Cynicism

In my previous post, I referenced the weekly email sent out by my District Superintendent.  I want to share something else from that email.  It's about cynicism and forgiveness.  It's hard not to by cynical when you're in a pastoral position.  While we take it too far sometimes, I enjoy hanging out with another pastor friend in Gardner and just letting the cynicism flow as we make each other laugh at our stories. 
But it's also good to know that I'm not the only pastor who struggles to forgive and to stave off cynicism.  Enjoy this challenge from a colleague who is very talented as a leader but secure enough to admit his shortcomings. 

Good morning, Pastor

This morning I prayed that God would help me to forgive you. Relax, I don't mean “you” specifically, I mean “you” generally as my brothers and sisters in Christ. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes the cumulative effect of disappointment over how God’s people act leaves me …. well, disappointed. Truthfully, over time that disappointment can become anger. I ended up there by Sunday night after several instances of receiving reports of people talking, acting, gossiping, and assuming in ways that leave me with a significant expectation violation to deal with. My expectation is that holiness people will act like it! When that doesn't seem to happen, my temptation is to become angry (including anger with myself). If that anger is not dealt with appropriately it can turn to cynicism, and that is a major red-flag that the problem is no longer with “those people” – the problem is with me. Some time ago God confronted this temptation in me and gave me a way out (1 Cor. 10:13). I was at College Church listening to a sermon from Dr. Graves. It was a sermon on forgiveness. I went to church that day smarting from some tough exchanges with people that week, probably feeling a bit sorry for myself, and no doubt being tempted to fall into a cynical attitude about the church. As my brother David preached on forgiveness I didn't really see the connection at first (I'm sometimes slow on these things) but then the Spirit opened my heart and I heard the clear message: cynicism and unforgiveness live right next to each other! I realized that the most powerful way to ensure that cynicism cannot get a foothold in my life is to drink deeply of God’s grace that enables us to pray, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
I did not want to write this today because it exposes one of my many flaws. I just wonder if perhaps pastors as a group face this temptation because we are on the front lines of the work of the Spirit in the lives of people who are broken by disappointment, fear, and hurt? May I offer to you this Jesus-taught strategy for those times when you are tempted to anger and cynicism toward the very people you are called to love? Forgive them. As God has forgiven you, forgive them. And the peace of God that is beyond understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Obituary

I just read an obitiuary of sorts regarding my time in pastoring TFC.  I read it in the section of my DS's weekly email entitled "transitions," in which he shares news of pastors joining or leaving the District.  It was now my turn to be in that section. 

"Pastor Donnie Miller (Gardner Trinity Family) announced his resignation to the congregation to be effective at the close of services April 3rd. Donnie and Erin planted TFC more than five years ago and have led the church in some of the most creative outreach ministries we know. The ministry of TFC will continue but will relocate from Gardner to Midtown Kansas City under the strategy of reaching some of the most marginalized people among us. We wish the Millers all the best in the days ahead."



You know what, I'm honored by that description of my pastoral service at TFC. 

Leaving Well

People leave churches.  It happens.  Unfortunately, it happens a lot.  While it may be common, it does sometimes put pastors in awkward situations.  When it's the pastor leaving the church, it puts the congregation in an awkward (at best) situation.  A pastor friend of mine was just describing it as a break-up.  We say we'll be friends and we have the best of intentions, and sometimes we do stay friends, but the truth is we used to be so much more than friends.  I think that's a pretty good description.

Sometimes the person's decision to leave is a personal reason, other times it's not.  Either way, I've always taken it personally.  I used to feel kind of guilty or weak for this feeling until I read a blog post from Adam Hamilton in which he said that no matter how many thousands of people call him pastor, he still takes it personally every time someone leaves.  And then I just read this honest and emotional article from Leadership Journal. 

