For students of all ages...

i read a lot of articles (most forwarded from Ashley) on helpful links for students, whether they be high school, college, or grad. These are the most helpful i have found in the past year...

Sites...
Wikipedia - An online encyclopedia. Without a doubt the best place to START your search about any topic. However, if you are writing a paper, use this only as a STARTING place and use the sources listed at the bottom as resources.
IMDb - The web's best database for info on any movie, character, actor, actress, director, score, producer, tralier, trivia and mistakes! If you can dream it, it's listed on IMDb and nearly every name is a link to an article, much like Wiki.
AddAll - Probably the best tool on the web for locating books. You can search by Author, Title, Publisher, ISBN, etc and it searches 36 of the web's biggest bookstores and lists the results by price, lowest to highest. The listed price INCLUDES shipping and handling so you don't have to do the math. It also includes a link to go directly there and purchase it.
Drop.io - tool which allows private file sharing via web, email, phone or fax up to 100 MB in size. So you can send MP3's and movies and pictures in a snap.
KickYoutube - For those of you who are not content to merely watch youtube videos, but want to download and send them to friends and/or watch them later when your connection is unavailable (like for a class, presentation or retreat). Simply look up your favorite youtube video. When you're on the page to view it, go up to html and insert the word "kick" immediately after the "www." and before the "youtube.com/" (For example, if the video is it will become <http://www.kickyoutube.com/watch?v=ZpBkc2jK-6w> and a bar will appear, letting you choose what format you wish to download it in)
Encalc - A free web based advanced scientific calculator to help you with long mathematical equations.

Applications...
Digsby - Allows you to use one program for AIM, Yahoo messenger, MSN, and more. You install it and sign in as you would with AIM or Yahoo or MSN and then you add accounts like the aforementioned, as well as FaceBook, MySpace, Gmail, etc. You can choose popup alerts that let you know when you've received mail or people wrote on your wall and so on. It's also a much better interface for Facebook chat, since it's similar to AIM or Yahoo.
Mozilla - Much more stable and much less of a memory hog than MS Explorer. If you don't have it, get it.

Also, if you're not using Gmail yet, what are you waiting for? It has the best interface of any webmail program by far, search capabilities for looking through old e-mails that are unparalleled, and a million other useful tools. Google calendar is among the best tools for staying organized and for sharing your schedule with significant others who need that information. Google reader is also one of the best tools for reading all your favorite blogs in one place. In conjunction with Mozilla Firefox, this is the best way to stay organized and efficient, especially if you're lazy or disorganized, but it's great for everyone.

New news...

Happy New Year!

We rung in the new year watching the UNC game. We had Kyle over and one of our favorite college kids. We watched the game and then the ball drop and then tried to find a channel with Katy Perry singing. We apparently missed that. But it's good to see our boys with another win and continuing undefeated. Great way to start the year.

My committee on preparation for ministry asked me the last two years if i was doing anything outside of school to keep up my morale essentially, like a hobby or something. i nearly laughed both times. As if i have that kind of time. Well, i decided to make some, albeit very little.

i've joined a book club. Yep, me. It'll meet once a month from now in January till June and read a book each month. That's doable. Especially since we'll be reading Graphic Novels. We start with American Born Chinese, and next month we'll read The Watchmen (especially exciting in lihgt of the new movie coming out). i'm totally stoked about that. Stay tuned.

Also: Best preview tonight before Valkyerie: X-Men Beginnings: Wolverine.
Defiance also looks spectacularly good. A note: Liev Schreiber will star in both of these films.

On the road again...

Well, as many of you know, this year is our traveling Christmas. We didn't fit much in last year with me working at Enon and having to be there for the Christmas Eve service. So now it's been a few years since i've made it to either ARPC's or Sardis Presbyterian's candlelight services in Charlotte. But, we've started new traditions.

This year, we decided that in 5 days, we'd hit 3 states in 6 cities to visit 3 families. We began on Wednesday (Christmas Eve). We packed the car and headed out early in the morning for Hershey, PA. The traffic was great, but the weather was horrendous. We made it there by lunch time and spent the evening passing out presents to the young ones and enjoying food and cookies with the 25 or 30 relatives on Ashley's dad's side of the family. The biggest hits were the blinking Rudolf noses we gave out to the kids who wore them and played with them for hours.

Christmas morning (Thursday), we woke up, exchanged some presents with Ashley's dad and step mom and brother, Erich and then hit her aunt and uncle's place for a huge breakfast. Then we hit her other aunt and uncle's for another breakfast before hitting the road for the south land.

We got to Chapel Hill by 7pm Christmas night to have Christmas dinner and exchange more presents with Ashley's mom and her husband and her brother, Marcus. This morning, (Friday) we got up to take Marcus to the airport for a mission trip to South Africa and then did some sale shopping for ourselves and the wedding and more eating and i worked on my sermon for Sunday.

