Wednesday July 1, 2009
Karl Malden Dead at 97
So, does this count as the third of the last three, the first of the next three, or does it count at all?
Karl is more of a celebrity than Billy Mays and less than, say, David Carradine. These things are so difficult.
Tuesday June 30, 2009
One Question that Hasn’t Been Asked
I haven’t seen this question asked: Is the Argentinian mistress of Mark Sanford blind or what?
Ban
Newsweek wants to ban smoking in public housing. I can get onboard with that. But I have another ban I would like to see instituted first.
How about a ban on large SUVs owned by people who live in public housing?
I drove by a public housing project last Saturday and noticed a Cadillac Escalade turning into the project. That really didn’t bother me, because I think the Escalade is a nice car and I’m in favor of maximizing the carbon footprint. But it did make me curious.
So when I made the return trip by the place I remembered to look at the cars parked in front of the public housing units. There was row after row of late model SUVs.
Now remember, I’m not against SUVs and I’m not against late model cars. I own a small SUV and it isn’t very old. But what I am against is people who are having their housing subsidized by my tax money driving around in nice cars. If you can’t afford an apartment on your own, you shouldn’t be able to buy or lease a nice car. Period.
How would you like it if you gave money to one of those guys standing at the interstate exit and then you watched him walk across the street and drive away in an Escalade? I wouldn’t like it.
Get a beater or take public transportation. Public transportation is also subsidized by public money, so the cycle will be complete at that point.
Stop! You’re Breaking My Heart!
Stressed, broke smokers struggle with habit: Double whammy of recession, cigarette tax puts smokers in added bind
Crime Sweep
Police mum about warrant sweep – The Indianapolis Star
OK, first, if the police are mum, the media should be as well. How does it serve the community to announce to criminals that the cops are out looking for them?
Now, second, this warrant sweep is a great thing. Neighborhood gangs are a big problem in Indy. There were 124 homicides in 2008 and 50 already this year in Marion County. They are predominantly homicides by firearm and just as predominantly young men shooting other young men. You draw your own conclusions after that.
These are the men and the guns you want to get off the street.
There have been a couple episodes of Crime 360 based in Indy just recently. The first was that of the Carter brothers (2008-102 and -103 last Halloween), and the second that of Michael Cowherd (2008-91 last September).
The Carter brothers were murdered by an AK-47 after attending (crashing?) a party and fighting over a girl. Cowherd was murdered by a 9mm when he was caught in the crossfire of his friend and his friend’s enemy.
Apparently these young men do not know the value of a life.
What I have learned by watching true crime on TV: if you want to stay alive, don’t hang around violent criminals.
Monday June 29, 2009
Sad Thought
There is a vacuum in leadership for our homeowners association. I know it would be frustrating, but I could probably do a pretty good job with it.
However, I give much of my time and most of my energy — outside work — to my church. I just can’t take on something else.
It’s sad when you can’t make connections with people who aren’t in the church because you are too busy in the church, isn’t it?
Going On
Things around the Upward Way Press are looking pretty good. Life is good. God is good.
Busy weekend. Dinner with dear friends Friday evening. GPS Road Rally with Bible study group on Saturday, with the attendant preparation. Teaching class and running audio Sunday morning. Dinner with more friends. Another party after church in the evening. Went to bed tired. But satisfied.
Now it is the icing on the cake. A three-day work week followed by a four-day weekend.
Hills and valleys are part of life, even for the one following Jesus. If you expect life to smooth out when you become a Christian, well, maybe you should think about becoming a rastafarian or something. Jesus doesn’t smooth the chop, but he walks alongside and makes pleasant conversation, which can actually take your mind off the chop. I’ll take the conversation and companionship and the chop.
Later gator.
Friday June 26, 2009
Call Your Congressman
Tim, official friend of rmcrob and The Upward Way Press, has reminded me to mention the travesty of a bill that is up for a vote in the House of Representatives today, H.R. 2454 Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill. I’ll just copy in his email, if that’s ok:
Randy,
I’m asking you to get the word out on your blog to stop this wrong minded bill. It’s final vote in the House is today. Again they are in a big hurry to jam the bill through before we have time to ask questions. Please encourage your readers to contact their Congress people this morning to vote no.
This bill, couched in the gobbledygook of the environmental and global warming religion, is essentially a tax on everyone for everything they do. You know that’s not what we want.
There you go. Pick up the phone. Now.
And thanks, Tim, for the reminder.
