...perception...

Just for Fun

2007-04-18T22:04:00.000-04:00

My wife has a Wikipedia entry.

Is Beauty Contextual?

2007-04-17T15:23:00.000-04:00

If one of the world's best classical musicians played some of the most beautiful music ever composed on one of the finest violins ever crafted at a Washington D.C. subway stop, would anyone hear him?

Pearls Before Breakfast.

How much beauty do we miss on a daily basis?

How many works of God are we too busy to enjoy?

2007-03-30T15:09:00.000-04:00

For any Office Space fans out there, here is the Bill Lumbergh Soundboard.

If you're not an Office Space fan, shame on you.

What Kind of Anarchist Am I?

2007-03-30T15:03:00.000-04:00

You scored as Christian Anarchist.

Christian anarchism is one of the oldest anarchist philosophies, arguably dating back to the early Christian church. Christian anarchists emphasise non-violence and oppose the state as God is the only legitimate source of authority. Key thinkers include the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.

Christian Anarchist

85%

Anarcho-Syndicalist

65%

Anarcho-Communist

60%

Anarcho-Primitivist

50%

Anarcha-Feminist

40%

Anarcho-Capitalist

35%

What kind of Anarchist are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

The Breadless Horseman Rides

2007-03-14T17:44:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine, Gordon Jenkins, is getting ready to start his Appalachian Trail thru-hike in a few days (March 17). His trip will be an endeavor to benefit Celiac Disease Research. Celiac disease is an auto-immune disease that causes an intolerance of gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye), hence Gordon's trail name -- The Breadless Horseman. He will be trying to update his blog every few weeks or so, whenver he has a chance, so be sure to check his blog every so often. Watching him gear up for his hike made me very jealous of the opportunity he has. I haven't been on a backpacking trip since last winter (the Smokies in November, incedently, are beautiful!). Good luck, Gordon!

P.S. - Here is an article about Gordon and his hike.

Ezra

2007-03-09T16:53:00.000-05:00

Well, because of the great demand* here is a picture of my son, Ezra (he's wearing a shirt my sister made for him).

Enjoy!

*demand in this context means a suggestion from Alexis

Oh, and your eyes aren't deceiving you -- he actually is the most beautiful baby ever.

I'm Not Dead Yet

2007-03-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

Just in case you were wondering. I haven't updated in a year. But I'm still alive. Tired, but alive. A lot has happened since I last posted, most notably the birth of my son! He was born on October 16, and he is beautiful. I am now Daddy Metafiz. I will hopefully start posting something again soon.

Time is Ticking Away

2006-03-25T23:30:00.000-05:00

According to the Death Clock, my deathday is Thursday, March 31 2050. As of the day and time of writing this, I have 1,388,881,867 seconds left.

Despite the fact that this is nothing but a silly computer program, I find this kind of freaky and somewhat disturbing.

In case you were wondering, the internet has decreed that I am not a heretic

2006-03-22T12:28:00.000-05:00

You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451.

Chalcedon compliant

83%

Monophysitism

42%

Monarchianism

25%

Nestorianism

17%

Apollanarian

17%

Arianism

Adoptionist

Modalism

Socinianism

Pelagianism

Albigensianism

Docetism

Donatism

Gnosticism

Are you a heretic?
created with QuizFarm.com

Exciting (and Scary!) News

2006-02-22T12:16:00.000-05:00

Well, we found out that mrs. metafiz is pregnant! That's right, I'm going to be a daddy! Yep, there's going to be a little metafiz running around (would that be a meta-metafiz?). Words fail me now, so I'll just leave it at that! Pray for us and this time of nervous excitement!

Rally Day

2006-02-07T18:18:00.000-05:00

So last Saturday was the POJ's Youth Rally Day, held at our church this year. It's an event for all the youth from the presbytery to come together, worship, play, and get to know each other. Lots of fun. The topic was being the church of today (not the church of tomorrow as the youth are sometimes, unfortunately, called). Thankfully the rain held off long enough to play a few rounds of underground church outside. Rounds of 9-Square were also played, to the enjoyment of all (it's like 4-Square, only with 9 squares; the king square is in the middle - yeah, it rocks). Two sessions of small group time discussing what it means to be the church of today and evening worship provided the meat of the afternoon. Then the evening closed with a performance by the band .HEREtoday. And I once again discovered what a small world it is. When the band showed up, the drummer came up to me and remarked that I looked familiar. Well, it turns out that he had been involved with InterVarsity at Mary Washington at the same time I was involved at VCU. At several IV conferences and multi-chapter retreats, we had been in the same small group. Crazy.

Oh, they were good too. A rock band, with a couple of guys who can sing pretty well, and one that totally rocks out on the electric violin. The kids had a blast, went away encouraged and tired with ears ringing. Yeah, it was a good day.

‘Lost World’ of wildlife found in Indonesia

2006-02-07T16:58:00.000-05:00

Expedition found 20 new species of frogs, photographed bird rituals:

“It’s as close to the Garden of Eden as you’re going to find on Earth,” Bruce Beehler, a Conservation International scientist who led the expedition, said in a statement.

“The first bird we saw at our camp was a new species,” he added. “Large mammals that have been hunted to near extinction elsewhere were here in abundance. We were able to simply pick up two Long-Beaked Echidnas, a primitive egg-laying mammal that is little known.”

and

“There was not a single trail, no sign of civilization, no sign of even local communities ever having been there,” said Beehler, adding that two headmen from the Kwerba and Papasena tribes, the customary landowners of the Foja Mountains, accompanied the expedition.

“They were as astounded as we were at how isolated it was,” he said from Washington, D.C. “As far as they knew, neither of their clans had ever been to the area.”

Let's hope it can stay that way.

Maybe There Is Some Decent Music In This City

2006-02-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

Today I ran into a guy I knew when I was at VCU, Stephen. He's been in a band called Ten33 for several years now, touring and such. Nice old school hardcore sound. Check them out.

Bono's Speech at the National Prayer Breakfast Feb. 2nd.

2006-02-03T15:03:00.000-05:00

Transcript from SojoMail
[RUSH TRANSCRIPT: CHECK AGAINST DELIVERED REMARKS]

If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex.

Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation.

Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural...something unseemly...about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert...but this is really weird, isn't it?

You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind.

Mr. President, are you sure about this?

It's very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned - I'm Irish.

I'd like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I'd like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws...but of course, they don't always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you're here.

I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here - Muslims, Jews, Christians - all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.

I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too.

Yes, it's odd, having a rock star here - but maybe it's odder for me than for you. You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was...well, a little blurry, and hard to see.

I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays... and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.

For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land...and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash...in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment...

I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.

Even though I was a believer.

Perhaps because I was a believer.

I was cynical...not about God, but about God's politics. (There you are, Jim.)

Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick - my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world's poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord's call - and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic's point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.

'Jubilee' - why 'Jubilee'?

What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lord's favor?

I'd always read the scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35)...

'If your brother becomes poor,' the scriptures say, 'and cannot maintain himself...you shall maintain him.... You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.'

It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he's met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he's a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn't done much...yet. He hasn't spoken in public before...

When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,' he says, 'because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.' And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18).

What he was really talking about was an era of grace - and we're still in it.

So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate - in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club... it wasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.

But then my cynicism got another helping hand.

It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children...even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.

Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself judgmentalism is back!

But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.

Love was on the move.

Mercy was on the move.

God was on the move.

Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet...conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS...soccer moms and quarterbacks...hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!

Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!

Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!

Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.

It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.

When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened - and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even - that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying...on AIDS and global health, governments listened - and acted.

I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.

Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. "If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."

It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.) 'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.

Here's some good news for the president. After 9/11 we were told America would have no time for the world's poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it's true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors.

In fact, you have doubled aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund - you and Congress - have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.

Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.

But here's the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There is much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.

And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice.

Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.

And that's too bad.

Because you're good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it.

But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.

Sixty-five hundred Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about justice and equality.

Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature." In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.

You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, "Equal?" A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, "Yeah, 'equal,' that's what it says here in this book. We're all made in the image of God."

And eventually the Pharaoh says, "OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews - but not the blacks."

"Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man."

So on we go with our journey of equality.

