More Than Stone

From an article in The Bend Weekly and a link at Church Marketing Sucks.

The twenty-first century is a golden age for Christian-based entertainment: “The Passion of the Christ,” which took in over $370 million at the box office, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” which took in more than $290 million domestically last winter, and Tim LaHaye’s “Left Behind” books, which have sold more than 50 million copies, are the most tangible examples of evangelical blockbusters.

In addition, according to the New York Times, “Christian music now racks up $700 million in sales annually. In 2004, sales of religious books reached $1.9 billion. Packaged Facts, a market-research firm, predicted that Christian products will generate $9.5 billion in sales by 2010.”

Wow. 9.5 billion dollars. What do you think Jesus would think? I’m not throwing stones, here. I buy Christian music and christian books, I took my kids to see Narnia…..the whole shebang. But what would happen if the church cut their buying by half? Say we took a measly 4.5 billion and invested it in changing the world, eliminating poverty and spreading the love of Christ. What would happen?

In a recent Newsweek article, Billy Graham was interviewed.

“As time went on, I began to realize the love of God for everybody, all over the world,” he says. “And in his death on the cross, some mysterious thing happened between God and the Son that we don’t understand. But there he was, alone, taking on the sins of the world.”

Wow. This is going to tick some people off, isn’t it? Another well known evangelical purporting that he doesn’t know everything there is to know about the mysteries of God.

rob+bell billy+graham newsweek

Lean into the pain. It cannot be outrun. You can’t get around it, over it, under it; you must go through it and feel the full force of it. That is the human experience.

Jesus never promised heaven on earth. In fact, He said that we will have afflictions and tribulations. As the mother of a child recently diagnosed with epilepsy, I’ve been disheartened by some of the responses I have had from my Christian friends.

“God will teach her things through this.”
“He is still on the throne.”
“It could be worse.”

All of these things are true. God will teach her things. He is still on the throne. It could be worse. But none of that is helpful to hear when I need someone to vent to. Epilepsy has changed our lives. We must find a new “normal”. I grieve over her lost health. I worry that she may have to deal with this the rest of her life. I am anxious about the effects of the many medicines she is on…how will it affect her learning? I am fearful that she will get hurt when she has a seizure. I question if we will get her seizures under control. I could go on and on… and I need to. I need a safe place to process these emotions. Being sad does not mean that I do not know the truth. Being sad does not mean that I do not trust God. Being sad does not imply that I’m not Godly enough or that I don’t have faith.

The bible says that God is close to the broken hearted. Jesus wept when Lazarus died. So many came to Jesus to be healed. I never remember reading that Jesus gave them the “what for” or placated them with a trivial adage. He healed them. He touched them and then he healed them. The Greek for healed is therapeuo. I need a little therapeuo in my life. A touch and some healing. For me, that means a listening ear. Someone to be witness to my grieving and my fear.

I recently explained to my husband my feelings. The story I came up with was the following:

I’m driving down the road. I’m at peace with God. The radio is on and I’m humming along. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a truck appears. It’s not a semi, but it’s a big, heavy pick up. I have no time to react. The collision just happens. It spins the vehicle around. Everything in the car is flying around, uncontrolled. The car comes to a stop. I’m injured, bruised and bleeding. I’m still not sure what has happened. “Where did that truck come from? Where’s all my stuff? Is that blood on my shirt?” I’m hoping that an ambulance is on the way. Then, someone appears. “Thank God,” I think, “help is here”. That person, my helper, says to me, “Get out of the car. The accident is over. God is on the throne. It could be worse…you could be dead. Besides, I bet you’ll learn better driving skills from this.”

I’m not even out of the car. My wounds haven’t been stitched. No one has even touched me yet. I still need therapeuo.

Lean into the pain. It cannot be outrun. You can’t get around it, over it, under it; you must go through it and feel the full force of it. That is the human experience. That too, is what Jesus comforts us through. That is, as followers of Christ, what we need to do. Walk with those in pain. Don’t rush it. Don’t give it an adage or quick fix. There isn’t one. We still live in a fallen world. We are still under attack by an enemy we can’t see. There will still be battle wounds. Yes, we are His. Yes, He is on the throne. Yes, one day the lion will walk with the lamb, but in the meantime…

epilepsy faith fear healing hope

a panoply of evangelical eccentricities, un-orthodox oddities & christian cultural curiosities

Where have you been all my life?

