Back from the ski retreat:

It was a good time. We only had one green slope open from the mid-drop pff point, but the mountain is aparently a hidden gem as there weren't many people there. The rumor is that it stays light like that, so I may just keep going back there a few more times, but later in the year. I skied for two and nine-tenths days with a breif stop in the world of snow boarding.

Snowboarding is the hardest thing in the entire world. I hurt so badly from my ten minutes of snowboarding that I am genuinely concerned that I have broken part of if not all of my butt. I have breif flashes of pain that make me wonder if a hunk of my tailbone isn't floating around down there.

Either way, aside from the gruesome torture that snowboarding was, I had a great time and I think everyone who went had a great time.

Don't snowboard if you're a good skier and over 25. And here is the rest of it.

Santa's Blog:

I remember being little and hearing people on the news talk about Santa sightings. This reminds me of being little again. It's kind of the natural next step. Blogger featured it and I would have put it up sooner if I was paying attention.Santa's Blog.

And here is the rest of it.

The Luxury of A Professional Photographer Friend

What's great about having friends with marketable skills, when you yourself have none, is that you can ask them to do things for you. I did that to get my engagement pictures taken. They are exceptional, if any of you are in need of photography, expect professionalism and appreciate a fun attitude, then I recommend B.D. Andrews.

He got pictures that made a chubby, pale guy like me look like he might have a genuine shot at the girl in the pictures with him. Take the leap to see one of my favorites, I really think it captures the moment and the emotion from that morning.

Take the leap.

I'm glad I made her that happy.
I'm glad I have a picture.

A Godly Fiance: Proverbs 31

I'm going to be starting a series of posts on Proverbs 31, contrasting the Godly woman of those verses with my own fiance. My main hope in this is to earn massive brownie points and endear myself with her forever.

I of course am kidding, although, if I do score massive brownie points and endear myself to her forever, then so be it! Really, I hope to honor God by expressing my profound appreciation and joy that comes from the relationship He has blessed me with. The graciousness and abundance of blessing that has come from this relationship (soon Holy Union!) should preach of God's goodness, this is my humble attempt at getting that sermon out.

10An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
11The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
12She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.

Jennie is a rarity and I am lucky to have her in my life. I'm am even luckier that I'm blessed to soon have her as my wife. To hopefully keep you coming back I'm going to keep from rambling too much about why she is a special rarity. Scripture puts things to a fine point when it says a Godly wife(Fiance in this case) is more precious that jewels. There are few things that genuinely are priceless, for me, Jennie is most certainly one.

Why is she so priceless? Why would I never trade her for anything in the world? To a deeper point why will I attempt to never show disrespect to our relationship with my actions? Because, I can trust her. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a flair for the dramatic and with that comes a penchant for embellishment. The short hand is that, "I lie." I will talk about things that I know nothing about and tell stories about things I never did. Thankfully with the grace of God I've gotten some control over that.

The point is that I appreciate someone who is honest, completely honest. I love that I can trust Jennie's words and actions to be true to God first and myself. She's honest and thoughtful with her words, I do have no end to my gain because of her deep sense of honesty and the way that she lifts me up and is an example to a stinky lying sinner like myself.

I mentioned the thoughtfulness of Jennie's words, when we began dating we had a brutal honesty rule in place. It literally meant BRUTAL honesty. She and I would say exactly what was on our mind. It seemed like the best way to do things. We learned pretty quickly that you can be honest and polite without loosing any of the punch.

So, the brutal honesty became gracious honesty and Jennie fell into it quickly and naturally. Her brutal honesty was usually tinged with a bit of love and kindness anyways. I can trust my heart with her. I can trust my relationship with her. I can trust my feelings, hopes, dreams, and marriage with her.

I pray that when she looks back at her life with me she'll be able to say I did her no harm. That will be a good feeling. Really, I hope she is able to say that at the end of everyday. I love her, she's precious.

I call for a re-vote!

The top quotes list of '07 is a travesty. How could this not be the quote of the year. . .nay. . .the decade?

"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us."
~Lauren Upton - Ms. South Carolina

What would your top quotes of 2007 be?

Oh, well, take the jump to see the rest of the list.


**Compiled from the Reuters article.**

1. "Don't Tase Me, Bro." -- Andrew Meyer's failed attempt at not getting tased during his eviction and eventual tasing at a speech by Sen. John Kerry.

2. My #1. . .see above. -- Take that Yale Book of Quotations!

3. "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country." -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's October comment at Columbia University in New York.

4. "That's some nappy-headed *** there." -- Shock jock Don Imus comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

5. "I don't recall." -- Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' repeated response to questioning at a congressional hearing about the firing of U.S. attorneys.

6. "There's only three things he (Republican presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani) mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11." -- Sen. Joseph Biden, speaking at a Democratic presidential debate.

7. "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody (Vice President Dick Cheney) who has a 9 percent approval rating." -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.

8. "(I have) a wide stance when going to the bathroom." -- Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig's explanation of why his foot touched that of an undercover policeman in a men's room.

9. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." -- Biden describing rival Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

10. "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." -- Former President Jimmy Carter in an interview in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper.

Bobby Petrino will not be getting an Absolutely Spoo Christmas card:

I hope UGA routes Arkansas for as long as Petrino is there. I'm not going to make character judgments as this ended up not being good for anyone. All that matters is that UGA dismantles Petrino's pigs.

The story of a "Cut and Runner". ;) And here is the rest of it.

Thoughts from the Mob:

**Sorry if you tried to read this and it seemed a bit screwy. Something got messed up in the formatting. I think I fixed it. 12/09**


I've been trying to get my thoughts hammered out on the topic of youth ministry, not my personal youth, the practicum side of it. I certainly wouldn't say that I have it fully hammered yet, but I'm starting to shape them. I'm somewhere between "white hot blob of molten pain" and "shapeless moderately hammered metal item". So this post will clearly not be a thesis on youth ministry and it won't be a deep look at the form and function of contemporary youth ministry.

What I've got here is a look at some scripture that I've been rolling around in my head for a while. It seems to touch on the basic human issues that make modern youth ministry so difficult, even in seemingly perfect situations.



John 12: 12-18 says,

The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that
Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went
out to meet Him. They kept shouting: " Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord --the King of Israel!" Jesus found a young donkey
and sat on it, just as it is written: Fear no more, daughter of
Zion; look! your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. His
disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was
glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and
that they had done these things to Him.

Meanwhile the crowd, which had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify. This is also why the crowd met Him, because they heard He had done this sign.

Can you hear the passion in the crowds voice? This is a large crowd of people singing praises to someone that they fervently wanted to believe was the King of Israel. The last part is so telling. Maybe they wanted Jesus to be Messiah, but they wanted it because of His miracles. They had heard about a guy who raises the dead, who wouldn't want to jump on His bandwagon?

I think that this is a large part of youth ministry. Teens coming for something other than Christ. Maybe some of that early crowd did desire to know the Messiah, but odds are good the majority wanted to see the miracles and be a part of them. In the same breath, maybe some teens are coming for Christ, but I think most are there for the miracles. What's the modern equivalent? Emotional response would be my first guess.

So, what happens when the miracles stop and Christ stands there telling you He is the Messiah? What happens when you have to just trust Him?

I think that shows up in John 19.

14Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" 15They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

Matthew 27 makes things crystal clear.

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"

20Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." 22Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!" 23And he said, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!"

24So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves." 25And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" 26Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

If you know the story of Christ you know this is how it goes, but contrast that with the way that he entered. The people flocked to Him and sang praises while laying down palm branches to line his way. He was treated like a triumphant King returning. How in the world do things dissolve to this point? How does the joyous crowd turn into an enraged riot?

