Richard Detrich’s Boquete, Panama Weblog

Happy Easter!

Probably the hottest “super church” preacher today is Joel Osteen, founding pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, meeting in a former basketball arena seating 30,000! He is the most popular TV preacher and his books are best sellers. His message is simple: “You are special! God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, and it’s a plan for your good!”

A lot of traditional church folk and theologians are critical of Osteen’s simple message: the same folks who criticized Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller.

Here is a God who came to live among us, who gave himself for us, who was resurrected to a new life so that we too could be lifted up and resurrected to new lives: wouldn’t you call that God “good”?!? Wouldn’t you think that God wanted the best for you? Do you think it would make any difference to that God who you were, where you were from, what color you were, or what your orientation was, or even if you were at the point of your life where you accepted him? [NB: He accepts you!]

So on this Easter Sunday, let me share Arvella Schuller’s hymn:

Yes, God is good, in earth and sky,
From ocean depth and spreading wood,
Ten thousand voices seem to cry,
“God made us all, and God is good.”

The sun that keeps its trackless way,
And downward pours its golden flood,
Night’s sparkling hosts all seem to say,
In accents clear, that “God is good.”

The merry birds prolong the strain,
Their song with ev’ry spring renewed;
And balmy air, and falling rain,
Each softly whisper, “God is good.”

Yes, “God is good,” all nature says,
By God’s own hand with speech endued;
And we, in louder notes of praise,
Should sing for joy that “God is good.”

On this Good Friday I’d like you to meet one of my theological and homeletical heroes!  Dr. Tony Campolo is an Italian sociology professor at Eastern College, and also on the staff of a local Afro-American church.  Tony was is an advisor to Bill Clinton and Barak Obama.  He put’s Christianity in contemporary and understandable terms. 

His best . . .

Dr. Tony Campolo tells the story of a little preaching competition that he had with his pastor during services at the church where he attends. Dr. Campolo tells how he preached the perfect sermon, perfect in every way. He had taken the congregation to the heights of glory. And as he sat down beside his pastor, Dr. Campolo patted him on the knee and simply said, “Top that.” The older black pastor looked at him and said, “Boy, watch the master.”

It was a simple sermon, starting softly, building in volume and intensity until the entire congregation was completely involved, repeating the phrases in unison. The sermon went something like this.

It’s Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter’s denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It’s Friday; but Sunday’s a coming.

It’s Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, “Father, forgive them.” It’s Friday; but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, “My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?” What a horrible cry. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. And at the moment of Jesus’ death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that’s because it’s Friday, and they don’t know it, but Sunday’s a coming.

And on that horrible day 2000 years ago, Jesus the Christ, the Lord of glory, the only begotten Son of God, the only perfect man died on the cross of Calvary. Satan thought that he had won the victory. Surely he had destroyed the Son of God. Finally he had disproved the prophecy God had uttered in the Garden and the one who was to crush his head had been destroyed. But that was Friday.

Now it’s Sunday. And just about dawn on that first day of the week, there was a great earthquake. But that wasn’t the only thing that was shaking because now it’s Sunday. And the angel of the Lord is coming down out of heaven and rolling the stone away from the door of the tomb. Yes, it’s Sunday, and the angel of the Lord is sitting on that stone and the guards posted at the tomb to keep the body from disappearing were shaking in their boots because it’s Sunday, and the lamb that was silent before the slaughter is now the resurrected lion from the tribe of Judah, for He is not here, the angel says. He is risen indeed.

It’s Sunday, and the crucified/resurrected Christ has defeated death, hell, sin and the grave. It’s Sunday. And now everything has changed. It’s the age of grace, God’s grace poured out on all who would look to that crucified lamb of Calvary. Grace freely given to all who would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary was buried and rose again. All because it’s Sunday.

It’s Friday! But Sunday’s a Coming!

Whatever Friday’s you are enduring in your life right now . . . may you know that Sunday’s coming!

If you want to listen to a tape of a Tony Compolo talk, Click here

In 1956 five missionaries were killed in Equador and their story was immortalized in a book written by the wife of one of the martyred missionaries called, “THROUGH GATES OF SPENDOR.” In 2004 a Christian movie company decided to make a movie about that story and used the Embera village of Rio San Juan de Pequini as a setting for filming, using the Embera to play the role of the Ecuadorian Indians.

Some of our Embera friends are recognizable in the film.  The people of the village enjoyed the interaction with the crew and at the end the production company gave the village several much needed outboard motors. 

