Deseg and Reseg: How it affects us

Kinsey is going to have to move schools. We're being rezoned. That's how it affects us. We haven't told her yet, because what good will it do? She can't do anything about it and it would just be a distraction from her school work.

Now for the real fun.

The other way that it affects us is that many of the inner city kids will not be a part of her life. Some might consider this a good thing, but honestly, I don't. Here's why. I went to high school at an academic magnet school downtown and then taught at one close by where at least 30% of the population had to be African-American. That's why MAGNET schools were created to draw white students to the inner city. One of the happy things that came out of that was an exposure to other races and ideologies that I would not necessarily have been exposed to. In high school, my circle of friends included a Korean, an Indian (subcontinental), a couple of white thrashers, and an African American. And we all just kind of hung out together and didn't worry about race.

What I worry about this is that our kids will not be exposed to different cultures to the extent that they were before. Are neighborhood schools a good thing? Yes, I think they are. And hopefully, in the inner city, they will encourage more parent involvement in the schools, but they also are de facto resegregation. And maybe we've been moving toward this for a while. Most private schools are de facto resegregation (and unfortunately, if you look at when most private and/or Christian schools were started here in Nashville, you'll see a sad correlation to when the desegregation court order was passed and enforced). When I was teaching and we had assemblies where kids could sit where they wanted, it was like the Red Sea parting: African Americans on one side, Caucasians on another. I don't think it was intentional racism; it was simply cultural affinity and comfort within that setting.

What I'm afraid that this rezoning will do is remove an excuse for people to have to interact with those different than themselves. I know that I'm a more rounded person because of my exposure to different cultures and races. And hopefully, we can help Kinsey and Connor do it outside of their school educational experience.

Desegregation and Resegregation

Very busy today, but here's where I'm going tomorrow, particularly with regard to how it will affect Kinsey.

School Zone Plan Rekindles Old Worries

Brian McLaren, Worship, and the Churches of Christ

Last Friday, the staff at Otter Creek had the chance to sit down with Brian McLaren for a couple of hours. We got to talk about a lot of things about the direction of our own congregation and some internal things, but he said some very interesting things about the Churches of Christ as well, that I want to float out there for discussion.

One of the things McLaren talked about was the instrumental music issue. McLaren comes from a sister group to the Churches of Christ called the Plymouth Brethren. This group began in Great Britain about the same time as the Churches of Christ and it seems that the progenitors of both movements were reading from the same playbook. The Brethren are non-denominational, non-instrumental, and trying to restore the first century church. The main difference that that they don't focus on baptism to the extent that Churches of Christ do. In dealing with the issue of music, McLaren basically said that the argument is dumb. Now it's being dumb doesn't stop it from being discussed a lot, particularly if you've been over at Mike Cope's blog in the last week or so. McLaren mad the point that HOW we sing is not nearly as important as WHAT we sing. As a result, while we sing about the relationship about "God and Me" and that's good to sing about, to sing about it to the exclusion of communal songs ("God and We") as well as songs about God's Justice in the world.

Now what this seems is not only that arguing for acapella is dumb, arguing for instrumental music is just as dumb. Look, I could make a Biblical case for instrumental worship in the New Testament under the new convenant (Did the disciples worship at the Temple after Jesus' death and resurrection? Yep. Were instruments used at the Temple? Most likely. Ergo...) However, what's the point? I don't believe that worship with musical instruments is an issue that will decide my salvation, so I'm OK with it either way.

What does disturb me is people who do think my salvation depends on it. However, I also know that any discussion or argument or debate that I might get into someone about it is going to be pointless. Someone is not going to convince me otherwise and I'm not going to convince them. I choose to worship with a congregation that embraces both traditions, but I recognize also that what we sing is much more important than how we sing it.

Next week, why Brian McLaren thinks progressive Churches of Christ should stop trying to be like "evangelicals."

YouTube Thursday: Brian McLaren on Worship

I thought this was a very interesting video, particularly coming off of the Zoe conference last weekend and hearing McLaren there.



I'll have some more McLaren-related thoughts tomorrow, particularly about the Churches of Christ and my home church, Otter Creek.

Heroes Wednesday: Kindred

Image courtesy of HeroesWiki

So... let me get this straight. A guy can peep on a girl, call her out in the middle of the high school hallway, call her out in class, and all you have to do is be able to fly to get her to kiss you? Holy crap, if only I'd known it was that easy.

That notwithstanding I still enjoyed this episode. I really enjoyed having Sylar back. He's evil and loving it. It was good at least knowing something about Niki and Micah, although a belated RIP to DL. A question, did people think that Niki went to the Company because she has the disease or because she's wanting to get rid of her power? I initially thought she wanted to get rid of the power, but I've read theories that she has the disease. And of course, getting our weekly dose of a Star Trek alumna in Nichelle Nichols. Then there was Maya and Al..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Oh, sorry, I must have dozed off there. We continued the Peter in Ireland storyline with him discovering the powers he has, but just not how to access them. I will say that rewound the scene where Peter was choking the gang's traitor and that look of evil joy on his face was just scary. I sense bad things in Peter's future. Hiro in Japan is still fun and Kenzei is becoming a more interesting character. It seems that now that Hiro has helped him fulfill the stories that he knows, it would be time for him to leave, but it seems he's still attracted to the swordsmith's daughter. I liked how Ando was brought into the fold of the story. I really liked that storytelling trick.

And finally back to the Bennett/Mohinder story.

First off, here's an image of 8/8 (not for the squeamish):


Ok, what do we know about Isaac's paintings. They don't always come true in a very straightforward way. I would say that some don't come true at all, because New York didn't blow up, but the series isn't over yet. What we seem to have here is HRG dead from a bullet to the eye and Claire kissing some unknown guy. It would seem that the way the writers want us to think is that Claire and Peeping Tom the Stalker have killed HRG because he interfered with their love and now they're making out in celebration. I will be very interested to see how this one plays out.

My score: B- mainly because we're still setting up the pieces for whatever will happen.

Food

When Connor first started eating table food, he would eat anything. Anything. Broccoli. But ever since last year, when he had his first sinus infection, he has become the pickiest eater that I've ever seen. If he doesn't like something, he won't let us put it in his mouth. He will close his mouth and turn his head and strike out at the spoon that's holding it. And if we do manage to get something he doesn't like into his mouth, he will literally hold it on his tongue and then stick his tongue out and scrape it off his tongue. It's the most amazing and frustrating thing to watch. His diet consists now of bread, cheese, and fruit. Unless we can hide peas in his applesauce, but he's starting to get wise to that.

Any suggestions? Kinsey wasn't really like this much at all, so are we just waiting for his tastes to develop? Do we just keep trying things until we find what he likes? I'm curious about other people's experiences.

