Vespers

Otter Creek's Wednesday night service is called Vespers. It is a contemplative service. The sanctuary is darkened, mainly lit by candles. Scripture is read, there is silence, a Psalm is chanted, there are different stations for prayer to guide our thoughts, and a message is given. This Wednesday, I spoke from Amos 5:18-24 and Matthew 25.

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The Gospel passage tonight is the story of the Ten Virgins and its theme is preparedness. Contextually, the subject is the return of the Lord as discussed in Matthew 24. It’s very curious to imagine what Jesus was thinking as he thought about preparedness.

We have a tendency in our contemporary setting to spiritualize teachings like this, to expect that Jesus is talking about our spiritual state of preparedness, making sure our hearts are right with God, but what’s interesting is that the parables that follow this one don’t tend to bear that out.

The next parable after the virgins is the parable of the talents, where servants of a master are given talents/money and those that produce are rewarded and the one that doesn’t is punished. Again, this parable could be spiritualized. Our talent is the Gospel that has been given to us and we are to take it out and have it bear fruit for the Kingdom of God, converting others to Christ. And I think that can be one application of it.

But then look at the parable that follows, one of Jesus’ clearest statements on judgment, the parable of the sheep and the goats. In this one, the Son of Man comes in his glory and he separates all the nations, the sheep on one side, the goats on the other. And what is the basis of this separation? Is it belief? Is it having your heart right with God? Is it the fruit that our Gospel has borne? No, it’s action. It’s caring for the poor, the sick, visiting those in prison, and clothing those that need clothes. It is action that comes from faith.

And here’s the thing that should scare us. And by us, I mean those of us who have grown so comfortable in our Christianity that we think showing up on Sunday’s and eating a little bread and drinking a little grape juice and putting some money in a plate makes us a Christian. Or those of us that think that sitting in liturgical, candle-lit dark makes us more spiritual. From this last parable, if what we do in here isn’t backed up by actions for these least of these in society, we’re the goats. If we don’t follow what we say we believe by actually doing something, we’re the ones on the outside.

You see, because if you look at these parables, all of the people who end up on the outside are those “in the know.” The virgins left out in the cold know the bridegroom is coming. The servant with the talent knows what he’s supposed to do with it. The goats to the left call the Son of Man “Lord.” These people know who Jesus is, they know, and yet on the basis of that knowledge, they do nothing.

And this is what makes the Amos passage so fascinating. In the NIV it’s labeled as the Day of the Lord, which for some people, might bring up images of Revelation: new heavens, new earth, the new Jerusalem coming down, God dwelling with His people. But the Amos passage makes it clear that the Day of the Lord isn’t necessarily something to be anticipated as much as it is to be feared.

All of the services and rituals and rites that the people of Israel were performing were worthless in God’s eyes, because His people didn’t pursue justice and righteousness. He says that He hates their feast, despises their assemblies. Away with the noise of songs! Why? Is there something inherently wrong with the songs or the assemblies? No, but it’s the fact that those assemblies and feasts are not backed up by action motivated pursue justice and righteousness. That's what angers God.

It seems sometimes that the church can become a collection of admirers of Jesus. We like the idea of Jesus. We like the fact the he came as a cute baby (no golden fleece diapers, though), that he died on a cross, and rose from the dead. And that somehow as a result of all of that, we get to go to heaven too. We’re not sure how all that works, there’s blood somewhere and we get washed clean by that, but we’re basically just glad that it happened and we get to benefit from it.

And honestly, it's easier to be an admirer, because it makes little call on our own lives. It becomes much easier to point our fingers at others' "moral" failings and call people out for them, while ignoring the sin that eats at our own souls: the greed and the lust and the selfishness that don't show as easily as the moral failings we can like to pick on.

However, Jesus does not call us to be his admirers. He calls us to be his followers. To walk as he would walk in our places. How would Jesus walk as a teacher, or a student, or a web designer, or a minister, or stay at home parent? If we claim the name of Christian, which is Greek for little Christs, we have to commit to walking as his followers. We have to look the opportunities around us for pursuing justice and righteousness. It’s good to do that in places like Guatemala and Kenya, foreign ministries that Otter Creek supports, but we also need to look around our own homes, in our own city. Find out what needs to be done at the Wayne Reed Center, at Youth Encouragement Services, at the Kirkpatrick School. Take communion to prisoners on Sunday mornings, come with us to the Turney Center on 4^th Sundays. Participate in Room in the Inn, Thrift Smart, Mending Hearts.

Being a follower is hard. It's messy. It gets us around people we might not be around a lot. It takes a change of mindset and it's not overnight. You take the baby steps that you can. Maybe give away one thing that you don't need. Maybe do something that Jesus would do that makes you uncomfortable.

God has given us opportunities to pursue justice and righteousness all around us. All we have to do is open our eyes and see them. He’s invited us to partner with him in changing this world, something that no matter how lofty their speeches, no politician can do, no government can accomplish. Jesus didn’t save us for us to sit on our hands and pray that we don’t sin so badly that we don’t make it into heaven. He called us to go out of here and make disciples, call people to the Kingdom and then send them out as well. And I pray that we will have the boldness to stop admiring Jesus and start following him.

Caption This Picture

Be Funny!

Fall 2008 Pictures

On Saturday, the four of us went out to a park to take advantage of the great weather and the fall colors and get some family pictures. I think they ended up very well.

I picked this one because of how well it shows the color of Connor's eyes.

Three people look great in this one. Who's the dork on the left?

I love this one, just for the expression on the kids' faces. We're saying happy cheese. Connor is in the middle of "Happy..."

I will cherish this one forever

Sister and Brother

Man, we are in SO much trouble when boys start to notice her.

Kinsey was insistent on doing a superhero pose.

Connor was close to a meltdown, but this held him off for a bit.

Just a couple of beautiful girls

The Christian Right

Diving in headfirst again...

I was wondering this weekend if the election last Tuesday was a sign of the beginning of the end of the Christian Right's influence in power. According to some Exit poll numbers from the Associated Press (and stolen shamelessly from the Dallas Morning News):

Worship service attendance is considered a marker of religiosity that is generally tied to conservative politics. People who say they attend worship services more than once a week voted for President Bush over John Kerry 64-35. This year, John McCain still won those voters, but only by a 55-43 tally.

Mr. McCain took an overwhelming percentage of the born-again evangelical vote. But his tally of 73 percent was a drop from the 2004 election, where Mr. Bush beat Mr. Kerry with 79 percent of that vote.

So among regular church goers, Obama gained 9 points and among "born-again evangelicals" (whatever that really means), the president-elect gained 6 points.

I think this data and the election results can be read a few ways.

