Complexity

I'm going to take a hiatus from talking about U2, Bono, and all of that to talk about a former blogging subject of mine- Global Warming. I've been against that whole concept for a long time. There is nothing scientific that can prove that this is an absolute certainty, to do so would be to try to prove macro-evolution (otherwise known as Evolution), to do so one would have to remove him/herself from the world and observe it for an extremely long period of time. Again, not a ton of scientific evidence there. It takes just as much faith to believe that Evolution is true, Global Warming is true, as it does to believe in Yahweh (and that Yahweh is 3 persons, yet 1 substance). In effect then, the Global Warming fanatics are nothing but cultists trying to gain a captive audience to their ambitions of...non-Global Warming... Same can be said with Evolutionists.
I just finished reading a speak given by Michael Crichton about complexity. He has a lot of really good points concerning complex systems and that too many people are thinking on a linear scale. Also take a look at the talk on burning raw materials, that was very interesting. I'm no chemist, but in light of the structures of raw materials, the burning of gas isn't all that bad. But further than that, as governments like ours are beginning to realize, hydrogen powered systems (and even nuclear ones...I'm a fan of building more nuclear reactors) are much better for the environment, but also it gets us off dependence on foreign countries that thrive on our necessity for their raw materials. Just think, if we weren't dependant on the Middle East for their oil, 1- we wouldn't need to be there to help create/maintain peace, 2- it would mean that we could "deal with them" in any fashion, since they have nothing else to offer us or the world economy. (Well, in any significant value...I'm thinking purely economically here, people are definately good for an economy, but products-wise, there isn't much that they have that we need or cannot grow on our own.)
Here's the link to this speech given by Crichton. It's a good read, long, but gives a better understanding to complex systems...and barely scratches the surface on how complex our Earth- from the core to the magnetosphere- is.
http://www.michaelcrichton.com/speeches/complexity/complexity.html

Ed. Note- I'm not against protecting the environment. But I think saving human life is more important...like from AIDS, starvation, the modern holocost (abortion), and so on.
(I think that the second most complex system is a woman. I'm not woman-bashing here, just a mere observation from a male perspective. Most guys would agree with me on that as well.)

What Would Bono Do? Part Deux

I have more to add to this discussion on Bono, U2, well, actually, it goes into music in general. I remember, last year, a debate that was going on about Christian music and Lutheranism. There is only 1 “Lutheran” band, Lost and Found. Anybody that knows them knows this to be true. (They put on a good stage show, for those of you who haven’t seen them. –last time I saw them was this past November.) Anyhoo, the debate was, since most Christian music is more on the “look at what I’ve done” side of things versus the Lutheran way of things, “God’s grace for me, Sola Fidei, Sola Gratia, Sola Scriptura,” should we steer clear of listening to it and telling our people not to listen to it. My response was- well, if they are going to listen to music, shouldn’t Christian-type music be a better thing to listen to over non-Christian music? The obvious answer would then be a yes. Even though the music might be “theologically poor,” does that mean it’s worthless? No. I’d rather have my kids listen to music that is “theologically poor” then the mainstream stuff, which, by the way, is even more “theologically poor!”
But then again, should we really be making distinctions about whether music is Christian or not? Sure the message has an obvious difference between the two, but if a group is going to have a real impact on this world (instead of pleasing those who already believe), wouldn’t it be better for them to be on the mainstream level, than hiding in the Christian realm? I’m not trying to bash any Christian groups here, I enjoy many of those artists music, but when comparing them to a standard that U2 has set up, using their popularity to help “the least of these,” which is a calling that we Lutherans are missing, and also the message that they share in their music. Now, I know that Christian artists have a right message, no doubt there, but the world doesn’t care so much. But then when Bono talks, people listen. It’s an amazing paradox. Referencing that Group article, from my previous blog, Bono points to Jesus for his inspiration. But more than that, a lot of non-believers do the same (talking about Jesus being a moral teaching and all that jazz), that it is a matter of grace. From that article, it took a quote from the book, Bono: In Conversation, where Bono says:
“At the center of all religions is the idea of karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you…And yet, along comes this idea called grace to upend all that ‘as you reap, so you will sow’ stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts…the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff. …That’s between me and God. But I’d be in big trouble if karma was going to finally be my judge…it doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.”
Bono’s no Lutheran, but take a look at that last line again. “I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross.” Does it get any more Lutheran than that? Talk about a Christ-centered message, more than that—talk about a Cross-looking view of our faith! Looking to the Cross, seeing that Jesus did it all for us, and not having to depend on our good works, what we can put into it, but purely grace…what a way to live!
Bono may be a little weird at times, he might say the wrong thing, he might be looking a little to the left of things (social justice…etc…things that many of us would consider to be along the lines of the Democrats), but he is a Christ-centered brother. And maybe this is the activist side in me coming out (I think that I’m a big activist…at heart, I just need to become it), but there is a page from Bono that we, Lutherans, can put into our faith and what we do with our faith. So, what does this mean? It means being active in your community, helping those who are “the least of these,” and being a “little Christ” to those who need Jesus. Sure, the verbal message of the Gospel may not be spoken, but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t working in the lives of those who we can help. In fact, what if your good works are only a stepping stone for that person, so that, by God using someone else, the people you interact with become one of His people. A great section of Scripture that ties this all together comes from Matthew 25:31-46. I’m only going to quote 34-40.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and gave you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Emphasis added.)
If you cannot, for whatever reason, agree with Bono, Jesus puts it in His own terms. "Are you one of my followers? What have you done to show your faith?" -Well, J.C. didn't exactly say it like that, but it gets his point across. (For those of you esteemed in theology- This is a Third use of the Law application here...in other words, you are a Christian, now prove it.)

What would Bono do?

It is a beautiful day in sunny Florida today! For me, the palm trees never get old, being close to the ocean doesn't get old (sometimes forgotten though), but the insipid sound of sea gulls does. Get me some alkazeltser!
Things around here have been going well and I've been more busy during the day at the office, which is good. I've also revamped some goals for my vicarage, well, in the department of my evangelism module. I've kinda scrapped the former idea I had (so much so that I'll not write about it), and I've gone with a new one. We are doing an Easter Eggstravaganza! Which will be really cool. It's going to have many different things going on, in a fast-paced fashion (about 10 minutes at each station, that the people who come will choose what they'll do). I'm not going to write about all the details here and now, but God did provide me with something that I feel more confident about and something that can, potentially, help the congregation grow...it is, but isn't, a numbers game.
I'm approaching my 5th year of being on a U2 kick. Seriously, there isn't much that is shaking me off from listening to (and watching) their music. In fact, I might listen to an album or two a day. Further, last week, I think that I listened to just about all of their albums in one day, while in my office! I bought their U2 live from Chicago, when Ross and I attended the show there, and I've watched it so many times already!
My U2 kick started in mid-2001, as I prepared to go on my mission trip to China. I've always enjoyed their music, but their new album, at the time (All That You Can Leave Behind), inspired me a lot. It was the beginning of my questioning how much I really wanted to be a weather man and was in the midst of my uber-involvement in campus ministries at UND. The first song, and hit, off of that album is "Beautiful Day." I remember listening to that song on the roof of our hotel in China. What I don't remember is hearing the lyrics "See China right in front of you," that is towards the end of that song. Once I got back to the US and heard that, I was floored.
That's an interesting story, that I'm sure that I'm going to tell many times throughout my life, but there is something more to U2 than just music. Something that I've been pondering the past week is: How can a group, like U2, have more of a positive reaction to their music, than a "Christian" band? One of the real interesting things about U2 is the faith that is within the band. Larry, Adam, and the Edge aren't too talkitive about their faith, where they are in their walk with God, but Bono is. From my church's subscription to Group magazine (www.groupmag.com), Bono recently sat down with Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone) and Ed Bradley (60 Minutes) to talk about the success of U2- and, perhaps more important, the bizzare mix of stardom and Christianity. In both conversations, Bono pointed to Jesus as the reason for getting things done. In his quest to get people on board with him and his cause for Africa, he spoke to those on the religous-right (he's a little bit more of a leftist), and questioned their lack of involvement with people who have AIDS. He made parallel between those who have AIDS to those who were lepers, that Jesus hung out with them, even though they had this disease (that could kill them, just like AIDS could kill- it doesn't all the time).
I do have a point to all of this Bono, U2 talk. Bono is like King David, in that he has his problems and his sins, but he still is after God's heart. (He's said somethings that I haven't agreed with, but is it possible for us all to agree all the time? No.) Bono is one who lives by God's grace, how Lutheran is that? Very much so, in my opinion. We cannot depend on ourselves, on our own ambitions, but only on God's grace. We could all use a little more "Bono" in our lives.

Doin' it again!

Okay, so I made an attempt to write something here yesterday...but then the 'puter crashed! You wouldn't think that a puter that isn't even a year old would do such a thing...oh well.
So, anyways, I'll make an attempt to recall what I was trying to write.

I do recall saying that I'd write something on Alito on Friday...that just didn't happen. Anyhoo, he's supposed to be voted on today but the Dems got there way and a delayed vote for next week. Seriously, those Dems on the judiciary committee are so...grrr! I know that when Clinton had two nominees for the supreme court that the GOP didn't put up a stink...and they had control of the legislature. They looked at the qualifications of the two and then voted. Now, fast-forward about 10 years... or in the way that Sen. Kennedy is going about things, you can look to how he's lead a smear campaign against a GOP nom. ever since he's been on the judiciary committee! (And that's a long time!) And it wasn't just with Alito, even with Roberts they tried the same old tactics and for Roberts benefit, he outsmarted all of them. It's just sad that the Dems didn't really even give him a chance, they had made up their minds before they met him all because he's a canidate from the other side of the spectrum. (The same can be said about Clinton's nominations.)
Ever since before the last election, I've said that we need to have a more multi-party system. This Alito thing just brings that up again. The system that we have is failing more and more as groups of people get more conservative and more liberal and, you could even say, more centrist. If we had a system like Israel or Germany, where the parties would have to come together to form a coalition to have things get done, that could prove to be beneficial. However, no matter what political system we have, it will always be corrupt! That's just how it is.

I also wrote about the NFL divisonal games from this past weekend. I don't know how Indy's fans are dealing with their Colts, but I'd be upset with them on the basis that we go to those games looking to see the big names play. If we want to see the backups play, we go to pre-season games. Otherwise, we are paying top dollar to see these highly paid athletes play. (This goes for any sport, esp. with football that has a regualr season of 16 games- we can give some slack to the baseball teams, 162 regular season games is a lot.) I understand in a coach and owner wanting to "protect" their assets, but what about us regular joes who pay too much for tickets. (Besides them wanting us to eat their overly priced foods...which we have to pay for when we are watching a boring game of backups playing!) All I can say is that I very much so dislike it when a team rests their starters when it's still regular season...whether they got something to play for or not, they get paid money to play not sit. And, if you are in the position that the Colts are in, keep your starters playing at least the first half...keep them in some form of rhythm that way it doesn't take you 3 quarters to get it back!

Anyhoo, things are going well here. It's nice to finally have my house back to myself...in a sense. It was definately nice coming home to have people there and then being able to go out and do something. But, the routine is good to get back into. For how random I can be, there is some structure I like to have...perhaps that makes me not so random then...hmmm...

Oh, so in my sermon from the pass Sunday, I told the congregation to "Chew on that!" Well, I was talking about how Christianity is the only way and it sounds like an exclusive religion. Which is so true, esp. when Jesus says that "I'm the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father but through me." (Or from my Hawaiian Bible: Jesus tell um, "No mo odda guy can bring peopo to da fadda, ony me. I bring peope to um, jalike I da road. I da guy who get da trut. I da guy dat make da peopo come alive fo real kine." John 14:6, Hawaii Pidgin) But what I had said in my sermon was, "Christianity is the most inclusive-exclusive religion there is, take some time to chew on that." And it's true, Christianity is the most inclusive, because God wants all people to come to Him- we are commanded to go to all people; and it's just as exclusive because of John 14:6, quoted above.

Well, I should get some work done here! Peace in.

Happy New Year...like 5 days later!

