Hope for the Future: A Book Review

As a "professional" Christian - I'm a youth pastor by trade - I read many articles with interest about the decline of American Christianity. I read how the numbers of people who claim to be Christians are in decline, how those who claim to be Christian are actually embracing theologies that are not in line with orthodox Christianity, and how the American church is largely viewed as irrelevant, or worse, condemning of the culture we find ourselves in. Needless to say, these statistics and articles are alarming. But, Gabe Lyons presents a convincing argument that there is a new wave of Christians who are working to restore our culture in his latest book, The Next Christians.

I received this book free through Waterbrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program, and am really glad I chose it. I was encouraged to read about individuals and churches who are not separating themselves from culture (think Amish or the ghetto of 'Christian' music) nor immersing themselves in it (think people who try so hard to blend in to culture that the distinctiveness of the Gospel is nowhere to be found); instead, they are restoring the culture. They see the inherent beauty in God's creation that has been hidden and marred as a result of the Fall, and are working to reclaim that beauty instead of, as some would choose to do, sitting around and waiting until God fixes it all. These individuals take many shapes: a woman who starts a entrepreneur mentorship with hardened prisoners; a man who started an organization to free people from slavery and injustice after witnessing the horrific genocide in Rwanda; a man who started a website and organization to free people from slavery to pornography and the adult film industry; a man who had been a huge influencer in the New York nightlife scene, whose heart was broken on a humanitarian trip, who now finds himself influencing people to help provide clean water to the people in the world who don't have it; and many more.

The stories in this book were enlightening, uplifting, and challenging. I found myself questioning why I do certain things in ministry. Am I doing them to restore culture, or to make me or the ministry I lead look good? I also found challenging the characteristics Lyons lists as being the cornerstones of these Next Christians (provoked, creators, called, grounded, in community, and countercultural). I know that if these are what sets them apart, I have some work to do.

If you are a Christian wondering about the future of Christianity, read this book. I think it will encourage you. And if you are not a Christian and skeptical about what Christians are all about because of something you have experienced at the hands of Christians, read this book. I think your opinion of Christians may find itself on an upswing.

Book Review: Under the Overpass

As I type this review, my kids are watching Diego on a flatscreen TV, I have a cup of coffee by my side, I am sitting in my recliner in my climate-controlled house, and my belly is quite full. The reality is that every day, thousands of people in every major city would give anything for these luxuries. Right now, they are outside, trying to find shelter from the cold rain that is pelting my windows. This is the plight of the homeless and the genesis for the writing of Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski.

Mike was a student at a Christian college when a sermon at church challenged him to examine whether or not he was the Christian he said he was. As he mulled over what that meant for him, he wondered how he would react if he put his comfortable life aside to live "alongside of those who live with nothing every day." That spurred an idea in his spirit to become voluntarily homeless to experience what they experience every day, and hopefully increase his heart for the homeless. After discussing his plan with trusted people and loved ones, and after finding a traveling companion, he set off on his five-month journey.

The book follows his - for lack of a better word - adventure through six major American cities: Denver, Washington DC, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, and San Diego. In each of the cities, the reader is exposed to the real life struggles that every homeless individual experiences: Where will I eat? Where will I sleep? Am I safe here? How can I get warm? How can I get cooled off? Where will I go to the bathroom? and so on. I have been on numerous mission trips and have worked with lots of homeless individuals, but this book painted their struggles in a completely new light. I have a new appreciation for the hardships with which they daily have to deal. But perhaps the biggest struggle that stood out to me in this book was the relational one. You read first-hand how the homeless are prejudiced against, talked down to, yelled at, and treated like dirt, and this sometimes by 'Christian' people. In a Q&A with the author at the end of the book, Mike writes, "By far the hardest aspect was the lack of strong relationships." Comments like these will help me be more conscious of how I treat the homeless when I encounter them. They are, after all, people created in God's image, just like any other.

I really enjoyed this book, if you can enjoy reading about someone's struggles on the street. It opened my eyes even further to the struggles of the homeless, and I had a hard time putting it down each night. But perhaps the best review I can give it is that I am different as a result of its reading.

