The gender confusion in our society is nothing new . . . the same confusion was talked about in ancient Israel 4,000 years ago, when Moses forbade men to dress in women's clothes and women to dress in men's clothes.  But today it is almost getting comical to see the extremes we are expressing in order to try and make the genders the same.  Notice I didn't say equal . . . I do believe men and women are equal, they are just not the same.  Those are two totally different things, as two can be equal and not the same. 

I preached on this in passing last weekend as I addressed the verse in Galatians that says in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, male or female, slave or free, as we are all one in Christ.  This verse was meant to stamp out slavery and racism and inequality among the sexes, but it was not meant to make men into women or vice versa.  For example, I told our church God would hate it if we had two water fountains, one for Jews and one for Greeks, as that would be racism (remember Jim Crow laws - it happened in churches as well).  He would also hate it if we had two restrooms, one for slaves and one for free, as that would be classism.  However, it is perfectly fine to have two separate restrooms, one for male and one for female, as God commends separate roles for men and women, He just opposes the inequality that has existed throughout history.  We can be equal and yet play separate roles. 

So don't be sucked into the craziness of the day.  Don't be afraid to preserve some roles for men and some for women.  Men don't work in our nursery, women don't do the heavy lifting that goes along with setup.  Girls don't play football and boys aren't majorettes.  And ladies coaching high school football makes about as much sense as guys becoming professional lactation consultants!

So then I start thinking, what does the whole idea of twitter say about our society?  What are the larger implications?  I am not willing to die on any of these hills, but I have a few initial thoughts about this.  First of all, I think it surely says that we are now an oral society, not a literate one.  Of course, the vast majority of Americans can read, so by definition they are literate, but the vast majority also chooses not to read, so we are an oral society.  Tweets about our friends and others are about 20 words long and that is generally enough reading for us.  Secondly, I think it says that we are generally more inclined to living our lives through other people rather than taking the risks necessary to actually live our own life.  In other words, we are fascinated by the simple and mundane statements of others and we like to "live" through them instead of focusing our energy on living ourselves.  Finally, I think it fuels our propensity towards marketing and self-promotion.  The way we craft our facebook pages (especially the photos), the way we tweet only about the 'cool' stuff we are doing (often exaggerated), it paints a picture of ourself that is not real.  And the real danger in that is not that others wind up with a false image of who we are (though that happens), but even worse is that we end up with a false image of who we are.  Then we have to go out into real life and try to live up the false image we have portrayed in the cyber world, which is emotionally taxing and ultimately impossible.

So what is the answer to this dilemma?  Do I post a pic of myself on facebook first thing in the morning so everyone can see my bedhead and wrinkly face?  Do I tweet about how I just lost my temper and yelled at my kids or how I was just blown off by a person I wanted to ask out?  Do I go out in the back yard and put the sledge-o-matic on my laptop?  Probably not, but at the least we need to realize that the people and lives we see lived out on facebook and twitter are not real, they are just carefully selected marketing schemes.  Therefore, we don't need to hold those up as models and try to either live through them or get depressed because our lives seem so mundane in comparison to them.  And most importantly, we need to live in real relationships with real people and not try to do life in 20 word tweets.  I guarantee that will not work in your marriage, with your kids or with other relationships, so train yourself to relate to others by, surprise, relating to others.  Don't sit home with your laptop and tweet and fb all night, go hang out with friends and neighbors and work on your face to face skills, not your fb skills.  Those are the ones you need in life and those are the ones you need in ministry.

But Todd, isn't this the ultimate hypocrisy, as you are active on both facebook and twitter?  No, I am not saying they are evil and we should not use them.  I am simply saying they have sprung up in our society and have given us an outlet whereby we can bypass real relationships and yet not feel so isolated and lonely, which is a dangerous thing.  I like the cyber world just like everyone else, but I constantly push myself to relate to individuals face to face and not just in the cyber world, and I encourage you to do the same.

