I’ve never quite understood the attraction.  His words melt like cotton candy.  Yet he has amassed the largest church and largest television audience in the United States.  Sure, he may be a nice guy, but what is the allure of Joel Osteen?

Like him or loathe him, Osteen’s influence is pervasive. I am frequently asked my opinion of him by members of my own church – usually old ladies, who I assume think he would be a fine son or grandson. 

Mike Horton has written a piece I find informative: Joel Osteen and the Story of Glory. 

Check it out.

As a senior interrogator in Iraq (and a former criminal investigator), there was a lesson I learned that served me well: there’s more to be learned from what someone doesn’t say than from what they do say. Let me dissect former Vice President Dick Cheney’s speech on National Security using this model and my interrogation skills.

First, VP Cheney said, “This recruitment-tool theory has become something of a mantra lately… it excuses the violent and blames America for the evil that others do.” He further stated, “It is much closer to the truth that terrorists hate this country precisely because of the values we profess and seek to live by, not by some alleged failure to do so.” That is simply untrue. Anyone who served in Iraq, and veterans on both sides of the aisle have made this argument, knows that the foreign fighters did not come to Iraq en masse until after the revelations of torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. I heard this from captured foreign fighters day in and day out when I was supervising interrogations in Iraq. What the former vice president didn’t say is the fact that the dislike of our policies in the Middle East were not enough to make thousands of Muslim men pick up arms against us before these revelations. Torture and abuse became Al Qaida’s number one recruiting tool and cost us American lives.

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OUCH!  Yesterday I started reading Daniel Radosh’s Rapture Ready!: Adventures In The Parallel Universe Of Christian Pop-Culture.  It is an outsiders observations of the Christian subculture.  And the author really nails his intended target.

Back in my younger, athletic playing, days from time to time I would take a hit right on a muscle that would somehow simultaneously make me wince and chuckle.  The chuckling wasn’t because I was necessarily tough, it was just the nature of the hit.  I knew some bruising and stiffness was sure to develop in the days that followed.  But it didn’t hurt quite enough to cause actual pain.  So my response would be a dull chuckle with just a hint of an ouch.   

That’s how I have felt when reading this book.  I have had to both chuckle and wince at the same time.  Radosh, a self professed Jewish Liberal, is funny and not unkind. He simply points out the absurdity of some of the things he has encountered and observed.  Unless you take yourself way to seriously you’ll laugh too.  But he also points out some things that should leave a mark on any Christian who reads this book.

A few things have already come to mind as I peruse these pages:

1) Many Christians will go to great lengths to be a “witness” for Christ without actually developing relationships with people.  The ineffectiveness of such evangelism is understandable.  Sadly such gimmicks have become acceptable substitutes for evanglism.

2) Many Christians seem to have given very little thought to what it means to be “worldly”.  It is not the tackiness of the products that makes them worldly, but the values and thought-process that leads to the production of this…, uh, stuff, that reflects worldliness. 

3) We need a serious reappraisal of our priorities. Christian kitsch is a $7-billion per year industry.  What impact could be made toward the alleviation of poverty, illiteracy, AIDS and other health issues, if we invested that money directly?  How long would it take to plant churches among the reamaining UnReached People Groups and translate the scriptures into the languages of those Peoples at a rate of $7-billion per year?  And that’s how much cash we would free up just by passing up on stuff that no one needs, and few could possibly really want.

As a side note, Sr. Hadia was the first female president of MSA National and is a board member of CAIR National.

Last month, as I was watching the news coverage of President Obama’s visit to Turkey, I thought back to an awkward experience I had as an undergraduate student applying for a job at my university. When I handed the receptionist at the student union my Social Security card, a required form of identification, she told me she needed my passport as well.

Surprised, I questioned the need for it. She brought over her supervisor, who glanced at my hijab—a headscarf worn by many Muslim women—and asked, “Aren’t you an international student?” “No,” I said. “I’m an American citizen. I was born in New Jersey.” Her mouth dropped open and she stammered, “Oh, you’re not a foreigner?”

It was not a new experience for me, as a Muslim growing up in this country. Before people learned my name, saw me run at a track meet or heard me debate an argument, they assumed they knew who I am.

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Reporting from Cairo — Egyptians are cautiously rejoicing over the recent appointment of a veiled Egyptian American Muslim woman as an advisor to President Obama.

