How things look from here

What are you standing on?

2012-02-15T14:58:00.000-06:00

A recent article popped up with scientists declaring they figured out why zebras evolved their black and white stripes. The scientists discovered that flies are less attracted to the striped zebras than to solid colored horses. (I first read about it here from the BBC) What's missing from the logic however is, what was it that figured out that narrow, alternating black and white stripes are not as appealing to flies? It fascinates me how evolutionists so easily ignore that their house is missing a foundation. Ok, zebras are striped to avoid flys, similar to the peppered moths that changed from a pallet of browns to one of whites and greys as their British environment turned grey from the industrial revolution. But what was it that said "let's change from this color to that?" The moths and zebras obviously didn't, both creatures lack the mental capacity to even contemplate such an action, much less the control over their genetic structure to effect it.
Continuing on those lines, I was flipping through Newsweek at the magazine stand (evidently my free trial has run out) and found this article, wondering why evolution hasn't eliminated our desire for dangerous and unhealthy behavior, specifically drugs. The author makes a humorous statement, that evolution isn't a perfect system, it's a random one. That randomness is why that process hasn't eliminated our inclination towards self-destructive behavior, whether it's cocaine or chocolate cake. (An aside, should evolution also eliminate the whole genre of extreme sports?) Amazing how despite the huge logical flaw in the evolutionary mindset, we are the bitter clingers isn't it? Logic and common sense tells us that things like zebra stripes need direction to occur, not just random happenstance, nevermind more even more complex things like opposable thumbs or the series of complex valves that prevents giraffe's heads from exploding from the blood pressure needed to run blood up to their brains when they bend down to drink. Logic and common sense tells us that there has to be a foundation to build all of this off of.
There has been a recent firestorm over certain mandates in Obamacare regarding birth control and religious beliefs. There is a very simple solution to the problem. Get back on the foundation of the U.S. Federal government, that document called the Constitution. Is there anything there giving the Feds any power or right over healthcare? No? Problem solved. Similar to the way evolution falls, no matter how much it's built on because it has no foundation, many of our present government problems can be solved by getting back onto the foundation instead of building additions that are not anywhere near that foundation.
Over the last several years, many churches have begin condoning "alternative lifestyles", supporting various gay marriage actions, even ordaining practicing homosexuals. All this despite the fact that the Church's foundation declares homosexuality a sin. (In the interest of full disclosure, it's not any worse than the stuff I did before I was saved, or even stuff I've done since then, but I'll be the first to say those things were wrong, too) Such actions are not the only things various churches are doing to build away from their foundations. Becoming social clubs instead of lights to the world, becoming judgmental instead of loving (cut you off before you go there, it's much more loving to be honest with a person acting in sin than to accept it as OK, whether it's homosexuality, cheating on their spouse, knocking over liquor stores, ect, ect) among other actions.
Foundations are a necessity, for houses, institutions, governments, ideologies and people. If your foundation is weak, it doesn't matter how fancy or impressive looking your building is, how many arguments you can present to prove your point, how much you want to help people out. The rain of logic, the wind of opposition and the floods of time will send it crashing down. When your foundation is solid, none of those can knock you down. The foundation of creation is God, the foundation of salvation is Jesus, the foundation of the United States is the Constitution. We can see what happens as individuals, groups, churches, and governments move off those foundations. A little logic tells us we don't want to be under those additions when they fall.

Welcome to the 24th and a half century!

2012-02-08T16:09:00.001-06:00

Ok, this week's topic is easy. For our anniversary, my lovely, wonderful, awesome wife got me a big honking Android phone. (Not that electronics are on the traditional anniversary gift list, but that's ok) I have been keeping an eye on technology trends and have been fully aware of the capacity of our newer smartphones, but to actually hold one and work it takes me back to so many memories. Looking at those green tinted monstrosities that were the Apple IIe's our school had, being amazed at how much smaller and whiter the Apple IIc's they updated to a few years later were. Standing in front of the display NES at WalMart watching those pixelated plumbers jump on walking mushrooms. Hearing that grating sound as the dial up modem inside that new Windows XP tower (yes it took a while to get online out in the boondocks, so shoot me). This little rectangle has more computing and connectivity power than anything that wasn't science fiction back when I was typing funny little BASIC programs that would print faces made out of X's on those big green screens. It has more storage than even Bill Gates thought the whole world would ever need a few years back. There is a disturbing amount of power, numerous kinds, in these tiny Pandora's boxes.
Yep, that's the right reference. With video, pictures, texting, internet access, cloud access, social networks all in the palm of our hands, there is great potential for good and evil. It's easy to shoot a video, intentionally or unintentionally take it out of it's context, and cause a huge firestorm around the world. It's easy to send off an angry comment and have it come back to bite you in the butt, possibly socially, possibly in your employment, even legally. But that's only part of the possible issue. How easy is it to sit and stare at that screen instead of paying attention to those immediately around you? (Very, I've figured out already) Technology has taken us to levels of world community that weren't even imagined a couple of generations ago.
All of this wonderful technology is a tool, much like a hammer. A hammer can be used to build a home for a family or a toy for a child, but it can also be used to tear down a home, break a toy, or even kill a person. What is done with any tool is up to the person wielding it. Many revolutions going on in the world, some we hear about, others not so much, are working across all of these unprecedented levels of technology. Some of those revolutions are good, some not so much. In other cases, people are simply being distracted from real life by their toys, ignoring the things around them that are affecting them and the world.
I''m no Unabomber, I love technology, nor do I think we need to burn all the video games and their developers. Having this new toy in hand is just a reminder to put it down occasionally, engage in some face to face conversation, read a real newspaper sometimes, dust off some of those books on the shelf.
No, I'm not posting this from the phone, going to take a while before I'm that used to the keyboard (if ever). Nothing wrong with that, right?

Well, well, well....

2012-02-01T16:02:00.000-06:00

One advantage of writing out one's thoughts, especially in a public and easily reviewed forum, is the ability to notice trends. A trend I've noticed in my posts is frequent references to the same source material. Right now, Ravi Zacharias and his ministry RZIM generate many of my thought processes. This is mainly because Ravi has a version of his radio show that is edited into 15 minute segments, meaning I can listen to the whole broadcast on the way to work and still blast some music as well, as opposed to the standard 30 minute version which, depending on speed and traffic, I may not quite get through in it's entirety. In addition, while none of them have made it here yet, I'm working through Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost For His Highest" devotional, and drawing a great deal of inspiration from that as well.
When I initially noticed this trend, my thought was "oh dear, I need to diversify my input more". Now there is definitely a point there, we can get hooked on or attached to certain sources of inspiration that can get us stuck into corners or even lead us off the correct path. But on the other hand, The argument can be made that focusing on a specific source can help one draw as much knowledge from that source before moving onto another. Think about a well. If one is drawing clean, usable water from a well, and all indications are that the well is a good, deep one that can supply one for a long time, do you really have to have other wells immediately available? Or can you continue to use that well, keeping in mind that it will eventually dry up or possibly not be able to provide as much water as is needed for your growing fields, and planning for that possibility?
If you have a short list of favorite preachers, speakers, evangelists, hosts, ect, start the way you should start everything, hold them up to the Bible. Not what they say about the Bible, but the Bible itself. If their words and works pass that test (probably wouldn't hurt to run them by some trusted friends as well) take advantage of the well you have found. Use it to quench your thirst and water your crops. Keep checking it to make sure nothing starts seeping into water, and keep your eyes out for other wells, in case your fields outgrow the one well and need even more water than it can provide.

Who Do You Trust?

2012-01-26T17:07:00.000-06:00

As a society, we don't trust anyone or anything anymore. This is painfully obvious right now, since we are knee deep in campaign season, with both sides throwing out numbers and claims about themselves and each other. My feelings about the sitting POTUS are known, but even I am taking most of the claims that the republican candidates are throwing against him, specifically job numbers and money numbers, with a grain of salt, simply because at the bottom of all those claims is always a mess of fine print about adjusted for inflation or other such adjustment. The same fine print comes at the bottom of Obama's claims as well. Other recent events throw up the trust issue. The Occupy movement was based on a distrust of corporations, and situations around the protests were made worse by the protester's distrust of police and other authority figures as well as some police's distrust of the protesters. The actions of some people in various churches, everything from the child abuse and coverups within the Catholic church to the very unChristian protests at funerals to the wandering away from Biblical teachings of some pastors, churches, and denominations, have all made it very difficult for many people out there to even trust the Church as a whole.
This culture of distrust reaches into the area of faith as well, beyond just the congregations and the buildings. I was having a discussion with a coworker recently about faith, and he tossed out the familiar canard that the Bible was written down by men, and man makes mistakes and changes in everything we touch. It's familiar because I've thought that myself in the past, and see it frequently now. While that is a specific argument, the belief that we just can't trust anyone or anything has definitely been passed onto our vision of God. Society thinks that they just cannot trust that there is a God, that He passed down mankind's history in the Bible, that He protected those words through the centuries, neither can they trust that He loves us and that He sent Jesus, His Son, to take the punishment for our sins.
None of this is new. The Old Testament is full of stories of people, even faithful, believing people, who didn't trust God to come through, and those people always caused more problems. Abram didn't trust God to provide the child He promised, so he and Sarai took their own route. One of the prophets with Elisha decided that the stew God ordered them to make wasn't good enough, so he added his own ingredients, which ruined the stew. The rich young men who Jesus told to sell all their possessions evidently didn't trust God enough to take care of them. (Note to class warfare/Bible teaches socialism type folks, there's no call to poverty in the Bible. Many great, faithful men in the Bible were very wealthy. The question is always if it's God's plan for one to be materially wealthy)
We have all got to work to bring trust back into society. Not just because it's better to be able to trust people, but because trust is one of the cornerstones of faith. Like all the other issues in our world, it didn't break overnight, nor is it going to get fixed overnight. Like ripples in a pond, by doing our own part in instilling trust in those around us, especially our children, but others we are around as well, it is possible to rebuild those broken foundations. It's not just a matter of being trustworthy ourselves, although that is important. One of the biggest pieces in the puzzle is teaching others that yes, by trusting people, sometimes you get hurt and burned. It happens. But that isn't enough reason to completely lock trust out of our lives. It seems that in listening to people, that most of the distrust we see comes from having trust broken at some point in life, possibly by an absentee parent, an abuser, a divorce, or any other of a number of situations. Sometimes, we may even feel that we get burned by trusting in God, however, typically we learn through hindsight that it was a matter of us not listening, not a matter of God breaking our trust.

Stop The MCP! I mean SOPA/PIPA!

2012-01-19T11:31:00.000-06:00

I'll use the internet blackout day as an excuse for not putting this up last night. SOPA/PIPA are bills currently in the U.S. Congress that are intended to clamp down on piracy of music, movies, and bootleg designer merchandise over the internet. However, the bills offer the federal government the ability to shut down websites with little or no due process. It is also very vague about who can be targeted for shut down, meaning legitimate file sharing sites that people happen to put copyrighted material up on could be completely shut down. This alone puts a huge dent in much of the push to the cloud that so much of the internet is moving to. Of course, like any government mandated action, it's going to cost tons of money, on the part of businesses that have to monitor their services and on the part of the government to enforce these rules. If this runs up the cost of doing business on the internet, then as we have seen in the past with numerous production plants, refineries and other businesses that have packed up and left the U.S. due to overbearing environmental, labor, and tax laws, then the business done on the internet will drop.
This is sadly nothing more than another huge power grab by the federal government. Why these bills even made it to the floor is evidence that we desperately need to clean house in Washington. To top it off, nothing in these bills is really going to have any affect on the proposed target, intellectual property piracy. It's still going to happen.
Which brings me to another point that hasn't come up much in this debate. The mainstream movie and music industry is not adapting to the modern landscape. They are still trying to hold onto a business model that doesn't hold water in the new digital age. For example, people get dinged on Youtube for using copyrighted music in their video, even though many of those videos pull up ads for the artist that is being used, offering the opportunity to buy the music, as well as increasing exposure for the artist, which is difficult to quantify, but as the old saying goes, there's no such thing as bad press. Having a million listens on a streaming site shows record companies that people like your music, increasing the odds of keeping that record deal or giving the execs a reason to support tours, TV appearances ect. What is really amazing is that so many non mainstream artists, from musicians to film makers and others have quickly adapted to the internet, often times using many of those targeted file sharing sites to legally distribute their material, and make money through other means, such as licensing, advertisements on the artist's website, and merchandising. Big Entertainment, instead of adapting (or maybe generating higher quality product that people are more willing to pay for), is trying to use their money to work the legal system, creating laws that work in their favor. (Don't believe me about the money? As soon as Obama announced his plans to not sign the bills, numerous Hollywood sources declared they will not be contributing to O's reelection campaign. I imagine following the money and checking the bills sponsors will show some large campaign contributions from many of those same sources.) Much of the Federal government is going along with the plan because 1) as was mentioned, Big Hollywood generates a whole lot of cash for our representatives and 2) as was also mentioned, the proposed solution offers Big Government more power over a notoriously unregulated source of information, organization, protest, and education.
I'm really starting to sound like I should be sitting in a park with a V for Vendetta mask on, but this is a serious issue. Pirating intellectual property is a bad thing, but there are already laws in place to fight it. These bills are poorly thought out, overreaching, empowering the wrong people, and last but certainly not least, not what our government needs to be focusing on and getting done.

Prime source for information and updates as these progress https://www.eff.org/ The Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Finally, a music review!

2012-01-11T16:04:00.000-06:00

I love music. Some people may not call everything I listen to music, but that's okay. One of the things that was planned for this blog was to interject some album reviews now and again. However, being cheap and broke, I rely heavily on free (legal) sources of music, which are not always the most current releases, or often are samplers, which give you numerous bands to discover but are rather difficult to write a review on. One short EP came across my exploration a short while back, and after sitting down to listen to the whole thing, I realized this is good stuff, it's new, and it's free. So, with no further ado, it gives me great pleasure to introduce many of you to the band Eternal Emperor, via their album Sudwarts.

Eternal Emperor jumped to the top of my list of favorite symphonic black metal bands as soon as I finished listening to these three tracks. The orchestral parts are very well done, and the metal parts are equally excellent. It's hard not to swoon along a bit as the music rises and crescendos. One of the things that makes this such an enveloping listen is the high quality production. Black metal bands have a nasty habit of thinking that lousy production makes them sound more brutal. Eternal Emperor have obviously transcended this idea, with the vocals, guitars, drums, strings, and other instruments each coming forward and receding back into the tapestry at the right time.
By all accounts, Eternal Emperor is a Christian band, but the lyrical focus of this album is a celebration of the first successful trek to the South Pole. Certainly a different choice, and there's nothing wrong with that. The title track unfortunately is in German, so I can't comment on the lyrics there, but "Keeper of the Southern Gateway" is a very allegorical vision of that expedition to the bottom of the world. The final track "Icebound" is an instrumental, keeping with the excellent layered black metal of the first two tracks. Even if one doesn't like or even know what black metal is, I think it's worth 15 minutes of your life to give this a listen. Maybe even thirty minutes to hear it twice. There is just a lot to hear, a lot of swells and sways to the songs that can move a person the way many of those great classical pieces we know from commercials or background music in movies do, even to people who can't stand classical music.

Right now the band website only offers a download of this EP, and a promise of a new full length album this year, titled "Antarctica" as of right now. Like most underground bands, often times the music has to be put on the back burner until resources and time come available. Personally, I hope both do come available for this band, and we hear more from them soon.

http://www.eternalemperor.net/

Back in the Saddle, Now Where Did the Horse Go?

2012-01-05T00:09:00.000-06:00

Okay, one of the new year objectives is to get this happy little thing going again, but there is just nothing impressive enough rolling through my head to kick off such a resolution. Therefore, this week's post is simply an announcement that yes, I'm still going to be spewing forth my ideas and opinions here this year, hopefully at least once a week, preferably more, but we'll just take one step at a time. It's not a lack of content, just a lack of refined content. I suppose that's a holdover from the old days of newspapers and books when each word needed to be chosen carefully because space was sparse and valuable, compared to now when it's so easy to spit out a few words and post it to the world. Coming into this year, we have an election year with a less than impressive menu to choose from, problems that will not be solved regardless of who gets the GOP nom or the presidency, social and moral ills becoming more and more acceptable, even by some of the groups and organizations that are supposed to standing against such things, churches falling apart and to the wayside, communities (physical and social) expanding and collapsing on themselves, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. With all this gasoline being poured on the fires, inspiration is out there, just waiting to be plucked up. So, consider this post a warning. I'm coming back, and don't plan on keeping things pretty. None of us can afford that.

On a more lighthearted note, my lovely wife has picked up on Kristie Alley's 100 Days of Dance campaign, and having a blast with it, along with our daughters. As of this writing, three of the thirteen videos featured on the website http://www.100daysofdance.com/videos are theirs. If that has changed by the time any of you folks see this, the collection can be found here. Check them out, and keep their fifteen minutes of fame going.

Lying Like the Dead....

2011-12-08T17:27:00.001-06:00

In Acts 5, we are given the account of Ananias and Sapphira, a husband and wife who came to Peter with a part of the money they had made selling a piece of property, claiming to be giving all of the selling price. For their lie, they were both struck down dead. Not for keeping part of the money, but for lying about giving all they had to God. While some folks like to use this as a motivation to keep one's tithes in line, I see a big spiritual parallel.
How often do we feel spiritually struck dead? Our prayers seem to go unanswered, our study is unmotivated and uninspiring, and worship feels empty? If we are honest with ourselves and God, aren't these typically the times when we are not being honest about how much of ourselves we are handing over to God? Aren't these those times in life when our prayer time keeps getting pushed off, or is spent with less than 100% focus, our minds wandering to the day's events and needs, when fellowship with man and God is put off for other activities, maybe good, Christian activities, but other activities nevertheless?
God wants all of us, and he wants us to be honest with ourselves and Him when we fall short of that goal. Honesty paves the way for correction. Why is Alcoholics Anonymous effective? One of the reasons is that honesty of introducing oneself as an addict, facing that issue, and dealing with it. When we are lying about giving all to God, we can't be effective because we aren't facing our issues, whether those issues are poverty or prosperity, failure or success. What is it that we are holding back? The most common issue today is simply time and focus, I think. We multitask so hard that just stopping to focus on one thing for a significant amount of time has become difficult. The distractions that surround us fill our minds and our hands and we find ourselves squeezing God into our lives instead of making Him the foundation. The result is a whole lot of struck down believers.
The irony of posting this a day late does not escape me, and I'd like to say that it's on purpose, but sadly I can only say that the topic only inspired me to make sure that it did get done, instead of motivating me to get it typed up on time. So I'll just leave you with the request to step back from life for a minute, and put the question to yourself, as I will be trying to do, am I really laying all I have down in front of God, or am I holding back and being struck down for it?

But what a bout the bunnies and kitties?

2011-11-30T15:02:00.001-06:00

I was listening to Ravi Zacharias this week, and a story he told just really slapped me across the ears. He was talking about the time he lived near Cambridge University and when he went jogging in the morning, the numerous signs posted around the university, declaring the need to ban meat, fur, animal testing, ect. This was the seventies, nice to know some things haven't changed right? The crux of this story was his realization that all this focus on animal rights and hyper-environmentalism was the modern equivalent of what Paul was lamenting in Romans 1, with the line "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." (Rom. 1:22-23) I've heard the reference before, it just really jumped out again. We're sitting in the midst of a huge push for green energy, and a constant view of how everything we do might affect the birds and the bunnies. For example, a recent attempt to start a pipeline to bring oil down from Alaska to the lower forty eight states was shot down by Congress because of the possible environmental effects. Those possible effects seem to outweigh the jobs and other positive human effects the pipeline would effect. Kind of like the way the BP mess in the Gulf of Mexico might not have been as bad if the regulations hadn't required the company to be drilling so far out in the ocean.
Some people have probably already tuned out, declaring that I'm just going to say that we humans get to sit on top of the world and tear everything up and down for our own selfish wants and needs. That's your call, but it's not my point. My point is that while modern man may not bow down at idols shaped like cows or birds or snakes, many of us have moved those animals or the earth itself up to a holy position, one that is to be revered above anything else, a concept that God has been warning us about throughout the Bible. When we hold up anything before the instructions God gives us, we are practicing idolatry. Even if it seems like what we're doing is in line with God's commands, if the act or the cause becomes more important than God, it turns into an idol, same as that golden calf or those various ancient statues. When we put our time and energy into activities that distract us from God's plan for us, even if those activities seem to be good, Christian stuff, we are still practicing idolatry. (That one's for me as much as anyone else)
Obviously, God has given mankind a call to take care of this earth, which cancels out ideas like strip mining the whole planet for the sole purpose of making gold trinkets or razing the rain forests to make toothpicks that some people like to try and tack to Christians. Going back to the Mosaic Law we find instruction to leave all the land to rejuvenate for an entire year out of each seven, one of the earliest "green" movements. There's nothing wrong with wanting to take care of the planet, or loving your animal friends, or even eating vegan. The trouble comes when those actions get placed higher on our priority totem pole than God.

More Than....Conquered?

2011-11-16T16:12:00.001-06:00

I was listening to a sermon from Charles Stanley (audio archives here, you'll have to search for "Spirit That Conquers" for the message in particular, too much Javascript for an easy direct link) and it got my wheels spinning. We as Christians talk a great deal about our freedom and our ability to conquer that is granted us by our faith in Jesus. Yet a little digging into the Bible finds many references to our being conquered by God and being slaves to Him. This is seems very contradictory, especially to our freedom loving Western minds. Romans 6 puts this contradiction bluntly, verse 18 declaring that we are "set free from sin, and have become slaves to righteousness." How is it we can be free and slave at the same time? Numerous Psalms declare our freedom, with 119 declaring our freedom comes directly from obeying God's laws. Freedom only by obedience seems a bit contradictory to many mindsets today, especially a few very loud ones that I'm not delving into right now. Their mindset is nothing new, Peter spoke of it in 2 Peter 2:18-19 "For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for 'people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.'"while at the same time hitting on that contradiction, that even if God is our master, we are slaves to Him. Peter mentions it previously in 1 Peter 2:16, imploring believers to "live as God's slaves".
So, we are conquerors and conquered, free and slave at the same time. The ability to conquer our old worldly selves is granted only by being conquered by God's will. To be free from sin and the fear of death, we have to let God be our master. It's a meshing of spiritual and physical that is difficult for us to wrap our minds around, and as I mentioned earlier, I think that our Western mindset has a big part in that difficulty. No, I'm not advocating a leap to Eastern spiritualism for the Church, or even the need to study various spiritual "techniques" to bring us closer to God, that is not where I'm going with this. But I am amazed, that after many great revivals in Europe and America, after great works of building faith over the centuries, that when you read of exponential church growth and miracles now, they almost consistently are coming out of Africa, India, China, and South America, and I think that a better cultural understanding of how the spiritual and physical worlds mesh is a large part of that. That understanding has been bent and twisted over the centuries in a whole lot of very unGodly directions, but the move is on to return these sheep to the fold, and hopefully bring with them that understanding so that the rest of us can get out of our ruts, tear down those walls in our own minds, and become more than conquerors, but properly conquered.

The Greatest Commandment and it's National Implications

2011-11-09T23:21:00.000-06:00

Last week, I ended with a mention of the Golden Rule, and the possibility that applying the rule before it would solve a lot of the problems tackled in the post. Well, first off, I messed up. The passage I was thinking of doesn't have that golden rule, per se, but it's pretty close. "Do to others as you would have done to you" is Matthew 7:12 or Luke 6:31. I was thinking of "love your neighbor as yourself" from Matthew 22:39, preceded by "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Matt.22:38. The lesson here, always double check your references, even if you're 100% positive that you are correct and have known said reference for ages. So with that little misappropriation cleared up, onto the train of thought.

Whether we say it as treating others like we want to be treated or loving others as we love ourselves, either way it is almost universally accepted that doing so makes the world a better place. If I don't want my stuff stolen, I shouldn't steal from others. If I don't want people to talk nasty about me behind my back, I shouldn't talk nasty about other people. Yet that preceding rule, the greatest commandment as Jesus called it, generates much more debate. The debate comes from many directions. People have trouble defining love anymore. Western culture has love and sex so intertwined that those Biblical concepts just go completely over our heads.. We have our concepts of parental love so far askew that we don't do parental things like discipline kids or set expectations for them. People have trouble defining God anymore. We get into the Bible and find out exactly who God is, and what loving Him entails, and we don't want to give up those worldly thought patterns and habits. Or we don't get into the Bible, and get inaccurate definitions of who God is and what loving Him entails, and can't reconcile those wrong ideas with that innate vision of Him that is somewhere in our soul, whether we pay attention to it or not.

