About WBC: Don’t Feed the Animals
“Westboro Baptist Church” comes to Blacksburg tomorrow to spew hate in the form of picketing and insults. They have toured the U.S., making many enemies but showing no love. I put the name of their organization in quotes simply because they may be Westboro, but they are not Baptist, and they are not a Christian church. They are a cult.
On their website, you will unfortunately find a lot of scripture from the Old and New Testaments, with much of it twisted and taken out of context to serve their own use.
As a local pastor, I’m grateful that it appears that most people in our community understand this group is not representative of Christianity at all. However, I suspect that there will be some that allow WBC to nurse their antagonism toward the institutional church. I don’t blame them. I can only hope that they’ll look past flawed messengers (including me) and look to a perfect God who has revealed Himself in love through Jesus Christ.
Our community has offered many options for response to WBC. Mayor Ron Rordam offered:
I encourage citizens to simply stay away from this demonstration of hate. Make contributions to Tech’s Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention or, if you need to be part of a group, go by Tech’s Graduate Life Center plaza off Otey Street starting at noon.
Blacksburg is a community. We are bigger than this. We are a peaceful community and we can show that on Friday when we make a statement by leading our lives as we always do, filled with the spirit of Blacksburg, a spirit that embraces all people.
Others are planning on picketing them. Through Facebook, there are those calling for several thousand students to show up in silent protest. All are urging civil, controlled responses.
I happen to completely agree with Mayor Rordam about staying away. Everywhere this group has been, the media aids their hate rhetoric by covering them, and they are further enabled to continue their spree of travel and taunting by pressing lawsuits against those that lose their temper and act against them. The best way, in my opinion, to respond is to simply ignore them. Don’t feed the animals.
When you see a sign like that on a zoo cage or in a park, you understand it’s for your protection. You may think it’s cute and fun to feed a furry critter, but what that critter may be eating next is you.
WBC is only composed of about 15 folks. How can such a small group continue to draw such attention? Because we keep feeding them. In our disdain for them, we enable them. We can’t help but do something, we think. But perhaps the best way to respond is to treat them as we would other insignificant and ignorant movements. Don’t feed them.
They plan on picketing downtown at two locations and then at the Blacksburg Middle School (where the high school is also meeting, thanks to the collapse of the gym because of snow – I guess that fuels WBC’s claims that God hates us). I do wish that our local authorities had prohibited them from picketing near the school (if they could). I think it’s a grave mistake to allow any external group to picket or demonstrate at our educational facilities with our children and students in attendance.
For Christ-confessing ministries and churches in our area, it’s very tempting to try to offer an alternative. I am not in a position to offer a definitive solution. However, I would encourage you to be the church on every day of the year and not just seek to make an appearance tomorrow. Let us daily offer our community the love and truth of the Gospel and speak openly about sin as people who are only saints because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. It is a great treasure to know the love of Jesus Christ,
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4.7)
One wonderful gift that WBC does give to our community is its heightened appetite for spiritual or religious conversation right now. It is a door through which thoughtful Christians can walk with humility and grace as we share the loving truth of Jesus’ words and life.
It is loving humility and self-sacrifice that makes a people remarkable to a world in doubt of God. In fact, Jesus said that we ought to be known by our love… not by our signs. (John 13.35)
Other Perspectives
• Collegiate Times article
• Roanoke Times article
One interesting tidbit from the Roanoke Times article that supports the thesis of non-mobilization is the cost to taxpayers. In our depressed economy, it’s deeply frustrating to consider that such a small group can cause the rest of us to pay dearly:
In 1991, about 30 members of the Ku Klux Klan staged a rally and march in Blacksburg that drew about 500 counterprotesters. Some 250 police officers from several jurisdictions provided security. That event cost taxpayers about $23,000, according to the Roanoke Times archive.
Possibly Related Posts:
Bryant Turbeville
Today I learned that my best friend from high school died Sunday. Classmates Facebooked me literally moments before my mom called.
Bryant Turbeville was a year older than I, and although we were separated by a grade, we were inseparable buddies. We weathered the stormy years of high school together, laughing all the way. In truth, I can’t recall too many moments being with Bryant that we weren’t irreverent or insane.
Though we’ve not kept up since college except for occasional phone calls, Carolyn ran into Bryant at the airport in Little Rock last fall after our move to Virginia. Their chance meeting provoked a long, enjoyable phone call in which we shared life and reflected on how God had led each of us.
I am still a little stunned by his death. He was visiting a friend, stood up and complained of a pain in his leg. It was an aneurysm which went straight to his heart and killed him instantly.
