Merry Christmas!

My eight year old son reads the Christmas story:

Merry Christmas to all!

At Least We're Not in Seattle

My friend and fellow blogger has been bemoaning the pitiful year of the Detroit Lions. At least it's not Seattle. Can you imagine? The best thing they had going was a mediocre WNBA team. I was not aware that the WNBA was still in existence. Check out this video from a beleaguered Seattle sports fan posted on ESPN. Let's all say a prayer for them.

Warm Christmas Memories

Everyone has those memories of Christmas that warm hearts.

My memory happened when I was a teenager. My mom, dad, and I had just sat down at the table for Christmas dinner when a knock on the door was heard by all. My dad rose to his feet and strode to the door. As he turned the knob to open the door, he let out a hearty, boisterous "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" that would have made St. Nick jealous. The two interlopers clear their throats and muttered an uncomfortable, "Well, uh, yes." The two members of the Jehovah's Witnesses were obviously uncomfortable as my dad engaged them in conversation. My mom was getting upset as the potatoes began to assume room temperature. My dad never shied away from engaging someone on spiritual matters.

How about you? Do you have any warm Christmas memories?

Happy Non-Sectarian, Non-Denominational, Politcally Correct, Non-Offensive, Ultra-Generic Winter Holiday(s)!

So as to be inoffensive to everyone, enjoy:

When I think about it, this video still leaves out Buddhists, Hindus, Shintos, Taoists, Communists, atheists, agnostics, Jehovah's Witnesses, and a multitude of smaller tribal--but no less "valid" in their own beliefs--religions. It does not mention Wiccans and their celebration of the winter solstice.

Lest we forget the real reason for and meaning of the season, the great theologian Linus Van Pelt reminds us:

We Got Our Daughter a TV for Her Room

For several years now, our 12 year old daughter has been begging for a TV in her room. Well, we did it. We gave her a TV of her very own for her bedroom. Now, you may be thinking we are cool parents for this, or you may be thinking we are idiots.

As Paul Harvey used to say, "Here's the rest of the story."

Several years ago, my wife won a TV. It has been used in various places around the house. The thing only has a 4 inch screen. It is black-and-white. It gets only 3 or 4 fuzzy, grainy channels. Oh, and by the way, after the digital conversion next February, it will be useless. The antenna is built in, so no one could hook up a converter box. I guess it won't be entirely useless, as it does have a radio feature.

Needless to say, she thinks it is pretty nice having her own TV.

Who's Next for a Bail Out?

As our elected representatives debate the wisdom of freely spending money confiscated from their constituents to bail out the auto industry, other industries continue to suffer. Now the Arena Football League has canceled the 2009 season. The Arena Football League is the league where they play football in basketball arenas. No one really pays attention, but people are losing their jobs. These people are suffering. Why can't we bail them out, too?

Read this book...

I bought this for my wife a few months back. We had seen Diane Sawyer's 20/20 interview, and I was intrigued. Being in grad school, I simply did not have time to read it, but my wife loved it. She quotes from it frequently.

With the end of the semester, I found time to read it. It took about 5 hours to read all 206 pages.

Every human being should read this book. Pausch, dying of pancreatic cancer (he died a little while back), offered a "last lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, where he had taught. The insights are powerful, practical, and penetrating.

If you are literate, read it. If you are illiterate, go to Youtube and watch the video. But, as always, the book is better than the movie.

Some of the book may seem trite, but the advice is good. We need to hear these things every once in a while. My wife has read some religious motivational books--and I have read a couple--and this has no where near the sap that oozes from them.

Here is the Youtube video:

A Valuable Book

The most valuable book that I read this past semester had nothing to do with the subject I am studying, which is history. It is a slender volume entitled The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White (of Charlotte's Web fame). This is a book that should be mandatory reading for anyone taking any class that has anything to do with writing. Pastors, teachers, business people, and anyone else would do well to peruse the hundred or so pages of this book to ensure that their writing is crisp and clear. If you are concerned about a bunch of dry rules of English, let me assure you that there is plenty of humor in this book. At times, I found myself chuckling or laughing.

