The Fashion Police

When did it become a crime to wear your opinion on your chest? The Answer: Tonight at the State of the Union Address on Capitol Hill. Cindy Sheehan, an outspoken Anti War mother of a troop killed in Iraq, was arrested tonight because she had an anti war slogan on her shirt while sitting in the gallery of Congress. According to CNN she could be charged with a misdemeanor with up to a 1 year prison sentence. I am not a constitution buff but doesn't this seem, I don't know, unconstitutional? The reason that was given why she was arrested is because they were afraid she might do something, hummm that sound familiar, Oohh I know where I have heard that before, it is how we justify invading a nation that had taken no aggressive action against our own, good ol pre emptive actions. Sheehan was arrested, preemptively, for the stir her shirt could raise. Wow! That is great.

YEA A Christianity Today!!!

It is great to be able to look to Christianity Today and see an article like this one. Even though their subscribers constitute a primarily evangelical conservative readership, Christianity Today has really driven home a great article about Why Torture is Always Wrong. Good Job Folks!
Pax
Stephen

Who Are Hamas?

Who Are Hamas, this is an interesting and important question we all need to begin to ask. I believe this to be a balance article about them, one that I am sure our well read president has not gotten around to yet. Oh in case you did not know Hamas won a majority of the seats in the new Palestinian Government.
Pax
Stephen

Mel, No... Black Jesus, Yes

I still have yet to see The Passion of the Christ, I have done this in protest to the Vatican I Jesus it portrays as well as the obscene violence it portrays. Not to mention the obscene amounts of attention given to it be Conservative America in an attempt to save the masses. I will check out the new film previewing at the Sundance Film Festival tommorrow. It portrays Jesus, not as a blue eyed white guy but as an African man, marginalized by an outside oppressor, while speaking a prophetic message of equality and peace. This could be really good, Here is a link to an article about it.

Sold His Soul to the Devil

You know at this point in my faith journey I do not consider myself as one who believes in satan, but Jamie Foxx is changing my theology. Where did this guy come from, Ill tell you where he came from In Living Color. And now he has an Oscar, the Number one album in the country. There is only one answer he sold his soul to Satan for world wide recognition as a film and music star. Oh but do not feel too comfortable Mr. Foxx some of us know the means by which you have achieved your fame, some of us know...
Pax
Stephen

Hearing his voice again

In the near future, I'm going to hear Kyle's voice again. I recently ordered his last book, (RE)UNDERSTANDING PRAYER. It's sitting on my desk beside me now and has moved to the top of my reading list. I know the book will be filled with the insight and practical wisdom that came so easily to Kyle. I know it will be written in Kyle's conversational style that will make reading it feel like a conversation with him over lunch or coffee. I know I'll read something in the book and remember when he was just beginning to wrestle with these ideas in our conversations and in his sermons.

And that's the problem, reading this book will remind me that my friend is dead. I know he's gone, but I still want to refer to him in the present tense. When I began this post I instinctively wrote, "I recently ordered his "latest" book," and then realized I needed to write, "I recently odered his "last" book." And I felt that knot in my throat come back again. I was lucky enough during my time at UBC to call Kyle a friend. I could also call him mentor and pastor. He offered a lot of guidance as I took the first steps of the path I'm still on today. We worked at the church together. We goofed off at the church together. He and his wife Jen welcomed me into their home for food and conversation. We shared countless lunches and watched the 2002 World Cup together at the ungodly hours you had to get up to watch the games live. I'd hear a part of his sermon and realize that he was stealing some of my ideas from a recent conversation, but somehow I felt flattered that he did it just the same. All of these memories come rushing back to me and all I can say is thank you to the Creator in whom we live, move and have our being. But at the same time, when Kyle took me to lunch for the last time two and a half years ago as I wrapped up my time in Waco before the move to Atlanta, I never imagined that would be the last meal we would share. I never imagined that moment would be the last time we'd see each other face to face. I never imagined that that would be the last time I would hear his easy laughter. And that knot in my throat comes back again.

