Click here to view the embedded video.

The Mac version of Logos 4 is still in development, but it is coming along nicely.  If you own a Mac, I invite you to Beta test with me and help make it even better!

1. You can DOWNLOAD THE SOFTWARE HERE!
2. You can contribute to the development ON THE LOGOS FORUMS HERE!

Want more info?  Here is the official Logos release on Logos 4 for Mac.

Quick Points

• 

  Logos 4 Mac Live Screen Capture

  Logos Bible Software 4 is dual platform, but the Mac version is not finished. We are presently shipping a pre-release Alpha of the Mac version.

• The Alpha for Mac shares the same underlying code as the Windows version, but is missing much of the user interface, which needs to be coded specifically for the Mac.
• The Alpha can update itself over the Internet. We plan to release an update every two weeks or so, which it detects and downloads automatically when it is run.
• If you order Logos Bible Software 4 today, you will receive one disc that installs the Mac Alpha on Macs, and the Windows version on Windows.
• You can install on either Mac or Windows or on both. Any data you create in either version — Mac or Windows — will be automatically synchronized over the Internet.
• You can choose to run the Windows version now, and know that your data, notes, and settings will transfer to the Mac version when it is complete, or you can choose to run the pre-release Alpha version on the Mac. Or both.
• If you are already a Logos Bible Software for Mac user, upgrading to Logos Bible Software 4 will not change your existing installation. You can run the older product side-by-side with the Alpha for Mac.
• If you are not an existing user, but need a stable Mac version right now, you can purchase Logos Bible Software 4 now and install it on either Mac or Windows. We will soon make available a free download of the old Mac product with instructions on how to activate it to use the larger set of licenses that come with Logos Bible Software 4 base packages. This is a bit of a hassle, for which we apologize.

Detailed Explanation

Logos Bible Software 4 is a completely new product. We started over so that we could take advantage of the latest technology for both Windows and the Mac, and because we wanted to do things right.

The first version of Logos for Mac was started long ago using our last generation design. It took too long, and was still being developed (by an outside partner) as we worked on new platform development for Windows. We had to choose between continuing that effort and having a Mac product that remained a generation behind, or starting a new Mac project that shares code and matches—or exceeds!—the Windows product feature-for-feature, complete with synchronization of all your data.

It was an easy choice, but a hard pill to swallow in regards to timing, because it reset Mac development to the starting line just after we’d shipped our first version.

Today we have all of our Mac development in-house. We have a team of talented developers working long hours to finish Logos Bible Software 4 for Mac. We just moved a Windows developer to the Mac team to get there faster. (Don’t worry—he’s a Mac user at home and at heart. He only coded for Windows to feed his family when that was the job available!)

The good news is that we’re moving forward as a multi-platform product. Logos Bible Software 4 is not even sold for Mac or Windows; we have both a Mac and a Windows version on every disc. (And iPhone support as well!) We don’t have different pricing. You don’t have to specify Mac or Windows when ordering. Our goal is that Logos Bible Software 4 just works—for Mac and Windows.

The Mac version is not finished yet, though. We have the core of the system working on both platforms, and the Mac Alpha release reads and indexes the exact same resources and data files as the Windows version. It synchronizes with the server and even uploads and downloads notes, settings, and other data. It can automatically update itself over the Internet.

It just needs work at the user interface level, and we’re doing that as fast as we can.

Why didn’t we wait? Because the Windows and iPhone versions were both ready, and because the new collections have so much value in them we didn’t want to delay offering them to our users. Delaying wouldn’t speed up the Mac product, it would just delay access for the larger group of users.

Windows users are still the majority of our customers, but we’re seeing an incredible move to the Mac. That’s why we’ve developed a common code base and a unified product. And our powerful synchronization system accommodates those poor souls forced to use Windows at work when they have a Mac at home as well as making it easy for switchers to jump. You’ll be able to make Bible study, not your platform, a priority, and switch easily from Windows to Mac to iPhone (to web!) without losing a thing.

We’re so sorry to be late with the Mac version again, but we know you’re going to love the result, and we want you to know that the Mac is a top-priority.

Please Note: You may purchase Logos Bible Software 4 for Mac Alpha right now, and use it on Mac or Windows, but there will be no technical support for the Mac version until it becomes a final release. Every two weeks or so, it will automatically download an update, and keep getting better all the time. If you aren’t comfortable with an Alpha release you should probably wait until it is a final release and support is available.

Orphans - A user with no role.

Lately I have been doing a lot of web design using Wordpress–it is the engine that drives my blog.  Many websites using Wordpress allows users to sign up for accounts and then website Administrators can assign new users a role like “Contributor”, “Author”, “Editor”, or “Administrator”.  However, Administrators can also choose to leave users with “no role” at all.  Now here is something you may not know.  Users who are never given a role on the website are called “Orphans.”  In other words, an Orphaned user can choose to join the site, but they still may have no real purpose.

Orphaned users on a Wordpress blog is one thing, but Orphans in the Church is a whole different matter.  There are two kinds of Orphans I see in the church.

1. Orphans by Design - Some churches encourage new users (membership), but they resist giving them a meaningful role in the church Family.
2. Orphans by Choice – Some people love the consumerist benefits of being a user of the church, but wont commit to help in serving the church.

