The Virtual Pew Daily: November 2008

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Street Level Devotions / The Healthcare Debate

Luke 10: 35
The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, “Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.”

Today I know there will be those that disagree with part of what I am going to say, but I ask, please keep an open mind and think about the attitude of Jesus here, not the attitude of a political party or supporter.

The 2008 Presidential Election in the United States had a number of issues that caused voters to cast their vote for one candidate or another. One of those issues which drove a lot of Christians was the issue of health care. It is important to understand, abortion is not the only issue related to faith that drives a Christians vote. Unfortunately, many forget about, or make excuses regarding their support of those in need of health care. One of the most common excuses many Christians use is that health care should be the responsibility of the church, or that if the church was doing her job, there wouldn’t be any need for health care by the government. While there is a measure of truth here, we need to be careful to not stand up for, and help those with issues related to appropriate and basic health care.

When we look at the life of Jesus, we can see emphatically, that he cared about meeting the physical needs of others. He did this when he provided healing, spoke about the need to serve the poor and sick, and even used stories like the passage in Luke where we see one of the heroes of the story, providing health care for someone they were normally known to dislike. It is clear, Jesus taught to more than just his followers, he taught to whoever would listen, including the political leaders and public servants of the day, whether a military soldier or the wife of a political ruler. Jesus message was a message for society, not just his followers.

Today we live in a world where there are rising health costs and a system set up in such a way in at least America, which has as a primary purpose making a profit, not providing appropriate health care. It is why we see so many trying to obtain health care in emergency rooms as opposed to through their doctors, and why we see so many suffer because of their inability to afford medication or appropriate treatment. While some service is available once a person is on their deathbed, help and assistance to help the poor obtain preventative care is not available and often the help that is provided is too late. I have to wonder, as should we all, what would Jesus response be to this situation.

I had the unique privilege of working at one of the initial pilot programs for Managed Care in America, Trend Community Mental Health in Hendersonville North Carolina. It became obvious, quickly, that the primary issue was turning a profit, not providing needed and appropriate care. This eventually led to some legal issues for Trend Mental Health, but the problem wasn’t unique to them. This is part of the problem with the public sector in their treatment of the sick. We are a system driven by profit and greed, not caring for people.

In the passage in Luke, we see that in the story of Jesus, the person took from their finances to provide care to another individual. The person was willing to spend more if necessary to help. Here is my question, especially for those who pay taxes; what would you prefer your tax dollars go for? Some may say for roads or infrastructure, others may say to support their military, yet others may say for things like public service positions While there are benefits to all of these programs, I think I can support the idea that Jesus talked more about helping the poor and needy than any other group. The widows and orphans of Jesus day are the poor of today. They are the Samaritans that need help they can’t afford, or don’t know how to obtain. As followers of Jesus we are commanded to go out of our way to provide the help they need. As long as we continue to argue about things like whether or not mental illness is spiritual or neurological, or whether or not we can provide care for a poor single pregnant teenager, the system, the state, has to be a part of the mechanism we support and desire to use our tax dollars to help others.

One of the things that has confused me, is why anyone, even Christians would be opposed to their tax dollars being used to help the poor and needy in the area of health care? It confuses me because if the tax dollars used are our dollars, if our government is a government for the people and by the people, don’t we have a right to voice where our tax dollars are spent? Shouldn’t we want them to go where Christ would have us serve, no matter what political party we support? How can we justify for any reason, the lack of support and help in regards to medical care for those that need it when Jesus directive on this subject is so clear?

My hope is that at the very least we will be challenged to think about what Jesus position and practice was regarding helping the poor, needy and the sick. May we begin to apply that in our lives as we should all seek and attempt to become a Good Samaritan to those with health concerns?

Thought for the Day: Yes it is the churches responsibility to help the poor and needy in regards to health care. That said; remember if you are a follower of Jesus, you are the church. I challenge you, spend time with a poor person today, just talk to them and ask them what it is like getting the health care they need. Then if there is something you can do, do it! Otherwise you may be speaking out of ignorance more than knowledge when you oppose the need of meeting the medical needs of those that need help.

