Mike Tuttle

The Low-Down On the Upside-Down

2010-11-20T15:20:00.005-05:00

Thanks to everyone who has posted, texted, called, messaged, dropped by, etc. Erin and I feel incredibly surrounded by a family like we've never known. Between Southland, Jennie Rogers, our friends in Lexington, extended family, long-distance friends etc. we've had a constant stream of prayers, well-wishes and just general pings of concern.

So, here is the story, such as I can tell it at this time...

Last night, Erin and the boys were headed home to Danville from Lexington. Erin felt ill and called me at home. We talked a moment and I suggested/insisted that she pull over and I would come to her. She was on the south end of Jessamine county. As she pulled off toward a gas station, there was a gate that suddenly came into view across the drive in the pitch black (no lights there). Erin cut to miss it, as it would have surely gone through the windshield. This caused the passenger side of the car to strike the gate post, and rolled the car onto its top.

The front passenger-side window blew out in the roll. Erin climbed out that window and tried to open the boys' car doors. No luck. They were well-secured in child restraints and hanging upside-down, frightened and crying. So, this Mommy crawled back into the car, through the glass, and unfastened her boys. She pulled them from the car.

Within seconds of her getting them out, a couple who had been close enough to see the crash came running up. Erin thought something was wrong with her hearing because she was having trouble making out what the woman was saying. Then she realized, the two people were deaf. The Good Samaritans wrapped our boys in coats they brought from their own car.

Another passing stranger called 911, as I had already done. I had been pulling out of our driveway (on the east side of Danville) when the crash happened. By the time I made it to Hwy 27 (6.5 miles away), the rescue personnel were already arriving. That's about a 6 minute response time!

On my way to the scene (admittedly flying), I called Brian Lucas, who was in Nicholasville. He got to the scene ahead of me. Erin says she remembers hearing him speak to her, and thought it was strange because he was there within minutes of the crash. I arrived shortly thereafter, thanks to God moving a slow-poke van off the road ahead of me. Seriously, I'll have to tell you the story of this *instant* prayer answer!

When I arrived, the boys were in the back of an ambulance, in good spirits but shaken. Erin was strapped to a board, fighting her claustrophobia. We rode to UK Hospital, blowing through red lights.

The boys were cleared fairly quickly and set to be discharged. Erin, however, had a whole battery of EKGs (having chest pain), X-rays, Ultrasounds, etc. At about 5:00 a.m., they moved her to Good Samaritan, to ICU. She's gotten good drugs and has rested a bit, but is incredibly sore. I have had no drugs and about an hour of sleep, cumulatively.

Erin will be in the hospital until Monday as they run some more tests.

A couple of people have asked me about the car. I am sure it is totaled. But, I will say that, even though I was stood right next to it when I saw Erin at the scene, I never noticed it. "Things" just don't matter when the chips are down.

Erin is currently without her phone. I'll get it charged and back up to her tonight. She has requested a laptop, so I'm sure she'll tell more herself soon.

I gotta grab a shower, load an overnight bag, and... well, I have a list.

Talk to you soon.

On Religious Persecution

2010-05-22T18:24:00.003-05:00

Saw a comment on a message board today that I found quite funny:

"The bottom line is that what virtually all religious loud mouths like to categorize as "religious persecution" is, in fact, "jerk persecution". Simply stated, if you act like a jerk, people will treat you like a jerk."

There are places in this world where Christianity is quite unpopular and where Christians are oppressed. This is not one of those places. An individual Christian here may face pressures and personal difficulty, but systemized "persecution" is virtually non-existent here. I think we should be thankful for that and stop trying to equate our individual struggles with those of Christians in areas where they take their lives into their own hands just to possess a Bible. To act like we are in any way remotely as unfortunate as they are only cheapens their struggle.

My Christian Politics

2010-05-21T21:39:00.001-05:00

I am a Christian. This may surprise some people who have known me for years - the years when I was openly atheist, for example. My reasons for the change would take several posts unto themselves, so you kind of have to take my word for it. And there's the difficulty I am having nowadays. The claim of being a Christian is one of those things where you just have to take somebody's word for it. There is no "card-carrying" proof, per se. I can't show you, or anyone in Arizona, my papers. That is not to say that there is no proof at all. In fact, the man who started the whole thing said that there would be a way that the world at large could tell if you were a Christian: If you love and care for others, especially for the poor and disadvantaged among us. (John 13:35; James 1:27)

One thing from my past that has not changed is that I get pretty fed up with people who go around spouting off about their faith while at the same time supporting oppression, greed and hatred, especially in a legislative fashion. In fact, my distaste has actually gotten quite worse. Before, I really couldn't have cared less if someone had a low opinion of Christianity - or, more to the point, a low opinion of Christians. Most people never really take the time to give more than a cursory bit of attention to Christianity itself. They lose interest long before they get that far due to the conduct of the Christians they see stomping on others, all while "confessing" about how much better they are now that the Christian God has gotten hold of them. Who can blame observers for saying, "No, thanks. If that's what Christianity turns someone into, or if that's who we'll have to hang around, you can keep it." But, now, I have a dog in this fight. I have finally gotten to see what it is all about, no thanks to the repulsion engendered in me for years by some of the most vocal in our society who call themselves "Christians".

