adam feldman blog

Howard County Teacher of the Year: my wife!

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you that Kim received the honor of "Teacher of the Year" for her high school. Earlier this morning the Superintendent of the Howard County Public School System showed up in her classroom with an entourage of administrators and photographers to let her know in person that she is being honored as the "Teacher of the Year" for the entire county!

Congratulations, Kim!

If you know my wife, you know that this is not something she sought after. She isn't the kind of person who is driven by awards and recognition, and has never made it her ambition to receive such recognition during a school year.

I am so proud of you, Kim! I am so grateful that Father has allowed you and OMHS to be honored in this way. I love you!

teacher of the year!

"Congratulations" are in order for my wife, Kimberly, who was recently honored as "Teacher of the Year" at her high school! (Of course, we didn't need anyone to tell us how special she is--we knew it all along!)

review: nbc's "kings"

NBC's new series, "Kings," premiered on Sunday night. I was casually flipping through channels when I stumbled upon it 15 minutes or so after it began. I was immediately snagged by the quality of production (think "24" or "Lost" production value). Kim and I watched the next 45 minutes and then turned the show off, missing the second half of the premiere. We were under the assumption that the show takes place in a future USAmerica where our nation abdicates democracy for a monarchy...but we were (happily) mistaken.

As I lay in bed that night I kept thinking about the few minutes that I saw and realized that what I was actually watching was a modern take on the story of Israel's King Saul and King David. Now, this would be painfully obvious to someone who had seen the first 15 minutes and was introduced to a few dead giveaways: the capital city is "Shiloh," the reverend's name is Rev. Samuels, David's father is named Jesse, David is a warrior who takes on a giant military tank called a "Goliath," oh, and, the nation fighting against David's army is called "Gath" (from where the Biblical Goliath hails).

So on Monday I watched the entirety of the "Kings" premiere on Hulu and was quite surprised how close to the Biblical record the writers went. Granted they took a few liberty's. King Silas' (the King Saul of "Kings") son, Jake, is not friends with David--at least, not yet. This is a difference from the David/Jonathan relationship in the OT. That said, Jake leads an ambush against Gath which is similar to Jonathan's ambush against the Philistines as recorded in 1 Samuel 14--except that Jake fails whereas Jonathan succeeded.

My verdict? I'm adding "Kings" to my weekly television queue. I recently dropped "Chuck" after a disappointing second season that depends way too much on sexual innuendo to keep the audience's attention, so "Kings" will take its place.

I am particularly interested to see how far they will go with the succession of Israel's Kings. Will they stop with David? Will they go on to show Solomon's building of the temple? How about Solomon's son, Rehoboam, who divides the kingdom? Will we see Elijah or Elisha? All fun things to think about.

Would I recommend "Kings?" Sure. Of course, I've only seen the first 2 hours, so who knows how the rest of the season will pan out. Anyone of Christian or Jewish faith would find it intriquing and entertaining to watch--bearing in mind that it is a fictional modernization of the story.

twitter and facebook are ruining my blog

I need to apologize to all of you who faithfully read my blog: I haven't been posting much lately. Its not that I haven't been putting stuff out there on the web. I've been doing that plenty via my Twitter feed and my Facebook page. Perhaps I am drawn to the immediacy of both platforms compared to the relative chunkiness of the blogging platform.

Twitter's thumbnail posting really intrigues me and I haven't plumbed its depths too much, yet. Facebook is a good catch-all to catch-up with folks. Nonetheless, I'm not through with blogging by any means. I like the option to post more thought out stuff on my blog as opposed to 140 characters of tweetness.

All this to say, I'm considering reloading my blog sometime later this spring. It dovetails with some of the stuff I mentioned in my previous post. If I do, I'll be integrating my Twitter and Facebook into my blog so that it gets a more organic and immediate feel. I have NO clue how to do that, which is why I'll be emailing some of you WordPress guys for help.

my wife posted on her blog!

*scratches eyes in disbelief* Yup. After three-and-a-half years, Kim broke her blogging silence and posted on LittleRunOn. What did she post? Her thoughts on the inauguration. Enjoy!

how then shall we vote?

Over the past several weeks I've been thinking about my role as a Christian minister in the United States and the forthcoming election. I was in pastoral ministry during the previous two presidential elections, but never thought about it at this level since I was not previously in a position where I was preaching weekly.

This past Sunday the Alliance Defense Fund encouraged pastors to publicly endorse political candidates (they didn't say whom) during their sermons. Stating that the Johnson Amendment of 1954 is a breech of 1st Amendment rights and freedom of religion, the ADF argues that such political candor in the pulpit is a freedom for every religious organization in the United States.

