More from "The Daily Show"

I loved "The Daily Show" from the beginning with Craig Kilborne. But it became a better show and a more important show with John Stewart. Here's a snip from Thrusday October 30's episode.

Happy Halloween!

In one of my former lives, I managed a bar in the Westport district of Kansas City, Missouri. The holiday I hated worse than any of the others was Halloween. New Years Eve was amateur night, real partiers went to someone else's house. St. Pat's was a zoo, but it was also like preparing for the Olympics, you knew it was going to be stupid and took months getting ready for it. Still, Halloween was something else.

On Halloween, people would dress up like someone else to be stupid. People would say to the bouncer, "C'mon, don't you recognize me?" The only thing to say in response was, "No, and wasn't that the idea of the costume?"

I guess it did make for some interesting mug shots. Be safe tonight. In the mean time, here's a bit of classic Warren Zevon found by Char.

The Man I Don't Want To Be, Part II

The American General Election is less than a week away, we are in the home stretch which means one thing, we will soon be seeing ads for Christmas toys instead of politicians. (Insert rimshot here!)

As a Democrat, I was disappointed when Al Gore lost the election in 2000. Still, I didn't want to poo-poo George W. Bush just because he is a Republican. I didn't want to be that guy. I didn't want to be the uber-partisan who slammed the other guy because he was from the other party.

When W. made his speech from Ground Zero in NYC, I was proud of him. He was so presidential that day-and I had hope for his presidency. So when the Gulf War broke out, I wanted there to be WMD's. I wanted it badly! Alas, the mastermind of 9/11 is still alive and well; and our final justification for the war in Iraq is "Sadam is a bad man."

As true as "Sadam's badness "may be, it took a very slippery slope to make that justification for war. A war being fought years after Sadam's death. A slope that felt like a slide on a hot summer day wearing shorts...it burned going down and felt real uncomfortable after getting to the bottom.

I remember the '68 election from my "Weekly Reader" in the second grade. I am old enough to remember Watergate. Iran-Contra was my college years. Bill's trouser issues are familiar to all of us. Now once again in my life, I may have faith in the government, but little faith in the men who run it.

To heck with "values based voters," give me a "values based politician."

The Man I Don't Want To Be

This comes from the blog of Bruce Reyes-Chow, Moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA):

[We] have masterfully exchanged the intimating visual of bullet-filled weaponry with the divisive use of vocabulary and verbal jousting.

Here are just a few examples from good folks that have crossed my "desk" and what I think are the implications:

SHOT: "We are striving for Biblical faithfulness."
READ: "Our reading and interpretation of the Bible is the right one and, not only is your interpretation wrong, you probably are not even faithful in your reading."

SHOT: "We are loving, thoughtful and welcoming."
READ: "You are only driven by hate and ignorance . . . and you probably REALLY like injustice."

Gosh . . . when those those are the first shots fired why wouldn't we just be one meadow full of unicorns and butterflies? ...[We have] become a people that are more concerned with being right than being faithful.

One of my dearest friends from Seminary and I come down on opposite sides of the question of ordaining Gays and Lesbians. We deal with this by not talking about it much. On the tree of our faith, we share a taproot which is fed by the living water of Jesus Christ. When you begin with that, you can go a long, long way together.

Still, with all of my might and with all of my hope, while I would never have Bruce's dialogues with another human being--God knows those very thoughts have crossed my mind (one being spoken by me, the other being spoken of me). I know they are both contrary to my calling and my vocation as a child of God. Nevermind being an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament, this betrays my vocation as a child of God.

Through humility, through prayer, through discipleship, through fellowship with people I agree with and people I disagree with, through the Word and work of God, the love of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit; I hope and pray that I may be saved from being the @sshole it is all too easy for me to become.

By the Lord our God, it is a fight worth fighting.

More Political Whoops

I do love The Daily Show on Comedy Central, this from Thursday October 23rd.



You got to admire the equal opportunity offender.

Don't tell me you didn't see this coming...

News outlets (including Time Magazine) are reporting that large companies hurt in the recent economic downturn have come to the government teat for some of that sweet, sweet milk.

Duh.

Let me recommend a movie...

