Quote of the Month

In a review of Michael Wittmer's new book, Don't Stop Believing, blogger Tad Delay speaks about Rob Bell in precise, generationally senstive, vernacular. "I’m not saying anything critical of Rob Bell disciples; I have a bit of a man-crush on the prophet of G-Rap myself." That's enough to make the prophet from G-Rap, the Moses of the second exodus, BC's Brother Bell blush. We applaud Delay for speaking boldly about the manly affections so many harbor.

Wax Jesus and Friends

Ft Worth Texas is getting a new museum and it's not just any old art hanging place, they are opening a Christian Arts Museum. The centerpiece of their 2400-square-foot space? A life-size wax figure display of Jesus and the apostles enjoying the Last Supper styled after the da Vinci masterpiece. Just as soon as they finish (they need $177K) we're on our way to Texas. A life-size wax Jesus with blond human hair and blue eyes? That's got to be on a top 1000 things to see before you die list.

All Talk

We thought all the TD Jakes appearances on Dr. Phil might be warm up for something bigger. Looks like the good pastor's audition reel nabbed him a show. Jakes is facing some pretty stiff first-run competition. The amazing Dr Oz (another Oprah product) is also hitting the small screen in 2009. It's a television trifecta - doctor, shrink and pastor - who needs personal relationships, we've got everything we need right here with the added bonus of a remote with a mute button.

Equal Time for Evangelical Sarah

While we find this Christianity Today editorial full of logical inconsistencies and we disagree with much of its content, it does offer another perspective on Sarah. In service to fairness, here is a view contrary to our own.

Greenwich Blues

The Washington Post offers an interesting view of the economic crisis through the eyes of Greenwich clergy. A trip through the hometown of hundreds of the financial elite reveals that stiff upper lip quality we've come to expect from these denizens of privilege. We wonder if the insulated world view that helped cause the financial crisis might still be operating. At the very least, we have a serious objection to comparing the current economic problems to Hiroshima. Perspective. Maybe the Greenwich clergy should start preaching about perspective.

Big Issues

First Joel Osteen, now Rick Warren. The defense of white space is the uber celebrity pastor cause du jour. Perhaps Rick will have better logical luck on this issue. Some are quite critical of his circular journey to his anti gay marriage position. It is a very loopy path.

Sabbath on Sarah

BC is taking the day off from talking about Sarah P. Instead, we'll leave the commentary to Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic.

Thumbs Up for Crusty Columnist

BC is lukewarm about the LA Times' Steve Lopez, we've had some historical tension. Today is one of those days when we forget the past and embrace the beauty and nuance of this occasional sourpuss. Lopez writes an excellent profile of Father Geoffrey Farrow, the Catholic priest from Fresno who recently announced he is gay and advocated defeat of Prop 8. Regardless of one's position on the issue, you've got to respect someone willing to risk everything for their convictions. There are moments when the courage of ordinary people both humble and inspire us. Thanks to Lopez for introducing us to one of those people today.

The Week Just Ended

Jim Wallis, the face of the new Christian left, talks about his "Personal 'Faith Priorities' for this Election" at HuffPo.

Not all Christians are opposed to Prop 8. The last line of the San Jose Mercury News story sums up the position of many Christians on the issue of same sex marriage.

On the lighter side Jubilant Joel sits down with the Free Press for a little Q&A on happiness and other stuff like that.

And if that doesn't satisfy your soul, to get a firsthand look at the happy man from Houston, presale passwords are available for the Jacksonville show.

According to the LA Times, Robert Schuller of Crystal Cathedral and Hour of Power fame fired his son. In what can be described as a confusing quote, Schuller said this in a statement read by the church president, "For this lack of shared vision and the jeopardy in which this is placing this entire ministry, it has become necessary for Robert and me to part ways." We wonder what Thanksgiving is going to be like at the Schuller's house.

No Love for Some

Pastor Rick ends his forty days of love sermon series with hate for gay marriage. There's a video on his blog if you want to hear how the guy who just spent six weeks teaching people how to make love the highest aim in their lives explains being against the ultimate expression of human love.

Green is the New Red

Guess those old Bibles with the words that everyone (or at least some people) thought Jesus said printed in red have been replaced. The next Bible hitting the already overflowing hallowed shelves is green. In addition to being printed with soy ink, the verses where God says things about taking care of the planet will literally be green. We love the planet here at BC. We use CFL's and drive a hybrid but is it us or is the custom Bible market getting a little out of control. Highlighters people, just go old school and save yourself the $20. Heck, that way you might read all the verses to get to the ones that you agree with. We realize that context is a bore but we must insist on it. Here at BC, there are no moral ambitions lofty enough to justify out of context Bible verses. That's the standard, no exceptions, not even for the causes wih which we are deeply sympathetic.

No Better Uses for Money?

It's the atheists versus the evangelicals in an advertising showdown on London buses. Looks like everyone has conceded the point that hearts and minds are won through pithy 10 word phrases (a subtle reference to one of the best West Wing episodes ever, "Game On").

