When the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to a group of Christ-followers in Rome, he made a point of telling them: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). Paul would say the same thing today if he visited Penn State...or your home!
What has allegedly transpired at Penn State can be faced in one of two ways: we can be overcome by evil; OR, we can work toward overcoming evil with good! How do we overcome the evil of child sexual abuse?
On a website called Darkness2Light.org I found a section called “7 Steps to Protecting Our Children from Sexual Abuse.”
Step 1: Learn the Facts and Understand the Risks
It is estimated that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before they turn 18! In almost 90% of the cases, the child AND the child’s family know and trust the abuser! “People who abuse children LOOK and ACT just like everyone else.”
Step 2: Minimize the Opportunity
“If you eliminate or reduce one-adult/one-child situations, you’ll dramatically lower the risk of sexual abuse for children.” It is estimated that more than 80% of abuse takes place in situations where one child is left alone with one person. Think about THAT!!
Step 3: Talk about it.
Most abused children do NOT talk about their abuse. Learn WHY children are afraid to talk. Learn HOW children communicate. Know WHAT can break down the barriers of talking openly. “One survey showed that fewer than 30% of parents ever discussed sexual abuse with their children.”
Step 4: Stay Alert.
Do NOT expect obvious signs when a child is being sexually abused. LEARN the signs! Emotional or behavioral signs are often more common than the physical signs.
Step 5: Make a Plan
“Learn WHERE to go, WHOM to call and HOW to react.”
As hard as this sounds…try not to PANIC or OVER-react. Offer support. Seek professional counsel and guidance. REPORT or take action in ALL cases of suspected abuse (see www.childwelfare.gov).
Step 6: Act on Suspicions
“Very few reported incidents are false.” Err on the side of caution. “By acting on suspicions of child abuse, you will save not only one child, but perhaps countless others.” Make use of Child Abuse Helplines: Darkness to Light—1-866-FOR-LIGHT; Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-4-A-CHILD; National Children’s Alliance at www.nca-online.org or 1-800-239-9950.
Step 7: GET INVOLVED
“Volunteer and financially support organizations that fight the tragedy of child sexual abuse.”
As we read on the Darkness2Light.org website: “A child’s safety is an ADULT’s job…we make children wear seat belts. We walk them across busy streets. We store toxic household cleaners out of reach. Why then, would we leave the job of preventing child sexual abuse solely to children?”
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
YOU are the man!
After King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and tried to cover it up, the prophet Nathan came to him and told him a story about a rich shepherd who stole a poor shepherd's one sole lamb. David was irate over the actions of the rich shepherd and immediately called for swift and firm justice. And then Nathan revealed to David that he himself was that very man. We can all become so angry and self-righteous over another's sin and be guilty ourselves of the same sin yet fail to see it.
I am appalled at what is unfolding at my alma mater, Penn State, in the very town where I was raised. I am so angry and disgusted by the alleged actions of a past assistant coach. And if Joe Paterno knew what had happened and didn't do enough, I am disappointed in him as well AND I actually believe, as much as I respect the man, that the Board of Trustees was right in firing him.
I am ALSO appalled at the moral and spiritual blindness of many, of those weighing in on the issue. I am not at all appalled that people are irate and disgusted over what has allegedly transpired...I am shocked at the spiritual and moral blindness I sense as people point fingers WITHOUT considering how they are guilty of similar transgressions. What has happened at Penn State ought to humble every single one of us...we are free to voice our anger and disgust, but we MUST look within our own hearts as well.Hear me: I am not in any way throwing a rescue rope to Paterno...I am simply asking all of us to look within our own hearts.
I think about Peter. He stood silently by and watched the Son of God be abused by the Romans. Actually, he was worse than silent. He positively denied he even knew the Man. I think about Adam. He stood silently by and watched the serpent tempt his wife and then positively rebelled against the command of God...and that's why we face the kind of world we face today. Outside of Scripture, I think about a nation, Germany, which had citizens, many of whom were silent and did nothing in the face of one of the greatest atrocities performed upon human beings (I say "one of the greatest atrocities" because what Stalin did in Russia was numerically even worse.)
I think about my own heart...how often have I been guilty of the sin of silence...or of doing nothing...or at least of not doing enough. I think about the fact that every day of my life I have been entrusted with the Good News of the Gospel...the ONLY message of hope for a broken world, the ONLY message of LIGHT for people lost in a dark world, the ONLY message of eternal life for all doomed for eternal torment and abuse apart from Christ...And. I. Am. Often. Silent.
