spirituality

I’ve Been At My New Job For 60 Days

By in Parenting, Religion, Spirituality Tags: , ,

 

I bought some Green Superfood, “Your daily greens plus nutritious fruits & veggies for health & wellness” because I rarely take a lunch break because I want to help these children.

It’s been 60 days.

It’s been a blur.

Numbers.

Fourteen thousand volunteers.

Forty-one states.

Six countries.

Over 300 camps and mentoring clubs.

Over 100 adoptions and foster care placements.

Mostly, those children. Ten thousand that we reach each year at our mentoring clubs and camps. Six to twelve-year-olds. All neglected. Most abused. Physically and/or sexually.

All abandoned.

Every day quickly disappears because the work is so great.

So much opportunity. I was in Sacremento last week for doing advocacy work. I will be in DC next week.

We are keeping people off the streets, out of prison, out of the sex trade.

We are reaching them before it’s too late.

 

I wanted to furnish my office in the first week 60 days ago. I got rid of the 80’s cherrywood stuff. I have this one desk, which is an old table I brought from home. And the oriental (is it okay to say that?) rug. And these two chairs that were left over. I plan to get rid of the chairs and get some furniture that suits me.

But the work is so great. How do we reach more children? One mother who adopted one of the kids said her daughter would have been dead had we not stepped in. Her name is Samantha. I have a picture of her on my desk from her first camp. She is an adult now. Flourishing. Leading efforts to reach foster children in her state.

Urgency.

We want to reach all of these children. All 400,000+ plus of them. Take them out of their homes. Give them their first birthday party. Show them the love and care and nurture which all children need but not all children get. Mentor them throughout the year. Be there for them because, too often, there is nobody else.

I need to furnish my office soon. But it’s more important to work to help these children.

I want to make this a better post. But it’s more important that I get back to work to help these children.

If you can, go to amazon smile. Google it. Then search for Royal Family Kids. Make us your charity. Amazon will give a portion of every single purchase to us so we can reach more kids.

 

 

Franklin Graham’s Cult Crusade

By in Politics, Religion, Spirituality Tags: , ,

 

 

Franklin Graham is in California. He’s in the middle of “a series of one-day prayer and evangelism events” that he calls the Decision America Tour.

Don’t be deceived. These are pro-Trump right-wing political rallies.

Sure, Graham encourages his flock to make a decision for Christ.

And then he encourages decisions for right-wing-Trump-supporting candidates.

Graham’s website says exactly nothing about his political scheme. But in a New York Times interview, one of his board members was clear about the purpose of the “Decision America Tour”: “Only as we change the heart of the people of California can California go red again.”

I don’t write this merely as the lifelong Republican that I am. The one who voted for Ronald Reagan twice, who is running as a centrist against 15-term GOP incumbent, Dana Rohrabacher.

I’m writing as a devout follower of Jesus Christ. As one with decades of leadership in Christian ministry. As one with undergraduate and graduate degrees in philosophical theology, the later degree from one of our country’s most conservative evangelical seminaries.

To believe that by changing “the heart of the people” you will end up with the likes of Trump, Steve Bannon, Dana Rohrabacher, Roy Moore — what gospel is Graham trying to bring about?

He encourages decisions to accept Jesus at the events.

Then he encourages decisions to vote for pro-Trump Republicans.

And this Christian wonders, which Jesus?

Graham recently told the New York Times, “People say that the president says mean things. I can’t think of anything mean he’s said.”

Franklin Graham, one of America’s most recognized Christian leaders, cannot think of anything mean Donald Trump has said.

A cult member will never speak negatively of his leader.

Billy Graham knew better than getting sucked into extremism, whether it be political, or theological. He held that Muslims and even atheists could be part of the Body of Christ. Franklin called Islam “a very wicked and evil religion.”

After Trump’s attempt at a Muslim ban, I launched a peacebuilding campaign, The Christian-Muslim Alliance. Religions are never wicked or evil. Only people are.

Franklin Graham has built his career on a religious brand very different from his father’s — one unrecognizable to millions of faithful Christians. Years of bigoted statements on immigrants, Muslims, gays, and Black Lives Matter culminated in Franklin’s enthusiastic embrace of Donald Trump. Like my opponent, Dana Rohrabacher, Graham has been unconcerned by endorsements Trump received by the KKK, his collusion with foreign enemies, or his racist rants.