My not so humble opinion has long been that the Old Testament nation of Israel was intended by God to be, among other things, an example of what can happen when a large group of people truly do follow that greatest commandment. When Israel was standing on the Law, not out of responsibility and in action only, but had God first in their heart, mind and soul, the nation experienced unparalleled prosperity. I'm sure that even in those high times, there were dissenters and people who fell short, but that is what the Temple sacrifices and the Day of Atonement, with it's scapegoat were for. When they, as a group, fell from grace and lost sight of that love, the proverbial stuff really hit the fan. Does any of this sound familiar? While the U.S. has never been a theocracy, Christian morals and values have (contrary to the revisionists) been the foundation of our ideals and laws for the majority of our existence. The Declaration of Independence cries out that we are endowed by our Creator with those unalienable rights. For two hundred some odd years the United States was, for the most part, a bastion of prosperity. Yes there were hiccups in there, yes bad stuff still happened to people, that's why I said for the most part. It has been in recent history, as attacks on those founding ideals grew, that the prosperity has slipped away.

I'm not saying we need to turn around and enforce a Christian faith on every American citizen to dig us out of the pit the nation is sitting in socially and economically. A forced faith is no faith at all. I'm saying that we all need to admit that when we were proud of our Christian heritage and acknowledged it instead of trying to bury it or deny it for fear of offending some folks, the country was in much better shape. I'm saying when anybody, but specifically teachers, politicians, cops, and other folks who happen to work for and in the government could freely talk about their own faith and how it shaped decisions they made without fear of accusations of harassment or bigotry, those decisions seemed to be a bit more productive and positive. Even the most vehement "wall of separation" folks should be honest enough to admit that.

Holding to high (double) standards

2011-11-02T23:49:00.000-05:00

A bit of writer's block today. Lots of interesting tidbits to build off of in the news, like why is Lindsy Lohan even on the news and not relegated to Entertainment Tonight or Extra where such fluff belongs? Or how about a discussion of the Occupy folks not realizing that protesting is supposed to be a means to an end, not an end unto itself? Europe is getting closer and closer to economic collapse, which in this constant movement to a one world economy, is going to strike the sinking ship that is the American economy. The new Cain harassment allegations remind us that character counts, but only if you're not a Democrat, reference Bill Clinton or Chappaquiddick or John Edwards if you don't believe me. I think we'll go off of that one today. Herman Cain is a nasty threat to both the Democrat and Republican establishments. He's not a career politician, he's not an extremist nut that can be easily dismissed, and more importantly, right now he's gaining a lot of support. Suddenly, with that support rising, these old allegations arise. Details are sketchy, just enough to generate headlines and speculation. I'm not giving the man a free pass, but it's fascinating the furor and firestorm he gets, particularly from people who think Bill Clinton was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Clinton settled his suits out of court, for a lot more money than what we've been told the Cain cases were settled for, and people moved on.

The disturbing thing about all of this is the blatant double standard that raises it's ugly head. Just not liking President Obama's failed attempts to fix our economic woes is reason enough to declare a person an evil racist, but the (left) attacks on Herman Cain have been some of the most disgusting racist garbage I've seen in a long time, calling him the Republican's "black friend" and accusing him of sucking on the conservative crack pipe. Nobody but the evil conservative pundits are pointing this out, and even then it's still just more Republican racism.

Another blip popping up on the news radar is a renewed fight between healthcare reform and Catholic organizations. Many of these regulations are being used to try and push providers, especially adamantly opposed religious ones, to provide medications and services that go against their beliefs, specifically birth control and abortion. Again that nasty double standard shows up. You can't have a prayer at a high school graduation on the grounds someone in the crowd might not be a Christian, but you can force a Christian hospital to provide abortion services in the name of equality and freedom. It's insane.

But, pointing out a problem isn't enough. What's the solution? Unfortunately, like last weeks topic, that solution isn't easy or quick. It still lays squarely on all of our shoulders. It requires us to step up and call out so called journalists who perpetuate these double standards. It requires stepping up and teaching ourselves and our sphere of influence that what's good for the goose is good for the gander too. It requires acknowledging that it is impossible to remove all the offensive bits from life without creating a flat, empty grey world. It requires going to that Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have done to you. Applying the rule before that would go along way to solving these nasty issues to, but maybe we'll just save that one for next week.

Playing the blame game....and losing.

2011-10-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

Ok, haven't talked politics for a while, trying to focus on more important things, but with all the stuff going on right now, it has been difficult. We've got the Occupy X movement going, the Republican candidates are vying for the nomination, Obama vying for re-election points, and that's just the big blips on the national scale. Europe is falling to pieces economically and politically on the international scene, while the Middle East is abound with revolution, supposedly moving towards more democracy, but we will have to wait and see.
Times are rough everywhere, and just about everyone is busy looking for whose fault it is. The OWS folks blame the "1%", Republicans blame Obama and the Democrats, Obama and the Democrats blame the 1% and the Republicans. Sounds like a circular firing squad to me.
Too many of us are not looking at the issues through a wide enough lens. If we did, we would have to admit that all of this stuff has hit the fan, and the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of............... us. Why is our government full of idiots, ideologues, and muckrakers (not all of whom have a (D) behind their name, (R)'s are just as much in the sights on this issue)? Because we keep voting them in, either by not supporting other candidates or by simply not voting. National voter turnout runs 30-50 percent of registered voters bothering to show up for elections, and I'll wager the majority of those don't really have a clue who they are voting for and what they are voting for, just going off those letters behind the name or which one's commercials stuck out in their mind. Look at the state right now. Republicans are arguing over which candidate is electable, not which one has the best plans and abilities for the nation, and despite O's Bush level approval ratings and numerous failed programs, no Dems have the backbone to stand up and run against him.
That's just the national level. How about on the state and local levels? Do you like everything your city council is doing? How about the county government, whatever it's title is where you're at? Your state senators and governor? Did you get out and cast an intelligent, educated vote last time they were up, or did you miss that one? How many various acts have been put to a public vote in your area in the last year? It does still happen. Guess what, it isn't the 1% screwing the 99%, the 99 is doing it just fine to themselves.
On that note, much of the OWS furor is directed at corporate America. There actually are a few legitimate gripes leveled by the group there, but they are drowned out by envy and laziness, with these protesters wanting all that wealth they don't have ripped away by the government and handed to them. The sad fact is that just like our elected officials, we are simply lying in the bed that we have made. An easy example here is that big evil Walmart. I'm not going to lie, I'm not a big fan of Wally World, but I still pick up what needs to be gotten from them quite frequently, sometimes based on price, sometimes convenience, occasionally because there's nowhere else to get it from. I admire Sam's business plan, creating the distribution centers which bought product in big enough bulk to get massive discounts, then shipping things around his darn self instead of making each store an island. I also remember when Walmart had a much more significant variety of products, be it electronics, music, clothes or toys than they do now. So how did Walmart go from a great business idea to an evil corporation? Again, because we got lazy and apathetic. What happened to that little shop downtown with the cool clothes? Too many people settled for Faded Glory tshirts instead of the nifty stuff that little shop carried. What happened to the hardware store that always had that one bolt you needed for this weekend's project? Same thing, only now Walmart doesn't have the room for 150,000 different bolts, so you're out of luck on that project.
We The People made this mess, period. We made by getting apathetic anLet the OWS folks think that by holding their signs and refusing to leave their camps that they are making some kind of difference. They aren't. Let the politicians bicker amongst themselves like they are willing to fix the issues. History and most available evidence shows they aren't. If America is going to get out of this hole, it's going to happen in the homes of the people. People are going to get smart, and get tired of waiting, and get to work their darn selves, scraping together ideas and businesses. Either that, or America will join many other great nations on the list of collapsed powers of the world. The unfortunate fact is that if we do start to climb out, it's going to be a long hard road for everyone. Anymore, that seems to be the hardest pill of all for so many of us to swallow.

To Finity, Then Beyond!

2011-10-19T15:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, this week is the last in this burst based on Ravi Zacharias' presentation "Growing Through Our Disciplines" (I think that's the first time I put the title in here). Here again are the links, again to the fifteen minute edits part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4. So far, the 'tudes that have been discussed were solitude, gratitude, and certitude. This week's 'tude is finitude. Spellcheck doesn't like it, and even I thought Ravi may have made it up, but a couple of different dictionaries pull it up as a scholarly word, one that means exactly what it sounds like, simply the state of being finite.

A knee-jerk reaction to this might be simply responding that we are not finite, our souls will live forever. That is true, and not the direction this 'tude goes. The finitude here refers to our lives and time here on earth, and what we do with that. Ravi quotes C.S. Lewis with the line "We do not have a soul, we are a soul. We have a body." That soul will go into eternity, based on the actions of this body, during this body's finite time in the world. I've been getting the newsletter from Voice Of The Martyrs for several years now, as well as keeping up with email and twitter lists from them, and it never ceases to amaze me the handle that some people have on this finitude, even if I didn't have that word to attach to it yet. In parts of the world, believers have to hike miles into the woods to have Church services in order to avoid severe harassment, imprisonment, torture and/or death. They risk their bodies here to tell others about Jesus, knowing that even if that act does cost them their body, it's just the finitude they knew had to dealt with.

How many of you were believers in school, be it public or college? That was a finite opportunity to touch a lot of people, wasn't it? Yes, lots of our Facebook and Twitter friends are old school buddies, but think about the masses that you were immersed in every day in that period, even if it was a small school. Moving forward, to present day, think about your work, that 50 hour a week commitment that replaced school as the major time consumer in life. How many people do you interact with there? How many have disappeared from there, quitting, moving, being promoted, laid off, whatever the reason, their finitiude had passed yours. Did you use that crossing of paths? Did you put it off until tomorrow? Some of those persecuted believers I mentioned aren't the only ones in their countries facing a shortened finitude, and that person they choose not to speak to today may be another mark on a list in a dark prison by tomorrow.

Dealing with spiritual life and prayer, finitude is the fuse we have burning. As believers, we know that once that fuse burns up, we have infinity to worship and fellowship with God. We don't have infinity to let others know, to leave and live a legacy that will outlast our own finitude. Properly using our own limited time is the fuel for this life, as are the other three 'tudes from this series. Solitude gets us in communication with God, filling our spiritual tank for whatever lies ahead, be it growth, attack, or even a streak of the mundane. Certitude keeps the motor running, knowing that there is a final goal, and the potholes and roadblock here won't matter, only how we handle them will. Gratitude makes those hard times easier to handle, and makes the good times praise to God, not blocks of pride.

I was sad for I had no shoes, 'till I met a man who had no feet

2011-10-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

Keeping on the same path, working off Ravi Zacharias's sermon series (these links are to the same sermon, broken up into 15 minute portions, in case your drive to work isn't quite 30 minutes long part 1 part 2 part 3 and part 4) on prayer life 'tudes. Today's 'tude is gratitude. Right now, that's a huge one for me personally. This month marks a year after my family and I packed up everything we could, and took off 1500 miles from anything and anyone we knew. Now, we are in the process of moving to a bigger house, which is always a pain, packing, cleaning, arranging, dealing with utilities, schools, post office, ect. But it is absolutely amazing to look back at this last year and see that it definitely wasn't easy, and it wasn't always fun, but through the whole thing we made it. Not on our own power or resources or abilities, but because God was watching over all of us the whole time. That inspires a great deal of gratitude, looking around and realizing that even through what seemed rough times, there was a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, and clothes on our backs. Sometimes we weren't sure if they would be there tomorrow, or the next week, or next month, but they always were there.
Whenever I see talk of prayer and gratitude, I always think about how unbelievably blessed we are in America. Our definition of poverty and being poor is miles and miles above so much of the rest of the world's definition, it's frightening. Our definitions of repression and persecution are so many miles above what others in the world face, it's equally disturbing. I'm certainly not downplaying the plights that people face in the U.S. It's just so much different worrying if the food stamps will stretch to the end of the month than worrying about if the bag of rice will stretch until enough work can be found to earn the money for another one. It's so much different worrying that you might not get a promotion because your boss doesn't like your faith than worrying that someone is going to break down your door with a machete and a machine gun because they don't like your faith. It would be real easy to segue into a whole lot of political commentary here, especially given some current events and activities going on right now, but that isn't the point of any of this, so I'll bite my tongue and save that rant for later.
But beyond any of these, believers in America or anywhere else in the world have something underlying all of this to be grateful for, and to carry that gratitude into their prayer life. Regardless of our worldly conditions, we can be grateful that there is a place reserved for us in Heaven, and almost as important, the strength and direction to get us through this life until the time to move into that new house comes for us. So, right now we have the bricks of certitude, solitude, and gratitude in the foundation of our prayer life. Next week, the last 'tude, and a bit on how to put all of these together to make our prayer time a time of communion, communication, and growing. If you just can't wait to find out, follow the links at the beginning of the column, and listen for yourself.

Just Leave Me Alone!!!!!

2011-10-05T23:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, as promised, I'm going to continue working off of a presentation from Ravi Zacharias (specifically this one part 1 part 2). In the talk, he gives four 'tudes to carry into our prayer life. Last week was certitude, this week it's solitude. Solitude is not very popular in this day and age. It's almost become a dirty word. We have the idea that wanting to be alone and away from everything is unhealthy. Too much of it certainly is, but regularly shutting out the world, especially to commune with God, is not just healthy, it's a necessity of prayer life. There are numerous times throughout the Old and New Testament of God's people stepping away from everything so they can focus entirely on listening the what God has to say to them. One of the best known examples is from Jesus Himself, in the Garden of Gethsemane. Hours away from the culmination of His earthly mission, He went away from everything, even His closest disciples, to pray to God, to confirm His instructions. Numerous other times throughout the Gospels Jesus withdraws, departs, and sends everyone away for His prayer time. If that's not sufficient evidence to show it's an important idea, I don't know what is.

Solitude is very difficult in our modern times. We have created such a connected world, such a 24/7 world, that getting off the grid, even for an hour a day often seems impossible. But remember the words of Jesus when His disciples were falling asleep as He took His solitude, "Could you not tarry one hour?" Trust me, I know it's hard to shut off the cell phone, step away from the keyboard, kick the thoughts of all that stuff that needs done and what we want to be doing out of our heads and just be open to what God is giving us. But it is possible. And I'm sure, based on the testimony of many others, that the more one does it, the easier it gets.

When we do manage to shut the world out, just for a little while, we put our focus where it's supposed to be, on God and His directions for us. As that focus becomes more of a regular part of our prayer life, it starts seeping into the rest of our lives too. The more of that focus that our hour by hour life soaks up, the more we are able to see each step of the path we are supposed to be walking, what the actions are that God wants from us in that everyday life. Isn't that worth waiting an hour to see the latest Lolcat or learning that your Facebook buddy is having a steak dinner tonight?

Four "tudes" part 1

2011-09-29T01:00:00.001-05:00

Going to do something a little different. I've been listening to to a sermon by Ravi Zacharias (this one specifically part 1 part 2, I highly recommend this guy) and have been thinking about the four "tudes" that he discusses we need to bring to our prayer life. So if this works, I get a month's worth of blogs by talking about each of these and expounding my own impressions on them. However, I'm going to start with the last one, because it connects to a recent news event.
At that big hadron collider, scientists believe they recently managed to push particles faster than the speed of light. One of the mainstream news articles said that the event won't make any big deal in the real world, but it would be significant to scientists. If it proves correct and reproducible, it yanks a major foundation block out of science's vision and understanding of how the universe works. Part of Einstein's work said that if matter approaches the speed of light, it also approaches infinite mass, meaning in a nutshell that matter gets infinitely heavier the faster it goes. That means if something solid reaches light speed, it's weight will make that solid too heavy to move. Assuming the experiment was accurate (the jury is still out on that, as with any major discovery) it means something is missing from that foundational equation. Science may have to do a whole lot of rethinking about how the universe works.
The "tude" related to this story is certitude. In the world, Einstein's work has long been considered a nearly indisputable fact of life. Yet suddenly, the world is faced with the possibility that their long held belief may just be wrong. This has happened many times over the centuries. The world has gone from flat to round, from the center of the universe to the center of the solar system to somewhere on the edge of one galaxy. We can find very few worldly things that have not changed, especially in our modern world. But in the spiritual world, especially in our prayer, we have to come with a sense of certitude. Not certitude that we are coming to a magic genie who will grant all our wishes if we are good enough people, but a sense of certitude that we are coming to the one, true, almighty, omniscient God of all creation, who loves us and has a plan for us. Looking throughout the Old and New Testament, we find the powerful men and women of God were always certain of God and His power and plans, and the times they weren't certain was when things went badly. Moses wasn't able to enter the Promised Land because he didn't follow God's orders, letting his anger and impatience take over. Peter was walking on the water with Jesus until his sense of certainty slipped, and with it, he slipped down into the water as well.
We are never going to get physical, irrefutable certainty in this world until the sky splits and Jesus comes back. That's why it's called faith. But while we are here, that faith is bolstered as long as we walk with that certitude. Certitude saved Shadrach Meshach and Abednego from the furnace, even if that certitude included the possibility that God's plan wasn't to save them. How does your situation stack up to that? Is it so much worse that you can't walk with that same certainty?

A little different vibration....

2011-09-21T17:31:00.000-05:00

Last night I caught a few moments of Coast To Coast AM, one of those radio shows that delves into various conspiracy theories, alternate universes, aliens, ect. The guest was talking about her belief in parallel universes, and lost spiritual abilities that civilization has cost mankind. As she and the host are going on about these, I'm sitting there wondering how on earth these ideas are more acceptable to so many people than the far out concept of one omniscient, eternal God speaking the universe into being, molding man out of the dust, and setting forth a plan for that man and all his descendants. Entire universes existing at slightly different vibrations than this one are fine for comic books and sci-fi movies, but what drives so many people to grasp this and other new-age or in many cases old-age theories instead of turning to the Bible.
Further thought points to one direction in particular. Accepting the Biblical account of the world means accepting responsibility for oneself. It's been a while since I read up on the various other religions of the world, but I don't recall any of them laying down the type of black and white, clean cut, eternal consequences for mankind's actions. Some say you just keep trying until you get it right, some say we just cease being, some saw there is a lot of weighing of all our actions and thoughts that decide our eternity. Only the Bible lays out the idea that only those who accept God as the Almighty and accept the sacrifice of Jesus for their own sins will go to Heaven, everyone else will spend eternity in the lake of fire with the rebellious angels. No "you were pretty good in life, didn't kill anyone or torture kitties, you can get in". That's a very hard concept, especially in our everything is equal mindset. Yet I don't see how it's really a harder concept to believe in than the idea that everything in creation is just random chance.

Use Your Disillusion

2011-09-14T16:13:00.000-05:00

The first time I heard a rapper by the name of 2pac was watching Yo MTV Raps many many moons ago, and a song came on called "Brenda's Got A Baby", a track about not just another teen mom in the ghetto, but how her situations and choices affected those around her, including and especially the baby. I ended up digging up the album (way back when, we had to go to the record store and actually sift through racks of tapes, then cd's, not just type a name into Amazon. That's a topic for another day, though) The album had some typical party it up, shoot em up gangsta rap tracks, but along side the aforementioned "Brenda" were a couple of others, like "Part Time Mother" which lifted the Stevie Wonder song to tell the tale of several people, even an unsuspecting father who find themselves taking care of little ones, and "If My Homies Call" a reminder to people from 2pac's past that he may be breaking out, but not forgetting them. All of these put together a vision, a mindset that the way things are in the community isn't the way they have to be, that there is more to life than gangbanging, that there are consequences to actions that have to be handled. As time went on 2pac got bigger, and for a while there were still some glimmers of that hope and optimism with tracks like "Keep Ya Head Up" and "I Ain't Mad At 'Cha". But there also seemed to be a growing disillusionment with the world, a giving up of that hope for a better world, choosing instead to get immersed in the world, with sex, drugs, drink, money, and violence. That immersion led to 2pac's time in jail and eventually to his shooting death.
I admit to not following the hip hop scene like I did back then, but it really seems like since then, the general attitude has skipped over any hopefulness for a better day and jumped straight to that disillusioned state. Criminal charges, jail time, inane material excesses all seem to be even bigger badges of honor then they were in the past.
This is far from a black problem, or a gang problem, or a rap problem, the rap scene and it's evolution just provide a very blunt illustration of a far reaching issue. We seem to be leaping to apathy in too many areas of the world, from our entertainers to our schools (students and teachers) to our work places to our elected officials. It's not a new problem either, rearing it's ugly head in the days of "tune in, turn on, drop out" or Marlon Brando's response in The Wild Ones to "What are you rebelling against?" which was simply "What have you got?"
Taking a step back from the issue, such disillusion is no surprise, simply because it's all based on the world. Whenever we look to the world for fulfillment, we will be disappointed, because the things of the world will either fail to satisfy, or fade away, or both. The new car becomes the old car. The latest model (fill in the blank) becomes outdated. That's the hole in the mindset. We want things to be better, but when we limit our solutions to worldly ones, providing material things to those in need, depending on book education to get them out of generational squalor and violence, we just build a house without a foundation.
I've been working on this one for a while, and was going to put it on the back burner for something more 9/11 oriented, but then I realized that the ten years since that atrocity is a fine example of my point. In the days and weeks immediately following the attacks, there was a unity in the US. We put aside most of our differences and stood as Americans. Then, slowly, but predictably, stuff started getting in the way. Distractions and disagreements chipped away at that unity, that hope for a better day, until now, as dozens of headlines ask "What Has Changed Since The Attacks?", the answer is very little. We're right back where we were, and in some ways, we've slipped down a few pegs. If you've ever read Watchmen, you'll remember the plot to unify the world forever via a tragedy. Evidently, such a vision only works in the comic books, because eventually, that disillusionment still sinks in.
My own worldly mindset tells me that the church should be doing more to instill that missing hope on grander scales, making more big stories of sweeping encouragement. We know that the world's promises are empty, and there is a better goal. But when I do my own stepping back, looking back to the real instruction book, it's not mass hope and change that are the focus. It's the real hope and change granted the believer, the strength to move past the tragedy, past the mundane, and keep heading for the Kingdom. We all like the big splashes, the huge revivals, but history tells us that those fade away or fall apart or sometimes even get corrupted . The individual who learns real joy, real contentment, and lives it out may not make the big splash, but the ripples will travel further than any of us will know on this side.

When is a spade not a spade?

2011-09-07T15:22:00.000-05:00

Somewhere in my boxes of stuff, I have a pretty realistic plastic skull. One of those plastic Halloween decorations. He's been beat up quite a bit over the years, the lower jaw is gone, and so are the teeth from the upper jaw, and the cap doesn't stay on either, so he's pretty much just a pair of empty eye sockets staring out at the world. Being an old metalhead, skulls are nothing new to me. Album covers, tshirts, and jewelery frequently place the bones that protect our brains in great prominence. Most of the time, the reason for this is that the skull is commonly viewed as a symbol of death. Our traditional poison markers are skulls, the age old jolly roger flag often meant death for those on the boats it chased down, even the hill Jesus was crucified on was named Golgotha, place of the skull, for its use as an execution site. However, anymore when I come across my little plastic skull, I find myself fascinated by the intricacies of it's design. Just what can be seen in this facsimile is really amazing when one thinks about it. The eyes both placed forward, to allow for depth perception. The large area to contain a significant amount of brain matter. Although the teeth on mine are all gone, the layout of biting, tearing and grinding teeth so that we are not limited to a single type of food for nourishment.
Many people try and tell me that all these are the result of random chance, a happenstance of time and proteins converging in just the right way. It really seems to me that the poor, demonized skull could easily be changed from a symbol of death to a symbol of intentional design. Symbols change constantly, correct? Their meaning is based on perception, not necessarily intent, right?
We can certainly see that in people's perception of the church and it's symbols. As time has gone on, for reasons deserved and undeserved, the church and the cross and all the other signs of God's people have come to mean very different things then they were intended to. For some a church steeple is a symbol of a place they were rejected from for their choices in life. To others a cross is a sign of bigotry and hate. I'd like to say those impressions are all lies spread by various evil camps, but the sad fact is some people who lay claim to be Christian have had a heavy hand in enforcing those definitions of our symbols.
Would I go so far as to say we need to replace the time honored signs of faith with new ones, like the lowly skull? No, my suggestion would be that we all do our own part to reclaim those symbols. Let the necklaces and tshirts be motivators, not just to others around us, but to ourselves.

