Friday Links - Test Your Visual Acuity

According to X-Rite Photo I've got perfect visual acuity (which I attribute to working in a carpet store and being forced to learn the difference between red, pink, salmon, rose, and cherry).  Take the test here and let me know how you do in the comments.

This list from Oddee.com of The World's Coolest Bathrooms makes me want to expand my horizons in the restroom; although, I don't know if I could go while a giant sea turtle was watching.

Here's some Calvin and Hobbes to start your weekend:

In Defense of the Mega Church

I've had to defend the mega church more than once.  People have asked me, "why does it have to be so big?" and, "do you ever really get to know anyone there?" many times.  I didn't know what to make of the mega church trend myself until one day when I realized I had been attending one. 

Years ago, I remember being puzzled when someone called my church a "mega church."  Don't people say that mega churches are impersonal and boring?  My church was nothing like the stereotypical mega church that people like to criticize, and I began to investigate the mega church trend to see what it was really offering.  These days I happily attend a small local church,  but I am eager to defend the mega churches so I can show people what they have to offer.


Oh, the Places You'll Go - Do you travel for your business and find yourself on a plane every Sunday morning?  Large churches have ministries that help traveling businessmen find fellowship.  Want to ride motorcycles with other believers rather than your usual group of Bandido's?  Motorcycle fellowships are all the rage! 

I've seen it all.  The person who wants to find a place to belong can do well by visiting a mega church and finding groups that are filled with their own demographic.  I've even seen knitting groups for people who like to knit and want to do so in groups (it's long and lonely job, by one's self).  The value of such a large group of people is that fellowship is actually easier to find when the church is well organized.

Did you know that Charles Spurgeon pastored the first mega church?  The Metropolitcan Tabernacle is still holding services 150 years later.

Oh, the People You'll Meet - The most common complaint about mega churches is that they are so big that they are not able to provide an intimate setting, but this is not true.  In fact, the intimacy of the many groups in mega churches always impresses me.

A church with 5,000 members will have small groups of 100s, which break into smaller groups of 10 or 20.  When this model is done correctly, it's fairly easy to navigate these groups and find a place to belong.  Intimacy and closeness is not missing in these churches, and I suspect that those who level such charges are simply attending the wrong mega churches (or, more likely, haven't been to one but want to criticize them, anyway).

But it's not just about fitting in and finding people you get along with which brings us to...

Oh, the Things You'll Do - Want to serve meals to sick children?  Help build houses?  Fix computers for people who can't afford the repair job?  Or (here's something that mega church ministers really like to hear), do you have your own idea for a new ministry that you would like to start?  Large churches often set up a myriad of ministries like this to help their communities.  Soup kitchens and job boards are common, and I've been a part of neighborhood cleanup crews that spent all day turning one terrible looking street into a safer and cleaner place for the local residents.

When a person pokes fun at a mega church, I often want to ask them how much work they are doing for the community.  It's hard to think of an organization that directs so much of its manpower and cash to helping the needy as the mega church does.  By joining a mega church, you can be a part of helping your community - there's hardly a better way to get involved in local outreach.  When people ask me why mega churches need to be so big, I start to describe all of the outreach done by these churches ("Well, there's a food pantry inside, and a clothing drive, a day care, job training for the unemployed...") and the size becomes understandable.  When hurricane Katrina hit, my church was able to help people from Louisiana by feeding thousands of them and finding them clothes.  That's important, and we should remember to thank these big churches for what they do instead of criticizing them.

So, ease up on the mega church, because those churches are doing a lot of good and intimacy and strong fellowship are easy to find within.  Smaller churches are declining, so unless we find ways to revitalize the traditional church model, the mega church might be the church of your grandchildren (and that's OK).

Does the Bible Support Homeopathy?

It might seem like a superfluous question, but some supporters of homeopathy have decided that there are Bible verses supporting this alternative style of medicine.  Since homeopathic medicine raises some serious and interesting claims, I've decided to look into it.

The practice of homeopathy was started by Samuel Hahnemann in 1796.  He came up with a notion that he should cure symptoms by administering drugs to his patients that would artificially give them the same symptoms as they already had.  And, for some reason, the dosage needed to be very, very, very small.  So, a patient with a headache might be treated with an herb that was known to give headaches after it had been strongly diluted in water.

