Perception Without Deception

The Brother's Karamazov

2009-11-22T14:04:00.002-05:00

I know that technically I am not blogging any more, but I just finished "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky and there was a quote in the book that I wanted to be able to remember. It is found in part (d) of Chapter 1 in Book 6, and it is as follows:

'For everyone now strives most of all to separate his person, wishing to experience the fullness of life within himself, and yet what comes of all his efforts is not the fullness of life but full suicide, for instead of the fullness of self-definition, they fall into complete isolation. For all men in our age are separated into units, each seeks seclusion in his own hole, each each withdraws from the others, hides himself, and hides what he has, and ends by pushing people away from himself. He accumulates wealth in solitude, thinking: how strong, how secure I am now; and does not see, madman as he is, that the more he accumulates, the more he sinks into suicidal impotence. For he is accustomed to relying only on himself, he has separated his unit from the whole, he has accustomed his soul to not believing in people's help, in people or in mankind, and now only trembles lest his money and his acquired privileges perish. Everywhere now the human mind has begun laughably not to understand that a man's true security lies not in his own solitary effort, but in the general wholeness of humanity. But there must needs come a term to this horrible isolation, and everyone will all at once realize how unnaturally they have separated themselves one from another. Such will be the spirit of the time, and they will be astonished that they sat in darkness for so long, and did not see the light. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens.... But until then we must keep hold of the banner, and every once in a while, if only individually, a man must suddenly set an example, and draw the soul from its isolation for an act of brotherly communion, though it be with the rank of holy fool.'

Through reading the whole book, that passage really stuck with me, and I wanted to have the words for later if need be.

Missing Blog?

2009-05-15T10:43:00.003-05:00

So I have not blogged in a long time. I really enjoyed blogging and looking back at the things that I was thinking/reading, etc. in the past. However, I also felt this huge burden to stay consistent, and I did not like that. Since blogging was not necessarily connected to anything integral in my life, I let that be something that falls into the background when things get busy.

Thanks to the 3 of you that check this blog regularly and hope that I have actually posted something.

Right now I am thinking that I will not be blogging in the future. I am growing increasingly skeptical of the "internet world" and I think I want to eliminate the possibility in my life that I would spend more time on the computer than with acutal people. I know that some people do find community through blogging, facebook and other media, so I will not make judgements. I can just say that for myself, I do not think it is the best use of my time. I do not want to be a Luddite, so I will continue to email and learn new things as they come along.

Laura and I are pointing our lives together toward a life of simplicity. For me, a life of simplicity includes getting to know my neighbors better and discovering ways to build authentic relationships, while simulataneously removing things from my life that might hinder this.

Henri Nouwen has a great quote that pretty much sums up what I have been thinking lately. I will put it here as he says it much better than I do:

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.

- Henri Nouwen

So, if you want to know about my life, you and I will have to connect in old fashioned ways like getting together for lunch or talking on the telephone. We can be friends on facebook, but I will not be updating my facebook page, so we will need to communicate in other ways. I am not sure that this direction will last forever, so I might be back in the blogging world, but for now, I am signing off.

Todd

No, Cubs, No!

2008-10-06T07:05:00.000-05:00

Well, that was disappointing....

Save the World on Your Own Time

2008-09-26T15:05:00.000-05:00

I recently read "Save the World on Your Own Time" by Stanley Fish. It is a book about academic instruction and it was written for professors and upper-level administrators. I read this book for my job, and while it did not relate to much of what I do, it was helpful to have this insight on the debate about what college professors should be doing in the classroom.

The thesis of Fish's book is academics only have one job that they are trained and paid to do: to introduce students to disciplinary materials and equip them with the necessary analytic skills. Fish is arguing against instructors who use their classroom as a place to form political, religious, or other types of opinions. It is fine if students come away from a course with certain leanings, but a professor should never express her/his own opinions in the classroom and expect their students to follow suit. Hence the name of the book - save the world on your own time.

The book is a pretty dry read unless you are a college professor struggling with your pedagogy.

Hey Chicago, What Do You Say?

2008-09-24T12:44:00.004-05:00

Every since I can remember, I have been a fan of the Chicago Cubs. I think that this is because I grew up a few hours outside of Chicago and my first visit to a major league ball park was to Wrigley Field. I would not consider myself a die-hard fan (I have never drank an Old Style and I do not go to all lengths to get WGN), but I can always tell you how they are doing and I can name almost all of the players.

I am pretty excited about the Cubs chances this year of winning it all. They clinched their division on Saturday, and just earned home-field advantage throughout the national league pennant race. Cubs fans have a strong inclination toward superstition, so I am taking a huge risk by putting this blog post out there. If the Cubs fall short of the ultimate prize, it could be the fault of this post. However, if they end the 100 year drought, I will go ahead and claim that this post is the reason.

One of my favorite thing about the Cubs is their cheesy theme song. If you have never heard it before, you have got to watch this video.

The Shack

2008-09-18T08:13:00.003-05:00

I recently read "The Shack" by William P. Young. I will not say too much about the book for a few reasons:

1. This book is really popular right now, and there are plenty of much better reviews out there
2. It is a pretty good book that is worth reading, so I do not want to spoil anything for anyone

My house church recently discussed the book in one of our gatherings. In preparation for that discussion, I did some online research to find what other people were thinking about the book. I was surprised to find the controversy surrounding the book and that there are a lot of Christian leaders who are vocal in their opposition to it. I was surprised by this because this book is a work of fiction and does not pretend to be some type of theological treatise. In the end, I think the book was good because it opens the door to have a common ground for starting a discussion on really complex issues involving the nature of God. You should read this book, not because it is 100% theologically accurate, but because it will force you to think about what you believe about God.

The Godfather

2008-09-16T08:01:00.001-05:00

Those of you who know me know that I have been sheltered from almost every aspect of popular American culture. As such, I just recently discovered the cultural phenomenon of the Godfather.

I started by reading the book by Mario Puzo, which I really enjoyed. I was completely fascinated by this world of friendship, respect, and favors. The story was compelling and the characters were well developed. I instantly decided that I want to be Don Corleone when I grow up, and so I have started to shape my worldview according to that perspective. Recently, I have gladly done "favors" for others as a sign of friendship and goodwill, confident that someday that favor might be returned when needed. The book ends with a masterful elimination of all enemies of the family, and really made the concept of redemptive violence look attractive.

As soon as I finished the books, I watched the first two movies (many people told me the 3rd movie was worthless, so I will wait to watch it). I really like the 1st movie and thought it did a good job of visually telling the story of the book. I also like the 2nd movie, and I thought it definitely showed the darker side of redemptive violence. In the end, Michael Corleone is either alienated or forced to kill most everyone that is close to him, leaving him utterly alone. I am glad I saw the second movie because it snapped me out of my illusion that I could lead this lifestyle. I guess I will stick to the difficult task of following Jesus and loving my enemies instead of "taking care" of them.

Hippie Fast Food

2008-09-14T19:43:00.006-05:00

The other night Laura and I went to Evos in Chapel Hill, which is a fast food restaurant that markets itself as being a healthy and environmentally sound fast food chain. Laura got a free range, grass fed, no hormone hamburger with air-baked fries and an organic chocolate shake. I got a crunchy Thai chicken wrap. The food was pretty good, in fact, my wrap was actually very tasty. I checked out the nutrition stats and while it was better than most fast food joints, I do not know that you can go so far as to say that it is good for you. Overall, for 2 value meals it cost us $18, which is much more than a typical fast food joint, but you justify it in your mind by saying it is healthier food that is better for the environment.

I liked evos and I like that our culture is becoming increasingly "green." However, I cannot help but wonder if it is going to get out of control and words like "organic" and "environmentally sound" will start to lost meaning and become hollow. Already, every single car company is boasting what great gas mileage their cars get (next time you see a car commercial, I guarantee they will tell you what great MPG the car gets). I guess I am skeptical that the market will be able to produce environmentally sound and healthy products. When the end goal will always be to make increasingly more money, I cannot imagine that the environment will win out in the end and sustainability will be sacrificed for profit.

I guess for now I will just have to go to Evos instead of McDonalds and try to convince myself that I am doing something positive.

Why Christianity Must Change or Die

2008-08-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

"Why Christianity Must Change or Die" was easily the most radical book that I have read recently. In this book, Spong (an Episcopal Bishop) essentially takes a sledge hammer to every sacred cow of the historical church. For example, the first chapter basically argues that the Apostle's Creed is barbaric and blatantly masculine, and the church would do well to leave it where it belongs in the 4th century. For orthodox Christians, reading this book leaves you consistently questioning whether or not Spong is intentionally being a heretic, which appears to be a role that he is comfortable embracing.

I actually strongly agreed with Spong's thesis that the Church must be radically transformed or it is in danger of becoming completely irrelevant. I also appreciated that he addressed his book to "believers in exile," because there are a good number of people, including myself, who resonate with this type of identity. My central problem with the book was the Spong spent a lot of time being destructive and not enough time being constructive. His attempts to describe the direction the Church should be going and the language it should be using were vague and not very plausible. To his credit, he clearly admitted that he did not really have answers and that he was merely trying to name an existing problem. I am not sure if Spong has written much since this book was published, but finishing the book certainly left me wishing he had more to say about where the Church needs to go.

Don't Hassle the Hoff

2008-08-25T14:34:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that I have a strange fascination with David Hasselhoff. I am literally amazed that he has been able to maintain his status as a pop icon for so long. And the fact that he is a mega-star in Germany makes him so much more interesting.

I found this video on YouTube about 3 years ago. I bet I have watched it at least 15 times, and I sincerely laugh every single time.

The reason why I laugh so hard is that I honestly cannot tell if he is being serious or not. Is this video a corny joke or did he really attempt to make a legitimate music video? The ambiguity of this leaves me laughing every single time.

This post is completely random, but I just had to share that video.

Lolita

2008-08-22T08:36:00.001-05:00

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov was another book on my classical reading list. Even though this book was written extremely well, I had a difficult time getting past the the main idea of the plot. The book is narrated by Humbert Humbert, and begins when he is a teenager. As a teenager, he has a girlfriend who is the love of his life, but she dies of an illness and crushes his heart. He never recovers from this blow, and almost becomes stuck as a 13 year old kid. Well, this poses major problems for Humbert as an adult as he is attracted to young teenage girls. The book is essentially his obsessive love affair with a young girl that ultimately ends in murder.

If you can get past the aberrant nature of the plot, this book will give you insight into the mind of a madman. The prose is really good and it is amazing how the thoughts of a lunatic start to make sense once you are able to see things from his perspective.

You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train

2008-08-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

We watched this documentary in the house church a few weeks back, and I thought it was fascinating stuff. The movie basically documents the life of Howard Zinn, who is now a history professor at Harvard. Zinn is probably best known for his book, A People's History of the United States of America, which I strongly recommend reading. My review of that book is here. In addition to being a professor and a writer, Zinn was also a major player in the Civil Rights Movement and the movement against the Vietnam War. He continues his activism today, continually speaking out against injustice and war.

I recommend this documentary because of the great pearls Zinn drops in the movie. Although not in these words, Zinn argues that there are two types of people in this world: oppressors and those who are being oppressed. You are either in one group or the other, and by not saying or doing anything to help the oppressed you are, by default, going along with the oppressors.

I find this argument to be a great challenge because I find myself, along with just about everyone else I know, to be in a group that is not exactly oppressed, but is also not exactly in a position of power to oppress others. It is disturbing to think that ignorance or non-action could be a silent form of evil.

I will end with a good quote from the movie:

“When one person kills another person, that is Murder; but if a government kills 100,000 persons, that is Patriotism. And they’ll say we’re disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we’re disturbing the war!”

Buy Local Art

2008-08-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Those five of you who actually read my blog know I have a running list of things that annoy me. Well, "Perception Without Deception" has been a negative blog for too long. I would like to start an alternative "make the world a better place list" and see how that turns out. Oh, I will still write about things that bug me, but it will be good to balance it with some positive posts.

Last Friday, Laura and I had a great night out in Durham. Every third Friday of the month, the city of Durham hosts an art work where several art galleries are on display within walking distance of each other. Laura and I went around to the various places and had a great time checking out what local artists have been doing. Well, we came across a piece that we both really liked, and in an unlikely spur of the moment decision, we bought and brought it home. You can check out what we bought here. It was done by a local artist named Todd Bond, who seems to be doing some cool stuff.

As I study and learn more about poverty, I find that poverty is often an economic problem. This may seem obvious, but people are poor because they do not have good job opportunities. Tied together with poverty is violence, because people who do not have good economic choices tend to turn to violence as a means of securing life's essentials. Both poverty and violence are cyclical, meaning they are cycles that will be repeated over and over again unless that cycle is broken. As I wrestle with these realities and struggle to find answers, I am starting to think that art is a creative and positive way to break cycles of violence and poverty. If more people used their creative energy for making art and not violence, then this world would be a better place. If a community can support more and more artists, that community will have better alternatives for exercising creativity in a positive way. Therefore, I believe that buying local art is a small, but effective way of working to make the world a better place.

Here is the better world list as it stands right now:

1. Buy Local Art

Virtual Insanity

2008-08-16T12:41:00.006-05:00

So yeah, I have a facebook page now. Those of you who know me understand what a big deal it is for me. I went back and forth in my decision to do this, and finally decided in the affirmative because I really do not want to be that guy who is out of touch with reality. So, I created my profile, doing the least amount that I could. When I got my profile up, I wrote a sarcastic little note basically saying "I am here, but I am not happy about it." Well, I received several responses from people who were not too happy about that note. I find it highly ironic that my so-called "friends" did not understand my tongue-in-cheek humor.

I am seriously contemplating taking the profile down and washing my hands of it. However, I do think that, for better or worse, it is an effective means of connecting with people you have lost touch with, so I am hopeful to re-connect with friends who are real. I am concerned that our culture seems to be moving toward relying on the digital world to develop and maintain relationships.

Also, I have a very difficult time wrapping my mind the whole concept of facebook. Here is a video to show what I mean.

If you ask me, the whole thing is virtual insanity, so I have to put it on the list. [By the way, for those of you who do not know, "The List" is my attempt at sarcastic humor]

1. Wearing a cell phone on your hip
2. The idea that a nice smile is the "normal" way to pose for a photograph
3. People who cut to the front of a traffic back-up when they know they need to get over
4. Local TV Newspeople
5. Confirmational Reactionist
6. Wearing a blue tooth headset as a fashion accessory
7. Putting Bullethole stickers on your car
8. Placing a fake baseball on your car that gives the allusion that it has shattered your window
9. People who litter
10. Ignorcycles
11. Bumper stickers
12. Cheesy Church Signs
13. The player introduction part of Jeopardy!
14. Power Companies
15. Facebook

Jesus for President

2008-08-12T07:36:00.004-05:00

I read Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw back in July. It is a solid book divided into two parts. The first part is a primer in narrative theology, telling the story of Scripture, mainly the Old Testament. Even though there is a lot of blood and guts and violence in the OT, there is also a constant theme of God delivering God's people from slavery, fighting on their behalf, and calling them to be a different type of people. Jesus for President focused on the ways in which we are to be different - sharing our resources with those that have none, looking out for the widow and the alien, and also, culminating in the life of Jesus, refusing to kill other people. The second part of the book challenges followers of Jesus today to use their imaginations to creatively and lovingly engage the powers and empires of our day that are producing oppression and death.

I also went to the Jesus for President book tour when it came to Raleigh. I actually was a little disappointed in the book tour because of my expectations. The book tour was basically a dramatic presentation of the book. Since I read the book, I did not really hear anything new, and I expected that the book tour would be a conversation about practical applications of the material. Dispersed between the dramatic readings from the book, a band named the Psalters performed. They were a very interesting band to say the least.

I read this weekly hippie newspaper called the Independent Weekly and they gave a very positive write-up of the book tour. You can read that article here. The same night as the book tour, the Obama campaign opened its Raleigh headquarters on the same exact block as the church that hosted the Jesus for President tour. The article mentions the fact that the Jesus rally outnumbered the Obama rally by 3 to 1. I guess that is a sign of hope in a world gone mad.

Jesus Camp

2008-07-17T14:17:00.004-05:00

Laura and I saw this documentary last night.

My only comment is that you should check it out.

Real Sex

2008-07-14T13:42:00.004-05:00

"Real Sex" by Lauren Winner is a fresh, 21st century contribution to the complex subject of human sexuality, specifically from a Christian perspective. The author was very personal in the book, and since you knew exactly where she was coming from, it made her writing on the subject easier to comprehend. Basically, Winner took the very "uncool" virtue of chastity, and made it a cool Christian spiritual discipline. I especially appreciated her chapters on the myths or lies both the church and the world tell about sex. The book is a terrific read for anyone struggling to think theologically about sexuality, and would be a fantastic resource for anyone who works with teens.

Jane Eyre

2008-07-14T13:27:00.003-05:00

"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte was on my classical reading list. I am really enjoying reading through this list, because it is forcing me to read books that I never would have otherwise. Jane Eyre is a perfect example of a book I would otherwise never even bother to pick up.