It's not the end of the world as we know it, but I don't feel fine....

2011-05-24T00:24:00.000-05:00

Ok, it's May 23 and we're all still here. It seems that Harold Camping, who has been wrong before, decided that he missed something, and the end will be Oct. 21, not May. Backpedaling like an experienced politician, and changing tactics (probably in hopes that if he and his ministry aren't advertising and counting down, the culture's short attention span will let them fade from memory by Halloween) the Camping camp was wrong. This comes as no surprise to people who actually know the Bible. Matthew and Mark both record Jesus telling His disciples that no man knows the hour or day He will return. So all Camping did was provide some people an excuse to party up, and most of those people would have been partying anyway, and give antagonistic non-believers more ammunition in their own battles against their own faith and that of others. Similar to the way Fred Phelps damages the Body with his un-Biblical actions and words, or the way some anti-abortion activists have stepped outside of Christ-like actions against the abortion industry and providers.
These are major examples that have gotten a lot of attention lately, but they are far from the only ones. A tale that has stuck in my mind for years is the account of a young runaway in the forties. He joined a traveling circus and started playing the organ. On Saturday nights, he played for the dancing girls, and on Sunday mornings, for the tent preachers, often seeing many of the same faces in both crowds. Seeing those incorrect actions of believers (I'm not putting it in quotes because I don't know their hearts, and don't want to be judging) helped push the young man to his future as Anton Levey, author of the Satanic Bible, founder of the "official" Church of Satan, and inspiration for unknown numbers of members of that church, self-styled satanists, and other active, antagonistic nonbelievers.
I started a new job this week, and already early in the training, there was instruction on the rules about work and social media. The policy is don't talk bad about the company, other employees, customers, vendors, ect. There are instructions to make sure that if there are any references to the company, a disclaimer is added to make it clear that the person is not speaking as a representative of the company. A fairly standard policy in this digital age, but one that is strictly a worldly policy. Believers don't get to slap such disclaimers on our words and actions. We are God's representatives here on earth, period. Our actions and words are often the only Bible some of those around us will ever read. Companies making social media policies like this understand the power of words and action, why does so much of the Church not get it? If we did, then people like Camping and Phelps would not get the traction they presently do, because there would be much more positive evidence in front of the world, instead of the apathy and Biblical ignorance that gets so much attention.

Knowledge vs wisdom

2011-05-17T00:36:00.000-05:00

It is absolutely amazing the sheer amounts of data available to us today. I get a dozen or so magazines, for free, every month that are various trade journals, a couple of political newsletters, and a couple from different Christian organizations. The trade journals are mainly computer and IT related, although I haven't cancelled the ones I started when I was selling insurance, primarily to try and keep an eye on the current healthcare debacle and it's effects on the industry (and in turn, the effects on us the consumers). Those are just the printed ones I can get for free. Visit your local bookstore and gaze in awe at the long stretch of magazine racks, covering music, sports, news, technology, art, movies, religion, lifestyles, et al. Don't check the one at the grocery store, their selection is dwindling rapidly. Then there is my inbox, which is flooded daily by news, devotionals, music reviews, free stuff and industry updates, most of which I signed up for. Many of those emails are lists of white papers about the latest cloud computing security features or how to archive the new crop of data (ironic, no?). Moving out into the rest of the internet, there are millions of hours of talks, radio shows, and sermons, along with podcasts, blogs, videoblogs, Youtube channels, all with more insight, information, and entertainment for us to absorb.
There was a time when we thought that our impressive brains could hold many times the amount of information the world could generate. With the world's knowledge doubling at ever decreasing intervals, I think we are approaching a time when that amount of data may well exceed the brain's capacity. Last week I talked about how our machines let us do more in less time, and how the quality of that output has gone down. I think in many ways, the same applies to our knowledge. How many of those news reports and polls and studies are outdated or disproved before we even finish reading them? How many of those great technological guides are obsolete by the time the email gets fished out of the spam folder? Thinking further, how many surveys and studies do nothing but confirm what a minimal application of common sense and observation already knows? It never ceases to scare me to see headlines, especially now as the U.S. Census data continues to be analyzed and released, that tell us the government, state or fed, or some advertiser, spent a whole lot of money to tell us what common sense already knew.
One recent poll showed that Americans knowledge of civics, i.e. how our government works and how it is supposed to work, keeps dropping. Other polls about people lack of Biblical knowledge and mores, even in churches, keep showing up. Even simple knowledge, like what fruit did Adam and Eve eat in the Garden of Eden or what swallowed Jonah is lacking, let alone major things like living together before marriage is sin and homosexuality is too are missing from much of the Church. We have a divorce rate that is the same as the worlds. Now, I'd like to find some breakdown of that and find out how many of that number are people who divorced before they were saved, but the problem remains, along with an increasing number of pastors (not just Catholic priests) getting in legal trouble for child pornography and molestation or getting in trouble with their church for other less than saintly sexual activities.
There is a huge difference between knowledge and wisdom. Based on the present state of society, I think it's no small leap in logic to say that knowledge can easily push out wisdom. The examples I gave are examples of missing wisdom. Too many churches and schools are doing nothing but throwing knowledge out at parishioners and students. Wisdom used to be imparted to the next generation by parents, but like the churches and schools, that link in the chain has also been broken over the years. The result has been a vacuum, and if you didn't get that bit of knowledge from the buckets of data in school, nature abhors a vacuum, meaning that if there is a hole, something will try and fill it. This further supports my theory, that as wisdom has shrunk, the space in our mental landscape gets filled in with knowledge. Knowledge without wisdom is like the Mississippi River right now, great power unrestrained, simply wiping out everything in it's way. Knowledge has long been established as power, but power that is not focused, that is not directed, not controlled is useless, and often simply destructive. We are barreling towards that flood, but we seem more interested in increasing our knowledge and seeing how big an explosion we can make.
It's not over, however. This seems like a very negative bit here, but everyday that there are still people who know that difference between knowledge and wisdom, there is still hope. Every time those people parent their children, or teach their students, or preach to their flock, or just engage the people around them in intelligent discussions that help to foster some of that wisdom, help water that blossom, it is another step out of the muck. The world has been standing in a sinking hole ever since the Fall, and the amazing thing about sinking is, if you do nothing, you keep going down. It takes a conscious effort and action to fight gravity.
When people talk about fixing the world, it quickly gets bogged down into thoughts of "there are too many of them and not enough of us" or "what can one person do against all these ills?" Deuteronomy 32 talks about 1000 put to flight by one who has the Lord behind them. Add to that an interesting tidbit I picked up from a speaker recently, mentioning that an effective pastor can pastor (not just preach to, but actually pastor) about 100 people. Megachurches (effective ones) overcome that by breaking up into cell groups, where those 100 each pastor another group, usually slightly smaller than the initial 100, and those groups typically continue to break down into smaller groups. So lets put all this together. If one man (or woman) of God can put a thousand of the world to flight, and that one is even a decent pastor (not necessarily an ordained preacher, but a leader in their family, at work, within their church) and they are pastoring fifty brothers and sisters, that is 50,000 running for the hills under a righteous spiritual assault. That's just the first ripple, not taking into account those learning from that first fifty.
We aren't fighting a physical war, so our victories don't always show themselves to our physical eyes. But when the Body is walking in the Word, those numbers add up quickly, maybe not in the votes we'd like to see at the ballot boxes or the actions we'd like to see in our schools or any of the social changes we'd like to happen, but the numbers are there, with people moving closer to Christ, and names being added to the Book of Life, and those are the numbers that are really important.

Too much of a good thing....

2011-05-09T17:36:00.000-05:00

My lament today matches that of Calvin's dad (that being the little blonde boy whose exploits with his stuffed tiger Hobbes entertained us daily for many years from the newspaper, and continue to from their books) as he stared at a desk full of paperwork whose urgency was compounded by the then burgeoning electronic frontier. Everything is available at our fingertips instantaneously, so production is expected to maintain a similar pace. Calvin's dad (I never noticed that the parents never were addressed by name until I read the anniversary book that Watterson put out, it's a cool idea, but makes it difficult to reference the characters) reminisces of a time when getting a project out in a week was a rush job, and an unlikely outcome, and that was nearly twenty years ago. He continues on about how all the efficiency and accessibility just makes us want more in less time, concluding that if we want more time, we need to make our machines less efficient.

The urge to multitask has been taken by many to insane extremes. I'm bad about trying to accomplish half a dozen things at once, but I usually realize when I've hit that point where the attempt to do several things at once is seriously detrimental to the needed focus on one or more of the tasks at hand. A prime example, as I sit here writing, my Facebook is open in another tab, and when that little number in parenthesis shows up in the tab, I reflexively go check what popped up, instead of putting all the focus in on the writing process here. Or trying to listen to sermons and talks while walking, cooking and the like. Or downloading new music while checking the news online.

Some of this comes from the massive amounts of data that we are surrounded by, some of it comes from the 24-7 connectivity we're granted by our laptops, our cellphones, and our tablet computers. We expect our emails and text messages and status posts to be immediately responded to, and try to do the same in return. But where it hurts us is in our ability to focus on one thing at a time. Our minds have been multitasking long before there was 3 and 4G connections, but there was a time when that multitasking went on standing behind a plow being pulled by animals, or while taking in the dark night sky just because it wasn't cold enough to need a fire and there was no other particular reason to use the fuel. That type of mental multitasking is a bit different than letting the world know about the coolest new viral video while checking the sports scores and ordering Chinese take out.

No, I'm certainly not calling for an obliteration of technology. My concern here is not the stuff, but what it is doing to our minds and though patterns. It was hard enough to sit down and focus on one thing in those short quiet times before the constant threat of a text message or notification ding, and when we think about the fact that those quiet times are where we are supposed to do most of our communing with God, and extrapolate that out into the attitudes and actions of so many people around us today, it seems that such focus is not only becoming more difficult, but even less frequent. I know it's hard, but it is possible to rebuild that focus. It takes work but it can be done. Little things like getting up fifteen minutes earlier, but don't turn anything on yet. Take a part of your lunch break out in the car, still with everything off, radio, phone, everything. Digital Bibles are great, but if the device is too much distraction, there are these cool old things called books, you flip the pages, and they don't have any pop up ads or notifications to distract.

A dozen people learning to unplug and focus for a few more minutes a day won't change the world overnight, but it will change those people, and those people will affect some of the people they interact with, and the wave will spread. Isn't that worth waiting another few minutes to know that your buddy got crowned mayor of the grocery store?

The big news of the day

2011-05-02T16:58:00.000-05:00

Last night, it was announced that Osama Bin Laden, the mind behind 9/11 along with numerous other attacks against Americans and American interests, had been killed by U.S. troops. This is a major win in the war on terror, far from the end of it, but a major victory nevertheless. Pres. Obama should be commended for continuing the hunt, and authorizing the mission. The only knocks I'll give him is a few too many, well placed I's in the announcement speech, and a warning that this is not a campaign point.

I personally am very torn over the news. Osama was a murderer, a terrorist, and a figurehead who poured gasoline on the fire of war in the name of radical Islam. Even still, he was a human being, one who, despite his actions was intentionally and lovingly created by God. His actions broke numerous laws, all worthy of punishment, and as of this writing, the reports indicate he fought back during the raid. The worldly side of me says he deserved it all. The Christian side says wait a minute. Judge not, let he who is without sin cast the first stone and all that. Lucky for me, my wife had the same thoughts, and in her looking around, came across Deuteronomy 16:20 "Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land of the Lord you God is giving you." By every definition I can think of, justice was served. I'm glad I wasn't involved in the decision making or the actions. I don't think we should be celebrating the man's death in and of itself, but we can celebrate the completion of a mission, the execution of justice, and the positive effects the event will have on the continuing war on terror. We can celebrate the closure the event offers some of the families who lost loved ones on 9/11. But to just jump up and down over Osama's death, and even to start making some of the jokes of questionable taste already just seems to be in very poor character.

Opening up the possibilities

2011-04-26T00:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, the dangers of posting once a week are catching up with me again. Last time we spoke, Easter was a long ways off, now, it's already behind us. It's interesting as the celebration comes and goes, to notice that it is one of a tiny handful of events in the New Testament we have a solid date on, with the events of Holy Week coinciding with the Jewish Passover celebrations. For all the attention Christmas gets, there is little solid evidence presented in the Bible of it's date. We know that the Bible tells us the important things we need to know, not always the things we want to know, so getting that detailed date on Christ's death and resurrection evidently trumps the need to know the date of His birth. Continuing down this path, I started thinking about how very few dates, celebrations, and even rituals we were passed through the New Testament. Reading through the Old Testament, we find a long litany of feasts, celebrations and rituals passed to Israel to properly worship God, while in the New, we have Easter and Pentecost for dated events, and we have communion, baptism and tithing for rituals. One could count the Lord's Prayer as one of the few examples of liturgy. Why the shift?

I'm not pretending to know the mind of God, but it's my two bits that the shift comes for several reasons. By the available accounts, we see that before the Mosaic Law was handed down, it seems that worship was a bit more personalized. Adam and Eve walked and talked directly with God in the Garden, without ritual, Cain and Abel brought the sacrifices of their own choosing. While David wrote a long variety of psalms to praise and petition God, once we get into the years of the nation of Israel, the focus of worship appears to be almost exclusively to the Mosaic rituals. This led to the legalism exemplified by the Pharisees and Sadducees whom Jesus spoke against. Not everyone performed the rituals or sang the songs heartlessly, but most of us know that feeling of just not being into it on Sunday morning, or even in personal devotion time, and just going through familiar motions.

The New Covenant not only opened up salvation for people outside the decedents of Abraham, it also reopened the world of worship. From the melodic chants of Benedictine monks to the tortured screams of the unblack metal band, from thumping beats of the hip hop Christian soldiers to the quiet tranquility of our favorite hundred year old hymns, they are all valid expressions of faith. I've never been a fan of the traditional/contemporary split services that are very common on church signs anymore, (just seems to be dividing not bringing together, other activities and group work can eliminate that split, however, it seems to be adding a lot of uphill struggle) but I do understand the reasoning of letting people worship in the ways most comfortable. That's part of the idea. Instead of tailoring our heart to our worship, we have the freedom to tailor our worship to our heart.

Camping in tents, looking towards the city

2011-04-18T14:24:00.000-05:00

I'm working my way through another book off the shelf (Finding Your Purpose In God's Plan, by B.R. Coombs, available on good clearance shelves everywhere, that's where I got my copy, at least) and I came to a quote from Hebrews that set my mind off in a different direction from the rest of the chapter.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Heb. 11:8-10, NIV

Some words and phrases jumped out at me. "He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise." "For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." We are sitting here, living in this world in our tents, our temporary, physical bodies, looking forward to the city with foundations, Heaven, which is built by God. If we go back to Genesis and read Abraham's account, it isn't an easy road he walked. The man even threw several of the rocks onto his own path by his choices. But he got through, not by focusing on the tent, or on the state of the land he had not yet received, but by focusing on the promise of God.

If you've been following me for a while here, you know politics is one of my favorite topics to debate. While there are numerous good reasons for Christians to be active in the political world, we have to be very careful not to get hung up on the tent while losing focus on the city with foundations. For example, are our words against political ideas and opponents in line with the Bible? The shooting of abortion provider Dr. Tiller in Wichita Ks comes to mind. Personally I abhor abortion and the abortion debate, for religious and political reasons (still haven't figured out how regulating a medical procedure falls under the federal government's Constitutional power, at minimum, on the legal side, the issue should be left to the states, instead of a federal mandate) but gunning the man down doesn't match our Biblical mandate, does it? Ideally, the best way to deal with the issue is to put the abortion providers out of business through a lack of customers, instead of legislation. That matches words like "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" much better doesn't it? How many words and actions of "religious" people have been turned into fuel for nonbelievers, often with little to no twisting or taking words out of context? How many of those were spurred by putting that focus on the fragile, temporal, dirty tents instead of that solid, permanent, holy foundation?

It's not up as of this writing, but check www.kfaonline.org later this week for the April 17th sermon on the normal Christian life. Pastor Dan talked a great deal about how even Christians have a tendency to get focused on the tents others are wearing, like skin color and sexual orientation, instead of focusing on that eternal foundation and treating others the way Jesus wants us to. Yes, it's nice when the Church wins some of its legal and social battles, but what about when we individuals listen to the hurts of an unsaved friend? What about when we break down those stereotypes and don't just beat sinners up with Scripture? What about when we follow Christ's example and weep for the world instead of screaming at it?

It's hard to keep that focus on the eternal and not the worldly. The world is here in front of us, in our faces, yelling at us, taxing us, sending us disconnect notices, telling us our loans weren't approved, apologizing for the pink slips, telling us that if we just let go of those old superstitions our lives will be so much more enjoyable, while the eternal tells us to wait, trust, and have faith. Go back to Abraham, he listened to the world, took the world's route to answer God's promise, and the result caused numerous problems, even beyond Abraham's lifetime. Compare that to the Apostles after the Ascension, who listened to Jesus' words and waited in Jerusalem and received the Holy Spirit, in spite of the possible threats against them there. These are just two examples of the results, it doesn't take too much looking to find more, in the Bible, in history, and even in our own spheres of influence. The question we have to ask ourselves is, which example are we making?

Change, change, and more change

2011-04-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

Change came to my mind recently. It's quite amazing how much change the last couple of generations have seen, experienced, and incited. Technology is the easiest one to quantify, and we'll get to that one, but there have been many other changes as well. Just in my lifetime, we've seen the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany on the international front, just for two major examples. Shortly before my lifetime, homosexuality was listed by the APA as a mental disorder. (Not delving into that one right now, just using it as an example) The US economy has moved from production to service as it's major product. Marriage has become more and more optional, whether people are starting one or continuing one. People don't typically find a job and stay there until retirement, instead changing companies and often career paths frequently. Those are just the tip of the iceberg on the social side of changes that have happened in the last thirtysomeodd years. The social changes alone could take pages and pages to list. Feel free to think of your own before we move to the next section.
Technology, like I said, is the easiest area of change to see. When I was a kid, the telephone was attached to the wall, the receiver was on a cord that only stretched a couple of feet from the box, and it had a rotary dial. A few years later, the phones had push buttons instead of rotors, multiple lines in the home became more common, and eventually wireless handsets let you wander around the house on the phone. Now of course, we've moved from the house phone to the cell phone, which has grown in it's own leaps and bounds. Early cell phones weren't cell phones, they were car phones, because you still had to plug them into something. I've still got my first cell phone in a box somewhere. It made phone calls, as long as the little plastic antenna could pick up a signal, send and receive text messages, and play Snake on the little green screen. Now our phones make calls, play high end video games, take pictures and video, store gigs of data, read books, surf the web, track our global position..... you get the point. The same has happened to computers. Our first computer was an Apple IIc, with big old 5 1/4 in floppy disks that held a whopping megabit or two. You know that old cellphone I was talking about? It is a more powerful computing device then that poor old Apple.
These are a lot of changes that have gone on in my short lifetime. It certainly isn't a matter of things haven't changed before. The difference is that the change seems to happen much faster now. Way back when, it took months or even years for changes to disseminate into the culture, outside of small pockets like big cities. I was watching a movie about the great Oklahoma land race, and started thinking about the years it took to set that up, and the years it took for the settlers to establish themselves on their new land, even though it became theirs in a very short amount of time.
I think this tendency to change is one of the reasons why the last couple of generations have had such an issue in accepting God. God is eternal, and in that eternal, He hasn't changed. His plans haven't changed, from Adam and Eve to the nation of Israel to Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross to the wait for Jesus' return. We have gotten so accustomed to change that the idea of God being the same, having the same values and plans and desires and expectations for us over all these centuries is hard to fathom. We think that somehow, because the world has changed, God has changed along with it, and adjustments have to be made. But that isn't how it works. God isn't the one who has to make adjustments, we are. I know changing that paradigm isn't going to be easy, but we have to do it, first in ourselves, then in the Church. How do we make the changes? Get back to the Bible. Read those hard parts again, and see how they stand against our ideas. Our pastor preached on Acts 5:1-11 this week, when Ananias and Sapphira were struck down for lying about what they had given. Go back and read that, and think about whether that principle has changed any. That's just one example of many where we have gotten ideas in the world and in the Church that somehow time has changed the way God works and wants us to work.
Over the years, I've read lots of various commentators (of various degrees of talent) express how the Bible is full of old fashioned ideas that have outlived themselves. Silly concepts like mankind is a special creation, not a random happenstance, or like we are naturally selfish, greedy, and sinful, not taught such things by society. But I'd like to ask those folks, we've been living under those changes in mindset, along with others, for some time now. How is that change working out for us? Have those changes made a happier, safer, better world? If not, maybe there's something to these old constants, no?

Sumthin's better than nuthin, right

2011-04-05T00:24:00.000-05:00

Ok, I've been a bit sick all day, and none of the things I've been working on have been clicking, so we'll cut the losses and give a short bit of wisdom. There is an account that tells us Thomas Aquinas was in the Vatican, and Pope Innocent IV took him to his personal chambers, where they were counting the gold. Innocent said "You see the Church is no longer in an age where she can say 'Silver and gold I have none' (Acts 3:6). To which Aquinas answered "It is true holy father, nor can she say to the lame man 'Get up and walk'. A whole lot of thought there, I'll let you ponder it for a while. It's one of my favorite stories, because it's disturbingly accurate, so I'll likely be expanding on it later. Till then, enjoy.

The simple things in life....

2011-03-28T23:56:00.000-05:00

What to blab about today? Obama's speech on why we went into Libya? Nah, I'm honestly too torn about whether we should be putting our dog in the fight or not. New report that a fractional increase in consumer spending was primarily spent on increased gas and energy costs? No, trying to stay a little happier than that for a while. My youngest child's upcoming 5th birthday and it's reverberations? See previous answer :).
How about simplicity? I finally finished Max Lucado's Traveling Light, and fact that the whole book is built off of the 23rd Psalm reminded me that it is the simplest things that really reach us best. Think about some of the most enduring praise and worship songs. Amazing Grace, I Can Only Imagine, God Of Wonders all come to mind as packing huge amounts of encouragement, praise and theology into very tight packages. The same goes for Bible verses and stories. Again, think about the most familiar ones, like the aforementioned 23rs Psalm, the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego, and most of Jesus' parables. Again, we find a lot in these small packages.
"OK, great, so there's a lot for the new believer in these songs and verses, what does that mean to us more seasoned Christians?" Glad you asked. Just because something is simple doesn't mean that it can't have a number of layers. Remember that tale of Rack, Shack, and Benny? When we learned it in Sunday School, do you remember hearing, really hearing that line "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”(Dan. 3:17,18, emphasis mine) Think about Jesus washing His disciple's feet at the Last Supper. As we grow in knowledge of the society an the times, it goes from a simple act of humility to realizing that not only did these men have filthy feet from walking on dirt roads all day long, but that for that reason, foot washing was the bottom man on the totem pole's job. What did that additional information do to your understanding of that action?
Have you slipped into a humdrum? Have you overloaded on theological disseminations? Are you just searching for that next step in maturation? Look back to those simple things. The kid's choruses you sang, the old hymns you rolled your eyes at as all the old people sang, ;) the parables and histories you think you know by heart, revisit those. Look at them through new eyes and listen through new ears. Enjoy their messages. Add your knowledge and experiences to them. You will be amazed at what you can find.

