A Church of Introverts (or Extroverts)

I saw this article flow down my Twitter feed this morning:

Can Introverts Thrive in the Church? by Adam McHugh

Aside from agreeing with the author, I would like to affirm his recommendation that leaders come to understand their temperament and what it means to them and how to greater enhance their personal effectiveness in ministry.  However, I would additionally like to provide suggestions both to introverts and extroverts about how their personality type directly has an effect upon others.

For example, extrovert leadership might require all decisions to be made during a group meeting where active discussion takes place. Meetings might be set with much frequency as they could be seen as the best times for ideas to come forth.

An extrovert might set things up so that working in groups is the primary means where productivity happens, so for those people who need detached time for reflection and determination of their own ideas or positions on the issues, they might be out of luck. "Thinking out loud? I prefer keeping things a bit more focused inside my own head, thank you."

Groups, teamwork, loudness, hysteria... all things that might get extroverts going, but things that shut introverts down.  But the extrovert just might not get it. The world, to them, is where extroverts live and the introverts would just need to adapt.

On the other hand, however, when introverts are in leadership, their own natural tendencies can similarly set the tone unintentionally because they could view the world as where the elements needed for them to thrive are the very same ones everyone else needs, as well, which is just as incorrect.

I love my church dearly, and have spent the past ten years of my life serving there.  However, I myself am more extroverted than not, but all three pastors are introverts. And it shows.

Our setup allows for individuals who have their own individual ministry to thrive, and there are certainly many success stories. However, our church is generally a collection of one-man or one-woman shows without any sort of interaction or coordination asked for or expected.  Their commonality is that they show up for the same worship service each week.

Everyone is empowered to act, but everything is done with a live and let live mindset.  For example, we routinely have various meetings inconveniently scheduled for the same time because nobody is aware what others are up to.  We have had up to five different versions of our church logo on various ministry brochures because each individual can independently decide on how they want to be perceived without requiring any sort of "So how do we collectively as a church want to be seen?" questions be asked.

So can a church be successful when operated with an introvert mindset? Absolutely, as I have seen it with my own eyes.

Can a church be successful when operated with an extrovert mindset? Once again, the answer is yes based upon my observation as well as the general premise of the article.

So the takeaway should not simply be, "Let me figure out the best way I work and come to terms with it."  Rather it should be, as church leaders, let us devise a strategy that will allow both extroverts and introverts to thrive simultaneously.

Not simply saying to an individual, "Adapt to our way doing things or hit the road..." Or more accurately, "Find a ministry better suited for you..."

In unintentionally skewing your operation to one group mindset, you are alienating half of humanity from being able to thrive.

So what can be done about it? Stay tuned for part 2 of the, "A Church of Introverts (or Extroverts)" series.

Hungry?

As you may know or not know, Peter is my favorite disciple. And 1st and 2nd Peter are among my favorite books in all of scripture.  Why and how I have reached these conclusions are perhaps the subject of a future post, but I am more concerned with the present.

In 1 Peter 1, we are charged to set our minds upon Christ. In verse 14, Peter writes, "As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" He continues in 2:1, "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." (ESV)

Until the past two weeks, craving spiritual things like a newborn baby craves milk is something I had understood passively. Meaning like, "Yeah, babies love their milk! We need to desire it the way they want their milk!"  And that's it.

I likened it much more along the lines of craving it in the way that I get the urge to have a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade. Or maybe some brewed sweet tea. Do I thoroughly enjoy these things? Absolutely. They are my favorite things to drink. But is this an appropriate illustration of this biblical lesson? Certainly not.

When my daughter is hungry, she lets you know. There is absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that she is hungry. You look at her, and there she is screaming at the top of her tiny lungs. No words. No, "I really want milk right now!" Just simply a loud, continuous shriek with her eyes closed and her face slightly turning side to side that cannot be satisfied by anything other than the milk she is craving. Nothing. No bouncing. No singing. No sunlight.  No pacifier. And the process repeats itself, not the next week. Not a day or two later. A mere couple hours later, there she is again, screaming for more milk.

When I "crave" lemonade or sweet tea, sometimes I find some, usually I don't. I forget about it. The next time I have some I'm happy about it, and possibly remind myself and those around me, "Yeah, I've been craving this for days."

For Leilani, on the other hand, every second feels like an eternity until her craving can be satisfied.  Her milk cannot be to her a moment too soon. She needs it NOW.

So the question is, is my desire for the things of Christ and his holiness on par with my daughter and her desire for milk? Probably not. I'd say it's much more in the lemonade/sweet tea category. Now each time she cries for milk, I will be reminded of how that's exactly how I'm supposed to be in regards to Christ, holiness and the things of the Spirit. Isn't it amazing how we allow the things of the flesh to satisfy us? You know what they are in your life. But the desire for the spiritual milk should be unquenchable.

Having kids, they say, teaches you more about God and how he loves us. And I can certainly attest that this was the very first (and continuing) lesson that I have learned since having a kid. The love for your own child is unlike any sort of love I've experienced in my life.

But lesson #2: unquenchable thirst for Christ and the type of holiness that he commands has begun. Thanks, my little Miss Leila Mikayla.

Leilani at two weeks

LMA Update

This morning, Leilani was sleeping on my chest belly down, facing one way. She proceeded to lift her head and turn it to face the other way.

LMA Update

This afternoon as I was sitting on the couch having a ministry meeting in my living room with Micah, Leilani was resting on my lap. She started fussing a bit, and then proceeded to lift up her head straight up, her belly down, for about two and a half seconds. Way to work that neck.

She's here!

After an intense period of 28 hours, my daughter was born! It was the best cry I've ever heard. Full story to come soon, but here are the vitals:

Leilani Mikayla
March 20, 2010
8:49 a.m.
7 pounds, 6 ounces
20.5 inches
Black hair. Plenty.

Give me the test!

So here we are, three days passed the "due date" of child #1.  We are at week 40, and I learned recently that up to 42 weeks is considered "normal." So, yeah. Really doesn't do much for my patience levels, or lack thereof.

I do know many other things, though. 

For example, I know that "Life will be forever changed... in a good way." Check.  I also know, "You will be grateful for this additional time you had before the baby was born because your new life will be different than it is now." Check.  "You have sleepless nights ahead." Check.

A friend asked me today how I was doing, and I came up with another illustration of my state of mind.  I told him it was like when you know you have to take an extremely important test in life.  You walk into the exam room and see the test booklets sitting, ready to be passed out.  The instructor picks up the tests, and you are ready. Anticipating what is going to be on there, with a vague sense of what it might be.  The test begins the moment the booklet is placed in your hand, but the professor simply walks around the room. And walks. And walks, looking around. Not getting to the point where you can actually start the test by giving you yours.

Is NOT taking the exam great? Sure.  Is not having to confront the reality of what is contained in the exam for a few extra moments giving of a sense of peace? Maybe. Can you actually relax in that situation? No.

I get it. Parenting is going to be a challenge. I am just ready for the test now. Not in the indefinite state of surprise.

I don't want my children to be happy

So in my check-on-blogs-I-save-links-to-but-don't-visit-often-enough whirlwind tour this morning, I found a post that linked to this one. It is brilliant, and kind of puts words to things that I had been thinking about in this buildup to parenthood. So I heard about it from another blogger, who linked it which is why you are reading it.  It's like 4th hand information, but actually accurate.

Here it is.

After

Ready, Set...