The movie was eventually released in 2006 as “THE END OF THE SPEAR.”    The movie had some limited release in theaters.  I suspect the producers were counting on churches to push the movie, however they had cast Chad Allen in the leading role(s) playing both the martyred missionary and his son, who would later go back as a missionary to the very tribe who had killed his father.   Chad was well-known as the TV son on “Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.”  Apparently the film producers didn’t know that Chad is also very “out” and a spokesman for various gay causes.  Ooops!  Given the hostility many evangelicals have against gays . . . I suspect this accounts in part for the cool reception of “THE END OF THE SPEAR.”

Now Chad Allen stars in an independent film that premiered at Sundance called “SAVE ME.”   Allen plays a sex and drug-addicted young man who overdoses and finds himself at the mercy of his disapproving family.  Their solution is to check him into a Christian-run ministry that promises to cure him of his ‘gay affliction’.  What is interesting to me is the response of some of the evangelicals who attended the premier at Sundance.

“One of the things that struck me about this film was how the filmmakers (some who are themselves gay as we learned during the question and answer time following the screening) portrayed the motives and stories of the conservative Christians who lead the ex-gay ministry with tenderness and grace. Is it possible that many in the gay community are more gracious in their understanding of Evangelical Christians than we are towards them?” CHRISTIANITY TODAY

Bob Davidson, Fuller Theology Student and Sundance participant.

“It was at the film’s conclusion that I found myself, a professed ‘Christian’, surrounded by the tears from numerous individuals, both gay and straight—completely distraught by what I had just experienced. I could not help but be embarrassed of my faith and its ‘typical’ response to the gay community.

However, as actor Chad Allen and actress Judith Light shared, I was taken aback by the non-threatening posture of the cast and crew (and the film for that matter). Nobody was enraged. Nobody was protesting. And nobody was blaming . . . This was a profound gesture on behalf of the filmmakers, who had clearly succeeded in creating a diffused space of interaction, grace, and reconciliation—an environment that the Christian community often fall short in creating.” Bob Davidson, Fuller Theology Student and Sundance participant

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made this quote famous.  And I believe it . . . just as the Old Testament writers of Psalms believed it, but often I wonder . . . how long?

You would like Brandon Hein.  His warm, engaging smile and personality.  He’s articulate, talented, and although I can’t see him much, especially now that I live in Panama, he has been a good friend for 12 years and an inspiration.

Brandon currently lives at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, California.  He is a “close custody, level four” inmate, which means because of his “life in prison without the possibility of parole” he is considered to be one of the most dangerous prisoners, and is housed with others who are “property of the State of California” and are considered to be the most dangerous.  It costs about $100,000 a year to keep Brandon in prison, not counting lost revenue which the state would have if he were working.

I got to know Brandon when I received a simple prayer request, placed in the offering plate of the United Methodist Church in Westlake Village, California, where I was serving as an Associate Pastor.  The prayer request read, “Please pray for our son, Brandon Hein, who is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.”

I first visited Brandon when he was in that “no-man’s zone” between being held for trial at Los Angeles Central Jail and being “state property” (That’s what they call it!  Brandon is K24820.)  Not even his parents could visit, but I was able to “pull rank” as clergy and get to see him in the attorney visiting area.  They brought this kid who had just turned 18 into the room wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, legs and hands shackled, and shackled him to the floor.  I was very skeptical.  But after getting to know Brandon, spending countless hours researching the case, developing www.BrandonHein.com, and speaking on Brandon’s behalf at every opportunity, I am convinced that this is one of the worst miscarriages of justice in the US. 

Brandon’s crime?  Being at the wrong place at the wrong time.  And drinking underage, and smoking pot, and maybe hanging out with some questionable friends and defending himself in a fight.  Pretty much like 80% of 18-year-olds in the US.  Brandon went with some teenage friends to buypot at the local high school drug dealer’s back yard hang out.  The drug dealers best friend and self-proclaimed “bodyguard” was the son of an LAPD officer.  A skuffle broke out.  One of the boys, age 15 at the time, who went with Brandon to buy pot, got into a fight with the drug dealer and his “bodyguard.”  All hell broke loose with punches flying everywhere.  Unbeknown to Brandon, the 15-year-old’s brother, pulled out a 2″ pocket knife and stabbed the son of the LAPD officer.  Tragically that random knife wound landed precisely in one of the few spots it could do damage, and ended up killing the LAPD officer’s son.  The boy who stabbed the LAPD officer’s son always admitted his action.  But the District Attorney chose to rely on the verbal assertion of the drug dealer, high at the time and high in court, that the boys had come with the intention to steal not buy pot.  Based on that flimsy “evidence” all the boys, even if they had no connection to the killing, were charged with “felony murder” and sentenced to life without possibility of parole. 

