Soul and Spirit | Ain't Complicated

Death in Church

We had peaceful Sunday services yesterday.

As always.

At least as measured by this kind of event:

A man suspected of opening fire on a roomful of people during a church youth performance was in custody Monday after being tackled by witnesses.

But church members are still searching for answers to why they were targeted by someone who was an apparent stranger to the church.

[…]

The FBI was assisting in case the shooting turned out be a hate crime, Police Chief Sterling Owen said.

The church, like many other Unitarian Universalist churches, promotes progressive social work, such as desegregation and fighting for the rights of women and gays. The Knoxville congregation has provided sanctuary for political refugees, fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, according to its Web site.

I am thankful for the rarity of such a tragedy. (I know, it seems there’ve been quite a few recently, but considering how many church services take place in the United States, such tragedies are still a rarity here.)

I wonder how this church will choose to respond.

Especially toward him:

“a really, really nice guy”

What does he need?

Matthew 16

Here is part of what I wrote yesterday morning in another of my blogs:

Confessing Jesus as Lord

That’s the title of today’s Sunday School lesson (at least in Christian Light Publication’s quarterlies).

Here are some of my miscellaneous thoughts on the passage this morning.

“…Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (17).

What I correctly discern in the Scriptures does not come from my own brain, mind, or thumb. God alone can show His ways to me. (Important note: He frequently uses other people in that process!)

“…The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (18).

God intends the Church to be triumphant! But not merely in a defensive way (”We held off another attack from the enemy.”) but also in a take-the-initiative way (”We took the battle to the enemy and won!”).

Though my family isn’t the Church, it is part of it. Somehow, that thought in the context of this verse gave me assurance and hope this morning.

“…Thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (23).

Just that quickly, Peter went from correct discernment to flawed discernment. Let that be a lesson to me!

Another lesson: Is my appetite set for the things of God or the things of me(n)? Let me learn to taste and savor the things of God!

There’s more, but that’s enough for here.

Belarus: Religious Restrictions

There’s official anti-church activity going on in Belarus:

Officials in Grodno [Hrodna] Region of north-western Belarus have moved against three different Protestant communities to try to prevent them from conducting religious activity which each community insists is guaranteed in the country’s Constitution. Forum 18 News Service has learnt that the local authority in the small town of Svisloch has banned an open-air baptism planned for the afternoon of Sunday 3 August. In the nearby town of Mosty a Pentecostal pastor was fined nine months' minimum wages on 9 June for leading a small unregistered church. In the city of Grodno a Baptist pastor faces a second fine for holding worship services without state registration.

Each of the three communities point to Article 31 of Belarus' Constitution, which declares: "Everyone shall have the right independently to determine one's attitude towards religion, to profess any religion individually or jointly with others, or to profess none at all, to express and spread beliefs connected with one's attitude towards religion, and to participate in the performance of acts of worship and religious rituals and rites, which are not prohibited by the law."

[…]

Belarus maintains tight restrictions on all religious activity. In defiance of international human rights standards, it is the only country in Europe requiring religious organisations to gain state registration before they engage in religious activity. Article 25 of the Religion Law, as well the Law on Mass Events, require that permission for religious events in places not designated for religious worship be obtained in advance from local executive committees. Only registered religious organisations are eligible to ask for such permission. Organisers of and participants in such religious events without official permission risk punishment.

EMP (Then) and Famine (Now)

Two stories for your weekend consideration:

A report from the federal Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack has painted a bleak picture for America under such attack: Electricity grids down, uncontrolled fires from exploding gas transport systems, no communication to summon firefighters and if they could come, no water to battle fires. All in city after city after city.

The 200-page report says Americans should look to past incidents, then multiply those impacts by the number of cities that could be hit by such an attack. For example:

To read the rest: Surviving EMP to depend on preparation.

That’s the future and that’s the theoretical. How about a look at the present?

Africa food crisis worsens

“It is actually getting worse.” That’s Jacob Kramer with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee talking about the global food crisis.

The crisis is hitting east Africa particularly hard. War, drought and poverty have put an estimated 9 to 13 million people in the region in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Kramer says Ethiopia is just one example. “In Ethiopia, the people depending on food aid has increased from 2.2 to about 4.5 million people, and those are staggering numbers.”

Kramer says a number of factors are to blame for the crisis. “The missed planting season in the Rift Vally in Kenya because of the political difficulties and flooding in Uganda–this, combined with higher food prices on the world market which make food prices out of reach for a lot of people.”

In Somalia, the cost of imported rice increased by up to 350% between the beginning of 2007 and May 2008. In areas of Ethiopia, the price of wheat has more than doubled over a six-month period, and food prices are expected to remain high until the next harvest in October. According to reports, the cost of food has increased 500-percent in some places. Some families have started eating animal food just to survive. Kramer says many poor families are now going from two meals a day, to just one meal a day, if that.

Target: Samir Kuntar

Sure, this fellow is a target of various Israeli forces.

But I have him in mind as a prayer target.

Is this the kind of person Christians should pray for?

Kuntar was serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli prison for murdering three Israelis, including smashing to death a 4-year-old girl with the butt of his rifle.

Among his yet-living victims who make good prayer targets: the mother to the above girl.

As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought.

PA Hate Crimes Law

Good news!

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules against Homosexual ‘Hate Crimes’ Law

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and attorneys with the Foundation for Moral Law applauded the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for its ruling yesterday in Marcavage v. Rendell affirming that the state legislature violated the Pennsylvania Constitution when it added “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to Pennsylvania’s “ethnic intimidation” law (18 Pa. C.S. § 2710) in 2002.

The Foundation, along with attorney Aaron D. Martin, represented Christian evangelists Michael Marcavage, Mark Diener, Randall and Linda Beckman, Susan Startzell, Arlene Elshinnawy, and Nancy Major, who in 2004 were arrested and charged under the “ethnic intimidation” law for evangelizing at a Philadelphia homosexual parade. The Christian evangelists sued and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania agreed that the law was unconstitutional and struck it down. On appeal the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in a short per curiam order, agreed with the Commonwealth Court’s opinion and the Christian evangelists’ appellate brief filed by the Foundation.

Judge Roy Moore remarked on this historic case: “We are very happy that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled in our favor to stop the Governor and a group of corrupt politicians from sneaking a ‘hate crimes’ bill through the Pennsylvania legislature. Preaching to homosexuals about the sin of sodomy should not be made a ‘thought crime’ in Pennsylvania or any other state.”

But eventually things will change back in favor of homosexuals. Such are the times we live in and the times that are yet to come.

When the law of the land finally codifies such statements as hate crimes, what will Christians do?

Cancer chief sees cell phone risks

Look, I know I keep bringing up this subject. If you get tired of it, just skip over it this time.

Cancer chief sees cell phone risks

The director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Centers plans to issue an advisory to about 3,000 faculty and staff today about the possible health risks associated with cellular phone use.

"Recently I have become aware of the growing body of literature linking long-term cell phone use to possible adverse health effects including cancer," Dr. Ronald Herberman said in the memorandum. "Although the evidence is still controversial, I am convinced that there are sufficient data to warrant issuing an advisory to share some precautionary advice on cell phone use."

The advisory suggests certain measures to limit exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted by the devices, such as shortening the length of conversations or keeping the phones away from the head by text messaging or using headsets or speaker phone options. It also recommends that children not use cell phones except in emergencies.

A child's developing organs "are the most likely to be sensitive to any possible effects of exposure," according to the document.