OF MOSQUES AND MEN
Last week I had a great visit from some friends of mine from Virginia. They wanted to see our fair city as most of out of towners do. So my wife and I, with our kids, trekked them into the city. One of the sites they wanted to see was ground zero so, of course, we took them there.
Ground zero is now a busy construction site and there is not really a whole lot to see. In spite of this, it still pains me to go there. It also still hurts every time I look at our beautiful skyline with the two missing pieces forever etched in my mind. I wish I could forget but I can’t. On September 11, 2001 we lost nearly 3000 fellow New Yorkers, we lost the symbols of our city’s wonder and greatness but we also lost so much more.
We lost our sense of security because it seems we can never really believe we are safe again. We also lost our innocence because we experienced an unspeakable horror. Those who did the deed and those behind it hoped and prayed to Allah that 50,000 of us would die and that our city would economically, socially and spiritually collapse. They wanted more than the towers, they wanted us. But for the grace of God, they would have gotten their wish.
Not content with the 1993 attack, the terrorists tried again and on 9/11 they succeeded. But they weren’t content with the carnage they caused on that dreadful day. They’ve tried again and again to do our country and our city more harm. In their thinking they should not stop until they have destroyed us or killed themselves in the process, because after all we are the great satan - the infidels against whom the jihad most be fought and won.
After our short visit to ground zero my friends asked me to bring them to the site of the controversial proposed “Ground Zero Mosque.” In less than a New York Minute we were there. When I stood at the corner of Park Place (the street where the Mosque will be built) and Church Street I was flabbergasted. Without exaggeration, this Mosque is being built at Ground Zero. If, on 9/11, you had been standing on the spot where I took my friends that day you would have met your Maker.
The building of a Mosque here is not an issue of rights granted by our Constitution. It is not an issue of religious rights but it is an issue of doing what’s right. Clearly it is insensitive and it could be construed as being malicious. Please remember, for the Islamic terrorists, flying the planes into the towers was an answer to their prayers vindicating their hatred of America. Sadly and tragically this is the thinking of many in the Muslim world, even many who live in this country, even some who worship in this city.
If the Mosque is built, on Fridays (every Friday) and on holy days the call to prayer will go out and the faithful will gather and proclaim “Allah is great” in the shadow of one the greatest atrocities ever committed in the name of Allah. Just writing of it nauseates me. What is equally as bad is that many who pray on those days will be quietly giving thanks to their god for the devastation caused on 9/11 on that very block ---an event that they believe was an answer to their prayers.
Our President and Mayor have weighed in on this issue and they are wrong--- ridiculously wrong. I am sure that a great number of Muslims are peace loving people. I am also sure that far too many Muslims for our comfort have sympathies toward the radicals. Listen closely for unapologetic outrage from Muslim leaders next time Christian missionaries are executed like they were in Afghanistan last month. Tune in to talk radio, network news or surf the web when the next bombing or hijacking or senseless murder of innocents occurs in the name of Allah. As hard as you try, you will not find an unqualified condemnation. The best you will get is “Not all Muslims are like this”. What we should hear is that those who have done these deeds are contemptible and damned. That the perpetrators are not martyrs but murderers. What we get is a whole lot less.
The building of the Mosque at ground zero would not be a celebration of our pluralistic society but rather a supreme example of insensitivity and bad taste. I am not bigoted and intolerant for suggesting this project go elsewhere. To make this type of accusation toward me and others who feel this way is to be bigoted and intolerant. Over the last nine years, I have watched our city slowly move forward toward healing. I have been to the firehouses, I have spoken to the first responders, I have been to the yearly memorials. I don’t appreciate the horrific wound caused in the name of Allah being re-opened in the name of Allah. If those in the Muslim community genuinely want to promote healing they could learn a lesson from the Jews, the Catholics, the Lutherans, the Methodists, the Baptists and the Presbyterians, they could build a hospital.