While many talk about the need to obtain insurance, it is as if they have never experienced what it is like with most insurance companies. Check out the following video for a taste of what it is like, it is unfortunately something many can relate to. If the video don't appear, just click on the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVpX5fUvPlg

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Thursday, November 20, 2008

29 Years And Counting

Today’s posting will be without all of the photographs, video’s, salesmanship, solicitation, all of that. You see today is a special today, effective today, 7:00 PM EST or thereabouts, I will have been married for 29 years. Yep, ol’ Mike here has been married for 29 years today as today is my anniversary.

I realize how blessed I am. I have stated many times, even write about it in my book, that I don’t think I ever felt that I experienced real physical love until I met my wife, at least a real love that has lasted now for 29 years. I had experienced the love of a Savior, but I honestly believe that outside of my savior, the most perfect love I have experienced is from Mary Jane, my wife.

Tonight I have a card and a small gift for her, and I am taking her to a local dinner theater afterwards to see a play and have a good meal, maybe a glass of wine, and some time on what I customarily, (Thursday Nights) our date night. That’s right, we still take dates, still do the simple things. I try to open the door for her, hold her hand on occasion, give a kiss goodbye, all of those types of things.

I have done a lot of really stupid things in my life, but marrying Mary Jane, staying married to her hasn’t been one of those, next to accepting Jesus into my life, it was easily the smartest thing I have ever done.

I am going to ask those reading this to do something for me. If you don’t mind, go to Mary Jane’s MySpace page and request her for a friend if you haven’t done so. Her page is www.myspace.com/maryjanefurches If you are reading this and don’t have a MySpace page, email her at maryjanefurches@netzero.com There is no doubt in my mind that I got the better end of this deal. November 20 would have been her parents 50th wedding anniversary celebration which we would have held together except her mother died in the months prior to our wedding, and what would have been her 50th wedding anniversary. For that reason, I am sure that our wedding is a bittersweet moment. Letting her know how much you appreciate all she has done would be a wonderful thing, for those of you that really know her, it would be great to let her know how important her support of me as my wife and partner has been. Without her, I know I couldn’t have carried out much of the ministry I have done. For those of you who actually know her, you know that what I am speaking is true.

Thanks for your prayers, and my prayer is that God will provide you someone to love you the way he has me.

The following is a single photo from 29 years ago.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

DVD Give A Ways From The Virtual Pew

For those that know anything about me and the work I am involved in you know I am a little diversified, from being a pastor, to writing about horror, doing movie reviews, and trying to hold the church accountable to be the church Jesus called her to be. In fact, some of you know I have some issues with what the church has become; it is one of the reasons that in conjunction with Hollywood Jesus I started the ministry of The Virtual Pew. There was the hope we could reach out to people feeling the same way as us, you know, people who had kind of given up on church and who had issues with the church. The people I call The Lost, The Last and The Least. It was after some time in my own life that I came to the conclusion that a lot of people agree with Gandhi, who essentially said, “Jesus is cool, some of his followers are weird.” While that is not an exact quote, it is pretty close paraphrase.

One of the things I have tried to do with The Virtual Pew is to have us be a ministry that gives back. There have been a couple of times I have offered my books at reduced rates, btw, they still are, contact me for information on how to get a book at a reduced rate, but I have also given books away on occasion, plus DVD’s, other books, even on a few occasions cash prizes and movie tickets. There is usually something involved in the give a ways, like picking and choosing from those that sign up for the newsletter that type of thing. Well I am back with a few give a ways.

Included in this give a ways is 5 DVD’s of the independent horror movie The Creek, and 3 copies of the award winning documentary, Lonnie Frisbee, The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher.

The Creek, a contemporary independent film that tells the story of a ghost that is coming back to haunt some friends. While the film is not rated it could carry a “R’ rating for language and violence. Personally I would go with a pg-13 rating as the gore isn’t bad and there really isn’t much violence. It is a rare horror tale that relies on story as opposed to special effects. I wrote about this film, which you can read about by clicking here.

