Reflections on Radical Discipleship

[The following is an edited version of a Vital Signs Blog post written a couple of years ago. The exhortations, however, are more relevant than ever.]

Last Saturday Claire and I were blessed to participate in a reunion party involving people who were part of the Christian Brotherhood in the early 1970s. It was a lively reunion party hosted by Bob & Linda Potter with a couple dozen celebrating life, our ongoing friendships, and the grace of God that was poured out upon America during the days of the Jesus Movement of which the Brotherhood was a storied part.  We celebrated too the Lord’s ongoing grace as He has continued to lead, protect, correct, and use the lives of many, many believers who came through that unique ministry.

In reading through the printed testimonies, talking to people at the reunion party, and then reflecting on our common experiences, I couldn’t help but compare what happened to us in those exciting days with what’s happening or, more to the point, what’s not happening with Christian youth today.  As a result of those reflections, I decided to address the topic of radical discipleship in this article. For I continue to hope that the days of “great awakenings” are not all behind us. We are, after all, promised that the mercies of God are new every morning. Therefore, revolutionary change can yet occur in individual lives and even in culture, if we simply unplug ourselves from the world and connect our minds instead to the glorious Creator God Who gave His Son for our salvation.  So, please come with me for a look at 5 themes marking the radical discipleship of the early years of the Christian Brotherhood.

1) A dramatic change of identity.  The converts to Christianity in those heady days of the Jesus Revolution wholeheartedly embraced the chance to be forgiven and to live completely different from the culture in which they had previously walked.  Nowadays, too many Christians boast in being just like everybody else. They downplay, even mock, the idea of Christianity which results in a radical lifestyle change.  In fashion, in entertainment choices, in accepting the aggressive liberalism of the government schools, in chasing the constant lure of advertisers, in language and demeanor, young people in the church tend to copy their non-Christian peers. But the young people involved with the Christian Brotherhood were delighted to be different. We willingly relished the opportunities of counter-culture lifestyles because, after all, we knew all too well that the world had nothing to offer us.  We had been there and done that. So we jumped at the chance to exchange darkness for light, lies for truth, slavery for freedom.

We stopped boozing and doing drugs. We ended our promiscuity and criminal behavior.  We moved away from bad influences. We stopped watching TV, not because it was necessarily evil, but simply because we now had a host of other things to do…things that were interesting and active, things that were pure and beneficial. We need a new sense today of how peculiar (the Bible’s word) a people we are; how set apart and set against the cosmos we are; how revolutionary should be our outlook on life, truth, God, the future, and the world around us.

2) A solid theological foundation. The Christian Brotherhood gave us a strong, unshakeable theological foundation.  This was somewhat unique among other Jesus People ministries as it featured Bible classes that were taught by skilled and experienced Bible scholars, including instructors at Grace Bible Institute who came into the inner city to deliver expositional, exegetical Bible classes to us several nights a week.

And the young people of the Christian Brotherhood couldn’t get enough of it!  We not only listened intently, we filled our spiral notebooks with the notes we took from those lectures. And it wasn’t easy stuff either.  No cream puff Christianity here. Indeed, we learned later that the Grace instructors were giving us the very lectures they gave in their upper level theology courses at the college.  But, unlike many of the Grace students, we new converts would eagerly listen, carefully study our notes, and then compare them with what we were learning in our personal Bible study. We would also discuss them in depth with one another.  We knew we had an awful lot to learn…and a lot to unlearn too. Indeed, we sometimes fell back into patterns from our past and so our sanctification required us to regularly repent and even make restitution when possible. But God’s grace kept moving us forward and we took our duties as disciples very seriously.

Do you see much of that in today’s churches?  Young people who are so eager to learn that they forsake entertainment and sports and social media in order to attend hard-edged Bible studies?  Young people crowding into the front rows at church (as the Brotherhood kids did when we went together to hear Darrell Scott at Pleasantview Berean Church), kids holding well-marked Bibles along with pens and notebooks because they were ready to learn more?  Young people who added to lectures and sermons their own studies in apologetics, church history, evangelism, and comparative religion?  Young people being stretched intellectually, held accountable for their beliefs and lifestyles, and challenged to learn to pray and serve and be ever conformed to the image of Christ?

Or do you see instead church youth of today isolated in their own age groups, being coddled and pampered, given heavy doses of comfort and fun, protected from sacrifice and hard work, promised popularity and prosperity? Such a state is a far cry from the discipleship required of young Christians throughout history. It’s a far cry too from the discipleship undergone by most young believers in Third World churches today. Isn’t it time the Western Church embrace again the biblical ideals of radical discipleship? For our sake as well as God’s?