This book was originally written five years ago, and this is an updated an expanded edition, including an epilogue to the updated edition and a Q&A with the author. It was cool to read how the experience had changed the course to the author's life, as he is now living in community with others who are homeless and doing life with them. The publisher, Waterbrook Multnomah, now offers an Under the Overpass action plan for Christmas, which you can access here. If you would like to read the first chapter (which I would highly recommend!), you can do so here. Once you do so, chances are good that you will end up buying the book, so be prepared...

Flash Mob Beauty

These are probably my two favorite flash mob videos. If you are unfamiliar with what a flash mob is, first of all, where have you been? These things have been quite popular over the last several years. Second, according to the Urban Dictionary, a flash mob is A group of people who are organised via various mass communications to come together at a specified place and time, perform some (typically whimsical) action, then disperse.

The reason why I love these two is because they amount to random acts of beauty. God is all about beauty. Look at the world He created. Look at a newborn baby. Look at a sunset. Look at images from the Hubble telescope. You can't do any of those and argue that God doesn't like beauty. And when I see things like this, I see God's creative work in the world to make it a more beautiful place, and that's never a bad thing. How cool would it have been to be in this food court / department store and randomly experience the beauty of one of the greatest works of art ever? I don't care how bad of a day you may have been having; it would have been better after this. That's what beauty does: it inspires, uplifts, and encourages.

The question for today i: What are you - and I - doing to bring beauty into the world and the lives of others?

LeBron's Return

I proudly wore my Cleveland Cavaliers t-shirt on Thursday in preparation for LeBron James' return to Cleveland after making The Decision on July 8th, when he jetted Cleveland and took his talents to South Beach. I didn't think the Cavs would actually win the game, but was hopeful that they would have a good showing, which they didn't. When I saw the Cavs line-up and some of the players who came off of the bench, my thought was, "Who are these guys?" Many of them weren't even on the team last year. An it wasn't a matter of Cleveland picking up some high-price free agents; these were the only scrubs they could pick up after James made his decision so late in the game. It was not a lot of fun to watch.

I had at least one friend ask me, and a few others menton on Facebook, that they didn't understand what the big deal was. These people are clearly not sports fans, especially ones of Cleveland sports teams. When you become a sports fan - especially when you are raised as one, like I was - part of your civic pride, part of your identity is wrapped up in those teams. Those are not just sports teams; they are YOUR teams. So when someone pulls something like LeBron did, it's not simply a business decision, as he claims. It's personal.

And the bigger problem with LeBron's leaving is that he did it to Cleveland. I have been a Cleveland sports fan for 41 years now, and am still waiting for one of my team to win a championship. The last major sports team to win anything was the Browns in 1964 - that's pre-Super Bowl, for you uninitiated. So when LeBron came along, Cleveland felt like, "Finally! Someone is going to do it!" Especially since he said that his goal was to bring a championship to Cleveland, and wasn't going to leave until he did it. The way he did it was pretty unclassy, too, on national TV. If you're going to go, OK; don't rub it in our faces. And it was an even bigger deal after all we had gone through:

• Red Right 88
• The Drive
• The Fumble
• The Shot (I was actually at that game)
• The Departure
• Jose Mesa and Charles Nagy
• And now, The Decision

That's a lot of heartbreak for one city to have to deal with. Time and time again, our city had been beaten up in the sports world, and just when it looked like we were pulling ourselves up off of the canvas to fight again, we get blindsided. So was it just a guy choosing to go to another team as a free agent? Yes. But it is so much more to those of us who love Cleveland sports. It's one more chapter of frustration in the book of Cleveland sports. It will not be quickly forgotten, if ever. Art Modell can't really come back to Cleveland after having moved the Browns in the early 90's because he is not welcome; James will likely get the same kind of treatment for the rest of his career...

For a really good read about Cleveland and the effect The Decision has had, check out this article by Wright Thompson at ESPN.com...

Why I am thankful...