The story is set in England during the 18th century. Quite simply, it is a story about a woman who starts off as an orphan in a poor school, becomes a governess (a tutor for rich kids) and ends up falling in love. She falls in love with a man who is out of her league socially, but then it turns out that she inherits money, but none of that matters because their love was real and able to overcome social status.

Those of you reading this may be shocked that I enjoyed a sappy old love story. However, it was not so much the story I enjoyed. What really captured my attention about this book was the prose. Bronte wrote beautifully, and really made the book interesting. The story line was just good enough to keep me reading, but the writing style literally blew me away. Trust me on this one, pick up the book and start reading. I promise it will capture your attention and no one will think any less of your manhood.

Better World Handbook

2008-07-14T13:00:00.004-05:00

Recently I have been using "The Better World Handbook" by Ellis Jones. The concept behind the book is that our consumerism makes a difference. Meaning, buying products from certain companies is like voting in favor of that company. This handbook rates the companies we buy from based on the criteria of how well they treat their employees, how safe their products are for the environment and for consumers, etc. Basically, we should buy our gas from BP and avoid Wal-Mart like the plague.

It is really a simple way of making a large impact. I strongly encourage you check out the book, although the website is just as good an contains all of information found in the book. Here is the link.

I stink at blogging

2008-06-25T12:42:00.004-05:00

So, yeah. I have not "blogged" since February.

The combination of having a job where I am actually busy and no internet access at home has created the perfect storm that has resulted in no blog posts. While the latter is still a problem, the former has eased off a bit, so let me quickly catch you up on everything.

My blog basically has 3 parts to it:

1. Updates on what I have been doing
2. Book Reviews of what I have been reading
3. A list of what has been annoying me

In regards to #1, the following has happened since I last posted:

In March I went to a conference in Orlando for Registrars. Getting together with 2,000 other registrars - now that was a wild time!
In April I went to Chicago for my buddy Erik's wedding. It was a good time and it was great to see old friends.
In May, Laura graduated from Campbell with her MA in Community Counseling. Praise Jesus, we are both done with school (for now, at least...). My little sister Nicole also graduated from Olivet, so we went back to Chicago for that.
In June, Nicole got married (it has been a busy summer for her) to Matt Pollock, so we went back to Chicago once again. I actually got to perform the ceremony, which was a great honor. It was also my grandparent's 65th wedding anniversary on the same day, so that was a special day.
On June 4, Laura and I bought our first house. I have had debt in my life, but I now have six-figure debt, but I am told that this is "good debt," so I guess that makes it alright. I am still struggling through that, but at any rate, Laura and I absolutely love our new place. It is a ten-minute bike ride from Duke, so I am loving the new commute. Please come visit us!

In regards to #2, I think I am beyond the point of giving a review for all of the books I have read, so let me just list out what I have read since February:

"The God We Never Knew" by Marcus Borg
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King)
"Serve God, Save the Planet" by J. Matthew Sleeth
"The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon
"Resurrecting Excellence" by L. Gregory Jones
"The Sabbath" by Abraham Joshua Heschel
"Worship as Theology" by Don E. Saliers
"The Moral Vision of the New Testament" by Richard B. Hays
"On the Incarnation" by Saint Athanasius

As far as #3, I think that I have had too much going on in life to allow petty things to annoy me. Sorry to disappoint.

Well, Laura and I have talked about getting the internet at home, so if we do, that could increase my blogability. At any rate, I will attempt to post more often than once a quarter.

Peace!

Look alike?

2008-02-22T16:14:00.003-05:00

I have a family member who is a senior in high school and is receiving all kinds of junk mail from colleges. A few months ago he received the postcard to the left. The first thought that came to his mind was, "I wonder why Todd is posing for Anderson University." He later discovered that this is not me, and gave this postcard to me over Christmas.

Most of the time I hate it when someone tells me I look like someone else. But in this instance, I think that the dude does look a lot like me. Even my own mother mistakenly thought it was me at first.

The guy has the same hair style, facial structure, body frame, posture, and even dresses in a similar manner as I do. The scary thing is he went to a small Christian college (like me) and was a Religion major (like me).

Perhaps this whole cloning thing is a lot farther along than people think....

Power Companies

2008-01-26T12:41:00.002-05:00

I have been very dissatisfied with my power company lately. If you remember from a previous post, I was able to decrease the total wattage needed to light our house from 1610 watts to 364 watts and I eliminated all forms of phantom power. So far, I have noticed zero change in our monthly power bill. Our power bill for the month of November was around $80. I was excited to get our power bill in December because we were gone for 10 days visiting friends and family in the Midwest. We used our heat sparingly in the 20 days we were home, so I thought our December bill would be at least 33% less than November. However, when I got the bill, it was $96.

This means that one of two things is happening: the cost of power is rising at a rapid pace, or, the power company is charging me what they think I owe and not basing it on actual usage. I am inclined to think the latter, and it ticks me off.

I am annoyed with power companies because of their monopoly. It is next to impossible to function in our modern society without them. Even more frustrating is that there is no way to "prove" that the power you are using is less than what they are charging you for. Sure, there is that meter, but how do we know that it is actually connected to anything? It could just be programmed to randomly go up based on the profit needs of the power company. The whole thing is a conspiracy if you ask me.

If I had free time, I would figure out a system where thousands of hamsters running in little wheels could provide the power we need. Since I do not have this free time, I will just add power companies to my list to pacify my rage.

1. Wearing a cell phone on your hip
2. The idea that a nice smile is the "normal" way to pose for a photograph
3. People who cut to the front of a traffic back-up when they know they need to get over
4. Local TV Newspeople
5. Confirmational Reactionist
6. Wearing a blue tooth headset as a fashion accessory
7. Putting Bullethole stickers on your car
8. Placing a fake baseball on your car that gives the allusion that it has shattered your window
9. People who litter
10. Ignorcycles
11. Bumper stickers
12. Cheesy Church Signs
13. The player introduction part of Jeopardy!
14. Power Companies

Good to Great

2008-01-26T12:20:00.001-05:00

Lately, I have been trying to mix up what I read so I am not constantly immersing myself in Christian literature. "Good to Great" by Jim Collins is a book that has gotten a lot of press over the past few years, so I thought I would read it to see what I could learn.

Essentially, the book was a report of an extensive research study that was done on certain companies. The crux of the research compared similar companies where one consistently beat the market even in economic downturns while its competitor did not thrive. The research attempted to tease out why some companies did so well while their competitors did not. I thought that the book provided some interesting results from the study.

First of all, it is important to note that the book defined "great" as consistently making a lot of money. This mentality is problematic for the Church and Christianity, but I thought that the practices that led to greatness could be applicable.

Collins and his research team found that great companies had what they called "Level 5 Leaders." Surprisingly, level five leaders are not these outrageous personalities who carry the company through sheer innovation and motivation. The study found that companies who had these types of leaders experienced significant problems once these leaders left the company. Actually, level five leaders are quiet, humble people who lead simple lifestyles. They are extremely disciplined and full of integrity, and their sole mission is the improvement of the organization, not personal glorification. I think the Church would do well to look for Level 5 leaders as opposed to a pastor with a flashy personality.

Another aspect of great companies was a "culture of discipline." This culture is connected to having level five leaders. In a culture of discipline, motivation is not necessary because people understand their roles and do them consistently with excellence. Once again, the Church would do well to develop a culture of discipline in their mission of meeting the needs of the community.

All in all, it was a solid book with a lot of insights on how to improve oneself and one's community.

Life Will Be Great in 2008!

2008-01-14T17:32:00.000-05:00

First of all, happy 1 year anniversary to this blog. It was about this time last year that I started doing this crazy thing. At times it has been a burden, but I enjoy having this outlet to be creative and a record to look back and remember what I have been doing and thinking.

To those of you who actually read my blog, I apologize that the posts have been few and far between. I used to have a job where I averaged 4 hours a day to work on stuff like my blog. Now I am lucky if I have 4 minutes to check my personal email. This, combined with the fact that Laura and I do not have internet access at home, means little to no blog activity. I cannot make any promises that this will get better in the future.

I thought I would give a quick post on what I am looking forward to in 2008. Below is my list:

Laura Graduating in May with her Masters – For the first time in our marriage, neither one of us will be in grad school. It has been especially hard on Laura, so I am thrilled that she will be passing this major milestone.
Moving back to Durham – I hate how much Laura and I drive, so I am excited to move back to Durham, where my work and the majority of my social life reside.
Weddings – My buddy Erik is getting married in April, and my sister Nicole is getting married in June. I am a groomsman in Erik’s wedding and I am doing the ceremony for Nicole’s. It should be a great time!
Maberry baby? – Settle down everyone, it has not happened yet, and it will depend on a number of circumstances as to whether or not it will happen.

Here is to a great 2008!

Saving Women

2008-01-14T17:31:00.000-05:00

Not everyone gets to read a book written by someone they work with, but I had that opportunity in reading “Saving Women” by Laceye Warner. Laceye is the Academic Dean at Duke Divinity School, and is my supervisor and co-worker. Having said that, I guess I better be careful about what I say in this review!

In all seriousness, “Saving Women” was a solid piece of academic work. It sought to recover the voice of several women of the 19^th and 20^th centuries who made a major impact in the area of Christian evangelism. These women are often overlooked in recalling those who have gone before to make a significant contribution to the evangelistic work in America. This was true for me, as I only knew one of the women (Frances Willard) reviewed in the book. As someone who has a mother in the ministry, I am at least somewhat aware that women are often left out of these types of conversations, and I think works like this one are necessary to bring equality and a truthful balance.

One theme I noticed was that almost all of the women in the book had a connection to the holiness movement of the late 19^th/early 20^th century. It was out of this movement that the Church of the Nazarene was formed. It reminded me that I am proud to be a part of continuing movement that, while it certainly is far from perfect, has at least created some space for women to have a voice. Moving forward, it is my hope that books like “Saving Women” will not be necessary for highlighting the vital contributions of women to the work of building God’s Kingdom because the work of women will be equally recognized. Interestingly enough, it is books like “Saving Women” that help to pave the way.

The White Man's Burden

2008-01-14T17:28:00.000-05:00

“The White Man’s Burden” by Williams Easterly is basically a counterargument to “The End of Poverty” by Jeffrey Sachs. In the book, Easterly argues that there have been two great tragedies among humanity – the first is that extreme poverty has taken place in a world where some have more than enough. The other great tragedy is that the attempts of West to eliminate this poverty have not worked, in fact, things may be getting worse.

Easterly divides the people seeking a solution to this problem of poverty into two categories: Planners and Searchers. Planners are people like Jeffrey Sachs, who sit behind desks and come up with these elaborate and expensive plans to fix complex problems. Easterly spends the majority of the book outlining why these big “plans” to eliminate poverty will not work and gives several examples of this.

The alternative for Easterly is the other group, called Searchers. Searchers, instead of developing big plans from afar, are seeking ways to partner with people in poverty and figuring out things on the ground. Searchers are those who seek organic solutions to the specific problems of a specific context.

In the end, I think I tended to side with Easterly in the way to move forward with this problem of poverty. However, I finished the book just as confused as ever about this issue. It just seems to be so big and so complex. Moreover, I feel so isolated from poverty due to my living context where everyone else seems to have so much. In my life, I have noticed that the issue of poverty tends to be overwhelming to the point of paralysis, but I know in my heart that this is not right. I think, like Easterly suggests, the way forward is to start small and start somewhere specific. The problem of poverty is not going away overnight, but it might get better for specific groups in specific places.

The End of Poverty

2007-12-12T18:09:00.000-05:00

"The End of Poverty" by Jeffrey Sachs was what I would consider a bold book. Basically, Sachs claims that it is possible to eliminate extreme poverty for the 1.1 billion people in the world currently living in it by the year 2025.

The book could be divided into three parts. The first part is what I would call "Global Economics 101" as Sachs paints with broad strokes the issue of global poverty, how it starts, and why it is difficult to fix. The second part is case studies of different nations that Sachs witnessed and even helped to come out of economic turmoil.

The final, and most in-depth part of the book, was Sachs plan to end extreme poverty by the year 2025. He argues that it can be done by the world's richest nations (read United States) donating just .7% of their GNP (Gross National Product). Obviously it will also take a major organizational effort to distribute the funds and to provide clean drinking water, a sustainable source of food, and basic health care, etc, and Sachs briefly touched on this.

I was impressed by Sach's intrepid attitude that extreme poverty is something that could be fixed. I am certainly not intelligent enough to wrap my brain around this huge issue and offer any type of opinion as to the validity of Sach's claims. I do believe that I have to do my part on an individual level to live in such a way that others are able to simply live, which will hopefully have an impact on my family, and then my community, and then hopefully will continue to have a ripple effect that will extend to the entire world.

Next, I will be reading a book, "The White Man's Burden," which I have been told is a response to Sach's, so I will be curious to see how this will bring a new perspective.

the god's aren't angry

2007-12-04T17:20:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Laura and I went to hear Rob Bell on his "the god's aren't angry" tour. I have heard Rob Bell preach through his podcasts at Mars Hill, and I have read both of his books, so I was excited to hear/see him in person. I came away not disappointed in any way. He spoke for about an hour and a half on the origins on religious thought and how the revelation of the Judaic/Christian God was a radical alternative at every point in history to the "gods" created by humans.

As it has been a few weeks, the following 2 thoughts remain with me:

1. He really explained well this idea of progressive revelation. For example, it is easy for us to read the Old Testament and pass it off as barbaric and oppressive. However, Bell did an excellent job of putting it in its context and showing the ways that the OT was transformative and life-giving. Basically, the OT declares that you can know where you stand with the God of the universe, which was a main problem of the ancient mindset (ie not knowing where you stand with the gods).

2. He also did an excellent job of pulling everything into a present context. He gave examples and stories of how these primal urges and fears are still present today. People are still chasing after invisible "gods" and responding to urges such as self-mutilation and hopelessness.

All in all, it was a solid teaching and I would definitely recommend checking it out once it comes out on DVD.

By far the most interesting part of the evening took place after the teaching. Outside, a few loud "protesters" had gathered, preaching "turn or burn." One guy had a big sign that said "God is Angry with your Sins" and another guy was pounding a bible while telling everyone they needed to repent or go to hell. At first I laughed out loud because I thought it was a joke, but I quickly learned that they were dead serious. It left a really awkward feeling inside of me and I felt embarrassed for them and for myself. If outsiders to the faith are turned off to the concept of being in a relationship with God because of examples like I saw that night, I do not blame them, I was pretty turned off myself.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

2007-12-04T16:58:00.001-05:00

"The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami was another book on my classical literature list. In reading these works of classical literature, I have been really impressed with the writing capabilities of the authors. In the case of this book, Murakami was able to write a 600 page book based on the simple plot of a man whose wife mysteriously leaves him. Even though the plot was simple, it was still really interesting.

Murakami is a Japanese author and the setting of the book is in Tokyo. I was surprised at how similar the characters were culturally to Americans. In fact, I do not recall at all ever being confused about something that could only be understood in a certain cultural context.

I am not sure whether or not I liked the book. It kept me interested the whole time and I really enjoyed the writing style. However, the book ended with too many loose ends. A lot of mystery was created and nothing much was resolved in the end. The more I recall parts of the book, the more I realize that Murakami never gave any resolution to the story lines he developed. Overall, it was a solid piece of fiction and certainly worth reading.

Jeopardy!

2007-11-20T11:26:00.001-05:00

I generally despise television game shows, but I have to be honest, I love Jeopardy! I love that players match wits on random subjects. I love that they have to buzz in to answer. I love that they answer in the form of a question. I love the clever categories and questions. I think Alex Trebek is a smooth guy. I love the intangible aspect of the daily doubles. I love that there is a strategy to betting with the money you have earned. I love that you have to put it all on the line in Final Jeopardy! I even love that it has an exclamation point in the actual title!

However, there is one part of the show that drives me bananas. The first commercial break takes place halfway through the first round. After the break, Alex Trebek is waiting to "meet" the players. He spends about a minute with each contestant, and it is always extremely awkward. It has little to do with the debonair Trebek and everything to do with the fact that the majority of the contestants are eggheads with zero personality.

The conversations are always about something that is supposed to be "interesting" about the contestant. I am sure that they have to fill out some card before the show with their name, where they are from, and then there is the spot that says "Something interesting about you..." I can just see the contestant struggling to put something down, recalling that their life has mainly been about reading books and spending time with a computer.

For this reason alone, I will never attempt to be a contestant on Jeopardy! I also feel bad for Mr. Trebek, who has to laugh at their poor attempts at humor and give the appearance that he is actually interested in their coy quips.