1) The Christian Right never really supported McCain.

In my listening to conservative talk radio and talking to my friends, people were not incredibly excited about McCain. It was only when Palin came on board that many on the Christian right really came out to support McCain (I say all this anecdotally, of course). However, the Christian right might not have been able to convince enough of those voters to either vote McCain or vote against Obama, which would seem to indicate some eroding support.

2) The Anti-Palin vote.

I know several people who like McCain. They especially liked the McCain who ran back in 2000, who thumbed his nose at Christian leaders like Falwell and Dobson and Robertson (calling them "agents of intolerance" in 2000). They were dismayed by what they perceived as McCain's pandering to the Religious right (by speaking at Falwell's Liberty University, for example), seeming to sell out in order to get their support. And when Palin was chosen, this seemed to further his entrenchment with the Christian Right. But what it also did was drive moderates and centrists away from him. According to a CNN exit poll, those that considered themselves moderate voted 60-39 for Obama, which was 44% of the respondants. Now I believe that McCain would lost by even more votes, if he HADN'T chosen a Christian Right conservative like Palin, because the Christian right would have stayed home or gone for a 3rd party candidate. It would have been similar to what happened in 1992 when many of them voted for Perot, sapping support from Bush Sr. and giving Clinton the White House. So McCain didn't have much choice from that standpoint. But it also didn't help that Palin basically became a punchline on most comedy shows almost immediately, even by using her own words.

3. Rejection of Fear Tactics

I wonder finally if many people just decided to reject the Christian Right's propagation of fear as a campaign tool. Now, as I've said, I think the Left used fear as well, particularly in its promotion of McCain as the Third Term of George Bush (a nightmare for many people on the left). However, there were some pretty egregious examples of the Christian Right using fear to try and sway voters, especially the Letter from 2012 from Focus on the Family. I think people got tired of that and tired of similar tactics, and whether they voted for Obama to spite the Christian Right, or because they actually supported Obama, I think those votes were a rejection of those tactics. Even going to the buzz words of the 50s (socialist/communist) and the new racism that's ok (Muslim) didn't seem to work.

Now it's the interesting part for the Republican party. Do they read these results as a rejection of the Christian Right and move more center or do they read these results as a reject of McCain and his more centrist policies and take this as a hint to move more to the right? I suppose we'll wait until the midterms to find out.

Question of the Day: Moral vs. Political

Why is it that when someone talks about abortion or homosexuality, they are talking about moral issues, but when someone talks about greed, poverty, or just/unjust war they are being political?

For instance, our guest preacher at church on Sunday, brought up abortion and acceptance of homosexuality as examples that our nation needs revival, which is a perspective that I can appreciate, even if I disagree on approaches. However, if someone were to bring up social justice issues like poverty or greed or just/unjust war, those issues are considered "political" and shouldn't be brought up from a pulpit setting. Why the discrepancy?

YouTube Thursday: Speeches

McCain's Concession Speech

I've got to say that McCain did a really great job with this speech. He was gracious, considerate, and really showed the man that I remember seeing back in 2000.

Obama's Acceptance Speech

Obama did excellently as well. I thought the highest point of the whole speech was the end, when he brought up 106-year-old Anne Nixon Cooper, born the generation after slavery, who saw so much of American history happen.

President-Elect Barack H. Obama

I don't think it's ever been a real secret that I've favored Barack Obama in this election. I like John McCain and I really liked John McCain in 2000 when he ran. I've tried to be as non-partisan on my blog as I can. I've tried to show different viewpoints on issues as much as possible. I'm someone who likes to hear both/all sides of an issue and so I've tried to present that as much as possible here.

This year though, I favored Obama. I'm not 100% with him. He and I disagree about abortion: he wants it more available than I do. He and I disagree on the role of government in the economy: he favors more involvement than I do, although I want more involvement than Greenspan favored. We agree on homosexual marriage, in not supporting it, but supporting civil rights for the unions between two homosexuals. We agree on Iraq, that we should transfer power back to the civilian government as quickly as possible and return our troops home expediently.

I voted for Obama in this election and I wait with bated breath to see the kind of president he will make. Great speeches don't make a great president. Great actions do, and I'm hopeful that he will be a president of great action and surround himself by the people that will enable him to make those decisions.

I know that many of my fellow Christian brothers and sisters are disappointed by his election, even appalled or disgusted. I respect that. I understand why people are disappointed in this, because of policy disagreements.

What I don't understand is the vitriol and hatred that many people who claim the name of Jesus are hurling at him. One of my former student's Facebook status last night read, "I can't believe America is choosing this racist Muslim piece of s***." Which appalled me. People who claim the name of Jesus are free to disagree, but to express anger in such a hateful way brings shame to the name of Jesus. And if I weren't a Christian and saw or heard this, there is NO WAY that I would want to be a part of that! Why would I want to become a Christian if it makes me a more hateful person? Please, let's think about how our words and actions come across to people. Let's think about how we are reflection the name of Jesus.

I will probably keep writing about politics over the next little while. I'm curious to think about why McCain lost. I'm curious to think about if this is the election that broke the back of the Religious Right. I'm curious for what Obama's election means about race in America.

But right now, we have a new President-Elect. And for the first time, it was someone who doesn't look like me. And if for nothing else, that's progress. That's history.

Colbert Election Prayer

Last night, on the Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert offered this prayer before the election. It's kind of the opposite of going into your closet to pray...

Presidential Campaign in 1 Minute

Seriously, what else do you need?

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Oh, and here's all you need to see of the debates.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

As one last point, here is the political journey of Donald Miller, author Blue Like Jazz. It's a very interesting perspective. http://donmilleris.com/2008/11/03/from-reagan-to-obama-a-brief-political-history/

The Politics of Jesus

Lee Camp (Associate Professor of Ethics at Lipscomb University, author of Mere Discipleship, and a good friend) hosts a theological variety show, what could be considered a "Christian version of Prairie Home Companion," called Tokens, although to describe it like that sell both Tokens and PHC short. It combines story telling, music, interviews, and skits, to talk about some of the pressing issues of the day.

At the last Tokens Show (which I wasn't able to attend, but you can listen to clips on the Tokens site), Lee opened with this:

Dirk Willems was arrested in the latter part of the 16th century. When he was jailed, Christianity had been in cahoots with the prevailing political powers for about 1200 years. But it had not always been that way. Christianity had once been illegal, and Christians had been persecuted on and off for the first three centuries of Christian history. But by the end of the fourth century Christianity had become the only legal religion in the Roman empire; and so then, Christians, once persecuted, became the persecutors. Indeed, by Christmas Day 800 A.D., Christian king Charlemagne had defeated the pagan Saxons in battle, and told them all that they could come either to be baptized, or else he would kill them.

