My house is cluttered.  Some of the clutter is mine.  Some of it is hers.  Much of it can’t be pinned exclusively on either of us.

So what?  Aren’t there more important things in the world to worry about?

Of course.  And if clutter were cost-free, it wouldn’t be worth talking about.

But clutter isn’t cost-free.  It has a financial cost.  It costs us in the lost opportunities to use our living spaces for good things.  And to some degree, it costs our relationships too.  These are some of the things I’m going to be talking about this Sunday as I begin a series on the spiritual implications of clutter.

At the risk of giving away some of my best material, I want to point you to a great series of wonderfully-written articles on clutter by the always excellent Merlin Mann at 43 Folders.  If you start with Clutter War II:  The Attack of the Giant Baby, you’ll get a taste of his funny, spot-on writing, and you’ll find a series of links to all his wisdom on clutter.

PS - Merlin Mann mentions a book called It’s All Too Much, by Peter Walsh.  I bought it a few months ago and read the first few chapters…and then it disappeared among the clutter in our house until just this past Tuesday!  Glad to have it back, just in time.

The Story We’re Living

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Mike Zukowski’s story

Things have been going so well lately that I think I’ll stir myself up some trouble.

I recently received the following email from a brother in Christ and church member who I respect and count as a friend:

It is time to take a stand on this issue and speak against abortion from the pulpit. A political platform that approves of abortion cannot be accepted by voting for it, regardless of who are the representatives identifying themselves with such platform. Pro choice is a position of sanctioning murder as acceptable. The blood of the unborn cries out to God. His answer will be most unpleasant for our nation if we do not turn away from this grievous sin against God. These children are formed in the image of God. We are the Watchman on the walls and we dare not remain silent for their blood will be upon us.

Then the quote from Mother Teresa:  “We cannot fight credibly against other social and moral evils, including poverty and violence, while we tolerate mass killings by abortion.”

My rather lengthy response:

I appreciate the quote from Mother Teresa, and I agree with you on abortion.  I also feel like I speak from the pulpit about it plenty, and you can bet that I will continue to do so.

I suspect though, that you may want me to say that no Christian can vote Democrat or vote for a pro-choice candidate.  I can’t do that, and it isn’t because I think that pro-choice is a legitimate position. I don’t.  It’s because politics is such a messy business that if we’re going to take part at all, we’re going to have to make some ugly choices.

Case in point:  The Washington Post ran a story this week about a U.S. led air strike in Afghanistan that apparently killed 90 civilians, perhaps as many as 60 of them children.  Would we tolerate that on our own soil?  Who knows how many civilians have been killed collaterally in our operations in Afghanistan and Iraq?  100,000?  A million? I just can’t fit that into my pro-life views either, and with each passing year I am more and more disappointed in the gentle and genuinely loving Christian brothers and sisters around me who don’t bat an eye about such things, who in fact seem to have an almost sacred belief in our military and its ability to crush evil-doers and spread freedom to the oppressed.  Our President is against abortion, we say, so we can support his war.

Please understand that I’m not finding fault with our young people in uniform.  I think the great majority of them are professional and brave, and they do their jobs to the best of their ability.  Civilian deaths happen accidentally when bombs or ammo go astray, or because terrorists blow up car bombs in their attempt to turn people against us, or from disease that spreads when water lines, sewage treatment plants and other infrastructure are destroyed.  My point is:  Does anyone care?  Is this not a pro-life issue?  What can we find in the words of Jesus to encourage us to look the other way?  Who is holding supposedly pro-life politicians accountable for this?  I daresay that Mother Teresa would have a choice quote or two about it, and we probably wouldn’t like it.

During the interviews at Saddleback Church with Rick Warren, each candidate was asked how we should respond to evil.  McCain’s answer was quite simplistic:  “Defeat it”.  To be fair, Warren made it multiple choice with “defeat it” as the only good answer, and McCain went on to make some good points about the real evil that confronts our nation.  But McCain spoke of evil as something out there that other people do TO us, a black-and-white attitude that has allowed us to wreck many innocent lives as we chase the guilty.  He didn’t mention that maybe America itself might be capable of committing horrendous evil even while trying to do good, or that (as Solzhenitsyn says) the dividing line between good and evil runs right down the middle of every human heart.  Obama’s answer, while far from perfect, was more reflective on these things,  You can see McCain and Obama give their answers on YouTube.