If you have never seen the Johnny Knoxville movie "The Ringer" I recommend it. It is a very sweet movie about a man who tries to fix the Special Olympics. By the way, if this premise doesn't offend you, I haven't explained it well enough. It is about a man who tries to fix the Special Olympics.

Don't worry , it's really a sweet movie and was made in full cooperation with Texas Special Olympics. The DVD extras really bring out this partnership; and the bloopers are outrageous!

It was shot in Austin and San Marcos, Texas and in one scene, the lead character played by Knoxville goes to make confession. The exterior of the church where Knoxville makes his confession is actually the chapel at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary where I went to seminary.

What I loved about this scene is knowing that I preached in that chapel three times. If you want to see what it looks like, follow this link.

As heard on the Jim Rome radio program...

Times like this I am glad I live in America. This news comes form the Belfast Telegraph, written by Gary Fennelly.

A Swedish ice hockey game has been delayed several times after the ice became littered with sex toys.

Fans of the AIK hockey team in Stockholm brought items to the arena on Tuesday for a game against the visiting Leksand.

The start of match was delayed to allow staff to clear the ice of inappropriate items.
Fans held up profane banners and a giant inflatable penis in an attempt to unsettle Leksand defender Jan Huokko.

Earlier this year explicit video of Huokko (34) and his girlfriend having sex made it to the Internet after his mobile phone was stolen.

Two things are important to remember here:

1. While videos of personal sex-capades should always be personal, there is something to be said about them not being made in the first place, and
2. I'm glad to be an American where (usually) the strangest thing thrown on the ice is an octopus, and that only in Detroit.

Ick! You can decide for yourself which is ickier. As for me, I pick the former over the latter.

Sad Political Marketing

Let me begin saying, yes, I am a registered Democrat. So let me say as an "insider" to those "on the inside" bad marketing is just plain sad. Barack Obama's political organization is called:

OBAMA FOR AMERICA

You'll find this tag at the bottom of his webpage and I am sure on other literature. Unfortunately, this reminds me a little too much of:

BARTLET

FOR

AMERICA

I enjoyed "The West Wing." Bravo just repeated the episode where Matt Santos won the Democratic nomination after giving his "vote for the candidate who shares your values" speech. (Regardless of the candidates you support, this is very good advice.)

Still, I don't think a candidate's slogan/organization name should be so close to a TV show that it needs a footnote.

If this is how I see it, imagine how Republican Wonks see it. Of course, Obama has used this for months and months and Bill O'Reilly hasn't seemed to pick it up. Am I the only one who sees this stuff?

Perspective Means Everything

On November 18th, AC/DC released their first recording in eight years, "Black Ice." On November 23rd, Guns N' Roses will release their first recording in fifteen years (this is so long ago that their last albut was really an album, vinyl and everything!), Chinese Democracy.

When I was a teen, I was amazed that my parents would make a big deal about some old tyme band or singer putting out "new" music. "Ooooooooooh, Sinatra's still alive?" I would wax sarcastically.

I'm only going to say this once, in the words of Mel Brooks, we mock what we are to become.

Working Conditions in the NFL?

Kellen Winslow II plays tight end for the NFL's Cleveland Browns. I am not a big fan of Mr. Winslow. While in college he called playing football "war" as real soldiers were fighting and dying in Iraq. Then he almost killed himself in a motorcycle accident three years ago. I think he often writes checks with his mouth his talent can't cash.

Having said this, today, I agree with and stand behind Mr. Winslow. Really, no kidding.

Mr. Winslow has had two staph infections in last three years. There have been six instances of staph in the last three years at the Cleveland Browns training facility . (Click here to read a report from ESPN.com.) Because he complained about being sickened in a place where he was supposed to be healing, he has been suspended for the next Brown's game; being docked $235,294, one game's pay.

This is outrageous. Where personal health in the workplace is concerned, I say he should have every right to complain--and complain out loud.

Hey Cleveland Browns, Upton Sinclair called and he thinks conditions are deplorable.

Political Rhetoric with a side of Fear please!

In a recent poliitcal ad on TV, people "boo" like mad when they hear McCain say Obama wants to "spread the wealth around."

My question: Do the people in these crowds realize that they are not the wealthy? When number crunchers talk about the wealthy, "Joe the Plumber" is not among them. So why put up this kind of rhetoric?

