Nobama.

I was "Clean for Gene" in 1968. We got Nixon, and more war.

I was a McGovern supporter in 1972. We got more Nixon, and still more war.

I believe if Barack Obama is nominated for U.S. President, we will have John McCain, and more wars.

Here's why I believe this.

Not Ballantine's day.

- Jasper Johns

It's a good day to take an arrow for a loved one.

- Jim Dine

God in the box.

Pictured above is the Great Coxwell Barn, a large 14th century tithe barn in England. It is not a church, and never has been one. Its architectural similarity to a Gothic church lies in the construction technology available to build a large, open space.

Today, if you build a church that looks like a warehouse, you might get criticzed by traditionalists. I guess it’s all a matter of which worship model you subscribe to:

Gothic Cathedral Model
God: Worship Leader
Clergy & Choir: Worship Performers
Congregation: Worship Audience

Big Box Model
God: Worship Audience
Clergy & Choir: Worship Leaders
Congregation: Worship Performers

It’s fascinating to notice that the only major difference between a Gothic Tithe Barn and a Gothic Church in England is that the church has a steeple and movable chairs. “Plain Big Box” worship has a long history in Christendom.

Osmosis vs. Immersion

Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a cell wall or membrane or any semi-permeable barrier from a solution of low solute concentration to a solution with high solute concentration, up a solute concentration gradient. It is a physical process in which a solvent moves, without input of energy, across a semi permeable membrane (permeable to the solvent, but not the solute) separating two solutions of different concentrations.

Immerse (third-person singular simple present immerses, present participle immersing, simple past immersed, past participle immersed)

1. (transitive) To put under the surface of a liquid; to dunk.

   Archimedes determined the volume of objects by immersing them in water.

2. (transitive) To involve deeply

   The sculptor immersed himself in anatomic studies.

I do not believe in conversion by osmosis. I believe in conversion by metanoia and immersion... in total baptism from above.

Natural Christianity.

What does the purest form of being a follower of Jesus the Christ look like? Sound like? Feel like? Taste like?

I have some ideas and some examples, but mostly, I have man-made traditions to overcome. I hope this rambling site has been an attempt to address the search for natural Christianity at times (hopefully, more often than not). Too often, I fear, it has been a search for the natural man.

If you click the title above, you'll be linked to a program I feel promotes natural Christianity.

if you click here, you'll find a blog titled Natural Christianity. This is not a recommendation, but an observation.

The Nostrils of God.

Psalm 141

O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me.
Hear my voice when I call to you.

May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

The current understanding of how our olfactory senses work has changed from what was believed just a few years ago. Then, it was believed that we "smelled" things by way of chemical communication: a particle of matter would enter our nose and become lodged in the "sensing" area. The particle (of strawberry, say) would emit a chemical signature (or, odor) and the smell receptors would then send the bran a message that strawberries were nearby.

Today, we understand the phenomenon a little differently. The item's molecules enter the nasal passages, where they are caught by a receptor that has a very similar shape to the molecule's. Once lodged in placed, the olfactory sensor begins to vibrate, measuring the resonance of the trapped molecule. The readings are "decoded", and information is sent to the brain ("We're rolling in strawberries!"). The key here is that the nose doesn't wait for the molecule to announced it's composition, but instead it performs an examination.

Holy Scripture talks about God's nostrils. When we pray, God breathes us in. We enter into his "nostrils" where there are receptors shaped like we are. We lodge into a cubby-hole that's about right for us, and God then runs his examination on us. We are analyzed, scanned, and categorized.

The point of this "up the nose of God" entry is this: God made us, each one of, intentionally and deliberately. Not only did he form us as unique creatures, he formed receptacles in his nostrils for us. Unique, individual, and personal.

"For God so loves us, that he gave his only Son..."

Forty Days X 100.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner.

Appalachian Snake Handlers

Nairobi Trio

Law and Gospel.

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

John 6:15

For years, I couldn't figure out this passage from the Gospel according to John. Didn't Jesus want to be King? Was the crowd going to grab him and and force him to be King against his will? What was he afraid of?

What I didn't really understand was that the crowds "didn't get it". They'd missed the point of Jesus' gospel message. For a long time, I didn't "get it" either.

But it slowly dawned on me – if you can call the breaking of the sun (Son?) over the horizon, shining light into the darkness, "slow". Jesus had said it to Pilate plain enough: "My Kingdom is not of this world." Forcing the Kingdom was not only implausible... it was against God's will.

Herein lies the problem with thinking we can become a "Christian nation" by passing legislation. It's simply a return to the Law, which we are hopeless to follow (but good at both faking it, and pointing out other's failure to obey). Jesus himself would not allow his name or his power to be used for political purposes.

The change in people must come from the inside by way of God's life-giving Holy Spirit (to be born a new man/woman), not from the outside by the imposition of the Law. The exterior change is only a whitewashed tomb.

When we try to impose God's will (The Law) by human initiative, Jesus withdraws from us. Stage left, or stage right, he leaves us to our own devices.

Looking down, looking up.

Tree of Life.

A note to Father.

Heavenly Father,
even your name is holy.

Bring your Kingdom now,
and realize your will on Earth just as in Heaven.

You provide for our needs,
day by day.

