"Like" Luther on Facebook

Yesterday was Reformation Sunday (it almost always falls the day before Halloween - by the way, "Happy Halloween"), and next year will be the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's writing of the "95 Theses" (they were written in 1517 in the German city of Wittenberg).  In case you can't summon up what those were, from your intro to Theology 101 class, they were 95 reasons that Luther had for why the sale of indulgences (the sale of tokens that got you into heaven) were a corrupt practice by the Roman Catholic church in the early 1500's.  But the 95 Theses are not why I am writing this blog-post on this Halloween morning.

Why I am writing this blog is to let you know that recent historical studies on Martin Luther show that what he was actually an expert in was not by being contrarian or revolutionary, but by being an expert marketer.  If Luther were alive today, in the words of a recently published New York Times article, "he would have used Twitter."  If Luther were alive today, he would have written a blog post like this one.  If Luther were alive today, he would want you to...

"Like" Luther on Facebook

As it turns out, The 95 Theses that Luther printed and posted on Wittenberg's door were actually not that revolutionary of an idea.  Every college professor or budding thinker would post ideas for public consumption and critique.  Posting such ideas on a church door were like writing a blogpost like this one, or going into a chat room online to get feedback.  Luther printed the 95 Theses in Latin, which insured that only a few very intelligent people could read them.  In other words, the 95 Theses in and of themselves were not signs in and of themselves of innovation.

Luther's real gift was in public marketing his message.  His gift was in branding his personal image and his main theological themes.  A recent series of exhibits that will feature Martin Luther in the coming year, have illustrated the nascent monk's ability to get the word out about any given topic or theme.  In the words of John T. McQuillen, assistant curator of printed books and bindings at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, "Luther led one of the most successful media campaigns in history."

Luther's particular marketing trick involved three specific things.  He was the master at putting pamphlets together that were short and easy to read - around 8 to 16 pages - and to have these pamphlets published en masse (around 10,000 at a time), and circulated to all the surrounding cities of Wittenberg.  For those who could not read, Luther would arrange to have his pamphlets read aloud,  like a group story time for children.  Again, according to historians, "Luther made extremely good use of the media at his disposal."

Another technique that Luther used was to have printed images of pictures along with his pamphlets. The pictures or images would accentuate what Luther was trying to say, much like a powerpoint presentation behind a speaker today has the ability to illuminate certain aspects of a speaker's presentation.

Finally, Luther used music to his full advantage.  Luther wrote hymns (he was the Worship Leader of his day), and composed entire books full of hymns.  This was all cutting edge stuff in the early 1500's.  Today, we tend to think of church hymnals as antiquated books that fit underneath the slots in the church pews.  Not so in Luther's day.  Hymnals were as cutting edge as Pandora Music or Spotify or Apple Media Music libraries.

Pamphlets, Images and Music.  Those were Luther's Holy Trinity of marketing techniques.  Without Luther's ability to put out thousands of pamphlets (the cutting edge technology of the day), or to reproduce images and pictures by the thousands at low cost printing, or to publish music in hymnals, it is debatable as to whether we would have had any Reformation at all.

So, if you like this blogpost, would you please...

"Like" Luther on Facebook!

All For Now,

GB

Your People Will Be My People

One of the most contentious issues in this year's Presidential election has been the topic of immigration and, more specifically, the plight of the millions of political refugees around the world.   Even here on the streets of Southern California, refugees from around the world can be seen.  They are simply ubiquitous - from our own back doors to, as the song goes, "the shores of Tripoli".  Tomorrow night's debate between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump will surely hone in on the issue of immigration, more than any other issue of the night.

In this blogpost, I should begin by saying that I do not intend to wade into the myriad of issues and rancor involved in the immigration debate.  The binary debates happening at the highest political levels in this discussion do not give proper credence to the complexity of the topic, and they tend to gloss over the vast challenges involved on all sides of this issue.  However, I did want to offer a quick Biblical perspective on the issue of immigration and refugees.  Recently, I made a pretty startling discovery: almost every major figure, character, name, and person in our entire Christian faith history was at one time a political refugee and an immigrant.