Zoe Conference 2007 debrief

I really enjoyed the conference this year. The leadership part was really good, particularly Randy Harris talking about losing his voice, spiritually, as well as his talk in the "discernment" sessions about prioritizing the areas of change in our lives.

McLaren was just great of course, especially his opening talk where he talked about the societal machine and framing stories. His talk Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon were also good, but not as memorable for me personally. I was kind of distracted by a few other things going on, tech wise. I had another close encounter with McLaren that I might talk about later, but maybe not.

Once the worship conference started, my work started. Outside of my kids making a cameo on the screens (must turn off screensaver next year) and a few lyrical and background glitches, I think that side of it went well. My judgment of how well I do tech work is how un-noticeable I am. I wasn't perfect this year, but I don't think it was too bad.

I'm always interested in how the songs are going to be congregationally received and sang. "You Never Let Go" was much better live acapella than I thought it was on the CD, so that was a pleasant surprise. "The Word is Alive" also came across very nicely. "Let God Arise" was generally ok. People seemed to REALLY want to clap on it, but the chorus gets weird with singing on off beats that it kind of died out. "You Are Good" wasn't too bad, but honestly, after hearing Zoe sing that with a Black Gospel group and their band before, this kind of paled in comparison.

Randy and Mike were very good in their talks and Zoe newbie Dean Barnam from Woodmont Hills did a nice job for his first time. I liked watching the painting of course, but I found the blacklight Jesus reveal to be a little bit cheesy. I know a lot of other people liked it, but hey, what can I say?

Probably the best part of the weekend for me was working with Doug Sanders. On Friday, he texted me asking if I would go run a couple of errands with him. I'm usually not able to do this, because of my full time job or on weekends trying to spend some time with my kids, but this time I was. Friday, we went a picked up a little girl whose family Doug has been working with and took her to school after she missed her bus, because she'd been pushed down. Then we took some sleeping bags to a Cub Scout group from the inner city who were going on a camping trip and met their Scoutmaster who is a great great guy. Saturday, he texted me again asking if I would run north of town to take some groceries to a family who got caught up in the food stamp bureaucracy and didn't get their stamps renewed and had no money. So Doug raided the church's refrigerator and went to Publix and we took some food to the hotel where this family of five is having to live right now. They weren't home, so we dropped off the groceries in the lobby with the manager, and Doug made another connection with HER and if she encounters people who need help, she has Doug's number and can call him. And that part to me was the best part of the weekend. Seeing old friends was great. Sitting at the feet of wise men and women was outstanding. Worshiping with great vigor was amazing. Working with a man with a heart for helping others was what truly touched me.

At the Zoe Conference

I'm at the conference today and Saturday. Randy Harris was really good the three times I heard him, and I'm really looking forward to hearing McLaren again. Good to see Amy Grant (no, not that one) and her husband John.

I'll have more next week.

YouTube Thursday: Mike Cope Sings the Classics

In honor of the 2007 Zoe Conference starting today, I present a video shown 3 years ago at the 2004 conference: Mike Cope Sings the Classics

If you're at the conference this weekend, look me up.

Heroes Wednesday: Lizards

Really interesting title image from HeroesWiki

I enjoyed this episode quite a lot, but it honestly felt like a set up episode, getting everything ready for the rest of the season. We have Bennett/HRG/Noah bringing out Issac Mendez' painting of Kaito Nakamura's death and announcing that he had to find the rest of them (had we seen that painting before?) to Hiro convincing Kenzei to go and rescue the swordsmith.

I liked Parkman's subplot and still do. And I loved the whole interview with Mama Petrelli, from her saying that she wasn't sleeping with Kaito (for a long time...) to her yelling at Matt inside her head. It's always great when Matt's power gets subverted just a little, like when Bennett thought in Japanese last year in "Company Man."

Mohinder's role is still interesting, as opposed to the "vengeful" son role last year. I do wonder how much memory the Hatian left. If it was just what we saw or more or less.

Hiro is still having fun, but again, mainly set up for whatever happens with him, Kenzei, and the swordsmith's daughter. I do wonder if Hiro will be the real hero or if Kenzei will. Also, Kenzei as a regenerator? Did he know or not?

Claire is still very teenager-y which I like a whole lot, especially experimenting, but I've got to say that 1) cutting off the toe and its regeneration was simultaneously as cool and gross as her waking up from the autopsy last season; 2) I hope that she picks it up before Mr. Muggles gets to it; and 3) Hey West, peeking in a girl's window doesn't make you desireable; it makes them want to get a restraining order

I'm liking the Peter plot line as well and I like seeing him use his powers. If only we could have seen a bit more of that stuff in, oh, I don't know... THE SEASON FINALE!!! Sheesh.

I'm definitely missing Niki, DL, and Micah. I really want to see what's going on with them and Sylar. As for Maya and Alejandro... boring! I get that she's contagious in some way with her tears and Alejandro is her antidote, but I don't know if it's the actors or what, but this plot isn't as interesting to me as the others.

Like I said, still an enjoyable episode, but I'm eager to see what the payoff will be to all the setup.

Kinsey Questions

Back in July, I did a thing where I "asked" Connor some questions that some other people had been asking their kids. I've been wanting to do the same thing with Kinsey for a while, but I wanted to do it on video. So last night we did. Now, it's 6 minutes long, and maybe only family will want to watch it, but it is completely adorable to hear the answers Kinsey gives to these questions.

Favorite Food:
Favorite color:
Favorite sport:
Favorite person:
Favorite toy:
Favorite thing to do with Daddy:
Favorite thing to do with Mommy:
Favorite song:
Favorite book:
Favorite Movie:
Favorite TV show:
Favorite Outfit:
Favorite thing to do outside:
What do you want to be when you grow up:
Favorite animal:
Favorite thing to do with Kinsey:
Favorite thing to do with Grandparents:
Favorite thing about God:
Favorite thing about Jesus:
Favorite thing about Holy Spirit:
Favorite thing about going to church:
Favorite place to visit:
Biggest fear:

Zoe Conference 2007

So, who's coming to Nashville this week? I'm very much looking forward to hearing Brian McLaren speak again. Whether or not I agree with him (or if some think Zoe is going "liberal" for having speakers like him and Lauren Winner last year), I really enjoy the thinking he's brought to Christianity and always stretches me theologically. I'm looking forward to hearing Randy Harris as well.

(As an aside to people who have no clue what the Zoe Group is about. It is a worship renewal group that started within Churches of Christ about 10 or 11 years ago. Every year they release a CD of music that is distributed throughout many Churches of Christ with music that is used in many worship settings. They also hold conferences with the largest in Nashville in October that focus on worship, leadership, and discipleship. The speakers for the last three years have been Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, last year, Lauren Winner, and this year, McLaren is back). It is probably the largest gathering of progressive Churches of Christ in the country, at least in the Southeast. The conference is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, at Woodmont Hills Church on Franklin Road.)