Because it works.

More's the shame.

A joke...

When Aaron Sorkin was casting "A Few Good Men" he sorely wanted Jack Nicholson to play Col. Jessep, the hard nosed CO at Gitmo. In their meeting, Nicholson asked who else had been cast. When Sorkin told him Tom Cruise had been cast as the other lead, Nicholson was sold. When asked why, Nicholson responded,

"I have wanted to play opposite Tom Cruise ever since seeing him in Cocktail. I love that scene in the cabana bar when the lady orders a martini with extra vermouth and Tom screams at her, 'VERMOUTH, YOU CAN'T HANDLE VERMOUTH!'"

Have a nice day.

Political Parties as Usual

In a recent editorial, The Reverend Jack Haberer, Editor in Chief of The Presbyterian Outlook magazine says this about the current national presidential campaign:

Once both of these underdog party outsiders secured the nomination, their respective parties, determined to win the White House, switched on their marketing machinery to promote them. That machinery has honed its methods over the years, the most effective being to send chills of fear through the bones of the public about the dangers of electing the opposing candidate.

I have never considered this. I think he's right and it's a great point. The tenor of the national campaigns completely changed when McCain and Obama secured their nominations. When they were running their own campaigns, outside of the national party machines, things were much more civil. Once the national parties took over, everything changed.

My high school government teacher (Shawnee Mission North, Class of 1980, Go Indians!) taught that the only responsible way to vote it to find a party that represents what you believe and stick with its candidates because this is the only way the national agenda can be realized. Now I am beginning to think there isn't a national agenda anymore; if there ever was. It's just a political game of keep-away. More's the shame when good men get dragged through the mud of others.

Check out the entire editorial here. It's worth the read.

Happy Birthday Marie

This picture was taken on our first date. We went up the Cog Railway to the Summit of Pike's Peak. It was June of 1996 (which explains both snow and shorts) and she was so chilly I gave her my jacket.

After the love of God, she is the best thing that ever happened to me. Her love is a gift from God, and I am thankful.

Happy Birthday Marie. I love you very much.

Congrats to the County Extension Homemakers

Today the County Extension Homemakers celebrates their 85th anniversary in the place where it all began, the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville. Congratulations to the County Extension Service and the Homemakers.

Their celebration today begins at 2:00 with a program and skits and continues with a reception to follow. They also have a display of their history set against pop culture icons of the time that is very interesting in the church library.

Y'all come out now, ya here!

Blogroll

I don't know what blogs you read. But I want to share a couple with you:

Coffee with John Heartbreak: (from the blog description) Coffee with John Heartbreak is the first draft of a "novel" about life in Berryville, Arkansas. John Heartbreak is a bookseller. He is married to the fabulous Mrs. Heartbreak. Your name may appear in this "novel." You are free to comment about such inclusion and your comments will be incorporated into the text. Chapters are added as often as time and circumstances allow. A print version of Coffee with John Heartbreak will be available Summer 2009.

I enjoy reading John's blog as much as I enjoy reading every book in the store. Go ahead, go back to Chapter One and give John a read. It's a very pleasant diversion, unless perhaps you're from Iowa. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Also check out what he has to say on his blog at the Carroll County News: The Ubiquitous Pig.

When you visit this blog, be sure to check out his comments. They are insightful and hilarious.

Also, be sure to check out the store at Sow's Ear Antiques.

Photo from John Heartbreak profile on Blogger.

I Really Did It This Time

I knew it would be one thing to put what I did on the church sign. What I didn't know is that it would make the local paper...

http://www.carrollconews.com/story/1469551.html

on the front page, but below the fold.

As you can see on the hyperlink, the caption writer says that the correct answer is $70 billion. But you know, I didn't ask for the "correct" answer. The concept of 10% goes back to Abram giving Melchizedek, the King of Salem, the priest of God Most High one-tenth of everything in Genesis 14. But that doesn't answer my question.

My question goes a little further, my question is not what is "correct" but about what is proper. What do we owe God, further, what do we as a people owe God. Psalm 24 begins "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it; the world and those who live in it." We owe God everything. Everything. So what is proper? I think it's more than money.