Whether you are an Orphan by Design or Choice, the result is the same–you are not experiencing the joy of Christian faith! The Scriptures teach us that we were all once Orphans, but through Jesus’ death and resurrection we are adopted as Sons into His Family (church).  So many times in the past I have taught on this very topic and emphasized the blessings of adoption;  we have an eternal inheritance,  we have the hope of eternity, we have the blessing of Church,  but much like the Prodigal Son, any one of us can be a Son, and still live like an Orphan.

What I have learned from Wordpress design is that Adoption into Jesus’ church is incomplete without a role for every person.  Inheritance is not enough, we need to ensure that there are no Sons living like Orphaned users in the church.   It is not enough to “sign-up” for membership.  It is not enough to be adopted.  Church “users” must be given and/or seek out their purpose and ministry role in the church.

Library Management On “The Cloud”

Enhanced Library Management

Over the years, one off the most frequent requests from Logos users was for a better way to manage their growing library of books.  Logos 4 meets these requests with a well thought out system.

• Books are auto-updated over the internet by Logos 4 with no need to search for the latest update on multiple FTP servers.
• When you buy a book from Logos.com, it is automatically downloaded and integrated into your library.  No hassles, no manual downloads… just click and use!
• You can “Tag” books to create personalized collections.  Taggin gives amazing power to the user to create a library that meets their specific needs.
• Just like iTunes, you can rate books to ensure their favorites are easy to find and use.
• You can create customized “short names” to easily search your most used books.
• Cover images help you quickly scan the list of books and find what you are looking for.
• ALL your books, Tags, and customizations are auto-synched to the Logos server, your work computer, and your laptop!  No matter where you study, your library stays current!

Greek and Hebrew Study

Search using "g" for Greek or "h" for Hebrew.

Greek and Hebrew has never been easier to study and learn.  If you are not skilled in the original languages, Logos 4 makes is easy to get started.  You simply type in the word as it sounds in English, and Logos 4 helps you find the right word.

Word Study Is Fun to Do

Once you find the word you are wish to study, Logos 4 offers great visual tools to help you explore the meaning, use, and application.  But you should not confuse “ease of use” with simplistic.  Logos 4 offers many powerful tools and resources to enhance the study of the most advanced language student.

One of my favorite , so far, has been the massively improved resources for Syntactical analysis.  Logos 4 keeps the popular OpenText.org, and in addition offers a brand new alternatives for textual analysis ( named Lexham and Cascadia).  These resources were created by scholars just for the users of Logos 4.   They are quite impressive and necessary for any student or pastor who wishes to dig deep into the biblical languages.

Get It Now

In the near future, I plan on blogging some further insights into this program, but for now, check out the Logos 4 website.  There are some excellent training videos, amazing deals for first time buyers and special upgrade discounts for existing customers.

Visit the Logos 4 Website Now

Reviews From Other Beta Testers

• Go Share Your Faith
• Pastor’s Corner
• Bible Software Review
• My Ramblings
• Ricoblog
• Truth is Still Truth
• Kevin Purcell
• Mike Aubrey (A good summary of some new Greek Tools.  I was going to post some of this later on, but Mike does it better than I could.)

I wait with bated breath …
for a wish to rub the sleep from its eyes
and for a dream to take its first gasp of life

I wait with faith in my heart and hope in my soul
for the melting of the wintry cold
and the promise of spring sunshine

I wait with impatience …
and sometimes with patience …
for the passing of the long midnight
and the slow magenta of the dawn

And though hope is sometimes crushed …
and dreams sometimes falter …

I wait …
because sometimes it’s all that I can do

– Dave Young

The Book of Exodus

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and yada yada yada. Anyway, all the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were ______________(fruitful / stealing all the land in violation of demands from the international community).
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who ______________(did not know Joseph / recognized the Jews were a threat to peace in the Middle East). And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are ______________ (too many and too mighty for us / stealing our land and controlling the media). So they ______________ (ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves / took back from the Jews what rightfully belonged to the Egyptians).
Then the king of Egypt commanded that all the newborn sons of the Hebrews, ______________(should be thrown into the Nile / be sent back to their own country / I deny that there was any Jewish holocaust).

__________________________________________(And God saved his people from Egypt / The rest of this chapter is a fiction from the Jewish run media and is not historical / I do not believe in miracles, so the rest of this chapter is just a silly fable / Moses did not write any of this stuff.  It was written later by scribes to convince the masses that God was real).

OK, I got the book of Matthew open and my thinking cap on

First of all, I really liked how you distinguished institutions from communities yesterday! [read here for more]

I think for me as a Christian it is challenging to live FOR God’s Kingdom while living IN this world. I don’t know if that makes sense…

When I see so many Christians in the grip of social and political angst, I wonder what fuels our fears:
Is it the fear of loss of control or do we worry that without our interference, God won’t be able to handle whatever situation we are concerned about (such as gay marriage).

What a small box I put my God in sometimes!

If I believe in His Providence, then I also must submit to it and accept, that no matter how bad things like abortion, genocide, war, world hunger or disease are (just to name a few), they are ALL part of His good purpose and will, part of a plan so big, we will never wrap our brains around it.

But when I accept that, I must also realize that He will fulfill that plan with or without my assistance and involvement in political causes, no matter how noble they are.
But does that mean we should just stand by and watch, turning Christianity into a “spectator sport”?

Does God’s Kingdom begin with and in me and if so, shouldn’t I be politically involved for “biblical” reasons??

I read through the book of Matthew and looked at how Jesus always makes a distinction between the Heavenly Kingdom and the world we live in, between laws and rules made by men and God’s Laws.

