Jim's Running Commentary

Does Love Win? Or are we Erasing Hell?

2012-01-22T23:42:00.001-06:00

After seeing how everyone denounced Rob Bell's Love Wins, I had to read it. I had already read Bell's Velvet Elvis, Sex God, and Jesus Came to Save Christians. I like Bell's writing style. I was especially drawn to what he wrote in Velvet Elvis. After spending a lifetime coming from a religious tradition that says, "we are the final word in how to follow Jesus" the idea that as our understanding of God and the Bible grows, changes, and matures, so does our faith - as does how we come to God.

Back to Love Wins. The first time I read it, I loved it. It's an easy read and I finished it in a couple days. This is the exact quote of my Goodreads review:

Regardless of where you fall in your conclusions of what the Bible says about Heaven and Hell, the questions raised by Bell in this book are questions thinking Christians should be asking…

You see, the thing I love about Rob Bell's writing is that he never says, "this is what I believe, and I want you to agree with me." And that's a habit our ears have a hard time breaking, because that's the spiritual writing we're so used to. But Bell's writing says, "Maybe you need to challenge what you've been taught about this; maybe we should be asking questions about what we've always thought; maybe we should be discussing these things." Bell is all about "wrestling with the text."

So I wondered, even after I read it, why everyone was all up in arms about Love Wins. Bell never says he doesn't believe in Hell, or that there's not a Hell, or that everyone is going to Heaven. He questions all our traditional teaching about Hell, asking if this is what the Bible really says. Asking if the way we preach Hell is truly Biblical, especially when we often use it to attack, and it's driving people away. And what if "being saved" isn't just about looking forward to a life after this one, but it's also about how we live the life we currently have?

According to amazon.com, Love Wins came out March 15, 2011. And Francis Chan's answer to Love Wins, Erasing Hell, came out less than four months later. I can't help but wonder how much of it he had written before Bell's book came out. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

After reading Love Wins a second time, and hearing people saying how good Erasing Hell is as an answer to Love Wins, I had to pick up the latter book.

I know that the back of Erasing Hell says,

Like you sometimes [Chan and second author Preston Sprinkle] don't want to believe in hell. But, as they write, "We cannot afford to be wrong on the issue"...This is not a book about who is saying what. It's a book about what God says...It's not a book about arguments, doctrine, or being right.

But this is obviously a direct answer (attack?) to Love Wins.

Everything about the book seems to scream, "Rob Bell is wrong, and I'm going to show you how I'm right."

The title of the book is even:

erasing hell: what God said about eternity, and the things we made up

And the arrogance pervading this book starts on the first page of the introduction where Chan suggests that reading this book is "necessary".

The funny thing is, as much as this book claims to only be true to what the Bible says, there sure seem to be a lot of inconsistencies, logical problems, and things that just don't make sense.

The book labels Rob Bell as a Universalist on the 4th page of the 1st chapter - using a quote taken out of context. To be fair, the book later admits the quote is taken out of context - but that's in the footnotes. A cheap shot. But then this same passage is taken context a second time in the same chapter.

And while reading it, I seemed to come across a lot of arguments along the lines of "Rob Bell doesn't come out and say this, but this is what he means" and "Rob Bell says this, but he doesn't really mean it".

When I got to chapter 2, I was already bothered by a lot of what I read. Chapter 2 spends a lot of time describing what many 1st Century Jews believed, rather than discussing what the Bible says. Then it says "Bell suggests that when Jesus used the word 'hell' (gehenna) He referred to a garbage dump outside Jerusalem...", giving the reader the idea that this is Bell's idea. Only later do we learn that this idea has been around for 1,000 years. Then it says "Much of what Bell says about hell relies upon a legend from the Middle Ages." I was confused at the phrase "Much of what Bell says about hell" because Bell only talks about Gehenna for a little over one page!

Then in Chapter 3, Erasing Hell suggests that Matthew 25 is talking about "believers" vs. "unbelievers". (This is where Jesus separates the sheep from the goats.) Wow. Way to put words in the mouth of Jesus. Jesus separates those who helped and cared for other people from those who did not. And this really gets to the crux of "Love Wins". The point of the book isn't to say "There is no hell" (even though Chan says that's what it says) or that "No one goes to hell", but to revisit the way we preach hell at people. As I mentioned above, to try to question and discuss whether or not we've actually held a Biblical view of hell. To consider the importance of alleviating suffering and bringing heaven to this earth. To be careful how we use the idea of hell to exclude people. Which is exactly what Chan does here by completely changing what Jesus says.

And by the time I got to chapter 3, I got tired of writing my thoughts down, so I just kept reading.

Over and over, Chan talks about how he desperately wants to believe there is no hell, but just can't because God says there is. This gets extremely patronizing, because the words he's putting in Bell's mouth: that Bell takes what he wants from the scriptures and ignores the rest. And in a final challenge in chapter 6, Chan lifts up the straw man "Rob Bell doesn't like or believe what God says about hell" and strikes it down rather summarily.

Chan asks, "Are you sure you're on the right side?" Really? Is that the point of Jesus coming to redeem mankind - so that we could choose "the right side"? Are we supposed to spread the message of Jesus so we can try to get everyone else "on the right side"? Or are we supposed to spread the message of Jesus because it's a better way to live? Because God is sovereign and deserves our love and devotion? Because it's better to love than to hate? Because it's better to serve than to take? (Um...see Matthew 25 to see what Jesus says on the subject.)

Ultimately, it's not our job to tell everyone who doesn't go to church that they're going to hell. It's not our job to judge everyone who has died and determine where they went. It's our job to bring a message of love and hope to the world. Just because there's a hell, doesn't mean that's the first thing out of our mouths when we preach the "good news" of Jesus.

And this is (what I think is) the summary of Love Wins, taken from Chapter 6:

First, we aren't surprised when people stumble upon this mystery [Jesus], whenever and however that happens. We aren't offended when they don't use the exact language we use, and we aren't surprised when their encounters profoundly affect them, even if they happen way outside the walls of our particular Jesus's gathering...We are not threatened by this, surprised by this, or offended by this...
Second, none of us have cornered the market on Jesus, and none of us ever will.
Third, it is our responsibility to be extremely careful about making negative, decisive, lasting judgments about people's eternal destinies...

Chan says some great things in this book. I think it's a great essay on what the Bible says about hell. And Chapter 5 is a great thesis on the things we miss as Christians (Jesus condemns those who attack each other with words, he condemns racism, and not helping the poor.) But it's hard to overlook the rest of it.

Why do I always feel like an apologist for Rob Bell? Because I believe everything he writes? Everything he says? Because I want to be his disciple? No. Because I believe he's calling us to think, to challenge, to dialogue - and I think that these things have been squelched enough - and that squelching has turned people from God. I think Bell's message is important - that we need to examine ourselves and be sure that what we believe truly comes from God. We can't do that without wrestling with it - and that's all Bell is asking us to do.

Spiritual Disciplines: Simplicity (2 of 2)

2012-01-14T22:24:00.000-06:00

I already talked about simplicity, so this is more of a practical application. Richard Foster, in Celebration of Discipline, suggests 10 ways that we can live the outward expression of the discipline. I did a little digging on these for the Bible class I was teaching and attempted to come up with what the Bible said about many of these things.

1. Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.

Foster talks about clothes and cars and condos. I think it's related to what Peter says:

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. (1 Peter 3:3-4)

I like this verse because it's about focusing on what's inside of us, rather than what's outside of us. This is a tough one to swallow in our culture. I'll try to stop here before I get on my soapbox on how wearing your "Sunday best" is unscriptural.

2. Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.

I mentioned 1 Corinthians 6:12 when I talked about fasting, below. ("I will not be enslaved by anything.") I really what Paul says because it's about letting something else enslave us - regardless of what it is. It could be almost anything. Foster talks about a friend who was addicted to his newspaper. I recently had to delete half the apps from my phone for that very reason. (Yes! Including Angry Birds! Or especially Angry Birds!)

3. Develop a habit of giving things away.

We don't own anything; it all belongs to God.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it... (Psalm 24:1)

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12)

This one is hard for me - but I've tried to learn it a little from my wife, Krista (who is very good at it). When I have something I like to feel ownership of it, and I like to keep it nice. I like to tell myself that this is the good quality of stewardship, but I'm beginning to feel like it's an excuse to own things. I don't like to lend things out if I feel like someone won't take care of it like I do. But I need to feel less of an ownership of things and be more giving. Krista loves to give things away, much to my chagrin.

4. Refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry.

I feel like this is related to #2 and our addiction to get the next new thing. Like all the people who have to get the newest version of their phone, calling themselves "early adopters". (When someone says that, all I hear is "this is my excuse to spend money on something I don't need.") But it really hit home to me as I taught this lesson from my iPad. I want to come to my own defense and say that my iPad is the only money I've spent on a computer in the last 5 years, and I use it all the time, but that's another excuse. Maybe I just need to be happy with what I have.

5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them.

This is related to #3 for me, and those verses apply here, too.

I don't like to borrow stuff. I do when I don't feel like I can go buy it or I just want to use it temporarily - but there's nothing worse in the world than borrowing something and having to return in worse condition than when I got it. And I love the feeling of ownership. If there's a book I like, I have to own it. If there's a movie I like, I have to own it. This is almost an addiction (for me) and is also related to #2. I think it was someone in our Bible class that said, "ownership improves the quality of our experience," and that seems to be so true.

6. Develop a deeper appreciation for the creation.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1)

We need to remember to look around and see the beauty of God in creation. Wouldn't that solve a lot of our problems? It seems like that always gives me a "big picture" view. It reminds me that life is much bigger than whatever little problem I'm having right now.

7. Look with a healthy skepticism at all "buy now, pay later" schemes.

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7)

I'm not a fan of Dave Ramsey, but honestly, I see the wisdom in this.

8. Obey Jesus' instructions about plain, honest speech.

Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matt 5:37)

What happened to simple honesty? And why do we have the same problems as people did 2,000 years ago?

9. Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others.Foster writes,

Do we sip our coffee and eat our bananas at the expense of exploiting Latin American peasants? In a world of limited resources, does our lust for wealth mean the poverty of others? Should we buy products that are made by forcing people into dull assembly-line jobs? Do we enjoy hierarchical relationships in the company or factory that keep others under us? Do we oppress our children or spouse because we feel certain tasks are beneath us?
Often our oppression is tinged with racism, sexism, and nationalism. The color of the skin still affects one's person in the company. The sex of a job applicant still affects the salary. The national origin of a person still affects the way he or she is perceived. May God give us prophets today who...will call us "from the desire of wealth" so that we may be able to "break the yoke of oppression."

I don't have a specific verse for this. Because this is what all of the teachings of Jesus were about. The fact we so often miss this just shows how we miss the point of the gospel.

10. Shun anything that distracts from seeking first the kingdom of God.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Mt 6:33)

'Nuff said.

Spiritual Disciplines: Simplicity (1 of 2)

2012-01-08T14:09:00.002-06:00

I think this is the only discipline less popular than fasting. (And maybe when I make sweeping comments like that, I'm saying more about myself than about my culture.)

It's funny. It seems like every time I hear a sermon preached on a particular subject, the speaker says, "The Bible talks about this subject more than any other." I've definitely heard that said about money. Money seems to be a popular subject to talk about if you have a particular soapbox about it, or if you're a Dave Ramsey fan. Otherwise, not so much. It drives me crazy that every time story of the "Rich Young Ruler" is discussed (you know, in Mt. 19 where Jesus tells that guy who was keeping all the "rules" that he should sell everything he has and give to the poor), people are always quick to point out that the purpose of this story was for Jesus to say that nothing should come between us and God. That riches were only this particular man's hang up, and it really only applies to us in a generic way, but not a specific way. I'm not comfortable with this explanation - particularly in a society that is very stuck on the accumulation of "things".

Luke records Jesus saying, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15)

And in Luke 12:33-34, He says, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Jumping back to the blessings and woes, Jesus says, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God...woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort." (Luke 6:20 and 24)

Finally, in Luke 6:30, He says: "Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back."

Apparently, Jesus didn't want us overly focused on material things. This is not a subject that's easy to tackle.

In Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster notes that "this Discipline directly challenges our vested interests in an affluent life-style".

But it's not simply about getting rid of everything and living an ascetic lifestyle. That may be missing the point.

I came across an interesting document at the website of a church in California (Indian Christian Assembly).

One of the things that the article suggested was that, "The discipline of simplicity is the conscious act of not being tied to the things of this world."

The article also listed a couple quotes about the discipline:

“Living simply means adopting a lifestyle that avoids unnecessary accumulation of material items. It helps us seek outward detachment from the things of this world in order to focus our lives on the leadings of the Spirit. Living simply entails clearing our lives and our houses of spiritual and material clutter so as to create more space for faithful living.” – Catherine Whitmire (Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity)

“Simplicity does not mean getting rid of all your possessions, but rather integrating them into your life’s purpose”- Mary Gregory (quoted in the same book)

I don't think it's just about the stuff you have, or how expensive it is. This runs much, much deeper than what we have, what we own, and what we buy. It's more about what we want. It's about embracing a culture where we are defined by what we drive, what we wear, what we buy, and what we do for a living. This is hard, because it's much deeper than the things we surround ourselves with. It's not just about the stuff - it's about a way of life and a way of thinking.

Foster brings this back to not worrying about things in this life, like Jesus talked about in Luke 12. He talks about how simplicity is freedom from anxiety:

"Freedom from anxiety is characterized by three inner attitudes. If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is to be cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety. This is the inward reality of simplicity. However, if what we have we believe we have gotten, and if what we have we believe we must hold onto, and if what we have i not available to others, then we will live in anxiety. Such persons will never know simplicity regardless of the outward contortions they may put themselves through in order to live 'the simple life'."

It's called a discipline for a reason. It's not easy. But if this is something we truly practiced, I think we would be amazed at the blessings we would have.

Since this is so stinking long, I'll have to finish my discussion of simplicity later, where I'll talk about 10 things that Foster suggests we can do to simplify our lives.

Spiritual Disciplines: Fasting

2011-12-26T21:00:00.000-06:00

Fasting must be everyone's favorite spiritual discipline. We're all about denial of self, aren't we?

Actually, I think that's what makes this discipline so difficult. It's denial of self in a way we're just not used to. Food is the last thing that many of us allow ourselves to indulge in completely, without restriction. Complete hedonism. It's tough to reverse that.

I did some calculations, and after going to church for 40 years, I figure I've heard somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand sermons. I haven't heard a single sermon on fasting. Maybe it's the particular religious tradition I grew up in. But what makes it weirder is that we have examples of the early disciples in doing it (Acts 13:1-3, 14:23), Jesus did (Matthew 4:1-2), He expects us to do it (Matthew 6:16-18, 9:15), and it's described as a form of worship (Acts 13:2, Luke 2:36-38) . If there's something that people would suggest is required of us, you'd think it'd be fasting. But I don't remember it listed among the "5 acts of worship" in the many sermons I heard on that topic as a kid.

Richard Foster suggests that fasting can reveal some of the things in life that control us, citing Psalm 69:10 ("I humbled my sould with fasting"). - and mentions that fasting can reveal the things in life that control us. This takes on even more meaning when I read 1 Cor 6:12 ("All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything"). We all have things in our life that control us. For a lot of us, food falls into that category.

This brings us full circle back to denial of self. Jesus says annoying stuff like, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24) and "any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple"(Luke 14:33).

That's what this life is all about, isn't? Dying to self? I think that's why we don't commit. Ironically, we don't want to give up what little control we think we have over this life. It must look silly to God.

Spiritual Disciplines: Prayer

2011-11-27T15:13:00.001-06:00

I hate that the intro to each of these blog posts is a comment about not writing blog pots. But, there you go.

Continuing going through the spiritual disciplines, we come to prayer next. This is a spiritual discipline that Christians everywhere seem to practice - in private and in public; it is talked about, preached about, and taught about.

But when I really got down to thinking about prayer, in all its ubiquitousness (is that a word?) it still seems as mysterious to me as meditation. (See previous post.)

I come from a cessationist tradition that denies miracles in the present day; but all my life, I've heard people pray to God asking for things like healing of the sick (and praising God when He's healed them). I have trouble putting these two things together. This past April, after the tornados in Alabama, I heard story after story of people saying that God protected them because they prayed. What about the people that prayed that weren't protected from the tornados? And just this morning in church, someone prayed about how he knew God loved us because of our material blessings. At times, I've asked God to help me pay the rent, and praised Him when I was blessed with the ability to make the payment. But a lot of people don't have material blessings, and can't make ends meet - but if they're asking for these things from God and He doesn't provide, does that mean He doesn't love them? (Of course, there's a whole other set of posts about our role in helping the less fortunate.)

It made me start to wonder how much praying was tied to meditating. I guess, when all else fails, read what Jesus said about it:

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)

and

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. (John 15:7)

This really got me to thinking. We like to throw around trite sayings like, "God always answers prayer - sometimes he says, 'Yes'; sometimes 'No'; sometimes 'Not now'." I've always hated that saying. But my own preferences aside, maybe the problem with us and prayer is that we don't know what to pray because we don't know God. We're not in tune with Him. Maybe it's taking that time in quiet meditation to understand who He is and what He wants that we're missing. Sometimes I look around at our current Christian culture, witnessing the hate, the hypocrisy, the utter selfishness we tend to project, and I wonder if we really understand God.

People always ask for things in prayer, adding "if it's Your will"; but I'm wondering, based on Jesus said - shouldn't we know?

Spiritual Disciplines: Meditation

2011-11-12T22:32:00.001-06:00

Yeah...I said I was going to start blogging again. Maybe I lied.

I've got a lot I wanted to put on here, but haven't had the time to fish it out of my head and put it on paper (screen).

But in our current church curriculum we're studying the Spiritual Disciplines for the next 2 months. I thought I'd follow Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster, and use that as a jumping off point for study and discussion.

Last week, we talked about Meditation.

Foster talks about a few different types of meditation:

Meditation where you ponder a short passage or scripture
Meditation where you turn your concerns over to God
Meditation where you think about God's creation - seeing God's glory in the creation around us
Meditation on the events of our time and understanding their significance

But if you look for the word meditation in the Bible, you'll have some interesting findings.

As Foster notes, David talks about meditation a lot in the Psalms. The first Psalm talks about the man who is blessed and says that he meditates on God's law day and night. I've actually been reading Psalm 119 recently (for example, look at verses 97-104). Here, the words translated from the Hebrew mean to ponder, study, reflect.

But try looking for it in the New Testament - you may not find it. The King James lists it in a couple places, but you won't find it in the English Standard Version, the New International Version, or The Message. (The ESV uses meditate once - to mean premeditate. And the KJV uses it in the same passage; but the only other place it uses the word, the ESV translates practice - 1 Timothy 4:15.)

Of course, we do see Jesus spending a lot of time finding a lonely place to be in solitude with God. Foster lists the following passages through the Gospels: Matthew 4:1-11; 14:23; 17:1-9; 26:36-46; Mark 6:31; Luke 5:16; 6:12.

So we see the example of Jesus; but I was curious if there were any teachings about it. All Foster talks about is "hearing the voice of God" (which confused me for a bit - I'll get to that in a minute). But the absence of the word meditate made me wonder - does Jesus ever tell his disciples to do this? He talks about prayer a lot, and while there seems to be some overlap between meditation and prayer, (meditation would use more contemplative prayer), they are separate spiritual disciplines.

But then I stumbled across the word consider which is used throughout the teachings of Jesus as well as the epistles. The first place I found it was Matthew 6:28.

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin...

The word that is translated into consider is actually a word that is a combination of two other Greek words: kata (meaning doing something intensely) and manthanō (meaning to learn or understand). It's the only time this word is used in the Bible; but I think it makes sense that we can say Jesus is telling us to "contemplate these things" or "meditate on these things".