Tomorrow, we will rise early, head to Davidson for Page Mowery's wedding, spend some time with my folks and Kelley for her birthday, and more presents. Then Sunday will be me preaching at my home church in Charlotte for their college Sunday and more time with my folks in Concord before we head home to our own home in Richmond to finally have time to give each other some presents and chill with the dog before we're back to work and school in the new year.

This will likely be one of my last posts in 2008. i'll do a 2008 recap soon.

I will have told you so...

i know, it's a tense you probably don't use often. However, it's something i often think to myself. i'm no fortune teller, and i am sometimes surprised in life, but truth be told, it's rare. Movies don't surprise me, books don't surprise me, the actions of various people and professors and family members don't surprise me. Even Relationships rarely, if ever, surprise me. i am almost never surprised by who dates who or who breaks up, etc. There are notable exceptions (i can name most of them off hand without much thought).

Even the country doesn't surprise me often. i expected and guessed the results of the last several elections long before the various polls called either candidate. i even guessed Obama would not only get the nomination but be our president years ago when he was not even talking about it.

What is to come? i will not be surprised in the next 20 years when we are no longer the hegemonic superpower in the world. i will not be surprised when our economy and healthcare system become even worse than they are now and terrorism and attacks are just as bad here as abroad. i will not be surprised when the wealthiest Americans no longer reside in America. i also will not be surprised to see fossil fuels become as rare as antique cars and serve the same purposes. i will not be surprised to see domestic terrorism rise due to the inadherence of our federal government to our Constituion and international terrorism rise despite our lack of involvement overseas.

Will you really be surprised? i don't think the average person is this realistic, so i'll assume most of you reading this think i'm preaching doom and gloom. However, i'm not sure it's all bad news. Is it scary? Certainly. But i trust God. Do i trust God to bring me and everyone else through it safe and sound? No. But i also believe that we take much for granted in this country, both as a secular people and those of us who are believers.

i'm not the kind of person who believes that the government will work best if it is devoid of faith, nor am i such a person that believes this country will go to hell in a handbasket if we don't have another great awakening and get prayer back in schools. i simply believe that the God i believe in is bigger than all of these concerns and that when this country heads the way i am sure it will, that's all many of us will have to hold onto, and that's not such a bad thing at all.

In The Dark Knight, Alfred says, "And what will happen on that day, Master Wayne."
Bruce responds, "We all know how much you love to say, 'i told you son.'"
To which, Alfred replies, "On that day, even i won't want to, sir."

Nor will i.

Frustration abounds...

There's a video on YouTube that is getting a lot of play. Israel requires its 12th graders to serve their country. Shocking, right? There are many Israeli kids who are conscientious objectors. However, the video doesn't give the full scoop. Do they really put a gun in the hand of every 12th grader? No. In fact, you have the option of serving EITHER for just over 9 months in armed service OR just over 12 in a non-combat job, such as medical or technical jobs, etc.

The video will play to many Americans like the "brave" people who went to jail (or Canada) to avoid the Vietnam draft. i'm not weighing in on that debate. It was a difficult time and a terrible conflict. However, the glaring difference is that in the US you couldn't say, "i won't go fight in this war! Let me be a doctor or nurse or computer tech and serve my country by healing or supporting, rather than killing." These Israelis have that option. Why the video? Why the press frenzy?

They aren't opposed to serving it seems as much as the Israeli "occupation" of... Israel. Now, forget that these kids obviously missed, skipped, or slept their history classes and synagogue time and various lectures by parents and grandparents. If they believe they are occupying Israel/Palestine wrongly, there are two opposites to occupation. One is not being there at all. If this is their solution, going to jail doesn't help. They're still in the land. It would be perfectly legal for them to leave Israel and encourage others to leave as well, right?

The other opposite is to be occupied. i'm sure that if they wanted to go turn themselves over to terrorists or fight to overthrow the Israeli military, they could. Going to jail seems to be the least effective way to accomplish either of the alternatives to occupation. It also seems the easiest.

Which is harder: ending the occupation (by fighting against the Israeli government in word or action or putting your life in the hands of terrorists)... OR going to jail? Is going to jail brave? Sure it is. i don't want to go. But does it take more courage to serve your country in the capacity of a non-combatant and change the system through voting and running for office, social justice movements? (or are we assuming those are not effective any more?)

The truth about cigarettes is that they calm your nerves and help you lose weight. The whole truth is that they can also lead to poor hygiene, cancer and death. The truth about Israel is that they require young men and women to serve their country. The whole truth is that they allow you to do it in ways that serve others without killing anyone, and as a democratic society, allow voice and protest for those who object to an occupation of the Palestinians.

It's about that time...

As 2008 draws to a close, it's about time to take a look back. But before, i do that, i am going to take a look forward. So here is my list of New Year's aspirations. We won't go so far as to call them resolutions...