Willems and friends, the so-called Anabaptists, were hated, thought be to be the most despicable of heretics. But the Anabaptists thought there was something quite wrong with how Jesus was being used by the powers. So they refused, as had the early church, to fight the kings' and princes' wars; they refused to swear oaths; they refused to baptize babies; they refused to say that the Sermon on the Mount was not to be taken seriously. And so the Catholic and Protestant authorities arrested them in droves, killed them by burning and drowning, sometimes cutting out their tongues, sometimes tearing their flesh with red hot tongs.

It was all done with great piety, in the name of Jesus. Many political horrors have been done in the name of Jesus.
So Willems was awaiting trial one cold wintry day, and escaped. He fled across a frozen river, but the deputy in pursuit fell through the ice, called for help. Willems, his consciousness suffused I would guess with words about love of enemies, stopped, turned back, and pulled the deputy to safety. The sheriff arrived, demanded that the deputy arrest Willems. The deputy protested. The sheriff insisted. The deputy obeyed. Willems was soon executed.

There are important questions at stake in any national election, but we will not be giving such guidance tonight. Our agenda is different: it seems to me that Jesus was undoubtedly political, for he talked about and taught round all of the things the politicians talk about: offenses, debt, law, enemies, sex, money, power, women, children, the least of these. The question is not whether Jesus was political; the question is whether any of us really want his kind of politics, an extravagantly gracious, painfully truthful, suffering servanthood, that got him killed, a way of life to which he also called all who would follow him. Few people liked his campaign platform them; few like it now, including, I confess, myself; who really, after all, wants that kind of king? But it's tokens of that sort of politics for which we look tonight.

I'm going to quote that last paragraph again, because I think it's SO important.

There are important questions at stake in any national election, but we will not be giving such guidance tonight. Our agenda is different: it seems to me that Jesus was undoubtedly political, for he talked about and taught round all of the things the politicians talk about: offenses, debt, law, enemies, sex, money, power, women, children, the least of these. The question is not whether Jesus was political; the question is whether any of us really want his kind of politics, an extravagantly gracious, painfully truthful, suffering servanthood, that got him killed, a way of life to which he also called all who would follow him. Few people liked his campaign platform them; few like it now, including, I confess, myself; who really, after all, wants that kind of king? But it's tokens of that sort of politics for which we look tonight.

No matter where we might fall in the political, or even if we choose not to participate out of conviction, followers of Jesus have to understand that we are called to a higher purpose than political ones. No matter how inspired by a candidate we might be, or convicted of the rightness of our cause, we are still called to a higher purpose than what might be accomplished through whatever candidate we support.

God will continue to work in this world whether McCain or Obama is elected on Tuesday. The question is: will we work with God?

Caption This Picture!

When I saw this yesterday on Wonkette, my first reaction was, "Please, tell me this is a joke!" I think I know what's going on. According to CBN, October 29 was Day of Prayer for the World’s Economies and these Christians are "laying hands" on the bull as a part of that prayer. Now, I think theologically, they're on a bit of shaky ground theologically praying for economies, but... ok, sure.

However, surely, SURELY, someone could have thought this through a little better and said, "You know, I think there's a story similar to this in the Bible somewhere. This visual might not be the best thing. Maybe there's a better place to do this."

At any rate, here's the picture to caption. Be funny!

Trunk and Treat Pics

As promised, no politics today. Here are pictures from Otter Creek's Trunk and Treat on Sunday.

Kinsey is Harry Potter and Connor is Woody from Toy Story (notice the doll in his bucket?)

If you look really closely, you can see the scar above her right eye.

Connor never did want to put the bandanna on.

Our life group had a major showing. Special guests included: Daphne from Scooby Doo, Sara Palin, Meg from Family Guy, and a pirate.

There were a TON of people there.

Me and the kids.

The whole family together.

"YOU ARE A TOY!!!!"

ACORN

I found these two videos on ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), this one from the left, actually ACORN itself. It's 5 minutes.



And this one from Hannity and Colmes. It's 7 minutes.



You decide.

Both Sides of Fear

I'll post some pics of Kinsey and Connor in their Halloween outfits tomorrow, but pursuant to yesterday's conversation, the Daily Show skewered the fear on both sides of the campaign. As you might imagine, they pick on the McCain side a bit more.

Focus on the Fear-mily

Last week, Focus on the Family's political action wing, Focus on the Family Action, published a letter trying to describe what life for Christians would be like in 2012 under an Obama administration. From the WorldNetDaily summary, here are some predicted aspects:

• Six liberal justices sit on the Supreme Court after the immediate resignation of John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the later resignations of Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy.
  
  
• Homosexual marriage has been ruled a constitutional right that must be respected by all 50 states.
  
  
• The Boy Scouts have disbanded rather than obey a decision forcing them to allow homosexual scoutmasters. (The Scouts already had been kicked out of public facilities because of an expansion of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to cover people who engage in homosexual behavior.)
  
  
• Elementary schools have compulsory training in varieties of gender identity. Courts rule parents cannot opt out their children, because the training is deemed essential to psychological health.
  
  
• Evangelical and Catholic adoption agencies cease to exist after the Supreme Court rules they must agree to place children with homosexuals or lose their licenses.
  
  
• Church buildings are now considered a "public accommodation" by the United States Supreme Court, and churches have no freedom to refuse to allow their buildings to be used for wedding ceremonies for homosexual couples.
  
  
• High schools are no longer free to allow "see you at the pole" meetings where students pray together or any student Bible studies even before or after school.
  
  
• The Supreme Court barred public schools in all 50 states from allowing churches to rent their facilities, even on Sundays, when school was not in session.
  
  
• Obama signed the Freedom of Choice Act, as he promised the Planned Parenthood Action Fund last year, nullifying hundreds of state laws that had created even the slightest barrier to abortion.
  
  
• The Supreme Court in 2011 nullified all Federal Communications Commission restrictions on obscene speech or visual content in radio and TV broadcasts, and television programs at all hours of the day now contain explicit portrayals of sexual acts.
  
  
• As a result of a reversal of its 5-4 decision in the D.C. gun-ownership case, it is now illegal for private citizens to own guns for self-defense in eight states, and the number is growing with increasing Democratic control of state legislatures and governorships
  
  
• Parents' freedom to teach their children at home has been severely restricted nationwide after the Supreme Court followed the legal reasoning of a Feb. 28, 2008, ruling by the Second District Court of Appeal in California.

Obviously this is aimed at getting conservative Christian voters out there, primarily through fear.

And I think this is absolutely sad. Pathetic.