Sex Sells, as if you didn't all ready know that

A few weeks ago, I was at the orthopedic surgeon's office for my broken finger (getting better, thank you very much). He asked me if I had any questions for him, and I said, "Yeah, how come all drug rep's look like call girls?"

I got the reaction I expected, everyone laughed. The doctor laughed, the patient services coordinator laughed, my wife laughed. He told me I had a point and recommended I just enjoy the eye candy.

Based on my personal observation, this is true. I've never seen a drug company rep that couldn't take first runner-up in the Miss Home-Wrecker Pageant. (I wish that was original, but it's a Dan Jenkins line.) Dressed to the nine's, heels higher than Haight-Ashbury, curves tighter than the autobahn; you know a drug rep when you see one come into the doctor's office.

But, I suspect as with any job where looks seem to be everything (if these reps were chemistry or pre-med majors they didn't go to my college ), I suspect a hierarchy. I suspect the larger the sales area and the better the drug's profit margin, the hotter the representative. I also suspect this correlation is directly proportional, smaller towns, cheaper drugs, the less sexually alluring representatives.

You may think me sarcastic, you may think me sexist or at least "appearance oriented," and you may well be. But before you judge me, I ask you to consider this hypothesis the next time you see a drug rep at the doctor's office, especially an OB-GYN sales rep.

A Provocative Question

This week's gospel reading from the Revised Common Lectionary is Matthew 22:15-22, ending with "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's." So given current events, as of today, I have actually decided to title this Sunday's sermon...


This may be a snarky way of asking, but it is a valid question, particularly in the light of this reading from Matthew it is a question the church should ask.

As the church we have to ask, what is the role of the government in protecting the people, particularly the poor and disenfranchised?

What is the role of the government in protecting the economy?

And perhaps most important, what is the role of a government bailout for banks, insurances, and other businesses?

These are among the questions I get to play with between now and Sunday, and believe me, if I didn't feel called to preach this sermon I would not touch this dog with a ten foot pole.

Oh, on a special note, in the first draft the first 500 words (my sermons usually run 2,000 words) is the caveat saying I am not telling you how to vote.

This is important, because while I am not going to tell anyone how to vote, please, I beg, get informed and vote. This is one of the elements of the end of the sermon message. Scripture and the confessions tell us that it is God who ordains governments, not the other way around. So this is a word to the church. If you have any thoughts, I would love to hear them.

May this message become a good word.

Politics or Politicians

Once, long ago...I used to work in a TRIO program called Student Support Services. If you don't know what that is, no problem. In a nutshell, TRIO programs help current and future poor and first generation college students get a college education. It is a federally funded program, a part of Johnson's War on Poverty. Student Support Services works with college students to increase retention and graduation rates.

Every year, people go to DC to meet local congressmen with TRIO students. It helps give students a look at government and the government a look at the poor.

In the 80's, when the Democrats held the Congress and the Republicans held the White House, they heard the same rhetoric every trip to capital hill:

The Democrats would tell the visiting students how important their work was and how important it is to fully fund TRIO Programs. There should be more programs and the current programs should have better funding.

The Republicans would always say that they had their funding priorities, and while TRIO Programs were important, they weren't on top of the list.

This ended in 1992 when Clinton was elected President.

The TRIO people returned to Capitol Hill with all of the markers they have been given over the years and this is what they heard:

The Democrats told them that they had their funding priorities, and while TRIO Programs were important, they weren't on top of the list.

The Republicans told them how important their work was and how important it is to fully fund TRIO Programs. There should be more programs and the current programs should have better funding.

The day I heard this story was the day I decided that there weren't too many Republicans in DC and there weren't too many Democrats.

This was the day I decided there are too many politicians. Be sure to vote next month!

Mitch Mustain thoughts from my other blog

John Heartbreak writes that Mitch Mustain had a hard row to hoe while at the UofA. I don't disagree, but to introduce a different metaphor, he helped make his bed, and now he is lying in it. I wrote these thoughts about Mitch Mustain and the Arkansas, USC, etc. football programs on September 12, 2008.

