Howie Luvzus

President Jimmy Carter shows the lack of progress after Katrina. He makes me proud to be a baptist!

HT: Schroeder

Last time I checked, the command NOT to bear false witness is still one of the Ten Commandments. I’m no Old Testament scholar, but I think that’s one of the Old Testament commands that still applies (Hope the crawfish prohibition doesn’t!).

Anyway, I just received an email that was critical of Obama in one of those ridiculous claims. I went to Snopes.com, copied the link that explained that the claim was false and sent it back to the sender. I should have also quoted the Scripture Exodus 20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

I didn’t. I didn’t want to look like a jerk. But then again, wouldn’t somebody who claims to be a Christian that spreads false information about someone be considered a jerk? I’m not sure. But according to Exodus 20:16, someone who spreads lies about someone else is considered a sinner. Before you send crap to your email list (whether it’s about McCain, Obama, Hillary or W), please check it out, otherwise you are sinning against God. As a theologian, I know that God don’t like that!

No I’m not talking about Adrastos! In fact, as someone who has been labeled a heretic, I don’t joke about hell. But if anyone deserves to go there it’s Stacey Jackson, former director of NOAH. Lee Zurich and Karen Gadbois have been exposing the corruption in the city-run Non-profit (yeah right!) that has milked the recovery effort and given the city a black eye.

Here’s the real kicker! Christian teenagers have been coming down here for years to gut houses and help our citizens rebuild their lives. The bad part of that is that today’s Times-Picayune article, which has been WAY behind the curve on this thing, informs us that NOAH contractors actually got paid for work that these sweet kids did to make our city a better place.

Holy Crap! Somebody better get on their freakin’ knees right now. As I said above, I don’t take this lightly–but somebody better get ready to fry like a sausage in hell! You *&^%$@’s better be looking for asbestos wetsuits because you’re going to be treading water on the lake of fire for quite some time for this!

Damn. I hope Stacey and the Board of NOAH go to jail for a long time for this.

I drove by Elysian Fields Baptist Church this morning. As you can see, it’s gone. A lot of churches died due to Katrina. I was familiar with this one. My youngest son went to VBS there one summer. A lot of friends of mine did a lot of great work there. Each One, Save One used to have its office there. I know that the members and the staff have moved on to serve elsewhere, but it’s still a sad sight.

I use Bookmooch to recycle and get used books. It’s a pretty cool way to get free books and even donate books to charity. This past weekend one of the books I have listed was “mooched” by a prison ministry. I read about the ministry and was convicted about sending some of my books to them.

You can send the books to:
Prison Book Program
C/O Marlene Cook
1306 Hancock Street
Quincy, MA 02169

It’s a great ministry that fills a tremendous need…According to an article I read today,
A recent report by the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project, stated that for the first time in history more than 1 percent of adults in the United States — one in 99.1 persons is held in jail or prison. Also, As reported in the May/June issue of Correctional News, the United States leads the world in the number of inmates per capita, with 750 inmates per 100,000 residents, according to the Pew report. During 2007, the U.S. prison population increased by more than 25,000 inmates to almost 1.6 million inmates, and local jails throughout the United States held 723,131 inmates at the end of 2007.

Prison Fellowship provides the following rationale for Christians to minister to prisoners:

God, unlike the world, has always chosen to identify closest with those who are isolated and broken. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me . . . I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40).

I know that I also have a lot of atheist readers. Feel free to send books to the above address because it’s a good thing!

A baptist group secretly plotting to takeover a college? Say it ain’t so!

A simmering feud over control of Criswell College has boiled over, with its president and some trustees accusing leaders of First Baptist Church of Dallas of plotting to sell the school’s assets to finance a new church sanctuary.

Criswell President Jerry Johnson late this week criticized the Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, which founded the Dallas Bible school and controls appointment of its trustees. As pastor, Dr. Jeffress is automatically chancellor of Criswell College, which has a small campus on Gaston Avenue and operates a radio station, KCBI-FM (90.0).

“For six months, the chancellor has been trying to cannibalize Criswell College to fund his building program at the church, which will cost $170 to $240 million,” Dr. Johnson said in an e-mailed response to questions.

“Furthermore, the chancellor has stated and started a plan to stack the Criswell College board with trustees that will go along with his plan to liquidate college assets, including our campus and KCBI, for the financial benefit of the church.”

Dr. Jeffress flatly denied that.

Read the rest of the story
here.

Steve asked some great questions in his reply to my last post that I want to address.

What is the difference between his ‘hate’ and yours?

Painting a broad swath of people with a broad brush stroke, based on what news channel they watch, is just as bigoted as anything that news channel may put out.

