Non-prophet religion

Someone at prophecies.org has revealed the staggering news that (drum roll, please) President Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ.

This insight will require some rethinking on my part. At a McDonald's in Rome, Ga., in 1980, a man explained to me that it was Ronald (six letters) Wilson (six letters) Reagan (six letters).

But according to this latest report, it is the one "Coming out of Africa, through the European Illuminati, a subject of the Queen of England, backed by the Vatican, empowered through the Israeli Mossad, Communist/Marxist groomed!"

My professors through the years explained that biblical prophecy is more about speaking truth to a current situation that predicting future events. Less crystal ball, more course-correction warnings.

The focus was on forth-telling rather than foretelling. The future element of the prophets could be found in if-then statements. "If" you go down this route, "then" you will likely have this outcome.

Who would ever believe that biblical prophecy could get down to which modern-era U.S. president is the long-concealed Anti-Christ?

Prophesy can be so confusing — especially when prophets and profits get so intermingled.

Remembering Ana

An email from David D'Amico that I received yesterday morning as my plane made its way to the gate in Atlanta brought sadness, prayers and reflections on a beautiful life. His lovely wife, Ana, had died after a struggle with breast cancer.

An Argentine native with deep passion for God and all of God's people, Ana was a joy to know. She and David were especially gifted at cross-cultural communication and used those gifts well.

From 1996-2004, the D'Amicos served in ministry among the United Nations diplomatic community in New York City. That assignment through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship put them in a strategic position when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred.

Living only about eight blocks from the World Trade Center site, the D'Amicos witnessed the horror of that day and went into action immediately. While the ash-covered, shocked victims (referred to by media as the "walking wounded") streamed away from the WTC site, the D'Amico hustled against the flow to a NYU hospital where they assisted the overwhelmed medical staff.

Ana's earlier experience as a hospital administrator, as well as the language and ministry skills both possessed, proved very helpful. After days of crisis ministry the D'Amicos turned to helping coordinate the good work of many volunteers who came to NYC following that defining experience.

Some months later, I sat with David and Ana in their East Side apartment and heard their remarkable stories — including visiting with friends in the UN community who feared that their lives were at risk because of their Muslim faith.

These are stories I will long remember. And Ana's life is one to celebrate — for it was full and meaningful.

[CBF has provided this photo and a news story about Ana.]

The good kind of God talk

A Phoenix taxi driver is planning to give one of his kidneys to Rita Van Loenen, a patient he has been taking to dialysis appointments recently according to news reports.

Thomas Chappell told CNN that he heard God telling him to offer his kidney. The caring cabby's initial tests proved him to be a good match and, therefore, a viable candidate for this high example of selfless living.

Often people talk about what God has said to them. This one is easy to believe.

'Real time-travel info'

When not reporting an accident or construction slowdown, the overhead interstate signs in Georgia often give this message in yellow-lighted block letters:

REAL-TIME TRAVEL INFO
CALL 511
ANYWHERE IN GEORGIA

My witty 11-year old mentally moved the hyphen and joked: "Cool. Real time-travel info. Call them. I want to go to another time."

For the next several minutes we imagined the various times and places to which we'd travel if such an option was available.

In most periods of history my visits would be brief. Who wants to live without reliable heating and air conditioning, modern medicine, cable TV, quick-and-easy transportation and instant communication? (OK, being without cell phones for awhile would have its benefits.)

With just a decade-plus of experience, traveling into the future was more attractive to my daughter than to me. And imagined visits beyond my own half-decade were usually for quick, first-hand glimpses of historical significance.

My greater time-travel dreams were back to earlier experiences of my own life; a chance to simply relive.

To play one more after-school pick-up baseball game until dark — or too dark to see the ball.

To split a six-ounce Coke with my grandmother and laugh together at the antics of Red Skelton.

To smell fresh honey being spun from the comb, filtered through cheesecloth and poured into jars on our back porch.

To paddle down the Conasauga, Chattahoochee, Chattooga or Nantahala River with friends and no fear of sore legs and shoulders the next morning.

To spend the night at the old Boynton Boy Scout hut, playing ping-pong and listening to a George Carlin album.