Dave Watson
An Urban Christian
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
“Come Soar with Us”
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6
This past Memorial Day Weekend I was at my mother’s house in Massachusetts. My mom wanted to make us something special for breakfast so she whipped up some blueberry muffins for my family and I. The muffins looked perfect, but when you bit into them something was clearly missing. In her haste to make the muffins, my mom had left out the critical ingredient of sugar. The muffins didn’t taste bad just not as the recipe intended.
In the Christian life one of the most critical ingredients is faith. For our Christian life to be as God intended we must live as people of faith. Without faith, as the above text indicates, we can’t please God. In addition, it is through faith that we are actually saved according to Ephesians 2:8-9 which states “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” In fact, all of the Christian life is lived by faith and not by sight, as we are told in
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Regretfully for many of us, faith (authentic submission and dependence on God), is often missing in our Christian walk. We recognize that we couldn’t save ourselves and thus we cried out to the Lord to rescue us. We now, however, think or believe that we can pull off the Christian life with a minimal amount of help from God.
The importance of faith to our everyday walk cannot be overstated. Hebrews 4:2 warns us of the danger of hearing the promises of God and not applying them by faith when it says, “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” It is possible for us to know the wonderful promises of God and yet not benefit from them because we don’t mix them with faith.
Most super-strong glues come with two tubes in the package. The two solutions need to be mixed together to obtain a bond. One of those tubes has a strong adhesive in it. Unless it is in the compund the mixture won’t stick. In many ways faith is the adhesive, the epoxy that allows the promises of God to stick to us. If we don’t mix the promises of God with faith they are of no benefit to us.
Faith is so important to our Christian experience we can’t afford to neglect it. Beginning Sunday June 6th and continuing throughout the summer months we will be talking about faith from the book of Hebrews chapters 11 and 12. We invite our members and friends in the coming weeks to “Come Soar with Us” as we learn to fly on the wings of faith”. It is our hope and prayer that we as church family will have a faith-filled summer.
Blessings,
Dave Watson
An Urban Christian
This past Memorial Day Weekend I was at my mother’s house in Massachusetts. My mom wanted to make us something special for breakfast so she whipped up some blueberry muffins for my family and I. The muffins looked perfect, but when you bit into them something was clearly missing. In her haste to make the muffins, my mom had left out the critical ingredient of sugar. The muffins didn’t taste bad just not as the recipe intended.
In the Christian life one of the most critical ingredients is faith. For our Christian life to be as God intended we must live as people of faith. Without faith, as the above text indicates, we can’t please God. In addition, it is through faith that we are actually saved according to Ephesians 2:8-9 which states “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” In fact, all of the Christian life is lived by faith and not by sight, as we are told in
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Regretfully for many of us, faith (authentic submission and dependence on God), is often missing in our Christian walk. We recognize that we couldn’t save ourselves and thus we cried out to the Lord to rescue us. We now, however, think or believe that we can pull off the Christian life with a minimal amount of help from God.
The importance of faith to our everyday walk cannot be overstated. Hebrews 4:2 warns us of the danger of hearing the promises of God and not applying them by faith when it says, “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” It is possible for us to know the wonderful promises of God and yet not benefit from them because we don’t mix them with faith.
Most super-strong glues come with two tubes in the package. The two solutions need to be mixed together to obtain a bond. One of those tubes has a strong adhesive in it. Unless it is in the compund the mixture won’t stick. In many ways faith is the adhesive, the epoxy that allows the promises of God to stick to us. If we don’t mix the promises of God with faith they are of no benefit to us.
Faith is so important to our Christian experience we can’t afford to neglect it. Beginning Sunday June 6th and continuing throughout the summer months we will be talking about faith from the book of Hebrews chapters 11 and 12. We invite our members and friends in the coming weeks to “Come Soar with Us” as we learn to fly on the wings of faith”. It is our hope and prayer that we as church family will have a faith-filled summer.
Blessings,
Dave Watson
An Urban Christian
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Why Have We Been Blessed?
