I'm nearly through Rich Lusk's Paedofaith, and it has been an excellent read so far. If I had read it a year ago I would likely have thrown it against the wall. But, I feel like this was exactly the right time for me to read this book because of the doctrinal "building blocks" that God has revealed to me (through normal, biblical means) in the last 1-2 years. The book warrants its own post, and likely a series of posts, so stay tuned for that.

But, paedofaith isn't the topic of this post. I want to tell you what my son said at breakfast today, as relayed to me by his mother.

We have a little flag, probably no more than 3"x5" in our kitchen. It is a replica of the city of Lincoln's flag and we picked it up a month or two ago when it seemed likely that we would be moving to Lincoln. It was part prayer reminder, part sentimental artifact. It now sits on the windowsill above the kitchen sink.

Pete, who is 2 1/2 years old, sat down for breakfast next to his 8 month old sister, Elsie. From his vantage point he spotted the Lincoln flag. "Please bring that Lincoln flag to me, Mommy," he asked. Upon receiving the flag, he noticed for the first time that there was something written on it.

The punchline: Without missing a beat, he showed the flag to his beautiful little sister. "That says 'Go Big Red!' right there, Else."

As his father, I must admit I'm awful darn proud of that little boy!

Yahoo! Music Unlimited is wonderful. Using "Christmas money," I purchased a one year subscription to the service, including the "To Go" option. Now, I can download millions of songs if I want, and then transfer them to my Treo 650 using a program called Pocket Tunes and a 1gb SD card. It's a pretty slick setup, I must admit. The only downside is I can't burn any of the songs to CD, but I have a small FM transmitter that can "broadcast" the music to any FM radio. CDs are sooooo mid-90's, anyway.

One of the biggest draws of the subscription service is that I can try all kinds of new music with no further investment. It will even recommend similar artists if you are looking for someone who sounds like Caedmon's Call, as I was the other day.

That's when I stumbled across Derek Webb. The former front-man for Caedmon's is now putting out solo albums. He released She must and Shall Go Free in 2003, and Mockingbird, released this past December. He also released I See Things Upside Down and The House Show in 2004, but I haven't listened to either of them yet.

In light of my previous post on Christian music, it was refreshing to find Webb's music. I "grew up" on Caedmon's Call in college, when I still bought music on CDs. I had Caedmon's Call and 40 Acres, and I listened to them almost nonstop. I always thought the lyrics actually meant something, in contrast to most of the "Christian" music out there.

Webb's recent work maintains this same standard. On the second track from Mockingbird, "A New Law," he mocks the legalism and popular Christianity that is so prevalent in the church today.

And don't teach me about politics and government
Just tell me who to vote for
And don't teach me about truth and beauty
No, just label my music
And don't teach me how to live like a free man
No, just give me a new law

I don't wanna know if the answers aren't easy
So just bring it down from the mountain to me
I want a new law
I want a new law
Just give me that new law

And don't teach me about moderation and liberty
I prefer a shot of grape juice
And don't teach me about loving my enemies
And don't teach me how to listen to the Spirit
No, just give me a new law

I don't wanna know if the answers aren't easy
So just bring it down from the mountain to me
I want a new law
I want a new law
Just give me that new law

Cause what's the use in trading a law you can never keep
For one you can that cannot get you anything
So do not be afraid
Do not be afraid
Do not be afraid

Isn't that exactly what many in the church want today? Please label my music "Chrisian" so I can listen to it, even though the artistic quality is terrible. Please replace the communion wine with grape juice, so I can be holier than that wine-drinking Jesus fellow. Please tell me which candidate to vote for, since everyone in heaven will be white, middle class Republicans.

On "The Rich Young Ruler," Webb sings,

So what must we do?
Here in the West we want to follow you.
We speak the language and we keep all the rules,
Even a few we made up.

Rather than preaching a life-changing, all-consuming Gospel, we reduce "Christianity" to saying an initiation prayer (from your heart, of course) and a new set of do's and don't's. "Go, sell everything you have, and follow me" is now, "Walk this aisle, pray this prayer, stop drinking, smoking, and dancing, and don't say any of the words on this list right here…"

When you read the gospels, you notice that Jesus never heals people the same way twice. He uses spit, mud, his voice, touch, and even the hem of his clothing. His ministry was never reduced to a formula that applied equally in all situations. Unfortunately, we have reduced our modern Christianity to a checklist, a formulaic step-by-step process that we've devised that will hopefully lead us all to heaven.

"What's the use in trading a law you can never keep, for one you can that cannot get you anything?"

You think landscaping, house keeping, and nannying are tough? You should try harvesting sugarcane.

The President would have us believe that Americans just aren't willing to do some jobs. What he really means is that Americans aren't willing to do some jobs for the wages most employers are willing to pay. FDR faced a similar claim from Big Sugar in the 1930s and '40s. His solution? A guest worker program.

Timothy P. Carney of The American Conservative takes a look at how guest workers became indentured servants to the sugar growers, all because they were doing a job that "Americans were not willing to do."

Harvesting the sugarcane was "grueling, dangerous, and monotonous." However, Carney notes, "danger, monotony, and difficulty are not sufficient to make a job unfillable. Alaska crab fishermen, U.S. Marines, international spies, Hollywood stuntmen all have jobs that satisfy at least two of those conditions. These employers, therefore, are forced to make the jobs attractive."

In a free market, one of two things should happen: Either employers have to pony up wages and bonuses that make the jobs attractive, or the jobs go undone. If we truly need the goods or services, option 1 will always win out. What we don't need is the intrusion of the government into the mix.

The same people who kick and scream about eliminating poverty, raising the minimum wage, and handing out government money to "help those who need it most" are also the ones protesting in favor of a guest worker program.

By creating a guest worker program, we drive down wages and create a second-tier citizenry who are at the mercy of the government and their employers, just like the cane harvesters of the last century.

HT: A Certain Slant of Light

In its ongoing campaign to increase legalism in the church, the Southern Baptist Convention has passed a resolution encouraging (mandating?) a "total opposition to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages." It goes on to "urge that no one be elected to serve as a trustee or member of any entity or committee of the Southern Baptist Convention that is a user of alcoholic beverages."

It seems odd to me that a Christian church would see any wisdom in labeling anything Jesus Christ himself did as sinful. In John 2, we see that Jesus' first miracle involved the manufacturing and distributing of alcoholic beverages, and the Pharisees' accusation of Jesus being a drunkard in Luke 7 would be total nonsense if Jesus didn't drink wine at least occasionally. But, according to this resolution, the Messiah himself would be unfit for service in a leadership position within the SBC.

In an effort to protect Christians from a sin that is apparently more taboo than the rest, the SBC glories in its legalism as it erects its hedge around the law. In doing so, they also indict Jesus himself for leading people down a path that leads toward addiction, emotional damage, health problems, and more.

They are missing the point. Alcohol isn't the root of this pattern of destruction and abuse, but rather the hearts of sinful men. Continue reading this post »