I think Jesus wants us to be aware of that distinction and when confronted with worldly issues such as taxes and laws set forth by the pharisees, He always seems to point away from those worldly dilemmas by pointing through Himself upward to God and the Kingdom He serves, making sure we understand that God’s Kingdom is not of this world.

These are the passages I read: Matthew 6:33-34; 15:1-9; 18:24-26; 22:18-21 and Luke 20:45-47

The world is God’s footstool and Heaven His throne. Nations, societies and their laws and political environments, cultures and rulers are raised and taken down by our God and for His purpose. The world as we know it is destined to die along with abortions, wars, pollution, global warming and disease.

That is why I need to put my faith and hope in Christ and the everlasting Kingdom He will come to establish here on earth, not in presidents, political parties, social causes or changes in man-made laws.

If given the chance, I will speak out and try to make a difference but I will not validate my faith in Christ with political activism.

Most of the commentaries I read this week really missed the target of what this letter is all about.   All too often, scholars get hung up on the meaning of certain Greek word or on some minute aspect of Roman culture.  While these tidbits are interesting and add color to Paul’s letter to the Romans, they often get in the way of us seeing the big picture.  What I see in this letter is Paul’s desire to bring unity to the church that was segregated along cultural/racial lines.  The timing of this letter is our first clue to its purpose.

Paul is living in the city of Corinth at the end of his third, and final, Church planting journey around 57 AD.  He now hopes to extend the reach of the church beyond the Mediterranean.  He begins to lay out his plans for his next missionary journey.  First, Paul plans to deliver the offering collected from several churches to the church in Jerusalem.  He then, according to this letter, plans to stop off and visit the church in Rome on his mission to plant churches in Spain.

But why did Paul want to visit the established church in Rome? Paul made it clear in 2 Corinthians that his practice was to never preach the Gospel where another man had built the foundaiton.   So is this trip to Rome a violation of his own principles?  Why Rome? Why now?

Paul’s visit seems to be timed so he can address the confluence of two circumstances.

First, The Church in Rome was predominantly a Gentile church where fewer and fewer Jews were accepting the Gospel. The church in Rome was taking on a strong Gentile character and there was a growing feeling among the Brotheren that the Gospel was no longer for the Jews.

Second, many Jews had fled Rome under the persecution of Emporor Claudius (Acts 18:2). Paul had evangelized, discipled and ministered to many of these dispersed Jews in his travels to both Corinth and Ephasus—people like Aquilla and Priscilla who are mentioned in this letter. After Claudius died, these Jewish Christians returned to Rome. Now back home in Rome, Paul names many of these former refugees in chapter 16.  (Some commentators think Chapter 16 should not be a part of this letter, but I think it is a crucial part of this letter.)

These two circumstances appear to be the backdrop for Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul tries to pave the way for his trip so that he might bring unity to both the Gentile and Jewish Christians in Rome.  He wants the Church in Rome to be one church of both Jew and Gentile.  He does not want to see two divided church built on racial or cultural divisions.  Paul’s mission to Rome was not to build on the foundation of another, but to bridge the gap between the existing Gentile church and the Jewish exiles who had returned..

Paul keeps God in focus throughout his introduction and reminds the Roman church, that all believers have unity in God.

There is Unity in God’s Calling

Romans 1:1-7
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,  who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,  through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake,  among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;  to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul emphasizes here the unity of calling.  Everyone, Apostle and Saint alike, are unified by the common calling in Jesus.  Jesus, who was a Jew in the flesh, is the savior of all the Gentiles and the Jews.  There is unity in His call that is not limited by ethnic distinctions.

There is Unity in God’s Ministry

Romans 1:8-12
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.   For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

We serve God by the power of the Spirit and not by the strength of the flesh.  No matter if the believer is a Jew or a Gentile, Black or White, Male or Female; we are all given the ministry of service one to the other.  Paul, an Apostle, certainly had a very public role beyond the average Christian (sometimes Pastors or Elders are given this same public role), but still everyone needs the encouragement of the church.  Despite the different roles we play in the Body, we must minister to one another in the unity of God’s Spirit.

There is Unity in God’s Family

Romans 1:13-14
I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

So often we divide ourselves using subjective distinctions.  For the Roman’s, it was seeing all those who did not speak Greek as barbarians.  They imagined that all those who did not have their education and culture (including the Jews) were fools.   Paul makes clear in his choice of words that while these distinctions have meaning to the world which is lost in sin, they do not have meaning in the church of God.  The church is one Family.  We are not divided, but live in unity as one Family of brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

There is Unity in God’s Salvation

Romans 1:15-17
So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Finally, Paul makes clear that the Gospel gives us the power to live above the disunity of racial bigotry.  Those of us who believe in the resurrected Jesus, must live by faith.  When our eyes wrongly tell us that others are inferior or undeserving of the Gospel, we must remember the spiritual reality that in God, there is unity through salvation.

• Simeon and Levi took zealous vengeance by killing the men of Shechem for the rape of their sister Dinah (Gen 34:1–31).
• Elijah was “zealous for the Lord” in killing the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18:36–40; 19:10–18.
• King Jehu slaughtered all who worshipped Baal (2 Kgs 10:16–27).
• And King Josiah rooted out idolatry from the land (2 Kgs 22:1–23:30).
• Paul the apostle identified himself as a former zealot who persecuted Christians to death on behalf of the traditions of the forefathers (Gal 1:13–14; Phil 3:6; cf. Acts 22:3 and Rom 10:1–4).
• In the NT, there were 4 main religious groups; Pharisees, Saducees, Essenes, and Zelots. It was the Zelots who believed that any cooperation with the Government was a violation of the first commandment to not have any false gods.