• Americans spend $12 billion annually . . . more than on pro basketball, baseball and football combined.
• Porn sites are 12 percent of all websites, 20% of men and 13% of women admit to viewing porn at work.
• 90% of children between the ages of 8 and 16 have already viewed porn online.
• #1 consumer of porn is boys ages 12-17.
• 10% (30 million in America) of adults ADMIT to pornography addiction, 28% of those adults (9 million) are women
• The average child sees porn for first time at age 11, usually inadvertantly on the internet.
• 20% of all teens have sent or received nude pictures of themselves or others.
• In 2002, of 1,351 pastors were surveyed by Christianity today and 54% said they had viewed Internet pornography within the last year, with 30% of those having visited these sites within the last 30 days.

Houston, we have a problem!  The clear majority of the next generation is being continually exposed to pornography and it is changing the way they think and the way they bond with the opposite sex.

The real danger of pornography is that it hijacks the normal bonding process that is supposed to happen in sexual encounters and it causes people to bond with sexual objects (porn stars), not real people.  Over time, those addicted to porn begin to view almost everyone as sexual objects to be judged primarily by their bodies alone, not judged as real people.  This objectification of the opposite sex carries over into marriage relationships and destroys them.

This is how it works.  When an individual watches pornography, they are not just a passive spectator of the sexual acts they are viewing.  On the contrary, they are active participants because their brains are projecting them into the sex acts as participants.  It is just like watching a horror movie.  During the scary scenes, our brains have projected us into the film as a participant and they send clear signals and chemicals to our bodies that cause us to be frightened and elevate our heart rate and blood pressure so that we could flee the perceived danger.  At that point, our brain is fooled into thinking we are a participant in the film and reacts accordingly.  The same thing is true when viewing pornography.  This means that, neurologically speaking, there is little difference between a person who watches pornography and the actual porn stars themselves, except for the risk of STD's and pregnancy to the porn stars. 

After our brain has repeated exposures to pornography and projects itself into the scenes as an actor, not a spectator, the brain is being taught how to act towards the opposite sex.  It is being taught to use people, not cherish them; to be rough and selfish in sex, not kind and affectionate; and ultimately to objectify all sexual partners and view them as a necessary means to sexual fulfillment, not real people with real needs.  The brain of the pornography viewer, just as the brain of the pornography actor, is being taught to look at all women (or men) as mere objects of sexual pleasure, not real people who have emotions, families, feelings, needs, hopes, aspirations, etc.  It is also being taught to compartmentalize sex as something that is done outside of a real relationship.  I mean, does anyone ever consider what it would be like to have a conversation about aging parents over breakfast with the porn star they view on the internet?  Of course not, but this is a critical skill in bringing intimacy into a marriage.

This objectification of other people is what 'hijacks' the normal bonding process inherent in sex between a man and a woman, and teaches the brain to bond with sexual objects, not real people.  This 'compartmentalization' of sexuality bleeds over into the marriage relationship and causes isolation, sexual dysfunction, impotence, loneliness, isolation and an inability to achieve true intimacy, which is what we all desire.

If you are struggling with pornography, I urge you to confess this addiciton to the spiritual authority in your life, whether that is your pastor or just a friend you know who really walks with God.  This addiction is so prevalent in our society, but it can be overcome through the power of Jesus and living in His community, the local church.

For more info, I recommend www.porntopurity.com or the newly released book, Wired for Initimacy. How pornography hijacks the male brain by William M. Struthers.

But many 'emergent' believers like to back off the whole concept of conversion because this is what gets us into trouble.  I remember traveling to India years ago to the city of Hyderabad.  We arrived one week after a local evangelical pastor had been killed by Hindu fundamentalists.  It was interesting because in this particular area there was a majority population of Hindus, then a large minority population of Muslims (about 30%), then a small minority of Catholic Christians (1-2%), and just a smattering of Evangelical Christians well below 1%.  So why was the evangelical pastor targeted by the Hindu extremist and not the Muslims or the Catholics?  It is simple . . . he worked to convert Hindus (and Muslims for that matter) to Evangelical Christianity, he considered this to be his duty and his delight.  Muslims, on the other hand, had no interest in converting Hindus to Islam, and Hindus had no interest in converting the Muslims to Hinduism.  As for the Catholic Christians, more often than not, they were also content to simply minister to the needs of historically Catholic families in the area.  But the very word 'evangelical' means one who is active in evangelizing, which means to verbally speak the good news about Jesus and exhort others to be 'converted' from whatever they currently are into a devoted follower of Jesus. 