To put the top down on my well-worn '69 Ford Galaxy convertible and watch 13 college classmates pile aboard.

The list goes on. But life in the present tense always calls me back. It is where I find my greatest joy.

But God does give us memory for purpose. It is a gift.

Who you gonna call?

When Typhoon Morakot dealt a devastating blow to Taiwan earlier this month, Baptist leaders knew where to turn for help. Baptist World Aid (BWAid) sent an initial gift of $10,000 to the Chinese Baptist Convention to enable local Baptists to better assist victims immediately.

The relief arm of the Baptist World Alliance, led by British Baptist Paul Montacute, who works out of BWA headquarters in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., but travels the world, is now coordinating ongoing relief efforts. BWAid helps Baptist groups around the world, large and small, to assist each other in times of tragedy.

Joseph Tseng Ching-En, General Secretary of the Chinese Baptist Convention (CBC) in Taiwan, told BWA leaders that many victims were "swallowed and buried by landslides." The death toll is expected to exceed 500.

It is one thing to have a compassionate heart. It is another to be organized and connected in such a way that compassion can be delivered in a timely, effective manner.

That is just one of the many good reasons for Baptist churches and fellowships of churches to be a part of the worldwide family that voluntarily gathers under the banner of the Baptist World Alliance.

How we see Jesus

Much of the wide diversity in church life comes from the ways we see Jesus. There are different lenses through which we view the central figure of our faith.

In his new novel, South of Broad, Pat Conroy has his fictionalized characters driving into the mountains of western North Carolina. The great phrase-turner tells of passing little white churches where "they worship a fiercer Christ than I do."

Through years of study, ministry and simple observation, I've seen the portrait of Christ painted in many shades and textures.

Some look to the philosopher Jesus. He is compelling, rational, insightful and convincing. He may be strong in debate or a meek storyteller with a lamb in hand.

Some see Jesus the Judge, primarily. An emphasis on Jesus as judge often leads those who embrace such an image to enjoy the role themselves. He is taking names; kicking behinds. This is the sheriff who patrols our lives looking for each and every infraction.

The street Jesus moves among the neediest. He cleans up the messes of life. Compassion is his defining mark.

Pieces of these images and others are found throughout the Gospels.

My earliest mental images of Jesus were shaped by the physical renderings on my grandmother's walls as well as the ones that moved across flannelgraph boards in the children's department at church.

Over the years the portraits have changed for me — depending on what scripture I was reading or what experiences were happened in my own life. None of us has him pegged just right.

But we do know that Jesus was offensive enough to be targeted for elimination. And loving enough to endure it.

Mind over matter

During one of her physical therapy visits in this sticky-hot summer weather of central Georgia, my wife entered a home without air conditioning. The patient, an older woman, was relaxing on the sofa as Christmas music played in the background.

"Did it work?" I asked. "She said it did, but I couldn't tell the difference," my wife replied.

How much control our minds have over physical matters is open to debate. But there is no argument that life deals us both the good and the bad.

Or as Jesus put it: The sun rises on the evil and the good, and the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Sounds like that includes us all.)

Of course, the good and the bad of life are not evenly distributed. The late comic Christian Grady Nutt used to say: "Maturity is learning to play the hand you are dealt."

I am often amazed at those who display a positive attitude through even the most challenging experiences of life. On the hand, there are those who (as one friend described someone recently) "can find a cloud in every silver lining."

There is no easy answer to finding the "right attitude" even though we've been told to do so all of lives. But part of the answer lies in an awareness of what aspects of our lives we control and which ones we do not.

Today's forecast is for hot, humid weather, again. And the to-do list calls for mowing the lawn.

Wonder if either of my daughters would loan me her iPod. I'll pay the 99¢ to download the barking dogs singing "Jingle Bells."

Prophecy on a shelf

In the barrage of emails received so far this week, was one from a publicist promoting a new self-published book about biblical prophecy found in "the Books of Daniel and Revelations," as the publicist put it.

(My astute friend Mark Parnell once noted that those who refer to the last book of the Bible as "Revelations" tend to shop at "Wal-Marts," "K-Marts" and "Kroger's" too. Lots of extra "S's" to go around.)

