Animal Magnetism in the Grand Canyon

An elk bull and his harem watch us as we take photos from the car.

An endangered condor, marked with the number 33, perches on a ledge.

Mules ascend after a day of delivering people to the bottom of the Canyon.

A ground squirrel watches the tourists. (Photo by Roxanne)

Me, Maggie and Roxanne join the other human animals in recording the spectacle.

We rest in Sedona after a long jeep ride and climb up a hill.

Ever since we moved into the mountains, I am constantly reminded of the presence of nature, from the hummingbird that flits among the Ponderosa pine tree in front of the house to the owl that hoots at night and the occasional javelina -- wild pig -- that runs across the dirt roads.

Yesterday I saw an astonishing sight while walking my dog Lucky when two coyotes leaped one after the other out of tall winter grasses, across a road, and back into the tall grass on the other side in a balletic movement, their long legs and lean bodies gracefully landing out of view. They're rarely seen during the day, but they must have been curious about the large golden creature they'd glimpsed through the grass.

When I went to the Grand Canyon with Andy, Maggie and Roxanne recently, I was surprised at how much wildlife popped into view, in spite of the traffic and large numbers of people passing through. It was as though they were as interested in seeing us as we were in seeing them. The elk, which paused for about five minutes by the road leading away from the Grand Canyon, peered shyly toward us before they headed off into the woods.

Being close to nature feels like being closer to God, who created everything, and saw that it was good.

Miracles Do Happen, Even on Long Island

An item in the Breaking Christian News enewsletter, a sort of digest of Christian articles from publications worldwide, caught my eye yesterday when I realized it was from Newsday, the Long Island newspaper where I used to sell freelance stories when I lived there.

The story had to do with a car fire, not that strange of an occurrence on the Long Island Expressway, but what was unusual was that a woman flagged down the driver and told him his car was on fire before it burst into flames. He pulled over, she sped away. Then after the father of three exited, the Kia Sedona turned into a bonfire.

The ordained deacon and graphics designer named Richard Simmons (no relation to the aerobics guy), said the only thing that survived in the car was his Bible. It wasn't even wet from the efforts of the firefighters. Miracle? You be the judge. He certainly was convinced.

Why The Cross? Jesus Explains

Giotto's painting of the Crucifixion

One of the biggest mysteries to people who haven't studied the scripture is why Jesus would allow himself to be crucified. He speaks directly about it many times to his disciples. The Gospel of John, Book 12, verses 20-33, in today's Episcopal service tackles the question.

"The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

In essence, he says that his death on the cross is just the death of a man, but it is an opportunity for mankind to find eternal life.

The rest of the scripture addresses how the rest of us should view our role in the world.

"Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also."

If we love God, we cannot "love" the world as it is, with its injustices, poverty, hate and suffering. Also, we have to "die" to ourselves to do what we're called to do, to love each other, and serve God with our whole hearts. If we love life and live selfishly, we're doomed to repeat that life of sin -- die, repeat, etc. Some interpret this eternity as hell, others as reincarnation. (Reincarnation was in Bible scripture at one time, then removed by the Catholic church.) Some may view perpetual reincarnation as a kind of hell.

Realizing that the crowd was troubled by what he was saying, Jesus said that he wouldn't be asking God to save him from his fate, though he could.

" 'No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.' Then a voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, 'An angel has spoken to him.' Jesus answered, 'This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.' "

In essence, Jesus asks God to speak to the people directly, He does, and yet people are still confused and misunderstand. Jesus tells them that he's making the sacrifice for them, to defeat death and evil and to change the world when he is resurrected.

So why were there so many doubters, even in his time? People who lack faith think that if they see miracles, then they will be sure that God exists. The truth is that, just like those from his own time who saw Christ resurrected, if they don't have an open heart, it won't matter how many miracles they see. They still won't believe.

I've seen miracles, and I hear of miracles almost every week. People who have faith look for the miracles and recognize them. The most recent one I experienced was when Betty Miller joined us in prayer and heard the word of God during her prayer. She told my friend that God asked her to pray over my friend's ailment. My friend was amazed, since Betty would have had no way of knowing about her problem. Betty, who is known to have spontaneously healed many people over her lifetime, prayed for my friend. She also brought up another issue that she felt compelled to pray over, which my friend also hadn't mentioned. These events are common for Betty. She doesn't claim to have any special gift, other than listening to God and asking for His blessings. She has created miracles for people, and claims that she has experienced them herself in her own healing.

