Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tim Brister's Photo...of Us
I said I was lazy. Thankfully, Timmy Brister wasn't. Here's the photo of us at Lemongrass with him at dinnertime.
LEAD Conference - Naps Follow
My church has hosted its first big conference on church planting this week. Here's my plug for volunteering: it gets you in for fabulously free. Click on LEAD for the City Conference for more info.
Here's the lowdown on my week:
Monday - picked up Tim Brister at the airport. A virtual friendship is made actual. Very nice.
Tuesday - Resource Tent duty calls. We sell books to pastors and potential pastors from all over the country. Free lunch. What'd I say about free? Ohhhhyeaaaah.... In the evening, went back to help with the funky fresh concert. J.R. and Titus were our performing arts guys. Conway did security with our fab SSU team. My beau on a bike at night is a security risk in and of itself, but thankfully, no scrapes.
Wednesday - back out at the Resource Tent. It's colder, windier, and cloudier today. Brr. Met a wonderful lady from the West County service. Better than free lunch is the chance to meet and talk to people I normally would never see. Love it.
Wednesday night - Eating dinner at Lemongrass with Tim Brister! I am honored to break noodles over talk about family, church, and of things to come in the blogosphere. A terrific end to three days of conferencing.
Regrets - I was lazy and didn't take any photos. : (
Thanks - My gracious mother, who cared for Calvin for these three days in our home while I've been away during the middle of the day. If Moms like this exist, God exists.
Now, AMEN, LET'S SLEEP!
Here's the lowdown on my week:
Monday - picked up Tim Brister at the airport. A virtual friendship is made actual. Very nice.
Tuesday - Resource Tent duty calls. We sell books to pastors and potential pastors from all over the country. Free lunch. What'd I say about free? Ohhhhyeaaaah.... In the evening, went back to help with the funky fresh concert. J.R. and Titus were our performing arts guys. Conway did security with our fab SSU team. My beau on a bike at night is a security risk in and of itself, but thankfully, no scrapes.
Wednesday - back out at the Resource Tent. It's colder, windier, and cloudier today. Brr. Met a wonderful lady from the West County service. Better than free lunch is the chance to meet and talk to people I normally would never see. Love it.
Wednesday night - Eating dinner at Lemongrass with Tim Brister! I am honored to break noodles over talk about family, church, and of things to come in the blogosphere. A terrific end to three days of conferencing.
Regrets - I was lazy and didn't take any photos. : (
Thanks - My gracious mother, who cared for Calvin for these three days in our home while I've been away during the middle of the day. If Moms like this exist, God exists.
Now, AMEN, LET'S SLEEP!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Money (is all that) Matters
In my last post, I pointed out that I haven't heard nary a whisper about the hot button political issue of abortion in these last raging weeks before Election Day. The public is freaked about the stock market and the strength of the economy as of 9:21pm tonight and it seems to be all anyone wants to hear our President-to-be to talk about, either of them. Last time I checked, the oft-shouted demand "Issues! Issues!" was plural, yet the public and the media are only hearing one issue and tossing the rest...like my child picking off the toppings on her pizza, leaving just the cheese.
It's somewhat comforting knowing that I'm not the only one noticing the heap of important issues growing by the side of the road to the White House. Today, the American Center for Law and Justice radio broadcast highlighted the numerous "normally" hotly discussed issues that have not been touched so far: Supreme Court Justice nominations, partial-birth abortion legislation, the Defense of Marriage Act, First Amendment limitations (seriously, if we have abandoned talking about the Bill of Rights altogether in favor of how much socialism ought we to tolerate, freedom has already been lost in this country), and the (Un)Fairness Doctrine, which is more legislation designed to slowly crush First Amendment rights. Foreign policy has also gotten the look-away-for-now; don't mind that Russia is test-firing long-range missiles (for AIDS awareness, I'm sure). Even--EVEN the environment and global warming have suddenly receded like a melting glacier away from public discourse.
Well. On the one hand, we're leaving our constitutional rights on the curb; on the other, we're telling Al Gore that his truths are a little inconvenient at this time. I guess it's not a total loss. In fact, I feel quite priviledged to witness all these so-called unprecedented events in my life: the biggest single-day drop in the Dow ever (twice!), followed by the biggest single-day rally ever, the simultaneous collapse of America's most successful financial institutions followed by the largest government check ever written to one man--Hank Paulson, who promises to git-r-done. Gas prices that have risen to never-before heights followed by the fastest drop that didn't require price controls. I daresay I might live to see the reconstitution of the Soviet Union, although the official language might be Mandarin by the time that happens.