Bright Lights, Big Honkin' City

2011-03-21T15:57:00.000-05:00

Last week was our spring break, so this Kansas transplant into Arizona and the family took a big leap and hit the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles for the first time. It was an excellent trip, we all had fun, and I thought I would just share my own various and somewhat random observations about the expedition to a city with a bigger population than many counties I've lived in.
As we traveled down the freeway through California, the vast amounts of unused land on each side of the road struck me. In Kansas, we plow, plant or pasture (usually rotating all three) every square foot of land. I realize that most of the Cali countryside is too barren or too rough to be good for any of those three P's, but nevertheless, the difference stood out to me. Once we got into the city, we did several of the standard tourist activities, including a trip to the Sunset Strip. On the Walk of Fame, I must admit, it was less impressive than it should have been. In part due to the knowledge from the past that there is no qualification to get a star, other than shelling out the cash to put it down and maintain it, and in part due to the realization that this haphazard approach really shows when the individual stars of teams like Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello are nowhere near each other. There is now a picture of me by Alice Cooper's star, and the kids wanted one of me by KISS's star sticking out my tongue (passed on that one though) but it ain't quite up to the hype.
Maintaining the musical theme, we did go to the Hard Rock Cafe. While my hamburger was an excellent slab of meat, it wasn't anywhere near worth the $10, and I doubt that the $15 burgers were either. My advice, just walk through, ooh and aahh at the really cool rock memorabilla (Jim Morrison's pants, Ray Charles' braille lyric sheets, guitars from Eddie Van Halen and Bo Diddly) and hit one of the smaller deli's on the strip. Again segueing seamlessly, one of those small delis that we ate at was really cool for two reasons. The Hollywood reason was that some scenes from Million Dollar Baby were shot in it (so now I have to get it watched to see if we sat in the same seats) and my reason is that it, and many of the other shops and restaurants on the strip aren't just big name cash cows (like Hard Rock) but little independent businesses, the kind that built America and that the franchises are shoving out of the way. Well worth the money to support them on your next trip.
We also loaded up on one of the "see the homes of the stars" tours. While it was cool to see the Fresh Prince of Bel Air house up on the hill, the people who are or were living in the houses wasn't nearly as impressive as the real beauty of many of the homes up there. Even the houses who's residents weren't special enough to warrant mention by our very entertaining tour guide were absolutely gorgeous. (Debating going off on a tangent about how some of these folks who like to ask us to donate money could fund entire countries with the costs of these houses, but I think I'll save that for another day. I know lots of stars are very generous with their fortunes, but most of them aren't putting much of a dent in their discretionary spending with their charity work) Vaguely related to that offshoot, I didn't think about it, but my wife raised the point that for all the complaints about the California economy, Hollywood and the beaches we visited seemed to be staying pretty active. There were people on the sidewalks, in the shops, in the restaurants, on the beaches. (ok not a lot on the beaches, but there was quite a crowd considering the serious cold front and rain rolling in along with the threat of big waves and other stuff rolling in from the Japan earthquake) One of the kids wanted to go bowling, and the first alley we found charged $65 for a lane for an hour, plus shoes, and it was booked solid until 11:00 that night. The second one was much more reasonably priced, but we still faced an hour's wait to get one of it's 40 lanes on a Saturday night.
Speaking of beaches, we did hit a couple, of course. As mentioned, it was a bit chilly with the weather coming in (I swear I felt ice in those waves) but it was still cool for this long land-locked land lubber to watch the sun sink into the water and see the kids digging for seashells. It was not cool having to guard our paltry food supply from sea gulls on the beach, but that's the dangers of being outside I guess. Practical tip of the trip, finding a hotel on the Pacific Coast Highway seems to be a prime way of having pretty easy access to most of L.A., as well as making it pretty easy to find one's way back to the hotel at the end of the day.
I think that covers the big points. Expect more revelations from the big city, especially once summer hits. It's barely a day's drive to get out there from here, so we might even run out for the occasional event. Close enough to visit and enjoy the city life no and again, far enough away we don't have to worry about the stuff that tends to come with that city life.

Render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser's.....

2011-03-15T01:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, I've been gone for a while, I was on the road for a bit finishing up our move. One of the side things to come out of that is I splurged on an MP3 player to listen to in the moving truck going down the interstate through six states, and got some time to listen to some of the various stuff I've collected over the last several months (hopefully that means I'll get to adding the music reviews I've been meaning to get to). One of those was a sermon series from John MacArthur about the Christian and government and our roles and responsibilities to both. I had the initial four, hour long sermons and a fifth hour long sermon spent answering some questions that came in as the series was initially given and broadcast (back in 1985), so this was a rare opportunity for me to sit and listen to that much audio consecutively.
As you can imagine, between the topic and the time allotted, a lot of material was covered. The main point of all of this was though, is that we (the Church) are supposed to be focused not on politics and citizenry as we are on Kingdom work. We are called to be good, active citizens, but it is the opinion of the speaker that we should be spending far more time and energy on evangelizing and encouraging than politicking and protesting. This is a hard one for some of us, not because it isn't logical or Biblical, but because we have entwined our politics and our faith so much. It is my none too humble opinion that we are living in the most politically turbulent times in the U.S. since before the Civil War, and many of those political issues are moral issues, such as abortion. However, one of the ideals that sticks out from the series is that governments are temporary, souls are eternal. We are definitely getting reminders that governments are not far from permanent, from the swing back to Republicans in Congress back in September to the uprisings in Egypt and Libya now.
So how do we balance this better? I really haven't come up with a good answer yet, despite being back off the road for a week already. National and world politics have gotten so mired in bureaucracy, partisanship, dirty pool, career politicians, and general fertilizer that it takes a laser like focus on the politics to have any clue what's really going on, who's really pulling strings and who's just blowing in the wind. We are living in the results of most people spending several decades not paying attention and being active in the political world, so we know that ignoring it is not an option either.
Perhaps we need to be focusing on better utilizing the ripple effect. Take the big ugly abortion issue. Instead of fighting in the courts, what happens if more Christian effort goes into educating people about why they shouldn't be having abortions and changing the mindset that leads to them? Instead of going after the supply, if the demand vanishes, then does the legal status really have an effect? If more people are saved and operating in an educated, Biblical mindset, how many of those ballot box fights would fade away? If we had more Christ-minded people in office, how much of the gaff and corruption would run back into the shadows? Have we wasted a lot of time and money over the years by taking the wrong route to fixing the system?
If you're interested in the inspiration behind this particular rant, you can stream or download it all here, along with a couple of more sermons on paying your taxes. Definitely a lot to ponder, especially in these times when we seem to be within spitting distance of a major breaking point.

A Conundrum Of Sorts

2011-02-22T00:14:00.000-06:00

I really need to get better at writing down everything that pops in my head. There were three or four good topics in my head earlier this week, and now, they have all left the building. At least all the good details have gone. There's lots of interesting news floating around, from the fight over state employee unions in Wisconsin and other states, to the spreading revolts in the Middle East, to the fierce winter weather across the U.S. But I think I'll work the remains of one of those ideas, instead.

One of those thoughts bouncing around my head was aggravated by a couple of recent trips to some of the casinos in the area. It was interesting, because it seems that casino floors are the only smoker-friendly places left in the U.S. There aren't thick clouds of smoke floating over all the machines and tables, but the places do stink and irritate some folks, including my ex-smoker self. I've noticed after being off the smokey treats for over a decade now, on those few occasions I visit those smoker friendly areas, I usually leave with something funky in my sinuses, and often an annoying headache.

Now, being the good, capitalist minded conservative that I am, I don't really care for the plethora of anti-smoking laws that are covering the land, or the insane added taxes on tobacco. Neither seems to be having any significant affect on smoking, nor do they do anything to lay the personal responsibility for one's choices on the smoker or give the nonsmoker the power of the pocketbook to avoid smokers. My answer is simply get nonsmokers together to let these various establishments (not just casinos, bars, and clubs, but also apartments and hotels) know that if they want our money, they need to provide us a better option.than the one glass enclosed slot machine room I saw in one casino or "non-smoking" rooms, apartments or rentals that are not enforced or were smoking for thirty years prior. If we don't have the economic pull to effect the change, or inspire someone to start their own, smoke free establishments then that's the way the cookie crumbles.

The purported motivation behind all the pushes in anti-smoking laws and ludicrous costs added to tobacco is to prevent both smokers from hurting themselves by smoking, and of seemingly greater importance to some, preventing nonsmokers from suffering damage from secondhand smoke. The evils of secondhand smoke are shouted from the mountaintops, repeated from public service announcements, and even included on some of the surgeon general warnings on the cigarettes themselves. Parents are lambasted for smoking in the home where their children are because of the importance of keeping children safe from the actions of the adults.

I know, like everybody else, that secondhand smoke does not do any good to those around it, especially the young, developing respiratory system of children. Arguing that is not the point of this rant. The point that I'm aiming at is my amazement that many of these people who are hooting and hollering about how horrible smoking around anybody is dangerous and damaging and needs to be regulated and outlawed, tend to support abortion rights. Smoking and abortion are both, in some arguments, about the person's right to do what they desire with and to their own bodies. Yet, for some reason, to many people, smoking, which is not a guaranteed killer to those around it, or even to the smoker (how old was George Burns again?) must be screamed about and outlawed, while abortion, which is a guaranteed killer, must be defended tooth and nail. Personally, this is a very interesting contradiction, and one I would love to hear a good explanation from any of these folks.

What ever happened to the melting pot, or even Must See TV?

2011-02-15T00:34:00.000-06:00

An advantage to posting late today, I can forgo the standard Valentine's Day stuff. Instead, I want to talk about something that strikes me frequently, but really hit last night during the Grammy Awards. While watching, it struck me that, even though I'm a little older and never have really be a mainstream/pop music guy, I had very little idea who most of the people performing, presenting, and nominated were. The same thing happens when I watch the Oscars and Emmys as well, and I would be completely lost if I tried watching the MTV awards nowadays. I'm not even sure MTV does awards anymore, it's not like they do music anymore....

However, it occurs to me that this isn't simply a matter of me being out of touch with the mainstream entertainment world. It seems to me that there isn't really a mainstream entertainment world anymore. Very few and far between are those universally recognized bands, movies, or TV shows. There was a time when there were some TV shows and movies that everybody had seen, and some songs that everyone knew the lyrics to. Now, with 157 channels and DVRs to fill our TV addiction and everything under the sun (and a lot of stuff from the shadows) available on the internet on demand, plus advertisers and producers preferring pinpoint target marketing over the melting pot, and a big helping of the constant push of modern western society to individuality, it all comes to a very splintered culture. I know we have blips on the scene, such as Justin Bieber, American Idol, and Glee, but is the fandom and recognition of those as universal as say Michael Jackson, The Cosby Show, or Titanic?

I have been and still consider myself part of several different subcultures that suffer from this kind of splintering. Metal, punk, hacking, and the Church all suffer in various ways from too many within the groups looking at their individuality instead of trying to melt together. Punk is particularly vicious when it comes to dividing over ideals, with it's long and strong history of fighting to stay out of the mainstream and avoid any contact with evil corporate record labels, some in the scene laying out lots of hate, verbal, in print and sometimes physical on anyone daring to gain commercial success playing punk. Metal isn't quite as bad, but there are some examples of the masses calling out bands for sudden, money-inspired career choices ****COUGHCOUGHCOUGHMETALLICACOUGHCOUGH****** (Excuse me, something in my throat). Hackers engage in a lot of debates of white hat (searching out computer exploits simply for the sake of knowledge and fixing them) verses black hat (happy to exploit found holes for monetary gain, cyber vandalism or scene fame). And of course, we don't have dozens of different denominations within the Church, didn't go through the Reformation, and didn't have a Great Awakening here in America because everyone in the Body agreed on all points of theology.

There's nothing wrong with some grouping together by ideals, tastes, or histories. The annual Cornerstone Christian metal festival is a big gathering of people brought together by their taste in music and their faith. The Hackers Of Planet Earth (H.O.P.E) conferences are gathering of people interested in technology, what it does, what it is doing to us, and what we can do to it. But when those metalheads go home, they go to their more diversified local churches, and those hackers head back to their mainstream jobs and schools. Both groups mix and mingle with others who may or may not share all of their views and likes. Hopefully, both the mixers and mixees pick up positives from each other. The metalhead may get inspiration for a song from a line in the pastor's sermon, and one of the hacker's coworkers just may start practicing safer websurfing habits after a conversation about where the hacker went last weekend.

That's the whole point of a melting pot. Different groups putting all of their good ideas together, often to create brand new ideas. I know we started off talking about divisions in our entertainment culture, but those are just an example of the divisions in our culture, divisions that cut much deeper than TV shows and music. Some of these divisions come from the aforementioned target marketing, with a lot of money and research going into exactly what words and images attract people with different tastes. Some of them come from certain groups looking to keep the culture at least divided and distracted, if not conquered.

We can't have a melting pot without a variety of ingredients. But we also can't have a melting pot without those ingredients being willing to come together sometimes. No, simply trying a new radio station or a different news station or listening to a different preacher isn't going to create a great social conglomeration, but it is a step in the right direction.

Is it Bread and Juice or Flesh and Blood?

2011-02-07T23:12:00.000-06:00

We had a very interesting happening at church this weekend. During communion, the pastor said that he had received a word, that someone in the pews hadn't taken the elements. When the pastor asked that they come forward, not to be embarrassed or forced, but to be reminded that communion is about accepting the sacrifice Jesus made for us while we were still sinners, one person did come forward. Then the pastor moved to asking if anyone took the elements out of habit or to not stick out, and that call got several more people to come forward. It was a powerful moment, one that doesn't translate well into the written word, and it set my mind a working.

We get in habits, not just in the outside world, but in church and our spiritual lives as well. Those habits can be good habits, like prayer, devotional readings, communion, fellowship meetings, fill in your own blanks here. But sometimes they become just that, habits. We do them reflexively, automatically, without the focus and intentionality they need and deserve. Communion is an easy one for this to happen to, because it's usually done about once a month, depending on the church, and it's done in a group, so groupthink and peer pressure come into play. If we put just a couple of moments of thought into the act of communion, the fact that it is one of the very few traditions Jesus established Himself, the symbolism He attached to the bread and the wine, it quickly becomes difficult to glibly just take the little piece of bread out of the plate and the little cup of grape juice and down them for appearances.

But we still do it. Whether it's blindly eating and drinking crackers and grape juice, not thinking about the cross we put around our neck everyday, even doing "good works" out of responsibility, not love, we fall into the trap of habit, or worse, religion. Jesus, Paul, and Peter all spoke against religion. They used the empty rituals and actions of the Pharisees and Sadducees as specific examples of what happens when faith and love of God become empty action and schedule. When we read the Old Testament, we hear about the rituals being performed with hearts open to God, and they were accepted by God as proper worship. But by the New Testament, we have the focus off God and on to the actions. Forgetting the verses put in those phylacteries that were made wide to show off how holy the wearer was. (Matt. 23:5, the verses were Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16, and Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21, if you're interested)

One of the things I picked up from the positive mental attitude teachings of W. Clement Stone and Napoleon Hill was that it takes being intentional to make ourselves better. This applies to our walk with Jesus as well. The way to avoid the problems of empty religion is to be intentional in keeping our walk a relationship, one where communications flow both ways, one where we are looking to build up and expand the relationship at all times. One where we admit when (not if) we fall, take the hand back up, brush ourselves off, ask forgiveness, and keep walking. When we can maintain that intentional walk, it's never just bread and juice, it really is that body broken and blood poured out for us.

A sad trend

2011-02-01T00:15:00.000-06:00

An article in the local paper this weekend reminded me of an issue I've noticed seems to becoming more and more common. Here is the article about another infant allegedly killed by a significant other. Not by a parent, but by the parent's boyfriend (in this case, I've seen a couple where it was a girlfriend who was the perpetrator) It's a very sad byproduct of the growing trend of single parenthood, easy come, easy go relationships, and a general tearing down of the ideal of family. The simple fact of the matter is that children, especially infants, can be very frustrating. They can't communicate very specifically, every day is a new experience that can be both good and bad, and they have difficulty understanding what's going on around them. The end result can be extended periods of fussing and crying and screaming when a baby want something or is hurting or uncomfortable or in any of a dozen other states.

Now, for a biological parent, or a non-biological significant other who is seriously committed to their partner and the baby, the frustration can be overcome. Not always easily, and sometimes even natural parents and committed significant others can slip up, but when there is that real, intentional bond between adult and child, the likelihood of losing one's temper to that degree drops significantly. But when there is no commitment beyond one person having a roof over their head, when there isn't any real intention of maintaining a parental relationship with the child, when the child is just an inconvenience that comes with this month's source of whatever is being looked for in a relationship, there isn't always that trigger to hold back.

Obviously, it is very possible for a person who isn't a biological parent to step up to the role, that is not the point of this rant. The point is the difference between those who successfully rise to the challenge and people like this guy and the others who keep popping up in similar stories. That difference is primarily a respect, a belief in committed relationships, usually with an outward symbol of that commitment like a wedding ring. But, as we keep being reminded, the value of marriage keeps going down. More and more people are shacking up for various amounts of time, both short term and long term, the divorce rate among those who do get married remains a 50/50 shot at staying together, even in the Church, babies becoming accessories instead of responsibilities, all of these things are leading to more and more of these cases. We could throw in abortion on demand as a factor as well, but that will get things on a completely different track, so we'll leave that one off for now.

These cases used to be very rare, but as the foundational attitudes that I just mentioned get changed and undermined, they've gotten more common. As these foundations keep eroding, it's going to get worse. Both Christians and conservatives talk about how American society keeps going downhill, but we still haven't bottomed out yet. I talked awhile back about how our current levels of depravity don't touch those reached by ancient empires like Rome. We have to get people to take off their blinders and see the ripple effects of these things. It's bad enough that this infant and the others (this blog from 2008 comes up with 5, it's not hard to find more and more recent ones), think about the wave effect if these foundational trends continue.

Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some...

2011-01-25T13:59:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm kind of glad that I didn't get anything written yesterday, because as I perused the email and news today, I came across this story. 108-3 GirlsBasketball Game Raises Questions. People are complaining about such a wide margin of victory being unsportsmanlike and ugly. That the winning team should have done something besides continue to score. That something must be done so that when these two teams meet again (which they will as part of their schedule) such a blowout doesn't happen again. I agree with that last one, something should be done. The team who lost should be taking that score to each and every practice between now and that rematch and busting their butts to make sure they are not obliterated like that again. There is at least one line coming out of the article that the school that lost is a school for underprivileged kids, and this blow to their self-esteem could be very damaging. The coach and the school and the team should be using this teachable moment to create an opportunity to teach how to raise self-esteem by getting up when you're knocked down, learn from the past, and better one's self in the future. Part of sportsmanship is learning how to lose, is it not, even learning how to lose big?

Somewhere along the road scattered with participant ribbons and unused score sheets, we have gotten the idea that kids shouldn't be subjected to being better or worse than each other. What is missed in that mindset are the great lessons that should be learned by coming in last or ending the game with a 0 on the scoreboard. Lessons like how to improve one's own game. Lessons like maybe your talents don't match the game or position you're in. Lessons like looking for what you did right and need to continue doing, and what you did wrong and need to fix. Lessons that extend far off any ball field and far past any grade. Instead, the lesson trying to be taught mostly by the writers and commentators on this particular story, since both schools say they have moved on from the subject already, is that it is better to just cut things off before the score gets that high, or for the team in front to pull back and not try so hard in the interest of not embarrassing their opponent. The only thing anyone learns from that lesson is to depend on others around them to account for their own slack, which anyone living in the real world knows is not how anything works.

Do we need to drop kids directly into situations and expect adult reactions from them? Of course not. But we also can't shelter them from losses, coming in last, or getting blown out the entirety of their childhood and magically know how to handle it as adults either.

Short blip, more tomorrow

2011-01-24T23:57:00.002-06:00

It's times like these I wish I was a late night talk show host. Those guys can spit out something totally random, look into the camera with a dumbfounded look, and move on. Unfortunately, while random may work really well on the internet, the dumbfounded look just does not translate well. So, I will get this blip up tonite, and promise to get some more up tomorrow to make up for it, ok? Glad to hear you agree.

My (more timely) reaction to the Tuscon Shooting

2011-01-17T23:33:00.000-06:00

Ten days ago, a lone man shot and killed six people and wounded thirteen others, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Nine days and about twenty-three hours later, people were declaring that the attack was directly motivated by the horrific, hateful rhetoric coming from the conservative side of politics. Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and the Tea Party were declared responsible for the attack, as though they themselves had pulled the trigger those multiple times. As actual research, journalism, and investigation happened, it quickly came to light that the accused shooter (I love how even though he was dragged from the scene, legalism still demands he be referred to as accused) had a long history of bizarre behavior, rants against capitalism and public schools, video of him burning an American flag, and a reading list populated with Hitler and Marx. Sounds like a serious right-winger, doesn't it? But, the old saying goes, a lie gets around the world before the truth can get it's shoes on. The right is still on the defensive from the accusations, while pulling out more and more examples of the left's more frequent and more blatant calls for violence and death against their political opponents. Another old saying comes to mind, the best offense being a good defense.

The whole thing has really showed how low people will sink. Calls for gun control, hate speech laws, and more protection for lawmakers have all hit the legislative floors in these ten days since the horrific massacre. Death threats against Sarah Palin shot up. One of the injured was taken for a mental evaluation after shouting "You're dead" at a Tea Party leader. Granted, I think that one was an outburst of stress and grief, and hope that it will lead the gentleman to get some help, but it still is an example of people's reaction to this tragedy.

I personally am disgusted by anyone who used the shooting to further political goals, especially so quickly. The bodies weren't even cold before accusations started flying. It wasn't much longer before those bills in Congress started flying. Look up and see if any of your representatives were those taking advantage of the opportunity, giggling like ghouls at a fat man's funeral at the possibility of getting pet projects passed. Hopefully it upsets you enough to take action. These types of opportunistic politicians are a major problem in our government right now.

Can we use this tragedy to study what drives people to such acts? Absolutely. Might that study and discussion lead to some adjustment of laws and attitudes? Possibly. Does time need to be given to mourn and heal first? Common sense says yes.

Prayers go out to all the victims and their families.

Windows or Linux faith?

2011-01-11T00:26:00.000-06:00

Alright, I've been a bad blogger. It's been a few weeks with no update. I've got several good excuses, but I'll save them for a later date. I will share one of the bad excuses though, since it is providing some inspiration. This post is being typed on my latest project, a Debian Linux box. If you don't know, Linux is that other operating system, as opposed to the ever present Windows. It comes in numerous flavors, or distributions, most of which are available for free. In addition to the great price, it will run (acceptibly well) on hardware that runs screaming if you approach it with a Windows XP installation disk. This salvage box has a 300mhz Celeran cpu and 300 some odd meg of ram.
So why does it have a small user base? Because we have gotten used to the point and click automation of Windows. Remember the last time you had to update your Flash player for your favorite Facebook game? It took three or four clicks, correct? I've been trying to get Flash on this thing for several days nows, trying various packeges and finding there seems to be a bit of a hiccup in the process. It is frustrating, but entertaining and educational at the same time.
I find some parallels between this and faith. Much faith in today's society is similar to that auto-pilot, not reallly knowing what's going under the hood, point and click Windows experience. Bible literacy is down in the Church, and poll after poll says that Americans identify themselves as Christian, yet those same polls show attitudes and beliefs on things like morality, origins, absolute truths are not in line with the name. We think it is enough to show up at church on Sunday, know a few verses, and we'll get into Heaven. But much the way that many modern web warriors have never seen the inside of their computer tower or laptop, much of the current Body has a limited knowledge of how the faith they profess works, because they haven't bothered to pop the hood.
This silly Linux thing doesn't do very much unless I tell it exactly what to do. In order to tell it what to do, I have to know all the right commands, file paths, and programs. Christianity doesn't work (provide the peace that passes understanding, lead us on the path God intends for us, get us to Heaven) unless we really understand the right directions (that we are to follow) and attitudes (humility, serventhood). For Linux, there are stacks and stacks of documentation, included with the system, written up, and in groups of fellow users. For Christianity, there is our main user manual, the Bible, lots of other documentation of varying accuracy and usabiltiy, and fellowship with other believers to help us with our questions, our hard times and our good times. Neither one is easy, for both there is no auto-pilot, but it's a much better trip when you have a better idea exactly what is going on.

It's That Time Again

2010-12-21T00:30:00.000-06:00

We have arrived. The final countdown is in progress. In a mere five days, we will be celebrating Christmas. This means so many different things to so many people. To some it is a day off work, to some it's holiday overtime on their paycheck. For some it's getting presents, for some it is giving presents. There are those who enjoy the time with family, those who don't so much, and those who don't have a family to enjoy. It is a time to celebrate for many, for others a time to complain. (Although the latter usually don't contain their complaining to a single time of year...)
It's interesting that Christmas was not celebrated at all in the early Church. It appears that Christmas didn't show up on the scene until around the fourth century. Also interesting is that the Bible doesn't give us a solid date to put the birth of Jesus on, unlike Easter (during Passover, well documented) and Pentecost (not quite as solid, tradition puts it 50 days after Easter, there are 40 days documented in the Bible that Jesus taught before He ascended to Heaven, with another 10 days of waiting in Jerusalem thrown in). No, this isn't a diatribe about how Christmas is an evil pagan distraction from true Christianity. Just another reminder about where our focus is supposed to be. Jesus' birth was miraculous, it was the fulfillment of a prophecy from God, but it was only the beginning. The purpose of Christmas was to get to Good Friday (Jesus' death on the cross), and the purpose of Good Friday was to get to Easter (returning from death, having paid the debt we all owe for sin, opening the door to Heaven). So my wish this Christmas is that as we sing songs and fellowship and give gifts is that we remember there is a shadow of a cross over the Nativity scene, that the Babe in the manger was the means, not the ends. Merry Christmas, and God bless.