This is the part of our faith that gets us into trouble and distinguishes us from other religions which are content to sustain themselves by simple biological growth rather than through conversion growth.  But our marching orders are different, for Jesus said go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every living creature and ask them to follow Me at all cost, and it often cost a lot.  I just read this article about one of our brothers and his 15 year old daughter in Egypt (pictured above).  He is currently living on the run and being persecuted for converting from Islam into Christianity.  Amazingly enough, in Egypt one can legally convert from Christianity into Islam in one week, but it is ILLEGAL to convert from Islam into Christianity, period.  This is a big deal because your religion is stamped into your passport and it determines whom you can marry, where you can worship, where you can study and where you will be buried.  Nevertheless, even in such harsh conditions, it is our duty to convert all men into worshipers of Jesus.  Actually, it is not our duty, it is our delight, as nothing is more energizing than seeing one more human being receive total forgiveness through Jesus.  So let's pursue the conversion of all men at all cost, it is our delight.

I know this sounds confusing, and parts of it are, but I would challenge you to contemplate it.  Are you working hard to actually know God better, or are you simply trying to be a 'better' Christian by doing more?  Let's not settle for simple activity, let's stretch out for a real relationship, which is a radically different thing from religious activity.

So what if the 'Smith' family got together this year and instead of everyone exchanging names and buying about $500 worth of 'stuff', they put all of their money together and used this $500 in capital to provide a loan to a young mother in Cambodia who is selling pigs and doing well, but needs $500 in capital to expand her business.  This $500 loan would be paid back into their Kiva account over the next 12 months, at which time they could make another loan, perhaps to a young weaver in Guatemala who needs to update his manual loom in order to work more efficiently.  It could become an annual tradition for the family to use this $500 in capital to help a hard working person from another country provide for their family by expanding their small business.

Here is a sample profile of a lady in Cambodia needing a loan.  So if you are looking for something a little different this year, check out Kiva and bless the poor in celebration of Jesus, who though he was rich, became poor for our sakes.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

As I read the story, I realized again that we have a culture that is so into 'body worship' that even our most confident and attractive young ladies buy into this lie and feel the need to surgically enhance their bodies in order to attract more attention, not to themselves as humans, but only to their bodies.  Wasn't there a time long ago and far away when it was considered rude and immoral for a bunch of men to focus their attention on the breasts of a young woman?  Yet now we live in a culture where plastic surgeons make megamillions each year enhancing womens' (often in their teens) breasts for this very purpose?  Am I the only one that thinks this is a little whacked???

And guys are not immune to this cult of body worship either.  We don't get botox injections and surgical enhancements quite as often, but we do take black market steroids in order to bulk up as quickly as possible.  And again, it is our best male athletes, not our worst, who continually buy into this lie and feel the pressure to go beyond what is natural. 

The source of this chaos is theological, not physical.  Once God is dethroned in a culture, all anyone has left is his or her physical body, so our body very naturally becomes our god.  You see, our hearts were made to worship, they were made to enthrone someone or something, so if God is not in the picture and the body is all that is left, we will definitely place it on the throne and pay any amount to 'enhance', 'augment' and immortalize it. 

But what would it be like to be free from body worship?  To be free from all that pressure to beautiful, tight, handsome, built, etc., etc.?  Jesus can free you from that by placing your eyes on eternity and on your soul, not on your body and the here and now.

"Let us fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" - The Apostle Paul

However, in lieu of sainthood, I do reserve the right to confer another honorable title upon individuals who do courageous and extraordinary things for Jesus, and that title is STUDHOOD.  You see, God makes you a saint by cleansing you with the blood of Jesus, but you can make yourself a STUD in the Kingdom by standing up and believing God enough to do something extraordinary for his Kingdom.  That is what Maximillian did in 1941, and that is what a guy named Martin Luther (pictured here) did in Europe in the 16th century.  And anybody who goes above and beyond the call of duty and earns the Radius title of STUD in the Kingdom is worthy of a full Sunday sermon, so that is what we will deliver this weekend. 

Think about it.  If you worship Jesus at any church other than a Catholic church, your church was birthed by the movement 'Stud' Martin Luther began at great risk to his own life.  And even if you worship Jesus at a Catholic church, you now worship him in English, not Latin, and you have your own English Bible, because of Martin Luther's courageous reforms.