And what's interesting about this passage - if you go back to the types of meditation Foster mentions, this seems to incorporate 3 of the 4: turning your concerns over to God, meditating on God's creation, and meditating on scripture (the last because, well, this is a scripture).

It gets even more intriguing if you look at the word used in Luke 12:22-29:

...do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing... Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

The word consider here is also two Greek words put together to make one word. But while the first part of the word is the same used in Matthew, meangin to mean doing something intensely, the second part of the word comes from a different word: noeō, meaning to observe, perceive or understand. So Luke uses a very similar, but different word to convey the same message.

These Greek words are translated as different words throughout the New Testament. I'll stop with one last example of the word that's translated as consider in the passage from Luke, above. It's used in Matthew 7:3:

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Here, the word see just means "to look at". The word notice is the same word translated consider, above: to observe intensely. Personally, I think it's telling that Jesus tells us we see the problems in other people lives, but we need to really spend some time contemplating our own faults. But maybe that's just me.

Robert Foster states in his book that Christian meditation is the ability to hear God's voice and obey His word. This confused me at first - I was thinking "hearing God's word" as reading the Bible or being told about the Gospel. I thought, "how can meditation be about hearing and obeying God's word?" But he's talking about a more literal hearing of God's voice - and obeying that. He goes on to mention Bible passages on communing with God, including several from Acts that talk directly about Jesus guiding the early Christians.

I think that the Bible teaches us - through the example of Jesus, through the way the Holy Spirit led the Christians in the book of Acts, and through some of these other verses, that it makes sense to take time out to just sit and consider, or meditate on, or contemplate these things.

There's definitely history here - just look at Deuteronomy 11:18-19.

You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Should it be any different for us?

But my question is: can we literally hear the voice of God today?

I'll have to meditate on that.

Creation

2011-09-11T18:04:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday, today we started our Bible class. After I talked about what I posted yesterday, I posed this light, easy question:

Is a literal reading of the first chapter of Genesis necessary to our faith?

I think the discussion that followed was a good start for the first class. Our church has people from a wide range of backgrounds. There are people who believe that the 6 days of creation were literal. There are people who believe that evolution was God's mechanism for creating man. I think it's going to be an interesing study.

A few things that I didn't realize - the idea that the first chapter of Genesis may not be literal isn't a new idea.

Origen, the church father, scholar, and theologian who was born about 150 years after Jesus died, wrote:

Now who is there, pray, possessed of understanding, that will regard the statement as appropriate, that the first day, and the second, and the third, in which also both evening and morning are mentioned, existed without sun, and moon, and stars— the first day even without a sky? And who is found so ignorant as to suppose that God, as if He had been a husbandman, planted trees in paradise, in Eden towards the east, and a tree of life in it, i.e., a visible and palpable tree of wood, so that anyone eating of it with bodily teeth should obtain life, and, eating again of another tree, should come to the knowledge of good and evil? No one, I think, can doubt that the statement that God walked in the afternoon in paradise, and that Adam lay hid under a tree, is related figuratively in Scripture, that some mystical meaning may be indicated by it. (On First Principles, Book IV)

Many medieval rabbis (and Torah scholars) considered the creation story to be symbolic rather than literal. From The Jewish Virtual Library:

Maimonides, one of the great rabbis of the Middle Ages, wrote that if science and Torah were misaligned, it was either because science was not understood or the Torah was misinterpreted. Maimonides argued that if science proved a point, then the finding should be accepted and scripture should be interpreted accordingly.

This can be found in the The Guide to the Perplexed written by Maimonides. See also the Maimonides entry in the Stanford Philosophical Encyclopedia.

Teaching

2011-09-10T22:45:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow morning I'm going to start teaching a Bible class. I'm stepping into this with a bit of trepidation. I'm not qualified. And if I'm on a journey of faith, who am it to be teaching others about God's will?

So, maybe it'll be a chance for a number of us to start a discussion. To really look into what God says, and think critically about it. I'm nervous, but I'm praying I'm moving in the right direction.

I'm going to open tomorrow with my vision:

I want this to be a collaborative Bible study. That means that I want us all to be able to contribute to the discussion. I don't believe I'm qualified to be teaching - to impart my knowledge of God and God's word to you. We all have a lot to learn, and we all need to be better students of the Bible.

So, I'll lead the discussion. I'll tend to read and research, and guide the discussion. And keep us on track when we need to be focused. But, if we want to get off-track, and follow where the Spirit leads us, that's fine, too. I don't want to be all over the place, but if, when we're taking a specific path, you find that you've got something you want to understand, research, or discuss, bring it up. Maybe that can be our next discussion.

I'm hoping we can use this to jump-start some Bible study in our own lives. In addition to coming here and discussing these things, we all need to be able to go back and do our own reading and research. If I had a Ph.D. in New Testament Theology, maybe I'd be qualified to share the depths of my knowledge with you, but as it is, I think we all need to be studying and teaching each other. I hope that's ok.

So, we're going to use the Bible as our primary source. But - we all know that we all read the Bible a little differently. The greatest Bible scholars have read the Bible differently. And what we're working with here is a a translation of a copy of of a copy. So I think we need to be able to disagree, and have discussion, and read other sources.

If you've read something that contributes to the discussion we're having. - in a book, or a blog, or a Facebook status - feel free to bring it. I think that reading outside sources is important and necessary. Regardless if we disagree with them or not. They may be more important if we disagree with them - that will make us study harder and dig deeper into God's Word. And God's Word says that teaching is a spiritual gift - and I don't see anything that says that teachers can't be writers, bloggers, or friends on Facebook. Always keeping in mind what Paul said to the church at Thessalonica: "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good."

St. Augustine (in the 5th Century) wrote something that I really like:

"In matters that are so obscure and far beyond our vision, we find in Holy Scripture passages which can be interpreted in very different ways without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such cases, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search of truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it. That would be to battle not for the teaching of Holy Scripture but for our own, wishing its teaching to conform to ours, whereas we ought to wish ours to conform to that of Sacred Scripture."

Resurrection.

2011-09-10T22:31:00.001-05:00

Back from the dead? I need to stretch some of my writing muscles. It's been too long. I'm back, as the creepy girl from Poltergeist might say.

Freak

2010-04-26T17:18:00.001-05:00

I put my stupid hat on when I left work today. Just before I got in my car I noticed something hanging from the rearview mirror of another car. After I stood there for minute trying to read it and figure out what it was, I noticed two people in in the front seat of the car. They were probably saying, "Why the hell is that freak staring at us?"

Themes of the Individual vs. Society in the Film Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

2010-04-24T16:39:00.000-05:00

This is a speech I recently presented at a Toastmasters meeting.

Victor Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1831. It has been made into several movies, including a popular black and white classic in 1939 and the well-received Disney film in 1996.

The book and movies explore several themes, but I want to concentrate on one in particular – that of the Individual versus Society. This is a literary theme where a character's main source of conflict is with society, or with social traditions.

A sub-theme of the Individual versus Society that I identify with (and that I may have made up) is about the pressure by society to not be different. About compelling the individual to blend in. Sure, society pays lip service to “being yourself” but when you look around, everyone is asking you to look a certain way or act a certain way. Being true to yourself, regardless of what society thinks, is a timeless theme.

It's ultimately about the breaking of societal norms, when those norms are immoral or unethical. For example, society judges us on how we look. And here, the ideals of society are in direct conflict with what is good and right. All you have to do is turn on the TV, pick up a magazine, or watch a movie, and you can see how important outer beauty is. And yet, we all know deep, down, that that’s wrong.

In the early 1930's Alduous Huxley wrote Brave New World partly in response to a fear of losing one's identity as the world became more industrial and fast-paced. To highlight this them, one of the characters in the book compares being different with murder, coming to the conclusion that being different is much worse. He says,

“Murder kills only the individual...Unorthodoxy [being different] threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at society itself.”

In the Disney version of the film, our protagonist is Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame. He is hideous. He knows he is deformed and ugly. He has a bit of a phlegmatic temperament and tells his gargoyle friends in the Notre Dame cathedral things like, “I'd never fit in. I'm not normal.” From the very beginning of the movie, we see that he knows that with the importance that the world places on how we appear, he would never be welcome by the townspeople. As a baby, he was so disfigured, that the powerful Judge Claude Frollo, after accidentally killing his mother nearly threw him down a well before being stopped by the Archdeacon outside the cathedral. But Frollo persists, pronouncing “This is an unholy demon. I'm sending it back to hell, where it belongs!”

Which, upon reflection, isn't exactly the kind of scene I'd write for a children's animated film.

But Judge Claude Frollo, the story's antagonist, is convinced by the Archdeacon of Notre Dame to raise the child under his charge.

We see what type of man Frollo is in a scene of the movie that takes place soon after, when he sings to Quasimodo, “You are deformed, and you are ugly.” Since Quasimodo never leaves the cathedral, he wants to attend the annual Festival of Fools, which Frollo calls a gathering of “Thieves and hustlers and the dregs of humankind, all mixed together in a shallow, drunken stupor.” He sings to Quasimodo, “They'll revile you as a monster.” And Quasimodo echoes, “I am a monster.”

I promise this was a kid’s movie.

Frollo represents everything that is evil about our society, only existing to promote what he feels is right and ignoring everyone else's welfare.

Judge Frollo brings in Phoebus, Captain of the Guard, because he despises the gypsies who have infested Paris and wants to eradicate them. Frollo is the part of society that propogates these hateful feelings against anyone that deviates slightly from his idea of normal. He explains to Phoebus that his job will be to find the hidden sanctuary of the gypsies and bring an end to them.

So the Festival of Fools begins. Being a public official, Judge Frollo must attend, and is accompanied by Phoebus.

But Quasimodo, disobeying Frollo’s desires also comes to the Festival.

And there, he meets the beautiful gypsy Esmerelda, who shows him kindness. She is, indeed, the only person to ever truly treat him with any kind of love because everyone else is afraid of how repulsive he is. And when he is treated like a monster at the Festival, she is the one that comes to his rescue, in direct defiance of Judge Frollo, who demands that she be detained by Phoebus.

