Stone the Fornicating Teacher?

Faith in the public arena can be a difficult balance sometimes. A perfect example of this is the case reported in Florida today where a teacher who has been fired from a private Christian School is suing the school for discrimination. According to the article, Jarretta Hamilton went in and asked for maternity leave and the director of the school suggested they really couldn’t afford it. Later in the conversation, the director asked Hamilton, who has only been married for a matter of months, if she had conceived before getting married. When she admitted that she had, she was terminated for moral reasons (fornication).


Okay – wow! I believe as the head of a Christian organization, I have a right to hold my employees to a moral standard, but this is really a horrible mistake by this school! Yes it was immoral for the woman to have sex before marriage, but the couple got married and they’ve had the baby, so doesn't it seem pharisaical of the school to conveniently file moral charges against someone they obviously didn’t want to have to pay maternity leave to? This is the kind of thing that so often gives Christianity a bad name.


On the one hand, I hate the state is getting involved in a case like this because there are times when a Christian organization needs to act to protect the moral standards it’s trying to uphold but on the other hand this is not one of those cases and this should have never happened! If Jesus were down there is Florida I think he would have probably asked those school officials which one of them is sinless enough to cast the first stone! 

A Nostalgic Trip To The Grocery

When I was a boy, I spent many a Saturday morning accompanying my mom to the grocery store. I'm pretty sure it was called Hogans and it was on Cypress Street, in West Monroe. Mom would do her shopping and I would stand at the comic book rack and read about Kid Colt and The Rawhide Kid. If I had been a good boy, which wasn't often, I would get to bring a couple of them home. If I remember correctly, they cost 25 cents. I don't have any of those old comic books I collected in the early 70's - I sure wish I did!

What I remember best about those trips to the grocery store were the western comics, the orange sherbet push ups and the chocolate soldier cold drinks. I don't know where all the nostalgia is coming from this morning, but it might have to do with the fact that I'm starting a series called "Legacy" this weekend or the fact that Toy Story 3 comes out next weekend just in time for Father's Day. Regardless, I cranked up the search engine, found these pics and enjoyed a nostalgic trip to the grocery! 

Spear-throwing Narcissism

I was reminded today just how dangerous it is to become self-absorbed, especially as a leader. When a leader becomes self-absorbed and narcissistic he begins to see everything that happens through the lens of egotism and that is an extremely volatile world view.

It is God that places us in positions of leadership. Romans 13:1 states  that everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. If that's true, then any position we have is God-given and He determines how long we will keep it. It is not ours to defend! David understood this, Saul did not. When Saul felt that his position was threatened, he reacted by throwing spears! David on the other hand, when he saw a threat to his throne, reminded himself that the throne wasn't his, it belongs to God! 

We have to choose: Will I be a Saul or a David? We've got to quit throwing spears at those we think may be trying to take our throne! Let God decide how long you will hold the position of authority you've been given. I know there are times when it looks like people are plotting against us and we think that political maneuvering might result in us being unseated. Do we really believe people have that kind of power? Do we really think God is helpless against the plans of man? Give me a break! If that were my view of God I wouldn't even bother with Him! God is bigger than people, politics or positions. So I've decided to let God be God. It is His prerogative to give positions and take them away. I want to humbly lead when He chooses and humbly get out of the way when He's done with me. Anything less is just narcissistic spear-throwing! 

The Death of An Era

Dana Key - Founding partner of DeGarmo & Key (One of the pioneer rock duos of early Contemporary Christian Music) died today at age fifty-six. For me this is more than just the loss of a fellow Christ-follower or artist, this is the death of an era: An era of my faith when everything about it was brand new - Including the music! I became a Christ-follower when I was twenty years old - The year was 1982. I felt that it was important to leave everything about my former life behind including the music I had always listened to. I burned it all in a big heap. The problem was that, at that time, there wasn't a lot of Christian music available that was the style of music I enjoyed. Those CCM artists that did exist became very close companions. They weren't just singers and songwriters, they were teachers. Their lyrics helped shape my doctrine. DeGarmo and Key was one of those bands that God used to help shape what I believe today.

Now I don't want to give you the wrong idea, not everything these guys did met with my artistic approval. It was the eighties and they were trying to compete with bands who were creating what we now know as eighties music. It was horrible! And sometimes D&K's offerings fit that same description. However, it was all we had and we were glad to have it! Thank God they also gave us some really good music and their CDs stayed in our CD players, our boom-boxes and our walkmans! I only saw DeGarmo & Key in concert once, but it was quite a show!

They gave the world one of the first Christian music videos - A song called Six, Six, Six that MTV refused to play because it was too graphic (what a laugh!). Dana was the cool front man of the group. He had true swagga! He and Eddie DeGarmo wrote the band's music, and I'm sure no one was surprised by his songwriting abilities as he was a direct descendant of Francis Scott Key who wrote the Star Spangled Banner.

Christian music has drastically changed since those early days. There's so much variety and so many options now. More and more Christian artists are crossing over to the main stream and MP3's have made the purchase of albums a thing of the past for many of us. So the death of Dana Key, in my opinion marks the passing of a way of life, a way of artistry and ministry that God used in those days when I was just starting out as a follower of Christ. God has new ways of doing things now and that's okay because, in the words of the old Billy Preston song that DeGarmo and Key covered on their 1983 album Mission of Mercy, that's the way God planned it.

Here's one of my favorite D&K songs. We used to sing it as a worship song. The words of the chorus say, "I don't want to be a casual Christian." I'm so glad Dana wasn't a casual Christian. I'm so glad he let God use him in a very special way in a past era. It was my era, and I'll miss you Dana!