Today, these medicines are still available to those willing to spend $90 on a bottle of nose spray.  The ingredients in these medicines have been heavily diluted in water and promise that there will be no side effects.  That is a pretty easy promise to keep, because the dilution level is so high that the mix is essentially just water (sometimes the dilution level is so high that it surpasses Avagaro's limit, which means that there's no chance of a single molecule of the original substance remaining).  There's a very good video discussing homeopathy here, if you want more information.

What could this possibly have to do with the Bible?  Dana Ullman, famous homeopathy spokesperson, has found a few Bible verses that he thinks prove homeopathy as a real science.  For example, in the book of Numbers the Israelites are able to ward off the effects of snakebite by looking at a snake.  Ullman sees in this an echo of homeopathy - disease/infection can be cured by similar things.  That's a pretty broad connection.  Elsewhere, Moses throws a bitter branch into bitter water and makes the water drinkable.  Again, Ullman believes this is evidence that God wants us to cure disease with similar things - thus proving (somehow) that if a substance causes similar symptoms as you disease, then heavily diluting that substance in water creates a cure.  (Note: these Bible passages discuss miracles the Israelites witnessed that had no scientific basis- hence the "miracle" part.  These were not medical workshops.)  The full list of his biblical "findings" is here.

The logic connecting homeopathy to the Bible is clearly faulty and so are the scientific claims - but the most ardent supporters of homeopathy do not appeal to science.  It's obvious that diluting something can't make it more potent or more useful (especially if it is diluted until only water is left), so the homeopathic community reaches out to magic and superstition.  They will say that magic powers (sometimes from Atlantis) are responsible for these cures and that science simply can't understand it.  Of course, if that were true we would be able to independently verify that these cures work through clinical trials; the homeopathic cures fail to work in every known scientific observation.

So, homeopathy is scientific nonsense, and since the peddlers of these "cures" are fraudulent we should be certain to keep it away from Christianity.

Friday Links: JoannaMae.com

My friend Joanna (pictured, at right) has a fun website which is way better than the one you're looking at, now (probably because it is a website instead of a Blogspot account hopelessly dressed up as a website).  It's got some really funny stuff as well as some links to helpful sites about religion and Christianity.  Check it out at http://www.joannamae.com/

 Furthermore, this made me laugh out loud.

And if you still need a distraction, check out Listverse.com's list of the Top Ten Unusual Patron Saints which details Isidore, the patron saint of the internet, and Brendan who looks after whales.  (I'm surprised they left out St. Guinefort - the only dog to be considered a saint - but it's probably because his recognition was never official.  No, that's not a joke, it really happened.)

Happy Friday!

Gay Protestor Makes a Good Point

If you're going to make an argument, no matter what it is, you'd better argue well.  The protestor above is responding to some pretty weak arguments from Christians with a reply that shows he has better Bible knowledge than those who have been protesting homosexuality through obscure Old Testament verses.

The problem comes from a passage in Leviticus 18:22 which says, Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.

That seems pretty straightforward, but the very next chapter says that I can't eat steak that are medium-rare and I can't trim my beard in certain ways.  Does your anti-homosexual protest sign explain why you are cherry picking obscure Old Testament references to observe while ignoring others?  (For the curious, a simple answer to why the Bible includes obscure laws that are not part of Christianity - a very good question - read this.)

Radio personality Dr Laura, a practicing Jew, has also used this argument.  A listener took this to its logical extreme and sent her an email asking some follow up questions, including "I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?" and "I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?"

So we see that when we do not study logical fallacies before engaging in dialog we are prone to make embarrassing errors.  (Read this, and especially this and this, for more information how to avoid making poor arguments.)  What the protestor in the above picture has shown us is that there are called Christians employing illogical and poorly thought out tactics to fight homosexuality who have only succeeded in making every Believer look foolish.  Thanks, a lot, for making us all look hateful and stupid at the same time.

We don't minister to people by shouting and griping at them - we can only minister by reflecting God's love.

 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"  Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." - Matthew 22:35-40

Stop. Doing. This.

Is it Safe to Bring Your Kids to Church? Here's How You Can Tell.

The media thinks that child molestation in the church is a new problem - it isn't.  This horrible crime has been going on for a very long time in churches, schools, and any other place where adults work with kids.  But the good news is that in our day and age you can find churches where your children will be safe from predators.

Here are the questions you should ask when visiting a church:

How many volunteers will be with my kids?

Any respectable church has at least two adults with any child (or group of children) at any time.  At my church, it's simply not possible for a kid to be alone with an adult worker.  And if there are not enough workers on any given day to ensure this then the children's minister simply cancels that class and the kids just sit in the sanctuary with their parents (which is how we did it all the time when I was a kid).  The same goes for camps and outings - many adults are with the children at all times and these adults are people who are known by the church rather than random volunteers who showed up that day.  Of course, anyone could be a child predator - which brings us to...