Dalia Mogahed, senior analyst and executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, was appointed this month to Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Arabs are closely watching for signs that the new leadership in Washington is making efforts to improve relations with Islam, which many Muslims believe were severely damaged during the eight years of the Bush administration. The selection of Mogahed is viewed by many in the Middle East as a step by Obama to move beyond the stereotypes and prejudices that Muslims believe they have encountered since the attacks Sept. 11, 2001.

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I know Facebook is all the rage.   I myself signed up primarily to keep track of my niece and nephews, and I have actually reconnected with a classmate from long ago years past.  But there’s a dirty little secret that many parents are missing about Facebook – it is NOT kid-friendly!

Parents – do you really know what your kids are looking at on the computer?  I am absolutely shocked at the sheer number of children (elementary school through high school) who have their own FB page.  In the short time I’ve been on FB, I’ve seen ads that are completely inappropriate for kids (or adults for that matter), plus there are any number of “quizzes” you can take which have profane language and other vulgarities in them.   (Example – one of the most recent that I’ve seen is a quiz you can take to see “which %itch are you?”)

Yet – I have yet to hear any parent or child complain about the content on Facebook.  All I have ever heard is how much fun it is, blah, blah, blah.

I am not trying to be a stick in the mud, but I don’t care to read or see profanity and ads that are bordering on pornography, and I don’t feel it is appropriate by ANY stretch of the imagination for kids!

Have we sunk this low as a society?  Can it really be all that bad?  It appears so.

I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with the Facebook concept, but there should be parental controls to limit some of the areas of content.

I know parents who are careful about what their children are exposed to on tv, in books, etc. but they have no problem letting them get on the computer and mess with Facebook.

WAKE UP, FOLKS!  Wipe the cobwebs from your eyes and protect your kids.  If you don’t instill YOUR morals and values in them, the world will do it for you.

Ok – I’m off my soapbox…for now. 

Even though it’s a week or two old now, this is an eye opening article from The Christian Science Monitor.

What’s more alarming is how true this becomes when you replace the word “Evangelical” with “Muslim” and “Gospel” with “Quran”.  Try it and see how it reads.

Oneida, Ky. – We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the “Protestant” 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.

This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.

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This is a very interesting article about a new survey.  It illustrates the deepening crisis of faith in America.

Be sure to check out the full article using the link below.  It has very useful comparative graphs, charts, and other statistical information comparing the increase/decrease in following amongst religions.

When it comes to religion, the USA is now land of the freelancers.

The percentage. of people who call themselves in some way Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation. The faithful have scattered out of their traditional bases: The Bible Belt is less Baptist. The Rust Belt is less Catholic. And everywhere, more people are exploring spiritual frontiers — or falling off the faith map completely.

These dramatic shifts in just 18 years are detailed in the new American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), to be released today. It finds that, despite growth and immigration that has added nearly 50 million adults to the U.S. population, almost all religious denominations have lost ground since the first ARIS survey in 1990.

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She will be joining the Lady Tigers at the University of Memphis this fall.

SPRINGFIELD – Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir walks quietly through the halls of the New Leadership Charter School. She is soft-spoken and polite. The youngest child of a devout Muslim family, the 5-foot-3-inch senior believes in modesty, and is determined not to call attention to herself.

It is an impossible dream.

Bilqis cannot help standing out. For one thing, she is the top-ranked student in her class. She wants to study pre-med in college with an eye toward being a cardiac surgeon. “The heart,” she says, “is most interesting to me.”

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This is a historic day in America. No question about that.  And I do not want to say anything to detract from the significance of this day.  But a few things have been hovering around in my head:

1. I am glad that the racial barrier has been broken.  I would have personally preferred it have been Michael Steele or JC Watts, because they hold views much closer to my own. Nevertheless a pall has been removed from our country’s history. For that I am glad.

2. I hope the hatred against George W. Bush will fade away.  I voted for “W” twice, and have no regrets about it.  I have been deeply disappointed in some things he has done and said as president, especially these past two years. But I think he has done an overall good job – very good job.  Americans have taken too much for granted what the Bush agenda and leadership have done to keep us safe from foreign attack.  And look at it this way: All the other issues being debated, including fixing the economic downturn, would seem pretty minor if a war was taking place in our neighborhoods.  In short, I am tired of the Bush-bashing.