As Esmerelda leads the guards on a merry chase, Phoebus seems entranced by her. He chases her into Notre Dame, but cannot arrest her in the church, so he sets her free.

Quasimodo helps her escape the cathedral though guards are stationed at every door. He has finally found someone who can look through his outer shell and see who he really is. He is completely smitten with her, and his Gargoyle friends (remember, this is a Disney movie) sing to him and convince him that she's in love with him.

Now we cut to Frollo in his bedchamber, where we find out that not only is Quasimodo in love, and not only is Phoebus completely taken by her, but Frollo is also infatuated with the exquisite Esmerelda.

There he sings a song titled Hellfire, and this is probably the creepiest scene I've seen in any Disney movie. He sings about how he, too, is in love with Esmerelda, “Tell me, why I see her dancing there, why her smoldering eyes still scorch my soul.”

As an image of Esmerelda dances in the flames and smoke of his fireplace, he continues, “Like fire, Hellfire, this burning in my skin; this burning desire is turning me to sin.”

Seriously? I’m wondering now if I should have watched this with my 7-year-old daughter.

Frollo goes to find out what Quasimodo knows, mentioning to Quasimodo that he will have a thousand guards attack the hiding place of the gypsies at dawn. This tricks Quasimodo and Phoebus (who has now turned against Frollo) to go to warn them. They unintentionally lead Frollo there followed by all the guardsmen, who capture Quasimodo, Phoebus, Esmerelda, and the gypsies.

Quasimodo is sent back to his tower in chains and watches as Esmerelda is about to be burned at the stake. But, at the last minute, our protagonist breaks free, climbs down from the tower, saves the girl, takes her up to Notre Dame, holds her above his head and in his booming voice, cries, “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!”

In the chaos, Phoebus is freed, the gypsies are rescued, and probably all of Paris is saved from Judge Frollo. He of course climbs the church and attempts to kill Esmerelda and Quasimodo, but in his haste to murder them, falls to his death.

And so we come to our, uh, happy ending.

Does our protagonist, the repellent, revolting Quasimodo, going against all tradition, get the girl? Of course not!

Esmerelda marries the handsome captain of the guard. And Quasimodo's ok with it; almost as if he realizes that he is too much of a monster to be loved by someone so beautiful. And the worst part of society triumphs over the individual. In the end it's Quasimodo who saves Esmerelda's live, putting into motion the events that save all the gypsies and lead to the death of Frollo. But, alas, that's not enough to allow him to be a normal part if society and he lives his life alone in Notre Dame while the beautiful people live happily ever after.

Sparkly in Tuscumbia

2010-04-10T16:10:00.001-05:00

Woohoo!

Lent, Addiction, and Failure

2010-04-04T21:28:00.001-05:00

Today is Easter Sunday. Lent started on Ash Wednesday this year on February 17 - about 40 days ago, not counting Sundays. Many Christians take this time of year to think about the time Jesus spent in the desert at the beginning of his ministry, and his impending death at the end of his ministry (remembered on Good Friday).

This year, during Lent, I attempted to be more observant of the fasts, and to attempt to make it more of a season of confession, repentance, and reflection. Once again, I failed miserably.

I planned to observe the Friday fasts, which are, if I read correctly, a single normal-sized meal, as well as two smaller meals that don't add up to a whole meal. Plus, no meat. (Meat is considered warm-blooded animals, so fish is OK.)

Also, I decided I'd give up coke. So no soda. No pop. At all.

And, I made a daily commitment to read, study, and pray. To take some time to take a spiritual inventory. Of where I am, where I need to be.

I did OK on the first two. Just OK, because I messed up eating meat at least once on Friday, and stretched the "small meal" thing a bit. Also, I slipped up on the cokes a few times. But it was better than last year when I messed early on, and by the end, I was completely disregarding the commitment I made.

But that last one, I totally blew. I started reading the Bible through a while back - and thought I'd Twitter comments at @ChronoBible (Chronological Bible). I wanted to pick it back up during the last 6 weeks, but didn't really. And I didn't spend the time in reflection I intended, either. More than usual, I guess. Which is good. I guess. But nothing like I intended.

*sigh*

But I think I learned something. The Fridays were a real eye-opener. I've talked a lot before about food, and eating, and gluttony. It's a struggle I've had all my life. Although, I was a skinny kid, and it really didn't show up until I was in college. (By the time I gained the freshman 15 - and the sophomore 15 - people were saying I looked good. But then came the junior 15, and the senior 15, and the 2nd-year senior 15...)

Back to Friday fasts. I'm not sure what hole I'm trying to fill by shoveling piles and piles of food into my mouth. But for some reason, during this season, I realized the obvious. I just don't need to eat so much.

Well, duh.

But this is why I've always been fascinated by psychology. How can I know a simple fact, for many, many years, yet not fully comprehend, understand, and internalize the implications of that fact except through some weird spiritual discipline? It's things like this that give me faith.

The first two steps in a 12-step program are:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable

and

2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity

It's been this 40-day process that has given me a different way of looking at eating. I have to say it's that "Power greater than myself" that did the work.

Max Dances 2: Electric Boogaloo

2009-12-27T12:48:00.000-06:00

The Blind Side (spoilers?)

2009-12-20T00:46:00.001-06:00

The Blind Side was a pretty good film. But for some reason, I just couldn't enjoy it. I kept waiting for something tragically climactic to happen. I was nervous through the whole thing.

How Do You Communicate?

2009-09-26T12:10:00.000-05:00

I recently joined Toastmasters - for several reasons. One being I need better public speaking skills. Anyway, I gave my first speech this week - it's intended to be an "icebreaker" - kind of a "get to know me" speech. I didn't expect this, but to my surprise, it ended up being about communication and grammar. Here it is, if you're interested...

I just recently figured out that one of my passions is communication. This is the kind of thing that sneaks up on you and you don't realize how important it is, because it subtly permeates every aspect of your life. Of course, having a passion for communication doesn’t necessarily make me self-confident or a good public speaker. That’s where Toastmasters comes in.

I've found that I place a lot of importance on the “how” and “what” of communication. First, how do you communicate? Do you communicate poorly? Do you communicate correctly? Since we’re all different, we’re never going to completely understand each other – this is why proper communication is so important to me.

Also, what do you communicate? Is it accurate? Is it true? Or is it based on rumor, urban legend, or outdated and archaic information? Of course, my wife might say that this isn't my passion for communication, just my passion for telling people they're wrong. But I think it's bigger than that.

I think that this passion is something I've always had. I remember being about 9 or 10 in a group of people, and my dad mentioning something about the state of IllinoiS. Wouldn't he want to know that the correct pronunciation of that state was Illinois? So I corrected him. In front of everyone. That didn't go over very well.

But this has helped me all through my academic and professional life. I enjoy writing. I enjoy editing.

And today, we are constantly communicating with people; whether it’s professionally – in meetings, in memos, in e-mails, in trainings; or socially – in person, on the phone, in chatrooms, on Facebook. Communication is a pervasive part of our lives. This makes the “how” so important.

I never cease to be amazed at how so many people on the internet – in email, blogs, or forums – have a problem telling the difference between there, their and they're. Or your and you’re. And BTW, “lose” – has one “o”. You didn’t cry last night when you watched The Biggest Looser. That was me crying when I read your Facebook status.

Or when people use the word “literally” for emphasis – instead of to mean “literally”. That literally drives me crazy. Well, no – I guess it just really drives me crazy. Literally is not a synonym for really. I was in a training once, where the trainer was finishing the last day and said, "we are literally sliding into home". I looked around wondering if I was the only one not playing baseball.

That doesn't mean I think I'm perfect – I make mistakes. Half the time I can't remember when to use “whom”. I know what the rule is, I just can never seem to conjure it up when I’m talking.

And this doesn't always help me make friends. Even here at Toastmasters, I sit and think, “hmmm...I don't think they used the Word of the Day correctly.” I'm wondering if I should stay away from the Grammarian role.

And, while the term “lectern” is probably preferred for “a stand used to support a book in a convenient position for a standing reader”, and the primary definition of “podium” is a “dais or elevated platform”, the secondary definition of podium is…“lectern”.

But I felt for Whitney's comment when she was grammarian several weeks ago and began with “Please don't hate me.” I've had some difficulty learning the importance of how to properly communicate these kinds of things without losing friends.

But not only is “how” you communicate important, but also “what” you communicate. I have a horrible habit of checking facts to find out if what people are saying is true.

In graduate school, I discovered Snopes.com – and sometimes for me a little info can be dangerous. I was sure to inform people that no – Craig Shergold was not a little boy with cancer collecting business cards – he was now 15, has made a complete recovery and had already collected so many greeting cards that the Guinness Book of World records would no longer update his old records with his new records.

This habit has resulted in me rarely get emails like this any more, telling me about the latest missing child (who most of the time is either a hoax or has already been found by the time you get the email), or about Facebook selling your cell phone number to telemarketers.

But it still happens sometimes.

More recently, I've seen interesting stories come through my work email. Amusing stories, being passed off as fact, though all fiction. The woman on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire who didn't know what was bigger – an elephant or the moon (the picture was photoshopped); the amusing story about Nancy Pelosi talking to a psychiatrist who makes her look stupid (printed in several joke books since the 60’s); and the hilarious video about the Australian politician being interviewed about a ship falling apart (it’s a comedy sketch from the early 90’s).

As difficult as it was, in the interest of peace, I let all of these go.

In the last few years, all of this has made me realize I have a passion for communication, and that I want to weave this into my life even more – probably as writing. I'd like to formally make this more important in my life. So I've spent more time applying it, with what little time I have. And every chance I get, I attempt to apply communication and writing to my job.

But I know I can always improve my communication. I communicate better when I've had time to think about it – that’s another part of the reason I joined Toastmasters – I need to be able to think on my feet. Hopefully, as time goes by, I'll be able to apply this love for communication and writing – and even allow it to help me become a better person and better leader. And I'm very much looking forward to hear what the Grammarian has to say about it my speech.