I could be wrong here, but here’s my justification.
1. A lot of prophets including Jesus engaged in name-calling, but they restricted it to the hypocrites and folks who were self-righteous. I don’t think I’m better than anyone and I’m open to criticism. I have never been described as self-righteous. Those who know me can testify to that. Pointing out errors within the “Christian” community is not hate.
2. Christians who cannot see how offensive and hate-filled the Fox News folks are are idiots. Sorry. That’s just how it is. Folks who call themselves Christians and are racists are idiots too since they don’t see how racism is inconsistent with the message of Jesus.
3. Idiots aren’t necessarily bad people. I was raised in a very racist context. When I was a kid, I told jokes about persons from various ethnic backgrounds and didn’t think anything of it. However, as I grew up and became more reflective about the message of Jesus, I realized that what I had done was sinful and I needed to change. I realized that I was a sinner and an idiot.
4. I think Christians who watch Fox News and are not offended by the hatred and bad behavior of the folks on the air are idiots. God still loves them and I do my best to love them too, but they’re still idiots.
5. When folks on the other stations start telling people to “Shut up!” and cut their microphones off, then I’ll find them offensive too. Why can’t Christians see this is wrong?
6. When CBS or NBC or any other “news” station refers to Michelle Obama a “baby momma,” I’ll find that offensive too. Why can’t Christians see this as racist?
7. Would real networks joke about a terrorist fist jab? Is this really Fair and Balanced? If you think it is, then you’re an idiot.
8. I could go on, but these ought to be enough. If it’s not, you might be an idiot too. I’m not saying that you’re a threat to America that needs to be stopped (But I probably should.) and I would never use violent terms such as “war against” or other terms that might be used to justify violence against idiots.

Here’s a link to an open letter to Sean Hannity from a former co-worker of his. It seems that, Jim Adkisson, the man who killed two people, wounded five others, and left an entire Unitarian Congregation in Knoxville and country shaken by his actions testified in his own written notes, that the rampage was fueled by Hannity’s words in the book, Let Freedom Ring.

In the article at Religion Dispatches, Candace Chellew-Hodge chronicles Hannity’s hatred of homosexuals and his bitter paranoia.

“If the Left succeeds in gaining and retaining more power, the well-being of future generations will be at greater peril. I fear (our children) will inherit a nation that is less free and less secure than the nation we inherited from the last generation. It is therefore our job to stop them. Not just debate them, but defeat them.” — Sean Hannity

Stuff like this is exactly why I will not stop “Kicking Against the Pricks.” Folks like Hannity, O’Reilly and the Fox News folks and the idiots who listen to them are the real threat. Funny how Christians were quick to condemn Marilyn Manson for the Columbine shootings but I haven’t heard anyone trying to get Hannity off the air! I sure hope the gun used wasn’t from some Baptist church gun give-away!

They are not Christians. They do not speak for Christ. They hurt the cause of Christ more than anyone else I can think of.

The Christ of Scripture speaks of a God who welcomes all to the banquet. This Christ calls us to love our neighbor, love our enemies and turn the other cheek. This Christ slams self-righteous religious folks and demands that we be humble, meek, and loving. I see none of those qualities in the Fox folks or those who watch that crap.

Once again, I call all Christians to boycott Fox. Read Chellew-Hodge’s article. It’s very touching. Here’s one more excerpt:

The sad irony here, Sean, is that if Mr. Adkisson had gone to that Unitarian church and told them he was out of a job and his food stamps had just ended, they would have helped him. They would have fed them from their food pantry and used their network of friends to help find him a job. Not because they’re liberal socialists, but because they understand that it’s not “us” against “them.” Instead, what made this country great is that we pull together in times of crisis—we bear one another’s burdens and put aside our differences in order to be of service to one another. They would have reached out to Mr. Adkisson without asking him if he was Democrat or a Republican or a liberal or a conservative. Labels don’t matter when someone is in need—or they shouldn’t.

I saw this banner at one of my favorite sites: Unreasonable Faith. My son introduced me to this blog and I’ve really grown to enjoy it. Here’s Daniel’s response to the banner:

Is it really surprising there is a market for this kind of book, since unanswered prayers are the only kind that exist?

I feel sad for people who are stuck thinking their prayers are unanswered because their technique is bad or because they don’t know “God’s secrets” to prayer.

By the way, since I’ve stopped praying, I’ve noticed I still get the things I want… about 50% of the time. Same as before. And think of all the time I’ve saved!

The other day, there was also this interesting quote on the site:

24,000 children died today from starvation. What makes you think God will answer your prayers?

—Atheist bumper sticker (via William Lobdell)

Daniel raises some tough questions for Christians. I welcome his perspective. The above quote has changed my prayer life quite a bit!

I’ve recently opened a Facebook account. No, not under Howie. It’s pretty cool because I’ve been able to connect with a lot of old friends. One thing I noticed was that a lot of my old Seminary buddies are no longer in ministry.

I’d like to propose a few theories as to why that is so and see what my Baptist buddies think. Here goes…

1. They really weren’t that spiritual to begin with (that’s why they were my buddies).
2. Ministry is terribly difficult and drives out a lot of good folks.
3. The Baptist emphasis on getting “people saved” really doesn’t encourage folks to serve God outside the church. There’s no emphasis on serving God in one’s vocation because committed Christians only do real ministry. It seems that every video they show at my church about folks who got serious about their faith become missionaries.

You might be able to guess my view. What do you think?

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