Whew! It's Over!

Well, my second, and much more challenging, semester of grad school is behind me. I had two tough classes, and did not have time to blog much over the last couple months.

For both of you who read the blog (Thanks, mom. [Actually, I don't think my mom knows what a blog is.]) I will try to post a little more over the next month.

A few thoughts

It has been ages since I posted, but thought I needed to vent a little on the election.

Some thoughts/predictions:
- The people have spoken.
- The country voted for change, and that is all we will wind up with in our pockets: change.
- By the time of the mid-term elections (Nov. 2010), gas will be approaching $6 per gallon.
- If the Republicans develop a solid conservative leader (like Reagan or Gingrich) the landslide in 2010 will drastically dwarf the Republican revolution of 1994.
- Hillary Clinton will be a Supreme Court Justice. (A huge payoff for keeping her mouth shut.)
- Again, a wishy-washy Republican flames out.
- The last truly conservative nominee to lose the presidency was Barry Goldwater.
- The last "moderate" Republican to win was Eisenhower.
- Jimmy Carter will no longer be considered the worst president in the last 100 years.

A Plea to Department Stores

To all the owners/managers/CEOs of department stores:

Here is an idea. Put a "man room" in each store. If you want to men to be patient while the wife shops. A man room should contain a large screen high definition television and a big couch.

Come on, guys, let's do this thing.

How We Spnd Our Time

Being in graduate school has made me focus on time management. This semester I am taking two classes, with about 8 gazillion pages to read each week, along with various writing assignments. I am not complaining, but time has been precious, which is probably why I have not blogged in a while.

When I pastored a church, I had to find time for the duties that I had, preaching being the primary consumer of my time then. When I worked a cubicle job, I had to manage my time as well.

It is interesting that we are so focused on wealth in this country, because every single person, rich or poor, has the same amount of time each day: 24 hours, or 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. There are certain things we need to do: eat, sleep, bathe. These take time, but not all our time. How do we spend the other time we have? With family? Mindlessly surfing the Internet or watching brain eating TV?

I used to spend a great deal of time at TheOoze, which is a nice website, but a complete waste of time. I used to watch hours of mindless TV. I have decided this semester that I will limit my TV intake to two main shows: Prison Break and The Office.

How do you spend your time? Are you productive or mindless?

With Friends Like This...

Here is the Obamassiah's chosen running mate heaping scorn upon the Obamassiah. Geez! With friends like this, who needs the "Republican attack machine"?

Advice to Young, and Would Be, Pastors

The best advice I can give you any contemplating the ministry, or who has recently begun a ministry: Have something to fall back on.

We often go into ministry with lofty visions of parsing Greek words in sermon preparation, comforting the sick, helping the needy and so on. We have such lofty expectations that we do not think about what will come next in our lives. Not everyone who enter vocational ministry will be in the ministry their entire life.

I would advise a young college student who is planning a life in ministry to select an appropriate major, or minor at the least. When I went to college I was not planning on ministry, but many of my fellow students were. They majored in religion with plans for attending seminary after graduation. This is a mistake. If one is planning on attending seminary after college, major in something else while in college. If one is not planning on seminary, consider a double major or pick a minor that will help.

I am thankful that I have had something to fall back on after leaving (temporarily?) the ministry.

Be wise. Plan for life after the "professional" ministry. No one who is a Christian ever leaves ministry, but many leave the paid ministry.

Wonderful, Great, OPPRESSIVE China

From Voice of the Martyrs comes this story:

Pastor Zhang “Bike” Mingxuan, known for traveling across China on a bicycle to evangelize, was arrested by Chinese police just two days before the Olympics began. Pastor Bike was the inspiration for the recent partnership between The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association to create the Olympic Prayer Band.

This story came across on an e-mail alert and is not posted on the website. Here are some more stories of the "benevolent" regime of China showing "openness and tolerance" toward citizens who follow Christ.

While Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Bob Costas and the other NBC lackies fawn over how wonderful China is, remember that the Communist government of China is jailing people for being Christians.