(A couple notes. In each Toastmasters meeting one person is appointed Grammarian and pays attention to all the speakers, listening for um's, uh's, poor grammar, repeating words, etc. Each meeting has a Word of the Day, and speakers are encouraged to incorporate it into their talk somehow. Also, several weeks ago, the President of the club made the point that you don't stand behind a podium and use it to hold your notes - that's called a lectern. I had to look that one up. And mention it.)

D&D Limited Edition Jones Soda

2009-09-19T10:43:00.000-05:00

I know what you're all thinking.

I want to get Jim a Christmas present.

And I want to get him an early one. Like, maybe at the end of September.

Well - I've got the perfect gift!!

Jones Soda has Limited Edition Dungeons & Dragons Spellcasting Soda.

This is the coolest, nerdiest thing I've ever seen.

So if you find yourself in this predicament - problem solved!!

I knew the iPhone could do anything.

2009-09-19T10:38:00.000-05:00

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Pixar vs. Dreamworks - Ha!

2009-09-19T10:29:00.000-05:00

Ha! Pretty funny!

Don't waste your time on Marvel SuperHeroSquad

2009-09-14T21:25:00.001-05:00

Like I did.

Quite possibly the stupidest superhero cartoon I've ever seen.

Juvenile vomit, fart, burp, snot, toilet, and underwear jokes. Way too silly - written for 3-year-olds, but nothing intelligent for the older crowd.

Bad writing. Annoying animation.

Not even a Battlestar Galactica joke could save it.

I've always been turned off by bad Marvel writing (and that includes Stan Lee). The way they nickname everyone? Wolvie, Falc, Ms. M, Squaddies...

And "HERO UP!"

Good grief.

Marvel SuperHero Squad

2009-09-14T17:27:00.001-05:00

I almost missed this! A new show, Marvel SuperHero Squad, is on in 30 minutes at 7 EST / 6 CST on Cartoon Network. http://bit.ly/cRn0y

Disney is buying Marvel Comics?!?

2009-08-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

Web Site Story

2009-06-29T21:51:00.000-05:00

Fresh from the web, today. Hilarious stuff!!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Gotta have me some chili-lime fried pork skins

2009-06-20T12:47:00.000-05:00

Flowers...

2009-06-16T18:39:00.001-05:00

...right in our driveway.

River Heritage Park

2009-05-23T13:40:00.000-05:00

Thursday night we took some Zaxby's to River Heritage Park (behind the Marriot) and I caught some pretty decent pictures of the sunset with my phone!

At Country Boys in Floence

2009-05-13T12:47:00.001-05:00

Wish they'd give me some ice with my Coke.

Disney Star Wars Weekends

2009-05-06T22:46:00.000-05:00

Came across these posters on Twitter. Hilarious!

Check out the rest at Alice's Blog.

Bad Friday Home

2009-05-05T22:55:00.026-05:00

Friday was a crazy trip home. No delays the whole day; I thought I was home free when we were in the air on the way the way to Huntsville. A little too optimistic it turns out.

When I made it in the air with no problems from the St. Louis and Cincinnati airport, I thought all risk was behind us. Learn something new every day. I should've known something was up when they asked for volunteers to move to the back to "balance the plane.". I moved to the back since I'd have the seat all to myself on the crowded plane.

First problem. I moved back to the back row. Next to the restroom. The restroom smelled like pee. So I settled my into the seat, thinking that if I could ignore it, it might be a trade off (I need to lose some weight - these airplane seat belts are getting a bit too tight).

Second problem. We flew through a storm. I don't ever think I've ever experienced such bad turbulance. Or maybe just not on such a small plane. At one point, we jumped so hard it felt like we hit something. It even woke me up from my nap.

It did clear up and the rest of the flight wasn't too bad.

Third problem. We finally landed. But it was storming so bad that they wouldn't let the workers get out the ramp for fear of getting struck by lightning. So 90 minutes on the plane, waiting out the storm. I think I'd have gone stir crazy if I hadn't had my iPhone. You may have seen nearly an hour-and-a-half of solid activity from me on Twitter.

This us the storm we were waiting on.

Fourth problem. We finally got off the plane and trekked down to baggage claim where they announced those ramps were closed and we'd have to wait for out bags. 45 minutes of that, and we finally get our luggage.

Fifth problem. I forgot on which level I parked. I was pretty sure it was either 4 or 5, but I couldn't quite recall. So I tried the 4th first and got it right on the first try.

Sixth problem. I couldn't remember where I put my parking ticket. You know - the one that says on it, "If you lose this ticket, pay maximum amount." I didn't know what that was, but I knew I didn't want to pay it. Finally, I found it buried in my notebook. *whew*

Seventh problem. Storms again. At least 3 times on the way home, I hit spots where visibility seemed like it was about 20 feet. Which is pretty dangerous when you're doing 70 mph. (That was the speed limit!) Suffice it to say, I slowed down a bit, but when you're just wanting to get home, slowing down is that much harder. Visibility was good in this picture compared to other times that night.

Eighth problem. Pulling into Florence, coming down Hwy 72, about where it turns into Florence Blvd - I'm in the right lane, and somebody from the other side of the street decides he wants to make a left-hand turn, cuts across all the lanes right in front of me. In the pouring down rain. While I'm doing about 50 mph. Good grief. Krista gets mad at me when I lay on the horn, but I just do it when people do something really stupid.

I finally made it home OK - though it was about 4 hours later than I planned.

Waiting for Wolverine

2009-05-02T15:33:00.000-05:00

Missed opening night Wolverine. On a date to see The Soloist tonight. But we cut it so close getting here and the theater is so packed that we opted to see Wolverine since it started 30 minutes later.

Here's the line.

I really hope it's better than I've been hearing.

(this didn't post for some reason Saturday night - so I'll post it now; BTW, Woverine was pretty good)

Planes

2009-05-01T18:21:00.001-05:00

Just sitting here in Huntsville, stuck on a plane because they won't let us off due to lightning, sitting next to a restroom that smells like pee, sqandering my iPhone battery, blogging run-on sentences, and pondering weird things.

Like - I haven't eaten anything today sitting down (not counting airplane peanuts).

Had Pop Tarts in the hotel room while getting ready.

Ate my Jody Maroni's chicken Italian sausage sandwich while walking to the gate in St. Louis.

Snacked on a Milky Way walking to the gate in Cincinnati.

I need to sit down and eat a meal.

7-11 Mutant Berry Slurpee

2009-04-30T21:35:00.000-05:00

Sweet.

Or maybe I should say tart. It was a bit on the sour side. Pretty tasty if you like berry. Thought I'd share a pic of the cup and the straw / toy.

Florence needs a 7-11.

India Palace

2009-04-27T20:59:00.005-05:00

Got some takeout from a place called the Indian Palace in St. Louis tonight. I was looking for someplace on Yelp (it's an iPhone app that points out places you're looking for then pops them into Google Maps and gives you directions from your current location; isn't technology awesome?). It had some good reviews, and I was craving some Indian food. It took me forever to get to it since it was off of a highway and Google doesn't tell you how to take the side streets.

(Switching tenses here - be forewarned.)

I pull into the parking lot of the Best Western and see this.

A drive-in??

I pull in and find myself in a dark, scary parking garage. I see a sign that says India Palace is on the 11th floor.

Don't let the sunlight fool you. This garage was dark. And scary. So I walk in the back door to a tiny, creepy elevator.

Yes - that tiny and that creepy. I almost didn't get in, but my love for Indian food goes a long way.

I head to the 11th floor.

Walk through a back hallway, open a door, and

I've got two stupid blurry pictures of the amazing lobby.

But here's the bar.

And a couple shots of the inside of the restaurant.

And the chicken vindaloo (plus the garlic nan) was fantastic. (This was takeout.)

What staging!!

(Note: if you want to see better pics of this place, take a look at the website - linked from the top of the page.)

Nothing's too good

2009-04-26T22:46:00.002-05:00

Nothing but the best will do when I travel.

Walked toward my rental car and got really excited. Guess which of these two cars was mine.

If you guessed the red Ford Mustang, you'd be wrong. If you guessed the silver Ford Fusion, you'd be right.

Same goes for my room. Was this the view I got?

(the view of the courtyard is better than the pic; excuse my poor iPhone picture-taking skills)

Or did I get this one

of the parking lot?

If you guessed the courtyard, you're wrong again.

Sorry - no prize for you today.

Spring Park in Tuscumbia

2009-04-26T18:02:00.003-05:00

Had a nice day in Sping Park yesterday. Wasn't too crazy, even with the kids running around. Though by the end of the day, both kids drew blood - both by sliding off a picnic table bench (and not even those crazy concrete tables). Max busted his lip and Julianna scraped her knee. But they both ended up ok with the help of a couple of magic ice cream sandwiches.

Almost done

2009-04-25T21:12:00.001-05:00

Needs a little caulk and paint, but the finished product isn't too bad. (I did the floor, too.)

Finishing touches

2009-04-25T18:20:00.001-05:00

High tech baseboard holder. Hope this Liquid Nails works.

More improvements

2009-04-25T17:46:00.001-05:00

Baseboard. Measure twice, cut once, right?

Lessons learned for today (4/23/09)

2009-04-23T18:00:00.002-05:00

Well besides what I learned this morning.

1. Always check to make sure the lid is on before you try to shake something up. The other day it was the OJ; today it was my coffee creamer. (Who's leaving the caps partway off?!?)
2. It's easy to not snap that coffee creamer lid all the way closed. (But that's no excuse for not screwing the OJ lid on all the way!)
3. Always look in the mirror before you go out. You may have chocolate coffee creamer all over your best shirt, and not realize it until you get to work.
4. The Tide stain stick doesn't do as great a job getting International Delight Chocolate Caramel Coffee Creamer as it does some other things.

Always something more to learn

2009-04-23T07:57:00.001-05:00

Ah, morning. Time of new beginnings, revelations, and self-examination.

I just became friends on Facebook with a friend from high school. The first thing she said to me (somewhat jokingly) was "I thought you knew everything." (She was commenting on a status.) I probably haven't talked to her (except at the 10-year reunion) in about 20 years.