3) Godly fellowship. The discipleship process at the Christian Brotherhood was very strong on fellowship.  But our fellowship was not about fun and games, even though there was often a fun element to it.  Rather, it concentrated on our common participation in the new adventure we were enjoying in the Lord.  Bible study.  Giving witness to the gospel in the parks and on front porches.  Praying.  Commiserating with one another over our past hurts and failures while taking bold actions to change.  Talking about what we were reading.  Involvement in various ministries. Worshipping together with guitars and choruses and old hymns.

We quickly realized we needed frequent stimulation to love and good deeds, the spur to keep learning and maturing. We also knew we needed an accountability factor to help protect us from the easily-besetting sins of our past.  And, as a bonus, this kind of intimate, energizing fellowship taught us what our spiritual gifts were and how to best use them in ministry.

4) Practice in Christian service.  As was the case with the apostles who walked with Jesus in the 1st Century, the new converts at the Christian Brotherhood learned from precept, from example, and from direct participation.  We were young (most of us) and very inexperienced, yet we welcomed the activity the Lord brought our way in evangelism, prayer, counseling, physical labor, developing study habits, getting involved in church, repairing the damage we had caused in our families. The writer of Hebrews describes mature believers as “those who by practice have had their senses trained to discern good and evil.” We also were being trained as we practiced our faith in the real world.  Oh, yes; there was a lot of uncertain and amateurish action on our part and plenty of learning through our failures.  But learn we did.

5) Reading and reflecting. There’s one more item that was crucial to my early discipleship, one so influential that it deserves special note.  And that is that the Christian Brotherhood “baptized” me into books. I had been an avid reader in my youth and, even in my otherwise wasted years of high school, I found pleasure and value in literature. But in my sad spiral downward after high school, I had stopped reading altogether.  And even when I was converted to Christianity in the early spring of 1970, I was very slow to get serious about books.  That all changed dramatically when I hitchhiked into the strange town of Omaha that summer of 1970.  For within 24 hours of hitting town, I was living at the Christian Brotherhood and directed to start reading Harry Ironside’s commentary on The Book of Acts. That was followed by a dozen more Ironside commentaries and then books by C.S. Lewis, Dwight Pentecost, Howard Hendricks, Donald Grey Barnhouse, and Anthony Hoekma.  I also began to buy my own Bible study books: concordances, commentaries, a Greek/English interlinear New Testament, the 5-volume ISBE, and more.  And towards the end of my time at the Brotherhood, I discovered Francis Schaeffer and others who were part of L’Abri. Those books opened up an adventurous new chapter in my learning…and my life.

Those books provided a strong foundation for me, one that only grew stronger in the decades since as I was introduced to other writers who rocked my world (notably G.K. Chesterton, Randy Alcorn, and Joni Eareckson Tada), as I read more widely (including a return to classic literature), and as I learned the value of re-reading.  Books have contributed greatly to my life and ministry.  They have enriched my relationships. They have given me great personal pleasure.  They have been a key defense against the moral pollution and intellectual debilitation brought on by watching too much television and modern film.  And, again, that all started at the Christian Brotherhood where I was blessed beyond measure to receive a radical discipleship.

A healthy Christianity that yields peace, happiness, and confidence? A holy lifestyle that lights up the darkness instead of being compromised and covered up by the surrounding cosmos? I’m convinced that these things begin with a regimen of radical discipleship highlighted by the five themes I’ve described: 1) A dramatic change of identity.  2) A solid theological foundation.  3) Godly fellowship.  4) Practice in Christian service.  5) Reading and reflecting.    If the Church has any hope of reclaiming its power to influence the world, it must bring these things back into play for our congregations.  And especially for our youth. We must pray to that end. But, in addition to our fervent intercession, you and I must act in whatever ways we can to advocate, and model, and encourage radical discipleship in the cause of Christ.

William Tyndale & the English Bible

Erasmus, the great humanist scholar of the late Middle Ages performed one of the most important projects of his time when he published an entire Greek New Testament in a lucid translation which was true to the original manuscripts. Though himself a quiet and moderate man, a Catholic who had desires for only modest changes in the Church, his new translation would become a key spark for the Reformation throughout Europe.

In particular, a young priest and language scholar in England took Erasmus’ New Testament to his very heart. He was William Tyndale, a man who would later testify that he found Jesus Christ in that Greek New Testament and, depending upon Christ's mercy, Tyndale dedicated his life to producing the Holy Scriptures in the English language.

However, Tyndale’s great vision was opposed by strictly and ruthlessly applied laws prohibiting the translation of the Bible into the language of the people. Indeed, parents had been burned at the stake simply for teaching their children the English version of the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments.

