Bill Teague’s lpc e-pistle

Will Fido Make it to Heaven?

CNN is reporting that PETA, the animal rights group, “is asking to the translators of the New International Version (NIV) to remove what it calls ‘speciesist’ language and refer to animals as ‘he’ or ‘she’ instead of ‘it.’” The article goes on to quote a PETA spokesperson as saying, “Calling an animal ‘it’ denies them something. They are beloved by God. They glorify God.”

I’d like to make fun of the request.  Why limit it to animals?  What about trees and mountains? After all the trees of the Psalms clap their hands in praise of God and mountains skip like sheep before him. If we are going to repent of our speciesism, why not, also, of our vegephobia and our mineraphobia? I just don’t know how to tell a “he” tree from a “she” tree. Continue Reading »

When “I don’t know” is the right answer

When I was pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Menominee, Michigan (north of Green Bay in the UP), I taught confirmation class to our seventh and eighth graders every Wednesday afternoon.  The Lutherans owned the town and so we did things their way.  Wednesday was “church day” and the schools were pretty good about obeying the rule – no extra-curricular activities on church day.  All the Lutheran kids trudged off to confirmation class after school on Wednesdays, and the Presbyterians followed suit. Continue Reading »

When Disaster Strikes: the earthquake in Japan

Many of us woke up to the news of a disastrous 8.9 earthquake in northern Japan and we have already seen the dramatic video of earthquake destruction and tsunami flooding.  The next several hours and days will tell the extent of the damage and loss of life.

As members of the human family and especially as followers of Jesus Christ, we will want to respond – to reach out in prayer and with whatever helping hand we might give.

So, please pray.

This is one of those situations where the most effective way to reach out with the compassion of Christ will be in sharing our financial resources with those in a position to help.  You will hear and see many appeals for your financial help, most of it legitimate, some of it not.  I encourage both your generosity and your caution.  Specifically, if you feel called to respond immediately I call your attention to our Mission Committee’s and Session’s endorsement of World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance as agencies we can trust to be good stewards of our resources and compassionate responders in the name of Christ. Continue Reading »

Charlie Sheen, Brandon Davies and the Chances for Chastity

So who hasn’t heard about Charlie Sheen, the star of the television sitcom Two and a Half Men and the all-around bad boy whose recent meltdowns are the object of so much embarrassed fascination? Foul-mouthed, abusive, addictive, promiscuous, Sheen’s out of control life is paradigm of life lived without moral, spiritual, relational or emotional boundaries. When asked if he has any hope of returning to work after being released from the cast of the television series, Sheen said, “Hope is for suckers and fools.”

Charlie Sheen should be the object both of our contempt for his disregard of the gift of life and opportunity given him by a gracious God and of our pity and compassion, for only in its extreme is his life not typical of those in our time when the only standards of truth and righteousness are those we happen to choose. (Judges 17:6) Continue Reading »