Inauguration Invocation

So, I see that president-elect Obama has selected Rick Warren to be one of the speakers at his inauguration. This has upset many Americans in the gay and lesbian community. Obama defended is choice, saying he is simply respecting the diversity of American viewpoints.

My question is, why are people surprised at this? After all, Obama is a Christian. He's made that perfectly clear. People are upset that Obama has invited a member of a Christian church who has a fundamental disagreement with a certain segment of the population.

Again we have to ask why people are surprised? Here again, Mr. Obama is not being dishonest or traitorous. He said in his acceptance speech and other places that it's OK to have an America where people disagree.

Were people so unrealistic that they thought the end of George W. Bush's tenure would bring about an end to religion in the public square?

Where was this public furor and outrage when Bill Clinton tapped Billy Graham for the same service?

See the story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081218/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_minister

Texas Pics 4- The Baptism

The Baptism of Blaine Gabriel Reynolds was pretty much the whole reason for my visit. Here's the pics from that day. The pics were taken at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Kingwood, TX.

Enjoy!

Props to St. Alban's

So, last night we had evening prayer in Silver Creek. It happens every Advent. Trinity, Zion, and St. Alban's take turns hosting it. This year, St. Alban's was the host for the first week.

Anyway, I had a great experience there. Not only do they have nice people who attend church there, one particular incident sticks out. One of their members was kind enough to sit next to me and help me out with an unfamiliar liturgy. Kudos, St. Albans!

I couldn't help but wonder how many LCMSers would do that. Not many in my experience.

A New Worship Service?

I had an interesting idea last night. We had about 12 people in our Thanksgiving Eve worship service. Which is fine. It's not about the numbers. Anyway, here's my idea.

Technically, Thanksgiving is not on the Church's calendar. It is a government holiday. But, the idea of it makes good theological and Biblical sense. So, why not have a church service?

I grew up having the service on Thanksgiving Day. But, my fieldwork church and the church I pastor hold it on the night before. And I know plenty of other churches that hold this tradition. The theory is that by holding it the night before, people aren't as pressed for time the next day. Which also makes a theological statement.

I know the day after Thanksgiving, called Black Friday is a big deal to many people across the nation, including many Christians. This is somewhat problematic. Many good Christians decry the commercialization of Christmas but participate in the opening kickoff of that commercialization. So, what to do?

I came up with the idea of having a church service on Black Friday about 3 or 4 in the morning before the stores open. The idea here is, "Come, worship the true God, before worshipping a false one." Or maybe have the same service around noon or so, to give shoppers a spiritual respite and a time for confession and absolution.

Thoughts?

Monks Fighting

This is just freakin' sad. The Orthodox monks were engaging in some fisticuffs in Jerusalem. There's always somebody that comes along and ruins it for the rest of us.
The video from CNN shows the perp walks after Israeli police intervened.