On the one hand, the “Idaho Ten” are a pretty pathetic bunch. The nine who claimed ignorance of international adoption/foster care and kidnapping law should be compelled to repeat ninth grade. The ringleader, Laura Silsby, has a long string of reckless actions and financial shady dealings in Idaho. She has been the subject of eight civil lawsuits and 14 unpaid wage claims. The $358,000 Meridian house at which she founded her nonprofit New Life Children’s Refuge in November was foreclosed upon in December. Silsby’s driving record revealed at least nine traffic citations since 1997, including four for failing to provide insurance or register annually. She was divorced in 2007.

On the other hand, it seems like a criminal waste of the Haitians’ time, energy, money, and jail space on these confused Baptists. They should just handcuff the Americans to a palm tree on the beach and call the U.S. Coast Guard to come and pick them up. There are plenty of homeless Haitians who would love a dry place to sleep. The money spent on the circus is badly needed for food, and the man-hours needed for incarceration and prosecution would be better used for organizing relief efforts for struggling earthquake victims.

What makes this standoff so tense is the racial aspect. White folks don’t understand why their efforts to help are rebuffed, and the Haitians don’t want to feel patronized and lose what little pride they have left. The Idaho Ten showed no awareness that Haitians would see the unregistered removal of children from their country as child trafficking and kidnapping. I am reminded of Rudyard Kipling’s 1899 poem entitled “The White Man’s Burden.” Here is a stanza:

Take up the White Man’s burden–
Send forth the best ye breed–
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild–
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.

He wrote it originally for Britain, but when it was not used for its intended occasion he redirected it to urge Americans to develop and civilize the Philippines, which they had recently claimed as spoils of war with Spain. Kipling’s language sounds laughably racist in 2010, but I fear that I can still detect the urge in white folks to treat black folks as children and run their lives for them “for their own good.” Or, driven by endless guilt, to subsidize the very behaviors that cause societal dysfunction.

Well-meaning efforts to bring minority youth into the American mainstream have a mixed record in our history. Decades ago Native Americans were rounded up and shipped to boarding schools out East where they were dressed in white folks’ clothes, taught to speak standard English, and encouraged to let go of their tribal culture.

The backlash to that kind of patronizing acculturation is evidenced in the ten Baptist “missionaries” now sitting in a Haitian jail. It is evidenced also by the increasing resistance of black child welfare workers in America to permit white families to adopt black kids or take them on as foster children. I get the pride thing. I don’t want to return to Kiplingesque imperialism. And yet, I was a foster dad to an African American child for almost two years. And the fact is that there are plenty of white families with the capability to take on one or more children through adoption or foster care and plenty of minority children whose lives are in chaos. Can we get past the race thing? Central Valley Baptist, couldn’t you have obtained proper permits and founded your child care center in Haiti?

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Straight talk.  Real hope.

Love child, scorned by society,

Love child, always second best,

Love child, different from the rest.”

Love child. I’ve been thinking about Diana Ross’ 1968 Motown song all day. A “love child” is a euphemism for a child born out of wedlock. Surely the worst case is when the father denies the child. After years of strenuous denials, former North Carolina senator and presidential candidate John Edwards admitted not only an affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter, but also paternity for Ms. Hunter’s daughter Frances Quinn. Edwards had actually arranged that a staffer of his named Andrew Young would step forward and claim paternity. But the truth finally came out, and that finally snapped it for Edwards’ wife of 32 years, Elizabeth, herself suffering from breast cancer. She filed for separation.

Love child. In 2001, after months of strenuous denials, Jesse Jackson admitted that the daughter, Ashley, born in 1998 to Rainbow/PUSH staffer Karin Stanford was his. Allegations of payoffs to Stanford using PUSH funds were never proven.

Love child. When record-setting geriatric senator Strom Thurmond (R., S.C.) passed away in 2003, an “unknown” daughter stepped forward. Essie Mae Washington-Williams claimed Thurmond as her father. The family admitted that Thurmond had fathered a child via an African American servant girl named Carrie Butler in 1925, and that for all those years he had concealed his paternity.

Love child. King David uses all his royal clout and guile to pretend that Bathsheba’s baby was her husband Uriah’s. In fact it was his. The child died.

