On the Road in Ireland

So far so good in Ireland. Dublin was great though we had some issues with reading maps and understanding the busses. The Guiness tour was good. Gallaugher (you know the watermelon smashing comedian) was at the Factory enjoying a pint when we were there. The hostile in Cork was insanely small, but the town had a good pub where we got to enjoy a local band play a short set. Today we went on the Blarney Castle tour and are now staying the night in Killarney. The hostile is much better and there is even a bar just a short walk away from the front door. Now what I mean by short is about six or seven steps. The only problem is we have been pushing so hard so far that sleep is more the order of business. One pint is all for me for tonight. Killarney is a good walking and shopping city. We have already started to plan where we will be in Dublin for New Years. That should be great, then on to England. If I find free inernet access I wil post again.

Inconsistencies of the Holidays

There has been an aweful lot of talk this year about what you can say and what you should say to wish one another well this December. Christmas songs are banned where Hanukkah songs are not. There was a report last week on Air America that the White House staff had been instructed to only greet phone calls with Merry Christmas. Target doesn't and Wal-Mart does. And this just touches the very least of the insanity. Insanity that I find on both sides. I really don't care if you want to wish me a Happy Hanukkah. Really if it means the same to you as Merry Christmas means to me, then I should take it as an honjoyous Kwanzaaor not an insult. Nor should you take my offering of Merry Christmas as an insult. I am not telling you that you have to be a Christian. If I wanted to to that, really I just would (though I tend to think I would use just a bit more tact than that). What I am offering to you is the richest blessing that I have to offer. Boy is that insulting! So take my Merry Christmas in the spirit that it is offered by me and by millions of others and I promise to take your Happy Hanukkah, joyous Kwanzaa, or any other greeting of the season in the spirit in which it was intended, even a Happy Holidays.

Odds and Ends Since Last I spoke

It has been far too long since my last post. I have been too deep in study and in work to have taken the time. I will have to do better. Anyway, here are some random items for with no real connection to each other. I just found them interesting.

A mask I wish I would have found sooner for Halloween.













Joey Styles calling RAW matches OH...............

Family Guy opening homage to Police Squad.

Ho Ho HO Beeeeeoootch!!!!

Something that I would have liked to have found during that whole birth control debate.

Jesse Jackson comes to T.O.'s defense. Now he is really screwed.

More to come sooner rather than later, I hope.

Word Verification

So as to avoid automatic spam comments I have changed the setting on the blog to require word verification. Hope this is not a bother, but I figure some guy telling us about his investment company or the new pill for your manhood might be more annoying.

A Firm Stand

What would you do if you were told that you could not pray at work? For myself, working for a church, that would be more than just odd. In the case of Marcus Borden, a 23 year veteran High School football coach, he chose to resign rather than to stop praying. On the basis of the seperation of church and state Coach Borden was told that he could neither lead nor take part in pregame prayers. From a legal stand point, part 1 is the unfortunate rule of the land. Our accepted practice is to avoid offense not by exusing those who don't wish to pray so that they don't have to, but rather to do away with the prayer entirely, there by, in many cases, infringing on the desires of the majority for the protection of the minority. In the latter case, not being able to even take part, to me may well have been the final straw. This Catholic could not stop from praying and chose to quit rather than compromise.

Farrakhan out does Kanye West

It takes a man like Louis Farrakhan to make a statement as outlandish as the claim that the government blew up the levees in New Orleans. He actually has succeeded in making Kanye West's insanity pail by comparison. Why do people listen to this nonsense? Do they actually believe that President Bush used Katrina as an excuse to wash way the poor blacks from New Orleans so that a new whiter New Orleans could be rebuilt? I fear that they actually do believe this. There exists such an ingrained distrust that what might appear to a white guy like myself as patently false, is easily accepted by others. Take for example this week's episode of House. Dr. Eric Foreman (has anyone else found that name funny?) played by Omar Epps attempts to prescribe an older black gentleman (played by Charles Robinson better known as Mac from Night Court) a medication that is known to treat the blood chemistry of African Americans better than other medication used to treat white guys like me. The gentleman objects and just about calls Dr. Foreman and Uncle Tom. The next day he returns to see if another doctor will give him the white pills. House wants to give him what he really needs, but has to resort to tricking him into taking what he thinks is the white pills which are in fact the very medication that Foreman prescribed the day before. When Foreman learns what House did, he takes of on a self-righteous tirade nearly accusing House of racism. This is how difficult it is to communicate when some much cultural history and baggage gets in the way. Farrakhan and those who listen to his rantings find it all too easy to believe that the levees where blown up by Bush.