So this Sunday we will celebrate a little known Christian holiday called Reformation Day, which celebrates Martin Luther's life and ministry.  We will examine the life and teachings of Martin Luther and apply them to our lives today, in hopes that a few of us will step up to the plate and achieve the great honor of 'Studhood', or 'Studettehood' where applicable . . . See you there.

Did you know that the word "X-Mas" originated from people replacing the English word Christ with the first letter of Christ as it is written in New Testament Greek, Χριστος.  So you take the first letter of this Greek word for Christ, which is 'X' (the Greek letter Chi), and use it as an abbreviation.  So X-Mas is really just an attempt to abbreviate the word Christmas, not a covert attempt to somehow take Christ out of Christmas.  So here's the plan.  We want to take Christ, as He really was in the 1st century when he was called Χριστος, and introduce him to Christmas in America in the 21st century.  What would Jesus think and do if he were a member of Radius during the Christmas season?  What plans and dreams would He have for us?  Those are the questions we will seek to decipher as we go forward . . . and yes, we are doing this very early because we have some very special plans for Jesus' birthday this year and we have to get an early start . . . see you on November 1st!

SERMON SERIES SCHEDULE:

11.01.09  "Putting The X Back In X-Mas"

11.08.09  "The Wrapping Is The Key"

11.15.09  "Gifts That Keep On Giving

I am the oldest of 11 children that grew up in a house full of music and creativity.  My dad could pick up a guitar or sit at a piano and play songs from the radio at will.  My mom was an avid writer and painter. So it was natural that me and my brothers and sisters would have the potential to gravitate to the arts.  It wasn't until about the age of 13 that I realized I could sing and play guitar.  Being home schooled, I had the freedom to lock myself away for hours to play music and write songs.  And like any budding musician, I began to dream of leading many people in worship.  

God was faithful to that dream as I was given numerous opportunities throughout high school and college to participate in life changing worship experiences.  During these years I continued to write and dream of recording with a record label. But, I was never willing to go the typical route of moving to Nashville and selling myself to an industry that is often more focused on the image or the bottom line than on being kingdom minded.  God lead me to partner with John Reeves to help plant churches, including Radius, and I resolved this to be my calling. Still desiring the larger stage, I grew to be satisfied with knowing that my songs held significant purpose in restoring and facilitating God's presence to His people.  My prayer has always been that if God wanted to give me more influence as a songwriter then it would have to be His doing and not mine.

Fast forward to May of this year.  Me and my fellow musicians at Radius had completed a worship CD with 10 original tunes we lead at church.  At Todd's urging, I submitted some of these songs to the Catalyst Music Project in hopes that one of my songs would make it onto the compilation they were putting together. (Catalyst is one of the largest Christian conferences in the U.S. and has events year round all over the country).  

In August I got a call from a major record label, INO Records, saying they wanted to include my song What A Savior on the compilation!  Not only that, but they wanted Dove Award nominated recording artist Laura Story to record the song with one of the industries top producers, Nathan Nockels (Watermark, Passion). If that wasn't enough, they were so thrilled with the song that they have plans to release it to radio in early 2010! (To purchase the Catalyst Music Project CD, go to Amazon.com on or after Oct. 20th).  

My wife Becca and I just returned from Catalyst's national conference where the Catalyst Music Project CD was released and over 12 thousand attendees received a free download of the project.  I got to meet with other writers from around the country and hear from Christian leaders who are have tremendous influence around the world.  It was a humbling as well as gratifying experience to get to participate in this movement.

All this to say that I'm learning to trust God's timing and to trust His way over mine.  Ps. 37 tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.  It may not always be easy or glamorous but God's purpose in us is significant if we'll just be obedient.  The coolest thing about having my song go so far beyond my reach is that my name will most likely get lost in the mix.  I will hopefully will be given more opportunities to serve the Body of Christ with music but this song will serve it's purpose without my image being attached to it.  God will do with it what He wants and I look forward to seeing what happens next!