Thursday June 25, 2009
Album of the Week
News You Can Use
When jobs go, so do a city’s people
In case you were wondering why people live where they live, this article informs you that it’s because they work there. Once there aren’t any jobs in a city, the only people left will be those who never worked anyway. That’s called urban blight.
Now you are informed. Thanks, MSNBC.
Wednesday June 24, 2009
Hey, Obama Supporters
Folks, I’ve tried to be even-handed in a Millerian way. We are five months into this presidency, and I have had much to say about the President. I’ve been waiting to see what would happen. I’ve had the audacity to hope that I would be pleasantly surprised by how Mr. Obama handles the pressing matters of state.
Well, I haven’t been surprised.
From what I’ve seen so far, this president out-Clintons the last Democrat president. That is, he does what he does based on how what he does does in the polls. I saw that someone called him the Bystander in Chief. There you go.
He spouts philosophy and expects the Congress to enact something that matches it. I mean, leaving the making of policy to the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barney Frank? Come on. And while we are mentioning these folks, is that really the best leadership team the Democrats have to offer? Then they are bankrupt.
I don’t expect miracles, but I do expect leadership, and we aren’t getting it. Every direction the man wants to go is the wrong direction. What we need here is a do-nothing Congress and a do-nothing President. It looks like we may get some of that, at least.
Tuesday June 23, 2009
Inmates Abused
60,000 inmates abused every year, study says
OK. but at least it is inmates being abused and not the innocent women and children that may have been abused if these offenders were not behind bars. Not to mention the public who may have been victimized in many other ways by criminals on the loose.
We watch of lot of footage from prisons and jails. It is common for the criminals on camera to complain about conditions in prison. I must say that I find it difficult to muster up a whole lot of sympathy.
Something for Nothing
Health care reform is important, but it is not worth bankrupting the country over.
via David Brooks – Something for Nothing
Amen!
Eccentricities
You probably don’t have anything odd about you, but I do:
- I eat ketchup on cottage cheese. Me and the late Richard Nixon.
- I eat mayonnaise on peanut butter.
- I always count steps when I am going up and down stairs.
- One time I lost 120 pounds in 10 months. And gained it back in 10 years.
- If kinky is normal, I’m not normal.
- In our family, I’m the spender and my wife is the thrifty one.
- My IQ percentile is 99.8. That’s about one in 500. And I’m the stupidest guy I know. And I mean stupid.
- I have seven computers on my home network, not counting game consoles, of which there are three more on the network and one not. For three people.
- My favorite activity is to talk in bed before I go to sleep. When I was a kid, I hated it when whomever I was talking to went to sleep before I was done talking. Carol takes the brunt of that now. We’ve been married for almost thirty-three years, so I would estimate that she has lost approximately 12,045 hours of sleep because of me.
- I am terribly knock-kneed, but I think it worked to my advantage as an athlete. I was always underestimated. In college, I loved to play basketball against some jock who was a few inches taller than I. He would inevitably think he had an easy mark in front of him, and I would eat him up with muscle and leaping ability. I have blocked shots that actually caused the game to go into pause mode while everyone replayed it in their minds. One time, I went for a head fake and left the ground too early — and ended up blocking the shot anyway. With my foot. Same thing on the football field. I’ve made interceptions by leaping higher than the receiver and jumping clean over him. People always seem to ask, where did that guy come from. From a motionless stance, I could knock ceiling tiles out of an eight-foot ceiling with my head. I could come very close to kicking an eight-foot ceiling without going sideways to do it. I was a holy terror on the volleyball court. I smacked the ball in so many faces that they are probably still in pain. I can’t think of a single softball diamond I played on whose fences I have not conquered.
- I have a tendency to live in the past. I can’t do jack squat athletically anymore. People who know me now probably think I just lied in that last section. I didn’t.
- I went to an all-boys college. But I never lacked for girl friends. The local state university was full of young ladies who saw the value of dating a future engineer or scientist rather than a future historian or political scientist.
- I met my wife one week after giving up to God the whole idea of finding someone who would want to be with me. God answered that prayer about as fast as any I ever prayed. Thirteen days after we met, we were engaged. Six months after we met, we were married. Thirty-three years later, we still are. Not that I would recommend our path.
- I am hard to live with. I am mouthy and opinionated. I am uncouth and offensive. I’ve made more enemies than friends. I am selfish and thoughtless. I am fat and sassy. Somehow, Carol still loves me. Wow. Maybe she is the eccentric one.
