A Sad Dose of Reality

Mike Tyson's 4 year old daughter died this morning. While Mike Tyson's a weirdo, as a father of two girls, I can't help but grieve for him and his family. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in life that we forget what's really important. Hang in there Iron Mike. Some times there aren't any answers, you're in my thoughts and prayers.

See the story here...

Kim Jong-il, Obama and the Elephant in the Room

Well, North Korea's done it again: another nuke has been successfully tested. This time the size was estimated to be approximately 20 kilotons, roughly the same size as the bombs that flattened both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The international community, including China and Russia, have unilaterally condemned the test and Obama has said that the U.S. would work with its allies to "stand up" to North Korea.

Ok, I can't be help but be skeptical here. Are the UN and the U.S. going to stand up to Kim Jong-il just like they stood up to Saddam prior to Bush's famous invasion? Saddam had broken security resolution after security resolution and, as far as I could tell, the U.N. refused to take any action beyond what it was already doing. Not that I'm an advocate of war, especially when it Communist countries are involved, but I can't help but wonder where the teeth are behind these resolutions? Sure, they provide certain punishments, for lack of a better word, but if the offending behavior continues, what then?

Like it or not, the world and its economy are becoming less and less separate and perhaps it makes sense to more aggressively move in the direction of a central world government. I know, I know, Bible thumpers will start screaming anti-Christ but the move makes sense. We're at the point at which we realistically need a governing body that will represent the interests of all countries in the world. We simply can't allow any rogue countries like North Korea to go off on their own and develop weapons of mass destruction. Consider also situations like Darfur, just to name one. A more ferocious set of chompers is desperately needed to enforce the rule of law areas such as that. Whose rule of law? I dunno, I'm just here to throw out the easy ideas. I'd much prefer to leave the hard decisions to others. =)

Are We Worshiping God or the Music?

I'm a bass player in a worship band and, a few months ago, we started playing Aaron Shust's "My Savior, My God", using the groove of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". It's a cool groove and we had a lot of fun with it the first time we played the song. "My Savior, My God" was played again this morning using the same groove only this time I was worshiping as a member of the congregation instead of behind the bass. Again, it was a cool groove and I found myself getting a bit caught up in it. Not a bad thing when it comes to worship, right? As we sang though, I realized that I was more hyped up by the music than I was the words. Hmmmm, maybe it's not such a good thing after all.

So I'm wondering, Is there a point at which the music becomes the focus instead of the worship? While I realize that it's a personal responsibility thing, the groove was selected by our Worship Pastor specifically because it was one with which people are familiar and it's stood the test of time. Sure, it gets people into the song and all but is "christianizing" contemporary club songs serving its intended purpose of assisting people to the throne of God, or is it a celebrating the music itself? While this practice has been done time and time again through the centuries, I'm mentally questioning its practice. Perhaps I should stop being such a stick in the mud try to fit "Amazing Grace" to "Beat It".

More Litter In My Front Yard?

I went outside this evening and, when I went to close my front door, I noticed that someone had placed an 8.5 x 11 ad on the door. It was actually a fairly nice full color ad and the paper on which it was printed was pretty robust, not exactly 20lb printer paper -- I think it was for a deal on pizza. We get these things all of the time in some form or another, sometimes as much as four or five a week. We also get small baggies filled with a few rocks and an ad for a landscaping service that gets left on our driveway once a month. Let's also not forget the occasional ad that gets left on car windshields in store parking lots. Call me Scrodge, but I'm pretty tired of getting these things. What happens to these things once people get them anyway? They get thrown away or recycled, meaning, it's trash. With all of the pressure on various cities and counties to put less refuse in landfills, and with our natural resources quickly being used up, it's a wonder why nobody's come down on this type of advertising up to this point. I mean, technically, they're littering, right? Is there some sort of exception in the litter laws that state that you can toss something on the ground or on someone else's property as long as it's an advertisement?

Again, this may be me just getting old and bitter, but I think it's time to put an end to this type of advertising. I, for one, would love to see a boycott of businesses who chose to advertise in this fashion -- it's simply not good for the environment. Being kind of a wimp and way too immature when it comes to image, I won't be leading any sort of public campaign, but I do refuse to give people my business who use this method. Maybe if more people felt like this, they'd stop. Or, maybe one day I'll grow up and stop whining. =)

U.S. National Security Off Course?

Today at the National Archives, Obama took his argument for closing Gitmo to the public. In his address, he claimed that, after the September 11 attacks, the Bush Administration took America's national security "off course". Uhmmmmmm, what? Since 1983, the US had experienced multiple attacks that were becoming progressively more bold and impactful. In 1985, the US experienced simultaneous attacks at the checkpoints of Rome and Vienna international airports; in 1995, two US embassies, in Kenya and Tanzania, were bombed simultaneously; in 1995, five US military and civilian advisors were killed by a car bomb in Saudi Arabia; in 1993 on U.S. soil, a bomb in a van exploded in the parking garage in the World Trade Center; in 2000, a United States destroyer was attacked in a suicide attack; and, in 2001, two of the WTC towers and the Pentagon were attacked. Those were but a few samples of the many terrorist attacks that were launched against the US, there were more. Since 9/11, how many major attacks have been launched against the U.S.? Sure, there have been attacks as part of a war effort, but those have come as part of a war in which the U.S. is actively fighting. And, during that time, U.S. civilians have experienced protection that has not been seen in quite a while. Thinking about it, do we really want to get back "on course"?