1) Learn to play guitar. Yes, really learn. i've had the darn thing for a couple years now and i only pick it up a few days at a time. i am going to put in the time... and callouses.

2) Get in shape. This is a popular one, yes? i think i can legitimately achieve this one. i did a pretty good job the summer i worked right next to a YMCA and the summer i worked at one. We acquired a Bowflex this summer and i used it diligently for 6 weeks. i got in much better shape but i slacked off when we went for our week-long honeymoon. i have been disciplined enough to get on it every few weeks and not let it become a clothes rack AT ALL. i gained 10 lbs in the first couple weeks and i have a goal to gain more. If i can do that whilst still riding 15 miles a week on my bike, i'll be on track.

3) Clean up my language. Don't laugh (Ben, i can hear you). Yes, i've said this since 10th grade. i know i try this every year. i'm no sailor and i'm not worse than the average seminary student, even, but that's not how i choose to measure the change i need in my life. A little help?

And so it goes...

i read a blog semi-regularly by a professor at Swarthmore and Yale. He has recently written a paper on the necessary rebuilding of the Presbyterian Church (USA). i'll warn you, if you're not a Presbyterian, or you're not the academic type at all, don't bother with this article. In true Presbyterian fashion (and in true scholarly professor fashion for that matter), the Witherspoon Society (see: self-proclaimed ultra-liberal scholars of the PC(USA)) wrote a rebuttle and they all signed it.

As this blogger points out, one little girl wrote: "I'm not sure what the 'Witherspoon Society' is, but I can only hope that one day I write something that gets that many teachers cranky enough to sign something like that..."

In his paper, this blogger/professor wrote that he believed the original affirmative action appartus of the PC(USA) for hiring and establishing church structure was wise and beneficial, but that that system had become corrupt and unhelpful and no longer served the original and intended purposes of bringing God's people together. The response paper by the Witherspoon Society quoted Galations ("there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, neither male nor female") in defense of that system. The point of his paper though was to point out that the intent was honorable and laudable, but that the goal was no longer being met.

The Witherspoon Society also pointed to Neibuhr and his idea that even good manmade structures can become corrupt or ineffective. "Exactly my point!" was the reply of the blogger/professor. The Witherspoon Society is made up of those academics who rallied for affirmative action in the sixties and have become blind to the fact that their system now is the corrupt system that defends the status quo.

Many responses to his blog post were well-articulated. There is still much work to be done in a denomination that is so woefully non-diverse. However, i would challenge the idea that we could ever be as diverse as we would like to be. The Presbyterian church has many wonderful traditions, among them are scholarship and debate and social justice, but we also have traditions of tradition and solemnity and worship that puts people to sleep. We'll have to change a lot more than how open and tolerant people are before we'll ever be anything that resembles a diverse body of believers...

The night before finals...

It's clearly finals time! All the laundry is in full swing, i'm working out regularly, and the kitchen is mostly picked up. i thought i would take some time to comment on an earlier blog, via Sunday comic...











*i do not endorse grade school curricula that include The Naked and the Dead

The reason for the season...

Ask 10 people on the street what the biggest Jewish holiday of the year is and 9 will say Hanukkah. Ask those same 10 people what the biggest Christian holiday of the year is and 9 will say Christmas. But they'd be wrong...

For Jews today, the biggest holiday (the high holidays) are the new year and day of atonement and Passover. Why does Hanukkah have all the chutzpah? Probably because it's promoted as the Jewish Christmas holiday, a coincidence in timing and a tradition of gift giving that marks the occasion.

The real question is: Why is Christmas seen as the biggest Christian holiday? Easter is the center of the Christian calendar and the date of biggest significance. Why then does Christmas get the center stage? To borrow from Stephen Colbert, in a word... comericalizationability! Cadbury and Burlington Coat factory aside, it's hard to truly capitalize on a holiday more than the season that has come to mean obligatory gift giving.

So what lit the match under this outburst? i know you've been wondering what it was. i got an e-mail today from my father. At first glance, it was this neat little naughty or nice list. Who is on this clever little list? Well, on the naughty list is every store and online company who is celebrating the "holiday" season and on the nice list... you guessed it, those openly celebrating the "Christmas" season.

Now any self-respecting devout person would patronize the latter, right? Well, it seems to me that if this is the CHRISTmas season, celebrating the birth of Jesus, a man whom probably got his best 3 Christmas presents at his birth in a barn and spent most of his days as a wandering nomad with no possessions by choice... then you would want to avoid focusing on consumerism at all. However, if you're merely celebrating the HOLIDAY season, then consumerism and gift giving is a lovely way to do it.

i'm not going to advocate that you boycot shopping malls and go to church 5 times a week in the advent season. i, myself, love buying a few gifts for friends and family. However, it seems to me that if a store is capitalizing on the "Christmas" spirit/season of consumerism, rahter than peace on earth and good will toward all people, then why would i prefer their store to one that is merely capitalizing on the secular celebration traditions of the United States?