This is the part of our church that I love the most - the fact that we empower all of our members to do Jesus' work in this world.  It is so easy for people to see needs around them and say, "The church should step in and help these people", and then they call their pastor and ask him to help.  NO, NO, NO.  Jesus put that in front of them, so they are the ones called to help, not the pastor.  In fact, THEY ARE THE PASTOR IN THAT SITUATION!  They are closer to the situation and have been touched personally by it, so they are actually in a better situation to discern how to help.  Furthermore, they have the same open line to Jesus that the pastor uses, so they should be the ones asking and wrestling with God about how they are to help.  But this breaks down unless they actually have access to the resources of the church.  If only the pastor can turn loose the resources of the church, they can't get the church to respond.  We want to turn that paradigm on its head a little and give them the resources of the church and let them respond in freedom.  

It should be a lot of fun as we go forward and unleash an army of 200 missionaries armed with $15,000 and all asking God, "What would you have us do in our community to cause the name of Jesus to be highly esteemed?"  Stay tuned . . . . the stories will begin to pop on our website soon.

I just broke another boundary in life . . . . I read something out of Vogue magazine!  But it was worth crossing the estrogen ocean in order to read the interview posted there with Jenny Sanford.  If she were a guy, I would call her a stud, but since she is a very proper lady, I guess I will call her a queen.  She has been through the ringer over the last 12 months or so as her husband's very public midlife crisis and subsequent affair has been aired to the entire country.  Through it all, however, she has been an absolute model of dignity, honor, forgiveness and wisdom.  So even though Mark Sanford has drug Jesus' name through the mud by his illicit affairs and abandonment of his family, Jenny has brought immeasurable honor and glory to Jesus by responding to this betrayal with a perfect balance of forgiveness and discipline (e.g. she kicked Mark out of the house in discipline, but offered to forgive and reconcile if he was willing to do what it takes).  Even Vogue recognized this beautiful balance and talked about her as the new model of how to respond to an adulterous husband.

In the interview, Jenny had the following insight into the male psyche that was right on the money . . . “I think my husband has got some issues that he needs to work on, about happiness and what happiness means. You wish it wouldn’t come to a crisis like this, but I think when a lot of men get to this midpoint in life, they start asking questions that they probably should have asked a long time ago . . . Midlife aging is different for men than for women,” she says. “Mark is worried about what his next job is. He worries about making money, running for office again, his legacy. I know my legacy is my children. I don’t worry about that.”

Excellent insight Jenny.  It is at the midpoint of life that men begin to face the reality that they are not going to be as rich as they wanted, they are not going to be as famous as they had hoped, and they are realistic enough to understand that these things aren't just around the next corner, the false hope they held to when they were in their 30's.  So what do they do?  They start looking for ways to get their ego stroked (they conveniently call it 'looking for happiness') whenever and wherever they can find it, and they usually find little sparks of it apart from honor and godliness.  The problem is that these little ego strokes they receive by affairs, greed, drugs and porn, are followed by waves of guilt, shame and wreckage in their lives and the lives of their friends and family. So what is the answer, you ask?  The answer is to do what Jenny said, ask the foundational questions of life earlier and destroy the ego, don't stroke it!  The male ego cannot be fed, it has to be starved.

One other related quote by Jenny was the following:

The question is why some men—specifically, male politicians—don’t seem to understand how extramarital affairs poison both careers and families. Having watched the species up close all these years, [Jenny] Sanford has a theory. “Politicians become disconnected from the way everyone else lives in the world. I saw that from the very beginning. They’ll say they need something, and ten people want to give it to them. It’s an ego boost, and it’s easy to drink your own Kool-Aid. As a wife, you do your best to keep them grounded, but it’s a real challenge.”

That's the point . . . if the male ego gets stroked, it feeds on itself and others and is always consuming but never satisfied.  When it is in this mode, it eventually destroys everything around it.  We see this time and time again with men who are politicians or athletes or actors and even pastors.  When a man is elevated amongst a group of people and is constantly having his ego stroked by others, it is very easy for him to "drink his own Kool-aid" and begin to think he is 'all that'.  He wrongly thinks that he deserves this attention and entitlement takes the place of thanksgiving.  This kind of thinking is the beginning of the end and it always ends up with a foolish affair, a betrayed wife, bitter children and a disgraced, humiliated man acting like a 16 year old boy.  It makes us all mad, but in reality it is just really sad.