Christians Only

As NBC finally gets its sitdown with Sarah - with her Presidential candidate turned chaperone on hand to keep Brian Williams from getting fresh - the rest of the country is talking about her shoes. Is this the RNC's new damage control tactic? Just as the party is facing substantive public scrutiny, the conversation is turned to the most superficial story of this election cycle. The economy is falling apart and we are at war in two countries, whether or not Sarah shops at Payless or Saks is a lot less important than what she does and does not say to Brian Williams (and what she already said to James Dobson). This is the candidate who has done three interviews, two of which exposed serious problems for the people of Alaska and introduced the rest of the country to the potential risk of a McCain-Palin administration. No one is shrieking about her weekly absence from Meet the Press anymore. We've all acclimated to the rules. Sarah doesn't do interviews with just anyone. You have to be one of the three national networks or you have to be a Christian.

If you haven't noticed, Sarah is doing more of these things that if you hit the mute button look like interviews. They're really infomercials brought to you by Pat Robertson and James Dobson (by the way, isn't Focus on the Family a 501c3?) The shiny red faux croc pumps are distracting us from two issues. First, the things that come out of her mouth. The Focus on the Family transcript is beyond comprehension. But even more important than what she says is the fact that a Vice Presidential candidate is running an intentional campaign to exclude or include people based on religion. It's not as if she's accessible to everyone and spending her time with the base. She's only engaging people who agree with her (save a few hours with the networks).

What is one to do when a candidate who flatly refuses to offer her views on anything beyond a few topics, who rebuffs contact with people who are meant to ask questions and on the few occasions she must participate, makes up her own rules? What are we to do with an elected official who does not believe in communicating through the mainstream media? Who is counting on God to get the message out (almost a verbatim quote from the Dobson interview)? The free press is foundational in a democracy. For good or bad, the mainstream media is as important to America as voting. All politicians complain about the "filter" but are we really willing to accept this kind of threat to the essential value of a democratic nation?

If Sarah Palin wanted to be Vice President of Focus on the Family or the National Association of Evangelicals, we would accept and respect her choices. In those jobs, you get to handpick your constituents, you decide who you talk to and when, issues of accountability and transparency are private. While ink is spilled by the barrel on questions of wardrobe and the most thoughtful political minds of our country are reduced to conversations that sound like a Sex in the City episode, we can't help but suggest that the media has lost the plot. The American people are being defrauded, the bill for this is going to be a whole lot higher than 150K in fancy clothing and sparkly shoes.

2008 Pastor Rick Stocking Stuffer

From the USA Today we learn that Rick 4-O Warren is going to reintroduce Americans to the true meaning of Christmas. According to the book's publisher, for a mere $17.99 investment, you too can be reminded that "..Christmas is for celebrating the birth of Christ, not consumerism." Coincidentally 1.8 million copies will be on sale November 4th. Just in time for holiday shopping.

Powell v. Dobson

BC can't decide if we agree with Daily Beast writer Max Blumenthal's argument that the blood feud between James Dobson and Colin Powell factored into Powell's endorsement of Obama. We have trouble believing that the most loyal man in America (that's one of those backhanded compliments) broke ranks with his party over the playground bully (not any form of compliment). That said, Blumenthal's masterful account of the Dobson intimidation campaign is fascinating. Apparently it's Focus on the Fear when you dare to disagree with Dr. Dobson.

Another Horrifying Video, This One Starring Sarah



Be warned, if you watch the whole thing, it's five minutes and eight seconds of your life you will never get back. We watched it and then we watched it again to be sure it wasn't a Tina Fey parody. In this promotional video, we mean, interview with the Christian Broadcast Network - you know, the world according to Pat Robertson - Sarah Palin talks about Obama's connection to Ayers, abortion, gay marriage and her feelings. She defends her attacks on Obama but says that if anyone in the crowd suggested hurting him, she'd call a time out and tell them to stop. And if you weren't dazed and confused yet, SarPa hits the ear drum shattering, glass cracking high notes with this gem, "...faith and God in general has been mocked through this entire campaign and that breaks my heart."

We do our fair share of mocking here at BC so we are going to take this occasion to be very clear. We are not mocking religion. We are not mocking God. We are mocking you, Sarah Palin. Just you. We are mocking you for trying to reduce God to merit badge size, to campaign slogan length, to a tiny idol on the altar of partisan politics. SarPa goes on to say "people would misconstrue and spin anything that has to do with my faith or anybody else's and turn it into something to be mocked. That's very sad. I don't think there's anything I can do about it..." Well, let us help you out. First, no more Jeremiah Wright references, subtle or otherwise. Second, stop appropriating God for your campaign purposes or stop complaining that people criticize you for it. You were selected to secure the evangelical base of the party. Your own people acknowledge that. You are using your religion, your personal faith as a qualification for office. You openly talk in eschatalogical cliches and you constantly use Christian-ese. You only speak to certain constituencies and only answer certain questions yet you desire to govern the whole country. You refuse to engage with the world yet you want to be one of the people who leads it. And after all that you have the audacity to resent that other people have something to say about it. We don't know what comes after hypocrite, delusional? Whatever it is, look behind you, Sarah, you crossed that line a while ago. But that's just one more voice from the left, the "liberal blogosphere" taking a cheap shot at the "new face of feminism."