Being zealous, either for Government or against it, is nothing new.  In America, I think we are blessed by God with the right to vote.  We, as Christians, should be active in voting our faith, but politics should not be our passion.  Our zeal, should really be for something far more important.  Here are a few thoughts from some key passages in the Bible that relate to politics and passion.

Be zealous for good works

Titus 3:1-4
Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

Using political power to force others to do “good things” is not the same as doing good works.  Our passion should be to help those in need and in so doing we demonstrate the kindness of God.

Be zealous for the Gospel

Acts 5:27
When they had brought them, they stood them 1before the Council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and 1yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 “The God of our fathers braised up Jesus, 1whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a 2cross. 31 “He is the one whom God exalted 1to His right hand as a 2bPrince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Sometimes we are forced to disobey the authorities for the sake of the Gospel.  Our passion for Jesus sometimes runs counter to the desires of politicians and in these times we must let our passions rule.

Be Zealous for mercy

Titus 3:5-11
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs 1according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.

How sad when our Christian faith is defined by the foolish controversies that ensnare politicians.  Regardless of the political system over us; Democracy, Socialism, or Fascism, our passion for mercy should rise above it all.

Be Zealous for Spiritual Battle

Eph. 6:10-13
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

In a Republican-Democracy, we have the blessing of voting our conscience. In obedience to the authorities over us, we should participate in the system. But our enemy is not the Republicans or the Democrats. Our enemy is not Roe v. Wade, Nationalized Healthcare, or the Military. Our enemy is the spiritual powers that seek to destroy us and hinder the Gospel.

Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

The news is ablaze today with Obama’s big win of the Nobel Peace Prize.  Obama was nominated just 12 days after his January 20th inauguration and recognizes that he did nothing to deserve the award, but won because he has a lot of big dreams for peace.

“I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize.”
“I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations,”

Al Gore is reported to be mad since Obama has not even made a movie.

In the midst of your celebration of peace now come to our world,  you may have missed some other important headlines.

Romo Inducted into Football Hall of Fame

Romo Enters Football Hall of Fame

Tony Romo came to the Dallas Cowboys as a Rookie Free Agent in May 2005. In that time he has set a lot of records for Dallas in passing yards and touchdowns.  So while he has never actually won a playoff game, let alone even played in or won a Super Bowl, Romo has dated Jessica Simpson.  That alone has given Dallas Cowboy fans hope that they too have a shot at winning something out of reach.  So as the quarterback of America’s team and the source of all hope as the finest quarterback ever to play the game, Romo has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Paul Wins Oscar for Best Picture

No Photo Available

A guy named Paul has been awarded the Oscar for best picture.  Paul has never actually made a film, but he has a really good idea for one that a lot of people will like.  The Seattle PI now reports that Paul is learning to use a video camera and plans on buying one sometime in 2010. Soon after he will enter film school and plans to have his movie out sometime in early 2034.

Atheist Made Catholic Saint

First Atheist Saint

Ken Jiles, who is an avowed atheist, was made a Saint by Pope Benedict XVI. Normally Sainthood requires proof of multiple miracles and other assorted religious accomplishments, but Pope Benedict felt that Saint Jiles showed a lot of promise when he recently came to Mass.  Jiles was quoted as saying, “I was actually just coming in to get directions, but I am glad the Pope has recognized my great efforts to live a good life.”  It is rumored that Jiles will soon replace St. Christopher as the Patron Saint of travelers.

I think I caught all the big headlines for the day.  If I missed one, let me know.

Here is the contest part, read my post and tell me in the comments section, how many puns you find?

—————-

I was recently at a conference and during the break I went into the bathroom. Upon entering, I heard a man talking in one of the stalls. At first I thought maybe he was helping his kid. I was soon flushed with embarrassment when I realized there was only one voice talking. “Maybe the bathroom talker was crazy?” Nope. It turns out that he was on his cell phone. Apparently this guy was such an important person, that he could not even spare a few minutes to sit and ponder life’s great issues. Since that time, I have come across at least three other men working their flapper on the potty. It really bowled me over to discover so many people talk on the phone while using the john.

How important can any one person be that they must have their conversations on the crapper?

Maybe the guy was a brain surgeon helping guide his colleague through an intricate procedure to transplant a brain?

Could it be that he was on the line with the President trying to talk him out of dumping a load of nuclear bombs on Iran?

Maybe he was helping his mom bake a loaf and she needed instructions on how to work the oven?

Maybe the IRS was auditing the guy’s assets, and this was his last chance to talk with his accountant?

Come to think of it… nobody is so important that they cannot put a lid on it for a few minutes of private time in the water closet. I can’t imagine Thomas Crapper* or Alexander Bell thought their commodious inventions would lead to such ends. Do people really feel so overwhelmed in life that they must have conversations on the crapper?

I won’t plunge any further into this topic, so allow me close with this suggestion. If someone gives you a ring on the toilet, please remember two things. First, very few things in life are so urgent that you need to interrupt your bathroom business. Second, please wash your phone before you let someone borrow your phone.

* Yes I know the “crapper” was invented by Sir John Harrington and only marketed by Thomas Crapper.

