And Now for Something Completely Different...

The Find of the Century - at this very moment, I am drinking a Limited Edition Candy Corn soda. Delicious!








Also, here's an action shot of Julianna playing soccer today.

MP3s, AFR, and WWJD

My wife bought me a cool MP3 player for my birthday - it looks kind of like a jump drive, and you load music on it (and recharge the battery) by plugging it right into a USB port on your computer. I've been listening to it on the way to work using an FM tuner - a handy device that you can plug into your MP3 player (or whatever else) and transmit a signal directly to your radio. I've been using 88.3 as the signal, and as fate would have it, that station is the local American Family Radio station. I had forgotten why I stopped listening to AFR a number of years ago, but as I heard them over the airwaves Thursday morning, I began to remember.

They were so negative. What sticks out in my mind is the constant barrage against Disney, though the specifics escape me now. For a network that considers itself Christian, I was often put off by the negativity that seemed to exude from it. When I turned the car on Thursday, I was immediately assailed by James Dobson taking a stance on what appear to be the only two issue important to Christians this election season. They are, of course, gay marriage and abortion. I recalled an article I read awhile back - an interview with Brian Mclaren - where he talks about the amount of energy spent to discuss the danger of someone like him. And he says, "what about the danger of Jerry Falwell, or...James Dobson or...Pat Robertson." And I remember thinking, What?!? The danger of James Dobson?? But, I think I'm beginning to piece that together. When you take a look at the "religious right" and how they are supposed to represent Christianity, and thereby represent Jesus, it makes me wonder what kind of message is being sent to the world.

I'm reminded of a recent post on Mike Cope's blog about the stewardship of our world. He talks about how the National Association of Evangelicals had taken a stance on the care of God's creation, and how a letter addressed to the NAE, from several leaders of the Religious Right, including Dobson, seemed to imply that they should stick to more core issues - like abortion or gay marriage. (Read that post for a more in-depth discussion.)

Is this the best way to carry out the great commission of Jesus? I have strong feelings on these issues, but I'm not sure that making them the central part of a religiopolitical campaign is how Jesus wants us to share what He's about.

And, are these the only issues Christians should be concerned about? This is why people have the view of Christians that they do, and why they have a view of God as primarily judge, jury, and executioner. This is in direct opposition to John's statement that God is love. I don't think that means we ignore what He wants and how He wants us to live; but when we put that face to the world, that that's what God wants more than anything; I think we're turning people away.

What about love? Compassion? Helping the poor and needy? What about what Jesus said were the most important commands? What about Paul said was of first importance? What about what James said about pure religion? Are the answer to these questions found in politicking against homosexuality and abortion?

Maybe I'm reading my Bible wrong - but I seem to recall that the most important commands have to do with love; that what was of first importance was Jesus; and that pure religion is helping those in need.

There are a lot of bad things in this world - genocide, war, starvation, a global AIDS crisis, widespread prejudice. Are these things even worth campaigning about?

We're worried about the breakdown of the traditional family in America. What about the breakdown of love and compassion over the entire world? I'm worried that we are becoming more concerned with our personal rights and our personal way of life more than we are about sharing Jesus with the world, or about sharing compassion and love.

What would happen if we truly acted like Jesus? As a whole, as a Christian community; what if we truly walked in His footsteps? Would we have more or less impact on society?

But maybe I'm just full of crap. I often soapbox here - it is called Jim's Running Commentary, after all; but I don't tend to get political - I tend to leave that to Krista, who's much smarter than I am; I figure I'll just end up looking stupid. And I don't normally solicit comments, but I think that most of the people that read this are people I know personally. What's your take? I'm really curious to hear.

I'm late!

Don't have any time this morning except to share a few pictures from yesterday.

Morning Sun

Evening Sun

Wednesday Sunset

Not much to share this morning except for a few pictures of last night's sunset...

Sunset over Highway 72

Sunset behind Crosspoint Church

Everything in Moderation

We took Julianna (and my Dad) on a picnic to Spring Park in Tuscumbia this weekend. We rode the train, Julianna loved the carousel, and I got slammed around on the roller coaster. Caught a couple of pictures of the creek behind the railroad.

While we were picking up some Subway (so it wasn't a real picnic), I saw this sign across the street. Maybe you understand this if you go to Woodward Avenue Baptist Church, but I have no idea what it means. Can anyone clue me in? Maybe a reference to Star Trek: The Next Generation?