The reasons for and methods of leaving have run the gamut; from people mad that I talked about money in a sermon to people needing a church with a youth group.  I've been on the wrong end of emotional explosions and attacks on my character to people tearfully telling me how much they love us and the church but that they need to make a change.  And of course, there are those who just stop showing up for worship but never bother to tell myself or anyone else.  Those are the awkward ones.  Even the bitterly angry "breakups" eventually get resolved or healing happens, but when people just ditch you without saying anything - those are the ones that cause me to duck down the aisle at Walmart when I see them coming toward me.  I used to try to hunt people down but sometime in the past couple of years, I decided I didn't need to chase people. 

But of all these different experiences, the ones that stick out in my mind are the solid leaders who have left.  The people who were "pulling their weight" so to speak - leading, serving and/or giving in significant ways.  Again, this is all over the spectrum.  Some people who have had significant leadership roles just told me they were done and then basically walked off the job, leaving us scrambling to fill the gap or compensate for that gap.  While I completely understand the desire to simply be done, that's not the healthiest way to transition out of a leadership position.  The most extreme example happened one Sunday after we'd just finished loading up the trailer.  In fact, we'd just locked up the trailer door and were turning to leave when a person who had been serving in a significant role announced that he'd just finished his last Sunday and wouldn't be back.  Geez... that was sudden.

But those unfortunate instances highlight the examples of leaders who have left well.  Those who were willing to finish strong, help train a replacement and work for the well-being of all - despite the personal awkwardness the situation may have caused them.  These people let me know far in advance of their final Sunday that they'd be looking for a church home but followed through on their ministry commitments until a predetermined date.  It's not easy to continue to show up to your leadership position when those you're leading and/or serving know you'll be "breaking up" soon.  Those are the leaders who have inspired me to whenever my turn would come, to leave well. 

Well, sometime in January of this year, I knew my time to leave had come.  It was one of the most incredibly difficult decisions I'd ever made, but I was confident that the timing was right.  Although this may sound overly spiritual, I felt released from my role as pastor of TFC. 

But I had a couple challenges facing me:  1) This is one of my two income sources, so I depend upon the paycheck.  2) Due to Erin's teaching position, we couldn't make a serious change until the end of the school year.  But despite those challenges, I knew it was time for me to leave.  I set a goal of leaving by the end of June but I wasn't exactly sure how to leave well nor whether I'd even have the guts to do so.

The easiest thing would've been to hang on in my pastoral role until the socially acceptable time-frame for a pastor's resignation; usually within two weeks to one month of announcing the resignation.  Basically, just keep going through the motions until submitting a formal resignation at the beginning of June.  This would allow me to keep getting paid through June and to avoid the awkwardness of a "lame duck" pastor.The only problem - that wouldn't have been a very loving nor honest way to treat the congregation.

While I was sharing with my District Superintendent that it was time for me to leave, he challenged me to leave well.  In fact, my DS used the examples of other leaders who have left TFC well in challenging me to do the same.  The fact that I'm the only pastor TFC has ever had was going to make this potential pastor transition different than your average church - meaning I needed to handle it differently than most pastors would do so.  My DS challenged me to not wait until June to share with the Advisory Council that I would be leaving but to tell them way in advance, to best prepare them for my departure as well as give them enough time to figure out the next step for TFC.  While this wasn't going to be a comfortable conversation and it would lead to a potentially awkward few months, I knew my DS was right.  So I had that conversation with the Advisory Council.

Honestly, it couldn't have gone any better.  It certainly was difficult, though.  During that meeting and throughout the next few weeks, the Advisory Council members went through all the stages of grief; shock, denial, anger and acceptance.  Some people shed tears and some balled up their fists in frustration.  But they responded to my vulnerability and honesty with a commitment to leading TFC to the best possible future.  (I'll blog more on that later).  And when it was time for me to share the transition / resignation with the congregation, they stood with me and have helped lead this transition. 

