Coming Out

I'm not really sure what to say here, so forgive me if I ramble. Anyhow, I have been thinking long and hard about things, praying too, and it occurs to me that God might finally be getting through to me on some issues. Given that, it seems time to come out of the closet. No, not THAT closet. The closet I am in is that I have, for a long time, wondered whether or not I should be starting some kind of ministry where I am. I've put it off forever. There's always some sort of good excuse.

I guess that what I'm saying is that it's finally time for me to admit that I may be having another "call" experience. It's been about 30 years since the last one, so the memory has faded somewhat. All that aside, for the past 3 years, I have spent most of my Sunday afternoons searching for and applying for jobs. I've long since lost count of the number of jobs I've applied for. Out of all that, I can only remember being interviewed for three of them. Out of possibly hundreds of "out of town" jobs applied for, I have never gotten an interview. After all that, I have to think that either I am either an unemployable bum or I just might be where God wants me to be.

Here's the other tier to this. In looking at where Patty and I have gone with the whole employment situation, it seems that we have been very focused on landing that "one big job" that will solve all our problems and get the family's economic life and identity back on track. Knowing how likely that is to occur in Lexington, we've assumed that this will be somewhere out of town. What we have NOT done, is to focus on how we can be where we are and make it work. We've not gotten as active in church as we like, because we had an assumption that we'd only have to move away. We've limited our relationships outside the home, since we thought of ourselves as transients. In short, all of our energy has flowed out of town, leaving us pretty much empty.

So here's what I see when I look at staying. I need to continue to cultivate any opportunity I can, rather than holding back. I'll keep trying to get Georgetown to at least interview me (never gonna happen), apply for everything that even looks good at UK (at least they've interviewed me), and generally look about, in case a "big" job opens up that will interview me. Meanwhile, I'll do all that consulting and legal work I can get my hands on; adjunct for BSK, IWU, and whoever else needs a "hired gun" for a professor; and look for new things, like technology consulting for other law offices.

And what about this sense of "call?" I'm writing a book on the emerging church movement. I'm consulting with people in the movement from all over the region. I've even had at least one group talk to me about coordinating things, should they start something. Through it all, I've been keeping it at arm's length (leaving town, so why get invested?), but the time for that seems to have come to an end. Toward that end, I think it's time to get a group of folk together for prayer and conversation about what might be done in this area. Give us a few months to talk, seek, and pray and see where God is doing something we might join. It may lead to nothing, a new church, or something that none of us can imagine, but we're never going to get there if I keep my head up my aspirations to leave town for some "major job." If you're reading this, and haven't given up on it already, consider it an invitation to venture an opinion and/or join in. Before I go, here are some preliminary thoughts about things that might happen:

1. I need to change my current church experience. My family and I like the church and the people, but Patty and I are not happy with the Sunday School options. I'd like to look into providing another option that focuses less on an academic appreciation of Christianity and more on spiritual disciplines. Rebecca seriously needs a good youth group experience, and we seriously have the best youth minister available. Where my schedule and finances allow, I plan to help out when needed.

2. If we all decide that we want to do something, I would very much like to do at least one thing that is a ministry to ministers, especially young ones. They work their tails off to serve others, but where can they get something for themselves? Some sort of weeknight ministry for them fits the first of the 2 microcultures that I feel called to reach.

3. The second microculture is people who feel that they aren't wanted by churches. The song "Breathe," by the Lost Dogs pretty well covers the fact that there are a lot of left out people in what we call "church" these days, and I'd love to do something that seeks to address that. I know myself well enough to know that most people with Aspergers share this particular drive, so I come by it honestly, but I still think it's the biggest mission field in our country and I'd love to go there.

4. If we decide to head in a churchlike direction, I would like to keep at least some semblance of a Baptist identity, and look for some support and cooperation with ABC and CBF folks (particularly if we decide we need "church plant" funds). It's more of who I am than for any other reason, but I kind of have to work with that.

5. Even though I am egocentric enough to write all this, it cannot be about me and what I want all the time. I would love to coordinate a group of people on mission together. I would hate to be some sort of cult leader. I'm very interested in cell-based and other collaborative forms of ministry, so I'm kind of wanting to talk and pray in that direction, assuming that we can get together.


That's it! Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying. Thanks for not just laughing at me and pointing. I'd love to hear some thoughts.

