Remember Darfur

When the best option is rape you know that something is terribly wrong. What has happened and continues to happen in Darfur is a horrible tragedy and it should make us stop and take notice. The chance for peace and redemption there is quickly fleeting as the government continues to drag their feet on allowing UN peacekeepers to enter the country.

Take a moment out of your day to read the story of one young woman who lives the nightmare each day. It's real, it's relentless, and it's happening on our watch.

What's The Point?

I've been blogging off and on for about 11 months now. I started out anonymously, not telling anyone I knew that I had entered in to the online fray. My purpose at that time was a little nebulous. I was going through a lot of change and I wanted the chance to talk through some of that change and the wacky ideas that were going through my head. I wanted a place where I was forced to articulate things that could stay vague and non-committal in my mind. Over time that purpose has evolved a little bit. Even though I never made a point to pimp my blog, little by little people that knew me began to find it and even though I still have a very small audience by blogger standards, not a day goes by that I don't have 20-30 people reading my thoughts in one manifestation or another.

As that has happened and as I have become more bold in sharing the thoughts going through my head I have begun to get responses from people over the things I've written. And the responses I get have been an encouragement and in a lot of way nothing short of amazing to me. I am continually taken aback not so much that people make a point to tell me that they enjoy reading my blog but of the diverse group of people who enjoy reading it. A few months back I wrote a post that was critical of the dispensational view of eschatology (end times) and how I believed it was negatively impacting the Kingdom of Christ because of the view's unhealthy infatuation with the destruction of the world and the "get out of tribulation free" card that came with it. A friend of mine responded at one of several places that I posted the blog. When I got the automatically generated e-mail telling me he had posted a comment I was a little freaked. You see, I think he would describe himself as a dispensationalist and I was terrified that he would be hurt by my comments. I was so freaked out that I waited two days to read his comment because it took that long just to build up the courage. Being the wise and godly man that he is, rather than feeling a personal attack had come from me, he acknowledged the weaknesses of many who hold that position and mourned the affects right along with me.

I was floored. I guess I just got so used to existing in such a close-minded, "I'm right" mentality that I figured everyone I had left behind when I walked away from ministry would be there too. Obviously I was wrong. As I've reconnected with friends I haven't seen lately I am encouraged to know that many people are incredibly sincere in their desire to work out their faith with fear and trembling. They aren't threatened by strange and absurd ideas because their heart's desire is to be more like Christ and to live the way of Christ out more fully to those around them.

And that brings me to my purpose. I'm not trying to sway anyone's thinking or convince anyone of anything. I've heard some think that to be my goal. Perhaps it comes across that way sometimes because my personality is such that I speak with passion and conviction in whatever I say but that's not what I'm going for. I have at least 10 times as many questions as I do answers and every conversation I have teaches me something new. I want to dialog because that is the way I learn. And that is the purpose of this blog. I want to re-evaluate and re-examine those things which we often take for granted. I want us to do all that we can to look at the truth of Christ as it is presented in Scripture and in the world around us and try our best to remove our biases and pre-conceived ideas. I want us to talk things out. I want to hear theories and beliefs and experiences that will help us to accomplish those things.

So please, don't feel threatened by my blog. Don't believe for one minute that I'm attempting to convert you to anything. Your thoughts carry at least equal weight with mine. If you have a position, share it. If my thoughts seem uncomfortable and foreign to you, at least let them roll through your mind. Examine them from all angles and share the things that come to you during the process. In that we will all grow and become more like the one we follow.

I saw a quote today that gives great insight into something I think that those of us in the Church could stand to learn. Aristotle said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." The work of the Christian is the work of interpretation. In order to do that we must be able to think through things and wrestle through things. We should be able to share our questions and our thoughts without fear of being branded a heretic or of being slapped with some simplistic label that carries a stigma, such as liberal or anti-God or non-inerrantist. Let us be the Church to one another and spur one another on rather that drawing battle lines and hurling insults and accusations at each other. For any time that I've done this to anyone, I sincerely apologize. If I question you it's not because I want to diminish your position, it's because I want to hear the wrestling through experiences that have brought you to your position. I want to know why you believe as much as I want to know what you believe. Let us commit to dropping the pretense and to sharing our lives with one another so that we might better demonstrate the love of Christ to a world in desperate need. If that's what your interested in then let's make this a place where that can happen.

WikiHow - Wow!

Okay, put this one in your random file because that's where it belongs. I just wanted to share this great source of useless information with you.

About a year ago I started using GMail as my primary e-mail program. Along with that I had committed to using Google as my default search engine. They have this really cool portal that allows me to store links to all my pertinent information on one page. Additionally I was able to add all kinds of new and exciting information that they made readily available to me. One of those was a little site called "wikiHow - The How-To Manual that Anyone Can Write or Edit." And as the title my lead you to believe, you can find a how-to for just about anything you want to know. Each day they feature a new how-to which broadens my skills in all sorts of areas where I am deficient. I mean where else could I go to learn how to remove a hickey and deal with jealousy all at the same time?