On we go in the pursuit of justice.

We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than 2 million Americans...Left and Right together... united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.

We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King - mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market...that's a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents...that's a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents...that's a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That's why I say there's the law of the land¿. And then there is a higher standard. There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?

As the laws of man are written, that's what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won't, at least. Will yours?

[ pause]

I close this morning on...very...thin...ice.

This is a dangerous idea I've put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God...vs. no God. It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity.

And this is a town - Washington - that knows something of division.

But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the scriptures call the least of these.

This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith.

'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.

'Righteousness is this: that one should...give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that (2.177).

Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.

That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it¿. I have a family, please look after them¿. I have this crazy idea...

And this wise man said: stop.

He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.

Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed.

Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.

And that is what he's calling us to do.

I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to 10% of the family budget. Well, how does that compare with the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family? How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world? Less than 1%.

Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America:

I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing.... Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional 1% of the federal budget tithed to the poor.

What is 1%?

1% is not merely a number on a balance sheet.

1% is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you. 1% is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you. 1% is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you. 1% is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole. This 1% is digging waterholes to provide clean water.

1% is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism toward Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description.

America gives less than 1% now. We're asking for an extra 1% to change the world. to transform millions of lives - but not just that and I say this to the military men now - to transform the way that they see us.

1% is national security, enlightened economic self-interest, and a better, safer world rolled into one. Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, 1% is the best bargain around.

These goals - clean water for all; school for every child; medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty - these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports. And they are more than that. They are the Beatitudes for a globalised world.

Now, I'm very lucky. I don't have to sit on any budget committees. And I certainly don't have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don't have to make the tough choices.

But I can tell you this:

To give 1% more is right. It's smart. And it's blessed.

There is a continent - Africa - being consumed by flames.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did - or did not to - to put the fire out in Africa.

History, like God, is watching what we do.

Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all.

Ouch.

2005-12-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

Ok, so yesterday at work (retail, not church) i was in the back storage area and a large heavy solid wood door that was just hanging out fell directly onto my head. Spent half of the day in the emergencey room. Apparently I have a mild concussion. So i'm out of commission for a few days. Dizziness, occassional nausea, sometimes a hard time visually focusing on things, and a really big headache. Yuck.

p.s. at the emergency room they had to a CT Scan on my brain. the good news is they found nothing.

haha. i'm so funny.

oh, the excitment of it all

2005-12-15T15:16:00.000-05:00

Wow. Never in my life have I been accused of being a "materialist" or of valuing money over human life (I have, I admit, been accused of being either a marxist or a commie, but those ain't true accusations either). And yet a post about giving money to help free people from bonded servitude, forced prostitution, etc., and thost being issues that are so close to our Lord's heart, has led to those claims. Yes, sir, the internet is a wild and crazy thing.

So let's read this together and very carefully: The reason I have the "cost of war" counter is because it is good to know 1)how much your government is spending on anything, and 2)I find it interesting to see what that money (money that we have come up with from where?) could have funded instead of war. The point being that as of the writing of this post, that same money could have fully funded global anti-hunger campaigns for 9, count 'em, NINE years. Roughtly 29 THOUSAND children die EVERY DAY from hunger related issues. If you do the math, even just a quick estimate, you will find that over 9 years, that's quite a few lives that could be saved. The interesting thing is that we, as a nation, don't fund the campaings for 9 years. Because we don't have the money. But the counter over there to the right shows that we can come up with the money when we really want to. You do the math. That's all I'm saying.

I am ashamed of myself for even feeding into this discussion. Pointless, stupid, or rude comments will be deleted. Intelligent conversation will be applauded. Enjoy, kids.

And a store clerk not saying "Merry Christmas" is what we get all up in arms about? (Oh, the sad, sick irony...)

2005-12-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. ~ Luke 4:16-21

Merry Christmas.

Christmas

2005-12-09T09:20:00.000-05:00

Christmas time is really busy. Especially if you work at a church. Or especially if you work a retail job.

And if you work both, well, forget about it...

...i may have time to write something interesting sometime, but just be patient...

Camp Hanover

2005-12-09T09:13:00.000-05:00

Just added a link to Camp Hanover's 50th Anniversary Celebration. If you ever went to Camp Hanover, either as a camper, staff, on a weekend retreat, for an afternoon, etc (in short, if God has used Camp Hanover in your life in any way, shape, or form) make sure you give them your information so you can be a part of the celebration. Do it. Do it now.

I am bad at names...

2005-11-20T10:27:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I was way off on his name. It's Brandon. We met for lunch yesterday. Earlier that morning he had managed to get a job doing some windows and worked hard to earn some money. Well, he also had found out that his old job (forklift operator) was available for him back in New Orleans if he could scrape together the money to get back down their. He had figured out he needed about $40 or $50 more to have enough money to drive back down. So after we finished eating, I went around Sbaro and to all the tables that had people with brown shoulder bags (ys issued) and the little nametag thingys and did my own bit of panhandleing. Managed to come up with $48. When I gave it to him, his eyes lit up and he adked if that was for real and where I got the money. I told him I worked my metafiz-magic. No, that's not what i said because if I had said that, he would have thought I was an idiot. I just told him that I was here with a bunch of youth workers and asked them for some money to help him out. He then said, "Oh man, I gotta go pack!" We shook hands, exchanged e-mail addresses, and he went on to pack and then head back home. It's always nice to be able to go back home.

On another note, I met Tree, aka Manofredearth, (from the ys discussion boards) and his wife at the late night theology forum. We (me, Tree, his wife, and my friend Lisa) went out afterwards and talked theology and philosophy. Very nice. But we stayed out too late. I'm tired. But coffee is a good gift from God.

After the convention I'll acutally reflect on some stuff in depth, but for now you'll just have to wait. Patience is a virtue.

later,
metafiz

Oh yeah, I also got to play a kickin' game of 9-Square. Like 4-Square, only more so. Sweet.

NYWC Nashville

2005-11-19T11:51:00.000-05:00

So here i am at the Youth Workers' Convention. 7500 people. It's been kind of odd because I got to spend a couple days backpacking in the Smokies before the Convention. Thursday morning I woke up on top of a mountain to the beautifully freezing air and snow falling. Complete solitude. Hiked out 11 or so miles by noon and drove to the Convention to meet up with 7500 people. Talk about culture shock. Wake up by yourself on a mountain in the snow and end the day in a state of the art convention center with 7500 loud people. All in all I think I've adjusted pretty well.

Got to meet up with some forumites from the wannabe YS forums. Thankfully it wasn't anyone that I've (recently) offended on the boards. It's fun to try to put screen identity's with faces and real names. A cool bunch of people.

I still don't really like the vendor/exhibitor area. It smells of most things that I think are wrong with the world, or at least our little christian corner of it. It astounds me the amount spent on silly trinkets to give away in an attempt to get someone's mailing address. There was actually one organization that I wanted to get info from, so I went over there, saying "no" to countless others offering me free crap. I went up to the table. The dude there said "hey, you want a free wristband?" "No." "How about a free sticker? Or water bottle?" "No." "Well, what can I get for you?" "Actually, I'd like some info."

It struck me as odd, sad, and extremely funny (not funny haha, but funny in that ironic, odd, sad way) that actual information was the last thing offered, and only then when I asked for it, but so much other junk that doesn't amount to anything was offered freely. It kind of makes me sick. But enough about me and my issues.

I went to Tony Campolo's seminar on Apologetics yesterday, then his seminar on Politics today. He is an amazing person to listen to. If you ever have a chance, do yourself a favor and go listen. Beautiful and inspiring. Also, it makes you feel like a jerk, or, more specifically, it makes you realize you are a jerk. Which is a good thing.

Last night I was wondering around the city (didn't go to the general session - just wasn't in the mood) and met a man (I'm pretty sure his name is Darren. Or maybe Donnie. I'm horrible at names). Anyway, he, his girlfriend, and his 4 year old daughter were displaced from New Orleans. Their Red Cross help had run out and he had been getting odd handy-man jobs to get some money. Basically, with the money he earns, every day they choose whether to use that money to eat and then sleep in the car, or to get a motel room but not eat. I happened to have enough cash on me to cover 2 nights at a motel, so I gave him that. We (me, him, his daughter, and his girlfriend) are meeting for a pizza lunch at Sbaro today. That's exciting. I want to hear his story.