Another Day, Another Bell

Today we feature the Neue Podcast of Cameron Stang's interview with Rob Bell. BC has not yet listened to it but this teaser has us on the edge of our seats intrigued. "Bell is disarming and vulnerable in the conversation, refreshing for a minister of Bell’s stature. From a ministry perspective, the podcast is a rare glimpse behind the thoughts and feelings of a national spiritual leader." Okay then, a vulnerable and disarming spiritual leader. More evidence to support our Moses of the New Exodus supposition.

DISTURBING - VIEW WITH CAUTION

The unusual warning in the title is NOT a joke. The videos of "Hell House" are disturbing. The clip of the acting troupe doing a parody performance of a typical Hell House isn't any less disconcerting than the real thing. To understand the background check out the often annoying but sometimes right, Richard "Doubting" Dawkins interviewing the Colorado pastor who wrote the first Hell House. We'd like our own five minutes with him to discuss why he thinks it's a good idea to reach people with the love of Christ by acting out a gang rape of a young woman (implying she is at fault), a teenage suicide, an abortion and a school shooting - among other horrible, distasteful, violent and degrading scenes. We could bring our Bibles to show him all the fun, red, letters where Jesus said things like LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. BC is calling this WRONG. Simply WRONG. No ambiguity, no justification. This is not biblical. This is not Christian. Halloween is upon on us once again. Hell Houses will be staged across this great country of ours. It's always disconcerting when the First Amendment protects hate speech but that's the price we pay for the freedom to denounce the inane things people do in the name of God.

Recall Politics

One thinks of student government organizations as the place to start young people on the path to responsible discourse, to teach about civility in disagreement and humility in leadership. The kids at American River College in Sacramento seem to be modeling a much more fractious brand of hard ball politics in the face of a large dose of religious intolerance . With a birds eye view of the Capitol dome, we wonder where they learn these things.

Relevant Rob

This Brother Bell interview from Relevant magazine is all the rage on the cool, pro-Rob blogs. Check out the groovy insights from the Moses of the New Exodus. Brother Bell might need a new nickname to go with his fresh buzz cut. We hear they are easier to manage when marching through the wilderness.

Bonfire of Porn

This is one of the better interviews of late that highlights the cultural divide of the secular and the not so secular world views. There were some wonderfully awkward moments as Melissa Block interviewed Pastor Mark Elredge about his decision to hold a public ceremony to burn the abandoned porn (or as Block put it, the "objectionable old movies") found after the church bought an old theater with a XXX past. Block asked why he decided to burn the movies referencing the sorted past of book burning (she was quick to note that she wasn't defending the porn industry.) Eldredge seemed confused that there would be another option. More than once,"What are we going to do with pornography?" he says. "You certainly don't want anyone to ever look at that." He even made a joke about how they didn't think about sticking it on ebay but we think that must have come up at least once in a staff meeting. Accepting the answer, Block moves on to ask about the need to do it publicly and what the kids involved thought. Eldredge took a second and responded, "I think everyone just thought it was cool.." You know the sound confusion makes, you can hear it all over Block and Eldredge's exchange. BC doesn't have much invested in the public or private burning of porn except the potential environmental impact if it becomes a widespread phenomena. In this case, we just found the cultural divide of the why do it questions of Block versus the how could we not from Eldredge very telling of a broader cultural gap.

More News on Jamie Warren

It looks like the OC Register story is based on the same emails that circulated last week. Understandably, the Warren family didn't comment for the paper. Sounds like Jamie is doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances. Let's keep sending love her way.

Two Guys with Pulitzers Writing about The Episcopals

We know, it's "episcopalians" but there's something overly stuffy and proper about the term episcopalian. BC prefers to refer to them as The Episcopals, like The Thorn Birds. Draw your own parallels.

This weekend two, very smart, awfully good writers address different issues in the Episcopal Church that are really quite similar. The ever grumpy yet eloquent George Will deals with the fracture over homosexuality. While the equally articulate and always graceful Michael Paulson looks at the issue of Open Communion. Church history is fraught with schism rooted in the question of who is in and who is out. Say what you will about the current tension in the Anglican Commmunion, BC contends that it's just one more chapter of the who's in, who's out fight. We hope that all sides remember that no matter how we write our rule books, the big book is pretty clear, like it or not - we all share one bread and one cup.

Art, Money, Forgery...

No, it's not a post about the Getty or any of the other big names in the business of art. This time, the tale of archeological mischief and intrigue centers around James Ossuary. That is to say the claim that someone found the box that held the bones of Jesus' brother James. Nothing spices up a good art forgery allegation better than adding a little religion to it.

Gayle Willams was 34

Gayle Williams is the Christian aid worker murdered today in Kabul. According to the Los Angeles Times, she was there with a British "organization called SERVE, which says on its website that its main mission is aiding refugees and the handicapped." Our deepest sympathies go to Ms. Williams' family and friends. May they find peace in the midst of tragedy. We also offer prayers of protection for the aid workers who stand between death and life for the most disenfranchised or as Jesus put it, the least of these.