The second DVD up for give a way is Lonnie Frisbee, The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher. This is a wonderful telling of part of the history of the modern day Jesus Movement. Lonnie Frisbee was an individual who was largely responsible for the growth and development of three major denominations. Calvary Chapel, The Vineyard, and The Four Square Churches. Lonnie died of Aids and the film is a terrific examination of his struggle with homosexuality and his acceptance, and then rejection by various religious groups. The movie is loaded with special features and you can see some of my comments and thoughts about the movie and Lonnie by clicking here.

Now how do you become eligible to win one of these 8 DVD’s? It is quite simple, all you have to do is go make a comment dated after November 18 on one of two locations, 1) to The Virtual Pew postings on The Virtual Pew website, accessible through http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or by linking to it via the resource page at http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/ The posting has to be made on one of the articles on The Virtual Pew site. 2) You can also make comment at one of the blog spots, via the MySpace page at, www.myspace.com/mikefurches Now note that on both of these pages there are various postings, make sure to check out the archives, and I will know when you have made the comments. Your comments should be about the article you have read. I will then, on November 30, at 5 PM CST, randomly draw 8 names to contact regarding the receipt of the DVD’s. I will give each winner a choice as to the DVD of their choice, after the DVD choices are gone; the remaining DVD’s will be awarded to the other winners. The DVD’s will be shipped to the address of your choice, (If you want it as a gift, I will even gift wrap it and send it to the address of your choice, from you.) Note on this, I even pay for all of the postage, unless overseas, if outside of the United States, you will pay the difference and if insurance is desired the winner will pay for insurance of the shipping of the item.

There is some cost for The Virtual Pew, which is okay. I am simply trying to increase readership to the blogs, membership boards, and The Virtual Pew website. I also want to increase readership at Hollywood Jesus, and my MySpace page. You can also access The Virtual Pew via Hollywood Jesus at http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/, just click on The Virtual Pew link at resources, or by going to the HJ Live page, searching through the pages, and clicking on one of the stories there. If having a hard time, just Google “Mike Furches, The Virtual Pew” and you will easily find listings of numerous articles.

It should also be noted that on the evening of November 29, 7 PM, we will be showing the film Lonnie Frisbee, The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher at Mosaic Church in Wichita. We will give away, via random drawing, one copy of the Lonnie Frisbee movie there, as well as one copy of The Creek.

I appreciate your friendship, and your willingness to support the work of The Virtual Pew. This is simply one of those ways I want to give back to you.

Good luck to all, and God Bless you.

Mike

On the following videos, just click on the video, if the video don't appear, just click on the link.

The following is the trailer for Lonnie Frisbee, The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARDNTEWWuRQ

The following is the trailer from The Creek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORCAujlwhXk

Friday, November 14, 2008

A Bag of Barbeque for the Homeless / Street Level Devotions 15

Luke 9:58
Jesus said, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man doesn’t have a place to call his own.”

I love barbeque, in fact, I consider myself a connoisseur of this fine food. I have eaten at some of the best establishments on the planet, from Ridgewood in the Tri Cities in Tennessee, to Stutts Barbeque in Tulsa Oklahoma; I have eaten the best, and make a pretty good smoked barbeque myself.

I don’t know what it is about the food that I love so much, maybe part of it is being from the south, and maybe it is the work it takes going into good barbeque. I don’t know, bottom line, I know what I want for a last meal before I die. I pray I can eat that last meal and aren’t living on tubes or something. I have it planned out, a nice plate from Ridgewood, an order of their fries, slaw on the sandwich, and a glass of Cheerwine Soda.

While growing up I was homeless for a while. I would live from place to place, staying with friends, various relatives, and off and on for two years living in a YMCA transient center. I have always had a special place in my heart for people that are homeless; I don’t know why that is other than having gone through the experience myself.

