This New Year

Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise Him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

Murdered Prostitutes Family attacks Virgin

The Canadian Press reported that Sarah DeVries' family is verbally attacking the Virgin Megastore in Vancouver, B.C. for selling Jack the Ripper dolls. Maggie DeVries, Sarah's sister, argued that a doll depicting a serial killer who preyed on prostitutes was painful for her family, since Sarah, who was a hooker, was probably murdered by a serial killer who preyed on prostitutes.

Pig farmer Robert William Pickton is charged with killing 15 prostitutes, and may be charged with more counts of first degree murder as police continue their investigation. Sarah DeVries' DNA was found at Pickton's Port Coquitlam farm, but he has not been formally charged with her murder.

There are several things I find quite disturbing about this story. (i) Robert William Pickton, if he is guilty, is evil. I find that very disturbing. (ii) Prostitution is wrong and there are some real moral questions that have to be raised about a family which did not seem to have a problem telling Sarah's two kids their mother was a hooker, but gets upset having to tell them that the local Virgin Megastore sells Jack the Ripper dolls. (iii) Why in the world would you sell a Jack the Ripper doll? (iv) Why in the world would you make a Jack the Ripper doll which includes a selection of bloody knives?

Montana Supreme Court Made the Wrong Decision

This morning I stood at my window, looked to the North, and shook my head in disbelief. Montana's Supreme Court ruled yesterday that homosexual couple's deserved the self same benefits as normal couples. This is, of course, not true.

Homosexuality is simply not the moral, social, or physical equal of normal sexual relations between a committed man and a committed women in the loving arms of marriage. And as such homosexuality should not have the same social or financial benefits.

I am a father of seven children.

I am a father of seven children. Once, I was more known for my own actions, for my own skills, and for my own beliefs separate from these others, but now I am forever examined in relation to my offspring. My actions are viewed in the context of my fatherhood, so also is the case with my skills and my beliefs.

Behavior, which would have been socially acceptable for me before my children were conceived, is now taboo or irresponsible, at least in society’s traditional moral sense. I am responsible for those children, and how I act, how I employ my talents, and how I live what I believe has a very real effect on those seven dears and on my reputation.

This new found context –not that terrible new—of fatherhood while full of joy, has with it a price or an exchange, which could perhaps be called the lose of freedom, or at least it could be called such by those who imagine freedom is the liberty to do as one pleases, God, Family, Society be damned. Or it could be called a sort of framework, which restrains or holds fast certain desires within me.

There is, of course, a conflict between my desires, some of which seem innocent enough when they are taken out of fatherhood’s context, and my duty as a father. This conflict is sharpest, for me at this moment, in the area of career. Where one must choose how to feed, cloth, and generally care for his children, while at the same time finding satisfaction in his life’s work.

Here a desire to have a fulfilling career, which is pleasing to God, can sometimes conflict with a desire to have a financially rewarding job which provides luxuries for your family.

Sexual Sin and the Clergy

Today, defrocked United Methodist Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud, of Philadelphia, said she would appeal to the denomination's Northeastern Jurisdiction in an effort to regain her status as a clergywomen.

Stroud is a practicing Lesbian who lives with her female sex partner. United Methodists do not allow "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" to hold positions in the clergy. For most Christians there is no question that a practicing homosexual should be barred from serving in this capacity, just as a heterosexual minister, who practiced adultery would be defrocked.

Yet, this debate raises a couple of interesting questions. (1) Would viewing pornography, or even viewing certain works of art, etc. etc. constitute a sexual sin worthy of barring one from ministry, or just a physical sex act? (2) What other kinds of sin should prevent one from serving as a minister?

I am not sure I have the answers yet, but would love to read your thoughts.