I'll make a shameless plug and also recommend Doug Sanders' Saturday session called Wholistic Christianity - Living the Christian Life 24/7/365 at 8:30am. Doug used to be the VP of Ice Cream at Purity Daries and left there to become the Director of Ministries at Otter Creek. In doing that, he discovered a heart for ministry to the poor and those in serious need. If you want to hear more about his story, you can do so here. But I know his session will be great.

The other thing I really enjoy about the conference is seeing in person the other people from Blogworld. Last year, I met TCS in person, as well as Amy, and had just a lovely conversation with Nancy French, along with several others, like Jettybetty.

So is anyone else out there coming this year?

Pastors/Bishops/Shepherds/Elders

Right now, Otter Creek is going through her elder selection process. If you're interested, you can see more at http://ottercreekelderselection.blogspot.com/

It's an interesting process, because especially for the Churches of Christ, we're choosing men who will not be paid, but will be the ones casting vision and guiding/shepherding the church. At Otter Creek, the elders candidates are suggested by the congregation, and then asked to consider being an elder. If they assent, they are brought before the congregation and there is a period of time where the congregation can question them or ask them about their perspectives on issues. If the congregation agrees, the candidates are ordained for 6 year terms, at which point they can decide if they want to be considered for reaffirmation. Is this a perfect system? No, it's not. Does it seem to much like an American democratic philosophy? Sure, but until we're willing to go out there and cast lots, it seems like a decent one.

The interesting thing about all of this is the qualifications for being an elder. The reason I bring this up is because a few weeks ago, I got an email from a friend suggesting a single man being nominated for eldership. My first reaction was, "Yeah, right. That has as much a chance of happening as I do of being an elder." But as I read this email, I got more and more curious. You see, the qualifications for elders are found primarily in Titus 1:

5The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Also in I Timothy 3:

1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

Like I said, when I first got the email, I scoffed a little because the Biblical witness seems pretty clear. But as with many things, I started to wonder 2 things. 1) Why would Paul (through God's inspiration) put down these qualifications? and 2) Even though those qualifications were very explicit for a 1st Century Euro-MidEastern culture, were they still applicable now?

A lively email discussion followed, where the reasoning behind this suggestion was shown that there are singles at OC that don't feel like their concerns are being addressed or focused on to the extent that couples and families and children are, which I can say from becoming dear friends with several of the singles over the last couple of years, that I can sympathize with. I think that speaks to a deeper issue of integration of demographics at Otter Creek, but that's another story. Where I ended up coming down, is that I think the elder qualifications are what they are. Where my personal inconsistency came in is that I said that I would strongly support a single Ministry Coordinator or what is Biblically known as a Deacon, even though that would seem to go against the qualifications that Scripture lays down, also in I Timothy 3:

8Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. 9They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. 10They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

11In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

12A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. 13Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

Well, that's kind of a long way to get to what I was thinking about this morning.

• What do you look for in an elder/shepherd? Tim Woodroof, our preaching minister, said a few Sundays ago that a congregation cannot progress past her elders. So do you look for someone who will help a congregation progress or maintain the status quo?
  
• Do we look for people who are like us or different from us? Do we look for successful business leaders or do we look for men who might not have the "trappings of success" but have shown spiritual maturity?
  
• What about their wives? I've long contended that when an elder is ordained, it's not just him but his wife that is also becoming a part of that. If I were ever chosen as an elder (waits for laughter to die down), I know that Sheryl would be as much a part of that I am.
  
• Do you look for a certain age? I know one friend who once said that he would not nominate or vote for a man who had children in grade school because he should focus on his immediate family rather than the congregational family. How much does age play into our estimations of maturity and wisdom?

And as always, I'm not really looking for answers, but just throwing the questions out there and curious about the thoughts of my friends/readers.

Happy Birthday to...

Me.

I was going to do one of those posts where the blogger talks about someone special in their life, wife, husband, children, mistress... um, I mean, um..... preacher, etc. But humor doesn't always translate over the intertubes, so here are some interesting facts about my birthday.

- On this day in 1540, the Jesuits received their charter from the Pope.
-In 1777, Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the capital of the United States for one day.
- In 1940, Italy, Germany, and Japan signed a treaty forming the original Axis of Evil.
-In 1998, Google was founded.

I share a birthday with...
- Samuel Adams, Revolutionary Patriot and Beer Company model (1722)
- Wilford Brimley, actor and lovable curmudgeon (1934)
- Shaun Cassidy, singer, actor, and philosopher (1958)
- Gwyneth Paltrow, actor, male impersonator, and based on her child's name, a fruit afficiando (1972)
- Avril Lavigne, "singer" (1984)
- And according to Wikipedia at the moment, "Brenda D. - Amazingly Taleneted Ghetto Teenager" (1992)

Interesting facts about me personally on this day.
- I'm double the age I was when I graduated from high school. And I'll just say that 36 doesn't feel nearly as old as it did in high school.
- I'm the age my (bio)dad was when he and Mom got divorced. Interestingly, on our next anniversary, Sheryl and I will have been married for the same amount of time my mom and dad were when they got divorced: 12 years (and the mistress joke above notwithstanding, Sheryl and I are doing great in our marriage and I feel closer to her now than I did 12 years ago).
- I'm also now the age my (step)dad was when Sheryl and I got married. I'll allow you to work out for yourselves how much older than me that makes him.

So, all in all, another birthday. I got a beautiful card from my family the other night and we had a nice time together Monday. I'm a very blessed man and I'm looking forward to what the next 36 years bring.

Heroes Wednesday: Four Months Later...

Image from www.HeroesWiki.com

It's back and it was very good.

Yesterday, over on Scott's blog, there was just a little Heroes bashing going on. My feelings on Heroes going in are that it really has two issues from the start. 1) A lackluster season finale. The simple fact is that 90% of the Heroes viewers wanted a knockdown dragout fight that lasted for at least 15 minutes of the finale. We didn't get that and it was disappointing. 2) Heroes was such a surprise last year that it didn't have any expectations on it and now it does. Very similar to Lost after its first season. The challenge will be to see if it can keep the viewers or if people will get frustrated as I did with Lost.