The above scripture points out the natural progression of the seeker, youth or otherwise. First people come to Christ for selfish and personal gain, i.e. Miracles. Then when they grow weary of the true Gospel, they turn. There was never salvation involved.

What's that mean in youth ministry? It means that every church will see teens come in and not be saved. They'll come in looking for something other than Christ and will stick it out until the Gospel offends them.

The real crux here is what are we doing in between receiving the "Miracle seeker" and them leaving. If it's not sharing the Gospel, if your ministry isn't focused on the Cross and Christ's atoning work on it, then they won't get offended and we'll never find out they aren't saved.

I guess I have just come to learn that smoke and mirrors/games and programs, just don't cut it. Sure they bring kids in. I want to bring kids in. But, we'll be perpetuating the problem we see in scripture. I don't know if there is a deep answer to a problem that I missed. I just don't want to feed that mob.

An Ounce of Prevention:

My friend, Tommy sent me some pictures. I am so glad that Tommy has as highly developed a sense of humor as he has, because he can spot comedy on the fly. One day while he was at the mall he saw this.




Take the leap to see the punchline.





How great is that? Clearly, the issue of child baggery, had been a problem. Thank you Tommy.

Heroes Season Finale: Unqualified Rantings

Most everyone know that I'm getting married. What most of you may not know is that getting married costs money. As is such, my fiance and I have taken to a regular Monday date night. We watch Heroes. She even got me the first season box set for my birthday. She doesn't dive into nerdiness, but she doesn't shy away from it either. I'm pretty sure she's perfect.

We'll, I've had some time to process everything and have decided that "Chapter 2" was not as bad as it seemed by some. Take the jump for my opinion and spoilers, if you haven't watched the finale.



I really hate that they've killed Micah's family. I certainly hope that they didn't let Ali Larter go over money. She really did bring, in my opinion, a great dynamic to the cast. I'm especially upset that she never got to fully enjoy being a beast.

That being said, I don't think Nathan will die. I don't think Peter's blood can save him either. I just think he'll get better. Matt Parkman took like 5 shots to the chest and survived. Don't get me started on the miracle blood either, it's so Deus Ex Machina. Maya is good, but has no point, if they are going to, essentially swap her out for Niki she had better become important.

Here comes my personal speculation.

With the scrapping of the virus plot, I think they will try to get back to what they did right last season, putting Claire in danger. I believe that Sylar's version of the virus was just mildly mutated from Niki's and requires a regular transfusion of Claire's miracle blood or he has to steal here joojoo.

I think it's going to let Sylar be like a junky. I'm probably wrong.

Either way, HRG shot Nathan, bank on it. Adam will get out. Kaitlyn is never coming back to the show.

My last thing is this. For calling Chapter 2 "Generations" and promising to flesh out the last generation. . .they sure didn't do that. I am sure i heard that we would see their powers. We saw Bob goldify a spoon, and maybe we saw Mama Petrelli control someones actions. I'm a bit underwhelmed.

Either way, Chapter 2 was a great story that was riddled with slow plot and a lack of immediate purpose. Hopefully, "Villians" will push the pace. I really would like more of the back story and powers of the super parents.

Matt Parkman goes bad in Chapter 3. Maya becomes a worldwide threat. The Haitian steps up and becomes the big deal he should be.

Can't wait for Chapter 3. . .let's pick up the pace, writers.

Just fooling about posting less video:

I have no idea what is going on in this video. I am fairly certain that the gospel is not being preached.

Vote or Die!

My friend, Andrew is friends with another excellent blogger, who goes by the name Timmy. Timmy has put a question into a contest that Mars Hill Church is doing. I think the question is important and I would like to see the question make it into the book that will be written about the top 9.

So, here is a link to the question. It has fallen out of the top 9 and, if you like it, I think you should vote for it. Of course, take time and read the other questions as well.

And here is the rest of it.

The Incredible Disappearing Search Box

Here one day, gone the next! That's right folks only you can bring back the incredible disappearing search box. If you used it and loved it make yourself known otherwise, the search box will continue to be a figment of your imaginations.


And here is the rest of it.

Last video for a while:

I mentioned this song to some of my youth and they had no idea. I stand by my word. I want this played at my funeral. This is my jam. Friends Forever.

As far as the abundance of video lately, I'm going to post some stuff I've been mulling over for a while. Take the jump.

I heart Chuckabee

I got to thinking this morning while I was bathing, very briefly, there is still a water shortage. I thought about the value of humor in this presidential race. Why did I think about this? Because I saw the Mike Huckabee commercial that is after the jump. Take the jump.




In a day and age where most of us feel like the best social commentary is coming from a guy mocking Bill O'Reilly and a former stand-up comic, is it any wonder that someone with a sense of humor might be a dark horse? Vote Huckabee or pay the price.

PS. I'm creating a new category for all things Chuckabee related.

Kids are cute:

I got to see my friend Andrew's little baby boy, Christian. He's awesome. He snorts and my fiance accidentally gave him a concussion. In light of that here is a cute kid.



You don't even have to take the jump.

And here is the rest of it.

You know what's cool?

Being engaged!

I'm engaged to my long-time and wonderful girlfriend, now Fiance! I genuinely have no way of decently expressing how elated I am. All I can do is show you a picture that we had taken. Later, I'll explain in detail how I proposed and how Jennie responded.


Folks, I'm getting married! This is all so surreal and wonderful. I will deffinetly be putting more pictures and more info up.

This sums up my bride to be.

Song of Solomon 4:7
"You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you."

My endorsement goes to:

Facebook! I believe that it is the far superior of the big two this year. I believe that if we want to see our interwebnet get back to what it used to be. Then Facebook can take us there.

Just look at Myspace. It's full of semi-porn and aneurysm inducing flashing colors, I ask you, is that where you want your children to grow up? Facebook is a step back to good old internet values. Clean lines and crisp lettering, just like grandma used to make, that's what my interwebnet is like.

This year, make it count, avoid myspace like the plague. The plague that it is. Get a Facebook account. The interwebnet will thank you.

Seriously, Myspace is just too gross. Also, I like that you don't start off grading your friends with Facebook. As a youth minister I try to teach kids to not judge their friends. Well, Myspace seems to think that is a stupid idea. So, I prefer Facebook, parents, get your kids off Myspace.





And here is the rest of it.

In light of the recent drought:

I would like to put forward a thought. A look at situational ethics and the plight the the American conscience. A brief foray into how little we appreciate the world around us. Take the jump.


Every day that I drive to work, I take a back road that runs me through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. I see lush green grass and giant ponderous cows. Occasionally, I see a horse running, seemingly for no other reason than because it can. I love taking this back road, it's a nice break for a city mouse like me.

At one point I turn onto a less rural road and start heading into town. On this road there is the item in question. I see the thing that seems to encompass everything that doesn't make sense about America. It's a sod farm. A grass farm.

It always has gigantic sprinklers going, unleashing torrents of water. Water that is as of now precious. Water that is depleting our 90 day store. Water for grass.

What a waste. The sod won't grow to feed people somewhere. In the long run it feeds a bit of narcissism. Which is really what this is all about. The sod farm, for me, is one of the greatest signs of American narcissism imaginable. Shame on us for wasting precious resources in search of the all American dollar. How Un-Christlike, how inhuman is it to know that we have the plot of land and the ability to farm it and waste it on grass.

I hope we all take a long look at how we use our resources. The world is watching us and will really call into question our Gospel if we can't give any proof to the fact that when He was hungry we fed Him. Give up narcissism.

The scariest thing in the world.

I thought I'd sneak one last post in this Halloween and take a look at something that is terrifying the modern populace. EMO. Where did it come from? Where is it taking us?