3. I hope journalism will return to the media.  Bush has been the victim of  an incessant eight year attack from agenda-driven news outlets.  Unfortunately, news is not what is presented anymore, only rhetoric.  I don’t want payback from the Right. And I don’t want pandering from the mainstream and Left.  I just want to be able to trust those who report what is going on in the world.

4. I don’t get the euphoria.  This is probably the most puzzling thing to me.  I understand the significance of a Black man being elected.  If I was African-American I might be moved to tears seeing  finally realized, in an ultimate sense, that the American Dream is true for me, and for my children.   But I don’t get the swooning. I don’t understand the extravagant hype.  I wish I could believe it was merely the awe of a peaceful transfer of power, which happens in few other places in the world.  But that’s not it.  It goes beyond that. it goes beyond rational.  It actually scared me as I was watching the masses on the Mall.  (I was more at ease after my wife’s uncle told me that it was a similar scene when Kennedy was inaugurated.)

5. I need to be faithful to God by praying for this man.  God has called me, as a Christian, to pray for this man who He has established in authority over the country where God placed me.   (1 Timothy 2.1-2, Romans 13.1-7)  Through the prayers of God’s people the president’s heart may be changed concerning whatever policies are contrary to God’s standard.  Through prayer God can grant him wisdom to govern.  Through prayer God can sanctify this man who claims the name of Jesus as his only hope.   So as I see it, if I am unfaithful to do what I know God has called me to do, I have no right to gripe if things don’t go well, or go as I would hope.

Join me on the Presidential Prayer Team.

President-Elect Obama has appointed the first ever South Asian to the position of Surgeon General, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, more commonly known from his show “House Call” on CNN and his apperances on CBS.

By Howard Kurtz
President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.

Gupta has told administration officials that he wants the job, and the final vetting process is under way. He has asked for a few days to figure out the financial and logistical details of moving his family from Atlanta to Washington but is expected to accept the offer.

[...]

The Michigan-born son of Indian and Pakistani parents, Gupta has always been drawn to health policy. He was a White House fellow in the late 1990s, writing speeches and crafting policy for Hillary Clinton. His appointment would give the administration a prominent official of Southwest Asian descent and a skilled television spokesman.

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Seems like “old fashioned family values” is the way to go.

Pledges of no sex until marriage don’t work, especially if taken by 15- or 16-year-olds, according to a recent study in the journal Pediatrics. Despite broken promises, however, virginity-pledging teens were considerably more conservative in their overall sexual behaviors than teens in general—a fact that many media reports have missed cold. In other words, the act of making a virginity pledge doesn’t appear to affect a teen’s future sexual behavior. But the kind of teen who takes a pledge is the kind who’s already likely to be sexually restrained throughout adolescence.

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An interesting read from the L.A. Times.

A poll finds more Americans disagree with the statement that ‘Jews control Hollywood.’ But here’s one Jew who doesn’t.

I have never been so upset by a poll in my life. Only 22% of Americans now believe “the movie and television industries are pretty much run by Jews,” down from nearly 50% in 1964. The Anti-Defamation League, which released the poll results last month, sees in these numbers a victory against stereotyping. Actually, it just shows how dumb America has gotten. Jews totally run Hollywood.

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Thanks to Ozak on this one.

So, Barrack Obama has tapped Saddleback’s Rick Warren to offer the invocation at the upcoming Inauguration.  That this selection irks those on the political and religious Left is no surprise.  (Click CNN, Politico & Atlantic) Left Wing biggotry has been rampant for years. It just seems to be culturally acceptable.

What surprises me is that some Conservatives, even Conservative Evangelicals, are spewing bitterness.  More than surprised, I am disappointed – deeply disappointed. 

Why would Warren not offer the invocation? If asked I would do it with no hesitation.

I am not an Obama apologist, by any stretch of an imagination. But he has asked Warren to pray for God’s presence on that day.  Would a better alternative be to not “invoke” God’s presence? Would it be preferable to ask someone who does not know God to pray?  While the synics say this is a political ploy, I applaud Obama for the selection and Warren for agreeing.

I applaud Warren because he is doing what I believe he is called to do in Scripture.  Does not God instruct us, through the Apostle Paul, to offer prayers for our leaders and those in authority? (See 1 Timothy 2.1-3)  I am very well aware that Obama espouses policies contrary to the revealed will of God. I am also aware that when our Lord inspired Paul to give this instruction to pray that the man in authority at the time was Caesar Nero – one of the most vile men to ever govern.  Even Obama haters should admit that he has a ways to go before he degenerates to the level of a Nero. And even if he does, that does not disqualify him from being recipients of our prayer!