But God honored William Tyndale’s noble desires and the brave, diligent, prayerful work it required to bring them to pass. The Bible was translated into English and disseminated throughout the country. And though Tyndale paid the ultimate price, being martyred by strangulation and burning in October 1536, he considered his life's work a wonderful investment for his eternity.

The Bible in our own language, my oh, my.  We have heroes to thank for this awesome blessing and a heroic heritage to treasure. And, of course, a Bible in our own language that we should be reading (and obeying) much more than we do.

Extra note: The bronze statue shown here was created by J.E. Boehm in 1883. This bronze statue was placed in Whitehall Gardens on May 7th 1884 as part of the 80th anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

The Inscription on the front of the plinth reads...

William Tyndale 

First translator of the New Testament into English from the Greek. Born A.D. 1484, died a martyr at Vilvorde in Belgium, A.D. 1536. 

“Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” - “the entrance of thy words giveth light.” Psalm CXIX. 105.130. 

“And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, 

and this life is in his son.” I. John V.II. 

The last words of William Tyndale were “Lord! Open the King of England's eyes”. Within a year afterwards, a bible was placed in every parish church by the King's command.

“If Memories Were All I Played”

Do you remember that phrase from Rick Nelson’s 1972 hit song, “Garden
Party”?  If so, you’ll also remember the full sentence – “If memories were all I played, I’d rather drive a truck!”

Well, I understand Rick’s point.  No one wants to be defined solely by their past nor is one’s life well lived if it only revolves around memories of the good old days.  But it’s important to note that Rick Nelson wasn’t dismissing the value of memories altogether.  Not at all. After all, his “garden party” performance included “all the old songs” which the audiences wanted to hear and which he enjoyed playing. He simply didn’t want to be limited by those old songs.  Yes, he had a rich repertoire from the past – that was terrific – but Rick Nelson also wanted to also be appreciated for who he was in the present moment.

I’ve often thought about this as it relates to our ministry of “When Swing Was King” as we take the music of the past into senior care facilities.  It is natural enough for anyone to love the music of their youth and therefore to relish the memories and moods those songs bring back to them.  Thus it is an absolute delight to Claire and me to be able to bring those things to them.  However, it is also a great thrill and honor for us to develop existential friendships with the fans of our program.  We bring the “old” gifts, gifts they cherish more than we ever dared imagine.  Yet through the “When Swing Was King” outreach, we become present day friends with the members of our audiences…at all ten places we play each month.  We listen to their stories of the past to be sure, but we also talk a great deal about the present.  And, as the Lord opens up opportunities, we talk too about the future as we share our joyful confidence in the heavenly inheritance that Jesus Christ purchased by His sacrifice for our sins.

But there’s another angle to my Rick Nelson reference and that is that even the old music needs an occasional update.  In the case of “When Swing Was King,” it means that Claire and I recognize that our audiences are continually changing as “younger seniors” move into the facilities on our schedule. And because we promise “a sentimental journey back to the days of your youth,” we must continually move our music selections forward in time.

Now, as you know, we already make regular changes in our program. Our basic “catalogue” includes 24 plus shows but every time a series comes round (every two years), I change 2-5 songs, 60-80 of the 200 or so photographs, and several of the stories in my narration.  Therefore, every presentation is, quite literally, unique.  But as we now move into our 9th year of “When Swing Was King,” we are not merely making such changes; we are also advancing our musical era into the 1950s and 1960s.

No, that doesn’t mean we’re going into rock and roll.  We will leave to somebody else a program that stars Elvis, The Beatles, and Abba.  Claire and I are going to stay the course with the mellow, more thoughtful music of the big bands and vocalists of the golden age.  Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw will stay center stage.  As will Bing Crosby, the Dorsey brothers, Sinatra and Como, the Mills Brothers, Chick Webb, Guy Lombardo, The Andrews Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald,  Lawrence Welk, Helen Forrest, Count Basie, Harry James, etc.  Nevertheless, we are increasingly making room for other popular performers who came a bit later: Nat King Cole, Rosemary Clooney, Andy Williams, the McGuire Sisters, Robert Goulet, Eydie Gorme, Dean Martin, the Lennon Sisters, Kay Starr, Jerry Vale, and others.  Indeed, we closed July’s show with Pat Boone’s “Love Letters in the Sand” (1957) and it was a huge hit with our audiences.

So, there you have it – a quick report on the modifications of “When Swing Was King” as we try to keep it as relevant, sweet, and enjoyable a program as possible.  Our fans are certainly worth the effort!

And for an example of the fare we offer, here is the August playlist, terrific songs every one.