Such is the brevity of life.
Bryant blessed mine with such deep benefit in our friendship. Here are just some random memories:
- Singing all of Chicago 17′s songs from his tape deck in his white 300z at the top of our lungs on Friday nights while cruising Little Rock. I don’t recall our crooning ever successfully resulting in meeting chicks.
- A student council convention in which he, Tanya Siebert, Angie Harrison and myself represented Pulaski Academy in our bid for a state office. I dressed up as Superman and bounded out into the gathered assembly with the other three singing a song to the Superman theme tune:
Pulaski Academy…
Making a difference you can see
A great state council we want to be
When you vote… Pulaski Academy!
- Dozens of movies. In fact, since my folks were sticklers about rated R movies prior to my 17th birthday, I’m pretty sure it was Bryant that I saw Beverly Hills Cop with. It was my first theater R movie experience.
- Physics. We took it together, as I recall, and Dr. King was our teacher. He was a rather interesting character, and one day we were shooting rockets off from the high school football field. It was Bryant who had the idea of dropping grass blades down Dr. King’s exposed butt crack as he knelt sweatily over each rocket to light it. I always wondered if he ever worriedly informed a doctor that he had grass in his stool.
- In college, I found my freshman year that a friend who shall go unnamed (but rhymes with Hitch Lettuce) had a favorite pair of underwear. They were semi-bikinish and grossed out his roommate. I stole them over spring break, and Bryant and I drove all over Little Rock taking pictures of that pair of underwear lying on landmarks from the WWII memorial at the State Capitol to the Old Mill. We sent pictures (copies of which I still have; so Hitch, don’t consider revenge) as a ransom note.
- High school football and basketball games rooting on the Bruins.
- And so many more…
I also remember Bryant’s deep and abiding faith in Christ. He and his family attended First Baptist in Little Rock, while mine went to Immanuel Baptist. It was always a deep encouragement to know my friend shared my faith and love for Christ. Last fall as we visited on the phone, we both marveled at my role as a pastor. Bryant had such affirming and encouraging words for me.
Bryant wanted to be a doctor when we were in high school and pursued his dream with earnest. I too entered college with the idea of being a doctor but changed to communications after my freshman year. He was practicing with OrthoArkansas upon his death. (I’ve used their stock photo for the picture above because mine are all in storage.)
It’s a little surreal to lose a friend that you’ve not been good at keeping up with. However, his grace, joy and love will always be remembered. He was the kind of friend that lasts a lifetime – in spite of distance. I rejoice that I will see him again one day. I can’t help wondering if he’s tried to serenade the Lord with Chicago’s hit song, You’re the Inspiration.
Thank you, Bryant Turbeville. You are missed.
Possibly Related Posts:
Unmoved by disobedience
“Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.” (Psalm 119.136)
As I reflected on this Psalm a few days ago, it struck me. I’ve grown callous to sin in me and around me. I am unmoved regarding disobedience. This is in spite of the reality that each Sunday, I urge others to simply obey. It’s way too easy in this flash flood carnality that we live in to become immune to the rampant disregard of truth.
While political parties debate about the rights of health care, and others bemoan the evaporation of civility, the psalmist weeps because God is ignored. As in his day, it is in ours – it’s repugnantly easy to disregard God.
In the depths of my soul and the extent of my experience, I’ve never found obedience to God to be ultimately harmful to me. Rather, submission to His Word revealed in the Bible is a relief. It removes me from the driver’s seat on a trip that has stretched far too long and exceeded every energy drink I have in stock. Submission to God’s Word and will at that point is a lifesaver. For I simply cannot go the distance. The desire to stay in control is there, but my heart and soul have been designed to lovingly ruled by their Creator.
It is when we obey that blessing blooms.
Wonder with me today. What is it that you will not obey?
What odious word, what hateful directive
Do you refuse to to be your life objective?
Is God so wrong and you so right
That you resist Him day and night
Is He intent on your destruction
So much so that you’re bent on construction
Of a life deluded in your independence
Of one denuded of your obedience?
Your lids are heavy and the road’s great length
Exceeds your energy, your drive, your strength.
Best pull over; let Another drive.
He will not forever with you strive.
“Your statutes are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.” (Psalm 119.112)
Let yourself be moved today.
Possibly Related Posts:
You’re invited!
We’d love to have you be a part of our worship service at Northstar Church this Sunday if you’re in the area. Here’s a Google map to the Blacksburg Middle School. We have services at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m.
