Hope

One of the faith communities that Christine and I are a part of is Church of the Beloved in Edmonds. These highly creative friends have just released a fantastic set of worship music that is your free to download and listen to. We have found the music (and the community itself) to be highly inspiring to us. Check it out yourself: Hope for a Tree Cut Down

Fishing for the Sun

Spent a beautiful day this Sunday in Byblos, one of the older cities here in Lebanon. As the sun set, I saw a lone fisherman apparently trying to keep the sun from setting.

In Lebanon

In Beirut this week for a series of meetings. What absolutely gorgeous city it is! Here is a view from the air.


Of course when you are in meetings, you get to connect with people! Here's a shot with one of my longtime heroes, Lucien Acaad, the former head (among other things) of the Bible Society.

Who and What is Mars Hill

I am often asked what the relationship and/or difference is between Mars Hill Graduate School and Mars Hill Church (led by Mark Driscoll) here in Seattle. As people in both are eager to say, "there is no relationship!" Here is an excellent news article that helpfully walks people through the distinctions of both. http://crosscut.com/2008/10/30/religion/18602/ Just to let you know, I am much more a fan of the school than the church.

Obama E-Motions

Got an e-mail tonight from a sore loser (who will go nameless here). They were not happy with the election results. Among other things they said:

"Not one of any of the people who voted Democrat this year gets to complain at all in the next 4 years when your taxes go sky high cause they will, 1st prediction. Not one of you gets to complain when we are so weakened in our military that we are attacked again on our soil and maybe someone you love dies because the democrats will weaken our military (they said they would) and we will see another (at least one) attack on our soil because of it. Not one gets to complain when our economy goes even more sour, cause raising taxes never grows the economy only the government (and you are very gulible if you believe they will stop the flow at $250,000). No one gets to complain when you see people who won't work for a living spending money they got from you who do work for a living. Not one. Sorry, I am a sore loser, that's why I never played sports in High School. Thanks to every one, citizen or not who voted for socialism!"

Some of what was written, I tend to agree with (taxes will go up, the military will likely have less priority, etc.). However, here was my response:

This is America, regardless of how we voted today we get to complain. We also can do that officially every two years in elections. However, let's pause and reflect a bit on some other things about tonight.

Given our history, is it not a great moment for America when we get to celebrate an African American becoming President? Can we recognize that America is still a place where anyone can rise to be the leader of the land? It is not true anywhere else on the planet.

Can we not celebrate the engagement of younger voters - not opting out as my generation did in the 1960s and 1970s - but participating in the system and making a difference?

Can we not celebrate the way in which we all can participate in a leadership transition without violence?

Can we possibly applaud followers of Christ who may have been so disillusioned with our current and inept government led by GW Bush that they decided change was just too important and voted for Obama? I know many. Are they less Christian?

Can we look at the ways in which the new opposition (Republicans) can now possibly come up with an idea-driven philosophy that can envision people (not overly present in the McCain candidacy)?

Can we realize that President-elect Obama is now the President of all of us and deserves (needs) our prayers and our good will (if not our support)?

Can we realize that regardless of the party affiliation of the President, God is still in charge and that there are much bigger issues at stake in the world than American politics?

For my Republican friends, just remember that you survived 8 years of President Clinton and -- shockingly -- the world did not end. In fact, in many ways (not all) we prospered as a nation.

Just some quick thoughts.