In this Lenten season, we anticipate Easter Sunday, when the greatest miracle of all is celebrated. If we believe, we will understand why Christ died for us.

Pocket God: Fun for the Stupid

When my husband told me there was a game called Pocket God on iTunes that could be played on his iPhone, I was, of course, intrigued. Would it be a game with Bible trivia? Would it be a meditation on God? As soon as I saw it for myself, I was disappointed. It was the basic torture or kill video game.

The "God" is the player, who manipulates the lives of South Park-like natives on a tiny island for his own gratification. The islanders can be killed by flinging them with your finger into the water, or into the live volcano. You can also feed them to a shark, crush them with a boulder, strike them with lightning or just make them drown.

The only "compassion" this game's deity can show is dropping a coconut from the palm tree so that they can eat it. Unfortunately for them, they can only eat it if it is dropped on their heads so that they can get to the meat.

It's a harmless game in itself, but it does mock the idea of God, and certainly in its universe, there is no benevolent God that answers prayers, or even takes an interest. Really, it's a juvenile game, in which the islanders only fart, pick their noses and laugh on their own.

Why should I care? Whenever the name of God is invoked, it matters. It's a form of taking the Lord's name in vain.

I read some of the comments on the blog about the game, and 99.9% of them suggested adding features to the game to allow for new and more inventive tortures. Only one or two of the couple of thousand comments showed any concern with the player's inability to be a "good" God. It's truly a waste of time that would only be attractive to the terminally stupid.

Awesome Views from the Grand Canyon

Trees line the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

The Colorado River can be seen just beyond the red outcropping.

Here I am on the brink of the abyss.

God's Majesty in the Grand Canyon, Sedona

With our friends Maggie and Roxanne visiting from New York, I spent the past four-day weekend taking them to places I'd only briefly visited, or in the case of the Grand Canyon, had only seen from the air.

There were many spiritual moments on our trek, but two stand out. Our first look at the G.C. from the South Rim on Saturday morning was a breathtaking moment. No matter how many photos you take or even if you've seen it from a chartered plane like the one I took from Las Vegas, nothing quite compares to standing at the edge and looking into the colorful chasm for yourself. I felt dizzy at its vastness, and it made me feel that sense of God's creation in everything around us.

The second moment came on Monday after a day of riding in a jeep tour down and up a canyon to get a closer look at the red rocks of Sedona. After lunch, we then began a car-based search of the "vortex" sites where a special earth energy is said to be concentrated. That led us up to the aerie of the Sedona Airport, atop a peak, where the lack of parking made us drive by the idiots climbing up an enormous red rock to get closer to the vortex (which, of course, cannot be seen or even really reached.) Then we drove to another nearby vortex site, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a church organically tucked into the red mountain. We had to wait for a parking space, and as one car left, we were able to park and walk up.

We arrived just in time for a Taize service. We were the last ones there, taking the last seats in the front pew, and it just seemed as though the crowd was waiting for us to arrive to start.

I'd never been to a Taize service before, although I'd taught my church school class back in Northport about the Taize, France-based movement to simplify and unify Christian services, and to bring various denominations together. It was a service full of simple chants, a meditation on a verse, a reciting of the Lord's Prayer and a peaceful greeting to one another.

The most memorable part of the service was the candle-lighting ceremony. Each participant walked to the back of the chapel, lit a candle, then brought it to the altar, where a crucifix was laid, then they placed the candle around it and said a prayer. Since we were in the front, we were the first to light the candles and place them on the altar, and then we watched as children, their parents, and some very elderly people with the aid of their children or grandchildren, bent down to do the same. The glow was a reminder of how Christ's sacrifice brought a new light into the world. It was a poignant Lenten ceremony, and one that we all agreed was far more significant than some supposed New Age energy field. In that moment, we created our own energy within, lit by the Holy Spirit.

Church Singers Comprise Majority of Idol Finalists

Scottsdale native Scott MacIntyre survived another week on American Idol to join the top 10 who will tour together this summer. He is one of six church-going singers in that competitive group this year, according to an Associated Press story on the talented crop of competitors.

