a hole and a cure

Rick Stearns, the President of World Vision (a Christian relief organization) just published a book called "The Hole in our Gospel". His aim, in his own words, was to ask "what does God expect of us"?

A line of well-wishers lined up on his blog when he asked "do you think there is a hole in our gospel?" Yes, Mr. Stearns, you are right! I haven't read the book, so I don't know if their praise was valid. These are my thoughts....

Assets:
1. apparently there is a lot of scripture
2. the man has seen a lot of suffering but is still hopeful and persevering
3. there is a need for a Christ-centered view point to all of the social justice talk that is so in vogue
4. the recession has been a wake up call to the prosperity of the west. maybe this will dovetail on that and provide needed correction
5. the authentic gospel could potentially be shared through this book to reach unbelievers and lukwarmers with the words and life of Jesus

Concerns:
1. it will be too depressing
2. people/the church's sins and faults will be BIG, God will be small
3. I already agree that we need to meet the needs of the whole person-- and that the gospel is lacking something if it doesn't. Will it only reach an audience already aware and concerned about this?
4. skeptical about how I grow from this book if I'm already on board
5. he won't offer practical action steps: 1. repent, ask forgiveness 2. start living in the WHOLE gospel......without repentance, people could be left depressed and guilty, (which is not where the gospel leaves you, so I really hope that doesn't happen!)

Comfort:
1. books don't change people, God changes people. sometimes he uses books. may this be one of those.
2. the book of Life is the ultimate comfort and authority. The more that his people know it and live it, the further his Love will reach through us, his hands and feet.

Finale:
I probably won't read it, but I'm curious to see if there are any ripples of change from this-- I'd prefer to see waves, I guess! I would rejoice in a spiritual hurricane of repentance and grace blowing through America....and through my own heart.

Remembering

Francis of Assisi, cir­ca 1225
All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!

I'm so thankful for creatures. Especially pets. You share your life with them. They are present for all your days and moods, day in and day out. My cat Muiry was such a pet. He suddenly got sick last Friday. My mom thought it was hairballs-- but he kept getting weaker. So I brought him to the vet on Monday morning, and found out he was blocked with stones or crystals, so he couldn't urinate, and his system was getting toxic. They tried to unblock him and eventually succeeded, and he started to feel better. We visited him on Tuesday morning and he was delightful and purring, even with an Elizabethan collar! But Wednesday, when the catheter came out, he got plugged again. On Wednesday afternoon we said goodbye, after making the hard decision not to do a very expensive surgery. It's so hard. It's hard to be in control and making choices about life and death. It's hard to weigh financial stewardship with love and compassion- where do they meet? What is wise? Tough stuff. I just wanted to take time to remember him...and be thankful for him, too.
So cute.

I'll admit, Muiry had a belly. He loved to eat. He would come to the kitchen table and sit on your lap if you were eating. I would break up potato chips and let him eat them. He loved them! He also loved ice cream and cereal. Kind of like Garfield. But nicer.

That cat loved to be warm. We put a box over the heat vent for him to be cozy in.

"What are you looking at?" He was very curious.

He even got along with Java. That's saying a lot.


More Reclining.

Muiry was great. He was such a sweet cat. He would come and sit on your lap and purr. He was really calm and friendly-- usually-- although he hid from visitors at first and ran from loud noises. (But John's booming voice scares a lot of people.) I'm going to miss him. I first wrote about giving him a name in my blog here. It's such a privilege to give a creature a name! He was the first pet I bought with my own money, and even paid those darn vet bills! I'm really thankful to God. Muiry was a real joy, a special gift. I remember praying to find the "right" cat at the Humane Society! We went back a second time and found Muiry. And he surely brought a lot of joy to our lives.

Happy Jackson Pollock's Birthday

The film may have glorified him, and his contributions to modern art may be debatable-- but it's still his birthday. Enjoy making your own Jackson here (very cool!)

Organic F$$d

Very enjoyable video about buying organic....

Futility and Hope

"We applied the Industrial Revolution model to the green agricultural revolution and we went a little bit too far in that direction, and now we have to back off a bit and respect the fact that the plants and the soil are biological," he said. "They are not engineering problems. They're more complex." Says Matthew Reynolds, a wheat physiologist at the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, in Mexican growers plant seeds for food revolution an article by Julie Watson in the Chronicle Herald.

We are eating the fruit of the simplified problem-solving of the green revolution, where the goal was just to grow MORE. Organic matter in soil decreased because the focus was on inputs-- hybridizing wheat genes and fertilizer (not inherently bad things), but the long-term health of the land and the people (basically, sustainability!) was not at the core of the solutions. It needs to be.

Oil prices, market speculation, bigger appetites in China and other industrializing nations all contributed to that price spike. But experts looking ahead see further trouble globally: the lag in growth of per-hectare farm output, water shortages, shifts in agricultural zones and rainfall patterns because of global warming. (Watson)

These challenges are the realities of food production in the world. They are big, complex problems. I am hopeful about using science in an integrated fashion (agroecology) to improve production and emphasizing LOCAL. Programs using technology (like GeenSeeker (below)) or techniques (Farming God's way from Care of Creation) or thoughts (like Permaculture, which is sort of an urban, small scale agriculture school of thought).

A pilot project using the GeenSeeker, a computerized sensor that scans plants’ leaves to determine how much nitrogen they need, to avoid overfertilizing. It may save him $10,000 on fertilizer for his 100 hectares, and researchers hope it eventually will cut nitrogen run-off by as much as 90 per cent. (Watson)

These ideas show that there is room for innovation, and not just despair! And above all I am thankful to God. It is by God's mercy that the earth even produces anything. We certainly don't deserve it-- the earth is cursed because of us, remember! In the shiny goodness of Christmas I forget about the curse. But then I read the newspaper, or listen to the words coming out of my mouth, and remember... above all I need to remember God's gift of Jesus Christ, BY whom and things were created and hold together, and in whom all things (and people who repent and believe on him) will be fully redeemed. That is a great hope for 2009.

It is good to give

And it's wise to know how your money is spent. As 2008 closes, check out Charitywatch.org, run by the American Institute of Philanthropy, to see how the charities you give to rate.

'Daniel Borochoff created AIP in 1992 to address the continuing need for thoughtful information regarding the financial efficiency, accountability, governance and fundraising practices of charities. Charity financial reporting is often inconsistent, unclear, and sometimes unethical and even fraudulent. AIP carefully analyzes charity financial documents to identify the charities that are financially efficient--and the ones that are not--and publishes its findings. AIP encourages donors to give to charities that will allocate most of their contributions to program services that benefit the people and causes donors wish to support. AIP also promotes charity accountability and transparency through its research on the rapidly changing nonprofit field.'

This list of top CEO compensation packages is also scary! http://charitywatch.org/Top25.html

The past does not repeat itself, but it rhymes...

...Thanks Mark Twain. What can we learn from the past about water issues? Something, I hope. This article focuses on China and connects hydrogen&oxygen to fables, engineering, and water shortages in Beijing.