RETHINKING GOD IN TODAY’S CULTURE.FREE | SEPT/OCT 2009

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE | FORGOTTEN GOD | NOW IS THE TIME TO GO

+WE HAVEOVERCOMEGOD IS PROVING,THROUGH THE LIFEOF PASTOR JOHN STUMBO,THAT HE IS STILL IN CONTROL pg26

And so we plot and plan and exert all kinds of energy making sure our lives go just how we want them to, and then we’re endlessly disappointed when things

don’t turn out how they’re “supposed” to…and so in the midst of the suffering or the unexpected trauma or the tragedy we say “I never would have imagined this….”

The key word here is, of course, the word “imagine.” When things fall apart we have to create a new tomorrow, because the one we were counting on is gone. And so it’s hard and shocking and bloody and we would never have chosen this turn of events, and yet

it’s forcing us to create a future we never would have cooked up on our own.

In the soil of suffering you’ll often find seeds of creativity.

This is why cancer survivors often talk about how they’re living now more than ever. They went through something that changed everything.

And so there are lots of books and wisdom and perspectives on why we suffer, but what about the “what” of suffering? The “now what?” question –

the unexpected ways in which there’s art in the ache.

That’s what drops like stars is about. That question. That perspective. That surprise.

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THE WORK OF ROB BELLhttp://www.robbell.com

ZON-9014_ReThinkAd.indd 1 8/27/09 10:58:56 AM

When I was younger, and often times bored, I would lay my back on the hard concrete side-walk in front of our house and stare intently into the massive sky above me. I’m not sure ex-actly what I was looking for and, even if I found it, I’m not sure I would’ve known what it was.

Maybe I wanted to discover something no one else had discovered. Maybe I thought that someone somewhere was examining the same thing I was. Maybe those times were my very first attempts at seeking something greater than myself - something superior that lives and breathes outside the realm of pain and suffering. Or, maybe I was just waiting for God to reveal Himself - right then and there. Regardless of the question, the answer is always the same: I am exceedingly small and God is exceptionally big.

The mystery of creation has and continues to baffle me. It’s completely inconceivable and yet offers an enormous amount of hope, all at the same time. It’s enough to make you or break you. Yet God, despite the pain we persistently cause Him, still chose to write the clouds into existence. Before the beginning of time, he chose the placement of the stars and the brightness of the moon. He chatted with galaxies and gave the sun its inexhaustible fire. At the very least it’s a mystery yet at the same time it’s mysteriously beautiful. And, as oddly as it sounds, it reminds me of my children.

Like those times I spent looking at the stars, I now find myself staring into the eyes of the children God so selflessly entrusted to Melissa and I. I examine all the little hairs on their heads as they sleep at night because I find it

magnificent that “the very hairs on their heads are all numbered.” I look at their teeth and eyes and skin and am speechless, once again, at the beauty of God’s creation. They are real people. And they have real bodies. They eat and they poop and they eat and poop some more. They repeat things we wish they would never repeat. And someday they’ll make real decisions and those decisions, whether posi-tive or negative, will affect the course of their lives forever. It’s scary and it’s beautiful and it’s an honor, all wrapped up in little packages we call kids.

Psalm 48:1 declares, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness.”

Seeing the birth of my two children and experi-encing the hand of God’s miraculous power, the word “great” has a new significance in my life. His word is great. His promises are great. His presence is great and it should ignite a holy fear within us - enough to cause us to fall at His feet, speechless and in awe of His enor-mity. And His greatness should birth within us a new song as we begin to appreciate His magnitude:

From the highest of heightsTo the depths of the seaCreation’s revealing Your majestyFrom the colors of fallTo the fragrance of springEvery creature unique in the song that it singsAll exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,You placed the stars in the skyAnd You know them by name.You are amazing GodAll powerful, untameable,Awestruck we fall to our kneesAs we humbly proclaimYou are amazing God

God is great and, at the same time, He’s at-tainable. Scripture doesn’t give us an abstract picture of God, such as a philosopher would give, but rather it paints a very living God before us and lets us see and examine the beauty of His hand. Everywhere we look we see this as reality. We look into the sky and we can see His footprint. We look into the eyes of our children and boast of His handiwork. Let us never forget the vastness of our God.

Melissa and I started this magazine to cause people to rethink God in our culture - rethink the way we’ve always done religion and expe-rience God in new and creative ways. How-ever, in my opinion, some things don’t need to be rethought - because they are beyond our realm of thinking. And so it is with God’s greatness. We simply need to remember that He is great, and we are not. We need to learn from the psalmist who wrote, “Such knowl-edge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

Let us stop thinking and purely proclaim, “Great is the Lord. And greatly to be praised.”

by Bo and Melissa Laneeditorial

4_RETHINK MONTHLY

Bo & Melissa remain awestuck by their Creator and His undying love for them. They’re thankful that God entrusted them with the world’s most beautiful children. They are also captivated by the TV show LOST. Just sayin’.Take a minute and holla at us:boandmel@rethinkmonthly.com

rethink monthlyMAGAZINE SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2009 - ISSUE 9

EDITORS/PUBLISHERS >Bo Lane >bo@rethinkmonthly.comMelissa Lane >melissa@rethinkmonthly.com

MANAGING EDITOR >Shawnee Randolph >shawnee@rethinkmonthly.com

SALES MANAGER >Ryan Dougherty >ryan@rethinkmonthly.com

ART DIRECTOR >Vin Thomas >vin@rethinkmonthly.com

CREDITS >Images by Bethany Furumasu, Bethany O’Connor and Bo Lane. All images are property of their perspective owners and have been used by permission. All rights reserved. We’d like to thank Connie Andresen for her dictation, editing and editorial advice.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS >Renee’ Marie LaRochelle Oviatt, Hannah Neumann, Jacob Poetzzl, Lindsay Blackman, Lindsay Goodier, Natalie Warren, John W. Whitehead, Tim Challies, Fred Allen, and Josephine Turnbeck.

RETHINK MONTHLY >©2009 Rethink, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any renewal retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. RETHINK Monthly® is a registered trademark of Rethink, Inc and published bi-monthly. RETHINK Monthly® accepts no responsibility for unsolicited articles, reviews, features, graphics, or otherwise. The publisher reserves the rights to edit, rewrite, or refuse editorial material and assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or accuracy. RETHINK Monthly® cannot accept responsibility for claims made by its advertisers. Advertisers who place ads in RETHINK Monthly® do so with the understanding that RETHINK Monthly® will not accept responsibility for claims made by such in their ads, nor will the publisher be held financially accountable for errors in advertising (regardless of fault), beyond the partial or full cost of the ad themselves. Opinions expressed in RETHINK Monthly® are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the management, staff, advertisers or publisher. RETHINK Monthly® is a free publication and can be picked up locally within Salem, Keizer and the mid-Willamette valley.

REACH US >RETHINK, IncPO Box 17316 // Salem, OR 97305Phone: 503-856-4430 // Fax: 503-394-7121www.rethinkmonthly.comwww.rethinkpodcast.com

After you’ve read every single word of this magazine and have shared it with all your friends and family, please consider recycling it or add it to your collection of Rethink Monthly magazines and save it forever.

Rethink Monthly Magazine is proudly printed locally at Western Oregon Web Press in Albany, Oregon. Find out

more about them atwww.oregonwebpress.com.

COnTENTSSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

2 6

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16the iceman cometh .............................. pg 06

special insert: Rethink Women .............................. pg 09the spoken word .............................. pg 12

now is the time to go .............................. pg 16finding Jesus .............................. pg 20

no room for fear .............................. pg 22the war on kids .............................. pg 28forgotten God .............................. pg 30

RETHINKMONTHLY.COM_5

6_RETHINK MONTHLY

All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” (Luke 4:36) A long while back, I was a graduate student in English at the University of Idaho. As a teach-ing assistant I taught three sections of fresh-man composition each year. Since I was only slightly older than most of them and younger than a few, I had to establish some sort of authority based on something other than age. I finally settled on experience. I would start the first day of class by saying, “I’m up front here because I know something that you need to know.” That generally took care of it. The students accepted it at face value.

Except for one guy. He had failed the class twice before and came into my section with a BIG chip on his shoulder. I wasn’t overly con-cerned. I’d had problem students before. I’d do what I always did. My plan was to ignore him.

From day one it was clear that this guy resented everything and everyone that sug-gested he didn’t know it all already. The very first day he came in late, dropped into his desk with a disdainful crash, folded his arms across his chest, and leveled an Ayatollah stare at me that could have oxidized metal. In that terrify-ing instant I knew I was looking at the most demonic academic terrorist I would ever see in my life.

And so did the rest of the class. Their gaze shifted from me to him and back to me. Whether I liked it or not, the stage was set, the gauntlet thrown in my lowly, teaching assistant’s face. The whole universe stopped moving in those moments. I could hear the wooden tick, tick, tick of the clock on the wall. My palms went ice cold; my heart pounded in my rib cage like a wild animal; I had to pee like you wouldn’t believe.

There was nowhere to run. I knew if I lost this one, I’d lose the class for good. I would be known as The Wimp. (And trust me, when you’re trying to teach 800 pound football players how to read poetry, you don’t need that hanging over your neck too.) There was only one thing to do. I gathered all my remain-ing strength and composure, braced myself against the podium, took a deep breath and . . . ignored him hard.

But he wouldn’t let me. He taunted me every day by coming in late, loudly enough to disrupt whatever was going on. He would talk when I was talking (though I never saw any student actually listen to him), whistle during in-class work time, mumble “This is stupid” audibly enough for the others to hear whenever I made an assignment, and generally keep turn-ing the intimidation screws tighter and tighter into my psyche.

Through it all I clung desperately to my strate-gy. I smiled feebly at his fiendish behavior and pretended not to hear his caustic remarks. But I could feel (as, no doubt could he) the slow, but certain weakening of my defenses. Like the siege of a walled city by a superior army, he was biding his time, starving me out. The rest of the class watched in morbid fascination as their instructor slowly melted away like the Wicked Witch of the West.

