A former professor of mine is piecing together a book concerning the necessity of seminaries for the well-being of the local church.  I emailed him a brief reply (tried to keep it at 400 words) which I have provided a link to below.  What do you think?

Click Here To Read My Response - PDF File 

Thanks to a recent Facebook status update from my sister, I was reminded that I have never posted some of my favorite Whose Line Is It Anyway scenes.  This show (Sadly now off the air) was all improv and produced some of the funniest stuff to ever air on television.

Case in point, here is one of my favorite games.  It is called "Quick Change."  When ever Wayne says "Change", the actor has to say his last line again differently.  It is absolutely hilarious.  If you don't laugh at this, you have something wrong with ya!  My favorite exchange from the one below is:

"Why can't we just live in peace?"
"Change."
"Why can't we all just sing a rousing song of Kumbaya?"
"Change."
"Why can't we make a nice felt marker out of twigs and a popular cola?"
"Change."
"Why can't we just... walk in a circle, quack like a duck and pretend it's--"
"Change."
"Hey! I'm staying out of this!"

I have decided to post video clips on occasion of what I am calling "life changing moments."  That phrase is used, of course, tongue in cheek, but nevertheless the video below and others to come had a radical enough impact that I still remember them vividly and fondly today.

So, below is one of the moments that changed my life.  Be looking for more to come.

I learn lessons everyday.  Today was no exception.

A friend, mentor, and former colleague of mine, Dr. Mike Ruffin,  posted two articles on Facebook, one by Gerald Harris and one by John Pierce, concerning a situation in the life of Georgia Baptists.  If interested you can read the articles here and here.  The issue centers on the Bible's teaching concerning women in the pastorate.  Certainly not a new issue, but one that still elicits passionate responses.  The main point of my post here is not to discuss the various strengths and weaknesses of each article as it relates to the validity of women pastors.  Instead, I want to share with you an interaction I had as a result of reading these articles and responding.

After reading the article by John Pierce, who I have no doubt loves the Lord and desires the name of Christ to be exalted, I was upset and disappointed.  Regardless of whether or not I agree with his particular viewpoint on the issue at hand (which I don't), he simply posited a poor argument that was weak on constructive exegesis to defend his position and heavy on accusations toward Harris as being insensitive to women and walking in the same company as slave defenders.  These comments were made in light of the article by Harris which focused on how difficult it was for him to follow through with his convictions because it was going to hurt people he cared for (in fact, Harris' article was not primarily a systematic, biblical defense of his own position).  I believe Pierce knows better than to make the parallel between the two issues of slavery and women pastors.  It is the kind of argument we might expect from someone with no seminary training who is attempting to create a more viscerally powerful reaction.  These two issues, both exegetically and practically, are worlds apart.  Furthermore, I believe it hurts the position of moderates when these kinds of arguments are made.  Not for the moderates themselves who already have strong convictions on the issue, but for those who might be wrestling with their own view of this important topic.  In other words, I believe that my friend Mike Ruffin's "counter-point" would have read much, much differently.  Add to all this the irony that this argument which is primarily against Harris and his theology, regardless of the strength or validity of Harris' position, is made by a moderate Baptist who dwells in the company of those who walked away from the SBC to the CBF largely due to a lack of acceptance.  Thus, to be consistent with his own take on what Baptist's should be, Pierce's article should have started out - "I appreciate Gerald Harris for his heart-felt convictions on Scripture, convictions that led him to make a very difficult painful decision.  One that he no doubt wishes he did not have to make.  However, I believe Harris could have saved himself and the church at Druid Hills the hardship of separation.  I say that because I believe Harris is mistaken in his interpretation of Scripture.  Here is why. . ." 
          
So, I emailed Gerald Harris, editor of The Christian Index.  I simply let him know that I appreciated the tone of his article and that it was clear to me that his heart was broken by following through on what was a painful decision.  My assumption is that he had come under intense fire from the publication.  I was right.

Harris emailed me back promptly.  He thanked me for the email.  He acknowledged that his article had incited quite a strong reaction which surprised him.  And then he said something in his email that made me sit back and reflect.  He said:

"I respect Johnny Pierce for his observations and wish him God's best."

That's class.  That's being a man.  That's demonstrating true humility.  Not one word even suggesting a sarcastic or negative tone toward Pierce was made by Harris.  The man who accused him of walking in the same company as slave defenders is being respected and blessed by Harris in an arena where he no doubt would have felt safe to make some kind of slanderous remark.  Perhaps I would have received a similar response from Pierce had I emailed him.  Perhaps Pierce's article is not reflective of his "respect" for Gerald Harris and his desire for him to receive "God's best." 