Of course, my worst fears haven't been realized.  It has been awkward, not with the Advisory Council anymore but with some members of the congregation.  But people are also supportive, understanding and trusting of my decision and leadership.  Secondly, I'm going to get paid through June!  While the Advisory Council decided to make this transition happen as quickly as possible, they honored my commitment to stay through June and have decided to pay me for that time period.  If I've done one thing right, it's help TFC manager her finances well, so we'll be passing along quite a bit of money to TFC Midtown.  And it possible that I might be starting a new position July 1st.  But I won't know that for a couple more weeks.  If it happens, believe me, I'll share it here.

While I've certainly made plenty of mistakes while leading TFC, I've always tried to do the right or best thing no matter how difficult or uncomfortable it may have been.  It seems to me in navigating the most difficult time period for our church, I've been able to follow through on what was right, allowing me to leave well.

Taking off the Bumper Stickers

"One of the most fundamental ways that we witness to God's love is we move toward our enemies.  Now, some enemies, if you walk up and give them a big bear hug - that's gonna get awkward.  So, perhaps it begins in your heart with an awareness, 'this person is an enemy and my witness to God's love in the world is directly connected to whether I move toward this enemy or whether I back away - thus creating more distance.'So, perhaps one of the most simple, rubber-meets-the-road ways we witness to the love of Christ is we simply move towards the enemy. 

Now, in some cases, it means we simply stop talking evil of them.  In other cases, it means we take off the bumper stickers.  And by that, I simply mean, sometimes loving your enemies means setting aside the categories you've been given about you and them by your culture.  Sometimes, loving your enemies simply means rejecting the fact that they even are your enemies and rediscovering their humanity. 

Perhaps one of the first ways we witness to God's love for a world that so desperately needs to see it is that we move toward our enemies." 

- Rob Bell

I periodically need to remove the bumper stickers and set aside the categories, remembering the humanity of those who are opposite of myself. 

La Belle et La Bête

Here's another composition for my French 300 class at KU.  It's my own version of the classic French fairytale, "Beauty and the Beast." 
If it ends rather abruptly, well, that's what happens when you realize you've just reached your 300 word requirement....

Il était une fois un jeune beau prince habitait un grand château. Ce jeune beau prince était très fier de se beau visage. Un jour, une vieille laid dame est venue au château. Le jeune beau prince ne lui parlée pas parce qu’ elle était très laid. Alors, la vieille laide femme l’a dit qu’ il serait une laid bête jusqu’ au moment où une jeune belle femme l’aimerait. Tous les habitants des le château sont éte affliqés avec la malédiction aussi.


Pendant ce temps, une belle jeaun femme habitait une petite ville provincialle. Cette femme s’apellait Belle. Belle aimait beaucoup lire mais elle n’avait aucun ami. Un jour, quand Belle marchait à la forêt, elle s’est perdue. Elle marchait à la forêt depuis longtemps quand elle est venue au château de la laide bête. Belle frappait à la porte quand quelqu’un lui a appelée “Qui est la porte?”

Belle a repondu au personne, “Je m’appelle Belle et j’ai besoin de votre aide.” à

Tout de suite, quelqu’un a ouvert la porte. La porte venait de s’ouvrir quand Belle a vu qu’une théière avait lui parlé.

“Pourquoi êtes-vous une théière?” Belle a t-elle à la théière.

“Je ne peux pas vous dire pourquoi je suis une théière” la théière a repondu l-elle. “Mais, il faut que tu saches qu’une bête habite ici.”

Belle a crié “Une bête! Comment la bête est-elle? J’ai très peur des bêtes!”

“Ne t’en fais pas. Quelquefois, la bête est fâchée et quelquefois la bête est gentille. “ la théière a repondu à Belle. “C’a s’arrangera. Alors, vous devez rencontrer la bête.”

Belle a dit “Je ne suis pas sûre que rencontrer la bête soit une bonne idée. Mais, je le ferai.”