What Rick Warren will be doing by offering an invocation is simply acting out publically what God has called him to do anyway.  It is not an endorsement of any particular policies. He will ask God to visit our new president.  How can that be bad?  Even if Obama’s profession of faith seems dubious, is God not capable of regenerating his heart?

I applaud Obama for his willingness to weather the criticism he had to know would come from the majority of those who elected him.  It would have been much easier on him to have selected someone more liberal or non-white.  But he chose a man who, while not Right Wing, is a Conservative Evangelical.  He chose a man who was Mike Huckabee’s seminary classmate! 

Again, critics on both side suppose this is just a political ploy to placate those in the political middle.  But from what I’ve read, Obama and Warren have a personal fondness for one another, even if they differ significantly politically.  Could there not be some affection that effected this selection?  Even more, could it not have been God who moved Obama’s heart to invite Warren?

Soon after the election I signed up for the Presidential Prayer Team. Each day since I have received an e-mail asking me to join others in praying for the transition of power, for President-elect Obama to seek God, and to be blessed with godly wisdom in his selections and decisions.  I have not appreciated everyone he has chosen for the various cabinet positions. Some I like more than others.  But in the invitation for Rick Warren to pray for him, I choose to believe God may be honoring some of my prayers.

I will never have the opportunity that Rick Warren has been given, to lead the Nation in prayer.  But I will continue to do in private what Rick Warren is doing in public: Obeying God by praying for those in authority over us.

Speaks for itself…

I can hear all the various reactions now…

The New York Times first reported:

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama’s aides say he is considering making a major foreign policy speech from an Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office.

So where should he do it? The list of Islamic world capitals is long, and includes the obvious —Riyadh, Kuwait City, Islamabad — and the not-so-obvious — Male (the Maldives), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Some wise-guys have even suggested Dearborn, Mich., as a possibility.

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In light of the recent attacks in Mumbai, India, many outside the subcontinent may be struggling to understand what is going on and what the history of that region is all about.  Though the current situation is still developing and we don’t know all the details yet, a new independent movie, “Slumdog Millionare”, portrays life of abject poverty inside India’s slums for all castes and religions wrapped in a love story but with a powerful message of hope and life.

I definitely recommend that everyone seek out this movie in your area and see it.

After the recent U.S. Presidential election, progressives and the left in general are still celebrating the landslide victory of President-Elect Obama.  Even many conservatives who voted for him (I’m included) are happy that the disastrous Bush years will soon be behind us and that our country has made history in many other ways like electing it’s first ever Black President.

However, what has happened in tandem with this victory is the marginalization of religion.  This is obviously because those behind contemporary social conservatism have linked their values to their faith, even in mor extreme cases, which has left people of all faiths with an unsightly stain.  For example, even though Proposition 8 was approved in California by a majority of voters, opponents of the proposition are furious and are crying foul play while citing religion as one of the reasons their civil rights are being infringed upon.

Without debating what caused religion in general to be marginalized (whether you blame the rise of progressivism via Obama or the detrimental mistakes of fundamentalist Christians, Bush, and right-wing hawks), there are certainly lessons to be learned and many discussions to be had.

It is with that in mind that I recommend anyone like minded to watch the above clip of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach who recently appeared on D.L. Hughley’s new show on CNN.  This is not the entire clip but there is enough of the interview to spur some discussion.  He makes some interesting points.

Let me state for the record that I do not agree with everything that Rabbi Boteach says.  But that does not trivialize what the Rabbi says or exclude it as grounds for legitimate discussion.

Watch and enjoy…and be sure to leave your comments.

Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker examines what the GOP is doing wrong.

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I’m bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.

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[thanks to Tariq for this one]

You gotta love it.

We should direct our anger over Prop 8 against those organizations that fought us the hardest. Let’s start with the Mormon Church and Mormons.

Mormon Church-owned businesses should be boycotted.

Businesses owned by Mormons, who tithe to the Church, should also be boycotted.  Large amounts of Church income comes from tithings.  Vote with your wallets!  Every dollar less that you give to a tithed Mormon is a dollar less that can be tithed and spent on anti-gay activity.

Some businesses are more easily boycotted than others:

1. retail

1. discretionary travel

1. businesses with competitors

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Very inspirational.

