Friday, May 20, 2011

The End of the World



Just this morning I turned on the radio to KGO 810 (it's the most listened too talk/news station in the Bay Area and one of the most popular in the world). What was the topic of Ronn Owen's first hour...you guessed it: The End of the World. As many are aware (I've received numerous inquiries and questions from those in my congregation and even those who aren't believers in Jesus but are just curious) Harold Camping founder of Family Radio, which is a world-wide network of radio stations, has predicted this Saturday, May 21st as Judgement Day (http://www.familyradio.com/). Of course this claim is completely bogus and ludicrous. He has made this claim twice before so hopefully the third time will completely discredit him and his ministry. Although if I was a betting man, which I can be from time to time:), I would bet Harold has already come up with a response that will spin why he really wasn't wrong again. If it wasn't for the fact that Family Radio has a net worth of over 75 million dollars this claim would be completely ignored but when you have money you can buy publicity. I want to mention two things that all of this has brought to my mind:
1) This is the slippery slope where those with fundamentalist views of Scripture can find themselves. When everything in the Bible is taken literally and everything in their faith is black and white, you will find all types of dogmatic views on fringe elements of Scripture like when and how Jesus is going to return,which particular translation of Scripture is perfect, and even going as far as to define what styles of music are acceptable. I don't mean to paint all fundamentalists with a broad brush but their approach to Scripture makes them vulnerable to extreme theological positions based on just one or two verses that they take literally (and usually out of context).
2) The Bible is exceptionally unclear on when and how Jesus is going to return. Over the centuries Christians have held numerous views on this issue (pre-trib, post-trib, amill, premill, postmill, historical amill, etc...). My job is not to be on the planning committee but to be on the welcoming committee. If you want more perspective here are two good articles on this subject that probably say it better than I can:

http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6396/9/

http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6296/9/

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Track Meet Day













This past Saturday was a blast! Alanna participated in the Bay Area Lutheran Schools Track Meet. Her school, Prince of Peace, hosts the event and about 13 other schools from around the Bay Area compete in various events. There are about 500 competitors from kindergarten through 8th grade. We were especially proud since Alanna represented her age group for girls in four different events. She came in 2nd in the long jump, 3rd in the 50meter, 4th in both baseball throw and 50meter relay. I've attached some pictures so you can see how determined she looks while she competes.