastrophe. Showing the video is a social catastrophe. I promise you the disaffected will watch him the way they watched 'Natural Born Killers.' I know. I examine these people. I've examined mass shooters who have told me they've watched 'Natural Born Killers' 20 times. You cannot saturate the American public with this kind of message."
Adapted from a posting, by Scott Whitlock, on the MRC's NewsBusters blog: newsbusters.org
Who is saturating our nation with spiritual evil? Do you want the paranoid psychos in your town to feed on this kind of incitement? Dr. Welner says he does not! As a therapist I can certainly support his plea for sanity for the media but they are crazy about fame and money and will not stop.
He compared Cho's posthumous attention to that of the acclaim given to Palestinian suicide bombers who have "articles written about themselves in the New York Times"
Who honors Islamic terrorists and raises domestic killers to the place of folk heroes by permitting them to be seen hundreds of times on international TV and in famous newspapers?
Why do we pay for this kind of madness?
On GMA, Welner delivered an impassioned plea for the networks to stop airing the killer's footage:
"If anybody cares about the victims in Blacksburg and if anybody cares about their children, stop showing this video now. Take it off the Internet. Let it be relegated to YouTube. This is a social catastrophe. Showing the video is a social catastrophe. I promise you the disaffected will watch him the way they watched 'Natural Born Killers.' I know. I examine these people. I've examined mass shooters who have told me they've watched 'Natural Born Killers' 20 times. You cannot saturate the American public with this kind of message."
Adapted from a posting, by Scott Whitlock, on the MRC's NewsBusters blog: newsbusters.org
Who is saturating our nation with spiritual evil? Do you want the paranoid psychos in your town to feed on this kind of incitement? Dr. Welner says he does not! As a therapist I can certainly support his plea for sanity for the media but they are crazy about fame and money and will not stop.
He compared Cho's posthumous attention to that of the acclaim given to Palestinian suicide bombers who have "articles written about themselves in the New York Times"
Who honors Islamic terrorists and raises domestic killers to the place of folk heroes by permitting them to be seen hundreds of times on international TV and in famous newspapers?
Why do we pay for this kind of madness?
Impersonal Reasons for a Killing
The killing of over thirty students and faculty last week brings out the best and worst in us. When I went to work that day and Karen mentioned to me what she heard on the news it was so overwhelming that I just wanted` to close my eyes and make it go away. I am in the "avoidance stage" when hearing about more massacres that come from hearts of evil men and women.
The headlines confirm exactly what the Bible says in Ephesians 6: We fight not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavens. How else can we explain the actions of a deranged young man or a group of deranged Muslims who kill hundreds of men, women, boys and girls just to get their coveted news headlines? As one of the wounded survivors said:
Garrett Evans said of the man who'd shot him, "An evil spirit was going through that boy, I could feel it." (Peggy Noonan, OpinionJournal [OpinionJournal@wsj.com], April 20, 2007)
Yes, Mr. Cho was mentally deranged but he was also a walking, talking cesspool of demonic evil that the victims could feel flowing out of him. Just as we can feel the power of God coming through an anointed Christian, believers can discern the presence of evil in a man or group.
Several members of the Korean Campus Crusade at Virginia Tech tried to minister to Cho but he rejected them. A Korean Pastor also attempted to reach him but he was rebuffed. Many times mentally ill people are attracted to Christians and their Jesus. But, like the Gadarene demoniac who feared the power of Jesus, some are repulsed. Evil spirits know their fate is a certain loss of influence.
One of the reasons I do not like to hear all the details of such evil acts is because of the often predictable comments of talking heads on TV and radio. Maybe they tap into my own lack of wisdom about what to say, but politicians and therapists have no choice but to answer the questions put to them so they sometimes say some pretty dumb things. Looking back in a few years I imagine they will wish they had been silent.
For example, the head of the VT Campus Counseling Center said troubled people did not get the help they need because there is a lack of Government funding. (The counselors were impotent against Cho. They have all the financial resources they needed no power to intervene.)
Barack Obama compared the murders to losing a $7.00 an hour job and Barbara Boxer suggested the killings were similar to Global Warming. Others promoted either gun control or more guns as the answer. Can't these people get off "message" for one moment out of respect for the families? Are politicians so narcissistic and driven that they have no empathy for these dead people and their loved ones?