In Pasadena, at the start of the crusade, Graham spoke to fellow evangelists, pastors, and top Los Angeles donors: “Progressive?” he went on, “That’s just another word for godless.”

Most of the progressives I know are passionate about fighting for human rights, and civil rights, and social justice. Graham believes they are “godless.”

Trump supporters like Graham say nothing about the over 15 women who have accused Trump of sexual abuse. Nothing about him calling Neo-Nazi’s “good people.” Nothing about him pardoning a racist Sheriff. Nothing about him bragging about sexually assaulting women.

Franklin Graham brings an entirely new meaning to the word godless.

Promoting Trump and his lackeys at the Decision America Tour is a far cry from Christian ministry. It’s anti-Christian. To encourage Christians to vote for the Trump-Bannon-Moore-Rohrabacher wing of the GOP is to encourage them to vote for racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and patent lying in their leaders.

Trump has started the race war that I predicted, in 2016, he would start. I wish I would have been wrong.

I keep hearing bigotry coming from Trump and his supporters. Racist and sexist and xenophobic and crude speech. Then, when the comments hit the headlines, the silence — the ensuing deafening silence by many of Christian brothers and sisters, many who are Republicans, MANY WHO ARE CHRISTIAN LEADERS.

Elie Weisel: Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

In 1949, Billy Graham’s California crusade helped cement his place as a national icon for evangelicals. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was created as a vehicle to proclaim the love and transformative power of Jesus Christ. His son Franklin is in California to undo Billy Graham’s fine work. He is using the same organization as a political wing of the Trump Cult, promoting candidates who, like my opponent Rohrabacher, support a sexual predator, serial liar, and racist. He is preaching a message that leaves out Jesus’ primary message of caring for the marginalized of society like immigrants, the poor, and refugees.

Historically, the church has described sins of both commission and omission. Modern-day evangelical leaders warn against the former — particularly abortion and homosexuality — while remaining suspiciously silent about the later.

Phillip Bumb recently wrote a piece in The Washington Post, The group least likely to think the U.S. has a responsibility to accept refugees? Evangelicals. In summary, “No group agrees less with the idea that the United States has a responsibility to accept refugees than white evangelical Protestants.”

I want to reform the Republican party. Why should one party have a monopoly on caring for civil rights, social justice, gun violence, the environment? My faith informs my politics in the way of historic Christianity, not the nativist very American version of the Trump-cult.

This week, the GOP officially became a third party in California. Nationally, Trump is destroying the party of Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, and Reagan. Instead of understanding its need for moderate candidates, you have desperate evangelists like Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Jr., and Paula White trying to move it further to the extreme Trump-right.

From a political marketing strategy, I think it’s stupid — the cult crusades of Franklin Graham won’t work here.

From a Christian theologian’s point of view, I believe his message is heretical.

Our Lungs Work. Our Hearts Work. Our Minds Work.

By in Parenting, Relationships, Spirituality, Teenagers Tags: , , ,

I took my morning run today at 5:30. I was tired. It was cold. On this particular morning, I thought true thoughts.

I thought of my two legs — I have two legs. I thought of my children — I have children. I thought of their health — they have health. I thought of my wife — one of the most decent people I’ve ever known. I thought of my warm home —I  have a warm home. I thought of my incredible friends — I have incredible friends.

I thought of my mother and father and three sisters — I have a mother and father and three sisters. I thought of my three brothers in law — I have three brothers in law. All good men.

I thought of my faith — I’m grateful for my faith. I thought of my car — I have a car. The A/C works. The brakes work. So does the radio and the and the generator and the battery and the alternator and the rear window defroster. It gets great gas mileage.

I thought of my ten fingers and ten toes — I have ten fingers and ten toes. I looked down and thought of my New Balance 993′s—I have New Balance 993′s. Two pairs, in fact, one gray, one black.

I thought of my books — I cherish my books. I thought of my trials — trials turn to gold. I thought of my freedom — I am nobody’s slave. I thought of those living under oppression — I am not oppressed. I thought of my education — I am grateful for opportunities to learn and grow.

As long as I have breath, I will always learn and grow.

I panted in the cold air as I ascended a daunting hill. There are many hills in this life. I thought of my will and my strength and my faith to get over hills.

The sun broke through these dark clouds and I saw radiant beams of sun. Then I thought of my eyesight —  I can see.

