This is a great follow-on to the 'Judged' video I posted earlier this week and is (at least for me) a captivating thought.

So right, we're wrong is the title of a chapter in 'Out of the Question, Into the Mystery' by Leonard Sweet and the thought has never left me. I read it about 3 years ago and it has changed the way I think about the world and my faith. If you've never read it, it is awesome. In a nutshell, Leonard challenges us to stop trying to have all the 'answers' about God and start enjoying the mystery of who He is - I mean think about, if we had all the answers then He wouldn't be God - mystery is a part of faith.

Anyway in the chapter Leonard shares a story about how his neighbor's basketball hoop fell over and hit his car and scratched the door. Naturally, Leonard held the neighbor responsible and asked him to pay for the cost to fix it. The neighbor refused - Leonard [naturally] was frustrated and felt justified.

Then it hit him, what is more important here; the relationship or being right? What's more important getting the scratch fixed, getting legal involvement if necessary and destroying the relationship with a guy who knows he is a Christian, or forgiving and being willing to be wronged for the sake of what is Right?

I think we do this a lot. We forget what is most important, forgetting others and the greater purpose of our lives and seek justification for ourselves and our needs. I think we Christians have spent a lot of time defending how right we are on matters both small and large, that we've become wrong. Our faith calls us to do what does not come naturally, it is unnatural to love like Jesus, forgive like Jesus and be the peacemakers in a world of full of tension.

I'm not saying we are wrong on our stance for protecting life, but we have become so right, so elitist, so righteous that we wrong the name of Jesus, we wrong the greater cause. We have been too willing to sacrifice the life of the one aborting to try and protect the aborted life. They both need our love. We have been too willing to divide, fight and justify on the grounds of 'rightness' - that we've become the wrong voice in our culture.

I love Abram Arkhipov's paintings. I had posted about another of his a little while ago (here), but am always drawn in by his work.

He painted in a form that became known as 'Eventless,' as it was intended to be a simple perspective or glimpse into another’s life. Each of his paintings makes you feel like you are next to the person and, at least for me, I can associate feelings with the painting.

I like this one as it reminds me of the many trips I've taken, driving across the States and (out of boredom) imagining what it would have been like to be an early pioneer. What would it have been like to cross the un-touched land in a covered wagon? What would it have been like to cross the flat plains of Kansas and reach the formidable foothills of the Rocky Mountains? Crazy.

Also reminds me of Oregon Trail - forging rivers, spacebar hunting and family members dying of scurvy.

I hooked up with Random House publishing to do another blog review of a book. I'm not going to lie, I love books and I love receiving free copies even more - so I usually take whatever they offer me.

This book sounded interesting and I would love if someone could actually write a book that laid out for His followers some clear direction - this one didn't do it for me.

• If you are a Christian and a Republican, you'll like the book as it adds a foundation for biblically interpreting where to stand on the 'issues'.

• If you're like me and feel that the Christian vote has been hijacked by the Republican Party, it will frustrate you as each interpretation seems to point to an elephant platform.

• And if you are a Christian Democrat, the book will flat out anger you.

In the end I felt deceived by the book. The book is supposed to be written from a nonpartisan perspective, but if it were written by two African-American Christian leaders, it would have been written quite differently. It should have been co-authored by people on both sides of the issues, working to collectively build a view of how Jesus might vote. In fact, that should have been the title, 'How Jesus Might Vote,' emphasizing the ambiguity of the issues we face in America and not pretending that one interpretation of scripture is the end-all, be-all for followers of Jesus.

If it could, we would not have the multitude of denominations in the Christian faith - would we?
And on that note, Random House may not like me reviewing its books - but they ask for honesty.

I was hanging out with the students of our student community or Stuco (check 'em out here) at 242 this past weekend and met two interesting young men.

Both of these gentlemen are seniors in high school and were helping set up our portable church, as mandated by court order. From time to time people do community service through our church and it is always a cool opportunity to connect them with the 2-4-2. Anyway - who knows what they did that landed them there, but after introducing myself to Kevin and Chad, I inquired about their future and the conversation went like this:

Me: Kevin, what are you going to do when you graduate?
Kevin: Whatever God wants.
Me: What's that mean?
Kevin: [blank stare]
Chad: I'm going to college and then going to open my own landscaping business.
Me: Cool.
Chad: Yeah, my uncle gave me ten hundred thousand dollars to start a business.
Me: [smirking] Really, that's cool.

