Recent Egypt Headlines

Egypt has made some international headlines in the last couple of weeks, but we are keeping a closer eye on what local news has to say as we move into hotter summer months and the approaching Ramadan, a holy month of fasting by Muslims, which is estimated to begin on July 9 and continue until August 9 this year.

As we look at these headlines, let us just stress a couple of things: First, we're not experts on the events, culture, politics, and history of Egypt or this region--NOR do we pretend to be.  We are simply passing along news and information that we are hearing and reading from various sources as we live and serve as guests in this region.  Secondly, we are not taking any sides in the stories that we reference; we work really hard at trying to find both sides of any story and though our initial opinions of various stories can range from humorous or even horrifying, we are not attempting to promote any opinion, perspective, or course of action.  We are here to serve regardless of the headlines and where cultural, societal, political and/or religious decisions lead.  We report these things here because there are people who want to know about what we're doing and what's happening--the news they hear regarding Egypt may be brief at best, and so, from time to time, we share more links to help those who want to know more.

With that said, here's what we're reading and seeing this week...

Egypt and Ethiopia
As previously referenced on the blog, Egypt and Ethiopia have a difference of opinion when it comes to a prospective Ethiopian dam project on the Blue Nile and the potential effects upon Egypt.  A couple of weeks ago, June 3, President Morsi convened a meeting with top government officials to discuss options relating to the potential water "crisis"; some of the participants were not aware that the meeting was not only being recorded, but also televised.  Though we have heard many speculate that televising of this meeting was accidental, the Daily News Egypt reports that the decision to televise due to the importance to the public was made prior to the meeting--but the participants were unfortunately not informed.  As a result, the discussions seemed to be inappropriate and embarrassing; the Daily News summarized some of the discussion as follows, "During the meeting Ayman Nour as well as Al-Wasat Party Chairman Abu Elela Mady suggested military action against Ethiopia; others talked about using actors and sports figures to negotiate while Al-Azhar representative Sheikh Hassan Al-Shafei suggested embarrassing Ethiopia through international pressure."

Last week, President Morsi issued a public and deliberate statement regarding the Ethiopian dam project.  According to this Al Jazeera English report, President Morsi said, "If it loses one drop, our blood is the alternative," and, "We are not calling for war, but we will not allow, at all, threats against our water security ...all options are open."

As a result of the private and public statements, you would expect Ethiopia to have a response, and they did.  In this Al Jazeera English article, the foreign ministry spoekesman Dina Mufti said that Ethiopia was "not intimidated by Egypt's psychological warfare and won't halt the dam's construction, even for seconds."  The article also includes this summary video report on the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia...



Meanwhile, 
Egypt & Syria

In April, President Morsi visited Russia talked with President Putin.  There were talks about potential Russian investment in Egypt and Putin's requests for Russian tourists to be safe on visits to Egypt destinations; during the talks, Syria was also discussed and President Morsi stood with President Putin in agreeing against foreign intervention and the search for diplomatic solutions.  

But on Saturday, June 14, President Morsi seemed to take a different stance on Syria, urging other nations to maintain a no-fly-zone over Syria; he further announced the closing the Egyptian embassy in Damascus and the Syrian embassy in Egypt.  The Daily News Egypt further reported that President Morsi called for the "liberation of the Syrian population."

This appears to some to be a contradiction and led to headlines like this, "Morsi cuts Syria ties to woo West, boost image"on the Global Post website.  The Daily News Egypt reported on differing views on Morsi's speech, including this quote...

Reactions to Morsi’s speech varied among political figures and groups

Said Nader Bakkar, vice-chairman for media affairs of the Salafi Al-Nour Party: “We didn’t take part in the conference on Syria due to our reservation on the increased number of events held by the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) prior to 30 June.”

In his statement, Bakkar asked Morsi to resolve the contradiction between what he said in Moscow about adopting a stance similar to Russia’s, supportive of Al-Assad’s government, and what he said on Saturday about severing relations with the regime.

And what does Syria think about President Mori's speech?  Well, they're not happy according to this Al Jazeera English article that quoted a Syrian government official as saying, ""Syria is confident that this decision does not represent the will of the Egyptian people."


The various opinions on Syria are not the only opinions making headlines when it comes to Egypt.
Economy and Approval Ratings
A very balanced report from Al Jazeera English titled, Analysis: Egypt's Faltering Economy, begins this way*:

A Pew survey of Egyptian public opinion released in May found out that a solid 66 percent of Egyptians preferred democracy to any other form of government, and 51 percent were willing to live under a democratic government even if they risk instability.