I guess what I’m saying is this:  I hate abortion too.  It’s a failure on every level of society to treasure the sacred gift of human life with which God entrusts us.  It disturbs me to see people brush this aside so easily for political expedience.  You will hear me speak of this from the pulpit as you have before.  But it is far from the ONLY pro-life issue, and right now I think most of us evangelicals have got our blinders on with regard to this war.  So I can look at the candidates and know which ones are pro-choice.  I just can’t find anyone who is truly pro-life.

Maybe James Dobson had it right when he said that if the choice was between McCain and Obama or Clinton, he’d sit this one out.  Barring that, there are some ugly choices to weigh.

Eternity:
A Brief Series about Forever

3.  Eternal Life Now
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I like to think of myself as being immune to TV commercials.  But SONGS in TV commercials during the Olympics - that’s another matter.  During a previous Olympics I first heard (then bought) the song Ariel Ramirez by Richard Buckner when it played in a Volkswagen commercial.  During these current games I have been even more of a song fiend since I sometimes watch with my laptop with me.  Here are the gems I’ve found:

The Story by Brandi Carlile.  Chevy uses this folksy-rock-love song in a commercial for upcoming hybrid and electric vehicles. Got it playing on my MySpace page now.

All These Things That I’ve Done by the Killers.  The catchy hook that says “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier” also runs during a Chevy ad.

Weapon of Choice by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.  This one plays in an ad for the upcoming TV series My Own Worst Emeny starring Christian Slater (who my wife seems to LOVE).

While I’m on the subject, I have bought several songs after first hearing them on the wonderful and customizable internet radio station Pandora.  Because the record industry is pushing to charge exorbitant royalties to internet radio stations, Pandora says it may soon shut down.  That’s a shame, because there is money to be made here for everyone.  As long as there are suckers like me.

PS - Pandora is a legal music service and pays royalties.   The debate is about how much.  Not so sure about Mix Turtle.

I have enjoyed watching the Olympics so much this year that it almost makes me dread the day in 2014 when Michael Phelps is stripped of his eight gold medals for using baking soda (hence the bubbles).  But since I love to dwell on the negative, here are some moments with a bit less shine…

When Usain Bolt ran away with the 100 meter race in 9.69 seconds, I didn’t mind his showboating.  But things turned ugly (as they usually do) on one discussion board (which I can’t find now) where some fans accused him of “disrespecting” his competitors and others accused Americans of not being able to handle non-American success.  Someone even said that the only way we know how to relate to the rest of the world is to ride in on our high horses and act like saviors when others are suffering.  I feel pity for the Jamaican who said that, and would like to see the UN and World Bank sponsor a program to help correct such attitudes in the rest of the world.  Another commenter pointed out how strange it is that American sprinting success has taken a nose-dive in this first post-BALCO Olympics.  Well, mark my words:  Bolt is full of BS (baking soda).

On the first night of “women’s” gymnastics, I said to my wife that there weren’t any good candidates for the role of “America’s Sweetheart”, what with two girls named Shawn and Nasty.  However, the American sports press has been eager to promote the appropriately cute Shawn Johnson to that role, even though Russian-born American Nastia Liukin won the all-around contest, which is how Mary Lou became our designated cutesy.  Since Shawn finally won gold last night, the press seems to be polishing up her crown for tonight’s prime time coverage.  Other than this, NBC has enjoyed talking about Nastia’s unfair treatment at the hands of the judges (zooming in on her pained expression yesterday as she accepted the tragedy of a silver medal to go along with a bronze, another silver, and the gold for the all-around) and casting doubt on the age of 16-year-old Kexin He, who looks about 8.