The Revenge of the Return of Shamgar or Fat Guys on a Diet

O.K. so it has been a while. In July I menitoned that August would be nuts for me and it has. So here are a few assorted thoughts from one assorted nut:

1) Mexico: The mission trip was fantastic. Th guys got alot out of it. One of the youth commented about thinking he had see ghetto until he saw TJ.

2) School: Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons you can find me in class. I occassionally feel very green and very overwhelmed, but if this is to be a valuable experience I guess I need to be really challenged.

3) Katrina: I hate to say it but by now I am actually sick of it. Let me qualify that statement. My heart is still breaking for all the people dealing with it to this day and beyond. I know people on the front lines helping out in LA and TX. What I have had my fill of is nonsensical comments by intellectual gnats like Celine Dion and Kanye West trying to sound smart or compassionate and instead exposing the fact that they cannot carry a coherent thought in a bucket. I hope to be out there in the summer to help rebuild. I also hope to not hear anymore crazy comments and finger pointing.

4) Fat Guy: I am on a diet. With the help of my wife, I have lost 8 pounds this go around and am actually under 2 bills for the first time in years. I am just about 20 pound lighter than when we got married. Funny, I didn't think it was supposed to work that way. Andrea is a great cook and I think is finally getting me to eat with at least some intellegence.

I think that hits the highlights. If not I will be back to rant again.

The renaming game

Off and on this evening I have been trying to watch a documentary on VH1 called "Tracking the Monster." The documentary is intended to provide information on the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The statistics are staggering, but unfortunately that is not the only thing that has jumped out at me. Part of the documentary follows Ashley Judd as she learns and explores the reality of life in Madagascar. What caught my attention and just will not let go was Ashley's continuing use of the term "Commercial Sex Worker" for a prostitute. This to me is worse that calling a car "pre-owned." What drives me nuts is that this maybe a great show and critical information that the world needs to know. However why can't Ashley avoid such a silly use of political correctness. Why do we have to create such elaborate new terms to avoid the obvious truth of who or what someone of something is. I understand that they are trying to stress that these "sex workers" have few other options with which to care for their families, but this does not change what they are doing. Even in Holland, legalized prostitution is still prostitution. Have compassion. Demonstrate love. Offer help. Just don't distract from the truth by using language tricks. If the documentary is all about showing the true face of the monster that is AIDS then the entire face needs to be shown, not just the parts that VH1 wants to show.

No dig up stupid!

Just a little note as I struggle to keep my mind on my homework. No actually I am taking a snack break and figured that since I will not likely have a chance to note anything here in the next few weeks I might want to explain what all I am hip deep in. I had most of my Friday off and really none of Saturday and I will not be off again until Aug. 11. In the meantime, Vacation Bible School starts tomorrow moring and runs each morning this week. In the middle of that I have a Mexico Mission Trip to prepare for that starts on Saturday, yes, the day after VBS ends. I am also finishing up planning for a beach camping retreat for college students in the District. Then I have my homework that I am currently not doing. On the plus side, my congregation stepped out in faith today and restored staff salaries to their previous levels even though they are currently behind on the budget as it was reduced. This is daring, but faithful. They are not blindly trusting, but acting in faith that they as a church can, with the strength of Christ Jesus, support the ministry that they have as a congregation been placed in Huntington Beach to carry out. And now back to work.

See you in Canton Tim!

I shoot you in the name of Jesus!

I was taking a look around church web-sites for ideas for an up-cooming seminar our church is putting on for web-ministry and I ran across this oddity. Is there really a way that you can shoot someone in a distinctly Christian manner why playing paintball? Are church membership record checked when you enter the park? I was half joking last week with my father-in-law about creating a paintball park on his land outside of William, AZ, but now that I have seen this maybe I should take the idea just a bit more seriously. Check it out further at http://www.promisedland.com.