Sometimes pols need to simply act like human beings and respond to the media's obsession with issues with, "I am so sorry. I do not know what to say other than I am grief stricken. Let me go home to my wife and kids and hug them." Shedding a tear is a human response to evil and so is a resolve to fight it. But answering a reporter's query with a canned issue response actually facilitates the evil.
Bryan Williams and NBC gleefully facilitated the evil and Cho's plot by publishing his rants and showing his videos. Just as Islamic TV stations encourage and reward suicide bombings NBC glorified the demonically insane ideas of Cho by using his madness and badness to get ratings.
I refuse to watch the videos and I will not support NBC by watching what passes for "News" on the General Electric owned stations. I am aghast at their callous disregard for the sensibilities of people who fired Imus for making a very bad joke and then turn around and glorify the evil acts of an evil man even before his victims have been buried. (This seems to be a continuation of the NBC approach to put ranting maniacs like Keith Olberman on the air.)
I have prayed for the victims' families and for the University officials. I am also praying for the campus ministries. I will continue my prayers for only God can rescue us from evil men and evil groups of fanatics.
The headlines confirm exactly what the Bible says in Ephesians 6: We fight not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavens. How else can we explain the actions of a deranged young man or a group of deranged Muslims who kill hundreds of men, women, boys and girls just to get their coveted news headlines? As one of the wounded survivors said:
Garrett Evans said of the man who'd shot him, "An evil spirit was going through that boy, I could feel it." (Peggy Noonan, OpinionJournal [OpinionJournal@wsj.com], April 20, 2007)
Yes, Mr. Cho was mentally deranged but he was also a walking, talking cesspool of demonic evil that the victims could feel flowing out of him. Just as we can feel the power of God coming through an anointed Christian, believers can discern the presence of evil in a man or group.
Several members of the Korean Campus Crusade at Virginia Tech tried to minister to Cho but he rejected them. A Korean Pastor also attempted to reach him but he was rebuffed. Many times mentally ill people are attracted to Christians and their Jesus. But, like the Gadarene demoniac who feared the power of Jesus, some are repulsed. Evil spirits know their fate is a certain loss of influence.
One of the reasons I do not like to hear all the details of such evil acts is because of the often predictable comments of talking heads on TV and radio. Maybe they tap into my own lack of wisdom about what to say, but politicians and therapists have no choice but to answer the questions put to them so they sometimes say some pretty dumb things. Looking back in a few years I imagine they will wish they had been silent.
For example, the head of the VT Campus Counseling Center said troubled people did not get the help they need because there is a lack of Government funding. (The counselors were impotent against Cho. They have all the financial resources they needed no power to intervene.)
Barack Obama compared the murders to losing a $7.00 an hour job and Barbara Boxer suggested the killings were similar to Global Warming. Others promoted either gun control or more guns as the answer. Can't these people get off "message" for one moment out of respect for the families? Are politicians so narcissistic and driven that they have no empathy for these dead people and their loved ones?
Sometimes pols need to simply act like human beings and respond to the media's obsession with issues with, "I am so sorry. I do not know what to say other than I am grief stricken. Let me go home to my wife and kids and hug them." Shedding a tear is a human response to evil and so is a resolve to fight it. But answering a reporter's query with a canned issue response actually facilitates the evil.
Bryan Williams and NBC gleefully facilitated the evil and Cho's plot by publishing his rants and showing his videos. Just as Islamic TV stations encourage and reward suicide bombings NBC glorified the demonically insane ideas of Cho by using his madness and badness to get ratings.
I refuse to watch the videos and I will not support NBC by watching what passes for "News" on the General Electric owned stations. I am aghast at their callous disregard for the sensibilities of people who fired Imus for making a very bad joke and then turn around and glorify the evil acts of an evil man even before his victims have been buried. (This seems to be a continuation of the NBC approach to put ranting maniacs like Keith Olberman on the air.)
I have prayed for the victims' families and for the University officials. I am also praying for the campus ministries. I will continue my prayers for only God can rescue us from evil men and evil groups of fanatics.
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