In honor of Thanksgiving, here are 100 things I am thankful for. These are not the top 100, nor are they in order; just 100 things I appreciate. It sure has been fun thinking about the blessings in my life. I really should do that more often:

1. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus

2. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit

3. The creativity, character, and love of the Father

4. My amazing wife, who also happens to be smokin' hot

5. My kids, who never stop being awesome

6. My job/ministry/calling

7. Cleveland, OH

8. My house

9. Attie

10. Satellite TV and DVR

11. Computers / the Internet

12. My overall health

13. Chocolate

14. My extended family (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.)

15. My two parents who are both now sober

16. Books

17. The Apple Corporation and all of their products

18. The Cleveland Browns

19. The Ohio State Buckeyes

20. The Cleveland Indians

21. The Cleveland Cavaliers

22. The Kent State Golden Flashes

23. My '95 Honda Civic

24. La Croix UMC

25. Church of the Open Door

26. Pastors I enjoy listening to and being challenged by (Rob Bell, Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Matt Chandler, Steven Furtick, etc.)

27. Podcasts I enjoy listening to (This American Life, Wait! Wait!, etc.)

28. Music I enjoy listening to (Phil Wickham, U2, David Crowder, Mute Math, Paper Route, Gungor, John Mark McMillan, Hillsong United, etc.)

29. The ability to hear

30. YouTube

31. Certain authors (Brennan Manning, Mark Batterson, Malcolm Gladwell, Douglas Adams, Bill Bryson, and Harper Lee to name a few)

32. Central heating and AC

33. Microwave technology

34. Soap

35. Toothpaste and toothbrushes

36. The Bible

37. The unique gift set and personality that God has given me

38. My brother and his family

39. Good friends

40. Good food (BBQ, steak and potatoes, Italian, etc.)

41. Donuts

42. The number 42

43. Ice cream

44. Teenagers who impress me with their faith and life

45. TV shows I have liked (Lost, Prison Break, Seinfeld, Sledgehammer, Captain Kangaroo, Sports Night, etc.)

46. Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots

47. Rain (as I type this, it is pouring outside)

48. Retreats and mission trips with youth

49. The privilege of being a part of what God is doing in the world

50. Cut and paste

51. Snow

52. The sun

53. Camping in the backyard with my kids

54. Date nights with my wife

55. Talking sports with my dad

56. Flying

57. Continuing ed trips

58. Holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter

59. Martin Luther King, Jr.

60. The people I work with

61. Memory foam

62. Playa del Carmen, Mexico

63. The sound of rain on my roof

64. The sound of my kids when I tickle them

65. The way my kids greet me when I come home

66. Movies (among my favorites: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Evil Dead 2, and To Kill a Mockingbird)

67. My small group

68. My early-morning senior high small group

69. Talking to my mom on the phone

70. My education: Waldo Elementary, River Valley JHS, Open Door Christian School, LCCC, BGSU, Kent State, and Asbury Seminary)

71. My wife's family

72. Deep-dish pizza

73. Sleep

74. Zombies and their movies

75. Big cities: Chicago, NYC, Washington DC, et al.

76. Small towns: Wilmore

77. Medical technology

78. Fire: fire pits, gas fireplaces, and bonfires

79. Bill Watteron and Berkeley Breathed

80. Funny and sweet things my kids say

81. Sports: football, basketball, baseball and soccer

82. Facebook

83. One sale a day websites (even though I rarely buy anything from them)

84. Parades

85. Fantasy football

86. PBJ sandwiches

87. Satellite TV

88. Eyeglasses

89. 'Duty'

90. Opposable thumbs

91. The X Games

92. The ability to read and comprehend

93. August 19th

94. Pain, because it helps me better appreciate non-pain

95. Washer and dryer

96. Coffee, Dr. Pepper, and Jones Cream Soda

97. Water

98. The moon and stars

99. Opportunities and the ability to preach

100. Encouraging words 

Fantasy Football Draft 2010

As promised, here is my fantasy football draft for 2010:

1. Steven Jackson - RB - St. Louis
2. Miles Austin - WR - Dallas
3. Cedric Benson - RB - Cincinnati
4. Greg Jennings - WR - Green Bay
5. Brent Celek - TE - Philadelphia
6. Ronnie Brown - RB - Miami
7. Jay Cutler - QB - Chicago
8. Dwayne Bowe - WR - KC
9. Ricky Williams - RB - Miami
10. Devin Aromashodu - WR - Chicago
11. San Francisco - D/ST
12. Ryan Longwell - K - Philadelphia
13. Steve Smith - WR - New York Giants (keeper from last season)

I'm pretty please with it. Your thoughts?

New Nike Ad with Tiger

I saw this latest ad from Nike featuring Tiger Woods and the voice of his deceased father. Frankly, I was appalled. This is in horrible taste to sell a few golf clubs and shirts. Did I mention that his dad is dead, and they are using his voice in an ad? Shame on you, Nike! And Tiger, after all of the poor decisions you have made recently, was there no part of you that said, "Hmmm, maybe this one isn't a great idea."? Guess not.

Life / Leadership Lessons from Prison

As I plow through the Bible in 2010, I hit Genesis 39-42 yesterday. This passage is about Joseph is prison after being falsely accused of hitting on Potiphar's wife, and his release from prison after Pharaoh finds out that he can interpret dreams. Some lessons that I think apply to leadership and life in general seemed to leap off the page at me. Rather than keeping them to myself, I thought I would share them in case one or two others of you can benefit:

Don't Let Circumstances Define You

Joseph was in prison. We are not told how long he was in there, but it's probably safe to assume it wasn't an overnight stay. He was put there after being a pretty important guy in Egypt. He could have let the experience sour him to life and embittered him toward God, but he didn't let that happen. He continued to follow after God and be faithful to him. We will experience hurts in life; while they will shape us, they don't have to define us.

Remember Who's Really In Charge

After Pharaoh heard about Joseph's ability to interpret dreams, he pulled him out of prison because he had been having some strange dreams. When he asked Joseph to interpret them, his reply was that he couldn't do it, but that God would. No matter how talented or gifted you are in your area of ministry, expertise, or leadership, stay humble and remember that the only reason you are that way is because God graced you to be.

Always Speak The Truth (Even If No One Wants To Hear It)

Joseph shared his time in prison with two other guys: a cupbearer and a baker. They each had weird dreams that they asked Joseph to interpret. The cupbearer's dream was a favorable dream, and Joseph told him so. The interpretation of the baker's dream was not so favorable: the interpretation meant death for him. Joseph did not try to sugarcoat the interpretation; he simply told him the truth. Sometimes its tempting to try to only make the people we work with, for, or over feel good and happy - because we don't want to offend or hurt anyone - when oftentimes, what they really need to hear is the truth, even if it hurts.

When God Opens a Door, Walk Right Through It

After Joseph gives the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream to him, which involved seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, he kept talking and told Pharaoh what he should do about it. Pharaoh didn't ask for his opinion, but he gave it anyway. As a result, Egypt - and more importantly, Joseph's family, which would ultimately produce Jesus - were saved. There are situations in life when people will not ask our opinion, even though we may be able to see things more clearly than others do. Don't be afraid to open your mouth and share your opinion. It may be just what we need to hear.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

'Primal' by Mark Batterson

A while back I thought I might write a book (who am I kidding, right?). The theme for my imaginary book was, 'Getting Back to Basics,' with the idea being, when you boil down Christianity to its most basic of elements, what are you left with. Now, with Mark Batterson's latest book, Primal, I see I don't have to write it because he has completed my vision. And instead of having to go through the ordeal of actually writing it, I simply got to experience the joy of reading it.

In Primal, Batterson tackles the heart of the Gospel boiled down to one commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Only he defines each as compassion (heart), wonder (soul), curiosity (mind), and power (strength). In each section he discusses what each might look like if we truly love God with that particular aspect of our being. And let me just say, it is a very challenging and inspiring read. As I read each section, I was inspired to love God more than I do currently, but also challenged as it isn't always an easy task.

Batterson is one of those authors who clearly reads and studies quite a bit and draws from his studies to build his discussions. His scientific background shows through, but not in a way that is boring or over one's head (this coming from someone who doesn't really care for science all that much). The information he details is very enlightening, interesting, and effective in making his points more clear.

Primal is another in a growing list of great books from Mark Batterson (his others being In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase). I hope there are lots more to come. It just hit the shelves today. I would strongly encourage picking up a copy and making it the first book you read in 2010. You can pick up a copy from RandomHouse.com.

Fantasy Football 2009

OK, so I haven't posted in...forever. It's time to correct that with my draft for the 2009 Fantasy Football season:

• Andre Johnson - WR
• Anquan Boldin - WR
• Steve Slaton - RB
• Pierre Thomas - RB
• Minnesota - Def
• Marshawn Lynch - RB
• John Carlson - TE
• Matt Hasselbeck - QB
• Lavernues Coles - WR
• Derrick Ward - RB
• James Davis - RB (Sleeper)
• Nate Kaeding - PK
• Tom Brady - QB (Keeper)

Let me know your thoughts...

The Logo

I heard on ESPN Radio this morning that Jerry West - a.k.a., "The Logo" - has come out and said that the NBA logo should be redone using the silhouette of Michael Jordan instead of himself. Pretty humble, if you ask me. This started a discussion on the radio, "Who should be the logo for the various major sports?" This is in a similar vein to the sports Mount Rushmore. Not that anyone cares, here would be my major sports logo suggestions:

• NBA: Michael Jordan - He is arguably the best who has ever played the game and would be recognizable as a silhouette. The problem would be that his silhouette is already being used by his Air Jordan line.
• MLB: Willie Mays - I never really saw him play, but many consider him to be the best who ever played. Babe Ruth would just be too fat for a logo.
• NFL: Jim Brown - They were tossing around the name Roger Staubach on the radio. Really?! Jim Brown clearly was the best running back who has ever played, and arguable the best player period. If he had played longer - only nine seasons in his career - he would have put the rushing record so out of reach it would be laughable, even though they played fewer games per season than they do now.
• NHL: Wayne Gretzky - Is there seriously anyone else in contention?

Your thoughts?

The Truth About You by Marcus Buckingham

Wouldn't it be great if the majority of the time we spend at work was spent doing things that energize us, and not sap us, to the point of truly looking forward to going to work? In Marcus Buckingham's book, The Truth About You, he addresses this very question. In this interactive work (there is a DVD and a Strengths / Weaknesses journal), Buckingham addresses many of the same arguments that he has in his other works: it's a myth that you should try to develop your weaknesses, strengths are not what you are good at but what you draw energy from, and you employer did not hire you for who you are, but what you can do for them, to name a few. Also, he gives practical ways to help discover your strengths without taking the test, as well as practical tips to help design your job around your strengths.

This is a great book! I love everything I've read of his. What made this stand out was, 1) how interactive it is, 2) how quick/easy of a read it is, and 3) how practical it is. The thing I have missed from his other books is how to take your strengths and actually apply them in your present job. That is not missing from this one. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a job since, if what he writes is put into practice, your job will become a more fulfilling place.

More Gratuitous Children Video

Not only can Hanna now walk - she can also dance! Colin's not so bad, either...

Three Funny Colin Stories

I'll have a venti Buckeye leaf, please...
During the football season, I successfully indoctrinated Colin to root for The Ohio State University Buckeyes. I trained him to say, "Go Bucks!" and "Go Buckeyes!" (which sometimes comes out Buxeyes) However, he is not really good at discriminating between teams, so if he sees any team playing football, he proclaims, "Go Bucks!" That's OK with me. Then the other day, we were at the mall checking out the kiosk that had the calendars on super-sale. We paused by the sports calendars, and he saw a football calendar and shouted, "Go Starbucks!" I cracked up, as did the kiosk employee. At least he confused it with something else I am very fond of. Now, when he wants to write something, he goes to the drawer to get his Starbucks (really, Buckeyes) pen.

Naked Boy
The other night, as I always do, I finished up getting ready for bed in the bathroom and ventured into the kids' room to cover them up and kiss them good-night. When I got to Colin's bed, I noticed something on the floor. Without my glasses on and with the lights off, it took me a moment to realize that it was Colin's pajamas and pull-up. I looked up and, although he was covered up, I could tell he was naked under the covers. I went into our bedroom, where Marcy was smiling since she had already witnessed this, and said, "Man, is he going to be cold!" Marcy insisted that we get him dressed, so she did. She came to bed and we talked for a while. She then got up to go check on him, came back to our room and informed me that he was naked again, under the covers, and smiling at her. I was told that I had to deal with this. I went into his room and, trying desperately not to smile or laugh, got him dressed and told him that if took off his jammies again, he would have to go to time-out. I came back to bed. A short while later, Marcy went to check on him again and again, he was naked. She got him up and took him to the cold, dark dining room to sit in time-out...naked. I'm sure if social services had walked in right then we would have some 'splainin to do. It continues to be a constant struggle, including bare-bottom spankings, but it also continues to be hilarious. On Friday, during his naptime, I met him at his bedroom door - when he was supposed to be sleeping - and told him that he was getting a spanking. He ran to his bed, curled up in a ball on his face, and grabbed his butt-cheeks with his hands. What a sight!

You're Not Allowed to Play with Slingshots, Colin...
The other day, we were at our wits end. All of our normal babysitters were unavailable to watch the kids for our leadership retreat on Saturday. At The Porch, Marcy asked one of our pastor's teenage sons if he could babysit (he volunteers in the nursery on the weekend, so it wasn't as out of left field as it might seem), and he said he could. So on Saturday morning, Marcy told Colin that he was going to the church to play with David. Colin's eyes got real big as he got excited and asked, "And Goliath, too?" I guess he's been listening when we've read to him out of his Bible storybook after all.

Hanna's Walking

Isn't It Ironic, Don't Ya' Think?

Being the rabid Cleveland Browns fan that I am, this football season has been a major disappointment. I never bought into the preseason hype that the Browns were Super Bowl contenders after a 10-6 season last year, but I never thought they would be this bad. I picked them to hover around the .500 mark. Not likely now. Over at Cleveland.com, there are an interesting couple of articles that attempt to assess blame and come up with solutions. There are too many problems to narrow it down to just one thing. The incredible drop-off of Pro Bowl players from a year ago. The remarkable inability of the defense to tackle. The horrible clock-management and lack of creativity on the part of Romeo Crennel and staff (with the exception of the win against the Giants on Monday Night Football earlier this year). Derek Anderson going from stud to dud in the same amount of time he traveled the other direction. I agree with Terry Pluto that I don't think Savage is the problem. He writes: "Despite this dismal 4-8 season, the Browns do have better players than when Savage took over four years ago." But one thing is for sure: Braylon Edwards' inability to catch the ball - what wide receivers are paid to do - hasn't helped. He has, what, 17 drops on the season? Ridiculous! It made me remember this ad for fantasy football that aired a couple of years ago. Isn't it ironic?



Maybe he needs to play blindfolded...

What's Been Going On?

That's a fine question. There has been a lot going on lately. Novembers are usually pretty full in my world. They usually include a youth fall retreat, the National Youth Workers Convention, and often a trip home to Ohio for Thanksgiving. Some of those things still happened this year, but my November looked much different than I expected.

A couple of weekends ago, we did have our youth fall retreat at Logan Valley Christian Retreat in Ellington, MO. It was a great weekend! We had over 60 students attend and they all seemed to have a good time and take something away from the weekend. The highlight for me was to observe as the students went through the prayer labyrinth that we set up. It seemed that each student connected with a different part of the labyrinth and God met them each in a different way. We could have just done the labyrinth and it would have been a great weekend. But we did a lot of other stuff, too. Overall, a really good weekend.

The following weekend I was supposed to attend the NYWC with some of my volunteers in the youth ministry. However, the night before we were supposed to leave (Thursday night), Hanna got sick and we had to take her to the ER. It took a couple of days for the test results to come back, but it turns out that she had a urinary tract infection. In the meantime, I woke up on Friday morning at 3:00am with a horrible headache. No medicine helped the pain to go away. I was hoping to feel better and meet my volunteers in Nashville for the convention, but it never went away. Because of the pain, I couldn't eat or sleep and started vomiting that evening. Finally, after 25 hours of misery, at 4:00am on Saturday morning, I took myself to the ER. They performed a CAT scan on me and did a spinal tap and admitted me to the hospital. They figured that I had meningitis of some sort, either bacterial (the bad one, which can result in brain damage or death) or viral (mostly just annoying and painful), but they needed me to stay until the tests came back. The finally came back and confirmed that I did have viral meningitis. I was discharged on Monday with a regimen of pain meds (yeah, I missed the whole convention), which I have been taking ever since. Most of Thanksgiving week was spent in pain or a drug-induced fog. Fortunately, Marcy's mom and stepdad came into town for Thanksgiving. hey provided a lot of help with the kids so I didn't have to worry about Marcy having to do too much with me being laid up. They were already planning on coming for the holiday, so it worked out pretty well in the long run. I started back to work some this week, so I think it is soon to be behind me. Viral meningitis is always one of those things you hear about, but you never know anyone that had had it. I guess I can't say that anymore.