Notes on the Emerging Church

I. Postmodernism and the failure of "Orthodoxy"

Short form - with the rise of Postmodern thought, people began to question a-priori views of knowledge and values in favor of a worldview that views knowledge as a construct of human society, achieved through a pragmatic consensus. The idea of philosophical and theological "laws" gradually began to be replaced with a concept of "certitude," where you are "certain" that something is what you say it is, but you cannot "know" it in any real sense. Truth, in this worldview, can be looked upon as something that exists, but is too complex a concept to truly understand. If this is the case, there can be no "proper belief," because no one is capable of knowing that their views of God are superior to anyone else's. Instead, there are a series of consensual beliefs that are held in common by various groups and/or traditions. Another good way to put things is that there is no "Emergent Theology" in any official sense, but there are some commonly accepted ways of struggling with theological questions.

Deconstruction - While some view this as "completely tearing down," and thus throwing out the good with the bad, others view this as looking at Christianity as a very large onion and "peeling" back certain layers to get at the parts that still work. Generally, Emergent folk have a tendency to look to their heritage as a way to find meaning and purpose, as well as a way to interpret faith to a new generation, and this requires discarding artifacts that no longer help with this process.

Construction - The other side of deconstruction. Constructive thought is one that seeks to build new structures and thoughts that better accomplish the things that Christianity traditionally tries to do. A constructivist is more likely to look outside his or her own heritage to find things in other worldviews that might inform the current needs or more effectively enhance the creation of meaning and mission.

The primacy of experience over proposition - The modernist worldview tends to be one that draws "Truth" from adherence to propositions and appropriate "laws and theories" while distrusting such "subjective" constructs as metaphor, aphorism, and other vehicles through which one conveys experiential knowledge. Aside from an empiricist conceit that assumes that information can be transmitted in a vacuum that keeps it totally separate from the biases and presence of the observer, modernism tends to insist on the concept of "fact," which is taken taken from the Latin word facere, and conveys the meaning that reality is something to be "comprehended" by "fencing off" ever smaller bits of it. (Thank Parker Palmer for that insight) A postmodern view tends to operate out of a more "connected" sense of knowing, where all the "bits" are fundamentally interconnected and cannot be "fenced off." Experience, with all the "logical messiness" that accompanies it, is the best way to get at a reality that is beyond our grasp, and "reality" as any individual knows it, is largely driven by the experience of living in the world, sharing perspectives, drawing conclusions, making choices, and allowing uncertainty to exist as an essential part of life. There's a lot more to this, but in terms of the church, this means that Emerging believers put more stock in their experience of faith as "relationship" and much less into a faith as a set of propositions about God and people. Where Christianity gradually evolved into a more fixed, creedal faith, whether those creeds are explicit or not, Pre (or Post) Christian believers have a tendency to focus more on faith as a journey of discovery and meaning-making. They are usually not "moral relativists" as some Christians would charge, so much as "moral choosers."


II. Theological innovation (or rediscovery)

Short form - One of the overriding themes in Emergent literature is the idea that the first century church was in a situation that much more approximates our own than did the churches of later centuries. This has led to a strong emphasis on recovering first century practices, theological debates, literature, and other things.

Focus on apostolic faith - The days of the "church fathers" saw the rise of a church that stood in opposition to a very pagan culture as "one option among many." This led to a variety of innovations and accommodations that may well be valuable to meet today's challenges, since faith in Christ seems to have reverted to the status that it held in those early days. Missions take on a more assertive posture in this worldview, since gatherings of believers are considered to be constantly, "on mission," rather than participating in missions as an institutional imperative.

Immanent Reign of God - Closely tied to apostolic faith is the idea that salvation is something that has come upon people in the here and now, rather than solely a promise to be realized in the afterlife. (See McLaren's The Secret Message of Jesus) As a result, we are called upon to make a difference in people's lives today, and offer them the chance to positively change their lives and the lives of others, today. This downplays the idea of a "salvific moment" in favor of "the day I responded to God's invitation to turn my life around." It also emphasizes the role of the faith community in helping people "work out their own salvation with fear and trembling," and in raising new generations of believers as part of an ongoing community of faith, rather than as inherently sinful people who will someday need to face a reckoning (see Bushnell or Sparkman).