Yet, when asked if they preferred "strong democracy over a strong economy", their loyalties shifted. Only 45 percent agreed, while 52 percent said that living in a good economy was more important to them to living in a good democracy.

The same survey highlighted Egyptians' growing economic pains and worries. Only 29 percent of those surveyed said they expected their economic situation to improve next year, a result down from 50 percent in 2002. Some 42 percent thought their economic situation would worsen next year, up from 20 percent last year. And, a strong 76 percent majority believed the national economic situation was "bad". 

The above referenced article quotes some favorable analysis of President Morsi's financial leadership in the past year...

"Reem Abd ElHaliem, a professor of economics at Cairo University, told Al Jazeera that Morsi should be given credit for what he achieved economically in the past year. 

She believes that Morsi has worked hard to look for alternative sources of funding, such as issuing Sukuks, or Islamic bonds, which were recently approved by parliament. She also commended Morsi for seeking to cut fuel subsidies without hurting the lower classes. A new card distribution system is under development and may be introduced this autumn. Morsi also resisted pressure to cut spending on social programmes that benefit the poor."

And, it quotes some less than favorable analysis...

"Mohammed Mossallem, an economic researcher at Cairo based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, thinks Morsi has not done much to help the Egyptian economy. He says Morsi has changed three finance ministers in one year, does not seem to have a clear economic policy, and has focused too much on borrowing from abroad and on attracting foreign investments - without preparing the country or the economy for absorbing such investments into pro-growth activities. 

Mossallem thinks government should take more ownership of the economy at this moment, be more transparent with people about the dire economic situation, direct more funding to productive sectors instead of subsidies, and to focus on developing small and medium size enterprises - which employ an estimated 75 percent of Egypt's labour force - offering them more funding, instead of following Mubarak-era policies to attract large foreign businesses." 

Beyond the economic opinions, there are other factors contributing to different opinion polls* on the Egyptian government.  The Daily News Egypt ran this headline today "Morsi's popularity declining," citing a 4% decline in support over the last month according to "Egyptian Centre for Public Opinion Research."

*(on a side note, personally, I think that opinion polls can be equally helpful and dangerous for democratic governments; while they can reveal what the majority think, all of the information may be in the hands of the minority -- and, I'm always reminded of the infamous statistical adage, "Statistics don't lie, but liars use statistics."  So, I'm cautious when reading or reporting on "opinion polls"!)


and finally,
June 30 Approaches
We've been hearing and reading small reports of planned demonstrations for Sunday, June 30; this date

a few of the top search results from earlier today

will be the one year anniversary of President Morsi taking the oath as the President of Egypt.  At the beginning of the month, we first heard someone speaking of the date as a day of possible protests and demonstrations; this led to a curious internet search to see if we could find any official plans.  At that time, we could only find one article referencing the "April 6" political activist group calling for demonstrations on that day, implying a dissatisfaction with the last year; the same article indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood would also be holding demonstrations that weekend in support of President Morsi's leadership in his first year.  It is difficult to find the reference to that article now, because a Google search of the words "June 30 Egypt demonstrations" leads to a host of headlines and reports (see pic).

The scarce references and rumors have become more main stream since the beginning of the month.  One of the above referenced Al Jazeera English articles above reported the following as a part of President Morsi's statements on Syria:

However, Morsi also used the occasion to warn his opponents at home against the use of violence in mass protests planned for June 30, the anniversary of his assumption to power.

Morsi repeated the allegation that Egyptians loyal to the now-ousted regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak were behind the planned protests and that they were working against the January 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak.

"Some who are delusionary want to pounce on the January revolution and think that they can undermine the stability that is growing daily or undermine the resolve that people have clearly forged with their will,'' he said.

We have heard from expats and Egyptians alike, and there seems to be a little more anxiety over the various plans for the last day of the month than in previous times of demonstration.  Since the 30th is a Sunday, and since a lot of demonstrations have typically began after Friday prayers, some wonder if demonstrations have the potential to be several days.

And that's your headlines...

Pray for Egypt!

Apple's WWDC: Future Splash?

Each year, Apple Computers hosts a little shindig called the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC).  The event is largely for tech people, like those who are designing new software to go with the newest Mac computers & devices, but it is the hottest ticket in the tech world.  The event draws from all over the world--66 nations represented this year--and this years WWDC sold out in 71 seconds!  Former Vice-President Al Gore was in attendance, and Hollywood producer/director JJ Abrams will be one of the week's presenters, while some of Pixar's animators were going to help show off the new Mac Pro desktop revealed during the event.