1) Glenn Miller Orchestra — “A String of Pearls”
2) The Andrews Sisters — “Begin the Beguine”
3) Artie Shaw Orchestra — “Out of Nowhere”
4) Nat King Cole — “Let’s Face the Music and Dance”
5) Harry James Orchestra — “If I Loved You”
6) Ella Fitzgerald — “Blue Moon”
7) Benny Goodman Orchestra — “Here’s Love In Your Eyes”
8) Guy Lombardo Orchestra — “Getting To Know You”
9) Eydie Gorme — “Hello, Young Lovers”
10) Larry Clinton Orchestra (Bea Wain, vocals) — “Heart and Soul”
11) Lawrence Welk Orchestra — “Hoop-De-Doo”
12) Fred Astaire — “The Way You Look Tonight”

News & Views Pro-Life Advocates Should Note: The Latest List

* “What the Public Really Thinks about Roe” (Alexandra DeSanctis, National Review)

* “New Jersey Requiring Abstinence-Only Organizations to Work with Planned Parenthood” (Neetu Chandak, The Stream)

* “Ominous Court Ruling Allows Discrimination Against Christian Adoption Provider” (Travis Weber, Daily Signal)

* “Massachusetts Lawmakers Pass ‘NASTY Women Act’ to Protect Abortion” (Amy Furr, Town Hall)

* “Are Evangelical Women Stepping Back from the Culture Wars?” (Chelsea Vicari, Juicy Ecumenism)

* “China is struggling to undo a one-child culture” (Xavier Symons, BioEdge)

* “Government-Run Fair Kicks Out Pro-Life Group, Secretly Dismantles Its Display Overnight” (LifeNews.com)

* “A 40th birthday for IVF: Millions of babies have come into the world through IVF. But is the net effect positive?” (Philippa Taylor, Mercator)

The Latest "Don't Miss" List

My, my, my.

* “Techdaddy Doesn’t Know Best: We don’t need the future that Silicon Valley is selling.” (Matthew Hennessey, City Journal)

* “San Francisco Learns That There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch” (Editors, Investor’s Business Daily)

* “Teachers’ Unions Plan to Become ‘More Political, Not Less Political’” (Frederick M. Hess & Grant Addison, National Review)

* “Iran on the Ropes?” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

* “Moonbats plagued by Trump” (Howie Carr, Boston Herald)

* “Virtue Signaling Is Now A Cheap, Prolific Substitute For Actual Virtue” (Noelle Mering, The Federalist)

* “Obama’s Payout to Terror Financiers: The Radical-in-Chief's enabling of the enemy is exposed once again.” (Joseph Klein, Front Page Magazine)

* “Trump Announces E.U. Has Granted Trade Concessions” (Jack Crowe, National Review)

From the "Don't Miss" File

* “Democrats Don’t Fear Brett Kavanaugh. They Fear the Constitution” (David Harsanyi, The Stream)

* “Abortion and the Brett Kavanaugh Hearings: A Plan for Senate Republicans” (Hadley Arkes, National Review)

* “Pro-Lifers Convinced Woman Not to Abort. Now She’s Leading Fight to Overturn UK ‘Buffer Zone’ Law” (Grace Carr, The Stream)

* “‘Sex Matters’: Mona Charen on the Pursuit of True Love and Happiness” (Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review)

* “The Left-wing Paradise of San Francisco” (Rachel Alexander, Town Hall)

* “Fight Against $15: Democrats Push To Repeal Minimum Wage Hike In Nation's Capital” (Editors, Investor’s Business Daily)

* “Trump Administration Takes on Unions Over ‘Skimming’ Medicaid Funds” (Fred Lucas, Daily Signal)

* “How ‘Green’ Energy Subsidies Transfer Wealth to the Rich” (Nicolas Loris, Daily Signal)

* “Permission Accomplished: Parents Have Sex-Ed Say at RNC” (Family Research Council)

Weekend Roundup

* “5 Key Takeaways From The House Hearing With FBI Counterintelligence No. 2 Peter Strzok” (Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist)

* “Peter Strzok’s arrogance is the product of a corrupt FBI” (Michael Goodwin, New York Post)

* “Why Baltimore Police Have ‘Stopped Noticing Crime’” (Jack Dunphy, PJ Media)

* “The Rise of the Abortion Cheerleaders” (Heather Wilhelm, National Review)

* “Left-Wing Antifa Terrorists ‘Freaking Out’ over Proposed ‘Unmasking’ Law” (John Nolte, Breitbart)

* “ICE: San Diego Chainsaw Attacker is Illegal Alien Deported 11 — Count ‘Em — 11 Times” (Will Racke, The Stream)

* “Media’s Obsession With ‘Collusion’ Continues To Destroy Its Credibility” (David Harsanyi, The Federalist)

* “Why Leftists Become Thugs” (Andrew Klavan, PJ Media)

* “Plastic straw feel-goodery” (Glenn K. Beaton, The Aspen Beat)

Did You Miss These?