La théière a crié “Quelle bone nouvelle!” Ensuite, Belle et la théière ont commencé à marcher à travers le château.

Quand Belle et la théière sont arrivées au troisième étage, Belle a vu un grand corps au bout du couloir. Après avait marché à la lumière, Belle a pu voir que le corps était celle de la bête. Ils ont commencé à traverser le château et parler ensemble.

Ca fait plusiers mois qu’ils ont passé beaucoup de temps ensemble. Belle a appris à la bête pour lire et la bête a instruit Belle pour chasser.

Un jour, Belle s’est rendu compte qu’ elle aimait la bête. Par consequence, Belle a embrassé la bête. À ce moment-là, la malédiction s’est cassée et la bête est devenue une jeune belle prince! Alors, tous les objets du château se sont transformés en etre humaines. Il était un bon jour pour tous les habitants du château. Ils ont vécu heureux et pour toujours.

Enemy Love Conquers the World

From Frederich Buechner in The Magnificent Defeat

"The love for equals is a human thing - of friend for friend, brother for brother.  It is to love what is loving and lovely.  The world smiles.  The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing - the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely.  This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.  The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing - to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man.  The world is always bewildered by its saints.  And then there is the love for the enemy - love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain.  The tortured's love for the torturer.  This is God's love.  It conquers the world."

A Transition for TFC

I'm going to post below what I shared with the congregation this past Sunday.
It was not an easy day, but it was a very good day. Now that the transition is out in the open, I'm free to share a lot of the thoughts I've had lately. While I won't share many now, I do want to share how amazed I am at how well everything was recieved on Sunday. Yes, it was hard and people were crying but people were also understanding, encouraging and excited about the future.
One guy, who has been with us since the beginning, immediately came up and gave me a hug saying, "it takes a lot of courage to stand up and do what you just did."

I was also later sent this message from a leader in our church, "I know what you did today had to be one of the hardest things you ever had to do but I have to tell you again what a great job you did articulating all the details about the transition we are going through. You went over and beyond how I thought you would present it. You and the family are always in our prayers."

For so long, I thought leadership meant having it all figured out, having all the answers and knowing exactly where to lead. I've learned to let that go and be more honest about not having it all figured out while also learning how to suggest rather than demand. Ironically, my influence as a leader has grown a lot during that process. I guess another word for that process is simply "maturity." But I'll blog more on that later...

It's just amazing the level of affirmation and support I recieved after sharing this (below) on Sunday. It seems that during my greatest weakness came my strongest leadership.
                                                                                                     
7 years ago, I was finishing up my last semester in Seminary and preparing to move to Gardner to start the yet-to-be-named Church. My all-consuming passion for starting this church was to reach people who were currently not in church, what we pastor-types call the “unchurched.” And we have been able to do exactly that. Even before our church officially launched, we had unchurched people joining our community. And it has continued to happen throughout our church’s existence. For many of you, TFC is your first church ever or your first church in a long time. I’m hoping he can share his story soon, but Brett Limer, just recently made the decision to live for Jesus. And he hung around TFC for almost 2 years before making that decision. And on Wednesday evening, Shelby told me we’re the first church she’s called home since the 80’s. She told me, and I quote, “you restored my faith in church fellowship.”
Well, as I shared in a likely too-brief email this past week, we’ve got a big announcement to share with everyone. The announcement is this. After 7 wonderful years of reaching unchurched people, we’ve decided to stop. It’s been a good run, we’ve helped a lot of people, but it’s a LOT of work. It’s exhausting. Let them build a relationship with God on their own, the church doesn’t need to help with that anymore. I’m kidding – obviously