A Small Victory, But The Battle Rages On

2010-12-13T20:53:00.000-06:00

Ok, I've been avoiding politics for a while, but today was a big jump in the right direction. A Federal judge declared that the Obamacare mandate to force individuals to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. This is the good news. The bad news is that for one, the people in charge of our government had to be told this by a judge. Evidently they are lacking the ability to actually read and understand the U.S. Constitution enough to know what they should have learned in eighth grade social studies. The second piece of bad news is that there are a whole lot of people in the country who also lack that ability and still think it is terrible and evil that our government can't force it's citzens to engage in business those citizens don't want to engage in. Emmanuel Goldstien, of 2600 magazine, tweeted that he is "About to leave a country where the mere notion of universal health care is unconstitutional. Looking forward to rejoining civilization." (@emmangoldstein if you want to read it youtself)

Like so many issues that get lots of press in today's political world, the focus is in the wrong place. Would it be terrible if every American could walk into any hospital or doctor's office and get whatever medical care they needed? No. Is it feasible? No. Does our federal government have the Constitutional power or mandate to provide this kind of service? No. That's supposed to be the end of the story. No feel good, wouldn't it be nice if we did, emotional appeal. The Congress and President Obama, before any bill was proposed, any press release written, or any public opinion polls taken, should have looked to the Constitution and said "Does the Federal government have the right and ability to provide any of this?" The current administration is far from the first one that is guilty of not asking those questions, nor does either party have clean hands on the matter.

So, if this is such a pervasive problem, what is the solution? First is education. We The People need to get back and learn the Constitution, it's limits, it's powers and it's intents. Second is accountability. We need to show our elected representatives that we know what they can and cannot do, and hold those officials responsible when they step outside the bounds. That's what this recent mid-term election was. But will the momentum hold up, or will we get distracted? Andrew Jackson, Thomas Paine, and Wendall Phillips all gave us varations of the famous quote "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." There will be legal appeals of this ruling, and more importantly, there will be future elections.

Asking The Right Questions

2010-12-06T15:28:00.000-06:00

It's an age old question. What happens to people who haven't heard the Gospel when they die? We know that accepting Jesus is the only way to Heaven, and the only other option is Hell, so if a person dies in somewhere or somewhen where they lived their whole life without ever being told about Jesus, what happens to that soul? Now that you're contemplating that, think about this: how is that question really relevant to God’s plan? Obviously He knows what happens to them, and has the situation under control. My thinking that maybe this is not the correct question we need to be asking.

Following that train of thought, I looked to the Scripture to see if this is a habit of mankind, this asking the wrong question. When the Pharisees brought the adulterous woman to be stoned they asked, “What shall we do with her?” Peter asked if seven times is enough to forgive someone who has wronged you. The Magi went to Herod and asked where the king of the Jews was. Both the Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus for a sign that He was the Messiah. Even the disciples asked for signs of the end of the age. As we look at God’s answers to these questions we can see how He can lead us from incorrect questions to righteous answers.

The story of the adulteress woman who was brought before Jesus is told in John 8:3-11. The Pharisees were attempting to trap Jesus, knowing that either answer they were expecting, (stoning or releasing the woman) would cause trouble, one from the Romans, who wouldn’t let the Jews carry out a death sentence, the other from the Jews themselves, who would not agree with such a disregard for the Law. Instead, Jesus gave them an answer that showed God’s mercy and reserved judgment for Him alone, that being of course “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” The Pharisees came with a legitimate question, even though they brought it with selfish intent, and got an answer that pointed those who were willing to listen God’s purpose. An interesting side note to the story is that the Pharisees appear to have doctored the Law a touch to suit their purposes. Deuteronomy 22:23 states that if a virgin pledged to another man commits adultery, both her and the man are to be taken out and stoned, and Dt. 22:22 says that if the woman was another man’s wife, then they still are both to be put to death. So here we have man’s question of what are we to do with those who are sinners and offenders, followed by God’s answer of show mercy on them as you have been shown mercy upon by Him and leave the judgment to the only one who is truly worthy of leveling judgment, and who will handle said judgment in His time.

The next question we will look at is Peter’s asking how many times we must forgive someone who has sinned against us in Matthew 18:21. Peter thinks that seven times should be plenty for us to bother with. But Jesus’ answer raises the bar by quite a bit. Depending on the version we read we either get seventy times or seventy times seven, which comes to 490. Either number gets the point across, that love keeps no record of transgressions. (1 Cor.13: 5) If you love someone, you will not keep a track record of how many times they have wronged you just so you know when you have to stop forgiving them for it, or to hold over their heads, or for any other reason. Jesus then tells the parable of the man who was released from the large debt he owed his king, and then threw another man in jail for a lesser debt. We see man’s question of searching for a limit on how far out of our way we have to go to forgive others, followed by God’s answer, which reminds us how far out of His way God went to forgive us. Jesus later told the disciples that He had a new commandment for them to love each other as He had loved them (John 13:34). Jesus goes on to demonstrate how we are to love by reinstating Peter even after his denial of Jesus, once again giving us God’s answer to this human question.

In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus what the signs will be of His second coming, and while He does give a long description of many things that will happen leading up to the second coming, He reaches His main point in v. 42-44, saying that instead of worrying about what the signs will be, always be prepared, because we will not truly know when He is coming until He does appear. This answer is followed by a tale of a good servant and an evil servant, one who takes proper care of his master’s possessions and one who abuses his master’s possessions, and then two parables, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, all of which focus not on what the signs of the second coming will be, but on believers always standing ready in their faith, faithfully awaiting it, always prepared for it.

So what is the point of all this? The point is to always ask to see things from God’s perspective instead of ours. God’s plans may not make sense from our perspective at the time, but they always work out. When we try and work God’s plans out our way, trouble is assured. We see this shown throughout the Old Testament. When the nation of Israel consisted of Abraham and Sarah, they took their way to try and fulfill God’s promise, which opened an enormous can of worms. When Israel demanded a king, wanting to be like the other nations around them instead of how God wanted them to be, it led to a divided kingdom and captivity. We also see how following God’s plans will succeed when we follow them as in the fall of Jericho. One of the finest examples of keeping God’s perspective comes from the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego. When faced with either a fiery furnace or obeying God, they came back with “our God has the power to save us, but even if He doesn’t we will not bow to your god.”

We can find other examples of people asking the wrong questions in search of right answers in the Bible, or sometimes asking the right questions to the wrong people. The Pharisees and Sadducees went to Jesus demanding sings that He was who He claimed to be, instead of looking to the Law that they were supposed to know so well, and watching for the continued fulfillment of the prophecies about Jesus.

So what of the question that started this train of thought? What is God’s answer to the question of unknowing unbelievers? I believe that it is given to us in the Bible, in Matt. 28:19-20. God is in control of those souls and knows His plan for them. Our job here is to reduce that number as much as is within our calling and our God given talents. So let us keep our minds clear our eyes on Jesus, and our questions correct.

A Reminder

2010-11-29T10:56:00.000-06:00

Ok, we've had our turkey feast, survived (or skipped) Black Friday, enjoyed a long weekend, and now are to Cyber Monday (or Black Monday if you have to return to work and school). The Christmas season has officially started. I know, there have been inklings of it since after Halloween, but they don't count. As the gift buying and hinting get into full swing, and travel plans are finalized, decorations are put up, Christmas songs fill our heads, and our favorite holiday movies and specials start appearing on the tube, I offer an early reminder. Christmas is a mashup of two words, Christ and Mass. Christ of course meaning the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, the Savior of all mankind who came to us in the form of an infant to take all our sins away, and Mass, meaning a celebration. The purpose of the day and the season is to celebrate Jesus, specifically His birth, which was the answer to the prayers of many centuries. It can be hard among all the other things we have crammed into this last month of the year, even the important things like seeing family during the time off, and the "Reason For The Season" signs, shirts and stickers have become ubiquitous enough that they kind of blend into the other signs of the season. So, instead of waiting for the pageant at church or Linus' famed reading, here is my reminder of what we are celebrating. Enjoy.

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.
⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

(from biblegateway.com , NIV)

Fighting The Law, and other wastes of energy

2010-11-22T13:47:00.000-06:00

Times like this is why one keeps any and all notes, and transcribes them to as many places as possible. This is a slight adjustment to an older piece, which saves me from missing another post. The message still holds true, and is one of the topics that floats through my head quite often. The inspiration came from an unusual source though. A song. Not a hymn or even a praise chorus, although they often provide inspiration. The song was “I Fought The Law" by The Clash. The chorus is the main inspiration here, "I fought the law and the law won." In the vast wilderness that is my mind, I took that thought and began traversing down many a rabbit trail. When I think “law”, especially in relation to religious matters, I immediately look at the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament. The Israelites were given three books worth of law, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. While study shows that many of the laws are repeated in each book, there are still many, many laws to follow. These laws governed not only their worship and how they were to communicate to God, but also their diet, dress, and how to handle many legal matters within the nation. The laws told them how they could atone for their sins, and what sacrifices were necessary for different sins. It was by obeying these laws that Israel was sanctified, separated from the world and brought closer to God. It was by obeying these laws that they were made holy and saved. So, logic follows that if they were obeying the laws, and offering up the proper sacrifices when they failed, then the people would not need any further forgiveness.

But included in the law was the Day of Atonement, the annual festival where the high priest placed the sins of the nation on a scapegoat, and then released that goat out to the wilderness, so that the Israelites sins were taken away from them and dealt with by God. Leviticus 16 gives all the details of the ceremony. Lev. 16:21,22 “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.” And before the scapegoat is released, another goat is offered as a sacrifice for the people’s sins as well. After all that, even with the law, the people were still in need of continued forgiveness, every year at the Yom Kippur ceremony, as well as throughout the year with their individual sacrifices. Now, is this a flaw in the law? It cannot be, since the law came from God, and God would not give us a red herring to chase in search of salvation. Galatians 3:21,22 confirm this. “[Is] the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” No, instead, the law was God’s way of showing us that acts and works were not sufficient to bridge the gap between God and man. Hebrews 10:1-5 goes into great detail on this subject. “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, but the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once and for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Those good things to come were first Jesus’ sacrifice, followed by the eventual return of man to our place, with God in the New Jerusalem, after the final battle. We see this again in Gal 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain”. If the law can be called flawed, it is an intentional flaw, included to prove a point to mankind.

Back on track, however, as time passed, the people tried to fight the law. Even as Moses was receiving the Law, the people fell into idolatry, wanting a statue to worship, even though they had just seen the plagues on Egypt, the parting on the Red Sea, and the pillar of fire and dust that led them to Mt. Sinai. The description of Israel by God given in Hosea 4:6 tells of people who by that time had chosen to fight the law by ignoring it. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because though hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me; seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” King Saul tried to fight the law, going to the witch of Endor for answers when God would not answer his questions. 1 Samuel 28:17-19 tells us the price Saul paid for fighting the law “Because thou obeyed not the voice of the Lord, nor executed His fierce wrath upon Amaled, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and tomorrow [shalt] thou and thy sons [be] with me; the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Another group who tried to fight the law in Jesus’ time were the Pharisees. They tried to fight the law by expanding it to a point where the boundaries they set were so far behind those set by the Law that they could not possibly cross over the lines into breaking the Law. It was an attempt to beat the law at it’s own game. The Pharisees nitpicked the law, laying down the exact numbers of steps that could be taken on the Sabbath, or what fractions of their spices they had to toss into the offering urns to be properly tithing to God. For their efforts they were called a brood of vipers by John the Baptist, and their teachings referred to as a yeast to be avoided by Jesus. Luke 11:42 “But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Paul later declared that Israel as a nation had fallen into this trap of legalism and salvation by works. Romans 9:30-33 “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because [they sought it] not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.”

Even since Jesus fulfilled the law, there have still been attempts to fight the new law. After His ascension, there were those who thought He was coming back very quickly, so rather then follow the new law laid down of spreading the Gospel, they went out and sat in the fields, just biding their time until Jesus came back. Paul fought against many different groups who insisted that new Christians conform themselves to Jewish laws or the worship of angels. These attempts to fight the law continue even today. In my classes for my pastoral studies program, I read quite a bit about different ideologies and theologies that have cropped up over the last 2000 years since Jesus’ death and resurrection. Many of them are simply new ways to try and fight the law, either trying to justify compromises they wish to make with worldly beliefs or trying to fill in the gaps with something other than faith, as they are intended to be. There are schools of thought that claim to be Christians saying that God can save people through other religions, eliminating their need to evangelize those who follow other religions. There are others who claim that their rituals and laws are necessary for salvation, not just belief in Jesus. They are all continuing to try and fight the law, just as Israel did centuries ago.

So where do we stand now in relation to the law? Even now, if we try and fight the law, the law always wins. We know that the law does not save us. Gal 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified". Even if the law could, James 2:10 tells us that “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.” If we attempt to become righteous by the law, fighting the new law with the old, we must maintain everything listed in those three books, which includes not only animal, grain and drink offerings, but such things as not wearing clothes made of two different materials or plant two different kinds of crops in one field. (Lev. 19:19) Instead of walking in the old covenant, which cannot save us, we can walk in the new covenant, which saves by Jesus’ sacrifice. Rom. 8:1-6 "[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Matthew 5:17 tells us that Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Now, rather than having all the rules and regulations to sanctify us, we have faith in Jesus which separates us from the world. Rather than having to offer imperfect bulls and sheep up to cleanse us of our sins, we have been cleansed, once and for all by the perfect blood of Jesus.

We can try and fight the new law, the law of grace by bending it to our own whims, or by trying to prove that the old law is sufficient for us. We can try and fight with the old law, wrestling against it’s many edicts to no avail. But either way, whenever we fight the law, the law always wins. So rather than fighting it we should accept the law which stands now, the law of honoring God, treating others as we would be treated, and believing in the one way, one truth and one light that is Jesus, who finished the law for us, and wrote the new covenant of grace.

How did we get down here, and how do we get back out?

2010-11-15T23:39:00.000-06:00

A list came through in the never-ending information stream that is the modern communication system. This one was a list of the most bizarre hip-hop criminals. Interestingly enough, most of the crimes themselves weren't particularly bizarre, assault, bank robbery, drug possession, and a couple of homicides, although someone commented that a rapper who got really ripped on PCP, killed and attempted to eat someone should have made the list. Reading through these rap sheets got me thinking about the culture and mindset that generates this kind of activity. Unfortunately, much of the rap culture is tied strongly to the gang culture, where the objective is to live fast, die young, and take as many with you as possible when you go. Before I get slammed as an evil racist, there is a similar culture in parts of the heavy metal world, exemplified several years ago in the European black metal scene, where several murders and cases of church arson occurred, in the interest of showing how "evil" the perps were, just like the rappers were trying to prove how "thug" they are.
How does any culture get to a point where these levels of violence and antisocial behavior are goals to be reached? It comes down to the foundations of that culture. As Rome sunk deeper and deeper into it's own pit, the levels of deviancy rose higher and higher. The death matches in the Colosseum, be they armed man vs armed man, armed man vs animal, unarmed man vs armed man, or unarmed man vs animal, were spectacles that the folks at UFC and WWE are only in the foothills of. Never mind the legendary sexual exploits of the Roman Empire, the (literal) backstabbing and political games played by the emperors make the most despicable maneuverings of Washington D.C. look like tiddlywinks. And what were the foundations of the Roman culture at these times? Very similar, materialistic, nihilistic philosophies to the ones we see in the aforementioned subcultures, as well as many other parts of our modern society. Think about the abortion debate. Regardless of one's feelings on the act in general, how can anyone accept killing a late-term baby who can live outside the womb? Only by adapting those materialistic, nihilistic ideals, and deciding that even though the baby is viable, since it hasn't gone through the birth process, it isn't really a person. This is one ugly, but more widely accepted example of that same mindset which tells a person it's ok to shoot someone who is a member of a different gang, or simply not a member of their gang.
Pointing out problems is easy. Offering solutions is another matter. Both of the specific subcultures that I've mentioned have similarities in their members. Poverty, lack of family structure, various social strata that tell people they can't move beyond their present level are all common among gangbangers, metalheads, disenfranchised punks, white trash, and any other group you can probably name. I remember the Judas Priest trial back in the late 90's where a pair of kids decided they heard voices on the album telling them to "do it". The blame was laid on the record, not the alcohol and pot the two had consumed at the time and in the past, not on their troubled home life. We saw the same thing with the Columbine shooters. Their violent rampage was blamed on video games and Marylin Manson, not the lack of parental involvement in their adolescence. I know we don't want to add to parents grief when these events happen, but we've also got to be honest when these things are analyzed, and not make up strawmen to avoid other factors.
The world lays either a foundation of material goods and pleasures, or a foundation where those goods and pleasures don't bring any real satisfaction. Neither of these foundations can hold up under the storms of life. They both lead to emptiness, unhappiness, dissatisfaction, often anger, depression, and other issues that get expressed in various ways. Not usually the severe antisocial behavior at the beginning, but it is quite disturbing when you start listening to people's stories how many of those tales boil down to thinking one of those two ways. Many religions lay claim to knowing how to rise beyond the material, yet they seem to be either setting goal of becoming nothing (while becoming everything at the same time) or working hard enough to please deity X sufficiently to gain entrance into the afterlife. Some folks are going to say that the second describes Christianity, and that as I move into the preaching portion of the post, I've already discounted my own solution. They are incorrect. Following Jesus isn't about earning anything. It isn't about getting everything we want here on Earth. It isn't about being constantly happy. What it is about is believing that mankind in general and ourselves specifically are broken, and we don't have the means to fix ourselves. What it is about is accepting that the price to fix us was paid on a hill in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. What it is about is acknowledging that we are not our own, we simply choose who our master is, and the master we obey is the master who we will spend eternity with. That "obey" is a major problem to our modern ears. It's why we would rather adrenaline rushes and shiny jewelery, or fame and acknowledgment for our abilities. But when pushed out, as history, both modern and ancient shows us we always do, those desires for worldly paradises never end well. They always end up glorifying depravity, be it crowds cheering for the surviving gladiator or the whispered infamy of criminal musicians. And when an entire society glorifies depravity, it is a short trip to the end of that society, as history also shows.
Each of us can only control our own choices, but if we choose to follow life instead of death, and listen to the orders that the real Master gives us, either in His Word the Bible, or through the many other ways He talks to us, then we will be set fire, and that fire will spread to those around us. No one of us can cure the ills that lead to the kinds of crimes that have been discussed here. But if we hold up the Way, the Truth and the Light, and teach it to our children, and the people we interact with, then a new dam can be erected, and those types of stories can become less celebrated.

The cost of procrastination...

2010-11-11T23:22:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'd like to say that this is late because I was spending Veteran's Day properly honoring the great men and women who are and have sacrificed for our freedoms, but I wasn't. However, the day did remind me of why I need to get these notes and rough drafts off my phone and saved on here as drafts. You see, when one has a little padding, some work ready in advance, when a busy day comes along, there is something either waiting to be dropped out the chute or something that just needs a little polishing before it's ready. So, this short post today is a reminder to live for today, learn from yesterday, and remember tomorrow.

Is your name known in hell?

2010-11-08T15:04:00.000-06:00

Well, the mid-terms are over, the first reminder to keep the fires going has been posted, now we can get back to more important things.

I heard an account about an evangelist by the name of W.P. Nicholson. He was associated with the Salvation Army in Ireland at the turn of the 20th century. In this tale, he invited an unsaved man to a prayer meeting. The man's response was that he had no idea what to do at a prayer meeting. Nicholson told him to go home, read Acts, and that would prepare him for the meeting. That evening, the man came to the prayer meeting, and after several people made their long, passionate prayers, the new comer finally stood up and said "Dear God, I want everyone in hell to know my name!" Now, this was quite a shock and Nicholson pulled the man outside the meeting and asked him what kind of prayer was that, why did he say that? The man replied that he had read Acts, and read the account of the seven sons of Sceva, (Acts 19:11-20), where the Jewish priests had tried to cast out a demon by invoking the names of Jesus and Paul, and the demon possessed man answered "Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?" and attacked the priests. The man finished with "Mr. Nicholson, I want the Devil to know who I am!"

We don't often think like that do we? We focus on making sure that God knows our name, and that our name is written in the Book of Life, but what about the other side of the coin? Do the demons know your name? Do they tremble when you come near? Or are you just another somebody blowing hot air that is of no concern to their goals?

Besides the account in Acts where the demons declared they knew Jesus and Paul, the Gospels also tell us that the demons recognized Jesus. A specific story is the two demon possessed men who Jesus healed by casting out their demons into a herd of pigs. (Matt. 8:28-34) There the demons called Jesus the Son of God when they saw Him and begged for mercy. Mark 3:11 and 12 tell us this happened several times, that the demons saw Jesus coming and fell down before him, announcing His proper title.

We know why the demons feared Jesus, but what about Paul? Paul was just a man, correct? What made him so special that his name was known in hell? Paul was known by the demons because he was a solid soldier of God, a man who took his orders and performed them, a man who laid his own life in God's hands, who preached Jesus and Him crucified to the non-believer. The priest who got attacked by the possessed man seems to have only seen Jesus as another name to chant in order to cast out the demons. He didn't accept Jesus, there was no Jesus in him, which meant this priest was no threat to the demon.

The devil doesn't keep track of non-threats. If we aren't doing anything that shrinks his kingdom, neither the devil or his demons is going to bother knowing our names, because he knows that he'll have plenty of time to get to know those folks later. But, when we are doing Kingdom work, following our directions, be that as evangelists or prayer warriors or worship leaders or any of the myriad of jobs on the Fellow-ship, then we are dangerous to the devil, we are enemies, and he makes sure to know his enemies. So, the question falls to us, are our lives entwined with Jesus' enough to be known in hell?

Now the real work begins

2010-11-04T13:51:00.000-05:00

Tues, Nov. 2, 2010 was a big night for American conservatives. Much of the nation used the midterm elections as an opportunity to tell all of Washington, and many state capitals that they don't like the direction the country is going in, or the attempts that have been made to fix the problems we have. No, it wasn't the great Republican blowout many hoped for, but that's ok. We don't need a Republican blowout, much of the economic blood that has been spilled is on business as usual R's hands as well as D's. But this is only the start of OUR work. Yes, people, our job is not limited to making a check mark every two years. That attitude is another big part of why we're in as deep as we are right now. The next step is to keep our boots on the throat of D.C. (If it's a good enough phrase to for Gibbs to use on BP, it's good enough for our elected officials, right?) As in every election, a lot of promises were made in this one. Before the election we got a formal plan of action from the Republicans, of what they were going to do if they took back Congress. Guess what? They got the House, and significantly closed the gap in the Senate. So now, We The People need to hold them to those commitments, and any that the individual candidates made as well. This goes for you Democrats out there too. The D's that held their seats are just as responsible for their campaign promises.

This election fired up the the people. Now that it's over, we can't just go back to business as usual. We have to stay on our elected representatives, and tell them that if they aren't willing to hold up their word, then they will be putting "former" in front of their title, just like the people they are replacing. Many of those who will be seated in January were plucked from outside the normal Washington circles. We sought out candidates who weren't insiders, if they drink the Kool-ade, once they get in, we will just have to go find some more and vote them in. The Tea Party movement has proved that there are still a lot of regular Americans out there who care about this nation, and are still willing to get involved. Now we just have to stay involved, and remind everyone, including many citizens, that this is a representative republic, and those representatives are there to serve We The People, not themselves, not select groups, not but us and the nation's best interests.

You have your orders.