Then one day he launched the mother of all attacks. I was returning their essay assign-ments which I had spent the better part of my valuable weekend grading. As usual his had a lot of red ink on it (my one feeble satisfaction). I handed him his paper and continued doing the same with the others. All of a sudden he held up his essay, pointing dramatically to my scarlet-inscribed comments, and spit venom-ously, “What’s this garbage?”

Once more the class froze. They saw the ax falling inexorably toward my vulnerable scho-lastic neck. From all around me, quietly at first, but growing louder and louder until they be-came a swarm of jeers, I could hear hundreds, no millions of voices chanting “Wimp! Wimp! Wimp! Wimp! Wimp!”

This was it, the moment of truth. There he was, holding his essay in one hand and my future in the other—Satan himself. This was Judg-ment Day. The face off could not have lasted more than a few nanoseconds, but it was long enough for a transformation to happen in me. Gone was all pretense to meekness. Gone was my weary, time-eroded mantra “Knowledge is power.” Gone were Gandhi and Yoda and Mr. Rogers. I’d had enough. I was no longer Mr. Dweeb. I had no more cheeks to turn.

Rising from the primal engine of my soul roared a thunderclap, a divine firestorm of indignation and retribution. I stopped in my tracks, slowly straightened my back, and turned toward him with the terrible certainty of a gunslinger. With a voice like steel, as level, controlled, and potent as anything Clint Eastwood ever said, I said to his face, “That’s funny, that’s exactly what I thought when I read your essay.”

He blinked, then sank slowly back into his desk like a leaky air mattress. It was over. With a word I had cast the demon out—well, made him shut up anyway.

I finished handing out the papers and taught the class like nothing happened. But it took everything I had to keep from kissing myself and breaking out into some kind of primitive victory dance. In fact, I’m not so sure I didn’t do just that when I got back to my little office. The devil is all bravado, my friends. As fiesty Martin Luther wrote back in 1529:

The prince of darkness grimWe tremble not for himHis rage we can endureFor lo! his doom is sureOne little word shall fell him. The iceman cometh, baby.The iceman cometh.

by Fred Allenthe iceman cometh

Fred Allen heads up Burning Bush Ministries, teaching literature, draws cartoons, and writes a lot. He is the author of Our Daily Fred, an alternative online devotional, found at http://ourdailyfred.wordpress.com.

He and his family live in Salem, Ore.

Women of Faith® Presents

Featuring: Lisa Harper, Allison Allen, Sheila Walsh, Mandisa, Patsy Clairmont, Luci Swindoll, Nicole C. Mullen, Marilyn Meberg, Lisa Whelchel.

Register Now! Visit womenoffaith.com/portland

or 888-49-FAITH

$10with code RETHINK

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Portland, Oregon

October 9-10, 2009Rose Garden Arena

Women of Faith events are a fun, encouraging, safe place where the message of God’s love and grace is presented.

Bring a Group! Women of Faith events are terrific outreach opportunities. Group discounts available.

Visit womenoffaith.com/portland to see the talent lineup for your city. Dates, locations, times and talent subject to change. No refunds/exchanges. A Grand New Day is a production of Thomas Nelson Live Events.

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All communication with Mid-Valley Fellowship is confidential. 541.928.2164 www.midvalleyfellowship.org support@midvalleyfellowship.org

It turns out my biggest fears were the greatest gifts God blessed me with during the program. I didn't walk into a group of people ready to judge and condemn me.

I found a loving group of people who knew where I was coming from and were able to see me through the eyes of grace, not the sin that had a hold on my life.

Support Program Alumnus

You’re Not Alone Mid-Valley Fellowship is a local Christian organization that offers hope and support through a message of freedom from homosexual desire and behavior.

Our Support Program Begins October 6th

Innovative director Spike Jonze collaborates with celebrated author Maurice Sendak to bring one of the most beloved books of all time to the big screen in “Where the Wild Things Are,” a classic story about childhood and the places we go to figure out the world we live

in. The film tells the story of Max, a rambunctious and sensitive boy who feels misunderstood at home and escapes to where the Wild Things are. Max lands on an island where he meets mysterious and strange creatures whose emotions are as wild and

unpredictable as their actions. The Wild Things desperately long for a leader to guide them, just as Max longs for a kingdom to rule. When Max is crowned king, he promises to create a place where everyone will be happy. Max soon finds, though, that

ruling his kingdom is not so easy and his relationships there prove to be more complicated than he originally thought.

We’re just hoping that one of the summer’s most anticipated movies, won’t become the summer’s biggest failure.Rated: PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language // Release: Oct 16, 2009

Where (We Hope)The Wild Things Are

Amelia to take flight this October An extraordinary life of adventure, celebrity and continuing mystery comes to light in ‘Amelia,’ a vast, thrilling account of legendary aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (two time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank).

After becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, Amelia was thrust into a new role as America’s sweetheart - the legendary “goddess of light,” known for her bold, larger-than-life charisma. Yet, even with her global fame solidified, her belief in flirting with danger and standing up as her own, outspoken woman never changed. She was an inspiration to people everywhere, from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Cherry Jones) to the men closest to her heart: her husband, promoter and publishing magnate George P. Putnam (Golden Globe winner Richard Gere), and her long time friend, pilot Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). In the summer of 1937, Amelia set off on her most daunting mission yet: a solo flight around the world that she and George both anxiously foresaw as destined, whatever the outcome, to become one of the most talked-about journeys in history.

Rated: PG for some sensuality, language, thematic elements and smoking // Release: Oct 23, 2009

in the movies

8_RETHINK MONTHLY

Innovative director Spike Jonze collaborates with celebrated author Maurice Sendak to bring one of the most beloved books of all time to the big screen in “Where the Wild Things Are,” a classic story about childhood and the places we go to figure out the world we live

in. The film tells the story of Max, a rambunctious and sensitive boy who feels misunderstood at home and escapes to where the Wild Things are. Max lands on an island where he meets mysterious and strange creatures whose emotions are as wild and

unpredictable as their actions. The Wild Things desperately long for a leader to guide them, just as Max longs for a kingdom to rule. When Max is crowned king, he promises to create a place where everyone will be happy. Max soon finds, though, that

ruling his kingdom is not so easy and his relationships there prove to be more complicated than he originally thought.

We’re just hoping that one of the summer’s most anticipated movies, won’t become the summer’s biggest failure.Rated: PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language // Release: Oct 16, 2009

Where (We Hope)The Wild Things Are

Amelia to take flight this October An extraordinary life of adventure, celebrity and continuing mystery comes to light in ‘Amelia,’ a vast, thrilling account of legendary aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (two time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank).

After becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, Amelia was thrust into a new role as America’s sweetheart - the legendary “goddess of light,” known for her bold, larger-than-life charisma. Yet, even with her global fame solidified, her belief in flirting with danger and standing up as her own, outspoken woman never changed. She was an inspiration to people everywhere, from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Cherry Jones) to the men closest to her heart: her husband, promoter and publishing magnate George P. Putnam (Golden Globe winner Richard Gere), and her long time friend, pilot Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). In the summer of 1937, Amelia set off on her most daunting mission yet: a solo flight around the world that she and George both anxiously foresaw as destined, whatever the outcome, to become one of the most talked-about journeys in history.

Rated: PG for some sensuality, language, thematic elements and smoking // Release: Oct 23, 2009

in the movies

8_RETHINK MONTHLY

NOW IS THE TIME TO GO : LOCAL SALEM GIRL STEPS UP AND STEPS OUT

An interview with Becca Wells, the founder and brains behind an all new podcast that’s all things girl

12_RETHINK WOMEN

What is known about the power of the spoken word? The words that we speak out loud or the words that are silently kept in our heads are very powerful. The moment you speak something, you give birth to it. Words are similar to seeds as they are planted in our subconscious minds. They take root, grow, and produce fruit of the same kind. Whether positive or negative words are spoken, we will reap exactly what we sow. That’s why we need to be extremely careful of what is thought and said. Blessings or curses can be spoken with just a few mere words.

In James 3:4, the Bible compares the tongue to the rudder of a huge ship. Although the rudder is small, it controls the ship’s direction. Similar to how the tongue will control the direction of one’s life. An environment can be created for either good or evil with words, and you are going to live in the world you created. If you’re always com-plaining and talking about how bad life is treat-ing you, you’re going to live in a pretty miserable world. However, God wants us to use our words to change our negative situations. Some people are trying to live in blessings of the Lord while still talking like the devil. We must not make that mistake. We will not see positive results in our daily lives if we speak negative things.

We need to change our day to day thinking. If I had a head cold, and a friend noticed my coughing and runny nose they might say, “Oh my you sound sick! You look terrible!” I think our normal response might be, “Yeah, I feel terrible,” or “Yeah, I just want to crawl under a rock!” But what if we said something else like, “I don’t feel very good, but I am asking God to heal me. “ (That kind of changes our attitude a little). That allows the Holy Spirit to heal us. To say things like, “Nothing good ever happens to me,” will literally prevent you from moving ahead in life. That’s why you must learn to guard your tongue and speak only faith-filled words over your life.

Mark 11:23-24 says, “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

The Bible clearly tells us to speak to our moun-tains! Maybe your mountain is a sickness, or a troubled relationship, or a business deal. Usually when we have mountains in our lives we talk about them, but God‘s word tells us to talk TO them. Whatever your mountain is, you must do more than think about it, more than pray about it. You must speak to that obstacle. So what do we say to our mountains? What we say must line up with the Word of God. We speak about God’s will and His Word. In Luke 4, when Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He answered every trial with the Word of God. He said repeatedly, “IT IS WRITTEN,” and quoted Scriptures that met the devil head on, even though Satan came back at him with Scriptures. (Yes the devil knows the Bible!!!) What do you do when you NEED the words? Ask God to give them to you. Speak in the spirit.

Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it.” Think about the words that come out of our mouths. They can bring blessing or destruction, not only in our lives but also in the lives of others.

Understanding negative talk is not enough. When you believe God’s Word and begin to boldly confess it with your mouth, mixing it with your faith, you are actually confirming that truth and making it valid in your life. God has great things in store for us. He wants to bless us. He wants us to declare those blessings.

Proverbs 12:18 says, “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

Whether we realize it or not, our words affect our children’s future for good or evil. We need to speak loving words of approval and acceptance, words that encourage, inspire, and motivate our family members. When we do that, we speak blessings into their lives. Too often we are harsh and fault finding with our children. Our negative words will cause our children to lose the sense of value God has placed within them, and can allow the enemy to bring all kinds of insecurity

into their lives. What are you passing down to the next generation? A Blessing is not a blessing until it is spoken. Your children need to hear you say such words as “I love you. I believe in you. I think you are great. I know you can do it. You are smart. You are incredible. I’m so proud of you.” They need to hear your approval. They need to feel your love. They need your blessing. We talk about being God’s hands and feet…. We are also God’s mouthpiece (mouth peace).

Now knowing God’s word, I am learning to de-clare the Word of God!! Instead of saying, “I can’t believe God or anyone else could love a sinner like me,” I read 2 Corinthians 5:17, and instead declare “I AM A NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST: OLD THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY, BEHOLD ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW.” Instead of complaining about all the things that are going wrong in my life, I can declare the Word of God in Eph 4:27. It says, “I will not give the devil a foothold in my life. I resist the devil and he has to flee.” When I think about the abusive people in my past and dwell on that darkness, I can read 1John 2: 11 that says, “I do not hate or walk in unforgiveness.” “I cast all of my cares on the Lord for He cares for me.” (1Peter 5:7)

Joel 3:10, “Let the weak say I AM STRONG!” Start positively talking to yourself as being healed, happy, whole, blessed, and prosperous. Stop talking about how big your mountains are and start telling your mountains how big your God is!

by Renee’ Marie LaRochelle Oviatt the spoken word

Renee’ grew up in Germany, Japan, and various states in the USA. Renee’ is a recient graduate of Ministry Training Institute and is a key volunteer for the Salem Dream Center. Renee’ lives in West Salem

with her husband Craig, her daughter Courtney, Bella (the Beagle) and Thunderbolt (the turtle). She has a son, Justin, three stepchildren, Amanda, Chris and Melissa, and one granddaughter, Natalie.

i heart dream centerIt all began with an idea, a passion, and a simple drawing.

Have you ever wondered what could truly happen when God’s children join their hearts, gifts, and passions together? Not only that, but also with a sole purpose of blessing others while expecting nothing in return? I believe I was honored to catch a glimpse what that would look like, this weekend at Salem Dream Center.

Every Saturday morning, a group of volunteers walk a few blocks to a low-income apartment complex that we have “adopted”. We round up the ready, waiting, and giggling kids to take them to Walker Middle School. We then proceed to play games, make crafts, eat snacks, and provide a safe and loving environment for them. Every week it’s an adventure to say the least.

This Saturday seemed no different then the last few Saturdays. But this time, we had a surprise for the kids. Rethink Monthly offered to partner with us, along with the community, to provide 140 custom T-shirts for the kids. They were able to use artwork that had been “face painted” on a little girl’s arm that said “I Heart Dream Center”. Little did we know the blessing that image would become.

Today was the day the kids were waiting for. The shirts had finally arrived.

What followed this were precious moments I hope to never forget. The first thing every child did was put it on. Immediately. And every single little face that popped out of the shirt was covered with some of the most precious smiles I have ever seen. I began to think. What was it about a T-shirt that could bring that sort of joy? What was the real reason for that smile? As I began to look around I saw white “I HEART DREAM CENTER” shirts absolutely everywhere, it dawned on me. I believe the kids realized that the t-shirts symbolized something bigger then just “something to wear”. It symbolized someone cared for them. Someone gave them a gift. Someone they maybe have never met, loved them enough to bless them. All of a sudden they were not alone as they looked around. They were included, accepted, and had a place to belong. Together. It wasn’t just about a t-shirt anymore. It was about what those T-shirts represented. And what they represented was that they were ALL valued and wanted.

What a gift to give a child. To you and I, it may just be a shirt. But every precious smile we witnessed today said so much more. Thank you to every single person who selflessly gave their time, resources, and gifts into blessing these precious kids. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Visit the them online at www.facebook.com/SalemDreamCenter.

Story and photo by Lindsay Blackman

Recently we sat down with Becca Wells, the founder and brains behind an all new podcast that’s all things girl. She’s a little wild

and crazy, but we like her because she makes you think.

14_RETHINK WOMEN

RETHINKWOMEN.NET_15

RETHINK MONTHLY: Take us back a few years and tell how your journey with Christ began.

BECCA WELLS: I can’t complain about growing up. I am the middle of three girls born to loving, Christian parents. I have a slight recollection of accept-ing Christ as my Savior when I was four. I was a good kid. I knew the right answers. I knew that God loved me and I loved Him. Was I seeking, hungry, growing? Not until the summer before my senior year in high school. I went on a mission trip with Royal Servants. For three months we traveled in Europe performing a drama and evangelizing to perfect strangers. I couldn’t fake what I believed for that long. Louie, my leader, pulled me aside one evening and we had a very engaging conversation. He asked me if I were to die tonight and God was standing there asking why He should let me into Heaven, what would I say? That did it. I truly didn’t know. Instantly I was in tears and thus began my journey with Christ.

Yeah, He seems to be good at capturing our hearts. So tell me, how did the crazy idea for ChickChat come about anyway?

It was always my intent to be a stay-at-home mom when I had kids. I worked up until the day before I had Melia. Suddenly, I was home alone with this amazing little baby who ate, cried, and pooped a lot. I realized then and there what a relational being I am. I love connecting and interacting with other people. I was almost completely house-bound those first few months tending to this little human and I was struggling. I felt so alone. My poor husband probably wondered what happened to his wife. Nobody knew exactly how I felt.

Nobody could walk my road for me. It was my journey to figure out. I re-member thinking “I wonder how many other women could be experiencing this type of intense loneliness in their lives?” With my heart for young ladies and my empathetic situation, I believe was the perfect recipe for Christ to give me this vision. I didn’t know how, where, or who else…but the dream was alive.

And how did you take this dream and make it a reality?

Let me remind you that Melia was a newborn when this idea first hit and she is now four years old. It’s been a process. I’ve gone through a lot of self doubt, soul searching, praying, and dreaming what this ministry would look like. I had worked with Erik (Williams) in the past and I knew if anyone could help me pull off this idea, it was him. We began meeting periodically where we brainstormed and planned what this ministry would look like. We went forward with it and started recording a few sessions. Bex (Mann) is a friend that helped record our first session of ChickChat. The three of us…it was such a great dynamic. We asked her to join the team and thus a wonderful partnership emerged.

Talk more about the mission of ChickChat. What is it? Why is it?

ChickChat is a website ministry where you’ll find thirty minute podcasts on topics that have to do with women. Our tag line is “An open and honest discussion all things girl.” Really, no topic is off limits. Most podcasts you’ll find the ChickChat team interviewing guest speakers who share with us on a certain topic. For example, we may bring in a doctor, an esthetician, or dietician to talk about personal wellness and how to feel our absolute best when it comes to health and skin.

We also interview every-day women who have wisdom to share. Maybe they themselves have been through a difficult time and want to encourage oth-ers who face similar situations. The sky’s the limit… Another cool feature is that the listener will be able to email us questions, comments, suggestions for future podcasts that they are interested in or concerned about.

The mission of ChickChat is simple: explore, expand, and equip. Explore what’s out there. Like new experiences, friendships, people, and questions. Expand ways of thinking in regards to perspective, choices, comfort zones, relationships with people, and faith in God. The ultimate goal being to equip yourself with knowledge. My hope is to encourage and empower all women.

What motivates you to start something real (and candid) like this ministry?

Jesus Christ’s love. My two little baby chicks here at home inspire and moti-vate me too. I want them to see themselves as Jesus sees them and live big for Him. I really desire this for all chicks.

You’ve felt a call to minister to women and teen girls for quite some time. Is that passion the driving force behind this new ministry?

Absolutely. This ministry is by chicks for chicks. I am so energized by fellow women talking about what they know and their experience in life. Chick-Chat is something positive that challenges and offers hope all the while in-teracting on very relatable ground. It is very exciting to me and I’m extremely passionate about our mission.

There was a point for me where I knew this was something I had to do. Back when I was a youth pastor and before the dream of ChickChat had hit, a girl had written me a letter. She had gone through a hard time in her life and had dealt with an addiction. She felt led to tell me about her tough journey, and how she was dealing with this pain in her life. Fast forward to about a year ago, I came across this letter that I didn’t realize I had kept. I was blown away because in this letter my friend specifically said she felt called to tell other girls about her experience but didn’t know how. That was it. I realized it wasn’t about me. It’s always been about God. He was inviting me to be a part of this opportunity. I knew this was something that I had to pursue.

I guess we’d call you adventurous. Working with teenagers can be pretty crazy. Is that the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

I’d have to say that marriage was the craziest thing I’ve ever done! NO, I’m Just kidding! Adventurously speaking, I quit my job once and backpacked across Europe for four months. I ended up staying at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland for a bit. Fabulous – I highly recommend that place.

We promise we won’t show this interview to your husband! So, is this tar-geted to teenage girls or is there a specific age range of women you’re trying to reach?

Not necessarily. To me all women are chicks, girls at heart. We’re going to focus on a quality, fun, insightful podcast and let chicks decide if it’s for them or not.

How do you see ChickChat evolving over the next couple of years?

I have been so focused and determined on getting ChickChat up and going. It has been fun and my dreams are expanding for the future of this ministry. I do have some big dreams in mind. But for now, I want to focus on making this current program sharp where women can relate and connect.

Ok, lastly, give us five words that describe yourself.