I had no pain in my body. No pain in my body. I had no pain in my body.

I thought of my family again — they are healthy and funny and grounded and happy. I thought about later posting a picture we took a while ago.

Our lungs work. Our hearts work. Our minds work.

I am loved. I am accepted. I contribute to the wellbeing of others. My friends mean the world to me. And they care for me. My family means the world to me. And they care for me.

Life is full of good things and difficult things. But every time we focus on the good things, we become grateful.

It’s kind of like that thing Lincon said, “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”

 

(this post was adapted from a previous post that you can see here)

Dear World: “I’m An Exceptionally Bad And Vicious Man.”

By in Politics, Religion, Spirituality Tags: , , ,

 

These days I’m finding church attendance hard. At the same time I’m a big believer in church attendance, and some of the best people I’ve known are pastors.

When I was a child my parents made me go to mass every Sunday. When I was a pastor, people expected me to show up. But today nobody really cares that much if I go or not.

I wonder if God cares.

I really do wonder. Because I used to think church attendance was a big deal to God. But if I’m totally honest, there seem to be other things for him to be more concerned about. Like famine and bigotry and child abuse and when the rich exploit the poor.

I think some pastors are tempted to say God cares a lot because their paychecks and buildings depend on people showing up and giving money. I hate to say that but I know there’s truth to it. Some senior clergy have told me over the years that it’s a big business in many ways.

I lost a lot of my faith in the American Evangelical church during the election cycle. All the silence from the pulpits on some hateful words of President Trump. It was once the case that such immorality was openly spoken of and rejected by clergy. But not this past year.

I wrote about the bigotry, and xenophobia and how Muslims can be part of the Body of Christ.

I wrote about who were the real Christians in America.

I’m not saying that attending church doesn’t have amazing benefits. I’m not saying that church attendance is encouraged in scripture. And I think being reminded about many of the wonderful tenets of sacred texts are foundational to a living a good life; it’s good to be reminded of stuff.

It’s also important to be in community with others who share your beliefs. This is true not just for Christianity, but for any spiritual practice. It’s what community is all about.

But there’s no Bible verse that says, “Go to church every Sunday.” If people want to talk about the Sabbath, that is on Saturday. So if we want to get technical, Christians should go on Saturday, like the Jews do.

These days, when I write about my faith journey, I sometimes feel that serious Christians are reading this and really getting angry.

But I like to write what I think. I think it’s important that more Christians do this. Like Solomon did in Ecclesiastes.

Be honest. Share your heart and observations. Get a conversation going.

I think it’s hardest for pastors to be honest. I think if pastors got on stage and talked about hard things, say, that they struggled with internet pornography, they’d be fired on the spot. Or if a pastor confessed that he had a crush one of the college students, again, he’d be fired on the spot.

You just can’t talk about real stuff like sex from the pulpit. And you certainly can’t talk about having those kinds of struggles.

I was in church once and the preacher talked about how he “used to have a porn addiction.” He was around 60. Then he said, “the Holy Spirit, years ago, just suddenly took it away.”

Just like that. Instantaneously. Porn addiction, gone.

“I did nothing, God did it.”

I felt enraged. To all the men who had yet to have a burning-bush-lust-eradicating experience, keep waiting and too bad.

I think it would have been better had he said, “Of course I still struggle from time to time but it’s nothing like it once was.”

That would have seemed more realistic. More honest.

Whenever people talk about their own sins in church, they usually talk about safe little vices. Like impatience. Or eating too much chocolate. Those are safe sins to talk about.

Nobody would ever talk about cheating on his taxes.

Or, lying.

Evangelicals really seem to like talking about the sins of non-Christians. All those drinking, carnal, hedonistic, liberal, godless,  souls.

Evangelicals love to judge non-believers.

It’s weird because Paul the Apostle told Christians they were not to judge non-believers. They were supposed to judge believers: “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?” (1 Corinthians 5:12).

If you look at the life of Jesus and Paul’s letters, about all they are doing, is telling the Christians to start acting like Jesus, especially about caring for the poor and marginalized.

Some people decide to get into small house groups in addition to Sunday church. Those can be helpful. Because there’s a better environment to share about your life. But those groups can be dangerous. One friend of mine came out and told the group she started a relationship with another woman — and that they were in love with each other.

The concerned souls tried to counsel her away from loving this woman. They used Bible verses and prayed and told her it was all out of their “love” for her.