So ask yourself this question today . . . are you drinking your own Kool-Aid?

However, it is even more embarrassing when it is done under the label and title of Christian.  I expect guys who are not in submission to God to do stupid and embarrassing things, but it is more painful when those who wear the Christian uniform do so, and without apology.  But this has always been a problem on this earth and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.  When Paul was writing the New Testament letters, he was continually calling people out publicly for doing embarrassing things in Jesus' name.  He called Peter out for his racism, he called out others for their greed and manipulation of women, he called others out for getting drunk and playing the grace card.  It is an old, old story, but today I thought I would throw out a few things I would love to see rectified in our global church.

1. The "Christian" music industry.  It is such a joke.  You submit an original song and they like it and want to publish it, but they ask to change ONE WORD of the song and in return they want to be listed as a bona fide co-writer and thus receive 50% of all future profits.  One word of a 100 word song and they want 50%, and they dare call that "Christian"?  Last time I checked, God hates stealing.

2. 50 U.S. based bishops from a large denomination, all of whom receive a lifetime appointment, decided to lower their salaries this year as a "gesture of solidarity with others hurt by the global economic downturn."  As a result, all 50 US based bishops will receive a salary of $121,000 this year, not the $125,800 they were scheduled to receive.  I hope they figure out a way to survive with that kind of drastic 'gesture'.

3. Churches recruiting staff.  When universities recruit coaches from other teams, they have to make contact with the Athletic Director before opening that conversation, as a matter of respect and integrity.  Churches, on the other hand, would never do such a respectful thing.  When we recruit staffers from other churches, we never ask or consider how the loss of this person might affect the church where they currently serve . . . . sad to say, but I think we don't care how it affects that church as long as we get our man.  If it really is God's will for that person to leave and come to work with us, would God not lead the other church to recognize that as well???  Shouldn't we at least have that conversation before making the offer?  I hate it when secular rivals (college athletics programs) treat each other with more respect and dignity than local church leaders, who claim to be 'on the same team'!

These are just some of the issues of the day, there are plenty more we could put here.  But here is the warning for us all - we are all capable of doing things that are just flat embarrassing to Jesus and His Kingdom.  I have been guilty before, no doubt.  My daughter recently told me of an instance at her school where an administrator blatantly violated the very dress code they had just emphasized to the students.  She was upset about it, and rightfully so.  I explained to her the word hypocrisy at that point and then told her plainly, "If you ever see that at Radius church, you have the authority to call it out right away, as we are capable of doing foolish things like that as well, and we need to be held accountable so that we don't embarrass Jesus with our double standards."  I like that, a place where we are aware of our propensity to set up a double standard, but a place where we have the right to call it where we see it.  Sounds like a New Testament church to me . . .

St John's Lutheran Church in Lexington

So here is the full text of the letter that was sent to the editor and published in part in today's paper . . .

Having just read Rev. Wolf's 'biblical, ethical and moral' justification of blessing homosexual unions within the ELCA, I would like to offer a few comments.  First of all, it is somewhat embarassing that Rev. Wolf wrote, "The chief argument against blessing homosexual unions conerns the statements in Leviticus and Galatians against homosexuality."  In fact, these statements are actually found in Leviticus and Romans.  It is also telling that he conveniently chose not to quote either of these passages within his column.  I charitably assume mistaking Galatians for Romans was a simple oversight on Rev. Wolf's part, but it should be noted when a Priest claims to have a faith "rooted in the scriptures" and yet makes such an obvious error in referring to those scriptures?  

Additionally, Rev. Wolf's argument is basically that sexuality is something we are born with and therefore our duty to love our brother or sister just as they are takes precedence over any biblical prohibitions related to sexuality.  Based on that logic, I would simply ask about the case of polygamy or polyandry.  How do we respond to men or women who are inwardly driven (from their earliest memories) to have more than one partner/wife.  Or what about the bisexual, who is born to love and have sex with both men and women?  Once we 'redefine' marriage as nothing more than a lifelong commitment between two consenting adults, on what theological, civic or rational basis can we confine the union to only two adults?  Why can't three or more consenting adults of any gender choose to enter into a lifelong, consensual, marital relationship?