I for one believe they should be rounded up and used as code talkers in the war on terror. This would use their natural penchant for poetry in a positive way, also, if anyone breaks the code they will immediately spiral down into an unending pit of black self loathing. Here's a video that hits the issue head on.

These men have British accents, and as such, I trust them completely. Take the jump for incontrovertible evidence on the EMO menace.

Thank you 90210. A Halloween tale. . .of terror.

For the last week and a half my humble little blog has seen a remarkable jump in viewership. A normal day is between 3 and 5 unique visitors to the "AS", that's the cool new way of referencing "Absolutely Spoo". Check with the cool kids on the street, they'll know, they'll probably even let you into their gang if you say it. So while I was getting used to, and more than content with, about 4 hits a day, suddenly my Blogworld was sent into upheaval as the hits skyrocketed to 12 or 15 a day. . .the horror. Needless to say, I spent the next few days carefully combing my data to see where the trend started. I then broke out my "Nostradamus For Dummies" and a black mirror, so that I might get a glimpse into the horrifying end of the world that this jump in viewing had caused.

To hear the end of this spooooky story just take the leap. Take it!

Friday, September 21, 2007.

The day seems so far off now. Like a wisp of hot breath being torn to shreds by the cold winter bite. I had no idea that when I wrote about my trip to the thrift store that it would spark the end of all matter and humanity. I couldn't have known, it was just. . .a thrift store, or so I thought.

It's all so clear now. If you're reading this it may already be too late. I know, now better than ever, why I felt such a strong calling from that ping pong table. I hadn't found it, it had found me. I was suckered in by it's low price and alluring green boxes and white lines. I was such a fool. I didn't even stop to ask myself why someone would want to get rid of such a fine miniature tennis court.

I swept it up and put it in the back of my cherry Trans Am, that's what I call my dad's truck, the cherry Trans Am. Everyone was so happy to see that bedeviled table leave their small Christian store. I was all to eager to bring the burden on myself.

Two days it set, no, it waited on the back of my cherry Trans Am. Waiting for the moment that it could be unleashed upon the world. I protected it from the wind, rain and all assortment of elements. Perhaps, snow and/or light sleet, though that is highly unlikely, no matter though, I protected the wicked monstrosity. Allowed it time to hatch a vile scheme.

As if by hidden signal I new it was time to make the trip to church. Partially because it was Wednesday and I am always at church on Wednesday, but I would have been there no matter what on this ominous day, the table would make sure of that. I traveled to the cherry Trans Am and made sure the tarp was secure. The tarp, I now understand, was our last and final hope to contain the horror. Or course I quickly removed it upon arriving at the church.

Three young men, I heard them called "Youth" by the inhabitants of the church, came to give me a hand in taking my new treasure indoors. They came to take the table. . .inside. I don't know if I can ever be forgiven for bringing those boys into this. I must tell my story anyways.

It was about this time that I wrote the post and linked to a picture. This Picture!



Oh, the humanity! The flood of Belgian viewers to my blog began only moments after! Not just Belgians, no, Australians, Canadians, Norwegians, even the unbathed wretches of North Carolina found their way to my site. How despicable this constant surge of readers. How wicked the desire to view that picture. I was feeding the universal desire to dress up like a 90210 character and I didn't even know it! The table had played it's hand. It new when to hold'em and it knew when to fold'em. I dare say it knew when to walk away and the blasted atrocity knew when to run.

I was ensnared, my deep. . .deeeeep hubris wouldn't allow me to take down a post that was garnering me this much attention. Even if it meant saving the world from a clone army of Brendas and Dylans washing up on the shore of every coast this October 31st, I just couldn't do it.

All I can do is this. . .write to warn you. If you see a Scandinavian wearing acid wash, run. If you see a Lithuanian in a vest with embroidered flowers or something on it, fear for your life and make haste. Friends, if you stumble upon young Belgian men with teased hair and a rebel without a clue attitude, don't let your guard down, no matter how badly you want to go to the Peach Pit with him. No good can come from this. None.

I know where the table is, I know where it is plotting, planning, waiting. I just don't know how or when. We must all be vigilant, and perhaps we should attend the Euharlee Baptist Reformation Party on October 31st from 6 till 8. The table is at my church still, so we could watch it, and try to keep each other safe, or is it already too late? Only time will tell. . .do you hear the opening credits in your head? Bada da da da dun, da da da da dun chung chung chung. Wheedledee wheedledee wheeeeee! It sounds alot like that, maybe I was of in the third bar, you know, with the wheedledee's. Either way, beware the creeping terror that is, 90210 fever!

Your vote has been decided:

Chuck Norris endorses Mike Huckabee as his presidential candidate! With that bit of news we can all stop arguing about politics and move on. Thankfully with all the time Norris saved, the politicians can get back to arguing with one another off screen. Here's the real question, should Huckabee take Norris on as his vice president? Take the leap to learn a little about our future VP.



Fun Facts: Chuck Norris was slated to play Leonidas in 300, but they were going to have to change the name to 1.

Here is a picture of of Chuck's toilet paper.

What the war on terror should look like. Boom!

When I was around the tender age of 7, I was an extra in the Chuck Norris movie, "Invasion USA". I have a picture of myself sitting on his lap. I barely survived.

I'm Late, I'm Late!

I'm late for a chance that this post will be even moderately relevant! See back about a month ago, or "many moons ago" in interwebnet thought, there was all this spicy banter going on about the Pyro guys making posters. Well, I got the idea for a poster and never made it. Because I'm lazy and forgetful, I can say it, we can move on, that's why I didn't make it. So, here's my attempt at jumping into a long dead discussion. Take the jump already.

TA DA!

I gotta tell you. I'm really happy with the way that turned out. I'm pretty sure that this whole thing "Jumped the Shark" a long time ago. I don't think this will incite any vitriol, so I feel OK about posting it. If anyone also thinks it's funny feel free to comment, or if you think it's funny that I am actually posting something this dated. . .comment.

Thanks to The Squirrel Queen for the pic.

I'm in a video type mood:

This one made me laugh pretty hard. It's an SNL skit. I really would love to sit down with Bjork for an hour, just to see what it's like. That's all you get. Take the leap.

SNL - Björk and Charles Barkley Sketch
Uploaded by nono_the_bean

Burn Me Up:

I recently purchased the new Shane and Shane album "Pages". Do yourself a favor and buy the CD. It's 3/4 awesome! Unfortunately it does have some wasted tracks, in my opinion. Although you might like the ones I don't. I'll tell you what though, if you can listen to it and not be touched by the passion in their voices, you should get your money back. Also, you should check your pulse.

I'm as awestruck by their singing and songwriting as I was in college. I found a fan made video for the song "Burn us up". I want to let you hear the song, the video is amateur, but at least he did it. The song tells the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they stood in front of Nebuchadnezzar and defiantly told him that they would only worship their God, the one true God.

The beauty of it is that they say that they know their God is able to save them from the fires, but, and here is, I think, the strength of their testimony, they will burn if He chooses not to. To have faith like that. I pray that I would burn and that I will burn. Check the video and song out after the jump.

The Terrible Town Hall Meeting:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(remember I don't like research)

"A Town hall meeting is an informal public meeting derived from the traditional town meetings of New England. Similarly to those meetings, everybody in a community is invited to attend, voice their opinions, and hear the responses from public figures and elected officials, although attendees rarely vote on an issue. In today's heterogeneous communities with large populations, more often, town hall meetings are held so that people can influence elected officials in their decision making or to give them a chance to feel that their voices are being heard.

There are no specific rules or guidelines for holding a town hall meeting. If the turnout is large, and the objective is to give as many people as possible an opportunity to speak, the group can be broken down into smaller discussion groups. Participants all hear an opening presentation and then group-up to discuss an aspect of the presentation. Each group appoints someone to summarize their group's discussion.

