My Story

I was asked to give my testimony on Easter so I thought I would post it here:

My story is the story of a seeker. This process of seeking began when I was about 10 years old. I remember at 10 or so I saw a World Vision television show about the 1973 famine in Tanzania, East Africa. Prior to this documentary, I was unaware of the problem of poverty. The contrast between the affluence of my neighborhood and our nation with the reality of suffering in other parts of the world was irreconcilable. To me as a teenager I was profoundly aware of this ethical idea. What alarmed me even more than the suffering itself was that no one else seemed to care. My awareness of poverty and of the apathy of people around me was reflected in the music I listened to, the clothes I wore, and my relationships with my peers and my parents. It even affected how hard I studied.

At university I began to study the root causes of this problem of poverty and I discovered politics. I was studying to be a medical doctor. My major was Medical Anthropology and I wanted to work on the most fundamental problems of infectious diseases and clean water with an emphasis in East Africa. As I studied the historical roots of these people's suffering and the realities of global trade and economics, I came to the realization that the problem was not only human apathy but was the result of the intentional acts of the powerful. What was needed was a political solution. Needless to say, I took a serious turn to the left.

Our test case was the problem of South African Apartheid. My activism got me face to face meetings with some very powerful people. We spoke truth to power, but I was profoundly struck by these men's stubbornness. Eventually our frustration resulted in an escalation of the conflict, and my friends and I found ourselves in jail. At this time y heroes were Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Jesus. All spoke truth to power, met resistance with courage, and died well fighting for the poor. When I graduated from college my understanding of Jesus was of a political activist motivated by compassion who was killed as a result of his advocacy for justice and his compassion for the poor.

After college, for some reason I remember I attended a youth group at a church. I remember arguing with the youth pastor, who appeared rather square to me, that Jesus did NOT die for his sin. His advice was that I read the Bible and start in the Gospel of John. Never one to back down from a challenge, I went home, found a Bible and opened to the Gospel of John.

The story begins with John the Baptist's first encounter with Jesus before Jesus even started any public ministry. Seeing Jesus walking toward him, John the Baptist says "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." This verse struck me. I read it again and again and I began to weep. In one moment, I realized that though Jesus did speak truth to power, this is not why he died. Jesus dies to actually solve the problem at the root of all our suffering and our apathy and our stubbornness. Jesus died to solve the root problem of our nature. For the first tie, I saw that I was also in the grips of a moral struggle with sin and my ego and that I was losing. I was convinced in an instant that I was a sinner and was fundamentally just as spiritually needy and destitute as anyone else. I realized in that moment that I did not know God but that I needed His help. Jesus dies to reconcile me to God and to transform me from the inside out. Jesus dies to save me from my demons. In an instant, I understood that our problem is not an economic problem or even a political problem but a spiritual problem: that my problem and our problem mattered to God.

Many of the things I learned through my searching as a young man I still believe, but where each of the roads I went down ended in a dead-end, I now have hope and faith that if God is with us, He can transform both us and those we meet because of the work Jesus did on the cross, and because Jesus is still alive, we are called to serve him and work with Him to expand His kingdom, His justice and to live according to His compassion

Balanace Sheet recession and the Revenge of the Glut

Revenge of the Glut - Paul Krugman

The best explanation of the financial crisis I have heard and it's solution came from an NPR expert from Japan. He explained how property owners are experiencing balance sheet problems.

The result is very obvious. Our balance sheets are wacked so we must recover by saving. This savings a has lead to a ridiculous problem of the paradox of thrift. The paradox is that if everyone attempts to repair their balance sheets at the same time and get financially health all at once, then the economy as a whole goes to hell in a handbasket.

Can I get a witness?

The solution is that we allow the government to temporarily and intentionally get its balance sheet into trouble and spend while we all save. I do see a problem with this fix. The trouble with this solution is that the government already has a balance sheet problem. BUT, nonetheless, if they government tries to fix it's balance sheet problem now, like Hoover did, then the problem will get as severe as the '20's.

Worse Than Expected on the Economy

Worse Than Expected on the Economy

The current economic crisis is a moral issue in that Christians are called to incarnationally empathize (feel with) the suffering around us. We need to prepare to be on the leading edge of the crisis. The fact is the economy is in a total melt down and we need to have answers for people, well being answers, for people who will be on the streets. The future is not going to be "OK".

Jesus calls us to understand poverty and God's provision as Jesus did. California is at 10.5% unemployment and this is only the beginning of the down turn.

People have told me that this is not "relevant", but nothing could be more relevant than real suffering. The Day of reckoning is here. Americans have not faced the facts of our ego-driven greed for consumption and we have found ourselves in incredible debt. Now our balance sheets are underwater. This has at it's root a spiritual problem.