It was funny, kinda cute and also sad all at the same time. Kevin thought a 'Sunday School' answer would make me happy. I wasn't asking an empty question and an empty answer never suffices - I really wanted to know. And what made Chad feel like he has to lie to me? A million dollars Chad, I mean ten hundred thousand dollars Chad? Why couldn't you just say you wanted to get into landscaping? Or why didn't they both just say an honest, 'I don't know.'

It was one of those 'that's cute kid' moments - but it got me thinking.

What is it about church, people and religion that creates pressure for people to not be themselves, stretch the truth and pretend to be someone they're not? Why do we, I, you feel this pressure to say things we don't mean and ever so slightly stretch the truth in regards to our dreams, our families, our jobs, our blogs, our twitter following, our Facebook friends or anything else? I wonder how many times God listens in our conversations and vain thoughts and [smirking] thinks, 'that's cute kid' ?

Judged from David Tate on Vimeo.

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope."

- Barbara Kingsolver

For those that have never met my dream, let me introduce the two of you - meet Arbor Place Cafe. I love the logo, courtesy of the very talented Jeff Boriss from my church community.

Most people are accustom to hearing me talk about third places, but if you've never read 'The Great Good Places' by Ray Oldenburg, you may be confused.

But when my family and I moved to Michigan, it was the first time in my life that I was without my third social avenue. And it was in that time that I began to dream about an organic, storefront church community in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I love Ann Arbor, it reminds me of the people, the diversity and the openness of my Colorado upbringing. And it seemed like a solution for so many problems within the church, as I see it. You can visit the ole website at www.arborplacecafe.com and see the unfinished potential of what was going to be.

We had a solid business plan, generous investors, 90% of our equipment purchased, managers in place, good connection with a local roaster, a great marketing plan, fantastic downtown-on-main-street location and then.....after God opened door after door.....they all closed. We ended up losing the lease on the space, failed to get the rest of our working capital secured and when combined with the downward spiral of the economy, it became evident that the risk was outweighing the potential for success.

It was one crazy ride. And I miss it. It was fun taking the risk, negotiating a loan and a commercial lease and it was even cooler because in the end we learned a lot and lost nothing.

I was reminded of it the other day, reminded how crazy pursuing God-size dreams can be, reminded how awesome my friends are (especially Dave Webber) and reminded that God isn't finished with my life nor this dream, it's just on hiatus.

For a little more on the third place, you can check out my old website here.

It's no secret that I love tattoos. I have made a bakers dozen of these pieces of art work permanently a part of me. I was recently asked to explain them and thought I would take the time to post an explanation of the ink that is forever sown under the surface of my skin.

Let me start by explaining why.

There is no reason why - I just wanted to. In fact there is no reason for anybody to get a tattoo, they just choose to. You don't need them, they don't do much for you. It is a lot like explaining why you would pierce some part of your body or why you like watching football - you just do.

With that said, there is also no reason not to. Some Christians feel quite adamant that you should not tattoo yourself because the bible says so. When pressed they point to the only verse that roughly translated states, "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you" (Lev 19.28). Here's a few reasons why that doesn't necessarily work as a reason:

• Many scholars agree that this refers more to a mutilation of the body as a form of pagan worship, not really tattooing as we know it.
  
• When some translation use the word tattoo, it is only trying to attach a meaning we understand in our current culture to what was originally written in ancient Jewish law.
  
• Jesus came to free us from the very law this was written in, the same law that forbid men from shaving and everyone from wearing clothes woven of multiple materials.

Now no one would say that I shouldn't shave - right? No one repents of wearing their 80% cotton, 20% synthetic material shirt - do they? Probably not and we would all agree that those laws don't apply any more, or have relevance in our daily lives.

However, I understand how people feel like, if it sort of says it, then we followers of the Way should abstain. And if that works for you, then awesome - but hopefully you aren't at the same time questioning the legitimacy of my walk with God because I feel differently.

See, the big picture is that Jesus came to free us of the law - not to delete or abolish the law, but to fulfill it. All of the law was good, but was only a mere shadow of what is found the man named Jesus. In fact I'll let Paul wrap this up in his guidance. He was trying to settle disputes that had arisen from Jews demanding that Gentiles adhere to Jewish culture in order to be Christ followers. The early church had serious issues between those who did not eat unclean animals and those who did - here's what he says:

"One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him." [Romans 14.2-3]

What I'm about to share is my journey and struggle to define my responsibility as a follower of Jesus and a citizen in a Democracy. This is NOT me telling you what you should or shouldn't feel or think. It simply my struggle, and if it helps you cool, if not cool. My fear is that Mr. Anonymous will show back up and regurgitate his Conservative-Republican-Always-Right comments on my thoughts (see what I mean here and here).