If you were here two weeks ago, you heard Pastor Andy and his Love Wins team share how they were able to influence a lot of CHURCH leaders at the M-11 conference. The impact came as they shared stories of how TFC Midtown is reaching the people that no other church is going after. Which follows the example of Jesus we see in the gospels. Jesus hung out with the people that good, respectable, religious people would never be caught dead with.
You also may remember that last summer, I began sharing a dream for a new way of doing church. Although we’ve never been conventional and we’ve always been others-focused, TFC was still started, and basically still operates, under a more institutional model. What I mean by that is organization lead by a paid pastor, programming and all the other stuff thought to be ‘normal’ in today’s church culture. I started having a dream for a church structure with several unpaid pastors, a form of gathering for worship that is in the midst of a community and a budget that gives away more than it spends on itself. You may also remember, that when I shared that dream in June, I promised to do my best to lead us there. But I wasn’t sure whether I personally would have what it takes to get us there.
This past year I’ve been working part-time at FedEx, going to school, trying to be faithful in my role as pastor, while still being a dad and husband. Honestly, it’s just about killed me. There have been times in which I’ve been sitting in my office chair, staring at the upcoming Sunday morning like a deer in the headlights, trying to muscle-up another biblical teaching to give to the congregation that deserves it from me. Other times, I’d pull back up to a dock at one of my stops on my FedEx route and just sit there for a few minutes, overwhelmed by the weight of everything. Sometimes a few tears would slip out before I forced myself to go make the delivery.
Eventually, I realized, while staring at the cold, hard numbers, that TFC was quickly going the wrong way financially. While we’ve had enough money in savings to last through June – the end of our fiscal year. The reality is that our current institutional model of church is no longer financially viable. We simply don’t have enough money coming in to continue in this model of church – rent, pastoral salary, programs, etc. And that puts me and my family in a tough spot. Because while I believe in that model of almost-volunteer staff, my two degrees are training for just one job – leading a church as a paid pastor. And I’ve got a lot of work to do still before finishing a degree that makes me marketable outside the institutional church.
I can sum up where we’re at with these two statements: 1) The church no longer has the financial means to pay me what my family needs. 2) I no longer have the ability to give what a church needs from their lead pastor. repeat
But in the midst of my own struggles. And the financial and people struggles of TFC Gardner. God has been faithful to us. In starting TFC Midtown, we have continued to reach people not in church. And we’ve effectively began a church community that follows this non-institutional / missional model.
Over the last month, the Advisory Council has been weighing the good and bad of what I’ve just shared. They’ve assessed the promise of TFC Midtown and the resource-deficit of TFC Gardner. And they’ve come to a decision that is both exciting and painful. We’ve decided to move Trinity Family Church out of Gardner and to the midtown area. Repeat Trinity Family will continue to exist, but with a new address. TFC Gardner will no longer exist, but the history, mission and community of TFC will continue on through the Midtown campus.
I realize this is a hard thing to hear. It’s a hard thing to say, honestly. That’s why I wrote everything out word-for-word. It’s just that in considering all the options, this seemed like the best thing to do. A lot of the New Testament is letters written to churches. None of those churches still exist in the same form in which they existed 2,000 years ago. The Church as a whole still exists, and there are churches and Christians in those same cities – but they’ve changed. All churches change. But what could be hard about this change is that it’s happened more quickly than a lot of church change. With this change, there’s a lot of hope, but also some pain. I realize this.
You probably won’t process all of this as I share it with you, but here are the main details which you need to know.
1) Pastor Andy will be elected as the lead pastor of TFC-Midtown Pending DS’ approval.

2) We’re encouraging everyone to consider moving with TFC to Midtown
However we realize this isn’t possible for everyone, especially people living in Gardner or south Johnson County and/or those with kids. So, we’re proposing another step that can help to maintain the relationships we’ve built over the past several years.

3) We’re encouraging those who want to stay connected with a church in Gardner to transition as a group into the Indian Creek – Gardner church
Let me reiterate, this idea is to help preserve as many relationships as possible. We encourage you to consider making the move to Midtown. But if that simply isn’t do-able for your family, we’re asking you to consider transitioning into ICG. Let me share some reasons we’ve chosen ICG to be the church into which we transition.