* “Facebook Removes Declaration of Independence Excerpt for ‘Hate Speech’” (Charlie Nash, Breitbart)

* “The Left Can’t Come to Grips with Loss of Power” (Victor Davis Hanson, National Review)

* “Peter Strzok, A Cocky Liar to the End” (George Neumayr, American Spectator)

* “Less Than 1/3 of Democrats are ‘Extremely Proud’ to be Americans” (Julia Cohen, Daily Caller)

* “Bad Christian! On Immigration, No Thinking’s Allowed” (John Zmirak, The Stream)

* “Wait. How Many Immigrants Are On Welfare Again?” (Matt Vespa, Town Hall)

* “Culture War as Class War: How Gay Rights Reinforce Elite Power” (Darel E. Paul, First Things)

* “San Francisco: Poster-Child For The Failure Of U.S. Cities’ Blue Model” (Editorial, Investor’s Business Daily)

* “Drag Queens at the St. Paul Public Library. Too provocative for kids?” (Kim Crockett, CAE)

News & Views Pro-Life Advocates Should Note: The Latest

* “Netflix Airs ‘Salute to Abortion;’ Host Declares: ‘God Bless Abortions!’” (Craig Bannister, CNS News)

* “Ghoulies: Parade of the Aborticrats” (Michelle Malkin, National Review)

* “Christian Mom Raises Thousands to Challenge Law Banning Prayer Outside Abortion Clinics” (Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews.com)

* “Save the children, say the pro-choicers” (Steve Grammatico, American Thinker)

* “How Andrew Breitbart Inspired ‘Gosnell’ Movie Project” (Christian Toto, Hollywood In Toto)

* “Answering Abortion’s Advocates” (Rob Schwarzwalder, The Stream)

* “What We Can Learn about Abortion from the Thailand Cave Disaster” (Mona Charen, National Review)

* “Ohio Abortion Clinic Says It’s Not an Abortion Clinic. It Provides Abortions” (Grace Karr, The Stream)

News & Views Pro-Life Advocates Should Note

* “Roe Is a Travesty” (Rich Lowry, National Review)

* “Senator Chuck Schumer Celebrates Abortion for July 4th Holiday” (Virginia Kruta, Daily Caller)

* “A New York Abortionist’s Road to Prison” (Mired McArdle, National Review)

* “MAiD and modern medicine:: Two years after an assisted dying law was passed in Canada, palliative care is suffering.” (Peter Stockland, Mercator)

* “CNN, MSNBC Falsely Claim Americans Support Roe v. Wade, Which Allows Virtually Unlimited Abortions” (Brad Wilmouth, LifeNews.com)

* “Secret ‘Roe v. Wade’ Film Now Shooting in New Orleans” (Paul Bond, Hollywood Reporter)

* “‘Please make comfortable’: An estimated 650 patients at an English hospital had their lives 'shortened'. It has taken 20 years to get to the bottom of the scandal.” (Michael Cook, Mercator)

* “Melinda Gates Upset President Trump Defunded International Planned Parenthood” (Paul Bois, Daily Wire)

A Better View: The Latest Compilation of Important Articles

* “A New York Abortionist’s Road to Prison” (Mired McArdle, National Review)

* “Mueller’s Kafkaesque Probe” (George Neumayr, American Spectator)

* “Secret ‘Roe v. Wade’ Film Now Shooting in New Orleans” (Paul Bond, Hollywood Reporter)

* “America really did have a Manchurian Candidate in the White House” (L. Todd Wood, Washington Times)

* “The Republican Party’s Joyful Warrior” (Alexandra DeSanctis, National Review)

* “Rachel Dolezal, also known as Nkechi Diallo, booked and released on welfare fraud, other charges” (Samuel Chamberlain, Fox News)

Checking In (Post-Breckenridge, #2)

* “Who’s Responsible for Separating Alien Kids From Their Parents? Many People, but Not Trump” (Hans von Spakovsky, The Federalist)

* “Good Riddance, Justice Kennedy” (The Editors, National Review)

* “2 Reasons Why the Media Will Drop Coverage of the Capital Gazette Shooting” (Amy Swearer, The Federalist)

* “Fighting Bullies at the U.N.” (Armstrong Williams, The Federalist)