Stuck in the middle

While on a spiritual retreat this weekend (Danny a more detailed review of Cursillo will follow after Andrea is safely off to her weekend and way from internet access) is was again struck by the interesting place the DCE (Director of Christian education) profession has in the LCMS or the larger Christian community for that matter. Unlike many church bodies, the Baptists for example, the LCMS did not turn to a youth pastor concept in response the the youth ministry movement of the mid 20th Century. Rather than formulating a division of the pastoral ministry, the LCMS developed a division of the teaching ministry in creating the DCE. As a modified teacher, the DCE is more based in education ministry than the pastoral ministry of the Baptist youth pastor. Training events put on in the larger Christian community for youth ministry are always just a bit of a variance for the generalist DCE to recontextualize for their own ministry.

Now why I say that we as DCE's are stuck in the middle grows out of my reflection in trying to figure out my place in the scheme of things on this spiritual retreat, and the parallels to the LCMS church polity. The standard categories used to distinguish shepherd from the flock, are clergy and laity. I cannot say that I find myself very comfortable with either being applied to myself. I am a DCE not a pastor and as such, though IRS would put me in the clergy category, LCMS does not. On the other hand I am in ministry, not in the sense of Luther's priesthood of all believers, but in the professional, vocational, called sort of way. So there I sit, listening to both pastoral and lay talks on this weekend, wondering where do I fit, where does the DCE fit. The LCMS gives a vote to congregations in convention in two forms, one vote from the clergy per congregation and one vote from the laity per congregation, and once again there is the DCE (and other church workers) wondering about their place in the whole scheme of things.

I have heard and read arguments that would restrict all ministry to the pastoral office. That would go so far as to claim that there is not other proper Biblical office. I have heard and read arguments that place all church professions on an even footing, almost entirely removing any clergy/laity distinction. I find both views to be lacking and unsatisfying. And I remain in the middle wondering. No answers thus far, just questions.

Man Hands of Another Kind

Just as Jerry was once worried about man hands, at first glance you might think that Ben Affleck should be worried and then some. In an article about Ben and Jen part 2 getting married looking for the rock might get you more than you bargained for.

Kool-Aid Man Gets Pants

This is the Kool-Aid Man that I recall from childhood and one random appearance on Family Guy. However tonight I saw a commercial in which Kool-Aid Man makes an appearance in baggy shorts. Is this comporable to adding a fig leaf to David? Is this censorship? Does Kool-Aid Man suddenly have something to hide? What's next the Michelin Man in a suit?

Off to Flagstaff

Andrea and I will be out of town for the next few days. We leave Friday for a long weekend with her Dad and family in Flagstaff, AZ. We will get back late on Wednesday. I will just be in town for, what might not even amount to 24 hours and will be off again for the Men's Cursillo Weekend, a spiritual retreat. So, it will not be until a week from Monday that I will really be "in" in town.

Another Schaus

For those of you who know Nate and Liz Schaus you might like to know that they sent out a general announcement today that they are expecting their third child. They already have both a boy and and a girl. If you want to wish them congratulations and don't have their e-mail address just e-mail me and I will get you the contact information that I have.

My head hurts

I was listening to a commercial on the radio as I returned to work this afternoon from my final at Talbot. The spot was for MSN music downloads or something like that. I really was not paying too close of attention. They were offering 5 free downloads if you pay $0.99 for one. The deal seemed interesting so I started to pay attention more. I was sure there would be a catch. Sure the verbal small print first confirmed my suspicion then hurt my head. The limit is that this offer is good only one per customer. That makes sense. The limitation that made me hurt however was the phrase "while supplies last." Tell me if I am missing anything, but how could you run out of a download. What are you going to try to download B.Y.O.B. by System of a Down and have a pop-up tell you that they are all out but that if you like you can have Jessica Simpson's remake of the "These Boots are Made for Walking"?

Football, Football, Football

I have been enjoying the wonders that is the NFL channel. I don't think I have gone a week this month without catching at least one NFL Europe game. Today, I turned on good old channel 212 to catch the Hamburg Sea Devils take on the Amsterdam Admirals. On a lark I took a look around the dial to see what else might be on, only to discover that Fox is showing the Rhein Fire/Cologne Centurions game. If this all means nothing to you, just know that it is May and I am watching Football! Football!!! http://www.nfleurope.com/

Who are the ad wizards...