The first is for a local restaurant called “The Park Bench Cafe“.  This site was unique for me in that it features some of my photography for their menu items.  They also have an integrated newsletter that worked out really well.

The second design was for Bethel Baptist Church in Montana.  An integrated podcast for the sermons was one fun part of this design.  The logo was a great part of this design reflecting the organic nature of church and unity of living together in community.

I take that back, actually it is not the silence that bothers me, but the outright defense of child-rape because Polanski is famous and shares the political views of those in power.  Take, for example, Whoopi Goldberg’s recent commentary on her TV show The View. Before we get to her, here are the basic details of the case.

Rolling Stone Features Polanski on the Run from the Law

At question again, is what happened in March of 1977, when Roman Polanski was staying at a house owned by Jack Nicholson. Polanski gave champagne and the drug methaqualone to a 13 year old girl, and allegedly began taking picture of her without her clothes on… The incident didn’t end with the pictures though, as according to the girl, she was told to get into a hot tub which Polanski then got into as well. This then led to an altercation in a bedroom of the house, where Polanski allegedly sexually assaulted the girl.

Three decades later, Polanski has been arrested and faces justice for the first time.  But now, in defense of rape, 110 film industry figures — including Martin Scorcese, Woody Allen, David Lynch, Wim Wenders, Pedro Almodovar, Tilda Swinton and Monica Bellucci — have signed a petition to Polanski released.

On her ABC daytime show Goldberg defended Polanski’s actions, including his flight from justice, by saying, “I know it wasn’t rape-rape. It was something else but I don’t believe it was rape-rape.”  Is she serious?  Yes, here is the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Goldberg rants that we should know the “facts”.  So what are the facts?  What is it exactly that Goldberg says is not “rape rape?”  Here is the clean version of the details taken from the court transcripts.

Two weeks after Polanski plied her with Champagne and a Quaalude, Samantha Gailey appeared before an L.A. grand jury and recalled Polanski’s predatory behavior in a Mulholland Canyon home owned by Jack Nicholson.

The teenager’s troubling–and contemporaneous–account of her abuse at Polanski’s hands begins with her posing twice for topless photos that the director said were for French Vogue. The girl then told prosecutors how Polanski directed her to, “Take off your underwear” and enter the Jacuzzi, where he photographed her naked. Soon, the director, who was then 43, joined her in the hot tub. He also wasn’t wearing any clothes and, according to Gailey’s testimony, wrapped his hands around the child’s waist.

The girl testified that she left the Jacuzzi and entered a bedroom in Nicholson’s home, where Polanski sat down beside her and kissed the teen, despite her demands that he “keep away.” According to Gailey, Polanski then performed a sex act on her and later “started to have intercourse with me.” At one point, according to Gailey’s testimony, Polanski asked the 13-year-old if she was “on the pill,” and “When did you last have your period?” Polanski then asked her, Gailey recalled, “Would you want me to go in through your back?” before he “put his penis in my butt.” Asked why she did not more forcefully resist Polanski, the teenager told Deputy D.A. Roger Gunson, “Because I was afraid of him.”

Following his indictment on various sex charges, Polanski agreed to a plea deal that spared him prison time (he had spent about 45 days in jail during a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation). But when it seemed that a Superior Court judge might not honor the deal–and sentence Polanski to prison–the director fled the country.

So according to Goldberg, when a 13 year old girl is drugged and forced to have anal intercourse (among other acts of sexual abuse) by a 43 year old man, it is not “rape rape”. I wonder if she would feel the same if the girl had been black and raped by a white man?  I don’t know, but her reasoning is still disgraceful.  Goldberg feels that not everyone in the world shares the view that we should protect 13 year old girls from middle aged men. and therefore, it is okay with Goldberg who says;

We are a “different kind of society. We see things differently. The world sees 13-year-olds and 14-year-olds – in the rest of Europe, they’re seen – often times…not everybody agrees with the way we see things.

According to Aljazzera news, Goldberg is right. Apparently Europeans love child rape.  If the person is famous, that is far more important than defending a woman’s right to not be raped by old white men.

France's culture minister Frederic Mitterrand, left, said the arrest was a "terrible thing" - AFP

France and Poland have urged Switzerland to free Roman Polanski, an award-winning film director, after he was arrested on a warrant dating back to 1978, for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.Bernard Kouchner, France’s foreign minister, said on Monday he was working with Radek Sikorski, his Polish counterpart, to help Polanski fight extradition to the US, which issued the arrest warrant.”This affair [the arrest, not the rape of a girl] is frankly a bit sinister. Here is a man of such talent, recognized worldwide, recognised especially in the country where he was arrested. This is not nice at all,” Kouchner said.

He said that he and Sikorski had petitioned Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, over the case.

Frederic Mitterrand, the French culture minister, also criticised Polanski’s arrest, describing it is a “terrible thing and very unfair“.

This incident reveals the true heart and moral bankruptcy of the world. It reminds me why the Gospel of jesus is so needed in our world. We live in an age where morality is culture and truth is opinion. Only a revival of the heart, renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit, will change our world. I am angry at the hypocrisy of the elitist who pretend to defend women to secure their power. But I am also moved to pray for them and all those lost in their own system of reason.

I am equally, if not more, disturbed at the Christians who align themselves with these people for the sake of a political agenda on “woman’s right”.  This story is a reminder that followers of Jesus must be careful who we align with, no matter how noble our goal.