A good friend of mine sent me a post by Randy Alcorn and it wrestled with the Christian responsibility in our political system. The article was titled "Not Cool: Obama's Pro-Choice Stance, and Christians enabling him." It is a well written article that is well thought through and quite thought provoking.

The problem is it didn't convince me to vote, in fact it only made my mind more clear on exercising my right not to vote. And I know what you are thinking, I've seen the same commercials and have grown up in this country too. I know I should vote, or at least I know that I'm told I should vote.

Here is the piece that stuck out to me in the post, Randy Alcorn said, "We will stand before the judgment seat of Christ for our decisions, and a vote is a decision in which we assume responsibility for the known beliefs and moral positions of the candidate. This is not speculation, it is not a spin, it is demonstrable fact: Barack Obama IS committed to continuing the legalized killing of unborn children in this country."

Wait, if that is true then all those who voted the Christian vote in the past two elections, that being for the Christian, Republican, President George W. Bush, we have to take responsibility for his action on judgment day? I guess I better start tearing my sack cloth now and covering my self in ash. I was young and convinced by the Conservative Right that he was 'right.' I'm far less convinced now and even more 'un-convinced' that my participation the political realm as follower of the Way is worthwhile.

I love God and I love people too much to be partisan. I love people too much to seem on either side of the political spectrum. If I'm going draw a line in the sand it will not be over red or blue issues, donkey or elephant perspectives - it will be only on the issue of the man named Jesus. That is it.

Some of our close friends know about a new job position that I've applied for that will be a huge transition in my families life. Not huge like moving to another state, but huge in what it could mean for us and huge in that I will have the chance to be back in ministry and serving others like I long to do.

The problem is, I have no idea what is going to happen. It's been two weeks since I applied and it will be a few more before I hear anything. And let me just say that this interim period is killing me. At moments I have this ball of anxiety in my stomach and it consumes me - it's all I can think about.

I heard a pastor once say that being unwilling to forgive someone is really saying to God that you don't trust Him enough to deal with the issue. Thus, vengeance is wrong because you are taking action yourself, not trusting God to work all things out for you. I believe this current lesson in patience is the same thing.

Do I trust God enough to guide me and those making the 'hiring' decisions? Do I trust that God's plan for my life, since He sees the whole picture, beyond this next step? Do I trust Him enough to close the wrong doors in my life and open the right ones? I do - but I have to continually remind myself of it.

The hard part is that Julie and I both have moved from being excited about the possibility to being passionately consumed with the idea. We are so excited and it is all we can talk about and neither one of us is enjoying this refresher course in patience. O' patience.

Please pray for us as we wait - please pray for us as we dream - please pray for our future.

This kind of talent blows my mind. How can you take a flat surface and mess with peoples minds like this? This type of art is so fascinating to me. Google image search Julian Beever and you too will be amazed.

For those of you are don't twitter or have no idea what it is, let me just say it is awesome. Below is a video that explains it and it is the best way to follow your friends and other personalities you are interested in.

Check it out here or see my account here.

Above shows how annoying I am on twitter. I update about 13 times a day - you can see how annoying you or someone else on twitter is here.

So I'm not sure this guy is going to get his wish, but since all things are going organic, and since consumers are willing to pay more when a product claims organic origins, Coca-Cola should too. In fact, I'd try it.

Julie and I are putting together a 5K for our missionary friends Mike & Candice. I posted something for them a few months ago and we are doing our part to help them as they expand the vision of Teen Challenge in the fight against addictions.

TC has 1100 rehab centers in 82 countries around the world helping people gain control of their lives. My own father is currently a month into the program as he fights his own battle with alcohol. We believe in the organization - but it needs help. Like all religious non-profits they struggle to raise funds, but they are also struggling to respond to the ever growing demand for help. As of August 2008, 42 countries are on a waiting list, pleading with TC to come and help with the drug epidemic.

This is where our friends come in. They are heading up a Global Internship program to raise awareness and expose college students to the vision and ministry of TC. So, it was supposed to be a 10K, but we're lazy and figured we could raise just as much money in half the distance.