UPDATE: Here are more details from the AP, Williams was targeted by religious leaders who alleged she was proselytizing so they ordered her murder.

Living on a Prayer and a Smoothie

Not quite Bon Jovi style, these kids are professional pray-ers. They raise money to support their communal lifestyle so that they can pray all the time and for specific causes. Not sure if it's the whiff of cult, the demonization of homosexuality or the idea that people pay these kids to do something most of us do for free that is most disconcerting. Maybe it's the Jamba Juice. Is that really considered fasting? Seems more like a liquid diet to us.

Wrong Question, Wrong Answer

Why isn't the Democratic Party seen as the "Party of God?" Frank Turek takes Joe Biden's question as an opportunity to fulminate about the moral failings (or projected moral failings) of Clinton the original, Biden and Obama. Sadly, he fails to see the inanity of the question or his answer. The Almighty isn't reducible to mascot status for either party. And, if Turek wants to do a credible compare words to actions moral inventory, he'd ought consider expanding his subject group. How do the people who do talk about God measure up using Turek's standards?

Kids These Days

The beauty and horror of studying six very famous pastors is the diversity of opinions about who they are and what they say. A daily spin through hundreds of Google Alerts generally produces at least one laugh and more than a few groans. It is amazing to see all these 20-something kids writing prodigiously their most private thoughts, all for the sake of public consumption. The reality TV culture upon which war should be declared except on the days it produces lines like this, "So I like a basic, self-help, feel-good theology. I'm busy with life right now, and I need a McJesus." Yes, wisdom for the ages from the tell-all, filterless blogosphere. Can you guess which uberpastor had this gem on his Google Alert list?

A Serious Request

Rick Warren's daughter-in-law, Jamie, had major brain surgery this week. She and her husband, Josh are brand new parents. We're asking everyone to do whatever it is you do to send good mojo to people in need. If you are the praying type, please pray. If you light candles or circle places on maps where people need love (like some of our BC friends), do that. Whatever ritual you engage, please take a few minutes for Jamie, Josh, Cole, Rick, Kay and the rest of the family. Thanks.

"Make Me A Christian" on TV

Here is an interesting article on religion on TV in the US. Of particular note is this quote from a minister/scholar, "If you were from another planet and you were studying our human culture through prime time, you wouldn't know we had religion." That is unless you tuned into TBN which is a planet unto itself. But the real highpoint of the story is news of the "BBC reality series 'Make Me a Christian' with contestants who include an alcoholic sexist and the manager of a lap-dance club (we couldn't tell if the manager was a sexist alcoholic or if the show featured a sexiest and a strip club manager, we'll get back to you on that). US TV imported American Idol and that talent show and, a ridiculous number of seasons of Big Brother. Would someone please bring this show here?! It belongs here in Big Christian land. The timing is perfect, too. With the economy bottoming out, the boycotts won't have nearly the power that they normally would.

The Week Just Ended

The Bush administration continues to reflect the values of honesty, transparency and respect for the law through their religion-based initiative offices. Or not.

God endorses McCain/Palin in Paradise or is this op-ed writer employing a touch of sarcasm.

In addition to McCain/Palin, God seemingly likes the Red Sox.

While we're on the topic of the Almighty, the Nebraska Senator trying to sue God was tossed out of court this week. The reason? God doesn't have an address to receive service of the suit. The land of the free and the home of the kooky.

If you want to see what Christopher Buckley was talking about, the first chapter of Anne Rice's Called Out of Darkness is at the New York Times .

The Washington Post's weekly column of sermon excerpts from various local clergy features the Rev Artie Polk from Mount Gilead Baptist Church talking about how "God Is Not Pleased With How Some Obtain, Use Wealth. Neither are we.

Where Have You Gone C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton?

Christopher Buckley does double duty in this New York Times book review commenting on Joe Eszterhas' A Memoir of Faith and Anne Rice's Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession. It's sad to hear that Buckley does not care much for either book. We, too, would have loved to see a spiritual memoir of epic literary proportions. A grand statement about personal faith written with such skill and care that it would engage even the most professional of cynics, Christopher Hitchens. Buckley pinpoints the hitch in the communication divide succinctly, "..that confessional (and profess-ional) literature is like faith itself: to believers, a tone poem of perfect lucidity and logic; to the unconvinced (in whose camp I squat, nervously clutching Christopher Hitchens’s pant leg) it can sound a little, well, fruity." There it is, the secular/sacred gap, the place where words fail and writers flop.

No Such Thing As Too Many Messiah Jokes

If you haven't already seen it, this video of McCain and Obama is a tall glass of cold water on a hot day. We got this version from The Daily Beast, we love them! We're calling this one for McCain. The messiah joke alone made our day.

Dear God..