So, to the episode. I really liked it a lot. As per usual, the Claire/HRG interaction was the best. I listened to some of the episode commentary by Tim Kring (the creator of the show) who mentioned that that relationship really was the heart of the show, replacing a traditional romance, and I think that's really true. It's no doubt the most emotionally resonant relationship. Of course, I wondered about timelines and why it took Claire 4 months to register in school while her dad has been working at the glorious CopyWorld for those months. Were the Bennets/Butlers still being careful or what? Also, is it really so warm in February in southern California that girls can wear tube tops to school? Obviously no Standard School Attire there. And what exactly are the cheerleaders cheering for? Football's over and basketball would be ending, and I've never seen baseball or soccer cheerleaders before. Not too sure about Claire's new peeping tom. I guess we'll see how that develops. And yes, I very much enjoyed HRG bad-assing the manager at CopyWorld. I still love how the writers can make him so gray and I still really like him.

I also like how he's working with Mohinder to try and bring the Company down, but I'm sure it's not going to be as easy as just infiltrating it. Nice intro of the ultimate "Hey, It's That Guy!" Stephen Toblowsky. Also, Mohinder and Parkman taking care of Molly? Very interesting. I really like the young actress that plays Molly. Very nice.

Speaking of Parkman, I like that he's a New York cop. I'm not sure about him cheating on the exam and I REALLY hope that this isn't the last we hear about the divorce. We can never actually see Janice again, but as a child of divorce I really expect to see that divorcing his pregnant wife really affects him in some way.

Hiro. Obviously this storyline is very reminiscent of the first Back to the Future movie, even quoting "Great-o Scott-o!" I'm hoping that it's not an extreme reworking of that. My thought is that either Hiro will become Kenzei, or the swordsmith's daughter will, as opposed to some redemption arc for English-Kenzei.

Wonder twins... or rather Maya and Alejandro. Speculation I've read is that Maya has a power/plague that kills people as is what happened, but it's neutralized when she's around Alejandro. If that's true, it's interesting and makes me wonder if it's related to the plague Mohinder was talking about.

And finally, the Nathan/Peter/Mama Petrelli/Mr. Nakamura storyline, which could be a post on its own. I think Nathan is the killer. I think he put the picture of Nakamura with the sign in the newspaper when he bumped into Ando. And I think he put the picture of Mama Petrelli in the hallway before he came in. Now, why would he be doing that? Why would he kill Mr. Nakamura? Revenge for the Company's plan which resulted in killing Peter? Or is it Peter himself seeking revenge? Follow me here. This is purely someone else's speculation, but it makes sense. We saw that Nathan saw something different than what we looks like in the mirror at the bar. What if that reflection is the result of Peter's contact with Niki/Jessica. Peter absorbed Jessica's power to put her personality into a sibling's reflection, and thus did it to Nathan when he "died" (as, perhaps, Jessica did to Niki when she died.) But then Peter regenerated with Claire's power... but his whole personality is in Nathan's reflection, so therefore his own body has no memory.

Obviously we don't know how Niki and Jessica became... fused or whatever. Possibly it had something to do with Jessica's death and so this would make a lot of sense. Now I could be wrong and whoever is killing the members of the Company's remaining 9 is Molly's monster or even someone completely different. We'll see. Oh, and did Nathan resign his position in Congress to become Neanderthal Nathan?

Btw, does anyone else think that Peter, Nathan, and Sylar returning, further cheapens the season finale last year? Hiro having to go through his Hero's journey to kill Sylar and it doesn't mean anything. Same thing with Peter and Nathan both returning, although if the speculation above is right, that would be cool, but still cheapen the finale.

Next week, I'm sure we'll see Niki and Micah and possibly the return of the not-so-dead Sylar.

More Teeth

Seriously, I don't know how that boy could be cutting any more teeth. It's almost like all of them decided to drop or come up at once. He's getting incisors and molars at the same time. He got a fever last night that seemed to go away when we gave him some Tylenol, but it spiked up again. On top of all of this, he seems to have some other viral infection that's cropped up around town.

But he's still cute. And he has a great big sister who loves him a ton and is having a great year at school this year. She needs to not talk as much, but she loves her teacher and is doing great in her reading and math. We're very proud of her.

Some Thoughts About the Jena 6

I realize that I might be stepping into a landmine here, but I have a question about the Jena 6 situation and protests that happened last week. First, let me state that I think that the hanging of the nooses over the "white tree" was reprehensible and it deeply saddens me that these attitudes still exist. I'm not naive enough to believe that racism and prejudice will ever disappear.

I also understand that there seems to be a serious miscarriage of justice in terms of how the African-Americans were treated by the justice system in this case. And that is something that I think deserves protestation.

Here's my question: Where are the statements from the African-American community that what the six young men did in beating up the Caucasian was wrong? It seems to me that the whole situation goes directly against the kind of mindset that Dr. King spoke about throughout his life. That by retaliating, the African-Americans stooped to the level of violence that had been intimidated to them and visited on them in at least one case. But in going six on one seems just as wrong.

Maybe I'm overromanticizing the Civil Rights era, because I'm white and I didn't live through it, but I get the sense that while Dr. King would have spoken and marched for equal justice for the Jena 6 that he would have been chastising as well about the use of violence by them. I could be wrong, and perhaps as a white man, I don't have a real context for thinking about racism, but I think there is fault on many sides of this one. I'll be interested to hear other thoughts

Tradition

I haven't had time to write a major theological post in the last couple of weeks. I've got one brewing about teaching children about non violence. I'm wondering about the use of pronouns for God and the Other-ness of God. I've got another big one brewing about similarities between the Orthodox Church and Churches of Christ, and actually I've been thinking about a small part of that one. But I'm going to punt a little by just asking a question today.

One piece of literature I picked up at the Greek Festival in the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church had a listing of their beliefs and one of the beliefs stated that Scripture and Tradition were of equal authority in the Church.

How does that statement strike you? For me as a member of the Church of Christ which purportedly claims to "Speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent," (although I will freely admit two things. 1) Otter Creek doesn't completely go along with that statement, and 2) Tradition is a major guiding factor in Churches of Christ), this idea of Scripture and tradition being equal troubles me. I would suppose the claim is that God has divinely guided the leaders of the Church since He established it, equal to how the Scriptures were divinely guided, but it also seems to open things way up for Man's intervention. And again, just because a group claims to only use Scripture as a guide (Sola Scriptura) doesn't exclude tradition and the meddling fingers of people being a part of it as well. Maybe I just prefer the illusion of a solely Scripturally based theology.

What think you?

Caption This Picture!

Heroes Wednesday: The Rewatch and a Preview

I'm halfway through rewatching Season 1 of Heroes. Finished Homecoming a couple of nights ago and really enjoyed it again. I have my standard questions of course, such as how Peter was able to get from NYC to Midland, TX in a very few hours, but suspension of disbelief is a wonderful thing.

