Helpful or not?

Have you heard about this billboard set up outside an Anglican church [Wellington, New Zealand] depicting [in mock fresco style] a downcast Joseph lying beside Mary in bed with the heading ‘Poor Joseph, God is a hard act to follow’? As you might imagine, the whole deal provoked more than the intended reconsideration of the meaning of Christmas. Within hours of going up, the sign was defaced by a brown paint-wielding vandal or hero [depending on your perspective].
Church vicar Glynn Cardy said the billboard was meant to challenge stereotypes about the way Jesus was conceived and get people talking about the Christmas story. “We’ve dislodged santa from being the number one topic on Christmas time.” Explaining how his church has very liberal ideas about Christianity, Cardy clarified how the billboard, “is trying to lampoon and ridicule the very literal idea that God is a male and somehow this male God impregnated Mary.”
It certainly did get people talking — in fact, it triggered passionate and angry debate on talk radio and the Internet. Many are offended and consider the billboard inappropriate, disrespectful and offensive to Christians. Some think such a billboard represents something more likely used by an anti-Christian group to actually poke fun at the divinity of Christ.
No question — the whole thing is extremely provocative. It’s hard not to wonder WWJThink?  Looking at it, I don’t really see the point or value. I’m not convinced this is going to be helpful to anyone and especially not to local children who are excited about Christmas. Is it possible to go too far in attempting to generate and encourage dialogue? I’m still processing it – but my gut says “yes” you can go too far. Does this cross the line of what’s appropriate — well my initial reaction is not positive. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth — although that could be the result of some “bad chicken – mess you up!”

tiger worship

The recently exposed and well publicized transgressions of Tiger Woods have pushed one of the golf superstar’s most ardent fans to disband a “church” he started [1996] in praise and worship of Woods.

The self-appointed pastor of the “First Church of Tiger Woods” John Ziegler has publically voiced his diapproval of and disgust over the sports icon’s “personal sins.” In Ziegler’s own words, “He is no longer worthy of any special admiration. The events of the past days have revealed Tiger to be a serial adulterer, a blatant liar, and a selfish coward.”

Wow. While I understand this fan’s harsh response, I’ve got to wonder — don’t we set ourselves up for such complete and total disappointment whenever we elevate anyone to such prominent status?  For me, Tiger Woods hasn’t disproven his deity but rather unarguably proven his flawed humanity.

BTW…while Mr. Ziegler readily lists Tiger’s numerous sins on his soon to be defunct website, he fails to mention one sin he might want to consider himself — idolatry. Here’s something we all might do well to consider – are not seflishness and deceit sins present in all our lives?

“Why look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own?”

14 years old

What was the most significant thing you did during your teenage years? Let’s say at age 14? Most average 14-year-olds spend their time eating, sleeping, playing video games and dreading homework. Apparently, David Ashby is anything but average.
This past summer, David walked from his home in Orlando Florida all the way to Washington DC.  Why? He did it to raise awareness of and draw attention to the 1.4 million homless children in US.
David treked 1,100 miles. When he wasn’t walking, he was sleeping on the street and eating only what he could find.  His experienced is chronicled on his blog “Helping step by step.”
Wow. My birthday is coming up next week and I can no longer remember everything I was doing at 14. I know this….most of it was for myself and many of my activities were not healthy or helpful to anyone. Way to go David!

Hitters football

This entry is on behalf of and out of respect for my friends who are coaches at GBWHS and all the athletes they impact. Alongside learning to play football, young men today need to learn about integrity, determination, commitment and loyalty. The modeling of such good character by these coaches will go a long way toward influencing the lives of their players. It was a great season guys!  I’m already looking forward to next year.

Watch video …Tradition Never Graduates

A black friday tribute

In case you don’t know where it comes from, the term Black Friday can be traced back to 1966 when in Philadelphia, PA., on the day after Thanksgiving, frenzied holiday shopping in the city reached epic proportions and resulted in a complete and total logjam of traffic.  The shopping surge was so unbelievably bad, the Philadelphia police deptartment referred to it as Black Friday.

In tribute to both Philadelphia and Black Friday, here’s a great gift idea for all you cat lovers… 

A black Friday possibility

Looking to a buy a Christmas gift for the woman in your life [mom, sis, wife, daughter, friend] who has everything? Here’s an option [because chances are she doesn't have one of these]. How about buying her a very special necklace? What makes it so special? Well, it’s made of reindeer-dung. Yes, necklaces made with dried, sterilized and glitter-sprayed reindeer droppings are going on sale Friday at a zoo in Bloomington IL. in hopes of attracting holiday shoppers. There are also Christmas ornaments available made from the very same organic material.