Mitch Mustain was a Parade All-American at Springdale HS in 2005. In 2006 he played in eight games for Arkansas, starting seven, winning them all. He wasn't really happy though. He wanted to pass the ball like he did in high school, but there were two issues with that:

1. There was a tandem of stud running backs behind him named McFadden and Jones whose average numbers were as good as any passing game, and

2. Springdale HS never played against an SEC secondary.

So with that, Mitch Mustain and a group of "concerned Springdale parents and supporters" became a pain in the side of the Arkansas Football program, specifically Coach Huston Nutt and AD Frank Broyles with Chancellor John White on the side. After his freshman season, Mustain transfered to USC. Nutt and Broyles left one year later. Soon after that, Chancellor White retired from adminstrative duties to "return to research and the classroom."

So now, Frank is in retirement, possibly at his cottage at the Augusta National Country Club where he's a member. You know the place, the one where they play The Masters. Nutt is at Ole Miss with a bonus check from the UofA. White is even basking in the glow of a Chancellor's after-life.

Where's Mitch Mustain? Riding the bench, hovering precariously between the 2 and 3 slot on the USC QB Depth Chart. He did throw one pass against UVa for ten yards and a touchdown. The drive went 11 yards in four plays with two-and-a-half left in the game to make it 52-7, USC over UVa. That means he scored on a 4th and 9 from the 10 after getting one net yard in the first three downs of the drive. (I can find this in the ESPN box score, but not on the game summary, go figure.)

Yes, USC was up by 38 points and went for it on 4th down with two to go in the game. He may get a championship ring, but he may well never get another start as QB.

Oh, and the Hogs suck. Only the deaths of hundreds of people on the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean will prevent them from getting spanked like red-headed step-children in Austin this weekend.

Mitch MuSTAIN got what he wanted, almost. That last step down the depth chart is a doosey.

I won't say Mitch and Gus (his old coach) weren't sold a bill of goods. I surely won't say Mitch got the short end of the stick compared to everyone else who left the program soon after (including Gus). But I will say Mitch and Gus should have known better given the history and proclivities of the Athletic Director.

Being nice is one thing, but being patient is another. I just want to say that if he had just stayed one more year at home in the Ozarks, he would be the starting stud for a pass-happy coach who would have fit his wants and abilities perfectly. Patience is a virtue, even for 20 year olds.

Hogs Win?

Failing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, the Razorbacks beat #20 Auburn on Saturday evening. Now, what I say here makes me just like the sports fans I talked about earlier in the week (see my October 6 post), but the Hogs won ugly. They won, but they won ugly.

Arkansas accrued 416 yards of offense to Auburn's 193 and the Razorbacks only won by 3 points. Auburn's longest touchdown drive was 24 yards, but they still hung 22 points on the Hogs. The UofA was ahead only 6:23 in the whole game, but it was the last 6:10 that mattered; and they had to put together two final defensive stands to make that stand.

A win is a win, but this one was ugly.

On another note, Mitch MuSTAIN, former Springdale Bulldog/University of Arkansas glory boy and current University of Southern California bench warmer got into the Trojan game against Arizona State and netted a whole zer0 yards. Good game Mitch!

On Being a Sports Fan

Pray for my wife, no one deserves it more. On the other hand, she knew what she was getting into when she married me.

I love watching sports. I love not just the big play stuff, but I love watching the little things that go on behind the meat and potatoes.

I love watching how baseball players back up plays, just in case the ball gets past. It may happen 5 times out of a thousand chances (0.5% for you number geeks), but the back up can save a game if there is a throwing error.

I love watching players stunt in football, trying to deflect opposing players from the true intent of a play. Great fakes pulling players out of position on both offense and defense, stuff like that is a big part of what makes great plays great.

But I also love the banter and the fluff. I LOVE reading Bill Simmon's column, The Sports Guy's World on ESPN.com. Not just because of his sports knowledge, but his sense of humor and love of movies. He not only loves sports, but he loves pop culture, his wife, his kids, and the teams he grew up watching and supporting. I can get behind that.

But not all is sports, as this letter and response comes from the latest edition of his mailbag:

Q: Shouldn't Elizabeth Perkins have faced statutory rape charges in "Big"? -- Chuck D., Clifton Park, N.Y.
Sports Guy: Absolutely. The rules are explicit here -- if you have consensual sexual relations with anyone not legally old enough to consent to such behavior, it's statutory rape regardless of whether they turned themselves into an adult by making a wish to a Zoltar machine. Perkins' character worked with Josh Baskin (the Tom Hanks character) in New York City when the age of consent was 15 years old. Well, Baskin was only 13 at the time. So there you go.