Honest, friendly, loyal, hard-working, & responsible. Oh – that sounds bor-ing. Let me try that again. Crazy, wild, out-of-the-box, funny, & loud. I like those five words better.

Becca Wells is a thirty year old, mother of two girls - Melia (4) and Kylie (1) - who has been married to the same, wonderful guy (Josh) for almost six years. She graduated from Seattle Pacific University where she majored in Educational Ministries and obtained a teaching degree in elementary education. Her last job, before motherhood, was an assistant middle school pastor at a local church in Salem, Ore. She has always been a very relational person and enjoys getting to know people and finding out what they’re all about. She loves to do anything active, especially when it involves outdoors. Often times Becca feel very normal but wants to live extraordinarily. You can find out more about Becca and the ChickChat team by visiting their website at www.chickchatpodcast.com.

16_RETHINK WOMEN

“I had this “revelation moment” and I heard this inner prompting seem to say specifically “Now is the time to go, I have different and better plans for you.”

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18_RETHINK WOMEN

Almost daily, a young white woman walks through the streets of a South Africa shantytown that is still hurting and divided after the oppres-sive former “Apartheid” government. Young children with crusty noses and mouths run up to grab her hand, barely dodging a honking taxi. She passes by large, humming South African mamas standing over open grills, cooking animal entrails and sheep’s heads, surrounded by mangy, rib protruding dogs, hoping for just a morsel of meat to fall to the ground. Hip Hop music vibrates out of the local “Shabeen” as the thumping base notes seem to resonate through her chest as she avoids with a smile the beer inspired men on the streets, hoping to lure her over for a suggestive conversation.

As her pedestrian trek continues past drafty tin roofed shacks, she passes a seated Sangoma, (sacred woman) who brings empty promises to this poor township of cures for HIV, broken hearts and the usually empty pockets of the tribal Xhosa people of Masiphumelele. The San-goma will employ charms and chants designed to summon up the help and power of long dead tribal ancestors. Bethany O’Connor keeps walking and smiling and waving to friends and acquaintances, but this 27 year old American

woman, who seems maybe a bit out of place, projects a different kind of presence and power as she moves through this poor township that has captured her heart. O’Connor’s mission is to bring healing and hope through extending what she believes is the most powerful force on the face of the earth --- The tender kindness and unconditional love of a living God.

As her pedestrian trek continues past drafty tin roofed shacks, she passes a seated Sangoma, (sacred woman) who brings empty promises to this poor township of cures for HIV, broken hearts and the usually empty pockets of the tribal Xhosa people of Masiphumelele. The San-goma will employ charms and chants designed to summon up the help and power of long dead tribal ancestors. Bethany O’Connor keeps walking and smiling and waving to friends and acquaintances, but this 27 year old American woman, who seems maybe a bit out of place, projects a different kind of presence and power as she moves through this poor township that has captured her heart. O’Connor’s mission is to bring healing and hope through extending what she believes is the most powerful force on the face of the earth --- The tender kindness and unconditional love of a living God.

If you had told O’Connor just a couple years before that she would be strolling through an in-famous black township where many local white people would tremble to find themselves, she too would have laughed in your face. Originally from Salem, Oregon (Sprague High School 2000), and a 2004 Social Work graduate of Oral Rob-erts University (Masters Degree from University of Oklahoma), she was first introduced to the rich and complicated culture of South Africa through a business and community development trip with her father in mid 2007. Her father, Joe O’Connor and a non profit foundation he runs (www.csdcouncil.org) has been involved in designing & advocating for new Christian based community enrichment centers in poverty stricken neigh-borhoods. Little did Bethany know that this fun, father-daughter bonding trip overseas would play a pivotal role that would change the course and direction of her life.

“During that trip, Capetown struck me as a complicated, beautiful and yet sad place where I could for sure see my self living and working some day in the distant future.” O’Connor con-tinues, “But my vision and goals at the time were pretty focused and I felt obligated to get back to Portland, Oregon and further my Social Work

career in a fulfilling and good paying job.”

But God seemed to have another timetable. After 3 months of excellent and encouraging job interviews, O’Connor started to wonder if maybe God had different plans for her immedi-ate future. O’Connor remembers, “On the drive home from one interview, I had this “revelation moment” and I heard this inner prompting seem to say specifically “Now is the time to go, I have different & better plans for you.” O’Connor found herself pondering the meaning of this inner voice as she found her mind wandering to the poverty, squalor and large beaming smiles of the people in the slum townships around Capetown.

In a surprisingly quick staccato of events, O’Connor found herself making some critical life changing decisions. Within weeks she was sell-ing her car, storing her possessions, researching airfare and housing and launching headlong into an orientation course with a creative outside the box ministry founded by Floyd McClung, the legendary leader and pioneer of the large YWAM ministry in the infamous Amsterdam red light district. During this training course in Cape-town, called CPX (Church Planting Experience) O’Connor was encouraged and counseled by

RETHINKWOMEN.NET_19

this is “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, defend the cause of the weak, advocate for the rights of the needy.”

After 8 months of research, networking with gov-ernment officials and involving other faith based poverty initiatives, The Baby Safe was launched as an official ministry/sub organization of Mc-Clung’s organization- All Nations of South Africa. The Baby Safe, installed at a church owned site within walking distance of Masi, is a simple engi-neering marvel consisting of a safe, tamper proof steel deposit door with a small weight sensitive shelf with a mattress inside. The technology, developed by a volunteer Christian engineer from Sweden, is wired and monitored to detect the presence of a baby by sensing the weight of .5 kilograms or more (about 1.2 lbs). O’Connor ex-plains – “When the door is opened and a baby is placed inside, the sensors detect the weight and activate the system which simultaneously locks the door and sends out electronic messages to Baby Safe team volunteers who can literally respond within 3 to 4 minutes.”

As important as offering the Baby Safe itself, a myriad of services and resources are now also offered to at risk young mothers (often

as young as 14 years old). Word of mouth and colorful posters that are plastered all over Masi and other nearby communities have gotten the word out about The Baby Safe. Word has also spread beyond Masi and O’Connor is now del-uged with invitations from government groups, radio talk shows, hospital counseling staffs and other agencies that have opened doors for her to become involved in pre-natal counsel-ing, pre-abortion counseling, job development, and identifying and intervening in vulnerable households. “I feel like the heart of Baby Safe is to connect with women, babies and children to offer life, hope and options”, says O’Connor. “I have been profoundly blessed as I have watched many women (on almost a weekly basis) cancel their scheduled abortions, explore the options of adoption, and many have received encourage-ment and other resources that actually empower them to choose to keep and raise their babies.”

O’Connor has also been instrumental in helping to launch the Vulnerable Children’s Project (www.vulnerablechildrensa.com) that provides food, clothing, bedding and also addresses the safety of groups of children living alone in shacks in the township. These child headed households often have a parent who is either sick in the hospital

(usually with AIDS) or already deceased , leaving brothers and sisters all on their own, with only the eldest child to care for them. O’Connor com-ments- “This VC program allows us to link com-passionate supporters and donors in the West with a Masi child headed household to meet their basic food, housing and clothing needs, all for only $40 a month for each child headed family, which is pretty amazing.” She continues- “We also are able to provide bible clubs, after school mentoring and tutoring, better school placement and other “Big Brother- Big Sister” type friend-ship to these incredibly resilient kids.”

O’Connor observes that it would be easy to have a sense of utter hopelessness in the face of the cyclical ravages of poverty, crime and the AIDS epidemic that she sees daily in Masi. “I often struggle with the weight of the immense need and wonder how I could ever make even a little dent” says O’Connor. “But always, almost every day, I am amazed and stunned at the extravagant love of God for the poor. Jesus and his loving kindness comes shining through when I meet women and children in crisis and wonder what on earth can I do? I used to be very self sufficient, smart enough to figure most things out and not really feel the pressure to rely on God

for every day things in my life. But now, many times a day, His voice, direction and peace are literally my lifeline.”

This remarkable American girl shares that one of her biggest personal lessons while serving in a poor township has been grasping the meaning of John 15 where it says “I can do absolutely nothing apart from Him. He is the vine, I am the branches”. She continues, “I

have come to the realization of how ridiculously dependent I am on Him, to try and bear fruit and to have wisdom in the face of decisions that bear so much weight- many involving life and death of little ones”

O’Connor is an ordinary young woman who has found herself doing extraordinary things. She is a full time mission worker who is 100% depen-dent on the financial gifts and monthly support of people that have heard her remarkable story. If you are interested in finding out more about her work and mission you can visit her website at www.bethanyoconnor.com. There is a “Give” page on her website for people who want to get involved and have a tangible impact on serving the poor through her efforts in South Africa. You can also learn more about The Baby Safe at www.thebabysafe.org.

If you know of an ordinary person who is doing extraordinary things, then feel free you can share their story with Lindsay Goodier who is a writer and author living in Houston, Texas. She has enjoyed being published in numerous magazines including Relevant Magazine, ReThink Magazine and other publications. Feel free to connect with Lyndsay at lindsaygoodier@yahoo.com.

McClung to dream big and find the cultural keys that can touch the hearts and needs of people living in fear and repression, especially in poverty stricken areas.

“Masiphumelele” is the name of the informal settlement where O’Connor works. Also known as “Site 5” by the former apartheid government, “Masi” was one of many squatters villages that sprung up in the 60’s and 70’s under the white dominated governing party as a “solution” to try and limit the mixing of different races. At that time, it was not unusual to see forcibly evicted families and their belongings loaded in trucks and literally dumped on the barren ground on the outskirts of the populated areas. Masi developed as a squatters camp during this same era, and even today hosts many refugees, living in sparse and drafty shacks, who have come to South Africa from other African nations, seeking a better life.

It has only been 14 years since apartheid has ended. O’Connor says she can still sometimes detect the wounded and rejected spirit reflected in people’s eyes when she, a white person, engages them in conversation. There is also a palpable tension between black people of tribal

origin and the mixed race “coloured” people that further creates cultural complications.