I write these words not to pile on the sinners. It’s easy to pick on famous people who have fallen. I write to grieve with Frances Quinn and Ashley and Essie and all children whose fathers didn’t claim them. I am grateful that my own father claims me, and I have a hug for every child whose father doesn’t.

I just thought you should know that through your baptism, your heavenly Father is proud to acknowledge you. I hope you are just as proud of Him.

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Straight talk.  Real hope.

Blaming the earthquake on the slaves in 1791 reminds me of how for generations white Christians spoke somewhat recklessly about the “Curse of Ham” (Genesis 9:25). According to those notions, the Hamites, most numerous of which were the black-skinned ones from Africa, were destined for all time to be servants and slaves of paler folks. Terrible Biblical interpretation. The curse Noah uttered was in fact spoken upon Canaan, but the damage was done. Genesis 9 became part of the sham “Biblical” underpinning justifying slavery of Africans.   

Well, is there anything to Mr. Robertson’s comments about Haiti? There is some truth in what he said. One of the chief organizers of the Haitian rebellion was an African named Dutty, brought to Jamaica from Dahomey (called Benin today). Somehow he managed to become literate and so received the nickname “Bookman.” He was sold to plantation masters in Haiti, where his name appeared as Dutty Boukman. He was a voodoo priest of sorts and is said to have led a voodoo ceremony in the Bois Caïman involving the sacrifice of a pig and prayers to the voodoo god(s) for the rebellion’s success. He was killed by the French soon after the rebellion began, but his leadership is part of the national story of Haiti’s freedom.

Mr. Robertson’s judgment, however, seems pretty harsh. There is no evidence that the leaders of the slave rebellion were able to communicate with Satan or had the authority to hand their half of the island over to him. ‘Tis true that perhaps half of all Haitians today believe in some aspects of voodoo, but American Christians should be a little cautious in claiming to see what God is doing with his curses and blessings.

Voodoo is a wretched superstition, but the French “Christian” slaveholders did not make their God look very good to the Africans they bought and worked to death. Voodoo is a wretched superstition, but so is astrology, and millions of Americans buy horoscopes. So is the notion of reincarnation, but polls reveal that a quarter of Americans believe that they just might come back in the next life as a newt. So is the theory of evolution, which trashes the first eleven chapters of the Bible, but millions of Americans, even American Christians, believe fervently in natural selection and survival of the fittest.

In Luke 13, Jesus cautioned his disciples not to be too quick in designating blame for some local disasters. “Were they any worse than you? Repent, or you, too, will all perish,” were his words. You can’t tell with certainty where natural disasters came from, and Pat Robertson can’t either. Maybe the tectonic plates in a broken world just shifted.

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Straight talk.  Real hope.

Is this campaign a good idea for the company? The stakes are high. This isn’t some little outfit. Domino’s is # 2 in the world, with over 8,000 stores worldwide. If they are saying that their food is terrible, their millions of customers might hear the message that they are idiots with no palate who like the taste of cardboard.

On the other hand, it is always refreshing to see and hear a business attempting to portray itself as a servant to its customers. Businesses that respond to people are the ones that grow. Businesses that are in love with themselves and their institutional story are the ones that harden into businessclerosis and decline. If you have been a Domino’s regular, I would greatly appreciate it if you would try one of the “new” pizzas and e-mail me your verdict.

Is this a new “business ethic”? I hear that the Chicago Bears took out a newspaper ad apologizing for their 7-9 season. Regardless of what this does for Domino’s sales, it sure is causing a buzz.

In all this hoo-ha, I think there’s something important for the church to learn. Congregations are supposed to exist for the people, not vice versa. I wonder what pastors would hear if their attenders really opened up with what was on their minds. I wonder if pastors have any idea what’s on the minds of people who drift away from their membership, or who visit once and swear they’ll never come back.

• How would you rate your recent church visits?
• Were the other people friendly to you?
• Did the message make sense? Did it have anything to do with your life?
• Could you find your way around the physical plant?
• Was there something for your head and your heart?
• Did the experience bring you closer to your Savior?
• Would you bring a friend that you really cared about?

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Straight talk.  Real hope.