As much as I may have changed over the years, it's good to know that some things remain constant.

I was a know-it-all then and I'm a know-it-all now.

At least I know. And knowing is half the battle (I sure hope they use that line in the G.I. Joe movie).

Monday. Definitely Monday.

2009-04-20T23:20:00.001-05:00

It started with being late for my first meeting of the week. I sit down out of breath and frazzled only to hear the guy across the table incessantly clicking on his pen. After about 20 minutes of that I know what I would have done with that thumb if I'd had a pair of garden snips (sorry - it's been a long day).

Of course, then, preparing for my 11:00 meeting, I realize I didn't bring my lunch. Who starts a 2-3 hour meeting at 11 anyway? The thing is we have this big meeting with all the managers on Tuesday and right after the 11:00 Monday meeting, I've got to turn in charts for tomorrow's meeting based on what happened in today's meeting. So, since I was dumb enough to forget my lunch, my choices are: (1) get lunch at 10:30 in the morning or (2) possibly wait until 2 or 3 after I get my charts done.

At least I can be working on my charts during the meeting. Oh, wait, no I can't. Due to some technical difficulties, since the guy who normally runs the PowerPoint is out, I get to run the meeting from my computer. By the time the whole fiasco is over and I turn my charts in for tomorrow, I'm an hour late. Welcome to my workweek.

And then this is what greets me in Madison on my way home.

I guess I should be thankful my day is only full of minor irritations and that I have a job to complain about.

Still...

More Home Improvement Woes

2009-04-19T18:17:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when I try to install a sink.

Maybe the water will just flow straight from the drain to p-trap via gravity.

Speech-to-Text for iPhone?

2009-04-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

So - anyone know of any good speech-to-text or voice-to-text iphone apps coming out? I'm looking for something that I can record thoughts and e-mail them to myself, rather than just recording them and having to transcribe them myself (which usually means they pile up and I never transcribe them).

I've been doing all kinds of looking, but can't find anything I like.

reQall is the first one I came across that looks promising. The app is free, and so is the service. The service? Basically, you have a service that you send audio recordings to and it's transcribed there. But they have complete access to your recordings and can use them as they wish. Since I'm planning on using this for writing ideas, any service that can take your text isn't a good fit for me.

Jott seemed like another possibility. It's a free app, but requires a monthly subscription for the service. Once again, I'd rather not utilize a service - especially if they're charging for it.

Then I came across vLingo. It's free and doesn't use a service, but the only thing it will transcribe right now are updates to Facebook and Twitter. It's primary purpose is to be able to use dial and do other functions via voice (which is nice functionality - just not what I'm looking for).

On the surface, the most promising thing right now seems to be Voice Text Pro. It will send texts by voice, and I guess I could just send multiple short texts to my e-mail - but it costs $5 and has horrible reviews.

So, I guess I'll be waiting for something a little better to come out soon. Let me know if you hear anything. I'll update if I see anything better.

Tonka Truck / Toilet Dolly

2009-04-17T12:55:00.000-05:00

Things I've Learned This Week

2009-04-16T23:22:00.000-05:00

It's been a long week, and I've learned a lot.

How to install a toilet.
How to replace a keyboard in a mini laptop.
That toddler riding toys make great dollies to move heavy toilets.
That if you can't figure out what to eat for lunch and you work close to a Super Target, an asiago cheese bagel, a quarter pound of seasoned Angus roast beef, and some wasabi makes a good sandwich.
That two packets of wasabi is probably too much for a sandwich like that (though the flames shooting out your nose are pretty cool).
Target has some delicious looking sushi (I was afraid to try it).
I shouldn't go into home improvement - some things are better left to professionals.
I'm old #1: My forearms and hands are sore as can be from cutting tile (see #7).
I'm old #2: Ralphie (you know, from A Christmas Story) turned 38 today. I turn 38 this year.
I think I like Nickelback. (I love the song Rockstar.)
Seether did a cool remake of Wham's Careless Whisper.
What "waiting with bated breath" means ('bated' is similar to 'abate' - so it's like trying to abate your excitement or hold your breath).
It's not "baited breath".
You've got to have a good strategy if you're going to beat a 6-year-old at Mario Kart.
Finally, I've learned I'm still not very patient. I'd like to slap the next person who answers a multiple-choice question with "yes" (when they're not joking - just not paying attention). When you ask someone if they prefer A or B, and they're only half listening and instead of choosing A or B, they say "yes". It drives me nuts!

Comic / Pillow

2009-04-11T13:40:00.000-05:00

Quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen. A Spider-Man comic book and pillow all in one. Saw it at Sam's. I really wanted to get it for myse- er, uh, for Max.
But I didn't think it warrented spending $20.

Quote of the Week

2009-04-10T16:21:00.000-05:00

"I've got some Trix up my sleeve."
-Liz Lemon

Clouds After the Rain

2009-04-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

All kinds of interesting sights after the storm...

Rainbow Over Florence

2009-04-02T18:45:00.000-05:00

Into the Darkness

2009-04-02T14:03:00.000-05:00

Heading home a little early, hoping I won't have to drive all the way home through damaging winds and hail. Got more work to do, but guess I'll be finishing at home.

April Fool

2009-04-02T08:24:00.001-05:00

Got hit by a good April Fools joke yesterday. I'd been having trouble with my Outlook mailbox filling up quickly and I figured out I had 50 MB worth of stuff in my calendar and in this "synch folder" where apparently Outlook keeps a record of email when it has trouble synching with the mail server.

So I deleted the stuff in the synch folder and archived all my old calendar stuff, which freed up a lot of space.

My mistake was sharing my new-found info with the people I work with, thinking it might help them to (this is what I get for being a good Samaritan).

I emailed them all and told them what I was able to do. Suddenly I was inundated with emails telling me people were getting weird errors, pop-up messages that certain parts of Outlook were admin-accessible only, and even references to the Conficker worm (which was warned about on our company's homepage).

Of course, dupe that I am, I fell for it all. I didn't get suspicious until one guy said it removed half of his future calendar notices - that's when I remembered it was April Fools day, and thought maybe I had been taken for a ride.

See...no good deed goes unpunished.

Thinking

2009-04-01T23:25:00.000-05:00

Urrrrgh!

Too many thoughts floating around in my head.

Think I'll need to get them out soon...

Huh

2009-03-25T18:40:00.000-05:00

My allergies are breaking up and so are the clouds.

CrossPoint Guitar Hero Tournament

2009-03-01T17:08:00.007-06:00

Yes, we are putting together a CrossPoint Guitar Tournament. It's primarily for fun, and all proceeds will go to CrossPoint. Since we're inviting everyone at all levels to play, we've gotten the question a few times on how we'll play out the tournament. So, though I put this information on the Facebook Guitar Hero Tournament Page, I wanted to let everyone who doesn't have a Facebook account know how we planned on playing out the Guitar Duels.

We did a lot of thinking about this. What we wanted to do was to make sure that everyone could come and have fun, regardless of what level they were at. But, without a ton of time, and a qualifying round, how do you break people up into brackets? This is not something that’s easy to do, especially with our time limitations, and not knowing how many people we’ll have, so we settled on what we thought would be the most fair. Plus, we didn’t want to make it too complicated. Not sure how well we succeeded on that front.

Basically, we’ll start with two brackets: Beginner and Advanced. If you play on Easy or Medium, you’ll start out in Beginner. If you play on Hard or Expert, you’ll start out in Advanced. We started out this way to make it a little quicker, but to also give people more chances to play. This way, everyone gets to play in at least two guitar duels, even if they lose. [Note: If you tend to 5-star just about every song on Medium, you’ll probably want to start in the Advanced bracket.]

We’ll randomly draw names in each bracket to find out who will play each other in a Guitar Duel. Who wins this round will determine which bracket each person goes to in the next round. Everyone in the Beginner bracket will play their first round on Easy; the winners of the Beginner bracket will advance to the Medium bracket. Everyone else will advance to the Easy bracket. This way, everyone that loses in the first round gets to play again against someone else who lost in the first round. Both of these brackets will advance the normal way, until there is an overall winner in each.

The same thing will happen for the Advanced bracket. All of the duels in the first round will be played on Hard. Winners advance to the Expert bracket, while everyone else advances to the Hard bracket. Duels will be played out in the same way until there is an overall winner.

We’re hoping that this gives everyone a chance to play, and still be fair in who gets to play who.

What’s to stop people from being dishonest about what level they’re in, or sandbagging on the first round so they get to play easier on the second? Well, nothing. We hope that, this being a CrossPoint event, everyone will be honest, and come to have fun and do their best.

For early registration, feel free to click on the picture below, and print it out. Give it to me, or Joe with your registration fee.

Thanks, and hope everyone comes to play (or at least watch)! I'm hoping we'll have time at the end for some free-form play and Guitar Duels. Maybe we'll even break out the instruments and get another band going.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Max is still talking

2009-02-28T10:29:00.000-06:00

Krista teaches him some great stuff!

I Feel Lucky

2009-02-14T12:04:00.000-06:00

Really? In this kind of economy? People are losing their jobs and people are going hungry, and there's still a market for $60 jeans for your infant?

Yay for Friday

2009-02-13T17:19:00.000-06:00

But good grief - how many people are going to cut me off today?

Rude

2009-02-12T17:09:00.000-06:00

Update.

Ok; while there's an advantage to pre-picking your seat at a theater like the Monaco, the downside is when you get rule-follower nazis that don't realize they're picking seats right next to you. So when they walk into an empty theater after picking seats right next to you they sit right next to you. Duh.

oh cool - Watchmen trailer

A Darkened Movie Theater

2009-02-12T17:00:00.000-06:00

Here am at the Monaco in Huntsville (by myself in the theater) about to see Push. Why? Well because it's not in Florence, of course. I'll let you know if it's any good.

Aw, crud...it looks like I might not have the theater all to myself. Oh, well. The trailers are about to start.

Coraline

2009-02-08T13:33:00.001-06:00

Julianna and I are at the movies ready to see Coraline in 3D!! (Julianna suggested that I add two exclamation points.)