So I'll read his book, hear his voice and cry a few more times over the loss of my friend. But amidst the tears I will say thank you. Thank you to Kyle and to Jesus, the Jesus that Kyle seemed to follow so effortlessly. The Jesus that Kyle was constantly inviting everyone to follow. The Jesus that gives life in the midst of death. The Jesus that defeated death for all of us.

Dohhh!

Isreal says Screw You 700 Club! Pat Robertson for the first time actually is recieving a little punishment for his dumb ass comments! Yea for the Jews!
Pax
Stephen

Gods Chosen People

This is one of the funniest things I have ever read on the real plight of God's Chosen People, our friends the Jews. I wonder how many Jews really might feel this way.
Pax
Stephen

Church Dress Codes

A buddy of mine, a youth minister at a progressive Baptist Church, calls me the other day and tells me his boss came in and told hi he needs to watch how he dresses. When he looked down at his attire he saw a Polo shirt tucked in, belt, Jeans, and shoes. It upset him, as it would me. He has been doing a wonderful job at this church, building relationships with the youth, really on top of everything. Why is this a problem, why would he even say anything? This is BULLSHIT!!! I am so angry for my buddy, I am angry at the church, I am angry that this is the type of thing that would even take one nano second of someone who calls themself a minister's, time!!! This is why the American church sucks ass and is in the place it is in. Phooey on you American Church (of which I am apart)Phooey!
Pax
Stephen

Life's Little Annoyances

http://www.lifeslittleannoyances.com/

This is a report I heard on CNN Headline News this morning, I think it will greatly reduce mine and your stress. Here is the transcript from their website
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Name your pet peeve. Is it cell phones, junk mail, crazy drivers? Well, thanks to life's little annoyances, we've got strategies to fight back.

Take those subscription cards that cascade out of magazines. Some folks mail them back blank just to make the publisher foot the bill for the prepaid postage.

And there is one guy who fills junk mail reply envelopes with actual junk to make them heavier and cost the sender more.

"New York Times" reporter Ian Urbina collected such anecdotes for his book. Annoyances like Starbucks lingo. They want you to call a small a tall. Resist.

IAN URBINA, AUTHOR, "LIFE'S LITTLE ANNOYANCES": The same thing is kicking that Coke machine when it keeps your coins. It is not going to get your soda, but it feels pretty good doing it.

MOOS: What annoys David Terry is the adult video store near his Hamilton, New Jersey home. He calls it a dump. So, whenever he sees someone going into the porn store, he does the honk and wave to mortify patrons.

DAVID TERRY, ANNOYED BY ADULT VIDEO STORE: And they are thinking like, who was that? Was that my brother-in-law? Was that my boss?

MOOS: Maybe bad parking drives you nuts. When Jason Brunet (ph) sees someone taking up two spaces, he leaves a leaflet offering a free parking tutorial at this web site. Wrong, wrong. Correct.

But bad driving rather than bad parking spawned roadragecards.com. There's a card for every occasion like this really mean one to flash when you see a driver putting on makeup.

With signs like, I hope your cell phone gives you cancer. No wonder the cards carry a disclaimer, may result in injury or even death. Though some folks can take a joke each phrase comes in reverse so you can insult drivers in their mirror.

Who would think of this as a weapon against tailgaters? Allan Doeksen modified his rear wiper squirter.

ALLAN DOEKSEN, ANNOYED BY CARTS BLOCKING AISLES: Spray directly on their vehicle when they're behind me.

MOOS: Allan also gets mad at shoppers who leave their grocery carts blocking the aisles.

DOEKSEN: I would put expensive items in their cart or possibly some embarrassing items like condoms perhaps in their cart, as well, when they are not looking. So when they go to the checkout line they are slightly embarrassed.

MOOS: What annoys Chris Baker (ph) is when the person in front of him in the express checkout has too many items.

(on-camera): So what this guy does is count the culprits items out loud as the cashier scans each one, five, six, seven.

But almost nothing annoys folks more than loud cell phone conversations. So a Chicago graphic designer has created cards you hand out to offenders. We're aware that your ongoing conversation about your husband's vasectomy is very important to you, but we thought you would like you to know that it doesn't interest us in the least.