This definitely needs to go on my list. Here is how it now stands:

1. Wearing a cell phone on your hip
2. The idea that a nice smile is the "normal" way to pose for a photograph
3. People who cut to the front of a traffic back-up when they know they need to get over
4. Local TV Newspeople
5. Confirmational Reactionist
6. Wearing a blue tooth headset as a fashion accessory
7. Putting Bullethole stickers on your car
8. Placing a fake baseball on your car that gives the allusion that it has shattered your window
9. People who litter
10. Ignorcycles
11. Bumper stickers
12. Cheesy Church Signs
13. The player introduction part of Jeopardy!

god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

2007-11-10T14:12:00.000-05:00

Christopher Hitchens is an atheist, and he is not shy about it. Unlike some atheist, he is not indifferent toward religion, he is angry about it. This book is a 283 page rant that painfully spells out the ills of religion. Hitchens does not pull any punches on any form of religion, although he does tend to concentrate the most energy on Judaism and Christianity. Each chapter has a loose structure for providing an angle for revealing examples of how religion has destroyed lives and wreaked havoc.

As I was reading, I could not help but think that the same examples that Hitchens was using could also be applied to governments and nation-states. Hitchens solution to the problem of religion is the hope that it will just go away. Should the same be said for governments and nations? The truth of the matter is that every single type of institution that exists has been or will be guilty of some great atrocity.

My biggest problem with this book was that Hitchens never really offers an alternative for living well. He spends a small part of the end hoping for a New Enlightenment where humans will be able to overcome the myth of religion, but he is not able to offer any type of vision for a better world.

My knee-jerk reaction throughout my reading of this book was to argue Hitchens at every point and essentially say, "Yeah, but..." I tried really hard to read with an open mind as I was engaging someone who obviously thinks very differently from me. I think that all too often Christians are quick to argue and debate, while being slow to listen. The more I learn about God, the more I am convinced that God does not need humans to argue for God's existence or defend God's sovereignty. God is perfectly capable of taking care of God's self. Reading this book with this attitude allowed me to come to the conclusion that I think Hitchens may be right - religion has caused unnecessary pain and suffering and grief. Perhaps Christians should begin to focus less on the noise of apologetics and more on the practices of confession and repentance. Perhaps we should more concerned with modeling lives of love than being "right." Just a thought.

Cheesy Church Signs

2007-11-03T11:43:00.000-05:00

Last night Laura and I hung out with some friends who live several miles outside of Raleigh. We were hoping to find a grocery store to bring some food, and while we drove for 45 minutes before finding one, we did come across several rural churches. Most of those churches had a sign out front - the type of sign that allows one to spell out a custom message.

I kid you not, we honestly saw the following 3 church signs, right in a row.

1. SOULED OUT - What does this mean? If it is referring to being sold out, does that mean the church has no more room for souls? If you take it literally, does it mean that the church's souls are out, that they have no more soul? I think the church probably meant they are souled out for Jesus, but it did not say that and I am not sure what that means either.

2. BECOME AN ORGAN DONOR: GIVE YOUR HEART TO JESUS - This is a terrible attempt to be witty. If I passed that sign and was in desperate need of a lung or other organ transplant, I would be extremely offended.

3. ALL IS WELCOME - On the one hand, this could just be a poor use of English grammar. If this is the case, you should never be in charge of a church sign if you do not have a basic grasp of the English language. On the other hand, "all" can be used in the singular sense if it is referring to a specific group. In this case, the church is communicating: "Everyone is not welcome, only all of one specific group (which we are not identifying) is welcome." Either way, it is a bad sign.

What compels churches to have these signs? Who takes the time to come up with the "clever" sayings? Has this ever been an effective means of doing anything positive? I think that all these cheesy church signs manage to accomplish is provide people with reasons for avoiding church.

Before I add this to my list, I found this cool website where you can make your own church sign. Check it out here. You can have a lot of fun with this website!

Here is the current list:

1. Wearing a cell phone on your hip
2. The idea that a nice smile is the "normal" way to pose for a photograph
3. People who cut to the front of a traffic back-up when they know they need to get over
4. Local TV Newspeople
5. Confirmational Reactionist
6. Wearing a blue tooth headset as a fashion accessory
7. Putting Bullethole stickers on your car
8. Placing a fake baseball on your car that gives the allusion that it has shattered your window
9. People who litter
10. Ignorcycles
11. Bumper stickers
12. Cheesy Church Signs

Colossians Remixed

2007-11-03T11:29:00.000-05:00

"Colossians Remixed" by Walsh and Keesmaat was a bold interpretation of Colossians intended for the 21st century. I was really impressed with the scholarship that went into this book. Walsh and Keesmaat did a terrific job of drawing from a wide variety of solid sources.

The book had several components to it. First of all, it shed light on the context of Colossians and argued that this letter was a subversive and politically charged letter that directly confronted the empire of Rome. The authors then attempted to retell the story of the letter in light of our current global empire of consumerism. The book was written to engage the postmodern mind and even argued that the postmodern desire for choice and diversity is really a false cover-up for the idolatry of global consumerism.

Many of the ideas in the book are pretty heavy, and would take up too much space to try and explain in this blog post. My reading of this book left me with the impression that no Bible study or sermon on Colossians should be done without at least consulting this book.

Bumper Stickers

2007-10-20T14:06:00.001-05:00

I believe that your parents help to shape a lot of who you are as a person. My parents have influenced me in a number of ways, one of which is in relation to bumper stickers. To my knowledge, my parents have never put a bumper sticker on any of their vehicles. Likewise, I am proud to say that I as well have never put any type of sticker on my motor vehicles.

I have this theory that bumper stickers are a good indicator of your sanity level - the more bumper stickers you have, the more likely you are to be insane. All of us have seen those cars (usually a beater or a Toyota Prius) where every single inch of the back is covered with bumper stickers - yeah, those people are usually crazy.

I wonder what possesses people to actually put a bumper sticker on their vehicles. I know people want to be heard and to communicate, but is a bumper sticker ever an effective means of doing this?

The most memorable bumper sticker I have seen was on this beat-up, rusted-out old dirty van. On the back was a bumper sticker that said: "Don't laugh, your daughter is in the back" That is just disturbing.

There are so many types of bumper stickers that annoy me. Below are a few:

Really old campaign stickers - Gore/Lieberman lost the 2000 election seven years ago, it is time to take off the sticker
Religiously fanatical stickers - "If case of rapture, car will be unmanned" "Real men love Jesus", etc.
Blind Patriotism - "God Bless America" "Support our Troops" "First Iraq, then France" etc.
Politically Angry - "Impeach Bush" "The Bush Legacy: Leave no child a dime" etc.
Calvin peeing on anything
1-up bumper stickers - Jesus fish, Darwin fish eating Jesus fish, Truth fish swallowing Darwin fish, etc.
Prideful parent stickers - "My kid is an honor student" "My kid beat up your honor student" etc

There are a few bumper stickers that I do not mind. Those transparent stickers with the name of a college are the only ones that come to mind. I would rather just not be associated with those that have the ridiculous bumper stickers, so I am going to choose to never use them.

I think that I should add "bumper stickers" to my list. Here is where it stands now:

1. Wearing a cell phone on your hip
2. The idea that a nice smile is the "normal" way to pose for a photograph
3. People who cut to the front of a traffic back-up when they know they need to get over
4. Local TV Newspeople
5. Confirmational Reactionist
6. Wearing a blue tooth headset as a fashion accessory
7. Putting Bullethole stickers on your car
8. Placing a fake baseball on your car that gives the allusion that it has shattered your window
9. People who litter
10. Ignorcycles
11. Bumper stickers

The Irresistible Revolution

2007-10-20T13:43:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Laura and I went with some friends to a church in downtown Durham to hear this guy, Shane Claiborne, speak. He was a fascinating individual. He currently lives in Philadelphia in a intentional community known as "The Simple Way." He has also served with Mother Teresa in Calcutta and went with some people (including a few folks who went to Duke with me) to Iraq right as the war was starting as a part of peace-keeping team.

Shane's unique experiences and fresh perspective of the gospel made him a great speaker. I soon found out that he is also a great writer. Much like his speaking style, Shane's writing style is very relaxed and conversational. However, the words and stories are anything but comfortable. This book was extremely challenging to my "comfortable" Christian existence.

I thought the main theme that was prevelant throughout the book was the question: "What if we took the words and life of Jesus seriously?" What would happen if we really did love our enemies and thought of creative ways other than violence to solve conflicts? What if we really did sell our possessions and gave them to the poor? What if we really did care about the invisible people on the margins of society who have no voice?

Something that really struck me was a chapter where he described the relationships he was building with his neighbors in Philadelphia. He and his friends starting helping folks, and they in turn started helping him with things like groceries and car repairs. He made the profound point that in a true community money has no power. In our society, money has the power to exclude and divide. But when those barriers and boundaries are overcome, money loses its power.

I thought this book was excellent. It had a lot of subtle humor weaved in between strong and bold claims of the gospel. I actually recommend not reading this book unless you are wanting to welcome a serious challenge to the way you are living your life.

Energy Efficiency

2007-09-30T17:07:00.000-05:00

Laura and I have been thinking a lot lately about the ways that we can be more faithful as stewards of the environment. We have always been pretty good about recycling. This past year we have been buying more food locally and reducing the amount of oil that we consume. These past few months we have turned our attention to our energy consumption. We have eliminated the use of phantom power. Phantom power is power that is used when something is not even on. Appliances such as the television, computer, and microwave use power when they are not on. We plugged these appliances into a power strip and only turn them on when we need to use them.

This past weekend I switched all of the 60-75 watt light bulbs in our house to compact florescent bulbs or low wattage bulbs. These compact florescent bulbs are amazing. Not only are they inexpensive (about $1.50 a piece), they use a low amount of energy (about 14 watts) and they last a really long time (about 9 years). I crunched the numbers, and the total wattage used to light our house was 1610 watts. After I made the switch, we are down to a total of 364 watts, a reduction of 78%. Grand total it cost me $26.40, which will pay for itself in lower energy bills in no time.

I think that if a lot of people do little and simple things, it can make a big difference.

The Fog of War

2007-09-30T16:53:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I watched the documentary film "The Fog of War." Typically I have not done reviews of films, but this one was so good I had to write about it. The documentary is basically an interview with Robert MacNamara, who, among many things, was the Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War. He is obviously still a very sharp and brilliant man, so it was fascinating to hear him reflect on his position and the decisions that were made during his turbulent tenure.

I found this film interesting on many levels. It was interesting on a historical level, as I learned many things from a first-hand source. For example, I had no idea the severity of the Cuban Missile Crisis and how close we were to nuclear war. The questions about human nature raised by MacNamara were also interesting. He wrestled with the fact that rational human beings could make atrocious and inhumane decisions in the fog of war.

I definitely recommend checking out this film if you have never viewed it. The film was organized around 11 lessons that MacNamara learned during his life, and I thought they were interesting so I am putting them here.

Empathize with your enemy.
Rationality will not save us.
There's something beyond one's self.
Maximize efficiency.
Proportionality should be a guideline in war.
Get the data.
Belief and seeing are both often wrong.
Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning.
In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil.
Never say never.
You can't change human nature.

Blue Like Jazz

2007-09-22T11:09:00.000-05:00

I went through "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller with my small group. It was an ideal small group book because it was easy and entertaining to read and it brought up good topics for discussion. The book was basically a collection of essays on the general topic of Christian spirituality. The only common theme of the book was the writing style of Miller.

I really liked this book. As a person who has spent 7 years in a formal academic setting, I did wish there was more meat to the book. Each chapter followed the same basic pattern: the bulk of the chapter is a bunch of random and funny stories from Miller's life, and then at the end he ties them all together at the end in a thought provoking manner. If you are reading this book for a small group and get behind on the reading, just read the last paragraph or last page and you will get the main gist of the chapter.

The thing that surprised me the most about this book was that it did not skirt around, but rather engaged, touchy topics. The book is definitely written in a post-modern style, and sometimes post-modern Christianity likes to gloss over topics such as sin and money. Miller did not do this, but rather wrote about these topics in such a way that you could have a conversation with your friend or neighbor who did not grow up in the church. It is definitely a good idea to read this book.

Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work

2007-09-22T10:50:00.001-05:00

"Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work" by Eugene Peterson is an attempt to re-imagine the Bible as a handbook for pastoral work. In the introduction to the book, Peterson argues that the pastoral vocation has been hijacked by psychological and social sciences of our time. Peterson feels that pastors have taken a therapeutic approach to their work which goes against a biblical approach. The book then walks through five books of the Bible (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther) showing how they inform pastoral work.

I loved Peterson's concept in this book. I think he is absolutely right that pastors need to immerse themselves in the Bible in order to get a sense of their vocation. Contained within the pages of Scripture are the way of life and the presence of God that can inform and transform. I did find the book to be a little scattered. I thought that his transition between the biblical story and pastoral work was cumbersome at points. His book gave incredible and creative insights, but those insights did not always fit together into a cohesive whole. I admit that this lack of coherency could be more of a problem with the reader as I have had a lot going on in my life lately and I have not been able to concentrate as clearly as I sometimes do. At any rate, this book was good enough for me to recommend to any pastor. The overall point of the book is important and well worth the price and time it will take to invest in it.

Ignorcycles

2007-09-15T13:12:00.000-05:00

That's right boys and girls; it is time once again to add to my list of things in our society that I find unacceptable.

One of my favorite things to do is ride my bike. I love it! I love getting the exercise and reducing my carbon footprint. It is amazing what you notice about the world around you when you are not driving past it at 65 mph. I love the "bikers code" of waving to other cyclist on the road. I think that biking is my favorite form of transportation.

For the past few months, I have attempted riding my bike to work at least once a week. It is a 20 mile one way trip, and while I do not ride on any highways, I do ride on roads that have a lot of traffic. It is amazing to me how terribly some motorist treat bikers.

I have lost track of how many times I have almost been hit. Cars zoom by and come within inches of clipping me. I think the biggest problem is that most people do not realize that bikers have the same rights on the road as automobiles.

My favorite story came about a month ago. I was on a two lane road coming up to a busy intersection. A right-hand turn lane grew out of the lane that I was in. A massive Lincoln Navigator SUV was coming up fast behind me right at the point where the turn lane started and was wanting to turn right. I was going straight through the intersection, and therefore I had the right-of-way. The woman driving the SUV did not recognize that I was going straight until she already begin to make her turn. We both had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. The amazing thing was that the woman sped past me, stopped her vehicle at the stoplight, got out of her car, and shouted at me "YOU DO NOT OWN THE ROAD!". I was extremely upset, and in a very non-Christian moment, I shouted back "I HAD THE RIGHT-OF-WAY!" Afterwards, I wish I would have kept my cool so I could have calmly talked with her and educate her on driving etiquette.

I cannot stand motorist who are ignorant of the fact that bicycles have the same rights to the road at automobiles. I have coined a term for people like this - ignorcycles. So, next time you see a cyclist on the road, please just slow down (you are not important enough to be in a hurry) and wait until there is plenty of room to safely pass by.

Ok, I feel better now. Well, at last count, here is how the list stands:

1. Wearing a cell phone on your hip
2. The idea that a nice smile is the "normal" way to pose for a photograph
3. People who cut to the front of a traffic back-up when they know they need to get over
4. Local TV Newspeople
5. Confirmational Reactionist
6. Wearing a blue tooth headset as a fashion accessory
7. Putting Bullethole stickers on your car
8. Placing a fake baseball on your car that gives the allusion that it has shattered your window
9. People who litter
10. Ignorcycles

And the name is...

2007-09-15T13:02:00.001-05:00

Back in July, I wrote a post seeking help in naming our new VW Jetta. After a lot of consideration, we have decided to name the car Dietrich. Thanks to Bill Shannon (from whom we bought the car), we were able to determine that the car's gender was male. Thanks to everyone's suggestions, we decided to go with a German name. We choose Dietrich to honor one of my favorite theologians/Christian thinkers who also happens to be German - Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Even though Laura and I finally agreed on the name Dietrich, I find that more often than not, we simply refer to the car as "the Jetta." Hopefully when we have children, we will not debate a name for a long time, settle on one, and then refer to the child as "the boy" or "the girl."

Consumer Report - Long Lasting Popsicles

2007-09-03T15:35:00.001-05:00

I am not going to lie to you, I love Popsicles. In fact, it is definitely one of my favorite things about summer. I can remember as a kid making homemade popsicles by freezing Kool-Aid in a Dixie cup with a stick. Well, over 20 years later I am still enjoying this cool summer treat. For the first 3 years of my married life, I went through 2 boxes (500 in each) of those pop-ices. This past summer, Laura and I have been mixing it up with random types of Popsicles and Fudgesicles.

I think that our culture has this sick fascination and craving for something new. It is not enough to leave something good alone, everything has to be new and improved. Laura went to the store last week and brought home these new improved "Long Lasting Slow Melt Popsicles." Being the student of science that I am, I thought I would put these Popsicles to the test and see just how much longer lasting they are.

I did this in the presence of 3 witnesses (Laura, Kevin & Julie Todd) in a controlled environment. We still had some bomb pops (the red, white, and blue popsicles) left, so I tested the long lasting pops against these. Kevin Todd was the official time keeper, and I tested the popsicles back to back using the same consuming technique (in my mouth, rolling my tongue around the popsicle). The results are surprising, but not stunning. The bomb pop lasted 5 minutes 50 seconds, while long lasting pop took 8 minutes 3 seconds to consume. However, the long lasting pop had a texture that resembled a plastic piece of silverware.