So our daughter's due date is tomorrow, March 13. As every day, hour, and minute passes, the anticipation continues to build. I have talked to many people, specifically regarding the birth of their first children and it seemed to me (seemed) that all of them came well before their due dates. Several days to a couple weeks (to more for some, as well). I was born two weeks in advance of my scheduled arrival date. However, this is certainly not the case here.

Sure, there were people and articles that informed me that for the first born child, going right up to or beyond the due date is quite normal. However, these sources I immediately held at low regard... do they even know what they are talking about?! Hello, I know exactly what I want to hear, and you are certainly not saying it!

This period of waiting I liken to the moments an athlete waits for before starting a run. Those seconds that a speed skater waits crouched upon the ice, ready for the gun to fire. When a skier is standing at the top of the hill anticipating the beeps to let them know the clock has started ticking. An ice skater skating to the middle of the rink stalling until the melody they have listened to hundreds of times before start playing through the crackling speakers up above.

For each, a million things could be going through their head, all rushing through in just a few seconds. "I really should have not skipped practice that one time," "Maybe that cheeseburger was a bad idea last week," "I'm ready for this!," "This is the moment I've spent all this time preparing for," "This is it!"

Typically, this all takes place in about five seconds. However, what if these moments of waiting took 10 seconds? What if they took a minute? What if it took 10 minutes for them to get rolling? Can you imagine how eager they would be to finally start the experience they had been building up to for seemingly forever?

This is where I am. Ready to start but still waiting for the gun, the beep, the music. It reminded me of a moment from a movie I watched in childhood many times, captured by YouTube, linked below:



I'm ready. I'm set. Just waiting.

I'm Expecting

For the past eight months I've been living in the "My wife is pregnant" phase of life. I get continually asked, "How big is she?," "How is she feeling?," "Where is she right now?," and "You know your life is going to change, right?"

After coming up with person-appropriate answers whenever the questions are asked, I have come to the shocking realization that I wish I could be the one pregnant. No, not because I could endure having to cope with nausea, heartburn, backaches or other sundry symptoms of pregnancy. Not because of all the attention some men feel that they are missing when the extreme amounts of attention are being placed on their wives. But rather my pregnancy dream is the result of my desire to play host a living organism within me for many months, with it starting out as a tiny thing you can't really tell that is there, to something that makes your entire abdominal cavity bulge with punches, kicks, and headbutts from a creature that is fighting for freedom from the bubble in which it lives.

This goes on for many weeks until the organism breaks free from its former host with both screaming at the very top of their lungs in an explosion of liquid and blood. But instead of this alien creature trying to wreak havoc upon the planet (unless that becomes an item on his or her to-do list later in life), both parties come home cleaned up by professionals to the comfort of a home they will share in love, not war.

And then, this process will again be repeated by another invader in the woman's body, and this is all deemed usual as a normal part of life. Not simply the theme of a horror movie, nor the type of thing one would do followed by, "Please behave." It's actually acceptable! How cool is that!

Aside from that aspect of the awesome-factor, the fact that you are able to provide a physical place where your child can live must be an incredible feeling. You yourself get to be "home," not something that you have to create. It's just you.

Because since my contribution to the earth is labor and not going into labor, I am working on my daughter's home away from her mother-home. As many of you know, our home has been undergoing a massive transformation over the past several months. With thirty four days until her expected arrival date and the home stretch of the project in site, here is what her bedroom looks like:


You're probably wondering how this could possibly look like the end is in sight but believe me, it certainly is. My goal is to be done with her room within the next two weeks. I'm hoping she decides to stay in her current residence for the entirety of this month and into the next before she decides to emerge into this one.

So while providing a place for her to live isn't as exciting as it could be as if she were actually living within me, building the very first place she will get to live on her "out in the world" journey is just as humbling. Being the very first one to greet her is my job. And to say, "Welcome, I'm expecting you." I am ready.

The Generation M Manifesto

Here's a link to an article written by Umair Haque who is representing the "younger" generations. While some of the views are a bit eyebrow-raising, I think the theme of it sounds right.

Authentic, deep, trust.

The Generation M Manifesto

Intergenelution

I love me a good revolution. This is not because it means, "A sudden or momentous change in a situation." Anyone who knows me well can tell you I really don't mind NOT changing. Simply ask any restaurant I frequent as I can walk into several and be recited my order without having to place it myself. I'm not really into spontaneity. If it works, why mess with it?

My fascination with revolution is instead based upon why change takes place and the results that follow. The American Revolution in the 1700s. The Industrial Revolution in the 1800s The Technological Revolution of today. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to walk through the streets of Philadelphia during my bachelor party on a private tour walking into the very houses, buildings, churches, and streets that the founders of our country talked, listened, and formulated a plan with one another before executing an undertaking that has transformed the history of the modern world. Getting there by car, and gallivanting about with the internet and it's wealth of information in my pocket; my experience at that moment pulled all three eras together.

(conspiracy theorists, acknowledged)

The next great revolution that will take place is the Intergenelution. Oh, wait. Never heard of it? Let me explain. I believe that as we seek revival and transformation, both individually and collectively, it needs to happen intergenerationally. We know that the church is supposed to be a body, with each member performing a unique God-ordained function to the execution of evangelism. As a part of this is the generation they represent. Paul's writings to Timothy is the perfect example of this. The older guy is writing to the younger guy to remind him to make sure the really old ladies are taken care of (among other things).

A conversation I had yesterday after church showed me how different generations can focus on a certain aspect of Christianity. For example, you have the "upper agers" who focused a ton on the law which resulted in the "middle agers" needing to be won through the message of grace because they already had overly exceeded their law fix. But then, you had the "middle agers" focusing so much on grace that the "lower agers" have similarly exceeded their grace fix and are now creating ministries that are focusing a ton on the law. Each proves valuable within its own generational context. I might espouse a pro-law theology. If left to my own devices, that might be all I speak of simply because I have heard so much about grace, it has become cheap to me so I assume that is the case with everyone else. However, this assumption is clearly not true, and continually being reminded of this is necessary for an accurate picture of salvation to be presented. And this is just a piece of why intergenerational ministry is key.

Inter- is a prefix meaning between, mutual, or reciprocal; gen, shortened for generation; and in chemistry, elution is the process of removing an adsorbed material from an adsorbent by washing it in a liquid. We were all absorbed by the world but have been removed from it when we were bathed in the blood of Christ. This is the intergenelution, folks.

On Friday, I looked up "intergenelution" in Google and there were zero hits. Today I did, and there was one documenting my purchase of intergenelution.com. And so, it starts.

Children See, Children Do

NAPCAN is an Australian charity founded on concern for all children and focused on bringing about change to ensure their safety and wellbeing.

They recently released a pretty powerful video.

It's amazing how younger people mirror the actions of those who are older. If you talk a great talk, but your walk is a bit shaky, be warned. Your legacy will live on despite what you do or do not say. What did you do today?

A Revolution

I have spent the past nine and a half years of my life actively involved in the ministry of my church. My focus has been with middle school, then high school, then college, and now, something else. This something else has been new place for me to be. In all these years that have passed, I have been responsible for making sure things happen - studies, events, and whatever else in an oversight capacity. However, I am now working in a role that doesn't involve these things. In January, I handed over my most recent set of responsibilities, leading our college ministry that I helped build four years ago, to a rapidly rising leader from within. I still participate in the same sort of activities that I had in the past, however I am no longer responsible for their execution.