Man, it's been a while since I've written here! It's been pretty busy too- My sister visiting, Christmas, ski trip, a friend from college visiting, New Years, and wow...busy, busy.
So, let me recap the last couple of weeks quickly here:
My visit with my sister was great. I don't know if we've ever spent that much quality time together alone ever. But we went around the area, up to St. Augustine, down to Daytona Beach...it was a fun time. On the last night she was here, we went and saw "Fun with Dick and Jane," it was only so-so. I thought that most of the excitement and funny scenes were shown in the advertisement- I hate when they do that! Oh well.
Christmas was good. I spent most of the day with Bill and his family, I "had to be at their house at 7am" that Sunday morning- that's according to Olivia, Bill's youngest. So, we all exchanged gifts and had a good time. I preached on Christmas Day...I must admit that I winged my sermon. Like I prepared for it and everything and even used ideas and concepts from my manuscript for my sermon, but it was nowhere close to what I had written...but Bill thought that it was good, after he said that, I then confessed to him that I winged it, to which he looked a little surprised. Then after spending dinner time at Bill's inlaws, I went to another family of the church's house. I spent a long time there, about 7 hrs...so, I didn't get home 'til about 3am! It was wicked crazy! But I had a good time there. When I arrived, I was just in time for Battle of the Sexes...a fun board game, which I've played before and is a game that is so stacked against the guys! After playing that game, a group of us- ranging from 18-me (26), were talking the rest of the night away. It was a fun time, I'm glad I spent the night hanging out with them.
Then on the 27th, the youth group left for North Carolina, a ski trip to Cataloochee in Maggie Valley, NC...only a couple of hours from Atlanta. We stayed at Snowbird- a Christian camp. I must say more about Snowbird. The camp itself was nice, the staff there was nice, but I don't think that I'd ever send these kids or my own there ever again! Sure they are Christians and they are having a good impact on some kids, but they were obviously Baptist (not that I have anything against them in general). Decision theology was huge there, if you didn't make a choice to become a Christian, re-dedicate yourself (which I think is a joke...can we even do that???), or felt that you are exactly where God wants you to be, then you are nothing and are going to hell. Man, okay, so the concept of decision theology is really just a skewed version of the Holy Spirit working in you to get you to be able to say that Jesus is Lord, because we are dead on our own. The same when someone comes back to faith from being away for a while, the Holy Spirit did something to bring them back...God working through the means of Law and Gospel; again, nothing you or I can conjure up. The question on being exactly where God wants you to be depends on how you view that question- I've heard it as a way to blast Christians for not having enough faith to bring them to newer levels (or something like that); I've also heard it to be used for saying that you are not a "carnal" Christian. A Lutheran response would start with- "Are you baptized?" "Do you partake in public worship- where the confession of sins, absolution of sins, the Lord's Supper are offered?" And if you answer yes, then you are where God wants you to be (...to some degree, right? We can always offer degrees of variations on where we should be.) And I obviously agree with that, and maybe there's something more to that as well- that we can only be where God wants us to be in heaven, where sin no longer is a threat to us and that is the place where we will be when we are resurrected on the last day. But, that's not what the camp director was getting at- his was the second choice I offered (not being a "carnal" Christian). Out of those 3 choices, 12 people out of 70 responded (1 girl in my youth group raised her hand during the "is this where God wants you to be" quesiton...which was alright), but after that, he berated us for being nothing! What a jerk! Is that something that should move me? Grrr! And right before he was going to do all of this, I knew it was coming and I was about to have all of our kids leave...but I felt that that would have been disrespectful, but looking back, I should have...it would have saved so much grief that occurred after the fact! I guess that that is something to lookout for next time. And the other speaker that we had, he told great stories...that was about it. My suggestion is the next time they do this, let's create our own program and more skiing!!!! Oh, one final tidbit...most of the kids snowboarded and I told them that they were going to be sore (which they were)- not to have them not snowboard, just to let them know what they were in for (since I'd gone snowboarding before, I knew about the soreness). And I promised to do some "whitewashing," to which I did. "Whitewashing" is a hockey stop right in front of someone on the ground...whitewashing them in snow! It was easier to do that on skis than sled dogs (short skis). It was fun though! And I know that the kids had fun skiing!
So we came back on the 30th. That was a long drive back (10 hrs. ...although, it was a longer drive up there, 12 hrs., but the drive back always seems longer). But after getting back and dropping some kids off, I headed to Orlando to pick up my friend Dave from UND. I figured that I spent about 14hrs worth of driving that day, leaving at 10am on the 30th and arriving at my house at 2 am on the 31st! Dave and I did stop at a Waffle House (I love their waffles! Out of all the waffles I've had, none compare!), before getting back to my house.
I had a great time with Dave. I took him out to the ocean. We went and saw King Kong- not bad, I enjoyed most of it...there was one part with bugs that I just didn't like! And then for the rest of the 31st, we went to one of the guys in my small group's house...it was a good time there.
On New Years Day, after going to church, Dave and I went golfing! I've never been golfing in January before, that was a first! That was a beautiful day! Followed by spending the 1st at Universal Studios, which was fun! Dave hadn't ever been on a rollercoaster before, so I "forced" him to go! He lasted for 2 rollercoasters before he didn't want to do any more, so I had to go on the Hulk by myself. We went to both parks (Islands of Adventure and the Movie Theme Park)...I'm still trying to figure out why a family would want to spend a vacation there, you can do it all in a day, maybe a day and a half. Oh, on this day, I had to turn on the A/C at my house at night and then the heat the following morning! But until today, the highs for the past week had been near 80°, which was great!
Woot! That's a wrap.
Best Idea today: From yesterday, I went on a lunch date. It was a good time. That's all I got to say about that.
Worst Idea today: Not working out much since before my sister came...ugh. I can feel the lack of working out...I can't wait til after this busy season is over and I can get back into my routine.