So there you go... That's funny. I love this stuff. Pray for my wife!

Photo and italic content from ESPN.com, just follow the hyperlinks!

I'm Back!

Dearest readers, it seems that since Sunday my blog was locked out by Blogger because it "has been identified as a potential spam blog." So what does that mean? How was my blog singled out? In their own words...

"We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this error. By using this kind of system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering resources to bloggers like you instead of to spammers. For more information, please see Blogger Help: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42577"

At any rate, it's good to be back and remember, only you can prevent spam.

Church Signs

In a perfect world, chruch signs should be witty and make you think. To me, "damnation" signs, signs designed to "scare" you into church, have no appeal. Your mileage may vary, but that's my opinion and this is my blog.

And yes, I have put these signs up for God and the world to see at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas. No copyright protection here, but if you use one, take a pic and send it to me. New suggestions are always welcome too!

Photos by me!

Literal Truth vs Eternal Truth

According to Wikipedia, the band Dishwalla got its name from an Indian term for a person providing cable television to a neighborhood. Now, because Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone, they are notorious for factual mistakes. So, whether this story is true or not, I don't really know.

But here is what I do know, to me, whether this is literally true or not is not important. The value of how this all comes together to make a greater truth, even if the facts are wrong, is what I value.

Here's something that will make my fundamentalist friends crazy. The first eleven chapters of Genesis are not factually true. They are what is known as "The Hebrew Creation Myth." Written during the Babylonian captivity, these stories are how the nation of Israel differentiated themselves from their captors and their God from their captor's gods.

Every ancient society has a creation story. Most ancient cultures have flood stories. These are common tales that transcend races and cultures. But here's the kicker, even if the Genesis stories are not literally true, they are eternally true because they are the basic stories of how the Lord God relates to creation and the people.

In Babylon and Egypt, the gods are tricksters and were tricked themselves by people. The Hebrew story is of a God who seeks a loving relationship with creation and the people. This is the difference.

Today we continue to worship a God of love, a God of peace, a God of mercy, a God of grace. None of this changes if creation didn't really happen the way the myth says it did. (Since there are two different creation stories in Genesis it may even be better to say it didn't really happen either way the myth said it did.) God doesn't change.

The truth of the myth may not be literal (sorry to my fundamentalist friends) but the truths within the story are eternal, and isn't that more important?

Art Direction for "pet your friends" by Sunja Park. Photo by John Brenneis

Mostly Sports Related Garbage

First of all, I was listening to the Razorback game on the radio on Saturday and the announcers made the 38-7 spanking by Florida sound like a moral victory. On Sunday, I listened to the end of the Cowboys game and the announcers made their 31-22 win sound like Napolean at Waterloo.

• Expectations of sports fans and the hyperbole of sports broadcasters are among the most deluded things on earth.

Next random thought, I enjoy reading Jason Whitlock. Whitlock writes sports columns principally for the Kansas City Star, but his stuff has also posted on AOL, ESPN, and currently on FoxSports. His bio blurb says, "he has won the National Journalism Award for Commentary for 'his ability to seamlessly integrate sports and social commentary and to challenge widely held assumptions along the racial divide.'"

In his October 2 column , what he says about former Michigan State Spartan and Green Bay Packer Tony Mandarich is outrageous and outrageously funny. I recommend it highly.

• Warning! Don't expect to agree with everything he writes, based on his reader comments more people think he is a fat jerk than think he is a sage.

Finally, the Gospel reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for Sunday October 12 is Matthew 22:1-14, "The Parable of the King Who Gave a Wedding Banquet for his Son." The church is called "The Bride of Christ." While reading this passage, and given our sin soaked world, the phrase that rolled around my head was "The Bridezilla of Christ."

• God bless us every one!

Photo from FoxSports.com

OJ's Guilty?

All right, I'll take my tongue out of my cheek now.

Before the trial began, I had two questions about jury selection:

1. How can either the prosecution or the defense find anybody who hadn't heard of Simpson's previous arrest, acquittal, and ultimate determination of civil culpability?