The reason for this transition has been obvious, but also not so obvious. This year has been a big year in my life. Getting married, and now with a baby girl on the way, it makes sense that I would need to stop and adapt my old normal to my new one; figuring out how to optimize my life to accomplish the work of ministry that I have focused my life to do.

However, the not so obvious reason for transition involved the personal struggles of figuring out my ideal position of ministry, wondering if what I had to offer could actually meet a need that existed within my current setting. At that juncture, the needs of our college ministry could be better met by another so the most responsible action I knew I could take was to ensure that the need was met.

Shortly after I made this decision, another ministry opportunity presented itself before me. Instead of looking at things from the ground level as I have spent almost a decade, I now had the chance to look the at the big picture because I had decided to take a step back.

I have spent 2009 thus far meeting, learning, experiencing, talking, listening, and reading. After deep reflection, last week I had my "a ha!" moment.

You know how you like to kill two birds with one stone? Or when you are lucky, three? Or when you have one of those obnoxiously productive days where like all your errands are off of the very same road? Like like everywhere you need to be for the day is right off of 29?

This is like that, except different. By virtue of my church involvement, I have been able to experience ministry teams from every age group. The one missing link that I have come to find that can explain a multitude of problems that I have seen over the years is the lack of inter-generational ministry.

While some take this to mean that teenagers could be paired with a responsible adult, I believe it needs to be of a far larger scale. Anybody, regardless of age needs to be deliberate in developing relationships with those who are older than them to learn from, but also finding those who are younger who they can mentor. Actively.

Additionally, this means coming to the understanding that generations truly approach the world differently. These differences are shaped by various societal issues taking place as they come of age: war, technology, social unrest. But regardless of why, the sooner we accept that people of different generations will try to solve the same problem using their own approaches, the quicker we can join together in actually solving it in the most effective way. Together.

The solution is not simply to sit around a table with every age demographic represented. Instead, it is the idea that regardless of a persons age, each provides something of value. The goal would be harnessing and utilizing it. This is not each generation marching side-by-side. Rather, this is a giant blob of people of varying talents, gifts, and age all working in sync with one another. Instead of a fruit cocktail, a fruit smoothie. Instead of a random, yet distinctly obvious, assortment of plastic parts sitting together in a bin, a fully assembled Mr. Potato Head.

The nuance of the difference may be lost on some, but this is what I have discovered to be my new approach to ministry. The beauty of the situation is that it works in every circumstance. There are studies to prove it. The benefits are huge, but for some reason very few are talking about it.

But now, I will be.

She's Pregnant!

Today, I had the opportunity to listen to the beating heart of my first child scheduled to make his or her arrival into the outside world on March 14, 2010.

I did not know what to expect when "listen for the heartbeat" time came during today's appointment at the doctor's office today. I imagined I would hear some static-y sounding something that the doctor (or the midwife, in our case) would say, "Can you hear it? Right there!," to which I'd reply, "Um, yeah! I think I do," when in reality I had no idea what the sound actually was, but I'd just play along so as to not appear as a complete stooge.

The realty was the sound on a large speaker projected clearly upon the four walls (and a window) of the brightly lit examination room. A loud, rapid, distinct pulsation. A tiny, beating heart caused more blood to circulate for those 10 mere seconds than it has pumped so far in its fairly young life.

Crazy. I have somehow managed to add the title "Father" to my resume.

Let me take you back about two months ago. My wife Ruth and I got married on June 14, 2009 and had the incredible opportunity to spend three weeks together in Hawaii on our honeymoon. So we go. Honeymoon. Relax. Enjoy life.

At the end of the trip, we began joking about the possibility that we'd have a "honeymoon baby." Not really conceiving it being a realistic outcome, we kind of went with it. However, upon our return from the trip, after the first week back it became apparent that we needed to take a test to see if what seemed to be happening actually was. God being up to something. The joke was on us.

So, I (yes it was I) went to Target and picked up a home pregnancy test kit (3 for the price of 2!) using none other than EPT, which promised me the greatest accuracy from the products that I briefly reviewed as I awkwardly gazed at the products in an aisle of the store that really doesn't have too many window shoppers.

It was Friday evening, and after assembling our new bed from Ikea with the assistance of people we love dearly but were hoping would leave so that we could continue with the agenda of day, Ruth went to the bathroom to take the test.

She took it, left it on the counter, and we sat together on our newly built bed awaiting the results. For those two minutes life was what it was. But at the end of the two, things had the potential to change significantly. And they certainly did.

Upon seeing the results, both Ruth and I initially came away with different reactions - Ruth in denial that the test said what it did, and me with my hand covering my mouth repeatedly yelling at the top of my lungs "OH MY GOODNESS!" We eventually came to agree that it was, despite the faintness of the plus sign on the test, that it was positive.

However, some doubt arose on Saturday morning and since we had two tests left to go, Ruth took one again just to be sure that we saw what we thought we did. But the test came out looking the same exact way that it did the previous evening.

We had a third test in the package, and Ruth really wanted to see what a negative test looked like. So after a brief discussion on how to make it happen, I volunteered to take the third test. I figured, we paid for two and got the third one for free... no money lost on this venture.

So I went to the bathroom and took a pregnancy test. I had the strong desire to update my Facebook status with "took a pregnancy test" that morning but figured it was a bit to soon for that sort of thing. During our joking about pregnancy, I expressed my annoyance at the concept of, "We're pregnant!," because it just sounds so hokey. So from the bathroom I jubilantly exclaimed to Ruth upon seeing the result... "WE are not pregnant! But YOU are!"



So there you have it. That's what the last two months have been like. Wrapping my head around the whole concept of fatherhood which seems to be a job that's way to big for me. I enjoy running around, screaming at the top of my lungs with my nieces and nephews. But parenting? Wow.

I heard my baby's heartbeat today. Big day.

So you wanna blog do you?

So. It has apparently been nearly four months since my last blog post. Much has happened in those past four months--among other things, I got married, and purchased a condo with my wife which we are currently working on making some fun updates to (more on this in a future post).

While I haven't posted, it hasn't been because I have forgotten about the blog--heavens no. It's really been much more based upon my lack of a clear idea as to what on earth I could/should post about. Just random/boring incidents from my life? A more thematic focus on some personal goals and my efforts in achieving them? Commentary on religion and/or politics? A combination of all of the above? NONE of the above?

I really need to come up with my plan because the problem is I hate wasting time. Like, spending time in ways that shows no benefit. This irritates me immensely. I really like the concept of a blog, if for no other reason, it provides a sort of written history as to my thoughts so I can laugh at myself after the fact. However, my issue is with the whole concept of having a personal online presence. Like streamlining my operation so its not like... blog, Facebook, Twitter, and whatever else is out there/comes up, but figuring out how to keep things simple(r).

So, point of story--while I previously was wanting to be more focused on the subject matter of the blog, I think I will make an attempt to not really care about that and simply write things and see what happens. Let something evolve into being, rather than design it from the start. (Oh, wait. That just seems wrong for some reason.)

So You Want to Kill the President...

This morning as I was getting ready for work, I was watching the Today Show, as I do every morning. Today was a relatively slow news day because the story that received the most coverage during the 7:00-7:22 segment involved the false report filed by a woman who really took her daughter to Disney World. Every element of the story was repeated twice, both in the setup piece and then again when Natalie Morales was interviewing a police officer involved with the case. There were many elements in that reporting piece that were annoying to have to listen to (mainly Natalie Morales' misunderstanding of what racial profiling is), but I digress.