Apple CEO Tim Cook presenting at the WWDC
(the image on the giant screen is of the new Apple Store
in Berlin--a restored, historical theatre.  The actual
store is in front, while the theatre was kept for
concerts and future events - maybe a 3W Seminar ;)

At first glance, this may appear to just be an event in which Apple pats themselves on the back and gets applause from all the people who are "drinking the Apple Koolaid." And that may be true; a great deal of interest in this event is the hype at wondering what new product will launch from Apple.  Apple may be a victim of its own hype and success because there seemed to be universal disappointment without the introduction of a new iPhone or iPad, nor the rumored iWatch or iTV.  Some are even beginning to speculate that Apple is losing it's "cool factor." 

Apple did introduce new product and programs, but the WWDC has become much more than that.  It may also be the proverbial pebble tossed in the water--that doesn't look like much now--but produces 20-foot waves on opposite shores.

On a side note, there's something to this "throwing pebbles" metaphor that is overlooked by observers but not lost on "vision casters" who cast those proverbial pebbles.  As a kid, if I ever tossed a rock in a pond or creek, I rarely tossed one -- I was looking for a splash, I was trying different rocks and different places to target.  Same thing with skipping stones; you're trying to skip one 8, 10, or more times -- but you have several duds that only skip once or twice.  Kids have no problem with multiple attempts--who cares how many go in, so long as they get that one good splash, or that one long series of skips.  "Vision casters", those individuals in business, politics or organizations, that are attempting to mold the future or how to get there, they have meetings/events like this where they throw out a lot of stuff--they know not everything is going to work (though they wish and present it like it will)--but only time, the work, unseen factors, and sometimes just luck will determine what takes and what doesn't.

Every year as a lead pastor, we had what we called "serve love pray Sunday" on the 2nd Sunday of August; it was the day in which we reminded everyone of the 3-word strategy/ethos we were attempting to follow within our mission, we reviewed the past and we tossed ideas/plans for the future.  Not everything worked or took off--those things are largely forgotten--but the ideas that did work, those helped to shape the future.

Apple's annual WWDC is their attempt to look for a splash or super string of skips -- it only takes one to be a game changer with the resources and clout that they have -- and even if it all amounts to nothing this year, they have enough success to give them time for several years to come to try again.  Apple's event gives us glimpse at where technology may take our future--which will impact our culture.  It's worth giving some time and attention to the ideas, presentations, and speculations--what may be a reach today maybe routine tomorrow.

What may be influenced in our future?  Here's a few of my takeaways from watching the 2+ hour event:

pic from Apple.com presentation page

The literal shape of computers: largely unappreciated by observers was the preview of the soon to be released new desktop computer "Mac Pro".  Desktop computers have been losing market share at a free fall pace to notebooks and now tablet computers--some have even speculated "the death of the personal computer".  But more power, memory, and better interfaces will always be needed in computing--the tablets may eventually replace laptops as our travel computers, but a good home/business desktop computer will still be important.  However, computers have been unappealing boxes since their creation--though they got smaller and recently even began merging with their displays, it's still a bulky box.  The reviews on the new Mac Pro desktop are mixed, but the revolutionary design of the small cylinder may take computers in a new direction, if only in their shape.  The cylinder is essentially hollow with the components around empty space -- the top of the cylinder is a uniquely designed fan that pulls the air from the base through the components and out the top; the resulting cooling effect is reportedly much more efficient (and more quiet), which therefore allows more power to be diverted to computing rather than trying to keep itself cool.  The cylinder is also 1/8 the size of Mac's previous desktop model.  Whether or not the computer will be accepted with it's less than universal Thunderbolt ports will be determined by consumers and the designers/artists/musicians for whom the computer seems to be built--but the revolutionary redesign of the computer frame and fan may influence computers for the next generation.

Apps = Capital = Increased R&D = Bigger Application = Future Change - Apple's five year old

ANKI CEO Boris Sofman demonstrating the AnkiDrive at WWDC
- the screen behind him was an overhead view of the track
at his feet.