ICG is the closest thing to TFC that we could find in Gardner. We’re fairly similar in several ways – theologically (they’re Wesleyan), missionally (they’re outward focused and the little bit of growth they’ve had over the past two years has come not from transfer growth but from formerly unchurched people), worship style (their worship style is a lot like ours was when we still had the manpower to put together a full band on a regular basis), atmosphere (they seem to have the same “safe place” feel that TFC has), and even size (they’re the same size we were two years ago before we started our numerical decline – right around 100 people in worship).
While best-case scenario is that we continue as-is, that simply isn’t possible right now. We’re trusting that transitioning into ICG will be the second-best-case-scenario.

I’ve known the pastor for a couple of years now. Some of you may remember Ben, he preached here one Sunday last April. And while we’re not best friends or anything, what I’ve seen of him has impressed me. I trust him. And I’d better trust him, because I’m leading some of the people I’ve come to love – come to love with the love that only a pastor knows - into his church.
If you choose to transition into ICG, you’ll have the advantage of coming into a new church with pre-existing relationships. Of course, you’ll get to know other great people as you get involved in the life of ICG, but you’ll have a safety net of sorts by having other TFC families come with you. Let me re-state, we’re doing this in an effort to help keep as many people together as possible. Ideally, everyone would choose one of two places – TFC Midtown or ICG.
But we also realize that one of these two options may not be the best for some of us. So we’re encouraging another option, too.

4) Pastor Donnie and the Advisory Council will work to help those not joining Indian Creek Gardner or TFC Midtown to transition into another church
This is particularly for those of you who would like to stay in the CoTN but don’t feel that Midtown works for your family. But even if it’s not a CoTN, we’ll help you transition into whatever church works best for you.

5) Pastor Donnie and the Advisory Council are willing to meet with families and individuals to help them process their decision We’ll be doing this for as long as it takes. I’ll be here through at least June, helping with the transition. Sign ups
But that leads to the other question you’ve probably all been asking.
“Donnie, what are you going to do?”

6) Pastor Donnie will focus upon the transition into Indian Creek Gardner and other churches besides TFC Midtown

7) Pastor Andy is willing to meet with anyone considering joining the move to the midtown area
Again, we want to encourage everyone to make Midtown their first option, with ICG being their second option. Having lunch after worship with anyone interested.

Those are the main details. Let me know give a timeline of how this transition is going to happen. It might feel a bit abrupt, to be honest. But again, we thought a quick move would be the best thing for everyone.

March 20th – follow up with congregation during regular worship time 
 We’ll gather at our regular place and time next Sunday for worship and for a chance to continue discussing all of this. It’s going to take some time to process it all and you’ll likely have more questions, so next Sunday will be a chance to have another church-wide discussion. You can also always email me.
Thursday, March 24th and Sunday, March 27th – “Previews”
This will be your chance to join TFC Midtown for their Thursday evening worship gathering and to worship with ICG on a Sunday morning. Pastor Ben is planning to meet with whatever TFC people come for worship that Sunday morning.
Sunday, April 3rd – last regular worship gathering of TFC Gardner
This will be a time of sharing some stories from the past seven years and looking ahead to how the story of TFC is going to continue. Be prepared to share some stories that day. It’s going to be an emotional day. It will be a good day and a difficult day.
Sundays April 10th and 17th – possible times of meeting with Pastor Donnie and the Advisory Council
In order to process your decision on where to go next. Might also be working on taking inventory of all our equipment those mornings.
Easter Sunday, April 24th – Encourage everyone to worship in their new church home that morning
Our hope is to have big groups at both Midtown and ICG on that morning. While it may not be your long-term decision, we encourage you to be in a church that morning – hopefully with fellow TFCers.

That’s everything. If this just hit you like a ton of bricks, I greatly apologize. Please know that our leadership is open to letting everyone process and even grieve this change for however long it’s necessary.