This last week I preached on the story of Ruth and Naomi.  The story begins, of course, with two people, Naomi and Elimalech, who, because of a famine in the land of Judah, have to become political refugees, and have to flee to the land of Moab.  Once there, as refugees, their life moves on, and somehow comes back together again as their two sons, Mahlon and Kilian, marry to "foreign women"named Ruth and Orpah.  After all the men in the family die, suddenly, Ruth and Naomi once again become immigrants and political refugees to return back to the Holy Land.  Ruth, in a moment of clarity and compassion, says it best;

Your People Will Be My People

But this is just one example.  Consider the plethora of other examples of key Biblical figures who were refugees or immigrants at one time or another:

*  Abraham and Sarah - immigrants from Ur to Haran, and then again through Egypt
*  Jacob - a refugee from his own household, as he fled his brother's wrath
*  Jacob and family - become refugees from Holy land back to Egypt because of famine
*  Moses and the Israelites - a mass exodus of refugees from Egypt in the wilderness
*  The Entire Israelite nation - refugees during the reign of Babylon, Persia, and Assyria
*  Jesus and his family - refugees from Herod and the mass extermination of little boys
*  Paul - in a sense, Paul's entire ministry was a refugee ministry, all around the Roman empire

And I am sure you can think of many more examples...

An important aspect of refugees, of course, is not just that they are people who, because of political or other kinds of oppression, had to flee one country and go to the next.  It is also significant that the places that these refugees went, accepted them and welcomed them - for the most part.

Can you imagine, for example if Naomi and Elimalech and their tribe had not been accepted by the Moabites when they fled to that country because of famine in their own?  What if they had been shunned, or worse, killed?  Ruth is the ancestor of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.  There might have been no Jesus without Ruth, and without the acceptance of the Hebrew refugees into their culture.  And if the Moabites had not accepted Naomi and Elimalech, would we have a Biblical narrative at all?

The Egyptians, through the centuries, have tended to be welcoming of outsiders, although a case can also be made for the Egyptians not accepting refugees.  Egypt, for the most part, welcomed Joseph of the Old Testament (though he was initially a slave).  Joseph became governor over all of Egypt.  A refugee became President.  Can you imagine the United States doing that?

Egypt welcomed Abraham and Sarah (though Sarah was given to Pharaoh for carnal purposes).  Egypt did accept Jesus and Mary and Joseph when they fled from Herod (perhaps because of their gifts of passage from the Magi - gold, frankincense and myrrh).

It cannot be understated how complex the current debate about immigration and refugee status remains in our country and around the world.  Some countries who have accepted refugees have not taken the next necessary step to consider or think about how they will care for people who are so poor and abject in so many ways.  Some countries who have rejected refugees have not looked deep into their hearts to remember that most of them, were also descendants of refugees or immigrants at one time another.

Suffice it to say that this election's main issue will be remembered as a debate about personal indiscretions and immigration.  Because of this, perhaps we should not forget the words of Ruth, as she adopted a person from a people group who she was very different from - as she adopted a refugee into her own heart...

Your People Will Be My People

All For Now,

GB

What Is Your Lake Of Peace?

For the past several months, I have been commuting between our home in Oxnard to my place of work in Goleta (about 40 minutes to an hour depending on traffic, each way).  Every morning, I set out around 7:45, then drop both girls off at school in Ventura, then I proceed up the coast on highway 101 to Goleta, which is located just north of Santa Barbara.  Then, every afternoon, I pack up my care and woe, throw it all in my briefcase, and I drive back to Oxnard (again, around 40 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic).  When people hear about my commute each day they often comment that,; "you poor thing", "it is such a pain to commute such a distance," or "what a drag to have to drive that far between work and home".  When people say this, I always smile and say, "No, the drive is one of the best parts of my day."  It is my...

Lake of Peace

While studying the life of Jesus recently, I realized that one of the challenging factors of his life was that whenever Jesus was on land, he was working.  Whenever He was near a city, large or small, or even out in the country, He was always inundated with people and work to do.  The Gospels regularly site the number of times Jesus was, "surrounded by crowds", and  "everywhere Jesus went, people wanted Jesus to heal them", and "from that time on, Jesus was never alone".  Jesus' life was a non-stop ministry of teaching, healing, performing miracles, eating at people's houses, and ministering to the lost.  Even when Jesus was attempting to "get away and rest" there were people waiting for him, like the time that 5,000 people were waiting to be healed by him at the south of the sea of Galilee.

Strikingly, the only peaceful time in Jesus' life, was, actually in the middle of the lake of Galilee.  In fact, the only citation that we know of for sure when Jesus was sleeping was during his cross-lake trip, in the middle of a storm.  The Sea of Galilee was about 21 kilometers (which is the same distance as a half-marathon).  Assuming that a boat can row about as fast as the average runner can run, it would take about 2 hours to cross the lake (give or take a minute or two because of traffic - joke).  Those two hours on the cross-lake trip were Jesus' chance for rest, calm, peace, contemplation and sleep.  For Jesus, the sea of Galilee was Jesus'...

