6/30/2015
GOAFS II #146 ICHABOD
GOAFS II: #146
ICHABOD
7.1.15
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he glory has departed. The
events of Last week made it clear that America is now firmly in the grip of
tyrannical co- regents, an Imperial President and an Imperial Supreme Court.
The signs are not good for the future—the Unidentifiable Flying Object pictured
below is reported to be casting dark shadows on the People’s House in
Washington.
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f you have always wanted to
visit the Holy Land you had better get ready fast—it looks like the Supreme
Leader in the White House is on the verge of giving all the keys to the Pandora’s
Box of nuclear weapons to the Supreme Leader and the mad Mullahs in Teheran. If
you hurry, you might be able to reserve a room at the King David Hotel with a good
view of ground zero.
Jerry Sweers
GROWING OLD
AIN’T FOR SISSIES
Sailing directions for Pilgrims of the Heart.
Remembrances, reflections and rants
of an endangered species;
Curmudgensis Americanus
Bibliophilius
site: crmudgeon.blogspot.com
6/24/2015
THE BAKER'S CHALLENGE
GOAFS II: #145
THE BAKER’S
CHALLENGE
6. 24.15
Recently Joel Belz, in an
editorial in World Magazine, briefly discussed the problems of a Christian
Baker who got into difficulty when he chose not to serve a gay couple seeking
to buy a wedding cake. Belz gave his readers a religious “Baker’s Challenge”;
“Imagine…that you are the owner/operator of a
neighborhood bakery. In walks a homosexual couple, asking you to prepare a cake
for their wedding coming up a month from now.”
Belz pointed out that when
Jesus was confronted with a question of faith where it was in conflict with the
religious or cultural values and practices of his time, he often answered the
question with a question. In Luke 10:25, A lawyer, for example, asked Jesus, “what
shall I do to have eternal life?”
Jesus answered him, “What
is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
The expert in the Law
answered Jesus, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all
your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor
as yourself.”
Jesus replied, “You have
answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But this wasn’t enough for
the lawyer—no way could he consider a Gentile his neighbor. He asked Jesus who
his neighbor was and Jesus answered him with the story of the Good Samaritan,
and finished it with another question: “Who proved to be a neighbor to the man
who fell among robbers?
Belz asked his readers to
put themselves in the shoes of the Christian baker and do what Jesus might have
done, following his pattern in the gospels.
Belz’ goal was to discover
whether his readers, as a group, might come up with some winsome rhetoric for
delivering what was likely to be a negative message. He specifically asked them
to follow the pattern Jesus’ often used in His public ministry--ask a pertinent
question specifically designed to clarify the issue and open redemptive
dialogue.
Belz made some assumptions
that made the challenge more difficult. He assumed the baker, because he was a
Christian, would not want to bake cake, and that the couple was self-identified
somehow as gay. As I recall, Belz asked his readers to also suggest the answer
they would expect to their question and the response they would give to the
answer.
Three weeks later Belz
reported he had received over 200 responses. Many had much to say, most missed
the challenge entirely, and a few made an effort (like “bake the cake and give
it to the couple free”). Belz confessed that he had not been able to meet the
challenge himself, but still hopes there might be a good way to do it but
admits he does not know how.
Re: The
Question Looms
Is the issue
still open? I would like to take a stab at it.
You want
simplicity, here are two questions and a response but they can be boiled down
to just the first question.
1. What kind of cake do you want to buy?
2. When would you like it delivered?
If same sex
marriage comes up, it should not be the baker who raises the issue. He might
graciously turn down an invitation to the wedding, citing his Christian
convictions about such a ceremony but this is the last place for a theological
discussion or a ringing condemnation of the abomination in question. In this
case, simple courtesy is probably the most effective Christian testimony that
might be given.
Pilgrim Friends, I would be interested to hear your response
to the Baker’s Challenge. This is a very specific situation. There are numerous
situations where this would not necessarily apply—for example, things like
ObamaCare’s attempts to get Christian institutions to provide healthcare
coverage for the murder of babies in the womb. Try to confine your thinking to
this specific situation.
Jerry Sweers
GROWING OLD
AIN’T FOR SISSIES
Sailing directions for Pilgrims of the Heart.
Remembrances, reflections and rants
of an endangered species;
Curmudgensis Americanus
Bibliophilius
site: crmudgeon.blogspot.com
6/17/2015
DO THE NEXT THING
GOAFS II: #144
DO THE NEXT
THING…
6.17.15
Two thousand years ago an itinerant evangelist in Galilee gave
his early disciples, and crowds of the curious, some very good advice;
…”do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be
anxious for itself. (Matthew 6.34)
This is still good advice today. As a pilgrim of the heavenly
way, I have found that living one day at a time is a long, hard lesson to learn
but it is well worth what it takes to learn it.
On June 15, 2015 Betty Elliot stepped from a long and rich
life of service to her Lord to a new Life of service in His presence. She was
88 years old. I am one of many who has profited greatly from her life, her
books, and her example.
My son-in-law sent me a posting by Justin Taylor commenting on
Elizabeth Elliot’s life and work and her passing into eternity. He calls her “a
beautiful woman of whom the world was not worthy.” He also quotes an anonymous
poem that she made famous, one I have not seen before but one that might well
be sung by pilgrims on their way up to “the city that has foundations, whose
designer and builder is God”;
At an old English parsonage down by the
sea,
there came in the twilight a message to
me.
Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven
that,
as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.
And all through the hours the quiet words
ring,
like a low inspiration, ‘Do the next
thing.’
Many a questioning, many a fear,
many a doubt hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from heaven,
time, opportunity, guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrow, child of the King,
trust that with Jesus, do the next thing.
Do it immediately, do it with prayer,
do it reliantly, casting all care.
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,
who placed it before thee with earnest
command.
Stayed on omnipotence, safe ‘neath His
wing,
leave all resultings, do the next thing.
Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
working or suffering be thy demeanor,
in His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
the light of His countenance, be thy
psalm.
Do the next thing.
Thirty one years ago
this month I wrote a down a brief reflection on living one day at a time;
CREED
Yesterday is a
memory.
Tomorrow is a dream.
I will live today
with full attention
To the reality God
brings me,
Fitting myself to it
By doing what needs
to be done.
I have found it to be a good guide for pilgrims in the
heavenly way.
…”do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be
anxious for itself. (Matthew 6.34)
Jerry Sweers
GROWING OLD
AIN’T FOR SISSIES
Sailing directions for Pilgrims of the Heart.
Remembrances, reflections and rants
of an endangered species;
Curmudgensis Americanus
Bibliophilius
site: crmudgeon.blogspot.com