A good friend sent a link to the website, PrayforSarahPalin.com. We thought it was a joke. Nope. Sadly, this one is real. The goal is to recruit people in every zip code to pray for Palin and her family, they even have a counter to keep track of the number of people praying and the number of zip codes participating - there's even a nifty prayer map. And, in true 2008 fashion, if you sign up (of course, we did - we were the sole representative of 90230) you get an email reminder and update.

BC finds the whole enterprise cringe inducing but in theory, harmless enough. Praying for the candidates is a good idea. In fact, why not encourage people to prayer for all four of them. According to the PrayforSarahPalin.com people it is "Because Sarah Palin has been thrust suddenly into the spotlight, we are calling all Christians to say an extra prayer for Sarah." Agreed on the "suddenly" but "thrust???" Did someone hold a shotgun to her head? She made a choice to seek the 2nd highest office in the country. It is alarming enough that other people are suggesting that the spotlight is too harsh and mean to sweet little SarPa - the lipstick wearing, gun toting, barracuda, hockey mom, GOVERNOR. Now the candidate is whining about the effects of being thrust into the spotlight. What, she's six weeks in now? Six weeks and it's too depressing? Good thing she knows how many people are praying for her. We're so pleased that instead of using the campaign trail to talk about the economy or education or poverty, SarPa's chatting about herself, her feelings, her lack of engagement with the news and how happy she is that people are praying for her. Once again, we see how important prayer is to SarPa's campaign.

BC thinks the Episcopals have it right, in the Prayers of the People, they pray for national and world leaders routinely. Prayer is good. One of the best things about it - it's not partisan. Maybe Christians ought to take a cue for God's all loving, all embracing nature. Maybe exploitation of the most high for personal political gain isn't what Jesus had in mind when he said pray like this. Some things are sacred.

What Makes a Good Ending?



Offering what appeared a contemporary and culturally relevant illustration for open endings, the Gospels professor showed this clip of the final scene of The Sopranos. He was raising the question of where the gospel of Mark ends - is it the short version or the long ending or did it really just close with people trembling at the empty tomb (verse 8 if you're keeping track). Of great interest to BC was the moment he asked the over 60 students in the room if they watched the Sopranos, two raised their hands. Was the dearth of Sopranos support a function of economics, HBO is expensive or something else?

Edmund Abandons Jesus

What will Coach Craig say about his hometown city officials selling their stake in the Jesus statue? BC can't help but point out the intense regional and cultural differences exposed by this story. Can you imagine the public reaction if the LA, DC or NY City Councils spent $3900 on a Jesus statue in the first place? Notice that the legal threat mentioned does not come from inside of Edmund, instead it is from the DC-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State who were "delighted" that the mayor decided to sell. It seems a little unfair, shouldn't the community of Edmund, Oklahoma get to decide these things without interference from external groups? No one wants dogma shoved down their throats - not from the church or from the state.

Church & State

LA restaurateur Steve Arroyo is opening a new place downtown. We hope the food is as good as the name.

Three Men and Victoria Osteen

As previewed, here's the Hannity and Colmes visit with Jubilant Joel and Vicky O. On the whole, not as much fun as we'd hoped. Joel wins the prize for the line "..you never know who you are touching.." Why Sean Hannity felt the need to bully Victoria is beyond our comprehension, good thing our girl can hold her own. Strong work Victoria!

For the Worker Deserves His Wages

We thought the Baptists were in the Palin camp of heaven-based rewards. Guess the kids at Baylor are cashing in a little early. Outside questions of appropriateness about campus administrators trying to inflate their average SAT score so they can improve their position on a US News and World Reports ranking, we think the $300 bribe, uh, incentive is a bad deal. The net is $255 (unless Baylor is paying the testing fee). It's a 3 hour and 45 minute test (not including breaks) so that works out about to about $1.13 a minute (if we did the math right, it's been a while since we had to deal with SAT-like math problems). The Baylor kids should renegotiate their deal. If they are going to be exploited for the sake of institutional vanity, they should at least be making a living wage.

A Priest, a Fireman and a Pilot Walk into a Bar

What do clergy, firefighters, travel agents and airline pilots have in common? Other than the cool uniforms, that is. According to a University of Chicago study they are "the most enjoyable jobs where people report being happiest overall." The rest of the top ten is equally surprising. The good news is the hunt for satisfaction includes diverse terrain.

Real Theology

We just received a copy of this letter from a friend. BC commends the Rev'd Dr Andrew C. Blume for providing the most thoughtful commentary on the economic crisis we have seen. We're taking his words to heart and hope you will too.

The Rector's Pastoral Letter to the Parish in the Face of the Current Economic Crisis
The Feast of Philip, Deacon and Evangelist, 11 October 2008

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

For many in New York and around the world this has been a difficult six weeks or more. The financial markets have been rocked by great turbulence. Indeed, as someone put it to me yesterday, if someone had told him a year ago that come October 2008 Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch would be no more, that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and A.I.G. would all but collapse, and that stock markets around the world would be down 40%, he would have thought that person was crazy. But it seems that we now live in crazy times. A number of us worked for and with these firms and others that have not survived, most of us know someone whose life and livelihood has been directly affected, and all of us in this City are feeling the effects in one way or another. Indeed, this financial crisis, as many have called it, is really also a pastoral crisis. It is a time of uncertainty and of fear and of real need and in these times we need the love and support of our family and friends, and of our community, more than ever.