A few notes. I'm still not fully convinced that the producers knew what they were doing with the whole Sylar thing until this point in the season. For serial shows like this, I always wonder if the producers don't think they'll get a full season pickup and write a couple of outs into the show. It seems that by the time they would have been writing the Future Hiro visiting Peter in the subway, the show would have been a hit, and so they would have started writing certain aspects that played out the rest of the season. For instance, when Hiro and Ando are in the Burnt Toast Diner is when we get the first shots of Sylar, now played by Zach Quinto under the baseball cap. And everytime there's a shot of Sylar, we either see his watch or there's the sound of ticking. I'm still finding Bennett to be a compelling character, even though we know what side he ends up on, and I even found Eden to be much more interesting this time around. Simone... not so much.

At any rate, I'm really looking forward to the season premiere NEXT MONDAY!!!! WOO HOO, wait.... Aw crap. The Titans are playing Monday night in New Orleans. Why must the television gods taunt me so? Oh well. Thank goodness for dual tuner TiVo.

And now, a preview of next season. If you don't want to know what characters and/or actors return. Don't watch.



No thoughts on the video itself even though there seems to be a lot going on there, but I do have this extraneous thought... Episode 1 of Season 2 is entitled "Four Months Later..." I seriously, seriously hope that means it takes place in February, since that would four months after election day. As a continuity geek, it would really disappoint me if it started in August or September. Nonetheless, still very much looking forward to it.

Teeth

Connor won't really let us get a good look or feel, but our best guess-timate is that he has about 6 or 7 teeth coming in right now. This makes for a fussy Connor, even with a good dose of Tylenol.

Fun times...

I Knew This Was Coming

Tattoo remorse fuels boom for dermatologists

It reminds me of the girl that once showed me the tattoo of a dolphin on her stomach. When I saw it, I rather untactfully said, "You realize that if you ever get pregnant that that's going to be a whale, right?"

And it also reminds me of this...

My Verses

Just wanted to share some verses today. My favorite in the Bible.

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

Have a great weekend.

YouTube Thursday: Conspiracy Theory Rock

This video was shown only once on NBC's Saturday Night Live. After you watch it, you'll know why.



And not to go completely conspiracy theory, but it doesn't seem surprising that when corporations own the media, that there wouldn't be the complete reporting of news that would be bad for corporations, right?

8 Random Things About Me

Well, Fajita tagged me last month and so I decided to finally answer the call.

1) I have totaled 5 cars that I have been driving. (Not exactly as bad as it sounds.)

2) I have no problem speaking in front of several hundred people, but to sing or lead singing gives me cold sweats.

3) My favorite romantic comedy is "You've Got Mail."

4) I am missing a tooth on the bottom row that was growing horizontally under my teeth line and had to be surgically removed.

5) I was hit in the face with a wooden golf club in third grade.

6) I have never broken a bone or spent the night in the hospital for my own injury or surgery.

7) I have only had one credit card in my life and Sheryl and I currently have none.

8) I always wanted to be a writer as a kid, and still haven't completely given up on that dream.

Tagging...
Malia and David
Judy Thomas
Fake Steve Jobs

Costumes

Back at his birthday, some of our good friends got Connor a really cute outfit, that will probably not be worn much. But there was babysitting by the singles at Otter Creek last Saturday night, so he had to wear it.

At home. The boy gets serious red eye.


Flashing a gang sign? Or just pointing at the camera? (thanks to JT for the pic)

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Kinsey got into the spirit too. One of her favorite Disney movies is Mulan and we went to Opry Mills Friday night. We didn't sneak past the Disney store and she wanted to go in, so we obliged, and ended up with her Halloween costume for this year. But, good Lord, is she cute!

Greek Festival

Sheryl and I took Connor and Kinsey to the Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church with my mom and dad and Kinsey's cousin yesterday. It was one of those Nashville things that I'd been wanting to go to for a while and just never gotten around to.

It was ok. Kinsey and her cousin had fun doing a couple of bouncy things and the petting zoo. Then we ate some lunch and watched dancers, and that was about all there was to do there. I don't know what I expected, but I really thought there would be more stuff going on. It was nice enough, but for as much as I'd heard about it, I really expected something more... substantial.

I did get to go into the church's sanctuary and picked up some of their materials, particularly about the Orthodox church, which will most assuredly be the subject of at least one Friday post. Let's just say that Churches of Christ and the Orthodox Church make some strikingly similar claims...

Anatomy of a Church Split

I have never been through a church split, thankfully. I don't say that to brag, but it seems like something that a lot of people have been through that I haven't. The closest that I've come was when some of the members of Otter Creek, including the then-preacher left to form Harpeth Community Church. But that was more of a seeding.

On another blog I've been following... http://muddypuddles.blog.com/, the author Dennis has been chronicling what been going on at his church in Texas, a church of Christ, as some of the members move into a desire for a "freer" experience and several members of the congregation and some elders disagree with that.

Here's are the links of pertinence.

- Lynch Mob - August 27, 2007
- Aftermath - August 29, 2007
- Termination - August 30, 2007
- Can't Go Back - September 3, 2007
- Church Colonoscopy - September 6, 2007

Obviously, the first thing to say is to ask for prayers for this congregation, for those on all sides. As you might guess, my sympathies lean toward Dennis and the people that agree with him. However, a church split has got to be one of the most painful things that a person can experience. It's got to be like a death or divorce, like a painful separation from someone that you love or even thought you loved.

From an outsider's standpoint, like me, this entire thing is very interesting and such a useful look into a church dynamic where you have an established leadership, supported by a vocal group of people, trying to maintain a status quo, and another group who feels called to a more free experience, such as clapping in worship, and is trying to express those feelings, even when they might offend or disconcert others. The trouble is how does this get accomplished? Is there any scenario where the "status quo" people would allow for clapping in worship? Could they regard that as an opinion matter, not related to salvation? It doesn't seem so.

Is there any scenario where the "clappers" could refrain so as to not offend their brothers and sisters, if they feel God is calling them to this, and ultimately to other understandings of Scripture rather than the traditional ways that the Church of Christ has interpreted Scripture?

Or is it simply better to let these to groups go their own way, worshiping and understanding God in their ways, so as to not offend one or bind the other?

And where does the concept of family work into all of this?

Like I said, one thing we can all do is pray for this church, but I'm also curious. Have you been through a split? What was that like? How did it affect your spirituality and feeling toward and about God? Were you able to "maintain fellowship" with the others that split or were all relationships broken? And if you're not a Christian and you're reading this, you might be thinking, "Those crazy Christians. Splitting over stupid stuff like clapping? Give me a break." To you I would say, "Yes. Churches break up over clapping, or kitchens, or preachers. Churches, as much as they are the Body of Christ, are also made up of flawed creatures, so it's not going to be perfect and it's not always going to be right."

