wow

So, here's the wreckage from my little sister's wreck. Amazing. Again, she suffered cuts, bruises, a pretty good bump on the head, and a fractured pelvis. She'll be homebound for about 6-8 weeks while the fracture heals. But look at the car, and it's quite obvious it could have been MUCH worse...and we're all extremely thankful to the Big Guy that it wasn't. Wow.

Topic #11 - The Prosperity Gospel

Sheerly by chance, I caught most of a Joel Osteen interview on 60 Minutes last night while at a family Christmas gathering. I think it originally aired in October but was aired again.

I want to direct you to the CBS website recapping this interview. It's a 3 page report, and this link will take you straight to page 3. You may or may not want to read the enitre recap. It is pretty interesting. What's more interesting to me are the reader comments. 86 of them at the time I looked a few minutes ago. And mostly mean, seething, evil, sarcastic, cynical comments at that.

I'm not sure if I can think of a human being in my lifetime who has been so loved and so despised by the Christian community. Even among television evangelists. Millions love his "Prosperity Gospel", tens of thousands attend his church, and millions watch it on tv each week. In fact, his church collects roughly $30,000,000.00 each year through the mail from tv viewers - and they don't even solicit money on the television program!

However, many have grown up in the "Turn or Burn Gospel", and believe it to be the correct way salvation is preached. In addition, many others (myself included) are very focused on a more "balanced" Gospel message. Teaching the good with the bad. The love and the rebuke. The rewards and the punishments. And understanding all of it in the light of God as a LOVING God whose ultimate desire is for His people to love Him, honor Him, live peaceful and fruitful lives, and spend eternity with Him.

In our society today, is the Prosperity Gospel necessarily bad? Is it better or worse than the Turn or Burn Gospel? I'd love to know what else happens at Osteen's church. Small groups, classes, Sunday School, specialized ministries. What do their people study in those environments? Do they dig deeper? Do they wrestle with tougher questions? Do they truly believe that by living the right way, God will provide you with a better life and financial stability? I don't really know. And I'm certainly in no position to judge.

I simply hope and pray that if we believe in the saving grace of Christ, that no matter what lens we see it through - prosperity, turn and burn, catholic, methodist, lutheran, king james only, traditional, modern, missional, attractional, etc - we'll all be able to talk about it someday in Heaven together.

My Chains Are Gone

Just over 7 years ago I committed a criminal offense. I did it. It was horrible, wrong, shameful, terrible, hideous, etc. I've never denied my guilt. Just under 7 years ago I was placed under arrest at about 11:30pm after having driven from Detroit, Michigan all the way to Knoxville to meet with police personnel. I spent the night in jail. My good friend bailed me out around 9:00am the next morning.

Exactly 6 years ago, I was sentenced to 6 years of enhanced probation with the state of TN. Today, that sentence has expired. The words that keep popping in my head are the refrain of Chris Tomlin's new version of Amazing Grace..."my chains are gone, I've been set free, my God my Savior, has ransomed me."

Ultimately, sin is sin. Lying...sin. Stealing...sin. Envy...sin. Pornography...sin. Mistreatment of others...sin. Lust...sin. All sin has a cost. Some more than others. Some may cost more here on earth, all will cost us in eternity. We will account for our sin. We will be rewarded because of our righteousness.

This is going to be pretty "rough", because I don't have much time....but I'd like to give a brief overview of what my criminal act of sin has cost me in the last 7 years. Here it goes:

• Approximately $16,000 in fines, misc fees, and legal fees.
• Approximately $30,000 in lost wages.
• Completed 576 hours of fairly grueling community service work.
• Attended about 175 group counseling sessions, totalling about 250-300 hours.
• Submitted to 9 polygraph tests over 5 years.
• For the first 19 months of my son's life, I was not allowed to care for him by myself.
• For the next 12 months of his life, I was only allowed to care for him by myself while my wife was at work.
• Almost all of my immediate family live in Kentucky, about 3 hours away. In the last 5 years, because of travel restrictions, I've been to Kentucky a grand total of 1 time.
• Because of the above restriction, my parents (and brother/sisters) have probably driven to Knoxville at least 12-15 times in the last 3 years to visit, often spending the night on our living room floor and spending who knows how much in gas and food money.
• Summer of 2004 - was forced to move residences within 1 weeks time.
• Numerous lost friendships and relationships.
• Until today, I have not worn shorts in public in almost 2 years. This because I've had to wear a "box" on my belt and a bracelet on my ankle since September 2005.
• Went through a significant period of time when I wondered if I would ever attend a church again.

I'm sure there's more I could add to this list. But you get the point. You do bad things, you suffer bad consequences. Thank God for watching over me all this time. Thank God for my wife who's loved me throughout. Thank God for my family (including in-laws) that have supported me and done whatever needed when we were in a pickle. Thank God for some of you reading this who've remained loyal friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I hope this helps shed some light on the name of my blog...Life Recaptured.