Robert Reich: Finally a Progressive Budget

Robert Reich's Blog: Finally a Progressive Budget

This is so right on!!! Reich understands so thoroughly the real roots of the recession side of our economic problems.

Praise for the Obama budget. I am so partisan; it is funny

Read Stuff..To be an asset to God's world

What I read and why I read it.
I use to not read at all. I know that sounds strange but for about 15 years I read only the bible and 18th and early 20th century sermons. I am still very glad I focused on this limited reading for so many years. I am a better person for it. BUT...this year I began to read other stuff...

I read:
1. Newspapers. I read a lot of news because I think the human condition and economics is on God's heart. People are suffering and understanding why they suffer and putting policy positions in historical perspectie and context is important. So I read...
2. Biography. In the last 12 months, I have read a few. Einstein, FDR, Lincoln.
3. Robert Reich and Paul Krugman....

just a bit about me.

A discussion about the economy with Fred Mishkin, Mark Zandi, Nouriel Roubini and Nina Easton in Business

Thirty nine minutes but really good on the Obama housing plan. Basic outcome, they need to cut actual principle of the mortgages.

What the centrists have wrought

What the centrists have wrought - Paul Krugman
Here is the bottom line on the stimulus.
It is such a drag.
I sold all my stock.
We are in for the real deal. It seems Herbert Hoover has risen from the dead.

Luke 10:38 - 42 Someone Greater than John Piper is Here

If I was to think of anyone who I would like to have a mentoring relationship with, it would be John Piper.

A fantasy might be that Piper called me up and said he wanted to be my mentor. He says that I will have opportunity to teach at the church he pastors and as I grow and prove faithful that my responsibilities would increase. If such an opportunity opened up to me, I would drop everything and do whatever Pastor Piper asked of me. I would work very hard to succeed. This would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Well, the fact is that someone greater than John Piper is here. Maybe you would think of some other over achiever but you get the point. When Jesus offers us relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit, this relationship is "the one thing necessary". No longer does reading books really matter. TV and entertainment seem pretty irrelevant. Being mentored one on one with Jesus, being called to be a disciple of Jesus is the only really important opportunity in life that gives our life purpose. Seeing this relationship with Jesus as a more practical opportunity than if someone with power and position in the world offered you a one on one internship is a proper perspective on what the kingdom actually offers us.

When I remember this living relationship in these terms, I begin to strip down my life and prioritize my listening to Jesus and studying his word. Jesus, what spiritual direction are you giving me today? What skill set are you teaching me in order to be faithful in little so that I can receive greater responsibility in your church and with your people and on your earth? Jesus is the one with power and position in the big picture and He is the one who has the skill and the knowledge to teach us what is really vital in life to true success and true influence.

peace,
brad

No Solutions- The Obama Gap - Unemployment Figures Dec 2008

The Obama Gap - Paul Krugman
Unemployment Numbers for December 2008
Even Paul Krugman, appears unwilling to say what the real problem is. The fact is the real problem is still not being solved.
The problem is wealth polarization and wage stagnation. This unwillingness to discuss the real problem makes the problem that much bigger.

The fact of the matter is that the only people who have the kind of money needed to jump start the economy is the rich.

I warned about this in September 2008 - The Solution is Wage Infalation via Tax Policy
and again in October 2008 - Stimulus and the Need for Wealth Distribution
The problem is simple. In order to compete on Wall Street companies need to make huge, huge profits. The result is even if a company makes huge profits, their stock prices fall because someone else makes huge, huge profit. So to be competitive companies must lower wages.

The only way to solve this is for government to change the rules of the game. A good example would be to return to income tax levels on the rich that are pre-Reagan.

In that there is no real solution (i.e. this is never going to happen), this is my last political post on this blog. For anything political see The Post-Partisan.

Ross, Holbrooke, Haass To Serve As Envoys - Marc Ambinder

Ross, Holbrooke, Haass To Serve As Envoys

Huge news, Dennis Ross reported in as envoy/negotiator on everything Iran. All I can say is - OMG.

There is absolutely no doubt in Obama's very strong even hawkish pro-Israel position. This is fantastic news for Israel. I am reading Statecraft currently and, basically, Ross is a hero of mine.

Tactics for the Middle East, Barack Obama and The Mideast’s Ground Zero

The Mideast’s Ground Zero - Thomas Friedman's piece
piece this morning makes a few very important points on recent middle east historical events. I would like to expound a bit on how this relates to Christian support for president-elect Obama.

What we have currently in the Israel/Palestinian region is a shift in who the real power players are. Previously, the PLO/PA were the representatives of the Palestinian position. This made a two-state solution, given a few very difficult sticking points, a possibility. Today, we have a different scenario. With Hamas and Hezbollah in power on the borders of Israel the real power brokers are Israel and Iran. With the combination of a shi'a state in Iraq and Iranian puppets in both South Lebanon and Gaza, a two-state solution no longer is practically on the table.