Psalm 67:1-2 - God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah. That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
Our text for today, Psalm 67, begins with a simple prayer for the mercy, blessing and favor of Almighty God. You and I have asked God for this many times just probably with different words. We say things like “Lord, forgive me for the way I acted today”, or “Dear Jesus, help me to get the raise I so desperately need” or “Lord, may the test results show nothing abnormal”.
These are all the legitimate prayers of God’s people in need. (A position, I might add, we are all in almost every minute of every day of our lives.) They are the normal petitions of the human heart. They are real prayers from real people.
When I ask for God’s mercy I am recognizing that I don’t deserve or earn what I am asking for, but because He is gracious and merciful I am asking for it. When I ask for His blessing I am admitting that what I can do for myself is woefully inadequate, so I need His help. Finally, when I ask for God to shine His face upon me I am asking for His grace, His unmerited favor. This idea is taken from the priestly prayer of Aaron over the nation of Israel in Numbers 6:24-26.
Praying for the mercy, help and grace of God is all well and good but we should probably ask ourselves a very basic question as we lift up these requests. That question, simply put is, “Why should God bless me?” The profound answer is found in verse 2 of this Psalm.
The verse says that the purpose of God’s blessing upon His people is “That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.” So there you have it. God blesses us so that others may be blessed. God answers our prayers not just so our situation can be improved but so that His way might be made known on the earth and so that the nations might know about His glorious salvation.
I prefer to think that the only reason God answers my prayers is because He loves me. I want to believe that I am so important to Him that He blesses me just to bless me. If either of these were the only reason for the blessing of God it would foster an incredibly self-absorbed attitude in all of us. We would be constantly crying, “bless me, bless me, bless me” and “give me, give me, give me” as if God were some cosmic ATM with the password “In Jesus Name”.
Surely, God blesses us out of His concern for us, but His purpose and plan are much greater. He gives to us so we might give to others. He blesses us so that His ways, His salvation might be made known to all.
Let me suggest a very powerful, yet easy, exercise. Take a few moments to list as many blessings that God has bestowed upon you as you can think of. Take a minute or two to read over all of these blessings and then ask the Lord to help you understand His purposes for blessing you. Ask Him to show you specifically how His mercy and blessings upon you can be used to advance His kingdom and His agenda. In other words, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”.
Blessings (with a purpose),
Dave Watson
The Urban Christian
Our text for today, Psalm 67, begins with a simple prayer for the mercy, blessing and favor of Almighty God. You and I have asked God for this many times just probably with different words. We say things like “Lord, forgive me for the way I acted today”, or “Dear Jesus, help me to get the raise I so desperately need” or “Lord, may the test results show nothing abnormal”.
These are all the legitimate prayers of God’s people in need. (A position, I might add, we are all in almost every minute of every day of our lives.) They are the normal petitions of the human heart. They are real prayers from real people.
When I ask for God’s mercy I am recognizing that I don’t deserve or earn what I am asking for, but because He is gracious and merciful I am asking for it. When I ask for His blessing I am admitting that what I can do for myself is woefully inadequate, so I need His help. Finally, when I ask for God to shine His face upon me I am asking for His grace, His unmerited favor. This idea is taken from the priestly prayer of Aaron over the nation of Israel in Numbers 6:24-26.
Praying for the mercy, help and grace of God is all well and good but we should probably ask ourselves a very basic question as we lift up these requests. That question, simply put is, “Why should God bless me?” The profound answer is found in verse 2 of this Psalm.
The verse says that the purpose of God’s blessing upon His people is “That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.” So there you have it. God blesses us so that others may be blessed. God answers our prayers not just so our situation can be improved but so that His way might be made known on the earth and so that the nations might know about His glorious salvation.
I prefer to think that the only reason God answers my prayers is because He loves me. I want to believe that I am so important to Him that He blesses me just to bless me. If either of these were the only reason for the blessing of God it would foster an incredibly self-absorbed attitude in all of us. We would be constantly crying, “bless me, bless me, bless me” and “give me, give me, give me” as if God were some cosmic ATM with the password “In Jesus Name”.