Then there’s Michael Phelps and his amazing .01 second victory in the 100 meter butterfly.  I can see why the Serbian delegation filed a protest on behalf of second-place Milorad Cavic, and why they wanted to see the underwater photographs.  But this comment afterward makes no sense:

“We filed the protest but it is already over,” said Branislav Jevtic, Serbia’s chief of mission for all sports. “They examined the video and I think the case is closed. The video says (Phelps) finished first.

“In my opinion, it’s not right, but we must follow the rules. Everybody saw what happened.” 1

What’s not right? Based on further reading, I think he meant that it was close enough to be ruled a tie, and that both men should’ve received gold.  But if the touch pad and video both say that Phelps finished first…

Finally, a brief and dangerous comment about beach volleyball:  I can accept that skimpy bikinis give the women a competitive advantage (and I say that purely out of a love for the game…really!)  But shouldn’t the men be wearing Speedos and no shirts?

Eternity:
A Brief Series about Forever

2.  Sizing Up Eternity
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Despite the title of Jesus For President, Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw don’t really want to elect Jesus - or his representatives - to the White House.  But they do want him restored to his rightful place as the true leader of those who call themselves by his name. 

From Abraham onward, God has been working through "an alternative society on the margins of empire" to show the world "what a society of love looks like" (p. 60).  When God’s people had their own empire in the days of David and Solomon, it was a detour from God’s perfect plan (remember Israel begging for a king in 1 Samuel 8), and the bad times overshadowed the good, just as God said they would. 

Throughout history God’s people have repeated Israel’s mistake, preferring to join or build empires and be like all the other nations rather than to testify from the margins.  Empires become our idols and the lust for power crowds out the way of the cross. 

Today’s empires include politics (putting "God’s person" in power), military strength, wealth, beauty and celebrity.  Even in church we fall in love with worldly methods of communication and worldly patterns of consumerism, mixing Christianity and empire-worship.  For the love of the world, the church "sacrifices holy nonconformity for the sake of cultural relevancy" (p. 246).

In a book that is challenging and solidly Biblical overall, it’s disappointing to find such a watered-down and misleading passage on hell as is presented on p. 291 beginning with:

"But have you ever noticed that Jesus didn’t spend much time on hell?  Really there are only a couple of times when he spoke of weeping and gnashing of teeth, of hell and God’s judgment, and both had to do with the walls we create between ourselves and our suffering neighbors." 

Claiborne and Haw then cite Matthew 25 (The Sheep and the Goats) and Luke 16 (The Rich Man and Lazarus) which deal with our sinful neglect of hurting people.  Good, but this isn’t the whole story by far.  Check out the Parable of the Weeds and Jesus’ explanation of it, the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, and the teaching about causing others to sin, and you’ll see some other reasons people go to hell.  This mishandling of Scripture is so flagrant that I’m tempted to believe that the authors themselves are a bit under the influence of the empire of 60s-style relativism.

That significant offense aside, Jesus For President makes me uncomfortable for all the right reasons.  It challenges my love for the empires around me that call for my allegiance - America, the military, Ford, Wal-Mart, even the Tennessee Volunteers.  I may not agree with all the conclusions in Jesus For President, but I have benefited from the discussion.

Eternity:
A Brief Series about Forever

1.  Let Eternity Shape Today
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Bob’s testimony

Computers and audio books:  Two things I like a lot.  So why wouldn’t I enjoy listening to iWoz, the memoir of Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple and inventor of the Apple I and Apple II?

I did enjoy it, mostly.  iWoz is a light-hearted, sometimes overly-technical account of Woz’s life from his early fascination with technical things, his days as an HP engineer, his historic involvement with the Homebrew Computer Club, the start of Apple, and later ventures into concert promoting and other businesses.

The problem is focus.  Woz (a notorious prankster) devotes almost as much time to describing a favorite college prank interfering with campus TV sets as he does to the design of the first Apple.  Another thing:  Woz isn’t the reader on this audiobook, which is a shame, because I’ve heard him in interviews and panel discussions and he has loads of personality to bring to a project like this.

Overall, though, I had a good time with iWoz, mostly for one reason:  It’s great to listen to someone who loves life as much as Steve Wozniak.