So what do you think?

YouTube Thursday: Nickel Creek - The Lighthouse's Tale (Live)

9 minutes long. So freaking awesome.

Heroes Wednesday: The Rewatch

Did you hear? That the Heroes Season 1 DVD came out last Tuesday, and like any good fanboy, I've watched the first 4 episodes and the deleted scenes.



Some thoughts.

1) I'm not convinced that the producers and writers knew exactly what they were doing. For one thing, the characterization of Mama Petrelli is very different from the end of the season. I mean, seriously, who would have thought that the stone cold dragon lady at the end was the same as the shoplifting, confessing-that-Peter-was-her-favorite one at the beginning. Also, I don't think Sylar was thought out very well at the beginning. Mohinder's dad called him Patient Zero, indicating that he thought Sylar was the one from whom the power sprang possibly? Either Papa Suresh didn't know what he was talking about or Tim Kring didn't. Same difference I suppose. Plus, I would think that if the producers put the same thought into Sylar as they said they did into Molly Walker, they would have cast Quinto much earlier than they apparently did.

2) In Sylar's apartment, there was the hidden room with the map and the "confessional closet" with lots of religious language about forgiveness and sin on it. Possibly from the influence of his mother I suppose, but that part of the regret and remorse was never really followed up on. Also, did Mohinder ever use the key in his father's old journal that was hidden in the laptop?

3) Deleted scenes. I haven't watched the unaired pilot yet, but I plan to at some point. I did like some of the deleted scenes from the pilot, like DL just appearing out of his cell. I liked that a lot. Also, there was some subplot about Micah's grandmother calling Child Protective Services on Niki. Not too surprising there, but that was actually the reason Niki went to visit her, so that at least made a bit more sense.

I'm enjoying the rewatch so far. Obviously, I watch Heroes recognizing its flaws and just trying to have as much fun with it as possible. Three weeks to go until the premiere!

Minor Update

No deep family stuff today. Connor's doing great and has his top two teeth coming in, so he's being a bit fussy. He also slipped Tiffany the tongue Sunday night, but I don't think she was too traumatized by it.

Kinsey is doing well in school. She gets warned every now and then for talking too much, but on the whole a great school year so far.

Football Post

If you haven't heard, the NFL is changing its logo.


Anybody wonder how long before it gets to this?

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Did you see the Michigan-Applachian State game, where the Division 1-AA team beat a top 5 ranked team at the ranked team's stadium? Of course not. You probably don't have the Big Ten Network. See many of the NFL preseason games this year? Or Thursday night games last year? Probably not, because you probably don't have the NFL Network.

In the ever increasing pursuit to monetize Americans obsession with sports, both the Big Ten and the NFL have started airing games on their private networks, rather than on the networks whether cable like ESPN or broadcast networks. Any one else think this is extremely shortsighted? The NFL became as popular as it did because all the games were available. To hide games from viewers, which is what this does, is just dumb. And it can only serve to alienate fans, who are responsible for the monetary success and popularity of the sports, which will cause a deterioration in monetary success and popularity.

In my humble opinion.

What the Church Has Done Right

Over on his blog, Scott Freeman has asked the question: What has the church done right?

In my mind, the church has done many things right, but I'll list a few here, knowing of course that there is a flip side to everything.

1) The church has formed community. This is one of the greatest assets of the church. Within her, those that wouldn't normally join together are joined, and in the best of circumstances learn to work together in spite of differences. The downside to this is that we can make our communities so insular that we forget those that are outside of those communities and form communities with walls and barriers and not the open accepting ones that embody the spirit of Christ.

2) The church institutionalizes aspects of the Christian life. Worship, service, compassion, learning. These are all disciplines that need to be a part of the Christian walk. Within the church, these aspects can be formalized to some extent or perhaps provide a single gathering place for them. The negative of this is that these can become institutionalized and people can get so used to the pastors or ministers doing the day to day work of the Christian that we can forget that it's our work as well. Plus, the church can become bureaucratic, and natural state for a bureaucracy is to preserve itself.

3) The church directs her members toward worshiping God. In this world where it's possible to worship anything and nothing simultaneously, the church can be one of the few institutions to point her members back to the Father. This is one of the few things I see that isn't negative.

I know there are more, but this is what's hitting me right now. What am I forgetting?

Fantasy Football Round 2

Well, after coming in third in the Blogger Bowl Fantasy Football last year, I'm giving it another shot. I drafted 10th out of 10, but I think I ended up doing pretty well.

QB: Peyton Manning, Indianapolis
Wide Receivers: Lee Evans, Buffalo; Hines Ward, Pittsburgh; Devin Hester, Chicago
Running Backs: Laurence Mauroney, New England; Lendale White, Tennessee
Tight End: Antonio Gates, San Diego
W/R (Wide receiver or running back): Michael Turner, San Diego
W/T (Wide Receiver or tight end): Matt Jones, Jacksonville
Defense: Chicago
K: Jason Elam, Denver

I have a bench of course, but I won't go through all of that. I don't think I did too bad over all. I'm hoping that Peyton throws 40 or so TDs and that pretty much takes care of everything.

Junie B. Jones and the Bad Words

A few weeks ago, Sheryl and Kinsey went through Wendy's or Chik-Fil-A or some place and they were giving out audiobooks. The audiobook we received was Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed. Now, when I first listened the book, I thought it was kind of cute. On the 1,000th time though, not so much. Junie B. Jones is a girl in the class of afternoon kindergarten. Her teacher is named Mrs. She has another name, but Junie doesn't like to use it. Junie has a brother named Ollie that she thought was a monkey when he was first born, because of a misunderstanding with her Grandma Helen Miller.

Now, we are really trying to encourage Kinsey in her reading. We think she's a lot better reader than she's letting on, but we're continuing to do a lot of reading with her. She liked the Junie B. book so much that we decided to make a reward for good behavior a collection of Junie B. Jones books. The very first book was Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. Major problem there. "Stupid" is on our "do not use" list at home. A list which also includes "dumb," "hate," "ugly," and "shut up." The problem is that Junie B. uses these words all the time. Not only that, but Junie B. talks back to her parents quite often and is disrespectful to them on occasion.

Naturally, I don't have such rose-colored glasses on that I don't believe that Kinsey doesn't act like this. She does, but we really don't want to encourage that behavior in her. This is why I'm glad she watches Playhouse Disney and not some other channels where she might see that behavior demonstrated.