Today, I sent my baby to high school. Under normal circumstances, this would be an emotional time. Under current circumstances, I’m a freaking nervous wreck.

On March 23rd, 2006 I received a phone call. It was the school nurse at the middle school.

“Jamie? Hello, this is Norma from XXX middle school. She’s ok, but Becca has had a seizure.”
“WHAT? What do you mean? Is she ok?”
“Yes, she’s fine. Has she ever had a seizure before?”
(COMPLETELY FREAKING OUT BY NOW) “NO! Oh my God! What happened?”
“Well, we’ve called 911 and we will meet you at the hospital.”

Within the following week, Becca had another grand mal seizure, an EEG, another ER visit and an appointment with a neurologist. She was diagnosed with epilepsy. Epilepsy…a term I am familiar with. I remember that there was a girl I went to school with that had epilepsy. I remember seeing her have a seizure. However, I didn’t know epilepsy until now. Now I know it….and I hate it. It’s amazing how little we think of negative things until they happen to one of ours.

This disease has turned me into an absolute nervous freak. Every thump I hear scares me…”is that Becca having a seizure?” When it’s quiet, I’m scared…”is Becca having a seizure?” What if she has a seizure when I’m not around? What is the new normal? Do I let her spend the night at a friend’s house? Do I let her go the movies with her friends? What if she has a seizure while she’s walking down the stairs? What if she’s out in public, has a seizure…I’m not there…and people try to do stupid things like shove something in her mouth to “keep her from swallowing her tongue”?

How do I, as her mother, teach her to be cautious without scaring her? Encourage her to take precautions without turning her into an invalid? “Becca honey, no baths anymore. Only showers. It’s safer.” (remember…she’s freshman in high school). My eldest daughter comes home to find her in the bathtub –ALONE! (as most people bathe). A dear friend of ours lost his sister when she seized in the tub. She drowned. “Becca…I told you, no baths! Honey, you could drown if you had a seizure.” At this, she cries. “Mom, I’m so scared.” Could someone tell me the line between caution and fear?

“God, please protect her today. Let her have a normal day on her first day of high school. No seizures. Put your angels in front of her, beside her and around her. Keep her brain waves smooth and healthy. Protect her from the evil one. Amen”

Just read about “The Truth Isn’t Sexy” on “Tall Skinny Kiwi”

Looks good, but not sure what it’s about or who these people are. If you are concerned about human trafficking, check out International Justice Mission I have two friends that have served in India for this organization. They are the real deal. If you are interested in making a dent in human trafficking, IJM is doing it. In Africa, The Middle East, Aisa, India…

IJM’s Four-Fold Purpose

* Victim Relief - Relieve the victim of the abuse currently being committed.
* Perpetrator Accountability - Bring accountability and just consequences under the law to the specific perpetrator(s) of abuse.
* Structural Prevention - Prevent the abuse from being committed against others who are also at risk by strengthening community factors that are likely to deter potential oppressors, reduce the vulnerability of at-risk populations and empower local authorities to stop such abuses.
* Victim Aftercare - Provide access to services to help victims transition to their new lives and to encourage long-term success.

I’ve stumbled across apprising.org. Wow. This website posing as a blog just has post after post absolutely slamming Rob Bell. This slamming takes place under the guise of wanting to teach “right doctrine”. Much of the criticism is focused on interviews and such. There is a few references to “Velvet Elvis”, but other than that, much of the criticism seems based on the writers own views, rather than fact.

What I particularly love about this site is that there is no comment section. There IS, however, a link to donate $$.

In a recent post on “Out of Ur”, Brian McLaren talks about why young people are leaving the church. He states that we fail to answer the questions that young people are asking. He suggests that instead of guilt and shame, we begin asking the same questions post-high schoolers are asking. So he poses the following question.

What questions did the church not answer for you or not answer well?

Here’s my question. Why the inconsistency between who the church says it is, and how we actually walk that out? My experience with church has been that it is a “country club” for those who are holy. A place we can gather to get away from the world. A building and group of people we can hide inside of. This is completely inconsistent with who Jesus is. How can we teach our children to be like Jesus, to eat with the sinners and prostitutes? He taught us to feed the hungry and heal the sick. Many of us, instead, run to the church to be sequestered inside of it, like it’s a fall out shelter from the world.