2. Would either the prosecution or the defense want anyone on a jury who was so deep under a rock that they hadn't heard of Simpson's previous arrest, acquittal, and ultimate determination of civil culpability?

Well, anyway the wind blows he was found guilty. On the 13th anniversary of his acquittal after 13 hours of deliberation, OJ was found guilty. Mañana OJ, just hope the State of Nevada doesn't ship you off to Texas to do your time.

Photo from ESPN.com

That's Entertainment!

Marie's birthday is coming up in two weeks, so tonight I took her to hear John Michael Talbot. Talbot is the long ago guitar player for Mason Proffit and for the last twenty-some years General Minister and Spiritual Father of the Little Portion Hermitage in Eureka Springs. More on this in another post.

Anywhoo, I saw a dear friend at the performance who told me he would be missing John Michael's show because of another performance by a local choir. His friend who was performing gave him permission to miss the show and my friend was relieved, especially when he discovered the second act of the choir's show was going to be the music of Karen Carpenter.

Au contraire, mon frere, Carpenter bashing is like shooting fish in a barrel. But if you have never heard the music of The Carpenters sung by 1990's Alternative Rock bands, you've never heard the music of The Carpenters. Seriously. I particularly offer you "It's Going to Take Some Time" by Dishwalla. If you ever wondered if The Carpenters can rock, I say "Oh my yes!" And this band from Santa Barbara shows us how.

Just Curious...

A dear friend asked me this question, so now I ask you too:

What's the proper tithe on $700 billion?

Novel Television

In an effort to avoid the Vice-Presidential debates, Marie (my wonderful wife) and I are watching TruTV, the artist formerly known as CourtTV. The show that's on right now is "Bait Car." It's a police sting operation, recorded not for evidence but for our entertainment.

It reminds me of the book "Life Its Ownself: the Semi-Tougher Adventures of Billy Clyde Puckett and Them" by Dan Jenkins. In this novel, the sequel to "Semi-Tough," Billy Clyde's football career ends with a knee injury, so he heads into broadcasting. One of the running jokes is the names of the network shows. For example, we discover that Car Wrecks was cancelled and replaced with Celebrity Car Wrecks.

When did this go from being a stupid joke to being prophetic?

By the way, several of Jenkins' novels are available on the dollar rack at Sow's Ear Antiques on the square in Berryville. You can also find them on the web at http://www.eurekaspringsantiques.com/.

Image downloaded from Amazon.com

Medothist MegaChurch Meeting!

Adam Hamilton is the pastor of The Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. He has published several books including Leading Beyond the Walls: Developing Congregations With a Heart for the Unchurched (Abingdon, 2002). Leawood, Kansas is a suburb of Kansas City in one of the most affluent places in America. To say the least, there's money in them there 'burbs.

I know, this is where I grew up.

I am not a big fan of Hamilton. The way I read Leading Beyond the Walls, I think he is under the impression that every church should be a megachurch. Frankly, I read his stuff as too subruban, too affluent, and way too white.

Church of the Resurrection has 15,000 members, 7,500 adults in worship, and 1,500 children in Sunday School. Wonderful. But I have lived in rural Southeast Colorado where there aren't that many people in the county! There are more cows than people in Prowers County Colorado.

Where I live now, Berryville, Arkansas, has a population of just under 4,000! You can find more chickens in town than folks most days. This county has fewer members than Hamilton's church...and you'll find a good many other places in America that are the smaller than the Church of the Resurrection Sunday School. (On a side note, Hamilton uses the phrase "my church" in Leading Beyond the Walls. Ick, his church?)

What is the role of the small town in the megachurch world? Is there one or is the small town church just the feeder for the megachurch in town? Why does this begin to sound like small town stores being closed because everyone goes to the mall?

Hamilton has recently hosted a meeting of Methodist MegaChurch Ministers in Atlanta (Christian Century Magazine, October 7, 2008, page 15). To compare this to a University, like say the University of Arkansas, Hamilton is the football team and the sorority girls, the strong, pretty, and popular people. The folks who wonder why the world doesn't fit them better because they are so wonderful. The rest of us are the Ag Majors, the ones who feed the world and clean up the bull.

Image downloaded from cokesbury.com