Possibly Related Posts:
A boring day working on finances
It was a beautiful Saturday in Blacksburg. The family was out and about, but I was stuck in front of the computer reconciling our financials. Fun.
So… I remembered “Gawker” – a time-lapse app that takes pics through your webcam at specified intervals. Here is the boredom that follows.
Working on Quicken from Jeff Noble on Vimeo.
Possibly Related Posts:
Review: Tea with Hezbollah
In a world that denounces terrorism and too often uses incendiary language of condemnation to describe one another, it’s rare to find voices of core values. Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis recount a breath-taking journey into the Middle East in 2009 to sit down with Muslims and “radical extremists†to ask them one simple question: What do you think of Jesus’ command to love our enemies?
I’ve been a fan of Dekker for a long time as the creative genius behind the fictional Circle Series. I was anxious to read Tea with Hezbollah because of that and due to the insanity of the project itself.
As I turned each unbelievable page, I found myself immersed in the peoples of the Arab world and their responses to the question. Dekker and co-author Medearis sit down to share conversation with Muslim and “terrorists†in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Syria. It was no cake walk.
The true-life tale spins out like a Hollywood thriller, albeit with decidedly anti-climactic conversations. Rather than try to interpret each interview and its political or religious influences, the authors simply give you the transcripts and leave the conclusion-drawing to the reader.
I’ll admit I struggled with the responses of those interviewed, but I was also confronted with my own Americanized Christianity. Time and again, the authors relate that they were in search for the Good Samaritan in the Middle East. Was there anyone still in that war-torn but faith-saturated region of the world that could love their enemy?
Interspersed with the interviews is a powerful story of one young girl’s search for family and connection in Lebanon. It has a happy ending, and it is an amazing complement to the overall message of the book.
If you struggle with seeing Muslims as your neighbor and extending them the same love of Jesus Christ that was and is today extended to you, then this book may be the beginning of a paradigm shift for you in attitude and faith.
This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group and can be purchased here.
Possibly Related Posts:
Bookstore melancholy
This is the first of my posts in reflection on my recent personal retreat. As an aside, I’m grateful to David James, the Arkansas Baptist Collegiate Ministry Team Leader, who effectively urged me to take a regular personal retreat each year that I served under him as a campus minister. It was a strange practice to me at first, but it’s become a cherished pilgrimage that I now seek to prioritize twice a year.
Since moving to Virginia, my family and I haven’t been east of Blacksburg except to go to the airport in Roanoke or attend a meeting in Richmond. I left last Thursday a.m. with Lynchburg in my sites for the first personal retreat in a year and a half. 2009 was just so crazy for me that I wasn’t able to schedule one.
My three days there were spent reading, writing, praying, and simply being. At times the quietness almost overwhelmed me. I am grateful for an incredibly supportive spouse who recognizes my need for solitude and for two kids who just seem to take for granted that dad needs time like this.
Bookstore melancholy
I visited a bookstore while in Lynchburg, and while there, I bumped into a familiar bookstore buddy of mine – melancholy. Typically I ran into Mr. M when I was in Mardel in Little Rock or Barnes & Noble. It was no surprise to find him there. He seems to ambush me frequently in between shelves.
As I tried to explain this to Carolyn the other night, I felt a little foolish, but after reflecting on this sense of sadness/longing that envelopes me in bookstores, I’ve reached some tentative conclusions:
- The Muzak is playing Back Street Boys, and I just haven’t realized it.
- A voodoo doctor is sticking pins in a doll of me somewhere.
- I wish I could have/run a bookstore.
- I am running face to face into my finiteness.
I tend to opt for the last one (although I really have dreamed of owning a bookstore throughout my life).
My own awareness of my great limitations is never more obvious in a bookstore. I am a reader and love to digest new material and be challenged. It’s in a bookstore that I have this sweeping realization that I will never be able to digest even the smallest portion of what’s available. I am doomed to perpetual ignorance.
Even if I had a photographic memory and started today, I would not in my lifetime be able to consume the material I want and that I’m hungry for. Even though Google has become a collective human database, it still cannot tap the innards of copyrighted material. Nor can I remember everything I read. On top of that, I can only read one thing at a time – for limited amounts of time. And so I’m left… melancholy.
The fact that I forget so much of what I’ve already read means that I have to spend a portion of my life re-membering, refreshing, reflecting and upgrading. I will never catch up. All of reading must be done in a linear fashion. I can’t read two books simultaneously.
It makes me hungry for heaven, actually.