The far more shocking story to me was the one involving Sara Jane Moore who tried to kill President Gerald Ford in 1975 but failed because an onlooker twisted her arm causing the bullet to miss. The entire story was presented as a big reveal with it being teased throughout the morning with an old woman whose identity was shielded because they didn't have lights on her. When it came time for her interview, they undimmed the light in the studio so we could see her face.

Matt Lauer's biggest shock was that she looked like somebody who could be our aunt or (dare he say) grandmother. Sara Jane felt that she needed to do the interview so that people didn't think she was a monster, but just a human being.

It was all rather odd to me. Matt Lauer was honored to meet her. She had been in jail since her attempt and was on parole. I simply cannot understand how somebody who tried to kill a president is sought to be understood under the lights of a morning news show studio. If somebody tried to kill President Obama, would we eagerly look forward to an interview many years in the future so that they can present themselves not as a monster, but as a human? So we can seek to understand them? Please.

The Goatee Saver

I stumbled upon this post on Ragamuffin Soul. For twenty bucks, if you sport a goatee (as all youth pastors do apparently... except for those who have a soul patch), this handy gadget might the be the answer to your prayers. Check it out.

Getting Married

Back in 2007, I created a list of things to do on the site 43things.com Today, as I was working to streamline my personal online presence, I remembered the site and logged in and saw the list of life goals I had made then. Most of them are things that really seem once in a lifetime, if they were to ever happen at all (i.e. Watch Maryland win a national championship in person).

I also saw that I had posted on my list, "Marry a woman with character, intelligence, personality, and beauty." Those were the things Martin Luther King had sought in a wife, and when I heard about his list, I remember thinking to myself that those characteristics would also be the verbiage of what I, too, would seek.

Finding people with a combination of some of those traits was quite easy. But all four? Never. Until, later, in that very same year I got to get to know Ruth, the person who I will be marrying in 25 days, 1 hour, 45 minutes, 52 seconds.

To all the guys out there: Such women actually do exist in the world, despite my belief that they didn't. I don't know where you might find yours, but I am so glad that I found mine.

Too Many Tweets

Recently joined Twitter, but am disappointed that so many posts disappear. This warning page makes it oh so nice.

Starting a new chapter

The past several months have been quite transformative in my life for many reasons. Reasons that I will describe in upcoming posts. It has been four months since my last post, but really much longer if you don't count posts that involved a link to some article that I happened to be reading.

I promise some quality posts. Shortly.

Republicans Happier than Democrats?

A Happiness Gap: Doomacrats And Republigrins

By David Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 24, 2008; C01

Now the good news for Republicans: You are happier than Democrats. You always have been, and you probably always will be.

What Friends Are For

Came across this article today. It is quite awesome. Perfect timing.

Key line: I know now to take the time to consider what a friend in need really needs.

What Friends Are For
In Trying Times, Help Is Often Near (If You Just Ask)
By Melissa Hart

The week my husband ended up in the hospital with an innocuous foot infection that snowballed, my girlfriends vanished. For seven nights, I lay sleepless and scared while my pale beloved soaked up antibiotics in Room 371 and prayed he wouldn't lose his foot.

My friends knew of our predicament, but only Sarah e-mailed to ask how she could help. In retrospect, a batch of chocolate chip cookies would have been comforting; likewise a shared bottle of cabernet or an offer to walk our three dogs. But I, like many in crisis, went blank. "I have no idea," I e-mailed back.

Click here for the rest. This is the essence of Christianity.

Free Internet

Leading a life that includes an education dependent on internet access for assignment submission can be difficult if one does not have said internet access at home. Especially when one has been at the new place for more than a month.

Such is my life now that Comcast has broken its promises for an installation. I have previously blogged about my disfavor with Comcast from my old, old apartment (here and here), but silly me put economic needs over common sense and elected to go with Comcast.

I have been able to get online from home on occasion using a unsecured wireless network from a neighbor when I'm sitting out on the deck (thank you, whoever you are) but that can be spotty at times. When I first moved, it was still warm out, but now, sitting outside trying to get free internet requires protective garments.

So, right now, and tomorrow, and Wednesday, and every Sunday for the past several weeks, I have made my home Panera Bread. They have free internet, comfy tables, and sandwiches, soups, and salads that are quite good. Oh, and they have lemonade. And an awesome chocolate brownie.

Supposedly Comcast will be visiting on Wednesday to hook up internet and cable. I am hopeful that the third time will be the charm. But I also know with whom I am dealing.

My calendar for Sunday is cleared for a pleasant afternoon lunch at Panera Bread. With free internet access.

Welcome to Fall

To welcome the fall, I have turned over a leaf and discovered my blog. It somehow got hidden. Now that it has been rediscovered, a new flurry of blogging will commence. That's until another object falls on top of it.

Oh bomb McCain!

There is talk of Tim Kaine being picked as Barack Obama's choice for vice president. When you put their names together you get: Obama-Kaine.

If you ask what the democrats are going to try to do to the republicans in November, you get: Oh! Bomb McCain!

Get it?! GET it?!

There here post I say is the first post on the face of the planet taking note of this double entendre of a name.

Who Is In Control?

From a blog I stumbled upon today. Great post.

Have you ever noticed how, when a person is looking for a house, driving slowly down a darkened street straining to see the numbers on the fronts of the homes or on the mailboxes at the end of the driveways, he automatically turns down the car radio? He does so because he instinctively knows that music or voices can be a distraction. A person cannot focus as well on the task at-hand when there is noise in the background. Noise is a distraction.

I’ve often found that when I am writing, and especially writing something that requires deep thought and consistent logic, I need to remove background distractions, whether that means I turn down the music playing from my computer or close the door to my office.... click here for the rest

Change Your Clothes

One thing that I've been doing recently is changing my clothes after work. I don't really dress up for work - it's business casual so I wear khakis, some cords, or other pants in that family of clothing, and usually a button down shirt or a polo. These clothes aren't uncomfortable really... I don't spend my entire day thinking of how much they are irritating me having them on. (Shoes, though, are another matter.)

Usually when I get home, I feel pretty tired from the 8.5 hours spent at work, bookended by almost an hour and a half commuting each way. DC area traffic is grand.

I'm usually pretty exhausted when I arrive back at my apartment, and whenever I have somewhere to be in the evening, I usually make home a pitstop before I take the tiredness with me to the rest of my day.

But all of this has changed.

Yes, I still work my "9-5" and I still have a job that costs me 11.5 hours per day, but now when I get home during my pitstop before the rest of my day, I change my clothes.

This has changed everything.

I'm not a psychologist nor do I claim to be. Well, maybe sometimes I do. But regardless, I think that changing your clothes has a major impact on your brain. Because now, when I go out with my fiancée, make a trip out to the store, or go to a Bible study, I feel suddenly revived, and it feels like I am starting the evening with a fresh bank of energy. The day feels like a new day. I feel like I can forget that I had even gone to work that day, and that my day has been one of leisure.

No, I don't think I am alone in this. And yes, I have a spiritual application from this seemingly random concept.

In Colossians 3, Paul starts asking them to put to death all sorts of things that compose their earthly nature such as sexual immorality, greed, anger, slander, and filthy language. But he goes on to use the image of changing one's clothes. He writes, as recorded in verse 12, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."

This new life that we have in Christ is one that is like putting on some new clothes for the fun part of your day - the good life. Because we want to live a holy life, we need to remove the bad stuff (work clothes) and put on (because they won't get put on by themselves) the good stuff.