So, November was a little different for me. And now, I just got a call from Marcy who told me that Hanna has to go to the hospital on Monday to get checked out after her urinary tract infection. That's great, because we haven't spent enough time there lately. Pray for her, please.

The Pope and Rolex

I just read an interesting article linked to by an e-mail I get from Neue Ministry. It compared the effects that consumer branding - particularly the Mac brand - and religion has on a person's brain. The author raises a tough question: If brands have become religions (which it appears that they have, in some cases - watch the 2nd video in the article), have religions been reduced to brands? If they have, I wonder what brand my religion / church has become, or yours?

Perhaps the bigger question is: Is Steve Jobs deity? (note: that was totally tongue-in-cheek; don't send me hate comments)

Dirty Jobs: The Early Years

If you enjoy Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs, you will love this video from earlier in his career when he was on QVC. I ran across it on the YS Blog. Enjoy!

Trick-or-Treating vs. Community

Yesterday marked my favorite holiday of the whole year: Halloween. I know, a good Christian's favorite holiday should either be Christmas or Easter, what with the significance of each. And I do agree that each of those are far more important, but as far as which holiday gets me the most excited based on the modern-day celebration of each, Halloween wins out. And now that I have kids, it is even more pronounced. I get totally jazzed about the idea of trick-or-treating with them and picking out costumes. This year I was determined that Colin would be Curious George, and on Sunday I was able to find a costume for only $10.00. Major score, and he was majorly cute! And last night to celebrate, we ventured to a local church that held a Tractor Treat, complete with games, prizes, free photos, hay rides, and of course plenty of candy. Colin had a blast, which meant that so did Daddy!

On my way home, I drove past what can be described as a well-to-do neighborhood. If I had to go visit a friend in that neighborhood last night, I would have been out of luck as the streets were completely lined with cars from visiting neighborhoods. I wondered, "What has happened to trick-or-treat?" 

Trick-or-treat used to be an opportunity to get together with all your friends from your neighborhood, compare costumes, and ransack our neighbors for candy. Sure, the goal was always candy and to have the best costume, but there was also a community element to the whole event. We couldn't have verbalized it that way as kids, but there was something fun about going around to all of your neighbors that you see every day and have them make comments about your costume. There was even one old guy that wore a different mask every year. One year, he wore the mask of a young, hot lady and he talked in a high voice. I still remember that now, thirty years later. I was sad when I had heard that he had passed away some years ago because he was a part of the community. He was my neighbor.

Today, trick-or-treat is nothing more than hitting up perfect strangers for candy, oftentimes strangers who live on the complete opposite side of town. You stake out the various neighborhoods to try to determine which one is the nicest. Then once you have determined that, you have to decide if they will be the most generous, and if not, you choose the next most prosperous area, or the next. And if your bag is not so full that you can't carry it anymore, the night has not been successful. And it doesn't matter if you don't have a costume; you can still go. I have had kids come to my door in the past with no costume at all, simply dressed in their normal street clothes, with their bags out expecting candy. The bottom line is, the one with the most candy wins. It's basically begging on really nice streets.

What happened to the community aspect? It doesn't matter if you don't get together with your friends. Who cares if you don't see your neighbors or trick-or-treat in your own neighborhood? What matters is the candy. That's all. Some could argue that I did the exact same thing by taking my son to a local church instead of going around my own neighborhood. That's somewhat fair, but he's also only 2 1/2 years old, and I thought the community that a church might provide might be preferable to a child that age than the normal Halloween environment. Perhaps I violated my own argument, but that would just defend it - that the community element to Halloween is going, if not already, gone. That it doesn't matter if your neighbors ever see you that night, or if you see them. When that crazy old guy in the neighborhood passes away, who will care? Possibly no one in the neighborhood because the community has evaporated. And I would suggest that it is just a reflection in society as a whole. Just my two cents' worth....