T.N.G. ONE DURING THE NEXT 5

And finally, I about fell out of my chair laughing at what it said on the inside of this Reese's Peanut Butter Cup wrapper yesterday. (I laugh at weird things.)

Candy is a treat. Please consume in moderation.

If my Grandma was the Surgeon General, I could see her saying something like that, but it just seemed odd on the inside of that wrapper.

The Joys of Traveling

Ah, flying. There's nothing like being cramped in the back of a plane with 200 other people, enjoying the sights and the sounds, to say nothing of the smells. Four hours and fifteen minutes (Orange County, California to Atlanta) is a long time to be stuck with nowhere to go. No wonder people have panic attacks. Any time you have to use the rest room, you have to crawl over 12 people. On the way to Atlanta today, everyone in coach had to use the restrooms in the back; the ones in the front were First Class Only.

Customer service is getting worse and worse. My company normally flies Delta; I think their strategy for attracting customers is to slowly take away every perk. Let's cram the seats closer together; let's cut down the number of attendants; let's take away all the food. Okay, that last one's not completely true. If you have a cross-country flight, you get a snack pack with crackers, shortbread cookie, and a cranberry and raisin mix. Mmmm... Ah, how I miss the soggy turkey sandwich, mushy apple, smashed chips, and warm water you could pick up at the gate door. Those were the days. And now, because of the stupid terrorists, I can't even bring on a coffee or my requisite 20 oz. bottle of Coke.

Of course, as I write this, I'm sitting in Atlanta at 3:35 pm, 47 minutes before my flight leaves, praying they don't delay or, Heaven forbid, cancel it. All I want to do is get back to my beautiful wife and daughter.

I should count my blessings. Up until now, my biggest disappointment this week took place at breakfast. Every day this week, we stopped at Starbucks for coffee on the way in to work. And every day this week, I resisted the temptation to buy a delicious piece of pumpkin bread. My wife had stocked me with Slimfast bars, so I already had breakfast. Plus I didn't need the pumpkin bread, so I thought I'd wait until the last day and splurge. So yesterday morning we stopped again, my head filling with thoughts of moist, delicious pumpkin bread. But this time Starbucks didn't have any. Not a single slice. So I got a donut. It just wasn't the same.

But, that being the low point of my week (besides the flights between California and Atlanta) I think I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm glad I'm going home now.

Update: 4:10 pm (Atlanta). I just headed back to Concourse D. I was already there once but there were no good french fries on the concourse, so I went back to Concourse B to hunt some down. I should've gone to A, because I had to settle for Checkers’s seasoned fries, and what I wanted were those big steak fries with ketchup. Anyway - back to Concourse D. When I came up the escalator, I checked my flight. On time! So I headed down to gate 35. Which didn't have the Huntsville flight. I guess I should have checked for a gate change when I looked to see if it was on time. So I found it back four gates at D31 (which I had just passed). Still on time! So I sat down. But I looked up, and the Huntsville information disappeared. They just changed the gate back to D35.

*sigh*

So now I'm back at D35 where I notice that my 4:22 flight is now scheduled for 4:45. I can handle 20 minutes. I just want to get home.

Update: 4:43 pm. OK, gate change to D33. That's right next door, and the time is the same (according to the loudspeaker). I can deal with that.

Update: 4:48 pm. Alright, they lied. The time did change. Now it's 5:10. No wait, 5:20. Great, it's changing as I'm standing here writing this. But, it says the plane is at the gate, so it shouldn't be long now. One hour. I'll only be an hour late getting home. 7 pm, instead of 6. I can handle one hour.

Update: 5:11 pm. I'm sitting on the plane! It's a small one (about 45 seats), so we should be in the air soon.

Update: 5:23 pm. They haven't closed the door yet, but they just announced that there would be no using the restroom while we are in the air. I've never heard them say that before.

Update: 5:27 pm. Our flight attendant, Thambi, is giving us instructions. I swear she just said, "Make sure your seat backs are up and uncomfortable." Then she told a bald passenger that his head was glowing. She actually compared it to that briefcase in Pulp Fiction! I like it better when the flight attendants have personality.

Update: 5:35 pm. We appear to be 8th in line on the runway. Not long now...

Update: 6:03 pm. In the air! Halfway to Huntsville and I'm reading Batman Unmasked. An interesting, even scholarly book discussing the history of Batman and his impact on culture.