Big Ben

2009-02-01T13:14:00.000-06:00

This weekend at church Don McLaughlin was talking about Big Ben, and it reminded of this picture I took a number of years ago, the first time I visited London. The sun was at the perfect spot.

Special

2009-01-31T15:25:00.009-06:00

Caught an interesting movie last night - Special. It stars Michael Rapaport (one of those guys you may not know by name, but you'd recognize him if you saw him) as Les, who begins to participate in a drug study, and find the drug begins to give him superpowers. It's a pretty amazing film, if you like independent movies. If you've got kids my age, you'd also recognize Josh, from Drake and Josh, though it's not a kid's film (it's got quite a bit of language).

Here's my review if you're interested.

Sunlight Breaking Through the Clouds

2009-01-29T07:39:00.000-06:00

Wish I'd had a better camera so I could've zoomed in...

What's Up with The Dark Knight?

2009-01-23T18:12:00.001-06:00

Just saw the list of IMAX theaters that The Dark Knight got re-released to today. Is the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center on it?

Nope!

What's up with that?!?

Hmmmm...is it worth it to drive all the way to Nashville to see it on the IMAX? I'm still kicking myself for not going to V for Vendetta.

Anyone up for a road trip?

Snow

2009-01-20T07:51:00.000-06:00

I was surprised to find a light dusting of snow on my car this morning. Would it have hurt to have a few more inches?

Smart Girl

2009-01-19T00:27:00.001-06:00

Our small group met tonight at Fiesta Mexicana for dinner, followed by some bowling.

Julianna made a new friend - Katie, our soon-to-be optometrist. I had to share something she told Katie tonight. (Katie told me this after the fact.) Katie asked her what kind of music she listened to. Julianna replied, "It starts with an 'R' and ends with an 'L'."

"What group is that?" Katie asked.

"Rock and Roll," my Julianna replied.

That's my girl!!

Christmas Fun!

2008-12-26T12:39:00.000-06:00

Here's a hint - whatever you do, never let Santa get your family the stomach virus for Christmas. Max was the only one who didn't have it; he got over it a couple days ago. I didn't leave the couch all day. It's not as fun opening presents on the couch.

We had crackers and water for Christmas dinner. But, I think we're all doing better today. Maybe we'll actually break out Guitar Hero World Tour tonight.

Icey

2008-12-23T07:28:00.001-06:00

It's cold and icey out there this morning. If you have to *sigh* go to work this morning, be careful out there.

Seven Pounds

2008-12-21T21:38:00.005-06:00

Krista surprised me with a night away, so we stayed at Bridge Street last night, saw a couple movies, did some Christmas shopping, and just hung out. (Thanks, Nana and NeeNee!)

One of the films we saw was Seven Pounds. It's one of those movies you can't go into knowing very much about the film - and it looks like the they did the marketing with that in mind. Will Smith is a great actor with amazing depth (I thought Hancock was a pretty good movie, too), and this film is fascinating. Seven Pounds is intense, thought provoking, non-linear, and one of those movies that you talk about for days after you've seen it. It gets a little slow in the middle in a couple of spots, and you can't go in expecting a feel-good Christmas movie, but if you can deal with those things, I think you'll be blown away.

Pop Rocks Popping Bubble Gum

2008-12-21T11:57:00.000-06:00

Shopping for my daughter at Limited Too, I found Pop Rocks Bubble Gum! Awesome!

Eddie Murphy as the Riddler?

2008-12-18T08:14:00.000-06:00

I don't know...didn't we learn our lesson with Jim Carey? Well, if anyone can pull it off, Christopher Nolan can.

Julianna's Dance Chronology

2008-12-15T20:43:00.002-06:00

Julianna has always been a dancer. I finally put some of her video together, taken over the last few years. (Plus, I knew I'd be in trouble if I kept uploading videos of Max, without any of Julianna.)

Julianna Dances (and Saves the World)

Rockbottom Prices

2008-12-09T17:58:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe I just filled up my gas tank for $17.50.

Finally

2008-12-09T08:10:00.000-06:00

Beat Guitar Hero I on Expert...so it's not as hard as its successors, but it doesn't have a practice mode, and hammer-ons and pull-offs are nearly non-existent.

Keeping History

2008-12-06T15:42:00.004-06:00

One of the thing that's so hard about kids is trying to make sure you have ways to keep those memories without being obsessed by capturing every second on camera instead of spending time with them. When Julianna was born, we bought a camcorder, but kept if for less than a year when I figured out every time I wanted to record a memory, by the time I unpacked the camcorder, Julianna had stopped doing whatever we wanted to record. And the last thing I was going to do was walk around with a camcorder glued to my hand just in case she did something cute.

So, we've done our best with a camera - taking pictures when we remember, grabbing short videos now and then. And a little while back we bought a Flip video camera - which is about the simplest camera to use. I try to record a few when I can - here are a couple of my attempts to keep history recorded.

Bubbles

Night, Night

We have the most fascinating mail

2008-11-29T11:02:00.001-06:00

You can't really tell, but this is a photo of our mailman reading our Entertainment Weekly this morning. We watched him for a few minutes while he just flipped through it, apparently interested in upcoming movies and TV. This was the best picture we could get before he finished and popped it in the mailbox. Personally, I think he was reading the article on the Twilight movie.

Space Needle

2008-11-26T12:26:00.000-06:00

Odd- looking clouds in Gatlinburg.

Mr. Tablecloth

2008-11-26T11:52:00.000-06:00

I'm going to get all my Christmas shopping done at Mr. Tablecloth!

Election News!

2008-11-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

Well we (that is Max, Julianna, and Krista) made the local WAFF news! Take a look...

Election: The more things change...

2008-11-03T22:23:00.000-06:00

I've held off on my election thoughts, but here at the eleventh hour...

I'm going to link to a blog post I wrote 2 years ago:

MP3s, AFR, and WWJD

Reaction (4 and 5 of 7)

2008-10-26T15:32:00.000-05:00

I'm very reactive.

I think, as people who follow Jesus, we're called to be proactive. But I tend to be reactive. It's kind of like Risk Management (the field I work in). The whole point in Risk Management is not just to be reactive to Issues or Problems - things that are already happening, that you can't prevent and have to fix. The whole point is to be proactive and figure out the Risk (a Problem that hasn't happened yet) and prevent it before it rears up it's ugly head and bites you in the...

Anyway, I'm reactive. I spend a lot of time reacting to what other people say and do; reacting to my circumstances in the world, reacting to things that happen that are out of my control. Even in my spiritual walk - I wait until I see or hear something bad or wrong, then I jump on it. Actually, that's why this blog is called Jim's Running Commentary. Because I seem to have a commentary on everything, and just made it my outlet to complain or say "what the heck?" when I see something I think is off. Instead of "going about doing good", I just look for the bad and talk about how it needs to be fixed. Two problems there. The first is just reacting to the bad (which I understand is part of what we need to be doing - look at how many times Jesus and Paul corrected something that was wrong), but you have to be doing good in parallel with fixing the bad. And the second part of the problem is just talking about what needs to be fixed, and not actually doing anything.

But being reactive isn't just in my spiritual life. I've talked about how I'm reactive in my health habits. How I'm reactive in judging people. How I'm reactive when something sets me off. Things just bug me. It's a deeply ingrained part of my personality. I talked about this with Krista the other day, proud that it was this amazing new self-analysis that I did that made me realize something new about myself that wasn't obvious to me. She was borderline shocked that this could be any kind of revelation to me. She said I've been like that ever since we've met (17 years now!), wondering how often has it been that I don't give people a chance because I think they're obnoxious, or stuck up, don't like their attitude, or something else moronic.

It's almost like I look for the bad in everything and let that color my life. And it's such a part of me, I don't think I can switch it off.

Well, I can't by myself. It's the kind of thing that takes a lot of prayer, a lot of love, a lot of soul searching, a lot of help.

You know, I've been doing some reading on the seven deadly sins. And something I've found interesting was that Sloth was not just intended to be avoidance of work and effort or getting by with doing as little as possible or not living up to your potential. Writings from St. Thomas Aquinas and Pope St. Gregory I (St. Thomas talks about it in his Summa Theologica, and references Gregory's writings) include sorrow and despair and not caring about things. It's kind of like depression - you start to wear this groove in your brain by finding the bad in everything, and it feeds on itself until you don't care for anything and you feel hopeless like there's nothing you can do; and there's nothing you want to do. I'm sure to do it justice, this needs to be a more in-depth discussion, but I just don't feel like it, now.

Ha! That's a joke, in case you didn't know.

Actually, this post would be way too long to go into it too deeply. But how often do we feed ourselves in this matter. Don't get me wrong - I believe there's a point in depression where you just can't fix it yourself and need professional help - I know; I've been there. But there's something warm and cozy about that melancholy place that makes it hard to leave, sometimes, even when you can.

And it seems like Sloth is linked directly to Envy (well, St. Thomas links it to all the Deadly Sins). When I'm finding the bad in everything, I can't even see the good in it when good things happen to other people. Do you ever react like that? Asking, why do they get that? Why do they deserve that? Why can't I have that? They already have more than me, and look, now they're getting more! Of course, I forget to look around and see how blessed I am. It's hypocritical, really.

Good grief - what's up with that? I can't even celebrate when good things happen to good people.

I know it takes a lot of hard work to reverse deeply ingrained habits, but that's what I've got to work on doing. It's easy to say, "that's just the way I am." But I have a feeling that particular attitude won't stand up before God.

I'm Old

2008-10-26T14:41:00.000-05:00

Huh! I've been at this a while and never been "tagged" before (thanks, Krista!).

So...what was I doing...

20 Years Ago (October 1988)
Good grief, I'm old. I was in my first semester of my senior year of high school. (That means next year is my 20-year-reunion. *sigh*) Anyway, I was starting a decent Senior Year, after a rough Junior Year. After receiving my first C's (plural) my Junior Year (that's not the only reason it was troubling - there was lots of crap going on), I came back my Senior Year, got all A's, was an Associate Editor of the school yearbook, and finally looked forward to college. I was a big, giant dork in high school (so not a lot has changed): in the National Honor Society, the Science Club, and was, of course, President of the Chess Club. I enjoyed my classes, but lunchtime was always my favorite, hanging out with best friends Steve Hatfield or Ron Johnson.