Look, I don't mind people being for or against either candidate. But if you're going to have legitimate conversations about it, this kind of fear-based politicking says some really sad things about it.

1) And I've said this before, this shows a complete lack of faith in John McCain. They don't think he's a strong enough candidate to beat Obama so they have to attack Obama.

2) They think (probably with good measure) that many conservative Christians are susceptible to this kind of "reasoning" and so they can describe basically an evangelical Christian Hell and believe that people will respond to that. To me, that shows that Christians are more susceptible to fear rather than faith.

You see, because if you truly believe that Obama is misguided or evil or whatever and would be bad for America, I can understand that.

But

It

Doesn't

Matter.

America is NOT God's chosen country. The United States does not have the monopoly on what it means to be a Christian. In fact, many of the ways that the US has achieved what it has achieved is directly counter to the teachings of Jesus: Turn the other cheek, love our enemies, sell everything we have and give to the poor, do to the least of these our brothers and sisters? Killing native Americans, enslaving African Americans, ignoring the plight of the poor is not being a Christian nation. It's being a nation that achieves its kingdom by means of this world. It's being of this world. Am I grateful to live in America where I get to enjoy the freedoms that I have and the luxuries that I have? Absolutely. Do I tie those freedoms and luxuries to believing that God has blessed me more than those who don't have what I have? If I do, I'm an idiot, a moron, a fool.

God is going to continue the work of bringing about salvation to this world whether John McCain or Barack Obama or whoever is president. Followers of Jesus should not succumb to fear tactics, whether from the right about what this nation would look like 4 years from now under Obama or from the left about McCain being Bush 2: The Bushening.

What we should be concerned about is how we can partner with God through Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about His work and purposes in this world. And none of that is tied to who gets elected president.

A Prayer During Economic Insecurity

A post that I'm going to blatantly rip off from Mike Cope, but it's one that I think it especially important during this time as we realize that putting our hope in our savings and investments might have been misplaced:

We remember, Lord, that Jesus told one of the Seven Churches that they appeared to be rich but that they were actually poor. They needed his wealth so they wouldn’t be poor; they needed his clothes so they wouldn’t be naked; they needed his salve so they wouldn’t be blind.

We also remember that he told another of the churches that while they appeared to be impoverished they were actually rich. Their wealth wasn’t financial; it was much more valuable.

In these uncertain economic times, help us proclaim again through our words and our lives:

- that some trust in chariots, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God;

- that some trust in nations, governments, and politicians, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God;

- that some trust in retirement funds, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

And so, O Lord, we join our voices with those of our brothers and sisters from many nations and many languages:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever.
Amenn

YouTube Thursday: He is Like a Mountie!

If you haven't seen this... well, consider this your introduction to the craze that is sweeping the nation. 1.1 million viewers can't be wrong.

Jesus is My Friend!

NY Times: The Making (and Remaking and Remaking) of McCain

I don't know if you're tired yet of me talking about politics. And if you are, I'm sorry. But this campaign has been one of the most fascinating that I can remember. Maybe as interesting as Bush/Clinton in 1992 (oh, Lord, that's 16 years ago...)

However, if you are at all interested in the inner workings of political campaigns, I HIGHLY recommend this article in the New York Times on the McCain campaign.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/magazine/26mccain-t.html

It's fairly well balanced, and presents the journalist's view of 6 different campaign narratives of the McCain campaign.

#1 The Heroic Fighter vs. the Quitters
#2 Country-First Deal Maker vs. Nonpartisan Pretender
#3 Leader vs. Celebrity
#4 Team of Mavericks vs. Old-Style Washington
#5 John McCain vs. John McCain
#6 The Fighter (Again) vs. the Tax-and-Spend Liberal

It's long, and it will be interesting if a different article is written if McCain wins and if they publish a similar piece on the Obama campaign. But for political junkies (like me) this article is like crack.

Fall Pictures

This last weekend, Sheryl took a girls weekend to Atlanta, and I had both kids. For one thing, this really made me appreciate what single parents have to go through, because you have to be ON the whole time. I was especially missing her on Sunday morning at church as I was doing my set up and tear down from the Sunday morning worship. Keeping an eye on both kids and trying to do all the stuff that I need to do was very stressful.

At any rate, even with that, we had a ton of fun this weekend. One of the things I really try to do for the kids is create memories that they'll look back on fondly, and one of the fondest memories I have is jumping in leaf piles. (btw, all these were taken with my iPhone, so sorry about the quality.)

Palin and Powell

Well, in case you missed it, Governor Sarah Palin appeared on Saturday Night Live this weekend. I've read some commentors and commentators who have found it interesting and disappointing that she decided to go on a comedy show like SNL, but not a more serious news/interview show like Meet the Press or This Week. Whatever you think of that, she was pretty funny on SNL. I do wish she'd done this rap though...



Transcript:

1, 2, 3

My name is Sarah Palin
You all know me,
Vice-Prezzy nominee,
of the GOP.

Gonna need ya vote,
In the next election.
Can I get a "woot woot!"
From the senior section.

McCain got experience.
McCain got style.
But don't let him creep you out,
When he drops that smile.
'Cause that smile be creepy!
But when I'm VP,
All the leaders of the world gonna FINALLY meet me.

Jeremiah Wright,
'Cause tonight I'm the preacher,
I got a bookish look,
And you're all hot for teacher.

Todd lookin' fine on his snowmachine,
So hot for each other,
He the "go-between."

In Wasilla,
We just chill, baby, chilla,
But when I see oil it's
"Drill baby! Drilla!"

My country tis of the Thee,
From my porch I can see,
Russia and such.....

All the mavericks in the house put your hands up,
All the mavericks in the house put your hands up,
All the plumbers in the house pull your pants up,
All the plumbers in the house pull your pants up!

When I say "Obama" you say "Ayers!"
Obama!
Ayers!
Obama!
Ayers!
I built me a bridge, it ain't goin' nowhere!

McCain/Palin, gonna put the nail in
The coffin of the media elite!
(she likes red meat!)
Shoot a mother humpin' moose 8 days of the week!

(shoots someone dressed in a moose costume)

Now ya dead!
Now ya dead 'cause I'm an animal!
And I'm bigger than you!
Hold that shotgun,
Rockin the pump.
Everybody party,
We're goin' to hunt!

la la la la la la laaaaaaa

(shoots at the audience)

Yo I'm Palin and I'm out!

However, Republican former Secretary of State Colin Powell did go on Meet the Press and formally endorsed Barack Obama for President. Some people will question whether or not he was ever a "true" Republican, since he supports gay rights and is pro-choice. However, whether or not you agree with Powell, I think he did make some interesting points.