If that's not enough I can also learn how to overlay sectional aeronautical charts in Google Earth and draw a caveman. Love being what it is in our culture I can learn how to date a hopelessly romantic person when I am not hopelessly romantic and when that doesn't work for me I can learn how to survive a long fall or cheat a polygraph test. One that is of great importance to me of late is learning how to retire in my 30's. Nearly two-hundred thousand people have read this article that basically just tells you to work 100 hours a week and buy nothing for 15 years and then you're set. Since I've missed the boat on that one I'm going to stick to learning how to run up a wall and flip. When that's finished then I'm going to learn how to survive a freestyle rap battle.

Oh, and for those of you in trouble with the law, have no fear. I've already looked at the ones which tells me how to help a friend who gets arrested in the middle of the night and how to deal with being in prison. One suggestion I'll give you for free, use liquid soap.

Buttprints in the Sand

This reflective post comes courtesy of Tom Cottar from whose site I found this poem.

Buttprints In The Sand

One night, I had a wondrous dream;
One set of footprints there was seen.
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
"Those prints are large and round and neat,
But, Lord, they are too big for feet."

"My child," He said in somber tones.
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.

You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of-faith you would not know.
So I got tired and fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt,
Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

NFL Predictions

Well it's that time of year. Time for prognosticators who know nothing to pontificate regarding the best of the gridiron. Never one to be left out among the pontificating I am providing my thoughts regarding the upcoming NFL season. Some guesses are more educated than others. Some I feel strongly about but some are just a shot in the dark. Anyway, without further ado here are my predictions:

AFC East
1. New England - They know how to win so you've got to go with 'em.
2. Miami - Coming on strong but not quite there.
3. New York Jets - Can we get a healthy QB??
4. Buffalo - No shortage of QB's, just a shortage of NFL quality QB's.

AFC North
1. Pittsburgh - Still loaded and know how to win.
2. Cincinnati - Up and coming team, if they can keep at least 22 guys out of jail.
3. Baltimore - Yawn.
4. Cleveland - Perennial Yawn.

AFC South
1. Jacksonville - Time for a new king. Great coach, solid at key positions, what else could you ask for?
2. Indianapolis - Age starts to show, missed expectations become a burden.
3. Tennessee - Vince Young will be great, but not quite yet.
4. Houston - Passing up on Bush...Brilliant or bomb?

AFC West
1. Denver - Assuming Jake the Snake doesn't self-destruct this team could win it all.
2. San Diego - A new QB spells growing pains.
3. Kansas City - Herm goes conservative.
4. Oakland - Biding their time for Al Davis to kick it. Until then another year of bad football at rock bottom prices.

NFC East
1. Giants - If Eli plays well this team can compete with anyone.
2. Cowboys - Overrated but still good. T.O. fills distraction role Cowboys have been missing for years.
3. Washington - Can they survive without Portis?
4. Philadelphia - The best last place team in the NFL.

NFC North
1. Chicago - Smoke and mirrors, surely they aren't this good.
2. Minnesota - Better than last year's record and without the distractions.
3. Detroit - A team on the rise, if they can just get rid of Matt Millen.
4. Green Bay - A very bad football with a Hall of Fame QB who doesn't know when to quit.

NFC South
1. Carolina - The best of the NFC perhaps, if they can stay healthy.
2. Tampa Bay - Quiet but quality.
3. Atlanta - Big on expectations, always sure to disappoint. How many games will Vick play?
4. New Orleans - Still too much to overcome, but moving in the right direction.

NFC West
1. Seattle - They can mail it in, they're far and away the best in this division.
2. Arizona - I'm getting on the bandwagon and believing the hype.
3. St. Louis - Quietly fading away.
4. San Francisco - Still a long, long way to go.

AFC Championship Game: Pittsburgh over New England
NFC Championship Game: Carolina over Seattle

Super Bowl: Carolina over Pittsburgh. This is the year for the Panthers. They were amazing last year even as they were hobbled by some of the worst injury luck in the NFL. If they stay healthy they will win it all this year. They have a great young QB, a great running back, and a solid defense.

Other random predictions:
*T.O.'s stay in Dallas will be short-lived. As will the stay of Parcell, who will retire for the 12th time after this season.
*Brett Favre's streak of consecutive starts will end this season. If injury doesn't do him in then surely shame will. Packers win no more than 5 games this season.
*Cincinnati will move their home field to the Ohio State Penitentiary out of necessity as they will not be able to field a team of 22 non-cons.
*Al Davis will outlive and outlast every other owner in the NFL, just because that's the way karma works.
*Carson Palmer and Matt Leinert will both play very, very well, paving the way for current USC QB John David Booty to be a top 5 draft pick after leading the Trojans to yet another national title.

I think that's enough for now. We'll check back in February to see just how off I was.