Those finalists include Scott, Kris Allen, Danny Gokey, Michael Sarver, Matt Giraud (who released two indie Christian music CDs) and Lil Rounds. Danny Gokey, a widower and music director at a Michigan-based Faith Builders International, is the most high profile of them. Surely one of the six will pursue a career that at least includes Christian pop music, which has had many crossover artists in recent years. (Photo of Danny Gokey from AmericanIdol.com.)

Joanne Brokaw, who writes the Gospel Soundcheck blog for Beliefnet.com, cited four reasons for why Christians are doing so well on the show, including the fact that churches have traditionally been the "training ground" for professional singers. That makes sense, given the 10,000-hour rule for perfecting any activity, cited in the bestseller Outliers.

Whatever the reason, their spirit of sincerity makes them likeable, as well as capable of expressing emotions in a way that shines through in their songs.

Tragedy, War Led Lincoln To God

The book Did Lincoln Own Slaves? (And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Abraham Lincoln) takes on all of the issues of his life that have evoked curiosity over the 150 years or so since his death. It draws from dozens of the best historical studies of the President's life and presents them in bite-sized chunks.

The facts on Lincoln's frequent usage and apparent deep understanding of the King James version of the Bible reveal how he was able to draw from its wisdom and philosophy in his own life and in his governance of the country.

Here is an excerpt: "In the same 1866 interview with William Herndon where Mary said that her husband 'was not a technical Christian,' whatever that might mean, she also said that 'he was a religious man always' who 'had a Kind of Poetry in his Nature.' Certainly no one who reads the Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln's profound meditation on God's role in earthly events and the proper response thereto, can doubt this."

Lincoln was the consummate politician, but he also acted on his honest beliefs, as his decision to wait to issue the Emancipation Proclamation was based on both waiting for an improvement in the Union's position in the war, as well as in "divine" timing following the bloody battle of Antietam.

"He had made a promise 'to his Maker,' he explained, that he would issue the proclamation if the rebel army were driven out of Maryland, and now he was keeping his promise."

While he was not a church-goer, nor did it appear he was ever baptized, he believed in God and his reverence for the Word grew into true piety as he was tried by the Civil War and the loss of his son. Sometimes such trials are what makes us draw near to God, since His love is the only real source of comfort and peace in this world and beyond.

"He keenly felt the burden of leading a nation in wartime. In addition to bearing the responsibility of sending hundreds of thousands of young men to fight and die, Lincoln mourned for personal friends (lost in the war)...These deaths, and especially that of his son Willie, caused him to look hard for a meaning in all the suffering. He seems to have prayed frequently, not so much by reciting memorized pleas to the Almighty as by trying to discern the will of God so that he could act as his instrument. At some point in the war he put on paper a 'Meditation on the Divine Will.' "

This meditation is one that many people of faith make amid crisis, though they may not realize that Lincoln was in that place long before them. Here it is, as he wrote it:

"The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God can not be for, and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party...He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."

Lincoln is known for his intelligence, humor and gentleness in his private and public lives, despite a constant onslaught by critics. But he is best remembered for his strength during events that would stagger anyone. It is a strength that must have come from reading and living by the Word of the Bible.

A Historic Look at St. Patrick's Day

The Irish love to drink beer and weave a good tale. So it should come as no surprise that St. Patrick's Day has evolved into a celebration that's more about the beer than the actual acts of faith of the saint it celebrates. (Image from History.com)

Some articles about the history of the day give a clear-eyed accounting of the efforts of St. Patrick to convert the heathen Irish into Christians, as well as how he, like most saints, suffered and
was forgotten until later revived in stories that became more legend than fact. A story in National Geographic this month draws from the book, St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography, by Philip Freeman, a classic professor at Luther College in Iowa.

Still, I can't fault the Irish for creating a colorful saint to celebrate. He did do a good job of spreading the faith. More than 150,000 souls were said to have been directly saved by him.

Irish Americans are the ones responsible for elevating the day from a sober religious holiday in which pubs were closed in Ireland to a cultural pride day in that celebrates all things Irish. So I'll toast to that, Irish-German-Italian American that I am (among other things), as I say a prayer of thanks and serve up the corned beef tonight.

