Commentary on Current Events

Thoughts, Ideas, and Comments of Bob Cardwell, from Indianapolis, IN. ________________________www.bobcardwell.com

Sunday, January 27, 2008

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

Pay to all what is due them--taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
-Romans 13:7-10 (NRSV)

Arthur D. Pratt passed away

Arthur D. Pratt passed away January 23, 2008, after an illness. Arthur, a native of Indianapolis, devoted himself to world service. After college he spent a period working with an agricultural co-op in Africa. He then spent a period of time managing an office for a crusade for World Government in Philadelphia. His main passion was helping those who were down, particularly those who needed help with alcoholism. He was one of the founders of the Flynn Homes, a nationwide series of resident centers for the treatment of alcoholism. After leaving one of their homes in Baltimore to run the family printing firm, he continued working with Flynn. Mr. Pratt started the substance abuse treatment program, Life Effectiveness Training (LET) at the Marion County Jail more than 35 years ago, and was instrumental, through his long time friend Senator Richard Lugar, in obtaining federal funds for local jails across the country. Up to the time of his illness he taught classes in the Marion County Jail on Alcoholism. Arthur's interest in those in need in the inner city led him to be President of the Christian Inner-City Association, and later a period as President of the Board of Directors of Community Interfaith Housing. During the period of his board presidency, Community Interfaith Housing grew from a single employee to being the largest Not-for-Profit Housing agency in the Chicago HUD region, with 38 full time employees. Arthur's dedication to working in the inner city led him to live in what he called a hurting neighborhood. Arthur will be missed. Arthur is survived by his wife, Amal; two sons, Andy and Michael; two daughters, Maggie Anderson and Sarah Vhay; and three grandchildren, Jordan Anderson, Bennett Anderson and Max Vhay. Calling for Mr. Pratt will be today, Sunday, January 27 from 4-8 at Flanner & Buchanan Market St. Funeral services will be conducted at Christ Cathedral Church on the Circle Monday morning at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow at Masonic Cemetery in Delphi, Indiana. www.flannerbuchanan.com

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Litlle Boy Blue

 
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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The Rainbow People

Thursday, January 17, 2008

to do right

VERSE:
Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend
the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
-- Isaiah 1:17

Thursday, January 10, 2008

The Story of B---The book I am currently reading.



[from http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=the%20Story%20of%20B}
Dubbed "an adventure of the mind and spirit", The Story of B is the second installment in Daniel Quinn's Ishmael trilogy. The Story of B follows Father Jared Osborne as he is sent to Europe by the Vatican to investigate the actions of one Charles Atterly, or as he is better known, B. B is an individual who travels around Europe, spreading his message to the masses, his message though, has led the Vatican to believe him to be the Antichrist, for his message contradicts the message of the Roman Catholic Church, or any other organized religion for that matter. So, Jared must investigate B, and decide for himself what he truly believes.

Brief summary of ideas:
In this novel, Quinn shifts his focus slightly from the idea of how we are destroying the planet, and thus need to change the way that we live, and relate to the environment, that was found in Ishmael, to looking at something that can be seen in everyday life, religion. Quinn examines what people believe, and why they believe it. The simple and short answer to those areas of inquiry is: because they are told what to believe, and have forgotten (in an evolutionary sense) how to do things any differently than how they are told.

B explains this idea of "The Great Forgetting" (as the book refers to it) as the time in the history of man when humans forgot that we were not always farmers; for, in fact, humans were first hunter-gatherers. Quinn attributes this forgetting to the fact that man took to an agricultural lifestyle before he created a written record of his previous hunting-gathering lifestyle. Here is a quote from the book that talks about the forgetting:


"We can hardly be surprised that the forgetting took place. On the contrary, it's hard to imagine how it could have been avoided. It would have been necessary to hold on to the memory of our hunting-gathering past for five thousand years before anyone would have been capable of making a written record of it."

Another interesting idea that The Story of B discusses is that of animism. In the book, B describes animism as the first, and only universal religion, one that resonated with all life on the planet. So, this meant that the first religion on Earth did not concern only humans, but all creatures, an idea, which contradicts nearly every modern religion. For example, B's message, which is based on animism, is concerned with saving the whole world. Christianity, however, is only based on saving humans (Jesus Christ came only to save human lives). Here is a quote that sums up animism, and explains why it is a comprehensive and universal religion:


"Animism looks for truth in the universe, not in books, revelations, and authorities. Science is the same. Though animism and science read the universe in different ways, both have complete confidence in its truthfulness."

Review:
After reading Ishmael, I was blown away by what Quinn had to say about everyday life, and expected the same level of revelation in The Story of B. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. The Story of B had everything one could want from a novel: a good story, characters you could relate to, and understand, and more than anything, thought provoking concepts. Like all other Daniel Quinn novels, I highly recommend The Story of B to anyone who wants to look at life from a different point of view. Cautionary note: you should probably read Ishmael before this book, otherwise you might find yourself a little confused at times.

For more information on this book, or other Quinn novels, visit his website at:
http://www.ishmael.com








Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Story of Amazing Grace




This morning we are going to be thinking about the story behind the beloved hymn AMAZING GRACE. The point of this hymn is that God’s grace and love comes to all of us not because we deserve it or have earned it, but because of the nature of God to be gracious and loving.

