Such a Time as This

When we were in Montana a couple months ago, we met an incredible family with two kids who have become good e-mail pals with Ben and Charli.

We just spoke with them yesterday. The son, Collin, has been diagnosed with cancer. Was it a fluke that we met these people, or was God mobilizing a praying force across the nation for just this time? I choose the latter. Please pray for Collin and his family. He's going to Portland Oregon for treatment. He has a wonderful attitude but the family is realing, of course.

Pray
Pray
Pray

Thank you.

Oh, the Political Dillema

Just by the way they run their campaigns proves neither McCain nor Obama should be president. Every adult, non-felonious American (and even the felons if ACORN has its way) has a bright, shiny vote like a new penny to cast in the American gumball machine, but between the penny and the available gumballs, it's tempting to hold onto the penny.

McCain, who has had his eyes set on the presidency longer than Obama has been an adult should be acing this campaign. Instead, he runs it like he just got the idea yesterday. He makes poor decisions, squanders his resources, and the political manipulation of picking Sarah Palin was not followed by the strong information campaign necessary to make her a viable choice.

He should be letting the media (even if it's only FOX) run with the Ayers and ACORN connection, and never should have allowed the media to carry the info campaign for Palin.

She's been painted as a laughing stock because her credentials for defense and international policy are focused on her proximity to Russia, but who's pointing out that she's got a higher security clearance than either Obama or Biden? Or that she's briefed on all terrorist and military ops because she's commander in chief of the 39th missile battery, the only full-time reserve company in America because it's the first line of missile defense for America? She's the only one running with any executive experience and has full knowledge of homeland security (she has the same access as Ted Kennedy, who has the highest beneath Bush and Cheney).

Obama, meanwhile, who has less experience than ANY of the 4 candidates, is running a campaign solely on the ignorance of the American people.

He talks about McCain as being the standard-bearer for the Bush economy when all the problems of our economy have been the Democrats policies, starting with Clinton's push for sub-prime loans and the Democrat's refusal to confront Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae when the Republicans sounded the warning bell. As for the greedy executives of FMs who pushed it until they broke it, Obama is using the chief greed-head as his economic advisor.

We haven't seen Bush's economic plan yet because 9/11 prevented it in his first term and the Democrat majority in the legislative branch (including Obama) blocked it at every turn in the last four years. McCain won't carry on the legacy, Obama will, but he finds lies work just fine with the ignorant voters.

So, who do we vote for?

The guy who should have a slam dunk but is blowing it, strongly suggesting he'd be just as ineffectual as the president (funny thing is, all the things I don't like about McCain's plans would be blocked by the Congress anyway, so it's not like he'd be dangerous in office)?

The guy who is dishonest, has no experience, thinks little of the average American (when will Democrats realize that we don't have a Monarchy in the US and that the serfs don't need a king to make it through)?

At one time I thought Obama would be the ineffectual one in office. I no longer do. He's dangerous on so many levels its frightening. We think Bush destabilized Europe? Wait until this guy's arrogance and naivete gets into the mix. No to Obama.

I promised myself I wouldn't devolve into the lesser of two really-bad-choices this year. I said I'd vote only for a good candidate even if I had to write him in. This is me devolving. McCain is a bad choice but he's safer than Obama. I'll drop my penny on McCain and feel cheated at the polls.

When will we select a good choice for a leader? Or is it even possible? God can raise even the worse man to the occasion, so I'll rest in that. My penny is looking very tarnished....

A Missed Opportunity... Or Was It?

Driving home from work a one-legged man was limping in the meridian. No sign, but his hat was in his hand. He was wearing shorts so his prosthetic limb was in evidence. I didn't feel like getting my wallet out of my back pocket (an ordeal when you've got your seatbelt on).

By the time I changed my mind, the light turned green and it was too late. I mentally kicked myself, which made me feel more guilty because he only had one leg and couldn't... nevermind, that's a dumb rabbit trail...

So, he's got a drinker's nose and bloodshot eyes. That and his indigent ways suggest he could possibly be an alcoholic. Do you give alms to someone likely to drink it away? Or do you give money to organizations that will look after people in need?

Your thoughts?

The Problem of Pain

Bad things happen. People we love suffer, we experience difficulty and trial, wars rage on...

Why? If God loves us, why does awful stuff happen? In the light of our little time frame it seems horrible. But that doesn't make it so, Skipper. Follow me for a moment...