What the public is saying is "Show me the money, and I'll show you my vote." If God wills it, so be it. As fast as things are changing in this country, Americans will have no problem getting used to being called "New Venezuela" in no time.
It's somewhat comforting knowing that I'm not the only one noticing the heap of important issues growing by the side of the road to the White House. Today, the American Center for Law and Justice radio broadcast highlighted the numerous "normally" hotly discussed issues that have not been touched so far: Supreme Court Justice nominations, partial-birth abortion legislation, the Defense of Marriage Act, First Amendment limitations (seriously, if we have abandoned talking about the Bill of Rights altogether in favor of how much socialism ought we to tolerate, freedom has already been lost in this country), and the (Un)Fairness Doctrine, which is more legislation designed to slowly crush First Amendment rights. Foreign policy has also gotten the look-away-for-now; don't mind that Russia is test-firing long-range missiles (for AIDS awareness, I'm sure). Even--EVEN the environment and global warming have suddenly receded like a melting glacier away from public discourse.
Well. On the one hand, we're leaving our constitutional rights on the curb; on the other, we're telling Al Gore that his truths are a little inconvenient at this time. I guess it's not a total loss. In fact, I feel quite priviledged to witness all these so-called unprecedented events in my life: the biggest single-day drop in the Dow ever (twice!), followed by the biggest single-day rally ever, the simultaneous collapse of America's most successful financial institutions followed by the largest government check ever written to one man--Hank Paulson, who promises to git-r-done. Gas prices that have risen to never-before heights followed by the fastest drop that didn't require price controls. I daresay I might live to see the reconstitution of the Soviet Union, although the official language might be Mandarin by the time that happens.
What the public is saying is "Show me the money, and I'll show you my vote." If God wills it, so be it. As fast as things are changing in this country, Americans will have no problem getting used to being called "New Venezuela" in no time.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The Real Inconvenient Truth
It seems that it doesn't take a whole lot (just money or lack of it) to eclipse the abortion issue in the upcoming presidential election. As much as pro-life supporters have consistently pointed out that convenience is the driving reason for 95%+ of abortions, the media and pro-abortion advocates have consistently refused to face it.
Just six weeks ago at the Republican National Convention, it seemed the abortion issue was set to make a big impact on the campaign trail with Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential candidate to John McCain. Her personal and family experiences with unplanned pregnancies and pregnancy with a special needs child logically would have catapulted the controversy over abortion into major media attention. But four weeks ago, Bear Stearns happened, then Washington Mutual, then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then AIG, then Wachovia, then a $700 billion "rescue" bill, and now a stock market tumble of a few thousand points--suddenly, as fast as it appeared, the abortion issue went from being near the top three to "Abortion and marriage are things that are better left to individuals' conscience," which I take to mean that it isn't even on the radar in the public eye anymore.
A tragedy indeed. Never mind the fact that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed, if elected, that the Freedom of Choice Act would be the first thing he would sign into law. Never mind that he supports the total federal abandonment of crisis pregancy centers nationwide. Never mind the fact that he has voted twice not to protect an infant born alive despite an attempted abortion. And truly, never mind the fact that bad economies often turn and become good ones again in time, but babies that are aborted will never get another chance to be born.
The focus on the economy has made the issue of abortion an annoying inconvenience right now. What a sad way for pro-lifers to be right again.
Sources:
The Journey in the BBC
National Review Online
Townhall.com
Just six weeks ago at the Republican National Convention, it seemed the abortion issue was set to make a big impact on the campaign trail with Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential candidate to John McCain. Her personal and family experiences with unplanned pregnancies and pregnancy with a special needs child logically would have catapulted the controversy over abortion into major media attention. But four weeks ago, Bear Stearns happened, then Washington Mutual, then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then AIG, then Wachovia, then a $700 billion "rescue" bill, and now a stock market tumble of a few thousand points--suddenly, as fast as it appeared, the abortion issue went from being near the top three to "Abortion and marriage are things that are better left to individuals' conscience," which I take to mean that it isn't even on the radar in the public eye anymore.
A tragedy indeed. Never mind the fact that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed, if elected, that the Freedom of Choice Act would be the first thing he would sign into law. Never mind that he supports the total federal abandonment of crisis pregancy centers nationwide. Never mind the fact that he has voted twice not to protect an infant born alive despite an attempted abortion. And truly, never mind the fact that bad economies often turn and become good ones again in time, but babies that are aborted will never get another chance to be born.
The focus on the economy has made the issue of abortion an annoying inconvenience right now. What a sad way for pro-lifers to be right again.
Sources:
The Journey in the BBC
National Review Online
Townhall.com
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