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Pastoral Staff Blog

Wow, I didn't realize our pastoral staff at BVBC had a blog, did you? Check it out.

Shoot The Moon

Man, this country love blowing stuff up.

Does this mark a departure in President Obama's foreign policy? Is this an unprovoked, preemptive, unilateral attack on the Martians?

And The Award Goes To . . .

President Obama. I was surprised to hear on the news this morning that he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Admittedly my initial reaction was "for what?" It is not as though he has brokered peace between Israel and the Palestinians, resolved Iran or North Korea's nuclear ambitions, ended the genocide in Darfur, improved the situation in Afghanistan or made any other obvious signs of tangible progress.

I think though there was a shrewd acknowledgment to the change in tone that can make for better peace in the future with this award. No, Obama hasn't brought lasting peace and a successful resolution to the Middle East. Neither have past presidents or Nobel peace prize winners. What Obama does bring is a willingness to engage first in diplomacy with enemies and cooperation with allies rather than a shoot first, ask questions later unilaterism that undermines a global rule of law and global efforts to resolve multinational conflicts, hopefully without military force.

I can already feel the seething anger bubbling up from many Republicans. Fox News already ridiculed the award, and one show host mockingly asked, "Isn't there cash involved with this too, like a million dollars?" as though the President were trying to attempt a different foreign policy tact for the sake of winning a prize and a million dollars. I mean, really, how incredibly ignorant is that statement? No doubt conservative pundits will also lament how the whole world is simply fawning over the charismatic leader and fallen under his spell. Yet over 20 years later Republicans still fawn over Reagan, "The Great Communicator" with nearly evangelical fervor so I don't understand the resentment; it seems more like jealousy to me.

Obviously only time will tell if Obama's strategy and efforts will prove to be successful. But personally, I am proud of my new president for winning this award, and the recognition from the global community that it imparts that we are not a closed minded, arrogant, bullying, war mongering nation. It gives us renewed credibility which in turns grants a certain amount of leverage in future efforts at dealing with those who would act violently against us or other members of the global community.

So congratulations Mr. President. May we all renew our prays for wisdom and strength for you and all of our leaders to work towards peace.

I Am My Beloved's

During my retreat, I was also reminded of the beautiful song "As I Am" by the Violet Burning.

Mary, she knows
In a world that's dark
Torn apart at the seams
She lifts up her eyes
Up to the skies
And sings

"I am my beloved's
And he loves me as I am"

Sometimes it's hard
Though patiently
You wait for the time to see

Whose are you?
(Tell me)
Whose are you?

I am my beloved's
And he loves me as I am

Light of the world
Please, come shine on me

Sometimes I cry
In a world that's dark
Torn apart at the seams
Sometimes I cry
For I am weak

Light of the world
Please, come shine on me

Reflecting on this some more, I was able to determine the following. Because I am my Beloved's:

• I will not fear mistakes at work or the rebuke and correction of my superiors, for his affection for me is secure.
• I will not be anxious at the deterioration of my wealth from the fluctuations of the economy, for he will grace me with contentment in poverty. Nor will I become greedy at the expansion of the same, for all is from him and belongs to him.
• I will not be grieved in loneliness, for his presence is with me as brother, friend, savior and king.
• While making all good efforts to maintain health, strength and vitality, I will not fear sickness, aging and death, for this veil and earthly tent must fall and I will share in his likeness in glory and resurrection.
• I will be charitable to my neighbor, whom he also loves, while at appropriate times and ways enjoying, rejoicing and giving thanks in his manifold blessings.
• I will continue to pursue the knowledge of and intimacy with Christ, the lover of my soul.
• I will continue to seek to be filled with and controlled by the Spirit, my help and comforter.
• I will continue to fear, honor, glorify and obey the Father, the giver of every good and perfect gift.
• I will not waste my time in idle pursuits, for I am responding to a higher calling worthy of my full attention and efforts.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The Abundant Life

My recent 7 Day Silent Guided Retreat at the Jesuit Center was a time of deep spiritual restoration for me. I went in feeling disillusioned, cynical, skeptical and generally fatigued and apathetic. I left feeling focused, confident and refreshed. One of my nagging questions going into the retreat was "What can I expect from God without risk of disappointment?" In a contemplation of John 10:10, it became more clear that what is promised is "life abundantly" not necessarily "abundance in life." We are not promised a prosperous, middle-class suburban American lifestyle with a spouse, 2.3 children, a dog, and a white picket fence. Rather we are offered peace in the midst of hardship, contentment in the midst of scarcity and poverty, acceptance in the midst of rejection, friendship in the midst of loneliness, righteousness in the midst of an evil world and life in the midst of death.