Loving God: Is it really this easy?

I had a bass lesson a while back. The previous week, I had been given a progression of a few minor chords and asked to prepare a jazz solo based on the dorian mode. I worked my butt off coming up with something to play. And, since I'm primarily a melodic player, I came up with a really catchy riff to build the solo around that flowed really nicely. When lesson time came, I played the riffs, then started adding and building off of the motive, carefully demonstrating my ability to play on different positions of the neck. I thought that I was doing pretty well when, not too long into the solo, my instructor stopped me and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're trying way too hard!". I was pretty shocked because I honestly don't know another way to play -- practice your butt off until the technical skills are all there and play over progressions until something sticks and develop it. Sounds good, right?

Later on that same night I was sitting in our couples group. A buddy of mine had invited himself (he's the kind of guy who can do that and get away with it), and became pretty involved in the group discussion. He told of the financial and employment challenges that he's been facing and how God's used them to bring about some pretty amazing changes. Like me, he likes to dig into things while intellectually breaking them apart -- for both of us, it's how we can make sense of things. In our small group, he told us how he's been discovering a new faith in God, that following Christ doesn't have to be a difficult intellectual process. He said that it all came down to doing one very basic thing: loving God. That's it, nothing else. If you simply love God, everything else will naturally flow, automatically putting everything else in life into its proper place. In short, he said that I'm trying to hard.

Well darn. Can it really be that simple? Have I been spending my time pouring over Bible commentaries and position peices looking for something that's been right under my nose? I mean, how do you just love God anyway? My brain takes me right back to searching through Scripture to find out the answer, but that seems like I'd be spinning my wheels in the same direction again.

So how do I love God? Well, if I think of how I love my wife, I do things like make her coffee, start her car in the morning to warm it up, take things that are heavy to and from the car, things like that. I also spend time with her, talking and listening. If I was only to do things for her without the communication, I'm guessing that our relationship would get pretty dry in not too long. Conversely, if I was merely to spend time with her without doing things that demonstrate my love for her, I'd be taking advantage of her, turning it into a one way relationship. Spending time with her reminds me of why I'm doing things for her and doing things for her demonstrates my feelings. I'm guessing that it's the same with God -- spend time with Him and perform acts of service, for and because of Him. It doesn't really seem to me that one without the other would work for too long.

So this is my new focus in life -- focus on the basics and try to live a mentally more simple life. I may do a follow up in a bit to gauge my progress. Peace out!

Being like little children

I'm a pretty cynical guy. And, for the longest time, I've actually taken a bit of pride in my cynicism. As I continue to grow and work out my faith, I always do so with a critical eye, carefully watching to make sure study materials aren't too basic or that concepts don't resemble in anyway the perception that I've checked my brain at the door. I intentionally look for things that are "deeper" and more on the edge and am constantly looking at conservative Christian positions to find flaws or inconsistencies in positions.

Contrast that with a friend of mine. He's extremely intelligent and driven, but he can find meaning and application in just about anything. We, along with a small group of other men, get together every Wednesday morning to study what sometimes is some pretty basic material. Every single week, he's able to grab some sort of life application, walking away having learned something. And, when we first started meeting, I actually felt sorry for him. I mean, how could this individual possibly be that far along in his Christian walk when he is filled with so much wonder by such basic material?

Recently I've been thinking about Mark 10, specifically the section where Jesus comes down on his disciples for trying to get rid of the children that people were bringing to Him. I think about my daughters and, when they were younger, how innocent and filled with wonder they were. Sure, they don't know a heck of a lot and they don't have to deal with things like the sub prime mortgage crisis, a downward spiraling dollar or whether or not the guest room will be finished before the guests show up in a few weeks. They want to dress up, make up their hair and dream. They love watching Hannah Montana and wildly dancing without concern of their appearance. Then, I try to imagine taking their attitude in life and sitting right on Jesus's lap. They probably know that he's an important guy, but they'd be more interested in exploring his beard, hearing his jokes or hoping that He'll tickle them. They'd listen to his stories, watching the expressions change in his eyes and his mouth move as he speaks. They'd sit there and soak up the attention, feeling completely safe and at ease as he teaches life lessons.

Me? I'd probably approach him with a list of questions, subconsciously looking for clarification of an issue or any excuse for a debate. I probably wouldn't have gone there to learn, but to do battle. Wow.

So I think about my friend, how in spite of his intelligence, his maturity and his long history of living and learning with Christ, he still has the attitude of a child. Lately, I've been amazed as I watch his approach to some incredibly elementary principles of the Christian faith and I want to be like that. I want to be less smart and less critical and more filled with the wonder that comes from being easily awed. In short, I want to be more like a little child.