This scenario has occurred at least in part as a result of a few huge tactical and even strategic blunders. The USA supported elections in Gaza prior to the setting up of a state with any constitutional institutional structure. The result is that Hamas, an Islamist party, took power. This total rookie move was basically putting the wine of democracy in a vacuous political wineskin. The wineskin of democracy MUST BE A CONSTITUTION WHICH PROTECTS THE RIGHTS OF ALL CITIZENS and institutions which solidify the development of a sovereign state. The result has been that Iran is now bordering Israel through its proxy Hamas. This is a decidedly anti-two state solution and the state that is threatened is Israel.

So the strategy now has to be to undermine the Islamic narrative of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. Nothing accomplishes this vital strategic necessity better than the support and success of Barack Hussein Obama and a changing of the face of America in the political mind of the Palestinians. America must convince the populations Gaze and the West bank and Southern Lebanon that their prosperity is not linked to Hamas and Hezbollah but relationship with the West. What is needed then is most likely a new political player other than the Palestinian Authority in the areas of the future Palestinian state.

Easy to Understand Krugman on Stimulus

Stimulus arithmetic (wonkish but important) - Paul Krugman

Around where I hang out, people are knee jerk anti-government. I avoid the topic as much as possible, but if anyone is interested, the above Krugman article explains the need for government intervention pretty well. Krugman has been very good over the past week so read all his blog and his op-eds to get what I think is at least an intelligent discussion of the options.

Why I am Not a Fundamentalist - A Brief Look at the Cosmology of Genesis 1

The "fight for Genesis" has been a rallying point of fundamentalists for over a century since Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859. What fundamentalists have been fighting for is the wrong headed defense of Mosaic or Ancient Cosmology. What such a reading of the text of Genesis misses is that the bible is not intending to communicate the ancient cosmology as a tenet of the faith. Therefore, to make ancient cosmology a creedal belief places the progress of human discovery at odds with faith in Jesus as the Christ. Such a link between Ancient cosmology and faith in Jesus places an unnecessary stumbling block to faith.

Instead, it is better to understand the worldview of the biblical writers as one of the tools the writer necessarily used to communicate the culturally transcendent truths about God's relationship with man throughout history from Abraham to the present.

For example, Genesis 1 states the following:

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

Moses is stating that God separated the waters, some above in the heavens and some below the air on earth. The expanse between the two bodies of water was called sky. Later, Moses places the stars and the like in the sky. This is the Ancient cosmology. This view of how the universe is laid out was prior to our discovery of the water cycle of evaporation, condensation and precipitation and was a common sense explanation of where rain came from.

Remember, less than 300 years ago, human beings universally believed that there were four basic elements: earth, fire, water and air. No one had described accurately the idea that one element could exist in the three basic states of air, liquid, and solid. These discoveries which we take for granted today are part of our cosmology.

The key here is that you cannot expect an ancient writer to speak from a worldview that was not possible for him to comprehend. God inspires men to write, but, nonetheless, God uses human instruments to perform His work including writing the Bible.

So when we take into account the worldview of the writer, we must look to discover the BIG revolutionary "aha" that the writer was explaining to his contemporary readers. In Genesis, Moses was not questioning whether there existed two bodies of water separated by the expanse of sky. What he was questioning was the understanding that the different elements and objects of the universe were the creation or eminence of DIFFERENT DEITIES.

Moses the Prophet of Monotheism!!!!
In Moses' world, the Israelites had just come out of Egypt where there was a god of the river and a god of the frogs and a god of the Sun etc. The story of Moses is the story that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the One true God of Heaven and Earth and all that is on the earth and under the earth and in the seas and in the sky and the rain and the sun and everything.

Moses tells this revelation using the tools of his culture and ancient cosmology. To miss the radical proclamation of the Lord Almighty as Lord of All and instead focus on the cosmological understanding of human society of 4000 years ago is to not only miss the point but to place ignorance as a prerequisite to faith in God Almighty.

I do not think that the placing of such a stumbling block between faith and those God loves will be something that will be so easily forgiven.

They Used Us for Our Faith

Last night, my family and I watched the movie, Traitor starring Don Cheadle.

There was one line in the movie that I can totally relate to. The Cheadle character is speaking to his friend (who is a Islamist) and he says,

"They used us for our faith"

The Cheadle character is trying to show his friend how his faith made him committed and the politically minded used that conviction to their political benefit but distorted the faith in the mean time.