Transcript:

MR. BROKAW: General Powell, actually you gave a campaign contribution to Senator McCain. You have met twice at least with Barack Obama. Are you prepared to make a public declaration of which of these two candidates that you're prepared to support?

GEN. POWELL: Yes, but let me lead into it this way. I know both of these individuals very well now. I've known John for 25 years as your setup said. And I've gotten to know Mr. Obama quite well over the past two years. Both of them are distinguished Americans who are patriotic, who are dedicated to the welfare of our country. Either one of them, I think, would be a good president. I have said to Mr. McCain that I admire all he has done. I have some concerns about the direction that the party has taken in recent years. It has moved more to the right than I would like to see it, but that's a choice the party makes. And I've said to Mr. Obama, "You have to pass a test of do you have enough experience, and do you bring the judgment to the table that would give us confidence that you would be a good president."

And I've watched him over the past two years, frankly, and I've had this conversation with him. I have especially watched over the last six of seven weeks as both of them have really taken a final exam with respect to this economic crisis that we are in and coming out of the conventions. And I must say that I've gotten a good measure of both. In the case of Mr. McCain, I found that he was a little unsure as to deal with the economic problems that we were having and almost every day there was a different approach to the problem. And that concerned me, sensing that he didn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had. And I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin. She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired; but at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made.

On the Obama side, I watched Mr. Obama and I watched him during this seven-week period. And he displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems like this and picking a vice president that, I think, is ready to be president on day one. And also, in not just jumping in and changing every day, but showing intellectual vigor. I think that he has a, a definitive way of doing business that would serve us well. I also believe that on the Republican side over the last seven weeks, the approach of the Republican Party and Mr. McCain has become narrower and narrower. Mr. Obama, at the same time, has given us a more inclusive, broader reach into the needs and aspirations of our people. He's crossing lines--ethnic lines, racial lines, generational lines. He's thinking about all villages have values, all towns have values, not just small towns have values.

And I've also been disappointed, frankly, by some of the approaches that Senator McCain has taken recently, or his campaign ads, on issues that are not really central to the problems that the American people are worried about. This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign. But Mr. McCain says that he's a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have these robocalls going on around the country trying to suggest that, because of this very, very limited relationship that Senator Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, somehow, Mr. Obama is tainted. What they're trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that's inappropriate.

Now, I understand what politics is all about. I know how you can go after one another, and that's good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift. I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration. I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.

So, when I look at all of this and I think back to my Army career, we've got two individuals, either one of them could be a good president. But which is the president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities--and we have to take that into account--as well as his substance--he has both style and substance--he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world--onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.

Restoring Community

In oursmall group on Sunday nights, we're studying the book of Luke. Last week we talked about a chapter that has frustrated me in understanding it and I had a flash of insight about two stories that helped them make more sense. Specifically Luke 8:26-48.

After Jesus apparently woken up very grumpy from a nap and calmed the waves, he and his followers come to a man possessed by a number of demons. When Jesus casts the demons out, the man returns to his normal self and even though he wants to follow Jesus, Jesus tells him to return home and tell people about what God has done for him. Immediately after Jesus returns to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, he's approached by Jairus a synagogue ruler about his dying daughter. On his way to heal the girl, a woman with bleeding for years touched Jesus' cloak and she is healed.

Now on hand these two stories don't appear related outside the healing aspects. But there's something deeper I think. By removing the man's demons and healing the woman, both of them have been made "clean" or rather acceptable in the sight of the community. We tend to think of healing from only the physical aspect, but there was a societal aspect of it as well. A man naked among the graves would not have been allowed to be a part of the larger community. A woman bleeding for years was so unclean that she could not be with a man or even worship God according to the Jewish customs; she was ceremonially unclean.

By healing these people, Jesus not only took care of physcial infirmities, but just as importantly helped restore them to their communities, giving them a witness of God's miraculous love. Which causes me to think about ways that I as a follower of Jesus can help in that same mission, to restore people to community.

YouTube Thursday: Loretta, Daphne, Carol, Carol, Carol, Carol

With all the political heaviness going around, I thought it might be fun to have a clip the girls' names Dr. Cox has called J.D. on Scrubs (Seasons 4-5). Enjoy.



And here's Seasons 1-3

Disney

Check back later today for pictures of Sheryl and Kinsey's trip to Disney World in Florida.

Kinsey and her cousin Kay in front of Cinderella's castle

Katy and Kinsey with my mom

Katy and Kinsey scouting for the next step in their trip.

Sheryl, Katy, Kinsey, and Julie (my sister)

Kinsey and Katy together

Fire the Campaign

Really excellent Op-Ed on the McCain campaign from Bill Kristol in the New York Times.

Fire the Campaign

Here's my thing. I wish to high heaven that the McCain from 2000 were running. That was a true centrist maverick who didn't "sell his soul" to the right wing side of the party. That's a McCain I would vote for.

But that McCain isn't running.

Right now, primarily because of the negative campaigning as well as choosing someone I think is underqualified for VP in order to placate the right side of the party. Admittedly a side that delivered the presidency to Bush in 2004. And so, my leaning right now is to Obama.

But here's the thing. If McCain comes out at the next debate, looks Obama in the eye and says, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for allowing my campaign to get out of control in its attacks on you. I apologize and hope that for the next three weeks we can conduct the civil campaign that so many voters hoped from the two of us," that would begin to sway me. I lean moderate to conservative in my political feelings anyway and so I tend to be more sympathetic to McCain anyway.

No, I don't believe McCain is Satan and Obama is the Messiah, and maybe, just maybe the rest of this campaign can be on real issues and not on fear, from either side.

Reaping What We've Sown

On Wednesday night, my friend Lee Camp has spoke at Otter Creek's Vespers service and it was fascinating talk. I think he'll have it on his site soon.

One of the ideas that he talked about was judgement and the interesting point that when the Bible talks about judgment, one of the assumptions that Christians make is that it's talking about the outsiders, those that aren't Christians. But the point that Lee made is that typically when the Bible talks about judgment, it's almost always brought to the "house of God" first. So when the Bible talks about judgment, we who claim the name of Christ should be careful how we proclaim judgments on others.

You Tube Thursday: A-Ha's Take On Me, the Literal Version

As a child of the 80s, I was amazed at music videos and can even remember the first one I ever saw (Lucky Star by Madonna). I remember being scared over at friend's house when Michael Jackson's Thriller first aired (we didn't have cable) and staying up late for NBC's Friday Night Videos. One of the seminal videos during that time was a-ha's Take On Me, which combined live action and pencil-like animation.



Now, this is one of those videos that when you watch it, it makes absolutely zero sense in relation to the lyrics.