In the midst of this rich and cultural dynamic, O’Connor moves about on her daily mission to bring hope and practical tangible services to families, abandoned mothers and vulner-able children. In her early days working in Masi, O’Connor encountered a white South African woman, Michelle Pughe-Parry, who also re-flected a passion and concern for at risk mothers and the secret shame of baby dumping. Together they teamed up to research and address the causative issues head on. O’Connor’s heart was both outraged and pierced at the thought of a mother being so desperate for food, shelter and basic survival needs that she would literally throw her baby away in the garbage. O’Connor’s research and resulting community networking led her to create a remarkable solution known as “The Baby Safe” which has now become known throughout much of the Capetown region (popu-lation 2 million +). O’Connor says “If there is one thing I have become more and more convinced of, it is that God is a refuge to the oppressed and He loves to channel His love and hope to the bro-kenhearted, the fatherless and to the desperate. A scripture that O’Connor clings to that reflects

20_RETHINK WOMEN

I knew when I decided to take an eleven-day trip overseas last year that I would see things that would wake me up, things that would change me. That’s partly why I wanted to go so badly. I wasn’t disappointed. Shortly after flying from the US to the Philippines, I found myself at a home run by a group of nuns with some of the most beautiful hearts. It’s a place for the very sick, the very old, and the very young. It’s a place for those that have the least chance of surviving on the streets of Manila. It’s often a place for them to spend a few weeks or days of their lives being cared for and shown the love of Jesus before they die. Walking inside the front door of the first house in the compound, there were kids everywhere, more than one piled on some of the small beds. Dying kids. Kids with diseases like encephalitis or tuberculosis. I looked at the few nuns scurrying from one child to the next and realized that there was no way they could possibly care for so many children properly. I guess they just couldn’t turn anyone away despite the overcrowding. The smell in the air proved that many of the children needing washing or changing. Overwhelmed, I looked up and caught the eyes of one of the sisters. “How can I help you?” A few minutes later, I found myself sitting cross-legged on the floor holding a bowl of runny rice gruel. Gathered around me in a semi-circle were half a dozen tiny malnourished toddlers. They reminded me of scrawny baby birds, opening their mouths and staring at me with eyes that seemed too huge for their tiny bodies. The bowl was empty all too soon. One of the sisters took it from me and motioned to me that she would take care of the babies.

I stood up and wandered into another room, this one holding children of various ages with handicaps or deformities. I found myself drawn to a yellow crib near the center of the room. In it lay a child whose limbs were badly twisted and bent, looking like nothing more than a tangled mass of skin and bone, really. The child’s hair was closely shaved, and I couldn’t determine the sex. It was impossible to tell the age of the child - could have been 7, could have been 13. The child couldn’t speak and didn’t have much mobility, but was re-sponsive to my voice. I watched as the child’s eyes fluttered open and fixed on me. I reached down and grasped the child’s hand, and my grip was returned firmly. I began to sing softly, an old hymn my mother sang to me as a little girl, as tears began to well up in my eyes:

“I am Jesus’ little lambEver glad at heart I am For my Shepherd gently guides meKnows my needs and well provides me Loves me every day the sameEven calls me by my name”

It struck me how fitting those words were. I didn’t know this child’s name, or anything else besides what I could observe, standing beside that crib. But I didn’t need to. This child was known and loved intimately by the Good shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart (Isaiah 40:11). I knew that the indescribable love that I felt flooding through me for this unknown child was not mine, and I felt privileged to be an extension of Jesus, holding that hand and singing the words that He wanted to be sung to that child. I think that my words were understood despite the barriers of language and physical disability.

“Who so happy as I am Even now the Shepherds lambAnd when my short life is endedBy His angel hosts attendedHe shall fold me to his breastEver in His arms to rest!”

As the last few words of the song escaped my lips, my friends began to call me, telling me that it was time to leave. I didn’t want to go, but I began to peel those little fingers off of mine. The child wouldn’t let go! I couldn’t believe that a child who looked so weak could have such a vice-like grip. And those eyes, they were start-ing to bore into me. I gently tugged my hand away. Not ready to give up, the child’s hand closed around a fistful of my hair as I bent over the crib. One of the sisters had to come over to help me disentangle myself.

My encounter with this child had lasted for only about three minutes, but those three minutes were enough to make me a misfit. I turned and walked out of the door of that room entirely wrecked. That’s when everything changed for me. I knew that I would never be able to go back to my life as it was before. That little one’s grip had reached around not only my hand but my heart, and I still haven’t been able to pull away. I will forever be thank-ful for my three minutes with Jesus in the form of that child.

by Hannah Neumannfinding Jesus

Hannah is learning to become a global-thinking Christian. She enjoys random adventures, music, community, and learning from culture and history. You can connect with her at livingpsalm82@yahoo.com.

Dig Deeper

Psalm 68:5, James 1:27Dueteronomy 14:28-30 & 26:12-14Exodus 22:22, Isaiah 1:17 & 23Psalm 10:14, Matthew 18:5, Matthew 25:45

Recommended Reads

George Mueller: The Guardian of Bristol’s Orphansby Janet Benge

Don’t Waste Your Lifeby John Piper

Turn: Remembering Our Foundationsby Max Lucado

If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evilby Randy Alcorn

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless Godby Francis Chan

SalemTribe is a networking group for individuals whouse social media, the creative online community

to further them as leaders in their respective �elds.

If you �nd yourself associating with the descriptionabove, then come gather and collaborate with us.

Monday, October 5th @ 6:30pmIKE Box - Salem, Oregon

Guest Speaker: Aaron Hockley

twitter: @SalemTribe // web: www.salemtribe.com

answers for darwinIn this “Year of Darwin” celebration that marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s ideas and the 200th anniversary of his birth, a Portland-area creation group is providing counter programming with the “Answers for Darwin” conference on Sept. 27-28.

Answers in Genesis (AiG) and Creation Museum founder Ken Ham and AiG staff scientist Dr. Jason Lisle will present several sessions on how the Bible speaks to Darwin’s ideas and to culture today. The first session begins at 9 a.m. Sunday morning and the final session concludes at 9 p.m. Monday evening at Rolling Hills Community Church, 3550 SW Borland Road in Tualatin. The conference, free to the public, is recommended for ages 13 and up. It is co-hosted by the Portland area’s Design Science Association.

In addition to being a renowned creation speaker and biblical apologist, Ken Ham is a prolific author, with more than 20 books to his credit. His latest, “Already Gone,” co-authored with America’s Research Group president Britt Beemer, is an in-depth study of the reasons why young people seem to desert the church upon reaching adulthood. A surprising finding was that only 11 percent of students are lost in college; almost 90 percent of those who leave the church do so in their hearts and minds in middle school and high school.

Ham and Beemer discovered that most of those teens who left the church were regular Sunday school attendees. The surprising conclusion was that Sunday school was actually more likely to be detrimental than helpful to the spiritual and moral health of our children. Ham calls for a total renovation of how most Sunday schools are conducted in Christian churches today.

Lisle, also an author and apologist, recently released his own response to evolutionary arguments, “The Ultimate Proof.” Emphasizing the Genesis account of creation, Lisle presents an irrefutable argument to rationally resolve the origins debate. Lisle will present a session at the Portland-area conference on “The Ultimate Proof,” as well as on “The Darwin Connection to Astronomy.”

Sunday, September 27, 20099 & 11 AM Ken Ham: Answers from Genesis on Darwin and the Culture Wars6:00 PM Ken Ham: Defending Christianity from today`s Secular Attacks7:30 PM Dr. Jason Lisle: The Ultimate Proof of Creation

Monday, September 28, 20099:00 AM Ken Ham: Dinosaurs, Genesis, and the Gospel (Grades K-6)11:00 AM Ken Ham: How to Defend the Christian Faith (Grades 7-12)6:30 PM Ken Ham: Answers for Racism: Darwin & Evolution’s Racist Roots8:00 PM Dr. Jason Lisle: The Darwin Connection to Astronomy

For more info, contact Craig Hubler at 503-968-5467 or cwhubler@msn

22_RETHINK WOMEN

I was anxious to have my daughter and son-in-law over for breakfast. The grandkids would be over too and I was looking forward to squeez-ing them and planting wet kisses on their soft cheeks. It wasn’t often that they came over for an early morning breakfast. I had dug out an old recipe for homemade buttermilk pancakes. The table was already set and the sausage was warming in the oven. They would be arriving any time.

My concern over the flakiness of the pan-cakes soon faded as I watched their van come down the driveway. It came to a slow stop just outside the kitchen window. I knew some-thing was wrong and I was overcome by fear. Certainly, I would not have to hear bits of bad news…or would it be the familiar dreaded news again? It appeared that they were arguing but I could not tell for sure. I just wondered why they were not coming in and the feelings of fear continued to mount. Moments passed before the kitchen door opened…I could feel tension in the air. The news I had feared would haunt me again, “Mom, we relapsed again last night.” I felt as though my legs would buckle and it was all I could do to stand. The news was too much. How could I go through this again? I had thought they were doing better, but deep down, did I really believe that? I had high hopes.

We all sat down to eat, trying to pretend that it would be okay and that we could get through this again. I wished I could have bragged about how great the pancakes were and I pretended to enjoy them but nothing was further from my mind. It was all I could do to keep the bites from coming back up my throat. We had to get through this. We were all affected, even the three babies looking back at me from behind plates of half eaten pancakes. They had no idea of the severity of the situation and the thought of it broke my heart. I couldn’t stop the questions from invading my every thought. Did they know what they were about to endure again? How were they going to get through this yet one more time? Why did they have to go through this? Would they be safe? Would they be exposed to the drug abuse? Since their parents had relapsed, would life go back to what it was for them the first time it had happened? A million questions and not one

answer. Fear and anxiety robbed me of my senses and all I wanted to do was jump up and run as fast as I could. I had to get away but all I could do was sit…I was angry. I was numb.