Side-show justice

2010-11-01T22:53:00.000-05:00

The temp agency I've been spending my mornings at waiting for work to come in has a TV on in the corner. On that TV every morning comes a show. This show is a disturbing mix of The People's Court and Jerry Springer. It's called Eye For An Eye, and the judge on the show goes by the name of Extreme Akim. He enters to a Springer like crowd chanting his name, armed with his Bat of Justice in replacement of the standard gavel. Various plaintiffs and defendants plead their cases, a variety of small claims court type claims, X suing Y because of this, that and the other. There are two scary things about the show. First is the usual verdicts and sentences. One example, a pair of sisters were suing each other over a lottery ticket. The verdict was the two women had to find the ticket in a dumpster of trash out in the studio parking lot. In another, a clown was accused of showing up to a birthday party drunk and traumatizing the youth, he got to sit and get pies in the face from all the kids that were at the party. In one more case, a stripper came in claiming that she had a tape recording of the plaintiff's father leaving all his money to her. This case ended with the judge deciding the stripper was lying and ordering her down to the nearest tattoo parlor to get "golddigger" tattooed on her. That one leads to the second scary part of the show. That verdict was made with an "expert" listening to the taped will, and then listening to the deceased person's voice mail message, which was still available because it was a very recent passing. Based on hearing these two pieces of recording once each, the witness determined that they were not the same person.
Now, I'll be the first to say that our current legal system has some serious problems, the main one being too many laws for too many lawyers to manipulate. But despite that and other problems, this type of "justice" doesn't fly either. How is it really justice to throw motor-oil balloons at the guy who sold you a car with the odometer rolled back? It may vent some emotion, both for the thrower and some of the people watching who have had such things happen to them, but isn't one of the reasons for the court system to avoid such emotional reactions? Aren't judges supposed to be looking at the facts they are presented, hold them up to the law, and make their judgments and punishments based on those? Should legal punishments be subject to these kinds of emotion? I don't think this type of courtroom is very far removed from the Roman Colosseum, where life and death hung by the crowd reaction, or the lynch mob justice seen in parts of the US over the years. All these events do is further deteriorate our ideas of what justice is. No mistake, there are numerous instances we all know, famous or not, where justice was not served in various court cases. But like so many basic ideals, such as family, love, freedom, responsibility, reducing it to the lowest common denominator just further deteriorates the foundation, and right now, most of these basic ideals are on crumbling foundations due to apathy, ignorance, and laziness, and show like this simply keep chipping away at that damaged base. Cursory investigation of the show doesn't solidly answer if Mr. Akim is an actual judge, though he is definitely a busy lawyer before the show, which frighteningly enough has been going for about six years. The same cursory investigation indicates the show is connected to National Lampoon, which brings the title of Judge into question as well. Everyone's second favorite source of random information wikipedia says the show is a form of binding arbitration as opposed to an actual small claims courts, again questioning if the title of Judge applies. I'm not blaming the show for anything, but it's another symptom of a society in decay, syndicated in
69 countries.

Where has intellectual challenge gone?

2010-10-28T16:04:00.000-05:00

As I sat waiting in the temporary labor office, I was flipping through the various old magazines and free newspapers that had collected there, and one column jumped out at me. It was in a free "what to do in Vegas" newspaper, under the theater section. The columnist wrote that the idea of political correctness seems to have stripped the theater of it's ability to slap patrons across the frontal love with thought patterns outside their own. For example, he longed to see a script, set in 1940's Germany, told through the eyes of an enthusiastic young German wrapped up in the exploding National Socialist movement, and seeing why the character believed so fully in Hitler's vision and rhetoric. Not a "wait to see the conversion at the end of the story" play, but a "challenge the audience's way of thinking" play. You know, the way plays like Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair did back in the day. Other suggestions were scripts that examined characters Christian faith (ones that aren't simply aimed at the converted) as a counter point to the numerous attacks on believers seen on stage, and even ones that examined the mindset of the pro-segregation crowds from the Civil Rights movement days. I found it very interesting that the author laid at least part of the blame for this tunnel vision on the typical profile of the modern playwright, young to middle age, a loner, a liberal and an agnostic. Those very personality traits are supposed to be the people who are open to all possibilities, willing and wanting to expose themselves and everyone else to many different paradigms, and who desire their art to be provocative in the effort to shock viewers into consciousness and open-mindedness. The columnist even went so far as to suggest that someone should write an anti-gay play. Not one advocating violence or any other such nonsense, but an open and honest exploration up on stage of why some of us believe that being gay is not normal, without being portrayed as the villain of the tale or as just an ignorant stereotype. Personally it was rather refreshing to me to see this kind of pining for intellectual and philosophical challenge from any entertainment field, especially when that pining wasn't simply calling for stirring up controversy with the same old "tear down the Judeo-Christian morals and mores" that passes for depth in so much of the art world.
The whole idea of genuinely testing our worldviews seems to have become foreign to many these days. Especially those groups who claim that they are the most open-minded. How many liberals sit down and listen, honestly listen to Rush Limbaugh or Neal Boortz? How many atheists or antagonistic agnostics read through the Bible? Neither with the intent to find errors or launch personal insults, but simply to absorb and hold what comes to them up against their own paradigm? Personally I enjoy engaging in debate with people who don't subscribe to the same ideas I do, be it political, religious or less heady topics, simply because the engagements make me defend the ideas that are in my head, both to my opponent and to myself.
The recent wikileaks military document releases is a case that has generated a lot of internal debate in my head, some of which has yet to be resolved. My first trip to college was as a newspaper photographer, and I have a deep-set respect for the freedom of the press. At the same time, I know that war is hell. Sick, sad things happen in war, no matter how much we try and prevent them, which is a prime factor in wanting to avoid war when ever possible. Unfortunately, sometimes it simply isn't possible to avoid or at the least in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, simply leave. Muddying the waters further, I realize that in this day and information age, or even before, and in the type of war we are dealing with, the military can't simply announce everything it's doing, nor can it always announce when those unfortunate things happen, because such events quickly turn into propaganda for the enemy. Keep in mind, in this case we are dealing with an enemy that has no issue killing innocent civilians with suicide bombers in crowded markets or with roadside bombs that don't discriminate between military and civilian either, or shooting at soldiers from residential buildings, done intentionally to generate civilian casualties. Of course, as we have seen with the video and information that has come out from this event, not reporting events is used as propaganda by other not so friendly forces as well. Should wikileaks have released all those documents? Should the press? Should the military have released them before this? Would I have acted any differently placed the situation of those soldiers, those commanders, the leaker, wikileaks, the reporters? I still can't answer those questions.
(A fascinating aside, evidence of how many viewpoints can come into play in a situation, and a likely answer to why many people don't want to challenge their brains with such issues, the hacker community has gotten involved in the situation, for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that many of wikileaks documents are discovered by hackers. A person in the hacker community was told by a soldier who is accused of hacking into military computers and giving the hundreds of thousands of documents to wikileaks. This person chose to inform the military of what happened. Because in this case there are names and faces to work with, the man in charge of wikileaks is not entering America now for fear of arrest, and the informant is the target of much hatred from the hacker community. At the hacker conference The Next Hope, a wikileaks representative gave a keynote speech explaining why wikileaks believes they are in the right releasing the documents, and the informant took part in a panel discussion on informants, explaining why he thought he was right for revealing who leaked the documents to a rather hostile audience. You can download and listen to both talks here, scroll down the list to "Informants Heroes or Villains" and "Keynote Address: Wikileaks". Just these two discussions show how much is touched on by a single event, from feelings about the military-industrial complex, the wars in the Middle East, narcing people out, hacking, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, are secrets needed in a society... the list goes on. Anymore, we like nice simple solutions and fortune cookie answers, and this is an exemplary case where there are no easy answers, no matter what side of the spectrum you are on, at least not if you are intellectually honest.)
Back on track, personally I take up the challenge to my worldviews. Rush and the rest of the conservative talk radio crowd are not my sole source of world news. I pull in information from several sources, such as the links to left leaning reports that people post on the various corners of the internet that I frequent, be it facebook, twitter, or any of the various message boards I'm part of. Off The Hook, the radio show from the same folks who organize the aforementioned HOPE conferences every other year and also put out 2600 magazine, gets downloaded and listened to just about every week. It's not exactly news, but they certainly aren't raving right wingers. I noticed a while back that several of the writers and writings that are the foundation of communism are available for free on Project Gutenberg. Since I've been getting quite a bit of reading done lately, those text files just might make their way onto my phone for perusal and dissection.
If we don't test our ideas, how do we know it is we believe? How do we know our worldview holds water if we never pour any into the bucket? So I challenge you to go forth and test. If you are one of those aforementioned folks who think Rush Limbaugh is the devil incarnate, sit down and listen, honestly, openly listen to his words for a while. Find solid, intelligent arguments against those words. Not angry personal insults, but genuine arguments. If you think Obama is the anti-Christ, do the same to him. One of two things will happen. Either you will strengthen, solidify, and better identify your own ideals, or you may find that you have built a house on sand, and you need to go pour a new foundation.
The columnist's name that inspired all this is Anthony Del Vale, and he writes for Las Vegas Review (bestoflasvegas.com). I figure he deserves a plug for all this spilled digital ink.

In memorium to Poorboy Records

2010-10-25T16:00:00.000-05:00

In my younger days, I was a metalhead. (still am, but I've branched out considerably) I used to pick up roughly half a dozen magazines off the grocery store newsstand every month, and peruse the interviews, reviews, and the ads for new and exiting stuff coming out. Then, every few months, when we made our trips to Hutchinson and my mom shopped the teacher's supply store, I headed down a couple of blocks to Poorboy Records, a little new/used record store that had lots of those tapes by bands I only knew by the logos and album covers that were advertised in the aforementioned piles of magazines. Some times the albums were really good, sometimes the cover was the most impressive thing about it. But there was that thrill of the hunt, the "hey, cool, I finally found that one I've been looking for" which helped break up the patterns of life.
Now as adults, we have a tendency to fall into patterns. Go to work, come home, have dinner, do chores, go to bed, rinse, lather, repeat. If you have kids, slip get children ready for school there before go to work, and add get kids to bed between chores and going to bed yourself. Even our entertainment can get monotonous. How often do we stare at the TV, even though we're not that interested in what's on? Anyone else out there teetering on the edge of a vicious Farmville addiction? Even though you're not really excited about harvesting all that stuff, but the new XYZ collection is coming up, and you need that coin, so you sit there every day?
We can run into the same issues with our faith. It can become easy to fall into a rut, to just start going through the motions every Sunday morning, every day with our devotional and prayer life, even on special occasions and holidays. It's safe to say that most of us, if not all of us have seen it, and I'll bet a nice chunk of change that most of us have hit those bumps in the spiritual road. So if we are familiar with the problem, then what do we need to do to solve it? What do we suggest to others when they tell us they feel bored with God?
Think back to when you were first saved. There was a fire, an enthusiasm, a hunger wasn't there? Think back to time that tried your faith. There was a longing, a need, another hunger there as well wasn't there? What did you feed those hunger pangs with? For me, a major part of my early Christianity was finding replacement music for all that old, not so nice stuff I had collected from dear old Poorboy Records, and other places over the years. Lucky for me, several of the bands and record labels I found then are still running, still putting out Spirit filled metal, punk, hardcore, techno, rap, et al. Also lucky for me, I've got a pretty sizable music folder on the computer with several of those albums, samplers, and various free tracks saved from those initial ravenous days, and throwing them into the playlist often helps fan the flames.
What about books and authors? Of course, if one's Bible reading is slipping off the regular things to do list, getting it back on should be a priority if the Christian life is looking the same day in and day out. Were there any books you read in your own infant days as a new believer that really motivated you? Any preachers who you heard on the radio that inspired your faith life? Find them again. Dust off those old tomes, see if the writer has written any more. Search your radio dial and the internet to see if that old preacher is still on the air. Lack of reading and listening material is certainly not an issue in this day and age, even if you have to vet it more carefully due to that massive amount of media available. Researching new to you authors and speakers can certainly help stoke the hearth as well.
The band No Innocent Victim had an album named "To Burn Again". (I can't seem to find a good full size image of it to show you, google the band, you'll find it) The image on the cover is of a man on fire, and the city around him is burning. You even see burning footprints where he has trod. That is why maintaining our own fire is so important. Everywhere a Christian walks, they should be leaving those burning footprints, setting fire to others. If we aren't then how are showing the world the way to Jesus? Was Jesus complacent with His faith? Were the disciples? Were any of the people we now call the fathers of the Church? How about the people who led the Reformation or the Great Awakening? Did they get fall into a spiritual rut or did they keep the fire alive with pray, fellowship and study?
Need more evidence of the importance of keeping your faith fire and passion going? Look at the word's answer to loss of passion. What is it? Simple, quit and find something new. How many marriages end just because "we weren't passionate about each other any more"? How many people quit jobs and careers because they just don't have that same fire any more? Relationships, jobs, hobbies, schooling, families, churches, religions, politics, whole worldviews, the world says if you're bored, drop them all, no big deal. If you're bored, why bother putting effort into something you're not automatically excited about? If that attitude and the results we see of it all around us doesn't convince us that passion is not an automatic response and sometimes it needs a little gasoline thrown on it, I don't know what will.
Feeling like everyday is just the same old same old? Before you sell everything you own and try to hitchhike your way around the world, look back to your own passionate and hard times. What can you bring to the present to fuel your current flame?

2010-07-19T08:03:00.001-05:00

Testing testing 123

The Snowball Gains Momentum

2010-05-21T00:37:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know just a couple of days ago, I said some of us need to focus more on spiritual matters than political ones because spiritual matters more important. But something happened this Thursday that punctuated the idea that we need to keep our eyes, ears, hearts and prayers on our leadership as well. In front of a joint session of Congress, the leader of another nation stood up and told our elected representatives that his nations problems were the result of our laws and policies, and then lambasted the state of Arizona for choosing to make state immigration laws match federal ones. The issue today is not the president of Mexico's words (the night before he was asked in a CNN interview about Mexico's immigration laws and he informed us that if you are illegally in Mexico you cannot work, if you are discovered in Mexico without permission they will ship you out, period, do as we say not as we do) The issue today is that a large percentage of our elected representative gave him a STANDING OVATION for his verbal attack on America. Let me repeat that. A large percentage of our elected representatives gave the president of Mexico a STANDING OVATION for blaming Mexico's violence and crime issues on US laws and telling us that the new Arizona immigration law, which is not as strict or draconian as his own country's immigration law, is wrong. There was a time when someone from another nation who spoke so vehemently against this nation's policies and laws would not be invited to Washington DC, much less be honored at a state dinner and get a speech in front of the entire Congress.

This standing ovation is more evidence that we have people in our government who don't know or don't care about the founding principles of this nation. National sovereignty was an important one of those principles. That sovereignty includes maintaining secure boarders and exercising the rule of law. This standing ovation is more evidence that America is rolling downhill, gaining more momentum, towards it's end. I don't know if we've hit that point of no return yet, but events like this really make me wonder. Is it time for those of us who believe in the Constitution to pack it up and wait for the house that has had it's foundation dug out from under it collapse, hoping to rebuild over the ruins? Or can we still get in front of the snowball, dig our heels into the ground, and push the country back up to the top of the mountain? I'm under no illusion that Republicans winning Congress in November will magically fix everything, or even that if it happens, the Republicans will follow through and fix anything.

I am just in awe that we have such anti-American ideologues sitting in Congress that they would applaud such a vicious verbal attack on America inside the halls of Congress.

Take the log out of your own eye....

2010-05-19T00:33:00.000-05:00

The topic of the state of the Church has come up frequently in numerous places. Sunday school, devotionals, news stories, all over the place, even from non-believers commentary. There seems to be less and less difference between the world and the Church in their actions and mindsets. We know that the divorce rate in the Church is the same as the world's (although I would like to see some breakdown of those figures, I was divorced before I got saved, is that counted as a divorce in the Church?), a recent study tells us that almost 40% of children born in the US was born out of wedlock, (my first thought when hearing that was how many of those were in the Church), and STD's keep rising in our youth (and again, how many of those are sitting in youth groups?) We have churches ordaining active homosexuals, campaigning for gay marriage, and supporting other non-Biblical causes.

Looking back to the Old Testament, we see that God gave His people (Israel) a long list of rules to follow. Many of those rules concerned their diet, appearance and dress. The purpose of these rules was so that whenever an outsider saw an Israelite, that outsider knew they were seeing someone who wasn't like everyone else around them. God's rules were meant to keep His people separate from the rest of the world. Then Jesus came, and taught that His followers were no longer quarantined in their own little section of the world like Israel, but they were to go out of mix into the world, taking Jesus' words and teachings with them. In the world, not of it. The Church is not supposed to be mixing the world's yeast into it's bread, we are supposed to be mixing God's yeast into the world's bread. Watching the current state of the Church, we are seeing an awful lot of worldly yeast in many churches.

Some people take that to mean that believers need to be out in their Christian t-shirts, listening to their worship music on their local Christian radio station, talking nothing but Jesus all the time to the heathens around them. A recent column I read noted that Paul was knowledgeable enough about the Greek and Roman cultures he preached to that he could quote their own poets and philosophers in his letters and sermons. Being in the world means we are aware of what is going on around us. Not being of it means that we hold those things we see up to the standards God has given us, kind of like the way the Supreme Court is supposed to take the cases before it and hold them up to the Constitution to see if the laws are in line with that authority. Which conversation sounds more Kingdom oriented? "Did you see that movie 'Valentine's Day'?" "No, I don't go to any secular movies." or "Did you see that movie 'Valentine's Day'?" "Yes, I did, and I was so glad to see the high school couple decide that they should wait to make their relationship physical. It was such a nice change from the usual script."

I'm just as guilty as anyone of pointing out the horrible evils of our current culture instead of looking inward at the Church. One of the reasons why the culture has sank so far is that much of the Church has been taking in that worldly yeast, and it has made us a poor example to the world. We've gotten too nice, too afraid to offend, too inclusive, all at the cost of our own foundation. Look to the epistles and Acts. We see brethren called out publicly for their failings and false teachings. Nowadays, sure, we see talk against Westboro Baptist, but what about Reformation Lutheran here in Wichita? Who did Jesus call hypocrites and vipers? Was it the heathen Romans around Him? No, He called out the Pharisees and Sadducees, the most religious of the Israelites, the people who were supposed to not only know the Law, but follow it gladly, not mechanically.

Now, does this mean you should go up to that couple in the pew ahead of you next Sunday that everyone knows is living together and read them the riot act? Only if after much prayer that is exactly the unmistakable instruction God gives you. Does this mean that the Body needs to ignore the politics and activities of the world? No, but some of us need to move it down the priority list a couple of notches. What we need to do is get back to the Biblical examples that Jesus and the Apostles set. Clear the money changers out of the temple, call out the legalists, talk about the uncomfortable things, the offensive things from the pulpit, in Sunday school, at church dinners, in youth group, at home, at school, at work. Done in love, tough love when needed, following the instructions God gives us through the Bible and individually (which requires delving into, learning, studying, memorizing Scripture, having it ready to support those actions) these are the things that will get the Body back on track. These are the things that will bring real revival, set the Church on fire (spiritually), and get that fire spreading back through the world. The band No Innocent Victim had a great album cover several years ago, To Burn Again, not only was the outline of the man on fire, but behind him were burning footprints. That is the way the Body is supposed work. When we are on fire, everywhere we walk, we leave burning embers, waiting for fuel to create their own bonfires.

Getting back in the groove

2010-05-11T23:17:00.000-05:00

Ok, I've been a bad blogger. Two weeks without an update, not good. There are several excuses, but none of them matter. Of course based on the traffic report, doesn't look like I was missed too much. That's alright too, because it caused great thought.

The movie That Thing You Do follows a little rock and roll band in the mid 60's through the ups and downs of fame. In one scene, the band falls apart in the studio, leaving the drummer (the main character) dazed and confused. Enter the jazz pianist said drummer had met in a club the night before, who just happens to be recording in the same building. Drummer tells pianist that his band is gone, and he doesn't know what he's going to do now. The pianist tells him that bands come and bands go, but to just keep playing. Doesn't matter who with, just keep playing.

That covers how I feel about writing. People have told me I'm pretty good at it over the years. God doesn't give us talents to sit and gather dust. Whether or not anyone is reading is irrelevant. Just keep writing. Ideas keep coming into my head, whether they be sermons or political rants or just shooting the breeze about something cool I found. So with that, I renew my resolve to regularly update this little corner of the internet, even if the public entrance is covered in dust and cobwebs. Not sure if the Monday updates will remain, hopefully I'll kick into to gear and be updating more than once a week. Enjoy the trip, I know I will.

The search for good music (on a tight budget)

2010-04-19T23:16:00.000-05:00

Alright, what to write about this lovely evening? Have I left out enough details online to talk about the report at my new job that there is significant animosity between the union folks whose high hourly wages and Cadillac benefit plans pushed to the company to outsource an entire department? Nah, I'll wait until I get called a scab. :-D How about the "war of words" going on between Bill Clinton and Rush Limbaugh? No, I'm in a good mood tonight, no reason to blow it on an press hungry former president.

Instead, I feel like talking music. Like a large part of the US workforce, I'm not making enough money to shell out for CD's or iTunes. But music is still a big deal to me. Do I turn to piracy to feed the hunger for new tunes? Preferably not, although questions about the illegality of getting digital copies of albums owned on tape or out of print music come to mind, but we'll save that for another day. No, instead we turn to the world of free and legal download-able music. Simply googling for free legal music, MP3s, or other terms tends to pull up sites that lead you on a wild goosechase of links, or the most original one I ran into, offer free downloads of popular songs, as covered by the sites own house band. It's one of those occasions where Google just doesn't cut it. That's where I come in.

The main focus will be Christian music, mainly of the hard and heavy persuasion. One of the best places to start is blabberdownload.com. The gentleman that runs it hangs out on firestream, the believer's heavy metal refuge (so do I, I'm righteous_slave there, just like on twitter) and dredges the web for the best in free, legal, Christian metal, punk, black metal, hardcore, ect for us cheapskates to download. The site doesn't host anything, instead providing links to where bands and labels have their songs, demos, EPs and sometimes full albums available. Just lots of music to go through, new stuff and old stuff that bands want the public to have access to.

The next example is one I found through blabberdownload, and that is record label Indie Vision Music. From the homepage there, go to the downloads tab and feast your eyes on a massive selection of tracks, exclusive EPs again a few whole albums, and most importantly, some HUGE label samplers. The Summer Slam Vol. 3 comp alone is 56 songs ranging from death metal to metalcore to emo to pop punk. Get this one quick, because it's moving towards the bottom of the list, and a few other big samplers have disappeared. The label's roster runs that same gamut, with a huge variety of genres to choose from, and they work to support Christian bands in the underground.

Speaking of record labels, search for your favorite record label's website. Very often they will have free samplers for download, a few tracks from their various bands, or links to the individual band's websites/myspace where tracks may be available. Facedown Records regularly puts out samplers of their excellent hardcore punk bands (one is available right now). They also have links to each band's myspace under the "family" tab, where you can often find more download-able tracks, or at minimum some streaming ones to check out.

On the streaming front, there are several sites that let you build a library of music to listen to online, if that is your preference. Last.fm is my personal favorite, they have a huge selection of popular and not so popular music, but don't be surprised if your favorite top 40 artist doesn't have any full tracks available to listen to. There are also some social aspects to the site, again, I'm on as righteous_slave there. And look around, some bands have songs to download through this site as well. For streaming, a close second for me is Reverbnation.com. The focus here is building up local scenes, so you can search for bands not only by genre, but by location too. Again, look for righteous_slave if you want to say hi. (Notice a trend there?) Note, neither of these sites focus on Christian music, but there is plenty to be found on them, whether you like metal, worship, or rap.

Another place to look for free stuff is mail order sites. Yes, there are still places that will ship you CDs, and as the brick and mortar stores keep closing, web stores are becoming the only place to get those shiny disks that one sticks in the computer to rip the songs to your iPod. Divine Metal Distro has a free sampler up right now, although you have to fill out your info except payment data just like a regular order, and even though it's not free, Undark.net has a 50 cent sampler available for download (come on payday!). If you're not po' (that's so poor you can't even afford the last two letters) both sites have some good specials on CD's and downloads to check out as well.

And finally, don't forget to check your favorite band's website and myspace. Frequently bands will have tracks, demos, live recordings, or b-sides up on either or both of these options.

So there you have it. Just from what's listed here, one can enjoy many hours of new and new to you music, all at no cost or possibility of imprisonment. Like I said, these sources, except where noted, provide much Christian extreme music to fill your hard drive with. If screams of "Jesus is Lord" ain't your cup of tea, that's fine. The hints listed should net fans of any genre at least a little bit of free stuff. It may not be the same songs coming out of your radio, but commercial radio seems to have really hit the skids lately, with every station, regardless of their format, apparently pulling from the same pool of around 150 songs. So, with that, I bid you happy searching and downloading.

What parachute are you using?