10 Years Ago (October 1998)
Krista and my paths met about 7 years ago, and we've been married a little over 5 years, now. We're the best of friends (though have our rough times), and have lived in Florence for about a year now (after moving from Baltimore), being convinced by Jerry and Trina Ross that it's a great place to live, and really liking their church. I've finally got a decent job, though one that's going to have me commuting to Huntsville every day (Krista was temping in Huntsville, so at least we could commute together). Good grief, what were we doing back then? I think we lived in Coffee Manor - those apartments over by what used to be Coffee High School. We were enjoying getting into Darby Drive Church of Christ events and spending time with new (and old) friends. Those were some lean times, especially before I started working in Huntsville, but they were good times. (At least gas was hovering just over $1 a gallon!)

5 Years Ago (October 2003)
Julianna's a year-and-a-half old. And how she's talking! We're just loving spending time with her. She's been the perfect baby. The only thing we really complain about is how it took an hour of laying down with her to get her to sleep. We're thinking, one kid is good for now.

1 Year Ago (October 2007)
We've got Baby Max now (he's about 6 months) and are gearing up for the CrossPoint Harvest Festival. Julianna is going to be Tinkerbell, and Max is Peter Pan. I guess his homemade costume makes everyone thinks he dressed as an elf (even with his hat with the feather in it, and the plastic knife in his belt).

Yesterday (October 25, 2008)
Yay! It's Saturday! Julianna played soccer in the morning, and we spent the afternoon at the Florence Renaissance Faire. Oh, and can't forget that we got a babysitter for Max, so we could take Julianna to High School Musical 3: Senior Year. (My, how things have changed since I was a high school senior!)

Today (October 26, 2008)
Church this morning, church tonight, and the requisite "chillin'" in between. Finally took some time to write today. My time and mind has been all chaotic lately and I haven't really had the time or inclination.

Tomorrow (October 27, 2008)
I always look forward to Mondays.

*sigh*

Why?

2008-10-25T21:17:00.000-05:00

(This is the halftime devotional I gave at the Upward soccer games this morning.)

I'd like to share a short story from the Bible in the book of Matthew.

Back in the boat, Jesus and the disciples recrossed the sea to Jesus' hometown. They were hardly out of the boat when some men carried a paraplegic on a stretcher and set him down in front of them. Jesus, impressed by their bold belief, said to the paraplegic, "Cheer up, son. I forgive your sins." Some religion scholars whispered, "Why, that's blasphemy!"

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why this gossipy whispering? Which do you think is simpler: to say, 'I forgive your sins,' or, 'Get up and walk'? Well, just so it's clear that I'm the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both. . . ." At this he turned to the paraplegic and said, "Get up. Take your bed and go home." And the man did it. The crowd was awestruck, amazed and pleased that God had authorized Jesus to work among them this way.

Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, "Come along with me." Matthew stood up and followed him.

Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus' followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?"

(And here we get to the important part!)

Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."

One of the things I love most about Jesus, and one of the things that got Him killed, was that he loved everybody. He showed that he didn’t come to save stuffy, self-righteous church people – the people that thought they didn’t need Him. He came for the people who needed him – those people that the stuffy, self-righteous church people didn’t want around. So remember this – whether you’re someone who has a practice of going to church every Sunday, or you’re someone who has never stepped foot in church building. None of us are perfect, and you don’t have to be to come inside. God’s family has always been full of people who make mistakes – sometimes horrible mistakes. That’s why Jesus died – to save all of us.

(Story taken from Mt 9, from The Message.)

Gas

2008-10-22T18:36:00.000-05:00

I just went over 500 miles on a single tank of gas in my Cavalier. Pretty good, considering I've got a 14-gallon tank. My fillup ended up being just over 13 gallons. That would actually give 39 mpg on this tank of gas. Can that be right? I haven't been using my air conditioner, but still. I'll have to check that again. Bonus: I paid $2.65 for gas so my total fillup dropped by about $10 to $35.

Hitting a Patch of Fog

2008-10-21T07:31:00.000-05:00

I can't really tell where I'm going. What an interesting coincidence.

Thursday Morning Painted Sky

2008-10-16T07:08:00.000-05:00

Wow.

I guess I haven't had much to say lately. Or, rather, I've had lots going around in my head but haven't had the time to organize it into any kind of cohesive thought. 'Course I've been blogging for going on 4 years now and I've just been tagged for the very first time (by Krista). I guess that's as good a place to start as any.

Blimp over Mt. Carmel

2008-10-03T14:25:00.000-05:00

What a weird sight - we're driving east on Highway 72 and just passed under the Goodyear Blimp. I hope the picture turns out...I took it with Krista's phone, sent it to mine, cropped it, then posted it here.

This is my Friday...

2008-10-02T07:20:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness for the loooooong weekend. The Zoe conference starts tomorrow.

On the way home...

2008-09-30T17:12:00.000-05:00

Good grief - accident on highway 72 between Madison and Athens. There weren't any ambulances...I hope that's a good sign.

Like a second look...

2008-09-27T15:39:00.000-05:00

I came across this video on YouTube purely by accident, but it's got some cool stop motion effects (always interesting when done with live people). And the song's pretty good, too. The singer is Lisa Mitchell, and I'd never heard of her, but she apparently got popular on the Australian American Idol.

It's called Incomplete Lullaby.

Way better than the "Can you hear me now?" guy...

2008-09-21T16:31:00.000-05:00

Another cool foreign commercial. This time it's for a cell phone company...but you'd never know that...

Mmm...Tahitian Treat Fruit Punch Soda

2008-09-19T16:40:00.000-05:00

Good stuff!

(owned by Dr. Pepper / Seven Up!)

Ghost Town

2008-09-18T19:01:00.000-05:00

I guess Ghost Town just too good of a movie to come to Florence. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 80%, and MetaCritic gives it a 70.

But what am I complaining about? We've still got Disaster Movie (0% and 15)and House Bunny (40% and 55).

I Met Wendy!

2008-09-16T19:37:00.000-05:00

We're at Wendy's for a fundraiser, helping to raise money for a track and a pavilion for our soccer fields at church. Pictured here with my son Max, is our wonderful Children's Minister, Gena Killen.

Here Comes the Sun...

2008-09-16T16:40:00.000-05:00

I think I see it peeking out from behind the clouds.

Sky over Athens, AL, Monday Night

2008-09-15T17:50:00.000-05:00

*sigh*

So the week begins...

2008-09-15T08:01:00.000-05:00

Trying hard to live in the moment and not just for tomorrow.

Communication

2008-09-12T17:57:00.001-05:00

I missed getting a picture of it (the above pic is from last night), but I just passed a church sign that said, "Patience is trusting in God's timing."

*sigh*

God teaches us in many ways. I sometimes wish it didn't take so long.

On Weathering Storms

2008-09-07T01:28:00.022-05:00

I was sure by now,
That you would have reached down,
And wiped our tears away.
Stepped in and saved the day,
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining

Why is it that that we wait until we're in so deep before we go to the place we should have been all along? We have to wait to get burned before we step away from the fire, or hit the bottom before we try to climb out of the well.

At the beginning of the year, I made a commitment to spend more time with God. To pray more. To read His Word more. And I've been praying at least once a day. And, at least over the last several months, I've been picking up my Bible at least a few times a week. But I've known that's not a real commitment. Though it's more commitment than I've had most of the 3-and-a-half decades I've been around.

Throughout the last month, though, I've stepped up my commitment. Praying has become nearly an hourly thing (or at least several times a day). And reading has become at least a daily thing. What's prompted me to become so disciplined? Is it because I'm spiritual? Is it just because I made the decision to be disciplined and I'm sticking to it?

No. It's because of external circumstances creating an intense need to figure out how to keep God as an integral part of my life - not just an afterthought. Over the past month, my job's become extremely stressful. The kind of stress that makes you obsess. Obsessing through nearly every waking hour. And some of the sleeping ones. From the time the feet hit the floor in the darkness of the early morning to the time the head hits the pillow in the darkness of the late evening. Every thought consumed - in the shower, having dinner with family, even when watching a movie or trying anything to try to tear my mind away from the constant compulsive thought. Jesus said, Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Why can't I do that? I've begun to empathize with David, when he wrote things like

O LORD, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.

In the midst of all this, a couple weeks ago, I was reading about Solomon's great grandson Asa. He was fighting for God, and at one point, God told him, Be strong, and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. I don't really believe in coincidence. And though sometimes it's hard to connect with a God who I cannot touch, who seems to far away to my closed eyes and unlistening ears, I know He's there, He's listening, and He talks to us.

And I've finally found some peace, some relief. I finally figured out that there are things in our lives that we need God's strength to overcome. So I've begun to scratch the surface of what Paul means when he says, Pray without ceasing. To get a glimmer of what Moses is talking about when he says, Memorize God's laws and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. And at last, Thursday night, even though work hasn't much changed, I was sitting having dinner with my family, enjoying the time spent with my wife, daughter, and son. And it was the first time in nearly 5 weeks that I was truly relaxed, living in the moment, without the nagging thoughts in the back of my head.

I wish I had realized some of these things before getting into situations like this. Like sometime in the last 37 years. But then, I guess sometimes we need adversity to strengthen us. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James wrote that.)

As the thunder rolls,
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain,
“I’m with you.”
And as You mercy falls,
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives,
And takes away.

*************

It's always frustrating when you pour your soul into a bit of writing and it's taken away. It's nearly impossible to get back the original flavor of something after you've recorded it the first time. I finished writing this nearly an hour ago and just before I published it, Internet Explorer crashed. About that time I remembered that this version of Blogger doesn't automatically save, so I had to recreate the entire thing from scratch. A fitting final paragraph to this post, I think.

The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
-Job

(Lyrics from Praise You in This Storm, by Casting Crowns)

By Comparison

2008-09-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

Some days I appreciate my job more than others.