– Dave Young

The implications of this “Daisy Cutter Doctrine” are huge for our time. Jethani rightly points out some flaws within the church in seeking to fulfill our Big Mission using Big Solutions from Big Corporations, but I think he also reflects one of the major blind-spots of our culture. Does this flaw reflect Jethani’s hypocrisy? Or is it simply his own generational bias? I will share the details of Jethani’s own “Daisy Cutter Doctrine”

My concern about Jethani’s own “Daisy Cutter Doctrine” is raised because of his views espoused in another post entitled, “Pro-Choice but Anti-Healthcare?” In truth, while Jethani rightly points out that Big Mission using Big Solutions form Big Corporations is not good.  He, like many other well intended Christians, seem to believe that Big Government is the solution to our Big Mission. Is Jethani’s post on Healthcare, when compared to his Daisy Cutter Doctrine, a demonstration of hypocrissy?  Cultural blindness?  Pandering to help sales for his magazine?  Or something else?  I don’t know because Jethani wont discuss the seeming contradiction of his two posts.

In response to his post, I posted the a comment on his blog.  Yet despite Jethani’s rhetoric about “entering the debate” Jethani was never willing to post my comment.  I attempted several times over a week long period to engage jethani, but it seems his definitino of “debate” is different from the one I read in Webster’s Dictionary.

So I decided to post my comment as “An Open Letter to Skye Jethani“.  Even if he is unable to offer a coherent defense of his position, then I am hoping someone who is better informed can help me out.

Hi, Skye. may I call you Skye?

My name is Joe. I am new to your site. I apologize in advance for the directness of some of my questions below, but I am truly hoping to get direct answers in return if you are willing to engage on this with me. You seem an intelligent writer and thinker, and I hope to get some insight into how you think on this issue since it is quite differently than me.

Your post begins with the assertion that those who are pro-life and oppose govt. run healthcare contradict themselves. I don’t know anything about the group you mention, and maybe they do have the flaws you write about, but on a personal level I would humbly submit my disagreement with your assertion that the only pro-life position includes govt. run healthcare.

I came to your blog when a friend referred me to your post on the “Daisy Cutter” Theology. It is very well written and I plan on writing favorable a post on my blog with some quotes [which is my previous post]. However, if you stand by what you wrote in that post, then I think you should apply it not just to missions, but to all aspects of your life as a follower of Jesus. There is no secular or sacred in our life, only the mission of the King.

Here is my concern Skye, in your other post [on the Daisy Cutter Doctrine], you write, “We have incorrectly made the scale of our methods conform to the scale of our mission. We have assumed that the magnitude of the ends should be proportional to the magnitude of the means. And in the process we’ve revealed how captivated our imaginations really are to consumerism. ”
I think that is exactly what you are doing here. You are wrongly assuming that the scale of your “compassion:” must be met by a massive systemic overhaul–not church-run but govt. run. Interesting how the “massive program for massive impact” solution is acceptable when it is the things we value and “consumerist” when it is something someone else values. Interesting how we reject “systems” in one area of life, but promote them in others where we think it serves our goals. And I say, “we” because I am prone to the same things Skye, if I do not take the wise council of brothers and sisters into my life.

Before I move on, let me give a little background on myself. I am a church planter and have been on a State run healthcare plan for the past 3 years. You have a good job Skye, so I assume you have healthcare from a private insurer. Do you have some personal experience with a successful govt. run healthcare system? My guess is that you would not trade in your private health insurance to be on my State insurance, would you? Based on my experience with both systems, I would trade insurance coverage with you any time.

You write, “But our conviction about life should also lead us to care about the 45 million Americans who lack health insurance and therefore receive inadequate care.”
Can you give me the breakdown of who is in this group of 45 Million? Your latter comment seems to indicate you think this number reflects the poor and unemployed. Do you really think that is the demographic of the total 45 Million? Just curious to know if you really understand this number or if you are just repeating what you read somewhere?

You wrote, “Our belief in the value of life should drive us to seek a system that will care for our brothers and sisters after they are born and not just before.”
Over the past few years, I have been without insurance a few times (mostly when the State messes up my paperwork and we lose it until we file again). We have several friends, and churches around us, who support a state run system and say, like you, that “no one should be without insurance.” Yet interestingly enough, when we were without insurance not one of these people, or churches, offered to help us pay for insurance, or pay for some of our medical bills. So, since this is your value, please tell me how many people who lack insurance do you personally assist Skye? Or is it that you just want other people to pay for your compassion? I see from your site, you are invited to speak at a lot of conferences. How much does it cost to go to one of those and run one? I wonder, if that money was better prioritized to help people instead of promoting careers or sell books or magazines, if the church could not do more for the Gospel? I wonder why the church needs the system of the State to care for people, when that is our mission not the mission of a secular world?

I am also interested to know, can you tell me exactly how much this new system will cost? Do you know how it will be paid for? Who will pay for it? The Bible speaks about indebtedness and its destructive power. Do you think massive debt and deflationary spending is a good solution and demonstrates compassion for the next generation who will be forced to work and pay for it?