Fear, what a horrible thing. In my opinion, there is no other feeling that could be worse. It had claimed me for many years and I could not overcome it. I had feared many things. I feared for my kids as they were growing up; I worried about finances, stresses over my job. But nothing could compare to this. How could my child, one who I loved so much and one who I had invested so much time in, go so astray? Was it my fault? What did I do wrong? Had I not instilled God’s word into her heart as good as I could have? Would my child become so addicted that the addiction would take her away from me? Feelings of failure and the what-ifs haunted me. I was now on a journey of torment, brought upon by my own sin of un-belief. I had to let go of it, I could not fix it. All of the worry was getting me nowhere. It was destroying my spirit and robbing my joy. God was the only one who could take care of it but I was not allowing Him to do that.

Fears had driven me into a spiritually dry place and it was hard to even pray. I often opened my Bible at night and placed it upon my belly as I tried to sleep. Although scripture seemed to run together in my mind and I had a hard time focusing upon it, I felt comfort that upon my belly was the sword of the spirit. It was a protection and a huge comfort for me.

A lot has changed since then. I have learned that you cannot live in fear and in faith at the same time. They are enemies. Fear does not work and it gives you no relief. When we bask in fear and worry, we block the blessings that God has for us. When we worry, we meditate on fearful things and we feed them, fuel the fire so-to-speak. When we feed them, they grow and soon our worries are out of control and are far greater than our minds can safely endure. We instead need to focus on the promises of God and meditate on them day and night. We can cast our fears on Jesus, realizing that He is the only one who can make a difference and the only one who can fix the problems and stresses in our life. We need to believe that God does have everything under control.

Now, when worries come my way and when fear tries to settle in, I just begin to praise the Lord, the maker of the universe and the lover of my soul. When I sing, sometimes to myself or sometimes quietly, I tell God how great He is and thank Him for all the things He has done for me. I choose not to fear and it is a conscious decision on my part. My human side tries to hold on to the fear but I must let it go. Although at times it is difficult to praise – a real sacrifice – but it’s the key to a sound mind. Are these the sacrifices of praise that the Bible talks about? We must know too that Satan will distract us because he knows that God delights in the praises of His people.

God is so big and ready to help. He just waits for us to ask. But we so often hold on to our problems, not trusting God to help us. It is unbelief and it grieves God’s heart. This is something I don’t want to ever do again. I’m learning to totally depend on God, and to trust Him in times of despair. I can’t say I am one hundred percent “cured” and that I don’t fear on occasion, but I have learned to turn it over to God and I do not allow myself to meditate on those fearful things for long. What a com-fort it is for me to know that God is always with me. He sees my hurts, my disappointments, and feels my broken heart.

Wow, what kind of friend is that?

Psalms 46.11 (KJV) says that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Also, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6 NIV). Lord, keep my mind safe and bring me peace! I love Psalms 16:11 (NIV) where David says “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” That is where I want to be. If I am there in God’s presence and full of joy, there is no room for fear. Praise be to God, my Rock and my Fortress.

no room for fear

Jo is a financial officer and a mother of two. She enjoys spending time with her family, working in the yard, and reading a book by the comfort of a warm fire. You can contact Jo at josephineturnbeck@gmail.com.

by Josephine Turnbeck

salemhouse fprayerThe Salem House of Prayer is a city-wide, multi-denominational 24-hour worship and intercessory ministry to the body of Christ in Salem and the surrounding areas. Our goal is to build a “corporate altar” of night and day prayer where we may stand before Jesus, unified and strengthened in our unyielding love for the worthy Son of Man. It’s a place where the first com-mandment, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, is put into practice.

We believe, as many of you do, that Salem must have a “corporate altar” of un-ceasing prayer if we are to truly expect to have a habitation of the Lords presence. That alone will transform our cities. We believe it so much they are laying down our lives for it.

This is a call for help.Our troops are thin.They are tired and weary, but they are more determined than ever.

We are asking you to come and sign up for daily or weekly prayer: specifically be-tween the hours of 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. We need pray-ers. We appreciate all the won-derful e-mails. We greatly value all the words of encouragement and the pats on the back that have over and over kept us going. But now we need you. We need your human body in the prayer room, coming and praying on a predictable schedule. We need you to literally sign up for prayer.

We love you. We need you. We appeal to you.

Please come.

open24/7 // salemhouse fprayer.orgPrayer Room: 260 Liberty St NE • Salem, OR • 97301 • 503-589-9176

MailingAdress: PO Box 13502 • Salem, OR • 97309

We invite you to listen to the all-new ChickChat Podcast. Visit our website at www.chickchatpodcast.com.

Whenever I hear someone try to take a clear Biblical vice and attempt to redefine it as a virtue, I become suspicious regarding their motives, especially when they are contributing to a Christian periodical. But in a magazine titled, “Rethink” perhaps nothing is off the table. In Fred Allen’s, Persistence of Doubt (July/August 2009), the author suggests that doubt is actually a good thing—something that may “nurture dissatisfaction with religious cliché and lead to a search for the substantive.” He goes on to suggest that doubt (redefined as questions) can lead to a “richer, more delightful faith, a faith robust enough to entertain the next inevitable inquiry.” And that’s where his honesty wears thin, and the point of this semantic argument comes into question.

For all of Mr. Allen’s ability as a writer, I wonder that anyone could so lazily correlate the concepts of inquiry and doubt, without so much as making a distinction between intellectual uncertainty and spiritual disbelief. If all Mr. Allen is trying to say is that there are appropriate forms of doubt (i.e. doubting the word of a pathological liar, doubting that the world is flat, etc) then my general response to the article is an emphatic, “duh.” But instead Allen tries to say that doubt is good and it really means to have uncertainty about our ability to understand God and his Bible, “The Hebrews contended that true knowledge was found…in knowing God. Yet this very God is Himself a fathomless, inexhaustible mystery.”

It seems then than Allen’s real message is one that we are all too familiar with in this exasperating age: the message that certainty is sin. We are an age bent on deconstruction, a people so avowed against authority and history that we must “rethink” even the very words of God, “Stop doubting and believe.” What is this world that even those who claim to believe in Jesus are inspired to embrace his mystery-hood over messiah-hood? Is there anyway for Believers (not “Doubters” mind you) to have certainty regarding the person, character, and attributes of God without facing the indignation of our own brothers and sisters in Christ? Ought we not only resist the temptations of the Enlightenment (an age and philosophy that crowned human reason) but also Post Modernism (an age and philosophy that, like the French Revolution, that is more bent on decapitating crowns than with coronations) as well?

All that being said, it seems that in the same way that doubt does not necessarily equal having questions, neither does faith necessarily equal having all the answers…and if the latter is all Mr. Allen was hoping to say, he’d have been much better off saying it in a sentence than trying to redefine doubt as a virtue in the process. In the hopes to rid the world of “religious cliché,” let us not loose our wits or our way.

- Jacob Poetzzl

Have an article or thought you’d like to share? Send it to us at info@rethinkmonthly.com

Speakers: Ken Ham and Dr. Jason LisleSeptember 27-28, 2009

Admission is Free!Rolling Hills Community Church

3550 SW Borland RoadTualatin, OR

Sunday 6:00 pm: Defending Christianity from Secular Attacks - Ken Ham

Sunday 7:30 pm: The Ultimate Proof of Creation - Jason Lisle

Monday 6:30 pm: Darwin and Evolution’s Racist Roots - Ken Ham

Monday 8:00 pm: The Darwin Connection to Astronomy - Jason Lisle

Home School / Christian School SessionsMonday 9:00 am to 10:30 am (up to middle school)Monday 11:00 am to 12:30 pm (up to high school)

For more information go to answersingenesis.org/events

Sponsored by: Answers in Genesis • Design Science AssociationKKPZ Radio • Pacifi c Rim Agency

letters to the editor

Imagine a group of church leaders sitting down to pray and dream about the future, drawing up their long range plan. Included are two new Saturday services, hiring additional personnel, partnering with another church in reaching out to the community, strategically joining with a ministry in another country, starting a building project. Sidelining the lead pastor. WHAT?

Imagine being the lead pastor at a large church. You are a visionary who foresees, with God’s blessing and grace, amazing things ahead. You are greatly loved by your congregation, respected in the community. You are in excellent physical condition, running marathons. You are working on your doctorate. You are steering the largest building program the church has ever undertaken. In the blink of an eye, it seems, you can barely talk and can’t get around without a walker. WHAT?

The week of October 19th, 2008, John Stumbo, the lead pastor at Salem Alliance Church, thought he was coming down with the flu. When he didn’t improve he was checked into the hospital. He stayed there for 77 days. Five times his wife, Joanna, was advised that she needed to come quickly because he wasn’t responding. It was bad and it was frightening.

Fast forward, months later.

John is suffering from a disease that the doctors call dermatomyocitis, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the muscles and has left him in a very weakened state. He has lost 45 pounds from his original weight and because the muscles that aid in swallowing were affected, he has to receive his nourishment through a feeding tube. The average person swallows 1,000 times each day, but John can’t even swallow his own saliva. His voice is an agonizing whisper. His heart and his vital organs are fine. His memory and mind are as sharp as they’ve ever been. But since he was allowed to go home last February he has been in constant discomfort, dependent on Joanna and other caregivers to help him with almost everything he does. Doctors cannot tell him what the future holds. John is 48 years old.

In the meantime, what has happened to the church whose dynamic, brilliant leader was struck down in his prime? Everyone, to a person, would agree that, even though we are a better people for John’s ordeal, our hearts have been broken by the things he and his family have had to experience, and never-in-a-million-years would we have wished for this to happen. As we walk with him through this journey we have all shed many tears, asked many questions of God, and have had to come to grips with the knowledge that, simply put, God’s brain is not like ours, operating on a different dimension. We do believe that God weeps with us and that what John, his family, and Salem Alliance are going through deeply matters to him. We also know that God is in the business of redemption. He will use this for his purpose, and the good will be magnified to a much greater degree than the pain. We continue to hope.