- People who know us now assume I had a wild youth. They also assume that Carol was a model of obedience and comportment. Truth is, it was exactly the opposite. How times change.
- I got halfway through an M Div degree in seminary before I realized I was in no way a preacher. But never got the chance to take a Greek class. I had to learn Greek on my own, much later in life. I’m still struggling to find the wherewithal to learn Hebrew. I bet I have at least ten books with which to learn Hebrew. I still don’t know the alphabet. By the way, I wish I had done an academic theology degree instead of a practical one. I might be a professor today if I had been wiser when I was young. Most of my theological and biblical knowledge is self-taught. I probably pronounce a lot of things incorrectly.
- I have hundreds, if not thousands, of books. Except for pure reference books, I tend to read the books I buy. I must say, though, that I am dozens of books behind right now. I almost always get sleepy when I sit down to read these days. My best bet is to read electronic books. For some reason, I don’t get as sleepy when reading on the screen. Audio books? Forget it. I have tried it, but I can’t stay awake for five minutes of an audio book.
- I’m obsessive and compulsive. When I get into something, I really get into it. When I drop it, I drop it. Some things are cyclical — I drop them and pick them up on a seven year cycle. That makes me reluctant to sell stuff, because, you know, I might want it again. But sometimes I have to sell stuff or give it away. Anyone want to buy a nice telescope and accessories?
- I procrastinate as an art form. I am the inventor of creative procrastination, and I can’t begin to count how many jobs I have avoided in my career by putting them off until they didn’t need to be done anymore.
- I organize by piling. I can almost always find what I’m looking for, except for when I cannot.
- I am not terribly driven by whether people like me or not. I used to be, but I got over it. If you don’t like me, that’s ok. I would rather you did, but if you don’t, we can still get along, can’t we? That attitude drives Carol crazy — she wants everyone to like her, even the people she doesn’t like.
- If all the food in the world disappeared save for cheeseburgers and bologna, I could still be quite happy.
- I used to be a politcal liberal. Now I’m fairly conservative. Having been on both sides of that fence, I’m convinced that most conservatives know more about the liberal positions than vice versa. The media are continuously trumpeting liberalism, so we can’t help but know. I honestly believe that most liberals would become more conservative if they used their noodles. (Not you, Milton. You are already using your noodle, and I love you, brother.) I suppose I could be wrong, but that’s rare.
- Enough. I don’t know why I’ve wanted to blog so much about myself, but there it is. Love me, or leave me.
A New Day
What a difference a day makes!
Yesterday I was pretty low. Sometime in the afternoon I started feeling better. By evening I wasn’t too bad off. This morning I seem to be back on terra firma.
That was about a two-day valley journey. Not too bad, as valleys go.
I have evidence that friends were praying for me yesterday. God answered those prayers. Thank you for your support, my friends.
Lest you think my post was merely a ploy to gauge or elicit support, I assure you, my only motive was to share what is going on with me because you may have stuff going on that you think no one else has to deal with. Whatever your stuff is, you are not alone. I’d encourage you to open up and share it.
I love Matthew 11:28-30. I remind myself and my wife of these verses all the time:
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Monday June 22, 2009
Tweets Daily
- is trying to manage his depression and dissatisfaction with himself. He wants to quit but knows he shouldn't. #
- 's favorite thing about Fathers Day was that it was barely mentioned at church. #
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About Me Right Now
If you didn’t already know this about me, you will now if you keep reading.
I am depressed a lot. I take medicine for it, and it helps quite a bit most of the time. But I still have my peaks and my valleys. I’m journeying through a valley right now. You may not be able to tell at a distance, but the fact that I haven’t been posting much to my blog is one of the symptoms of my depression. I’m depressed.
Why? I don’t know. I can guess at some of the triggers.
- Our church board, of which I am a member, just went through an arduous and lengthy process obtaining the services of a new pastor after our former pastor resigned in February. We felt like there was much at stake, and I was highly invested in the process and the outcome. We are very pleased with our new pastor, but I often experience a time of depression following a time of stress, even though things are good. Everyone else is happy and I am sad. Not because of the outcome, but just because.
- I’ve been leading a Sunday morning Bible study group since last fall. There has been quite a bit to be encouraged about with this group, but I feel like things are not going as well right now. Maybe it’s just the summer slump. Or maybe I’m just not doing a good job as the leader.