That's all for now. More if/when I get the chance. I have no laptop, so I only get a little bit of time at the "Digital Lounge"...

Pax from Nashvegas,
metafiz

Crazy Illusion

2005-10-26T15:58:00.000-04:00

This is pretty cool.

Wallace and Gromit

2005-10-26T12:32:00.000-04:00

Monday night the wife and I went for burrito's at the Short Pump Arby's (yes, Arby's, the roast beef sandwich people - they have a burrito bar at that location, and you will not find a better burrito in Richmond), and then went to see the new Wallace and Gromit movie The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. All I'm saying is that it was dang funny. Do yourself a favor and go see it.

Seriously, go see it.

Then check out the other Wallace and Gromit shorts if you have never seen them.

Congratulations...

2005-10-21T10:03:00.000-04:00

...to David Bridgewater, the husband of one of my wife's best friends. His dialogue opposite Geena Davis on the show Commander in Chief was shown this past Tuesday. He plays Charlie Witherspoon, the Secretary of the Interior. Unfortunately, Witherspoon is a bit of a scum bag and resigns as part of a plot to undermine the Administration.

But I assure you, David is much nicer than that.

Could It Be True?

2005-10-18T12:42:00.000-04:00

I just heard a rumor that strongarm, one of the best hardcore bands ever, may be getting back together. Sweet.

More Pictures (Finally!!)

2005-10-18T11:59:00.000-04:00

Finally added more pictures to my photo album. They are the pictures from the Montrail-sponsored Climbing Trip to the New River Gorge in WV with the gang from Blue Ridge. This trip was way back in the Spring of 2004. Yes, I know, it's now Fall of 2005. I'm a little slow on getting the pictures up. So sue me.

Jim Donini was on that trip. If you don't know who he is, he's a world famous climber that has many first ascents from all over the world under his belt (google his name to see what I mean). He specializes in climbing cracks, which I had never done before this trip, so it was good to get pointers from him.

Comment Word Verification

2005-10-14T11:42:00.000-04:00

Sorry to say that I just made it so you have to go through a word verification step to leave a comment here on my blog. I have been getting spammed quite a bit in the comment section of each entry. This word verification step means that a picture of a word will appear on the screen and you have to type the word in to be able to leave a comment. The automated spam programs can't do this step, so they can't leave comments.

I know this is annoying, but so is being spammed by stupid advertisers.

And I think that if we all pull together, and with the loving support of our friends and family, we can manage to get through this...

...But Customer Service is Alive and Well

2005-10-14T11:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday at work, we got a phone call from a person who was on their cell phone standing in the middle of a big box sporting goods store (which shall remain nameless, except to say that in formal settings, it's referred to as "Richard's"). She was trying to buy some hiking socks and had many questions about which ones to buy (you haven't lived until you've looked at all the different options in the world of hiking socks), but couldn't find anyone in the store who was either willing or able to help her. So apparently she called information to get our number, and then called us to ask us our advice. She went through the options she was looking at and we talked to her about the advantages and disadvantages of the specific options she had and helped her make a decision.

How stinkin' funny is that?!

Not to brag too much on Blue Ridge, but that is why smaller, specialty retail shops need your support -- you can't get that kind of customer service shopping over the internet or at big box stores. Generally, the smaller specialty shops will actually know about what they are selling and you are buying. Even if it costs a bit more (and that's generally nothing more than a myth, btw, that if you buy it at a big box store, you're saving money. Especially in the Outdoor Retail world, products are generally always priced the same at small local shops and big box retailers -- actually, our prices are the exact same - or less - than the big box store down the street), it's often worth it for the information and service you will get.

I'm stepping down off my soap box now.

The Death of Modernist Evangelism (When It's Time, It's Time)

2005-10-12T10:49:00.000-04:00

Ok, so yesterday I was down in the Fan drinking coffee at a coffee shop reading and doing some work. I ran into an old friend of mine who mentioned that there was a guy down at the Commons on VCU's campus preaching. So morbid curiousity drove me to walk down that way. I've seen these campus preachers before, some who are rather nice guys just trying to share their faith, and others are not so nice (general rule of thumb: if you want people to listen to your opinion on Grace, Mercy, Faith, and Hope, don't call them a "slut" or "whore" or "whoremonger").

Well, this guy seemed rather nice. At least he didn't call anyone names. And he looks like John Kerry, which was really funny. He had a mic on him, so you could be sure to hear him. There was a crowd of students standing around listening and a few students who were challenging him with questions. And suddenly I felt sick to my stomach. It just made me sad and frustrated and angry.

There are a few problems, I think, with this kind of "witnessing". The first is generally the crowd you draw and hold is mostly christians and then a few (quite brave) non-christians who are debating with preacherman. So the actual number of non-christian students you are even potentially engaging is kinda small. Also, it sets up a situation where christians gang up on the non-christians. There were christians engaging some of the non-christians, but it was always one poor soul against 3 or so well-meaning christians, with each christian jumping in with his/her opinion every time the brave non-christian brought up something they believed. Fundamentally, that just seems rude. Winning an argument by ganging up on someone, akin to the argumentum ad baculum fallacy, does not count. Also when you have a mic, and are engaging in a debate with someone who doesn't, you are necessarily putting yourself at an advantage and the others at a disadvantage (which is also why talk radio/tv call-in shows are, while at times entertaining, ultimately pointless and stupid and don't get us anywhere).

Secondly, I understand the need to show that christianity is right. I'm just not sure it's possible to do so by arguing or by logic in general. That mindset seems to stem from the rationalist/positivist school of thought (more on this in a second). That is, if it is true, it can be proven logically. If it can't be proven logically, it isn't true. Can I prove logically that God exists. I don't think I, or anyone else, can. What I can do is show that there are some good reasons to believe that God exists, or show that it is not illogical to believe that God exists or to believe in christian doctrine (e.g. Plantinga's Warrented Christian Belief).

Also, I don't think people generally make important faith-type decisions because of someone pointing out publically that their beliefs are logically in error and christianity is logically true, or even that christianity is more logically true than their beliefs. I think people, at least in my experience, make these decisions because of people they have met and gotten to know, because they have seen the goodness of Christ, not because of a logical debate.

This rationalist mode of evangelism perhaps worked well in the modernist culture (it was certainly popular, at least -- i really don't know how effective it was). But that's not the cultural climate we live in, especially on college campuses. Those who stay to debate preacherman were not doing so as an endeavor to Discover Truth. They were doing so because it's a mental exercise, because they don't like someone they don't know coming onto their campus out of nowhere telling them that they are wrong. Not because they want to discover truth. Those debating are generally perfectly willing to admit that their logic may be wrong. (Side Note: in a side debate, one guy was being "witnessed to" by several christians. They got him to say "of course you [christians] may be right." And they jumped on that. "Aha! You admit you may be wrong and we may be right!" "Of course," he responded. The christians took it as a victory, as getting closer to converting this man, but it wasn't. This man came into it with the idea that he may be wrong, which is how most people in this philosophical climate come at things. We are still stuck in the modernist mindset with the idea that logic will convert. It won't. Arguing with this guy over and over and over won't do it. Stop the debating, and get to know him. He said that what we are to be doing on this earth is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, freeing the captive. GOOD. That's common ground. The christians should have said "yes, I agree. Let's work on that together." But they just kept debating.)

And I have to wonder, do we christians do this because we think if we can't prove to others, if we can't show others that WE ARE RIGHT (W.A.R.), our faith, Christ's Church, all that we hope for, will come crashing down? Is it a lack of faith that drives us to do this in this manner?

This mode seems, to me, to be lacking in humility. I wouldn't listen to a stranger if they kept insisting over a mic that my thoughts, my ideas, my beliefs were absolutely wrong and that they were absolutely right. I might engage a little for sport, but I wouldn't really pay them much mind.

Now, if a friend and I were discussing things and they shared why they thought I was wrong after listening to why I thought the way I did, then I would certainly think about it and wrestle with it, and be much more inclined to take it to heart.

We need some intellectual modesty in the church.