And so, some kind soul has redone the lyrics to make much more sense in context of the video. And it made me laugh so hard I had tears coming from my eyes.

Debate

Ok, so it wasn't really a debate last night. In fact, we don't really have debates anymore. We have someone asking questions while the candidates desperately search for a way to shoehorn their stump speeches into it. It seems to be the general consensus that Obama "won" the debate, whatever that really means. CNN MSNBC ABC CBS FoxNews Contributors To me, McCain seemed to attack more and Obama seemed to lie back some and then pounce here and there. I thought McCain's best moment was with the Naval Petty Officer, and Obama's was the one about his mother spending her last days fighting insurance companies.

Do these debates help anyone? Or do they really just confirm people's choices?

Oh and if you'd like an alternative election experience, try this. Kung Fu Election :-)

Negotiating with a 2 year old

Sheryl and I are pretty lucky with Connor. He's a pretty good kid, listens to us (mostly), and is even known to do what we tell him to. The one area where this is not true is his eating. And we are trying everything, but he's getting really stubborn about this now. It's almost like he has a block about eating at the table. He likes snacks and stuff and will have fruit or some Goldfish, but as for eating table food, it's almost impossible.

I'm thinking we might have to go with the eat-what's-on-your-plate or nothing idea, because otherwise we might never get him to eat, and if you've ever tried negotiating with a two year old, it's almost impossible.

Zoe Conference: Thoughts and Impressions

The Zoe Conference was this weekend at Woodmont Hills Church of Christ/Family of God this weekend. The theme this year was Fearless and that was obviously very relevant to the turbulent times that we're all in right now (although I find it interesting that we are fearful of what threatens our ability to have comforts, rather than what could threaten our lives as so many others experience throughout the world).

It was a good weekend. Sheryl and I had houseguests in our basement (Adam, Matt, and Chris) and that was fun for me and for the rest of the family too. I got a chance to spend some time with Brandon, which I haven't done for a while now. It was good to see him and Sheryl and their kids. I got to talk to Murray Sanderson, the incoming worship minister at Otter Creek, as well as renew some acquaintances from earlier conferences.

Some highlights for me. I enjoyed hearing Scot McKnight's talks and his reflections on James in the leadership conference. I really enjoyed watching the movie "Lord, Save Us From Your Followers" Thursday night. I thought the worship during the conference was excellent, even with the numbers being down quite a bit from previous conferences. I really enjoyed Jeff Walling on Friday night, even though he's not always my favorite speaker. I thought he did a really good job with this part. Cope and Harris did fantastic jobs, of course, and I really enjoyed the final session's walk through Revelation. Larry Mudd did a great job as John during it.

I do always regret that I'm not able to do more interacting during the worship conference itself. For the last couple of years, I've been running the MediaShout, so that's meant that I've needed to meet with people to get things straight and not go to any sessions or interact with people. This year was bittersweet, of course, because it was my first time to run MediaShout with Brandon, since he resigned from Otter Creek almost 9 months ago. It was like slipping into an old shoe with knowing how he likes his transitions done and when he needs the slide changed to make sure he won't sing the wrong words. I will say that it was especially weird not having the Zoe team at Otter Creek on Sunday, and knowing that they were all down at Woodmont Hills. Having the team at OC on Sundays after Zoe was always something that made me feel like OC was deeply involved in Zoe and it felt like more of a disconnect this year from that.

So, all in all, a good weekend. A weekend of thinking about what makes us fearful and the God who can be with us, even in those fears.

Heroes Wednesday: Ummmm.... episode 3

In order to keep liking Heroes, I think I'm going to have to stop reviewing it. The main reason is that if I think too much about it, I'll stop enjoying it. I can't think about the idea that Bennett would willing work with Sylar, even for a short time, after what he did to Claire. That he wouldn't shoot Sylar (or the screaming guy) through the glass to prevent Sylar from taking his power.

We had no Mohinder so we don't get to continue to see how stupid he is. I think Nathan Petrelli's arc is interesting, especially with the religious twist they're putting on it.

At any rate, I still really like the show, but it doesn't stand up to deep analysis. As one critic said after last week's episode... "people have argued the point with me, but my feeling is that the show wasn't even that good in season 1, outside of a handful of episodes ("Five Years Later," "Company Man"), but the novelty of it, the cliffhangers, and our misguided belief that this was all going somewhere fooled us into thinking "Heroes" was better than it actually was. Once we got the season one finale, and especially once we got season two, the blinders came off and we realized the emperor has no clothes, and probably never did." I think I agree with him, but it doesn't stop me from liking the show.

Peace and Justice

Just a question and looking for some thoughts.

If your church were going to start a Peace and Justice Ministry, what would that look like? What would be the goals? The methods? Should churches have peace and justice ministries? Is that too political?

Like I said, I'm just curious about people's thoughts on that.

Torn or, Is It Really Bailing Out If You Don't Solve Anything?

I'm going to take a minor break from the faith stuff that I typically do on Fridays and talk about what many others are thinking about and it's the bailout stuff. Maybe you're tired of it, but for the last two weeks, I've been basically glued to the TV news stations with the coverage of the election and now the financial meltdown. As with many things, I'm of two minds on this, so let me share.

Fiscal Conservative:
Let'em burn. People can talk about CRA and lower income people taking out loans they shouldn't have and those are important points. But here's the deal. Wall Street got greedy. They (stereotyping for effect and ease of writing) wanted to keep their share prices up and keep themselves in power and so many of the financial firms got so deep into loans that they had 1) no business backing and 2) no business investing in that they deserve to go down. Was there governmental pressure on this as far back as Carter? Yep. More so with Clinton? Probably. But the enthusiasm with which the firms sold and invested in these loans was staggering. Were they so blinded by greed that they couldn't see what even I an English major/user interface designer could see? That the housing bubble had to pop and the whole meltdown could really happen? Or did they see it coming and just want to find the fine line between profit and meltdown?

And bailout? Why the frak should we bail them out? With my tax dollars! I work hard. I don't live extravagantly, outside my means. My wife is at home with our kids. We have a paid for car. We don't have credit cards. We give, we save. We pay our bills on time. Why should we bail out people who got so greedy that they screwed themselves? If I got in over my head in bad debt and investments, would Bernanke and Paulson ride to my rescue and take over my debt? I doubt it. So let'em burn. It'll be bad for a while, but those of us who can ride it out will be better on the other side and maybe we can stop basing our economy on bad debts and bad credit and pursuing the mythical "American Dream." Maybe the Americian Dream shouldn't be home ownership any more; maybe it should be having a $1000 emergency fund in the bank.