Do you perform criminal background checks on your volunteers?

If a church isn't doing this you should go somewhere else.  Of course, there are some small churches who simply lack the budget for this sort of thing, but there really shouldn't be any excuse for it.  A church should be willing to sell its own pews if necessary to find out about its workers.  Also, make sure this is going on with EVERY worker.  I'm friends with the children's minister at my church, and when I told him I was willing to help out (we were running low on volunteers) he did a background check on me and made clear to me all of the rules and guidelines - even though he knew I already knew them.  He treated me the same way he would treat a stranger who just walked into the church.  This is how every church should do things - no one can be trusted.

Who is allowed access to the children?

At a well run church, anyone in the children's area who is not a volunteer worker or a parent of one of the kids is treated like a hostile intruder.  It doesn't matter if it's the music minister headed for the water fountain to wet his whistle - it's unacceptable for anyone to be there unless they are part of the children's ministry that day.  And no one can accompany young people on a retreat of any kind unless they are a volunteer who was invited.  Sometimes adults like to visit the nursery or the children's room just to see the kids, but that cannot be allowed.

Who is allowed to pick up my child?

No brainer.  No one should be allowed to pick up your kid except you (unless you give expressed permission).  Ever.  Only an incredibly stupid church would just give kids away to anyone.  Still, it's a good question to ask.

Can I look at the children's area?

A church should have no problem showing you where the children will be.  Are there a lot of exits?  Is it difficult for someone to sneak in?  Take a look.  Some of these areas are designed with windows on the doors so the children's minister can patrol the halls and keep an eye on every kid.  Others don't have doors at all.  It's pretty easy to setup child friendly environments and a church should be trying to do this.

Can I help out with the children's ministry?

The best way to see how the kids are being treated is to be a part of the regular rotation of workers.  You can see for yourself if there are any security leaks and you'll know what's going on with your kids (and you'll be able to check on them more easily).  If you are part of a healthy children's ministry for your kids then you really won't have much to worry about.


As you can see, if a church is doing things right then it is pretty difficult for a child predator to get away with anything.  It's certainly more safe then a public school or a private music lesson where teachers and principles are often alone with students.

Churches that find child molestation going under their roofs are never doing these things correctly.  When I hear about a minister abusing a child I wonder, "How on earth that minister manage to be alone with a kid?" That really shouldn't be possible when good organization is in place, and what kind of church (or parent) allows that sort of thing?  There's no excuse for this problem being so widespread - the simple truth is that some churches just aren't doing their job.

The good news?  Most churches are doing their job, and it's easy to find a church with a responsible children's ministry if you do a little homework.

UPDATE: I realize that I left something out - referrals.  In order to serve in any children's ministry a referral should be required (actually, two) from people who can recommend you as a person of good and trustworthy character who can be given the responsibility of handling children.  That's very important, and I appreciate my friends in the comments who reminded me of this glaring omission. 

Why Environmentalism is So Difficult

I try to take care of my planet.  I pick up other people's trash and it infuriates me to see people cutting down trees when they should just leave them alone.  Needless to say, I try to do my part.

But it's hard.  In the old days, you just tried not to use more than you needed, and you put your trash where it belonged.  Simple enough.  But these days the environmental movement has grown in many directions and these different factions of environmentalists don't agree on things.  They all drag scientific claims into their corner and try to appeal to our emotions with pictures of animals and children, but their methods disagree with one another which leaves me scratching my head.

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For example: what are we to do with paper towels? It sounds simple, but it can be complicated.  For example:

While cleaning a spill with a paper towel, I suddenly hear my cat making a fuss.  I assume it's nothing, but as I turn around I see a hippie standing behind me dressed as a Native American with a single teardrop in his eye.  I'm moved as he tells me that throwing away the paper towel  creates landfill waste that breaks his heart.  I think that a thin paper towel covered in biological substances from my kitchen is going to biodegrade in a landfill rather efficiently, but the hippie who just broke into my kitchen says no and sheds a second tear.

Sooo, I need another solution.  Cloth towels!  Just like Little House on the Prairie!  I get out my cloth towel and do the extra work of washing it afterward  just to keep my paper towels out of landfills. Suddenly, I'm visited by another environmentalist who is crying great tears.  She points to my washing machine and my dishwasher and says that I'm hurting wildlife by dumping soap into the rivers.  In her hands is a dead fish that choked on Palmolive. She is soon joined by a dehydrated fellow who tells me that I'm depleting our supplies of water when I wash my towel.  Unable to deal with the emotions they have heaped upon me I agree to stop.