* “MAiD and modern medicine:: Two years after an assisted dying law was passed in Canada, palliative care is suffering.” (Peter Stockland, Mercator)

* “‘Please make comfortable’: An estimated 650 patients at an English hospital had their lives 'shortened'. It has taken 20 years to get to the bottom of the scandal.” (Michael Cook, Mercator)

* “Librarians without Chests: A Response to the ALSC’s Denigration of Laura Ingalls Wilder” (Debra McDonald Birzer, National Review)

* “Study Reveals What Women Are 'Hard-Wired' To Find Attractive. Feminists Are Going To HATE It.” (Amanda Prestigiacomo, Daily Wire)

John Adams on the 4th of July

John Adams writes of the Fourth of July in a letter to his wife, Abigail dated July 3, 1776.

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

Checking In (Post-Breckenridge, #1)

* “Canada’s Supreme Court Ruling Is a Grave Blow to Religious Freedom — and Not Only in Canada” (Paul Marshall, Providence)

* “Google.gov : Amid growing calls to break up Google, are we missing a quiet alignment between ‘smart’ government and the universal information engine?” (Adam J. White, The New Atlantis)

* “The Fate Of The West, Trump, And The Resistance: Ben Weingarten interviews Victor Davis Hanson” (The Federalist)

* “Seven Mysterious Preludes to the FBI's Trump-Russia Probe” (Lee Smith, Real Clear Investigations)

* “No Longer Required: Already-reeling government unions absorb another blow as the Supreme Court rules their compulsory fees illegal.” (Steven Malanga, City Journal)

* “The Left needs to face reality: Trump is winning” (Michael Goodwin, New York Post)

* “It’s Not Laura Ingalls Wilder Who Is Prejudiced, It’s The Librarians Smearing Her Legacy” (Joy Pullmann, The Federalist)

Weekend Catch Up (Sunday Edition)

* “Liberals Are Crazy. Will Voters Notice?” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

* “U.S. Makes the Right Call to Quit UN Human Rights Council” (Brett Schaefer, Daily Signal)

* “Leftist Group Shows Activists How to Kill an ICE Agent, Pledges to Go After Their Families” (Katie Pavlich, Town Hall)

* “The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Smear Campaign Against PragerU” (Dennis Prager, Daily Signal)

* “Did the FBI Frame Flynn?” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

* “Yoder, Sex Abuse, and War” (Mark Tooley, Providence)

* “Melania Trump Calls Secret Service After Actor Peter Fonda Suggests Kidnapping Barron Trump” (Lauretta Brown, Town Hall)

* “Pope Denounces Trump’s Border Policy as ‘Immoral’ but Hailed Fidel Castro for His ‘Contributions to World Peace’” (Humberto Fontova, Town Hall)

Weekend Catch Up (Saturday Edition)

* “Why the OIG Report Should Scare the Hell Out of You” (David Catron, American Spectator)

* “Melinda Gates Upset President Trump Defunded International Planned Parenthood” (Paul Bois, Daily Caller)

* “Democrats’ Border Separation Bill Would Let Nearly All Parents Who Commit Federal Crimes Get Off Scot-Free” (Gabriel Major, The Federalist)

* “Why Do They Hate Us?” (Jeffrey Folks, American Thinker)

* “Obama’s silky lie and FBI bias in the Clinton investigation” (John Kass, Chicago Tribune)

* “Left Coast Lawlessness: Progressivism is wrecking cities in the Pacific Northwest.” (Alex Titus, City Journal)

* “7 Recent Lies From Media On Emotion-Driven Immigration Debate” (Ryan Saavedra, Daily Caller)

How About a Little Light on the Problem?

How about letting a little light (and a few facts) illuminate this matter of illegal immigrants and their kids at the borders?

From Power Line comes 3 important articles:

A CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSIONER WEIGHS IN ON CHILDREN AT THE BORDER

THE TRUTH ABOUT SEPARATING KIDS AT THE BORDER

and

THE TRUTH ABOUT SEPARATING KIDS AT THE BORDER, PART TWO

Up, Up and Away...Forever

(This post originally appeared here 6 years ago, in June of 2012.)

It was a little before six yesterday morning and I was on my way to Panera’s for my regular Tuesday morning routine – prayerfully planning out the week, clearing up correspondence and enjoying an always stimulating conversation with John Malek – when I saw a lonely but lovely hot air balloon hanging just over the southwest horizon.  It didn’t seem to be drifting at all; indeed, it held the same position the whole time of my drive and at least several minutes after I got my coffee.  But I was then distracted with work and the next time I looked up, maybe 20 minutes later, it was gone.