If a store wants to impress me with their Christmas spirit, they can warmly welcome Salvation Army bell ringers to their doorways, donate procedes to shelters, extend sales and selections so that no one is trampled running into their stores, and maybe close up on Christmas eve and day so that their employees, Christian, Jewish, or any faith at all can have some time with family and friends to share a wish for peace on earth.

A sign of the times...

Earlier this week, someone stole a sign from the Legislative building in Olympia, Washington. It was a sign "simply celebrating the winter solstice": "Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

A group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation was given permission to place it next to a nativity in the rotunda. How sweet. Now, while i admit that i think this is a rather hateful message that sort of negates the best of Christianity in a message of peace on earth and good will towards all, it upsets me much more that in all probability, this sign was stolen by a Christian. Isn't this one of the big ten?

To me, such a sign is like a post-it. It's like a prescription for glasses that needs to be filled... "this person has trouble seeing. They need assistance in order to see more clearly." If you are such a person that believes they are wrong, then you are called to pray for them and live a life exemplified by the one whose birth we are celebrating so that they might know truth in a new way.


My other confusion is about morality and faith. A very articulate young man from VCU came to a program Ashley and i attended. He is a self-professed atheist and attends this program regularly, which is targeted at and welcoming of non-believers. He was confused about how someone could believe in a God that punishes people eternally and call yourself moral.

Now, while i can see his point that from his perspective (one without an external moral standard) it would seem cruel. But that's exactly my point. How can you be moral at all if your standard is not external? If everyone decided their own moral code, chaos would reign. Many people do not believe adultery is wrong on any level whatsoever. Many people don't believe that sex or abuse of children is wrong. Many people believe that spousal abuse is justifiable. Many people believe stealing and assault is not wrong. And unfortunately, many people think that attacking or killing someone for their religious beliefs or sexual orientation are perfectly moral actions.

You can't simply say, "everyone is endowed with a conscience." This is true, but many people do not have a working conscience or theirs dictates radically different moral views from the vast majority. How then do we have a functional society? We have to impose laws. All laws are moral in nature. You impose any law because of a value. Even a law about traffic signs is based on the need for safety on roads because of the shared value that life is worth protecting and orderly traffic is a means to this end.

"Well, what's wrong with that," says the atheist. Well, firstly, a code of laws is an external set of morals. This is no longer based purely on your naturally endowed conscience. This may in and of itself be a problem for the atheist who wished to rely on his or her own moral compass. However, if it's not, it should be a problem for other reasons.

In the course of human history, many things have seemed right and moral in the eyes of the majority. We can certainly cite examples of genocide, slavery (practiced on nearly every continent in our past and present), and so on. The abolitionist movement, and the Civil Rights movements were led by Christians who were following the moral compass given to them by a God that still speaks in a very old book and the tradition of a people who were once held in bondage.

Now, in that situation, and many others, is it enough to rely on the moral code arrived upon by vote, or should those votes be swayed by the external moral standard given in hope and promise by a God you can't see, touch, or prove?

This isn't meant to sway you one way or the other, but a few points come to mind. One, a non-belief in God is no more logical or moral or helpful than a belief in God. And two, there is nothing wrong with discussing faith within the framework of logic. Many Christians take the easy way out (it is often labeled the high road) by saying "there's nothing logical about faith." Well, actually, there is. Besides the health benefits and benefits to a society, there is much that is logical about faith. This is not to mention the fact that many very inteligent ahteists point to the fairly reliable fact that many Christians seem ignorant, uninteligent, superstitious, blind, or scared when it comes to faith. Being ignorant, uninteligent, blind or scared are all good reasons to turn to faith, but they are not ways to cling to it or share it with others.

We live in a world that needs a reminder here in the Advent season that roughly 2000 years ago, God came into the world that God created to be good and full of hope and peace to remind us that it truly could be with the help and love and hope of its creator. Maybe those who have no better way to vent their frustration about non-believers could spend some time praying for or loving one instead of dashing that hope and stealing signs...

The shirt off my back...

My other creative outlet is designing t-shirts, both inspirational and satirical. i design them on my computer and post them to a Zazzle page. You can find them here. These are a few of the newest...

Cover to cover...

It occurred to me today that many of you have not seen my magazine cover album. It's on facebook, but not everyone has access to that or navigates it well. i just finished my first album of 60 covers. And no, there's no special program for this. i do it "by hand" on the computer. This is one of my two big creative outlets...

Covers

This just in...

Behaving stupidly about what to tell kids about sex...
...makes kids stupid about sex.

Which came first: the close-minded evangelical or the close-minded "open-minded" evangelical hater?