One night last November, over 1,000 people gathered – with four hours notice – to pray for John. Others prayed in their homes. That was one of the times God brought him back from the brink of death. John later told the congregation, “I had my hand on death’s door, but I had about three thousand of you pulling me back. I didn’t have a chance to get into heaven with all of you people praying for me.”

There have been other corporate prayer times - at Salem Alliance and at churches all over the world - and millions of individual prayers offered on John’s behalf because we believe that John is “one touch away” from being completely healed, that God is able to remove this curse from John in an instant – if that is his will. As we anticipate that day we are sensing the Holy Spirit’s closeness in a new way as we lay John’s needs, as well as those of the church, before our all-powerful God. Many people, young and old, are making decisions to become followers of Jesus Christ. Life isn’t going on as normal. We’ve changed. We go deeper. Things we took for granted are now reasons for thankfulness. God, through John, has

touched the hearts and lives of his people in unique ways.

And John perseveres. He can slowly walk a mile on his treadmill. He continues to minister to literally thousands of people throughout the world on his blog (johnstumbo.org or salemalliance.org) where he shares insights into his mysterious journey. John writes very well, and his story is an honest, gripping, encouraging, heart-breaking, challenging, and sometimes humorous tale. The comments that are left on the blog demonstrate that he speaks to many people where they are, helping them with their own trials, their own pain.

On recent blogs John discussed fifteen elements of persevering that he clings to, that have helped him personally. Included in those are suggestions to keep praising God, to rely on what you know to be true and not what you feel at the moment, to intentionally look for humor in the circumstances, and to take on day at a time, knowing that some are going to be more difficult than others.

This past June, John, of his own initiative, stepped down as lead pastor of Salem Alliance Church and has been reassigned to a part-time associate pastor role. As we wrestle with exactly what that will look like, we know that God has a plan and it is perfect.

We are thankful that, in God’s providence, Salem Alliance has a preaching TEAM. Ours has not been a “one man show” so even though John is terribly missed, his absence has not been devastating and the church has moved forward in health. One of the associate pastors, Steve Fowler, has been appointed as interim lead pastor. Others – staff and volunteers alike – have stepped up to the plate, filled the gaps, worked many extra hours, poured their hearts into their calling – to honor God and to honor John.

We are all in this together, for the long haul. John is not leaving us and we are not leaving him. We are committed to the Stumbo family, in whatever form that may take in the future. (John and Joanna have three children – one married and two in college.)

When asked about how the family is handling this crisis, Joanna said, “After being married for 26 years, we thought we knew our script pretty well. We thought we had a good idea of what our future looked like. But working through this illness has forced us to learn improv. We’re making it up as we go.”

On John’s office wall is this prayer: “O Lord, may the power of my example far exceed the authority of my position. Amen.” It is evident that John’s awe-inspiring example is touching lives in ways he never imagined and in ways that are more far reaching than a “position” could have taken him. And we don’t know the end of the story yet.

God does.

On June 24th, when John spoke briefly to the congregation (at all five services!), he said, “God is in this and God is good.” At another time he commented, “I never would have chosen to lose my health and be in the situation I am in, but I am trusting that God’s ultimate purposes will be fulfilled.”

That is the embodiment of faith.

Before retiring, Natalie Warren served on the pastoral staff at Salem Alliance church for eleven years. She graduated from Westmont College and took several short-term mission trips to Guinea, West Africa, and Jordan. Currently Natalie serves on the Governing Board of Salem Alliance,

enjoys spending time with her eight grandchildren and, along with her husband Jim, lives in rural Monmouth, Ore.God is proving, through the life of

Pastor John Stumbo, that He is still in control

RETHINKMONTHLY.COM_2726_RETHINK MONTHLY

Imagine a group of church leaders sitting down to pray and dream about the future, drawing up their long range plan. Included are two new Saturday services, hiring additional personnel, partnering with another church in reaching out to the community, strategically joining with a ministry in another country, starting a building project. Sidelining the lead pastor. WHAT?

Imagine being the lead pastor at a large church. You are a visionary who foresees, with God’s blessing and grace, amazing things ahead. You are greatly loved by your congregation, respected in the community. You are in excellent physical condition, running marathons. You are working on your doctorate. You are steering the largest building program the church has ever undertaken. In the blink of an eye, it seems, you can barely talk and can’t get around without a walker. WHAT?

The week of October 19th, 2008, John Stumbo, the lead pastor at Salem Alliance Church, thought he was coming down with the flu. When he didn’t improve he was checked into the hospital. He stayed there for 77 days. Five times his wife, Joanna, was advised that she needed to come quickly because he wasn’t responding. It was bad and it was frightening.

Fast forward, months later.

John is suffering from a disease that the doctors call dermatomyocitis, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the muscles and has left him in a very weakened state. He has lost 45 pounds from his original weight and because the muscles that aid in swallowing were affected, he has to receive his nourishment through a feeding tube. The average person swallows 1,000 times each day, but John can’t even swallow his own saliva. His voice is an agonizing whisper. His heart and his vital organs are fine. His memory and mind are as sharp as they’ve ever been. But since he was allowed to go home last February he has been in constant discomfort, dependent on Joanna and other caregivers to help him with almost everything he does. Doctors cannot tell him what the future holds. John is 48 years old.

In the meantime, what has happened to the church whose dynamic, brilliant leader was struck down in his prime? Everyone, to a person, would agree that, even though we are a better people for John’s ordeal, our hearts have been broken by the things he and his family have had to experience, and never-in-a-million-years would we have wished for this to happen. As we walk with him through this journey we have all shed many tears, asked many questions of God, and have had to come to grips with the knowledge that, simply put, God’s brain is not like ours, operating on a different dimension. We do believe that God weeps with us and that what John, his family, and Salem Alliance are going through deeply matters to him. We also know that God is in the business of redemption. He will use this for his purpose, and the good will be magnified to a much greater degree than the pain. We continue to hope.

One night last November, over 1,000 people gathered – with four hours notice – to pray for John. Others prayed in their homes. That was one of the times God brought him back from the brink of death. John later told the congregation, “I had my hand on death’s door, but I had about three thousand of you pulling me back. I didn’t have a chance to get into heaven with all of you people praying for me.”

There have been other corporate prayer times - at Salem Alliance and at churches all over the world - and millions of individual prayers offered on John’s behalf because we believe that John is “one touch away” from being completely healed, that God is able to remove this curse from John in an instant – if that is his will. As we anticipate that day we are sensing the Holy Spirit’s closeness in a new way as we lay John’s needs, as well as those of the church, before our all-powerful God. Many people, young and old, are making decisions to become followers of Jesus Christ. Life isn’t going on as normal. We’ve changed. We go deeper. Things we took for granted are now reasons for thankfulness. God, through John, has

touched the hearts and lives of his people in unique ways.

And John perseveres. He can slowly walk a mile on his treadmill. He continues to minister to literally thousands of people throughout the world on his blog (johnstumbo.org or salemalliance.org) where he shares insights into his mysterious journey. John writes very well, and his story is an honest, gripping, encouraging, heart-breaking, challenging, and sometimes humorous tale. The comments that are left on the blog demonstrate that he speaks to many people where they are, helping them with their own trials, their own pain.

On recent blogs John discussed fifteen elements of persevering that he clings to, that have helped him personally. Included in those are suggestions to keep praising God, to rely on what you know to be true and not what you feel at the moment, to intentionally look for humor in the circumstances, and to take on day at a time, knowing that some are going to be more difficult than others.

This past June, John, of his own initiative, stepped down as lead pastor of Salem Alliance Church and has been reassigned to a part-time associate pastor role. As we wrestle with exactly what that will look like, we know that God has a plan and it is perfect.

We are thankful that, in God’s providence, Salem Alliance has a preaching TEAM. Ours has not been a “one man show” so even though John is terribly missed, his absence has not been devastating and the church has moved forward in health. One of the associate pastors, Steve Fowler, has been appointed as interim lead pastor. Others – staff and volunteers alike – have stepped up to the plate, filled the gaps, worked many extra hours, poured their hearts into their calling – to honor God and to honor John.

We are all in this together, for the long haul. John is not leaving us and we are not leaving him. We are committed to the Stumbo family, in whatever form that may take in the future. (John and Joanna have three children – one married and two in college.)

When asked about how the family is handling this crisis, Joanna said, “After being married for 26 years, we thought we knew our script pretty well. We thought we had a good idea of what our future looked like. But working through this illness has forced us to learn improv. We’re making it up as we go.”

On John’s office wall is this prayer: “O Lord, may the power of my example far exceed the authority of my position. Amen.” It is evident that John’s awe-inspiring example is touching lives in ways he never imagined and in ways that are more far reaching than a “position” could have taken him. And we don’t know the end of the story yet.

God does.

On June 24th, when John spoke briefly to the congregation (at all five services!), he said, “God is in this and God is good.” At another time he commented, “I never would have chosen to lose my health and be in the situation I am in, but I am trusting that God’s ultimate purposes will be fulfilled.”

That is the embodiment of faith.

Before retiring, Natalie Warren served on the pastoral staff at Salem Alliance church for eleven years. She graduated from Westmont College and took several short-term mission trips to Guinea, West Africa, and Jordan. Currently Natalie serves on the Governing Board of Salem Alliance,

enjoys spending time with her eight grandchildren and, along with her husband Jim, lives in rural Monmouth, Ore.God is proving, through the life of

Pastor John Stumbo, that He is still in control

RETHINKMONTHLY.COM_2726_RETHINK MONTHLY

28_RETHINK MONTHLY

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URED

RETHINKMONTHLY.COM_29

"Education is under siege," states Dr. Henry Giroux, author of Stealing Innocence: Corporate Culture's War on Children. "It's under siege by the marketers. It's under siege by the corpora-tions." Most of all, says Giroux, public education is under siege in the sense that it is no longer seen as fundamental to a democracy. Ironically, America's public schools were once considered the hope of freedom and democracy, the place where young people were to be instructed in the principles of freedom so that they could some-day effectively participate in the democratic process. Sadly, that is no longer the case.