Surely, God blesses us out of His concern for us, but His purpose and plan are much greater. He gives to us so we might give to others. He blesses us so that His ways, His salvation might be made known to all.
Let me suggest a very powerful, yet easy, exercise. Take a few moments to list as many blessings that God has bestowed upon you as you can think of. Take a minute or two to read over all of these blessings and then ask the Lord to help you understand His purposes for blessing you. Ask Him to show you specifically how His mercy and blessings upon you can be used to advance His kingdom and His agenda. In other words, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”.
Blessings (with a purpose),
Dave Watson
The Urban Christian
Friday, January 15, 2010
Crisis in Haiti
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake in the republic of Haiti has left the Capitol city of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas devastated. Because Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, and least able to help itself, this disaster is more tragic than any words could describe. The pictures that we have seen over the internet and on our televisions tell only a fraction of the story. The damage on this Caribbean Island of over nine million people has been described as “Biblical” in proportion.
You, like me, have probably asked yourself why God would permit such a natural disaster to happen. I will readily admit that I don’t know exactly all the details of God’s master plan. I also am quite sure that it is not because of a curse on Haiti because of a pact with the devil, as a certain televangelist has alleged. The referenced pact is disputed by many. In addition, if it did occur (it was supposedly made in 1791) it is ludicrous to think it would somehow be binding on the people of today. In addition, we do well to remind ourselves that numerous founders of the United States of America were alleged to be Free Masons; a secret organization that many feel is at its core, demonic. Are all our problems to be blamed on the past sins of a few?
At times like these I remind myself that we live on a fallen planet. Romans 8:22-23 tells us that the whole creation groans and travails for the redemption of God’s people. We also note that the book of Revelation speaks of events far worse than this. Thus, I tell myself that in a broken world everything is broken. Haiti’s woes sadly illustrate this point to the max. This doesn’t mean that God could not have prevented the earthquake. But for reasons we won’t know this side of heaven, He chose not to.
It seems far too easy for me from this distance to say we must trust Him. I pray my Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ will, by God’s grace, be able in this dark hour to claim His promise in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose. I pray that they will be comforted by the words of Romans 8:38&39 which tell us that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, not height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Because we are now focused on Haiti it might be good for us as believers to inform ourselves about this small country that shares an island with the Dominican Republic.
Haiti was founded via a slave revolt against the French in 1804. It had been France’s richest colony. It has had a difficult history marked by exploitive and tyrannical leaders. The most recent of these leaders were the Duvaliers (Papa Doc and Baby Doc) who ran the nation from 1957 to 1986. In 1994 the United States helped the country to hold democratic elections. It has valiantly struggled in recent days to put aside the dismal past and develop a hopeful future.
Haiti is primarily a Catholic country, though freedom of religion is one of it tenants. Along with their Catholicism many Haitians practice Voodoo, a development of West African Spiritism. Thanks to God’s grace and recent evangelistic efforts, evangelical Christians now make up over 25% of the population. There are presently nearly 500 evangelical missionaries working in Haiti in a variety of vocations from healthcare to church planting.
Still, why would God allow this to happen? I don’t claim to know the answers to that question. Allow me, however, to suggest a few things we know right now that God would want us to do.
1. Pray for Haiti. It is now on our spiritual radar screens. We should be praying for our brothers and sisters there and hurting as they are hurting. We should be praying for the missionaries there and the unbelievable task before them. We should be praying for many to find Christ in the wake of this disaster. We should be praying for the relief these people so desperately need. We should be praying for the stability of the country and the government, especially President Rene Preval.
2. Give for Haiti. They need our money in addition to our prayers. Truly if having given to the least of these we have given to the Lord, so having given to the restoration of Haiti we have given to the Lord. In the next few months, our church, Calvary Chapel will have a fund that you can give to. All monies received will go to a ministry or ministries that will provide physical relief and a spiritual message to these hurting people
3. Go to Haiti. Let’s get serious. In the next few weeks we’ll be making you aware of short term ministry opportunities with reputable agencies. If enough of us are moved by God to go we will form our own team and go together with one of the agencies.