So for all you locals, contact me or Julie to join in (if you don't, we may contact you). You can run, walk, bike, roller-blade, horse back ride, piggy back ride - actually, you don't have to do anything if you just want to send money! And those that aren't local can help too - contact me to find out how.

Two things have been bothering me over the past 24 hours. First - these gas prices. How can I pay over a dollar less a gallon than I was just a few months ago? I filled up on my way into work today for $3.09 a gallon - earlier this summer at the same gas station I paid $4.29?

I mean really, who picks these price jumps? Who regulates, controls this? How is it possible that it is so cheap now? And that is cheap compared to this summer - but it is still 3 times more than I was paying exactly 7 years ago! Stupid.
The other thing that bothered me is ole Chris - why does this guy still get a day on our calendars. We know he wasn't the first to discover North America (the Vikings had hundreds of years earlier) and we know what a jerk he was. We appropriately have days set aside to remember great people, like MLK and Presidents day, but should we really have a day for a guy who raped and pillaged the Natives of our land?

I'm all for extra days off (not that I actually got yesterday off) but I don't think this guy should receive any more credit or space on our calendars. No offense Chris, I just think it's stupid.

First off, could you imagine how much these tattoos had to hurt?

Second, what is FUN on his chin for?

Third, I'd imagine the ears are a pretty tender area to tattoo?

Lastly, could you imagine hating something, some person or some race enough to permanently tattoo it on your face? What the....

So I got this free 'Obession' dvd in the mail (cool logo I thought) and like you probably would, thought, who sends out a free dvd? So I assumed it was either McCain stirring up some fear about the war on terror or some group of weirdo's with too much money. So I went to the website for the movie and one of the first things they address is how they've been accused of being politically tied - but they aren't. Or at least they say they aren't.

Regardless, I decided to watch it and it was actually really good. The point was to show the dangerous threat that exists with the Radicals of the Muslim faith, not Muslims as a whole.

The most interesting piece of the documentary are the parallels they show between the Nazi's and the Radical Muslims. For example, both used war propaganda to fear monger and essentially brainwash people to think that others are an imminent threat. Both Nazi's and Radical Muslims raise their kids to hate - but the Radical Muslims have a religious twist that makes it more dangerous. They showed videos of kids saying they would die a martyr’s death for Allah.

And then they showed actual footage of a Muslim leader who was sanctioned by Hitler himself to raise an army and wage war on the Jews of Israel. It was pretty crazy stuff. They also showed really disturbing footage of thousands of Muslims chanting, 'Death to America!'

Their point was that a lot of people didn't take the Nazi threat serious until it was too late. They even told the story of how Winston Churchill warned the world for years about the Nazi threat, but was never taken serious until WWI was a reality.

So at a minimum it was thought provoking and worth the watch - if you want my copy tell me and I'll send it to you.

I'm not saying we should take up arms, but I do believe that a time comes and order has to be restored through military force. Everyone knew that fighting in the World Wars was for a good thing, to bring down fascism - problem with a war on terror is that it is not centralized or one nation's desire for dominance. It is a messy and scary topic and the solution will be controversial at best.

What I'm about to say will sound more political than I mean it - I'm not arguing from a partisan perspective.

But something from the VP debate has been stuck in my head and I can't get it out. When Governor Palin said that people were chanting 'Drill Baby Drill' at their rallies I was confused. First I was confused as to why drilling for more oil on our land would be celebrated as a viable solution.

Maybe I'm missing something, and I'm prepared for someone to set me straight, but this just seems so obviously stupid. We as Americans have about 3% of the natural oil supply that could be drilled and yet consume 25% of the oil in the global market - why are we thinking this is a solution? Shouldn't the solution focus our resources on removing our dependencies from oil, not just foreign oil? I'm thinking yes!

And why would we spend the money and the time to build infrastructure to drill for oil on our land if we know it will only provide a short-term solution? Isn't our short-sightedness as a country what got us in this position in the first place? Not to mention the scarring and damage that will be done to our land.

Again, maybe it's me, but 'Drill Baby Drill' seems ridiculous.

I'm sure the S. African's that read my blog think we are a bunch of winey babies in America. And I know the European's have been paying too much for too long - they're probably thinking the same thing.

Thoughts?

This photo was taken by my buddy Jason Harper and captures the personality of my Micah. It was actually just published in a local parenting journal.