Going to Atlanta

I am headed to Atlanta this weekend with CLiC for the Passion Conference. "But Ryan, you live near DC! Why didn't you and the group go to the conference when it was actually close to you?" is a possible question that you may be asking.

Here is the answer: Groupishness.

The lack of that in our newly developing group was evident so something needed to be done.

Being trapped in a 15 passenger van with some of your soon-to-be closer friends for hours on end can do wonders. Eating, living, praying, driving, worshiping, asking, sleeping, breathing, and jumping together for 4 days and 3 nights can help.

Can't wait.

April Fools

Tomorrow, Gmail will have a "Custom Time" feature as their annual April Fool's Joke. No, I do not work for Google, yet I am privy to this information. I am breaking this news, so enjoy it.

Actually, it was broken by a broken link on my Gmail page, and already talked about on 1,600 pages on a Google search.

But yeah, YOU heard it here first.

You're welcome.

I'm Sorry

Dear Blog,

I am sorry. I have neglected you for over a month. I've been busy....well, that's not entirely true. I had a week off from school and work that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, you were not thought of during that period, either.

It's not you. It's me.

The motivation and drive to provide something blogworthy in a sea of blogs is tough. There are so many amazing blogs out there, by people who actually have a "claim to fame" as it were. Authors, musicians, journalists... My traffic is driven by quite sad things, such as the antics of a local news anchor that I wrote about years (years!) ago.

Exciting things HAVE been happening in life. However, the whole factoring you into it is just a foreign concept to me right now. I'm glad that you have been there for me, having a place for me to document things through time so you will NEVER be deleted. I can promise you that. However, viewing life extraneously and sharing it with the masses... rather, making it available to the masses, is something that I need to figure out.

You are not about American Idol. People can get much better commentary elsewhere. Nor are you supposed to be about politics. There are enough blogs and articles about that, too. You are supposed to be about figuring out what the Christian church is supposed to be and the journey to get there.

It just seems that being on an uncharted course is a difficult place to write from. I know it can be done. I know it has been done. But I just don't know how to do it.

For this I am sorry because I feel the potential in it is quite great. I'll figure it out.

Til next time,

Ryan

Happy Together

On a whole, the girls were far better than than the guys, once again. However, I didn't really have a clear stand out. That said, my favorite performer was Brooke White, the girl with the really curly blond hair who, coincidentally sang "Happy Together" which my favorite male sang this week.

Other than her, Amanda Overmeyer didn't live up to the hype that I had placed on her, but she wasn't bad at all.

Kady Malloy really reminded me of Shannon from "Lost."

Syesha Mercado (poofy hair) was exciting, borderline over the top for me though.

Alexandréa Lushington (peace earing)... didn't really understand the praise from Randy and Paula. She CLEARLY wasn't strong when she left her normal singing voice range. Annoyingly weak. Sounded like a young Whitney Houston at parts.

Ramiele Malubay really has a nice big voice, though I don't know if she could be a successful American Idol winner.

Alaina Whitaker (Carrie Underwood clone) was decent though I don't know how I feel about clones.

Out of time, but the Britney Spears impersonator seems like she could be good.

We'll see who goes home tonight. Hopefully not my fave girl or guy.

American Idol (Guys)

Wow, its amazing what can happen in a matter of days in the world of politics. I have been abstaining politics for more than a week now simply because I got overwhelmed by the 2008 presidential election and am ready for it to be over. The whole thing. And I majored in government in college.

Anyway, something far more enjoyable that involves "America" and "voting" is our collective guilty pleasure, American Idol. As a loyal watcher of the show (with the exception of season 2 which I had banned because Tamyra Gray got voted off season 1... yes, I do that...) I will provide regular commentary on this here blog, but hopefully only as a side note. Note. Get it? Ok.

Based on last night's show, I can say that I am honestly disappointed because NOBODY really stuck out as all that good. I only start watching after the auditions so don't have their history on the show to judge them on. So based on my one shot view of them last night, here are my thoughts (with the Fox website open so I can remember their names):

David Cook (wore that skinny tie, sang "Happy Together") - The only person who I listened to that I can see liking. Wasn't the most amazing performance but I liked his vocal quality.

David Archuleta (the 17 year old) - Wow. How 17. How 13, actually. Really was very bubbly you couldn't help but say, "Awwwwww."

Robbie Carrico (the guy who always wears a hat) - Please stop being such a poser.

Chikezie (the guy with the colorful suit) - Top 24 first song and already you have an ego problem. Ready for you to leave. A real "soul" singer would be preferred to this quota filler.

Danny Noriegoa (the guy with many "colors" as described by Paula) - His whole "sassy girl" production was just really annoying.

Jason Castro (guitar and dreads) - Nice to have somebody play an instrument on this show which is a staple on the actual talent based music shows (see: Rock Star, Nashville Star) but really didn't hit me as anything beyond I'd hear at like a county fair.

Michael Johns (the guy with the accent) - First thing I thought was "Tom Brady." I know he is supposed to be good, based on his show closing number, but I just wasn't into it at all.

THE REST - No comments.

The girls are usually better (bias noted) so I am hoping for them to salvage this possible wreck of a season tonight. Based on their visuals though, it seems like they have their "Mandisa" and "Carrie Underwood" slots filled. Having not heard her sing AT ALL, I am hoping that Amanda Overmyer's look isn't just for show and that she has the type of voice I totally dig.

The Maryland Primary

I will be voting for Mike Huckabee today for whatever it's worth.

My 2008 Election Prediction

It will be a Clinton/McCain matchup.

Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama against John McCain/Mike Huckabee.

Clinton will unite the Republican party and McCain will be sworn into office in January of next year.

Reasons for the Democratic ticket - delegate situation, as posted yesterday. Hillary's superdelegates will give her the nomination, with the delegates from Michigan and Florida added to the mix after their previous banishment creating a much argued about majority.

Reasons for the Republican ticket - McCain would need a way to pull Southern support, and Huckabee proved that he could do it on Super Tuesday. Both men like each other, with McCain saying recently that he had, "the greatest respect and frankly some affection," for Huckabee. He'll stick it to Rush.

Not enough delegates for the Democrats

This is from a Washington Post chat that took place earlier today. Basically, the chances of Hillary or Obama picking up the needed delegates in the remaining primaries and caucus is virtually none, so its going to come down to the super delegates!

We've done a bad job of explaing this, but it is now basically mathematically impossible for either Clinton or Obama to win the nomination through the regular voting process (meaning the super-delegates decide this one, baby!).
Here's the math. There are 3,253 pledged delegates, those doled out based on actual voting in primaries and caucuses. And you need 2,025 to win the nomination.
To date, about 55% of those 3,253 delegates have been pledged in the voting process -- with Clinton and Obamb roughly splitting them at about 900 delegates a piece.
That means there are now only about 1,400 delegates left up for grabs in the remaining states and territories voting.
So, do the math. If they both have about 900 pledged delegates so far, they need to win more than 1,100 of the remaining 1,400 delegates to win the nomination through actual voting.
Ain't gonna happen, barring a stunning scandal or some new crazy revelation. So, they'll keep fighting this thing out, each accumulating their chunk of delegates, one of them holding a slight edge and bothing finishing the voting process with 1,600 or so delegates.
And then the super delegates decide this thing.
That's the math.

Frozen Grand Central

This is quite amazing. Check it out.

Do church and football mix? Not according to the NFL.