- I feel like I can never catch up at work. Sometimes there is too much to do. And other times I don’t have the energy to do what I want and need to do. I continually operate on a just-in-time basis. One of these days, I’ll probably be not-quite-in-time and it won’t be good. I’m a prime candidate for David Allen, but I lack discipline.
- Eleven years ago I finally got the job I had always dreamed of. About the time I got here, the industry changed and the company changed, and what I thought would be a challenging and rewarding position has turned into just another job at just another company. And the economy has decided that I probably won’t be able to retire until I’m in my eighties.
- I’ve been having headaches of various intensities since 1971. All the time?, you ask. Yup, I answer. For the last year, the intensity has been significantly lower and quite manageable. But for the last few weeks, it’s been bad.
- There are family situations about which I don’t know what to do. I’ve pretty well given up hope that I can do anything. Being able to do something about problems makes me feel better. Not being able to do something makes me feel worse. I’m pretty helpless.
On the other hand, I know there are lots of people who care about me, and that keeps me going. Carol is nothing but supportive of me. I have lots of friends who let me know they are supporting me. I know I shouldn’t be feeling the way I feel, but that’s how I feel. Kind of depressing, isn’t it?
I need something my friend Jim calls seratonin rain.
Sunday June 21, 2009
Tweets Daily
- has never heard a quote from Nietzsche in a Sunday morning sermon. Until today. #
- There is lot of positive buzz about our new pastor, two Sundays in. Optimism is a welcome change. #
- No zombies were killed in the making of this weekend. Perhaps another weekend. #
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Saturday June 20, 2009
Tweets Daily
- waits at MedChek with Craig. He sliced his ankle open on a 7.62 x 39 spam can. #
- is glad Craig is ok. Seven stitches and a tetanus shot. #
- is an addict. Molle gear, guns, knives, tactical clothing and gear, other toys. Not a recovering addict, either. #
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Friday June 19, 2009
Tweets Daily
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Thursday June 18, 2009
Tweets Daily
- sings: Long as I remember the rain been coming down. And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain. #
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Open Letter
You may have already seen this, but I want to preserve it in my archives. This is from Janet Contreras. It’s a home run.
AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR NATION’S LEADERSHIP:
I’m a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you’re willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?
Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I’m not a racist. This isn’t to be confused with legal immigration.
Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.
Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.
Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don’t you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don’t you start there.
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don’t trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.
Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ?? what do you have against shareholders making a profit?
Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.
Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we’ll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band?Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let’s have it. Let’s say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ?? please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let’s just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I’m busy. I’m busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.
From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don’t want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we’re morons.
We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we’re so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn’t ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.
Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don’t care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.
Wednesday June 17, 2009
Tweets Daily
- sings: Here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory, falling on my head like a new emotion. #
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Tuesday June 16, 2009
Tweets Daily
- feels pretty good and wants to have a good day. #
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What’s Goin’ On?
Plenty.
The big thing: we have a new pastor. Having been without one since February, we are extremely happy to be getting things back to normal at church. No. Better than normal. Our new pastor is dynamic and down-to-earth at the same time, and we are extremely hopeful that he can lead us into the next leg of this journey.
Church success cannot be counted like heads or weighed like gold. It can be measured only by a mission-stick. We haven’t really embarked on our mission; God is way ahead of us and we need to catch up.
So, we welcome Pastor Chris to Indiana and to Indy and to our church. After one Sunday we are already enjoying what we are getting. I know that most people are probably mostly excited about the Sunday morning worship and his sermon. It was very good and very promising, to be sure. But I am most happy about the Sunday evening sermon, if you want to call it that. I would rather call it the Bible teaching session. Man, oh man, I can’t tell you how I’ve longed for that through the years. I’ve been in favor of canceling Sunday nights for a long time, but I’m changing my mind.
That’s the big thing.
Plenty is going on on the personal and family front as well. We are cultivating new and old friendships as part of our mission in life. We are trying to be good parents and friends for Craig, who is at a real crossroad in his life. We are trying to carve out some time for actual physical activity, which is getting harder and harder to do. We try to get an hour of foot-rubbing in every day and an overlapping hour of two-way chatting and praying for one another.
I’m leading a Bible study group on Sunday morning, and I think about that group — those people, who are my friends — all week long. I evaluate books based on whether there will be something helpful for them. I am always evaluating ways we can connect better. Right now I’m spending some time planning a GPS Road Rally that will happen in a couple weeks. You know, stuff like that.
I’ve been leading a Wednesday evening group too, short term. How would I live if I had only one month to live? That’s the topic. Not bad stuff at all.
