embarrassing christianity

came in this morning and as usual began checking my e-mail. apparently, i've managed to get my e-mail address on a christian junk e-mail list as i'm now receiving a few unsolicited advertisements for "christian stuff" each day.

today i received an e-mail from the "christian emergency network" advertising their christian emergency survival kits. The e-mail says: "Noah prepared for the flood. Joseph prepared for famine. Esther prepared for terror. Moses prepared for the angel of death." therefore, we should prepare for a disaster by purchasing one of their christian survival kits. I guess what makes it christian is that they've thrown in a few pieces of christian literature. you know, i guess these guys are probably sincere, but would i be bad if i purchased a "secular" survival kit from REI???

i've been a christian for almost 24 years now. i believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, that He came to take our punishment for our sins, that He rose from the dead, and that we can have forgiveness and peace with God by accepting the this free gift of forgiveness and beginning a relationship with Him. but it's embarrassing to me that we've created this christian subculture that just makes us look weird. not to mention any names, but don't you cringe sometimes when you're flipping through the channels and come to TBN (trinity broadcast network)? i mean, who are these people?? i never see ANYONE with hair like that...even in church! isn't it great to know that, thanks to the worldwide distribution via satellite, this is the first impression we give to the world of christianity??

sorry to rant, but before i get off the subject, be sure to run out and purchase your Jesus Christ action figure and fill your pockets full of Testamints...you know, the mints with the bible verses on them?

"hey, i really don't have time to share my life with you or help you out in any way, but here's a mint. make sure you look up the verse imprinted on it before you eat it. God bless."

"hey johnny, my Jesus can beat up your g.i. joe..."

on the more positive side, my friend paul dzubinski, a church planter in spain, read my blog and it inspired him to create his own. you can check out his first post: "time to smell the urine." hey adam, your influence is moving around the world!

have you seen these men?

if you don't know who these guys are, then you're missing out. i've seen napoleon dynamite 3 times and found it funnier each time. word of warning. if you don't like the first 60 seconds of the movie, you won't like any of it, cuz it's all pretty much the same...


this has been playing for months at some of the local theatres and consistently sells out on friday nights. perhaps this movie appeals to so many people because we all know or knew someone like napoleon. someone who just didn't fit in.

swedish invasion

my swedish buddy per danielsson came to visit from florida because his lifelong friend magnus was in town on business. for some reason, we thought it would be a good idea to get out some of the christmas decorations to mark the occasion. always a blast to hang with the swedes. swedish is one of those "happy sounding" languages because they tend to have a rising inflection on their last syllables. while in trinidad this summer, we noticed that the caribbean's have a similar inflection. why not brighten your day by listening to some swedish radio online? you can find a nice selection here.

birthday

celebrated my 44th birthday this week. was actually away from home on my b-day at a spiritual life retreat with the church staff at winshape. went to dinner with the family last night - lauren gave me a tommy boy dvd (we like watching it together) and zak gave me the van halen cd. tommy boy and van halen...what does that say about me???

pirates and haiku

in case you missed the big day last year, tomorrow (september 19) is national talk like a pirate day (viewer discretion advised on the site). good thing i'm not leading worship at church...a morning of pirate praise!

anyhoo, a couple of careers ago, i went through a one week period of communicating e-mails in haiku. just cuz. try it - especially fun for business-oriented e-mails. if you're not familiar with haiku, i googled haiku and the first site is haiku for people. as opposed to what?? haiku for dogs??? which reminds me of an old haiku someone once e-mailed me...

Dog Haiku

I love my master;
Thus I perfume myself with
This long-rotten squirrel.

I lie belly-up
In the sunshine, happier than
You ever will be

Today I sniffed
Many dog butts-I celebrate
By kissing your face.

I sound the alarm!
Paperboy-come to kill us all-
Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!

I sound the alarm!
Mailman Fiend-come to kill us all-
Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!

I sound the alarm!
Meter reader-come to kill all-
Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!

I sound the alarm!
Garbage man-come to kill us all-
Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!

I sound the alarm!
Neighbor's cat-come to kill us all!
Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!

I lift my leg and
Wiz on each bush.
Hello, Spot - Sniff this and weep

How do I love thee?
The ways are numberless as
My hairs on the rug.

My human is home!
I am so ecstatic I have
Made a puddle

I hate my choke chain -
Look, world, they strangle me!
Ack Ack Ack Ack Ack Ack!

Sleeping here, my chin
On your foot - no greater bliss - well,
Maybe catching cats

Look in my eyes and
Deny it. No human could
Love you as much I do

The cat is not all
Bad-she fills the litter box
With Tootsie Rolls

Dig under fence-why?
Because it's there. Because it's
There. Because it's there.

I am your best friend,
Now, always, and especially
When you are eating.

You may call them fleas,
But they are far more -I call
Them a vocation

My owners' mood is
Romantic-I lie near their
Feet. I snore loudly.

i googled dog haiku and found that it was written by a guy named Steve D. Marsh. he's apparently written a book of dog haiku: Dog Daze: Haiku Channeled From Two Mixed Breeds, Zac and E.D., 2000

now i wonder if anyone can write dog haiku in pirate talk. hmmm...

close call

hurrican ivan blew through the area last night. even hundreds of miles away from the coast, it was a pretty potent storm here in atlanta. came home from worship team rehearsal last night to find that a tree had fallen right on top of one of our cars. the amazing thing is that it looks like it caused little or no damage. i'm thankful to God for sparing us from a lot of damage, but my heart goes out for all who were not so "lucky."

The question of God

last night i watched and "tivo'd" "The Question of God," based on the book by Harvard professor ArmandNicholi, dealing with the lives and beliefs of Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis.The second part airs next Wednesday, September 22nd. i was impressed by what i thought was a very balanced portrayal of Lewis and Freud.

granted, i viewed the episode from a christian worldview, but just felt like Lewis' perspective was positive and attractive while Freud's was not attractive at all. it'd be interesting to have a discussion about this show with a mix of people to hear their perspectives.

here's a link to the website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/

a couple of other random items:

- was pretty impressed that adam hit my site a few hours after i created it. the wonders of science. wonder if you'll get another notification that i linked again!

- thought i might update my 1996 website, but decided to keep it the way it is. it's vintage!

be gentle...

here i am, an early adopter of web stuff, and i haven't updated my website since 1996, and i'm way late in the game to create a blog site. so this is my first time...

my buddy adam got me reading his site many months ago. i enjoy lurching on his site and on very rare occasions, posting. met with adam this afternoon over at caribou. always a blast to catch up with him and i'm excited about his future ministry plans. it'll be fun to see how our paths continue to intersect.

that's all i've got to say about that - for now.