March 2005

And (Jesus) was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." (Luke 9:23-26)

Inconvenient, damned inconvenient...

Five weeks before Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed for the last time, I was thinking about the inconvenience of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. God seemed to be directing my thoughts to see my love of that which makes me comfortable. I was beginning to see that my schedule and my distractions were interfering with my 'spiritual service of worship' (Rom 12). I began to look for opportunities to become inconvenienced.

Tim Bayly, a pastor with whom I work, started talking about going to Florida to oppose the killing of Terri. The leadership of the church was supportive, myself included. I thought briefly about going along but quickly dismissed the idea, thinking that having more than one staff gone at one time would cause hardship for the church, that my duties would not get done, that it would cost too much, and that I wasn't sure protesting there would be my "thing." I kept all thoughts of civil disobedience way in the back of my mind...

Although we took this picture last Saturday, the headline could have been yesterday's, or any number of other days over the years.

For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men. Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich. They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor. Shall I not punish these people? declares the LORD, On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it? (Jeremiah 5:26-31)

We will be updating this page with pictures of some of the most notable demonstrators at Pinellas Park. These are the unsung heroes of this cause. Without them, our days outside Woodside Hospice would have been far less bearable. Both these pictures are ours through the kindness of David Nee, a photographer still in Pinellas Park.

The Adams family protesting at the corner of 66th and 102nd streets.

I mentioned Mark Adams in a previous post. He was a whirlwind of witness, protest and kindness. Here he is with his wife, Alice, and their children. David attends the Baptist church pastored by David Gibbs's brother. He was constantly witnessing to non-Christians, protesting the killing of Terri, and doing both while overseeing significant involvement in these activities by his children. We admired Mark tremendously.

David Vogel, passionately exhorting the media to consider Terri human.

David was first of all the demonstrators arrested at Pinellas Park for seeking to enter Woodside Hospice to take Terri communion. At the time, I thought David a non-ordained hippy. I realized later my initial impression was totally wrong. David is a specially licensed eucharistic minister in the Roman Catholic Church. He lives in Steubenville, Ohio, and works as a musician. David postponed a tour of Roman Catholic universities, including Notre Dame, then had a musician substitute for him so that he could stay in Pinellas Park this week. David's humility, wisdom and kindness helped keep the peace in a very tense week. This picture shows the one time David became angry in all the time we spent with him. He's shouting at the insanity of Terri being killed in response to question from Chris, an ABC reporter from the Florida panhandle. It was a riveting moment, transfixing both sides of the street. See David's web page here.

Reading the March 27, 2005 New York Times Book Review last night, I skimmed Jane Stern's review of Judith Moore's Fat Girl: A True Story and came across this:

Anyone who grew up fat (and please include your reviewer in this group) will find himself in the chapters that follow. (emphasis added)

So the author is a woman, she's writing about fat women, she's reviewed by another fat woman, and with this full cast of entirely female characters the author and the Book Review's editor are entirely comfortable using 'himself.'

By issuing an updated version of their best-selling Bible, the New International Version, News Corp, HarperCollins, Zondervan, the International Bible Society, and the Committee on Bible Translation have all taken the best step they could to protect their market share--or to put it in a way more easily understood, their cash cow. They argue the language of the New International Version is archaic, and they must update it so moderns will not be left scratching their heads. But each single day millions of usages in newspapers, television broadcasts, radio programs, magazines, books, E-mails, and blogs give the lie to their justification.

The grammatical use of the male representative for a mixed-sex group is alive and well despite the work of feminist ideologues in the academy and the marketing departments of Zondervan and Tyndale House Publishers doing their best to kill it. Why alive and well?

Because God Himself chose to use male representatives for a mixed-sex group--Adam for Adam's race and Christ our Lord for His Bride, the Church.

For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. (1Corinthians 15:21,22; emphasis added)

For much more excellent material on the neutering of Scripture, see Stealth Bible: TNIV Blog and KepttheFaith.

From the AP this morning:

Early Wednesday, a man was arrested when he tried to bring a plastic cup of water into the hospice. Officers stopped him at the gate as he shouted: "You don't know God from Godzilla!"

Also, from the Washington Post, a flash of defiance from a godly Roman Catholic priest. Father Malanowski is an 82-year-old former two-star general in the army chaplain corp. He has served as Terri's priest in the absence of support for Terri from the local Roman Catholic establishment. In the Washington Post account it becomes clear that Monsignor Malanowski came close to being the 48th person arrested at the killing site.

An unrealized act of religious defiance stirred emotions Tuesday outside Terri Schiavo's hospice, where demonstrators prayed for what they called "a miracle."

Schiavo's religion -- Roman Catholicism -- has always been a flashpoint in the seven-year legal battle between her parents and her husband. Her faith was so entwined in the legal fight that a judge issued an order dictating the exact number of times -- once -- that she could receive Holy Communion after her feeding tube was removed March 18.

But Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski, who gave Schiavo her last authorized Holy Communion on Easter, said Tuesday that he had tried to defy the order during an afternoon visit to Schiavo's hospice room. Bobby Schindler, Schiavo's brother, said the three police officers in the room warned Malanowski that he would be arrested if he followed through on plans to place a drop of consecrated wine on Schiavo's lips.