I'm from Atlanta, Michael Vick and all the hoopla surrounding him is an inescapable fact. I watched the ESPN sponsored "Town Hall Meeting" and was a little bit saddened by my neighbors. Take the leap to see why.


I have to admit that I wasn't feeling well most of the day and slept through the first thirty minutes of the show/spectacle. Perhaps in those 30 minutes someone said something that would change my view of the way people acted. But, without that knowledge the whole thing really bothered me. I couldn't tell if people where there because of Vick, Dog Fighting, Racism or what. It was odd.

I was a bit thrown off by the, what seemed to be, strong vocal majority who felt that dog fighting was being looked at too strongly. The sound bite from T.O. comparing Dog Fighting and Hunting is as well a thought out opinion as I've heard on the topic. I actually wrote a little bit on Dog Fighting, here. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, but I brought up our natural right and responsibility to cull the herd for a species' protection and our own dietary needs. I appreciate that T.O. can see hunting and Dog Fighting in the same light. He's right, killing for sport is wrong.

If you hunt for no reason other than to kill something, then you aren't any better than Vick and the "Bad Newz Kennels". I don't think that's the majority of hunters though. Even if the average hunter isn't thinking about controlling herd sizes, they do eat the meat. If they don't, then they are just as bad as Vick. All that to say this, Pit Bulls don't need they're herd to be thinned and no one eats the fallen dog. So, T.O. dog fighting is not the same as hunting, when hunting is done right.

Now, I've grown up with the inescapable fact of racism. I'm not Stephen Colbert, so I unfortunately do see race. Luckily, I am saved by grace so I don't view a person according to the color of his skin. I view them according to the state of their soul. Before I sound hypocritical, I am human, and I make mistakes. I've made snap judgments on just about every ethnicity, including my own.

With that said, I really feel like the ESPN debate and the debate on Vick kept going back to and keeps coming back to race. Shame on Atlanta. Shame on us for making an issue of law an issue of race. Shame on every African American who has panned any view opposing theirs because someone of another ethnicity said it. Shame on each white person who has made a more harsh judgment than they should because of Vick's race. Heaven will be multicultural, if you can't handle that, you need to reconsider your faith.

I really feel like the ESPN debate was a benchmark. It was a show of the present climate in Atlanta. If it felt like there is a divide, there is. If nothing else, it needs to be a catalyst for people who want to see that divide shrink. I don't know what that means, practically. I just know that we Christians have a long way to go to break through the stereotypes and racism of intercity Atlanta. Maybe we need to have a town hall meeting on it.

Sub-Par Reviews: Ten Dumbest Things Christians Do

In what I hope to be the first of many reviews on all forms of media. I'll be looking at the book I just finished a month ago. Why do I call this "Sub-Par Reviews"? Well, you'll just have to read it to figure that out. Take the leap to read my review of Mark Atteberry's book.

I loaned my copy of the book out a few days ago, so I have nothing that I can reference with. Except, my mind. What I do remember of the book is that it seemed to say, "Maybe I'm proof-texting, maybe I'm speaking too much from experience, but you're being stupid. Stop it." 10DTCD is a book that seems to be focused at the laity as well as the ministry staff of churches. It lays the conviction on pretty thick at times by pointing out pretty easy to understand shortcomings of the Bride of Christ in America in the last 20, or so, years.

For instance the first big finger wag belongs to us slinging mud on the Bride of Christ. Talking bad about the body of believers. Tearing down the Universal Church before people ever even get a chance to meet the local church. Seems simple enough right. Well, Mark had some alliteration that helped you remember the big ideas from the chapter. In fact, alliteration is all over this book. Sometimes, it seems unnecessary and forced.

The book continues with winners like "Speaking above the level of your knowledge" and "Winning people to the Church instead of Christ." There are other quite good chapters like, "Allowing the wolves to live amongst the sheep" and "Accepting the Unacceptable" which really get confrontational. The book does make you check yourself. It's a pretty good mirror to see if you're making any of the mistakes. I saw myself in the mirror a few times.

There's a study guide at the back with about three questions for each chapter. Sometimes the questions are directly pulled from the chapter and sometimes they are kind of a stretch.


Final Thought:______________________________________________

All in all, I give the book 4 out of 5 "Sub-Par Stars". I think you should check it out, but if you're Reformed you need to go into it with the understanding that this is not and will not ever be held up there with Calvin's "Institutes" or other tenets of literature. Though, it is a nice look at a pastor's 30 years of ministry and some practical pointers that he has garnered. This is definitely not a Sub-Par book.

Before Church:

So, I have about 5 minutes before I leave and would like to remind people to GIVE ME IDEAS for my new tag line! Also, myself and my two very good friends have been talking about doing something creative. They made the poor choice of supporting me in my fiction writing. So, by golly, I'm going to make them pay by actually writing. If you see me make sure you give me a little, very soft, kick in the butt and remind me to keep working.

Off to church. I'm poorly rested and looking forward to coming together with the body of Christ.

Also. . .Jennie comes back today! She was on the trip with the women of the church, as mentioned in my Thrift Store post.

And here is the rest of it.

A Bouncy Trip to The Thrift Store

Today I was at the "A-Z Thrift Store" and two really great things happened to me. I think that one of them might have been an, "I want to live" type moment. That is, if I had been depressed or something. I'm not, which is why I don't need an, "I want to live moment". I guess I should take a moment and address the random person who might find this blog by searching "I want to live". If you typed that in because you are depressed, well, you should keep living. You being alive excites someone, even if it's not you. On top of that, and more importantly, God made you and cares for you. I bet I would like you if I knew you. So, keep living, I want you to live!

To find out what two things happened at the thrift store, take the jump.



The "A-Z Thrift Store, I believe, is a church run organization. My girlfriend and I went in to look for her a 90's themed outfit. She's going on a trip with the women of the church and they are going to hold a "multi generational" fashion contest. So, we went looking for the most 90210esque outfit they had.

I guess it would be more appropriate to say, she went looking for clothes while I went looking for a discarded digital video camera. No luck, on the camera. It was in my searching through the old Polaroid cameras and discarded falderal, that I made my way to the vinyl albums. I went looking for some ridiculous album that I wouldn't feel bad about melting up into a cool vinyl bowl that I had been wanting to make. This is where I got to be a part of the awesome joy altering moment.

Right behind me, in what I believe was the children's book section, was a man and his daughter. She was probably 10, tops. I'm going to assume he was in his thirties, even thought I don't see why it matter. This little girl was sitting on the floor with her feet under her and her feet splayed out pointing either way behind her. She sang a song, that she wrote, and was probably writing just before it came out of her mouth. It was delightfully Spanish. The best part was that she was wearing big white on the outside, pink on the inside bunny ears.

Needless to say I stayed in the record section a little longer glancing over my shoulder as she continued to sing her song and lightly project herself into the air. Only occasionally did I pick up the word "Bounce", often repeated a couple times. That was so sweet. She didn't have a care in the world, she was a bunny and her song was perfect. It was a bouncy song, full of joy. She didn't stop singing till I stepped out of the records and into her line of sight. I broke the illusion. There's a whole post in itself right there. But, onto the second, less amazing thing.

When I got done ruining that little girl's party I went to look at the used furniture. I wanted to see if I could find anything to help me with the storage in the youth trailer. It needs shelving. I didn't find it, but I did see a perfectly fine Ping-Pong table. I looked at it and it only had to braces that connect the frame to the table missing. It didn't seem like that big of a deal. I passed it by though. I didn't see any point in looking for a price, I didn't want to spend that kind of money.