2005-10-12T09:44:00.000-04:00

The Blue Gallery, in Kansas City, MO, is the latest professional gallery to sign up to represent the wife's art. So now she is profesionally represented in New York City, Richmond, and Kansas City. Sweet. So if you live in Kansas City, go check it out. And then tell me why you, as someone living in Kansas City, are reading my blog.

everyone needs their very own slogan.

2005-09-29T15:53:00.000-04:00

come back in 30 seconds - my slogan changes.

Avast Matey!

2005-09-16T11:54:00.000-04:00

Arrr!

Monday, September 9th is Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Just thought you should know, you scurvy dogs.

Finally!

2005-09-09T09:22:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I am finally going to see my beloved Atlanta Braves play. I say finally because I have been a fan as long as I can remember, but I've never had the opportunity to see them other than on TV. So thanks to the Montreal Expos for sucking so much they moved to Washington to become the Nationals so that now I have a National League park close enough to take a day trip to see the Braves.

By the way, Andruw Jones for MVP and Jeff Francoeur for Rookie of the Year.

Artsy Fartsy

2005-09-03T11:11:00.000-04:00

My response to an article someone sent me on the issue of faith, art, Kinkade, sentimentality in art, etc.:

On Rothko and Kinkade (goodness, how did those two ever end up as co-subjects of a statement together?!), I think it is true that both elicit an emotional response from the viewer, but in my (not so) humble opinion, art is more than the ability of something to elicit an emotional response. I think that in order for art to be art, there has to be some sort of intent on the part of the artist, some sort of content. I'm not sure what that content or intent should be called, but it has to be more just doing it because it looks “cool”, will sell, etc. For example, J, N, T, and K were over at our house a few weeks ago, and the topic turned to this very subject. J referenced a news magazine type tv show he had seen. In this show, the reporter went into some really swank upscale New York clothing store and found a white t-shirt that had permanent wrinkles in it. Just a plain white t-shirt manufactured in such a way that you could not get the wrinkles out of it because this is, apparently, the style ("hey, I'm finally dressing in style!"). It was selling for something silly like $500 or so. The reporter, wanting to do some sort of expose' on how modern art is a rip-off or whatever, decided to buy the shirt frame it with the price tag still hanging on the shirt in such a way that you could see the price under the glass of the frame, and take his 'art' to local galleries and see if they would display it. (I guess the intent was to say how artists aren't really doing anything special; any of us could 'create' modern art) Galleries wouldn't hang it, because they didn't think it was art. But here's the important part of the example, the reason I typed in this whole example. R (the only artist of the 6 of us who were having this discussion) pointed out that the concept was, at least potentially, beautiful. She thought it could be a good piece of art. The reason it wasn't, and the reason that gallery owners wouldn't show it had nothing really to do with the physical object the reporter had brought in, it had nothing to do with whether it could elicit an emotional reaction (it probably could). It was because when they asked him about his work, he had no answer. Behind the physical object, there was no content. No reason for him creating this thing, other than to pretend to be all 'artsy' (and presumably show the modern art world for what it is – a scam out to rip you off). Had another person set out to make a statement about consumer culture, or superficial value judgments we place on things and people, or our desire to fit into an arbitrary social pecking order, this very same physical object would be art, and potentially good art. But that content was not there. It was simply an empty expression.

That's (one reason, at least) why, though both have the ability to elicit an emotional response from the viewer, Rothko is an artist and Kinkade is not.

Books and Xianity, Part Deux

2005-09-02T16:43:00.000-04:00

I poked my head into a christian bookstore the other day, killing a few minutes before I had to be somewhere. Browsing the book section (it's kind of funny that there is a book section in a bookstore isn't it? Maybe just a little funny?), I noticed something kind of disturbing, at least disturbing to me. What I wanted to look at were theology-type books. But I couldn't find them. What I could find were many, many books of "christian fiction." In theory, I have no problem with "christian fiction" existing (except for the general idea that I don't think christians should be promoting the division of "sacred vs secular" in any type of art medium, e.g. music, visual/fine art, etc.). But certainly that should not make up 90% of the books in a christian bookstore, or any bookstore for that matter. So that made me kind of sad.

In thinking about this, I began to think about other types of books that seem prevalent in either christian bookstores, or in the religion-christianity section of a general bookstore. Aside from fiction, there are an unusually large amount of books on morality. All that is well and good. But the message of these books, at least the popular ones, seem to be about the immorality of those "out there". That is, they are books about why "we" are good and need to be on the watch for the evil of "them". It just seemed odd to me that books written by people who proclaim the name of the One who said "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:5) are focused so much more on the evil of "them" than on the evil of "me." Not that immorality of others should be ignored, but there seems to be plenty of immorality going on by "us", enough at any rate to keep us busy or at least warrent at least as many books as the immorality of "them." But then again, nobody wants to pay money to read something that convicts and challenges them. Paying money to read about how bad those outside my group are is much easier and certainly much more satisfying emotionally.

On another note, I was at Borders a while back, and noticed something that I thought was really funny. So funny that I had to go grab the wife and tell her (for the record, I'm not sure if she thought it was as funny as I did, but she humored me). I was poking around the philosophy section. Next to the philosophy section, they have their Metaphysics section. Not good metaphysics a la Aristotle, etc., but the weird new-agey kind. Anyway, next to that was the New Age section. Next to that was the section entitled Astrology. Then the section entitled Astral Projection. Then (this is the funny part) there was the section entitled Speculation. If your not laughing, at least a little to yourself, here's why I found this funny. The section was actually called Speculation, and it was in the row of sections that progressivly, let's face it, weird and more and more absurd. And by calling the section Speculation, it was as if they had given up on trying to make this stuff sound even remotely plausible.

Ok, it was at least funny to me.

Making fun of bookstores is so much fun.

Reading and the Arrogance of Me

2005-08-31T11:30:00.000-04:00

About a week and a half ago or so, I read Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. And I really enjoyed it. Anyone that is looking for an easy, but good, read should pick it up. I admit I had reservations. I have read many of the books purporting to look at christianity (in a positive way) through a post-modern view (e.g. the "emergent church" movement). And I left all those books feeling like I had at best come away with nothing I had not entered with, and at worst I felt less intelligent after reading them (more on that thought in a second). Blue Like Jazz, however, was actually quite enjoyable. I actually went out and bought two more of Donald Miller's books. I hope they are as good, but I haven't started them because I got caught up in re-reading CS Lewis's Space Trilogy (which, by the way, if you haven't read, you need to read them before you read anything else, save maybe Chesterton's Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith) But anyway, go read Blue Like Jazz sometime.

Ok, here's my issue with this whole christian/post-modernism thing. For starters, christianity will never be post-modern. Once it gets to that point, it will be an empty religion, devoid of any actual content. Second, once you lable something as "post-modern", it is no longer post-modern (if it ever was in the first place). Once you label and define it, it will cease to be "post-modern" right then and there. So calling anything (books, religion, ideas, art, etc.) post-modern is a silly thing to do in the first place. And third, you can't name a movement until the movement is over. If we are calling things "post-modern", then (previous objections aside), we are past the post-modern era and have moved on to something else, in which case, "christian culture" (whatever that means) is behind the times yet again.

And now, here's my issue with "christian books" in general. They are generally thoughtless and silly. At the risk of sounding prideful and arrogant, they don't tell me anything. Yes, that was prideful and arrogant, but the fact is I am a prideful and arrogant person (to deny it would only add "hypocrite" and "liar" to that list). Here's an example: I was sitting on a couch at last year's YS National Youth Worker's Convention. One of the speakers mentioned a particular christian author (who shall remain nameless so as not to offend anyone, or at least, not offend anyone anymore than I already have...). There was a person sitting next to me who asked me if I had read that author. I mentioned that I had read several books by said author, but that I didn't really like them. They replied that they did, but the reason that they did was because they loved to read hard, challenging books that make you think. There was nothing more I could say to them because the reason that I didn't like the author was because I like to read hard, challenging books that make me think, and this particular author did nothing of the sort. But I couldn't say that to them, could I? So the conversation ended right there.

What's my point? I don't really know. But to those who write these christian books, please stop. You're hurting me and you're making it hard for me to have converstations with people.

more on the state of christian books later...