2010-04-12T23:25:00.000-05:00

"Minds are like parachutes, they only function when open" is a popular bumper sticker these days. The idea of course is that by keeping one's mind open to all possibilities, only then you can understand the world. Shutting out any option means you are close-minded, and may be missing a great truth or revelation that comes from worldview or philosophy different than your own. According to one of the preachers I was listening to on the radio today, the Jewish definition of open minded was significantly different. (transcript John McGee Grace To You) In the ancient Hebrew world, an open mind was a simple one, an open door, one that not only let everything come in, but also kept nothing from going out. Sound like any open minded folks you know? Changing ideologies with the wind, always on the lookout for something new usually to fill in the spiritual gap in their life?

Either definition of an open mind is a house built on sand. There is no foundation to build on, only a shifting mass of thoughts, possibilities, ideologies and if-thens. Bill Watterson illustrated this indirectly in a Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin could suddenly see all sides of everything at once after a discussion with his dad where he was shown both sides of an issue. His world turned cubist, and movement or even perception was made impossible until Calvin "eliminated all viewpoints but one". When we take in all the possibilities, we are left immobile. Look at what has happened to the politically correct movement. In an attempt to see all side of various cultural issues, it has become difficult, if not impossible to interact with people without the possibility of offending someone within earshot. In the attempt to not favor any ideology over another in the public square, it has become a ridiculous shell game devoid of any common sense when dealing with numerous situations. Take our counter terrorism actions. The majority of people who are involved in the various plots, successful and unsuccessful have been Middle Eastern males. Yet the PC police say that focusing on Middle Eastern males in our security details would be racist. So we get scenarios where elderly women are pulled aside to be wanded because of their hip replacement, but the Fruit of Kaboom bomber made it on board a flight to America with his paid in cash ticket and plastic explosives in his drawers. (1. No, not every male of Middle Eastern decent should be banned from getting on a US or US bound flight, we just need to acknowledge who is plotting and performing the majority of these acts and pattern our reactions accordingly 2. My point was not to go off on a political tangent this evening, but I'm tired from a couple of weeks of manual labor)

Has the open mind become an excuse for not setting down principles? Time and time again, we hear that even on Christian college campuses and in the church itself, ideas like absolute truth are falling out of favor. Acknowledging absolute truth means closing your mind to other ideas and marching forward in faith that you have chosen the correct mindset, and that very idea has become an anathema to modern Western civilization. Pragmatism and relativism are the order of the day, because they carry no risk. If you are wrong in your thinking, just change it.

Jesus did not stand up and say "I am A way, A truth and A light." He said "I am THE way, THE truth and THE light." (John 14:6 emphasis added) Do you want that assurance, or do you want a worldly parachute? I know which one I've got my trust in, and He has kept me sustained and going and softened many a landing a far cry better than that worldly parachute so many are relying on.

The Greatest Self Contained Epic Ever Told!

2010-04-05T22:57:00.000-05:00

I've noticed something lately. Stories that have a definitive beginning and end are much preferable to stories that meander along, constantly trying to keep people coming back, usually for the next month (comic books), next week (TV shows) or next release (movies). Comic books seem to be the best illustration of this. Lacking time and money to keep up with the current crop of comics, I still flip through a few on the newsstand on an irregular basis, and there just seems to be a lack of desire to start a story, tell it, and move on to the next one. Instead there are constant tie-ins, hints, and teasers, all designed to get one to buy next month's issue to see what the next big event is.

Most of the best comic stories I can think of were very closed. Yes, there was some room for expansion and exploration, but the story itself was self contained. Watchmen, Alex Ross' Kingdom Come, and The Dark Knight Returns can all be picked up and enjoyed by themselves, without knowing the depths of comic continuity, or having to pick up a dozen other issues to find out the rest of the story. (Marvel did this for a few years, running a massive crossover through all or most of their title's annuals each year. The stories were frequently good ones, but the set up required buying books that an individual might not be following just to get the whole story, which was very annoying for some of us.) The Age of Apocalypse, a massive X-men story from several years ago is a great example of a closed storyline, because there were only two ways for the tale to end, and both involved the destruction of the AoA universe. (It all makes sense if you read the story, which has been collected into four tradepaperbacks. Look 'em up at your local comic shop)

Personally I see this same closed storyline in the Bible. In it's pages we start with God speaking Creation into existence, and end with the final destruction of that Creation, leaving only New Jerusalem (Heaven) and the lake of fire (Hell) moving into a new and final era. In between we see man created, man falling, God's chosen people created, God's chosen people falling, God fulfilling the promises He made by sending a perfect sacrifice for all man's sin, and the initial spreading of the possibility for eternal life and fellowship with God. There is plenty of room left for the aforementioned expansion and exploration, as we each continue to write our own parts of the story, and look to the accounts that others have left us, but even if we never crack open St. Augustine's Confessions or John Wesley's Journals or C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, just having the basic story is enough to satisfy what we need.

Another parallel that can be found is that sometimes, people try and take a good story and garble it up with their own additions, expansions and explorations. Just look in the religion/Christianity section of any bookstore, and one can find numerous interpretations of what the Bible and it's accounts really mean, according to any one of a number of experts on the subject. Usually, these interpretations are little more than adjusting the Bible to agree with the experts viewpoint. Just to throw my own ideas in here, such predispositions are likely the reason why the Bible is such a self contained account, to help prevent later additions or amendments. Nothing in Scripture accounts for future revelations like the ones claimed by some cults and churches. To my knowledge, the books of the New Testament specifically have stood up to the numerous questions and testings of their accuracy and authenticity, while the various "new" books of scripture that have popped up over time keep falling by the wayside.

A movie many many moons ago called Jesus' life the greatest story ever told. In many ways, the entire Bible is Jesus' story, letting that title apply to all sixty-six books. How could the greatest story ever told not be a complete epic in and of itself, not needing crossovers or prequels? If it was left open-ended, with the final chapter a mystery to be waited up, would it still be the greatest story? Of course not. So this week, when you're reading your Bible, or even if you don't read a Bible, think about the intertwining of those sixty-six books, how they are woven together to tell such a complete tale, the entirety of this age, and the entrance into the next. While you're thinking about that, think about how, when this epic comes to an end, there are only two options left for residence, and which one you will be calling home.

Can you keep the rocks from crying out?

2010-03-29T23:37:00.001-05:00

This week was Palm Sunday, marking the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the beginning of the end of His earthly ministry, and the start of our Easter season. Like many churches, we passed out palm leaves and waved them during the service, this year in particular there was a march around the inside of the building, singing and waving. A few things struck me during the service. As we read the story of the entry, there is a line that jumped out this year.

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:39-40)

I have attended several different churches over the years, and admittedly, none of them have been of the crying out variety . Not that there is anything wrong with that, being a rather introverted individual, it's usually a good match. But as Jesus' words above tell us, there are times when nothing short of loud, raucous celebration will do. In this case, we have the fulfillment of a 500 year old prophecy (Zechariah 9:9-10) debatably to the day (some interpretations of Daniel's 70 weeks Daniel 9:24) that is reason enough for celebration that even if there were no people shouting, the very earth would be shouting.

We have a great deal to celebrate everyday, should we be out waving palm branches every day? Every week? Is there something to be said for such actions, or would that be moving into ritual? Psalm 51 tells us that "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (16-17) The point of worship is not our actions, it is our motivation. If we raise our hands or shout only because it is what everyone else is doing, or only because it is tradition, it is no different than the rich people Jesus humbled by pointing out the widow's offering of her last coins (Mark 12:41-44) By the same token, if the urge to shout rises inside us, and we hold back for fear of embarrassment or breaking tradition, is that any different?

Easter is a season full of tradition and ritual in virtually every church. Palm Sunday, Easter egg hunts, Good Friday, sunrise services, and communion among them. As we go through the season, let us ask ourselves, are we performing out of obligation? Or are we looking for the greatness in everyday and every action that calls out the kind of celebration that makes the very rocks want to cry out?

My Healthcare Reform Rant

2010-03-22T22:25:00.000-05:00

Like about 90% of America, I'm talking about health care reform. The Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, on a late night Sunday vote, passed their sweeping plan. Some celebrated, some mourned. I'm in the second group. This bill is a major loss for all Americans, and if attempts to defeat it before it goes into full effect (in 2014, conveniently in time for Obama's re-election campaign) fail, the damage may be irrevocable.

"But what about all the wonderful things in the bill?" For argument's sake, I'll say that there are. (No I don't believe there are, but like I said, this is for the sake of argument) Even if economic impossibilities like forcing insurance companies to accept everybody, regardless of their health conditions are a good thing, the biggest problem in this bill is the federal mandate that all citizens purchase health insurance. This mandate goes against all of the principles of the Constitution. There is nothing put forth in the Constitutional powers of any part of the Federal government that give them the authority to force the citizens to purchase anything. Look at your history, and you will see that it required an amendment to those original powers to allow the Feds to tax our income.

That is a massive problem. As I said, even if the other parts of the bill were good, no good is worth this kind of shredding of the basis of our freedoms. Hopefully some of you will say "What about W's Patriot Act?" Go for it, I will tell you that was a reactionary bill shoved through by both the President and Congress without the much needed thought that should have been put into it, and faces many of the same arguments. Back on track, giving the Federal Government the power to force the citizens to purchase a good or service is not democracy, a representative republic, or capitalism. It is tyranny. It is not rule by law.

Have we reached a point where Americans no longer value the principles that made this the greatest nation on Earth? Have we reached a point where "feel-good" actions, regardless of their infeasibility, are more important than our freedoms? According to Obama and the Democrat party, yes. According to most public opinion polls, we have not. Despite much celebration from some loud groups, there is still resistance. States are readying lawsuits and even amendments to their state constitutions to defend against this attack on freedom.

Our argument is not, nor has it ever been that there are not improvements that can be made to our health care system. Our argument is that first, more government intervention is not the solution, and two, that improvement does not require throwing out the principles of our nation. Federal mandates to purchase anything, whether it is health insurance, smart cars, or anything else is exactly the type of tyranny that our Founding Fathers fought against, that brought so many millions of people to Ellis Island with tears in their eyes, that drives people to struggle across the Gulf of Mexico to reach Florida from Cuba.

If you are reading this and support the current heath care plans, please think about the cost, not just in money, lost jobs, lost industries, lost progress, if for no other reason than that those are theoretical. Very likely, but still theoretical. Giving any president or congress, republican or democrat, the power to force the citizens to spend their money on anything was not the intention of our Founding Fathers, and is a dangerous path to tread. It is the path to tyranny, period. If a central government can order the purchase of anything, and we lay down and accept it, that government can order anything. They can order that what medicines and treatments are available to you. They can order what products are available on your store shelves. There are already tons of federal regulations on those things, barely held in check only by the people's power of free speech and voting.

And those same powers are the only way we are going to hold onto what is left of those Constitutional fundamentals. This bill is unconstitutional. The People don't want it. But it was still passed. It was passed to cheers of "Yes We Can". It was passed by more buyoffs and questionable deals than any bill in recent memory. That reveals a great deal about the mindset of those presently sitting in power in D.C. And what it reveals is not pretty to anyone who believes in the foundations of this nation.

Who was that masked commentator?

2010-03-15T23:11:00.000-05:00

Anonymity, especially on the internet, is not a bad thing. I enjoy my share of it. There are numerous settings on our web browsers and web sites to help hide our identity. There are all kinds of services, software, and extensions that don't let others know what we are doing (to various degrees). One place anonymity is really annoying, and very much abused, is when commenting on important issues. In an attempt to promote this wonderful scroll of continuing commentary (the exact opposite of our topic, but that's ok, I'm allowed) I've found some sites that will let you log in to comment on article with your blogger address. Now, like most of us, I have read numerous news and entertainment pieces online, and usually ignore the comments underneath them. People spew forth both gushing adoration and venomous bile in those comments section, often with no name but Guest to identify themselves. No identification, no worries that someone might disprove your theory and make you look bad, or logically tear apart your impassioned argument and trace it back to you. The Keyboard Kommandos strike from every side of every issue. There are conservative ones and liberal ones, Christian ones and pagan ones, it is truly a unit that does not discriminate.

So what, you may think. Big deal if some moonbat accuses the Tea Party of doing nothing but dragging down political discussion by calling them teabaggers and yokels. That person just looks silly to anyone with a lick of common sense. The issue is one of accountability. When we aren't accountable for our actions, the quality of our actions drops. If no one knows who is speaking, it becomes very easy to say anything, regardless of those statements truth or logic. Don't believe me? Go to your favorite newspaper site, or local newscast website or news channel site and find where the comments are. There is likely all kinds of nastiness being thrown around especially on any slightly divisive issue, all with little or no paper trail to connect those comments to anyone other than a username. It's not limited to the internet. The Wichita Eagle has it's Opinion Line, where one or two lines are left on the answering machine and then printed with no name, and based on some of the stuff they print, I can only imagine the comments that are left that don't see print.

My point is to ask that folks have the personal responsibility to attach your name to your comments. It doesn't have to be your real name (sometimes that's an easy out if one happens to have a very common name). It can be the user name you usually use, it can be your email address without the @whereever.com. If you are not willing to sign your name to your comments, that should be a good indicator that maybe a little editing is due. Our Founding Fathers did not scrawl "Guest" at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence. They put their names and in effect, their lives on that comment about the state of relations between the American colonies and the British empire. They were willing to take responsibility for those words. Words can and should have great power. When we remove responsibility and accountability from our words, they lose that power.

Capitolism, ROI, and Free stuff, oh my!

2010-03-08T22:08:00.000-06:00

I am an avowed capitalist. Not only because it is a far cry better than the alternatives, but because, just like freedom, the price is eternal vigilance. A capitalist system doesn't stand if the people get apathetic about supporting competition, keeping the producers in check with their own knowledge and actions, as well as stay active in keeping the government from over-running the market. When the people fail in the first, the producer's greed overruns everything, when we fail in the second, the government regulates business into the ground, or at least out of the country.

But my subject today is not economic systems, but one of the byproducts of them. Advertising is a fascinating product of capitalism. A producer's objective is to move product. Advertising encourages people to buy product. It has developed into a massive industry in and of itself. Polls and studies and data are all gathered, analyzed, metrics are generated, ROI (return on investment) is calculated, and various ad campaigns are launched or left on the cutting room floor. The web has seriously changed the advertising landscape in a huge number of ways, one of my favorite being making "free stuff" more available. The simple fact is that cost of the stuff given away pales in comparison to the value of moving up in the web searches and the increased value of the advertisers ad space (that ROI we mentioned earlier) Now, 99.999% of the free money, free gift cards, free computers, free iPods offers that we see are fertilizer. They typically require a long maze of filling in your data, usually several times, signing up for other free trials and newsletters, and usually just getting a larger slice of the spam pie for your trouble. At worst these offers may be harvesting your data for identity theft purposes, or downloading malware/spyware/destructive viruses onto your computer.

There are a couple of places to go on the web where you can earn free stuff legitimately. One I recently came across is swagbucks.com. After seeing them featured in a short bit on the news (in a piece that evidently wasn't good enough to archive on the website) I figured what was the worst that could happen? A little digging comes up with other positive reviews, as well as a B+ rating for the parent company Prodege LLC from the Better Business Bureau. Regular readers (both of you :-D ) will notice a new widget to your right. Feel free to use it or the link in the paragraph above. The set up is very simple. You sign up, use their search engine to look up stuff on Ye Olde Web, and random searches will earn you swagbucks, which can be redeemed for lots of nifty stuff from their catalog. Yes, getting other people to sign up earns you bucks as well, hence the link and widget here. Don't expect to earn a new blu-ray player in a week, but simple things like installing the toolbar and using it instead of your bookmarks to go to sites you frequent will slowly but surely fill your swag wallet. By what I have found thus far, swagbucks doesn't seem to be aggregating your personal data for commercial purposes any more than Google, Yahoo, and Facebook are, so why not get a little bit of that advertising budget for your time?

Another one I've been using longer is mypoints.com. Instead of actual merchandise you spend points on gift cards for various retailers. They have a search option, but I usually earn my points simply by viewing the sponsor pages from the emails that are sent on a regular basis. Because I'm not shopping online with their chosen merchants, or signing up for free trials, quotes and the like, it has been a very slow build up. But it is building, and with a bit of concentration the points would add up much more quickly. Now, the site is owned by Classmates Media Corporation, but an A+ and accreditation from the BBB overcomes that hurdle. No, I'm not including a link because Mypoints doesn't offer points for referrals, they offer points for adding people to your network. DM me on twitter or facebook or email me if you would like to sign up and score me a few points. :-D

At this time, my spam intake hasn't jumped significantly since signing up for either of these sites. I think it's safe to say I get more spam from my job hunt than both of these put together. So there you have it, some free stuff for you that is the direct result of the evolution of capitalism. Advertising dollars spent generating hits and higher search ranks flow from the producers pockets, and some marketers have figured out ways to get those dollars to the consumers for helping the producers. Now if these marketers could just teach these wonderful free market ideals and results with those silly folks in D.C........

P.S. Like the rest of the world, I see the "I made six figures sitting on the beach in Maui and so can you!" ads all over the place. Glancing at some, I've seen principles that make sense, and with a little diligence, have found a few that just may be marketable. I don't think any of them will have me retiring in a year, but for a second stream of income, there are some promising and legitimate looking affiliate marketing, ad making setups out there that work. As my research continues, expect those to pop up in here as well as the usual politics and religion. I think making money online is rapidly joining the list of things you avoid talking to people about if you don't want an argument to start, just like religion and politics so it's a logical addition.

Jack of all trades, master of none

2010-02-22T23:41:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot of heady things to talk about. Obama announced that the stimulus worked last week, then a couple of days later we find that new unemployment claims jumped up again and "unexpectedly". If this is the stimulus working, I would hate to see what would have happened without it. Then this week we have the President's own national healthcare plan, with a nearly $1 trillion price tag, new government databases of your information, government oversight of insurance companies, but supposedly not a cent added to the deficit, even though at this writing it hasn't gone by the CBO.

But I digress. I'm feeling much less confrontational today. Haven't talked tech for a while, and the announcement of the poorly named iPad a couple of weeks ago has set my mind a whirling. My current phone is an older blackberry that was donated by my current boss. The calender is the best I've found on a phone yet, and I don't have to press a number multiple times to get the right letter when texting or looking for a name in the phone book. The feature that has gotten the most use (since I haven't been able to justify another $30 a month to get internet on it) is an ebook reader I found. (mobipocket if you're that interested). It reads .txt files great, so Project Gutenberg is one of my best friends right now, and can even make some pdfs ungarbled enough to read. Yet, because there is a ton of ebooks, mostly in pdf form on my hard drive, the Kindle and Pocket Reader are of great interest to me. And of course, music is a necessity, and this particular BB model doesn't have an SD card slot, so there isn't enough memory to utilize it as an mp3 player.

What does this have to do with the iPad? Well, like the iPhone before it, the iPad is being touted as a great Swiss Army knife gadget. Internet, music, books, pictures, the whole nine yards. But I start thinking is how well does it do all these things? Is it better for surfing the web than your laptop? Does it offer a better music listening experience than your mp3 player? Is the phone (for the iPhone) better than your regular, more dedicated device? Do any of these wonderful, one in all toys really perform their jobs better than three or four dedicated devices? If not, is the performance loss worth the convenience of the single device, a serious issue when we look to the iPad because that thing ain't fitting in your pocket, and I don't think we've quite reached the age of the man-purse.

I will readily admit that I would rather carry a couple of devices that do things well for everyday use, and save the super device that does everything for special occasions. When more internet access is needed than the phone offers, that's what laptops and free hotspots are for. Same goes for music and reading. Maybe that's just me. Maybe the whole thing delves into the current "instant gratification" mindset we're running into nowadays...whoops, said I was going to stay light this time around. Anyway, we've seen "all that and a bag of chips" devices go down hard over the years. Any one remember the Ngage? (crickets) There's a reason for that, it tried to be a phone and a gaming system, and by all accounts, did pretty poorly at both. Why is the PSP so far behind the DS in the handheld market? IMHO, because the PSP is trying too hard to be a great catch all device for games, movies, music and internet instead of picking one thing, maybe two and doing those better than anyone else.

Granted, right now this is all strictly a question of academics. I'm not getting an iPad or iPhone anytime soon, or a Kindle or a Zune. But that's ok. It's much more fun trying to get these darn electronics to do what you want it to than knowing it does everything out of the box. The joy of overcoming those limits beats the convenience of no limits. Maybe....nah better save that one for a more serious entry too. :-D

Can't think of a wiity, music related title today

2010-02-15T23:45:00.000-06:00

A while back, I was pointed at a band by the name of Grave Robber. (If you like metal/punk, they have a serious Misfits sound, check out their Myspace, if you don't, that's ok, just keep reading) The band took the idea of dying to the world and being reborn in Christ and put it to a zombie allegory. They utilize a shock rock show, with masks and lots of theatrical props. Now, would I invite Grave Robber to perform at my church? No. Not because I have anything against the band or their setup, but because that form of evangelism/expression of faith wouldn't be particularly effective with the congregation. Would I invite them to play a show here in town? Yes. Why? Because there are enough goth/emo/mallcore folks running around who would come and listen and be open to the Message in the music. Folks who aren't likely to walk into a church on Sunday morning, and if they do, will (in many congregations) be looked at funny for their Hot Topic clothes and funny colored hair.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he said this.

And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some and this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. (1 Cor. 9:20-23, KJV)

To the Jews, he became a Jew, to the them without the law (everybody else from a Jewish point of view), he became one of them. To the punk, the Church is called to become a punk. To the raver, the Church is called to be a raver. While some of us like to focus this on subcultures, we also see it in other cultures around the world. Services in Kenya are completely different than ones in Japan. The hidden "illegal" churches on North Korea worship in a vastly different way than the metalheads attending the Cornerstone festival. Are any of them wrong? No. (not in principle, at least) In the same way the hymn singer is just as right as the contemporary worship music singer is.

It kind of annoys me to see churches with signs out front that say "Traditional Worship Service 8:00, Contemporary Service 10:00". The idea come off as an unnecessary division. Hopefully these churches have events and services where everyone comes together, otherwise what is the purpose of being one church, why not break into two separate ones? Augustine said "In essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in all things love" (and in a random side note, the article that came up when I googled the phrase to make sure I remembered it right goes into how the statement is wrong and has created issues for the church, bookmarking it for later perusal and likely writing about) The essentials are doctrine, belief in the God revealed in the Bible, Jesus as our necessary redeemer, that God has a purpose for all of us, and wants us saved to share eternal life in heaven with Him. Non-essentials are variables, the things we do in life and worship that aren't named specifically in that doctrine. I guarantee you that none of our church services match the ones the Apostles held as the Church grew in Acts, or in the first several centuries afterward. Does that mean we are doing it wrong? No. It means we are utilizing that liberty that God has granted us.

Personally, I hear a lot of great things in those old hymns, and a lot of great things in the new worship songs. Of course, I hear great things in the Christian black metal, hardcore, and industrial music I find, too. The last couple of churches I've attended have always happily mixed hymns and contemporary music. Hopefully we can come to a time when we can all listen with open hearts, and take that open heart into other parts of our worship and daily lives. Then we might see fewer divided services and more united forces. Just a thought, we all know the power of music don't we?

Near the Sword, Near God

2010-02-08T23:38:00.000-06:00

The title of this week's blog is a quote attributed to Ignatius of Antioch, an early Christian martyr. He was thrown to the lions in the Colosseum. Before that he rose to the position of bishop, and penned seven letters to different churches that are still believed to be authentic. (Other letters showed up in centuries past that were attributed to him, but are no longer considered genuine.) It is amazing to study history and see the persecution that so many faced just for proclaiming faith in Jesus. It is more amazing to study current events and see the persecution so many face today just for proclaiming faith in Jesus. There are many parts of the world where being Christian is a crime punishable by death, and yet the Church (the whole body of believers, not a specific church or denomination) is growing by leaps and bounds in these areas. Yet here in America, where we are free to announce our faith to any who will listen, churches are struggling to keep people in the pews. Why the difference?

I think it stems from the idea that Ignatius is referencing, and the one Jesus referenced when He was speaking to the rich young man. (Matthew 19:16-30) What do we give up for our faith here in America? Sex, drugs, booze? A few hours a week? What is it we stand to lose for our faith? Some people might unfriend or unfollow us? Most people, probably without much prompting, can think of a or two church they are familiar with that has split due to less than earth-shattering matters. I'm sure most of us know at least one person who switched churches or stopped going altogether over some trivialities, like music or dress, or which translation of the Bible was used. Sometimes it's as little as "we've never done things that way before". Then we wonder why numbers like divorce, drug and alcohol abuse, out of wedlock births and the like aren't that much different between the Church and the secular world.