Do we have a right to be angry over what has happened to these children? You bet! We better be angry at sin and our hearts better break for those children and their families. Do we have a right to be angry if it is indeed true that Paterno should have done more? You bet we do! But I sure hope we don't express our anger before we express our prayers for the children. And I sure hope we actually DO something about sexual abuse in our world and not just express anger about what has happened at Penn State.
But we better be just as angry and heart-broken and humbled over our own sins of omission and sins of silence and sins of not doing enough in our daily lives.
After all, as Nathan would say: YOU. Are. The. Man...or Woman.
I am appalled at what is unfolding at my alma mater, Penn State, in the very town where I was raised. I am so angry and disgusted by the alleged actions of a past assistant coach. And if Joe Paterno knew what had happened and didn't do enough, I am disappointed in him as well AND I actually believe, as much as I respect the man, that the Board of Trustees was right in firing him.
I am ALSO appalled at the moral and spiritual blindness of many, of those weighing in on the issue. I am not at all appalled that people are irate and disgusted over what has allegedly transpired...I am shocked at the spiritual and moral blindness I sense as people point fingers WITHOUT considering how they are guilty of similar transgressions. What has happened at Penn State ought to humble every single one of us...we are free to voice our anger and disgust, but we MUST look within our own hearts as well.Hear me: I am not in any way throwing a rescue rope to Paterno...I am simply asking all of us to look within our own hearts.
I think about Peter. He stood silently by and watched the Son of God be abused by the Romans. Actually, he was worse than silent. He positively denied he even knew the Man. I think about Adam. He stood silently by and watched the serpent tempt his wife and then positively rebelled against the command of God...and that's why we face the kind of world we face today. Outside of Scripture, I think about a nation, Germany, which had citizens, many of whom were silent and did nothing in the face of one of the greatest atrocities performed upon human beings (I say "one of the greatest atrocities" because what Stalin did in Russia was numerically even worse.)
I think about my own heart...how often have I been guilty of the sin of silence...or of doing nothing...or at least of not doing enough. I think about the fact that every day of my life I have been entrusted with the Good News of the Gospel...the ONLY message of hope for a broken world, the ONLY message of LIGHT for people lost in a dark world, the ONLY message of eternal life for all doomed for eternal torment and abuse apart from Christ...And. I. Am. Often. Silent.
Do we have a right to be angry over what has happened to these children? You bet! We better be angry at sin and our hearts better break for those children and their families. Do we have a right to be angry if it is indeed true that Paterno should have done more? You bet we do! But I sure hope we don't express our anger before we express our prayers for the children. And I sure hope we actually DO something about sexual abuse in our world and not just express anger about what has happened at Penn State.
But we better be just as angry and heart-broken and humbled over our own sins of omission and sins of silence and sins of not doing enough in our daily lives.
After all, as Nathan would say: YOU. Are. The. Man...or Woman.
Thanksgiving: A Season of Mobilization, Part 2
[be sure and read the previous posts HERE]
I think we should add a preparation time called Harvest before Thanksgiving, just like we have preparation times called Advent and Lent before Christmas and Easter, respectively. I think we should prepare our hearts to celebrate Thanksgiving by considering “going before the Lord” with an offering of praise and faith. We, too, can add to our Thanksgiving festival by making sure we don’t “appear before the Lord empty-handed.” Everyone in the Old Testament could participate in this Festival. If you were able, you could bring a lamb; if you were too poor, you could bring a bird. People were to bring what they were able; it wasn’t the size of the gift but the condition of the heart before the Lord. So...if you’ve stuck with me so far, how can we begin this new holiday/Holy Day tradition of preparing for Thanksgiving through a season of Harvest?
Well, since Thanksgiving involves expressing gratitude for God’s gracious provision in our lives, especially the provision of crops and food in general, why not celebrate Harvest each year by focusing on a spot in the world where crops, food and other provision is not as plentiful as it is for us? I would suggest that this year’s Harvest Season be engaged in by considering Somalia and the Horn of Africa. One of the greatest droughts in decades has destroyed crops and prevented harvest. In addition, the drought has turned into a full-fledge famine because of religious and political turmoil in the area.
Tens of thousands have died in recent months. Experts believe the drought could continue through first quarter of 2012, and possibly until August of ’12! It is estimated that up to 750,000 could die in coming months. During the summer months of 2011 it is estimated that over 29,000 children under the age of 5 have perished due to starvation. We are told that another 640,000 children are malnourished suggesting the death toll could dramatically increase. I’ll never forget watching the movie, “Hotel Rwanda.”
When I saw the film I was outraged. I was shocked. I was embarrassed...I had noticed just a little of what was going on from watching the news, but I was embarrassed that I had no clue as to what was really happening. The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 Tutsi’s by the Hutu population.
Well, my own face is red...again. It is only through some dear friends at ONE that I was made more fully aware of
all that is happening in Somalia. It is, admittedly, a VERY complicated situation. There are certainly issues of governance, transparency and accountability regarding local leadership, but also centuries of back story we are only beginning to comprehend. There are also long-term problems that are agricultural: developing drought-resistant seed, proper fertilizers and early warning systems for coming droughts. There are short-term problems like increasing awareness and providing safe passage and delivery of aid to where it’s most desperately needed. There is also a need to ensure that aid is not “hijacked” and then sold at prices the desperately needy and impoverished can’t afford.
Recently, on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, Bono spoke to this horribly complex situation: “It’s hard to believe that
this is the 21st century and you know, we mustn’t let the complexity of the situation absolve us from responsibility to act. That’s really the message...when you hear stories...of women leaving the dead children on the road to come beg for food; [women having] to choose between children...’Inward’ I have to leave this one (he looks the weakest or she looks the weakest), I’ll take this one.’
This is outrageous!...And it’s not our intentions, it’s our actions...it’s our priorities that define us. This is a defining moment.”
What would it be like for YOU to have to choose which child you will feed and therefore which one you chose to let die?!
If we begin to put into practice the Harvest Season preparation for Thanksgiving, there are a couple extremes we must seek to avoid: the one extreme is sticking our heads in the sand and remaining ignorant; the other extreme is seeing so much evil and complication that we get overwhelmed and paralyzed; so discouraged and depressed that we are immobilized; so cynical that we consider any option as meaningless.
Hundreds of thousands with no voice in places of power need our voice. They need our voices to tell others who remain in ignorance about what is happening. They need our voices to keep telling our governing officials that something must be done. They need our voices to be lifted up to God that He Himself might intervene by His great mercy and grace. Imagine a child falling into a pit, crying out, but no one comes. Imagine a girl being abused sexually, wondering where help is, where daddy is, where God is. Imagine 640,000 Somali children facing starvation. How are these children any different?
I think we should add a preparation time called Harvest before Thanksgiving, just like we have preparation times called Advent and Lent before Christmas and Easter, respectively. I think we should prepare our hearts to celebrate Thanksgiving by considering “going before the Lord” with an offering of praise and faith. We, too, can add to our Thanksgiving festival by making sure we don’t “appear before the Lord empty-handed.” Everyone in the Old Testament could participate in this Festival. If you were able, you could bring a lamb; if you were too poor, you could bring a bird. People were to bring what they were able; it wasn’t the size of the gift but the condition of the heart before the Lord. So...if you’ve stuck with me so far, how can we begin this new holiday/Holy Day tradition of preparing for Thanksgiving through a season of Harvest?
Well, since Thanksgiving involves expressing gratitude for God’s gracious provision in our lives, especially the provision of crops and food in general, why not celebrate Harvest each year by focusing on a spot in the world where crops, food and other provision is not as plentiful as it is for us? I would suggest that this year’s Harvest Season be engaged in by considering Somalia and the Horn of Africa. One of the greatest droughts in decades has destroyed crops and prevented harvest. In addition, the drought has turned into a full-fledge famine because of religious and political turmoil in the area.
Tens of thousands have died in recent months. Experts believe the drought could continue through first quarter of 2012, and possibly until August of ’12! It is estimated that up to 750,000 could die in coming months. During the summer months of 2011 it is estimated that over 29,000 children under the age of 5 have perished due to starvation. We are told that another 640,000 children are malnourished suggesting the death toll could dramatically increase. I’ll never forget watching the movie, “Hotel Rwanda.”
When I saw the film I was outraged. I was shocked. I was embarrassed...I had noticed just a little of what was going on from watching the news, but I was embarrassed that I had no clue as to what was really happening. The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 Tutsi’s by the Hutu population. Well, my own face is red...again. It is only through some dear friends at ONE that I was made more fully aware of
all that is happening in Somalia. It is, admittedly, a VERY complicated situation. There are certainly issues of governance, transparency and accountability regarding local leadership, but also centuries of back story we are only beginning to comprehend. There are also long-term problems that are agricultural: developing drought-resistant seed, proper fertilizers and early warning systems for coming droughts. There are short-term problems like increasing awareness and providing safe passage and delivery of aid to where it’s most desperately needed. There is also a need to ensure that aid is not “hijacked” and then sold at prices the desperately needy and impoverished can’t afford.