When I am welcomed with joyful grace into eternity by my Lord Jesus, I firmly believe that the invitation of eternal blessing is matched with an invitation for eternal learning, discovery, and adventure. I’ll be able to spend a thousand years reading and then take a break with another thousand years of backpacking heaven’s equivalent of the Andes. What I’ll do next as I enjoy the glories of God’s Presence and Love is all cake.
As I bemoan my inability and finiteness, I am turned to praise the wonder and majesty of God. He is a God who created all things, knows all things, and is a Master of it all. He is not overwhelmed in Barnes & Noble. He is the Author of Life. His omniscience and immanence are stunning and beyond comprehension.
So while I can’t plug a USB cord into my neck and download (and remember) all the information I want here, it’s OK. Those surprise ambushes by Mr. M are counteracted with confident knowledge of future discoveries in the kingdom of God.
Possibly Related Posts:
25 Random Things about me
Inspired by Jeremy, I dug up an old Facebook tag. For those of you used to expecting distinguished and profound posts from me, you’ll be so disappointed… For those of you who know me, this will assure you that I am still not distinguished and profound.
- I intercepted a note in 5th or 6th grade that the girls in our class were passing around. It had every boys’ name in our grade on a sheet of paper with comments out beside their name like “He’s soooo cute” or “Adorable.” Out beside mine was “Eeeeww. Yuch.”
- Probably as a result of that note scarring me, I didn’t have a steady girlfriend until I was a freshman at Ouachita.
- I got my first kiss in a closet… from my next door neighbor in Marlowe Manor in Little Rock.
- When she moved, my high school principal moved into the same house. It was quite a mental adjustment. He had two sons, and I could never bring myself to tell Rick Dowda (until now) that I got my first kiss in his or his brother’s closet.
- I almost got suspended from high school (along with several other journalism students) for publishing an issue of the school newspaper that contained derogatory editorials about administration decisions.
- I went to Arkansas Governor’s School and loved it. Thoroughly enjoyed getting to defend and dialog with others about my faith in Christ.
- While at Ouachita Baptist University, I never knew where my car was going to wind up. My “friends” had keys made, and it would wind up on the student center steps, in used car lots, etc.
- My favorite ice cream flavor is banana.
- I don’t like tomato-ey foods. Gives me heartburn if I eat them after 4:00 in the afternoon.
- I used to have acid reflux really bad – even had to elevate the head of our bed – until I did the low-carb diet for 6 months. Lost 10-15 pounds, and have only had it in rare occasions since then.
- I have “windows” in my sinuses. When I was young and into my teenage years, I would have to have my sinuses “washed out” by numbing them and having a large syringe full of warm salt water shot up my nose. Yum.
- I was valedictorian of my high school class.
- I have some of the greatest friends and accountability partners in the world.
- I have a really hard time stomaching ultra-sports freaks.
- At seminary, I got up early twice a week to drive over for classes (took me an hour to get there) and would arrive at 5:30 a.m. I joined Ben Phillips at a local bakery just south of seminary and got all my reading done there at the bakery before class.
- Donald Duck is my favorite cartoon character.
- I’ve been to China (twice), the Dominican Republic, Canada, Slovenia, Ukraine, Poland (twice), Maine, and Colorado on mission trips as a collegiate minister.
- I once had my shorts jerked down to my ankles in the cafeteria line at Ouachita. I was standing in the main room with my tray in hand and had to shuffle off to the side and put down my tray in order to hastily jerk them back up. I’m pretty sure it was Mitch Bettis or Andy Dean. One doesn’t look behind you in that instant. One just acts.
- I was part of a choreographed lip-syncing group with Mitch Bettis and Dennis Tucker at OBU. We were called “The Goobers.” We actually got requests to perform. Later, when Dennis decided his reputation was too precious to be soiled any longer with the epithet of “Goober” (though he was and I’m sure still is one in heart), Lon Vining took his spot for a last cameo of the group in the school cafeteria for a late-night talent show.
- I drive a moped affectionately known as “The Batmoped.” That has nothing to do with being a Goober.
- I have owned just about every video game system since the Atari 2600. Heck, before that, my dad brought home a large box one evening with two knobs on either end that connected to the TV. It was the first home entertainment “Pong” system. I rocked at that.
- I have had a motorcycle wreck. Andy Dean was involved in that as well. Too little space here to detail.
- I have journaled since I was in junior high.
- I have had a large, painful butt boil before that I blogged about – to my wife’s horror.
- I love life because of Jesus Christ.
