Are there more important things to talk about?

There's been a LOT of controversy lately over racially motivated news stories. Just today there was a hot story about the women on "The View." It seemed that Whoopi Goldberg used the "n" word during the course of their discussion. Then, a few minutes later when Barbara Walters used the same slang, another (African-American) lady in the group took grave offense to it and called Barabara out on it as they were on air! Man. I wish could have seen that cause I'm not really a huge fan of Barbara Walters (or the View). I will catch it later on YouTube.
Anyhow, I have a question. Aren't there really more important issues that we need to deal with in our nation rather than what words are used in the courses of our conversation?
Look, I know that the old saying "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" is a boldfaced lie. Words can and DO hurt people all the time! For those of us who are Christians we need to be especially careful about this! However, while we are worried so much about what towns and cities in America have the most racially offensive names, there are countless thousands of American men and women, boys and girls who are in crisis because of job loss, lack of discipline, hunger and disease. Hey listen, I am deeply offended by all the sex and foul language on TV and in the movies but no one does anything about that do they?
Besides I am more concerned about teenagers who are thinking about suicide. Or children from broken homes who have no stability. Or adults who are having melt-downs because their relationship with their spouse is over. I believe I'm more concerned about the number of families receiving help from local food banks than I am with Hank Williams Junior spouting off about President Obama and Hitler, (but I agree-old Hank should have never said what he did. What an idiotic thing to say in public OR in private!).
Jesus said one time that "the poor will always be with you." WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE HE SPOKE OF? Could it be the marginilized of our communities or could it even be you or I?
That same Jesus reminded the religious folk of HIS day (and OURS) that we need to be concerned with the "weightier matters of the law" like caring for kids, widows the homeless etc.
I don't mean to downplay the importance of being politically correct or being prudent in our speech about people whose race is different than our own. There are some white folk who are genuially offeneded by the term "cracker" for example. And I don't think God ever intended for us to hate someone else just because their skin is a different color. And Jesus said "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks!" To be sure, there are a lot of folk who say aweful things about their neighbors because in the their heart they don't don't have love. But let's not get side-tracked by these temporal issues that really won't matter too much when we stand before God in judgement. Somehow, I really don't thing when we arrive there that God will say to us "what did you just call me?" I really think what God will say is something like "Do you know my son, Jesus? O Good! Come on in!" When that happens we won't have to wash our mouth out with soap or even clean off our shoes! But between here and there, let's see if we can get past language and attitude and try to just be Jesus to each other and to the rest of the people on this planet. "red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight-Jesus loves the little children of the world!"
The Methmusician

The Medicine Cabinet

It suddenly "dawned" on me this morning just how important the medicine cabinet has become. I mean, 30 years ago I'm not sure I even needed a medicine cabinet, except for the mirror (what? do you think THIS just HAPPENS?!) Thirty years ago all we had in the medicine cabinet was stuff to make you smell good. Now it's filled with that PLUS stuff to make you FEEL good!
Its unbelievable! There are pills, lotions, creams, bandages, drops and sprays and other stuff that we need to get us through the day. In fact the thing is overflowing with this stuff. The medicine cabinet has gone from being just an accessory to my best friend! And here is another interesting thing. All these pills, lotions, creams, bandages, drops and sprays are displayed in some sort of strange order. Don't move the eye drops because not only would I never find them but it would put some sort of hole in my universe. And Lord, please don't let one of the vanity lights go out because I'll have to stop what I'm doing and rush out to Wal-Mart to get a replacement bulb.
Yep. My medicine cabinet is full and it greets me with medicinal hope every morning. Thank you for being there my friend.
My Mom says that "getting old is not for wimps!" Oh dear, I'm in BIG trouble.
Til next time,
The Methmusician