So, after having served humanity with this noble deed, I leave you with this valuable information to use when making future popsicle decisions: The long lasting popsicle will indeed last around 2 minutes longer than your average popsicle, but you will have to endure the plastic-like texture.

The New York Trilogy

2007-09-03T15:24:00.001-05:00

"The New York Trilogy" by Paul Auster was another book on my classical literature list. It is a collection of 3 inter-linked detective novels. Auster writes really well and does a great job of developing a plot. In all three novels, you really get inside the head of the main character, so much so that when the character becomes dark (and this happens in all three novels), you understand it because you have progressed and changed along with the character. All three novels are set in New York, which provides a perfect setting for unique and complicated personalities.

After reading all three novels, I was somewhat disappointed because they all were anti-climatic. All three were narrated in such a way that the reader expects something really big or dramatic to happen, but the endings always leave you disappointed that not much really comes out of the multiple possibilities to which Auster alludes. However, the more I think about it, the more I appreciate this type of writing because it resembles real life. So many of us believe that something great or dramatic is going to happen in our lives. We all want to believe that our random movements through life are actually building to a dramatic end. The truth of the matter is that life is not like that. The everyday stuff of life is the drama and we are never able to fully appreciate the climax of our life because we will never be sure of when it occurs.

New Job

2007-08-26T14:26:00.000-05:00

Most of you out there already know this, but recently I started a new job. As of August 1st, I am the Registrar for the Duke Divinity School. I went to seminary and graduated from Duke, so it is extra special for me to have the opportunity to return there to serve. I see my job as making sure students graduate. I handle all of the behind the scenes stuff that allows students to register for classes, transfer credits in from other schools, and check to make sure they meet all of the requirements necessary to graduate.

So far I am really enjoying my job because it combines two things that I love. A large part of the job is administrative, and I love administrative work when it serves a noble purpose. In this case, I care very much about this administrative work because my behind the scenes work goes a long way to ensure future Christian leaders are being academically formed. The other part of the job is working with people. I work very closely with students, faculty, and Duke University administrators. Some of the most interesting people in the world work and study at Duke, so it is a privilege to be a part of such a diverse collection of talented individuals.

I think my favorite part of the job is signing Enrollment Verification letters. Quite often students will come to me to verify their enrollment and send a letter stating so to insurance companies, church denominations, banks, etc. I love signing my name and then taking out this huge piece of metal that stamps the official Duke seal on the letter. For some reason, I get a kick out of it every time.

It is the little things in life that amuse me...

Iowa!

2007-08-19T20:59:00.000-05:00

Last week Laura and I spent some time in Iowa visiting friends and family. We flew into Omaha, Nebraska and rented a car we affectionately referred to as a "roller skate" (it was a 2007 Chevy Aveo). We drove to my parents place in Ankeny, Iowa (by Des Moines) and had a blast hanging out with the family. We went to a water park and Adventureland. My little sis got engaged, so at one point the women went shopping for wedding dresses while the men got poison ivy playing disc golf. I miss seeing my family on a regular basis, so I definitely cherished the time I spent with them.

After a few days we "skated" up to Sioux Center, Iowa to have a triforce reunion. My buddy Tony was recently called to serve as a pastor in that area, and we were visiting for the first time. Highlights of that trip included a surprise birthday party for Angie, playing darts and washers, and eating at the Pizza Ranch. Of course, the best part of the trip was meeting Stevie for the first time. I love being an Uncle and it was really meaningful to interact with him.

All in all, I think we traveled close to 3500 miles in six days. I only wish those scientist would speed up the development of that whole teleportation thing!

The Triforce & Stevie

The Myth of a Christian Nation

2007-08-17T07:06:00.001-05:00

"The Myth of a Christian Nation" by Gregory Boyd is a book that did a good job of coherently presenting a lot of random thoughts that have been rolling around my head for the past few years. Basically, the main thrust of the book was to destroy the myth that the way to revolutionize the world for God is by taking over the kingdom of this world. It is a somewhat popular thought right now (although it is waning) that many of the problems in our nation and even the world could be solved if we got the right "Christian" leaders in positions of power. However, this was never Jesus' plan while he was here on earth and he talked about the creation of a new kind of kingdom. In fact, one of the temptations Christ had to overcome before he began his ministry was the lure of worldly power.

Instead, Christ came to institute a new kind of kingdom. A kingdom that is all about transforming love and not coercive power. One theme that Boyd touched on over and over was contrasting the idea of "power over" versus "power under." It is a myth to believe that the best way to gain power is through force, but Christ demonstrated a new kind of power, a power that comes under others. Christ, even though he was God, did not consider equality with God as something that should be grasped by humans. Instead, he emptied himself and loved others by being a servant. That is the type of power that will change and transform the world.

The book also briefly touched on this common conception that the Founding Fathers of America were Christian and set this nation up to be a Christian nation. Many people tend to idealize our past and think that we need to return to the golden age when our nation was purely "Christian." However, this has never been true and American history has been stained with war, oppression, and violence from the very beginning. This truth was especially fresh on my mind have recently read Howard Zinn's history of America.

All in all, I thought it was a pretty good book. I would definitely recommend reading it if you are looking for an alternative way to think about what Christians should be doing in America.

1984

2007-08-15T11:59:00.000-05:00

"1984" by George Orwell is a fascinating and well written novel. It imagines a world where the government seeks to control every aspect of society, including one's own thoughts. The novel follows the story of Winston, a mid-level government employee who eventually rebels by starting a love affair. The government monitors almost every aspect of people's lives, and it uses fear as a means of control. The reason why the government seeks absolute power and control is that it is seen as a means for immortality. If the government achieves complete control over humanity, it will last forever. This book also introduces and describes the concept of "Big Brother," where the government monitors every move of its citizens.

This book is certainly not for the faint of heart as it is quite graphic at points. Orwell does an amazing job of describing human nature and the struggle to stamp out the human desire for love and beauty. The book may also be a little prophetic, as our own government is seeking new ways of control in order to maintain peace and prosperity. I certainly do not think that our government or any government will resort to the measures used by the theoretical government in 1984, but it is important to remember that societies will never be able to survive by seeking absolute power and control, and that governments who attempt to do so will only create pain, suffering, and death. The divine spark simply cannot be stamped out of the human race through means of coercion.

Mayer Concert

2007-08-03T08:36:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday night, Laura and I went to a concert at Walnut Creek in Raleigh. It featured John Mayer, but also included James Morrison and Ben Fold. First of all, the concept of a concert was really fascinating to me. I was blown away that thousands of people would pay $25 - $150 to hear a guy sing ballads about his broken relationships.

I guess it helps to be a ridiculously talented musician. Great musicians was what made this a great concert. All three were really good. Ben Fold played the piano in a way that I had never seen before. I always liked John Mayer, but it was not until I saw him live that I understood and appreciated what an amazing musician he is. I know just enough about play the guitar to recognize when someone is really good, and he is insanely good.

I definitely recommend catching this tour if you get the chance.

Litter

2007-07-31T12:12:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a little bit of time since I have added to my list of things that I find unacceptable, so I thought I would make an update. I am probably not going to cause a lot of controversy with this item, but it still needs to be said.

These past few months I have spent a lot of time in nature - hiking, swimming in lakes, riding my bike, going to the beach, etc. In every single area, even the more remote places, I noticed litter. I can honestly say that in 26 years on this planet, I have never consciously littered. I would seriously like to know who these people are that decide the best place for their fast food wrapper or empty beer can is out the window of a moving vehicle. I want to understand their mindset.

Is it ignorance? Do they really believe that the trash will magically disappear or blow into a proper trash receptacle?

Perhaps it is arrogance? Maybe there is a mindset that "someone else less important than me will pick up my garbage."

I am sure people who litter just do not think about it, and people who do not think really scare me.

At any rate, here is the list as it stands now (go to my archives to see the reason for each one):

1. Wearing a cell phone on your hip
2. The idea that a nice smile is the "normal" way to pose for a photograph
3. People who cut to the front of a traffic back-up when they know they need to get over
4. Local TV Newspeople
5. Confirmational Reactionist
6. Wearing a blue tooth headset as a fashion accessory
7. Putting Bullethole stickers on your car
8. Placing a fake baseball on your car that gives the allusion that it has shattered your window
9. People who litter

Bonhoeffer & King: Speaking Truth to Power

2007-07-30T12:47:00.001-05:00

"Bonhoeffer & King: Speaking Truth to Power" by J. Deotis Roberts was a book with an interesting concept: lay the lives and thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and MLK side by side to show all of the various ways in which they were moving in the same direction. While I found the concept intriguing, I thought that the book left a lot to be desired. I felt that the author did not put very many original thoughts into the writing. In my opinion, he merely copied and pasted together correlating information from the biographies and theological writings of the two subjects.

Part of my struggle with the book is probably due to the fact that I took an entire class in seminary on Martin Luther King. This book was pretty short (130 pages) and did not go into any sort of depth, so I really did not learn anything new about MLK. However, it was worth reading for me to learn some interesting aspects of Bonhoeffer's biography, of whom I am not as familiar with as King.

If you are unfamiliar with Bonhoeffer or King (or both), this book would make for an excellent primer. If you have studied either one before, you will likely be pretty bored with the book.

Good Friends, Good Times

2007-07-28T16:57:00.000-05:00

This past week I have been reminded of the beauty and importance of friendship. Last weekend I met up with 3 of my seminary friends in mountain town of Sky Valley, Georgia. We had a great time fellowshipping, playing, and eating together. Then on Wednesday, Erik Willits stopped by for a few days on his whirlwind tour of the country. Last night, Laura and I threw a milkshake party as a way to say good-bye to our friends Jen and Gerron Showalter who are moving to Nashville. Around 40 people crammed into our little town home. It was so great to see everyone and I really savored the time that I spent with people I love. Relationships truly have the power to make life beautiful.

On a random side note, something really shocked me this past week. While I was in Georgia, me and my buddies went to this YMCA camp to spend some time. I was blown away that a place like this camp still existed. This camp had a rifle and archery range, not to mention a huge lake. In that lake, several diving boards were set up, along with a slide and "The Blob." I was amazed because in our present day of insurance and lawsuits, I did not think it was possible for a Y-Camp like this to exist. The slide was metal and about 60 feet long. You really got moving down it, and the sides were only a few inches high, so it would be very easy to fly off the slide into a tree in the woods. The blob is a huge inflatable piece of plastic where one person sits on and is flung off into the lake by another person jumping off an elevated platform. I still have whiplash from flying off of that thing. My friends and I had a ball just being kids again and reminiscing of a long gone age that was not dominated by liability waivers and lawyers.

A picture of the slide and "The Blob"

A People's History of the United States

2007-07-20T14:16:00.001-05:00

This book was the first one on my classical literature list, and I could not have picked a better book to begin with. Howard Zinn begins with Columbus coming to the America’s in 1492 and re-tells American history – only through the eyes of the oppressed. For example, he tells the history of Columbus through the eyes of the Native Americans. The history of slavery is recalled through the eyes of African Americans. The Vietnam war through the eyes of the Vietnamese and others who protested at home.

This book included so many aspects of American history of which I had never heard. For example, I had no idea that in November of 1969, Indians attempted to occupy Alcatraz island as one of many vain attempts to protest the atrocities that had been done to them over the past 400 years. A group of about 78 Indians tried to take over Alcatraz and claim it as a reservation. The offered to buy Alcatraz with glass beads and red cloth – the same price paid to Indians for Manhattan Island over three hundred years earlier. However, the Indians were quietly and forcibly removed by federal agents and the whole ordeal was never really publicized.

Zinn’s sweeping recount of American history leaves one breathless at the amount of oppression created and perpetuated by the United States, specifically the wealthy elite who control government policies and action. This book is a must read for history lovers, especially those who have always heard “traditional” accounts of American history. In the first chapter of the book, Zinn writes a quote that I already posted, but it is so good I am going to post it again (I have been thinking about it non-stop since I read it):

“The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don’t listen to it, you will never know what justice is.”

Treasure in Clay Jars

2007-07-20T14:12:00.001-05:00

“Treasure in Clay Jars” is simply a report from a group of Christian researchers who studied nine missional congregations from across North America. Basically, the group sought to answer the question: “What are the characteristics of a missional church?” The group came up with eight different patterns that help to identify churches that are missionally faithful. I thought these patterns were good, so I wanted write them here for future reference.

Discerning Missional Vocation – The congregation is discovering together the missional vocation of the community. It is beginning to redefine “success” and “vitality” in terms of faithfulness to God’s calling and sending. It is seeking to discern God’s specific missional vocation (it’s “charisms”) for the entire community and for all its members.
Biblical Formation and Discipleship – The missional church is a community where all members are learning what it means to be disciples of Jesus. The Bible has a continuing, converting, formative role in the church’s life.
Taking Risks as a Contrast Community – The missional church is learning to take risks for the sake of the gospel. It understands itself as different from the world because of its participation in the life, death, and resurrection of its Lord. It is raising questions, often threatening, about the church’s cultural captivity and grappling with the ethical and structural implications of its missional vocation.
Practices that Demonstrate God’s Intent for the World – The church’s life as a community is a demonstration of what God intends for the life of the whole world. The practices of the church embody mutual care, reconciliation, loving accountability, and hospitality. A missional church is indicated by how Christians behave toward one another.
The Public Witness of Worship – Worship is the central act by which the community celebrates with joy and thanksgiving both God’s presence and God’s promised future. Flowing out of its worship, the community has a vital public witness.
Dependence on the Holy Spirit – The missional community confesses its dependence upon the Holy Spirit, shown in particular in its practices of corporate prayer.
Pointing Toward the Reign of God – The missional church understands its calling as witness to the gospel of the in-breaking reign of God and strives to be an instrument, agent, and sign of that reign. As it makes its witness through its identity, activity, and communication, it is aware of the provisional character of all that it is and does. It points toward the reign of God which God will certainly bring about, but knows that its won response is incomplete and that its own conversion is a continuing necessity.
Missional Authority – The Holy Spirit gives the missional church a community of persons who, in a variety of ways and with a diversity of functional roles and titles, together practice the missional authority that cultivates within the community the discernment of missional vocation and is intentional about the practices that embed that vocation in the community’s life.

I have always resisted the “American Business Model” of church organization, and this book gave some concrete words to a lot of ideas that have been floating around in my head. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who is wanting to have a discussion about forming a missional church.

New Wheels

2007-07-19T14:06:00.000-05:00

Today I officially purchased the first car that Laura and I have bought since we were married. It is a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Perhaps the coolest thing about the car is that it has a diesel engine and gets terrific gas mileage. Other cools things about it is the manual transmission, the sun roof, and the mp3 player.

Special thanks to our friends Bill and Danielle Shannon for taking such good care of the car and for giving us a great deal on it.

Apparently, we are now a part of this whole sub-culture of people who are really enthusiastic about having a diesel car. I have found a lot of websites devoted to this phenomenon, including this one.

Also, Laura and I like to name our cars. We have not come to an agreement about this one yet. She likes the name "Rachel," while I like the name "Caroline." Which one do you like better? Or do you have a better idea? I am open to suggestions.

So Long, Old Friend

2007-07-18T07:25:00.000-05:00

After 6 great years, my time with Val (the affectionate name I gave my Camaro) has come to a close. This past weekend, my next door neighbor asked me what happened to my car. I explained to him the story and finished by mentioning that I was going to try and get $500 for it. He immediately said "I'll take it," and even took my keys right away to pull it into his driveway so no one else would see it and think it might be for sale. I am pretty sure he has a buddy who works in a body shop, and since the car still runs great, he is probably seeing dollar signs by thinking he can repair the body damage real cheap and turn a profit.

I am putting two interesting pictures below. The first was taken the day after I bought the car in 2001. The second was taken the day after I sold it in 2007. The things of this world sure do pass away. As a part of the grieving process, I also wrote a letter to say good-bye and so I can have a little closure. I will put that below as well.

Dear Val,

This is not going to be easy, but it is time for us to say good-bye. Now that I am a little more mature, I am comfortable admitting that I bought you to be cool. And boy were you cool! Manual transmission, custom rims, low to the ground, cool angles - you had it all. Girls went absolutely crazy over you.

Well, actually just one girl, but she ended up being my wife. Laura and I had our first date in you. You provided us a perfect environment to make-out and, after we were married, some other things (wink!). I know that Laura is just as sad about all of this as I am.

My friends and I had a great time in you. You were a part of the scandal that rocked Olivet Nazarene University. I will never forget the night we were doing doughnuts in parking lot only to be pulled over by campus security. I humbly accepted the reckless driving ticket, but the campus security officer, hungry for power, tried to frame me and get me trouble by saying I was rude and called the him a "pig." However, we had conclusive video evidence that proved otherwise, and that officer lost his job for filling out a faulty report. Good times!

You have always been a good car. In fact, I never had a major mechanical problem with you. You started when I needed you to start and you took me where I needed to go. For those reasons and so many more, I will always remember you. From now on, whenever I see a Camaro on the road, a twinkle will come to my eye and I will recall the good times.

With much love,

Todd

Serendipity!

