amyjogarner.org

A couple of upcoming events where you can interact with me live (if not in-person):

Thursday, August 26, 2010, 11 p.m. Central Time (Midnight Eastern, 10 Mountain, 9 Pacific)

Late Night Prayer on Thursdays

• Open to everyone
• No registration required in my virtual WiZiQ meeting room
• Log in via this link http://bit.ly/c81Oot

Saturday, September 4, 2010, 10 a.m. Central Time (11 Eastern, 9 Mountain, 8 Pacific)

Work Your Business with WordPress Teleseminar

• Geared toward women business owners
• This is a free seminar
• Register at Eventsbot http://cwuibwp.eventsbot.com/

Obama is certainly left-leaning, and I believe he would love to take America in the direction of most of Europe. However, we are quite fortunate in that this is a Republic and he doesn’t get to do anything he wants. He has to contend with a Legislature, a Supreme Court, 50 state governments, and millions of individual citizens. Not to say Americans don’t need to be vigilant. They do. But the “Right” saying Obama and his advisors (the so-called czars) will single-handedly turn the U.S. into a socialist country is as bad as the “Left” when they said Bush and his advisors were usurping power, trampling on our freedoms and ignoring the Constitution. Oh wait, maybe that’s what the Right is now saying about the Left…

Anyway, lest the Right forget, capitalism is not without its flaws — many having reared their ugly, greed-covered heads over the last year. Yes, capitalism is good for generating ideas, innovations, new business, and wealth. It also appeals to greed, selfishness, and elitism:

“You’re poor because you were too lazy or stupid to take advantage of this wonderful capitalist system. I’m rich because I took advantage and I deserve to enjoy all my wealth. You want wealth? Go work for it.”

I’m registered as an Independent. Too bad I can’t register as a “Follower of the Way.” Jesus didn’t expect the government to take care of people and he certainly had little regard for the rich. Jesus called on His people to care for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the downtrodden, to welcome the outcast, to warn the rich, and to look to only one Heavenly Ruler for guidance

For some reason I woke up this morning thinking about Corrie Ten Boom. If you ever read the book or saw the movie The Hiding Place, then you know her story. She and her family were Dutch Christians who helped hide Jews during the Nazi occupation. They were all eventually arrested and Corrie spent time in concentration camps until her release in 1944.

When I look around our American society of incredible wealth and abundance (and, yes, it is still wealthy and abundant even when the economy is slowing), I wonder how we’ve become so spoiled and apathetic. We know nothing of sacrifice or struggle. We may think we know these things when we can’t afford a brand new, over-priced car, but in reality we do not know what it means to give our all, even our lives, in the pursuit of what is right and just.

I don’t know why Corrie Ten Boom was haunting my dreams and on my mind this morning. Perhaps, it’s a reminder that all I think I have is really nothing. The valuable things in life are intangible and can never be taken from me. As a result, the pursuit of all those concrete, material items is a waste of time — the time should be spent pursuing the simple, lasting values of life.

I’ve been working on a personal ministry Web site for a while now and it has gone live today, Good Friday:

Amy Jo Garner’s Virtual Hermitary

Although it’s an outlet for my research and writing on faith topics, I also want it to be a source of inspiration and so it includes a blog with daily devotionals and a weekly audio sermon:Virtual Hermitary Blog

Drop by and join the discussion on the blog or send me an email with your comments!

As I read the news these days I’m struck by that thought that a whole bunch of us need to quit calling ourselves Christians. This is not an issue of political party or liberal or conservative. This is an issue of plainly and simply not living by the very basics of the ethics and values put forth in the Christian Bible.

It seems to me that the mess reflected in our current economic problems and bloated government is a direct result of failing to adhere to those basic principals. Each citizen and government official is guilty of greed, envy, and disregard for the welfare of his or her neighbors. Anyone who is overextended on credit cards, who has bought more house or car than they can afford, or has felt the need to continually buy “bigger and better” consumer goods is guilty.

This is not an issue of the “haves” versus the “have-nots.” This is an issue of how each person, regardless of social or economic position, chooses to live. The Eco-Christian website poses a series of “Questions for Christians,” including:

• Should Christians replace something that isn’t broken because of new trends?

and

• Should Christians view materialism in the same light as adultery or gluttony?

Reading through the list of questions has an tendency to make one uncomfortable. We like our stuff, we like our comfy lives, and we like to think all of that makes us special or blessed. Perhaps, it just makes us fat hypocrites.

I ran across a story this week that talked about the findings of a LifeWay Research study. It basically says that the “unchurched” (a particularly stupid word) see Christian churches as full of hypocrites and overly judgmental. One of the quotes is that 44% said that “Christians get on my nerves.”

This study simply confirms what the Barna Group has found in surveys over the last couple of years.Their studies show that non-Christians and Christians who don’t attend a church (the “unchurched”) think that Christian churches are hypocritical, judgmental, overly political, and old-fashioned stick in the muds.

Will Christian churches, their pastors and their members take heed of this type of research and figure out a way to live Christ-like lives and engage in Christ-like ministries that will show the world that love of God and love of neighbor are indeed the greatest commandments? I doubt it… too much money, power, property and influence is tied up in the running of even the smallest of churches.

Both LifeWay and Barna note that people are interested in spiritual matters and open to talking about spirituality. Unfortunately, the modern Christian church is not interested in either. They simply want people to take an oath to support the creed of their particular flavor of Christianity, donate their money, fill the pews and vote the way the leadership of the church deems appropriate.

Somehow I think if Jesus came to visit us in 2008 he would live and teach among the “unchurched.”