NFL Pulls Plug on Big-Screen Church Parties for Super Bowl

Battle between the F's and the T's

I watched most of the Democratic debate last night and have come to the following conclusion. Hillary Clinton is very knowledgeable about policy. Always answered questions in terms of what she had done in the past and how that would move her forward. Barack Obama was extremely visionary and focused more on how his actions would be based on principles, rationalizing his actions this way.

My theory is that, if you are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Clinton supporters are more of the T(hinking)-type, whereas the Obama supporters are the F(eeling)-type.

I am speaking of the base of support here. This would not apply to strategy-minded people who simply support Obama because he is NOT Hillary since she would be the greatest unifier of the Republican party. It is the obsessed supporter types of which I speak. (i.e. Obama makes me feel so great!, or Hillary's experience is what we can count on!)

Why are Liberals so Afraid of Baby Jesus?

Here's an article from this past Christmas that I just read. It was pretty good. Written by John Ridley, formerly of my favorite morning show, Morning Joe.

Getting raw (at lunchtime)

Starting today, I will start a new food fad in my life. I will only be eating raw foods from now on - only for lunchtime, though. I'll still have a healthy share of chicken, deep fried foods, baked goods, and other things that are good for the soul.

Why?

How did I know that question was on your mind? I came to this decision late last week for several reasons. Firstly, I am trying to streamline my operating expenses so I figured bringing lunch from home could help. However, when all the costs do get factored in, the savings experienced really aren't that great when compared to eating out in the $5-$6 range. However, if I eat only fruit and vegetables, I can find savings.

Secondly, I had a nagging cold that just wouldn't go away. The worst of the cold was about a week and a half ago, but I still have the phlegm in my nose that doesn't require a Kleenex, but I can hear and feel when I breathe hard through my nostrils. So to help get that outta here, I figured eating "healthy" would help, which then led me to the conclusion... "why not eat healthy even when you are not sick... that might actually help in other ways..." So I decided to heed to my conscience.

And finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the concept of a "raw diet" was initially placed in my head a while back on Shaun Groves' blog which I read on a regular basis. I don't know if I can be as hardcore as he is doing this raw diet for all meals, but using it for one meal a day is a big first step. If I survive for the next 2 weeks, this will be a great feat.

So to kick things off, I went to the grocery store yesterday specifically to buy cereal for breakfast (which I have been skipping for the past few months) and a big bag of spinach I was going to consume today. However, in keeping with my tradition of starting things off on the right foot, I forgot it at home. So I will have to go buy a $8 salad for about $1.50 worth of ingredients. Which is more important? Health or wealth? I guess that makes the $8 salad a little easier to swallow...

The button has been pushed today

Who am I? Who else is me?

Have you searched for yourself on the internet? I just performed two searches. First on Facebook. Then on Google.

Ok, on Facebook. Turns out that there are 68 other "Ryan Abel"s on there. How bizarre. This is on only one site, so clearly there are a bunch more out there. I'm not sure if there is a need for a Ryan Abel convention were all of us can get together and talk about our shared name.

On Google, 523,000 hits came up. Two of the top 10 hits though are actually me so that is pretty cool. This blog is currently number 5 on a search of my name, and a news article that mentions me is number 7.

I guess by putting these screenshots up, you can discover that a Mac is my computer of choice. Oh yes, I did blog about it some time back when I broke it....

How to Save the Obama Campaign

I wouldn't consider myself in the Obama camp. I would say he is the best orator of this new millennium. I could sit and listen to him talk for hours. Does that make him the best guy for president? Not sure about that. Mike Huckabee totally re-wowed me last night preventing my acceptance of any sort of defeat (reality, noted). Still my favorite candidate out of everybody is that guy. But if the Democrats pick Obama, and the Republicans pick Giuliani or Romney, I think I'd vote Obama.

But let's not get too ahead of ourselves here.

Obama's campaign is sinking because of several things, the biggest one being the Clinton attack machine. So if he wants to get the nomination, the following is my proposal to save his campaign. The Clintons have made race an issue. It can't be unmade at this point, and he can't clearly attack back successfully because it hasn't been working too well for him since the Clintons are just so good at it.

But I am a politics junkie, and I like to watch a good race, so here it is...

MY PLAN TO SAVE THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN

1. Hold a "major address" press conference. Let all the networks know that you have a major announcement to make. This would naturally result in coverage by CNN, Fox News, and my favorite, MSNBC. Deliver this next week, fresh off of your win in South Carolina.

2. Start talking about the politics of hope, again.

3. Admit that your campaign shifted its focus to counter all the attacks from the Clinton camp. Acknowledge that the campaign has resorted to "politics as usual."

4. Make the vow that from this moment on, that you expect better from yourself, and that the people can expect better from you as well. That you will once again be talking about your grand vision for America. Not to worry, that each and every false attack hurled against you will be debunked on your website. But when you are addressing people directly, you will be talking about this vision. There is no time to waste on dirty politics.

5. Call on America to expect far more from its candidates than bickering. In turn, in addition to expecting more from you, tell the country that you expect a great deal from them.

6. A vision of America that isn't divided by party, age, race, or gender is possible. And we can't allow for those who choose to divide us this way to succeed. By falling to their level, they have won. We must rise above it. It might be hard, but we can do it.

7. Remind people that your campaign isn't about race. The Clintons sought to make it about race, and you had to defend yourself. Iowa answered the call and put America before race, and tell people that you no doubt that all of us can do that as well. Here on out, America is what it's going to be about.

8. The Clintons (yes, be blunt) have brought down the debate. Tell America that you and they are going to rise above it. A new day in politics.

Redskins, McCain

There has been a lull in blogging! I apologize! School hit! I warned you, I guess.

Since last post, the Redskins are looking at Jim Fassel (gross... he's been with the Giants!) for the vacant head coaching job. A decision could be made any day now, but odds are against Gregg Williams. Looks like we get the classic Redskins coaching overhaul which has become standard operating practice with good old Danny boy. Great.

And secondly, John McCain has done pretty well, now with his win in South Carolina. I think Mike Huckabee's loss there has essentially ended his campaign. I think McCain is where it's at right now. I am morally against voting for Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards. McCain is a decent candidate... not my ideal, but very good nonetheless.

I got my copy of "Pagan Christianity" yesterday. I'm sure I will have response and reaction fairly soon.

That's all for now. I just wanted to let my legion of online readers know that I haven't fallen off them map. Yet, anyway.

Back to School!

This week I have started my spring semester at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary through their distance learning program. For you regular visitors of my site, I thought I would use that as my excuse for not posting anything yesterday.

(Interestingly enough, I have recently gotten a surge in traffic due to my completely brief, random post on the Maryland tax increase. That is NOT the point of this blog, people!)

Anyway, I will be taking 2 classes for the next 8 weeks. And they are... (drumroll, please)

CLED510: The Foundations of Christian Leadership
NBST654: Hebrews

I will probably be commenting on random things about these topics sometime over the next few weeks so this will explain why.

Blessing the Food

This past weekend we did the Lord's Supper as a part of our worship service at my church. I was asked if I could perform my elderly role by asking a blessing upon the grape juice. And this has resulted in another lack of understanding between myself, our modern church, and the scriptures.

I was supposed to ask a blessing upon the juice, which I guess is supposed to make it holy. When looking through scriptural references to this process in the Bible (found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 1 Corinthians), I was unable to find a good model upon which to base my prayer or our service in general simply because it was rather different in both regards.