"Authenticity and Meaning Making" as core values - Given that postmoderns view the concept of a knowable "Truth" as suspect, the real quest for theology in this era is to assist people in discovering a sense of "authenticity" in their relationship with God and others. How we be true to our more significant relationships while searching for a glimpse of the "ultimate?" By the same token, how do we together make sense out of the world around us, bearing in mind that we are all fellow travelers on this journey to find our "authentic selves?" And how does our heritage of belief inform both of these processes, and where do we need to go past that heritage in order to make further progress?

Revisionist view of scriptures - While the Christian scriptures are a critical source, postmoderns are quick to point out that much of the "witness" of the text is merely tradition about what it says, rather than a wooden following. Even the most ardent biblical inerrantist might pause, for instance, at reinstituting slavery or witch burnings. Since this seems to be the case, why not get past proof-texting or "higher-criticism" and look at the ways through which the church has chosen and interpreted their scriptures? Assuming that anything can be learned by this, at where is the current believer challenged to make new choices about this tradition and/or confront old ones? What can the context of the scriptures' production tell us about that tradition of interpretation? What have we conveniently set-aside as we created a "commonly accepted" text, and should that be put back on the table now that times have changed? What is the implicit and null curriculum in our choice of "divine" texts?

Acceptance of other voices in tradition - Emergent believers sometimes feel that even a cursory examination of the major world religions reveals a lot of similarities between them, and there are many texts and persons in other traditions that might, therefore, inform our own. Given that there might be a common "core" set of beliefs that most humans hold in common, what constitutes that set? As we look at brain-based psychological theories, we get a sense that humans instinctively grasp certain concepts as they mature. Is faith one of those things that is instinctual to our species, and, if so, what does that tell us about our search for meaning?

Acceptance of pluralism - A postmodern worldview accepts that we all construct our beliefs from a variety of sources, through a variety of choices. Given that this is so, it is easy to allow others to make different choices from us without belittling those choices or feeling threatened by them. By the same token, this also makes it easier to share our own faith, sense it is no less valid than another's. If there is no such thing as "orthodoxy" anymore, there is a substantial bit of room for variations, including some which are more syncretic than Christians have previously found comfortable.

Progressivism as a value - Emergent congregations tend to have a strong sense of being "on mission," which leads to a more pragmatic approach to what is and is not acceptable practice. As a result, rather than feeling threatened by new techniques, ideas, or demographics, Emergents tend to openly embrace the new and to make a sense of "openness to God's leading" a core value, rather than close ranks, insist on "standards of orthodoxy," and disassociate with people who do not share their perspective. There has been a "polar shift" from the old "conservative - liberal" fights that mostly occur within denominations to tensions between cooperative, forward-looking people who may not necessarily agree on some points and people who are threatened by differing viewpoints, whether from the left or right, and insistent on "orthodoxy" as they or the authority figure of their choice define it.


III. Practical innovation
Short form - Just as in the first century, Emergents see their world as a vast pagan marketplace where they are called to reach others with the Gospel. With the decline in "orthodoxy" comes a decline in the sense that there has to be a "proper" way to do this. A large number of unchurched or dechurched people cannot respond to Christian claims or methods, so everything is back on the table. Christianity has lost its sense of "mystery" as it has increasingly become a part of culture so new approaches are needed. (Tom Bandy - "The Apostle Paul couldn't reach out to the Macedonians by carrying a church organ on his back and neither can you!")

Rediscovery of faith practices - Many Christian practices have come and gone over the past 2000 years. Many of those are totally unknown to people are otherwise "experienced" Christians, and others are like "extinct" behaviors (see Skinner) that mean little or nothing anymore. Emergents concern themselves with appropriating the best practices from their heritage (or that of others) and reintroducing them to people who forgot them or have never discovered them. Some examples: Taze worship; Lectio Divina; Meditation; Confession; monasticism.

Alternative congregational forms - Rather than forming a congregation and inviting individuals to identify with it, Emergents are more comfortable reaching out to a microculture and letting the people who show up define the shape of a congregational life, if any, that best fits their needs. The standard "church with a steeple" is rapidly fading in favor of coffee houses, "theology on tap," satellite Bible studies, arts communities, and other models.

Thematic worship experiences - Emergent worship takes a vast array of forms, but in general, it focuses more on worship as "creating an experience of worship" than a more formal meeting where certain prescribed activities will occur as a part of transmitting the church's or denominations "message." Rather than focusing on a consistent worship experience, where things happen exactly the same way every week, Emergents are more likely to enjoy a fresh experience that arises from the community and is created by any approach necessary. (More Tom Bandy - "The only thing that matters is the Gospel. Everything else is just tactics.")