New Morality

I read just very recently where the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH has now accepted the practice of ordaining (I assume PRACTICING) homosexual persons to the ordained ministry. I'm reading posts that people put up on the web through social networking that hold favorable regard for the Presbyterian's decision to ordain gays. In fact I was totally shocked to see one post written by a young person whose father is a pastor who I worked with several years ago. This young person was hailing this monumental decision and asking when will our denomination (the United Methodist Church) might follow suit. All this debate over whether or not to ordain gay people has me really concerned. Let me tell you why.
I make no apologies for my conservative background. And like most people who have it, my theology has been shaped by my up-bringing, the influence of the the church and experience. So what I say here in this blog is certainly in no small way informed by years of formation in the Christian faith. The issue of homosexuality, in my opinion, has little to do with "conservative" or "liberal," "democrat" or "republican" or for that matter "Presbyterian" or "United Methodist." What is at the root of the great debate over this issue in our time is this- THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE.
The church has evidently forgotten the meaning of the word "sin." While the Bible is not explicitly demonstrative about homosexuality it DOES speak to that practice as being something the Great Creator God did not really intend as "normal." The practice of homosexuality is sin. No one will EVER convince me that "we're born this way," or that God has changed His mind about the matter. But here's the thing. Homosexuality is no more offensive to God than adultery, fornication, lying or stealing. It is ALL disobedience to God's will and that makes it sin.
Hey I didn't just make this stuff up - God has laid down this law. But here is another problem we have. We don't consider what the Bible calls sin as sin because WE DO NOT BELIEVE THE BIBLE! If "sin" is not really "sin" then why did Jesus have to go hang on a cross for it? The fact is we humans are desperately trying to clear our collective conscience by buying into the lies of the enemy of God (you know, the devil) who tells us "you can eat of this fruit and you will surely not die! God surely wouldn't do that to you, would He?" Yep, we've taken another huge bite out of the apple of temptation and made ourselves "god." The universalism which is so prevalent today is gradually destroying all common decency. Call it "new morality" or "social/civil justice" but it is in reality no morality at all. If God calls it sin then that is what it is.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not a "gay basher." In fact I'm in the same boat with the rest of the sinners in the world. I am not the judge of homosexuals or murderers or shoplifters. That's God business. It just breaks my heart that the so-called institutionalized "church" has decided we know better than God-that God somehow made a critical mistake by calling homosexuality "sin" and that we aim to fix that mistake. Should we love homosexual people? You bet. God loves them. Should we "allow" them to be a part of our worship experience and welcome them into the church? Absolutely! Should we place them in leadership roles as ordained clergy (or for that matter lay leadership)? I don't think we should. Well, let me put it another way, if we do, then we need to make room for practicing (the operative word here) sex offenders, prostitutes, murderers, drunks etc in the ranks of the ordained clergy. None of this changes the fact that we are ALL sinners-we are ALL broken and ALL OF US need to come to the divine Jesus to fix our human condition. I pray that we see a corporate change in how we deal with morality and that we will come to our senses and come back to God. Perhaps we all need to live more "righteous" and not just more "moral."
The Methmusician

Nothing Short of a Miracle...