As usual, i'm having trouble swallowing the bull. So you get to benefit from my upset tummy. A seminary friend posted a link to an article. In this article, the columnist, begrudgingly lauds a mega church pastor, Ed Young, for encouraging couples to have sex.

The guy seems surprised. He seems surprised both that this Evangelical says this and that no one else proposed this campaign earlier. Why? The columnist goes on to recount the hundreds of health benefits to an olympic sex life. Why would no one have recommended such a steady diet before?!?!

Well, if you think about it, NO one but an evangelical should recommend lots of sex. If you are an evangelical by choice, you are much more likely to be chaste or in a committed monogamous relationship and you're both far more likely to have had no other partners, or at least fewer. If that is not the case, a steady diet of sex is more likely to be harmful due to the plethora of venereal diseases out there.

The logic is astounding, yes? i'm amazed at how little thought the average person puts into the words that come out of their mouth, let alone the extra steps of typing and editing. (i hereby excuse myself from that group since i have no editor) :-D

*this article was written by a self-defining non-evangelical evangelist

If someone else said it better...

They say you should leave it to someone else if they said it better. i have sent you in the direction of my cousin Josee before, so here again... because she said it best...

Darling Obama's first appointee...

Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward People

Is it so terrible that that's all i really want for Christmas? It's not even Thanksgiving yet, and i'm being asked what it is i want for Christmas. i've been told i am hard to shop for. i find that odd.

in some ways, i am like my father. He would prefer to buy things for himself, rather than tell people. The difference is that when i receive gifts that i didn't ask for, i'm generally thrilled. i love surprises. (the only exception would be the age-inappropriate gifts my mother would get me, but i suspect all mothers do that)

Certainly, i have received many gifts that i needed over the years, warm clothes, new pants, school supplies. But thruthfully, i have not wanted anything since i was in high school other than a guitar and some movies. i got a guitar 3 or 4 years ago for myself (since that was not on Santa's radar). All i really want at Christmas is to see all my friends and family, eat a lot, and buy nice surprises for other people. That and maybe go to the Christmas eve candlelight service at my home church. i missed that last year for the first time in 21 years and i've been thinking about it all year.

Many fundamentalists would argue that we're all missing the "reason for the season!" Many secular folks would argue that the "holiday season" is all about being kind to our neighbor and peace on earth. Yes, it is, and yes, it's about baby Jesus. But baby Jesus was one big surprise. Baby Jesus was God incarnate, God as human, God becoming part of a family. What could be a better celebration of that than spending time with family and surprising them with little gifts?

Out of the bag and into the fire?

i am happy, delighted, excited, ecstatic, relieved and proud to announce that my little sister is ENGAGED! Her boyfriend of just over 6 years proposed Saturday night. He done good too.

Brice took Kelley to the restaurant they first went to together in 10th grade, the Steak and Shake in Concord. Then he drove her to the elementary school where they met in 4th grade (when Kelley first fell for the little red headed boy... please catch the Peanuts reference). He proposed in the parking lot on bended (notoriously bad) knee.

They went home to his parents to share the news and then to my folks'. Then Kelley called to say, "O, big broooother..."

Can ya dig it?

Can you name all five characters in my blog title and the five films they come from?

More for your consideration...

The 25% of the population with the highest IQ's in China...

...is greater than the total population of North America

In India, it's 28%

China is the number 1 English-speaking country in the world

The US Dept of Labor estimates today's learner will hold 10-14 jobs...

...before they are 38 (i've had 17 and i'm turning 25)

1 out of 4 of us in the US has been working for a company less than a year...

and 1 half of us, less than 5 years

Former Secretary of Ed, Richard Riley, said that the top 10 jobs that will be in demand in 2010...

...didn't exist in 2004.

The US is only 20th in broadband internet access in the world

Nintendo invested over $140 million in R&D in 2002 alone...

...as a country, federally and state (this includes private schools and PTA's), we spent less on education

1 of every 8 couples married in the US two years ago met online

The average MySpace page is visited 30 times...

...per day

There are about 540,000 words in the English language...

...about 5 times as many as in Shakespeare's day

a week's worth of New York Time's...

...contains more info that a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th Century

The amount of unique new information generated this year worldwide...

... is expected to be more than the previous 5,000 years

Technical info alone is doubling every 2 years

Fully half of what technical students in 4 year programs will be outdated...

...by their 3rd year of study

And by 2010, the new technical info is predicted to double...

...every 72 hours

Predictions (which are at an all time accuracy high in the tech industry) are that by 2013...

...a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computation capability of the human brain

By 2023, when 1st graders now will be starting new careers...

...it will cost them less than $1,000 to own that computer

Less reliably predicted (beyond the 15 year mark is difficult), by 2049...

...a $1,000 (assuming dollars mean something) computer will exceed the computational capabilities...