Apostolic approach to missions - Again, Emergents look at the secularization of Christianity as part of the means through which Christians have "lost" the initial message of the Gospel. We live in a post-"Christian" world that is every bit as pagan as the "pre-Christian" world and needs the same kind of fervor for helping "lost" people find their way into God's realm. Toward that end, every believer has a duty to share their faith through whatever means, and everyone is supposed to be actively involved in working to change the world for the better as a means of helping bring about the "reign" of God in the physical world. Emergents tend to focus on intentional, effective, hands-on experiences of missions as a basic tenet of faith, rather than as one of many things believers do (if they get around to it).

Alternative approaches to resourcing and cooperation - In essence, Emergents do whatever it takes to promote their mission with whoever will work with them in whatever way is most effective. This includes things like Open source community (see the Emergent C newsletter for 1/25/07), where many people contribute resources and share them freely, rather than copyrighting and selling resources through a publisher or denomination; blurry denominationalism, where terms like "Baptist" or "Presbyterian" are more indicative of the way a congregation is organized than how it affiliates or with whom; and increasing use of parachurch (World Vision,Volunteers of America, etc.) or secular (Boys and Girls Clubs, Rotary, etc.) resources that help the congregation achieve its mission.


IV. Some figures and literature (No "official" corpus for this movement - mostly a matter of preference)
Brian McLaren (Generous Orthodoxy, Adventures in Missing the Point, The Secret Message of Jesus.....)
Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What....)
Rob Bell
Dan Kimball
Thomas Bandy (Mission Mover, Talisman.....)
Reggie McNeal

Whoops I did it again!

All I Want For Christmas is To Win the Lottery...

Most people, when they look at a title like the one on this post, might think that the writer is just kidding, but I'm not. I really would like to win the lottery this Christmas. You can help by sending your unchecked PowerBall tickets to Christmas Guy, c/o DDW; 205 N. Upper Street, Lexington, KY 40507. For every ticket you send that wins over $100, I will arrange for you to receive autographed Daniel Bailey merchandise. Of course, you'll have to include your telephone number in order to win. In keeping with the spirit of the season, I'm willing to receive your tickets until January 6: the end of Christmastide. Please do not send tickets that you know are losers, since you'll just be wasting postage and won't really help me that much.

You might be wondering why I want to win the lottery. For starters, it would really be great to have a little money. I'm poor, and it would really help to make some extra income. But beyond that, I've never really had a whole lot of money, and I'd like to try it out and see what it's like. Maybe I can get a big SUV and do my part to contribute to global warming. A hot tub would be nice, since my arthritis really bothers me this time of year. I might even want to buy season tickets to some sports team or pay off some debt on behalf of my extended family. There are a lot of good personal reasons why I can use that ticket.

That's not to say that I'm just in this for myself. I have a lot of friends who probably have some dreams that might be realized any sudden dramatic improvement in my financial situation as well. You might even be one of them. Maybe I will go into politics and become twice as irritating as I already know myself to be. I have several charities that I'd really like to help, like this one, this one, this one, or this one, and because I think that the future is important, I'd be endowing some seminaries as well. I'd certainly support my church with the money, so anyone who helps me with this project would be contributing to a good cause.

And don't forget the children! Evidently, buying lottery tickets is good for the kids in whatever state you live, and that makes it a noble act, especially at Christmastime. They wouldn't lie to us about that, would they? Just remember to “play responsibly” as you try to help me out. Don't spend money that you can spend on more important things like candy, soft drinks, or DVD's.

Okay; I am kidding. Kind of. I really will take any tickets you send to that address and follow through, since I made that particular promise. I'm not here to tell you how bad lotteries are, since I suspect your church may have already done such a good job of this that you no longer tell anyone over there that you still buy them.

Here's the thing: While pretty much anyone would like to have all their financial worries swept away in one fell swoop, this has very little to do with God's plan for us, and even less to do with Christmas. In fact, since the whole idea of wealth is based on the notion that one person has a lot of things that other people do not, it kind of flies in the face of God's love for the poor to assume that God wants us all to be rich, or that God deliberately chooses to make some people really wealthy at the expense of others. In the movie Bruce Almighty, there is a scene where he is so worn out from playing the role of “God” that he decides to grant everyone's prayers all at once. Needless to say, a whole host of people won the lottery, and since there were so many winners, they all got a few dollars apiece, rather than a vast fortune. This made them very angry. Winning was not what they wanted. They wanted more. In the end, that's all that most us us want: more.