But I've been thinking about my buddy all day today, because today he started preschool. In the grand scheme of things it really isn't that big of an event, but it hit me how fast this whole thing is moving. He really was just born the other day, three and three quarters of year ago. And now, all of the sudden he is going to class for a few hours, two days a week. And now, he has opinions and his own thoughts and plans. I never thought I'd be the one to complain about feeling old, and I'm not trying to be - but he is growing up too fast, or life is moving too fast or I'm not paying close enough attention.

It is weird to think about as a parent, knowing tomorrow all-of-the-sudden your kids are out of the house and having kids of their own. Life just moves too fast. Before I know it, that knight in the picture will just be a memory and the majority of these fleeting moments will be forgotten.

Kinda makes me sad to think about, but it also motivates me to soak up every minute I have with him today - because tomorrow comes too fast.

I got invited to do another book review with Multanomah Books - this time for the new addition to the researched based 'Only' series by the Feldhahn's.

Julie and I spent our fifth anniversary in Florida earlier this year and used some of the time to read 'For Men Only' and 'For Women Only' respectively. We both enjoyed them and they added not just to our understanding of one another, but also to the understanding of ourselves. It is always good to learn something new, especially when it can enrich your relationship.

The newest book is 'For Young Men Only' and is a guide for all those soon-to-be men trying to figure the opposite sex out. Which is no easy task.

I enjoyed the book and feel like they focused in on the real questions young men are trying to find answers to. And as a part of the series, it utilized research to validate and disintegrate myths about the opposite sex.

My hope for my two little boys is that I can raise them to not just be a gentleman and understand sex and girls better than I did - but help them realize that just because you find a girl attractive, doesn't mean you should date her. So many friends of mine were ruined by the relationship I tried to pursue with them. I want my boys to not waste their time dating and not waste a good friendship by involving emotions and commitments that are beyond their years.

In the end it was a good book and you can pick up a copy up here.

I was thinking about the bailout this week, as I assume you were too, and then I began to think about my life, my faith and my hope. Where do I put my faith? Where or in who do I hope for a better tomorrow?

And as I was trying to wrap my mind around 700 billion dollars (...thinking of Dr. Evil) and the inevitable pork-barrel funds that are tucked away in that big number, I got so frustrated by the situation. To think that people got rich off the circumstances that brought need for a bailout and then to think that others will get rich off of the bailout itself - it is so aggravating.

But then it raised a question in my own life - if you could quantify your lifetime, the years you lived, the energy you spent, the people you loved and those you didn't - how pork-barrel would your faith had seem? Did it make a difference? Was it squandered?

Does my faith have an impact in my day-to-day life?

Did me having faith make me different than those without?

And then I started thinking about how even among our 'believing' selves, how pork-barrel our faith is. We denominationally and doctrinally divide ourselves over what? Pork-barrel faith? How much of what you believe is really worth fighting or even dieing for? I believe there are some, but the list is really short.

So yeah, I went from bailout to unity in Christiandom - but thought I'd share. What do you think?

Found this new blog and she posts pieces of her art - the above piece I thought rocked. Very captivating and thought provoking. I love the contrasts.

And to make this gal even cooler - she's a fan of the old CO ska band Five Iron Frenzy - who I love and miss.

This is courtesy of my friend Justin McGinn, who unfortunately does not blog and so I will post it for him.

---------------

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of Delta Air Lines stock one year ago
you would have $49.00 left.

With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00.

With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank
all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling
REFUND, you would have $214.00 cash.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink
heavily and recycle. It's called a 401-Keg.

So a crazy little story from our life.

5 years ago we found out that Julie has an allergy to MSG following my introduction of my favorite General Tao's chicken to her in college.

Not just an allergy but an actual reaction that freaks her whole body out.

For her, MSG triggers inflammation of a blood vessel in her head and when inflamed the vessel presses on some important piece of her gray mass and the following side affects happen:

-extreme dizziness
-slurred words
-paralysis of limbs/numbing of limbs
-loss of vision
-nausea
-and other stroke-like symptoms

Yeah - crazy right! The Dr. called it a complex migraine. So yesterday it happened again. She stays relatively on guard from MSG, mainly at Chinese food establishments, but this time it happened following a girl’s night at Applebee's. Until yesterday it had only happened once and there was a lingering suspicion that the MSG was unrelated - but yesterday confirmed that MSG and Julie don't mix.

The unfortunate part is that I love MSG; I mean I love food that has it in it. The good news is, that the though the pain is intense and the symptoms are scary it only lasts a few hours. So after the ER visit and some rest she is feeling better today.