You also wrote, ” We should care that the uninsured are 1.6 times more likely to die from cancer than those with insurance who are diagnosed and treated earlier.”
You are right, we should. The problem, however, with your comparison Skye is that you are using the wrong statistic to make your point. The 1.6% statistic you cite demonstrates that people who do not have the Private healthcare system (the one you think is completely broken and needs replaced) are more likely to die from cancer. In other words, the private healthcare system in America is successful in keeping people with cancer alive who would otherwise die. So clearly the system of healthcare itself is not broken if it is saving lives. Skye, if you want to make a statistically meaningful argument, you need to compare for me the rate of death from Cancer for the “fully” insured person in the Canadian and European healthcare systems vs. the Private US system? That is the correct comparison. Please look this up and then tell me. Do more people in the State run systems die of cancer or in the US private system? Which is more successful and caring for people? Do you know? I actually don’t know either, so when you find out please reinforce your argument with the right statistics.

You wrote, “We should care that we have a system that discriminates against those with preexisting conditions, the weakest and most vulnerable in our society.”
I agree 100%. My wife and I are in this boat if we try and get private insurance in the future when our income is higher and that scares me. But, this is also a red-herring (either that or it demonstrates a lack of understanding about the issue itself). The US Govt. can force private insurers to cover pre-existing conditions, AND force them not to drop people who cost “to much.” This law wont cost the taxpayer a single penny in Govt. bureaucracy.

Do you also know Skye that in many states, the government prevents a person from carrying their insurer from one job to the next. It is the govt. that prevents insurance portability.

There are many practical and meaningful solutions to the problems with healthcare that don’t include a State run system. but do you understand why these solutions wont pass? Because politicians want power. Power over people. Power over their lives. Power to control things. I think those Christians who are in favor of a State run system (and I do realize you are on the fence here brother), have an inherent misunderstanding about why govt exists (not just in the US, but the systems of govt itself). If you care to read further, I offer you these couple links.
http://www.morethancake.org/2009/03/one-blood-many-governments.html
http://www.morethancake.org/2006/09/laws-demonstrate-immorality-not-goodness.html

You seem wiling to wait and see how the govt. runs GM before deciding on healthcare, but that is not the indicator you need to look at. Think about this, why is it that NOT ONE SINGLE PROPOSAL now before the US House or Senate mandates that our Congressman must lay aside their Gold Plated healthcare plan and move to this new Government system? Will Barack Obama get the same plan as me? If this solution is so wonderful, why is the political class not willing to receive healthcare under the same system they propose for all other Americans?

I judge leadership Skye by actions, not rhetoric. You write for a magazine on leadership. Is this the kind of leadership you value and put your faith in? Leadership that forces others to do what the Congress itself is unwilling to do? I trust and value leadership that says, “follow me” not leadership that says, “you jump first” How do you define leadership Skye?

Finally, I would suggest that any desire for a “system” that forces compassion is not compassion. For the Christian, the solution is not private insurance or state insurance. I think the solution lies with individuals and churches who must demonstrate compassion by caring for the sick. May I ask your indulgence to read this parable I wrote that expresses my own view on this issue?
http://www.morethancake.org/2009/09/a-parable-of-political-compassion.html

Wow, that got long. I am sure my post reads with a lot more judgement than I truly intend Skye–I fear it is a shortcoming of the intent and probably my own failings as a writer. My apologies in advance, but I do hope you will consider a reply.

Thanks and God bless.

So what do you say?   Is the Daisy Cutter Doctrine alive in well among the Christians who seek Big Government solutions instead of Kingdom solutions?

Skye Jethani

My friend Paula showed me a recent blog post from Skye Jethani where he writes about his “Daisy-Cutter Doctrine.” Jethani is the managing editor of Leadership Journal which is owned by Christianity Today International.

So what is this new Daisy Cutter Doctrine Jethani writes about? It is named after a military weapon designed to do intimidate the enemy with an explosion so massive, that their desire to fight is stripped away. Jethani allegorizes this weapon to the the approach many churches take toward missions. He relates his own experience with speakers at large conferences aimed at energizing the audience for the “big” mission of the Gospel. Jethani writes about these popular conference presenters this way…

Throughout the stump speech, the presenter will wax eloquent about the fate he or she foresees for the new generation of church leaders in the audience. “Your generation will do what mine could not.” “The young leaders in the church are leading the way by throwing off what’s come before.” “You will be the generation to change the world.” Convinced of their manifest destiny, the twenty-somethings will head off to breakout sessions where they will learn the skills to impact the world-usually from other twenty-somethings.

In my study of Church history, this generational bigotry has, in my opinion, been one of the biggest barriers to fulfilling God’s mission for the world. If we are going to really fulfill the Gospel mission, then it must be done by recognizing it is not the task of one “chosen” generation or one “chosen” leader. It is the task of all God’s saints working together in the unity and power of the Spirit. Jethani, goes on to explain why the Daisy Cutter Doctrine is so appealing.

The shock and awe approach to mission is extremely appealing to people shaped by consumerism. It taps into our consumer-oriented desire for big impact and feeds the assumption that large equals legit.

But there is a less incriminating [I think Jethani means "obvious" not "incriminating"] reason why we are attracted to the Daisy Cutter Doctrine-a big mission seems to logically demand a big strategy… So we ask, how does Coca-Cola impact the world? How does Disney impact the world? How does Starbucks impact the world? And we forget to ask the only question that really matters: How does Jesus impact the world?

…through much of its history the church in Europe employed conventional (worldly) means to advance its spiritual mission. This resulted in the gospel being spread by the sword. We now look back at the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the slaughter of native peoples in the Americas mournfully. Centuries removed from those atrocities we wonder-how could people do such things in the name of Christ? Did they not see how inconsistent those methods were with the ways of Jesus? At the time, of course, they did not.