A Houston welder named Melvin Winfrey is the author of The Beast That Was, And Is Not, And Yet Is.

He explains: "This book is about these four great beasts that came up out of the sea or out of the earth. It tells how they will leave a path of destruction upon the earth, upon mankind. This destruction will cause great suffering, such that men have never witnessed before. We are watching the first beast now, the lion with the eagle’s wings."

According to the publicist, Winfrey's take on Bible’s prophecy "ties into today’s social and political events" and "gives readers details about what’s coming in the last days.”

The four beasts mentioned in Revelation, he claims, represent major political powers in the world today — including the U.S. and Russia.

While not questioning the writer's sincerity, it seems the calendar just went back to the 1970s (or most any other point in history when someone was predicting the Second Coming) when Hal Lindsey attached every aspect of apocalyptic literature to a modern-day events. The Cold War was his primary eschatological playground.

As a senior religion and philosophy major in late '70s, I foolishly asked Berry College professor and superb biblical scholar Dr. Jorge Gonzalez to guide me through an independent study of the Book of Revelation. Instead of cracking any end-times codes, I spent the entire term researching the setting in which the text was originally produced.

I verified none of Hal Lindsey's connections between Magog and Russia, but by the end of term could have given a tour of Patmos. Dr. Gonzalez had method to his madness: the Book was not written primarily or exclusively for us.

After grilling me during one of our weekly meetings in his office, he explained it (in my paraphrase) like this: "Can you imagine the kind of persecution these early Christians were experiencing when John wrote this book? The very future of the Christian faith was at risk. Does it seem reasonable in such a context that John would receive this divine revelation so we would know how the world is going to end in the 1970s? If the book is primarily about what is happening to us today, then the early Christians could have just put it on a shelf until we came along."

I got his point: "Its not primarily about us!" However, the lessons of faith under pressure apply to all generations of believers.

So I'll pass on this latest end-times explanation even though Winfrey, according to his publicist, "states that the religious figures today, most specifically in the Baptist and Pentecostal denominations, are not spreading the true word of God."

The loss of civil discourse

An adage about preaching goes: "The weaker your point, the louder you make it."

I feel that way about the talk-radio disciples showing up at town hall meetings and screaming about the government's efforts to kill old people. Civil, even when passionate, discourse has given way to unfruitful disruption.

Yale law professor Stephen Carter's 1998 book, Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy, should be required reading for all of us.

In a PBS interview back when the book was released, Carter noted that the first mass transportation in our nation was by railroad. The close proximity of passengers led to a voluntary code of behavior in order to make everyone comfortable. (Good thing there were no cell phones then, I guess.)

After leaving the rails, Americans have been less willing to sacrifice personal wants for the communal good, he said. The lost civility he spoke of a decade ago seems to have drifted even further from our American experience.

In the 1998 PBS interview he stated: "...[W]hile we tend to think about civility as being about manners, as being about behavior, and it is partly that, I'd like to think of it as something larger, that civility is the sum of all the sacrifices that we make for the sake of living together. And one of the things I think we're losing in America today is the sense of — to put it simply — going the extra mile, doing something we don't have to do that the law doesn't require of us in order to help someone else's life be a little bit better. The sacrifice will make for a common enterprise."

Wonder where that idea came from ... "going the extra mile?"

Well, I'll walk a mile or two to avoid the kind of shouting matches that have replaced civil discourse in many places. It might have something to do with enduring church business meetings as a kid.

Direct communication appreciated

Airport delays are as much a part of life as flat tires, stumped toes and other non-pleasantries. So I'm not whining.

Neither am I dissing the airlines or airport personnel. My safety is in their hands and I'm grateful for every effort they make to ensure that.

Weather is beyond anyone's control and one snafu in one city can have a domino effect for several airports. It's just one of those things.

Also, I'm grateful for the keen-eyed mechanic who spotted the fuel leak just before my flight was to take off this week — even if it caused havoc with my schedule.

Whether a flight delay or any other situation in life, my appreciation for direct communication is high.