Carol’s work is taking too much of her time. My work is taking too much of my energy. We’re too old for this.
Anyway, God bless and we’ll write again next Christmas.
Monday June 15, 2009
Tweets Daily
- thinks this must be Monday since the first seven people he came in contact with mentioned that fact. #
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Bible References in U2
Check out this list of Bible references in the music of U2.
Thanks to Mike for the link.
Sunday June 14, 2009
Tweets Daily
- enjoyed hearing his new pastor preach this morning, more than you can imagine. #
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Saturday June 13, 2009
Tweets Daily
- plans to nail down the specifics of the GPS road rally today. #
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Friday June 12, 2009
Tweets Daily
- didn't realize that his lunch pizza had pepperoni, sausage, and bacon. He knew about the pepperoni and sausage; the bacon was a surprise. #
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Can’t Touch This
Thanks to Mockingbird for the link.
Thursday June 11, 2009
Tweets Daily
- left his phone at work overnight and felt nekkid without it. #
- just broke his own rule and got a second cuppa at work. With the one at home, that makes three. It's all about the headache. #
- is waiting with Monk for the doctor. #
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What I Am Learning
I’ve been reading the late Robert Webber’s excellent Ancient/Future series a little piece at a time, intermixed with all my other reading. I highly recommend these books to anyone who cares about how the church should interact with our culture. I will attempt to summarize a few learning points:
- The prevailing culture has changed and is continuing to change.
- We don’t get to choose the culture. It just happens around us.
- We can choose to accommodate the culture, or we can choose to go counter to the culture.
- If we choose to accommodate the culture, we will become indistinguishable from it and be ineffective in reaching people.
- If we go counter to the culture in the wrong way, we will not have any effect on our culture. The church will become a bunker, not a mission.
- If we counter the culture the right way, we will provide Good News to our culture.
- Our culture needs some Good News. Oh, yes.
- As it turns out, the culture we live in is not all that different from the culture of the first three centuries after Christ was on earth.
- We can learn a lot from how that church interacted with its culture.
Oversimplification, of course, but that’s a pretty good list to start with. Discuss amongst yourselves.
Bacon
Wednesday June 10, 2009
Tweets Daily
- is getting a slow start at work due to an emergency electrical shutdown. #
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Tuesday June 9, 2009
Tweets Daily
- gets to go to the Chinese buffet for lunch. Potstickers, here he comes! #
- had General Tso’s chicken, fried rice, eggroll, a little sesame pork, a little pepper beef. And potstickers. #
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Quote
I ran across this gem in my reading last evening:
“We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.”
Truer words I have never read.
The quote was attributed to Petronius Arbiter, 210 BC.
So, I wanted to share it on my weblog and I looked it up. It seems it is a lot more recent than 210 BC. Nonetheless, it is true.
Apparently, the true wit is one Charlton Ogburn, Jr. (1911-1998), in Harper’s Magazine, “Merrill’s Marauders: The truth about an incredible adventure” (Jan 1957). Or maybe not.
Monday June 8, 2009
Tweets Daily
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Content, or Lack Thereof
This is headache season for me. My hurting head does not allow me to think. And even though much of what I write is written without thinking (right, Milton?), I can hardly even do the mindless doodling that I am known for.
Like right now. I need another paragraph, at least. What to write?
I noticed yesterday that this seasonal lack of reasoning ability was affecting my normal mode of leading the Bible study group. Typically I’m at my widest awake when leading a group. I’m actively listening to comments, looking for little hooks upon which to hang another important point, looking for ways to guide the discussion into a more profitable direction, looking for ways to encourage those who are discouraged. Yesterday my mind felt like an overcooked beef tongue.
I couldn’t focus, I forgot what I was saying in the middle of saying it, I stared at commenters expecting them to do my job. In short, I created a vacuum.
Quite some time ago I started taking a daily dose of antihistamine. This regimen has improved my quality of life about sevenfold. My perpetual cough is gone. My headaches have greatly improved, for the first time since 1971. But this season is overwhelming the antihistamine, or something. Or maybe I’m just becoming thicker.
Anyway, don’t expect to come here and read anything good. Just bear with me, my friends, if you can and will. I’m sure I’ll be back before long.
