Now I don't want to get off on a rant here...

Immigration or Inmigración

It is pretty clear that this is a topic that is bubbling to the top of the American radar. From a domestic stand point there are security and economic issues to deal with while the international view has more to do with sovereignty and compassion. What seems to me is that too many people seem to make these “either/or”, rather than comprehensive solutions that deal with the totality of the problem.

National security and economic prosperity do not need to be at odds with one another – championing one interest should not be suppressing another. They need to work in tangent with attention being paid to our national sovereignty and the compassion that we export.

President Bush recently spoke at naturalization ceremony where 30 new residents were sworn in as American citizens. He took the opportunity share these words about his plan for reform, “I've laid out a proposal for comprehensive immigration reform that includes three critical elements: securing the border, strengthening the immigration enforcement inside our country, and creating a temporary worker program. These elements depend on and reinforce one another, and together they will give America an immigration system that meets the needs of the 21st century.”

Here I think the President is meeting this problem in a holistic way as this three part plan works to solve our security and economic issues by maintaining our sovereignty with compassion. It is a balance between law and grace and a difficult one to keep. Focusing too narrow mindedly on one or the other will either create a Japanese type of isolationism or an amnesty that negates the very foundation of our constitution. Neither is a solution.

It is interesting to note this part of the naturalization oath each new citizen commits to, “I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.” Were it that all citizens had to take this oath, natural and native, to support and defend our country with loyalty to our laws and compassion to our people.

How do you measure a life?

A woman stands accused of a crime before her jury, her judge and her executioners. By law her crime demands payment in full for her offense and that sentence is death. Only blood will atone for her wrong doing; her sin. And here stands her executioners ready to carry out the sentence, rocks in hand.

Others face the same apparent fate of this woman. They walk down the streets, carrying the burdens of their past, their wrong doings on their heart. They have stood accused and have felt the stinging pain of society’s judgment. The musical Rent, touches on this very real and very painful aspect of life. People face the consequences of their actions every day in many different ways, but the question is how do they respond?

The message of Rent is a bleak one. They sing about living and measuring life by these individual moments of feeling anything at all. They cry out desiring to feel something – almost anything. And they face death on a regular basis. The message of their bohemian lifestyle is, “let he who is without sin, cast the first stone and since none of you are without sin no one should be casting any stones, especially not at us”.

Rejoining our accused, tried and convicted woman facing her death she is brought before a higher court. The singular judge of this supreme court has weighed the evidence against her and indeed he knows the depths of her sin beyond anyone else’s understanding.

And he first speaks to her executioners, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her”.

After hearing no answer he turns to the woman and asks, “where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

She replies very meekly, “No one, sir”

“Then neither do I condemn you, Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Here he offers her a plea, a plea of grace. She doesn’t realize it yet, but he just offered to take her sentence of death upon himself. He offered to pay the price by the shedding of his own blood. Because of this amazing gift of grace he gives her a command, to turn away from the adulterous life she was living and follow him. This is where the message of Rent falls flat on its face; the failure to recognize the gift of grace and the responsibility that comes along with having that gift bestowed upon you.

“Our response to this film,” says Willie R. Mangum Jr, “and to the Rent players in our real lives, must be according to the same compassion, mercy and grace demonstrated at Calvary and granted to us.” We are not to stand in oppositional judgment, but together in mercy and love. That is how we point others to Christ by showing them His tender mercies, His unfailing love and His righteous life. That is the answer this film cry’s out for, but never delivers.

Related Resources:

John 8

3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"

7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Movie Review: Rent (2005)
Willie R. Mangum Jr.

This film has no redeeming moral value and I cannot, in good conscience, recommend that anyone go and see it. I can, on the other hand, point out that our response to this film and to the Rent players in our real lives, must be according to the same compassion, mercy and grace demonstrated at Calvary and granted to us.

There are no answers in this film. The only real and lasting answers to the questions raised in this film are found in Christ. Our lives must be lived according to the kind of love and compassion He demonstrated to the woman at the well.

World Domination Complex

“So, what are we going to do tonight, Brain?”
“The same thing we do every night, Pinky. TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!”

You may or may not remember these two lovable lab rats from the Animaniacs, but I always thought they were pretty darn funny. Of course they could never succeed in actually taking over the world, no matter how hard they tried. Brain’s superior intellect was never any match for Pinky’s ridiculous hijinks.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depending upon your perspective) for me I am able to manifest both of these silly little characters in my own life. You see, I have world domination complex but have yet to really figure out how to pull it off. Now this isn’t one of those, I want to rule the world kinda things, but that I want to be a part of something that brings about drastic changes in our society. I want to be a part of the solution to every major issue that our world faces. Pretty tall order isn’t it?!

An old roommate of mine once said to me and it has always stuck in the recesses of my brain, “You always thought you were better than us. Before you found God and even after.” Admittedly, prior to submitting my life to Jesus Christ I was rather pompous and looked at myself as the god of my own universe. However, what he saw after I came to Christ was this world domination complex and my desire to affect positive change in the name of Jesus Christ.

Do I want to rule the world? Not at all! Do I want to make an impact on the world for Christ? Absolutely! So, what am I going to do tonight? The same thing I do every night. Try to grow in my understanding of the personal salvation that has been given to me by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, figure out how to convey that message to the world and TRY TO GIVE ALL THE GLORY TO HIM THAT HAS MADE THIS WORLD!!!

BLISS (FATAL ERROR: This program has encountered a fatal error and will terminate)

The warmth of his bed enveloped him as his body lay tangled in the sheets. Comfort, rest, peacefulness all consumed his heart; a stark contrast to what was about to happen. Curious that it was so bright outside already and for so early in the morning he peaked at the alarm clock and all at once everything that was warm went cold. It was 8:30 this was the exact time that he was already supposed to be in the office!!

Jumping up into the cool air out of the coziness of his bed he frantically tried to remember everything that he needed to do to get ready for work. The blood rush jumping up so quickly caused a slight light headedness, but there was no time to worry about that. “MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE” clanged the drums inside his demented mind. All that he had hoped to accomplish before he left for work, all the delight of the previous moments laying in bed were gone – vanished – not in a whisper, but in a resounding yawp of “OH NO!!!!”

Tiny Steps Towards Ecstasy

The first day March brings us one step closer to the beginning of the baseball season. With that the Orioles yet again have an opportunity to change their losing ways. It’s hard to tell what team will take the field this year – the players that shocked the AL East by leading the division most of the first half last year OR those other guys that went from First to almost Worst the second half.

With that in mind I have been thinking about the difference between the spectator and the fan. Going to a baseball game, especially when your team is playing is an electrifying experience for the fan. There is a close knit relationship between the game, the team and the heart. It is almost romantic the intoxication the baseball fan feels when they enter the stadium – hearing the steady murmur of the crowd, the anticipation of seeing the field for the first time, the joy of watching warm ups – all culminating in two beautiful words, “PLAY BALL”! And then there is a 9 Inning marathon to see who will be the better team today.

The spectator doesn’t really care about any of that. They are there for the event, for the spectacle, for the home runs for anything but a pitchers duel. Where is the romance in being a spectator?