Jethani makes an excellent point. Let me extend his comment. I believe that each generation has its own methods to fulfill the Gospel mission. Each generation has some inherent blind-spot which feeds the mistaken notion that their methods are the enlightened path to achieving God’s call. Cultural bias is one reason why we need the wisdom of every generation to overcome our blind-spots.

The implications of this “Daisy Cutter Doctrine” are huge for our time. Jethani rightly points out some flaws within the church in seeking to fulfill our Big Mission using Big Solutions from Big Corporations, but I think he also reflects one of the major blind-spots of our culture. Does this flaw reflect Jethani’s hypocrisy? Or is it simply his own generational bias? I will share the details of Jethani’s own “Daisy Cutter Doctrine” in the next post and you can decide for yourself.

In the meantime, I want to leave you with a great quote from Phil Vischer of VeggieTales fame. Vischer’s blog is the newest link on my blogroll and his quote is the perfect shield against the Daisy Cutter Doctrine.

Facebook is a cool tool, but I never would have guessed that joining Facebook could create a crisis of identity for so many people.  What question has caused the most trouble for people.

• Interested in Men?
• Interested in Women?
• Looking for Friendship?
• Looking for a Date?
• Looking for a Relationship?
• Looking to Network?

Nope, not these questions are it.  And no, it is not the question about, “are you a man or are you a women.”  The Washington Post says that the Facebook question about “Religious Views” is the most probing question subscribers face.

Creating a Facebook profile for the first time, Eric Heim hadn’t expected something so serious. Hunched over his laptop, he had whipped through the social network Web site’s questionnaire about his interests, favorite movies and relationship status, typing witty replies wherever possible. But when he reached the little blank box asking for his core beliefs, it stopped him short.

“It’s Facebook. The whole point is to keep it light and playful, you know?” said Heim, 27, a college student from Dumfries. “But a question like that kind of makes you think.”

Such public proclamations of beliefs used to require a baptism in water, or a circumcision, or learning the five pillars of Islam. Now Facebook users announce their spiritual identity with the stroke of a few keys. And what they are typing into the open-ended box offers a revealing peek into modern faith and what happens to that faith as it migrates online.

Wow.  How amazing that a simple empty box could create such personal upheaval?  I appreciate that last line quoted above because it brings up a profound question,  ”What happens to faith as it migrates on-line?”  The article goes on to explore how putting down one’s faith in a Facebook box has caused a lot of soul searching for millions of people across the globe.

Millions have plumbed their innermost thoughts, struggling to sum up their beliefs in roughly 10 words or less. For many, it has led to age-old questions about purpose, the existence of the divine and the meaning of life itself.

Some emerge from the experience with serious answers. George Mason University student Travis Hammill, 19, spent several days distilling his beliefs into this sentence: “Love God, Love Others, Change the World.”

Others try to deflect the question with humor.

“God knows,” wrote Hannah Green, 19, who attended Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. “Pastafarian,” typed Maddy Gillis, 20, of Kensington, invoking a popular pseudo-religion that venerates a “Flying Spaghetti Monster.”

A good many, however, tread the fine line between wit and truth: “Agnostic, but accepting offers.” “I barely believe I exist.”

When Facebook added in this question and made it a “fill in the blank” they never guessed it would become one of the most popular and talked about features.  One reason this little box “works” is that it creates challenge for people to both define and refine their beliefs as all their friends read along.

My own experience with this little box with big implications is much the same. Writing in the word, “Christian” felt trite to me.  It seemed like writing that single word would diminish my faith.  I never even considered writing silly things like “Protestant” or “Evangelical” because those words have very little meaning to me and even less meaning to everyone else.  Today, my Faith in the Facebook Box reads, “I am saved by grace… and boy do I need it!”

How have others faced this struggle to fill in the box?  The Times article goes on to share more personal stories about putting ones Faith in the Facebook box.

With space limited to 100 characters, there was simply no room for Heim to go into his childhood experiences with faith — growing up with an agnostic father, an evangelical mother and a fundamentalist grandmother. There was no space to describe the terror he felt after learning of heaven and hell. Or how the hell part weighed especially heavily after he was caught breaking into a neighbor’s home at age 7.

He couldn’t convey the profound faith and forgiveness he found in junior high after hearing the tear-filled sermons of a charismatic Baptist minister. Or the eventual dulling of that faith in college by alcohol. And he couldn’t fully explain the slow reformation of that faith, now that he has abandoned the hollowness of his old party life.

“How the heck do you fit all of that into a box?” asked Heim, who sometimes attends a Lutheran church in Dale City.

So rather than type in a specific denomination or a pithy, amusing answer, Heim entered this non-sequitur: “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”

The honesty of Hein’s answer is important, but it also reflects the influence of culture on both our perception and assurance of ‘truth’.  So where does that phrase used by Hein to define his faith come from?

It is a phrase written by linguistic philosopher Noam Chomsky to demonstrate how a sentence can be grammatically logical and yet have no meaning — how things that seem so right at first can crumble under scrutiny.

“It represents my faith,” Heim said, “how it sometimes makes sense to me and sometimes doesn’t.”

I am completely sympathetic to Hein’s plight.  There are times in my own life when I feel the exact same way.  What I want to know today is this,

• How have you filled in the Facebook box?
• Was it hard?  Was it simple?
• Maybe you left it blank.  Why?
• If you are one of those readers who has not yet discovered the joy of Facebook, how would you chose to answer the question in 110 characters or less?