2007-07-16T07:22:00.000-05:00

In the post below, I was wondering what type of movie my life was going to be. So many things had gone wrong this past year, especially these past two weeks, that it was starting to have the feel of a tragedy.

Well, I am thrilled to report that the movie has a happy ending (to the first part of the saga, a sequel is expected to follow). When my bike tire blew out on Tuesday, that was certainly a low point for me. Beginning on Thursday, everything began to dramatically change - I got offered a new job, I was able to sell my totaled car, and we were able to buy an awesome car from a friend (more about all of this to follow).

It has been a long year, but I think that things are starting to head in the right direction again. I have only made it through by a ton of prayer, and trying my best to keep a positive attitude.

I keep a personal journal where I try to work through some thoughts I am wrestling with. I typically do not share this journal, but I thought I would put some excerpts here. I wrote this the night before all of the good things starting happening.

July 11, 2007

[In the above paragraph, I listed all of the things that had gone wrong recently]

However, I do not think it ever does any good to dwell on the bad. It will not change your circumstances. Yeah, someone might agree with me that I have been dealt a bad hand (over and over again), but so what? So many people on this earth have it so much worse. So many have been physically beaten or tortured, so many do not have food, so many do not have others that love and care for them. It is not easy remaining positive. Lately I have been feeling like I have just been getting crapped on. But crying about it is not going to help.

If you look at the top paragraph, I could list positive things from each one. Yeah, I did not get the job I interviewed for, but they were super supportive and gave me the names of others looking for jobs. Because of that, I have another interview tomorrow morning that may work out.

Yeah, my car (the car that I absolutely love) is basically toast. But perhaps it could be a blessing. Perhaps it would not have made it another year. Perhaps God knows we need a car that will last us a little farther into the future than the Camaro could get us.

Yeah, my bike tire blew up when I was riding my stinking bike 40 miles into school because I am a stupid idiot who does not set the parking brake. But, I was able to call Andy Joslin in my small group who happened to be only 2 miles where I was. He came and picked me up and let me have his car for the day. Yeah my bike might have failed me, but I have friends who treat me like family.

Yeah, things might have sucked this past year, but it could have been a lot worse. I could have gone through it all without Laura. She has been amazing. Supporting me, loving me, thinking I am amazing even though the only job I was able to find was working as a low level administrator in the science part of Duke. Last week was our 4 year anniversary. We went to Peggy’s cabin and simply rested, read, explored, watched movies, and ate. Not too many people enjoy the level of intimacy Laura and I have. So many people would give their financial freedom as well as their left arm for that. Having someone there who will love you and care for you even when the whole world is against you is worth more than millions of dollars.

So many other things have been good this past year. Never once have we gone hungry. Never once have we even come close to being broke. Our health has been great. We have made several more relationships that never would have happened otherwise. I got to serve at Duke Chapel, and while it was not the ideal job, it was an amazing experience and has the potential to open up doors for me in the future. Things could be so much worse, so as I see it I have only two options: dwell in the bad, or hope for the good. I am going to do my best to live in the latter, and attempt to avoid the former.

Serenity Now!

2007-07-10T07:35:00.000-05:00

Last week Laura and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by going to one of our favorite places in the world. For the past 3 years we have rented this cabin in the mountains of Virginia. It is very private and secluded; perfect for a romantic getaway. We spent five days simply sleeping, reading, eating, and exploring.

One of the things I am learning in life is that relaxation is not something you can save. You either are resting or you aren't. It is not possible too relax for awhile and have that rest go with you into your next pattern of busyness. We have been back for less than 48 hours and I already feel like I have "lost" all of the rest I had gained. Perhaps if anything, rest can only help to prevent you from going absolutely crazy in busy times.

I am starting to feel like my life is one of those movies where bad things continue to happen to the main character. In my last post I chronicled the drama that happened with my Camaro. Well, I have another chapter to add to the story today.

In the post, I mentioned that I was planning to ride my bike to work. Several of you commented to me that you thought I was kidding, but I wasn't. Now, I was not planning to do it everyday, just on the day's when Laura absolutely needed the car. I did it once last week and it was fine.

Today was another day where I needed to ride my bike. Right around mile 7 of the 20 mile trek, my front tire blew out. Are you kidding me?!? I have been riding a bike for close to 20 years now, and I have never had a flat. Talk about a terrible time for a first time.

Well, I was reminded today of the importance of having friends. Thankfully, I knew someone who lived only a few miles from where I blew my tire. He is in my small group and had mentioned to me on Sunday that he was working from home today. He was able to come and pick me up and and then let me take his car into work (Andy Joslin, you are the man!).

I am waiting to see what kind of movie I am in. Hopefully it is a comedy where all of these bad (but humorous) things happen to the main character, but in the end his fortunes are reversed and everything works out.

Unbelievable!

2007-07-02T08:05:00.000-05:00

So yesterday was a little crazy for me. It started off great. Josh and Sara Lowe (Sara is Laura's cousin) were in town visiting. Josh and I got up relatively early that morning to play some disc golf before church. When we came back to the house, I parked on the street since there was not room in the driveway. I proceeded to make chocolate waffles for everyone when the doorbell rang.

It was a neighbor who was out walking her dog. She wanted to know if we owned a maroon Camaro. She had seen it flying down the street without a driver.

You have to understand that the Camaro has a manual transmission. When you park a car with a manual transmission, you should always put it into gear and put on the parking brake. I typically do the former while neglecting the latter.

D'oh!

The place where I parked was relatively flat. I am somewhat sure I put it into gear, but it must not have been good enough. Apparently, my car must have slowly rolled along until it came to a small hill where it picked up a lot of speed. It traveled about 1/5 of a mile down the street before jumping the curb, taking out a storm grate, and crashing into the back of a Ford Bronco.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. Even though the picture below looks bad, not too much damage was done to the Bronco. Just a dent to the side of the bumper and the side panel is a little smashed in.

The Camaro, however, is totaled. I am pretty sure the cost to repair the damages exceeds the value of the car.

Another amazing thing is that basically no damage was done to the engine. I was able to start the car and drive it back to our place (and yes, I engaged the parking brake and turned the wheels toward the curb, just like they teach you in Driver's Ed). One option would be to get a rubber mallet and pound it back into shape, and then just keep driving it until it falls apart. For the meantime, I am just going to ride my bike the 20 miles to work and think about what I have done.

Classic Literature

2007-06-29T11:58:00.000-05:00

All throughout college and seminary, I always expressed a desire to have free time to read some of classic works of literature. I promised myself that once I was done with school, I would certainly devote time to this. Well, I am happy to report that I am taking active measures to fulfill this goal. I have compiled a list of 100 great pieces of literature and I hope to get through the list in the next 3-5 years. I have put the list below in case you were curious about what I will be reading.

I started on the list and it is already paying off huge dividends. I am currently reading "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn. This thought provoking book recounts American history with special attention given to the voice the oppressed. For example, the first part of the book focuses on the colonization and settlement of America through the eyes of the Native Americans. A quote in the first chapter has been rolling around in my head since I read it: "The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don't listen to it, you will never know what justice is."

Good Stuff!

A People’s History of the United States Howard Zinn
The Wind Up Bird Chronicles Haruki Murakami
The New York Trilogy Paul Auster
The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon
Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
Crime and Punishment Dostoevsky
On the Road Kerouac
Alice in Wonderland Carrol
Brothers Karamozov Dostoevsky
The Age of Innocence Wharton
Don Quixote Cervantes
Perfume Suskind
Ulysses Joyce
Anna Karenina Tolstoy
Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor
Cry the Beloved Country Paton
Dracula Stoker
The Eagles Die Marek
Emotionally Weird Atkinson
The Handmaid’s Tale Atwood
Infinite Jest Wallace
Kitchen Yoshimoto
London Fields Amis
Moise and the World of Reason Williams
Movie Wars Rosenbaum
Paradise Lost Milton
Persuasion Austen
Tortilla Curtain Boyle
Visions of Excess Bataille
Where the Wild Things Are Sendak
Wild Sheep Chase Murakami
Beloved Morrison
Counterfeiters Gide
The Bell Jar Plath
Blind Owl Hedayat
Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe
The Count of Monte Cristo Dumas
Dealing With Dragons Wrede
The Earthsea Trilogy Le Guin
The Ecology of Fear Davis
Franny and Zooey Salinger
History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Alvarez
Kabuki: Circle of Blood Mack & Jiang
Of Human Bondage Maugham
The Satanic Verses Rushdie
The Sheltering Sky Bowles
Tristam Shandy Sterne
Well of Loneliness Hall
Wicked Pavilion Powell
Collected Stories of V.S. Pritchett
War and Peace Tolstoy
Babel 17 Delany
Dora Freud
Empire Falls Russo
For Whom the Bell Tolls Hemingway
Girl in Landscape Letham
Goodbye to All That Graves
Ham on Rye Bukowski
Life Like
Mao II Delillo
Random Family Leblanc
Revolutionary Road Yates
The Stranger Camus
Humboldt’s Gift Bellow
White Noise Delillo
Atlas Shrugged Rand
Bastard Out of Carolina Allison
Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills Bukowski
Delta of Venus Nin
Fast Food Nation Schlosser
Ficciones Borges
Go Ask Alice Anonymous
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Adams
Iliad Homer
On Photography Sontag
Republic Plato
Shockproof Sydney Skate Meaker
Society of the Spectacle Debord
Strangers in Paradise Moore
The Sun Also Rises Hemingway
A Wrinkle In Time L’Engle
Dubliners Joyce
The Breakfast of Champions Vonnegut
No Logo Klein
Aeneid Virgil
Ariel Plath
Charlotte’s Web White
Curious George Learns the Alphabet Rey
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute Paley
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter McCullers
Henry VIII Shakespeare
I, Claudius Graves
The Lost Continent Bryson
Master and Margarita Bulgakov

The Bible in 1 Year

2007-06-28T11:54:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it. Last night I put the finishing touches on my quest to read through the Bible in 2007. It really helped to clear my reading list and to just focus on reading the Bible. I have a few comments/reflections on my journey these past six months.

Reading through it has left me amazed at the breadth and scope of this amazing piece of writing. I really believe that if you took an infinite number of interpreters/commentators and gave them an infinite amount of time with the Bible, they still would not be able to uncover all that is contained within the text. The Bible really mirrors God in this way.

I am convinced more than ever that the Bible should not be read alone. At the very least, you need to look at books that interpret the Bible to at least have some other voices to offer insight. I think it is a wonderful idea to read the Bible in a group setting, particularly in a diverse group. We really must assume a posture of humility when approaching the Bible.

The thing that stuck out to me the most in this reading was the marriage metaphor between God and God's people. Perhaps this is because I ended with the OT prophets and Revelation, but it just seemed like over and over again this metaphor kept popping up. Along the same lines, "prostitute" was a common term used describe the people of God in their relationship to God.

Even though I have completed reading the Bible, it is not as if I will put it back on the shelf to collect dust. The Bible is not really a book in this sense - where you only read it once because that is all you need to read it. I would now like to focus on studying specific parts of the Bible. I think I may start with Jonah. When reading it through, I was really surprised by its brevity. It is only 4 short chapters long. I think in my mind it was always this huge epic story that was presented to me in Sunday School as a young kid, so I just assumed it was longer than it was. But, even though it is short, I really think that there is a lot there.

Looking forward to continuing to wrestle with the Good Book.

Bullet Holes and Baseballs

2007-06-26T08:09:00.000-05:00

There are so many aspects of our society that I find completely unacceptable. In order to keep things organized, I am going to create a list. This list is based on previous posts, so look through my blog archives to find why I find the items on this list unacceptable.

1. Wearing a cell phone on your hip
2. The idea that a nice smile is the "normal" way to pose for a photograph
3. People who cut to the front of a traffic back-up when they know they need to get over
4. Local TV Newspeople
5. Confirmational Reactionist
6. Wearing a blue tooth headset as a fashion accessory

Well, I have a few things to add to this list.

Putting bullet hole stickers on your car. Come on, seriously? I cannot possibly imagine why anyone in their right mind would do this. Are there seriously people in this country who think it is humorous to pretend like your car got shot up? Or perhaps they think it will make them look cool and tough? For the majority of people, their vehicle is one of their largest assets. Why in the world would you intentionally do anything to reduce the value of one of your greatest assets? Putting bullet hole stickers on your car not only decreases your car's value, it also makes your car look ridiculous and calls into question your mental stability. Please do not do this.

Placing a fake baseball on your car that gives the allusion that it has shattered your window. Doing this is right up there with bullet holes. In fact, doing this is basically the less-ghetto form of placing bullet hole stickers on your car. I can just imagine someone trying to show off to his friends his new gag: "Hey guys, check it out. It totally looks like a baseball shattered my car window and I was too lazy to do anything about it, but guess what? It's fake! I am serious! Don't you think it is awesome!"
I am not sure what is more tragic: that people are actually doing these things to their cars, or that we live in a country where people are making money off of selling garbage like this.

Miracles

2007-06-22T11:56:00.000-05:00

I have had the privilege of witnessing some pretty amazing things so far in my young career as a minister. One of the more memorable experiences came during the summer of 2004. I was providing the pastoral care for a Nazarene church in Durham, NC. Through a random set of circumstances I met Jana Sheets and her husband Eric. They had moved to this area from Florida with the hopes of Jana receiving a lung transplant at Duke.

Receiving a lung transplant is wild enough, but Jana's case was further complicated by the fact that she had a rare disease (lymphangiomatosis) and no one with her disease had ever received an organ transplant. I will never forget the day I walked into the ICU shortly after she received her new lungs. Tons of machines were hooked up to her body and she was covered by a blanket of wires. The first thought that went through my mind is "there is no way this girl is going to make it." I said a prayer over her and then proceeded to have a long conversation with Eric.

I visited Jana several times a week over the next few months. There were so many instances where things look dark, but she gradually improved and slowly regained her strength. Finally, after several grueling months, Jana left that hospital on her own strength. But, it was not really her own strength. Jana was merely embodying the strength that could only come from God. Throughout the whole ordeal, I was blown away by her faith (a faith so contagious her husband Eric caught it), and there is no doubt that I witnessed a miracle.

Eric and Jana still live in the the Raleigh/Durham area (Bahama to be exact), and they have become dear friends to Laura and I. Jana will probably never be free of her disease in this lifetime, but she is living her life as best as she is able. Every time I am around Jana, I am reminded of the sanctity of life and how precious each day is.

I am reflecting on this because recently a newspaper in Jana's hometown in New York did a write up on her. You can find that story with more details about her journey here.

Below is a recent picture of Eric and Jana.

Welcome Steve!

2007-06-20T09:12:00.000-05:00

Many of you who check this blog also know my friends Tony & Angie Metz (you know, the ones who bought the minivan). Well, I am happy to announce that last Sunday Angie gave birth to Steve Lucas Metz. I thought you might want to see a picture of the little guy. Also, Tony has started a blog to chronicle his life. You can find a link to it in my "Other Blogs" section. Thanks for making me an uncle Tony & Angie!

Blue Tooth

2007-06-04T10:40:00.000-05:00

In a previous post, I mentioned that I finally broke down and got a cell phone. Even though I was unable to resist this evil piece of technology, I did make a rule that I would never wear my cell phone on my hip. Well, I feel that I need to make an addendum to this rule (FYI: at some point I plan to release an entire Manifesto on cell phone etiquette, be looking for that in the future).

Lately I have noticed that it has become fashionable and trendy to wear your blue tooth receiver as an accessory, as some sort of giant earring. I am sure it starts innocently with someone forgetting that they still have the receiver in their ear, but at some point, people are coming to conclusion that it is acceptable and even cool to leave the receiver in their ear even though they are not using their cell phone. I want to be one of the first people to publicly declare that not only does it make you look like an idiot, it is unacceptable. I have come up with at least two reasons why I will never wear a blue tooth receiver in my ear as a fashion accessory.

1. It makes you look like you are trying too hard to be cool.

2. It makes you look too much like Lando Calrissian's aide, Lobot, in The Empire Strikes Back.

The resemblance is striking, is it not? Please spread the word that this is not cool, and please feel free to punch me in the stomach if you ever see me doing this.

Confirmational Reactionist

2007-05-30T08:44:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Laura and I went to visit our friends Mitchell and Carrie Henderson (along with their son Jackson and dog Jasper) in Wilmington. It was a beautiful weekend and the weather was perfect for our trip to the beach.

On Sunday we went to their church, Port City Community Church. It is one of these mega-churches that seems to be doing some really cool things. The message was given by their lead pastor, a sharp looking guy who is an excellent communicator. During his message, I realized I was sitting next to a Confirmational Reactionist. To my left was a woman, and I noticed that anytime the pastor said something funny, she would immediately start to chuckle and then look at me to see if I was laughing as well. She was looking at me to confirm that I was sharing her reaction - a Confirmational Reactionist.

Perhaps at some point in your life you have found yourself sitting next to a Confirmational Reactionist. If you cannot remember a time, then you are probably one yourself.