Over the past few weeks I have chosen to use the votive mass for Vocation in Daily Work for many of our weekday Eucharists. In this office we pray, "Deliver us, we beseech thee, in our several occupations from the service of self alone, that we may do the work which thou givest us to do, in truth and beauty and for the common good; for the sake of him who came among us as one that serveth, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (B.C.P., p. 210). It has been my prayer and hope that as we face economic uncertainty and the pressures that it brings, that we remember that God calls us where we are-not where we think we ought to be- "in our several occupations" to lives of service and of love. God calls us, whether we are bankers or teachers, physicians or office workers, academics or labourers to do our best to live out our Baptismal promises to "seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbours as our self" and "respect the dignity of every human being."

Through all our fear, through all our stress and anxiety, God loves us steadfastly. Through all our fear, through all our stress and anxiety, our parish church stands on the corner of 87th Street and West End Avenue as a beacon of hope and light. Through all our fear, through all our stress and anxiety, each of us has a community of people in that place that shows us the love of God, that loves and cares for us, and that can support us in an amazing variety of ways.

Please do not hesitate to be in touch with me or with another member of the clergy. Please let us know how we can be of help and support to you. We are here to listen and to respond. We are here to help as we are able and can help you find the help you need, whether that comes from within our community or from without. Please remember that in coming to Church you are entering into a community of love and support and of a beauty that itself reflect the beauty and love of God.

With all my warmest wishes and prayers, I am,

Faithfully yours,
Andrew+

The Rev'd Dr Andrew C. Blume
Rector, Saint Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church

The Week of Wives

First the new Vicky O. book and now a word from Kay Warren. A little preface, BC totally disagrees with Kay's premise about the absolute depravity of humans beings and we think taking single verses out of Romans distorts Paul's intent and we really like Kay. She's a thoughtful and credible voice on what it means to serve and care for the oppressed and marginalized. Whether or not we agree on the nuance of Paul doesn't much matter, we agree on the love. The love that we are called to be in the world. Kay is a living proof of the good even if she thinks we all start out evil.

God's Beloved

Sometimes we hear or read about cruelty in the world and our empathy is hindered by the anonymity of it. Thanks to BC regular, Geoff, for these photos from Orissa. Geoff was there about a year ago. These are the faces of the persecuted, these are the people we pray for, these are God's beloved.

Real Religious Persecution

Far too often American Christians complain about religious persecution at the hands - or mouths - of people like Bill Maher and Jon Stewart. Some might even consider the friendly swipes offered here at BC out of line. It is well for anyone who has ever mistaken disagreement or the disparaging joke or two to read about real persecution. From India to Iraq, the last few weeks have been full of stories of horrific violence in the name of religion. Let's all say a prayer for those whose lives are in danger for what they believe. Let's all take a moment for some much needed perspective.

On Tour with the Other Osteen

Oh, how we wish we were married to a rich and famous megachurch pastor so that the good folks at Zondervan or IVP or Baker or Free or anybody else would give us a book contract. We're not rich or famous but don't the rich and famous have too much of the pie already? Isn't that one of the lessons from the market meltdown? And, while we're being less than kind and generous, do we really need another book on being healthy and happy and whole from someone who doesn't have to worry about the cash to cover the MRI or the blood tests or the doctors bills, let alone the personal trainer, the gym membership or the shrink - that keep them healthy and whole? Just sayin.

BC grants that our take on Vicky O's new book is a touch cynical, maybe even a little harsh. It's the hype, it brings out our sinfully green eyes. Last week was Newsweek. This week, so far, there's a tasty fluffer-nutter over at KHOU and what we can only imagine will be an entertaining radio interview with Alan Colmes, the sole liberal voice from Fox (Not Quite) News and the Liberaland blog. The book hits today so it's just the beginning of what we expect to be a mega-PR tour. Everything is bigger in Texas.

We Have a Preaching Tip for Rick

We haven't read through this whole interview with Rick 4.O but we're sure it's helpfully instructive with a list of specific things one can do to improve their preaching. While advice is being doled out, BC has a little of its own. Rick, we love you. We love the 40 days of love. We would love you so much more if you would cut 20 minutes from your sermons. 63 minutes is simply too long. We've been listening carefully for over a month now and our conclusion is that it's an editing issue. At times it seems like you meander a bit from your point, with some more discipline, a touch more - dare we say - purpose, your sermons would sing a little more and slog a little less. Now, with over 20K people coming by your place every weekend, we grant that you know a little something about public speaking but we think you'd be way past the 25K mark if you cut back by 15-20 minutes.

Not John McCain

No, Johnny Mac isn't the "Christian maverick cozying up to Iran." You never know, the guy's been known to change positions in a hurry.