Lake of Peace

So, here's my question for you this week - what is your Lake of Peace?  a Lake of Peace is a thing that we must do as a part of our everyday chores, routines, work that is sometimes thought of as a burden or a strain, but which can actually be considered to be a blessing if you think about it in different terms.  For some people, their commute between work and home is their Lake of Peace.  The Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, had to walk from his house to his church each Sunday morning.  In Danish Kirk is the word for "church" and "ga" is the word for walk (it can also be translated as cemetery).  So, Kierkegaard's name - "church walk" is also what he did each day "a church walk".  But for Kierkegaard, the walk was his;

Lake of Peace

I know of others who have to drive children from school, to practice, to dance lessons to birthday parties to home.  Their Lake of Peace is driving their kids from here to there to everywhere.  I have a friend who works as a CPA (Certified Public Accountant).  Sometimes the work of an accountant is stressful and challenging, but usually, it is quite mundane and "brainless" addition.  For her, the Lake of Peace is filling out IRS forms.  She can do it without much thought and without much difficulty.  She is at peace when she does it.

What is your Lake of Peace?

All For Now,

GB

A Well Anchored Place

Ever since I can remember watching television news programs - I can remember watching David Gergen.   (Yes, it is true, I was a nerd growing up - did I mention I was also Debate Club President?).  David Gergen, you may already know, worked as a Special Assistant or Director of Communications for four United States Presidents - Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.  He currently serves as a professor at the "Center For Public Leadership" at Harvard University.  As a kid, I watched Gergen for the first time on the weekly television conversation/debate between "Gergen and Shields" (David Gergen and Mark Shields), on the McNeil Lehrer Newshour on PBS.

Recently, Gergen was asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper, to comment on the Presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.  He was queried about what personal and character qualities make up the soul and constitution of a good United States President.  Without weighing in on one specific candidate in particular, but speaking in general terms, this is what Gergen said; "The best Presidents are not the smartest people in the world, they are people who live their lives from...

A Well Anchored Place

The phrase, "A Well Anchored Place" has been resonating in my mind and heart for a few days now.  I love the ring of it.  Each word in this phrase connotes a sense of strength and calm:

Well...A thing that is good, and strong, not great and flashy.
Anchor...A large object that is tied to a boat that keeps it from moving
Place...A specific area of focus, as in, "We have a place to live"

I also love the mechanics of the concept of "A Well Anchored Place".  Think about an anchor on a boat.  On the largest cruise ships or oil tankers an anchor can be as large as a house.  Most anchors on large boats weigh thousands of tons.  They are so heavy they must be lifted with automatic cranks and hydraulics.  However, any large boat captain will tell you that the size of an anchor does not matter as much as where a boat is anchored.  Sand is never a good place to anchor a boat.  Small pebbles can be equally challenging as a place to moor the anchor of a boat.  The best place, to anchor a boat, of course, is a pile of huge boulders or rocks.  An anchor placed under a boulder, no matter the size of the anchor, can keep even the largest ship from floating away.

Think of that - the size of the anchor does not matter as much as the place of the anchor.

A Well Anchored Place

What Gergen was getting to in his comment about he American Presidency, of course, is that great leaders need to attach their lives to "A Well Anchored Place".  Gergen went on to say that, "Great Presidents are people who can have fun in the day to day, be at ease with themselves and their position."  The do not deliberate or plod through basic decision making processes.  They know that whatever happens to them and the country the ship of state and the ship of their lives will not be blown away.  They live from...

A Well Anchored Place

As Christ followers, we also believe that we must live our lives from...

A Well Anchored Place

The anchor of our lives might be thought of as our heart, or our deepest belief, or our faith.  Our anchor is the most sure thing about us.  And we must anchor that faith on something equally as strong, equally as sure.  Christ followers believe that that - Place - is upon or under the bedrock boulder of Jesus Christ.

Many years ago, I heard a sermon by the great preacher Earl Palmer (of First Pres. Berkeley and later University Pres. in Seattle).  In this sermon Earl talked about the large Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco in 1989.  That earthquake caused major damage to freeway systems, houses, businesses and sky scrapers.  The interesting thing is that the cause of the damage was not necessarily due to the flimsiness of the anchors (the construction of the houses, roads, buildings), but rather, the fact that the structures were not anchored appropriately.  After the huge San Francisco earthquake of 1906, buildings were made more sturdy and steady.  Fewer structures were built out of wood.  More structures were built out of reinforced concrete.  The anchors were fine.  The problem was where the structures were anchored.  The houses were not attached to the foundations in the way necessary to keep them from getting destroyed.  The houses and buildings needed...

A Well Anchored Place

Such places, according to David Gergen, and Earl Palmer, can prevent destruction and chaos, for Presidents and common citizens, and people of faith, even in the midst of the largest storms.

Do you have...

A Well Anchored Place?  Jesus Christ is that place.

All For Now,

GB