Got Gas?

2005-08-31T10:09:00.000-04:00

This might be helpful in finding cheap(er) gas:
Gas Buddy

Somebody had too much time on their hands...

2005-08-23T11:33:00.000-04:00

One of my high schoolers just sent me this link. It's scenes from the Matrix, illustrated in text code, like a picture flip book. Check it out, it's pretty cool.

Bill Mallonee

2005-08-17T14:24:00.000-04:00

Last night the wife and I drove up to C'ville to see Bill Mallonee (formerly of Vigilantes of Love) perform. I'm not sure if there is a better songwriter out there than Mr. Mallonee. If you don't know who he is, then shame on you. Oddly, there were only about 20 or so people at the little coffee house/club where he performed. "Why so few people if he's so great?" you ask. The answer is obvious. People are stupid.

Seriously, if you like good singer/songwriter-types, check him out.

Linked

2005-08-16T14:14:00.000-04:00

I just noticed that there is a link on Alexis's blog about her missionary journey to and in Croatia to my little blog here. I feel I need to apologize to anyone coming here from her blog. I am sorry if I say anything to offend and/or bore you.

Peace,
metafiz

The Finger Has Been Pointed

2005-07-26T20:31:00.000-04:00

Ms. Rowling, I am holding you responsible for any and all work that I fail to get done this week.

Sudan Benefit

2005-07-25T19:30:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I went to a benefit concert at my old church for the crisis going on in Sudan. Derek Webb was the main act, and there were some local people opening who were quite good. I'd never listened to Derek Webb before, though I knew of him from Caedman's Call. Anywho, he was simply amazing. A great songwriter. The concert specifically benefited the International Rescue Committe and their work in Sudan. There was also a speaker from Darfur Peace and Development. All in all a good, fun, informative, and challenging evening. Three of my high school students went as well, and I think they were challenged to think about some globabl issues and situations that they just weren't aware of.

If you don't know what's going on in the Darfur region of Sudan, then you need to educate yourself.

I think the challenge to the Church is to actually stand up and be the Church in these situations. Here in america, I think the Church get's confused all too often as to what it's mission really is.

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." ~Matthew 22:37-40

Who is your neighbor? It was said on Friday night that your neighbor is anyone in need, whom you have the means to help.

Since I'm on a Derek Webb kick after hearing him Friday night (both his songs and his words of challenge and conviction), I'll end with the lyrics to his song T-Shirts (What We Should Be Known For)

they'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
they'll know us by the way we point and stare
at anyone whose sin looks worse than ours
who cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare

they’ll know us by our picket lines and signs
they’ll know us by the pride we hide behind
like anyone on earth is living right
and isn’t that why Jesus died
not to make us think we’re right

when love, love, love
is what we should be known for
love, love, love
it’s the how and it’s the why
we live and breathe and we die

they’ll know us by reasons we divide
and how we can’t seem to unify
because we’ve gotta sing songs a certain style
or we’ll walk right down that aisle
and just leave ‘em all behind

they’ll know us by the billboards that we make
just turning God’s words to cheap clichés
says “what part of murder don’t you understand?”
but we hate our fellow man
and point a finger at his grave

they'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
they'll know us by the way we point and stare
telling ‘em their sins are worse than ours
thinking we can hide our scars
beneath these t-shirts that we wear

I Repent

2005-07-25T19:02:00.000-04:00

I repent, repent of my pursuit of america's dream
I repent, I repent of living like I deserve anything
of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
in our suburb where we're safe and white
I am wrong and of these things I repent

I repent, I repent of parading my liberty
I repent
I repent of paying for what I get for free
and for the way I believe that I am living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong and of these things I repent

I repent judging by a law that even I can't keep
of wearing righteousness like a disguise
to see through the planks in my own eyes

I repent, I repent of trading truth for false unity
I repent, I repent of confusing peace and idolatry
by caring more of what they think than what I know of what we need
by domesticating you until you look just like me
I am wrong and of these things I repent
~Derek Webb

AACCKK!

2005-07-20T13:41:00.000-04:00

Has it really been a month?! A whole stinkin' month since I've written anything?!

Anyway, it's been a busy month. I was supposed to go on the Mexico mission trip with church June 20-27, but I couldn't because of my knee. Sounds like it was a good trip. Of course, the hurricane just went over the Yucatan Peninsula (where the mission trip was), so we've been praying that our brothers and sisters there are ok.

I did get to go on vacation to the beach with the family June 26-July 3, though. That was nice and relaxing. My play at the beach was limited, though because of the dang knee. However, I did get to swim with the dolphins out there. I was out floating on a boogie board when a school of fish happened by. Then dolphons showed up for feeding time. I was able to get within 5 or so yards of feeding dolphins. Amazing.

We had another mission trip to Marion VA, working with Project Crossroads and leading a vacation Bible school. That was a good trip. The wife wasn't able to go, but made sure everyone there would make me not work the knee too much. One of the kids even tried calling my wife on a cell phone from the job site to let her know that I wasn't taking enough breaks. They are so funny. Anyway, that trip went well overall. out of 17 people on the trip, 7 were high school youth (this wasn't a "Youth Mission Trip", it was a church-wide trip), which I am happy about. Five of those had never done a mission trip before, either. And considering our list of High School Youth for the youth group is around 12-15 kids, I'm pleased with the turnout for the trip. We built some much needed wheelchair ramps, a deck, finished a bathroom, and repaired a roof. All for some amazing families who have seen trials that I can't even begin to comprehend. And yet they were so joyful and so strong. God's Grace.

So now I'm back, trying to make sure August is organized reasonably well for the youth before we get back into school year mode.

It's so stinkin' hot here. Heat index hovering around 100. And it's a wet, humid, sticky heat. Yuck. Too nasty outside to do much out there during the day. But the thunderstorms are beautiful.

God is so good.

How will I drink from that stream
How will my heart sing your praise
How will I lay down in green grass fields
when my soul is so afraid to

Rejoice

~~mineral

An Open letter to President Bush regarding the upcoming G8 Summitt

2005-06-20T21:45:00.000-04:00

(inspired by World Vision's support of the ONE campaign.

As of the time I am writing this, the amount that we have spent on the war in Iraq is equal to what it would cost to fund global anti-hunger efforts for 7 years. The U.S. government has seen that the efforts in Iraq as a necessary for the greater good (whether I personally agree with our actions is not, at this time, relevant). Surely the facts of global poverty, hunger, the AIDS epidemic, etc. are, at the least, equally important. Surely that also calls for sacrifice, monetary or otherwise. By committing the money and efforts in Iraq, we have shown that we can commit great amounts of money and effort in leading the world for causes we deem just and worthy. If global hunger, poverty, AIDS, etc. are not just and worthy causes to sacrifice for, then this world is void of any cause that can rightly be called just and worthy.

Mr. Bush, you have made your faith and commitment in our Lord Jesus known by your words. I urge you to make your commitment know now by your actions and efforts in leading the world in the challenge of fighting the evils of world-wide poverty, hunger, and disease. Our Scriptures are bursting with the call to care for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the widowed, the alien, the stranger, the imprisoned; in short, our Lord has demanded that we care for "the least of these." By the same token, the Scriptures testify that God, through His prophets, has strong words of rebuke and reproach for His people when they fail to care for the "least of these." We are at one of those moments where we can choose the action that will lead to our Lord saying "well done, good and faithful servant." Or, we can choose the action that will lead to a most serious rebuke when at last we stand face to face with Him.

The facts are shocking:
One child dies every three seconds -- that's 30,000 a day more than 10 million a year -- most die of hunger and preventable disease.

Some 600 million children live in extreme poverty, without basic necessities like clean water, health care, and education. Approximately 15 million children have been orphaned and made vulnerable by the HIV/AIDS pandemic -- the vast majority of these children live on the African continent.

Mr. President, Africa's suffering is unnecessary. It's morally unconscionable.

Americans responded in force to the tsunami in Southeast Asia when 250,000 lives were lost. The "silent tsunamis" of hunger and disease are devastating Africa right now: About 70 percent of Africans live on less than $2 a day; 200 million go hungry; more than 2,700 people, most of them young children, die of malaria each day; and twice that many succumb to AIDS. We are not giving to this daily disaster with the same energy and fervor that we responded to the tsunami survivors.