Bleeding-Heart Liberal:
Yeah, but if we do that, what about the people who are able to save and to pay and could potentially be roadkill in the path of a crumbling economy. If the financial institutions fail, what are the repercussions of that? How many jobs will be lost? How many more homes foreclosed?

And if the government mandated that loan regulations be relaxed to help low income families get houses, doesn't the goverment have a moral responsibility to help take care of the families that got into those loans and the businesses that enabled that? Even if there was too little regulation before, we've got to get it right now. The government needs to help solve what it helped cause.

Reality (or one version of it):
Look, there's almost assuredly going to be a bailout. It's mainly just the details that have to get worked out. What needs to be decided from this point on is whether the culture of greed in the financial markets will be held in check or if they'll view the bailout has helping them dodge the meltdown bullet. There will most likely be more banks to fail. There will be more businesses collapse, but unless the culture changes, it's just forestalling what seems to be inevitable at some point.

Disappointment

"I was convinced an Obama/McCain campaign would be measurably different on almost all standards. And to watch it become Bush/Kerry, Bush/Gore, has been one of the most dissatisfying experiences. " - Jon Stewart

Entertainment Weekly Interview with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert

Heroes Wednesday: Premiere

Look, the 2nd season of Heroes wasn't good. It just wasn't. There were good things about it, but they got really locked into the same pattern as the first season with new characters, when we'd all grown attached to the characters from the first season and didn't really care much about the new ones.

The premiere Monday was... Ok, here one thing that I've learned about watching Heroes is that I really have to turn my brain into its lower gear. I can't nitpick as much because then I realize how ultimately dumb the show is. And it's ok to like a dumb show. I can't do things like think about how people should use their powers. For instance, when Claire locked herself in the closet to hide from Sylar, was this his thought process? "I'm evil. I have magnificent telekinetic powers. The thing that I've been pursuing for a long time is on the other side of a wooden slats door chained with a thin chain. I think I'll wait her out, instead of using my powers or say... my foot." See, I can't think too deeply about it. It's almost the opposite of Lost where they want you to OVER-think it.

At any rate, on a purely dumb show level, Monday night was great. I thought they did a great job setting up the arcs for the season and coming up with tolerable solutions to the last season. I really think that where they're going with stuff is going to be fun and as long as I don't think about why FuturePeter didn't just teleport away from FutureDarkClaire and the like, I'll be just fine with it.

Good Place

I've used this blog a lot to talk about the issues that I've had with raising kids, and there are always issues with busy-ness and life and such.

But I have to say that I really love it right now. My morning starts with getting Connor up and out of bed and dressed and so I get to see him every morning. He gives me hugs and I send him in to help wake Kinsey up. She gets up and they watch Playhouse Disney together while eating breakfast. That's usually where they are when I leave so I get goodbye kisses and tell them to have a Magnificent Monday, Terrific Tuesday, and so on.

When I get home in the afternoon, I change and then will play with them for a while. Right now, we can go outside and play in the backyard, swinging or playing ball or something. We eat dinner together and then it's bath time. If they have time, they play for a little while (not too much splashing) and then we get them in their PJs and get them into bed. I'll read a few pages of the Harry Potter book we're currently on (Prisoner of Azkaban, right now), and get them into bed. Last night, Kinsey read a chapter from her Magic Treehouse series and it was so good to hear her reading so smoothly and enjoying it.

Are the kids perfect? No. Sheryl and I still struggle with Kinsey being polite and listening to us and we had to force Connor to eat last night and bribe him with ice cream. He's getting into his 2 year old stage where he gets very selfish and wants to say "No" a lot.

But all in all, we're in a really good place right now. I know it's not going to last, and that's ok. I just want to make sure I hold onto these times for the times 6 years from now when Kinsey slams her door shut and tells us that she hates us and we'll never understand her because we're too old and don't remember what it's like to be a teenager. Ahhh, good "future" times...

A Question About Atonement

There has been a old line that atheists used about God: "Can God make a rock that God cannot lift?" Of course, this kind of physical limitation of God is one that's supposed to drive theists nuts, but it actually leads me to another thought, specifically about the atonement.

The traditional idea behind the atonement (death of Jesus as payment for our sins) is that the relationship between God and humans is irrevocably broken. The sin that we commit separates us from God. And because God is Holy and cannot be in the presence of that which is not holy, we cannot be in relationship with God. Only because Jesus died as a sacrifice for us was God's anger/wrath removed and God could could then return to relationship with us.

So here's the thought. The implication of this idea is that there is a law that even God cannot break. That what is Holy and Other cannot mix with that which is not. Some might say that God's Holiness is not really a part of a law per se, but a part of God's nature and for God to mingle with unholiness would be as foreign to that nature as a cat trying to fly.

But here's the question that I have. Is the Law/Rule of Holiness more powerful than God? Is this a law so powerful that even God cannot break it?

YouTube Thursday Part Deux: Joe Cocker (Captioned for the Clear Headed)

Joe Cocker, "With a Little Help From My Friends." Woodstock, 1969. Closed captioned for the clear-headed.

YouTube Thursday: McCain Gets Barack-Rolled

Do you know what RickRolling is? It is/was basically a bait and switch tactic where you would tell someone to watch a video, give them the link, and they would get the Rick Astley video for "Never Gonna Give You Up." So I would potentially say, "Hey check out this video of a cute baby!" And there you go.

Well someone put up a video where John McCain gets Barack-Rolled. It's pretty amusing. If you like that sort of thing....

Murray Sanderson

On Sunday morning, the elders at Otter Creek announced that Murray Sanderson would be joining the ministerial staff as the worship minister. You can read his perspective on the move here.

Honestly, I don't know Murray well and my only experience with him and his family was on Sunday morning. However, just from that experience, I don't doubt that he is a great choice for this position and will be great at guiding OC in worship for years to come. Plus the fact that he really appreciates the tech side of things in the worship experience and is a Mac guy are just pluses for him anyway.

Sheryl and I are both looking forward to working with him regularly and getting to know him and his family further.

Soccer Pictures

Pretend for a moment that you're looking at pictures of Kinsey playing soccer.

See? She just kicked the ball.


Now look, she's running behind the play and trying to get into it...


Oh man, look at the smile on that girl's face.

That's what you'll see if you come back later tonight...

Palin/Fey - Clinton/Poehler

If you didn't see the opening to Saturday Night Live on Saturday, you really should...

Gas

Ever notice that gas never goes down as quickly as it goes up? I'd like to see gas drop 60 cents in 8 hours every now and then.

Question of the Day...

How political was Jesus' message and life? Is it limiting to His message and purpose to relate Him to a "community organizer"? Or does it expand it?