I can relate. What is so difficult about being in such a situation is that we as individuals haven't been down this road of serving God with our whole being before and it often takes years to figure out who is real and who is just using us for our radical comittment. Someties our desire to serve God in a tangible way makes us vulerable to being used by people with a worldly or political agenda.

I do not think the church has learned its lesson but the fact is, "They used us for our faith".

This is Obama's HUD announcement. Very excellent for the first three minutes or so...BUT..
At about 3:30 notice how Pres Obama increases his pace and then at 3:45 he is blistering. He needs to go back and read his FDR books. FDR wouldn't mess up the pace. As a preacher, I notice this kinda stuff. Enjoy...Man, this guy has the goods.

Laying a Foundation of Grace – Part 1

In our weekly small group, we have been focusing on grace and have been camping out on the saying of Jesus, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” My experience, both in my own life and in my observations of others, has been that we humans tend strongly toward legalism and unbelief. It is very hard for us to sustain a conscious awareness that God is with us and for us. We struggle with maintaining a grace-based relationship with God that is pervasive enough to transform our fears and frustrations into “righteousness, peace and joy”.

Therefore, the purpose of church is to “encourage one another”. We are to remind one another of the grace of God. We are to remind one another of the immediate presence of God through Jesus Christ. We live in this life in a place of forgetfulness. We do not forget the law. We do not forget that we are not living as holy as we would like. This history is before us all the time. What we do forget is that God calls us forgiven and holy.

There are literally thousands, if not millions, of ways to illustrate from the scriptures how the gospel places us irrevocable in a grace based relationship with God, and I plan over the next few weeks to camp out on these static, immutable, truths. The first illustration I would like to give is given by Paul in Romans 7

What Paul is saying is that through faith we have been identified with the death and resurrection of Jesus. This identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus is the point of Romans chapter 6. Our baptism represents our death and resurrection. We often think that when we die we will be delivered from the bondage of life and we will enter into rest or heaven. Paul is saying that this death has already happened and the benefits of being freed from sin through death has already occurred because we were freed from sin because we already died. Jesus says the same thing when He says, “I am the door. Whoever goes through me will enter into pasture. For I came that you may have life and life abundantly.” Jesus is saying that his death, not your death, is the doorway into freedom from the human condition of bondage to sin.

In Romans 7, Paul makes an application of this participation in the death of Jesus as it relates to our relationship with the law. In our former life, we were married to the law, but now we have died and have been risen to be married to another that is Christ. So we are no longer married to the law but married to Jesus Christ. This reality is a permanent immutable reality. The Christian is not under law but under grace. The Christian is no longer married to the law but is married to Christ. The key then is to first know this but then to apply this truth to our conscious relationship with God.

The Wrath of God and the Christian
First, if I am not under the law, then I am no longer under the wrath or judgment of God – ever. I am never, ever, legally guilty and therefore never ever under punishment for my sinfulness. I am completely off the hook with respect to the punishment for sin. How then does this affect my head?? That is the question. God is never relating to me in a way that is anything other than constructive. When I sin or act in a way that disappoints God or myself, which is very frequent, how is God responding to me? How ought I to feel? How ought I to relate to God in the immediate aftermath of poor moral choices or some other expression of my brokenness.

First, I need to realize that God’s desire is to help me solve this problem of my moral failings. I am a servant of God and God is constantly available to solve my fundamental problem of powerlessness. First and foremost, we need to see God available to help me without shame or guilt to work on my shortcomings and character defects. Guilt and shame are not constructive and God is always relating to me in a creative and constructive manner.

So as I approach God, I confess to Him that I am walking in His grace and that I am in relationship with Christ. I address Christ asking for help. I confess my forgiveness and my thankfulness for His forgiveness. I confess my love for Him. I confess that He sees me as holy and set apart for Him and His good work. For me the moment I relate to God and acknowledging his goodness and helpfulness, I am joyful even if I am disappointed with myself.

We live in a place called forgetfulness and therefore self-discipline and self-control in the moments of the day are fleeting and illusive. This is part of being poor in spirit. This is just the nature of life in this dispensation. But we are under grace and we approach God with faith and hope in His ability to disciple us and empower us.

Secondly, even when we haven’t behaved in a way that disappoints us, we need to approach God with thanksgiving for our forgiveness and we need to confess that we are holy and set apart for His good works. This path of acceptance of our forgiveness and the abiding reality of grace needs to be a well worn path for us. Guilt and shame are not only self defeating, guilt and shame are bad theology and an affront to the cross.

Total Immersion in Grace
Remembering that we are no longer married to the law and therefore we should not approach God as if we are guilty is actually hard work. We are very forgetful. We need to work on this in our devotional life and also in our intimate relationships. We need to express this grace in all our relationships until our community is immersed, baptized, in grace. Only then will we have the joy of the Lord be our abiding moral strength.