Sheryl and I had a choice when it came to reading the books with her each night. We could either read the words and actions that Junie B. did and use those as teaching moments or not. We actually chose the middle road. We didn't read the words. We either skipped them where we could or substituted. For instance, when Junie B. says that "I hate that big dumb Jim," I would read, "I really don't like that Jim." Where she would talk about a crybaby boy that she thinks she can beat up, I read that, but we talked about why that's not a proper way to act. I realized a bit later that Junie B. was written more for middle schoolers and her antics would be very funny to them. They were pretty funny to me and Sheryl too, but not while we have a little girl who could be influenced by them, and sometimes acts that way without their influence.

So we switched over to the Little House books set in the 1880s where children were never sarcastic or disobedient (joke). Of course, this has led to other questions like "Daddy, why do people hunt?" and "Do we eat meat?" Fun times.

Engagement

I want to encourage people to read a post from John Alan Turner's blog called Conversations on an Airplane. It talks about a conversation he had with a philosophy professor, and the interesting thing is how much JAT talks about the other stuff he's read. Hume, among others.

The interesting thought for me and the question I want to pose to others is this: How much reading do we do outside of our own faith? For so long, we Christians have voluntarily ghetto-ized ourselves behind our theological walls and not dared to come out or even let others who don't share our beliefs in. But the truth of the matter is that if we really want to engage the world and have conversation with people who don't believe what we do, then we have to read outside of our walls. We have to be familiar with Richard Dawkins, and Sam Harris, and Carl Sagan. I'm not very familiar. I'm more familiar with pop culture, TV, and movies. I haven't read any of the above authors.

So I'm curious. Who do you read that isn't a Christian? And do you feel that reading that helps your faith or weakens it?

YouTube Thursday: Heroes Preview

You know, one month from tomorrow, Heroes returns to NBC. Here's a little something whet the appetite.

Standard promo



And this one which is just strikingly beautiful, and especially cool with the power walk at the end...



So there you go. What do you think is going to happen this year?

Priorities

The front page of CNN.com's International site at 3:50 PM yesterday afternoon.


And the front page of CNN's main/US site.

The difference is very curious to me.

And, while I hate to add to the noise surrounding Michael Vick, I have found two very interesting items I'd like to share.

This is a piece from ESPN.com written by Wright Thompson before the Vick plea deal about why so many African-Americans in Atlanta support Vick and distrust the FBI.

And this from the Daily Show last night...

Splash Day

It's obviously very hot here in Nashville, so on Saturday we went to a little splash park out to the west of us with some friends from college and their children, some of whom go to school with Kinsey.

Here are some pics of the kids.

High School Musical 2: Behold the Cheese

According to CNN.com, High School Musical 2 was the most watched cable television show ever with 17.2 million people watching.

If they were anything like me and Sheryl, they were disappointed by it and immediately wanted to watch the original's songs. The fun thing about the first one was that it was cheesy and it knew it, but still had fun. For the sequel, it's like it was under the weight of the expectations for it and tried TOO hard to be the fun cheesy, and even making Troy the brooding hero in "Bet On It," while I'm sure it made the preteen girls' heart go a-flutter, just was laughably bad.

Oh well, the string of sequels not living up to the original continues, partially broken by Toy Story 2 and The Empire Strikes Back and a few others.

Here's some from the original to wash the taste out...

Jesus and the Atomic Bomb

Note: This post is a followup to the one I did last Friday.

As of right now in the history of the world, only one country has ever used a nuclear device in war. Us. The United States. And I have heard all the justifications about how using the devices saved American lives, and in fact, I have probably known (and still know) men whose lives were spared because we didn't launch an invasion of the Japanese islands.

I've stated before that I don't believe America is a Christian nation or ever has been, mainly because I don't believe that nations can be Christians. They can be largely comprised of Christians or even led by Christians, but nations are largely about self preservation and protection of its citizens. Whatever the cost. Basically nations believe that the lives of their citizens are inherently more valuable than the lives of people of other non-allied nations.

And that's what Harry Truman and his advisers decided in 1945. They decided that the lives of the American soldiers were of greater worth than the lives of the Japanese civilians, and so they felt that dropping two atomic weapons were the proper way to end the war.

Now from strictly a nationalistic perspective, this was the right maneuver. And it should have been an easy call for the Americans. Particularly because they felt that the Germans would have done the same thing given similar circumstances.

What it can't be called is Christian. Plain and simple. Doing something that takes the life of your enemy (especially noncombatants) is not how Christ enjoined us to follow him. Very simply put, the one time Jesus had someone fight for him (Matthew 26:50-54, Luke 22:47-53), Jesus not only chastised Peter for fighting for him, but then proceeded to heal the ear of one of the men that came to capture him. What do I think Jesus would have thought of Fat Man and Little Boy, the two atomic weapons? I can only think that he would have thought the same thing of them as he did of Peter's sword.

The only thing I can hope is that when/if our brothers and sisters 5,000 years from now (if the Lord doesn't come back and the creek don't rise, as my grandmother used to say) and wonder how God could have worked through such a people as us, that they will give us the same benefit of the doubt as we give the Israelites in the Old Testament who committed genocide on the Canaanites. That they will simply trust that God was able to work out His purposes, even through such broken vessels.

Digg This!

YouTube Thursday: Scrubs Music

To dovetail on yesterday's post, those of you interested can listen to Dr. Amy Jill Levine's talk at Otter Creek Church of Christ last night at ottercreek.podomatic.com

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One of my favorite shows in reruns today is Scrubs. It's a show that deals in absurdist comedy and one that seriously makes me guffaw out loud just about every time I watch it. One of the things I like the best about it is how it uses music.

For example, one of the first times I watched they did this incredible thing with Journey's Don't Stop Believing



And apparently in the first season, they had Colin Hay from the 80's band Men At Work perform the song Overkill acoustically and it was so good that I had to buy the song off iTunes.



All in all, it's just a fun show, that has incredible moments of pathos and then moments of absurdity that crack me up. And perhaps my favorite one is from "My Way Home." I wish I could post the whole episode here, but here's just the end.



Addendum: Scott Freeman reminded of me of this moment, which is one of the most beautifully sublime uses of music on the show. A woman has been asked how she wants to die, and she says that she wants it like a Broadway musical.

Dr. A.J. Levine

For those interested, Dr. Amy Jill Levine, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School, is speaking at Otter Creek Church of Christ at 409 Franklin Road tonight at 7. I have heard her speak several times, including last year, and while I might not agree with her on all her points, she has much to teach us as Christians about Scripture and the approaches to it.

I'm very much looking forward to it.

First Day of School

Here are the pics from Kinsey's first day of first grade.

Kinsey in her uni... I mean, Standard School Attire.

Kinsey in the van on the way to school.

Kinsey and a friend sitting together in the class.

It was a good first day for Kinsey. She obviously has a new teacher and a lot of new friends, as well as several of her friends from her kindergarten class.