Lost in this racial kabuki drama of political correctness and one-upmanship is the fact that Reid’s observations were essentially true. There has been a racial pecking order in all Western Hemisphere societies based on skin lightness or darkness. Light-skinned African Americans have done better politically (c.f. Edward Brooke, Adam Clayton Powell).

Reid’s second point was perhaps clumsy but still largely true. African Americans have to navigate between two cultures. To do well in school and the business world they have to speak and write standard English. They are then at risk of ridicule from other blacks that they are selling out, “acting white.” On the other hand, if their speech sounds too Ebonic, they might be written off as too “ghetto” by middle-class people.

Have you ever seen the 1980 movie “Airplane”? There is a hysterical scene in which two black guys on the plane are swapping jokes in heavy black slang and the poor Caucasian stewardess can’t understand them. A helpful Barbara Billingsley (remember June Cleaver?) jumps up and offers to help. “I speak jive,” she said. Reid is being tarred as a dinosaur for using the word “Negro.” He probably deserves to sweat some over that. But frankly I think most whites in America are a little confused about how to talk about race. The NAACP still advocates for “colored” people and the United Negro College Fund still raises money for “Negro” youth.

President Obama is to be commended if he is “bilingual,” or perhaps a better word is “bi-dialectal.” I am glad that he is such a master of standard English oratory. But I am also glad for him if he can be seen as black enough to represent and advocate for the historic dreams and aspirations of African Americans. Ironically this has a Scriptural parallel. St. Paul in I Corinthians 9 taught that successful evangelists and missionaries learn the language or dialect of the people to whom they are attempting to minister. He spoke like a Jew to Jews, like a Greek to Greeks. That’s not cynicism. That’s just showing respect.

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Straight talk.  Real hope.

1. Elections in Iraq will strengthen the legitimacy of the Iraqi government and so bring Sunnis and Shiites together that U.S. military forces can leave in 2010.

2. A coalition of nations with strong naval forces utterly destroys Somali piracy.

3. Pakistan gains control of its borders and of all its “tribal” territories, such as South and North Waziristan. Al Qaeda and the Taliban shrivel up.

4. The United States government gets through the entire year without raising the national debt any more.

5. “Code Orange” in American airports is downgraded to “Code Yellow,” meaning that we can keep our shoes on as we shuffle through security lines and that toothpaste is no longer confiscated.

6. The stock market rises enough to restore what 2007-2008 did to my retirement savings.

7. City of Milwaukee parking checkers lighten up a little on those of us who have to park on the street a lot.

8. A biblical Christian revival sweeps through college campuses.

9. Time of Grace opens five new broadcast markets.

10. I lose 20 lbs.

What are your ten wishes? Happy New Year!

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Straight talk.  Real hope.

We will be feeling the aftershocks of the real estate bubble’s collapse for a long time. It ain’t over. Even the generally welcomed federal government interventions in construction and financial markets will likely leave massive debts for the next generation to shoulder and pay for.

Financial stress can be a motivator to greater efficiency for businesses to stay alive. I have rather come to like the self-checkout lanes at my local grocery store. I think I can check myself out faster than a clerk could, and the lines always seem shorter. But there’s a cost there, too—I have four underemployed children for whom grocery checkout clerking would have provided entry-level work experience. In this economy, it seems as though there are very few bottom rungs open—they are now occupied by people who used to be on the third rung.

I take great comfort from the Christmas story. My Savior made himself very, very little, small enough to be wrapped in strips of cloth and laid in a place where animals ate. Judea’s days of greatness were long gone, and Bethlehem was indeed a little town. But God did great things from these humble locations. And his agenda usually seems to be accomplished best during times of great stress.

Time of Grace was born during the hard decade of the Aughts. We are honored to be of use to the Lord Jesus, and we look forward with passion and excitement to see what he has planned for the Teens.  

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Straight talk.  Real hope.

He has been called the second most influential Christian leader in American history after only Billy Graham. Though he never graduated from college, he launched an aggressive evangelistic faith healing tent ministry from his home base in Tulsa in the 1940s. He perceived the potential impact of Christian television already in 1955 and began broadcasting his revivals. A visionary with tireless energy, he founded Oral Robert University in Tulsa in 1963 and the City of Faith Hospital in 1981. That year was probably the high water mark for the Oral Robert Evangelistic Association, which saw an income of over $88 million. The hospital has since foundered, but the university is still going full ahead and seems to have weathered the 2007 leadership crisis which forced his son Richard from the ORU presidency.