Sunday June 7, 2009
Tweets Daily
- anticipates a fine day in the company of great friends surrounded by Father’s bounty. #
- wonders why his buddy stunk up the media booth without warning. #
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Saturday June 6, 2009
Tweets Daily
- is proud of his wife, whose LTCH came in the mail today. #
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Friday June 5, 2009
Tweets Daily
- wanted to procrastinate today but decided to put it off until next week. #
- finally got his hair cut. Still scary. Who knew? #
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Thursday June 4, 2009
Tweets Daily
- wants to get an impossible amount of work done today. #
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Wednesday June 3, 2009
Tweets Daily
- looks scary. Needs a haircut. #
- enjoyed some really good General Tso’s chicken for lunch, but expects to be picking pieces of eggroll out of his teeth for awhile. #
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Blessing the Community
One of my buddies just asked for prayer because of a position of responsibility that has been thrust upon him. In the middle of his prayer request was this statement:
Our church is utterly warm and friendly yet it’s been without a sense of mission or outward focus on blessing the community for a very long time.
I’m thinking that this could summarize my church and most of the churches I have belonged to in my adult life.
The phrase that jumped out at me, though, was “blessing the community.” The outward focus of the church needs to go in that direction: how can we bless the community?
I’m afraid that most of our focus, if outward at all, is more like: how can we impress the community so more people will start coming to our church and contributing their money to our cause? If you think about it for more than a millisecond, that really isn’t an outward focus. That is a narcissistic focus of the first water. Outward focus doesn’t consider benefits to me. Outward focus considers the benefit to others.
So, how can we bless the community? That is the question.
Legalism
Legalism makes me sick. Legalism is the biggest blight on the church that I have seen in my lifetime. Legalism affects people I love every single day of their lives. Thus, legalism affects me every single day of my life.
Sometimes I wonder if I am overly cranky about legalism. Maybe I talk about it and fight against it too much. But then, sometimes, I get corroboration. Like today.
Hamo writes a great post: It Just Wouldn’t Work
I wanted to pick out some quotes, but then I couldn’t stop, so I’ll just lift the whole piece. Sorry, Hamo, and thanks.
In my many years of being part of churches I have met my fair share of legalists – people who like to make rules where the Bible doesnt as a way of (at best) stopping others from sinning – or at worst (and much more often) as a way of controlling others and imposing their own moralistic preferences upon them.
I went thru my own rather bizarre legalistic period as a teenager, but I am more and more coming to believe that the ability to truly leave legalism behind is a mark of Christian maturity – although the legalists will call it ‘liberal’ or some other equally nebulous but deprecatory term.
Legalists are often the ones ‘taking stands’ against things and seeking to uphold the moral integrity of the church, however you will never see a legalist taking a stand against self righteousness – in fact they are oblivious to the existence of such a concept.
I am increasingly seeing this as one the worst types of cancers that can infect a community and it is a practice I find almost impossible to tolerate. Once one group of people set themselves as the arbiters of godly behaviour then others are pressured to conform to their false standards of holiness (ironically often defined by the very things they personally struggle with)
There is a good definition of legalists right there: people who like to make rules where the Bible doesn’t as a way of stopping others from sinning or as a way of controlling others and imposing their own moralistic preferences upon them.
I agree. Legalism is a cancer. Cancers need to be treated or they will kill the body. I am at war. I’m about to start a chapter of Legalists Anonymous at our church. And I agree that leaving legalism behind is a mark of maturity; thus, staying in legalism is a mark of immaturity.
Plus, to be legalistic is to open oneself up to the inevitable hypocrisy that accompanies it. I have never, ever known a legalist who was not also a hypocrite. Never.
Look at the list compiled by Carlo, one of Hamo’s commenters:
smoking = bad
diet full of saturated fat = ok
swearing = bad
gossip (aka ‘prayer points’) = ok
gambling = bad
consumerism = ok
failing to tithe = bad
ignoring the needy = ok
missing church on the sabbath = bad
not having balance/rest in your life = ok
Some things are worth ranting about.
Tuesday June 2, 2009
Tweets Daily
- knows his pen is scratched, but it still writes. #
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War
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. – John Stuart Mill
The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on. – Ulysses S. Grant
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. – Albert Einstein
Monday June 1, 2009
Tweets Daily
- is pretty sure he will never retire. #
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Maximum Wage
Barney Frank: TARP’s comp curbs could be extended to all businesses
It’s bad enough that the government wants to control something called minimum wage. Now they are on the verge of going for a maximum wage as well.
Let’s be frank, Barney. Keep your nose outa our bidness!
Thanks to Dan Edelen for the link.
