A Small Part

A cool but unexpected moment occurred a couple of weeks ago at the WEC six-year anniversary service. The WEC staff had put together a video montage of the past year. They showed this on the video screen before the start of lead pastor Stu Hodges' talk. It was a fun trip through the highlights at WEC for the past year, as well as the weekly theme arcs. It was also pretty cool to see that I showed up in one snippet. I had blogged that I gave a testimony about my journey to WEC (see Answer the Call I) back at Thanksgiving. I know my daughter Maddie got a kick out of seeing her daddy in the video ("Hey daddy, that's you up there!"). Pretty neat. Neater still is the chance that I had to step up for WEC and "Answer the Call". Perhaps, just perhaps, that effort helped some folks along in their journeys.

Hatfield vs. McCoy

There has been much discussion and debate and gnashing of teeth regarding prayer in public schools. I am sure that I don't have all the facts and that I don't understand all of the issues, but I am sure that I am colored by the sensational stories that show up from time to time in the popular press. It seems that public opinion of the current U.S. laws are that prayer in public schools (any institution supported by government funding) is verboten. There was this major concession that allowed for a "moment of silence", but you won't get another inch. I kind of have this picture in my mind of the Hatfields and the McCoys locked in a never-ending battle, where the Hatfields are the religious folks and the McCoys are the evil, secret society athiests (I can almost hear the hissing now). The reality is that it was religious groups that brought the lawsuits that formed our current laws. These laws only outlaw government-sponsored worship. Public school students have always had the full right to pray on their own as class schedules permit. To me, this kind of makes sense. Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Islamists, and Jews have very different points of view as to what their children are exposed to in school, and what their children are required to recite and read and espouse. Keeping school clear of this kind of fighting and debate and controversy seems entirely appropriate to me. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that kind of summed the whole thing up, "As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools".

Far Beyond Our Level

In his message a few weeks ago, lead pastor Stu Hodges at Waters Edge Church said that as Christians, most of us are educated far beyond our level of obedience. At first, this may seem like a jab or an insult, at least it did to me. However, these words have stuck with me since I heard them. They have been rolling around my head. The point is that the mature Christian is not the person who has the highest education level, who has read the most books on spirituality, the person who has attended church the longest, the person who has been in the ministry the longest, or even the person who has the most information about Jesus. The mature Christian is one whose heart and mind and soul have been transformed so that they act like Jesus. According to Pastor Clancy Nixon, he believes that the way to tell if someone's heart is transformed is that they swiftly obey when they hear God's word. Some have termed this "missional velocity", your speed of obedience to the mission that God has for you. It is akin to how you can tell what language a person thinks in, i.e. their true native language. When they hit their thumb with a hammer, what language do they cry out in? This is how you can figure out their true self. When God calls you, do you immediately and unquestionly act? How you respond reveals your self, your true spiritual obedience.

Hare Brained

I heard them scream "Look away!", but my eyes were drawn to the scene. The outcome would be inevitable. He just sat there, calmly reading the newspaper, resigned to the fate that he had created for himself. The air faintly reeked of carrots. The senseless deaths continue. You can help ease the pain by becoming a Save the Bunny sponsor today. If you don't step up, you must hate your children and beat your dog. There can be no other conclusion drawn.

Mail-Order Brides

I have noted before the sometimes painful, curious, and interesting ads that appear on my Facebook page (see Old Man Transition from Feb. 24, 2009). Of course these ads are not randomly generated by the fine folks at Facebook, they are based on information contained in our profiles. Today's blog was motivated by a recent ad that showed up on my page for mail-order brides. Mail-order brides, are you freakin' kidding me? Is this what my profile really says about me? Reducing the courtship and relational strategery to the same method that I use to purchase cookware and dress socks? Does anybody really go down this road? This notion just screams desperation or extreme laziness or a cut-to-the-chase, skip-the-B.S. approach to life.

Mail-order brides, really? Well, I have done some painstaking reseach into the world of bride catalog shopping (courtesy of my good friends at wikipedia). Do you know that in the U.S. roughly 4000 to 6000 of these unions are made each year? Hmmm. Furthermore, studies have shown that these marriages result in a significantly lower divorce rate compared to "traditional" marriages? Oh my. Have you even thought about the fact that couples in these transactions typically do not even speak the same language? Aha! I believe we have finally stumbled upon the secret to the successful marriage. I can picture it now. "Honey, I am going to go out all night drinking with the guys and getting into whatever trouble comes my way. I will be back whenever I feel like it." "Glork?". Talk about your marital bliss.

The Joy of Food

Someone I knew once said regarding his favorite dish, "It's so good you just can't help but eating it". Enjoying our food, transforming our lunches and dinners into long-remembered occasions and experiences, is one of the perks of being a human with a well-defined palette. Sour, sweet, savory, bitter, salty. Oh what wonderful combinations of tastes and textures and smells we can whip up. Just the thought of our favorites can cause our mouths to start watering in anticipation. I believe that I can almost taste these favorites if I think and imagine hard enough. I have been pondering on some of my all-time favorite dishes. These include:

• Spaghetti and garlic bread;
  
• Lasagna with meat sauce;
  
• Chicken dijon served on a bed of rice;
  
• Chicken marsala;
  
• Stuffed pork chops;
  
• Bacon and onion quiche;
  
• Filet mignon wrapped in bacon and smothered in mushrooms.
  

I have cooked a lot of dinners in my day. One thing that I am certain of is that food always tastes better when we share it with those that we love. When I am making dinner just for myself, my feeling is, the quicker the better. I will slap something together or grab leftovers from the fridge (sometimes not even bothering to heat them up). However, when I am making dinner for my family or friends, stand back. Man can I concoct some wonderful goodies. Cooking with and for others simply transforms a chore or task necessary for survival into something so much more. So, think about some good dishes that you know how to make and dive in, prepare and enjoy them with folks you know and love.

Role Model

Charles Barkley once famously stated "I am not a role model". At the time I remember that there was a lot of clucking of tongues about how professional atheletes are supposed to be paragons of virtue as all the little children look up to them and try to emulate them. There was a lot of negative publicity directed towards Mr. Barkley and his image as an iconic bad boy was all the more solidified. At the time, I understood what he was saying to all of us through the press. He was just a professional athelete, and he did not sign up for any angel duty. He just wanted to be left alone and allowed to be himself, good or bad. Personally, I don't think that any one of us would like to have to live in the bright spotlight of attention all the time, with every move that we made analyzed and discussed and kibitzed over by finger-wagging pundits. I know for me, that I would not hold up under the bright lights. I also fear that I would be judged and labeled by my worst moments. However, with this said, I take my role as a father very seriously with regards to the example that I set for my daughter. I want her to see a stable man with good values who loves her with all his heart. A father who is always there to watch over her, support her unconditionally, protect her from harm, and to laugh and sing with her. I want my teachings and advice to be reflective of the actual life that I lead. I know that to her, I am a very important role model. I also fully understand that this is a responsibility that I must maintain and uphold even when she is not there, not watching me.