I did a once around the furniture and came back to the Ping-Pong table(also check this out). I looked for a price this time and couldn't see anything. I scoured the thing until I saw "SOLD" in big black letters. I was down till I realized that it was scratched through. I perked up a little. I still didn't see a price on it, which made me think it was actually sold and someone was trying to ruin my party. I walked to the board game area.

Did you know that christian board games have terrible art and packaging. It's true, and there is no better place to see this than at a Thrift Store. That's because, all those religious board games you buy for people don't get lost, they get donated. So you can scrap your board game evangelism ministry. All that means is that I didn't spend much time in the board game room. I was going to find my lady friend when I saw a woman with a box full of fake leaves in her hands. I stopped her and asked if she worked there. When she said, yes, I tentatively asked her if the Ping-Pong table was really sold or not. She told me that it in fact had not been sold, I began to glow. She asked me if I wanted it, and I asked, "How much?" She replied, "Today, for you, five dollars."

I nearly flipped out. I immediately ran to ask my pre-ance if she thought it was a good idea to buy it. She gave me a qualified yes and I called the church pastor to see if I should get it. He gave me an unqualified yes and told em to get it and keep it in the fellow ship hall. It was on. I was buying a full size, five dollar Ping-Pong table. So, today, I need to go to bed, I'm going to go pick up my Ping-Pong table and take it to church.

See how great a day I had? Thank you "A-Z thrift Store", you made my day. See the bouncy tie-in? Bouncy rabbit girl. . .bouncy Ping-Pong balls? I gotta say, that's the best post title ever! Hope y'all have something close to as great a day as I have had.

Choose My New Tag Line!

Yes. . .you can take on the huge responsibility of replacing the beloved and well worn "Rudy" tag line. Here's the deal, I'm going to accept your application for what my new tag line should be in the comments of this post. I'll give it a week and then close comments up. The following week I'll put up a poll for you all, read "both" of you, of you to vote on your favorite.

I need your creativity!

I'll start. . .

The Cold Hard Truth:

I didn't win. I'm sure you've noticed the book thing isn't there anymore. . .who cares, whatever. It was a stupid contest. Like I even wanted those stupid books. I bet the winners were Tim Challies' friends. Even if he gave them to me, I wouldn't want them. I'm never reading his blog again.

Forget him. . .and his stupid contest.

The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do

I just finished up the above mentioned book with my youth during Sunday School. If any of them come by I'd love to get their opinion of the study. In fact that might be better suited for the actual youth website. So, just forget that last part.

I do plan on putting up a little personal thought on the book. This then could be considered as a warning, heed it wisely. . .

A quick blurb of my thoughts on the book would be something like this, "Not the end all book on biblical church growth, but it's not the worst place to get started as it touches most of it's points without to much top-end thought." That might be my blurb. I might revise it, because the top-end thought part seems rude. I really did enjoy the book, I'd hate to give off any other view. The book just didn't ask much of the reader.

Help me win books!

Tim Challies, is giving away all six volumes of the Reformed Expository Commentary Series. I have a feeling that most of my friends and youth who frequent this site won't want these books, at least not as bad as I do.

So, I figure you all can help me get a hold of this collection by just clicking on the link above. It will sign you up for the contest, but it will also give me an extra shot at winning. I think that if you do the math, I'm not really getting an advantage, but maybe even thinning my possibilities to win.

That's not going to slow me down though. I want those books and one chance just isn't going to do it. In fact, that's almost like gambling, you guys don't want me gambling, do you? So let's make this more probable by clicking on the link. I'll let you read my books if we win.

Brian Mclaren Sings?

I'm closing out the month with one last post. I was getting ready for bed and checking out the firestorm of comments on the TeamPyro blog from their latest post, when I got sucked away to a commentators site. I looked over the site to get a handle on who he was and what he believed. During my excursion I found a video for a song written by Brian Mclaren, unofficial head of the Emergent Movement.

I would really like to know what you think about this song. After listening to it I feel like I don't know what he believes. Which is odd because that's what the whole song is about. I really feel like this song could be written to a Wiccan Goddess as easily as it could be written to the Space Lords of Scientology. It makes me wonder about the worth of modern "worship" music as well as the purpose of that music. Is the stuff coming out by "main stream" worship leaders any better than this song?

What do you believe? How would your song sound?

Check the video out after the jump.

Voting Is Over:

Just wanted to thank everyone who voted in the "New Look" poll. It's nice to know that someone actually reads this. The voting appears to have ended in a tie. I will attempt to find a happy medium for all those who voted.

Chris

Chris West: Professional Prayer

Over the weekend I attended the wedding of my girlfriends sister. It was lovely. She looked beautiful and you could just feel the joy radiating off of the two of them. Of course she wasn't the most beautiful woman in the room, that honor went to my girlfriend. She was radiant. All of that to say this, I was originally asked to perform the ceremony. You could imagine how honored I was.

Come to find out that the place she was having the wedding didn't let "Licensed Ministers" perform weddings. You had to be a "Ordained Minister". Though, I wasn't going to be left out entirely. The bride asked me to give the blessing at the reception party. Here's how that went down.

Hint: I said something awkward.

For about a week I pondered how to properly give a blessing for a meal that also encompassed blessing the covenant my two friends had entered into. I read up on the scripture talking about marriage and all that it entails, even the racy stuff in Song of Solomon. Tee Hee.

As the day got closer I really felt like I had nailed down how to balance asking God to use the meal to focus our thoughts and lives back to Him as well as reinforcing the great joy and weight of their wedding covenant. So after a four hours road trip to Asheville, it was go time.

The wedding was very nice. I've been to several weddings and most of them have been between people who are of the Reformed bent. So it was interesting to sit in on a wedding where neither person was really into theology and doctrine. Not to say they aren't Christians, I firmly believe they are. But, I've just gotten very used to weddings between seminary students and soon to be seminary students. Either way, there were differences that I can't adequately point out, though I know I noticed them. Maybe some other time.

After the two were married we tarried (Ha! A rhyme!) over to the reception and I was one of the first things up. I stepped up to the mic and everyone quieted. I asked everyone to bow in prayer with me and said something like this, "Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day. For this chance to join together and witness your covenant of marriage performed before us. Thank you for Jevone and Kadee reminding us of the sacrificial love you showed all of us on the cross and the love that we should have for you." It was at this point I began to bless the food.

"Lord, we ask that you bless this food that we are about to eat and this drink that we are about to enjoy." I could have stopped there, but I got cocky and felt like I needed to really tie together the two themes of the prayer. "Much like Kadee and Jevone's new marriage. I pray that you make the food nourishing to our bodies in the same way that they will lift each other up and help to strengthen one another, drawing ever closer to you. And, precious savior, I pray that we enjoy all that we drink and remember that it is a gift from you." This is where I should have said, "Amen." but I didn't.

"Holy God, I pray that we enjoy the drink just like Kadee and Jevone will enjoy. . .(awkward pause as I realize what I've just started to say but see no way out of it). . .each other. (Another pause) "Amen." There was chuckling after the amen, but also several people applauded my frankness. Either way, I'm available for weddings, birthday parties, moose lodge meetings and any other event that may require a "professional" blessing.

A little more about New Mexico:

I'd like to talk about the natural beauty of the area that we were in. New Mexico is basically a flat arid landscape dotted with huge jutting mountains and rock formations. It really is dichotomous. Here's an example of the area right outside of Gallup called "Church Rock". In the foreground, where the girls are, you can see the dust bowl that is the majority of Church Rock. Then in the background are these giant craning mountains. I believe in this picture you can actually see the church rock in the background on the far left.

Those mountains were breathtaking. Completely different than the mountains out west, which I remember as being very sharp. These mountains aren't as high, but much smoother. The evidence of age and wear are evident every time you look at one. What is really interesting though are the colors. Each mound has layers of color throughout it, some have alternating shades of red, while others really vary from layer to layer. The closer you get to the painted desert the more intense the shifts.

