The passing of an era

Today, with the passing of Pope John Paul II, the world has lost a modern day apostle. With so many in the charismatic wing of the Body of Christ conferring such titles as apostle, prophet and bishop upon themselves, it is ironic that we should mourn today a man who sought no such title but assumed the role as titular head of the Roman Catholic communion with a rare humility and depth of servanthood. In a time where so many of our heroes fall from grace, he was a true hero, universally loved and respected by people from all wings of christendom as well as those of other faiths. He never wavered in his defense of life and human dignity. He was never political, but rather forthright in his opinions. He was a thinker, but he was a passionate and cerebral man.... a poet, a theologian, a man of the common people and a true saint.

Terri's Lament

You spared no expense in engineering her demise,
Your judgements were legal doublespeak cloaked in lies,
Mercy seems to be the one notion that escaped your eyes,
Thus the news today has come as no surprise,
Because when you starve the truth to feed the beast, freedom dies.

Good Friday, Terri Schiavo and Grenada, MS

Before the cross we wait and watch an innocent lay down his life. This sacrifice has wider implications, for the blood that is being shed enables a mercy to be extended through the generations, down through unfolding years, overcoming wrong turns and wilful acts, mocking laughter and penitent tears. It brings hope, freedom and peace.
Before the television we wait and watch an innocent have life stripped, starved and dessicated. This act too has wider implications, for the life being taken enables a precedent to be further entrenched in a collective memory. That issues of life and death are now the province of ethical debate and legal minutiae have now been enshrined in our political consciousness.
We have ripped life and death out of God's hands and we have decided that we now have evolved to the extent that those are decisions that we can handle on our own.

Friday March 25th, 2005 - Grenada, Mississippi
Two men made an initial appearance in court Thursday in connection with the killing of an inmate in the Grenada County jail Sunday night.
Eric Bullins, 16 and Antonio Conley, 19 both charged with the murder of Kenneth Kendall, 22; appeared in Grenada County Justice Court.
Kendall was being held at Correctional Services Corporation because of unpaid fines owed to the city......"This boy died for $750," said Catherine Kendall, the victim's aunt, referring to the fines.

Psalm 22 1 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. .......
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint;my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. "

Can these bones live?

Can these bones live?
Ezek 37:1 (NRSV)" The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know."
In Ezekiel 37 we read the account of the valley of dry bones and the question that rings through the ages; "Can these bones live?" We have all been through periods of spiritual dryness, when worship seems like tiresome work and our enthusiasm and witness seems to wane. There is a dry season in every believers life and though this season of Lent has brought its share of rain, we need to be reminded that the journey we take with Christ often leads us into the wilderness. There we come face to face with our spiritual barrenness, the realization that we exist so often on a finite resource and when the spirit runs out, as it were, we are left as a rattling reminder of the futility of our religion. Yet we are also in the season of rebirth, of life springing from death. So it is time to prophesy, to speak forth and proclaim the word of truth, even to hear that word for ourselves - that Jesus has come that we might have life to the fullest extent - "so as in Adam all die, so in Christ may all be made alive!" The dead bones of religion are about to be transformed into the vibrant sinews of an intimate relationship with the living God. I am looking forward to Easter this year..." Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." It is time for the church of this community to come alive again!

A favorite songwriter goes over the top!

There's a singer-songwriter that you might not have heard of....His name is Dean Friedman and he's been around since the mid-seventies. His first two albums are classics and he has always had a quirky yet pointed sense of humor. He's a mensch (good guy) but he's definitely of the Air America/ Al Franken persuasion. Click on the title of this post to sample "Four More Years", his satirical attempt to best Fahrenheit 9/11, musically speaking! I don't agree with any of it...but he's still one of my favorite artists. ......Ahhh forgiveness is such a virtue!!!

Intercession in Israel

Declaring God's Purposes at Mitzpa Ramon

courtesy of jnthnmoore
Deb Abernethy, my wife Allison and Simantov Allalouf, blowing the trumpet and shofars, February 10th, 2005

The Syrian Bride Effect.

I showed "The Syrian Bride" to my GED students at the center and at the jail. Considering most of them are unused to watching a foreign language film with subtitles, they coped very well and really enjoyed it. The guys at the jail usually only pay attention to films with car chases, guns and sex, but they too gave the film rapt attention and even were talking about the movie as they were watching, as opposed to talking through the movie, which they normally do if they are bored. Rarely has a film captured the sense of place and time as well as helped people understand the enigmatic quality of that particular region of the world. This film should be required viewing in american classrooms.