YouTube Thursday (Fun Version): Best Game Ever

You might have seen videos from Improv Everywhere. Frozen Grand Central Station, Shirtless Abercrombie & Fitch, Cell Phone Symphony, Fake U2, etc.

However, my favorite one has to be this one where they made a little league game into the best game ever (with the help of NBC Sports).

YouTube Thursday (Serious Version): False Palin Rumors

CNN ran a good report the other day about some of the false rumors going around about Sarah Palin: cutting special needs funding, banning books, mandating the teaching of Biblical Creationism. Worth Watching.

Switch: My Journey from Mac and Back Again, Starring a Frozen Hard Drive

For my entire high school, college, and teaching years, I was a Mac guy. I wasn't one of those annoying Mac guys that believed that Steve Jobs had cried tears of gold on every Mac produced, but I really liked using them and enjoyed it. When I left teaching, I went to work for a company that didn't use Macs and to be able to work from home, I needed a PC. And based on being a Screensavers fan, I knew that I could probably build it myself and so I went for it. Which means that for the last 6 years, I've been a PC guy. Except for the iPod and then earlier this year, the iPhone.

Well, last Wednesday, I suffered a major hard drive crash. Couldn't get back into Windows at all. And I hadn't backed up in a while... Lots of lost data and especially pictures. Lots of pictures. I was crushed and Sheryl was fairly unhappy with me. The computer had been having issues for a while and we'd been thinking about replacing it. When this happened we decided to take the plunge and return to the land of Macs by getting a refurbished iMac. But that didn't solve the problem of the existing crashed hard drive.

Well, I tried putting the hard drive into an external enclosure to retrieve the info and that didn't work. I then purchased a program that I could run to try and retrieve the data. It kept hanging and wouldn't recover. And so I tried the last resort before taking it to a professional.

I stuck the hard drive in the freezer.

Yes. I put it in a plastic bag and stuck it into the freezer for an hour.

After that time frame, I put it back into the hard drive enclosure, and lo and behold, the hard drive appeared on the Mac and minus a few hangups here and there, I was able to get ALL the data off it that I needed, especially the precious pictures we had. And so now, we've had a successful switch. I'll be loading Windows onto the iMac in the next week or so for those few times that I need it, backing up regularly (in a couple of places), and enjoying my excursion into the land of Mac.

Addendum: For those interested, here's an article about why freezing a hard drive can help recover data.

Soccer Time

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook (or even here from a couple of weeks back), you know that Kinsey started soccer a couple of weeks ago and on Saturday, she had her first game. I've got pictures, but haven't had a chance to upload them. I'm honestly not sure if her team, the Pink Polar Bears won, but Kinsey did score a goal that I'm pretty sure was accidental, but she was still very excited by it.

Soccer still makes Tuesdays very busy days, but playing on Saturday was a ton of fun.

Re-Post: Get Off Your Ass and Do Something

Re-Post from 3 years ago.

I’ve always loved the story of the Good Samaritan. I’ve always loved the idea of someone showing kindness to someone else, but only recently have I begun to realize the serious call this puts on our lives as Christians.

As I’ve read the Gospels, I’ve noticed that Jesus reserves his harshest criticism for those who think they’ve got their beliefs right, but do nothing to act on them. This parable is no different as there are two members of the Jewish clergy who pass by the beaten man. Jesus always had strong words to speak against the religious authorities whether in Temple, or calling them a brood of vipers, or here in this story.

And to make it even more remarkable is that a Samaritan is the one who is the hero. He’s the one who gets off of his donkey and cares for the man. An outcast; a heretic. And when Jesus says, “Go and do likewise,” he’s telling a Jew to go and act like this Samaritan. To show mercy and kindness and compassion.

This is the call of the Gospel. This is the call of Christ. Jesus says here that our neighbor is anyone in need. Faith is good. Believing certain things seems important to Jesus. But if we do not act on those beliefs with compassion and love for each other, that faith is dead. If we don’t bother to get off our donkeys to care for people, we are not truly followers of the Christ whose name we purport to wear.

So I pose the question to the readers: What is our obligation to the poor? How involved to we get? Is donating funds enough? Should we get involved with the lives of the poor rather than kowtowing to the rich?

YouTube Thursday: Both Sides of Their Mouths

I am an unabashed fan of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I make no apologies for it. I know people don't like him, but frankly, they're just wrong. (I'm kidding, of course).

Last night, in their continuing coverage of the Republican National Convention, the Daily Show did what it does best and hoisted political blowhards by their own petards (Non-English major translation: let them hang themselves by their own words). And it was abso-frakkin'-lutely brilliant.



This was in the spirit of the classic Daily Show segment (President) Bush vs. (2000 Candidate) Bush from 2003.

Otter Creek Update and Vespers

I know that there are some outliers who read my blog to keep up on some level with what's going on at Otter Creek, and obviously we're in a major time of transition right now, so here's what's going on.

As you remember, Brandon Scott Thomas resigned from his position back in December and if you keep track of his blog, you know that he's become the Cruise-Meister. On the worship leader front at Otter Creek, we've had some tryouts but no one has fit the position yet. We're having another one soon, but as of now the position is unfilled. It's been interesting because Otter Creek is very blessed to have some really talented people to lead us in worship, but I know that many are ready for a worship leader.

Also, Tim Woodroof announced his resignation in June. Since then, he's been preaching part time at OC and doing other seminars. As of right now, there's been no announcement about the process for finding the next teaching minister, so most of us are just waiting to see what happens next.

Finally, as I also wrote, Scott Owings resigned his position back in April to go to work for a hospice here in Nashville. It's obviously hard and draining work, but work he's well suited for. However, I am excited to say that he will continue (in a voluntary position) his work on the Otter Creek Vespers service, that restarts TONIGHT at 7pm. If you're looking for a contemplative service that has a more liturgical feel (yes, within a Church of Christ), drop by 409 Franklin Road in Brentwood at 7. See you there.

Temper

I saw in Connor another glimpse of myself the other day. He was playing with a toy that was supposed to fit together nicely and it didn't, because, well, he's 2 and can't work that stuff out as easily. He took the pieces and with a loud grunt/growl threw them to the ground. I immediately went over and asked what was wrong. He babbled something at me and then together we put the pieces where they went.

It was weird to see that, because I had a terrible temper as a child, up through my teenage years. If ANYTHING didn't go the way I excepted it to go, I would explode with anger. It caused me quite a bit of trouble too, getting into fights and the like. I guess it's just one of those things where you see it and hope to guide him as best as possible to avoid having to learn some of the hard lessons that I had to learn too.

Or, it could be that he's two years old and had a temper tantrum. What do I know? :-)