Which leads me up to our trip out to the painted desert in Arizona. While I won't take anything away from New Mexico and it's rock formations, which were genuinely awe inspiring, I could not have imagined the stark change in the painted desert.

As soon as we arrived we saw remnants of petrified trees littered along the road. The picture to the right isn't actually any of the smaller chunks of tree that we saw. It is a full on fallen petrified tree, this view is of the root system and the majority of the trunk trailing off in the distance. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted by the enormity of it. The really cool thing was that the process that had transformed these trees left traces of different minerals in the form of color in the trees.

The trees were normally mixes of muted reds, browns and oranges. Although sometimes they looked like giant pieces of white quartz and could carry just about any color. In fact, while my group was off looking at something my wanderlust got the better of me and I decided to go running to the bottom of the valley. You can spot part of the trail in the bottom right hand of this picture. I had almost gotten there when Jennie shouted to let me know the bus was leaving. I assure you the run up was harder than the run down. Did I mention that Billy the Kid hid in those valleys?

So, the next pictures you are about to see are the only ones taken by any member of Euharlee Baptist Church.

At the top of the trail was a sign that informed me that I was entering the "Black Forest" section of the Petrified Forest. I immediately spotted what I would have walked past any other time and snapped a picture of this.

Those little black rocks are actually dark black hunks of petrified wood. See what happens when you take the time to go places that others won't go just because of a sign that says "Warning: Rattle Snakes"?

Well, the last picture is really my pride and joy. I felt like I got to have a moment with nature down in this valley, possibly surrounded by venomous snakes. I saw that nature absolutely did portray God's invisible attributes, I stood in front of a tree and just marveled at it. I marveled and remembered that God created it. The creator is Himself so much more magnificent than His creation that when Moses asked to see God's full glory it nearly killed him. I really felt the weight of how little I fear and am awe struck by Jehovah.

There it is. My tree. I'm the only person in Euharlee Georgia that saw that tree. I'm the only one who can wonder how long it took for it to begin to unravel and how long it has been unraveling.

It's almost just a husk of a tree in places. You can see where it's peeling off from itself. It's pretty fantastic, surrounded by all that new growth. I'm really glad I got to see that tree, it's got layers, depth.

A New Look:

I've changed things up a little over here at Absolutely Spoo. I'm toying with this double sidebar shenanigans. I kind of think it makes my blog feel like a wild west outlaw with only it's trusty widgets and content to keep it alive. I see room for improvement, but if you don't then I can just let it be subpar and none will be the wiser.

Needless to say, I would love to hear what both readers think of the new look. Also, I've stepped into the 22nd Century by adding a "Search Bar" on the right hand side. You can use it to "Search" my blog and all the links that I have posted. . .at the same time. Finally, for your convenience, I have added "Absolutely read more!" links to all of my posts. They will be at the end of shorter posts, but will cut longer posts off after the first little bit. This way you won't have to see big chunks of text unless you choose to.

Whaddya think? Make sure you vote.

Because The DJ Wouldn't Play It:

I saw this video on here a few nights ago. The only reason I'm putting this up here is because it reminded me of a story.

My friend Andrew, or as I like to call him, "The guy who reads my blog" is married. On a fun side note, he and his wife are expecting their first child. Well, since I've set the scene as well as any Hemingway tome I'll just jump right in. Andrew, being the good friend that he is, asked me to help him out. He asked me to put together a "Mix Tape" of songs for his wedding reception. There were some gems on there. You had your Chicken Dance, your Electric Slide, and the song that didn't get played.

I listened as the songs I had lovingly compiled into a single CD of musical friendship passed over the sound system, I couldn't help but feel like the crown jewel was missing. I left the reception, happy for my friend, but mourning the loss of that song. So, here it is, performed by a barbershop quartet, The Ewok Celebration.

Just a quick tidbit:

Things have started to slow down with the school year lurching forward again. I expect that I will write some more about my trip to New Mexico and some on my youth ministry musings. For now I would like to point you to a really great post from a friend of Andrew "Call to Die" Lindsey's. The full post can be found here. It's on a topic I have been mulling over for a while, that is, how quickly we trade the all surpassing wonder of knowing God and studying his word for the human desires of someone to rally behind and a ritual to complete.

This really resonated with me, it seems to touch on modern Christianity's "self-help guru" thing that's going on.

Interpretation of scripture

Rome: in summary, the interpretation of scripture is determined by the Church, as it is headed up by the authority of the Pope and other hierarchy. At one point in time, even possessing a personal copy of the scriptures was worthy of death.

Today’s ‘protestant’ correlation: serious students of the Word are rare; besides an occasional personal glance at scripture, many Protestants rarely spend time studying the deep truths of the Word on their own. The local pastor’s teaching, if he is liked among the congregation, is taken as ‘truth’ in doctrines that require the least bit of study. Instead of the Pope and other hierarchy, the protestants can boast of their own ‘superstar’ teachers, even in the Reformed community, who are looked at by many as being near infallible in their interpretation.

Has anyone ever caught themselves prizing the teaching of a John Piper or other notable men of God over God's word itself? I know that I have to watch to make sure I'm not getting more of their teaching than actual personal bible study. Long and short of all this, read your bible, like it was the Word of God.

Kid's Camp/Birth Control

So maybe "birth control" is a little harsh. I actually had a really good time at Children's camp this last week. I did get to have a healthy taste of what parenting will be like. Andrew, or any of my married friends reading this, I can give you some pointers. Most of them I learned through personal failures, luckily though, they weren't my kids. I might actually write a post strictly on how bad a job I did from time to time on said camp. Although, right now, I'm going to focus on what may have been the funniest moment in all of my camp life.

To set the scene you need to understand that there were 9, first through fifth graders jammed into our room. Myself and Marcus, the other counselor, had been up for about 3 days and the kids weren't quiet any of that time. Well, after the downpour for the day, did I mention it rained everyday? Because, it did, it rained all the time. Oddly enough, it was a blessing as that area had been in a drought for quite a long time.

Right, so there we are half mad from sleep deprivation, dripping, and cold from the rain. On top of that we were tucked into a space with 9 little arrows. All of this to set the mood and scene for what was one of the best and most hilarious cabin devotionals we had all week.

It all began like normal, because normal meant I had no idea what was going on. On the fly I was asked if I wanted to do the devotional for the night, feeling super spiritual I said, "Sure." The next thing I know I'm talking about God keeping his promises by helping a very old woman in the bible, I think Sarah, have a baby. Perhaps it was my delivery, but octogenarians giving birth didn't seem to peak the interest of third graders. So, I picked up the theme of prayer and ran with it.

I asked the kids if they wanted to pray about anything. No lie, these kids ate up the opportunity to lift up legit, non-vain, prayer requests. Of course they came from the mouth of babes so they were tempered with natural immaturity, but to me that made them all the more sweet. A boy asking for God to protect his family from Satan, because his mom broke her toe. The little guy who just wanted us to pray for his grandma with the broken hip. These kids were all so not focused on themselves, which was an alarming change since the whole week had been focused on them. I was a bit taken back, at some point Marcus told me he got teary-eyed listening to them voice very personal needs.

Until one kid prayed for us to be protected while we were at camp. That just sparked the imaginations of every one of those boys. All of the sudden there were ax murderers and werewolves in the woods. In their minds, at any moment the wind could carry a tree right on top of us. But, one guy shouted out, "Bears! Bears could attack us!" Everyone lost it, and I had to try and pull back together what had been a very touching moment. All the while the little boy sitting next to me was saying, "You know what's scary? You, you, you know what's scary?"