Anger at the disproportionate number of African Americans who voted for California’s same-sex marriage ban “has been widely noted”, says Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe. But “for sheer hatefuless” the “hatemongering” directed against Mormons for pushing the ballot measure can’t be beat.  (See The Week for full article.)

I’ve watched the news with some amazement at the craze taking place in the streets of California.  I have little sympathy for the protesters, at least for the position that is mobilizing them.  But I find myself reacting the the charges they levy: bigotry and fear. 

While concerned about the cultural repercussions if “gay marriage” receives constitutional support, I don’t believe I live in “fear”. In one sense, if this measure passes, some things will become more vividly clear, such as those who are committed to Biblical standards concerning marriage and those who are not.  The words of the Apostle Paul come to mind:

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of Life. ” (Philippians 2.14-16) 

In other words, those who maintain the characteristics of godliness shine like stars against the dark backdrop of the culture.  Therefore, if this measure passes in California, and elsewhere, it is not a cause for fear, necessarily, but an opportunity to shine in contrast. 

However, Paul’s words also cause me a little discomfort. 

First, while faithful believers may stand firm and shine in contrast to darkness in the culture, there are others who share our opposition to same-sex marriages who do not shine in the same way. In fact, some don’t shine at all. They are just what they are accused of being: bigoted and fearful.  I’m not sure that the differences of standards behind the sharing of  moral/political positions are always so obvious to those who hold the opposing view.  How, then, can we stand out like stars shining in the darkness, when some who stand with us are only a different shade of darkness from the culture they oppose? 

I’m sure that this difference is all the more distorted because many of us who are driven by Biblical standards are also tainted, to some degree or another, with the sins of bigotry and fear.  Our righteous motives are blended with unrighteous, sometimes even without our being conscious of the mixture.  To whatever extent this is true, the shine on our star is dimmed, at least somewhat.

Second, Paul’s words encourage us to do everything without complaining or arguing.  I’m not sure that from the perspective of the gay community, and their allies, that we Evangelicals have lived up to that counsel.  I’m not sure even from my own perspective that we’ve met that standard. 

Certainly the most militant proponents of “gay rights” don’t want to hear any Evangelical voice (nor do they support our right to a voice), but I am not confident we have exhausted all the means to express our voice.  We have used politics and the media to protect our position.  But have we expressed the full grace of the gospel with equal effort?  I’m not talking about a cheap grace that simply overlooks sin and calls it acceptable. I’m talking about the demanding gospel that demonstrates brokenness over our own sin – past and present – the experience of forgiveness in Chirst that reconciles us to God AND moves us out to love a broken and decaying world.  While this verse in no way mitigates our responsibility – and right – to stand up for righteous things, I have to wonder, if we lived out the gospel, if this was our primary voice, if there would be as many of our opponents who would hope we would just “shut up”.   Our civil rights are not abrogated, but we must not mistake exercsing our common civil rights as that which makes us stars.  It is the gospel embraced, lived out, and faithfully expressed, that makes us shine.  I suspect that is a voice that would be more readily heard.

Let me conclude with this: Many people are quite clear as to what their position is, but not as well thought out about the “why’s” behind the positions. 

Honestly, that is probably true of me.  I’ve given some thought, perhaps more thought than some others have, to this issue, but I’ve been pretty set in my position without wondering if there were some aspects I have been neglecting.  To the extent I have failed to clearly think through this polarizing issue, remaining ignorantly contented in my position, I suspect I am exercsing a form of bigotry.   And to the extent that I am willing to maintian my position without discerning how the gospel can be brought to bear to bring about reconciliation and greater resolution,  I am failing to shine.  I am not suggesting compromise and retreat, but reflection and humility. 

Dr. Geri Huminski has written a thought provoking article for Harvest USA titled: What About Gay Marriage?   Harvest USA is an uncompromising Evangelical ministry that reaches out to those who are effected by sexual addictions.  They offer a perspective, both experientially and biblically, that I don’t find elsewhere.  This article has helped me think more clearly about this culture defining issue.  I am still not sure I am ready to embrace all that is suggested (particularly in regard to taxes and shared benefits), but it is helping me think through both my “what” and my “why’s”.  

My hope is that I will be more shaped by the gospel and the advancement of the Kingdom of God than by the mere maintaining of the political status quo.  I suspect my “position” won’t change much, but maybe my shine can get a polish.