President Obama Draws Ideas From 5 Ministers

“While he may not put ‘Honk if You Love Jesus’ bumper stickers on the back of his car, he is the kind of guy who practices what he preaches.” -- Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, the senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston.

This was the quote du jour in The New York Times yesterday, pulled from a story about how President Obama consults with five ministers, since he no longer has a home church and pastor. In its interviews, the ministers explained how President draws ideas and inspiration from each of them.

President Obama seems to possess an immense respect for alternate viewpoints, and his approach allows him to get enough input to make wise choices. While he may be under the gun for doing so much in such a short amount of time, while also being criticized for not changing government enough in terms of the budget, he is not intimidated by the challenge. Contrast that to how President Bush hid from the media and sent his press secretary out to deal with the wolves.

While the result of such soul-searching on major and minor issues may not be obvious yet, Obama's actions speak louder than words in how he is keeping the majority of faith-based initiatives intact, while reforming other actions of the previous administration that rewarded the rich and hurt the poor. His push toward reforming health care and energy policy will not only strengthen the country economically, but will also make all of the difference to the have-nots.

Ultimately, as Jesus said, we will know whether people are good are evil by the fruits of their actions. We saw the "fruits" of the previous President's actions: unnecessary war, increased poverty, economic collapse, world disdain. I am praying that President Obama will plant the seeds that grow into a bounty of good.

Film Can Be Form of Lenten Worship

During the Lenten season, instead of giving up some token pleasure, my preference each day is to listen to Christian music and watch biblical films to get into a more spiritual mindset. While many of the old Hollywood films are not entirely accurate, they still bring the words of the Bible to life.

Most recently I watched the 1966 film, The Bible: In The Beginning, a John Huston film that took four years to make. It's perfect as a DVD because you can skip the boring parts. While I don't find much to commend the first half of the film because it is excruciatingly slow, as well as incomprehensible in parts, the approximately hour-long section on Abraham and Sarah make the film worth viewing. The section on Noah, too, is amusing, and it must have been a tough section to shoot with the animal parade. However, even though it uses animation, Evan Almighty trumps it in terms of believability in this day and age.

A New York Times review of the film when it was released had a lot of the same criticism I had -- the film is only about the first half of Genesis -- not the entire Bible -- and it has a long, bizarre and arty beginning showing the formation of the earth. Another section on the Tower of Babel and Nimrod left me wondering what it was all about. Still, the performances of George C. Scott as Abraham and Ava Gardner as Sarah are the saving graces of the film.

One of the best blogs I've seen on Bible films, a British blog called biblefilms.blogspot.com, has referenced the The Bible film numerous times. It's something of a touchstone of early Bible films, along with The Ten Commandments and The Robe, in that order.

Once I've gotten through some of the biblical films -- and there are some great modern versions, such as Jeremiah -- I'll move on to watching the Jesus films. Any but Mel Gibson's Passion, since once was enough for me for the rest of my life. It's too heavy on the S&M and too light on the Resurrection and what it all means.

Taking Note of Wilkerson's Impending Dark Vision

Of all of the modern prophets, David Wilkerson is probably the best known in evangelical circles because of his chilling book "The Vision," published in 1974. It not only predicted many of the economic disasters of the years since, but also ones to come. (His book on the "Coming Depression" was written in 1998.)

In the past week, evangelicals in his network have been warned via email of his recent vision that there's strife coming soon in several cities in the form of riots and buildings burning, most specifically, Times Square. He also wrote about it on his blog on March 7th and 9th, encouraging people to store up enough food to sustain themselves and their families for a month. He didn't specify what would happen to put these events in motion, but it would appear to be an economic collapse. MSNBC even covered it.

Back in 1958, Wilkerson had his first vision from God when he was called from his work as a small town Pennsylvania minister to New York to convert gang members to the Lord. He wrote the bestselling 1962 book The Cross and The Switchblade about his experiences, and it was made into a Hollywood film. Several years later, he wrote of his prophetic vision, which has since been the inspiration for other evangelicals in their discussion of the "beginnings of sorrows" predicted in the book of Revelation.

While I think it's important to live for each day, I believe that there's good reason to listen to Wilkerson's prophecy and to prepare for what's to come. In addition to self-preservation, his encouragement to practice soul preservation is also good advice: getting right with God, repenting of sins, praying and spreading the Word to others so that they do not fear. Also, Christians are called to help everyone who needs it. Good Samaritans may be in short supply among those who are panicked by chaos, but if these things come to pass, everyone will need to pull together.

Wilkerson, whose ministry is in Times Square, intends to stay put no matter what happens, so that he will be there to serve his flock. Many of his past visions took a long time to come to pass, but eventually they did. This time, however, his message is quite urgent. I, for one, intend to take it seriously.

How Not to Learn About the Bible

Skimming along on the surface of things is the lot of the journalist. You might even say that unless you're an investigative journalist -- and these days you might as well be angling to write a book considering the tiny news hole most newspapers have -- your coverage is just going to scratch the surface. Even magazines, with the exception of The New Yorker, barely give shrift to weighty topics.

So it's no surprise that a web editor, through a topic-specific blog, would write a less than comprehensive view of the Bible that he then parlayed into The Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible. I give David Plotz credit for actually reading the Old Testament all the way through, but I wouldn't exactly call that Blogging the Bible. Plotz, who is a Jew, understandably believes that's the end of the story, but that's only prologue for Christians. He might have had a lot of questions answered in the New Testament. Alas, he didn't get that version.

Instead, with no real religious education and without any consultation with scholars on the many subjects he tackles, Plotz writes a tongue-in-cheek review of the structure, meaning and stories in the Old Testament. I admit it's sometimes funny, but so is watching the Three Stooges (occasionally). That doesn't make their films educational, inspiring or even illuminating. And certainly you can't derive the great wisdom of some of the Torah's writings from Plotz's snarky commentary.

Christians fought for the right to read the Bible in their own language and to be able to possess it when the printing press made mass production practical -- in spite of the Catholic church's insistence on having priests control the interpretation. While I think there can be a middle ground, when someone has the "pulpit" on a book that religiously and culturally influential, they shouldn't waste it by stewing in their own ignorance. Plotz explains himself in this Washington Post interview.

The complexity of meanings in the Bible was driven home to me this week when Bud Miller of Bible.com handed me a copy of a final draft of new translation of the Old Testament in plain English. Dr. Stanley Morris, a Biblical scholar who worked with original documents and was aided by crack translators (even though he understands Hebrew and Greek already), painstakingly sought to create the most accurate version in our vernacular. While just about anyone with a passing understanding of the history of the Bible knows the King James version is riddled with translation errors, there are nuances that scholars are still debating. Christian scholars have narrowed down the New Testament translations fairly well, but this translation brought new clarity to the Old Testament that will shed light on its meaning to those who really care. This and his previous work on translating the New Testament for The Great Book have been Dr. Morris's life's work.

As I have written before, context is everything in making sense of the Bible. Without understanding that the Old Testament was an attempt to explain the relationship between humans and God during a primitive time when civilization was barely established, the behaviors of many tribes are bewildering. Plotz was prompted to start his quest when he was horrified by picking up a Hebrew Bible at a bat mitzvah and reading the story of the rape of Dinah. Just think of how, today, we perceive of "honor" killings of women by their Islamic fathers, brothers or other male relatives after they have been raped or otherwise shamed by associating with men that their families disapproved of. In that context, Dinah's treatment was comparatively humane. It's all a matter of educated interpretation.

Considering Right and Wrong in the Land of Wright

"Saguaro" stained glass window at the Arizona Biltmore Resort.

Sickness often has a strange effect on me, one in which the world seems to move in slow motion. My senses are heightened, if only in the sense that perceptions seem deeper and more meaningful. Time slows down and I see more than usual.

Last week when I was suffering from a sore throat and severe cold, I spent part of the time reading a book from cover to cover, not able to do much else, and the words and ideas resonated. It reminded me of reading James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man when I had the flu many years ago. The work made an impression that has stayed with me to this day. Over the weekend, feeling slightly better, Andy and I stayed in Scottsdale with our friends Dennis and Eliza. At their home, I worked on a puzzle in progress of a Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass window, called “Saguaro.” The intricacies of the colors and tiny squares were somewhat maddening, but now and again I could just see the pieces and where they fit without even trying. It gave me a new perspective on Wright, and the mind he had for symmetry and shape and color. His designs were incredibly bold, yet disciplined at the same time.