As soon as things died down I looked at the kid sitting next to me to see what he was trying to say, and just as thing got completely quiet he blurted out, "BEARS WITH MACHINE GUNS!" I don't know if it's as funny when you read it. In fact I know it can't be as funny. I kid you not after I got the group to pray, which wound up being just as lovely as the period before the NRA Bear Scare, Marcus and I went back outside to work on moving stuff and died laughing the rest of the night.

Genuinely though, it's hard to really grasp Christ's affinity for children until you are a parent or spend time teaching them. There is something special about their faith. I always had trouble with the idea of a child like faith. It rang of an immature faith or a thoughtless faith, but these kids were more like, "Duh, why wouldn't we be Christian." They saw the joy of serving God. They could trust easily, because all they knew was trusting in someone. It was nice, I really learned something from them, something that I don't think I can easily put down in words. Go spend some time with little kids, I think it's worth it.

Some night I might try to type up the story about the kid who did "Funny Voices" at the Talent Show. I literally fell on the ground laughing.

Pope B, Bringing The Heat!

I absolutely love the fact that the Pope isn't pulling any punches. Some of you may have heard about the recent edict he approved of that says the Catholic church is the only true church.

Way to go big guy! Pope Benedict, spitting in the face of Vatican II, tightens up his belt and let's all us protestants know that we have no means of salvation. BOOM! This guy has moxie! What does he base all of this on? Nothing other than Catholic doctrine. No matter how much Holy Scripture disagrees with that doctrine. What a pair of big, brass, infallible ones on this guy.

Here's what I love the most. He sees the differences. I firmly believe that he's incorrect, but he isn't willing to look at all the world religions and say that they are streams or spokes in a wheel. For that, I have to applaud him. Maybe this will stir up the debate between Catholics and Protestants?

Right now, I am in the middle of Vodie Baucham's book "The Ever Loving Truth" and he's dealing with the Post-Christian culture and touching on Post Modernism. I like that the Pope isn't Post Modern. He's wrong, but he's sure there is absolute truth, which I like. I'd like to see a little bit of that fire burning in Protestants, but tempered with love.

Wouldn't it be nice if the great big body of Christ actually got together and said, "Hey. . .Christ said He was the only way to know God. I bet He meant it." Then we all figured out the ramifications of our Saviors statements and acted on them. The scary realization of Christ making exclusive statements of His lordship would spur us on to evangelism, hopefully.

I'm not trying to make Christ sound like he's exclusive to a certain group. I firmly believe there is a flock, or a number, of chosen individuals who will be saved. But, I don't know who those people are and they were chosen completely outside of their own merit. What I am trying to say is this, He is exclusively The Savior. Why should we mince words?

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Let's step it up, Protestants. We're kind of getting shown up by the Pope. This is not a matter of personal truth, it's a matter of eternal signifigance. Let's stop going where the breeze leads and start standing up for what scripture teaches.

Thanks,

Chris

Post Mission Trip Post

This is going to be short. **I was wrong - 7/21/07**

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to New Mexico in which I was allowed to work with the Church Rock Chapter of the Navajo tribe in Gallup. We, my church, went to lead Vacation Bible School for the local Native Americans. It was a spectacle. Oddly enough, my good friend Andrew posted about VBS the day we started doing it. Check it out, here.

I believe there was a total of 4 individuals who professed their faith in Christ. My girlfriend was involved with one of them. A little girl who was precious. Also, we saw a grown man who is a father of 3 come to know Christ. Please be in prayer for all the people of Gallup in the Navajo Nation. There is a deep thirst for living water.

I got a chance to spend time with lots of young teens to young adults. I learned that Dodge ball is universal, but only slightly less so than the Gospel. I kid you not, Danelle and myself could have everyone really excited and then lose them but, never with Dodge ball. That's what makes this last little note so special.

I had absolutely no control over the crowd in New Mexico. They would literally walk away from me while I was talking to them. They would purposefully ignore my requests, to the point that it was almost ridiculous. Until the Dodge balls came out. Three of the nights I got a really good chance to meet with the whole group, the other night's timing was off. It was there, sitting in the circle in the middle of the basketball gym that The Gospel really showed itself to be transcendent.

I spoke about repentance and faith. I used some simple analogies that I got from The Way of The Master. They never ignored me. They were engaged and no one left out of apathy or boredom. Each night I went back to my hotel room more and more amazed by Scriptures ability to cut straight to the heart of each person there.

I don't know if any of the Navajo in my group professed Christ as their personal Savior. If they did, I hope to see them next year, teaching God's word to a lost people group. If no one did then I just thank God that I was allowed to plant seeds that someone else can harvest. Either way, I drew closer to God because of the preaching of His word.

If you've never taught God's word, you must! There is no quicker way to sure up your faith than to teach what Holy Scripture says to be true. I recommend praying for the missionaries in New Mexico, they are not without persecution from the Navajo themselves. Finally, please, read Scripture and teach it, share what you are learning. It will make your faith grow deeper.

Pray for the Navajo to raise up leaders who will lead their families in a Christ like way.

Thanks,
Chris

Is it too late to make fun of The Secret?

I'm getting on a video kick. I figured out how to do it and now I can't stop. This internet thing could catch on. If only the kids were using it. . .

Either way, this video satires The Secret and just about sums up all the wackiness. I've got some points, maybe just one, to make after you watch the video. So watch the video, it's funny. A quick warning don't bother with checking out the link. It's some website that is actually using this video to try and promote "The Secret". I guess even bad publicity is good publicity, eh?



If any of the 2 to 3 people who read this blog are ascribed to The Secret, get the heck out of it. Seriously, It's Oprah we're talking about here. She can't even ascribe to the faith she claims to follow. Why jump on board her bonus faith?

The other thing about The Secret is that it's not mutually exclusive. Other groups are claiming it under different names. In fact that's not even it's real name. Go hit Google up for info on the Law of Attraction. It even makes its way back to Buddha. The basic idea is that, "Like attracts like, and opposites repel opposites, in the world of thought." This from one of the earliest articles on the topic.

Wikipedia, because I don't like research, states three major principles in the Law of Attraction.

1. Know what one wants and ask the universe for it. (The "universe" is mentioned broadly, stating that it can be anything from a god to an unknown source of energy or even more realistically, bologna)
   
2. Feel and behave as if the object of one's desire is on its way. (Remember, you're speaking directly to a nebulous, illusory, non-corporeal fallacy!)
   
3. Be open to receiving it. (Be careful, if the "universe" is a mean Genie that bag of money might just fall from the sky and kill you.) *Emphasis mine*

So who else is using The Law of Attraction? That would be the Theological blunder that is the Prosperity Gospel. You might know it as, "Word of Faith" or even "Name It And Claim It Theology." Let's take a few seconds and apply the three principles of The Law of Attraction to The Prosperity Gospel.

1. Know what one wants and ask the universe for it. (In this case god would take the place of the more nebulous Universe. Here's the first problem, the assumption that prayer is for you to change the heart of God. Here's a great article on what prayer is and isn't. Tell me where you see, "Prayer is a place to beg for stuff")
2. Feel and Behave as if the object of one's desire is on the way. (Normally this is done in line with something called a "Seed Offering". The idea is that if God's gonna fix you financially the least you can do is give him a little bit up front. It's a twisting of scripture. They take the idea of reaping what you sow to a preposterous extreme. The promise of course is that the "seed" will grow. Of course it doesn't, unless you count it's growth in the crooks bank account.)
3. Be open to receiving it. (This is where the Prosperity Gospel, see Exhibit A, takes the hard turn towards heresy. Your action defines the arrival of the object. Here the often brought up complaint that, "My car ain't here yet", can be heard. To which the often vomited response is vomited, "You just aren't believing enough!" Again, this is a mockery of Biblical prayer and a blasphemous treatment of faith.)