America is blessed with a culture that, even as bent out of shape as it is, still allows us to practice and proclaim our faith. There is some social stigma that comes with it, a little name calling, but nothing severe. I don't worry about a cop stopping and searching me, then taking me to jail for the Bible on my blackberry. I don't worry about a gang of thugs deciding to kidnap me off the street then behead me for my Promise Keepers tshirt. Maybe that lack of resistance is making for weak spiritual muscle. We all know that lifting a barbell with only 5 pounds on it will not turn us into a Schwarzenegger, no matter how many times we repeat it.

Do we pray for persecution then? No, I say not. Instead be mindful of the blessing we have, give thanks for it, and take advantage of it. Read the stories of those who suffered in the past, and those who suffer now. Voice of the Martyrs is an excellent resource, in addition to their website, twitters, and facebook pages, they put out a monthly newsletter you can subscribe to for free. We can use our prayers and support for those suffering to add weights to our spiritual barbells, and work those muscles out of their atrophy. The American Church has so much potential power in it, waiting to be released. But I think because we are not facing swords, we are letting it wither.

The old rugged cross...

2010-02-02T01:01:00.000-06:00

We are very blessed in our church to have a very wizened retired preacher who still teaches a Sunday school class. Ralph Hessel is a frequent source of inspiration, and one of his many comments has been bouncing around in my head for a while. The topic that came up was the ubiquitousness of cross necklaces, and Ralph mentioned that for all the beautiful, jeweled crosses we like to wear, he would like to see more people wearing crosses with blood on them. For the numerous issues that I have with Catholic theology, the older crucifixes with a bleeding Christ is one place where they are looking in the right the direction. Crucifixion is one of the most painful, drawn out methods of execution that mankind has come up with. While there is debate over whether the nails actually go through the hands or are behind the wrist, in between the two forearm bones, either way has weight pulling on muscle, iron grinding on bone, along with being left to die from exposure, sped up with breaking the legs if needed, on top of the likely police brutality before the execution all adds up to a long, inhumane torturous death.

Our fancy jewelry can make us forget the brutality of the cross. The nice bronze crosses up on the walls of our homes or at the front of the sanctuary can do the same thing. We see them around the necks of rappers spitting out all kinds of sex and violence, oblivious the the meaning of what they are wearing. Crosses are little more to some than a lucky charm. Would these same folks wear a cross of wood and bloodstains and nails instead of platinum and diamonds? I'm sure the goths wouldn't mind the switch, but what about the rest of us?

The sanitizing of Christianity comes to mind when looking at these things. Instead of a cross smeared with blood and other gore, Christians are decorated with precious metals and jewels. We don't discuss the how Stephen died, instead focusing only on his words as he died. Think for a moment about how a person dies when being stoned, another ugly death that many believers have suffered over the centuries. The world likes to think that the church is anti-sex, and the mindset has creeped into parts of the Body. Read the Song of Solomon, folks, whether you're a believer or not. It will knock out a number of preconceived ideas. The whole Old Testament is full of sex, murder, war, and deceit. In their right context, all of those events are great teaching tools.

I'm with Ralph. It's very hard to appreciate what happened on that hill 2000 some odd years ago while looking at a sculpted piece of silver or gold. I'd like to see more blood on our own brows, whether it be from accepting the worldly crown of thorns we carry, or from praying with the same intensity of Jesus on the Mount of Olives. I'd like to see us using more of our own failings for those teaching moments, not just learning ourselves, but sharing them with others so they can learn the way we can learn from those Old Testament tales. When statistics like divorce show little or no difference between the church and the world, we definitely need to see the blood on the cross.

Being right means having to say you're sorry

2010-01-25T23:38:00.000-06:00

One of the disadvantages of being politically conservative is having to say I'm sorry. You know, acknowledge that you did something wrong, or hurt someone's feelings, or made a mistake. Saying sorry means you take responsibility for your own actions. That concept is lost to our liberal friends. One of the most mindblowing examples of this came last week, the day after the Massachusetts special election. Our president, Barack Obama, had an interview, in which he stated that "The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office, people are angry and they're frustrated, not just because of what's happend in the last year or two years, because of what happened in the last eight years." Don't take my word for it, watch yourself A major loss for the president's agenda and the Democrat party is because the deep blue state of Massachusetts voted a Republican who campaigned almost exclusively as the key to killing the current healthcare reform bill into the seat held by Ted Kennedy for 40+ years because they are still mad at W. Not because the people don't want the plan. Not because it's a sorry piece of legislation that hasn't been read by the people in office. Not because it's so horrible that HUGE bribes had to be offered to collect votes (not a new event, or exclusively liberal, but the blatancy of this round of bribery is especially disturbing in view of the massive opposition to the bill from the people) This is one of the finest examples of avoiding taking responsibility we have seen from the left in a long time. Obama, Pelosi and Reid should have said a long time ago that this is not a plan the people want, it needs to be scrapped and started from scratch. But ego, pride and agenda all got in the way. Reid gave us another example with his "light skinned" and "Negro dialect" comment by not following his own example and demanding for his own resignation like he did to Trent Lott for his comment at Strom Thurman's 100th birthday party.

Now, if you're still reading, good. You are probably mature and intelligent enough to at least recognize the point of this rant. My point today is not really about Obama or Reid, they just have recently given fine examples of my point. Personal accountability is one of the bricks in the foundation of conservatism and many other good ideologies. Acknowledging our own part in our situation, whether it is a good situation or a bad situation, is a requirement. If it is a good situation, that acknowledgment can keep us on the right track, maintaining good habits and keep us humble by acknowledging the people who have helped us out. If we are in a bad situation, acknowledging our part in it helps us identify the actions and habits that got us there so we can fix them For some reason, the left leaning mindset that is overwhelming our society, not just politics, can't stand the idea of personal responsibility. We see it in frivolous lawsuits, inane warning labels who's sole purpose is to prevent frivolous lawsuits, therapy blame games (not saying events in our past and things people have done to us can't affect us, especially traumatic events, but part of the healing process is not letting those things rule our lives anymore) no fault divorces, the list goes on and on.

I'll present a personal example of the power of personal accountability. My financial situation isn't the best in the world. There are a whole lot of reasons for that, primarily decisions that I and my wife have made over the years, and yes even decisions I made before I was married. Some of those decisions, mostly the ones I made before I was married were not very intelligent or forward thinking. Some of those decisions were good decisions, but they have had profound effects on life. Having kids early is one of those good, profound decisions, especially as later events have made the possibility of having kids later nil. Not applying myself in high school and the first trip through college is one of those less than stellar choices. Guess what? Since acknowledging that I was not applying myself in my educational endeavors, I have completed both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. Finishing either one would not have been possible without first accepting my responsibility for breezing through high school and flunking out of my initial attempt at college.

None of us can make anything better without figuring out where things went wrong, and 98.7% of the time, we will find that where things went wrong was with our own choices and actions. Not racism, not sexism, not politics, not poverty, not family ties, not other people's opinions of us. So many great people throughout history have started with nothing, and instead of wallowing in self-pity or playing the blame game, they simply said "I will not remain in this situation." Some of them had it all, lost it all, and examined how they got it all to begin with, how they lost it, and then got it all back. Again, these people did not hide in a corner, or scream that the system was out to get them. They acknowledged the situation and their part in it, and went forth to fix whatever was wrong with the situation. There are problems in our political system right now, on the left and the right, and they aren't all George W. Bush's fault. There are problems in our economic system right now and they aren't all AIG and GM's fault. There are problems in our social systems right now, and they aren't all because of racism and sexism. None of these will get fixed unless people stand up and acknowledge what caused those problems and set forth to fix their part of that. If you made it all the way through this screed without throwing your computer through a window, you know what the first step is. Are you willing to take it, to better yourself and the world?

My state of the Union

2010-01-18T23:39:00.000-06:00

I was out cold calling this week, and made my way through one of Wichita's industrial sectors looking for potential customers. I was amazed at the number of empty buildings. Some had weathered For Sale signs in front of them, some just looked abandoned. How did this happen? Obviously, there was a time when these buildings were in use. Thinking back, there are a whole lot of reason why they are empty now. Poor government policies. Poor corporate policies. Poor decisions and attitudes of the general population. Government, fed, state and local, have all made short sighted or poorly influenced decisions regarding environmental regulation, wages and taxes (see the recent suggestions that Kansas raise taxes to close the budget gap, at a time when people don't have money to spend, nor do businesses) have been made, making running these large plants and fabrication shops difficult and nonprofitable. Corporations have made short sited decisions in dealing with unions, in taking jobs out from under people who spend their paychecks on products and services that in turn create more need for the corporations products, and questionable executive actions and incentives (such as golden parachutes).

The main one I want to talk about here is the poor decisions and attitudes of people. The other two get lots of attention, usually ugly debates with one side blaming the other for everything. We will take a different path today. Looking at these buildings, I notice the huge steel fences, the steel bars over the windows. This is expensive security stuff, and I'm sure there are other measures that aren't so easily spotted. Why are these needed? Because too many people have the attitude that they would rather steal something and sell it than work for money (lots of sidenotes today, but think of this summers rash of copper thefts). Because too many people would rather break out windows for fun or tag the walls with graffiti, the second one made more distressing by the fact that many of those taggers are enormously talented and could make a great living in the art world or graphic design if they wanted to. I was filling out an app for a second part time job this week. Part of the app was a 145 question quiz with about a dozen questions about theft, knowing people who stole, or knowingly owning stolen property. While I was unemployed, I filled out plenty of apps that included a box to check to allow a background check to be ran for employment. Why? Because of those same bad attitudes and poor decisions people have made that emptied out those industrial buildings.

There are a whole lot of people here in America, and yes even here in Wichita Kansas who want the world handed to them on a silver platter. At least the culture revolutionaries of the 60's were willing to fight and sacrifice to try and take over the world. Here it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Do you think "I Have A Dream" would have had the same affect if it had been typed up in a blog? Going further back, do you think Henry Ford would have changed the world with a internet startup instead of the assembly line? Better yet and more to the point, would the Founding Fathers be the Founding Fathers if they hadn't been willing to put their lives on the line for their beliefs? America as a whole has lost the will to work. Pickup trucks stop on street corners to pick up a dozen illegal immigrant for a days work in no small part due to the fact that so many Americans don't want to work without a high hourly wage, a great benefits package and a weeks paid vacation every year.

Those poor government and corporate policies are feeding that loss of will (I'll leave the discussion of whether or not it is intentional to the tinfoil hat crowd) but it is possible to get out from under it. The first step, just like in AA, is to stand up and admit that you have a problem. "Hi, I'm (say your name here) and I'm a lazy bum who wants to be taken care of." I haven't codified the next eleven steps yet, but there are a whole lot of people our there who have in the past. Stephen Covey, Napoleon Hill, and W. Clement Stone are some great places to start. Those industrial parks didn't empty out overnight, you and I didn't turn into bums overnight, and neither one is going to rocket back overnight. But of the three listed causes, this one is going to be the easiest to fix, (which says a lot about how hard the other ones will be to fix)because as each of us becomes more industrious, more responsible, and more prosperous, the more right minded folks will be moving into the positions to start repairing the other two.

What Is Love? (no, not the Haddaway song)

2010-01-12T00:47:00.000-06:00

One of the issues the Church (as in the whole body of Christ, not a specific denomination or church) has in modern Western culture is that we preach love, and the idea of love has been severely bent and twisted in the culture we live in. Love can run the gamut from sex and sexual attraction to a fleeting emotion that comes and goes by it's own will to, in many unfortunate cases, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse from someone. When a preacher or believer stands up and says God is love, the images that come to peoples minds are varied, and often do not match the intended vision, sometimes even if the listener is another Christian.

Our culture attaches the word love to a lot of things. So often in pop-culture, we see love as a motivation for sex. Songs, movies, and tv shows are wrapped in the idea that if we love someone, we take them to bed, or the backseat of the car, or wherever the "big moment" happens. Obviously, there is nothing sexual about God's love for us, but when dealing with things like God, sometimes the obvious must be stated. I have yet to see any evidence that the Greek word "eros", for sexual love, was ever used in any of the Bible's descriptions of God or Jesus' love, neither does there appear to be any use of the Hebrew word for lust in the Old Testament when referring to God's feelings towards His people.

Love is also seen nowadays as a high, a self-sustaining emotion, one that, should it fail to sustain itself, disappears. This attitude has created the proliferation of prenuptial agreements and do-it-yourself divorce kits. Fairy tales of happily ever after, mixed with again massive doses of romantic comedies and tear-jerker romantic dramas and cheesy love songs have created the idea that love just is, that once you are in love with someone, there is no effort required to remain in love. That idea, extrapolated out, tells people that if the feeling fades, rather than putting in the work to rekindle the flame, just to drop out. (Note: romantic movies and love songs are not inherently destroying our ideas of what love is, but when the fantasy is not balanced with some reality, we end up where we are at. Please don't write back that I told you you cannot watch :fill in your favorite romance movie/tv show here: that is not my point.)

Most people today have some experience, direct or indirect, with abusive relationships. Often we find that the victim in the relationship, and sometimes the abuser as well, really believe that the emotional, physical, or spiritual abuse in the relationship is really love. What goes through their mind when they hear that "God is love"?

1 Corinthians 13 is commonly known as the love chapter. It contains a long list of the attributes of love, and none of them match any of these modern definitions of love. " Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" ( 1 Cor. 13:4-8 NIV) A pretty far cry from the first few paragraphs there, isn't it? Nothing about sex, nothing about butterflies in your stomach, nothing about love coming and going at will. Protection, trust, perseverance, patience, kindness, these are what love is, and this is the love that God has for us. His love protects us here, He trusts us with our free will, He is unbelievably patient with us. There is no need for a prenup, because as far as God is concerned, the love doesn't end. He loves us when we don't deserve it. Heck, God's greatest expression of His love for us happened 2000 years before anyone reading this showed up (John 3:16).

So what can the Church do? We have to keep taking the definition of love back. Say it loud, say it often, and when needed, use words. Say it from the pulpit, the street corner, the soup kitchen, the neighbor's kitchen, and everywhere else you go. These definitions didn't change overnight. These ideas didn't just spring up one day. It took time for the problems to proliferate, it's going to take time to repair the damage to society. But more importantly, just like love, it's going to take conscious action to keep the fire going.

The power of planning

2010-01-03T00:39:00.004-06:00

I've been working my way through a book called "Underground", a look into some of the history of hacking focusing mainly on a group from Australia in the early 90's. (the book is available free at Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4686 ) It amazes me reading the book what these various folks were able to accomplish in those days before Google, blogs, automated hacking tools, or even internet access as we know it now. The reason I bring this up is because as the end of the book approaches, I realized what all the hackers had in common with their accomplishments. Passion. Desire. Not just random, "gee, I'd like to do something big someday" desire that so many of us carry around, myself included, but focused, defined passion with set goals to be reached. W. Clement Stone and Napoleon Hill called it definitiveness of purpose. Steven Covey breaks it into two effective habits, beginning with the end in mind and putting first things first. The old adage goes "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there." Jesus asked His listeners in Luke "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" (Lk 14:28 NIV) People, again myself included, have the bad habit of thinking in generalities. If I get a good job, if I finish school, get another degree, if I sit down and write, things will be better. That's not how we are successful though. Success comes through setting solid goals, making the plans to reach those goals, following through with the plans, and keeping track of the plan to make sure it will get us to our goal.

Each step is required for the process to be successful. Setting the goals puts our destination on the map. If your goal is a certain income level, putting the number down in black and white helps solidify that goal. If that goal is a certain object, again, putting it down in black and white (or color picture) solidifies the goal. Once the destination is decided, the path to reach it can be chosen. Income is the easiest one to look at here. Compare what you are currently making with what you want to make. Is it possible to bring in the desired income with your present job, or will you need to look at switching jobs? Is a second job or stream of income needed? Measurements and quantification is required, otherwise your goals are nebulous and impossible to reach. The next step is to work the plan. What good is a road map if you never look at it? How do you know how far away from you destination you are if you aren't checking your progress on the map? Road blocks and detours are a guarantee, and sometimes halfway through the trip, it may be necessary to reassess the destination. But those obstacles are easier to deal with as part of a path, as is that occasional change of course.

Rules of motion....

2009-12-28T23:42:00.003-06:00

Why is it so hard for us as people to get started doing things? Why is procrastination and stagnation so easy in our personal, emotional, business and spiritual lives? The answer lies in that old law written by Newton, a body at rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force. Friction and drag act against moving objects, slowing them down unless said moving object is generating enough force to counteract those influences. If a car runs out of gas to run the engine, the car slows down as drag and gravity overcome it's inertia. If the car is sitting in park, it stays there until the engine is started, which directs force to the wheels, which generate inertia, moving the car forward.

Why the physics lesson? Because if we read the good self-improvement books and good Christian living books and good salesmanship books, we see the same principle applies to our lives. When we are moving, it is easier to keep moving. If we stop, it takes more energy to start again than it would have to simply keep moving. The sales analogy works well here. It is much easier to get up Thursday to make your cold calls if you got up Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to make those cold calls. It is much easier to walk into that fifth new business of the day if it is the fifth one, not the first one. Momentum is a key to success, whether it is in sales, writing, housework, or prayer life.

Why is momentum so difficult to maintain for us? Because it takes more energy. That's where the "body at rest tends to stay at rest" part comes in. Procrastination and excuses are much easier to come up with than that energy to just do it. There are a million distractions just waiting for us out there, which is where purposefullness and planning come into play, another weak area for so many of us. That is a whole 'nother can of worms though, and definately a speech in and of itself.

W. Clement Stone said "If there is nothing to lose and much to gain, by all means TRY!" When we start talking about our own positive activites, again, whether they be business, personal, emotional or spiritual, there is nothing to lose by trying. Trying is the start of that momentum, and there is definately much to gain in that momentum.

Virtualization, ISPs and the future

2009-08-27T22:46:00.003-05:00

I attended a free lecture at SKT (visit their website here) on virtualization solutions for businesses. Now, I've been aware of virtualization for a while, but never really dove into it and the possibilities. The variety of options available now are fascinating, such as creating numerous virtual workstations on a central server so that workers or students log on with a thin client (a very small computer with all it's resources set to connect to the server. Much cheaper in the hardware, software, electricity and maintenance costs) or a repurposed PC (one that no longer has the capability to run newer OS's or software). There are numerous applications of this for a business or school alone. However, what got my wheels churning was the talk of using virtualiztion to push the OS from the server to a PC. The idea struck me that if the option is available, could ISP's set up a system where you sign up are given a netbook that when you turn it on, gives you a login which, once the customer logs on, gets it's OS from the ISP's server. Speaking with the presenter to confirm if it was a viable option, he confirmed that yes it is, and yes there are ISP's working on such a scenario.

Now, this idea scares me to death from a privacy and freedom standpoint. Imagine all of your documents, pictures, music, all stored not in the hard drive you your home PC or laptop, but on the ISP's servers. Don't pay your bill? All gone. ISP thinks you're downloading illegal media? All gone. Government wants to search for terrorist threats? They don't have to come to your home or hack into your computer, they just have to go to the ISP. We've already seen some inklings of the potential with this type of situation with Amazon deleting copies of 1984 and Animal Farm (oh the irony) from people's Kindles because the books were put into the Kindle store by people who lacked to proper rights to do so. (NY Times article here)

Another concern would be the implementation of web filters on the virtual desktop, disallowing access to sites that the ISP doesn't like. Think the Great Firewall of China and the arguments for maintaining net neutrality. (one starting point source here)

Am I being too gloom and doom? I really don't know. Imagine that instead of investing $4-500 for a new pc, paying your ISP $50-60 a month that includes internet service and the netbook. Imagine the majority of people not understanding that their files aren't really there on their computer. As has been said, eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.

My initial searching around isn't finding any details about who is working on this and what stage they are at, but it is a concern. If any readers have any details, please post links in the comments and let me know. I'll keep poking around and let you know what develops.

2009-08-21T22:23:00.002-05:00

Ok, I saw most of "Day After Tomorrow" today, and two things about the movie struck me. One, even with the end of the world bearing down on us, politics as usual would continue (see the scene at the US/Mexico boarder specifically) and two, nature doesn't care whatsoever about mankind. The events, laws, and cycles continue, unconcerned with their affect on our societies and monuments. Seeing the computer generated destruction of the famous Hollywood sign and the great beacon that is the Statue of Liberty buried under a wall of water just really drove the point home. Yet despite that uncaring chain of events that goes on around us, we still have people who are worshiping nature. Tree huggers, hippies and global warming nuts do it indirectly, making nature their idol in terms of "saving" it is their highest purpose, and various cults, wiccans, and others actively worship nature as an entity. But would a tornado jump over an avid recyler and target an SUV driver? Does the rain intentionally fall on the organic garden while avoiding the diesel combine running good old boy farmer's crops? "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matt. 5:45) Nature is. It does not love or hate. So what is it that makes nature worthy of worship? As opposed to say, the God who wrote those laws and set those cycles in motion? The God who loves us all so much He sent His Son to take our punishment for sin?

Not to say mankind doesn't affect or need to take care of the physical earth. Genesis 1:28-30 tells us God gave earth to Adam and Eve to take care of. But all these years in Kansas, watching some fields bake while others flourish, seeing storms blow over one town and drop tornadoes, wiping out others, has taught me that there is no benevolent Mother Nature who blesses those who carry canvas bags to the organic farmer's market. Which just sets off the train of thought, why choose that which gives up nothing for you over He who loves you?

Communications Breakdown (Apologies to Zepplin)

2009-08-06T17:26:00.000-05:00

I like Twitter. Really I do. It is a useful tool for keeping in touch with friends, getting headlines, and marketing. But that 140 character limit worries me. Attention spans and communication abilities keep shrinking. The time we dedicate to anyone thing at a time keeps shrinking. Movies are shorter. Our news channels have fifteen streams of data flying across the screen at all times. The ability to focus on one thing at a time seems to be vanishing. The train of thought reminds me of a quote from Martin Luther.(wikilink, just in case) "I have so much to do today, I need to spend another hour on my knees." The constant bombardment of information, the implied need to constantly multitask, and the call to condense our own output as much as possible makes serious focus on prayer for an extended period of time even more of an uphill battle than it is naturally. Prayer is communication. When our concept of communication has been reduced to "YO HOMESKILLET WHERE U @ DUDE?", what becomes of the prayer communications?

More of an raising awareness comment than a problem->solution comment. I'm guilty of it myself. A few thank yous, a few hey, I need help with this, and it's back out into the world. We all can use a reminder that God has no character limit.

Other stuff to expect

2009-08-03T13:16:00.000-05:00

Outside of the big three previously mentioned, expect to see some music talk and reviews in here as well. I'm an old metalhead, and listen to just about anything that includes "metal" in it's name. Speed, thrash, death, black, hair, power, ect. Punk, hardcore (that should pull some interesting ads on the side) ska, rap, and techno/industrial are on the playlist as well. I prefer the Christian varieties of all of the above, but secular bands get some play as well. If your band has a demo/album available for review, let me know. I'd like to plug bands in the south central Kansas area, I know we have some hiding out here.

Introductions are in order

2009-08-03T12:02:00.000-05:00

The usual about me, what to expect to see here stuff. I am in my early 30s, happily married for 10 of those years, and have generated 4 children. We live in Kansas, I have spent my whole life here, both on a farm, in the smaller towns and in the bigger cities.

Right now I am among the close to ten percent of Americans who are out of work, so expect talk of the numerous reasons behind our current economic woes, what is being done about it, and what needs to be done. In the interest of full disclosure, one of the primary reasons for this blog is to build up a portfolio and a following that can be turned into some form of income.

While the joblessness is at the forefront of my efforts and attention, I am also a Christian, which is the main thing that has kept me from snapping and climbing a clock tower with a high powered rifle. (That’s a joke, no calls to the FBI please. I don’t even own a high powered rife) There are plans in mind to join the ministry, and the intial steps were started, but various other factors got that put on the back burner. So expect a healthy dose of evangelism and theology mixed into the posts as well.

The last defining feature for now is geek. I like taking computers apart and finding why they don’t work, even if it’s something I tried to do to it that caused it to quit working. Old computers are fun, contrary to popular opinion. Cloud computing is coming, Google is gearing up to possibly create a serious contender to Microsoft, people who don’t want to or can’t afford to upgrade to Vista or Windows 7 are learning about Linux, social networking is having more and more affects on our lives, and those things in our pockets we still call phones have more memory, processiong power, and capabilities than my home computer.

These are interesting times in all of my fields of interest, and hopefully I can share, teach and learn here.

Enjoy the trip…..