God gives each of us what we want - Either eternal life with Him or eternal life without Him. (You'll often hear - "I don't want anything to do with a God who would send people to Hell" but really, that's what they're asking for, isn't it? Nothing to do with God, and so he grants it).

The stakes are pretty high. Heaven or Hell? The entry ticket to Heaven is simply acknowledging our need for Him and accepting His provision in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is being ultimately fair to let us know of our need. He's told us in the Bible, but being a merciful God of great blessing, there is a problem.

In our plenty, with all our resources, it's difficult to really KNOW we need God. We need Him physically, emotionally, and spiritually, yet in our society all of that seems taken care of.

The solution is reduction. God reveals our need for Him throughout our life by stripping away our earthly provision and leaving us only our exposed need for Him. In that moment, we can turn to Him in humility or rage against him in pride. Pain and suffering point us to Heaven.

A further thought and a corollary of sorts: Those people who point at others in tragedy and disaster do so from a lack of perspective. God's provision is individual as well as corporate. The Indonesian with so much life and possession swept away by typhoons and waves receives personal provision in little ways that we can't see from our viewpoint. The Indonesian can if he looks with humility. A thousand kindnesses individualized for each of us. We'll point at the tragedy-stricken and say "Hey!" but do we ask them where they see God?

The Prodigal Country?

The prodigal son is a parable about a boy who wanted his inheritance NOW rather than waiting until Dad passed away. He lived high on the hog and then low on the hogs, wallowing with the porcine creatures doing worse than Dad's hired hands. Realizing the error of his ways, the boy returns to his father who receives him joyfully.

Easy to apply this to an individual, but does it also describe America? Amassing our wealth NOW and not waiting until the riches of heaven, are we dining with pigs? Our national morals have dragged into the mud, we appear to be on the edge of a bleak tomorrow... are we the prodigal nation? Can we, as a country, bring ourselves to see the truth and turn back to God? We know from His Word that He would accept us. What effect would this have? Would God's celebration be one of a return to physical prosperity or would it be of spiritual riches, which could be enjoyed in poverty or wealth (maybe not as easily in wealth...)

Your thoughts?

I'm Not a Republican, but...

A coworker had a political cartoon on her cube wall that pointed out that Fiscal Conservatives Reagan, Bush, and Bush all presided over budget overruns while Clinton was underbudget (it of course left out Carter who was also over budget).

The secret to Clinton's budget win was the fact that he gutted the military and intelligence agencies, and then when multiple terrorist attacks (the Cole, that New York flight that was shot down by SAMs and was then covered up) came, he did nothing except hand wave and run cover ups.

Bush 2's overruns began when he had to rebuild the military, and the anemic CIA couldn't keep up with their job, making 9/11 possible, which really broke the bank.

In each case, world events dictated presidential action that exceeded budget plans. Except Clinton, who ignored them.

Fireproof - The Sum is Greater than the Parts

(With thanks to Mrs. S.)

SPOILER WARNING - Don't read further if you don't want to know much about the movie before seeing it.

Sherwood Productions is doing a very good job of re-defining Christian movies to full blown evangelical, didactic films. Strong messages, clear and compelling presentation of the Gospel, with flashes of brilliance.

I very much enjoyed the movie, with the understanding that the elements would be weaker than an A or even a B movie. I'll forgive a lot just because the effort is undertaken by talented beginners with magnificent hearts.

That being said...

I don't like Kurt Cameron as an actor. I never believe him because he doesn't have continuity of emotion, jumping like a jackrabbit from one emotional state to another without sufficient motivation. I expected his performance to be as bad as it was in the Left Behind *ahem* films. And at first I thought I was right, but as the film progressed it was clear the problems of the first act were the director's more than Cameron's. He gave probably the best performance of his life, which isn't saying much. The old Cameron peeked out several times, but overall he did okay.

The Kendrick brothers are improving, but they have a long way to go. The direction was often brilliant in moments, but between on-the-nose direction and a straight-line script, the comprehensive showing was great for a C (for Christian) movie, but not for an A movie (which they are not, so it's perhaps an unfair comment). A multi-layered plot would have been helpful, I think the script has structural flaws (underdeveloped B plot, absent C plot, and a pathological need to tie every bow with a double-knot).

Erin Bethea did a great job, overcoming the direction, as did the Lieutenant for the most part. The script has some wonderful moments, great messages, and deep insights. These guys are talented at the scene level, not so hot on the sequence or beat level. Steadily improving, though.