Well, I am the type of person who likes to mess with other people's minds, so here is what I did. When the woman would laugh and then look to me, I did not start laughing and look back at her nodding my head in agreement. Instead, I would pretend in my mind that the pastor said something really offensive and I sported a look as if I were sincerely disgusted. I have no idea what went through her mind upon looking at my sour face, but it does not matter because the whole ordeal was humorous to me.

It is the little things in life that amuse me.

NYC

2007-05-23T08:33:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Laura and I got to go to New York to stay with some of our friends who live in Brooklyn [Thanks for hosting us Lisa & Dustin, we had a blast!]. We were only there for three days, but we did a lot in those days.

The whole time I was in the city, I was overwhelmed by the number of people and the energy that the city creates. It blows my mind to think about 8 million people living in such a concentrated area. Each person has hopes, dreams, struggles, fears, relationships, etc. So many want to make it big, so many are just concentrating on surviving. This world we live in is so amazingly complex. And the complexity of our world is what makes it simultaneously beautiful and difficult/overwhelming. Perhaps no other place in this world highlights this point as well as New York.

Here is a list of the things we did on the trip:

Ate at two great pizza joints (Grimaldi's & John's)
Liberty Island
Ellis Island
Times Square
Saw Les Miserables on Broadway
Saw an Irish rock band at a local pub (our friend was the drummer)
Museum of Natural History
Attended Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Central Park
Went to Magnolia Bakery to mack on some cupcakes

Good Times!

Solomon 2.0

2007-05-17T07:35:00.000-05:00

I love it when you have a moment when the light bulb goes on and you see something you never saw before. I had one of this moments yesterday when I was listening to a sermon on my ipod. It had to do with the title given to Jesus as the "Son of David." I had always understood that this title meant that Jesus was from the same blood line as David, which is true as shown in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. I also understood that this title identified Jesus as one who had a heart after God, as David did. Perhaps the distinguishing quality about David's life, even through all of the ups and downs, was his passion for God.

While these understandings certainly fit, I learned another way to look at this title. On a literal level, David had several sons. The one that we know the most about and the one who succeeded David as king was Solomon. Solomon had it all: wealth, wisdom, and power. David was a very successful warrior; so successful that most of the Israelite enemies had been decimated and Solomon was set up to reign in relative peace. Solomon was in a prime position to make God's dream for the world a reality. He had the resources to see that everyone's needs were met and that shalom could come on the earth. The whole world watched Solomon to see what he would do with the abundant resources that were given to him.

And you know what, he failed. He let the wealth and power go to his head. He allowed foreign wives to distort and compromise his understanding of the Torah. He used the abundant resources to glorify himself.

So, I think that part of what it means that Jesus is the Son of David is that he is the second Solomon. Not in the sense that he had all of this wealth and power. Actually, Jesus was born into quite opposite circumstances (see Luke 2). Jesus was the second Solomon in the sense that he had abundant resources. After all, everything that is God's also belongs to Jesus (because Jesus is God!). Jesus was the second Solomon because he was in a prime position to make God's dream for the world a reality. He had the resources to see that everyone's needs were met and that shalom would come to the earth.

And you know what, he wildly succeeded. He resisted the temptation to make his blessings all about him (see Matthew 4). He lived such a life that still inspires millions of people 2000 years later. He gave everyone a glimpse of what the world can look like when God reigns (the Kingdom of God). He even entered into sin and death and destroyed it to remove all fear of living the way he did.

The truth of the matter is that we all have been given abundant resources. So whose path are we going to follow? Solomon or Solomon 2?

The Bible in 1 Year

2007-05-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

I have this strange fetish that I have to read every book I start from cover to cover. I also do this with newspapers and magazines. I am not sure why, but I am very uncomfortable with not finishing a book once I have started it and I do not like to read random chapters out of a book or start in the middle or do anything except read it cover to cover. I know that this goes back to when I was a kid. I can remember that the library at my elementary school had an entire section of biographies of historical figures. These books were written for children, but they were quite large (~150-200 pages). For some reason, I decided to read an entire row of that section, and that is exactly what I did. I started with the first book, read it cover to cover, and then went down the row until I had completed all of them. I recall the sense of satisfaction from knowing that I had read the entire book and then the entire row. I now find myself struggling to enjoy the book and what I am learning as much as I simply enjoy the satisfaction of knowing I read the whole thing.

Well, I say all of that to explain my actions in reading the Bible in 1 year*. For one of my New Year's Resolutions, I decided that I needed to read the entire Bible. So, I set a course of reading 4 chapters a day, which means that I would probably have finished in late October. However, I have become increasingly frustrated with falling behind in my reading and almost feeling a burden to accomplish this task. So, rather than simply giving up, I decided to get more aggressive. As you may have noticed, I finished all of the books that I was currently reading this past weekend. I did that so I could focus all of my reading time and energy on the Bible. Now I am not going to read according to any specific schedule, I am just going to read as much as I can to get through it as quickly as possible. I hope to have the whole thing done in a few months.

This probably sounds crazy to an outside observer, perhaps even to the point that this will do more damage than good. I recognize that it is a little disturbing to take the mindset that I am going to read only my Bible so I can "get through it as quickly as possible." However, reading like this is deeply ingrained into who I am as a person. I do not think I could live with the idea of just giving up something I started to do. My plan is to read the Bible all the way through so I can begin my next project of taking cohesive passages and studying them in depth. I may be a little nuts in the head, but what harm can it do to read the whole Bible?

*I consider the Bible to be more than a book - I believe the Bible is the Word of God. For this reason, my rule of needing to read a book cover to cover does not necessarily apply to the Bible. I have no problem reading random passages in the Bible and skipping around from book to book or chapter to chapter. However, this will be the 8th time that I have read the Bible cover to cover. The amazing thing to me is that the more I read the Bible, the more I realize how much I have to learn and how much I do not understand. I do not think the Bible is a book that can be mastered (at least not in this lifetime).

The Way to Love

2007-05-01T13:27:00.000-05:00

"The Way To Love" by Anthony De Mello is a series of short meditations from this spiritual giant. De Mello writes so clearly and so simply, and yet his words hit you like a ton of bricks. This book is an ideal one to keep around (it is very small in size) because it is something you can pick up randomly and challenge yourself. Each chapter is only a few short pages long and will only take you about 5 minutes to read. However, the words stick in your head and challenge your thinking in radical and surprising ways. I plan to make this one of the books that I re-read several times throughout the course of my life. Below, I will share the 2 main thoughts that I got out of the book this time, and my reactions to those thoughts.

1. All negative emotions come from your attachments. For De Mello, the way to happiness (that is, being content) is recognizing and removing your attachments to this world. He argues that since we were born, we have been programmed to be attached to the things of this world. Since I read this above statement, I have challenged myself to reflect every time I have recognized having a negative emotion. And I have come to conclude that I think De Mello may be right. How many times have we been frustrated, angered, upset over not having something or when others treat us in a way that we do not think we deserve? When we become attached to the idea that we are defined by our jobs, possessions, acquaintances, etc., all sorts of negative emotions will arise when our image is challenged.

2. It is only when we can honestly say to others "I leave you free to be yourself" that we can truly begin to love them. This statement really struck me. I can think of so many times in my life when my love for others was contingent on them conforming to my desires for their life. I can also think of many times when my love for others was contingent on how well they treated me. I think all humans have this tendency to desire to make others into their own image and to treat others in the same manner that they are treated. I suppose it takes a divine or Christlike love to love others just they way they are, regardless of how they treat you. I am so thankful that this is the way God loves!

A Grace Disguised

2007-05-01T13:17:00.000-05:00

"A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss" by Jerry Sittser is a book that has been sitting on my nightstand since October. Every now and then, when the opportunity presented itself, I would pick up the book and read it before I went to bed. The book is basically a long reflection from Sittser about dealing with loss. Sittser seemed to have it all: he was a Christian college professor with a wife and four kids. Then, out of nowhere, his family was hit by a drunk-driver. In that accident, he lost his wife, his mother, and his daughter. The book is Sittser's well thought out response to this tragedy.

I thought this book was fantastic. It did such an excellent job of exploring what can be learned from a situation like this without failing to acknowledge the pain, suffering, anguish, etc. of death and losing a loved one. I read this book during a period of dealing with loss in my life (albeit a much milder loss of losing a church community) and I found it to be incredibly helpful.

This book is a good one to keep in the back of your mind as a resource to give someone who is going through loss.

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger

2007-05-01T12:50:00.000-05:00

"Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" by Ronald Sider is one of those really difficult books to read. Not in the sense that the content matter was too difficult, but in the sense it was too painful and revealing. The book offers Sider's sweeping look at the issue of poverty in our times. The book is absolutely jam packed with disturbing statistics and stories that illuminate the issue of poverty. The lens through which Sider approaches this problem is through the lens of following Jesus. Quite simply, if you follow Jesus, then you must be concerned with the poor. And for us Christians in North America who have more resources than we probably realize, the issue of poverty is our issue.

As I read this book I became easily overwhelmed. After awhile, my mind became numb to statistic after statistic and story after story of devastating poverty for much of the world's population and obese abundance for a small portion of the world's population. It is so hard for me to imagine that so many are suffering. I live in America and every day I see images that communicate to me that so many have even more than I do and that I am insufficient unless I have more. Books like this one help to tell the truth about our world and destroy the American mindset that what we have is insufficient. Sider concludes the book with a call to conversion: both on a individual and corporate level. In regards to the call for corporate conversion, I understand that it is sinful systems and institutions that cause a lot of the problems and that these structures must be changed if true repentance is going to happen. I am just now learning some ways to engage these "powers," but for right now, it seems too big of a task to wrap my mind around.

In regards to individual conversion, Sider basically calls us to a life a simplicity. We need to live more simply so that others can simply live. I understand that changing structures is where the problem will be solved, but I think it is important for everyone who is serious about this to begin to change on an individual level. Sider gives a list of practical suggestions for living more simply that I really liked, so I thought I would share them here:

1. Question your own lifestyle, not your neighbor's
2. Reduce your food budget by gardening, substituting vegetable protein for animal protein, joining a food co-op, fasting regularly, opposing the flagrant use of grain for making beer and other alcoholic beverages, and setting a monthly budget and sticking to it.
3. Lower your energy consumption by keeping your thermostat at 68 degrees or lower during winter months, use public transportation, bicycles, carpools, and feet for transportation, wash your dishes instead of using a dishwasher, use a fan instead of an air conditioner.
4. Resist consumerism by laughing regularly at TV commercials, make a list of dishonest ads and boycott those products, etc.
5. Buy and renovate an old house in the inner city.
6. Reduce your consumption of nonrenewable natural resources by resisting obsolescence (buy quality products when you must buy), sharing tools, appliances, lawnmowers, etc. with others, organizing a "things" closet in your church for items used occasionally.
7. See how much of what you spend is for status and eliminate it.
8. Refuse to keep up with clothing fashions.
9. Enjoy what is free.
10. Live on a welfare budget for a month.
11. Give your children more of your love and time rather than more things.

Lacrosse Thoughts

2007-04-24T10:35:00.000-05:00

One night a few weeks back I could not sleep because thoughts were racing through my head, so I decided to just get up and write them down. With all that has happened last week at Virgina Tech, the article that I wrote now seems outdated, but some of the ideas in it are not, so I thought I would post it here.

April 14, 2007

For the past year, a story that has dominated American media is the Duke Lacrosse scandal. On the one hand, I found myself in the middle of that story. I went to school and now work at Duke, so I was a firsthand witness to the media monsoon that erupted on campus. I followed the story through the student newspaper and had conversations about the case with colleagues and co-workers. On the other hand, I always felt detached from the whole ordeal. I never had strong opinions about any part of the drama and the story did not captivate my attention like it did for so many.

Coming from this perspective, one aspect of the whole ordeal has really got me thinking now that the story appears to be coming to a close. When the story first broke, it was shocking and scandalous. A black single mother who was a student at the small, mainly African-American college was gang raped by three white males from the elitist institution in the town where racial tensions have always been high. People reacted to this news with emotions that were powerful and raw. For most people, the situation was very clear: the accuser was “good” and the accused were “bad.” However, as time progressed and the evidence kept coming out, the tide of public opinion slowly began to reverse, culminating this past Wednesday when the North Carolina Attorney General declared the accused “innocent” of the charges brought against them. Amazingly, most people now see the same set of characters in a completely different light: the accusers, specifically the District Attorney, are now “bad” and the accused are now “good.” The accuser is a deeply troubled woman with a tumultuous past who should have never been taken seriously from the beginning. The District Attorney is a power-hungry politician who exploited and manipulated a turbulent situation for his own personal gain. And the lacrosse players are ordinary college students whose lives were destroyed by a series of horrible circumstances.

I believe that this complete reversal of public opinion illuminates a major problem created by sinful humanity: labeling. We have this insatiable desire to place people into specific categories so that we will know how we are supposed to act toward them. When we think of other people, we often do not think of them by their name, but by the label we have given them – selfish, nice, homosexual, married, slut, atheist, Christian, rich, poor, black, white, etc.

The other day I was riding a bus after work that would take me to the parking lot where my car was located. An acquaintance got on the bus and inquired about the book I was holding in my hand. I told him it was “Rich Christians In An Age Hunger,” a book that explores the distressing situation of poverty in the world. Without missing a beat he said to me: “The reason why people are poor is that they are lazy.” I thought he was kidding. He wasn’t. Thinking about that conversation got me wondering if this is what a lot of people do: rather than getting to know poor people and understanding the complexities of poverty, they simply label them as “lazy” and consequentially release themselves from any sort of responsibility.

Jesus understood the sinfulness of labeling and seemed to always resist it. The Bible tells one story where some religious leaders brought to Jesus a woman who was clearly caught sleeping with someone who was not her husband. They had a label for her and they knew exactly how they were supposed to treat her. They even had some Scripture that verified her label and what they were supposed to do with people who had her label. However, when Jesus looked at her, he did not see an “adulterer.” Instead, he saw a broken and hurting woman with a long history and a complex set of circumstances.

One of the things I have realized in my few short years on this earth is that people always surprise you. Time and again I have applied labels to people, either on my own or on the reference from another, only to watch those labels crumble as I take the time to learn their stories. And no matter how many times I discover someone is nothing like what I originally thought they were, I still always catch myself pulling out the label maker when it comes to forging new relationships. After all, it is easy to think of someone as simply a helpless victim or a lying prostitute. It is easy to label my friend on the bus as “ignorant.”

I think part of what it means to follow Jesus is to consciously and intentionally avoid applying labels to other people. I think Jesus calls us to the difficult and often painful task of really getting to know our neighbors and learning their complex story. I think we are supposed to be quick to listen and slow to speak and judge. I think we are supposed to focus on the potential of others and not their faults. I think Jesus demonstrated and now asks us to identify with all people, especially those that others have labeled “outcasts.” Doing so just might be the way to love.

Life Changing Moment

2007-04-13T14:35:00.000-05:00

Today I had one of those moments where you are hit really hard with the realization that you are growing up and that the cycle of life is continuing to spin. It came during a conversation I had with my best friend Tony Metz. Tony and his wife Angie are expecting their first child in a few months. Tony and I have been best friends since we roomed together our freshman year of college and I have known Angie since we were in middle school, so it is strange enough that my friends are in the midst of the very adult process of procreating. I was not all that blown away when Tony told me Angie was pregnant. It seemed very natural and I was simply elated that they were making me into an uncle. However, nothing could have prepared me for Tony’s announcement to me today: he had traded the sedan in for a minivan. That’s right, my best friend owns a minivan and he got one because it was simply the most practical vehicle he could own. Here is how the conversation took place:

Tony: “Remember a few weeks back when I told you Angie and I were planning to keep the [sedan] for at least ten more years.”

Todd: Laughing

Tony: “What?”

Todd: “I am just laughing because that sentence foreshadows that you are going to tell me something really funny. So what happened to the car?”

Tony: “Well, Angie and I traded it in for a minivan.”

[Long pause of silence]

Todd: “Seriously???”

From that point on Tony explained to me the circumstances behind how he ended up the proud owner of a Ford Freestar and how he honestly believed it was a rational decision. While he was talking, I could not help but think that I had crossed a threshold and my life would never be the same.

Holy Week Reflections

2007-04-11T10:19:00.000-05:00

The dust is just beginning to settle on a full Holy Week. This year I was fortunate to be a part of the life of Duke Chapel for their Holy Week services. I helped serve in some capacity in all of them - Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday. For me the highlight was the Good Friday service. Duke Chapel does a Service of Tenebrae for their Good Friday services. Near the end, several passages from the last moments of Christ's life were read, and after each reading the chapel gradually got darker and darker. I had the privilege of reading one of the Scriptures. After my reading, the chapel was completely dark, and then the chapel bell was rung 33 times to signify the 33 years of Christ's life. It was a wild feeling all around. First of all, to have your voice fill the space of Duke Chapel was pretty neat, and then to sit in complete darkness with 1200 people in that huge space was incredible. It is not something I will soon forget. You can watch a webcast of the Good Friday, and all Duke Chapel services, here.

