Randy Thomas

The Feartainment Industry uses legitimate issues to have us personally invest in them.

I have been thinking about the whole News Bad News Feartainment News Industry (politics, most activism, Main Stream Media and increasingly New Media) ... and it intrigues me.

The word Infotainment (information entertainment) is often bandied around and that is accurate because it seems many (including myself at times) don't really watch the news for the sake of the news and analysis, we watch the news as entertainment.

Cable News has turned into the ultimate "reality show."  Think about it, it has the perfect recipe of beauty, beasts, snarky, gossip, survivor mentality, one-ups-manship, branding of personality, hero's, villains, cliff-hangers, plot twists and corporate sponsorship.

The only difference is that while The Bachelorette is a show I have never ever watched and doesn't affect me in the slightest, the Feartainment Industry does.  Some examples of this difference is with reality shows Snookie might get arrested, somebody may be forced to eat an insect, suffer a Simon Cowell scolding, lose to a 5th Grader ...  and we feel bad for them. Whereas the Feartainment News Industry brings the consequences home to us.  I don't care who has immunity (or whatever) on Big Brother 12 but I do care if the real life Big Brother strips me of my own religious liberties, undermines the three branches of government with inherent checks and balances destroyed.


That personalizing fear gets the adrenaline pumping and can be quite a Rush. <-- get it? ... "Rush" ... come on ... I thought it was clever.

The phrase of "politics of fear" came to mind and that is also true.  Politically and otherwise, fear can unfortunately be a cop-out motivator because it is the easiest to exploit (in my opinion.)  My question for pondering is, "has our number one motivator for entering into the Wall of Sound become personal fear?  Are we being motivated and entertained by personal fear?

I googled the word feartainment and found a man who did a well produced scary video where he screams and cusses a lot about not watching fear based drivel like disaster movies on the hellivison.  He then goes down a long list of things to be truly concerned fearful about.  I would post the video here (I agree with him on some things) but dude is seriously upset and likes to cuss. Back to the point ...

Fear is a God-given emotion to help us be more aware of danger.  However, fear is to inform ... not define.  Fear generates power. On the negative side of this we can potentially let that power consume us negatively or give it to someone/something else that promises to alleviate our fear but ends up only furthering their own agenda that perpetuates fear ... not so much the answers we actually need.

The positive side of fear can be used to help evaluate a danger's true potential and consequences and then turn our attention toward vision and strategy to combat the threat.  There are plenty of fear-worthy things out there but that does not mean we have to be consumed by or live in fear.  Again, fear should inform, not define.

But it seems that the Feartainment News Industry is only interested in making money and gaining power off of our attention and personal investment.  We have to know what is going on but we don't have to look to that same industry for our sense of personal safety.  The Feartainment News Industry is not the mechanism by which we arrive at final conclusions and strategy to make a positive difference.

***
Sidenote:  I don't see this post as comprehensive.  It's just reflective of what I am currently chewing on in my head.

I just bought Ashamed of The Gospel by John MacArthur in the iBooks store because I usually rotate between memoir, fiction, Christian thought for my extra get into an actual book reading and it was time for some Christian thought.

This is an updated release of his first edition of the book (which was printed in 1993.) I just got through reading the first preface (to the 2010 edition) and I think my head is going to explode. In a good way .... very thought provoking.

I mean, there is so much to consider that I am afraid to even try to quote some of it because it could prove his point about the Internet not being sufficient for worthwhile exposition and dialog!


Well, even with that risk, I do want to quote some of it that really stood out to me regarding the interplay between the Internet and post-modern thought.

Attention spans are getting shorter, literacy has suffered dramatically, and logic itself is frequently dismissed as unnecessarily pedantic. The Web is well-suited to a culture where what we feel is deemed more important than what we think. The Internet hosts millions of forums where people trade opinions and aphorisms, and these often become the electronic-data equivalent of acrimonious yelling matches. Internet forums are notorious for the profanity and hostility that dominate them. If you want vivid proof of human depravity in abundance, eavesdrop on practically any unmoderated Internet forum, including the ones devoted to discussing theology.
...
Moderns were convinced that a basic foundation of settled scientific knowledge would easily provide a trustworthy authority by which all truth claims could be tested. That process in turn would eventually bring about a uniform consensus regarding all the fundamental realities of life and human existence.

When those expectations were finally extinguished by countless buckets of cold reality, modernism itself lay utterly discredited amid the smoldering ashes. Whereas the modern mind had sought uniformity, certainty, and order, postmodernism canonized the opposite values: diversity, doubt, and defiance.

“Question everything” is the postmodern manifesto.

Combine those values with the ease of Internet communications, and what you get is what you see: the elimination of practically all distinctions between knowledge and ignorance, authority and incompetence, expertise and ineptitude.
...
All those developments were already discernible in the early 1990s, and that is precisely what prompted me to write this book in the first place. Evangelicalism’s growing superficiality, a spiraling loss of confidence in the power of Scripture, the relentless pursuit of worldly fads, and a steady drift away from historic evangelical convictions were already widespread and serious problems. Those trends were all driven by evangelicals’ obsession with pleasing the world. It was obvious (to anyone with eyes to see) that the market-driven approach to evangelism and church growth was headed for disaster.

ummm... wow. And that is nothing compared to the totality of what he discusses ... all in the first preface!