Nearly 1 million Americans -- many in the faith community -- are calling for action across political and religious divides to beat the global AIDS emergency and extreme poverty. I am one of these Americans. And, far more importantly, I am your brother in Christ.

Our nation has an historic opportunity to use our greatness, wealth, and influence at the G8 Summit on July 6 to help our African neighbors in crisis.

I urge you to lead other nations at Gleneagles to make poverty history by:

> Helping the poorest of the poor fight poverty, disease, and hunger at a cost equal to just one percent more of the U.S. budget on a clear timetable.

> Canceling 100% of the debts owed by the poorest countries.

> Reforming trade rules so people in poor countries can earn sustainable incomes.

Please use this time and opportunity you have been given to help others help themselves and especially giving children the opportunity to live life in all its fullness.

Post-Surgery

2005-06-10T21:30:00.000-04:00

Surgery went well. Knee hurts. Pain medication is a blessing. But pain medication makes me an incoherent fool. More thoughts later, at a more coherent time.

Surgery

2005-06-06T20:52:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official. This wednesday at 6:30am I go in for knee surgery. I made them promise that I would be out for the whole thing. I don't think I could deal with it were I to be conscious for it. Then I get to not do anything for a long time while it heals. Yuck. No more softball or anything this summer. Double Yuck.

Hopefully backpacking will still be in the cards for later in the summer...not sure if I can deal with not being able to do that for the summer as well.

Star Wars

2005-06-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

Oh, and I finally saw Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith on Monday. Much better than the two previous movies. So now, my ordering of Star Wars, from best to worst:
1) Ep. V
2) Ep. IV
3) Ep. VI & Ep. III (tie)
4) Ep. II
5) Ep. I

Oh, Rachel and I also watched The Pentagon Wars again last night. We had caught most of the movie years ago on HBO, and never heard anything else about it. So about a month ago, on a whim I checked amazon.com and they had it as soon to be released on dvd, so I ordered it and it came in yesterday. Oh, so funny. I highly recommend it to any and everyone.

Knee Problems

2005-06-02T21:31:00.000-04:00

Ok, so my knee has been swollen, hot, painful for 4 days now. I've been to the doctor 3 times this week. The most recent time was today to a specialist. No one really seems to be sure what is going on. One of the latest theories is a staph infection in my knee. How the heck did that happen? Sure, this is my bad knee, and I've had problems for a couple of years, but nothing like this. And this is a different type of pain. Plus I've been running a low fever, feeling generally ill, and having really really bad headaches. So they've got me on some antibiotics and some pain killers (with codeine!). And I'm supposed to stay off the knee as much as possible. Yuck. I've been doing that all week and I am so bored! Anyway, I go back to the doctor on Monday and if things aren't looking any better their is the distinct possibility of some knee surgery to, as they put it, "clean it out." What exactly that means, I don't know. And all this right in the middle of softball season -- and we're in first place!. Plus I'm supposed to go to Mexico in a few weeks on a mission trip with church. I asked the doctor whether that would still be doable, and he basically said "We'll see." But in that way that implies it ain't lookin' good. So frustrating. And what makes it worse is I don't have a cool story about how I hurt my knee...no chasing down a hoodlum on the street, no gravity-defying diving catch to win a softball game, nothing exciting. I went to sleep Saturday night, and woke up Sunday morning and there it was. Maybe I can make up a cool story...

Nothing In Particular.

2005-05-31T17:08:00.000-04:00

Ugh, almost 2 weeks since I've posted anything. So what's been going on? Well, we came home from a cookout at my parents last night to find Fuzzy (our goldfish), aka "the Pig", was dead. We've had him almost 5 years, which I reckon is pretty good for a 37 cent goldfish. Still, we've had him almost as long as we've been married, so it's still sad. I buried him this morning in one of our flower gardens.

So what else? My knee is swollen up like a tennis ball. I woke up Sunday morning in pain (I have a vague memory of me in my dream that night having knee pain). As the day progressed, it got bigger and bigger. But it has seemed to settle on being as big as a tennis ball, very very painful to the touch (and movement), and hot to the touch as well. I spent all yesterday morning, and part of the afternoon, at patient first having x-rays and stuff. The x-rays didn't show anything helpful, so they took some blood (ugh!) and I'm waiting to here the results. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to stay off my feet as much as possibly, and I have too use crutches when I walk. Which I'm trying to limit, because not only are crutches annoying, but walking is intenesly painful on my knee. So we'll see what happens.

But all of this crutch business has reminded me of a quote from Rev. Sloan Coffin that I always liked (btw, this may not be word for word accurate as I am quoting from memory, so just deal with it):

"It has been claimed that religion is a crutch. Well, where did you get the idea that you don't limp?"

Michael Savage is an idiot.

2005-05-19T01:06:00.000-04:00

Michael Savage is an idiot.

That's all I have to say.

Good night.

Art Opening

2005-05-16T20:13:00.000-04:00

Last Friday (Friday the 13th...mwahaha) my wife had her opening for her latest art show. It was at the Eric Schindler Gallery in Richmond. And what a wonderful opening it was. So many people came out. It always surprises me to see how nervous she get's before an opening, wondering "what if no one comes?". Well, there hasn't been a time where that happened yet. And this past one was no exception. It was supposed to go from 7pm - 9pm, but people were still coming it as late as 9:30. The gallery was nice -- it's a converted old house -- and it's always so awesome to see her work up on walls in big (relatively) rooms where they can breathe. Anyway, here's a little blurb (with a not-so-good black and white picture of a very colorful piece) about the show from a local paper. If you're in richmond and you want to go see it, it'll be up until June 17 (then she's got another opening for another show up in New York at the Agora Gallery in Chelsea). The Schindler Gallery is on 23rd and East Broad St.

One of may favorite pieces sold Friday night too. Which is good and bad. It's good cause, well, we need the money. But it's bad because I really really liked that piece.

Anywho, her work is awesome. She never ceases to amaze me. I love you sweetie.

The Amazing Race

2005-05-11T12:45:00.000-04:00

Last night I watched the end of the last episode of the Amazing Race. I'd seen parts of a couple of episodes from various seasons, never really getting into the show. It was kind of exciting to watch the last few teams race to the finish line, I guess. But more than that, what kept me watching for about 45 minutes last night (yes, I watched for a while...I never said I was proud of myself) was not too unlike turning and looking at a car wreck on the side of the road as you drive past. All I can say is that I think this show sheds some light on "why they hate us". I'm not saying "they" hate us because of this show, or even because of shows like it. What I am saying is that this show, or more specifically the actions of the participants, is a symptom of at least one of the reasons why "they hate us."

The show, for you blessed souls you have never stooped to watch it (indeed, you are a better person than I) is one big race around the world for the teams of two. Each team must collect clues, which tells them where in the world they must go to get the next clue or challenge. Ultimately, they race around the world, with teams being eliminated at various points for being the last to arrive at specific destinations. The winning team gets 1 million dollars.

Heres the problem: The show has released Americans onto the world, who are doing anything to get to their next destination as fast as they can. This means that teams are rude, insulting, demeaning, etc. to people all over the world, berating the likes of cab drivers for not going fast enough. Taking cabs from one end of a city to the other and back again and not having enough money to pay the fare (then begging the driver to let it slide - essentially trying to cheat the driver out of his/her due money so the contestants can get their 1 million dollars!). Disrespecting the people who work at ticket counters at airports the world over for not holding a plane an extra 15 minutes so the can gain an advantage over the other teams, etc., etc. So essentially what we have are Americans running all over the world, being obnoxious and completely self absorbed with their desire to win 1 million dollars, completely ignoring the fact that many of the people they are counting on to help them will probably never see anywhere close to a million bucks their whole life, and all the while they are being rude and insulting to these people. One team last night, nearing the finish line, didn't have enough money to cover their cab fare at the end of the race. To their credit (a little anyway), the team didn't run the last bit of the race to the finish line until they had panhandled enough cash to pay the driver. But, while they were doing this, the driver was left in limbo, having driven this couple all over the city and now he was sitting wondering if he would get his due payment. Imagine how he was feeling, after driving these people all over and then having them say, "i'm sorry, we don't have enough money to cover the fare." But the did manage to beg enough in the end to cover the fare. Of course, this meant begging $10's and $20's off other people (again people who will most likely never see anywhere close to a million bucks). Egocentrism at it's worst. Taking money from others in order to win money for yourself.