You forgive us,
as we forgive.

You do not put us on trial,
but you free us from our accuser.

What he said.

Postum-Notes 2

A follow-up to the posting below about how Kraft Foods might save the Postum Brand of instant hot coffee-replacement beverage.

I suggested they employ a strategy of repackaging Postum with new content (real coffee), and then slowly bring old Postum back in. I ignored the obvious methodology, the one that passes the Occam's Razor test, and has been seen time and time again on you grocer's shelves.

Kraft wouldn't swift/change the product, even temporarily. The brand managers BELIEVE in Postum. It's their livelihood. No, rather than change the bland product for something stimulating and exciting, they'd change the packaging to be stimulating and exciting, while keeping the boring product that one would consume only out of habit or tradition.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that Postum itself is a fraud, a substitute for the real thing (morning coffee) without any of the benefits. No anti-oxidants, no caffeine, no flavor.

So too the mainline churches, who long ago replaced the real Body of Christ with a clubby fellowship of "people like us" who all hold in common a lowered expectation of the Christian life. Their great fears are enthusiasm and emotionalism, because they are against "club rules". They will promote pietism as a means of avoiding piety, and even spirituality to avoid the impact of the Spirit of God.

As these clubs continue to shrink, as their market-share declines, many have turned to a more stimulating package without reverting to authentic Spirit-based Christianity. Why?

Because following Christ Jesus is not what they offer, but a branded identity instead... denominationalism. It's loyalty to a comfortable "brand", and not to the unsettling Lord.

Postmortum.

I read that Kraft is discontinuing C.W. Post's caffeine-free instant coffee substitute, Postum. Many Mormons are in a quandary, as they seem to be the last consumers of this toasted cereal beverage, drinking it in accordance with their cult's ban on caffeine (Postum is 100% caffeine free, unlike decaf coffees).

But in the middle of the night, an idea arrived via night-mail (which is how I get most of my ideas).

Suppose you were Kraft Foods, and you saw the declining market share for Postum and recognized that changes were needed. So, you came out with NEW IMPROVED Postum (NIP), which was really 100% Columbian coffee. Except for Mormons, the folks who tried the samples of NIP loved it. They felt refreshed, stimulated, and excited by their new Postum experience, whereas their same old Postum experience (SOP) was of a tasteless, ineffective, uninspiring beverage that they were told was "good for them", although they could discern no changes in the lives of the SOP drinkers.

The consumers clamored for more of this NIP, but Kraft saw that switching to NIP was going to require more changes in the production and distribution channels than the entrenched hierarchy was willing to accept. So their plan was to entice new consumers with NIP, and then once they were used to the branding, switch them slowly back to SOP.

They were puzzled when those who came to the New Improved Postum abandoned the brand when Kraft began blending in SOP with NIP. Eventually, all the NIP drinkers went down the aisle to the new Starbucks brand... even many of the decaf drinkers (but not the Mormons).

"What in the hell is this all about?" you might ask.

This is how most mainstream churches deal with attempts at renewal within their bodies. Bait and switch. When the renewal fails (after the switch begins), they blame it on the fickle consumers, who have since moved on to a more refreshing, stimulating, and exciting non-denominational coffee shop down the road.

Go out and buy this recording.

THE TRUE FALSE IDENTITY
T Bone Burnett

C. S. Lewis once said, "We don’t need more Christian writers. We need more great writers who are Christian.” It's true for singer/songwriters, too. Case in point.

Why I can't bow to the supply-side altar.

"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away."
-- Ronald Reagan

This is a good example of the single-minded Mammon worship that "Market-Based-Economy-As-A-Philosophy-Of-Life" breeds.

The idea that EVERY human value has a solely monetary value flies in the face of the Judeo-Christian values we supposedly hold as a Nation (I say "supposedly" for a reason). But then again, it does explain why the current Administration prefers entrusting National Security and Foreign Policy activities to corporate entities like Blackwater and Halliburton instead of the U.S. Army, the State Department, and the Corps of Engineers. For one thing, Mammon-based decision making is much simpler than Ethics-based policy decisions (and certainly simpler than Scripturally-based policy decisions). It is simply a matter of profit.

The concept of "Public Service" is totally lost on these people. Public service and self-sacrifice is something for "chumps" to do.

I left the world of private enterprise (Advertising) for a job as a public servant (Municipal Planning) partly as a result of my Christian conversion. One of the signs that I had to change (and I have to stress that this is a personal, not universal, decision) was when I had a client whose corporate name was M.I.P. I couldn't see any connection between his business (medical services consulting) and his corporate name. I asked, and he replied, "M.I.P. stands for Make It Pay."

Mammon worship, the arbitrator of all values.

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"
-- Matthew 16:26

Taking the Mass out of Christmas.

For the first time in over 25 years, I didn't attend church this Christmas... neither on Christmas Eve nor on Christmas Day. We stayed away from "church". Did we let the predominant American culture "win" this year? No.

Actually, it was resistance against the predominant American culture that kept us away, that kept us from "Christening" the events of the Winter Holidays by going to church. We honored the birth of the Christ (which didn't happen during the winter months), but not in the way that is "supposed" to be the "Christian way".

Neo-puritans?