One of the things I am learning is that different churches minister in different ways. Duke Chapel is a church that ministers in a number of ways, but the main way is simply through the building. Being in the beauty of that space definitely has the sense of holy ground, and it is not difficult to imagine the majesty and splendor of God while worshiping in that place. I will miss it when I am no longer a part of the Congregation at Duke Chapel.

Reflections & Reading List

2007-04-03T20:06:00.000-05:00

I am always amazed at how God tears down our preconceived notions and humbles us along the way. I decided to read through the Bible this year with thoughts of padding my knowledge of the Bible. I assumed that I would have all sorts of fresh and wonderful insights now that I have completed seven years of formal theological education. Instead, I have found myself confused and struggling to reconcile my understanding of God and what is presented in the Bible. I have been tempted to quit reading, but lately I have been thinking that perhaps I am supposed to be learning something other than what I originally thought. I feel like I am learning more about the "how" than the "what or why" of reading Scripture. Here are a few things that I have been learning this past month:

1. I think that maybe Scripture should not be read alone. Remember, this whole concept of silently reading to yourself is relatively new. The printing press did not come around until the 1600, so for the majority of Christian history, people have not had private access to Scripture. Traditionally, Scripture has been read in community. I think that this is really important. The Bible is a huge book and has a lot of crazy stuff in it. It would be very easy for an individual to get some wild ideas based on a private reading of Scripture. As history has shown, it is also very possible for a community to get some wild ideas from Scripture, but I am willing to bet it is more difficult.

2. I think that Scripture must be read slowly. In order to meet my goal of reading the Bible in one year, I have set a break-neck speed of 4 chapters per day. Very rarely do I have the time (or rather take the time) to meditate and savor the text. Instead, I typically read anywhere from 8 to 20 chapters (because I have skipped days), quickly skimming over the passsages. No wonder I am confused by what is going on!

Well, call me a glutton for punishment, but I am pushing forward because I am determined to see where reading through Scripture in 1 year will take me. Here is my reading list for April:

April 1: Joshua 1-4
2: 5-8
3: 9-12
4: 13-16
5: 17-20
6: 21-24
7: Judges 1-4
8: 5-8
9: 9-12
10: 13-16
11: 17-21
12: Ruth 1-4
13: 1 Samuel 1-4
14: 5-8
15: 9-12
16: 13-16
17: 17-20
18: 21-24
19: 25-28
20: 29-31
21: 2 Samuel 1-4
22: 5-8
23: 9-12
24: 13-16
25: 17-20
26: 21-24
27: 1 Kings 1-5
28: 6-10
29: 11-15
30: 16-22

Africa

2007-03-29T12:58:00.000-05:00

Many of you know that my wife Laura and I are planning to do some sort term mission work once she finishes her masters degree. As of right now, the plan is to leave sometime in the summer of 2008 and we will be gone up to one year. We do not yet know where we are going, but we have requested the continent of Africa. I thought I would take the opportunity to answer a few questions that seem to regularly pop-up.

Why are you doing this? Aren't there plenty of people you can help in the USA?
Yes, of course there is plenty of work to be done right here. However, I believe that all people are created in the image of God, therefore, it is equally valid to serve those in Africa or the USA or where ever you find yourself. Laura and I are doing this for a number of reasons. One, the church that we are a part of, the Church of the Nazarene, has emphasized mission work from the very beginning. If I am going to be a part of this church, then I need to be concerned about missions. Another reason is that I do not have any background in overseas missions (unless you count the summer I worked at a church in Hawaii, which no one does). I feel like I need this type of experience to have a proper world view and to be a better pastor. I think it will be important to my theological formation to see how the gospel takes form in an entirely different culture. So many times the gospel gets all mixed up with culture, so seeing the church in another context should help me discern the essentials of the Christian faith. Also, our world is shrinking and I think that the pastors of the future must have a global mindset. As communication and transportation technology continue to advance, it will become increasingly difficult to ignore what is going on in the rest of the world. Another reason is that Laura and I want to be challenged, we want to go outside of our comfort zone because we know that it is when we are weak that God is strong and that God is present. Finally (though I could give many more reasons), Laura and I feel called to do this. While in seminary, God began to place this idea in my mind. When I shared this with Laura, she did not hesitate for a second and was on board from the beginning.

Why Africa?
Good question. There is no specific reason, just a general leading. Laura has some friends who have done mission work in Africa, and she has been captivated by their stories. I did an internship while at Duke Divinity in an HIV/AIDS ministry, so that seems to point to Africa. And while Laura and I have been praying and thinking about this experience, it is really Africa that has sparked our imagination, so we just decided to follow that intuition.

Where are you at in the process?
This past weekend Laura and I went to Chicago for the Nazarene's CCO (cross-cultural orientation) training. For 3 days, we went through some intense training that covered financing the trip, how to be culturally sensitive, the Church of the Nazarene's involvement in missions, the issue of global poverty and how missions engage that issue, as well as many other things. It was a good weekend and it definitely got Laura and I excited about doing this. Our next step is that we will be put in touch with this guy who is charge of mission work for the continent of Africa. He will work with us to find a specific place and assignment. We will be matched up with missionaries who are already in the field. Our role will be to help them out, encourage them, and do whatever is needed. Once we learn our assignment, we will begin making plans to go.

Do you need help?
Yes, yes, and a thousand times yes. Laura and I will absolutely not be able to do this unless we receive a lot of support. Right now, we could really use some people to join with us in prayer. Pray that God would begin to work and that the right door would be opened. Once we learn our assignment, Laura and I are going to send out letters to our friends and family to name the specific ways in which we will need support. This trip will require a lot of financial support, so this is another area where you can join us in prayer for right now.

I imagine that once things are little more settled I will start a separate blog that will chronicle our experience. Thanks to all of you who have already come along side of us to support us.

Adventures in Missing the Point

2007-03-28T13:34:00.000-05:00

"Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel" by Brian McLaren & Tony Campolo was a book with an interesting concept, but it did not pack a huge punch as far as powerful books go. The concept of the book was to look at several issues in the church, with one author writing how the mainline church has missed the point in certain areas of that issue. The other author would then respond to the main authors writing in a two page blurb. The issues that were addressed in the book are as follows: evangelism, social action, culture, women in ministry, leadership, seminary, environmentalism, homosexuality, sin, worship, doubt, truth, and being postmodern." An example of "missing the point" would be the argument that the mainline church has made salvation individual and personal, while neglecting the social aspects of salvation. My problem with the book was that it did not go into much depth (which was not the point of the book, but still frustrating for someone like me who is looking for a little more meat) and I felt like a lot of the book was pure opinion. Both McLaren and Campolo are established authors and respected church leaders, and this book had the feel of a publisher who came to them and asked them to crank out a manufactured book as quick as possible. I suppose that this book could be a helpful resource to stimulate discussion in a small group, but otherwise I would not recommend reading it.

Idiots

2007-03-21T09:26:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed that everyone thinks that everybody else is an idiot? Let me give you a few examples. I work on the administrative side of an academic area of Duke University. Administrative people tend to think that the academics, while brilliant, lack common sense. I imagine that the academics think similar thoughts about administrative people. When you are driving, it is easy to assume that no one else knows how to drive except you. Northerners talk about how terrible Southern drivers are and Southerners talk about how dangerous Northern drivers are. It is easy to think this way even though we all have moments where we forget to use the turn signal or accidentally merge into someone else's lane. If you think of any group of people, you will also be able to come up with another group that this group thinks are idiots. So if everyone thinks that everybody else is an idiot, does that make us all idiots?

March Madness!

2007-03-15T08:46:00.000-05:00

For some people, the best time of the year is Christmas or their birthday. But for me, I seriously think one of my favorite days is the opening day of the NCAA tournament. The concept of a 64 (I know, technically it is 65) team bracket where anyone can win is simply sheer genius and a ton of fun. I can remember as a little kid being fascinated with all of the different games going on and taping a bracket to my door. After a game was over I would run to my bracket and advance the winner. As a high school student, I would come home for lunch to watch the games and then beg my mom to call me in sick so I could watch the rest of the day (it only worked once). Now I am an adult (sort of) and I am stuck in office world. I am wondering to myself why I did not take a sick day, but that would have been pretty obvious. So, in order to celebrate this holiday I have organized an office pool that has about 25 people in it, and I plan to watch some of the games on my computer through the power of technology.

Perhaps you are curious as to who is going to win the tournament. Well, if you would like to know, I can certainly tell you because I am pretty certain that I have correctly picked all 63 games. My final four is: Kansas, Florida, UNC, & Texas A&M; and I have Texas A&M beating Kansas in the championship.

Enjoy the madness!

Celebration of Discipline

2007-03-12T14:02:00.000-05:00

Every now and then you read a book that perfectly speaks to you and your current life situation, almost as if God is using the book to speak directly to you. "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster has been that type of book for me these past few weeks. I have had this book on my shelf for awhile now, and I finally decided that this season of Lent would be the ideal time to finally read it. For those of you not familiar with the book, "Celebration of Discipline" takes a classical and practical look at 13 different spiritual disciplines.

The whole book was solid, but I especially benefited from the chapters on meditation, fasting, and solitude. I have been attempting to incorporate the insights from the book into my Lenten observances, and I have found them to be refreshing and meaningful tools to encounter God.

I had many moments where I felt like Richard Foster had written the book just for me, but let me just share one. Recently I have felt like I have been in a spiritual and mental desert. I know that everyone goes through difficult times and that the only way to the promised land is through the desert, but it is never easy when you are in the middle of it all. In his chapter on solitude, Foster talks about the desert experience which he calls "the dark night of the soul." I found great encouragement from the following words:

"What does the dark night of the soul involve? We may have a sense of dryness, aloneness, even lostness. Any overdependence on the emotional life is stripped away. The notion, often heard today, that such experiences should be avoided and that we always should live in peace and comfort, joy, and celebration only betrays the fact that much contemporary experience is surface slush. The dark night is one of the many ways God brings us into a hush, a stillness so that he may work an inner transformation upon the soul (102)."

Through these words and others, I began to see my desert experience as a chance to encounter God and to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. I was once again given hope that pain and suffering will lead to joy and renewal.

Sex God

2007-03-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

If you refer back to my review of Abraham Heschel's "God In Search of Man," you will notice that I mentioned that there are two types of geniuses when it comes to writing. Rob Bell definitely falls into the first category as someone who can convey complicated ideas with clarity and simplicity. When you read Rob Bell or listen to his sermons, most everything just seems to make complete sense. Light bulbs are going on all over the place.

"Sex God" is an incredible book that explored the connection between God and sexuality. I think that you would be wasting your time reading about my opinion of the book instead of actually reading the book for yourself, so I will not really offer much of a review. This book is a must read for everyone, especially those looking for a Jesus language to communicate sexuality.

I will, however, attempt to describe one idea in the book that captured my imagination. In one chapter, Rob Bell made the distinction between Animals, Humans, and Angels. Animals have a physical body and physical desires, but they do not have a soul. Angels have a soul, but they do not have a physical body or physical desires. Humans sit somewhere in the middle of the two, having both body and soul. Rob Bell made the observation that all too often, humans tend to act like animals or angels in regards to their sexuality. Animals, as you know, cannot control their desires and engage in sexual activity out of a deep and seemingly uncontrollable urge. I think that this mentality is behind much of the sexual revolution in our world today - people acknowledge that they have these desires, and since they are natural, they must be right and therefore fulfilled in any way possible. I think that Christians often react against this by moving too far toward an angel perspective and pretend like we do not (or at least should not) have sexual desire at all. Rob Bell suggested that the answer lies somewhere in the middle of animals and angels, and really the entire book was a beautiful depiction of human sexuality as original designed by God.

So yeah, you should probably read this book.

Reflections & New Reading List

2007-03-01T10:09:00.000-05:00

I was once again able to stick to my reading plan for the month of February, although I found myself skipping many days and then reading big chunks of the text to catch up. I am not sure if this was helpful or not. I definitely felt out of rhythm with my reading, but it is also good to read the Scripture as a whole and not individual bits.

In reading the first 3 books of the Torah, I found myself wrestling with the same sort of issues that I had with the Gospels. It was a major struggle for me to reconcile the image of God that I had in my mind and the character of God as presented in the text. Since I finished Leviticus last night it is still fresh on my mind. Major chunks of Leviticus are basically God telling Moses that, "If a person does this particular detestable act, then he or she must be put to death." I found myself struggling to reconcile words such as these with the loving God who is full of grace and wants to give you another chance.

Perhaps I am becoming focused on the wrong things. Maybe instead of focusing on killing someone for doing something wrong, maybe the focus should be on the ways that God wants us to live. Since God is the true and only source of life, then living apart from God is death, right? However, once you get to this point, you still need to discern which commands are cultural, which are no longer needed under the New Covenant, and which are still applicable. I found that the text was humbling me and stripping away any authority I assumed I had in reading the Scripture.

For the month of March, I will be finishing the Torah, and then jumping over to the New Testament for Acts and Romans.

March 1: Numbers 1-4
March 2: Numbers 5-8
March 3: Numbers 9-12
March 4: Numbers 13-16
March 5: Numbers 17-20
March 6: Numbers 21-24
March 7: Numbers 25-28
March 8: Numbers 29-32
March 9: Numbers 33-36
March 10: Deuteronomy 1-4
March 11: Deuteronomy 5-8
March 12: Deuteronomy 9-12
March 13: Deuteronomy 13-16
March 14: Deuteronomy 17-20
March 15: Deuteronomy 21-24
March 16: Deuteronomy 25-28
March 17: Deuteronomy 29-34
March 18: Acts 1-4
March 19: Acts 5-8
March 20: Acts 9-12
March 21: Acts 13-16
March 22: Acts 17-20
March 23: Acts 21-24
March 24: Acts 25-28
March 25: Romans 1-4
March 26: Romans 5-8
March 27: Romans 9-12
March 28: Romans 13-16

"Normal" Pictures

2007-02-26T14:56:00.000-05:00

At some undefinable point in the 20th century, it became "normal" to pose for a photograph by smiling big enough to show your teeth and to give the appearance that you are happy. I am not sure who decided this or how it became common knowledge, but I would really like to know. It has not always been like this. I know that in the in 19th century the "normal" pose consisted of a blank stare. When did the switch occur? Who started the revolution?

For some unknown reason, I have always resisted this notion of taking a "normal" picture. Even a majority of my baby pictures feature me sticking my tongue out. To be honest, it is one of my secret joys in life to hear the groans of people realizing that I failed to conform to the norm. It used to be so much more satisfactory before the digital age because then it would be weeks before someone would realize I "ruined" their picture and it was also a lot more permanent because you could not exactly take pictures back. In the digital age, people realize it a lot quicker when they look at that 2.5'' screen. Which is another interesting point - why do people always look at the tiny digital screen immediately after they take a picture? I understand that you want to take a "good" picture, but I think that it is quite comical to see a group of adults cramming around a miniature screen to see a digital image of what you just experienced in real life. Perhaps it is an indication of how vain we all are.

At any rate, I want to be the one who ushers in a new dawn in the era of picture posing. The 19th century was all about blank stares and appearing serious, the 20th century was all about toothy smiles and appearing happy, and I want to be the revolutionary who makes the 21st century all about eyes closed, mouth wide open and appearing mischievously jovial. So join me in this new venture and when you get chastised for failing to take a "normal" picture, simply say that you are.

Duke Chapel Position

2007-02-23T09:37:00.000-05:00

Since some of you use this blog to keep up with what I am doing, I thought I would let you know that I recently took an associate position at Duke Chapel. Duke Chapel is located in the center of Duke University. While the Sunday morning worship typically has many visitors, there is also a core group of around 200 families that make up the Congregation at Duke Chapel.

My main responsibilities will be working with the youth, but I will also be involved in aspects of worship as well as other areas of the Chapel life. I am really excited about this. It will be a good opportunity to experience something very different, and the young people I am working with are extremely bright and hungry to learn about God.

I also note that this is a short term assignment. I will only be working there through May. This works out really well because it will allow me to keep my connections with the Church of the Nazarene, specifically a few of the churches in Raleigh.

God in Search of Man

2007-02-16T15:25:00.000-05:00

If you are exceptionally perceptive, you have noticed that it has been awhile since I have posted a book review. The reason for this is not a lack of effort, but due to the fact that the book was kicking my butt. Not only is "God In Search of Man" 426 pages, it is also extremely dense.

I love reading because I like getting inside the mind of a genius. In my opinion, there are two type of geniuses when it comes to writing.

1. An author who writes with such clarity and simplicity that you can fool yourself into thinking you could have written the book. These authors make connections and create paths that seem to have always been there, but you just were not able to see them. Henri Nouwen is an excellent example of this type of genius.

2. An author who writes about such complex issues that most of the time you do not even understand what you are reading. However, you know the person is a genius because if you labor over the text, your mind will eventually be lifted above the clouds so that you are able to catch a glimpse of beauty. Abraham Heschel definitely falls into this category.