The ending was a low-stake affair with no ticking clock. The rom-com station moment was really nice, but it hadn't been foreshadowed so it came off a little cheesy. The final reveal was over the top and over expressed.

Nonetheless, there is a lot more to love than dislike. Great concept, great story, great moments, great message. Definitely worth seeing. We had people sobbing at the showing we saw, not just tears but wracking sobs, which speaks to the need this movie fulfills. Further, where most movies have to earn your loyalty, this one gets it going in... you're so on their side you'll forgive anything; a magnificent achievement. :)

Panicked Republican Spam

I've been bounced several spam-mails about the rumor that after the VP debate, Biden will drop out of the race and be replaced by Hillary. The spam calls this "shameless manipulation!"

I think it's just more of the same from both sides of the ticket. Palin, no matter what you think of her, was a blatant move to secure the Mid-West states. No one seems to care if people are qualified; the only way McCain won the nomination was because people voted by who could win, not who would should win.

Nor was it coincidence that McCain didn't announce Palin until after Nobama announced Biden. Character or not, Palin isn't qualified to be VP (just as Obama isn't qualified to be president); she was chosen as a tasty conservative woman to court the vote that McCain couldn't, not because she can run the country (having said that, I think Palin's got the right people-first take on things; she just needs more seasoning before going national). Her selection was made to catch Osama flat-footed, and BOY did it work. Even Biden said that in light of this, Hillary should have been the VP nominee.

What I don't understand about this rumor is why wait until after the debate -- Biden has to worry about being too tough and hitting just the right note, while Hillary could just bash away at Palin like a hockey player on steroids.

This whole election has been shameless manipulation.

An Amendment to Get Behind

I admit to struggling with any Marriage Amendment. Amendments are to protect rights not abridge them. Which is why I am fully behind the Colorado Equal Rights Personhood Amendment that protects the rights of the unborn.

Now, I just wrote a long post on my problems with illegalizing abortion, which makes my support of the CERPA seem hypocritical, but it's not. A law is directed at the mother; the amendment is directed at, and protects the rights of, the baby. A law allows us to pass it and dust our hands free. An amendment forces us to continue to protect the baby after it's born; it becomes incumbent on the people to fortify the post-birth infrastructure (my biggest complaint with the Pro-Life movement).

My difficulty has always been with the legal response to abortion never the right. The right to life is expressly proscribed by the Constitution and it's been ignored by the masses. I don't want to force women not to abort, I want to call them to uphold the liberty of our birthright (and perhaps that should be fertilization-right).

A hundred and fifty years ago, black people were not considered "human" and that horror was corrected. It is the EXACT SAME horror that allows people to believe a child is not human. Constitutional amendments are a source of culture change, which we desperately need. We need the day when a law isn't even necessary.

Pathetic

I am an inveterate fingernail chewer. However, you have to hold your jaw in a certain way that I can't until the incisions in my wisdom... gums, I guess... heal. I now have finger nails and they're driving me crazy. I miss the physical habit, and I don't like having nails that project off my fingertips. It's like a constant awareness at the edge of consciousness.

I'm not seeing the appeal of drugs

I had three teeth cut out Friday. It was the first time I'd ever been knocked out for surgery (took awhile since my veins kept collapsing). Once they got the feed working, I got groggy fast and thought I wasn't going under, but apparently I had because the surgery was finished. I spent the rest of the day in bed under the influence of Vicoden and SuperIbuprofen. And all of Saturday. I didn't have much pain just lots of nausea (threw up three times Friday night). In fact, whenever I took Vicoden it felt like I had the flu. Why people like this stuff, I have no idea. It makes my brain feel like it comes unmoored and is just floating around in my head, which, come to think of it is what all drugs seem to do to me.

We watch House on DVD, in which the main character is addicted to Vicoden - presumably to get rid of the pain in his leg. My college roommate was a pothead. I just don't get the appeal. A guy at work offered to buy any Vicoden I had left for 2o bucks....

I think most of the anesthesia has flushed through my system. I'm still using the Ibuprofen, and this is the best writing I can do at the moment. Down with drugs. Just say no. Or even "what for?"

Tell us your SQUIRREL Stories!

I have two; one from a loooong time ago and one from last Saturday.