The author of Amazing Grace is a man named John Newton and he based this hymn on what Paul wrote to the Ephesians in chapter 2:4-10.

Read Ephesians 2:4-10. Notice the phrases about the nature of God contained in these verses: GOD IS RICH IN MERCY, THE GREAT LOVE WITH WHICH HE LOVED US, IMMEASURABLE RICHES OF GOD’S GRACE, GOD’S KINDNESS TOWARD US.

God’s amazing grace is God’s mercy, God’s great love and God’s kindness toward us.


Whenever a survey is conducted of the most popular hymns, AMAZING GRACE is usually ranked as number one. More Christians love to sing this hymn more than any other hymn ever written.

However, the story behind this hymn is also amazing.

In the 1740’s, there was an English ship captain named JOHN NEWTON who traveled to Sierra Leone on the west coast of Africa, sent his men out to capture Africans, put them in chains and haul them to the United States of America to be sold as slaves. Millions of Africans were captured, put into the hold of ships where they received little food and water and many died of starvation and disease on board the ships. If they survived the voyage, they were then sold as slaves along the east coast of the United States and would spend the rest of their lives as unpaid slaves on plantations and in businesses throughout the colonies.

In 1748, however, John Newton and his crew were returning from the United States to Africa to pick up more slaves when their ship encountered a violent storm. The ship was being tossed about by the wind and waves so violently that Newton was sure it would sink and they would all be killed.

Now, John Newton was a cruel and heartless slave ship captain who had no religious convictions at all but in the mist of his fear of death, John Newton cried out over and over again, “LORD, HAVE MERCY ON US.” Eventually the storm subsided and the ship and crew survived.

After the storm was over Newton wondered why he had cried out to a God he didn’t believe in for mercy. And even more he wondered why this God had appeared to answer his prayer and save his life which he knew had been spent inflicting cruelty on other human beings.

John Newton’s life was transformed by his experience of God’s mercy in the midst of a storm and it changed the whole direction of his life. He began to study the Scriptures and to surrender his life into the hands of God. He realized that what he was doing as a slave trader was evil and wrong so he sold his ship, returned to England, got married and studied to become an Anglican priest in the Church of England.

John Newton went from being a slave trader to a Christian minister who then devoted his life to outlawing the slave trade throughout the British Empire.

Newton was an eloquent and powerful preacher and he was eventually assigned to a parish in London where huge crowds came to hear him tell the story of his transformation by the grace of God, and how God’s grace is freely offered to all human beings, and when we receive God’s grace then we surrender ourselves into the hands of God and allow God to use us to overcome evils like slavery in this world.

John Newton became friends with another Anglican priest named John Wesley, the founder of Methodism and attended many services where John Wesley was preaching. Newton was greatly influenced by the 18th century evangelical revival led by John Wesley and George Whitfield.

One of the persons who came to hear John Newton was a member of the House of Commons named WILLIAM WILBERFORCE. Wilberforce was a bright up and up coming member of the House of Commons and he was so inspired by Newton and John Wesley he felt a call by God to work through the Parliament to outlaw slavery in the British Empire.

For 18 years Wilberforce introduced legislation to make the slave trade illegal in the British Empire and he was soundly defeated year after year. However, in March, 1807, two hundred years ago next month, the slave trade was made illegal in England.

Wilberforce is called the ABRAHAM LINCOLN of England because he succeeded in outlawing the slave trade in England 60 years before Lincoln signed the EMANCIPATON PROCLAMATION freeing slave in the United States.

John Newton also discovered he had some ability in writing hymns and wrote about 280 hymns which were published and sung throughout England. In our hymnal we have two hymns by John Newton: AMAZING GRACE and GLORIOUS THINGS OF THEE ARE SPOKEN.

A movie, entitled AMAZING GRACE, which is about the spiritual lives and challenges of JOHN NEWTON and WILLIAM WILBERFORCE in outlawing slavery will open next Friday February 23 in theatres around the country.

This movie was shown at the Heartland Film Festival here in Indianapolis last fall and received the award as a TRULY MOVING MOTION PICTURE.

The heart of the story is the song Amazing Grace which John Newton wrote about his life transforming experience with God which lead him to the ordained ministry and to devote his life to overcome slavery. Here is what Newton wrote:

AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME.

Looking back on his life John Newton felt that he was truly a wretch - a cruel and heartless man for what he had done in selling Africans into slavery because of his greed for wealth. But he also felt that God’s amazing grace, love and forgiveness came as a sweet sound into his life and that removed cruelty and greed from his life and gave him a heart of love for God and all of God’s children everywhere.

I ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW AM FOUND, WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE.

Newton realized that he once was lost in his greed and his intense desire for wealth and was blind to the ways he was destroying the lives of thousands of African people.

However, God came into his life in the midst of a storm and he experienced God’s amazing grace and love coming into his life and filling him full to overflowing with the love of God. He spent the rest of his life telling people about God’s amazing grace for all people.

Now, you know the rest of the story behind the song Amazing Grace.

It is the amazing story of how God transformed a greedy, cruel slave ship captain into a loving, compassionate preacher who gave his life to free the people he had once sold into slavery.

If you ever wonder about the power of God to transform a life, we have to look no further than the life of John Newton.

Pastor Millard, St. Luke's UMC