Pulp Politicians
Oct 30, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Bowtie | NOISE: Kids Playing }
Yes, I know, political flash cartoons abound. But this one may be my favorite.
Priorities
Oct 30, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Decent | ITUNES: “Carnival” - Natalie Merchant }
A friend of mine had this on his signature line and I loved it:
There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra than on Alzheimer’s research. This means that by 2030, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them…
Voting
Oct 28, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Apprehensive | NOISE: Kids watching TV }
Thanks to Kyle for this addition to our political conversation:
Voting
Oct 28, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: 9.0 | ITUNES: “99 Problems” Jay-Z }
This election talk reminded me of a conversation I had with a guy in the Netherlands. They are a constitutional monarchy. And with this system, they have 150 directly elected (that means popular vote, not the electoral system) congress type people.
Whenever they have their elections if a certain percentage (I think 60%) of people don’t vote, they throw out the election results and start over. It’s illegal not to vote there.
But marijuana and prostitution are legal, so I guess it’s all good. (Read sarcasm here.)
Halloween Party
Oct 27, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Dozing Off | TV: Grace Flipping Channels }
We had our 4th annual Halloween Party at Bob tonight. You can see the pictures here.
Here are my favorites. This is JD looking as handsome as always:
JD and I playing nice:
My kids:
Voting
Oct 27, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Swell | TIVO: “Wife Swap” }
Thanks to Steve for this good article by John Piper on voting even when you are disillusioned.
Here’s the summary:
Now, if you are dissatisfied today the way I am, why vote? The answer is that if you don’t, you are guilty of the very oversimplification you condemn. There is no escape from responsibility by pointing out the imperfections of leaders. That is the only kind of leaders there will ever be. Our calling in this world is not to wait for the arrival of the perfect, but to pick our way through the thicket of flaws. We would be arrogant to put ourselves above this fray and say, “A curse on both your houses.”
The Lord Jesus does not give us this luxury of disengagement. He says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Caesar—even pagan Caesar—has his claim on our lives. Why? Because God Almighty, whom we serve above all men, made human governments his way of running the world. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). In a democratic republic like ours that means at least: VOTE.
Majoring on the Minors
Oct 27, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Thoughtful | ITUNES: “All I Want” - The Lightning Seeds }
Majoring on the Minors
For some reason, that phrase has been on my brain today. I really don’t know why and I’m not sure how it popped into my brain, but here it resides. Here are some of my random thoughts.
*I DO THIS. How often I major on things that are so insignificant. I get worked up over something that doesn’t really matter. Something that is personal preference or cultural. But, ultimately, who cares?
*WHEN I SAY “WHO CARES?” AM I MAKING A MINOR OUT OF SOMONE ELSE’S MAJOR? Just because it is a minor in my life, does that make it a minor in everyone’s? The phrase “don’t major on the minors” implies that there is a standard line in the sand: majors on one side, minors on the other. But is that really the case? Three cases in point:
1) PIERCINGS. I am reading a book right now where the author says everythime he sees someone with a piercing, he thinks they are trying “to find themselves.” To him, he sees a big problem. For me, I got my eyebrow pierced because I thought it looked good and my wife thought it was hot (my word, not hers…) on me. For me, minor issue. For that guy, major. Who is right? Me, for sure…
2) LANGUAGE. For one person, the word “sucks” means nothing. For some, it is majorly offensive because it carries cultural baggage. Who is right?
3) ALCOHOL. For one person, it is a minor issue. Beer with dinner, no biggie. Just make sure you don’t give it to a minor, that would make it a major. For another, it is a big deal. And they can even point to scripture or culture or whatever to make their point (right or wrong, they can do it). So who is right?
Majoring on minors. Or gray areas. They make life interesting.
Jaden
Oct 26, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Yeah, Buddy | NOISE: Jaden Laughing }
Jaden came over again tonight.
The Onion
Oct 26, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: LMAO | NOISE: Beep }
Republicans urging minorities to get out and vote on November 3rd.
TMYK
Oct 25, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Aha | TIVO: Fear Factor }
I was watching TV tonight and Brian Williams came on with one of those cheesy “The More You Know” segments and I had an “aha” moment. He said, “Would you trust someone else to make an important decision that will affect your very life? Then why would you let them. Make sure you vote.”