...of the human race


As the woman said, "The future is turning out to be a lot more futuristic than they predicted it would be."

For your consideration...

It's been said that statistics are like bikinnis. They reveal quite a bit, but what they hide is vital. We poured over statistics today in my Evangelism in the congregation class. For your consideration and feedback...

10,000- The number of Christian conversions per DAY in China
39,000- The number of Christian Denominations in the World in over 200 countries
10 million- The number of Christians in Africa in 1900
350 million- The number of Christians in Africa in 2000

44% - Percetange of Americans who changed their religious affiliation in the last 10 years
68% - Percentage of legal immigrants who are Christians
90% - Percentage of illegal immigrants who are Christians

81% - Percentage of "white" Christians in the world in 1900

43% - Percentage of "white" Christians in the world in 2005

"I don't like you, I don't like your God"

This is the message i preached today in Watts Chapel at seminary. It is footnoted for those of you who do not live near or attend Union-PSCE...

John 20:19-21

The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, "I am sending you, just as God has sent me."

Luke 10:25-37

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?"

And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.

Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'

Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?"

He said, "The one who showed him mercy."

And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."

The Message...

“I don’t like you. I don’t like your God.” When I was in seventh grade, I read Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. It was horrendous. I don’t remember much about the book except that Defoe has a penchant for semicolons and sentences that stretch on for days. Picture a boring version of Castaway. It did have it’s redeeming value.

Crusoe is marooned on an island and he befriends a native. After awhile, Crusoe decides that it’s time to tell this man about God. This native has very little interest. He has his own god, a crocodile god whom he can actually see. He has no interest in the ethereal, improvable God that Crusoe presents. Crusoe becomes frustrated, angrily telling him that the proof of God is in this Bible he has and that “God is LOVE!” The native becomes thoroughly angry at Robinson Crusoe’s increasingly obnoxious lecture on God. He tells him, “I don’t like you. I don’t like your God.”

This man has lived a life devoid of the God he’s being introduced to. He perceives no need for him. And then along comes Robinson Crusoe and informs him that he’s been wrong his whole life. Not only is he wrong, but he’s stupid. He tells him that God is love and throws a book at him as proof.

Jesus tells us, “I am sending you, just as God has sent me.” What does this mean for us as disciples of Christ? God has sent hundreds of prophets and judges, wise rulers and royal counselors. God has guided his people through priests and dream interpreters. We believe as Christians that Christ came and died for our sins. But we also believe that he led a life of example, of servitude, of humble teaching. He spoke truth and fought for justice and joined them on the Emmaus way… He spends his time in teaching, in preaching, in loving, listening, healing, praying, eating, and partying… with people… in relationship… with people.

“I am sending you, just as God has sent me.” Jesus is telling his followers, and telling us that we are being sent in the same manner as he was sent to us. If Jesus came to be in relationship with his disciples, then for us to teach or preach or heal or feed or love anyone… means that we must be in relationship with them.

“I don’t like you. I don’t like your God.” We will spend all of our ministry and vocation amongst people who are just as deeply and beautifully flawed as we are. [For example, as you can see, I accidentally wore my navy blue suit pants today with my black suit jacket] We will be the ones who bear the love of Christ to those in need, both believers and non-believers alike. How often do we live in such a way that our friends and neighbors may say, “I don’t like you. I don’t like your God.”

How do we live our lives in relationship with others so that our God is not the petty small god-in-a-box that no one wants us to share?

David Bailey sings a song about a modern Good Samaritan. A young man broken and bleeding is passed by, first by a priest and then a skater boy. Keisha, a young waitress, stops to help him and get him to a shelter. David said once that he was singing this song in Birmingham. He said he often wonders how people will take this song in modern context and worries each time he sings it. Well, as he was finishing this song, a woman got up and walked out. He thought, “well, can’t win ‘em all.” So after the performance, he asked the minister if he had offended the woman.

The minister answered, “No, no, not at all. That’s my wife. You see, on the way in, she saw a homeless woman in the parking lot with a shopping cart full of her belongings and she went to take her to the Laundromat and to get her a meal.

David said then, “The thing was, while I was sitting there singing, and looking down on the woman who left, she was out doing something… And I had seen that woman too on the way in. And I had done nothing.”

“I don’t like you. I don’t like your God.” You see, brothers and sisters, we all know that to live in relationship with others is no easy task. To live in relationship with others in our community means knowing who our neighbor is… as well as whose neighbor we are. Am I a neighbor to a fellow student? Am I a neighbor to my professor? Am I a neighbor to a staff member? Am I a neighbor to the man who cleans this worship space? Am I a neighbor to the woman who serves me food in Lingle? Am I a neighbor to someone who lives in the nearby neighborhood and isn’t welcome in either building because he might be trying to get warm or ask for money? (see footnote)

There are days that I hope no one believes in my God. If what I do and say are examples of the words and deeds of a disciple of Christ, then why would anyone want to get to know my God?