App Store has created a new technology industry in the design of applications for mobile computing devices; regardless of your brand of smartphone or tablet, they are "smart" mobile devices by the ability to run these various programs while you are on the go--from games to information to GPS to streaming music to medical programs.  And these apps have resulted in Apple paying App-Developers $10 Billion in the past five years, and the pace is picking up.  Perhaps one of the most mindblowing presentations during the WWDC keynote was not an Apple product, but when they gave the stage to a quirky App-developer as if a commercial spot.  ANKI introduced themselves as a "robotics and artificial intelligence company" that was launching their first public product through the WWDC.  ANKI officers introduced a racing game through a less than perfect demonstration; the game doesn't take place on your mobile device, but your mobile device or computer can direct little robotic cars either directly at your hand or via the artificial intelligence of the program.  At first glance, 4 little cars speeding around a modified oval on the floor isn't necessarily that impressive; after all, remote control cars have been around for quite a while.  But these little devices were driving themselves--they were processing information about their position on the track, the proximity of the other vehicles, the upcoming curves, the need to adjust speed and turn angles, etc.  In the demonstration, three were programmed to block one car from passing; they maneuvered, changed speeds, and worked together to prevent one determined little car while that little car was calculating speeds, turns, and scenarios that would allow for a pass.  Your typical RC car doesn't do that--the typical RC operator doesn't do that very well.  Why this matters now and in the future: ANKI is on the precipice of making the cars from futuristic sci-fi movies like "Minority Report", "I-Robot" and other films a possibility.  They start with a "living room game" because it begins to give them exposure, brand loyalty, and capital--this not only funds future Research & Development, but gets them opportunities to have conversations with car manufacturers and policy makers.  Pretty soon, an ANKI automatic drive program may be an option on a car like GPS has been in recent years.

Enhanced e-Education - Schools have been incorporating computer technologies at a fascinating rate since I was in school.  Today, my daughter, as a freshman in high school, was required to have a laptop or tablet computer while my son's 6th grade class provided a laptop each day as a part of a 1-to-1 technology program to begin preparing them for the responsibilities and opportunities of using technology in their education.  Assignments could be accessed, completed, and turned in via the computer--emails, slide presentations, video, and even animations were a part of the preparation and production of these assignments.  Access to more information via the web, as well as different types of textbooks have been attempted; this year, Grace had a pdf textbook for science -- a clumsy and practically terrible idea.  But new enhanced textbooks are increasing in availability while simultaneously decreasing in price -- the future of print in education continues, for better or worse, to decline.  Apple's offering of iBooks in the new Operating Software OS X:Mavericks will make this digital material all the more useful.  The iBooks demonstration during the WWDC was a great example of what the future of studying from an enhanced textbook could look like (begins at 12:27 in the presentation clip from YouTube).



There were so many little things that fascinated me during the presentation, and so many others that were not that interesting.  But isn't that how it goes with making splashes and skipping stones?

Did anyone else watch the presentation?  Anything else make you marvel or wonder about the future?  What about the items I listed above--do they make you foresee a different future sooner than you imagined?

Other articles on the WWDC and related Apple presentations/products...
- Apple Adding Kill Switch via CNN to prevent "apple picking crimes" -- interesting article on the need for new police task forces and cooperation between tech developers and law enforcement.
- The beautiful new Apple computer most people won't buy via CNN re: the new Mac Pro Desktop
-New iOS7 review via CNN Money (the iOS is the mobile operating system for iPhones, iPads, etc)
-Apple's Innovation Conundrum via CNN Money

Worship and Theology Response

image found through Google image search

This post is a series of reflections and responses to Patrick Nachtigall's Three-Worlds Diary Post "Is Evangelical Worship Superficial," which is a series of his reflections and responses to this article, "Tragic Worship" by Carl Trueman.  

What is written below is largely in response to Patrick's excellent post; my hope is that those who preach and lead worship will take some time to reflectively talk about these things together (not just my musings, but Patrick's & Mr. Trueman's as well), and hopefully lead in positive directions as a result (whether along their same course or with resulting corrections).  

(I typed this quickly on the iPad after following Patrick's Twitter link, so I've tried to correct all typos, but some may have slipped through...)

------------------------

So much on which to reflect and respond -- good article that church leaders need to digest and discuss as to what they are teaching, not only in their song choices but also in their preaching choices.

Here are some of the things I want to discuss based on the diary post:
- contemporary worship
- contemporary preaching
- creation and propagation of dualism

#1, contemporary worship:
The ongoing "worship wars" may be a result of the dualism that I'll get into later, but will inevitably be a part of congregation issues for years to come.  A lot of the trouble stems from attempting to reach younger people that the church is losing and missing within their worship services.  Of course, the youth are missing in these congregations for more than just song style and choices; and though it may be too simplistic to say changing the music will bring back the "young people," it is an important statement that old and young are need to hear--that the congregation is willing to make changes.*

(*But, I don't think that all churches should make worship changes just for the sake of change.  Keli's Uncle Jim posted this excellent article on his Facebook last week,  "Why traditional churches should stick with traditional worship.")

