American Idol

Last night I was flipping through the channels and came across "In Touch" with Charles Stanley. I like Stanley's preaching so I checked it out, only to find that the pulpit was occupied by David Barton. The usual backdrop behind the preacher (a map of the world) was covered by an enormous American flag.

In my worship class we had a heated discussion about this very topic. Should an American flag be raised at the front of church? Should we hold a special service on 4th of July weekend in honor of our nation? How much patriotism should we show during worship?

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the United States. I know and love our history and I'm proud to be an American. That being said, I am offended that a 40 foot-long American flag covered the map of the world at First Baptist Church. Doesn't the Bible constantly warn against pride and trusting in earthly power? Shouldn't we, as Christians, consider our American citizenship less important than our identity in Christ?

The typical rebuttal to my outrage would tell me to listen to David Barton's words. He "preached" (and I use the term loosely) about how the United States was founded by Christian men who had a goal to create a Christian nation. He said we need to protect our Christian heritage by electing Christian people "whether it's the local dog-catcher or the President." I'm not against electing Christian people, but there is an implication that if only the United States could have a really Christian President then we would be ok. These people (although they would never admit it) are all about trusting our power as a nation and our human leadership over the leadership of Christ over our personal lives. It's far too easy to project our national problems onto a corrupt political system instead of taking personal responsibility for things like racism, corruption, environmental concerns or social injustice.

All this leads to my distaste of promoting patriotism during worship services. When the focus of an entire Sunday morning service is on the United States, we are worshiping something, and it's not God. That makes God angry, so it should make Christians angry too.

To The Last Frontier!

Today Pam and I will leave on our journey to Alaska. We'll be in Naperville for a couple days with my family and then we fly out to Anchorage on the evening of July 4. We will return from our trip on August 14.

We plan to do some sightseeing the first week we're in Alaska because my internship doesn't actually start until July 9. The event I most look forward to is a very quick backpacking trip into the Chugach State Forest. I'll take my camera and post some pics to this blog.

In case I haven't told you yet, I'll be an intern at Trinity Christian Reformed Church in Anchorage for six weeks. They want to get more involved with the surrounding immigrant and Native American communities so I'll be planning and implementing some strategies that would make this happen. I'll also be helping with VBS and their youth program. Meanwhile, will work at Starbucks, as well as lending a hand with church stuff when she gets the chance.

We have been excited about the internship since I was assigned to it in March so we're ready to get started!

A Baptist Who Loves Calvin?

Check out what Pastor John Piper has to say about the impact and beliefs of John Calvin.

Pics From Our Trip

We had a great time in Lynden/Vancouver/Chicago/Eagle River!

Click on the image below to check out a photo gallery from our trip.

Off to the Northwest

Tomorrow (Thursday, May 28) Pam and I will begin our journey to the Northwest. We're driving to Chicago to hang out with my family for a couple days. Then on Saturday we fly out to Seattle. For our first few days we'll be in Lynden with our good friends the Heisers. We'll be at Faith Reformed Church on Sunday, so it should be a really good chance to catch up with all the people who were such a big part of our lives for the first 3 years of our marriage. During the week I hope to visit my old workplace (Logos Bible Software) so I can see how much they have ruined the place since I left.

On Tuesday we will be picked up by Pam's sister, who will bring us up to Vancouver for a week of fun and frivolity. We'll be meeting a new niece and a new nephew for the first time, which we both can't wait to do. It looks like we have a busy week planned.

Our trip ends back in Seattle, where we will hang out with our old friends the Rocks before heading back to the midwest. We will then stay in Chicago for a couple days and then head up to my grandparents' house in Eagle River, Wisconsin. We haven't been there for 2 years, and it will be great to sit by the lake in their backyard and read/swim/nap.

We're very excited to see our friends and family!

Tulip Time in Holland, Michigan

This past weekend we went to Tulip Time in Holland, Michigan with my parents and my sister's family (Laura, Matt and Emmitt). We had fun walking around the tulip fields and getting a strong dose of Dutchness. The tulip fields were beautiful but pretty disappointing compared to the Mount Vernon Tulip Time. I would guess that the fields in Holland were 4 or 5 acres while the ones in Mount Vernon were 30 or 40 acres and had many more varieties.

However, the fields gave me a great opportunity to use our camera. Enjoy the pics.

Do Christians Exist?

I recently read "Whether Christianity Exists" by Soren Kierkegaard for my church history class. The point of his homily is to show how far removed we are from the church as its described in the New Testament. Although it was written in the early 19th Century the criticisms are incredibly applicable to me and the church in general.

"If I must be candid, I do not deny that I am not a Christian in the New Testament sense; if I must be honest, I do not deny that my life cannot be called an effort in the direction of what the New Testament calls Christianity, in the direction of denying myself, renouncing the world, dying from it, etc.; rather the earthly and the temporal become more and more important to me with every year I live."

He has some very challenging and convicting things to say for the modern evangelical pastor as well. Referring to the church leaders of his day he writes:

"He lectures about renunciation, but he himself is being steadily promoted; he teaches all that about despising worldly titles and rank, but he himself is making a career; he describes the glorious ones (the prophets) who were killed, and the constant refrain is: If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets."