Guest Blogger and Vietnam War Veteran, Larry Taylor, offers another view on war:

Justin made a number of valid points on the recent killing of, presumably innocent, people. Even if they were aiding and abetting our most heinous enemies, it is fundamentally wrong to kill civilians if it can be avoided. In this case, it did seem to be an egregious act that should be condemned by our representative officials and answered by a formal apology with reparations for the surviving victims. Still, I don’t have all the facts.

I also agree that God cares for these Muslims. The Incarnation is proof, for Christ “…came into the world to save sinners.” God cares when the “least” of us suffer under the rubric of “just causes.” I cannot imagine God participating in unjust wars.

Certainly, Vietnam, and perhaps Iraq, falls into the category of unjust wars. I wasn’t a Christian when I went off to war as a young man. I believe I convinced my son not to enter the service because I know firsthand that war scars forever. Still, no matter how hard I try, I cannot be a pacifist. The dark side of cheap anti-war rhetoric is that war “happens” even when we decide to do nothing. Bonnhoeffer settled his dilemma by deciding to stop a monster from destroying more innocent people. Imagine the guilt of the polish citizens, who quietly minded their own businesses while trainloads of Jews were unloading next door at the death camp! Peaceful protests could not have dismantled the Nazi machine.

There is a time to act and a time to refrain. It is just that it is so hard to know when and how to curb evil without becoming part of the problem. Personally, I am praying about our military’s decisions and the victims of this man-made disaster.

-LT

I get a lot of grief on this blog for being too negative. Yet… today I have something positive to say.

This past Sunday I “experienced” one of the greatest church services of my life. It was the 12:30 mass at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Northwest, Washington DC.

The choir was beautiful and strikingly similar to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. There was an energy and sincerity in the music that I have not witnessed in a long time. It wasn’t a show. It wasn’t hype. It was genuine praise.

Then Pastor Pat gave his message. Being the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr’s. birthday, Pastor Pat quoted Martin Luther King Jr. He chose MLK’s speech against the Vietnam War:

Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.

Father Pat then went on to discuss America’s involvement in the War on Terror. Last Friday, the US led an airstrike on a small home in Pakistan. The US was trying to kill a key terrorist. Unfortunately we missed the terrorist and instead killed 17 innocent Pakistanis, including women and children. In the darkness of night, we murdered 17 people. And how does the US respond:

“We apologize, but I can’t tell you that we wouldn’t do the same thing again,” Senator John McCain.

Father Pat ended with this statement, “Those Pakistani’s who died. They may not matter to the US Government. They may not matter to you. But they matter to God. God values all life, and those Pakistani’s matter to God.”

And he’s right. They matter to God.

I long ago realized that the primary reason people visit this blog is for gossip about City Bible Church. And frankly, there is nothing I love more than spreading a story or two. On my list of alternative careers, gossip columnist is in the top 5.

That said, I do not really have much current gossip to share. Word on the street is that the Asplunds will be leaving the church shortly, but I have been hearing that for years. And frankly, at some point you have to admire their determination. This Father and Son team are solid Christians, and they refuse to bail on a church that has bailed on the Bible and Jesus. I kind of hope they stick it out.

There is one little interesting tidbit of info that I recently learned. In the weeks this blog first started, a leader in the church hired a private investigator to find out everything they could about JP and I. Here’s the kicker… …they reportedly paid the person $100 an hour.

As you can imagine, I was furious when I heard this. A hundred dollars an hour! I would have gladly told them anything they wanted to know about JP for half that price. And if they had just placed a call to Jonathan Morton (our 12 year old brother) he would have happily told them every dirty little secret for free. And, more than likely, he would have thrown in some extra info about Joel and Jesse, just as a bonus.

I just thought this was interesting. We call them out for running their church like a business and they hire a private invesigator.

Love It!

Here’s another great comment from, you guessed it, anonymous:

I was crying tonight feeling hopeless, when I found your site.

Although I think a lot of the humor and comments push things a little bit too far, I definitely relate to the disillusionment.

For me, PBC and BT were good experiences, although since I attended in the 80’s, a bit too much of a fashion parade.

The main concern I had and have is how often we were hyped up about our destiny. I’m from the X’er generation, and I felt like our generation got passed over for the younger set. Eric Knox not being given the youth after Bob MacGregor was reassigned is a perfect example. I agree with the poster who said that only the elder’s kids really had “destiny.”

But, for me the real difficuluty was being in an MFI church for 10 years.It DEVESTATED me. The cult-like symptoms were 10x what it was like at BT.

I really believed all of the covering and submission stuff, and geez, I can’t even begin to tell my story. What I can say is toward the end, the pastor’s wife got mad at me (for going to see her off at the airport) and refused to speak to me for 6 months, while her husband preached about not letting the sun go down on your anger.

I’m worked through my anger and bitterness, and am attending 2 local churches but stay the hell away from leadership, and feel very purposeless and destiny-less.

Just knowing that other people out there have gone through similar things helps a lot.

This is the main reason why I refuse to delete this blog. Comments like this.

Anyway, my advice to this commenter: Start drinking heavily! hahaha… …ahhh, I’m so funny. No, just kidding.

Actually, I think you’re probably doing the right thing, going to church, avoiding leadership. And trust me, feeling purposeless and destiny-less is something all people feel. It’s called “being human”. Some people don’t find their destiny until they are 40, 50, 60. It doesn’t make their lives any less important.

So just keep trudging along. And if you get depressed and start feeling down, slip in the movie Wedding Crashers, it perks me up everytime.

The word making the rounds in the blogosphere is that it is now illegal to “annoy” someone anonymously online. On Thursday, President Bush signed a bill into law that makes it illegal to post anonymous messages online that annoy another person. This includes blogs and their comments.

And of course, this scares me to death.

Because as any long time reader knows, “anonymous” is our most frequent commenter. And if there is anything “anonymous” does really well, it is annoy. But I love anonymous. She/he makes me laugh every day, even when it is Doug’s wife.

So to clear up any confusion and ensure another year of ridiculous comments, I have this to say to my readers:

By clicking on the comment section below, you promise not to be annoyed. No matter how many verses are quoted out of context. No matter how many times “the Bride of Christ” is referenced. No matter how many times you are told you are going to hell. You can not be annoyed. You can be entertained or amused, but not annoyed.

Great. That should cover it.

Bring ‘em on Anon.

This is shameless. But I think it might be worth a shot.

The 2006 Bloggies are upon us, and the powers that be are offering awards for the best blogs of 2005.

On a lark, I went through the list of categories and nominated my favorite blogs, including: Jack Bog’s Blog, Go Fug Yourself, Daily Dish and Undecided Resident.

However, for one of the categories I nominated this blog. And that category was “Best Tag Line”.

Now this is a national award, and I don’t think our little blog has a chance. But how great would it be if the winning tagline for the 2006 bloggies was,

It is not by grace that one enters the kingdom of heaven, but by tithing. - Damazio 3:16.

It makes me smile just thinking about it.

So if you have a second, visit here, nominate some of the blogs you read, and nominate us for “Best Tag Line.”

One can dream.

One of my favorite Washington Post reporters, Dana Milbank, held an online chat today. In his lead, Milbank discusses the Pat Robertson issue. I thought his intro was pretty funny:

It’s been a rough week. President Bush returned early from his New Year’s break in hopes of getting 2006 off to a better start with talk about the economy and national security.

Instead, Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty in Washington and Florida and will have to pay more than $25 million and spend a decade in the pokey — even after he helps bring down various congressmen.

Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and is near death. And, after one of the bloodiest weeks in Iraq, the former U.S. commander there, Ricardo Sanchez, says “the country is on the verge of a civil war.”

But thank God for this: We have Pat Robertson. In addition to his helpful remarks yesterday about Sharon, he started the year off by having a conversation with a highly placed source: The Lord.

“Here is what I believe the Lord said,” Robertson said on the 700 Club Tuesday, reading from a yellow legal pad on which God allowed him to take notes.

“The fall elections will be inconclusive but the outcome of the war and the success of the economy will lead the Republicans in charge but it’s going to be inconclusive in this year. But I do believe the president is going to strengthen and that alitos going to get confirmed. I believe another liberal judge is going to retire, step down from the court. We’ll have another opening there and the war in Iraq is going to come to a successful conclusion and we’ll begin withdrawing troops before the end of this year.”

Robertson’s exclusive with God was a helluva scoop, so to speak, beating both Brit Hume and Tim Russert to the highly desired interview. But, as it happens, the Lord is loosening up some of His message discipline in recent days and is granting a surprising number of interviews. In fact, I have Him on the line right now and He has agreed to answer your questions today, speaking through me. He asks only that you keep your questions civil, so He is not forced to smite any of you.

In the Bible, why isn’t “purports to speak for God” considered a sin?

Our favorite reverend is at it again.

Update:

Here’s a link to video of Pat Robertson’s speech. (Hat tip: Talking Points Memo)

Also, a real quick point here:

Just in case Pat wasn’t aware. But ummm, God loves Muslims too. He really does.

I love how no one takes JP and I seriously. We say we’re quitting the blog, and everyone laughs and thinks “Yeah, whatever.”

Nevertheless, my good blogging buddy Chris Snethen is asking for a return, and some of the commenters want more. Thus, while I am enjoying this break, I am also definitely planning on coming back. Though, it will probably be more limited, since I truly enjoy not thinking about City Bible all the time.

However, I also really enjoy people’s comments, and the fun I have writing everything. Blogging can feel like a job sometimes, but there are also times it can be a blast.

So I’ll be back. But I need a little longer to just chill and not have to think about poking fun at CBC.

In the meantime, here’s a quick link for you to have fun with. The City Church in Seattle is planning a church plant on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. If you want a good laugh, read the confirmation section. It’s a list of prophecies telling the City Church to move to DC.

Good times…