We are a people called to be in relationship, sent as God sent Christ. If this idea is to shape our ministry and to shape our discipleship, then we must always ask ourselves… Whose neighbor am I? And: with whom am I called to be in relationship with?

I can’t think of anything that will confirm you in your call more than for someone to say to you, “I love you. I want to know your God.” Alleluia, amen.

Footnote: Union-PSCE is located on the center of Seminary Ave, in the up-scale Ginter Park neighborhood. This is a neighborhood with half a million dollar houses in it. It is also beside one of the lowest income and highest crime areas in all of Richmond, along Chamberlayne Ave. Chamberlayne Ave has a lot of low income housing and group homes, full of impoverished and disabled children of God. There's an ongoing struggle on campus about how to provide a safe campus to students and how to provide our brothers and sisters in Christ with love and care in meaningful ways. This is often a difficult struggle and is ongoing. i don't believe many if any of us have any real solutions, but acknowledging this struggle and trying to keep it at the forefront of our thoughts as a community is a major concern for many of us.

Utopia! All our problems are solved!

(cue the bobby mcfarrin music) Here's a little song I wrote, might want to sing it note for note...

How far have we really come?

You could say, "look how far we've come! We elected a black president."

But someone could say, "well, we haven't come far enough! He's not black, he's only part black, so we haven't succeeded until we elect a black man!"

And someone else could say, "well, race is a human category and there's nothing genetic about it, so he's not white or black at all, but a human."

And someone else could say, "right, but lots of whites voted for the other guy because he wasn't black!"

And someone else could say, "yes, but lots of blacks voted for him because he is black!"

And someone else could say, "well, of course, but blacks always vote Democrat!"

And someone else could say, "yes, but it took a black candidate to get the highest black vote for the democrats in history, so it had to be racially motivated!"

And someone else could say, "i hope one day a president will be chosen not based on the color of their skin, white or black, but by the content of their character and political platform."

And they will all be right, and we will all still be in a big pile of shizzle because we have come no farther in this world than where we were in 1963 if it's considered a great achievement for a black man to be elected rather than that a qualified man is elected with no racial preference by whites, blacks, asians, or hispanics and there is not a single news story about it because no one cares. Maybe Obama can achieve that in office. i hope so. i'm waiting to see. i am hoping he can. That's a worthy goal.

Wiping the sweat...

No shock, Bob Barr didn't win.

There's the old saying, "you can't throw in the towel. Or you can use it to wipe the sweat from your face..."

It's nearly 11pm. i've watched the results come in. Looks like exactly what i predicted in February. i predicted specifically that Obama would beat Hillary and that he wouldn't choose her for VP and would win. You probably don't want to hear my other predictions, they were equally scary.

Anyways. Mark my words about mob rule and the Roman empire. Give it 15 years.

Worse than a Dictatorship

An election is very much like a football or basketball game. Every player knows that you play as hard as you can so that bad calls don't determine the outcome. You don't go home and groan and moan about the outcome and blame it on refs. Fans might, but players know you give it your all or nothing at all. Even in a court case, a district attorney will tell you that you make a good enough case on the merits and evidence that bad rulings by a judge or a bad witness doesn't break your whole case.

This is MUCH like an election. If the election is so close that small voter fraud matters, you didn't do a good enough job convincing your electorate that you were the right person for the job. Period.

But wait! Isn't it exciting how high the voter turn out is? It truly would be if it was indicative of how well educated Americans had made themselves! Is this the case? i highly doubt it. My guess is that the level of political awareness among voters in low turn out elections is far higher than in high turn out. i think we can safely say that between our education system in the US and the solid statistic that more than half of 18-30 year olds get their primary news from the Daily Show, citizenship and general political savvy are lower than ever. Interest may be up, but that doesn't indicate education. This unfortunately indicates a fistful of either popularity voting or racist voting (all races).

Why do i say this is worse than a dictatorship? What makes an authoritarian government (led by a dictator, czar, king, or military leader) dangerous? A dictator can decide things based on opinions and feelings and prejudices and fears, rather than logical process. This is unstable and dangerous to the world. The greater the voter turn out, combined with a lack of education and much decided based on fears and phobias, race and gender, religion, etc, the more illogical and dangerous the decision of the voters.

A colonial representative quoted in the movie The Patriot said in defense of not going to war with England, "i will not trade one tyrant 3,000 miles away for 3,000 tyrants 1 mile away." Why should be trade one uneducated dictator for 1 million uneducated voters? It has the same effect!

Am i advocating poll tests? No. But SHAME on the Republicans and the Democrats for supporting politics of fear, for encouraging mass voting, regardless of how thuroughly they have wrestled with issues. This is relying on the whims and desires of the mob. One other empire relied on this method. This is the only other empire to place their right hand over their heart. Rome. Anyone encouraged by this?