So, this past Sunday I spoke about politics. No, I didn't endorse any specific candidate during my sermon, but I did offer a few thoughts for Christians engaged in the presidential voting process. They are:

1. Remember your citizenship. Born again believers in Christ are first and foremost citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are also citizens of nations while we live here. Believers are instructed in Scripture to pray for our leaders (even if we don't like them) and to obey the laws of the land so long as they do not breech God's Law. Ultimately, our first allegiance is the Jesus and His Kingdom and we pray and work alongside Him for it to be seen here on earth.
2. View current issues in light of what the Bible says about them. There are a lot of issues today that require a Biblical perspective: war, protecting rights of the vulnerable (i.e. the unborn, the elderly, the poor), economic/government financial greed, terrorism, environmental stewardship, gender/sexuality issues, etc.. When thinking about these issues it is imperative to remember that no one candidate will ever carry a Biblical stance on every one of these issues. As such, there is no political candidate at any level that will ever be the "hope" of the nation. Rather, it seems that for the Christian voter the decision is one of "Who will do the least damage in office?"
3. Where is your hope? Both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain speak the rhetoric that they and they alone hold the hope for our country and for our world. This is simply not true. Hope for our country and our world is found in one person only: Jesus Christ. Christian voters should consider the weight of this reality and lay that against how they think, feel and talk about the candidates. Good questions to ask yourself are:

• "How will I feel on November 5 if 'my guy' doesn't get elected?"
• "Will I feel a sense of vindication for 'picking' the right guy if he gets elected?"
• "Will my sense of hope erode if 'my guy' doesn't get elected?"
• "Do I exalt one fallen, broken, sin-scarred human being at the expense of vilanizing another fallen, broken, sin-scarred human being?"
• "Do I look down on or react negatively to other people for supporting the person that I don't support?"

The answers to such questions can indicate misplaced hope from Jesus onto a human being and also expose issues of idolatry and lack of humility.

Finally, the reasons why I did not throw my towel in for any one candidate are two-fold: First, I haven't decided who will do the least damage in office, yet. Secondly, my role as a pastor/preacher is to exalt one person and one person only: Jesus Christ. My time in preaching is time to be spent expounding Biblical principles and laying them against life today. As such, I will not publicly endorse any candidate while preaching God's Word.

thanks. thanks a lot. XXI

I can't believe that the last time I posted a "Thanks. Thanks a lot." post was over a year ago! How could you, my faithful readership, let me go so long! Geez.

Okay, this one is special as it comes from the church sign that began it all way down in Georgia. I saw it while I was in the Atlanta area for Scott & Katherine's wedding. Drum roll please...

"One nation under God invincible."

*sigh* Okay, here we go. First, note the subtle way they changed "indivisible" with "invincible." Anyone laughing, yet? Secondly, note the subtle landmarkist insinuation that the USA is a Christian nation. "No they aren't," you say. Oh really? Why would they put this line from our nation's Pledge of Allegiance on their sign? Hmm... Thirdly and finally, note the blatant syncretism of nationalism mixed with the Christian faith. Anyone else sickened by the thought of our nation being portrayed as "invincible" in the world stage due to a single line that we say in our Pledge? Anyone else swallowing some upchuck at the thought of a church co-opting the faith in Jesus which spans all nations, ethnicities, tongues and tribes as though it were something reserved for American citizens?

Those are my thoughts directed at the sign. Remember that grace and forgiveness abound. As such, I rail against these signs hoping and praying my fellow brethren in the faith realize that few if any non-Christians find these signs witty, intelligent or evangelisticly intriguing.

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Archives

1st father's day

Today is my first Father's Day. Kim surprised me this morning with breakfast in bed. Nice! Metanoia was relatively light--a result of the combination of locals hanging with their fathers and the curse of summer. Art (our music stud) was slightly unnerved that I spoke about "fasting" instead of "fathers."

meeting joe kennedy in 3D

It is always great to meet in person people I know only through the blogosphere. A few weeks ago I met Joel Kurz, and yesterday MO and I met Joe Kennedy. Both Joel and Joe are exploring church planting options in the area. Joe is a photographer and was kind enough to snap a photo of MO and I on Main Street with cheesy smiles on our faces. (Not to mention a great photo of the Patapsco Female Institute ruins!)

big questions about easter

We're addressing two significant questions over the next two weeks at Metanoia. "Big Questions About Easter" (an oh so original title) begins this weekend.

• March 16 - Why did Jesus have to die?
• March 23 (Easter) - Did Jesus really rise from death?

From the website:

Two-part series addressing significant questions about Easter. Skeptical? Faithful? On the fence? All are welcome--come with an open mind!