A French Composition

So I've been doing a little bit of French homework these days.  It's amazing how I can have so much homework from just two classes. 
Just for kicks, and to show off m work, I'm posting a composition I did the other day.  It's a (made-up) interview between a BBC reporter and a member of the French Resistance living in Caen on the evening of D-Day.  Just thought it would be interesting to share. 

Although my professor will certainly do so, feel free to point out any grammatical mistakes.


Reporter: Bonsoir, tout le monde! Je m’appelle Jean Regal et je suis avec le BBC. Ce soir, je vous parle de la petite ville français, Caen. Aujourd’hui est le sixième de juin, 1944. Ce matin, une grande armée de soldats américaines, canadienes, françaises et britanniques ont fait un breach dans le defence allemande sur les plages de la normandie.
La invasion de ce matin était très difficile. Beaucoup de soldats allies ont morts pendant la bataille. Maintenant, je vais parler avec un soldat avec la Résistance française. Bonjour, monsieur, comment t’appelle-t-il?
Henri: Je m’appelle Henri Dupont.
Reporter: Combien d’ans as-tu?
Henri: J’ai vingt-neuf ans.
Reporter: Depuis combien de temps battiez-vous pour la Résistance française?
Henri: Je bats pour la Résistance française depuis quatre ans. Quand Paris est tombeé à les Nazis, j’ai su que il fallait que je joins la Résistance française. J’étais triste que mon pays ne ont pas pu batter contre aux Nazis. Il y a quatre an que je caches aux Nazis. Maintenant, je peux les batter en plein air!
Reporter: Quelles types d’emotions avez-vous aujourd’hui?
Henri: C’est une bonne question. Aujourd’hui j’avais eu beaucoup d’emotions. J’avais eu peur. J’avais eu joie. Finalement, j’avais eu tristesse.
Reporter: Pourquoi avais-tu eu plusiers emotions different?
Henri: Ce matin, j’avais peur. Quand j’ai appris que les soldats allies viendront en france, j’ai pensé que les soldats allemands viennent pour m’obtenir et ma famille. J’ai su que les Nazis me voulaient.
Reporter: Pourquoi est-ce que vous n’avez pas peur non plus?
Henri: Alors vers midi, j’ai appris que les soldats américaines avaient gagné le plage de normandie. Quand j’ai appris cette bonne nouvelles, j’avais beaucoup de joie parce que J’ai su que les soldats allemands ne viendront jamias pour moi ni ma famille!
Reporter: Alors, je comprends maintenant. Bien sûr, c’était des bonnes nouvelles! Mais, dites-moi, s’il vous plait, pourquoi avez-vous beaucoup de tristesses?
Henri: Alors… c’est une histoire très triste. Je ne suis pas sur que je pousse vous dit… Mais, je vais éprouver vous dire. Cette après-midi, quand les soldats américaines bombardaient les allemands, une bombe perdue a bombardé ma maison. Dans la explosion, ma femme et mon fils ont mort.
Reporter: Cette est très mauvaise nouvelles. Je suis très désole.
Henri: Merci… Vive la france!
Reporter: Vive la france!
En france, aujourd’hui était une journée joyeuse et une journée triste. Comme Dwight D. Eisenhower a dit, “Today is the day of all days.”

Cookies and the Federal Budget

"Martin Luther King said more than 40 years ago that every time a bomb goes off overseas, we can feel the second impact of that bomb as we watch our schools crumble and our health care system go up in flames. As Dr. King said, 'A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.'" - Shane Claiborne

And then there's this article from Christianity Today.  link   
It seems Evangelical Christians prefer cutting federal spending that supports global programs to fight starvation and malaria rather than cutting the military budget. 
Yes, what you just read is true.  Read the article. 

I really don't expect a secular government to follow the teachings of Jesus.  I do however expect a little more out of Evangelical Christians.  Oh well...