I wished I had my binoculars with me.  I wished too that Claire had seen it – hot air balloons are pretty rare in our part of the country.  But I especially wished my sister Sherry could have seen it too because she really likes hot air balloons and still cherishes the dream, as yet unfulfilled, of gliding through the air in this colorful, buoyant style.

In fact, gazing at this hot air balloon made me think of three things and the first directly concerned Sherry.  It is a vivid memory of an early morning in the mountains of Colorado sometime back in the late 80’s.  The Hartford clan was having one of its very few family reunions.  Sherry was there with her family, Mom, Claire and I, Ric and his wife, James, and Linda and her family.  We had a wonderful time that week but the highlight of the whole event was Sherry tearing through the place very early one morning (we were all still abed) and yelling at everyone to get up and look out the windows.

I was rather disgruntled at the sudden awakening but since she was so adamant, I stumbled over to the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony, drew open the shades and …wow upon wow…there they were!  About two dozen hot air balloons had come over Loveland Pass and were now moving pretty fast down the valley.  They were colorful.  They were colossal.  And they were close!  We were awestruck at the beauty, the grace, and the sheer uniqueness of the sight – these huge, silent beasts that carried passengers who were waving to us and wishing us good morning.  In various stages of undress, we waved back, feeling a pang of deep regret that we weren’t in one of those baskets with them, sailing through the crisp mountain air to who knows where - Frisco, Leadville, for all we knew, maybe Shangri-La.

Far from being annoyed at Sherry for waking us, we were all extremely grateful to her for giving us this rare and invaluable gift.  It was, in one sense, a fleeting moment.  The balloons moved so quickly that within minutes they were all gone from sight.  But, in another and very real sense, Sherry also gave us a forever moment because the combination of surprise, novelty, color, movement, the soulful longing everyone feels for travel and adventure…and the fact that we experienced it as a family... made that moment something that we will always treasure.  I’m feeling a glow just writing about it now.

But the second train of thought elicited by that balloon yesterday morning was a bit more philosophical for it caused me to also think of the song which Americans of my generation invariably link with hot air balloons; namely, the lilting lyrics of Jimmy Webb’s “Up, Up and Away” as delivered by the Fifth Dimension.  The song is exquisite – nearly every Webb song is – and the incomparable voices of Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis, Jr and the rest of the Fifth Dimension almost guaranteed that it would be one of the most popular songs of the 1960’s.

But it’s not just the sound of “Up, Up and Away” that gave it almost anthem status for the flower children.  It was the sentiment of the song too – the sentiment of escapism.  Sure, love songs and poetry have, throughout the ages, tended towards this theme.  “Make the world go away.  We’ll build a world of our own.  Fly me to the moon.”  And so on.  But there was a particularly pronounced escapism of the 1960’s youth culture that went beyond romance.  For some that involved outright rebellion, the laborious attempt to change what they believed was a restraining status quo. But for many more, the response to the world was just escape. And whether the “drop out” route involved drugs or drink, the intensity of sensual pleasure or immersion in the minutiae of popular entertainment, quadraphonic sound or religious mysticism, the goal was self-absorption.

Many of the Fifth Dimension's songs fit this mood -- “Age of Aquarius,” “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “Paper Cup,” “Sweet Blindness,” and, of course, “Up, Up and Away.” They described the delight of finding a refuge from the harshness of the real world. They weren't songs of rebellion. Those came from harder-edged groups.  No, the Fifth Dimension offered a mellow, more sensual route of escape.  Make love, not war. Harmony and understanding. Party hearty.  Hold a good thought for cosmic convergence.

The lyrics to “Paper Cup” (another Jimmy Webb song, by the way) include these lines:

Here inside my paper cup
Everything is looking up
No one comes in, no one goes out
Nothin' to get hung up about 
I'm free and it's so easy to get by 
Cause I don't try.

Living ain't so bad without a rudder
Life is kind a groovy in the gutter.

Sound familiar? Forget old-world values like work, the integrity of family and tribe, morality, making something out of yourself, changing the world for the better. Instead, make the hippy mantra your reality -- “Turn on. Tune in. Drop out.”

But the lyric that particularly grabbed me yesterday morning was from “Up, Up and Away.” It goes, “The world’s a nicer place in my beautiful balloon; it wears a nicer face in my beautiful balloon.”

But the balloon ride doesn't make the world a nicer place. It, in fact, has nothing to do with the world. It's soaring above it, unconnected, uninvolved. And from the balloon one isn't even an effective observer. The spectacle is too distant. The aerial view doesn’t take in the broken-hearted young girl in her bedroom, the angry young thug in the prison cell, the fatherless child in the alley, the lonely widow leafing through the photo album, the worried mother in the doctor's waiting room.  No, the scene from the balloon takes in only color and general contour.  Hidden from sight is the trash and tragedy of real life.  That, no doubt, suggests a world with a “nicer face.” But it’s not the real world at all.