Unfortunately, those that know the "contemporary" music and how to play it are often the youth or at least the college students in the congregation.  Therefore, they are selected to "lead  worship" because they know how to play guitar and have a decent singing voice.  Few of these youth have the depth of understanding, theological background, and/or life experience to be good worship leaders for a congregation facing the deeper issues and experiences of life.  Though this can be something that is mentored and shaped by good lead pastor, this mentoring work with young worship leaders will not overcome the second problem: the congregation has not been taught/trained to accept younger leaders.  So, when a young person gets up in the most important service in a prominent role, the rejection issues are larger than just a rejection of the song choices.

But the song choices are an issue, too.  It is not just that a lot of "contemporary worship songs" are simplistic -- often described as "love songs directed to God"--there are other issues, too.  The style of the music's rhythm and melodies are different, less predictive and often difficult for an older adult to sing--particularly if they are seeing the words on powerpoint without the music to help guide their singing.  However, the larger complaint is often that these newer songs "lack theology", to which a young person responds, "our songs are taken right out of the Scriptures".  The themes and even lyrics of the new songs are often right out of the Scriptures, but being Biblical doesn't mean that they are communicating theological truths about the Scriptures.  However, many hymns have the same problem--especially several American Revival era hymns are very simplistic and proclaim the themes of love, forgiveness, and victory without any other great depth and insight.  Again, song selection by youth and young adults will be based upon their simplistic understanding of Scripture, theology and life -- but this isn't because there are not newer songs with deeper theology available.  We have found several newer songs by Matt Redman, David Crowder, Phil Wickham, Nick Gainey, Jars of Clay, and Tim Hughes--each of these have the "popular" songs selected by young leaders, but also songs of depth that explore larger theological ideas.


#2, contemporary preaching:
Often, particularly within our little tribe of the "Church of God", we hear someone complain or proclaim "our theology is in our hymns".  I'm not sure if this is praise for our hymn-writers or criticism against our preachers.  It seems that particularly today, our church services (perhaps a result of the "entertainment" factor) seek to be so practical to life that we boil every problem down to 3-4 points of application based upon select scripture verses.  Very rarely do we hear extended preaching through Biblical passages that examine the messy aspects of life that are prominently recorded throughout the Scriptures.  As a result, we get congregations that are full of believers who only know the highlights, but have never wrestled with the lows in the lives of Biblical "heroes" of faith; such as, Noah getting drunk, David the elder King selecting and sleeping with the young beauty "to keep warm", Gideon essentially creating a new idol within Israel, etc.  The Bible isn't full of people who figured it out, repented, and lived happily ever after with God -- no, they were in need of several acts of grace in their lives (more than just the first and second acts of salvation and sanctification).   When contemporary preaching focuses only on the highlights and the practical applications, we shortchange the Word of God to speak into the messy, unresolved, deeper questions of life in an imperfect world lived by less than perfect people.  

One of the reasons that this "practical preaching" is done is because we're not comfortable with questions, and we're really uncomfortable with questions that don't have clear cut answers.  Preaching all of the Scriptures including the dark sides of these individuals and problematic passages leads to questions.  Contemporary preaching and teaching has to make room for these questions, encourage dialogue, and help people apply greater truth in the midst of their own shortcomings and messy life issues. I have tried to not just arrive at preaching points, but also preaching questions; I think it's healthy for a pastor to be able to hear parishioners' questions and not have a quick answer, but instead have to say, "I don't know, let's talk about it together."  I think that worship that leads to dialogue together so that appropriate action can result is the most appropriate ending of a worship service.

Finally, on the issue of "theology in our hymns", the reason this is problematic for young people today is that they are not looking for theology in music--they want to see theology alive in people.  Young adults are tired of hearing one thing and seeing another--and so they are looking for a theology that is not only applicable, but actually applied in the life of others.   This is a theology that they can not only believe in, but they can also seek to apply it themselves.


#3, creation and propagation of dualism
wow, this is such a good point that Patrick makes in his article.  I don't have much to add here except to say that when our worship is simplistic, and our preaching is only practical, we encourage dualism to be the message of the contemporary church.  But this dualism is not just a product of the modern worship environment; I do agree with Patrick that the American Revival period (the time in which the Church of God was started) began this dualistic thought and action.  But without a serious reflection on the depth we are providing weekly, we will never break out of this simplistic dualism and fail to be the real answer for the world--we may still add to our numbers from time to time under some charismatic leadership, but in a world in which the population is growing exponentially, that is a strategy of decline for the long term.


Great post Patrick -- I hope it leads to greater discussion and application in many churches...