At the time of the trial the Los Angeles DA’s office was reeling from failures: the Menendez brothers took two trials, OJ got off scott free, and they blew trying to get Michael Jackson on child molestation.  So the DA was out to win this high profile trial at any cost.  LAPD pulled out all the stops in pressuring the judge.  [Makes one wonder how much pressure LAPD might have been able to exert on a judge who had a drinking problem.]

So where are we TWELVE years later.  One agreed to a deal and is out of prison.  The drug dealer graduated from college and is an artist.  The Assistant DA has been named a judge.  The judge who heard the case, who himself had just gotten off probation for drunk driving, Lawrence J. Mira, is still on the bench in Malibu hearing celebrity trials.  And Brandon still sits in prison.

You would think that if enough people raised an outrage something would be done.  I thought so.  That’s why I convinced Brandon to go public on the Internet, and on 60 Minutes, and Rolling Stone ["Lynching in Malibu"], even at great cost to him.  The guards and other inmates have access to television and see articles. [No prisoner has access to the Internet.  Brandon has never seen his www.BrandonHein.com Website and the Web was in its infancy when he went to prison.  Yet if you check out his Web site and click at the bottom on "The Box" you'll not only see his amazing art work, but you'll be amazed at this Web application that was conceived by Brandon, even although he's never seen the contemporary Web.]

We’ve been through 12 years of appeal, and are now at the 9th US District Circuit Court of Appeals.   Still Brandon sits in prison.  If you’d like to find out more there are lots of resources.

http://www.brandonhein.com/

 http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?FBH

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/29/60II/main538407.shtml

http://www.recklessindifference.com/ - “Reckless Indifference” is a feature length documentary by Academy Award Nominee William Gazecki.

If you find this an outrage, write to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger  HOW TO WRITE TO THE GOVERNOR  Schwarzenegger CAN pardon Brandon.

What’s this have to do with Panama?  Years ago Brandon and I planned to sit on the beach when this is all over, drink rum, and watch the sun set.  I now have the beach at Boca Chica, and lots of rum . . . the only thing missing is Brandon.  I’d like to live to see this, and I’d like Brandon to be young enough to enjoy it!

Through all these 12 years Brandon has been amazing!  He manages to relate to some of the toughest people on the planet . . . everyone from stone cold killers to Dan Rather!  He has an amazing circle of friends who have brought his case to the attention of everyone from ex-Presidents to rock stars.  He has become a skilled artist working under great difficulty and many times without supplies.  He has an amazing confidence that somehow all of this is going to work out for his good.  He has put up with the attention in an effort to help his case, but if you check out “The Box” and his painting entitled “Limelight” you will see that the attention has not always been easy.

Well, we don’t have Thanksgiving in Panama, officially that is.  Unofficially we’ll be gathering for a Thanksgiving potluck with about 15 other expats complete with turkey and all the trimmings.  Panamanians are busy with other holidays.  This is a country where there are 21 HOLIDAYS a year!  Additionally, after working one year, they get 30 PAID VACATION DAYS, plus 18 SICK DAYS, plus “13th Month”.  “13th Month” is a neat scheme were by one is actually paid for an extra month’s work each year, without working - cool, huh?  This is divided and paid out over the year in three equal payments.  Doesn’t actually build up a “work ethic”, but hey, not bad if you can do it.  But the lack of a motivated work force with a good work ethic hurts development and foreign investment, leads to high unemployment, and hurts Panama.

The “Holiday Season” starts with Independence from Columbia (November 3), then Independence from Spain (November 28).  Pretty cool, TWO Independence days!  The biggest holiday of the year is Mother’s Day on December 8.  Then Christmas with all of it’s fireworks (big tradition here as the sky explodes on Christmas Eve!).  From Christmas to New Years nothing happens.  In January Boquete has its Fair of Coffee and Flowers when it’s party time for two weeks.  Then comes Carnival and more partying!  Forty days later is Holy Week when many businesses are closed and nothing happens.  Good Friday is a legal holiday, then Easter.  So from November until after Easter it’s hard to get much accomplished. 

But today is the traditional US Thanksgiving . . . so what am I thankful for?

• A wife who is partner, companion and friend and who has put up with all the BS all these years
• Two great kids who I enjoy as adults and are more than I ever hoped for and a great son-in-law (our kid choose well)
• Our first grand child in the oven and due in February
• Two young friends who’ve kind of adopted us who, despite some real shaky years, are turning out to be neat men
• Friends, new and old
• The opportunity to be living in paradise, having fun, exploring the world, growing and enjoying the journey
• A Christian world and life view that helps the world make sense, believing that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives, and that it’s a plan for our good
• A Hebrew cosmic view that believes in spite of all the injustice that in the end justice will triumph

That’s a lot to be thankful for!