I thought my prayer should be a prayer of thanksgiving, thanking God for the blood of Jesus which gives us the gift of salvation. Apparently, I am supposed to be praying (in addition to thanksgiving, of course) mainly for the blessing upon the juice.

What this blessing is supposed to do, however, is what has got me all confused.

My church's position is that we pray for the bread crackers and the grape juice and they become holy. Leftovers must be disposed of in a very precise manner because of this holiness.

Something about this setup really baffles my mind because to me it seems like the process really is more people-based. To me, it seems, that we totally focus on the objects more so than what it is they represent. We are supposed to examine ourselves and not participate in an "unworthy" manner. Do we really ever address what this means?

Additionally, in our daily lives, when we ask for a blessing upon our meals, what exactly are we ask for? Is it a more "thank you God for giving me another meal and for not letting me go hungry" or is it "please transform nutrients/make this unhealthy meal healthy for me/cause this to become a holy meal" type prayer? What it it supposed to be?

This is a very recent development in my current state of confusion about the modern church so I will be looking deeper into it. I will hopefully share something helpful sometime very soon.

Building Without Cement (or Wood)

If someone told you to build a church, what would you do? You'd probably contact an architect and describe to them your vision for a nice building. Steeple or no? Modern or traditional? What about ceilings? Windows?

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says, "Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it."

Jesus says that he is going to build his church, but he makes no mention of blueprints, hammers, nails, windows, doors, or wood frames. None of this, yet the church will stand. And not only will it stand, but the supernatural powers of hell won't be able to destroy it.

If somebody asks you to describe the word "church," please do not use any sort of physical structure in your definition.

The Polling Difference

After watching some analysis last night as to why the polling on the Democrats side was so off, some said that after Hillary's "emotional, humanizing moment," a flurry of older women came to her defense which wasn't reflected in the polling.

Something else that Chris Matthews and Michael Dyson were promoting on Hardball was that race played a role with people saying that they were going to vote for Obama but then when it came down to it, they were scared of the "swagger" of a successful black man (according to Dyson) so they went with Hillary. The called it the Bradley effect redux.

I have problems with this theory simply because, A) Bradley happened 20 years ago and B) this was a DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY. Between the polling difference and the results, Obama lost in the double digits. Bradley was a GENERAL ELECTION campaign. Democrats who vote in the primary are of the more liberal wing of their party. There are certainly racists of every race in both parties, but not that many. I have a hard time believing that that many of them are racist.

MY THEORY:

Having not heard it from anyone else in the media, I am quite comfortable claiming it as solely my own.

The reason in the polling difference was that it was the Hillary factor. With all the media fueled momentum Obama was bringing with him after Iowa, Hillary was going to be the big loser. So if a pollster asked someone who they'd be voting for, it'd be FAR easier to go with the hot, young, Obama and be on the perceived winning side.

They said they were voting for Obama because they were ashamed to say they were voting for Hillary.

That, coupled with the "emotional, humanizing moment" which brought in older, sympathetic women (and some men, I'm sure) after the utter bashing Hillary was receiving, was easily enough to give her the thousands of vote needed to edge out Obama.

The Best Chicken Caesar Salad in the World

Can be found at Panera Bread. Had it last night. Tried Cosi's today.

Yeah.

Panera's is amazing. It's pulled chicken instead of chicken cubes. Makes all the difference in the world.

Check it out.

How Embarassing!

I got home late last night after a Bible study, and turned on the TV for a moment right before I was going to go to bed. I figured that the New Hampshire primary would be won by Barack Obama by a landslide, and John McCain by a hair. The plan was simple. Just confirm the results, and go to sleep.

However.

When I turned on the TV and saw that Hillary Clinton had defeated Obama, I was in shock. I yelled "Oh my goodness!" or "You've GOT to be kidding me!" for about five full minutes after I seeing the results. My roommate woke up and came to my room to see what was going on. (I thought I had covered my mouth effectively, but clearly not.)

Ever since Iowa, every single person who has a TV show who comments on politics was doing a postmortem on Hillary's campaign. What will she do now? Who will the republicans nominate to beat Obama? Even the Clintons were talking about how they were expecting to lose.

But somehow, EVERYBODY was wrong. Hillary won. The media hype was wrong.

Chris Matthews, who I really despise (banned him for a while, but now watch again in controlled settings), has been the biggest Obama pusher (not officially, of course... he thinks he is objective) sat it shock and amazement to see the election results. It was quite funny to me to see it.

These results are very refreshing to me, (not because I support Hillary... I'm a Huckabee man!) because the media totally created Obama mania and have been hyping him, hoping to shape our elections based on their preferences. However, New Hampshire showed us anyway, people actually do have the ability to think for themselves (sometimes) and will not lead them where the media is trying to take them.

So I got home a bit after midnight, but I sat in shock until about 2:30 AM watching re-airs of coverage, victory speeches from all candidates, and various media talking heads trying to wipe the egg off their faces.

Such exciting times to be a politics junkie.

Great (American) Expectations

Here's an article I read today which is quite good. Really puts things into perspective. The church in Kenya has close connections to my own.

BY BRET STEPHENS

Barack Obama, still fresh from his victory in Iowa last week and confident of another in New Hampshire tonight, has as his signature campaign theme the promise to "end the division" in America. Notice the irony: The scale of his Iowa victory, in a state that's 94% white, is perhaps the clearest indication so far that the division Mr. Obama promises to end has largely been put to rest.

Meanwhile, in Kenya last week a mob surrounded a church in which, according to an Associated Press report, "hundreds of terrified people had taken refuge." The church was put to flame, while the mob used machetes, Hutu-style, to hack to death whoever tried to escape. The killers in this case were of the Luo tribe, their victims were of the Kikuyu, and the issue over which they are bleeding is their own presidential election.

Click here for the rest.

Such "big" problems that we Americans face. As a nation. As part of the church. As individuals. It's embarrassing, really.

Joe Gibbs Resigns

It has taken me some time but the shock is wearing off about today's announcement. I thought at minimum he'd be around until the end of next season. I wonder who the next guy is going to be. Gregg Williams?

What Would Happen?

This morning, I started reading a new book, The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. It's still way too early for me to make an endorsement, but I will say while reading it got me thinking.

What would happen if every church in America was forced to close it's doors? Would church still exist? If every building with a steeple or one with those illuminated signs with (sometimes) witty sayings was no longer open for business. What would people do? Would our faith be strengthened or weakened? How many people would walk away? How many people would just be washed away? What would YOU do?

No answers. Only questions for this Monday morning.

Culmination and Commencement

Yesterday was an interesting day in my life. It was a day of culmination, but also a day of commencement.

Thursday was the day of the Iowa caucuses. After months (years, for some) of various candidates campaigning in the state, it finally arrived. While I haven't (I don't think) blogged about the actual 2008 race aside from my hopes that Virginia's Mark Warner would run, I became a Mike Huckabee fan in the early summer, back when he was simply a second tier presidential candidate who was quite witty, engaging, and the only authentic person who was running. I didn't have any hopes that he'd actually win a primary, but then something happened.

Over the past couple weeks, my level of excitement began to build as he started surging in the polls, starting in Iowa, but then steadily across the country. Not only do the other candidates running for president leave much to be desired, but Huckabee actually offers something that none of the other candidate's do... he brings something completely new to the political process - a way of thinking that has caused the republican establishment to revile him. He is not "one of them" as both they, and he, frequently remind us.

Challenging the establishment is something that has been on my mind lately. Not questioning a political process, but wondering why it is we do church the way that we do it.