It was three years ago this month and I sat in the chair at the eye doctor for a check up. He said "Mr. B you have a cataract!" I said "No I don't I have a FORD!" (Get it?) Ok, maybe not that funny. So my eye doctor tells me there isn't anything we can do about this until the cataract "gets ripe." He said my vision in that eye would, as a result, get progressively worse.
He was right.
So right before Christmas in 2010 I went back to the eye doctor and they referred me to a surgeon who would remove the cataract. Now I had a couple of guys at church tell me they had this done and they said it was a piece of cake. They said, you won't even feel a thing! That's really good cause I have an extremely low threshold for PAIN. I mean, if I get a paper cut I think I'm dying!
So recently I went for a consult with this eye surgeon and after a battery of different tests (some of which I think I saw Bones do on Star Trek) we set the date for the surgery.
Now you cannot drive home after a procedure like this because they give you this medicine that places you somewhere between what's real and "la la Land." So my son drove me to the surgery center and more importantly back home again. The prep time took three times as long as the actual surgical procedure. The surgery itself only lasted about 15 minutes. And my friends at church were right - I didn't feel a thing. I could hear my surgeon talking to me and I remember seeing all kinds of weird colored lights. And one of the attending nurses kept patting me on the hand saying "You're doing fine, it's going to be ok." That really was not very reassuring since I was just kind of freaking out already. But it was over before I knew it.
After the procedure they wheeled me into "recovery" where they could keep an eye on me (get it? Ok not that funny) for a little while to make sure I didn't act strange or have a negative reaction to the drugs they had given me. And after a few minutes they let me walk to the car where my son was waiting to take me home.
I suppose that I had a preconceived notion about what would happen immediately after eye surgery. I thought I would take that bandage off and I would have perfect 20/20 vision. But a few hours after surgery when I came out of that eye patch (I looked like a pirate by the way) I was so disappointed when I realized I could barely see anything! My wife, who was in the eye care profession for about 10 years and really does know about this stuff (although I would NEVER let her operate on my eye!) said "GIVE IT TIME!"
The next morning I had to be in my surgeon's office at 9:30 AM for the first follow-up. Here is where the story takes a dramatic turn. Even though my vision was still very blurry in that eye I still drove myself to her office. I checked in and sat down to wait for my name to be called. They had a flat screen TV on the wall and I covered my other eye to see if I could see the television from the operative eye. To my great wonder I could see that TV image just as clear as day with my new eye! I didn't even care that it was Regis and Kathy Lee on TV - I could now see clearly! Nothing short of a miracle. What a wonderful gift! And I immediately thought of the blind man who was healed by Jesus. How ecstatic he surely must have been to go from NO SIGHT to PERFECT SIGHT at the Master's hand!
I think this adventure has given me a new perspective spiritually too. "I once was blind but now I see" as the John Newton song goes is so much more than being able to see physically- it is viewing our world through spiritual "eyes" that reveal over and over to us the beauty of God's creation and His Grace and Mercy. That too is nothing short of miraculous!
My eye doctor tells me I have a cataract on my OTHER eye too. But I will have to wait until it "gets ripe" to go through this little adventure again! When that happens, I probably will not have to even wear glasses- I will be the "bionic man!"
SEE YOU later, (get it? OK that's the last one)
The Methmusician

Eating Together...what a concept...

so I'm watching TV today when I saw this program where some so called "expert" is telling about how some research group has concluded that when families sit down to eat a meal together that 71% of the children interviewed said that they would rather do that then go on a family vacation. About 90% of the parents interviewed said that they thought sitting down to share a meal together was extremely meaningful.
So here is my question: why are we spending money on research on something that many of us already know to be true? When I was growing up we ALWAYS gathered around the table at breakfast, lunch (unless we were in school!) and dinner to share in the family meal. It was expected and you had better get to the table the very first time Mom called you! I think it is just shameful that families cannot find time to eat together nowadays. In spite of all the wonderful technology we have today there is no substitute for having a meal with your family-no TV, no computer, no cell phone. TALK to each other! You will be blessed! And don't forget to wash your hands before you eat!
The Methmusician

Never Quite Satisfied...

We have had an unusual amount of snow and ice this winter in the state where I live. Oh we usually have some snow and usually schools are closed for a few days but this winter has been a bit more severe than any I remember here in recent years (and I've lived in this area for about 20 years). And I must admit that I am one these people who complains about the weather! It's either too cold, too hot, too rainy or, recently too SNOWY! Why is it that we are never quite satisfied with the weather? I mean we really have NO control over it and we speak of it as if when we do our speaking of it will change it to our liking!
But you know we are like that in our expectation of other people too. It is so very easy to find the splinter in someone else's eye when we have an entire board in our eye! (Jesus said that you know!). And yet we sometimes knit pick over what we consider to be someone's "shortcomings" without regard to the damage we do to them in the inside. We can only hope that someone doesn't treat US in the same way!
I believe the Bible calls this irrational, unjust judgment "bearing false witness." And a wonderful Episcopalian Priest that I know says that "bearing false witness" means "saying negative things about someone else when you yourself don't know what the h--- you're talking about!" (He can use the h word cause he's Episcopalian AND he's retired!).
You might also remember that Jesus said "do not judge lest ye be judged!" And my mama used to say that when you point a finger at someone else remember "that there are at least three fingers pointing back at you!"
All I'm saying here is that I think it would "behoove" us to practice the Golden Rule a little more often. Because if we choose NOT too there is another old saying that will apply to us and that is "what goes around comes around!"
Find some good in someone.
The Methmusician