Carl's Jr. has really lost their collective minds on this one. The new commercial for the Spice Six Dollar Burger fails to accomplish any of the goals they must have had for it. Am I supposed to be hungry or horny after seeing Paris Hilton suds herself up while nibbling on the Carl's mega-burger? Actually I am just reminded that I need to get my car washed. How was it that someone thought that having Paris Hitlon eat a burger was remotely believable? What, did she need to replenish her energy after her latest home video adventure? I mean you just know that she is spitting the burger back out between takes. And is having a figureless girls soaping herself up supposed to do anything for me? (That would be rhetorical, Rich, so just leave it alone.) Common Carl's just make good burgers for us fat guys and stop making my head hurt.

Recalling the old days at Bethany

This evening is had the honor of speaking at the confirmation banquet for Bethany Lutheran Church in Long Beach. Both the experience of preparing for the talk and being there for the event brought back a connection to the past that I don't often consider. I was able to reconnect with Ted and Randa Pearson, a couple who hosted a mid-week youth Bible Study in their home, were Dan, Phil Simon, Dave Warmbeir, myself and others hung out and learned about God. We really had something going in those days, between Valley Christian and our churches, the core of our group of friends was formed. It was interesting to reflect on those days and draw upon them as I tried to pass a word to the class about to be confirmed in the morning. My hope for them is that their time in High School both nutures their faith as Bethany did mine and that they connect with as great a group of friends as we have formed. O.K. now back to SportsCenter.

Maloof's Casino Opens for Business

My wife has been inspired. She just could not sit on the sidelines anymore. She has already been more regular a reader of all the sites in our group and now she will likely be a more regular poster. So take a roll and stop by Maloof's Casino.

Grandpa Henderson of the GBL

The Golden Baseball League hopes to cash in on their latest signing. Ricky Henderson of A's fame. If you are wondering "Isn't he kinda old?" well you're right. At 46 he should readily take to what I would expect to be a grandfatherly role with the young players just hoping to extend their careers after High School or College ends. The league is kind of interesting. They have teams in California, Arizona, and Japan. That's right, Japan. The Samuri Bears are the lone Japanese team making the GBL the first American league to include a Japanese team. I am not sure of the quality they will get from players who are willing to work for the money they are offering (Henderson will be making $3,000 a month) but at $6 a game it might be worth an afternoon in Long Beach to check out the Armada play.

No Bones Just Ducks

OK so it has been more than just a while since my last post. Thank you Joel and Danny for the prodding and thank you Andrea for making sure I actually check to know that I was prodded. Anyway, the last month has been so full of running from one event to the next that to take the time to write up something let alone to think of anything to write just has not happened. Between the schedule packing that I have been doing in ministry and adding to that the reading class I am working on (Educational Research)and just trying to be a decent husband I have not made the time to just pause and reflect. I think we all need to do that. I am thinking of block scheduling myself, which since I have only in the last two years learned how to use "to do lists", this new self regulatory idea should prove challenging. But really I need to not run out of control so much. I had a great chance today to stop after a meeting at a local church, to rather than just run back to the office, to stick my head in the pastor's office and chat with him. He is not my pastor, but just a local pastor whom I have done youth events with and just had the impulse to check in on him. It was a nice chat, something I need to do more of with more people. Rather than just stick with business as usual, which brings me to the ducks. Thought I forgot them didn't you? I almost got totally aggravated the other day, when while trying to find a parking space in my complex had to drive around three ducks that seemed to believe that my car driving at them posed not threat to them. I saw them in the road, I thought they saw me, I slowed down, and they just looked at me. So I, not wanting to get into a Costanza type issue with our feathered friends, drove around them, all the while expecting them to take off. They never did. I was able to park and walk back by them and still they had not moved. Other cars were now passing them. They were on a break and were not going back to work just yet. Now as I said I could have gotten mad, but instead chose to appreciate the humor of ducks not fearing my car (sort of like the deer that hit me a few years ago). They were taking a break and were not to be disturbed. A lesson worth learning. So sorry Danny, no bones, just ducks.

Gunga Din

For years I have been using "Gunga Din" as some odd kind of insult. In context it would be sort of a "knuckle head" or "Ding Bat" type name. But for the life of me I could never figure out were I was getting this. I figured that it was just another of the random things that I picked up by watching movies in college with Rich. I mean really the man remembers more about my life than I do. That is not saying much, I am not likely to recall the details to this post in the morning. Anyway, I now know what it is from, I just don't know how it got in my head. I read in Entertainment Weekly some months ago about the release of the movie...you guessed it "Gunga Din." It was some Cary Grant movie from 1939. Now why would I have seen that? Rich I suppose that is a question for you. Then again you might have told me about that already.