Recently my love for barbeque and my appreciation and desire to serve the homeless crossed unexpected paths and I ended up learning a valuable lesson. While in Kansas City for a wrestling tournament I was speaking at, I decided to take my family to one of the famous establishments, Gates Barbeque. It was located near the Municipal Auditorium where I was speaking so I decided to give it a try. Now one of the things I have discovered about barbeque is there are various styles, some I love, and others I’m just not that crazy about. Personally I am a Tennessee style guy, using as a base of smoke, honey or sweetener of some type, and of course a good hickory flavoring. After paying for our meal at Gates, I found myself eating a style I just wasn’t that crazy about. I had just taken one bite of my food; my wife had one bite of her food, and my son, one bite of his. Frankly, we just were not that crazy about our food so we decided to get our $50 worth of barbeque, bagged it up and took it out to find some homeless people to share it with. It was a lot of food, and would easily feed 4 – 6 people with the serving size provided.

We begin to drive the streets of Kansas City asking a local police officer where the best place was to find some homeless people. After about thirty-five minutes of driving we finally found a man willing to take our food. He had a big smile on his face, thanked us and proceeded to get a few of his friends to enjoy a meal he normally wouldn’t have had the chance to enjoy.

This experience got me thinking, often times, we seem to provide for the homeless during certain holiday peeks, normally Thanksgiving and Christmas, while this is admirable, there are another 362 days a year at a minimum these people need food. Despite what some think, being homeless isn’t all that fun or easy, finding a safe place to sleep, finding food to eat, having a clean shower, and the list goes on. While it is easy for people to judge the homeless I wonder, if Jesus was here today, if he was living on the streets, how would he eat, how would others show him love? What would our response be to him? Would we be willing to feed him? Would we provide clothes for him? Would we ignore him as we walked by and saw him lying with his head on the concrete trying to get some sleep?

Despite what we think, despite how we act, we need to remember, Jesus has a special place for the poor and homeless because he walked in their shoes. It is one of the reasons he commands us to show love, feed the hungry, visit the sick, provide care for the helpless, and on and on. Let me be blunt, I know some of you may have worked in a homeless shelter, may have done some volunteer work for a holiday meal, but have you ever gone out, purchased a good meal and taken it to a homeless person. Have you ever gone and put someone up in a motel on a harsh night? If not, why not? What do you do with the verse where Jesus tells us, that what we have done for the least of these; it is as if we have done it personally for him?

Unfortunately, the poor, the homeless will always be with us. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t show love and provide love to these people. We need to remind ourselves that what we have done for the least of these, is as if we are doing it to and for Jesus. What are you willing to do this week to show Jesus you love him?

Thought for the day: How about going to a local restaurant, buying a few meals, and taking them to the homeless. Don’t preach, just say; “Here is some food in Jesus name, enjoy it.” While it is nice to help out on Thanksgiving and Christmas, don’t forget about the folks we can show love to the remainder of the year.

I like the song in this video. I like what these churches are doing under a street bridge three times a week even better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZoF9o9Erxo

Monday, November 3, 2008

I’m Better Than That! There is No Way I Would Stoop So Low! / Street Level Devotions

Luke 9: 46-48
Jesus disciples were arguing about which one of them was the greatest. Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he had a child stand there beside him. Then he said to his disciples, “When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me. Whichever one of you is the most humble is the greatest.”

I have to be honest, titles don’t impress me, in fact, I don’t think titles impress most people who are honest with themselves. Sure they may impress some, but normally those people seem so stuck up they walk around with their nose up in the air and live life with few friends. Usually these people are so full of pride they aren’t aware of the snickers that come from those that observe them from a distance.

Don’t get me wrong, respect is an appropriate thing. I believe in calling people “Sir,” or “Mamm,” I believe in respect for others, especially those in positions of authority. That is just a decent thing to do, but I have even more respect for those who see themselves as equals, not superior. I think that is where most people are at. It is one of the things that have gotten skewed in society, we seem to place a higher level of importance on people than they often deserve.

What ends up happening is we become so filled with pride we forget that when compared to the person of Jesus, we don’t measure up. Over the years I have been honored to serve as an Executive Director of various organizations. I feel a little proud that I obtained a certain measure of success in certain fields, despite my coming from the streets and homelessness. I have never forgotten my roots. I have done crazy things like not wanting an office, or if having an office making sure there wasn’t a door on it. I wanted people to always feel welcome without ever fearing that I thought I was better than them. I never had my staff do anything I wasn’t willing to do myself. I always made it clear to my staff that they were there to serve the people around us.