Surfing for Jesus

First there were Christian bikers, now we have news from the Jesus-loving-surfers. If you're in the UK, there's still time to join the 2nd Annual Jesus Longboard Classic. Any reason is a good reason to surf so BC says get those big boards waxed up and hit the waves.

We Heart Fran

It's always good to take time for a heart warming story. Here's one about Fran from Staten Island. For the geographically smug or challenged, Staten Island is one of New York's five boroughs. It's great to see a local paper covering a local person for doing local good. Makes a person want to run out and start knitting prayer shawls.

Why Wasn't That in the First Paragraph?

The folks over at MegaFest, the T.D. Jakes extravaganza, sure can write a press release. No adjectives are spared as they declare "Bishop T.D. Jakes Electrifies South Africa." We were about to write off the whole thing as too self-congratulatory when we got to the fourth paragraph. "Other highlights of today's events included the MegaCARE Health Fair, which provided general health screenings and physicals to the people of South Africa. During the first two hours of the festival, MegaCARE physicians provided more than 500 general wellness checks and HIV screenings." Forget soul stirring sermons and Grammy winning singers, the real juice is in the hands of the doctors and nurses volunteering their time. Go team!

Not So Submissive Sarah

We think Palin poses a number of dilemmas but we're always happy to add a new group to the list. Apparently, there are a few evangelicals not buying in but we're not really sure we like the basis of their objections. Just when you thought SarPa's positions represented as far right as one could go, along comes someone to prove that the political spectrum has no end. A dualistically comforting and frightening reality.

A Moment of Silence

Today is the ten year anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard. This is going to be the only BC post for the day. We want to encourage everyone to take today to reflect, to remember this young kid who was brutally murdered because of who he was. How far have we come these past 10 years? How much have we done to stem the spread of hatred and violence and discrimination? Are we more loving because our hearts were broken by the hate that took Matthew Shepard's life? Ten years, let's not let time fade the outrage from our hearts.

Retrogade Dross and Doughnuts

The secret is out. Victoria Osteen, wife of Jubilant Joel, bribes her children with doughnuts to keep them interested in church. Scandalous except for its ubiquity. There isn't a parent or church leader around who doesn't know that they way to get the kids in the place on Sunday morning is good doughnuts. Some might say the Osteens are masters of the sugar makes everything better approach to life. The rest of the Newsweek story on Victoria is predictable, a pretty balanced piece, there are some tough digs. While we may agree with Lisa Miller that Osteen's "relationship advice is retrograde dross" - it sounds a little mean in print.

Punishment from God Watch 2008

We've been waiting for someone to declare the financial crisis a punishment from God. Since John Hagee is still recovering from heart surgery, our bet was on the stalwart of inane prophecy, Pat Robertson. Somehow, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Saavedra beat all the holy men to it. Maybe they were too busy checking the impact of the meltdown on their ministry balance sheets.

This One is Easy

What is the duty of a Christian writer? Harrison Scott Key is thoughtful enough to explore the question. We will simply shout the answer. WRITE WELL. No more schlock in the name of evangelism, no more abuse of words for the purpose of saving souls. If you are a Christian writer, be filled with the love and compassion of Christ and DO NOT subject the world to any more stilted sentences in the name of biblical apologetics. Guilt inducing fiction, overworked theologically sound screenplays, sugary personal narratives scrubbed of truth and honesty - stop it all, right now, this second, not another keystroke. If you are a writer, write from your soul, the one God gave you. Art honors God all on it's own.

Paul in Vogue

While Zondervan uses average and more than average Americans to hand write a new Bible, a Swedish publisher decided to vogue up the good book. In between the ten commandments and the crucifixion of Jesus are glossy headshots of Angelina Jolie and Mahatma Gandhi. And people thought the Message was radical. Can't wait to see how the blogosphere of fear and loathing reacts to this one.

The Week Just Ended

Last Saturday, in a place called Mid-America, a couple named Steve and Kathy won an Emmy. Accepting the award, the man banned from GodTube said, "This is confirmation that religious broadcasting is long overdue for an overhaul." You don't say.

Speaking of Christian television, see sercom star Jubilant Joel live for a mere $15 face value ticket or if they are sold you can get one for anywhere from $17-$72 on StubHub.

In Denver, a 2006 valedictorian appeals a court ruling stemming from her graduation day speech switch. The girl rehearsed one speech in front of the principal and gave a different one. Best we can tell, neither advocated the overthrow of democracy or extolled the virtues of illicit drug use. No, the kid just decided to bait and switch to the Jesus talk. Two years later, they're all still in court. No really, this is a good use of time and money and energy for everyone involved. Is it out of bounds to suggest that maybe everyone overreacted just a tad?

Jesus loves the porn stars too. Don't blame us, we're just quoting Everclear. For the record, the BC position is in complete agreement with the Everclear boys. Jesus totally loves the porn stars.