Roberts is widely credited with bringing Pentecostalism into the Christian mainstream and popularizing it (though he was a member of the United Methodist Church from 1968-1987). Pentecostalism is a largest movement in Christianity in the last generation and seems to be the main source of Christian television programming in America today.

Roberts has rightly been criticized for being one of the early promoters of “prosperity theology,” sometimes called the “word of faith” movement in Pentecostalism. Viewers and hearers are urged, “If you have a need, give God a seed,” (i.e. send money to the televangelist if you want money from God). Though scorned at first, that message is now widely imitated and spread on Christian television. For a blistering critique of “prosperity preachers,” see Rev. John McArthur’s blog, http://www.gty.org/Blog/B091211. Roberts has also taken a lot of heat for the lavish lifestyle that he and his family have become accustomed to and for claiming various personal revelations from Jesus Christ himself.

Roberts allowed his followers to claim that he had actually raised someone from the dead, but if he did indeed possess that power, he was unable to use it on his own family. His daughter Rebecca died in a tragic plane crash along with her husband, and his oldest son Ronald committed suicide after a troubled life of drug abuse.

Oral Roberts died on December 15, 2009. R.I.P.

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Straight talk.  Real hope.

I think there are a few things worthy of note for Christians. For one, it may slightly reduce the allure of the phrase “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” No, it doesn’t. Bimbos with cell phones will sell you out in Vegas and Windermere and anywhere else. What’s done in the darkness will eventually come out into the light.

Second, it is an illustration for all women to remember. Men have compartmentalized brains. They think that what they do in one part of their lives has no connection with the people in other parts. Wrong again. Everything is connected.

Third, it’s not technology’s fault. I saw an article online that read, “Are text messages ruining our lives?” It’s not the cell phones. It’s the brain dysfunctions of the cell phone users that is ruing people’s lives and reputations.

Finally, the place where reconciliation most needs to happen is between Tiger and God. I wonder if Tiger is aware of how powerful repentance and faith in Christ can be? Forgiveness from the cross of Christ is the beginning of true healing, far more important than media spinning, public mea culpas on Oprah, and paying off Elin.

Sounds like Tiger was a big sinner. Jesus Christ is an even bigger Savior.

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Straight talk.  Real hope.

Religion in the public square is messy. Both atheists and Christians have won local legal battles over public displays of the Ten Commandments, manger scenes, Christmas trees, prayer in public schools, and crosses in military cemeteries. Congress still has a chaplain who leads daily prayers.

As America gets more diverse, you can no longer assume that everybody in the room is a Christian. Actually, you probably could never assume that, but the non-Christians, like Jews and atheists, kept their mouths shut and went with the flow. If you are reading this blog, you are probably a Christian. How would you feel about a Muslim imam leading prayers at your kids’ school?

Public prayer is always a dilemma. Heavens, America certainly needs prayer, a lot of prayer. But Christians like to pray in the name of Jesus, since He’s in our Trinity and He invited us to pray in that way. I was once asked to do the “invocation” at our downtown Rotary Club, but the executive director discouraged any specific Christian references and any “paternalistic” references, like calling on God as “our Father.” Sheesh.

About a year ago I had a lengthy conversation with a Jewish agnostic and a Unitarian minister on the subject of public prayer. I commiserated with them since they had doubtless been subject to listening to prayers to the Trinity and to Christ the Lord, neither of which either believed in. They assured me they had no problem at all hearing those things. “We just filter that kind of public talk and re-interpret the words to be meaningful to us,” they replied. I was kind of stunned. I thought I was with Alice in Wonderland, where words mean whatever one wants them to mean. I do not think I could listen to a Unitarian “prayer” and filter it into my beliefs.

A friend who is a Christian pastor serves as the volunteer chaplain to the county police, fire, and emergency services. When asked to pray in public, he agrees, but he says to the group up front, “I’m going to pray according to my faith. You can join in if you wish.” The non-believers feel respected, and the pastor then talks to Jesus all he wants. Have you ever led a public prayer? How did you handle it?

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Straight talk.  Real hope.