Do You Blame Wal-Mart Again -Or Do We Look in a Mirror?

Today started off well, but as the morning takes shape, an ugly evil has raised its head in America. And it looks a lot like us. First, the good stuff:

This morning I arrived at my local Wal-Mart store about 4:55am, which was later than at least 300 other shoppers who were already in a line that stretched across the parking-lot, and then some. And then a LOT actually.

Now you gotta understand: This is my town, and I’m a pastor, so chances were really high that I’d see people who recognized me. And if I acted like Rosie O’Donnell after drinking a few Red Bulls, not only would that be just as “wrong” as the image of Rosie on Red Bull, but it wouldn’t look all that good.

Pastors are supposed to be kind, polite and always filled with Christmas joy you know…

Of course, the last time I was at a Wal-Mart “Blitz” in a much larger city, I was pretty much constantly irritated, but this morning, I was determined to have a better attitude and not worry if I got the television I wanted -or not. After all, money and possessions aren’t everything right?

Believe it or not, there was some freedom in making that decision. It felt good. I actually enjoyed the time in the store, even laughing with several people -some I knew and some I didn’t. The television I really wanted, I couldn’t find. It was snatched up quickly, but I did find my second option. Sure, it WAS a mad house, but it wasn’t a MAD house. People were polite. No one got shoved. The huge line moved into the small store (it’s not a Super Center) without breaking down the doors. People tried to allow others to get through aisles. In other words, it was a much better experience than the one I had a few years ago in a larger city.

I know. I know. People in rural areas are supposed to be the dumb ones. That’s what Hollywood tells me in every movie and mini-series and aw shucks, sometimes it’s even true hehehehe. But really… from this hick to the rest of you in those big towns…

(standing on soap box)

What in the world are you thinking? You guys in Long Island actually did kill someone this morning. Hold everything. Stop. What are we doing? Seriously?

The Daily News reported that a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by a mob of customers.

I’m waiting for the excuses. The economy is bad, Wal-Mart shouldn’t have sales, there should have been more employees with tasers,… whatever… a person was killed because we walked on top of him to get our televisions and material possessions. There’s no excuse for that. None. Don’t even try. In this case, a family lost a loved one right before Christmas so we could get to the sale items quicker.

Happy Holidays….

We acted, and I bet it wasn’t the only place, like pigs going for the feed trough. Only, we are already the fattest pigs on the planet. Go spend some time in the third world, then come back here and tell me how important it is to get the 42-inch screen.

I’m going to be interested to see if we feel remorse as a nation for our own actions, or if we just blame someone else again, or worse… we shrug it off? I pray we do the first thing.

Wal-Mart will have video of the store, they will know who stepped on who and we’ll find out exactly what happened, but c’mon, let’s think long and hard about where we are right now. Material possessions are THAT important? Living with the latest luxuries that the rest of the world can only dream of is worth a stampede and the death of someone?

God forgive us. We’re courting wrath.

This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. -Amos 2:6-7

Congratulations to Obama

For the record, some good things happened this November. I’m really happy that the debate was over policies not skin color. I’m happy that we have finally broken that barrier, and had women involved in both parties at or near the top of the ticket. The debate was over issues, character, morals values, and voting records -as it should be.

I’m especially impressed with how good a campaign Obama ran, and how well he thought and planned ahead. I hope he is just as adept at leading as he is at running a campaign because he has some very big challenges ahead.

But those challenges are ahead. Right now, Barak deserves a huge amount of credit. He was able to convince people of his vision for America, and he displayed incredible communicating skills, and the cool, calm, roll with the punches type of demeanor you want to see as President.

He reached across into the moderates, and he scored big with whites and Hispanics… just a very, very good campaign.

Congratulations to you Mr. President Elect, and everyone who supported him. Well done. I’ll be praying for you, and of course, trying to convince you of the error of your ways from time to time.

Homosexuality, Abortion, Gambling… Issues that Influence Christians

I should warn you, I’m a senior minister at an independent Christian Church, which means I’m from the same cloth as minister Joe Wright (NOT Jeremiah!) who pastored Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas, and Bob Russell, who pastored Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

Bob wrote a prayer once that Joe borrowed, adapted and then used to open the Kansas State House of Representatives back in 1996. It was a prayer that asked God for forgiveness involving various things, including a few hot button political issues. And while it really attacked items on both sides of the aisle, it nevertheless insinuated that certain things…

…brace yourself…

are sinful before God.

(insert large GASP here)

So OK, I KNOW I’m a radical. I get it. I believe in God, and I believe the Bible reveals God to us. And crazy as it sounds, I believe we have to come to God on His terms not ours. God judges all of us for sin, He judges nations for sin, and eventually, He’ll judge the world for sin. Me and you included.

The Bible however makes it clear that it is not God’s will to destroy us or condemn us for sin, but to forgive us and give us an abundant life -here, but especially, in eternity. Even in the Old Testament, God said stuff like this:

Just Got Back from the Nightmare

It had been about 4-5 years since I last visited the “Nightmare” in Tulsa, OK, but last night, I got to tag along with the youth group and sponsors as we traveled 4 1/2 hours to see this drama that you walk through.

The easiest way to describe it is to call it a “Christian” Haunted House, but that isn’t the whole story. Instead of scary characters from movies you’ve probably seen, the Nightmare dramatically portrays various scenes from real life, complete with demons, a vast array of special effects, perfectly timed lighting and music, to say nothing of the visit to hell or something like hell, and Jesus being scourged and crucified. It is quite the show, running smoothly as your group walks from horrific scene to horrific scene with all sorts of creepiness thrown in, and gets a message about Jesus at the end.

It’s what I expected, because I’ve been to many of these things, but it’s less than I hoped for. They did an incredible job (and always do) on the special effects and their ability to completely freak a person out. The lighting, the music, the creepiness factor, all of that was top notch. You will never see anything quite as well done as this church in Tulsa can pull off.

It’s just that somewhere in the mayhem, the message gets lost a bit. What I mean is, it’s not always clear what you’re seeing or why, or what it means, and the message of Christ isn’t clearly tied in with the rest. Now, it’s not too difficult to explain it in there later or talk with your friends about what Christ means in the scenes we just watched, but our group wished it had been a little more clear or straightforward. Of course, it’s still the best Haunted House anyone can witness, so it’s always useful for inviting youth and others who don’t go to church. Around 30,000 people go through this place in four weekends. Everyone likes a good, creepy adventure around Halloween -but the purpose of the Nightmare is to present Christ as the answer, and I’m not sure they hit that one as solidly as they’d like.

Oh, they make other Hell Houses, Nightmares and Judgment Houses in various places and they are certainly controversial to some. But this is Halloween. If Hollywood can use angels and demons in a horror flick, a church can use angels, demons, Christ and hell to talk about spiritual issues.

And the Nightmare in Tulsa, is as good and as high quality as almost any movie. It suffers from some of the same problems as the church as a whole does however: Lots of great effects, but the message of Christ isn’t as clear as it could be.