So some pastors are choosing to mix political opinion/preference/biases with their Sunday morning preaching and teaching.

What do you think?

I think it's wrong. Watch the video below and tell me what you think and I'll add my comments there too.

So the guy who brought porn back to the Church through XXXChurch.com, then started the anti-consumerism, non-profit 'Junky Car Club' - continues to challenge the followers of Jesus to be more authentic.

“'Love Takes Balls' is about discovering the limits of our own love and then learning to throw away those limits.

It’s about redefining love using God’s example - boundless, with no quid-pro-quos. Expecting–and sometimes getting–nothing back in return. It takes courage, strength, and total commitment to love like this."

Love definitely takes balls - at least the kind of love the Jesus spoke of and lived out.

Thoughts?

I'm as weary and fearful as anyone in America right now, as it relates to the condition of our economy. But what bothers me to my core is how we are now bailing out the greed of companies and their leaders.

Now I'll admit I don't know enough to say that these business leaders aren't having to pay their multi-million dollar bonus' back, but I assume at best, it's a smack on their hand.

I won't make excuses for the people who have lost their homes and their financial credibility (not to mention their security). Several people very close to me have lost their homes in the pass year and about a baker's dozen have foreclosed in my sub alone - but I also will not make or accept excuses from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Sterns or Lehman Brothers for the greed that got them in their own financial mishap. So while my friends live without credit and look down the barrel of the years it will take to regain what they lost - these companies get billion dollar bail outs for the sake of the public's good. And it was the public's good that they overlooked as they pursued their own profitability.

It bothers me that now the tax dollars of the American worker are being used to bail out the greed gained by overextending those workers. The issue isn't just economics, it's also about morality.

A related post put it this way, these CEO's are pursuing "huge personal bonuses and escape hatches while destroying the lives of people who work for them. We now need wisdom from the economists, prudence from the business community, and renewal courses on the common good from the nation’s religious leaders."

For further reading, a good article is locate right here.

Abram Arkhipov was a late 19th early 20th century Russian painter. He painted a genre known as Eventless, which is defined as "a moment of observation meant to inspire the viewer's sympathy for its accuracy of feeling."

Basically, at least to me, they are very stimulating images of emotion. I love this one titled 'Washerwoman'. I can imagine the thick humid air, the sweat, the strong and wrinkled hands of these hard working women. I wonder how long their work day was, how many years they've worked those days - how much they've been paid?

It also makes me think about how hard so many people still work for so little - all to have the 'Lowest Price Guaranteed'.

See another version of this painting here or another Arkhipov painting here.

I love birds.

I don't own any birds - nor will I, but I love seeing them. There is something about their ability to fly, their agile and fragile existence. If a shirt has a bird on it, I probably want to own it. Like I said - random.

I was scrolling through various blogs one day and found one that is dedicated to all that is anti-Bush, which included this animated icon in the header.

I too am disappointed with the Bush administration and can relate with a lot of the frustrations in our nation (i.e., the war, our fuel crisis, our foreign policy disasters, the faltering economy, etc.), but I can not relate with such hate. Even if it is labeled as a joke, it's ridiculous.

Though hatred stirs change, hatred also stirs irrational action. It is always easier to just hate rather than try to understand. It is always easier to hate than to engage, to prayer for, to work towards something better. This is by no means a defense for Bush, his administration or his actions/words. In fact, if you've ever discussed politics with me, you know I have a lot of disdain for the past 8 years. But Bush doesn't deserve to be shot, nor would that bring about the change people really want - the change our country needs.

The thing that bothers me most in our country is how we always discuss these issues like it's just that easy. Just vote for this guy, just vote 'NO' on this bill, just be a Republican/Democrat, just focus on this one issue. Like it could be that easy?

It will always be easier to just hide behind 'one' party or to simply judge the actions of one leader - but followers of Christ are called to be more. More importantly, we are called to do more. While I can be persuaded that voting is important, it does not replace my responsibility to engage the world around me and work for change - not simply desiring change, but being the change.

I found this cool site called The Poster List - they have some really cool posters. I would totally buy, frame and hang posters in my house, but it's not actually mine and Julie probably wouldn't go for it. Too dorm like.

I've been slackin' trying to wrap this thought process up. Almost there.

Spiritual pathways to God; Creation, Relational, Contemplative, Serving, Worship, Intellectual and Activism.

Intellectual.

This pathway as a connection with God is pretty polarized - you either love it or you hate it. Okay, maybe not hate, but you would rather spend your time doing something else. In other words this isn't your pathway. Saying such isn't a reason to not venture down it, it just means it doesn't come as easy and you have to remind yourself that knowledge is a good thing and that God calls us to wrestle with His text.

If you've ever been in a small group at church or a 'Sunday School' type situation, you can easily pick out the guy/gal whose pathway is intellect - they are so annoying. And yes, I realize I've been that guy. So I try to balance it, but I love it. I love the dialogue, I love the debate, I love investigating and concluding what I believe on 'issues' in theology.

My wife on the other hand is much happier working on loving her neighbor as herself and couldn't care less about 'issues' like predestination, eschatology and the like. And she reminds me to stay grounded and that we are called to not just be hearers or thinkers but also doers of the text.

Though I would have loved to pursue learning Greek and Hebrew in college I worked with people who just wanted to know me and why I love Jesus and who I root for on Sunday - not the root words of Biblical text. And though I have formed opinions on local/global flood theories, individual/holistic predestination theories and gap/literal creation theories - the people whose life I want to make an impact in, don't have any idea what the crap I'm talking about right now.

And if I'm honest, I'm still working on the neighbor thing. Then again we all are and always will be.The comic has nothing to do with anything, except to add some satire to those nerdy intellects who want to beat others down with their knowledge (looks like Darwin is going for the eye).

This weekend we celebrated my sister's 28th Birthday and what better way to surprise someone born in 1980 then by dressing up?

It was awesome. We know we have good friends, but this weekend confirmed how freaking cool they are. From walkmens, frizzy hair, jump suits, mullets, the NES powerpad, Cabbage Patch Kids and Jello Jigglers - we had a blast and Chrystal was totally surprised!

If you Facebook - here are some other pics from our friend Hollie.

It's finally over.

An embarrassing mess of politics and legal action is over and I have to ask the question - Why did it take so long?

The mess hit a high point for me in his 'State of the City' address this year. Invitation only event and Kwame drops the 'N' word like 4 times as he emotionally rallies an applause and adds to the racial tension of the Detroit Metro area. And let me say, it is thick. I've never lived in an area so segregated as the Detroit area and it makes me miss my CO roots and the interracial flavor I took for granted. The irony about the 'N' word dropping is that almost a year earlier a huge rally was held in downtown to bury the 'N' word.

But I guess when you're a gangsta Mayor you can exhume it from time to time.

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