Setting aside, for a second, the commercialism implied with the exchanging of gifts, children provide us with a sense of both the good and the bad of Christmas in this regard. There is nothing quite so heartwarming as seeing a child we care about get that one special Christmas present that they did not expect, but has changed their experience of the season. The best of these are little things that the child didn't even know existed. On the other hand, there is nothing quite so heartbreaking as seeing a child sit amongst a pile of presents, complaining about the one they didn't get, or the one that came in the wrong color, or some other shortcoming in their gifts. When you're the one who gave the gift, or worse, when you think of all the children who get little or nothing, it hurts even more.

In the Advent season, many of us pay special attention to the fact that God has given us, among other things, the gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love in the coming of Jesus. These are wonderful gifts! They're not to be taken lightly. They're not to be looked at with s sense of “disappointment” that you didn't get something “better,” or that you don't like the particular sense of hope you're getting this season. Most of all, they're not supposed to be looked at as intangible wishes that have little meaning for you outside of the context of the season. In a world that so sorely needs hope, peace, joy, and love, they are precious presents that we should accept like a good and grateful child of God. Like a good child of God, we should also share them.

Luke 1:39-56 contains a passage better known as “The Magnificat” a poem where Mary embraces the “good fortune” that has been given to her as the one chosen to bear the baby Jesus. While I would love to win the lottery and use my winnings to change the world around me, I have to admit that nothing I could ever win would compete with Mary's prize. Consequently, if I was to win, I might undergo all the negative affects that winning the lottery might bring, but the things that Mary had to endure would make anything I go through pale in comparison. She had to know that the gift of the Christ Child, indeed any child, was going to be a mixed blessing to her. Rather than complaining about having to have a baby, or not getting the kind of baby she wanted, Mary expresses gratitude both on her own behalf and on behalf of others who would be affected by Christ's coming. I don't really want to debate the historicity or interpretation of this passage, so much as to say that Mary's reception of the gift she was granted, dubious circumstances and all, was an example of the kind of childlike grace that we all hope to witness at Christmas.

So what do I want for Christmas? Lottery tickets are okay, for what they are, but I would really like some of that hope, peace, joy, and love that we promise on the Sundays in Advent. Sometimes, one or all of those things are in short supply. I'd also like to see the joy of some people who realize that God has given them much – in fact more than they had a right or reason to expect. If we could all become like children in appreciation of this unexpectedly wonderful gift, there is little more for which we could ask.


Bible Verses: Luke 1:39-56

Questions for Discussion
What purchasable item tops your Christmas wish list this year?
What are you most excited about getting for someone else (that you can talk about, at least)?
In what way is Mary's response to the coming of the Christ child like/unlike yours and that of the people around you?
What are some of the non-purchased items that you most hope to receive and why?
What non-purchasable items do you plan on giving and how?
In what ways can you ensure that the gifts of hope, peace, joy and love are given and received this year?

Caleb's Rejects

Sheer Torture

I have recently had an epiphany concerning one of the most troubling things going on in the world today. I still don’t know what to make of it. Last week, while home sick with the first of the nasty little flu bugs for this season, I watched television as it actually dealt with important issues. This shocked me! Television hasn’t done this for quite some time. What’s next? Reporting on newsworthy events? Allowing broadcasts that aren’t dictated by the government or the conservative war-profiteering corporations that own our media? What is the world coming to?

Sorry about that. It’s easy to go off on a rant these days. Whether you’re a hard-core progressive, reactionary fascist, or somewhere in between, there is something going on somewhere for you to be upset about. We live in that kind of world these days. Anyhow, one of the topics that seems to be creeping steadily back onto our radar screens these days is that the U.S. Government apparently sanctions torture. The good news is that we’re trying to get away from it. In October, the U.S. senate voted 90-9 on a law seeking to outlaw the use of torture by the United States. The bad news is that we’re not all trying to get away from it, as the President has threatened veto of this legislation and criticized it as “tying our hands” and he and his Vice President are now seeking to change the language in order to allow some government officials to stay outside the law on this issue. If that's not enough, we recently have discovered that those same officials are running secret “detention camps” in Soviet-era foreign countries where God only knows what is happening to the prisoners.