Finally, I love the way Rev. Wolf conveniently reminded us that 'good' homosexual couples were better for society and the family than alcoholic, drug addicted, sex-crazed heterosexual couples.  That was very insightful.  Actually publishing such a ludicrous, false dichotemy was so juvenile I was not sure how to respond, other than to say that the verses Rev. Wolf quoted in his column should have instructed him to be a little more fair minded, comparing 'good' heterosexual couples with 'good' homosexual couples when considering their impact on children and society at large.

After I sent this letter, I was wondering if I was too harsh in it, as I have a natural talent for sarcasm and at times that can be a lot more destructive rather than constructive.  On the other hand, we are commanded to tear down every lofty argument that sets itself up agains the knowledge of Christ, so we have to point out faulty logic, faulty thinking and faulty statements about God, albeit in a fair and charitable way.  I hope I hit this balance here . . . and Rev. Wolf, if by a long shot you wind up reading this blog, please don't personalize the debate . . . in fact, I would love to catch a lunch with you sometime in the near future where we could discuss these things outside of the public eye.

No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. If you agree, please post this as your facebook status for the rest of the day.

I have read it twice, and being who I am, I just couldn't let that pass without an obvious declaration of just how misguided and naive the statement really is.  And since it is going to pull emotional heartstrings and a lot of people are going to jump on the bandwagon, I thought I would at least post on it and show the obvious flaws in the statement, so here goes.

What the statement is really saying is that no AMERICAN should die because they can't afford healthcare and no AMERICAN should go broke because of sickness, for if we really meant what the statement says, that this should happen to NO ONE, then I assume that includes Afghanis, Nigerians, Kenyans, etc.  And if that is the case, that NO ONE should ever die because of lack of healthcare, then is it ethically OK to do thousands of very expensive MRI's on athletes in America and Western Europe while thousands of children die everyday in Asia and Africa from simple dysentery, which is easily treated with $10 worth of glucose IV's and antibiotics??  O, but that is healthcare rationing, isn't it?  Yes, of course it is, and anytime one organization or one company or one country controls healthcare, there is always rationing.  The rationing can be economic (the rich can afford it, the poor cannot) or ideological (the young deserve it, the old do not), or nationalistic (Americans deserve every possible treatment during the last 6 months of life, Tibetans do not).

I hate to be a stick in the mud, but this statement is just naive and naive people can't sustain a democracy.  If you are going to circulate it, then go ahead and say what you mean by inserting the word AMERICAN in it so that we can discuss that national debate.  But noboby really wants to insert AMERICAN in it and then circulate it, because we immediately feel the hypocrisy and nationalistic healthcare rationing inherent in the revised statement, so it doesn't feel as good to post it.

Alternatively, if you leave the statement as it is and say those things should happen to NO ONE (in the world), then step up and live out the logial repurcussions.  It would require each and every American and Eastern European to give up about 25-50% of their current income to provide that medical care to EVERY ONE.  Ready for that?  But we would have to go even further than that.  We would have to stop producing H1N1 flu vaccines for our kids immediately and instead, produce antibiotics and IV packs for kids with dysentery in Africa, as H1N1 rarely kills children here and simple dysentery is easily treated.  Us older folks would have to voluntarily forgo our own sports related surgeries and procedures that allow us to run and play in our old age (I currently have a partially torn rotator cuff that needs repair), as these are not a priority in the worldwide scope.  These elective surgeries would have to be subservient to life-saving AIDS meds in Russia and appendectimies in Central Asia.

So what is the answer, you ask?  I am not smart enough to know, but I do know that some type of healthcare rationing is a reality under any system and our choice is simply who and how healthcare is rationed, not if healthcare will be rationed.  Will the government ration it, will economic realities ration it, will nationalistic power ration it?  Out of those three, I still vote for economic rationing as the lesser of three evils . . . I know it is unust and not perfect, it just seems better than the alternatives.

Unfortunately, our world will continue to be full of horror stories of people dying and suffering needlessly for lack of healthcare until Jesus returns and brings perfect peace and justice and thereby puts an end to all healthcare rationing.  Until that time, just make sure you look out for your next door neighbor and don't spend a lot of energy on utopian visions of a world where no one dies for lack of healthcare - only Jesus can deliver on that campaign promise.