Yes, I learned a lesson today.  Another lesson in humility.  Not that Christians should just avoid debate and robust discussion.  On the contrary, Scripture itself testifies to the requirement of all Christians to stand firm on truth.  I have tried to graciously point out what I believe are problems with the approach of John Pierce's article.  Point and counter-point is how we learn and grow.  But that in our standing, we are humble.  In our interpretations, we are gracious.  And in our opposition of others, we maintain the dignity of Christ. 

*Note - I should point out that evangelical conservatives have played their own role in the past (and present no doubt) of failing to graciously defend their position in favor of attacking the position of others.  I no doubt have been guilty of this many times.  This lesson of humility runs across the board, not reserved for just conservatives, moderates, or liberals.

Today is Earth Day 2010.  I know this for two reasons:  First, the Sprout channel, a 24 hour channel devoted to programming for infants and toddlers, has been making a huge deal of Earth Day with the release of their new cartoon "Dirt Girl."  Second, there is a huge "Earth Day" reminder on my Google Calendar.  What is a biblical Christian response to the purposes and activism of Earth Day?  Here are a few thoughts.

The Earth plays a significant role in the storyline of the Bible.  Even today it is longing to be freed from its current state of corruption caused by original sin (Romans 8:21-22).  Genesis 1-3 provides the context for human responsibility of the Earth as we have been given "dominion" over it (Genesis 1:26).  Thus, I find it difficult to understand how any Christian could argue with the assumption that the Earth is a gift to all humankind and we, especially as Christians, should take care of it.  In this way, I offer my full support to the purposes of Earth Day insofar as they relate to our increased awareness of the Christian responsibility to be good stewards of our planet. 

Having said that, let me emphasize a few points from that last sentence.  Although Earth Day is obviously not a Christian based holiday, it should nevertheless stir us up to a Christian response to the Earth.  This may very well, at times, cause a difference between what our thinking should be as Christians compared to the universal purposes and assumptions of Earth Day 2010.  For example, if you read the simple "2010 Campaign" section on the Earth Day website, you will read things like "the world is in greater peril than ever" and "climate change is the greatest challenge of our time."  Those are statements that are heavily debatable not only from a scientific-secular point of view, but also contradict the Christian worldview of what poses the greatest threat in our day.  The greatest threat is not climate change, but rather him who is called the "god of this world" and continues to blind the eyes of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the truthfulness of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4).  In short, when our passions are more turned to a concern over the temperature of the earth than they are the eternal security of our neighbor, then we have failed in our most basic responsibility as a Christian which is to Love God the most and our neighbor as ourselves.  People are more important.

Another underlying assumption of Earth Day, and one that is being forced fed to millions and millions of teenagers, is that we (especially in the west) are most recognizable by our hostility, stupidity, and apathy toward the Earth and its care.  This was my one complaint against the movie Avatar.  It basically depicted us as complete morons who destroyed the Earth.  The Earth is viewed as the innocent hero and humans are viewed as the cold-hearted enemy.  Pastor Kevin DeYoung describes this well when he says, "Too often a model is assumed where the earth is a healthy organism and
humans are cancerous cells. All we do is pillage, pollute, and destroy.
The world would be better off without us. Our goal then is to minimize
our “footprint” at all costs. All we do, it is implied, is consume the
planet’s valuable resources."  This way of thinking, of course, is a gross overstatement and contradicts the importance of humans in the world as taught in Scripture.  Humans are God's crowning achievement, not the Earth.  And humans have a lot to offer, as we already have, in making the Earth a place where we can call home. 

Finally, the continued assumptions of global warming will sometimes cause a polar division between those who believe and those who don't.  As a Christian, the legitimacy of global warming should not sway us one way or another at the end of the day.  Although we deserve to be told the truth about the scientific assertions made about global warming, Christians have a responsibility to love and care for the earth.  Even if the news came tomorrow that global warming is a false threat, it should make little difference in our approach to the environment.  We are called to be good stewards with our without the threat of global warming.

So, I believe Earth Day to be a great example of how not to "throw the baby out with the bathwater."  As Christians we should allow this day to remind us of the great responsibility and honor God has given to us in regard to our care for the Earth.  That doesn't mean we have to believe and adhere to every aspect of Earth Day.  But it shouldn't drive us completely away either.