And that is the mindset that, I think, leads "them" to hate us. We are completely self-absorbed. We trample on those who allow us to live our self-absorbed life-style without a thought. Our interests are more important than being decent and respectful to others.

Disgusting.

Afropunk

2005-05-10T18:28:00.000-04:00

I just found out this documentary is playing here in Richmond tonight at the Nancy Raygun. It's a film about "race identity within the punk scene." Anyway, I'm kind of bummed that I can't make it to the screening (have a couple of meetings at church this evening). Oh well. Hopefully I'll be able to see it sometime. It looks pretty interesting.

Lions, Witches, and Wardrobes...Oh my!

2005-05-10T13:49:00.000-04:00

I just watched the trailer for the upcoming movie The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. It looks pretty sweet. Infinitely better than the old BBC version. Can't wait for December.

Oh, and I'm still sick. I have a cough that won't quit, I'm all achey feeling, and I'm walking around (ok, not much walking per se, more of sitting and laying down) in a fog. Yuck.

too long...

2005-05-09T20:21:00.000-04:00

So it's been a while since I've posted anything. Slacker? You bet. So what have I been up to? Last week the wife and I ran down to Buxton NC (on the outer banks, near Hatteras Island) for a few days. A woman my wife works with owns a house on Pamlico Sound down there and let us use it for a few days. Awesome. Nothing but quality time with the woman I love. We got to spend some time walking on the beach, sitting on the beach, going to small little art galleries, reading...all kinds of good stuff. Plus we were near where Blackbeard the Pirate roamed. I got a Piratey T-Shirt, and a car air freshener that looks like the Jolly Roger pirate symbol. I am sooooooooo cool. (Speaking of the Jolly Roger, that's the name of a little place on Ocracoke Island that has the best hush puppies in the world, if you care.) We came back Thursday because....

....my baby sister was graduating from college this past weekend. CONGRATULATIONS TERRY!!!! We went up on Friday for a cookout with her, her boyfriend, and his family. She won an award ("it's a major award!") for her community service leadership with COAR (Community Outreach and Resources) and Habitat for Humanity, among other things. I'm so proud of her. Then Saturday was graduation. They called all the students by name up to cross the podium and get there diploma. All of the students. That took a while, but it was still cool. I didn't think they did that anymore. When I graduated, they just had all of us in the same college (College of Humanities and Sciences in my case) stand. Then they said congratulations, you are graduated. No names, and no diplomas (we got those later). But it's cool to see your baby sister walk across the stage and get here diploma. Way to go, sis. Big Brother is proud.

So that's what I've been up to. Oh, and I'm sick. Yuck. Bad cold/flu thingy. Didn't make it to church yesterday (we were supposed to be recognized as new members during the service too) because I was sick. Thought I was doing better today, went in to work (Blue Ridge Mtn. Sports), but that was not a good move. Came home a little early and have already told them that I won't be in tomorrow. Being sick sucks. Thankfully I can do a lot of my youth director stuff from home.

So that's it. I know it's what you huddled masses were waiting for -- an update on this ubercool guy's life.

Peace.

One Degree of Separation from the Pope

2005-04-22T12:06:00.000-04:00

I just found out that a friend of mine, Greg Gresko, was chosen to sing the Gospel and be head deacon at the new Pope's inaugeration this Sunday. How cool is that?! Greg's a monk at the Benedictine Abbey here in Richmond, and is currently studying to be a priest in Rome. You can read a little about it
here (you may have to register first to read it though).

Cost of War

2005-04-21T19:13:00.000-04:00

Well, I just added the "Cost of the War in Iraq" counter. Click on the link below it, and you can check out various aspects of the cost. For example, you can see how much it is costing your state, or, more profoundly I think, what else that amount of money could be used for. For example, at the time I am writing this, the amount we have spent on the war could have fully funded global anti-hunger efforts for 6 whole years. And considering that every day about 29 THOUSAND children die from starvation...well, you can do the math. So, when anyone in government tells you that they would love to help with those types of issues, but the money just isn't there...well, I think we can see that money isn't an issue if they really want to do something about it.

Jr. High Retreat.

2005-04-13T14:56:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we had a Jr. High retreat out at beautiful Camp Hanover. It was a Presbytery-wide Jr. High retreat, which meant there were a hundred or so middle schoolers there. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We had six kids go, which was good, especially considering we usually only have four or five at youth group! The retreat was put on by the Presbytery of the James Youth Council, meaning it was planned and implemented by high school students, and they did a great job. The theme was American Idol. So, as you can imagine, we talked about idols in our life, but then it kind of morphed into the idea that God calls all of us, through Christ, to walk with Him, no matter what. My favorite statement of the weekend was in the worship service Sunday morning. At the point in the service where we were to greet others in the name of Christ, we were told to tell them "God loves you...and there's nothing you can do about it!" I like that. It's so important for all of us to hear and be reminded of, but I think it's especially important for middle schoolers to hear. Sometimes I think we (Christians) get so preoccupied with the little things (or even the big things) that we, and others, do wrong that we forget that God loves all of us the world over, and indeed, there is nothing we can do about it.

Sad news.

2005-04-13T14:44:00.000-04:00

Last night at my volleyball league we found out some sad news. A guy that played on one of the teams in the league drowned in a canoeing accident this past saturday. I only knew him through volleyball, but had played in the league and occassional pick-up games with him. It really makes you think. My prayers go out to his friends and family. May God be their comfort. And Arthur, may you rest in peace, and may the love of Christ be all of your reality now (and may we meet in heaven for another round of volleyball). I didn't know you well at all, but you will be missed.

Softball...the day after

2005-04-08T20:10:00.000-04:00

We won both games last night! 6-5 and 15-7. Awesome. A great way to start the season. It was wet, it was muddy, and it was fun.

Softball!

2005-04-07T19:02:00.000-04:00

"Yessss" (with thanks to Napoleon Dynamite).

Church softball season is here at last. The first game for Three Chopt Pres. is tonight. Man, I love this game. And Fairfield's season starts this coming Monday night. That's right kids, I'm playing on two, count 'em, two teams. "Sweet" (again, thanks Napoleon). Why? Because my wife told me I could. Fairfield is where we go to church and where I work, so of course I have to play on their team. And Three Chopt is where I have played for the past 12 seasons (this is lucky number 13), so I can't give that up. Thankfully they are in two different leagues on two different nights, so no conflicts. The only tough part is winter volleyball still has a couple more weeks in the season, so that makes for a few weeks busy with sports (and many sore muscles...).

Speaking of sports: SMOLTZ, WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!?!

30 Hour Famine

2005-03-28T19:36:00.000-05:00

Alright, I meant to write something about this a week ago, but, well, I didn't. So here it is now.

On March 18-19, we (we being the Sr. High group at church) participated in the 30 Hour Famine. There were nine high schoolers, myself, and two of our volunteer high school advisors. Mad props to all those that participated. My prayer is that we all (myself most definitely included) came away more sensitive to the struggles of the majority of our brothers and sisters around the world. Don't know how much money we raised yet (and even if I did, I probably wouldn't post it...), as many of the kids are still trying to collect some support from people. in place of dinner, breakfast, and then lunch, we had devotions for everyone to do. I think those went pretty well. For our 'breaking the fast' dinner Saturday night, my wonderful wife and one of the high schoolers that was unable to participate fixed us our dinner. Rice, black beans, and oranges. We sat on the floor, and had no utensils (didn't take them too long to realize that after you ate an orange, the rind could be used as a spoon for the rice and beans). Also, we stipulated some rules: you could not serve yourself, nor could you ask for food. So the only way you could get food was if one of your peers saw that you didn't have any and offered to get you some. That was to drive home the point that we need to be watching out for each other, both locally and globally. Also, it was one last reminder that much of the world is often at the mercy of the few of us who have been blessed with so much. The kids were helpless unless someone noticed their plight and offered to help. I was unsure how that would work out in practice (would they revolt after not eating for 30 hours...or 32 in some cases?!), but it went over well. No fighting, no cheating, just a pleasant, simple meal around a lone candle. All in all, a good way to spend a couple of days.