Update: 5:20 pm (Huntsville). Touchdown! Finally landed in Hunstville. Because of the time change, it always feels like I've gone back in time. I should be home by 7.

Higher Grounds II

Well, Wes Hall, Erin Hall, and Shawn Puryear pulled off another excellent night of Higher Grounds at Crosspoint Church last night. There wasn't as much local talent as last time, but it was still a lot of fun. It's great to have a nice, low-key local Florence, AL venue for live music (I know, I need to hit First Friday next month). A couple of local guys (I'm kicking myself for not remembering their names), along with their own songs, covered Steely Dan's, Ricky Don't Lose My Number and The Police's Message in a Bottle. Both were pretty amazing. We had some good talent from Crosspoint, too. I'm amazed at the folks from our own church and their songwriting ability.

Here are a couple of pictures. I took more, but I need a lot more practice taking pictures in a darkened room. (Click on the photos for full size.)

Rex Hall, Shawn Puryear, Bridgett Flynn

Meredith Wallace, Al Jackson

Good Morning

Ah, nothing like starting the morning to Pink Floyd's Brain Damage coming over the airwaves and the sun coming up over Florence Blvd.



Of course, there's nothing like having the roads re-paved in Decatur on Hwy 20 during rush hour when you're late for a meeting. But a little bit of Billy Idol's Eyes Without a Face always helps.



And, the obligatory sky pictures.

Nothing to say

Not my best pictures, but thought they were worth sharing.

click for full size; the second picture is sized for wallpaper

Barbeque

Just wanted to mention a restaurant we visited a couple weeks ago on our way home from Atlanta. This sounds like an ad, but I promise they're not paying me for this.

We stopped at Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q in Birmingham, though they have a number of other locations in the South. It's an excellent little barbeque place with a massive menu and some great food. Their Queso Dip with jalapenos was excellent, as was their Buffalo Chicken Tenders. It's too bad they don't have any places closer to Florence, but maybe that will change. We have every other restaurant here. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area. Their butts are smokin'.

I also had to pick up some hot sauce with my name on it.

Radical

Quote of the Day

If we were to set out to establish a religion in polar opposition to the Beatitudes Jesus taught, it would look strikingly similar to the pop Christianity that has taken over the airwaves of North America.
-Tony Campolo

Thanks to Preacher Mike

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter

Am I obsessed with the church sign thing or is there just too much material out there to let it rest?

I was driving through town the other day and had to get a shot of this one.

Global warming is nothing compared to Hell

No subtlety here. We're definitely preoccupied with who's going where.

Double Whammy.

Of course, when I doubled back to get that first picture, I had to take one of the reverse side, too. That looks familiar. Maybe "If you think this is hot..." is a little more subtle, but it's not much better. I guess we've got more in common than our Baptist brothers than we thought.

Is this the good news we're trying to share with the world?

Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good
news to one and all.
-Jesus

When did this become "God's good news"? I thought Jesus was the Good News - not the fact that lots of people are going to Hell. Maybe I'm wrong.

Get right, or get left!

Photos in Traffic

I took this picture on the way to work. Now, I know Alabama fans can be serious, but isn't this taking a bit too far?


Yes - you read it right; it says SHULUV.

I took this picture on the way home.



The cars didn't look like they were in too good of shape, but it didn't look like anyone was seroiusly injured.

Sunrises

Had to get to work early yesterday, so I caught some sunrise pictures on the way.

Click on them to enlarge to wallpaper size.

Who wants reality TV?

I finally get reality shows. After years of making fun of Survivor, American Idol, and the many, many others, I think I finally get a glimpse of the popularity. I just completed a mini-marathon of the first three episodes of Who Wants To Be a Superhero? and I can see now how easy it is to get caught up in the game. Who's going to win? Who's getting eliminated next? Though on this show, it's more like being voted out of the secret headquarters.

But Stan Lee put an interesting spin on this. Testing things like courage, honesty, compassion, self-sacrifice; indicating that it's what's on the inside that makes a superhero. The winner (or rather their superhero) gets their own comic book and Sci Fi channel movie. Pretty tempting, in my opinion, even compared to that million-dollar Survivor prize. If you're into reality shows, or into comic books or superheroes, check it out; the show is pretty interesting. It's got a few more weeks and appears on Thursday nights on Sci Fi (9/8 C).