I have always been amazed that there is any debate whatsoever on this. In my naiveté, I always assumed that most Americans, and certainly everyone who wishes to publicly refer to him or her self as “Christian” would reject the use of torture out of hand, without question. Evidently, I was wrong. I understand that, for most of us, the closest we ever get to torture is a Brittney Spears concert or an episode of “Ed, Ed n Eddy,” and I realize that that can make us kind of blasé about the whole thing. Inconvenient pictures that the press quickly brushes aside notwithstanding, it’s totally outside our experience and therefore easier to accept as an abstract concept. On the other hand, I’ve never murdered anyone, nor seen it done in my presence, but I still believe that it’s immoral.

This brings me back to television. Doesn't everything? Since it's in the time slot before my favorite show, I have been watching Commander in Chief, and this issue was raised a couple of weeks ago. In this episode, a terror suspect was apprehended entering the United States with bomb materials and plans to attack an elementary school on Halloween. Realizing that the man was a part of a terrorist group that always schedules attacks in groups, the president ordered their training base in Lebanon raided to see if there are clues as to the other schools that they planned to attack. While doing so, she informed her cabinet that she “did not want to hear about any-one being tortured.” The upshot of the episode was that the raid on the camp eventually produced documents that identified the other agents, led to their capture, and prevented the schools from being attacked. In the process, however, one of the cabinet members also allowed the torture of the captured terrorist in hopes of getting the same information. When confronted by the president over this, the perpetrator reminded the president that she said she did not want to hear about torture. She was immediately fired, but before she left, she reminded the president that, in essence, torturing the terrorist may have been the only thing that could have saved the children, and that any parent in America would have ordered it if it would have saved their child.

I had to admit that she had a point there. If you knew that someone was out to kill your child and that torturing someone who intended to kill children was the only way to prevent that, wouldn't you allow it? When faced with that as a very personal choice, it's hard to say that we would not stand for torture. Moreover, in some cases, where someone has committed a heinous crime, as opposed to when we want information, it's hard not to feel that torture might be appropriately used as punishment. That said, as a matter of government policy, torturing people to preserve a country and way of life may, in a democracy, also be seen as a way to destroy everything that country stands for.

I was still pondering this later in the week while watching the History Channel, when they showed a movie (I didn't catch the name) that documented John McCain's capture, confinement, and torture during the Vietnam War. While I'm sure that they couldn't show everything that happened in a movie on television, and they obviously took some liberties with the story, I couldn't help but admire the character in the movie for what he survived. After watching that, I feel that I better understand (now Senator) McCain's outrage over the idea that the United States tortures prisoners. While I might not generally support many of the things he stands for, I clearly understand how he has come to break with the current administration and instead represent the majority of people of the United States in seeking to outlaw torture.

Wen you look at the history it conveys, the Bible contains a lot of gory nasty things. One of the worst, in many people's view is the way Jesus was tortured. Mark 15:16-32 and Matthew 27:27-50 detail how Jesus was beaten, scourged, mocked, and crucified, and the details of that torture. To the Romans who inflicted torture upon him, Jesus was a political figure who was guilty of “disturbing the piece,” potentially the worst crime on the books in the Roman Empire. As evidenced by the further trials of the apostles in Acts, torture was a common punishment in those days, and Christians have, over the years been subjected to, and subjecting, torture in a wide variety of settings. As the History Channel shows programming about the Crusades this week, we may have our noses rubbed in the fact that we have done a number of things for which we're not too proud. In the modern day, many of those who watched The Passion of the Christ were horrified at the tortures that Jesus suffered in that movie. These days, I read Matthew 25:40 and feel horrified all over again.

Bible Passages:

Mark 15:16-32, Matthew 27:27-50, Matthew 25:40

Discussion Questions:

What aspect of the debate over torture most bothers you and why?

Under what circumstances might torture not be such a bad thing?

How do we reconcile the existence of torture with Christian teachings?

Other than Jesus’ torture at the hands of the Romans, what is the most vivid image of torture that you remember from the Bible?

How does the fact that Christians have tortured and been tortured by others affect the way you view the subject?

In what ways do you feel the Church should respond to the practice of torture?

Artist's Rendering 

What to blog about?

This isn't really a blog yet. I just wanted to post something in order to get a good look at the template and start working with it. If you really want to see me blog, you should be going to www.calebscafe.com and checking that out. It's free, you know!