And, of course, even the exhilarating experience of flying through the air must end.  Alas, there is a limit for that beautiful balloon. It does go up and up...but it doesn't really go away. It must, governed as it is by a law of gravity that no amount of yearning can deny, come down to earth. The balloon ride doesn't make an efficient refuge from reality at all. A respite, yes. But not a refuge. For when the balloon inevitably returns, the passengers find themselves once again on the cold, cruel earth, facing all the problems, questions, and challenges they left behind.

But I'm not ending this essay on that note. Oh, no. For there was one more area of thought that the sight of that hot air balloon opened for me yesterday. And it also brought back to me the lyrics of a song, one that I knew long before I heard of the Fifth Dimension...though I must admit I didn't treasure the meaning of those lyrics until it was almost too late.

This song was written in 1929 by Oklahoma musician and hymn writer Albert E. Brumley. And it's lyrics not only describe the “final flight” of the Christian, one who has personally trusted the sacrifice Jesus made to pay for the sins of mankind, they also provide the secret to living joyfully and victoriously on the cold, cruel earth I've mentioned earlier. For though we must face the challenges the real world presents (no escape until our day is done), we do so in the confident expectation that a “nicer world” does exist for the believer in Christ. It is the "new heavens and new earth" prepared expressly for us by Jesus Himself.

The song, as some of you have already guessed, is the most recorded gospel song ever, “I’ll Fly Away.”

Some glad morning when this life is o'er, 
I'll fly away; 
To a home on God's celestial shore, 
I'll fly away.

I'll fly away, Oh glory 
I'll fly away.
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, 
I'll fly away.

When the shadows of this life have gone, 
I'll fly away; 
Like a bird from prison bars has flown, 
I'll fly away.

Just a few more weary days and then, 
I'll fly away; 
To a land where joy shall never end, 
I'll fly away.

The hot air balloons Sherry awakened to us that Colorado morning were spectacular and I'll never forget the sight of them floating down the valley with the blue of the Rocky Mountains behind them. Nor will I forget the yearning they created in my soul for spiritual flight. But the trip I now have scheduled is not a disconnected, day-trip escape like the one the Fifth Dimension invited me on. I want the real thing. The lasting thing. The final flight that doesn't just take me “up, up and away” but instead takes me to God's celestial shore. Boy, I'm looking forward to it.

By the way, have you booked your flight yet?

The Culture Wars Are Getting Wilder All the Time: A Few Examples

In my last couple of compilation posts here on Vital Signs Blog, I've given quite a few examples of how wacky (and wicked) things are getting in politics, media, business, education, and other battlefields of the culture wars. You can scan through those here (“The Best of the Bunch: IG Report, Culture Wars, & More, Part 1” and “The Best of the Bunch: IG Report, Culture Wars, & More, Part 2”).

But here are a few more:

* “Miss America: The Latest Institution Destroyed by the Left” (Dennis Prager, Daily Signal)

* “Let the nuclear family explode, says Britain’s top family judge” (Ann Farmer, Mercator)

* “Identity Warriors Have Infiltrated the Sciences. Here’s the Damage They’re Doing.” (Walter E. Williams, Daily Signal)

* “Thefts rise after California reduces criminal penalties” (Don Thompson, AP)

* “Federal judge halts secret FEC plot to target GOP groups” (Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner)

* “NYC's War on Academic Excellence” (Michelle Malkin, Town Hall)

* “MS-13 Creating Chaos At A Maryland Middle-School” (John Sexton, Hot Air)

The Best of the Bunch (IG Report, Culture Wars, & More): Part 2

* “11 Quick Things To Know About The Inspector General’s Report” (Mollie Hemingway, Federalist)

* “Inspector General's report shows FBI is bent and broken” (Howie Carr, Boston Herald)

* “The Democrats’ Radical Turn” (Kyle Smith, National Review)

* “In Ireland, What’s Legal Is Now Mandatory” (Micheal Brendan Dougherty, National Review)

* “Trump Administration Wins Key Obamacare Lawsuit” (David Catron, American Spectator)

* “Social Media Giants ‘Friend’ Extremist SPLC” (Family Research Council)

* “Environmentalists foolishly go to war against nuclear power” (Robert Bryce, New York Post)

* “Are dead white males like Shakespeare really irrelevant to Britain’s students?” (Ann Farmer, Mercator)