4. Learn from Haiti. Sometimes when we read the Scriptures and end times prophecies we look at it as a fairytale. Sadly, the disaster in Haiti illustrates the fact that immense devastation can occur in a very short time. This should sober us as it relates to what the Bible says about the end of the age.
5. Care about Haiti. It is my prayer that this horribly tragic situation will cause us to turn our hearts to this nation and its people.
Dave Watson, An Urban Christian
You, like me, have probably asked yourself why God would permit such a natural disaster to happen. I will readily admit that I don’t know exactly all the details of God’s master plan. I also am quite sure that it is not because of a curse on Haiti because of a pact with the devil, as a certain televangelist has alleged. The referenced pact is disputed by many. In addition, if it did occur (it was supposedly made in 1791) it is ludicrous to think it would somehow be binding on the people of today. In addition, we do well to remind ourselves that numerous founders of the United States of America were alleged to be Free Masons; a secret organization that many feel is at its core, demonic. Are all our problems to be blamed on the past sins of a few?
At times like these I remind myself that we live on a fallen planet. Romans 8:22-23 tells us that the whole creation groans and travails for the redemption of God’s people. We also note that the book of Revelation speaks of events far worse than this. Thus, I tell myself that in a broken world everything is broken. Haiti’s woes sadly illustrate this point to the max. This doesn’t mean that God could not have prevented the earthquake. But for reasons we won’t know this side of heaven, He chose not to.
It seems far too easy for me from this distance to say we must trust Him. I pray my Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ will, by God’s grace, be able in this dark hour to claim His promise in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose. I pray that they will be comforted by the words of Romans 8:38&39 which tell us that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, not height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Because we are now focused on Haiti it might be good for us as believers to inform ourselves about this small country that shares an island with the Dominican Republic.
Haiti was founded via a slave revolt against the French in 1804. It had been France’s richest colony. It has had a difficult history marked by exploitive and tyrannical leaders. The most recent of these leaders were the Duvaliers (Papa Doc and Baby Doc) who ran the nation from 1957 to 1986. In 1994 the United States helped the country to hold democratic elections. It has valiantly struggled in recent days to put aside the dismal past and develop a hopeful future.
Haiti is primarily a Catholic country, though freedom of religion is one of it tenants. Along with their Catholicism many Haitians practice Voodoo, a development of West African Spiritism. Thanks to God’s grace and recent evangelistic efforts, evangelical Christians now make up over 25% of the population. There are presently nearly 500 evangelical missionaries working in Haiti in a variety of vocations from healthcare to church planting.
Still, why would God allow this to happen? I don’t claim to know the answers to that question. Allow me, however, to suggest a few things we know right now that God would want us to do.
1. Pray for Haiti. It is now on our spiritual radar screens. We should be praying for our brothers and sisters there and hurting as they are hurting. We should be praying for the missionaries there and the unbelievable task before them. We should be praying for many to find Christ in the wake of this disaster. We should be praying for the relief these people so desperately need. We should be praying for the stability of the country and the government, especially President Rene Preval.
2. Give for Haiti. They need our money in addition to our prayers. Truly if having given to the least of these we have given to the Lord, so having given to the restoration of Haiti we have given to the Lord. In the next few months, our church, Calvary Chapel will have a fund that you can give to. All monies received will go to a ministry or ministries that will provide physical relief and a spiritual message to these hurting people
3. Go to Haiti. Let’s get serious. In the next few weeks we’ll be making you aware of short term ministry opportunities with reputable agencies. If enough of us are moved by God to go we will form our own team and go together with one of the agencies.
4. Learn from Haiti. Sometimes when we read the Scriptures and end times prophecies we look at it as a fairytale. Sadly, the disaster in Haiti illustrates the fact that immense devastation can occur in a very short time. This should sober us as it relates to what the Bible says about the end of the age.
5. Care about Haiti. It is my prayer that this horribly tragic situation will cause us to turn our hearts to this nation and its people.
Dave Watson, An Urban Christian
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