And, there's the rub. They call themselves Christians. Now, maybe I can look at their "works" and challenge that claim from my point of view. But, there is another factor to consider here.

God said that, when a person becomes a Christian, when they accept Christ and go through the process that surrounds baptism, they become a "new creation… the old has gone, the new has come" (1 Cor. 5:17). He says that he Holy Spirit moves into that person and begins a long-term project of making that person over from the inside out. They don't suddenly become faultless, just forgiven. A step called "justification" takes place, while a process called "sanctification" begins. That process is unique to the individual. It can involve learning, much prayer and self-examination, periods of brokenness, etc. But, more than anything, it involves the Spirit. We don't make ourselves over, God does. This is a concept that is relatively easy to grasp when looking at ourselves. Over a period of time, we can see growth and refinement, from a Christian point of view. But, the concept is tougher to accept when we look at (some) other people. Sure, we may see some changes. They may be better spouses, parents, friends, employees, etc. Maybe. But, one person may improve in one area, but not in another right away. Again, it is an individual process.

So, what if some of these people who call themselves Christians are telling the truth? Maybe they are just not at a stage of development that allows them to embrace the need for all of the commands of Jesus in regard to the poor, needy, imprisoned? Should I really be putting quote marks around the word "Christian" when I talk about them? Maybe there is something that I do that would lead another person to "quote mark" me.

Knowing that the whole Sanctification process is God's project, should we just keep our mouths shut when we see someone who professes Christianity doing things that are markedly un-Christian? The culture of relativism that we live in makes it very tough to pin someone down to a standard and make it stick. Personally, I think that supporting financial industries, oil companies, mortgage companies, etc. at the expense of common people who get forced out of their homes when the schemes of the former collapse is decidedly Un-Christian. But, how dare I say that out loud? Should I speak up against what I see as a faux Christianity, a self-interest and greed that hides behind some unassailable shield of calling itself "Christian"?

Maybe I am free to speak out against the actions of that person, but not the person herself (the old "hate the sin, not the sinner" play). That's a tough one. Because it is sure appealing to just plain hate Sarah Palin.

I will say this: I sure hope that more reasonable Christians who actually remember what our mandate is will stand up and distance themselves from the rhetoric of hate and divisiveness that has become the sad hallmark of Christians in politics since the 1980's. There are lots of us. We can't deny the rude and offensive folks their label of "Christian". And hopefully no one will try to deny it for me. But, we don't have to act like we are in solidarity with their ridiculousness either. Maybe, just maybe, people will start to see again that Christianity stands for something besides the right wing of American politics, the deification of the free-market myth, and the policy of not aiding the poor lest they "become lazy". I know it took learning that for me to give it a second glance. If we can do a bit of "brand rescue", maybe people will stop and give this another look.

Jesus said Christians would be hated because of his name. But, Jesus shouldn't be reviled because of some Christians.

Worship On Wednesday

2010-05-20T11:19:00.005-05:00

Last night, at the Danville campus of Southland Christian Church, we held our first-ever Worship On Wednesday event. It was a full hour of the kind of contemporary worship music that Southland serves up every Sunday. Our little stage was packed out with 5 vocalists, 3 guitarists, drums, bass (but, alas, no full-time keys player!). The set list was as follows (links to YouTube):

Sing, Sing, Sing

God Is Alive

Glory To God Forever

Bless Your Name

Better Is One Day

Cannons

Desert Song

From The Inside Out

Living For Your Glory

Our God

You'll Come

Experience Team Leader, Brian Lucas, left it all on the stage last night, and had a great complement of vocalists including: Jessica Johnson, Lisa Goens, Gretchen Horton, Erin Tuttle. Guitarists Andrew Jennings and Michael Carpenter, drummer Cory Elliott, and bassist Josh Lawson comprised the band with Brian Lucas and Erin Tuttle trading part-time duties on keys.

Thanks to Gayle and Jonathan Adkins for being as dependable as ever with me back at the tech station. As with everyone who volunteers in Production Tech here, I never have to worry that things will be in place when they are on duty.

And, to the little old lady who appeared out of nowhere in the first thirty seconds of the program, griping to me that "IT IS PAINFULLY LOUD!"... I hope your ears stop ringing sometime soon. Once I realized that no one else seemed to mind at all, I decided to push it to Heaven. I saw you dancing and clapping later when it got much louder, so I figure you got into it and we're cool.

I did not personally get pictures (was a bit busy), but I will post any that make it my way.

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Parting Shot: "Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things." - Psalm 98:1