Then I got it. In the history of my life, I have never–not once–felt personally impacted one way or another because of who is president. Now I am not saying I haven’t been affected in one way or another. I’m sure I have, but I have never felt like I have and so it never seems to matter much. Only in my ultra-rightwing republican college days did it seem to matter and that was just because it was the cool thing to do. I can’t think of one tangible way that the presidency as an office or the president as a specific person has impacted my life directly.
Thanks, Brian Williams for the compelling case for not voting.
Halloween
Oct 25, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Seedy | TIVO: “Everybody Loves Raymond” }
The best part of halloween? Pumpkin seeds. And to get a bumper crop, you need enough pumpkins. To have enough pumpkins, you need kids to carve them. The things I will do for pumpkin seeds.
Lunch with a Druid
Oct 25, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Caffeinated | ITUNES: “11am” - Incubus }
I had lunch with an email friend of mine today. He attended Riv last year and we have sporatically emailed. He says he is a Celtic, Pagan, Druid. He also says he has been present for mediums who have channeled Satan and the Archangel Michael. That is only the tip of the iceberg. We then got more specific about his own abilities in that arena and his more detailed beliefs.
And, of course, we talked about video games.
Frandor Deli has never had such a bizarre convalescence of beliefs before than a meeting between he and I. It was fun and interesting. He and I like the same music, so that’s cool.
Photography
Oct 25, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Swell | IPOD: “Everytime You Say Goodbye” - Alison Kraus }
Thanks to JR for pointing me toward TrekEarth. It’s a cool site where you can post an image each day and get critique on your photography. I am no Travis, but I have a few pictures I am going to slap up there. I am also adding a link to the site on my photo essay section on the left.
Quote of the Day
Oct 25, 2004 Quotes
{ MOOD: Still Great | IPOD: “This Love” - Maroon 5 }
Thanks to Sean for this amazing quote:
“You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” - C.S. Lewis
Teachings
Oct 25, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Great | IPOD: “She Will Be Loved” - Maroon 5″ }
One of the dangers of my profession is that it is easy to go through life and not be “taught.” What I mean by that is that I very rarely get to sit down and listen to someone else teach. For instance, I am not teaching at Riv during this series and still everytime I try to sit down and listen to Steve, someone grabs me and “has to talk.”
One of the things I do is listen to teachings on my iPod. But that is problematic, as well. Because whenever I get a chance to hear someone teach (live or iPod), I switch into critique mode: “How was their delivery?” “Did they connect?” “Was the teaching true to the Word?”
Then, if I can get myself over that, I get in the “I can steal this” moment. That’s where I was today. I was listening to, of all people, my friend Dave teaching at his church and I found some great stuff to steal for a message I am giving in a month or so. Yee ha.
BTW, if you are in ministry and you want to steal something I have done, feel free to do so. I probably stole at least part of what I am doing from someone else, anyway!
Surreal Tangent - I once found a sermon online in one of those search engines. The weird thing was it was one of mine. And I had never heard of the guy who was listed as the author. Weird. Oh well, steal and steal alike, I always say.
What was will be again, what happened will happen again. There’s nothing new on this earth. Year after year it’s the same old thing. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Wow
Oct 24, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Tired | TV: “Airline” }
I have no idea where Will found this oldie, but I am impressed that he pulled it out and just in time for the election. Wow.
Worldview
Oct 23, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Great | NOISE: Jesse and Ethan playing with the computer }
I am reading a book right now called “Heaven is a place of Earth.” I am not sure what I think about the book yet (I am only on page 27), but the author has articulated something I have been thinking a lot about lately. Here are his thoughts:
It is important to discover our ultimate beliefs, for these give rise to our worldview, which in turn serves as the lens through which we see the world. Thus our presuppositions ultimately determine how we interpret reality. Where we start determines where we end up.
The events of our lives do not convey obvious, objective messages that mean the same to everyone. Our experience does not come self-interpreted. Instead, the meaning of any even depends on the worldview that interprets it. And since wordviews vary from person to person, there may be an number of interpretations for the same event…
Jaden
Oct 22, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Stellar | NOISE: Jaden Laughing }
Jaden came over to visit tonight. He’s so pretty:
Fall
Oct 22, 2004 Uncategorized
{ MOOD: Fally | NOISE: Grace and Nicole talking }
Here is a picture of our front yard one day after we raked:
And here are a few more fall pics:
