Guest Blogger Book Review: "Churched: One Kid's Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess"

"Churched: One Kid's Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess"

A memoir, with a dose (or twelve) of cynicism, that doesn’t live up to it's subtitle.

I picked up "Churched" from the Blogging for Books program with WaterBrook Multonomah, just out of curiosity. It looked like an interesting read, which I will note here, it was.


I started reading the book as soon as I got it. It was very interesting, telling Matthew Turner’s childhood experiences growing up in a conservative church. It’s pretty much his autobiography… with about a tablespoon (or two) of cynicism added to it. 

It starts with the author in a sauna, where he meets a guy with a tattoo of Jesus spitting fire out of his mouth. A conversation ensues, which leads you to believe that in the end of the book our author is different than he is in the beginning . Wanting to see the change between the beginning and the end, I read through this book quickly. 

It was very interesting with a lot of funny and witty stories. Although these stories are written in a cynical light, there is a very good point in the end, in which he admits that no church is perfect. However, he still hasn’t really recovered from his ‘holy mess’. 

I expect this book will be rewritten in a few years with an actual ending that makes a point, because hopefully by then he will be past this, and will have become a more mature follower of Christ. This book almost makes a really good point at the end…but ends up a bit short of a bulls eye.

Disclaimer: I received Churched for free through the WaterBrook Multonomah blogging for books company in exchange for doing a review.

(Today's book review was by guest blogger/avid reader/book reviewer par excellence, Erika Fletcher, my 15 year old daughter.)

Book Review: "Shattered Dreams" by Larry Crabb

I am a real fan of Larry Crabb.  I'll have to admit that the first chapter of "Shattered Dreams" was difficult for me to read.  Without the context of the rest of the book, I had the feeling that Larry was spending too much time and space on the pain of the times when God doesn't answer our pleas to Him the way we'd like Him to.

In reality, we often press down our pain with pious-sounding words like, "God knows what's best..." and the like. Crabb is painfully honest about the disappoint that comes from really trusting God with your problems but not receiving the answers you'd like. KNOWING that God knows what is best doesn't necessarily make your painful existence FEEL any better.

Once he has helped us get over our compulsion to "make excuses" for God, he gets to the real meat of the matter. The story of Naomi and her bitter experiences with God present a great backdrop for contemplating our own disappointing experience with God. Like us, Naomi also saw many opportunities for God to "come through" for her come and go without God responding to her prepared script for Him.

It is often not in the *removal* of our painful experiences that we experience God most deeply and intimately. Crabb shows that it is often in walking *through* the dark, lonely valleys that we realize that God is using those very experiences to remove the obstacles to the deep intimacy with God that we desire.

If that is true, then we can't ask God to remove the painful experiences so we can have intimacy.  The desired shortcut will ultimately only short-circuit the intimacy we were longing for.

In our painful experiences, when all else is stripped away, we can learn - and Crabb says ONLY then can we learn - that it is God we've longed for all along. It is only after we've walked some painful pathways that we are able to truly enjoy God for Who He is!

While the early pages were hard work, the "meat" in the middle of this book made the early work well worth the effort! I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who struggles to understand why God doesn't "come to their rescue" in their difficult times.  Don't give up in the early pages, and definitely don't write Crabb off as a heretic before you've done the work to milk these pages for their full benefit!

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (November 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307459500
• ISBN-13: 978-0307459503
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches

~I received this book free for review from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Full Body Scan? No thanks!

OK, when I arrived for my flight to Orlando this morning, I saw that the Full Body Scan (aka "Virtual Strip Search) has now apparently become the standard order of procedure for Richmond International Airport.  They only have ONE backscatter scanner, but everybody is expected to go through it unless they protest.  When I stepped up to the line, there was a lady patiently standing there.  I asked her if she was being made to wait because she had "opted out" of the virtual strip search.  She said, "Yes, I guess I have to wait because I have 'a choice'."  She was a first class frequent traveler and had been waiting 10 minutes for the exercise of her freedoms.  She was a bit frustrated, but was not going to be bullied into relinquishing her freedoms.  She was adamant about that fact.

I had the time to talk to her because I was also opting to exercise my constitutional freedoms from illegal search and siezure.  In fairness to TSA, I'll have to say that the guy who did my patdown was was sensitive to my rights.  When he commented that I'd probably done this many times, I said, "No, I used to be able to be screened without having to opt out of a virtual strip search."   He didn't react negatively to my comment and was quite professional in his conduct.

I told him that I was aware that he was just doing his job.  He said, "Let's just get you through here."  He scanned his gloves in advance to confirm that his gloves didn't create a "false positive" on the explosives test.  I joked that if his gloves failed, I'd have to screen him.  He didn't laugh out loud, but appreciated the humor.  (Wow!  That is a change from most of my previous interactions with TSA!)

I don't know if they've backed off on some of the "enhanced pat-down procedures" but the pat-down was not excessively invasive.  I've seen others go through the enhanced pat-down before and I don't feel that this one was as invasive as some that I've seen.  Maybe TSA is buckling a bit to our demands for our constitutional rights?  :-)  Read: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tsa-scanners-20110202,0,984304.story

I appreciate that TSA has some professional employees.  I appreciate that they seem to have eased up some on the enhanced pat-down.  However, none of this makes up for policies that play "fast-and-loose" with our constitutional rights to begin with.  I still contend that everyone who walked through the strip-search line this morning were denied their Constitutional right to protection from illegal search and seizure without probable cause.  The more we submit quietly to this erosion of our rights, the more the bureaucrats in charge of our "security" will sharpen their knives to whittle away yet more or our rights.

What is tolerance anyway?!

I've been thinking recently about the subject of "tolerance". Tolerance has become one of the buzzwords of our day. It has taken a few years but tolerance has morphed into a "whole new animal" from what it once meant.

In its original meaning, "tolerance" meant putting up with things that you didn't deem to be correct. In actuality, tolerance - by definition - requires that there be dissonance between the individual's preference and what is being "tolerated".

In today's rendition of the word you must approve of anything and everything or you are deemed intolerant. ...and intolerance is deemed the worst ill of our society. The worst ill, that is, if you are intolerant of certain things. (As I write this, a cross has been removed from federal lands – by apparent vandals – after a court case questioning the constitutionality of the cross, though it is not a religious symbol any more than the thousands of crosses in Arlington National Cemetery. Intolerance toward supposed religious symbols seems to be acceptable.)

Recently, in a men's group meeting I was facilitating, one of the guys chimed in on the topic of tolerance when I mentioned it. He said, "I know about tolerance because I was a machinist!" He went on to explain that from a machinist's point of view, tolerance is the amount of deviation from the assigned specification a part can be machined without it being rejected. The implication is that items outside of “tolerance” are rejected.

In the "good ole' days" tolerance was measured in 100ths of an inch. As long as you stayed within the acceptable range of tolerance the parts were acceptable. If your part fell outside the acceptable range, the part was rejected. So you see, tolerance is the line between acceptance and rejection, not the ability to accept anything and everything.

A machinist must be held to this standard for rather obvious reasons. In the world of machinery, parts must be a certain size and shape or the machine will not function properly. Imagine taking your car to your mechanic and he says, "I don't have the right part, but I can use this bolt and some paper clips and have you back on the road in no time!" Confident? I think not.

However, in our society, we have decided to toss out such standards in every sphere EXCEPT for machinery. We seem to think that we can suspend judgment (and logic) on all matters, tolerate ANYTHING and all will be well. Why do we think this will work in matters of morality, when we know it won't work in any other sphere?

When it comes to morality, we seem to think that the machinist can make the part anyway he chooses and when we try to run the mechanism all will be well. No need to measure, or to verify a good fit. We just dump in whatever we have, and expect that the society will flourish.

I do not advocate intolerance. I am simply saying that if we want to insist on tolerance, we must understand what tolerance actually is. If we want our society to work, we need to understand that there must be some design specification, and there must be a line between acceptance and rejection before we can ever begin to measure tolerance. “Everything goes” is not the order of the day for a tolerant society.

Book Review: 5 Cities that Ruled the World

5 Cities that Ruled the World
by Douglas Wilson

Belief, thought, self-rule, imagination and commerce; these are key elements that have lasting effect on human culture. Douglas Wilson has taken a unique perspective on the development of these themes and their ongoing effect on modern culture. In “5 Cities that Ruled the World”, Douglas Wilson views these significant elements through the lens of five individual cities.

While there are a multitude of cities that could be seen to have significant effect on modern culture and belief, Douglas Wilson has chosen five specific cities very specific reasons. This is an interesting book comparing and contrasting some of the most important cities in human history. By the time you’ve read through each city, you understand why he chose the cities that he did.

Jerusalem gave us the spirit. Athens gave us reason. Rome gave us love. London gave us literature. New York gave us industry and commerce.

Throughout the book, Wilson points out that these different places have given us the freedom to believe, to think, to rule ourselves, to imagine, and to make money. Along with these freedoms come bad, evil, and undesirable things, but in the long run the truth, the beautiful, and the good will be remembered.

The book was well-written and free from “insider” jargon. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in world history, or anyone interested in cultural trends and their roots. I found the book a pleasure to read and look forward to sharing it with my friends.

“5 Cities that Ruled the World”; each of these cities has good and bad points. Years later, we remember the good, and continue to learn from that good that emanates from these “Cities that Ruled the World”.

Prayer...a civil right?

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer here in the United States. It has been pretty much in the media of late, because of a few political situations surrounding the event. It is sad that a thing as simple as prayer has become a divisive political issue. Politics in the US has become such a polarized affair that just about anything can become a divisive issue.

One of the politically-charged issues that has netted significant attention is the fact that Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, was dis-invited to the National Day of Prayer observance at the Pentagon (HQ for the U.S. military) because of the objections of a Muslim activist group. Many are upset, believing that the rescinded invitation is bowing to a tiny minority, while offending the Christian majority in the U.S.

In another case, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb, of the District Court in Madison, Wisconsin ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. The "Freedom From Religion Foundation" filed the suit, saying that such an establishment of prayer was not legal. (It is interesting to note that their foundation's name is anti-constitutional, since the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of religion...not freedom FROM religion....)

Lately I've been thinking about some of these political issues and contrasting them with what Paul says in 1 Timothy 2. In 1 Timothy, Paul urges us to pray for our political leaders and all leaders. He goes on to say that the reason we should be praying is so that we can live peaceful and Godly lives. Further, he says that the reason we live Godly lives is so that others can come to know Jesus because God is not willing for ANY to live and die without knowing Jesus.

So...do we need a nationally recognized event, one day per year, to fulfill this urgent request from Paul? I say no. Is the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional? I say no. The bigger issue is that we are prone to spend so much energy on preserving our "constitutional rights" that we spend NO energy praying! This cannot be good!

I contend that open prayer - even on government property (gasp!) - is our constitutional right. When the president, a governor or any other public official begins to establish a "National Religion" they are crossing the line set out in the Constitution proscribing as unacceptable any "establishment of religion". The National Day of Prayer is not such an establishment. While I would argue that it is our constitutional right to pray, I would argue more loudly that we don't need the governments permission to pray. More that a Constitutional right, prayer is a God-given privilege paid for and provided by Jesus! I think we need to quite "fighting for our rights" and start praying.

I say don't wait for the National Day of Prayer to exercise your rights! Pray often. Pray every day. Shucks...go ahead....pray without ceasing! And while you're at it, pray for our government leaders. They are facing a lot of adversity and division. They need wisdom beyond their own ability. I know only one source for that wisdom...and prayer is the conduit!

...been thinking about humility...

I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about humility. Humility doesn't get a lot of press these days. It is a hidden attribute and definitely not something you see displayed very often.

I had an interesting interchange recently with one of the most arrogant people I've ever come across - or at least he used language to seem that way. After a couple of rounds of interaction in which he did all in his power to humiliate me and never answered a simple question I asked, I'd had enough. I wrote a couple of paragraphs in which I took a few sarcastic jabs and then proceeded to point out how juvenile he seemed in his use of words. I really wanted to help this guys see how he was coming across.

...and then it dawned on me. Was I really going to get through? Did my sarcastic jabs do anything to help me reach out to him? Did my references to "Jr. High" to describe his attitude have much chance of helping him get better? No, if I really wanted to reach out to him, I needed to respond in humility. It meant I had to do more than use self-deprecating humor. I had to express real humility to him.

In the end, it meant that I had to delete all the trash I had written - thank heaven I hadn't pressed "Send" yet! - and quietly express humility. I simply said, "You didn't answer my question yet :-)" and left it at that. It felt better than anything I had written to him before, and he hasn't responded to me yet.

Do I have a "right" to not be humiliated? No. (Surprise! Oprah probably never pointed that out to you!) I claim to follow Jesus Christ with my life. Look at a couple of things from the Bible about what we can expect if we actually follow Jesus:

Jesus said:
Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. (John 15:20)

Paul wrote:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Jesus did have the right to be exalted but he chose to humble himself. If I'm going to follow Him, I'll have to follow in His footsteps. (Not exactly the most profound thing I've ever written, I'll admit! But a profound concept nonetheless!)

How about you? How do you battle against humiliation and humility? I'd love to hear about your journey as well!

“You can’t trust anybody…”

I just got “nabbed” by America’s finest…the TSA. I forgot a bottle of water in my backpack. This water bottle has made the trip through numerous checkpoints, but always empty. This morning, I forgot to empty it.

Well…my water bottle became the proverbial “tip of the iceberg” for my TSA experience. Because I had a bottle of water, they “randomly” tested my bag for explosives…and it tested positive. Once the alarm was set off, one TSA “expert” patted me down while another did the “alarm positive” paperwork, while another checked through ONE of my bags thoroughly. (I have to ask – why didn’t they check BOTH bags of this suspected terrorist? After all, I WAS guilty of carrying a water bottle…)

I asked what types of things would cause a “false positive”. She said, “Heart medication or sometimes even hand cream.” I joked that I had heard a commentator say, “The LAST person that needs to be told they test positive is a heart patient.” (I though the implication was obvious…that the stress wouldn’t be good for a heart patient.) Her response? “Terrorists take heart medication too.”

Huh?! The BROKEN logic of that response is a good sign to me that she should be relieved of her role in screening passengers -- TODAY. Is it heart medication we are screening for here? I thought it was explosives we were guarding against, not prescription medication. Terrorists can have allergies too. Should we start screening for Claritin as well? (I confess…I had some in my bag. Arrest me now.)

The statement upset me was when she said, “You can’t trust anybody these days!” That statement is blatantly untrue. You can trust me. She stands at the checkpoint every day and sees evidence that the MAJORITY of the people passing through the airport can be trusted. (Except that you can’t trust certain conservative Christian guys to remember that they have a bottle of water in their backpack…)

TSA exists to protect the general traveling public against the VERY unlikely “bad guy” trying to get on the plane. I have traveled a lot, and I have never –to my knowledge – met anyone who turned out to be one of those bad guys. I would venture a guess that my “friend” at TSA this morning has never met one either. We can’t buy into the philosophy that “you can’t trust anybody”. If we do, the terrorist have won!

You’ve GOT to trust people. I am about to step onto a plane and TRUST a pilot I’ve never met, but I don’t plan to interview him or put him through a sobriety test. I left my vehicle in long-term parking in Washington, DC when I began this trip. I am trusting literally hundreds of people to leave it alone. And it works! You can trust MOST people for the basics in life. While I understand that TSA can’t just assume everybody is OK, I refuse buy into the philosophy that “you can’t trust anybody”.

Here is some interesting reading I found while I was writing this post.

Voluntarily "bumped"...

I write this sitting in a hotel in Erlanger, Kentucky. You may or may not know that I am the Board President for Mission Data International. I am on my return trip from a few days of board meetings in Siloam Springs, AR. The travel for this trip has be quite eventful.

When I went to Washington-Dulles Airport to begin this trip, I ran into traffic snags, construction and the lovely folks at TSA have also developed new and improved ways to hinder the flow of people through their checkpoints. I missed making my flight by 2-3 minutes. I didn't get onto the next flight because they changed the aircraft used on that flight...decreasing capacity by about 20 passengers.

This meant that I got diverted to Atlanta to make my connection. While I was waiting for my flight from Atlanta to Arkansas, they were asking for volunteers to be "bumped" for $400 "Delta Bucks". I was wishing I could volunteer, but had to make my meetings. I arrived about 5 or 6 hours later than planned, but we were able to flex and get all of our business taken care of. When I again had the option to volunteer on my flight to Washington, DC tonight, it seemed like a great idea. I get a good night's rest, and a fresh start tomorrow, instead of arriving home at 1 am. The family won't miss me too much because they would have been in bed when I arrived anyway. Win-win.

My next trip will be on Delta's "nickel". I probably won't use the whole credit on a single flight either... I'll take the $400 Delta! Thanks for the nice room too. :-) Think I'll go down to the Jacuzzi for a while now... :-)

Flat tire(s)

I was thinking the other day..."Boy, I haven't had a flat tire or a signficiant breakdown with the car in ages!"

When's the last time you had a flat? I can't recall a time in recent years where I had to stop on the side of the road and put on the spare tire. About 6 months ago, I had a flat in my parents' driveway and just fixed it right there and used their air compressor to pump it back up. Other than that, it has been a long time since I've had a flat!

On Saturday, we were in town and I noticed a distinct "thump-thump-thump" sound as we were driving. I stopped and checked my tires. One was low, but I couldn't find the source of the thump. I pulled into a restaurant parking lot and used my handy-dandy portable compressor to pump it back up and we were on our way. Later the thumping stopped too... Hmmm....

Sunday morning, I got up and looked out to see a FLAT tire on my truck! Changed the spare and we were on time for church. "Phew. Glad that is over with," I thought.

Monday, I took it to my mechanic/friend/cousin and he said he'd fix it that day. I went and did a couple more things in town and came out from one of the stores to find....guess what....? ANOTHER FLAT TIRE! This time, I saw the outline of the large head of a "cap nail" used for roofing. The nail was gone, but so was the air from my tire.

Haul out the trusty compressor again. Say a prayer of thanks that I am in a big parking lot that has a parts store just a few paces away. Hook up the compressor and go buy a kit to repair the hole. I was back on the road in about 20 minutes.

Because the spare was already on the truck, this could have been much worse! I could have been standing on the side of the road with no spare... I am thankful to God for his oversight and protection in my life. ...even if I did have two flats in two days! :-)

"Happy Holidays" means more than it used to...

I remember "back in the good ole' days" when you went to the Post Office to buy stamps and found that you had to choose between several Christmas designs. I went to the Post Office yesterday and found a whole new dilemna. There was a poster with SIX options for "Winter Holiday" stamps!

On closer inspection, I found that the first choice was....well, exactly that...a "Winter Holidays" collection. You know...gingerbread man, snowman, candy cane...just "winter" stuff. That one gets TOP BILLING. The lady in front of me was making her displeasure known to the guy in front of her..."So Christmas is SECOND now, is it?! We've got to get Christ back into Christmas!"

Well, needless to say, she got my attention. I look more closely at the poster... OK....what is on the menu this season? You've got your "Winter Holidays" collection, you've got your "Madonna and Child" stamp, you've got Hannukah stamps...the EVER popular KWANZA stamp and...what's that one? EID?? That writing looks Arabic.... Hmmm....

By now, the TWO people in front of me were quite animated in our discussion of EID as a holiday. Trust me...in downtown Louisa, VA there won't be a particularly large demand for EID stamps. I won't mention the name of the USPS employee behind the counter who let me know they didn't like it either!

I did some research on EID and I learned that it is the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. ...and now, of course, it is a nationally celebrated "Winter Holiday" since the USPS deems it worthy of a stamp. In the year 2009, EID falls on September 21st. A "Winter Holiday??" In 2013, it will fall on the 8th of August. Hmmm...will it be a "Winter Holiday" stamp then?! How many Muslims will be buying EID stamps in December to celebrate the end of their fast that took place in August or September?! Could the USPS do anything more ludicrous? I guess maybe it makes sense to them....but it is totally lost on me.

I really can't wait until 2015 when EID falls on July 15th. I guess we'll have stamps with EID commemoration on them instead of flags, to celebrate the month of July. That red, white & blue, stripey....starry cloth thingy our ancestors died to honor will be totally out of vogue as a sign of old-school nationalism by then. We're far too inclusive to honor a nationalistic symbol that way any more!

(Edit: It dawned on me this morning that we have made the transition from "tolerance" to "inclusive". The USPS had to stretch to find a way include the Islamic community in this festive season, so they chose EID as their option.)

(I hope you can read my cynicism and still get my meaning. I am really bothered that the USPS is honoring a Muslim holiday on a stamp.)

Book Review: "What difference do it make?"

Book Review: What Difference Do It Make?
By Ron Hall, Denver More, and Lynn Vincent

Contrary to popular opinion, one life does make a difference. The choices you make will make a difference in your world. That is the core message of "What difference do it make?", the new book by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.

Ron is a white elite Art Dealer and Denver is a black man who was homeless until Ron's wife Deborah decided to make a difference. Their first book "Same Kid of Different as Me" is about the choice that Deborah made to make a difference in the sphere of homelessness in her city. Deborah later died of cancer. This, their second book, is about the difference that Deborah's life made and is continuing to make in the lives of people all across the United States.

The chapters of the book each trace a thread of change that came about as a result of Deborah's life, and - perhaps more importantly - the book that chronicled her choices. While the book is about the effect of one life on the homelessness surrounding her, the more important lesson to be learned is that you CAN make a difference in your world. Each chapter follows the story of someone who was touched by "Same Kind of Different as Me" and how they were changed. It further goes on to tell how that individual chose to make a difference in their world as a result of reading the book.

While there are a few elements of the book that cause me to question individual choices of the people being chronicled, I found the book to be very motivational. Most people I know are moved by the plight of the homeless, but are paralyzed by ignorance. They are plagued by questions about what to do and what not to do in order to bless people and help them.

Denver give a new definition to "blessing" and helping". He says that you "bless" someone by giving them a gift that tells them they still matter in the world. He says that you help someone by stepping down into the pit with them and staying long enough to give them a boost so they can climb out. He would approve of either action as a Godly response to homelessness.

One of the things that struck me as among the most remarkable comments in the book was about "blessing". Denver says that you cannot bless someone and judge them at the same time. He says that you must give your gift to God as you hand it to a homeless person. You can't focus on blessing them if you insist on judging how they might use your gift.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "What difference do it make?" and would recommend it to just about everyone. I wouldn't say that it will answer all your questions about homelessness and how you should respond. However, it will give you some simple pointers on some things to NOT do, and some ideas on how to begin. Get a copy and read it. I don't think you'll regret it! You definitely won't look at homelessness the same way afterward.

Book Review: The Gifts of the Jews

Book Review
"The Gifts of the Jews"
How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels
by: Thomas Cahill
ISBN 0-385-48249-3
Paperback, $14.95
Nan A. Talese/Anchor Books


I bought a copy of "The Gifts of the Jews" because a professor highly recommended it as a moving tribute to the Jewish people. Based on who recommended the book, I expected the book to be respectful of the Biblical record, but I soon found that it wasn't what I expected.

Cahill opens the book with a graphic verbal depiction of the nature of worship and the attitude towards gods in the people and culture in the Fertile Crescent prior to Abram's arrival on the scene. He does a good job of comparing various early literature to discern the difference between various forms of belief, and attitudes toward local deities at the time. He spends more time than I thought was warranted giving a graphic description of the sensual worship rituals of the ziggurats with their priestesses - making his book seem more like a paperback romance than a respectable work of historical research.

As you can tell by now, I was not overly ecstatic about Cahill's presentation of the roots of the Hebrew people. However, what I did appreciate was the credence he gave to the idea of Abraham's belief in his personal covenant God. The "evolution" of the belief in a god that Cahill outlines is a decent perspective to read, in order to understand how Abraham's neighbors would have viewed his insistence on belief in a personal Creator God.

At times, you would almost believe that Cahill was a believer. He seems at times, to have great respect for God. However, he shows no great appreciation for the Biblical record, and thereby blows his "cover" in my mind. This man is no believer. He honors his own intellect above any idea of God.

Cahill lost all credibility with me when he said:

It is no longer possible to believe that every word of the Bible was inspired by God. Fundamentalists still do, but they keep usp such self-delusion only by scrupulously avoiding all forms of scientific inquiry. They must also maintain a tight reign on their own senses, for, even without access to modern biblical criticism, any reader might wonder at the patchwork nature of the scriptures, their conflicting norms and judgements, outright contradictions, and bald errors. But even without resorting to modern scientific methodology or noticing what an inconsistent palimpsest the Hebrew Bible can be, we must reject certain parts of the Bible as unworthy of a God we would be willing to believe in.

When you strip away the camoflague, you see that Thomas Cahill, not God, is the final arbiter. God must be judged by the almight Thomas Cahill. The phrase "a God we would be willing to believe in" implies that we are the final judge of all that is right or wrong.

If God is God, then I do not have the right to set standards for Him. I cannot set a certain standard for God and only believe in Him if He performs to a level that meets my satisfaction! If I am the final judge...then I am God. If I am God, then I can cease my search for Him. I have already found him in the mirror!

While Mr. Cahill is a masterful writer, I cannot recommend this book for anyone who truly desires to honor God, or the Biblical record of His work among His people. I can only recommend it to anyone who seeks to have more fuel to fire their belief in "the almighty in the mirror."

All others....move along...there's noting to see here.

Princess Perils for Vanessa Hudgens

I don't usually pay attention to the scandals that the mass media produce. This time I have to say something. I saw on Twitter a couple of days ago that Vanessa Hudgens was a "trending topic". Trending Topics on Twitter give you an idea of what the users of Twitter are talking about. Sometimes, it is nothing at all, but when a star's name begins to appear, there is usually an event in that person's life that people are talking about and thus the trending topic.

I followed the trending topic to see what the conversation was about and learned that Princess Vanessa has yet another set of risque photos making the rounds of the internet. This happened in 2007, and she promptly apologized for her mistake. It was handily dealt with as a lapse of judgement and Disney didn't even bother slapping her wrist.

From what I've read, Hudgens' lawyers are saying that the new set of photos are from before the first set surfaced on the net. (As if that makes it all better?) The scandals and the reactions of the people around them say a lot about our attitudes toward purity and standards of behavior! It begs the question, "Why?!" Why would she take the pictures? Why would she show anybody else? Why can't Disney react with anything more like guidance? Why is she still a role-model for tweenies?!

I wanted to comment briefly on the "Why did she do it?" question here today. Vanessa Hudgens started acting when she was 8. I am not saying that 8 year olds should not act. I am saying, though, that it is the job of an eight-year-old's parents to keep them grounded in reality. At some point, it became more and more important that Hudgens follow acting. That is when the grounding in reality starts to become more and more important.

I have a lovely 13-year old daughter. She has always been the apple of our eye. From her early days, we have praised her for her intelligence and personality. I never wanted to see her develop the attitude that being pretty is the final measure of a human being. If we are not careful, that is the message we send to kids, and I wonder if that isn't the message that Vanessa Hudgens began to get.

Disney liked her. Zach Efron liked her. The cameras were always rolling. Was that enough? Maybe just a little experiment with the cameraphone. It is a private matter. Nobody will know. *POOF!* Innocence gone.

On the first occasion of pictures finding their way onto the net, her lawyers expressed dismay that a "private matter" was making it into the public arena. Who could control such things?! Well....Vanessa could've controlled the matter. She could have not taken the pictures.

Once upon a time, you had to take pictures on film. You had to have the film developed. You knew that someone handled the photos, and would see them. Now, we think we can take risks that aren't really necessary because, "Nobody will know." Ask Vanessa Hudgens if anybody knows about the photos she took in private.

I am writing this post for parents. Teach your kids values that will keep some degree of purity as a characteristic of their lives! If anybody has a problem with that word "purity" showing up multiple times in this post...then we really ARE in trouble!

Book Review: DEATH by Meeting

I have decided to try to do a review of the books I read, so you can get a preview of some of the things I read. I hope you find this useful. I will start with a book I just finished, and in a couple of days, I will do a review of a book I finished about a week ago. "DEATH by Meeting", I really enjoyed and think it will be a very useful book to anyone who has to run meetings in their work. The next book I review will be one I loved to hate for most of my reading of it. :-)

"DEATH by Meeting" is by Patrick Lencioni, and is written in the form of a "fable" to teach a new concept. For that reason, it is actually a pretty light read. If you are one who skips to the end to decide if they will like the book or not, you will get a complete misconception, since Lencioni recaps some of the key concepts taught by the fable in a couple of chapters at the end.

I won't steal any thunder from the book by telling any more details that to say that Lencioni advocates through the story, the idea of doing your meeting "on purpose". Don't expect one kind of meeting to be a "one-size-fits-all" affair. Conflict, drama and context are your friends in getting vital information onto the table in your meetings.

Lencioni's protagonist in the fable gets the executives to understand that the first 10 minutes of any meeting, like in a movie, will set the stage for the rest of the movie, and will probably determine whether people are engaged or bored by the rest of the piece. Meetings are no different.

The idea of doing meetings in varied ways to match the topic and purpose should NOT be news to any of us, but the fact is that in MOST organizations, a meeting is a meeting is a meeting. They are all the same and most of the participants would give their left arm to have an acceptable excuse to miss the meeting. Lencioni crafts a wonderful story to help executives grapple with some concepts that will help protect their organization from "DEATH by Meeting". I would encourage anyone who needs to run meetings in their role in their organization to read this book and implement as much as possible. It is a good read and makes some excellent points!

As a final point, I would say that my wife commented on the speed with which I finished this book... I usually plod carefully through non-fiction to make sure I get the point. Since Lencioni wrote this like a well-lubed work of fiction, I flew through it and couldn't get enough! :-)

Flag Burning in Virginia!!

This post was pre-written and I waited until I received Erika's permission before posting it, out of respect for her journey.

Americans have traditionally held a high degree of respect for the flag. It is not, as my daughter lamented recently, "just a piece of cloth". In her defense, I have to remind you that she has only lived as anything other than a visitor in the US for about 18 months. You've got to remember that she is culturally more Australian than she is American. We moved to Australia when she was 3 years old and left Oz when she was nearly 12 years old. Perhaps to the same degree that Americans are overly patriotic, Australians struggle to have a national identity at times. I think Erika is working through the struggles of trying to bridge BOTH of those mindsets!

Yesterday, we visited a camp owned by the Woodmen of the World Insurance Company, during a "Family Fun Day". Evan is going to go to a week of camp there with a buddy from church, so we wanted to check it out. Woodmen of the World is a fairly conservative, VERY patriotic company, so part of the event was an official retirement ceremony for a flag that had become old and tattered.

For those that may be unfamiliar with the etiquette surrounding the US flag, it is pretty specific. At no point is the flag supposed to touch the ground. There are specific ways that the flag may and may not be displayed. An upside-down flag is a sign of distress and a request for assistance. One way that etiquette is commonly transgressed of late is that a flag is not supposed to be made into an article of clothing. And perhaps more important, a tattered, faded flag is to be retired and should not continue to be displayed. ...and there is a very intricate, specific way for the flag to be retired.

I never knew what a flag retirement ceremony was like. I found it so intriguing that I thought I'd write about it here for your interest and enlightenment. The retirement ceremony we observed was carried out by U.S. Army personnel. The first thing that was done in the retirement ceremony was that the field of stars was removed by cutting it out, intact with scissors. This field was then folded and placed in the hand of one of the soldiers holding the flag. With this done, they proceeded to cut out each of the red and white stripes, folding them in half and draping them over the soldier's arm. When the process was complete, they burned the stripes, in groups of 2 or 3 and then, after a kiss by the soldier who was holding the pieces to the field of stars, it too was burned.

It is meaningful that the field of stars never gets cut into pieces. I think it represents unity of the 50 states of the Union that is the United States of America. Each of the 13 stripes of the flag represents one of the original colonies of the birth process of our union. They chose INDIVIDUALLY to become a part of the Union. (These are my personal commentary, and not the official "dogma" of the Flag Retirement Ceremony.)

On the way home, Erika asked why there was such reverence given to the flag. She felt that maybe they were giving a level of reverence to a "piece of cloth" that should be reserved only for God. I hope we did a good enough job of being sensitive to the journey she is on, and also challenging her to think beyond the symbol and reflect on the importance of the object of the symbolism. I found it very moving to spend the amount of effort that was spent to honor a symbol of our unity and a symbol of the freedoms that were bought with the price of much blood and many lives. If you have a chance to attend a Flag Retirement Ceremony, I highly encourage you to do so.

RANT: TSA and Level Orange

Note: This blog post was originally written several weeks ago while I was on a plane, but the sentiment hasn’t changed much since I wrote it.

If you have ever talked to me about travel, you know that I don't really like the TSA much. Understand me, though - I am very happy to be secure. I do not want a repeat of the events of September 11, 2001! However, the aspect that frustrates me is the willingness our government has to pay whatever expense to set up this vast bureaucracy whether the policies are effective or not.

I am writing this on an Airtran flight from Richmond, VA to Atlanta, GA. At the "sleepy" little airport in Richmond, I showed my photo ID to prove that I was the person who was ticketed to fly on this flight. They I submitted all my articles I was carrying to be inspected and walked through a metal detector. OK. I think we're safe now.

When I got to my gate lounge, I noticed 3 TSA personnel standing around...waiting. "Oh now," I thought, "why are they here?" Well, everyone who was at that gate lounge had just walked through the same procedures I had undergone and were sufficiently screened 30 minutes earlier or they couldn't be there. Two of the agents checked all the IDs of people again as they got on the plane. One just stood and watched. I turned to a fellow traveller and said, "Your tax dollars at work!" :-)

If one security screening is not sufficient, will another make us any more secure? We have air marshals aboard most airline flights these days. Maybe we should have a TSA person on flights to check IDs enroute as well?

We are on Orange Alert in the United States, and have been since August 10, 2006 without any specific threats indicated to justify the heightened level of “alert”. In reality, I think we are not all that alert anyway. Remaining on such high levels of “alert” for extended periods tends to fatigue the system.

Does it occur to anyone else that maybe we have let fear rule the day, and in a small way the terrorist are winning? Again, I am glad that we haven't experienced any further attacks, and some have been thwarted. I just doubt that we have to surrender ALL of our freedoms to live in security. I for one would like to see us go back to at least Alert LEVEL YELLOW unless there is some actual threat that justifies the current heightened level of alert.