I suppose.

I guess they thought they were judging her the way Paul instructed them to. But none of the concerned ones, I presume, talked about their own struggles with lust or greed or consumerism or hypocrisy. Or, especially, with self-righteousness.

They just all focused on her and her “sin.”

My friend left the group, never to come back.

And I don’t blame her.

As an aside, I don’t like modifiers like radical to be put in front of words like honesty. There’s no such thing as radical honesty.

You are either honest are you are not.

I came across the quotation by Leo Tolstoy recently. It was from his journal. From 1905.

“A state of depression. I began to think it’s because nobody loves me. I started counting up all those who don’t love me. But then I thought, why should people love me? There’s really no reason. It’s only up to me to love; what they do is their affair. And people do love me much more than I deserve. Then during the night I thought a lot about myself. I’m an exceptionally bad, vicious man. I have all the vices, and to a very high degree: envy, and greed, and meanness, and sensuality, and vanity, and ambition, and pride, and malice. No, not malice, but bitterness, deceitfulness, and hypocrisy. Everything, everything, and to a far higher degree than the majority of people. My only salvation is that I know it, and have been fighting — fighting all my life — against it.”

Being a part of a church family is a good thing. Some of the best times of my life were when I was actively serving in church. So if you think I discourage attending church, far from it.

My hope is some of you will read this and try to find a way to cultivate a deeper value and practice of honesty within your churches. Especially if you are a pastor.

“Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins” (‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭7:20‬).

We need to come clean on our crap.

We need to realize that we — all of us — are exceptionally bad, vicious people.

 

* It’s important to note that the root in vicious is the word, vice. It’s synonymous with the word sinful.

 

Do You Have To “Know Jesus” To Be Saved?

By in Politics, Religion, Spirituality Tags: , ,

Can Muslims know God? Can atheists? Jews? Are only “born again” Christians part of the Body of Christ?

Recently on Facebook, I got into this not so cozy little conversation on these questions. My view was met with intense resistance. By fellow Christians.

One guy called me a heretic.

But my view was not my own.

One’s religious views are shaped by others   — in my case, two men in the very best of the Evangelical Christian tradition, and a saintly Roman Catholic woman who gave her every fiber to welcoming outsiders in Jesus’ name.

So if you find my view controversial — the view that many can know God, even though they don’t identify as Christian — please understand that I didn’t invent it.

Dr. Billy Graham, one of the greatest Christian evangelists of our time, said this:

“I think everybody that that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the body of Christ. And that’s what God is doing today. He’s calling people for ‘eh, out of the world for his name whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world uh they are members of the body of Christ because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus but uh they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have and they turn to the only light that they have. And I think that they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven.”*

And Mother Teresa, this:

“There is only one God and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is seen as equal before God. I’ve always said that we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic.”

C.S. Lewis’s held the same view. His articulation of it is far longer, more literary, and just beautiful. So I won’t be so vulgar as to copy and paste it here. But if you’d like, read about it here in chapter 15 of Lewis’s Narnia series, The Last Battle.

In my work with the Christian-Muslim Alliance, I am often invited to join Muslims for prayers. And when I’m there kneeling and standing and kneeling and standing — practicing their way of worship — I always feel peace. I always feel calm. I always feel a deep connection with fellow journeyers.

I always feel peace.

In fact, the more time I spend with Muslims, the more I realize how virtues like humility and wisdom and peace are universal forces of good — that they are present throughout the spectrum of world religions, and even amongst the non-religious.

Of course, the threat of radicalized groups like ISIS and Al Queda are real. Those groups destroy others because their “religion” is one that wants to eliminate any person or idea that doesn’t match their extreme and violent ideology. Most of those they murder are Muslims.

But like I said, the vast majority of Muslims are people of peace.

Some of you are reading this and might be thinking, Wow, Paul is really losing it.

That’s okay. I get that these views will confuse many, especially my Evangelical Christian friends. If they do confuse you, I’d like to ask you three questions.

First, why do they make you so uneasy?

Second, and respectfully, what do you know that Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, and C.S. Lewis don’t?

Finally, do you think God might just big enough to be okay with people knowing him, but not his exact name?

I’d love to hear your thoughts! You may email me at martinp@ucla.edu, or connect with me via social media.

*the video of Billy Graham’s statement can be watched here.

 

 

 

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