The Duration of Perfection

A most random and startling observation came across my mind this evening. Scripture does not indicate how long Adam and Eve were together before the fall. It could have been one year, one hundred years, one billion years. We simply don't know. Presumably, since there was no death there also was not aging. Although the earth rotated and revolved, it as though the reality of time had not yet become part of the human experience. Did monotony not fatigue them and dull their senses the way it does ours? Perhaps that is why there have not been more fictional stories written on life before the fall. Still, one could find room to speculate. Was Eve simply looking for some drama when she picked up the fruit? I mean, what do you talk about when the weather is always perfect, there are no neighbors or children and work is not a chore? Did they travel at all or stay within close confines of the garden? What do you do when all your days are spent in blissful perfection?

Bad Drivers

This video was also a topic of discussion at lunch on Friday.

Modern Life

Someone at work passed this along the other day. Quite funny.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien - Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy (10/2/08) - Video - NBC.com - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Courage

I started upon an interesting conversation tonight on the theme of courage. Many great people have said many great things on the subject and yet it is not something I hear much of today. This is something I want to investigate further.

A little something to whet the appetite:

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. - C.S. Lewis

A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten. - John F. Kennedy

Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill

When Is It Okay To Change Charities?

So I've had this sort of nagging dilemma in the back of my mind for awhile. What do you do when the charities you have been giving to for years are no longer at the core of the causes you are most passionate about? Nothing has materially changed in these ministries that makes them less worthy of support. Rather, it is being exposed to new needs and opportunities and changing interests that is driving the potential change. And, for the moment let's assume the constraint that additional amounts of new giving are not feasible, and let's also assume that all of the charities currently being given to are in need of more not less support. Do you make the change at all? If so, do you completely switch or hedge your bets and go half and half?

And, for the sake of discussion, let's add that "just pray about it" is not an acceptable answer to this post.

More Crappy Legislation from Congress

I am absolutely disgusted with the recent car voucher legislation being proposed by Congressional Democrats. The proposal would

provide up to $4,500 in vouchers to car buyers

with the requirements being

New cars must get at least 22 miles per gallon, while sport utilities and pickups -- the biggest sellers for U.S. manufacturers -- must achieve at least 18 mpg. Vehicles priced at over $45,000 are not eligible.

So let me get this straight. You want to give away my tax dollars to people so they can buy a car that costs up to 3x as much as I paid for my Saturn and gets as much as 36% worse fuel economy that my car which is 8 years old?

Vote them all out!!!!!

Movie Review: Up

So, I just saw "Up" in 3D. On a scale of 1-10, I give it a 4.5. Very slow moving at times. I may have chucked once but never laughed.

Adventure - Part 2 - Skydiving

Off we go!
Linked up!


Looking for the green light


Oh crap!! What did I just get myself into!

Watch that first step!
Whew, they remembered to pack the 'shute.


What a view.


Neener, neener!
Look! No hands.
You can rest; I'll take it from here.

5,000 feet, pull the cord.
Weeeeeeee!!!!!!Touchdown! Nice leg.

Finished!

Adventure - Part 1 - Hiking Harpers Ferry

Recently I enjoyed a great time hiking around Harpers Ferry. Aside from misreading an errant mark on the map and following a trail that technically didn't exist it was a good time.

I was also able to take in some walking along the C&O Canal.

There was a lot of wildlife, from two little inchworms

to one big snake

And then I spent the last day of the trip in Gettysburg with my parents.

Good times!

5:42

The time it took to pump out a pint at the Red Cross tonight. Rock on.

Need some more motivation? Consider their Top 10 Reasons:

	You will get free juice and cookies.
	You will weigh less — one pint less when you leave than when you came in.
	It's easy and convenient — it only takes about an hour and you can make the donation at a donor center, or at one of the many Red Cross mobile blood drives.
	It's something you can spare — most people have blood to spare... yet, there is still not enough to go around.
	Nobody can ask you to do any heavy lifting as long as you have the bandage on. You can wear it for as long as you like. It's your badge of honor.
	You will walk a little taller afterwards — you will feel good about yourself.
	You will be helping to ensure that blood is there when you or someone close to you may need it. Most people don't think they'll ever need blood, but many do.
	It's something you can do on equal footing with the rich and famous — blood is something money can't buy. Only something one person can give to another.
	You will be someone's hero — you may give a newborn, a child, a mother or a father, a brother, or a sister another chance at life. In fact, you may help save up to three lives with just one donation.
	It's the right thing to do.

The Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin

Recently a friend from church loaned me a copy of Miracle at Philadelphia, The Story of the Constitutional Convention May to September 1787. It is an excellent read and is giving me much new insight into the precarious beginnings of our country. I just finished reading a selection of events from June 19-28 as the convention sank deeply into dispute and neared complete dissolution. At this time, Benjamin Franklin rose and addressed the chair, George Washington:

The small progress we have made after four of five weeks close attendance and continual reasonings with each other- our different sentiments on almost every question . . . producing almost as many noes as ayes, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist. And we have viewed modern states all round Europe, but find none of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances.

In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hirtherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?

[Franklin here reminded the Convention how at the beginning of the war with England, the Continental Congress had had prayers for divine protection - and in this very room.]

Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind of providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten this powerful friend? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing profs I see of this truth - that God governs in the affairs of men.

This resonated with me. It is a beautiful, eloquent speech and one just as relevant today as when it was spoken 220 years ago.

Superb Marketing

I made a Target run today, and as I was walking down an aisle I saw a perfect example of synergistic marketing. There at the end of the aisle was a package of 3 Brita filters wrapped together with a 14 oz. Nalgene bottle (made in the USA and BPA free), and filled with 3 packages of Crystal light. All for just $14.00.

I bought two, giving me 6 filters, 2 water bottles and 6 packets of crystal light for $28. For comparison, a 5 pack of filters alone is available at Walmart.com for $39.98.

Perhaps I should have bought more!

Paradigm Shift

I started reading The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius today and came across this rather piercing statement:

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help in attaining the end for which he is created.

Hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end, and he must rid himself of them in as far as they prove a hindrance to him.

Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition. Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. The same holds for all other things.

Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.

I'm okay with the first three paragraphs. The fourth one is much more difficult to swallow, but after some reflection I see his point. I must admit I have not been evaluating the things in my life in this strict of a manner.

The Other Thing I Learned At Work Today

When you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.”
- Dakota tribal wisdom

In business we often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following:

1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Say things like, “This is the way we have always ridden this horse.”
4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.
6. Increasing the standards to ride dead horses.
7. Appointing a tiger team to revive the dead horse.
8. Creating a training session to increase our riding ability.
9. Comparing the state of dead horses in today’s environment.
10. Change the requirements declaring that “This horse is not dead.”
11. Hire contractors to ride the dead horse.
12. Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.
13. Declaring that “No horse is too dead to beat.”
14. Providing additional funding to increase the horse’s performance.
15. Do a Cost Analysis study to see if contractors can ride it cheaper.
16. Purchase a product to make dead horses run faster.
17. Declare the horse is “better, faster and cheaper” dead.
18. Form a quality circle to find uses for dead horses.
19. Revisit the performance requirements for horses.
20. Say this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.
21. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

What I Learned At Work Today

Insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting different results.

Unless you are working with a Microsoft product. In which case it is very sensible that you will get different results by doing the same exact thing.

Tamara, can you please start working on Great Plains?

Religion or Relationship

Recently I have been impacted by the dearth of my "relationship" with God. I mean, I'm going through the motions and all, but it has felt more like participating in arms-length transactions with an institution than engaging in an ongoing, interactive relationship. And so, upon receiving some needed exhortation, I am examining this more carefully. I am utilizing this forum to discuss it as I hope that others out there might help me in this process with their thoughts, reflections and probing questions.

I am starting things by turning to a source that has so often helped me in the past, Dallas Willard. In this case, I am re-reading "Hearing God." I was particularly struck by one statement in the first chapter,

"In the last analysis nothing is more central to the practical life of the Christian than confidence in God's individual dealings with each person."

Dang. That hit the nail on the head; that is right where the struggle is for me.

What does the relational aspect of faith look like in experience? When is it safe to say "God spoke to me" and when is it just conscience, circumstance and our own desires and perceptions? I have always been suspicious and wary of people who try to add to the credibility and authority of their arguments by claiming divine authorship of their ideas. Perhaps I am jaded by experiences in which people who have said "they have been praying about it and think this is God's will" typically followed that statement by either breaking up with me or asking for money.

But I have swung to far in the other direction. I found myself being described in unflattering terms by Dallas:

Our need for understanding is clearly very great. We are all too familiar with the painful confusion of individuals who make big efforts to determine God's will for them - people who are frequently very sincere and devout. We see them make dreadful errors following a whim or chance event that because of their desperation, they force to serve as a sign from God. We see them sink into despair, skepticism, even cynicism, often accompanied by a continuation of religious routine now utterly mechanical and dead. They 'know' on the basis of what has happened to them, that for all practical purposes they are simply on their own.