Now that Andy and I are in the process of looking at homes, I think of Wright and how he must have been aghast at much of the useless features of many houses. A few days ago, we saw a bank-owned house in an upscale area that was the ugly child of the neighborhood. The house was clearly designed by the owner, who had no clue of what he or she was doing. It combined a faux stone skirt on the bottom of the house with vinyl siding, modern architectural flourishes in the high ceilings with Art Deco light fixtures that clashed with the stone facing work. When I described it to a builder I met in the neighborhood, along with the leaky roof and structural flaws, he said it was the kind of house he’d torn down several times. He called it “Jethro Bodean meets Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.”

I learned much of what I know about Wright through a PBS biography program and through touring Taliesin West, the school and home Wright built on the outskirts of what’s now Scottsdale. It happens to be just a few miles from where our friends live. Taliesin demonstrates Wright’s adherence to a philosophy that architecture should blend with the location and environment in which it is located. His construction was “green” long before the term existed, taking advantage of water recycling, cool stone, sunken structures and low buildings with high ceilings to draw away the heat. Some of the buildings had tent-like roof buildings that allowed the air to enter and circulate.

A play about Wright that Andy and I saw in New York, called “Frank’s Home,” gave a perspective on his life in the West as he re-established himself after losing everything and having his reputation marred by cost overruns and a disastrous home construction in a Phoenix-area valley, in which the house was filled with mud when a flash flood brought a raging river through it. The defining moment in the play is when the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, which Wright designed to be earthquake-proof, withstands the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which flattened everything else in the city.

Though greatly flawed as a person in many ways, and no fan of religion, Wright did have a moral compass when it came to design. He stood his ground and would not be swayed when he knew something was wrong in what a person wanted in a design. Sometimes our flaws, even our sicknesses, can bring out something within us that is rare and precious and though we may not necessarily have sought it, it defines us and improves us. While I completely disagree with the Ayn Rand school of selfishness being good, I do believe there is value in purity of thought, which is what I think Wright possessed when it came to his special gift.

Wright demonstrated a passionate love of form, a love of structure, and a love of nature that comes through in his work. He may not have built houses with roofs that were always leak-proof, nor would he always build economically or even always judiciously (what is practical about the Guggenheim?) but he did build with love.

Some people may consider Jesus a namby-pamby figure for promoting loving each other, and even our enemies. But like Wright, it takes a lot more guts to maintain love in the face of hatred or bigotry or criticism or violence than it does to surrender to hate. To love others, you must love yourself, and in that sense Rand had something right. It may sound selfish, but self-love is a commandment, as we all are a part of God, carrying His spirit within. Some may view religion and spirituality as a weakness, but standing up against a materialistic world with so many people falling into a moral abyss, and loving them in spite of that, can be the bravest thing you can do.

Supporting an 'Idol' Who's For Jesus

It's not often that a sermon includes a plug for an American Idol contestant, but that's what happened last Sunday at Scottsdale Bible Church. One of the contestants, native Scott MacIntyre, had performed many times in the church and had witnessed to his faith onstage to the congregation.

The Senior Pastor, Jamie Rasmussen, admitted that he had questioned the title of the TV show (false idols!), but said his children told him to "chill." Once he learned of Scott's progress, he viewed the show in a different light. He said he hoped Scott would make it to the top, and have an opportunity to again show how God has been central to his life to a much larger audience.

"Let's pray for Scott," he said. "God, we pray that you use him. Lord, may people see Christ in him. He stands as a beacon for You and your Son."

After his performance tonight, the descriptions used by the judges made me catch my breath. "You move mountains" Kara DioGuardi said -- the very thing Jesus said faith could do. Paula Abdul told him he was a "blessing." Even Simon Cowell had to admit that Scott's spirit was causing him to "grow on me."

Blind and a Rhodes Scholar, MacIntyre is a improbable contestant, but his talent in singing and as a pianist -- combined with the passion of a true believer -- has brought him to the third phase of the show. If he makes it to be in the top 12 contestants, it will be an incredible inspiration to many.

(Just to update, Scott made it in -- Praise the Lord!)