When I read the Bible, the church model that is prescribed is far different that what we live with today. I wondered why. Each element we have today, and why we do it, I was curious about. I thought that I would need to spend plenty of time researching this, just to put to rest my own personal concerns. But then, when I was blog surfing yesterday, I randomly stumbled upon this post by Brant Hansen. Check it out, and then come back here.

Thanks for coming back.

So it turns out, a book that deals with the exact issues that I had been wondering about is coming out this month! It was a moment of excited fear in my gut as I realized that these issues clearly are bigger than me, and are on the hearts and minds of many others out there.

So I'm not going to delineate my issues with the church establishment now because that will come with time on this blog. But it was exciting to know that there are "professionals" out there talking about this, and I'm even more excited to see where God takes it.

Culmination and commencement. After months and months of anticipation, Mike Huckabee scored a huge win challenging his party. On the very same day, I stumble upon a book that puts everything that I was taking issue with in one place, challenging our modern church. I feel like I have a book that was written just for me, done by professionals. It takes out the stuff that would seemingly slow me down (research)so I can rapidly put it to good use - both within my own church and in my life. Huckabee challenges his party, not because he hates it, but because he wants to make it better where its weak. In a far greater way, I hope that those of us who see the dire need to reform our church is not because we don't like it, but simply because we want to return it to its biblical (not man-made) roots.

When you arrive at your destination victorious, it is a great feeling. However, starting a journey such as this is actually far more exciting. The destination and end result will be far more incredible than anything the world has ever seen. Literally.

Maryland Sales Tax Increase Day

To all my fellow Marylanders:

Today our sales tax increase of 20% goes into effect. From 5%, we are now at 6%. This totally changes my dollar menu meals at McDonald's! I'll now have to use pennies in addition to silver coins. Put this money to good use government of mine! (Yeah, right.)

Thank you, Democratic Governor O'Malley and State House!

Stuck in My Head

As evidenced by previous posts, Melinda Doolittle from last season's American Idol was my absolute favorite. Hopefully this upcoming season will provide me a similar level of enjoyment. But for the time being, please enjoy this song which has been playing, and replaying in my head ALL MORNING for some reason.

Interesting Fact

I am currently on break from my school work (starts back up on the 14th) so now I have free time in which to do some reading. My options are limitless. What did I pick you ask? My fun reading is a book on church growth. How fitting for a seminary student.

Anyway, today while I was reading Organic Church by Neil Cole (which I highly recommend and I'm only halfway through) while riding in to work, he made the following observation:

If any one Christian alive today were to lead just one person to Christ every year and disciple that person so that he or she would, in turn, do the same the next year, it would only take about thirty-five years to reach the entire world for Christ

Did you read that? If only ONE person were to start this process, the entire world could be reached in 35 years! Christianity has been around for 2,000 years! What's going on here?

And what's more:

If every Christian alive today were to reproduce in the same way, the world would be won to Christ in the next two to four years.

What are we doing church? What are we doing?

No Resolutions

Welcome to my newly reformatted blog. I was reviewing some old posts in the past week and I realized how cyclical my blogging is. After not blogging for several months, I post a new message lamenting my lack of blogging and make a promise to blog more frequently. Every time, slightly a different story.

So this time, I will will make no such promises. We'll see if this results in anything different. If it does, great. If not, whatever. I definitely hope be a regular blogger though...

On that note, with today being the first day of 2008 and all, I thought I would share something with you:

This year I have resolved to have no new year's resolutions.

In the same way my promises to blog collapse, in years past anything I have resolved to do in a new year never really happens beyond the first week or two. So instead of resolving to do something and failing (for whatever reason), I decided not to even bother.

This is not failure. Nor is this premature acceptance of defeat. This would actually be something far more self-disciplinary than any sort of new year's resolution.

I propose instead of deciding upon new year's resolutions, we create new day resolutions. Every day, we resolve to make whatever changes we need to make happen, and we actually do them.

Many people, after "falling off the wagon" as it were, kind of go through days accepting defeat waiting for another major life event (i.e. new years) to implement what they hope will be a lasting change. But clearly, these hardly ever work out.

The coolest part about days are, you start them by waking up and you end them by going to sleep. And you only have several hours you need to manage. This is a ton easier than trying to bother with entire days, weeks, and months. You get a fresh start every 24 hours. Not every 365 days.

So whatever is important to you, do it. Today. Whatever junk you need to get rid of from your life, make sure you get rid of it. Today.

Make today better than yesterday.

Renovation under way

Please bear with me. Thanks.

Save WGTS

I have lived in the suburbs of Washington, DC my entire life. There are a few things (surprisingly) of value in these parts, and one of them is a Christian radio station located at 91.9 on the radio dial, WGTS.

I used to listen to them back when they were a classical radio station during the week, and played lame Christian music on Saturdays.

Some years ago, they had a change in format to contemporary Christian music, and while initially I remember it was a rough switch, both musically and in church politics, they have definitely found their stride and have easily become one of the best stations in the DC metro area.

Unfortunately, the radio station is governed by a college, and those that run the college which is in poor financial health, are planning on selling the station. Mind you, the station is self-sustaining. I remember back in the day, twice a year, they held seemingly never ending telethons to raise money. These fund raisers lasted for several weeks a pop. Now, however, they raise all their money in a matter of days for the course of the entire year. So, currently the college is ridding all their assets to infuse their coffers with cash.

If they were going to sell the station to a Christian station so they can keep the same format and the same hosts, it would definitely be less of a blow. But as of right now, NPR is the highest bidder at $30 million, so it appears that they could walk away with the station.

There are two other Christian stations in the DC area that provide quality talk shows with some music thrown in, but neither offer the product that WGTS provides.

While I do listen to WGTS (though I honestly prefer Baltimore's WRBS) and complain about the antics of DJ Angela Stevens, and the playlist of WGTS that seems to include the same exact song at the same times on certain days, its me just being petty. Probably most people will actually consider my complaints assets to the station. To each his own, I guess.

I cannot imagine the nation's capital without a station that plays Christian music.

Check out WGTS' website. People who live all around the world actually do listen to the station because they do an online stream. Locals who leave the area and want to stay connected listen. Troops stationed in Iraq listen. Non-Christians who work in hospitals listen.

Now that you know that DC is on the verge of losing its Christian music station, I ask you to do something about it. You don't have to live in the area (clearly). Visit this website to find out more information about what is going on, and what you can do to help.

Christians from all across the country (and around the world, for that matter) can really step in and give us a hand. The significance of this loss (selling the only Christian music station to the highest bidder in the nation's capital) is astounding.

Packing it up

I am a horrible blogger. I have one of those "sometimes it gets updated, sometimes it doesn't" blogs which are marginally better (barely) than those blogs that don't get updated, or were killed after about 2 posts but still linger online.

Anyway, after (once again) teetering on the edge of blog deletion, I have concluded that I will do the following: post a column type post once a week. I will shoot for Thursdays, but we'll see. The article topic will probably be fairly random, but all things considered, it will probably be best I go this route.

I do want a place to do some verbal expression, but I tend to stress over the fact that since I don't blog daily (like anyone with a blog really ought to), I just kind of put no effort into anything at all.

Blah blah blah.

Ok, so, see you back here next Thursday. That's the guarantee. I might post randomly at other times. Probably not. But Thursday. We'll see...

Back from Africa

Spent the past couple weeks in Ethiopia. Renewed blogging intensity forthcoming. Be prepared.