Recently, on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, Bono spoke to this horribly complex situation: “It’s hard to believe that
this is the 21st century and you know, we mustn’t let the complexity of the situation absolve us from responsibility to act. That’s really the message...when you hear stories...of women leaving the dead children on the road to come beg for food; [women having] to choose between children...’Inward’ I have to leave this one (he looks the weakest or she looks the weakest), I’ll take this one.’
This is outrageous!...And it’s not our intentions, it’s our actions...it’s our priorities that define us. This is a defining moment.”
What would it be like for YOU to have to choose which child you will feed and therefore which one you chose to let die?!
If we begin to put into practice the Harvest Season preparation for Thanksgiving, there are a couple extremes we must seek to avoid: the one extreme is sticking our heads in the sand and remaining ignorant; the other extreme is seeing so much evil and complication that we get overwhelmed and paralyzed; so discouraged and depressed that we are immobilized; so cynical that we consider any option as meaningless.
Hundreds of thousands with no voice in places of power need our voice. They need our voices to tell others who remain in ignorance about what is happening. They need our voices to keep telling our governing officials that something must be done. They need our voices to be lifted up to God that He Himself might intervene by His great mercy and grace. Imagine a child falling into a pit, crying out, but no one comes. Imagine a girl being abused sexually, wondering where help is, where daddy is, where God is. Imagine 640,000 Somali children facing starvation. How are these children any different?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Not-So Happy Valley
As a State College native, a Penn State grad and a pastor, I've been asked by many, many people over the past couple days about recent events in Happy Valley. Here's what I've said:
First: the safety and protection of children is more important than an institution or even an icon.
Second: we don't know all the facts...yet.
Third: If people knew more, even if it was JoePa, and they didn't do EVERYTHING possible to protect the children and warn their families, no matter how much good he's done, he was wrong. VERY wrong.
Fourth: as if we need reminding...there is only ONE Hero, His Name is Jesus; and there is only ONE Team, His Church. EVERYTHING else is just a small part of a Much Larger Story.
Fifth: we live in a broken world.
Sixth: pray for the victims and their families.
Seventh: fight against all forms of oppression and sexual abuse.
Eighth...and I'm sure I'll get flack for this...pray for the abusers and those who would engage in cover-up. We are all really big sinners and are ALL in need of a REALLY BIG SAVIOR! As offensive as it may seem to us, Christ came for even the chief among all sinners (among whom the Apostle Paul considered himself the worst).
First: the safety and protection of children is more important than an institution or even an icon.
Second: we don't know all the facts...yet.
Third: If people knew more, even if it was JoePa, and they didn't do EVERYTHING possible to protect the children and warn their families, no matter how much good he's done, he was wrong. VERY wrong.
Fourth: as if we need reminding...there is only ONE Hero, His Name is Jesus; and there is only ONE Team, His Church. EVERYTHING else is just a small part of a Much Larger Story.
Fifth: we live in a broken world.
Sixth: pray for the victims and their families.
Seventh: fight against all forms of oppression and sexual abuse.
Eighth...and I'm sure I'll get flack for this...pray for the abusers and those who would engage in cover-up. We are all really big sinners and are ALL in need of a REALLY BIG SAVIOR! As offensive as it may seem to us, Christ came for even the chief among all sinners (among whom the Apostle Paul considered himself the worst).
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thanksgiving: A Season of Mobilization
Many Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday. It may be debated whether it was started by the Pilgrims in Massachusetts with the help of Native Americans, or whether it started in Virginia or in Florida, but there is no question it began somewhere at sometime in North America because we celebrate it! Other important holidays, like Christmas and Easter for instance, are anticipated by the more traditional (or more serious) by times of preparation.
