November 6th, 2009
Joel Osteen
Joel Osteen, wildly popular and somewhat controversial purveyor of the so-called Prosperity Gospel, granted an interview with Time magazine recently. The magazine assumed that perhaps some of the sheen of Osteen’s message might’ve lost some of its glint, what with the recession clinging tenaciously to most folks’ pocketbooks.
Not so. Attendance at his Lakewood Church in Houston is up 10 percent, and this spring he preached in a sold-out Yankee Stadium. His message sounds as relentlessly optimistic as ever.
These days there are so many things trying to pull us down, with the economy and the swine flu. I really think there’s something [that affects people] on the inside when somebody tells them, like I do, God’s still in control. He’s got good things in store for your life. And when you trust, when you believe, you can see amazing things happen.
I’ve always thought the Prosperity Gospel, as I understand it, was kinda bunk, and suspected that those who pedaled it were too pollyannaish for my taste. A quick trip through the New Testament will tell you, in no uncertain terms, that getting right with God doesn’t guarantee a life on easy street.
But, being the optimist I am, what Osteen says in this piece resonates with me. I believe its the height of folly to assume God will monetarily reward us if we’re good Christians. But I do believe that God cares for us and (all things being equal) likes for us to be happy. And I do believe he does have great plans for us — though the greatness is in the plan, not us.
But I gotta be honest with you — I’m not overly familiar with the Prosperity Gospel or what Osteen (or others) teach. Are any of you know a little more about this topic than I do? Fill me in, if you would. I’d love to hear from you.
Tags: church, evangelism, Joel Osteen, poor, Poverty, prosperity gospel, recession, rich
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November 5th, 2009
The elections held across the country Tuesday brought forth some interesting results (Mickey Kaus has a good take on the election’s winners and losers here), but outside some strong Republican finishes in New Jersey and Virginia, the biggest news probably trickled down from Maine, where voters narrowly repealed the state’s six-month-old gay marriage law. While five states currently recognize same-sex unions, all have done so through the courts or legislative action. Any time voters have been asked to support gay marriage, the answer has been “no.” And it’s been “no” 31 times.
Reactions ranged from despondent to euphoric. “Every time Americans vote on marriage, traditional marriage wins,” noted Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America. “Those who were ready to inscribe ‘RIP’ on the tombstone of conservative and pro-family values following the 2008 elections got a jolting wakeup call at the polls,” Mathew Staver, Founder of the Liberty Counsel, said.
Supporters of gay marriage in Maine vowed to fight on, and many note that the fight over gay marriage is not about to end. The Baptist Press, though it led with the Maine results, pointed out that gay politicians and gay-friendly initiatives celebrated victories. GetReligion wonders why the media tends to lead with what a loss the Maine vote was for gay-rights supporters, as opposed to also mentioning what a win it was for family-rights folks.
Tags: culture war, election vote same-sex marriage, homosexuality
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November 3rd, 2009
A portion of Yale's "Education" window
Mark I. Pinski, one of the better-known names in the realm of religious journalism, offers a pretty salient look in yesterday’s USA Today at the sometimes fractious relationship between faith and science, looking both to the past and the present.
Pinski suggests (rightly, I think) that President Barack Obama’s appointment of renowned scientist Francis Collins (a committed evangelical Christian and author of one of my favorite books, “The Language of God“) to head the National Institutes of Health, is an effort to heal some of the riffs between science and faith. He also finds inspiration in Yale’s famed Tiffany window called “Education,” which has graced the university for around 120 years.
The window, commissioned by businessman Simeon Baldwin Chittenden back in 1889 puts science and faith on center stage, flanking an angelic-like woman with her eyes cast upward. Pinski notes that a thumbnail picture of the window can be found on the Web site for the BioLogos Foundation (an organization founded by Collins).
Collins earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at Yale in the early 1970s, and I find no mention of the Chittenden window in his writings, or whether the NIH head has contemplated its significance to his own life. But in a commentary for the Christian Broadcasting Network, he displays sentiments consonant with the window’s message.
“The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome,” Collins said. “God can be found in the cathedral or in the laboratory. By investigating God’s majestic and awesome creation, science can actually be a means of worship.”
It’s a beautiful window, reflecting I think beautiful, and truthful, sentiments. Collins is one of my heroes, and I hope he does fantastic work in his new position.
Tags: Collins, education, Francis Collins, religion, science, stained glass, Yale
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November 2nd, 2009
G.K. Chesterton
Well, it’s been a pretty frantic weekend, so I don’t think I’ll write much. Rather, I’ll direct you to this thoughtful musing on G.K. Chesterton, perhaps my favorite Christian writer of the last century or so.
Chesterton, for those who aren’t familiar with him, was one of England’s greatest wits at the turn of the last century. He wrote endlessly on a huge variety of topics (he authored the still popular “Father Brown” series of mystery stories), but his musings on Christianity are, I think, incredibly relevant today — far more relevant, in some ways, than I expect they were in his own time: He has a talent for the soundbite and a gift for charming self-deprication. And “Orthodoxy,” which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, I believe, sounds like a clarion call to Christianity in a postmodern world.
I’d encourage you to pick up “Orthodoxy,” if you’ve never read it. But, barring that, check out this page of quotations that hint at Chesterton’s wit but barely brush the surface of his wisdom. My favorite: “You cannot grow a beard in a moment of passion.”
Tags: book, Chesterton, conservatism, writing
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October 30th, 2009
Suicide, in some church cultures, is still considered to be the unforgivable sin. Some consider it to be the ultimate rejection of God’s ultimate gift. While many other churches don’t go quite so far — the deed may be wrong, but it doesn’t necessarily risk a person’s immortal soul — there’s still a powerful taboo when it comes to this most violent, most heartbreaking act.
Yet even pastors are not immune.
The Religion News Service recently offered a story (published here in USA Today) that tried to explain why pastors sometimes commit suicide. The conclusion, probably, shouldn’t surprise us. Pastors have one of the most stressful, most thankless jobs around. And when things go wrong, very often they have no one to turn to:
A pastor is like “a 24-hour ER” who is supposed to be available to any congregant at any time, said Steve Scoggin, president of CareNet, a network of 21 pastoral counseling centers in North Carolina. “We create an environment that makes it hard to admit our humanity.”
It’s a job that breeds isolation and loneliness—the pastorate’s “greatest occupational hazards,” said Scoggin, who counsels many Baptist and other ministers. “These suicides are born out of a lack of those social supports that can intervene in times of personal crisis.”
Tags: church, clergy, pastor, suicide
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