But I was comforted and encouraged by his First Steps Toward a Solution.

I believe we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, cannot abandon faith in our ability to hear from God. To abandon this is to abandon the reality of a personal relationship with God, and that we must not do. Our hearts and minds, as well as the realities of the Christian tradition stand against it. The paradox about hearing God's voice must, then, be resolved and removed by providing believers with a clear understanding and a confident, practical orientation toward God's way of guiding us and communicating with us.

Advanced Degree Not Required

I saw this sign on the way home tonight:

"Now Hireing. Servers Wanted."

How True

Bad habits develop naturally, while virtue, if obtained at all, is slow, hard work. - William Wilberforce.

Huh?

So I was driving home last night and I noticed this bumper sticker:

Evolution is just a theory,
. . . kind of like gravity!

Um, gravity is a law not a theory. I guess there is some argument around the precise meanings of theory and law and the difference between them and whether or not they represent a hierarchy. If those in the field of science could clarify and help me understand the difference better I would appreciate it.

But this still seems like an odd thing to put on a bumper sticker. And really, can we stop shouting at each other and claiming "the other side", whichever it may be on any given argument, are all stupid with bumper stickers? They tend to aggravate and annoy rather than inform and persuade.

Odometer

Odometer reading of the day: 111111.

Keep going little Saturn. Apparently you're the only new one I'll ever own.

It's Not Something I'm Proud Of

But Steve + Pet Fish + House Plant =

I'm Still A Guy

My latest iTunes purchase is Brad Paisely's I'm Still A Guy:

And I’ll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around
Knock some jerk to the ground
‘Cause he copped a feel as you walked by

These days there’s dudes getting facials
Manicured waxed and botoxed
But with deep spray on tans and creamy lotioney hands
You can’t grip a tackle box
With all of these men lining up to get neutered
It’s hip now to be feminized
I don’t highlight my hair
I’ve still got a pair
Yeah, honey I’m still a guy

My eyebrows ain’t plucked
There's a gun in my truck
Thank God I’m still a guy

In Like A Lion

So, I just heard on the radio that we're supposed to get 8-14 inches of snow between tonight and tomorrow. I could get excited about that if only work were canceled, which it probably won't be.

This has felt like such a long winter.

Not Shedding Any Tears for HENRY

So I was reading an article in Fortune today and I found myself getting really irritated with whiny rich people. The editor was lamenting the Obama tax plan and how it impacts HENRYs, "High Earners Not Rich Yet" and used the following illustration:

Say a family earns $300,000 a year, and pays $50,000 a year in mortgage interest; the family also contributes $5,000 to Boy Scouts, Red Cross and other charities. Under the AMT's top effective tax rate of 35%, they benefit from savings of $19,250 on those deductions. But under Obama's new plan, the share of that $55,000 that HENRYs can deduct is no longer 35%. It's capped at 28%. Hence, their tax bill rises by almost $4,000.

Oh heavens! Where on earth will these people who make 1/3 of a million days per year and have a McMansion big enough that it's generating $50k a year in interest (and who donate a paltry 1.6% of income to charity) ever come up with an extra $4k to pay in taxes?

This article laments the plight of these poor individuals whose

chance of accumulating the couple of million dollars needed to qualify as rich were virtually nil even before Obama took the stage.

Chance of accumulating a couple million dollars was virtually nil? Are you kidding me?

Let's see. According to one website, the average American's income is roughly $42,000. Assuming that is a family, they would be in the 15% tax bracket so in their after tax income is $36,500. Now, if Henry is making $300,000 per year he would be in the 33% marginal tax bracket and his after tax income would be about $222,300.

If Henry lives at the same standard of living as the average American (as a shortcut, I'll use $36,500 in annual expenses) he would be able to save $185,800 a year. Even if he just puts it into a CD earning 2.5% interest a year, at the end of 5 years he would have $998,675 and thus would basically be a millionaire. His chances of accumulating a couple million dollars are "virtually nil" only if he lives an extravagantly opulent lifestyle well above the average American, who is already grossly rich by most of the world's standard.

Tall about being out of touch with the worries and concerns of the average American.

Automotive Parts and Accessories

After helping someone at church replace their flat tire with a spare a couple weeks ago, I started thinking about preparations for roadside emergencies. I went to Wal-Mart and noticed a couple products of interest. Has anyone ever tried the Slime Smart Spare

or the Schumacher 6-4-2 amp charger


or any similar products they would recommend?