If you're very tall maybe you're annoyed by airline seats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was tired of being bopped in the knees by reclining seats.

MOOS: So Ira Goldman (ph) invented and now sells the knee defender.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The table comes down take the knee defenders seat won't recline.

MOOS: Whatever you do, don't use this on us. "TV B Gone" was dreamed up by a guy who was sick of seeing televisions everywhere. This universal remote turns off any TV. We caused confusion in the news room.

ROB FREHSE, CNN ASSIGNMENT MANAGER: Did you see our TVS? They're all going black.

MOOS: Now, what could cause that?

Sometimes all these tactics do is give you a chuckle. But when facing life's annoyances, laughter is music to your ears.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

This is great stuff, I an totally going to put this into practice!
Pax
Stephen

The Biggest Miscommunication

There are many tragedies surrounding the West Virginia Coal Miner's horrific accident. From the accident itself to the miscommunication that followed, the entire scene was one of loss and grief. One particular part of the entire event troubles me more than others and I guarantee you will not hear about it on the news tonight. The close knit community, upon hearing of the accident, gathered together in the local Baptist church for prayer support and community. Local clergy were there to assist with grief counseling as well as to pray about the situation themselves. After the first news came out that 11 had survived and only one had died the church was filled with cheers singing and dancing. In the heat of the moment a few of the clergy ran onto the steps of the church and began to shake their hands in the air yelling out that God had delivered these men from the mines, God had saved them. Sadly as we all know the story did not end there, three hours later the 11 who were once thought as survivors were now 11 confirmed dead. The tragedy in my mind was all about miscommunication, both not the miscommunication from the rescue team to the media, the greater blotched message came from the clergy upon hearing of the survival of the men. What was their theology now that God had not saved those men? Why can we thank God for the things that we feel are good but not know what to do with him when we feel things are bad. Our theology must be consistent either God is in control or God is not. This back and forth theology makes God into a trite and trivial deity of randomness, not the caring and loving God who is the father of Jesus. What a massive communication breakdown.

Storms

Here are some pictures of the Tornados that went through South Atlanta on Monday Night, I took these from my back patio.

Old Friends

In the past week I have had the privlidge of reconnecting with some old friends from High School. These guys were two of my best friends from Elemetary school all the way through graduation. We lost touch after our freshman years of college and through a fluke reconnected this week. There is something humbling about sitting with someone you have not seen in 5 years and talking with each other like we had just left Mrs. Wilsons Biology class. I also found it somewhat grounding discussing my political, social and theological views. I did not and would not compromise my ideologies but you cannot put nearly as many spins and as much rhetoric behind your arguments. I do not know why this is, I guess you feel you have more to loose than when you talk to a total stranger. I guess there are more connections there than alot of people I interact with now. One of the guy's dad used to be my baseball coach, its tough to talk a big shit when you played little league together. Most of all I found it comforting that after so long friends can still laugh at the same old jokes, talk about new ventures and most of all just enjoy a few familiar moments between, now, two not so familiar lives. Good Friends.
Pax
Stephen

A Year of Disillusionment and Hope

This has been the strangest year of my entire life. From the Tsunami's that rang in the New Year to the War that rages on in Iraq, I am disillusioned. I turned 25 this year, I have been calling it my 1/3 life crisis because I realized there is a good chance I am actually 1/3 the way through my life. I have lost almost all faith in our government, the church, and institutions in general. I desire something something more authentic and I am finding it tough to find it in many places. I had two people who I idolize and who I had become close to in my life pass on, my grandfather, George Ingram and Dr. John Claypool. The hurricanes brought the horrible realities of life to our doorsteps. I am less than 1 hour into 2006 and I am already anxious, even frightened of how we are going to screw this year up. I do, however, have hope. I am a dad, I love my wife, I feel more compassion for my world and fellow human than I ever have in my life, I am, for one of the first times in my life very comfortable with who I am and what I am thinking. I think the tension I find myself in is who to reconcile my personal happiness and hope with the termoil that I feel surrounds me. So there is your depressing, pessimistic New Years post. Happy New Years!
Pax
Stephen