A few weeks ago, the Delta flight I was scheduled on was delayed by a wiring problem related to the "black box" data recorder. The pilot was exemplary in his communication approach.

The captain came to the gate and announced directly to the passengers the cause of the delay. He informed us that: (1) the wiring problem had nothing to do with the safe operation of the plane; (2) FFA regulations forbid flying without the device working properly; (3) the time it takes to find and fix a wiring problem is unpredictable; (4) breathing down the mechanic's neck while troubleshooting doesn't speed up the process; and (5) he will keep us posted on further developments.

While the delay was still a delay, it felt better knowing the details and feeling confident that someone was giving the situation good attention. The gracious pilot even remained at the desk to answer repeated stupid questions. (Stupid questions, in this case, included those he had just answered and the ones asking if we will be flying on an unsafe aircraft.)

Hearing the latter a few too many times, he took to the microphone and explained: "Folks, don't worry. I would never fly an unsafe plane. I don't have a parachute either."

His patience, humor and concern were appreciated. Most of all, being in-the-know (through constant updates) was appreciated.

In the lingo of my upbringing, "don't beat around the bush." Like Detective Joe Friday, all we want is the facts.

There is something to be said about straight talk — regardless of the situation.

BWA nomination reflects well on Upton, BGAV

Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) executive John Upton's nomination to become the next Baptist World Alliance (BWA) president speaks well of this gifted leader and Virginia Baptists.

Upton (left, in photo with British Baptist and current BWA president David Coffee) is a strategic thinker with a global perspective. The Uptons were formerly Southern Baptist missionaries to Taiwan.

As the world gets smaller while remaining complex, the work of BWA is increasingly important. It is both a laboratory of learning across cultures and a network for assisting those across the globe who face difficulties from war, natural disasters and religious persecution.

Pulling out of the BWA a few years ago was one of the Southern Baptist Convention's most tragic self-inflicted wounds among multiple shots. But with 216 member bodies with tremendous diversity in size, culture, language and religious practice, this worldwide fellowship provides a wonderful voluntary connection for those who share Baptist commitments to individual and congregational freedom.

Upton's nomination to a five-year term as president will occur next summer at the BWA World Congress in Honolulu. For more info on that gathering, the relief efforts of BWAid and all the wonderful work of BWA visit BWAnet.org.

[Photo by Tony Cartledge.]

Whatever happened to summer?

Notebooks and other school supplies are flying off the shelves. Teachers are readying their classrooms. In some cases, yellow buses are starting to roll this week or the next.

Whatever happened to summer? The temperature here in central Georgia will hit the mid-90s today. Sure feels like summer to me.

Officially, summer began on June 21 — but the whole month gets treated like summer. And the Fall Equinox occurs on Sept. 22 — a good month or more into the school year for some.

The tourism industry has pushed the school start back a bit in some states. Good beach weather goes to waste when kids go back to school early.

Good theologians know that God intended summer to begin with Memorial Day weekend and end with Labor Day weekend. That is a proper amount of time to enjoy the seasonal benefits of long days, fresh tomatoes, baseball, swimming and a less-agenda-driven life.

But sorry, kids. It's time for the early morning alarm. And the after-school parental cries of: "Do your homework. Go to bed."

We know you don't want to hear about the old days when we walked two miles to school — uphill both ways. But you REALLY don't want to hear about how much summer we had to enjoy each year.

For way back then, August was part of the summer rather than the fall.

Delivering on our promises

Businesses have different ways to express appreciation for our patronage.

It's the boisterous "Welcome to Mo's" greeting that arrives before the oddly-named burritos and other entrees.

At Chick-Fil-A, "my pleasure" has replaced "you're welcome" or the more contemporary "no problem."

While checking out of a Marriott Fairfield Inn one morning, I was asked by the desk clerk: "Did we keep our promises?" Only afterward did I notice the list of "promises" posted on the hotel's wall.

It is a good question. Did we deliver on our promises?

Leslie Hollon has quoted the late pastoral care giant Wayne Oates as saying: "The promises we keep let us sleep. The promises we break keep us awake."

One of the best ways to build good personal and professional relationships is to be consistently trusted to follow through.