It's the afternoon and Grizzly, our white haired chi, goes insane. He's barking so fast and so furiously that we're afraid his heart would explode... it seems a squirrel is trapped within our pool enclosure. It took awhile to find him but all we had to do was look up. In his panic, Mr. Furry Tail had shot up the screen and climbed up under the the porch roof. Once he stopped, he was in trouble. His little claws hooked through the mesh, he is too afraid to move. Suspended perilously 16 feet in the air, he doesn't move for ten minutes.

Finally, determining it would be harder to get his skeleton down, I resolve to help him. I put the leaf basket on the pool hook and reach up to scoop the hapless creature. No soap, he skitters away. Without the speed to clear the beams, Mr. Furry Tail plummets to the earth...

...fortunately straight into the pool. A perfect two point landing from the 16 foot high dive. Before I can even lower the pole, the demoralized rodent scrambles out of the deep end, his tail no longer fluffy, and scampers out the torn panel and up the tree. It was a near thing; he entered the pool six inches from the edge.

Second story. I'm a teenager on my parents back porch and Bear, our dimwitted hound, is chasing a squirrel in a ragged path across the yard. At top speed the squirrel is running around the yard table trying to keep away from the dog, however, the squirrel was faster than Bear and all of a sudden, the squirrel is chasing the hound who scampers across the yard with the squirrel in hot pursuit. Wonder what he would have done if he'd caught him...

I think the dog was embarrassed, as well he should be.

Abortion

I'm curious... if abortion was made illegal, what would that mean?

What do you do with mothers who abort?
Doctors?
Assisting Nurses?

Are we under the impression that making it illegal would be the end of the fight or the beginning of a harder one?

Can one be pro-life and not be shouting to make it illegal? I have no problem with overturning the bad law of Roe Vs. Wade (which wouldn't instantly criminalize it; it would be up to each state to pass legislation prohibiting it).

The pro-life argument will never be won in court; it's people like Allura who are truly fighting the abortionists, one soul at a time. Legislation might make it even harder to save the lives of babies.

Or am I missing it? Your thoughts?

I'm still wondering...

How did we end up with McCain?

Persistence is everything, I guess. That guy's been running for President since I was a kid, every time, he throws his hat in the ring and people wisely throw it back out. Only this time he won.

The conspiracy theorist in me is shouting we now have proof the whole thing is rigged. We had better candidates... well, we had one.

Let's talk about Huckabee for a moment. He was caught in a catch 22; harping on the Fair Tax (a wonderful thing) was the only way to get noticed, and it's probably what lost him the nomination (which truthfully, he never had a shot at anyway).

Unless it's rigged, McCain has no way to win. I have yet to hear anyone who likes him other than on talk radio. I've seen thousands of Obama stickers and signs and none for McCain. He's going to play horribly in the debates (now, personally, I think Obama is an awful speaker and he's funny looking, but I seem to be in the minority here). Obama will show up and look young and energetic; McCain will show up looking stuffy and old. Obama will play with McCain like a cat plays with a mouse.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Huckabee was un-nominateable, but he could have won the election. He could have matched Obama in the celebrity factor because Huck's funny and likable. He has fresh ideas, and while being conservative, he's not Bush-like. The debates would have been something to watch. They'll still be something to watch, but in the train-wreck kind of way.

The Republican party has been running on fumes since Reagan left the White House. It's now coasting uphill. As far as I can tell, the Democrats have never had fuel, but they're good at pushing the car and it's all downhill this election.

Bozeman or Bust

It's beautiful out there. Why Bozeman is so different in spirit and feel is difficult to put into words. God wrote grandly in the Montana landscape. The church (amazing pastor, and we sang a worship song Vicki wrote - okay it was like 12 years ago and that was the most contemporary song they sang, but, get this, their worship pastor wasn't there because he was attending the Sovereign Grace Worship Conference). The ministry Eagle Mount was a block away, as was the University. Surrounded by mountains, Bozeman is nestled in a wide valley where the mountains scrape the rain bearing moisture from the clouds, so rain is uncommon. Wonderful people (all 35,000 of them). :)

A collection of firsts

Well, the flight went well and the kids were wonderful. Our final decent was marked by a rapid dive the sent our stomach into our chests, lasting much longer than normal. Oh, and while in Atlanta we saw unending reports of the female Muslim suicide bombers, then boarding the plane my seatmate was covered by a blanket for 5.5 hours, and when she finally emerged, she was a middle-eastern woman - probably not Muslim, though (no burka or bomb bag).

Traffic was amazingly light for Seattle.

Good to see Dad and his dog. I was in the garage with him, moments after getting there, and Charli comes out and said she had pushed Ben, and his head hit the table and he was bleeding. I'm thinking a little scrape so I was in no hurry to go in. When I do, Ben is leaning over the kitchen sink, his hand is scarlet with blood and he's breathing heavily. I look at the back of his skull and it looks like a baby's open mouth. It wasn't gushing blood, but it stained a wet paper towel quickly.

So, 15 minutes after reaching our destination we were in the emergency room. To Ben's credit, he was hurting, breathing hard, and praying without ceasing on the ride there. At reception he puts his head on the counter and the receptionist starts hauling out forms. "He probably needs a bucket or something, pretty quick, I'm guessing," I say. "Just a few forms..."

Then Ben threw up. A lot.

We got some quick attention after that. Twenty minutes later he was getting 6 staples to seal the wound. He was great through the whole thing. This is not the kid who feints at the sight of cartoon blood. That and I'm sure he knew he could milk this against Charli for months to come.

Going good so far, but already the lack of time to see the people I want/need to see is rearing it's head. We'll see how it goes...

Contemplation via Hair Cutting

My barber didn't speak much English, which was a blessing because I didn't have to hold up a conversation I didn't want to have.

So I just sat there. And in the sitting, realized several things.

1. I realized I could never be a barber because I don't like to touch people. Not pathologically so, you understand. I don't consider it a hardship or disgusting or anything, I just prefer not to touch others, with the natural exception of my wife and children. I don't mind being touched, in fact, I enjoy a good haircut, but my outward personal space is tighter than my inward personal space.

2. I realized I am not unique. I don't generally look at myself in a mirror, but there's not much else to do during a haircut. I see my brother peeking back at me, bits of my mother, a lot of my dad, some of both granddads. Even my mannerisms echo family members. I don't think I have a single original piece on me. I suppose that's true of the people I look like, too. Probably if we could do a reverse time/person lapse photography thing, we'd discover that every single human being alive today would see themselves in Adam and Eve. How's that for weird?

Dark Knight well named

Very dark; very, very dark.

Really good, excellent script, direction, acting (didn't like the new Rachel and she really wasn't pretty like others were saying, but what can you do). Minimal gore, no bad language, but the philosophy and bad guys make it very adult anyway. If you don't like dark, you won't like this. If you can see past dark to incredible storytelling it's really good.

Amazing work.

Interesting conspiracy theory

I have a co-worker who pointed out something I hadn't considered before. Why is TV going digital mandatory? Why can't company's broadcast in analog if they wanted to? Why should the government make this demand?

Her take is that by going digital, the government can track what we're doing/watching/etc.

Sounds paranoid. I like it....

Spielberg gets it; Fans don't

A little theater history here: 3 is the magic number (in point of fact, it's a universal truth). 3 act structure reins and so does stories told in trilogy. Spielberg understands that very well. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull IS NOT PART OF THE TRILOGY. That's done and over with two hits and a miss (1: hit; 2: miss; 3: homerun).

SPOILER WARNING: PLOT POINTS ARE GIVEN AWAY BELOW...

IJ&tCS isn't the beginning of a new trilogy, nor is it a stand alone. It is a bridge. Because it is a bridge, it tips the fedora to the first three and sets up the future. You've been given a peak at the new direction of the IJ franchise and it is a clever one.

Indiana Jones is about history; about ancient legends.
Mutt Jones will be about the bizarre; about urban legends. Hence the aliens (and not just space aliens, but interdimensional ones).

Indy is a relic that belongs to the 40s and 50s. He, nor any archaeologist, is going to work in the 60's.

Indy is loosely based on Alan Quartermain, of King Solomon's Mine fame. He is meant to be a hold over of the previous generation. The purple haze of the hippie generation is too far beyond that era, so this movie sets up the next movies as a precursor of the X-Files type stuff.

I really enjoyed the movie. Yes, some big plot holes, yes, a bit over the top (as is common for Indy movies). Rather than annoyed by the thought of Indy as an OSS agent, they gave him a Casablanca riff (Rick is cut from the same cloth, but he does his bit for flag and country) and it worked for me (interesting possibilities for books, I'd think). A nice melding of ancient legend and urban legend. I would have liked Mutt to "get" stuff that Indy didn't, but we can't have everything.

Even Mutt's name is a wink to expect a melding of ideas. Not sure why the whip wasn't used much, maybe Ford can't handle it anymore.

B+