And here are a couple of blasts from the past.

This is Kinsey from last year on the first day of Kindergarten.

And Kinsey on the first day of preschool.

The years are just flying by. Incredible how it happens.

"Not of This World"

In John 18, Jesus and Pontius Pilate have a very interesting exchange.

33Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

34"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"

35"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"

36Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."

I think in some ways, what Jesus says in verse 34 has been interpreted in some ways that don't support the context. I've heard this passage used to talk about Heaven and how Jesus is waiting for us there after we die. Which might be true, but it's not what this passage is talking about.

When Jesus says that His Kingdom is "not of this world," what I believe He's saying is that His Kingdom is not achieved by the means that this world uses. In fact, the very next sentence Jesus speaks is about His followers fighting for Him if His Kingdom were of this world. In fact, at the crucial moment of His ministry, when the perfect time to break out the swords came, Jesus not only told Peter to put his sword away, Jesus healed the ear of the one that Peter had struck. In Jesus' Kingdom, in the Kingdom of God, the means by which we achieve the ends are just as important. To put it another way, in the Kingdom of God, a evil means does not justify a righteous end.

Next week: What would Jesus have thought of the atomic bomb?

YouTube Thursday: Hip-Hop Violin

I really, really enjoyed this when I first saw it and have continued to each time I watch it. Two very talented guys with very different talents.



btw, if anyone knows what the heck is going on with my Blogger template, please let me know.

My Celebrity Lookalikes

I have no idea who Jens Stoltenberg is, but I'll take Denzel any day.



I'm kind of surprised I didn't get Josh Charles.

I got him a lot right after Dead Poets' Society came out. Which by the way, was a great movie to watch while in high school, but when I became a teacher... wow, talk about unreasonable expectations on what I could do and who I could inspire.

When Inspiration Strikes...

Back when I was a teacher, ideas would occasionally strike me that I knew would hit a kid just right and I was glad when it happened. Friday night it happened with Kinsey.

We're going through a VERY selfish stage with her right now. I alluded to it in last week's post. Friday night, we went to a surprise teacher shower for a friend who is becoming a teacher. We brought some stuff for her classroom and were there to give her support (wish I'd got that when I was a first year teacher). Now, this friend is one we went to England with and generally, when she's around Kinsey, Kinsey gets her undivided attention. Obviously at this party, that wasn't going to happen and it just hit Kinsey wrong. She couldn't open the presents, she couldn't be right in front of everyone and she was pouting an incredible amount. I took her back to a bedroom and the waterworks and just SOBBING started. It was one of the most pathetic, attention seeking things she's ever done.

We immediately packed up to leave (with a 14 month old, it's a process), and when we got into the car, we started telling her how disappointed we were with her and how we knew she knew how to act, yet she wasn't doing it. And at this point, we got to the heart of why so much has been going on with her. She said that she worried that we didn't love her anymore because of Connor. So we re-assured her that that wasn't the case, but that that didn't excuse her behavior. She stayed teary all the way home and we sent her to bed as soon as we got there.

Sheryl and I talked about what consequence she needed to have, and she came out of her room claiming to need to go potty, so we let her. When she came out, I asked her why she washed her hands. She didn't know what I meant, so I said, "How did you know to wash your hands after you went potty?" She looked confused and said that she just knew that that was what she was supposed to do. I then pointed out that that was what we wanted selflessness to be for her. That it would be as natural as washing her hands after going potty. She nodded and I think she really understood it. The last few days have been better, although like any 6 year old, she's going to go in and out of them. I just hope that we can get her into a more consistent mindset of thinking about others. I think we will; it'll just take some time.

Random Post of the Day

Why is the soundtrack to High School Musical so freaking hard to turn off? No music should be this addictive.

What Does Grace Cover? or How Much "Bad" Doctrine Does Grace Cover?

I currently attend Otter Creek Church of Christ, a "liberal/progressive/whatever" Church of Christ, which on the left to right scale of Churches of Christ, puts us way out on the left, but on the left to right scale of churches in general, puts us way out there on the right. It's an interesting dichotomy. One supposedly defining characteristics of these "liberal/progressive/whatever" Churches of Christ is that they have more emphasis on Grace than the "conservative/traditional/whatever" Churches of Christ. In fact, one person once thought that OC focused too much on grace and decided to leave.

One of the major tenants of the Churches of Christ is that there is a specific way to believe about God and faith. That revelation is given through the Bible and there is a specific way to interpret the Bible. If you don't interpret it the same way as the Churches of Christ do, then you're either being deliberately obtuse, you're mentally deficient, or you just haven't been taught in the right way.

Now, on one hand, that seems rather extreme, but in all honesty, it's the way that a lot of Christians believe. There are certain things that you have to believe in order to be a Christian and then to be saved from the everlasting sulfuric fires of Hell. Of course, we could debate what it means to be saved and how that plays out, but that's not what this post is about.

What I am wondering is this: How much bad belief does Grace cover? Is there a minimum that someone must believe in order to be considered a Christian and therefore saved? And if you don't believe that minimum of "orthodox" belief, does Grace cover that? Or does Grace only cover specifically repented-for sins of commission and omission? I'm really looking forward to hearing ideas on this.

The Porn Myth

It is critical that if you are a man or woman, that you read this article about pornography.

The Porn Myth: In the end, porn doesn’t whet men’s appetites—it turns them off the real thing. by Naomi Wolf

Rowling Deathly Hallows Interviews

Deathly Hallows Spoilers below!

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I'm sure many of you have read or are reading the Deathly Hallows and you might be craving more information, like What did Harry, Ron, and Hermione do in their futures for work? What about Ginny? Did Luna and Neville end up together?

Well in a couple of interviews, JK Rowlings has been explaining herself and why she did the things that she did in the books.

This one is an interview that aired on NBC Sunday night, portions of which aired on Today earlier in the week. Some good info, but more about her and her writing process and feelings now that it's all over.

This one is a web chat transcript from Bloomsbury, her UK publisher, with questions asked by fans. This is where the really juicy stuff is. Lots of questions about why certain things happened, what happened in the future. Also, what about that person that Rowlings said would show magic later in life? What did Dudley seem when the dementor started to kiss him? What did Dumbledore see in the Mirror of Erised? Tons of great stuff, but a word of warning. In Word, it's 18 pages long.

And finally, did you not like the epilogue? Did you not like the epilogue because it was Ron and Hermione and not Harry and Hermione? Did you think Ginny had far too much happiness in her life? Then this fanfiction version of the epilogue should make you very happy! This is an example of one of those Harmonian types that just truly felt that Rowlings didn't know her characters well enough to put Harry and Hermione together.

Yes, I'm completely serious. Enjoy!