Boat load of help...

The North Koreans heard we might have trouble with our election, so they sent us a cargo ship full of viagra...

Yeah, horrible, but so is this election. i called it for Obama back in February. Going to vote now, more soon!

Enough with the entitlement!

We live in a culture and world that is increasingly self-assured of our entitlement. The Right thinks we're entitled to be not only a world power, but the super power. The Left thinks we're entitled to all live comfortably or equally or that we're entitled to equal success in life.

Outrageous! The Declaration of Independence sets forth the idea that we have certain rights that are endowed to us by our Creator. Among these, it lists life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are very very basic. The Bill of Rights sets outs how we protect those basic rights most effectively.

Is health care a right or a privilege? Is Health Care a right? Well, it depends on how you define health care. If it is the level of medical marvels and treatments and technologies that Ted Kennedy and much of this nation have access to, then no, it is not.

Is health care a right or a privilege? Many things in life simply are not our God-given rights. Think about teenagers who consider it their God-given right to drive a car the day they turn 16. This is a privilege. Then we must ask, is health care a privilege? No.

Confused? Of course. Most people are. Is health care a right or a privilege? Health Care is a responsibility. Like many things that we take for granted in this life and must fight for to hang on to, it is a responsibility. It is not our right to be wealthy any more than it is our right to be privileged or born in America or born without illness or handicap. On the contrary, none of those things are guaranteed at all.

What then are we to do if we are born with those privileges, those blessings? We have a responsibility to provide for others. You're born with two good eyes? Part of your responsibility is to help the blind. You're born wealthy? You're responsibility is to do as much with that wealth as you can to help others. You're born in a country in which opportunities for learning and self-education? Your responsibility is to use that to help and teach others, both in your country and in less fortunate countries.

Are you born with wealth and access to health care that is the marvel of the ages? Your responsibility is to help others attain decent health care. This may mean reducing the taxes levied against the poor so they can afford health care. This may mean encouraging the building of schools and hospitals to make health care more accessible and affordable. It need not mean campaigning under the idea that health care is a right. It is a responsibility of those with health care.

Is health care a right or a responsibility? Which is harder maintain? Which is harder to teach? A right can be protected, but can it encouraged? Is it a good idea to encourage something without responsibility? With every right comes a responsibility. Freedom of speech is worthless without the responsibility of disagreement, discourse, respect and sensitivity. Freedom to vote is worthless without the responsibility of citizenship and a watchful eye on politics. Democracy is worthless without the vigilant observations of a nation who elects fallible representatives.

Is health care a right or a privilege? Neither. Thank God for that. It is our responsibility as human beings and children of God to provide loving care for all God's children by finding ways to do that which will succeed, and not merely make us feel better about ourselves.

Real-ly Good

Ashley and i rented Lars and the Real Girl the other night. It's actually fantastic. i was worried it would be dirty or that it would make fun of mental illness, but it was poignant and hopeful.

i was skeptical because the lead character is Ryan Gossling and there are no real big names, which often means no one big thought it worthy to be in. The casting was great though and the story was incredibly heartwarming.

From the perspective of mental health and ministry, this film is wonderful. The town surrounds a young man with love and understanding for his rather difficult delusion, the entire small town. It's beautiful. They all struggle with judging him and how best to help him, but in the end, their collective patience and compassion and love not only bring healing and wholeness to Gossling's character, but to the entire town. The minister even, and the doctor especially, find creative ways to meet the needs of this young man and to bring him into the community in a meaningful way.

i recommend it highly.

Here i go again...

Mama Mia! We went to the Byrd yesterday, Richmond's landmark movie palace. It's a cheap historic nonprofit and we had a coupon for a free ticket, so for under $5, we took in a movie and got a medium popcorn. Not a bad date, and a great one since it's been quite awhile.

Ashley was apprehensive because she'd seen the live musical and i was apprehensive because, well, i pee standing up. i do like a lot of ABBA songs though, especially the really catchy ones. We all know them. Anyways, i thought it was good, we both did. The casting was great, the music of course very good, and quite well integrated into the story, which was also fairly decent.

There was enough dialogue between songs for me to not get antsy and it was quite funny. It was also a very attractive cast for anyone looking to go for reasons other than a deep passion for ABBA hits. My one major critique was that the camera work wasn't great and slow motion should never be used for a musical. It's jarring.

We followed our movie up with wandering through the nearby thrift stores. i picked up a fedora that fits finally. It's exactly the color and style of Indiana Jones. i expect to get some good use out of it. It has two great features. It keeps my now bald head warm and it's crushable, so my wife can lay things on top of it absentmindedly and not destroy it.

Pheasantly Surprised

Ashley blogged on my discovery today. You really have to read hers on this one.

Seriously?