So, by looking at the basic ideas of two false faiths we see just how much they have in common. Mind you, this is basically all opinion. I may have even used the scripture out of context. If I did and you catch it, let me know. None the less. The Secret is nothing new. It's the same thing that every religion, outside of true Biblical Christianity, teaches. It says that if you believe hard enough, act good enough, love strong enough, or at least do all those a little more than you do bad things, then good things will come to you.

The Bible teaches that it is by grace we are saved and by grace we are afforded all things. The natural difference there is that nothing rests on the shoulders of man. No amount of positive thought could ever attract enough positive energy to make up for the offenses of our sin. So, don't be fooled by Oprah or any other Jezebel who tries to feed you false doctrine. We are redeemed by the Christ's propitiation for our sins. So, just like Mya Rudolph's Oprah impersonation, shout Christ and His gospel with all of your might, proclaiming His glory where ever you go.

Bollywood at its finest:

The magic of Michael Jackson is that he can make just about anyone, even the most low key dude, a dancer. I was at Best Buy when they popped on his new compilation of number 1's. As soon as the strings burst out of "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" a couple of, seemingly, low key dudes started bobbing their heads. I was swaying a little bit myself. Which if I had let it do its thing, would have become a full on Robot/Break Dance Masterpiece. It probably didn't hurt that they were pushing it through some crazy sound system.

Remember. . .don't stop 'til you get enough. . .of this video.

Nancy, thanks for this gem

I'm Googlicious

If you haven't already done it, you need to download Google Earth. There is the chance that it will show you as much love as it is showing me.

At the last big church "shin-dig" a gentleman came up to me with a smile on his face and clued me into what was happening on the Gooarth ©. Long story short I make my way home and download Gooarth ©(ha Ching), type in Euharlee in the "Fly to" box and watch the 3D globe spin it's magic all over my screen. Here's what I saw when I clicked the info globe.

Euharlee is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,208 at the 2000 census. The city's explosive growth is evident as of the 2005 census the city's population rose to 3,859, and for 2006 estimates, Euharlee showed a population of 3,989. (See: [1]) Euharlee, Georgia is a bedroom community of Cartersville which is located 9 miles to the west, but they are connected through Euharlee Road, and by a chain of subdivisions and homes. The church is youth ministered by Chris West. It is next to a power plant.

Well, needless to say, the pastor of "The church" has not heard the end of this since. I'm so huge that Google is name dropping. Anyone else get any love from Google Earth?

What's 5-11, 212 lbs, fast, but oh so slow?

Clinton Portis

Cute, eh? Clinton Portis, Michael Vick, and pretty much everyone on TV is a bad role model. Let me give you a little back story on myself and where this is coming from.

I would like to think that when people consider my decision making process they can call it at least Biblically sound. I'm sure that people will call my decision making process lots of things, but biblically sound is really what I'm shooting for. Take for instance the fact that I work in a society that really loves hunting. For them hunting is equal parts sport and networking.

As most of you know, I am not a hunter. I like to think that I've become quite good at gathering. You know; gathering ground beef, gathering Hamburger Helper, gathering a 2 liter of Coconut soda. I am a gatherer. As is the case I have had to come to an opinion of hunting as I regularly faced it. It was either going to be Biblical or not.

Well, friends, I came to my opinion and I made my peace with hunting. You won't catch me blowing a hole in Bambi's gut, but I see the value for those around me. I reconciled it with the beginning of Genesis where we are told to rule over animals, I believe a level of responsibility came with that ruler ship as denoted by naming. Then meshing that with the later account of God saying we can eat just about anything and everything. . .till Leviticus. (Read Gen. chapters 1-9)

So I figure the point of hunting is to keep reign over animals. In so doing a necessary culling activity and protecting animals from over population. I know some of you are ready to flip out because it's our fault that they don't have homes. That's another fish for later frying. So hunting serves purposes and if done for it's biblical purposes is not sinful. Of course it can become a sinful activity if it becomes an idol or becomes an improper reign over God's creation.

So, you can see I wrestle with stuff. I check it and try to get it right. Which is why the most recent verbal diarrhea from Clinton Portis struck me so hard. He defended Dog Fighting. Dog fighting, to me, seems to fall in that area of poor treatment of God's creation. Is the meat being eaten? Is this really honoring to God? Do the full grown men watching hungry dogs snap at each other realize they are devaluing God's creation. I'm sure it's not hunting, and I'm sure it's not ok.

All of that to say this. Clinton Portis is a bad role model. Clinton Portis thinks my Atlanta Falcon's quarterback, Michael Vick is a good role model. That means Michael is a bad role model. And, it's time we stop letting TV time define role model worthiness. Full submission to Jesus Christ should be the merit of worth for all Christians. We fall so short when we place any level of worth on a person for any other reason.

So, in hindsight, Clinton said some really dumb stuff. That's to be expected from fallen man. His buddy backed up his dumb stuff. Which is to be expected from fallen man. Michael Vick is going to have a bad season, which is inevitably expected. Don't put your faith in a man, no matter what the hype, because he'll do something or say something dumb. Like saying, on national television, that there is nothing wrong with a little dog fighting.

Yeesh! This stuff never happens with the professional Boggle players.

Life without Falwell

I've had a day to sit on this Jerry Falwell dying thing. I'm calling it that because for so long he wasn't human to me, he was just that guy I poked fun at. I think most of us can say the same thing. He was a political bulls-eye or a sound bite, but he was never human. I think Rev. Falwell did his part to seem less than human by playing the games with modern media. He became a cause, the face of the moral majority, certainly not a human though.

I have to admit, I got caught up in the absurdity. I sent my pot shots at Rev. Falwell without really considering if he'd been misquoted or if his intentions were good. So, I've put on my rose colored glasses and I'm looking back at his life. I have been listening to the interviews on NPR and reading the blogs. Now I've got a little more sympathetic opinion of the late Reverend. I really think he had a deep passion for knowing Christ and making Him known. It's apparent that he felt a burden to help educate people in just about every walk of life. For all of his short comings, presupposed or not, I'm sad to see him go.

With all of my new found respect for Rev. Falwell and his adventures I still have some problems with a few of his theological stances. The soft filter that death allows us to view a life through can't change something that has an eternal weight. While his philanthropic and moral crusading will be viewed differently, I don't see how we can stop crying out against misuses of scripture and wrong teaching.

This is still the same person who loosely threw around the H word when he said, "We are not into particular love or limited atonement. As a matter of fact we consider it heresy." There by calling everyone who does believe in limited atonement a heretic(1 Tim 4:1-2), even if he didn't know he was doing it. He's also the man who stood behind Ergun Caner, President of Liberty University, when he said "Calvinists are worse than Muslims." I think we can all appreciate the implications of that statement, and I'm pretty sure that he knew what he was saying. I also think that they did a lot of dividing where dividing wasn't necessary.

Let's just call a duck a duck. The man did some good and we should applaud his life for that good. That doesn't mean we forget the bad. We don't learn anything if that happens. Let's study and discuss his theology, he does in fact have a University full of minds soaking it in. If it is wrong, let's humbly correct and reprove the offenders making sure to keep Matthew 22: 37-40 at the forefront of our reasons for doing so.

Jerry Falwell was a man. Plain and simple. He was a man on a big stage. He did some good and he made some mistakes. I hope to see him in heaven. I also hope we "reason together" about the many bold/brash statements that Rev. Falwell made, so that the body of Christ might be unified.

Please feel free to comment if you have a particular Rev. Falwell quote that infuriated you or enlightened you. Hopefully we can reason together and come to a better understanding of scripture through it.