The Syrian Bride

The Syrian Bride is a powerful drama based on a true story. My wife Allison was just in the village where the story took place and met some of the family. This film has won a number of awards already and is scheduled for commercial release in the US later this year.

courtesy of jnthnmoore

Even though the film is subtitled, with actors speaking Arabic, Hebrew, Russian and English at different times, the pace and deft touch with which this drama unfolds, soon finds the viewer drawn into the world of the Druze, a unusual religious sect trapped in the middle of the conflict over the Golan heights between Syria and Israel. The actors are very effective and convey a range of emotions that we can all identify with, even though we are worlds apart. When this film is released....SEE IT!

What I'm listening to....takes me back home!

The Folk Roots album "KittyJay" by Devon Folkie Seth Lakeman

courtesy of jnthnmoore

Freedom of vs. freedom from...

I think maybe we have become hyper-sensitive about so many things, but particularly about matters of faith. People are beside themselves over the overt nature of President Bush's Inauguaration Speech, with its references to God and lofty images of freedom, presented as the goal of democracy to liberate the world. If we truly believe that it is possible to remove from the public square anything that does or has potential to offend then I'm afraid we need to elect Dr. Michael Neudow as the next president because the future obviously rests with him and his liberal ideology. (HE failed to have prayer outlawed at the Inaugural and instead KirbyJon Caldwell made prophetic declaration over this nation in his benediction.)
Thankfully that is not so and eventually the media will cotton on to the fact that, while they are slinking ungraciously to the left, the rest of us are joyously dancing to the right. Just ask the folks at CBS which way the wind is blowing now!!

Don't Forget....

courtesy of jnthnmoore

What I'm listening to...

courtesy of jnthnmoore

You make me fly - For MLK

You Make Me Fly - Jonathan Patrick Moore 01/16/2005
You are a hero in my eyes, I looked beneath the lies,
And touched the heart that lay within,
You were a giant among men, Though small of stature then,
You rose above the frailty of your sin...
To make me fly, and rise to be a better man,
With a chance to dream before I plan,
You still remain the soul of a movement,
That will never ever die...You make me fly!
The higher the eagle seeks to soar, His own strength must ignore,
And resting on the rising thermal wind,
No greater love has any man, Than to willingly lay down,
His own life to turn enemy to friend..
You make me fly, To soar on eagles wings again,
To take a chance and make a friend,
To reach beyond the anger and the pain,
We struggle to deny...You make me fly!
Some would not believe, had they not seen, had they not heard,
or be standing here today had they not received the word,
But its not enough to hear and its not enough to die,
If there isn't someone, somewhere, ready to spread their wings and fly
You make me fly, and rise to be a better man,
With a chance to dream before I plan,
You still remain the soul of a movement,
That will never ever die...You make me fly!

Bruised reeds and smoldering wicks...

I am learning that we are all, to a greater or lesser extent, living with our wounds. The pain surfaces from time to time: at moments of crisis, when provoked by anger or simply when we choose not to hide behind the facade anymore. As believers, we have an obligation to imitate Jesus. In Isaiah 42, he is described as one who would not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. In other words, one who does not treat the wounded with harshness but tenderly speaking into them the Word that helps bring stability to their lives.
That is our calling. It is the calling of the Body of Christ. Make us tender towards one another!

Another CD worth having... click HERE!!

courtesy of jnthnmoore

Rainy Days and Mondays...

I've learned over the years never to make any life-altering course changes on a Monday. It seems that the second day of the week invariably brings me down to earth, no matter to what heights we soared the day before. For every mountaintop there is a corresponding valley and it is in the valley where I uncover my true mettle, the authenticity of my experience and my ability to handle the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' as Shakespeare so eloquently put it. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," so, right now I'm asking God for faith to stand and continue to stand whether or not I can see the outcome already assured.

Back to work...

It's a New Year and it's back to work and back to school. Time to reawaken desire and drive and rediscover the passion for teaching and enriching lives! It's always tough after the Christmas holidays to get back in the swing of things. It's not that I make a lot of New Year's resolutions, I merely struggle with the need to do something other than eat and watch movies!!
January is going to be hectic, February is going to be frantic, and by March I shall be ready for the burst of Spring. By the way I have successfully negotiated the use of 05 on my date writing. Everyone else is still writing 04. Maybe that's a hopeful sign.

On a more serious note...

The latest news from Asia following last week's Tsunami is pretty bleak. This overwhelming catastrophe puts our petty, media driven, self-absorbed lives into pretty stark perspective. As a pastor and teacher I am challenged to reassess my own theological reasoning in the area of suffering, tribulation and escatology. The events of 9/11 are nothing compared to this.
Check out http://www.christianmediaresearch.com/cmc-12.html to read an excellent article on the subject of Catastrophic Christianity.

What I got....for Christmas that is...

Click to see my list....