But as a responsible American citizen today, one must ask…

embarassed reindeer jewlery provider

Have these pendants of poo been approved by the FDA?  Is there risk of further excrement decomposition resulting in some stinky gas being released into our already warming environment?  Are these free-range reindeer?  And what about exploitation – who is protecting their rights in all this? And who collects all these poo pellets – are they unionized? Do they have insurance [getting near the rear-end of an embarrased bull reindeer can't be safe].  Is Springfield aware of this? Does Washington know about all the pooping and scooping going on here in IL?  Have there been congressional hearings on any of this? If the sale of these waste recycled holiday treasures takes off – why not tax the crap out of this industry to help pay for health care? 

I’m sorry – I can’t help myself.  I have so many questions and most of them stink.

not a new problem or new idea

Nearly 90 percent of all diseases in the world are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. Every year, there are 4 billion cases of diarrhea as a direct result of drinking contaminated water; this results in more than 2.2 million deaths each year—the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing every day. The weakest members of communities are the most vulnerable; every day water-related diseases claim the lives of 5000 children under the age of five. That’s roughly one every 15 seconds.

This Christmas, I want to take his words more seriously – “I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.” -Jesus

peace prize

Nobel Peace Prize

As I’ve been thinking more and more about the Nobel Peace Prize our President recently won, I’ve become more confused.  I do not question the President’s desire for peace worldwide and any reasonable attempt he makes to encourage it is respectable as far as I’m concerned. However, shouldn’t the prize go to those who have taken significant steps to actually bring about resolution to some conflict? Syndicated Columnist Cal Thomas recently wrote an article that got me questioning the legitimacy of all this. In his opinion,

“The peace prize concept is flawed because the problem of war does not lie with those who would make peace, but with those who would make war. If the Nobel committee were realistic, it would stop handing out peace prizes and start issuing awards for those who have confronted evil and produced peace in nations that have known only oppression. Candidates for such prizes would include Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher ad Pope John Paul II, who conspired to liberate Europe from the totalitarian hand of Soviet communism. Bill Clinton would also be a legitimate candidate for his efforts that stabilized Bosnia. He could take some small credit for the peace in Northern Ireland, which though worked on for decades, was finally brokered on his watch. President Obama was right when he acknowledged that he doesn’t deserve the prize. Neither did Yasser Arafat, Henry Kissinger, Le Duc Tho or Al Gore. The question should be: Why, despite man’s best efforts, including the League of Nations and United Nations, have we been unsuccessful in eradicating war?”

War, hate, conflict and violence remain a sad reality of our global environment. To get an idea of how vast the problem, visit GlobalSecurity.org.

Christmas is rapidly approaching. During this holiday season, perhaps we need to consider this…if peace is so prized, why doesn’t it actually exist in our world? What or who is missing?

he got it

Early this week, USA Today published a fascinating article by Stephen Mansfield. In it, he reports the story of a young man who back in the 1760s sat in Dublin’s famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral listening to Christian revivalist John Wesley preach.

St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin

Aware the congregation of St. Patrick’s was filled with Dublin’s more successful, comfortable and satiated citizens, Wesley spoke with passion about what a life transformed by God would mean.

While praying for his fellow Dubliners, the man felt God say, “Make a drink that men will drink that will be good for them.” These experiences caused this rising entrepreneur to, as Mansfield puts it, “frame a vision for his fledgling company: a vision for producing wealth through brewing excellence and then for using that wealth to serve the downtrodden and the poor…”

The values the young man envisioned for his company were first honed in a life of devotion to God. He was an earthy but humble man who frequently thundered his views despite angry opposition. He put his time and money where his mouth was. He started orphanages and supported missionary efforts around the world. When he died, the Dublin Evening Post declared his life was “useful and benevolent and virtuous.”

The man? Arthur Guinness. His company? Guinness Brewery.  USA Today’s article headline: “Guinness Got It: The company’s 250-year legacy of God-inspired good provides myriad lessons for today. Among them: A benevolent corporate vision is good for business, for its employees and for the world.”

I particularly like Mansfield’s concluding comment: “We are tempted in our disgust with Wall Street greed and corporate misdealing to reject the economic engine that has made us great, to prefer the security of the state to the vicissitudes of free market exchange. What we learn from the Guinness story is that character is king, that markets without ethical boundaries make Madoffs but that corporations driven by a benevolent vision can do vast amounts of good. It is morals and ethics we need, then, not a new economic system…”

“By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”

Great Christian leaders have a message for their contemporaries, as well as the leaders who follow them in succession…

books

I am not a multi-tasker but I do tend to be a multi-reader. Juggling several books at one time is not unusual for me.  Although I’ve just started them, the two newest editions to my collection promise to be good reads!

Donald Miller begins A Million Miles In A Thousand Years proposing how “the saddest thing about life is you don’t remember half of it.” I for one agree with him. Yet every life is a story worth telling because every life has meaning and purpose.  Miller is given a unique opportunity to literally edit his own story.

Markus Zusak opens his NY times bestseller, The Book Thief, by asserting “a small fact – you are going to die.” At this point, all I know is – Death is his story’s narrator.