Advent is a time for preparing hearts to celebrate the Birth of Messiah, as well as a time of reflection preparing for the Second Coming of Christ. Lent is a time for preparing hearts to celebrate the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus. Lent often involves a time of fasting, a symbol of mourning over our own brokenness and sin that sent Jesus to the Cross. I wonder...what would we call a Preparation Season for Thanksgiving? Some have called it Harvest
I like that. Advent...Lent...Harvest. A time to prepare our hearts for... what? Thanksgiving
How much prep work does that take? Perhaps more than we may think. “Thanksgiving” was practiced by the Jews under the leadership of Moses long before the Europeans ever thought of the concept. The Jews celebrated the Feast of the Harvest or the Feast of Weeks in May/June every year. It was one of only THREE annual festivals celebrated by the people of God in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 16:16, Moses records, “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”
Americans celebrate Thanksgiving by, well, supposedly giving thanks...usually around a dinner table set with turkey, gravy, mashed-potatoes, sweet-potato casserole, corn, eggs, dressing (or stuffing if you’re a Yankee like me), cranberry sauce, cheese soufflé, green beans...and who knows what else! Family...friends...food...and let’s not forget... football. I know, it sounds so...trite. It is.
Notice that when the people of God in the Old Testament celebrated the Feast of Harvest (a time to thank God for the crops that were able to be planted by His grace, that grew by His tender mercies, that survived by His providence, that were harvested by His kindness), they didn’t just “return thanks” but would not dare “appear before the LORD empty- handed.” What does THAT mean?!
It means that when the people thanked God for the Harvest, when THEY celebrated Thanksgiving, things were different...more different than just celebrating at what we call Pentecost while we celebrate in November. Celebration involved participation. Gratitude involved engagement.
Thanksgiving involved mobilization.
The people of God were to go before the Lord at the Feast of Harvest/Weeks with a SACRIFICE. A SACRIFICE of Thanksgiving. A SACRIFICE of Praise. A SACRIFICE that was not only expressing gratitude for the Lord’s provision in the past; but also an offering of faith expressed by giving God hard-earned and desperately needed sustenance that revealed trust that God would provide in the future, so a gift could be given with all confidence and peace.
I think we should try that.
Friday, August 5, 2011
The Delightful, Advantageous, Full-Blown Will of God
Intimacy with Christ is only possible as we surrender ourselves completely and totally to the purposes of God. But to do THAT, we must believe that God's heart toward us is good and that whatever He calls us to let go of or to embrace is good. I've been meditating on Romans 12:2 to help me get to that place of trust.
Here's how I would paraphrase it:
Don't be pressed into the mold of the world or the spirit of the age. Don't adopt their perspective of this life. Don't buy into the world's blueprint for fulfillment, security or significance. Rather, like a caterpillar in a cocoon, be metamorphisized, changed, transformed by the renewal of your mind, by a fresh approach to thinking patterns; get rid of all those old tapes and upgrade to a new sound system, and start listening to new songs with better lyrics; with this new approach to your thought life and the new melodies and lyrics coursing through your brain, prove to yourself both experientially and existentially that God's ways, methods, plans, purposes and all His sovereignly ordained circumstances for our lives (both His revealed will in Scripture with all its promises and commands; as well as His secret, mysterious will that just happens) are good, beneficial, advantageous, acceptable, well-pleasing, delightful and perfect and complete (nothing could be added or subtracted to make it better!). Embrace this perspective and world-view by faith in God's character!
Here's how I would paraphrase it:
Don't be pressed into the mold of the world or the spirit of the age. Don't adopt their perspective of this life. Don't buy into the world's blueprint for fulfillment, security or significance. Rather, like a caterpillar in a cocoon, be metamorphisized, changed, transformed by the renewal of your mind, by a fresh approach to thinking patterns; get rid of all those old tapes and upgrade to a new sound system, and start listening to new songs with better lyrics; with this new approach to your thought life and the new melodies and lyrics coursing through your brain, prove to yourself both experientially and existentially that God's ways, methods, plans, purposes and all His sovereignly ordained circumstances for our lives (both His revealed will in Scripture with all its promises and commands; as well as His secret, mysterious will that just happens) are good, beneficial, advantageous, acceptable, well-pleasing, delightful and perfect and complete (nothing could be added or subtracted to make it better!). Embrace this perspective and world-view by faith in God's character!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
How do we "see" God?
At our Officer's Meeting the other night we reviewed our church's position paper on the roles of men and women in the church. It was a healthy reminder of our need for one another. We need each other to reveal and reflect God's image to one another in the church and through the church!
http://www.oakmountainchurch.org/Websites/ompc/Blog/855105/WRWeb.pdf
http://www.oakmountainchurch.org/Websites/ompc/Blog/855105/WRWeb.pdf
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