Fark Filed It Under Asinine

I am sure that you all have been on Fark and seen this but in case you missed it. Once again our ability to think in this nation is in serious trouble. A Skate Park has been closed because it is not handicapped accessible. On the surface that is a bit off. The Fark posters having fun with the idea of wheelchair skateboarding. The balance of the article however does point out that at issue is that the park is not accessible for other activities, not that they have quadriplegic skaters doing their best "Tony Hawk." But here is where I stop and wonder, and maybe you can help me to see this more clearly. "Until it is open to everyone, it is open to no one" is the position of a board member overseeing the matter locally. What if that rule was applied to the NBA for example. Would we need to have adjustable hoops in order for us slow, short white guys to compete. I am all for making public areas accessible, even in this case. It is just the attitude of the quote that has caught my eye and seems to leave me somewhat uncomfortable. Again maybe I am missing something, and really I hope that I am. I just would not want this to be played out universally as my NBA example suggests.

That's it, soccer fans are just nuts

I can't even explain this just follow the link.
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/3534952
Fireworks?
Photo: http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/pgStory?contentId=3534510&pageNumber=8

Mmmmm my favorite... diversity

Ever since I had a series of retitled Diversity Education courses in college, I have questioned if the people throwing around that word really have any clue what they are talking about. Are we talking about looking like a McDonald's commercial where you collect one of each to complete your set of friends, co-workers, leaders, etc. Or are we talking about making sure we all play fair. If we are talking about the latter, fantastic! That was the rigteous purpose of MLK Jr. and the original civil rights movement. If on the other hand we are talking about the former, well my head is already starting to hurt. Take this for example. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7160264/site/newsweek/ Here you will find an article on the male bias found in blogging. The complaint is that if the top 100 blogs are dominated by white males, then there must be racism holding back the other sites. The problem is that for many sites you are not really able to know what race you are dealing with. In fact I could put up a site and pretend to be of another race just for the fun of it. This is a counter article. http://nationalreview.com/comment/mac_donald200503300758.asp that challenges the wisdom of regulating our way to a diverse blogosphere. To my thinking this is the best arena for diversity, not simply racial, but intellectual diversity. Blogging is about ideas. They may be fun, thoughtful, or silly, but reallyblogs are just about ideas. Who is in the Top 100 is based on who reads. Good ideas will get good attention. I really don't care who you are, just present something I can ponder that challenges me and I will read you for it. Alright that's enough. I'm done.

Papal Vegas

For any of you who just must bet on everything. I mean you bet the coin toss at the Super Bowl and whether Nagel makes it past the first quater. Then this is for you. http://www.betfair.com/?rfr=169 Find "Special Bets" on the left hand column, then "General" and then you will find the odds on who will be the next Pope. And it looks like Francis Arinze, the Nigerian has a shot at the papacy. What it was 496 AD when they had their last black Pope, about time.

Child Care Gets Medieval

Do you just have too many kids on your hands? Well, here is your solution. This is not a fake. http://www.nurserymaid.com/sscribs.htm

When I get it scanned I will show you the older model from 1971 (three cribs high by five cribs long and sold to churches and day care centers).

Schaivo: A reordering of our nations founding principles

You have likely read and hear countless opinions on the fate of Terry Schaivo. I don't have a medical background. I don't have a legal background either. I do have a religous and ethical background, and I have studies some philosophy so I will take my approach at this matter from that direction. What we are seeing is evidence of a shift that took place decades ago, but might not have been detected until now. I know I only caught on to this last week. The Declaration of Independance spoke of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." I have come to believe that the order of these words are at the core of what this latest round in the culture wars is all about. I believe that it was with great intent the life was listed first. If you assume that this is the case, then the primary mission of our government with regard to supporting and promoting these self evident truths is to the defense of life. This is the position taken by President Bush, the Congress of the United States, and the dozen of people who have been arrested trying to give Terry water. If on the other hand you hold the liberty ought to have that primary position, as our courts and the ACLU believes, then the freedom to die prevails over life itself. This is where you find a right to die with dignity. This is where you find room to argue for standards of living as criteria for life itself to continue. This is foreign to many Christians in America, and should be. As Christians we believe that life is not ours to freely do with what we want. Liberty does not have authority over life. Cutlurally however, life is taking a backseat to liberty and likely to the pursuit of happiness as well.