What "would" Jesus cut? (Part III)

Perhaps anything that does not hallow the name of our Father in heaven, which would be just about everything in the national budget, you know, with "separation of church and state" and all that.

Maybe the question we should ask is: Why are we asking such silly questions, as though Jesus "would" be hoping for an appointment (by whom, exactly?) to the OMB, or the Federal Reserve, or the US Treasury, "if" he were here with us, that is.

Good grief! What presuppositions lie behind all permutations of the question, "What 'would' Jesus do?"

No, the question is: What is the risen Jesus already doing, and what is he about to do in our midst? And isn't it a shame that we so quickly forget "the gospel of God with us"? 

What "would" Jesus cut? (Part II)

I'm pretty sure Jesus is not in favor of fraud. From Politico:


"The (GAO) report, issued at the request of a House subcommittee investigating Medicare and Medicaid fraud, estimates that the federal government is losing $48 billion on the improper payments – a significant amount for a program that 'is fiscally unsustainable in the long term' unless action is taken."

So, that's $48 billion + $510 billion ... Hey! If we would permit him to "round up," Jesus "would" soon be on his way to trimming one of those 14 trillions of dollars that we have spent but do not have. But thank God he is quick to give the gift of repentance to those who ask him!

What "would" Jesus cut?

Tony Campolo, Ron Sider, and Jim Wallis, "super star" preachers all, are asking in the budget debates, "What would Jesus cut?"


Um, perhaps he "would" begin with waste? (John 6:12)


"All told, the GAO targeted as much as $510 billion on 583 potentially duplicative, wasteful programs overseen by roughly 182 government agencies and offices, stretching across the federal government ..."

Is the Church in need of super stars?

I appreciate the conciliatory intent of this article, but I confess I tend to disembark whenever any pastor is deemed a "super star." Much as I think the term cheesy and trivializing when applied to Jesus, it seems pretty clear the church already has the only one she needs.

UPDATE: Here's another call for calm.

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XXII. Rachel Portman (Soundtrack to "Emma," et al.)

Perhaps the best bet for finding a good soundtrack for the pastoral study is to comb through the movie soundtracks of pastoral (often British) period films.  A case in point: the movie "Emma" (1996) has been rerunning on cable recently, and I have been reminded of its lovely, sprightly, and evocative theme. If the name Rachel Portman seems familiar, its because her name has appeared as composer on dozens of films, but it was for "Emma" that she won the Oscar. (Oddly enough, Portman was schooled at the England's prestigious Charterhouse, where the boys of Genesis, including Anthony Phillips, were educated.)

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XXI. The St. Olaf Choir

I should have mentioned this at Christmas, but one of the great highlights of the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany cycle is the radio broadcast of the annual St. Olaf Choir concert. A truly world class choir filling the world with joyous, sacred song from Northfield, MN. What a treasure.

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XX. Taizé

The music of the Taizé community likely needs no introduction, but is rather a cause for thanksgiving and joy. Organic yet broadly appealing, historic yet ever contemporary, the songs, chants and prayers of Taizé are, like the work of the Iona Community, a breath of fresh air and sanity in the midst of the so-called "worship wars."

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XIX. The Iona Community

Based in the west end of Glasgow, and of course on the island of Iona itself, John Bell, Graham Maule, and the Wild Goose Worship Group of the Iona Community have been breathing new life into Reformed worship for some time now. With fresh texts set to many traditional Celtic tunes as well as some original melodies, their approach to the knot of gospel and culture is not unlike that of Luther in 16th c. Germany and Vaughan Williams in 20th England. Would that their work was still more widely known, but it has been making inroads and is being well received, so I suppose there is little more to say than simply, "Faster, please," and "More, please."