I was sharing with a friend the other night about my managing an organization where we had a commercial kitchen to operate. In that kitchen we had what many commercial kitchens have, a grease trap which had to be cleaned on a regular basis. I don’t know what you know about grease traps but I will state, they are nasty, stinky, filthy disgusting things. I had a staff person once who refused to clean the grease trap. She seemed to think that because she had a college degree it was beneath her to clean it. Her particular job entailed working alongside persons with severe mental illnesses, instilling hope, and focusing on their strengths and abilities while at the same time helping rediscover their job skills. This person was clear though, while she was a “mental health professional,” her job description did not entail cleaning a grease trap.

I called her into the kitchen one morning and told her, “If you don’t mind, I want you to come here so I can show you something.” She came into the kitchen and while there I proceeded to get on my hands and knees, take off the top of the grease trap, took a large metal spoon, started skimming off the grease, and cleaning the trap. She stood there watching as I cleaned the trap. I detailed the specifics of what I was doing, while I was doing it, and in the process letting her know that when helping people do things, we had to be careful as it could instill an attitude of being less than if we were telling them to do something we were unwilling to do ourselves.

Upon completion of showing her how to clean the grease trap, she said something to me like, “You don’t really expect me to do that do you? I mean I didn’t get my college degree to clean things like that!”

I asked her, “Do you know what my job description is?”

“Yes,” She replied in a serious but somewhat questioning tone. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well,” I stated in a serious tone while looking her in the eyes, “I am the executive director of this agency; I sign your pay checks. I just finished cleaning this grease trap because I value the importance of serving others, and the value of never asking someone to do something that you aren’t willing to do yourself.” I then stood up, and said emphatically, “If I as the executive director of this agency am willing to stoop so low as to do a dirty, filthy job of this nature, I expect my staff to be willing to do the same thing.” Then in a firm but straight forward way I stated, “For staff that think they are beyond the executive director of the agency, that think they are so good that they don’t have to do something he is willing to do, then they need to leave the employment of this agency. If however they decide they should stay with this agency, they will either do what is expected in the area of service, or I will be forced to terminate their employment.” Unfortunately, that particular employee didn’t make it with the agency. I suspect she is working some place now behind a desk, with her diplomas up, somehow thinking she may be too good to stoop so low as to do a dirty job and serve someone.

We often find ourselves thinking we are better than someone else, thinking that God has made provisions for us. Yet Jesus made his perspective clear, we are expected to welcome the lowest of the low, to love the least of these, and to serve even small children. Our status when it comes to following Jesus isn’t based on a piece of paper, or a level of education, it is based on a willingness to love and serve, we are if you will, called to take up the towel that Jesus illustrated when he was willing to take on the role of a servant and wash the feet of not only his disciples, but also the one who would betray him to be crucified.

Each of us, as we go through life must realize, that Jesus, the son of God, and even God himself, put himself in a position to serve others. When we think of ourselves as being too good to serve, we must reconsider this thing we call ourselves, followers of Jesus. Jesus made it clear; we show our love to him, by showing love to others. There is no higher calling than to serve others, Jesus lived that example, and it is an example we should follow.

Thought for the day: As you go through the day, look for a way you can show your love to another by serving them. Let them know that they are important, by your willingness to serve. When you do this, your life message will have a far greater impact on those you come into contact with.

The following video is of one who understood the importance of serving others. We sometimes make excuses as if we didn't already know we aren't Jesus. We have examples though of those who would be willing to serve. To see the video, just click on it, if it don't appear, just click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF0eQ_Ktuj0

Just For You

You are important and I want you to know that you can feel free to contact me at any time. I always try to respond to comments posted here, when appropriate, and have learned from my work as a counselor and pastor that people need to know that they are important. My contact information is available and I encourage you to contact me when need be. The fact that you are a real person is not lost on me. While you are at it, if needing a place to plug in, you can also join and become a part of The Virtual Pew. Message boards and interaction are available there as well. Thanks for visiting and know that God loves you and so do I.