Postlogue: Funny reminder when I had dinner in the airport in Atlanta and was given a metal fork and a plastic knife. I feel more secure now since I can’t stab my steak with a metal knife. :-)

Unfaithful Blogger

I just looked at my archives and realized that I have not been particularly faithful to blogging for the last few months. It can get tricky sometimes keeping track of all the options for communication. Some of the options are so similar, I sometimes blur the lines a bit.

Let's see....there's Twitter, there's Facebook, there's my blog, there's e-mail updates, there's Skype...the list seems endless. Each serves its purpose, but at times I think there might be just too many options. Each comes with its own set of expectations, and something has to give. Hmm...did I mention face-to-face communication, telephones, letters...etc...? I think that is probably what suffers. As we develop the habits of virtual communication, we need to make sure we retain the connections that I like to call "analog" (as opposed to digital).

Do you ever struggle to keep up with your communication? What do you do to keep the tensions in check?

Encounter on a plane

I flew to Orlando Sunday evening. Most of my trips, I am able to get a non-stop flight, but in this instance, I had to fly via Atlanta. If you know anything about Atlanta airport, you know it is a nice airport, but still not a place you want to go if you don't have to.

There had been some storms earlier in the day and I counted about 40 airplanes waiting to take off on two of the runways as we landed. When an airport as busy as Atlanta has storm issue, it can have a real "domino effect" and mess up your plans. Sunday was no exception.

When I arrived in Atlanta, I made a neat connection with a family that had been on my incoming flight. We looked at the monitor and found that our flight to Orlando was delayed by 2 1/2 hours. Not good news. We looked into what options might exist, but gave up and went our separate ways to get some dinner.

When I came back from dinner, I went to customer service and learned that I could get a slightly earlier flight, so I booked on it. I got a seat near the front, and ended up between a friendly off-duty flight attendant going home, and another weary traveller bound for Orlando.

I had one chapter left to read in "The Shack" so I pulled it out to finish it. When the "weary traveler" next to me saw it, she said, "Hey! My mom gave me a copy of that book this weekend! What is it like?" From what I had discerned from conversations to that point, I sensed she probably wasn't an active follower of Jesus. I was glad she had been given a copy of the book. I told her it was a book to stimulate your thinking about God and what He is like. "Oh, I think about that often already..."

After some mental wrestling with myself, I pulled out my card at the end of the flight to give it to her and she said, "Oh! I'm glad for that...I was going to ask you for one!" We agreed to talk after she had read the book. I look forward to seeing where our conversations go.

I find that, in air travel, there are those who want to chat, and those who want to be left alone. Have you ever had a meaningful on a plane trip? I'd love to hear about it!

Obama, ideology and life...

President Barack Hussein Obama signed an executive order lifting restrictions on Embryonic Stem Cell Research. It has been interesting to read the media's descriptions of the event. The National Post put it this way:

To wild applause from several scientists, including three Nobel laureates, researchers, people in wheelchairs and members of Congress, Mr. Obama signed an executive order reversing a decision made by president George W. Bush that restricted federal research funding to only stem cell lines that existed before Aug. 9, 2001. Mr. Obama said the policy was driven by ideology and not science.

But there was fierce criticism from social conservatives and right-to-life groups. U. S. Catholic Cardinal Justin Rigali called Mr. Obama's announcement "a sad victory of politics over science and ethics."

Both sides see this as a very black and white issue. Most of the media tend to use words that make it appear that embryonic stem cell research was illegal in the United States prior to this executive order. Mr. Obama took advantage of the opportunity to proclaim that ideology can no longer trump science.

On January 23rd, just 3 days after his inauguration as President, Mr. Obama quietly removed a ban on U.S. Federal funds being used to fund international aid for organizations that fund abortions in developing nations. It must have been a high priority for him to take this step so early in his Presidency.

No, these decisions do not end and era where "ideology trumps science". They herald the beginning of a new era of ideology trumping all things. (It ceases to amaze me that during times of such economic difficulty, Mr. Obama's budget included over 600 billion dollars for a "downpayment" on Universal Healthcare!) The real question for me is this: "When did ideology become bad?" I don't like the idea of someone's will being imposed upon the people, but I feel like that is what is happening NOW, during this period when supposedly ideology is not a trump card!

I have an ideology. It isn't my own. It was written for me and "imposed" on me by the will of Another. Have a read. I take refuge in THIS ideology!

Psalm 2

1) Why do the nations conspireand the peoples plot in vain?
(2) The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.
(3) Let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their fetters.

(4) The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
(5) Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
(6) I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.

(7) I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, You are my Son; today I have become your Father.
(8) Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
(9) You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.

(10) Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
(11) Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.
(12) Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

It would be easy to be taken up with all kinds of irritation and frustration and I admit I am prone to that! It is a healing balm to stop and remember that God is still on the throne! He may allow us to trounce around on the stage for a time, but He is still in charge and will have His say. Count on it!

How about you? Do you tend to get taken in and begin to "fret" (a good King James word that my grandmother used to use. grin) when you see the things that take place in the world around you? Fret not! God is still on His throne!