Possibly Related Posts:
Review: A Model for Making Disciples
It’s amazing the power of what’s been done before. I believe I first heard the term “chronological snobbery†from John Piper. He used it in an effort to communicate the danger of the cult of “now†and our culture’s obsession with the latest and greatest.
This embrace of the temporal should certainly be warred against in the church which all too often in its ever-reaching quest to be relevant sometimes overreaches and begins to dilute the power and purity of its essence by embracing trends and movements that may prove damaging in the long run.
This book is a reminder – perhaps a rebuke even – to the church, particularly the Methodist tribe – of some of our roots and things that have been used by God in the past to accomplish life and cultural change. It’s a study of John Wesley’s strategies of group discipleship that turned 18th century England upside down and according to some actually aided in the creation of an informed, industrious and respected middle class for the first time in history.
Wesly formulated his group discipleship method through trial and error and constant comparison to how he interpreted the movement of the early church in the New Testament. From his tireless efforts to communicate the Gospel of Christ to the outcast and lower rungs of England’s 17th century society, he was able to witness the Lord doing an amazing work to elevate the status and spiritual life of the people to whom he involved in his comprehensive system of whole life discipleship.
Wesley’s approach at its highest point had five distinct rungs of involvement, with the highest rungs only attainable by those who had proven faithful at the entry levels. His distinction for advancement was ignorant of class or economic level (a drastic departure for England’s society at the time) but was rather completely centered in the willingness of the individual to grow, change, and develop.
The five rungs were:
- The Society – a large group that assembled mainly for teaching and instruction by a qualified teacher.
- Class Meeting – members of the Society would break apart and be led by layman in these groups that targeted the behavior. They were expected to apply what had been taught in the Society, as well as meeting the standard of conduct that Wesley and his leaders had drawn up for them (and these were comprehensive).
- Band – these were smaller groups intended to address the affective, or emotional. They were intended to challenge the disciple in his or her love for Christ.
- Select Society – this was a level for leadership that involved training and mobilizing to meet the needs of the other levels.
- Penitent Bands – these were still in development by Wesley, and they were the most sparsely implemented. Essentially, they dealt with special cases of addiction and behavioral issues (a significant precursor to the recovery movement and things like AA).
Wesley’s methods (which led his followers to be called “Methodistsâ€) were so successful that after a beginning of only 20-30, it involved tens of thousands by the time of his death.
Author Michael Henderson identifies eight foundational principles that enabled the successful propagation of Wesley’s system and the influence of the gospel through it:
- Human nature is perfectible by God’s grace.
- Learning comes by doing the will of God.
- Mankind’s nature is perfected by participation in groups, not by acting as isolated individuals.
- The spirit and practice of primitive Christianity can and must be recaptured.
- Human progress will occur if people will participate in “the means of grace.â€
- The gospel must be presented to the poor.
- Social evil is not to be “resisted,†but overcome with good.
- The primary function of spiritual/educational leadership is to equip others to lead and minister, not to perform the ministry personally.
It is Henderson’s expansion of each of the above eight principles that makes the book a dynamic and profound read.
In this day of explosion and continued renewal of small group ministry in churches, leaders must and should review the successes and mistakes of the past – particularly those of Wesley – in order to be a good steward and practitioner of the truths that were learned and applied to the 18th century society of England.
The transferral of many of these concepts to 21st century small group ministry might revitalize ministries and churches as they seek true transformation in the lives of members and participants. The study of Wesley’s methods might also help us avoid his mistakes and excesses.
Possibly Related Posts:
About
Notes from the Trail
The Personal Blog of Jeff Noble
Info: From the misty hills of Virginia, "Notes from the Trail" seeks to encourage you on your journey. Written by a graphic designer-pastor, this blog is a blend of humor, insight, and faith discovery.
Recent Posts
Life Shots
Feeling sweet?
Copy this number: 6058013378446529, and then reload my Starbucks card here!Lifestream
-
RT @churchplant123: If you want to be a successful new church planter, shave your head. It's the Samson principle. [journeyguy]
-
For a brief second, I had just over 500 followers. After blocking spammers and businesses, I'm back under. Do you filter your followers? [journeyguy]
-
New blog post: Review: Sticky Teams: Larry Osborne is pastor of North Coast Church, a megachurch, by anyone’s de... http://t.co/KKL4zZFs [journeyguy]
-
A blog from the past: "The need for church planting" http://t.co/iwlT5jOh [journeyguy]
-
RT @funnyoneliners: I keep a well-stocked pantry in case friends drop by. I could hide in there for days. [journeyguy]
Most Commented in Past Year
Social Media