I think the funniest time of the Famine was Saturday afternoon. Our church was having an Easter egg hunt for the community while we were there fasting. Most of the kids volunteered to help, which meant we had many faminished high schoolers hiding candy, and then helping little ones find the candy. Several of them weren't sure if they could do that without giving in to temptation...but they all did! One even dressed up as the Easter bunny for the entertainment of the young children, playing with them and letting them have their picture taken sittin on her lap. I know she was grumpy, tired, hungry, and hot under that costume, but the children loved it. Just another simple way they found to serve the local community even while serving the global one. High fives all around.

It's amazing how much we have. To never have ever had to worry about getting enough food...we are so spoiled and we don't even realize it. This computer that I am typing on could have paid to feed several starving kids for a year. Is the answer as simple as not buying crap I don't need?

Just Asking

2005-03-28T19:15:00.000-05:00

So, just out of curiosity, what would our reaction be if there was a college campus group called "Campus Jihad for Allah"?

Such a Slacker

2005-03-28T19:12:00.000-05:00

Man, it's been almost 2 weeks since I've posted. I'm such a slacker. I started this thing so I would be motivated to write more, but that doesn't seem to be happening. Oh well. It's not like anyone looks here...or do they? If you do, leave comments so I know you were here.

Anyway, I'll try to come up with stuff to write about since I have some free time at the moment...

Morality? Part II

2005-03-15T18:50:00.000-05:00

Thinking about the last post has caused me to think more about morality. We Christians seem to get quite caught up in labling what is moral and what is not. And perhaps we should, at least to an extent. But it does seem like sometimes, and maybe (probably?) even more often than that, the purpose of doing so is not so much because it is a good thing to determine what is beneficial and what is not, but instead we like to be able to quanitify who is moral and who is not. That is, when thinking about the coming and very present Kingdom of God, we want to be able to say who is in and who is out. Of course, we would never claim to "know" who is in and who is out, but really, isn't that the real purpose behind much of our carrying on about what is moral and what is immoral? We tend to think of immoral actions (at least certain ones...) as eliminating one from being a part of God's people.

But I think the truth of the matter is that the issue of "morality" is much more shallow than we like to think. And the very truth of God is so much deeper than we allow when we continuously focus on morality. Not that I think we should act immoral. But sometimes I just wonder if we take it too seriously. Or, put another, and maybe less confusing, way: our sin (ie immorality) is a sympton of our separation from God. Perhaps we are not separated from God because of all these sins that we run around worrying about, but instead, maybe the truth is that we act out these sins because we are separated from God. It's a matter of confusing the product with the cause. If that's true, then, the crux of the matter is not to get people to stop sinning, the crux of the matter is to get them to God, whether they stop sinning or not (who does?). Maybe I am not a sinner because I sin, but in fact I sin because I am a sinner. And that is how, maybe, we can know that we in Christ still sin, and yet we are no longer declared "sinners", but instead are declared "righteous". Maybe?

What if Christians began treating sin in this way? What if we stopped treating sin as something that needed to be fixed/contained/managed/whatever, and instead began seeing it as a sympton of our separation? What would change?

Morality?

2005-03-08T15:34:00.000-05:00

So last Friday night, I settled in to watch a favorite show, Real Time with Bill Maher. While I often disagree with what Bill Maher says (as well as most of his guests -- ok, the truth is that sometimes I think I disagree with most everybody, but that's another topic for another time), I do find him funny at times and I respect anyone who at least has the guts to just speak their mind. Ok, now that I've justified watching the show on a regular basis, here's what caught my thoughts. The discussion turned to the controversy over the Ten Commandments in federal courthouses. The slant on the roundtable discussion was whether or not the 10 Commandments were moral precepts.

Bernadine Healy (former NIH administrator) argued that the 10 Commandments was the moral and legal ancestor of our current judicial system. Therefore, the fact that they were prescribed by a particular religion is immaterial to the issue of whether or not they should be displayed in our courthouses. Because they are the very history of our judicial system, they should be allowed. They are, then, more of a social statement than a religious statement.

Bill argued many were not, in fact, moral in nature. For example, Thou shalt have no other gods before Me, Bill argued, was not a moral precept. It is, instead, strictly religious in nature. Therefore, even though some of the precepts contained in the Commandments are moral (e.g. Thou shalt not steal, etc.), the fact that others are strictly religious in nature entails an endorsement of a particular religious tradition by the State.

What caught my attention in this debate was not, oddly enough, the argument over whether or not displaying the 10 Commandments violates the establishment clause (personally, I am inclined to agree that it does violate the establishment clause, but that too is another argument for another time). What I did find interesting was the premise that the Commandments dealing specifically with God (i.e. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me, Thou shalt not make any graven image..., Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain, and Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy...) are not moral in nature.

I, however, would argue that those 4 Commandments are moral in nature. I suppose I can see how someone could argue that they are not. When we think of morality, we often think of "the basics", that is, whether or not someone is honest, whether they cheat, maybe whether they are nice to others, and, of course, we seem to immediately think of sex (aren't we maybe a little to preoccupied with this?). All of these things have to do with how we interact with others. And those things are moral issues, certainly. But are there others? I think one of our problems is that when we think of morality, we think in terms of lists of things that we are supposed to do and lists of things that we are not supposed to do when dealing with other people. And I'm not sure that it goes much deeper than that, at least in our minds.

Living morally, very generally speaking, used to be equivalent to the good life (by "generally speaking" I refer to what I take to be an accurate generalization of how classical philosophy - think Socrates, Plato, et al - thought of ethics and morality). The desire for all of us, the ancients would argue, was to find out what the chief end of life is, what is our purpose. This chief end, it was argued, is to fulfill our nature. Anything that was part of fulfilling our nature, was then by definition moral. And morality is then acting in a way that fulfills our nature. Morals are the way in which we fulfill our nature.

So what of God? How do the "religious" precepts of the 10 Commandments fit into this?

If the theistic arguments that there is a God is true, and if the narrower Judeo-Christian arguments that God created us and instilled in us the need to worship Him are true, then these "religious" precepts become moral ones as well, for they give us the parameters by which our nature can be fulfilled, the parameters by which we can live morally; if true, our nature involves not only how we act towards others, but also how we act towards God (and towards all of His creation). So these Commandments are, in fact, moral Commandments.

This first argument ignores the other two arguments that must come later. It still must be debated 1)Whether or not these moral Commandments are in fact true (i.e. is it true that there is a God Who created in us a need to worship Him?), and 2)If true, whether or not they belong in our federal courthouses. These are all separate and unique arguments; one can rationally agree with the argument that they are moral precepts, and that they are true, but then argue that they still do not belong in our courthouses.

Personally, I leave it for another day to argue whether these are true moral Commandments and whether, if true, they belong in our federal buildings. But to argue that they are not moral statements is simply incorrect. You may think them false and not in keeping with the true nature of things, but to argue that they are not moral in nature, that they are not statements of morality is simply false.

Terrify No More

2005-03-04T17:56:00.000-05:00

Just finished reading Gary Haugen's (of the International Justice Mission) new book Terrify No More.

Wow.

One of the most powerful books I have read in a long time. Do yourself a favor and read it. But just be aware that it may very well cause you to become angry, to cry, to become angry, and hopefully become motivated to do something (did I mention it may make you angry?).

Sara McLachlan Video

2005-03-04T16:08:00.000-05:00

World On Fire Video

I first saw this video at the CORE last weekend.

Beautiful.

Since we have been discussing God's view on Injustice and Oppression in our Sr. High Youth Group (thanks IJM!), this hit me hard. Made me feel like a jerk, too. Hopefully, though, it will be an inspiration to me, the other leaders, and the kids to look at our lives and what we spend money on, and then think of how we can use that to help bring about God's will on earth (as it is in Heaven). That's the plan anyway.

first.

2005-03-04T10:16:00.000-05:00

first. post. ever.