Call Us First

It's the perfect job. In fact, last week at Mosaic, the thought occurred that maybe BC could open a service for churches and their leaders, a secret shopper specializing in all things church. We wondered, for example, if the Mosaic leadership would be interested in the fact that in the over hour and a half at their church NOT A SINGLE PERSON UTTERED A WORD TO US. Not in the hallway before the service or the lobby after. No eye contact, smiles or nods either. Nothing. Just as we started drafting the business plan to launch BCSees, this article appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Someone beat us to it but if you are a fearless pastor ready for a hard look at how things are working, give a shout.

Off to Africa

It's conference season in Big Christian land. And at least one big Christian is taking his mega show on the road. TD Jakes and crew are rolling up the banners and packing the wireless mics for a trip to South Africa. We're not sure we understand the logic behind the move as it is expressed in the story from the AJC - something about 9-11 and being our brothers keeper (in the top ten of out of context Bible quotations). BC thinks going just to hear the Soweto Gospel Choir is a good enough reason. One interesting tidbit is that Potter's House invested over 7M into the event and Jakes hopes only to break even. It's reassuring to see that no one is looking to make a profit.

Mancrushes Abound

The nearly all straight male, Jesus loving, 20 something (usually 7), just walked out of an Abercrombie and Fitch ad section of the blogosphere is awash in reviews from the Catalyst conference. This Andy "Zippy" Stanley event draws together the hippest of the hip young ministry types, something like 12K of them. Coach Craig was on the "main stage" last night talking about "It." At least one blogger was into it. More on Catalyst a little later today.

Is Cold Still Cold?

Captain Bill got Coach Craig's team pumped last week in the OKC! For those new to BC, that means that Bill Hybels of Willow Creek fame spoke to Craig Groeschel's Lifechurch staff at their gathering in Oklahoma City. The Lifechurchers are a twittering and blogging kind of crowd so it was easy to get some of the highlights. One line consistently shows up at all the cool kids blogs and twits (tweets?) The gray haired patriarch, our leading man in leadership declared the death of cool or as he succinctly put it, "Cool isn't cool anymore." Is this as profound as it sounds or is it one of those things (see the comment on the Brother Bell post) that sounds good until you think about it? We're undecided except on this point. Jesus is still cool. The church, well, yes, the church has been death to cool since Acts so maybe Captain B has a point.

Going to the Movies with Jesus

Fireproof is getting a lot of attention from inside the Bible beltway and outside on the highway to hell. For a thoughtful take, we defer to Craig at Purple State of Mind, the expert on all things film and God. For more insight on the theology of film check out Dr. Detweiler's new book, Into the Dark: Seeing the Sacred in the Top Films of the 21st Century .

BC Says: Read It!

This piece by George Mitrovich over at Huff Po is worth a read. He makes some great points regardless of one's position on the religical spectrum. In addition to the big issues, one wonders why Big Rick 4-O is so shy about his Southern Baptist connection.

Jubilant Joel Makes Some Waves

Our man in Texas stepped into the public policy fray in an effort to protect wireless microphones from the hegemony of Mirosoft, Dell, Google and Intel. Seemingly the biggest threat to the American church since Christopher Hitchens' book contract, Jubilant Joel isn't very happy at the prospect of "static and audio dropouts." Save the whitespace, save the soul.

Get Out the Vote

Came across this Times (the London version) poll on the Vancouver Sun blog. Happy to help the Canadians and Brits efforts to have as much fun as possible with the future of American democracy but wonder what possible criteria one applies to voting for the "best Christian?" Here's the BC poll. Vote for the most manipulative use of God for the purpose of political gain? They're all running neck and neck on that front.

Warren Warning

Rick 4-O is good guy - he's smart, thoughtful and engaged. He's used his gifts in positive ways and people are paying attention. But has it gone too far? Too often leaders are built up for the sole purpose of tearing them down. The over exposure backlash kicks in, people start looking for faults, suddenly the guy isn't as perfect as he never claimed to be. With the general disappointment about the caliber of discourse in the presidential debates, Big Rick's name keeps coming up. He'd be better than Brokaw? Soon people will start joking that he'd be better for the actual job than either Obama or McCain. A word of warning to Warren, take care not to get too invested in being the golden one - or the "next Billy Graham." It never lasts. You know that, right?

Another Messy Divorce

It always comes down to who gets the china and the CD's, it's a good thing there are no pets involved. Just people. Hurt and angry people, on all sides of the debate. Votes cast, secession plans activated, all that's left is the ugly and public fight over money and property. It brings back memories of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas in one of the saddest movies ever made, The War of the Roses. Remember the end, everything broken.

Fun Headline from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette

"Griffin's popularity Rocketing Off D-List, The Cult of Kathy has grown into quite a megachurch."

They Can't All Be Movie Stars

Uber hip, ultra chic, LA-based Erwin McManus was on the short list to be part of the BC6 but missed the cut because of the one church per state selection rule (Rick 4-O, one of the new Billy Grahams edged him out). BC is keeping an eye on McManus and his Mosaic. They've been selected for the first installment of Dispatches from the Holy Field, the 2008 BC megachurch tour. Anyone whose pre-pastoral profession is in visioning is going to produce something interesting to see. Also noteworthy is his dim view of seminary and his connections to the "secular" world. Look for the dispatch from Mosaic soon.