Instead, for the more than 49 million students who are attending elementary and secondary public schools this fall, their time in school will be marked by overreaching zero tolerance policies, heightened security and surveillance and a greater emphasis on conformity and behavior-controlling drugs-all either aimed at or resulting in the destruction of privacy and freedom.

In his award-winning documentary The War on Kids (2009), director Cevin Soling examines the dangers posed to young people today by a public school system that looks upon them as "superpredators" to be controlled and treated like criminals. Two obvious results of this dan-gerous mindset are the rise in zero tolerance policies and the physical transformation of the schools into quasi-prisons.

Zero tolerance policies were first introduced into the schools after Congress passed the 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act, which required a one-year expulsion for any child bringing a firearm or bomb to school. Unfortunately, from there a precipitous but insidious slide has taken place, resulting in zero tolerance policies that crack down on firearms to poli-cies that discourage undesirable behavior al-together. These policies are now so subjective as to crack down on spit wads, Tweetie Bird keychains and Certs breath mints--all of which constitute contraband of one kind or another.

"Media hysteria really created this groundswell of support for zero tolerance and folks being scared that it could happen at their school," states Judith Browne, co-director of the Advancement Project. "Now, we have police officers in every school. He's now there to be law enforcement. He's there to lock up kids."

As Soling's insightful film documents, from the moment they walk into school, students today find themselves under constant surveil-lance: they are photographed, fingerprinted, scanned, x-rayed, sniffed and snooped on. Be-tween metal detectors at the entrances, drug-sniffing dogs in the hallways and surveillance cameras in the classrooms and elsewhere, America's schools have come to resemble prison-like complexes. Much of this is an at-

tempt to appease parental fears in the wake of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. Yet as one student remarks in the film, "They [the surveillance cameras] don't really prevent anything. They just take pictures of it." Indeed, the documentary points out there is no empirical data to show that metal detectors, locker searches, or security cameras have any impact in reducing school violence.

Neither have they managed to reduce drug us-age among young people. Yet, ironically, while our nation's schools have become the primary battleground for the so-called war on drugs, they have also become a testing ground for the pharmaceutical industry. "Why is it that the U.S. has six times as many kids on Ritalin as any other country?" asks Dr. Bertram Karon of Michigan State University. "Because this is the most profitable country to sell your drugs." In fact, some 4 million children in the United States are on drugs, accounting for 90% of all Ritalin prescriptions in the world.

Ritalin is often prescribed for what is termed "attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder" (ADHD), a condition that was once labeled hyperactivity. However, the drugs that are prescribed for ADHD are cocaine-like stimu-lants. And according to the U.S. Drug Enforce-ment Administration, the human nervous system cannot differentiate between cocaine, amphetamines and methylphenidate--that is, Ritalin.

Unfortunately, since ADHD hit the mainstream in the 1980s, prescriptions for Ritalin have skyrocketed, aided and abetted by school of-ficials and parents who have relied on it to se-date what are termed hyperactive students in and out of the classroom. As psychiatrist Peter R. Breggin notes in Soling's film, the young people who are being diagnosed and drugged are "often our best and brightest kids, they're our most energetic kids, our most rebellious kids, our most exciting kids--the kids who may someday really transform the world and bring new and better things into the world."

This over-drugging of America's youth has led to deadly consequences. For example, a disturbing number of young school shoot-ers were either on anti-depressants or were withdrawing from anti-depressants. The list of shooters is extensive and ranges from 12-year-old Christopher Pittman who was on Zoloft and withdrawing from Paxil when he killed his paternal grandparents to 17-year-old Eric Harris who was on Luvox when he and his partner Dylan Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher at Columbine.

Laurie A. Couture, author of Instead of Medicating and Punishing, places the blame for this sorry state of affairs squarely on our educational system. "Our society is built on

freedoms and personal liberties, and yet it's like we take our children and we lock them up in a prison for 13 years of their life," said Couture.We regiment every aspect of their physical body, their emotions, their social contacts, and most importantly, their minds--what they can and can't learn and how they will learn it. And then when they're 18 years old, and we open the key and we release them into society, suddenly they're now supposed to know how to think for themselves and be self-starting, innovative, creative, imaginative individuals who are supposed to take part in a democratic process. It's impossible. It would be like send-ing the kids over to a fascist nation for 13 years and having them come back and explain what democracy is all about. And yet that's what we do each and every generation.

The unfortunate fact is that the schools are failing our children. However, the problem goes even deeper. Children are in greater physical, psychological, emotional and spiri-tual danger now than at any other time during the life of this nation, and the threat is coming from all sides--from dysfunctional families that fail to nurture children, from religious institutions lacking in moral leadership, from communications technology that has contrib-uted to an insulated and isolated society, from an onslaught of entertainment media that pacifies young people, and from a corporate culture that views young people as the means to a greater profit margin.

What can be done? To start with, parents have a duty to become intimately involved in their children's education and vocally protest when they see their children being mistreated by school officials. But first, parents need to become educated on what's happening in the public school compounds. An excellent place to start is Cevin Soling's exceptional docu-mentary, The War on Kids, which is available at www.thewaronkids.com.

As someone once said, "The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next." If this theorem holds true, we face a frightening future.

John W. Whitehead is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced

widely in the area of constitutional law and human rights. Whitehead’s concern for the

persecuted and oppressed led him, in 1982, to establish The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit

civil liberties and human rights organization whose international headquarters are located

in Charlottesville, Virginia. To find out more about John Whitehead or The Rutherford Insti-tute, visit their website at www.rutherford.org.

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by Tim Challies

Calling the Holy Spirit “Forgotten God” may be a bit of an overstatement. Or perhaps it is an understatement. Some Christians seem to show little evidence that they have any theology of the Spirit while others seem to emphasize the Spirit at the expense of other biblical doctrine. What seems clear is that few Christians have it quite right. In this new book Francis Chan says, “From my perspective, the Holy Spirit is tragically ne-glected and, for all practical purposes, forgotten. While no evangelical would deny His existence, I’m willing to bet there are millions of churchgoers across Ameri-ca who cannot confidently say they have experienced His presence or action in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not believe they can.” With the entertainment (or perhaps “edutainment”) model of church so prevalent today, churches have become filled with self-focused con-sumers instead of Spirit-filled believers. Chan asks this provocative question: “What if you grew up on a desert island with nothing but the Bible to read?” If you had nothing but Scripture to guide you, would your understanding of the Holy Spirit be far different from what it is to-day? It is probably worth thinking about. Says Chan, “If I were Satan and my ultimate goal was to thwart God’s kingdom and purposes, one of my main strategies would be to get churchgoers to ignore the Holy Spirit.”

It is easy to fake the presence of the Spirit, isn’t it? “Let’s be honest: If you combine a charismatic speaker, a talented worship band, and some hip, creative events, people will at-tend your church. Yet this does not mean that the Holy Spirit of God is actively working and moving in the lives of the people who are com-ing.” It is possible for a church to be fun and

vibrant and exciting even while utterly ignoring the Holy Spirit—even while outright grieving the Holy Spirit. Such churches may say much about Jesus but little about the Spirit. Yet how then do we reconcile Jesus’ words that it is better for us if we have the Spirit than if we have the Son? Chan says, “I think most of us would…choose a physical Jesus over an invisible Spirit. But what do we do with the fact

that Jesus says it is better for His followers to have the Holy Spirit?” Do we believe Him? If so, do our lives reflect that belief?”

Alternating teaching with stories and testimonies, Chan seeks to reverse this neglect of the Spirit. Essentially he provides a brief and basic theology of the Spirit (even titling one chapter “Theology of the Holy Spirit 101”) and shows how the Spirit can and should operate in the life of the believer. It is an eminently quotable book, offering scores of statements that are worth highlighting and worth pondering in the days and weeks

to come. Some reading this review will want to know his position on the continuation of the miraculous spiritual gifts. I would say his is “guarded, hesitant continuationism,” though this comes from reading between the lines more than any bold statements to that effect.

If the book has a weakness I would say it is in Chan’s unwillingness to draw distinctions and to clearly delineate opposing doctrine. It is all very well to indicate that a church may not quite fit within one mold or another, but soon-er or later we do need to make distinctions. Either the Spirit speaks through audible voices or he does not; either words of knowledge exist today or they do not. We cannot have it both ways and the distinction can cut right to the heart of a church’s beliefs. I realize that labels can be as unhelpful as they are helpful, but at some point we do need to make dis-tinctions. I will grant that this may not be the role or purpose of Forgotten God but it is still possible that the book can confuse the reader exactly because of this lack of precision.

Nevertheless, for those who have thought little about the person and role of the Holy Spirit, Forgotten God may be just the thing to get them thinking. For those who have not thought about the Spirit for a long time, this may serve as a good wake-up call. It is far from a full-orbed or exhaustive treatment, but neither is that its purpose. Chan sets out to get the reader thinking “that by keeping in step with the Spirit, we might regularly fellowship over what He’s doing rather than what He did months or years ago.” It’s about living a life dependent on and surrendered to the Spirit, about seeking how we can live faithfully here and now. And this he accomplishes well.

Chan’s previous book Crazy Love has sold over a quarter million copies and continues to fly off bookstore shelves. Forgotten God shares a message that is nearly as urgent and undoubtedly even more important. It is a fitting sequel that bears many resemblances to the book it follows. After all, how can we show true love if not through the Holy Spirit? There are many people sharing similar messages today, but few doing so to Chan’s audience which is largely young and in many cases not very well trained in the teachings of Scripture. I have little doubt that God will use this to shake them up in all the right ways.

forgotten God

Tim Challies, a self-employed web designer, is a pioneer in the Christian blogosphere, having one of the most widely read and recognized Christian blogs. He is also editor of Discerning Reader, a site dedicated to offering

thoughtful reviews ofbooks that are of interestto Christians.

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