Recycling - that's the key!  The woman holding the dead fish and her dry friend both smile and leave so I can employ my new plan: use paper towels again - but I'll recycle them this time!  It's so simple, why didn't I think of this before?  But, predictably, I am visited by yet another environmentalist with a terrible sunburn and a breathing mask.  What's wrong?  He tries to tell me, but his coughing gets in the way, so he shows me some research that shows that recycling paper emits more greenhouse gases than simply creating new paper.  My great idea is actually hurting the ozone layer and killing the planet by releasing more carbon - I was better off just buying new ones and throwing the old ones away.  According to many, our planet won't last another generation or two due to global warming, so I shouldn't do anything to contribute to that.  Running out of trees is terrible, but the effects of global warming are said to be far worse!

How about those wipes that come with cleaning substance on them, already?  I head to the store to buy some of these, but the first two environmentalists I met, the smelly one and the crying one, are in the cleaning isle of the store shaking their heads.  This product contributes to landfills and pollutes the ground and rivers.  Back to normal paper towels.

I head to the paper goods aisle and see another environmentalist standing in between me and the jumbo pack of paper towels.  He's holding a small sapling of a tree and asking me if I want to take away its future so I can clean up my kitchen.  I have to admit that at this point that pizza sauce on my kitchen floor is getting pretty rank, so I take some paper towels and rush home to clean up my mess.  Naturally, all of the environmentalists and their friends protest my decision by holding hands and surrounding my house singing Peter, Paul, and Mary songs (which I like, but they keep insisting I'm not allowed to sing along).

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Now, you see, there are competing theories of environmentalism that don't work together.  Some tell me to just do something and it will help, but, as you can see, plenty of popular ideas are useless or counter-productive.  I've even been told recently to recycle paper in order to stop global warming, which I think makes no sense.   (Of course, asking me to recycle paper to save trees would make more sense, but I think people like to say "global warming" whenever they mean "something bad is going to happen to the environment.")

So, I'm stumped.  Do I care about the environment?  Of course I do.  It matters that we take care of our planet, but we don't have unified and well understood goals for doing so.  The answer should come from science, but that community spends its time defending the words of politicians so they can continue to receive grants and, as such, is not helping us do anything but muddy the waters.  Responsible environmentalism is hard.

Why "Turning Back to God" Will Not Fix the Economy

In late antiquity, the nation of Rome knew economic depression.  The gory days of Julius Caesar were over and the population was dwindling - taking the economy with it.  In 313 a.d., Roman Emperor, Constantine, issued the famous Edict of Milan which allowed Christians to practice their religion legally.  The persecution was ended and the Roman nation embraced Christianity with open arms.  All government leaders were Christian and Constantine had Pagan centers burned down or converted into churches.  A few generations later, Theodosius would officially make Christianity the religion of Rome (In school, you were probably taught that Constantine did that) and everyone in the empire proclaimed a Christian faith.  The church worked hand-in-hand with the government to bring order and to worship God.

And it didn't help the economy.  Rome dwindled away even faster than before and was soon a memory to most of the people who had known it as their home.  Barbarians took up where Rome had left off and the empire would never be the same.

Previously, Armenia had been facing economic downturn and had made Christianity their official religion (before Rome) only to be conquered (by Rome).  They found their independence and forged a strong legacy over many centuries, but their small country has known great hardship.

The United States (which is nothing like Rome - despite the many crude comparisons made by TV pundits) is certainly having trouble, today.  And some say that the answer is Jesus.  As a Believer, I can't recommend anything that benefits a person better than to pursue a relationship with Him.  No matter how bad things get, His hand will lead us on.  But this is not a recipe for economic recovery.

The very people who struggled with disease and poverty in the early middle ages prayed every day and never missed church (and, no, no one was forcing them at the time).  They were Christian societies that did their best to honor God while wearing rags and never knowing prosperity.  Of course, their consolation was found in scripture; the Bible tells us stories of people who did everything right and still did not have a rich life.  The very apostles they adored so much received nothing but murder and torture for their troubles, and for many Old Testament prophets each trial just led the way to another.

Personal devotion is always important for the Believer, however, the motivation for it should not be money.  Let's remember our devotion in order that we may know Him - no matter what the word around us brings.