His book is a magnificent exploration into the identity of God, humans, and Judaism. I do not recall much of what I read, but I will take away two main ideas:

1. God is seeking after humans.
"The Bible speaks not only of man's search for God but also of God's search for man. "Thou dost hunt me like a lion," exclaimed Job (10:16)...It is as if God were unwilling to be alone, and He had chosen man to serve Him. Our seeking Him is not only man's but also His concern, and must not be considered an exclusively human affair. His will is involved in our yearnings. All of human history as described in the Bible may be summarized in one phrase: God is in search of man. Faith in God is a response to God's question."

2. We do not hear the words of God, but rather through the Bible we learn to see the words of God. Thus, we learn about God experientially.
"To sense the presence of God in the Bible, one must learn to be present to God in the Bible. Presence is not a concept, but a situation. To understand love it is not enough to read tales about it. One must be involved in the prophets to understand the prophets. One must be inspired to understand inspiration. Just as we cannot test thinking without thinking, we cannot sense holiness without being holy. Presence is not disclosed to those who are unattached and try to judge, to those who have no power to go beyond the values they cherish; to those who sense the story, not the pathos; the idea, not the realness of God. The Bible is the frontier of the spirit where we must move an live in order to discover and explore. It is open to him who gives himself to it, who lives with it intimately. "

Deep stuff. Definitely one of those books you want to pick up later in life and reread to catch all that you missed the first time.

Traffic Etiquette

2007-02-14T10:23:00.000-05:00

One of the current challenges I face on a regular basis is dealing with traffic on my commute home from work. A certain point is particularly troublesome - where the 147 meets I-40. This point is troubling because the exit off the 147 to I-40 merges two lanes down to one. On days when the I-40 is moving slow, there can be a back-up on the 147.

When this happens, I immediately move into the left lane (knowing the right lane ends) because it makes sense to me to get out of the lane that is ending. If everyone merged into the proper lane as soon as they were able, it seems to me that traffic would move faster.

However, you always have "those people" who fly ahead in the open lane and then merge at the last possible instance, causing a momentary stop to the procession. I have always loathed "those people" and I can honestly say that I have never done this in my life. Additionally, whenever this topic comes up in conversation, everyone shares these feelings with me. I have never met someone who admitted to being "that person" who merges at the last possible moment. This means that I am either acquainted with people who are just like me or I am acquainted with a bunch of liars.

Whenever I find myself in this situation, I have one of two reactions. 1) I sit in the slow moving lane and think bad thoughts about the cars whizzing by, especially if that car happens to be a BMW or a Lexus. 2) If I am feeling especially bold, I will move to block the open lane and drive with traffic in the slow lane, laughing like a little school girl as the cars behind me honk with rage.

Well, yesterday I was stuck in this scenario and I was using reaction #1. But then, the thought came to me: Why is it so wrong to drive in the open lane? I do not think that this is against the law. Applying the moral philosophy of Kant's "Categorical Imperative", the result would simply be the other lane would be log-jammed. If half of the people started using the other lane and then merged at the last second, perhaps traffic would move faster. Maybe the people in the fast lane are not a bunch of selfish low life's, but a small minority of people who actually use their brain and resist being herded like cattle.

As I sat there, I began to question whether or not I have been a sucker all of these years. I am sure that is what the people in the other lane are thinking about all of us losers in the backed-up lane. It is a strange feeling to have a strong belief that you have blindly held as long as you can remember start to be questioned and maybe even crumble before your very eyes.

To bring this pointless story to a conclusion, I did end up just staying in the slow lane. But, I have been questioning whether or not I will be the type of person who lives in the fast lane. Perhaps you have some thoughts that can help me decide on the matter.

Weather

2007-02-07T12:52:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed how obsessed our society is with the weather? This seems so strange to me because finding out the weather is as easy as stepping outside, and predicting the weather is as simple as thinking tomorrow will be pretty similar today with perhaps some possibility of precipitation. And yet we have entire television stations devoted to the weather, and the "weather" section takes up a major chunk of all local news.

Which brings me to my next point - I despise local tv weather people. I despise all local news people because they are so full of cheese, but I especially dislike the weather people. The news anchors all sit around that desk so smug and pretending to be friends. When it comes time for the weather, they all pretend that what the weatherperson is about to say actually affects their lives. "Well Bill, do you have any good news for us today?" "I wish I did Monica, but things are going to be a little rough for awhile (weather people always use negative adjectives to describe a forecast that is not sunny and warm)." They then spend the next 7-9 minutes talking about all of these graphs and charts that basically say that tomorrow will be pretty similar to today, but next week holds the possibility of being different although there is no way of knowing for sure. And how many times have you watched the weather and the predictions end up being totally wrong. Weather people have a knack for getting the public all worked up over chances of rain or snow or extreme temperatures, and it seems that all too often not much happens. Perhaps weather people have a little intelligence based on the fact that they have chosen a profession where they can be dead wrong much of the time and it is perfectly acceptable.

While we are on the subject of weather, it also annoys me how much I find myself slipping into conversations with other people concerning the weather. Whenever I talk to people that I really have nothing in common with, I often let the words "How about this weather?" slip out of my mouth. Every time I do this, I secretly wish that I was alone so I could punch myself in the stomach. Am I that boring of a person that talking about the weather is the most interesting subject I can think of to discuss? Are we that shallow of a society that our only point of commonality is something beyond our control that only externally affects us?

Reflections & New Reading List

2007-01-30T16:51:00.000-05:00

I was able to stick to my New Year's Resolution and read through the Gospels this month. I would like to keep going on my quest to read through the Bible this year, so I am going to post my thoughts for my time spent with the Gospels, and then list my schedule for the next month. I have decided to follow up my time in the Gospels with spending some time in the Torah. I think this is appropriate because I believe that Jesus came to earth to put flesh and blood on the Torah, so it will be good to have that mindset going into the reading.

Reflections on the Gospels

1. Jesus is Difficult - I suppose that I let my mind get carried away with this image of loving, friendly Jesus who gets along with everybody. I was surprised by the many polarizing aspects of Jesus' life. Over and over again I found myself wincing at some strong words that he said. For example, listen to the way Jesus ends this parable found in Luke 19:27 - "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them - bring them here and kill them in front of me." What do you do with that? I understand that this is part of a parable, but does it carry a literal meaning? I can see how someone could take a text like this and use it for evil purposes. As I read through the Gospels, I sensed God humbling me and reminding me of my need to continually rely on the Spirit for help. Interpreting Scripture is a heavy responsibility that should never be taken lightly or flippantly.

2. Miracles - I forgot what a huge role the miracles of Jesus play in the Gospels. A large chunk of the text is devoted to stories of Jesus healing various diseases, driving out demons, and raising the dead. It also appears that the disciples had these capabilities, albeit to a lesser extent. As a follower of Jesus, I want to pattern my life as closely as possible to Jesus' life. The miracle stories challenged me in my pursuit to follow Jesus. I understand that there are many ways that God can work through me to be an agent of healing, but I sensed the text challenging me on a deeper level to rethink what it means to follow Jesus in this area.

Needless to say, reading the Gospels was a major challenge. At times it was very painful as some of my preconceived opinions and understandings were either crushed or challenged. I guess there is some truth to the idea that the Word of God is sharper than a double-edged sword. Below is my reading list through February:

January 30: Genesis 1-4
January 31: Genesis 5-8
February 1: Genesis 9-12
February 2: Genesis 13-16
February 3: Genesis 17-20
February 4: Genesis 21-24
February 5: Genesis 25-28
February 6: Genesis 29-32
February 7: Genesis 33-36
February 8: Genesis 37-40
February 9: Genesis 41-44
February 10: Genesis 45-50
February 11: Exodus 1-4
February 12: Exodus 5-8
February 13: Exodus 9-12
February 14: Exodus 13-16
February 15: Exodus 17-20
February 16: Exodus 21-24
February 17: Exodus 25-28
February 18: Exodus 29-32
February 19: Exodus 33-36
February 20: Exodus 37-40
February 21: Leviticus 1-4
February 22: Leviticus 5-8
February 23: Leviticus 9-12
February 24: Leviticus 13-16
February 25: Leviticus 17-20
February 26: Leviticus 21-24
February 27: Leviticus: 25-27

My Brain

2007-01-26T10:40:00.000-05:00

So there are not too many perks to working in office world, but my particular office world happens to support the part of Duke that researches the brain. A few weeks ago I participated in a study that tested my cognition while I was in a MRI machine. It was painless and I got paid $50 for my time, plus they emailed me some of the pictures that the MRI took of my brain. I guess not everyone has pictures of their brain, so I thought it was pretty cool.

Is it just me, or is my brain unusually large?

Moments vs. Memory

2007-01-24T12:46:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I spoke at a youth retreat for Indianapolis Westside Church of the Nazarene. The retreat was held at an indoor water park and everyone had a good time. On Saturday night after my message, God came in a really cool way and was working on the teenagers. I sort of just slipped to the side of the room and sat there soaking up the moment. It was so amazing to see young people praying and seeking God and to realize that God was speaking to them. It was just one of those perfect moments where everything just seems to work out. You never want to leave those moments. I totally relate to the story of Jesus' transfiguration when Peter offers to put up three shelters - one for Jesus, Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:1-13). I imagine in this scenario that Peter is acting like a little kid meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time - you have no idea what you are saying or doing, but you want that moment to last forever.

Well, through the technology of airplanes, I began Monday morning in Indianapolis, but by 10am, I was back in office world at Duke University. As I went through the day, I constantly caught myself being annoyed with my trivial job and completely forgetting the high from the weekend.

I think that, for the most part, humans have horrible memories. We are so quick to point out all that we do not have, while completely forgetting all that we do have. We are so quick to point out all the ways that God seems to be absent in this world, while completely forgetting the many times in which God has been so real to us. For this reason, I absolutely love the Christian calendar. God knows that the human memory has a difficult time remembering anything beyond one year. Therefore, as followers of Jesus, we need to be constantly reliving his life. Every year, we need to be reminded of Jesus' birth, as well as his death and resurrection.

Here's to hoping the moments find a way of remaining in my memory.

Biological Clock

2007-01-17T08:46:00.000-05:00

No, this is not our kid. No, Laura is not pregnant. No, we are not trying to get pregnant. These questions seem to dominate conversations that Laura and I have with a lot of people, so in case you were wondering, I wanted to get that out right away.

The child is actually Jackson, a cool little dude who belongs to our friends Carrie and Mitchell. A few weekends ago we went to visit them in Wilmington, NC. This picture was taken at the beach. It was the first weekend in January and it was 75. You gotta love the South.

I thought I would write a post verifying the urban legend known as the "Biological Clock." It is absolutely, 100% true. After we had been married for awhile and some of our friends starting having kids, Laura started to gradually become more and more obsessed with the idea. A few days ago we were looking through our pictures taken while we were in Wilmington and we came across the one here. All of the sudden Laura got all gushy and starting talking about how perfect the picture looks. I am starting to wonder how much longer we are going to be able to hold out.

So fellas, if you are married without kids, never say that I did not warn you.

Hip Phones

2007-01-10T11:01:00.000-05:00

I tried to be the last person on this planet to have a cell phone. Starting in the year 2000, it seemed that most people began to get one, but the thought of having a phone with me at all times made me shudder, so I held out as long as I could. Well, this past summer I had a pastoral emergency and I really dropped the ball on some important commitments. I came to realize that I did not have a cell phone out of spite, which is not a good reason to avoid getting one. Strangely, getting a cell phone became the most loving choice I could make in regards to my communication capabilities.

Well, I have one now and it is fine. But, I felt like I needed to say something about wearing your cell phone on your hip. I cannot put my finger on it, but doing this is completely repulsive to me. I am the type of person who hates having things in my pockets, but I would rather carry a 50 pound cell phone in my pocket than wear it on my hip. Why does this seem so uncool to me? Every time I see these "business batmen" out in public, I just shake my head and give a little smirk. Back in Medieval times, men wore swords on their belts, and that seemed to be popular. So why does this strike a nerve with me?

Well, I told myself that I would never get a cellphone, so maybe I will one day come to the point where I need to wear a cellphone on my hip. But if you see me out in public wearing one, please make fun of me. I deserve it.

Peace Child

2007-01-04T08:30:00.000-05:00

"Peace Child" by Don Richardson recalls the missionary exploits to the Sawi people of New Guinea. As recently as the 1960's, the Sawi were basically untouched by the Western world. They were a violent and cannibalistic people. Betrayal was held as the highest virtue in the culture and the stories that were passed down were stories of deceit and trickery. "Fattening someone with friendship" was the recurring story where one Sawi would fake friendship with another in order to make a murder more deceitful. When Don Richardson began to share the story of Jesus, the Sawi believed that Judas was a hero for his actions.

There was, however, one thing embedded within the culture that could stop the cycle of violence and betrayal - a tarop or peace child. In this scenario, one Sawi would give his own child (his most important possession) to be raised by another Sawi and vice versa. As long as the Peace Child remained alive, the two different tribes would be at peace with one another. You can easily see how the missionaries used the concept of the tarop to explain the good news of Christ.

Peace Child was an entertaining book that provided a window into sharing the story of Christ in a foreign environment. It certainly challenged me to seek redemptive analogies from my culture as a way of sharing the story. God is already present in this world, we just need to reveal this to others.

New Year Resolution

2007-01-01T11:35:00.000-05:00

For the most part, I have a strong dislike for cheesy cultural traditions, but the New Year's Resolution is something I have always enjoyed and participated in. I love the idea of getting a fresh start, of getting a second chance to make one's life better. No matter how things have gone in the past, there is always hope that the future will be brighter.

Having said that, I want 2007 to be a year where I join John Wesley in being homo unius libri - a man of one book. For too long, I have relied on my Sunday School knowledge of the Bible and have not taken the responsibility of reading it for myself. I have read plenty of books that comment on Scripture without taking the time to let the Word penetrate my life.

I plan to at least read the Bible all the way through during 2007, and I going to start by reading through the Gospels in the month of January. I heard a teaching recently that commented that someone who claims to follow Jesus and yet does not read all 4 Gospels at least once a month is lying - there is no way that person could know Jesus well enough to follow him. I want to come to the point in my life where I basically have the words of Jesus committed to memory.

If you would like to join me this month in reading the Gospels, here is the schedule I will be following:

January 1: John 1-3 January 2: John 4-6 January 3: John 7-9
January 4: John 10-12 January 5: John 13-15 January 6: John 16-18
January 7: John 19-21 January 8: Mark 1-3 January 9: Mark 4-6
January 10: Mark 7-9 January 11: Mark 10-12 January 12: Mark 13-16
January 13: Matthew 1-3 January 14: Matthew 4-6 January 15: Matthew 7-9
January 16: Matthew 10-12 January 17: Matthew 13-15 January 18: Matthew 16-18
January 19: Matthew 19-21 January 20: Matthew 22-24 January 21: Matthew 25-28
January 22: Luke 1-3 January 23: Luke 4-6 January 24: Luke 7-9
January 25: Luke 10-12 January 26: Luke 13-15 January 27: Luke 16-18
January 28: Luke 19-21 January 29: Luke 22-24

Happy new Year!

Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus

2006-12-28T14:45:00.000-05:00

I read this book a few weeks ago, but it was so fascinating that I wanted to write a post on it. Basically, the authors (David Bivin and Roy B. Blizzard) argue that much of the New Testament, specifically the Synoptic Gospels, were originally written in Hebrew. This means that the Greek texts are not original but translations of Hebrew writing. The authors argue that a lot is lost when translating from Hebrew to Greek to English. They also argue that Hebrew idioms provide the key to unlocking some of the more puzzling words of Jesus and that Jesus is much better understood in a Hebrew world rather than a Greek world.

I had never heard this theory before and I found it to be interesting. However, I checked around with some people much smarter than me on these matters, and all of them agreed that the theory is most likely not true. Still, I am finding it increasingly helpful to place Jesus within his own context so that we can understand how his life should transform us in our current context. I have never been a huge fan of historical criticism of the Bible or Jesus because I feel like it is a bunch of hot air - "scholars think this, but they are not really sure, etc." In these past few months, however, I have gained a greater appreciation of it through books such as this one and "The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction" by Stephen M. Wylen. For me, the life of Jesus has become so much richer and clearer through resources that help me imagine his life setting. I am also learning a lot through the teachings of Ray VanderLaan.

Who would have thought that thinking of Jesus as a 1st century Jewish guy would help me as a 21st century white American guy?

New Blog

2006-12-28T14:35:00.000-05:00

This blog will include a variety of entries - updates on my life: places I've been & people I've seen, book reviews, and random thoughts I have about random stuff.

While family and friends can use this as a tool to stay connected with me, I am starting this blog for mostly selfish reasons. I really would like to have some sort of record on my thoughts and actions. I maintain a private spiritual journal which has been tremendously therapeutic and helpful, so I thought I would start a public journal to record other aspects of my thought life. I think it is really neat to look back at something like this and remember your life at points in the past, so I am looking forward to reading this blog several years from now and realizing what a dork I am. I would also like to keep a record of my thoughts on books that I am reading. I read a lot of books and over time their content becomes fuzzy to me. It will be beneficial to have something to look back on to remember what I read.

So, if you are reading this, I welcome you to the journey inside my mind.