He also really goes after Emergent "Conversation" movement and how pitiful Western influx of spiritually shallow entertainment came in under the guise of relevant evangelism to the former Soviet Union. His criticism of those efforts are harsh. If what he saw is true, and I have no reason to believe they aren't given the circus we see all to often, they deserve harsh criticism.

I don't claim to be an intellectual but I love reading and listening to smart folk. It looks like MacArthur is that as well as passionate for The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am truly looking forward to reading the rest of this book.

Click Image to visit http://www.khaledhosseini.com/

This is possibly one of the best books I have ever read.

I say that because this book, along with Kite Runner, not only had enthralling story telling ... it was educational on Afghanistan culture and its history of war.  Both impacted me on an intellectual and emotional level well beyond my expectations.  Every emotion is evoked ... every assumption challenged.

The book is superbly well written on a technical level as well.  There is an investment by the reader into every single character and circumstance.

This is probably one of the toughest I have ever read.

It goes from a nightmare to a hellish nightmare to a hellish nightmare on steroids.  LOTS of violence.  Lots of violence against women.  The domestic abuse, depression and systemic oppression threatened to trigger my own PTSD so I had to put the book down several times to debrief and catch my breath.

Again, this book and Kite Runner have been the single-most effective tools used to humanize the Afghanistan conflict for me.  I know it is fiction but it is historical fiction.  Everything the characters went through ... just google the various historical events and human rights abuses and you will see it has happened, is happening, in real life.


This is a book that will anger the reader.

I think by now it is obvious why the reader could be angry.  But I think the single most obvious issue that just made my head spin off more than once, was the institutionalized and culturally accepted misogyny.  The book was not completely men hating/oppressing women. There are noble and good men represented well ... but there are more than a few that ... well, if it is possible to hate fictional characters I would have to ask God for forgiveness.  There was literally one point where I murmured, "I really really hope she kills that bastard."

I literally sat up shocked that sentiment had come out of my mouth as I was reading a book!

This is a book that should make everyone who reads it grateful.


As tough as the book is, it takes some of the simplest and purest forms of joy and makes them seem miraculous.  The descriptions, the attention to detail, brings a form of glory to so many things we take for granted.  A child's laugh, a simple act of kindness, teenage crush ... coming to the aid of and standing up for a friend.  The bond between the heart and homeland ... amazingly well written ... compelling.

Evil might win a battle but nobility, integrity and kindness transcends the earthly realm that evil will never be allowed to fully conquer.  There is an inherent dignity to every human soul even if some humans seek to destroy it in others.

This book isn't for the faint hearted but anyone seeking to better understand what is happening over in Afghanistan, on a personal level, could be greatly informed by this book.

I loved my High School.  I mean I loved the teachers but was pretty much living in fear of the kids the whole time.  That's how I lived in general though, not totally their fault.

This is cross-posted on the Exodus Blog.  Here is an audio file of the post as well.
18 Years by Randy Thomas

...

I picked this picture because one of the worst Teacher's I had was my Geometry teacher who brandished a straight edge all the time.

I joined a service called Plinky that prompts you with potential blog topics each day. I have been a part of it for a little while now and this one was the first one to really jar my writing skills. Plinky suggests:

Describe The Worst Teacher You Have Ever Had

There are several that come to mind but let's start with the second worst.  Let's call her Mrs. Trout because that was one of her nicknames among my high school peers.  She was a bit bug-eyed and had curly mousey brown hair.  She taught geometry and was maybe the most high strung person ... ever.  She eventually had a mental breakdown because in addition to her own neurosis (genuine) she was a magnet for that most evil of social animals, high school pranksters!   We were *merciless* in teasing her.  Ok, I had a litte mercy but that was only because I was afraid of the rest of the would start picking on me so I didn't go anywhere near as far as they did.

Some of the things they said when she went to write on the chalkboard was just ... well ... awful.

Now, the reason I say she is the second worst Teacher is because she really was terrible at teaching.  What she said never made sense.  And if we didn't get it right off the bat it was perhaps possibly the worst thing to have ever occurred in all known history.  She took our inability to innately grasp geometry personally and I could never understand her harsh and severe reactions to our geometric struggles.  Today of course I know she was transferring her personal hurt over the kids insults to a place of authority to take revenge on those kids.

And since we all got abused through her revenge all the time ... we just joined in perpetuating the attacks against her.  It was a vicious cycle.

She would also attack the silent kids personally.  One time she was so mad that when my one friend from high school corrected Mrs. Trout's question, she literally threw the ruler at her.  My friend left the class immediately.

I heard, from my younger brother, a few years after I graduated that Mrs. Trout had been committed to a mental institution.  Not kidding.

But the worst of the worst teacher I ever had was definitely Mrs. B.  The B was the first initial of her last name.  I am not implying a derogatory name with the "B."  She was a heavy-set, grey-haired, old-timey flowered dresses with her hair up in three buns: one over each ear and one on top of her head.  She was *mean.*  Never smiled, always scowled and an abuser.  She'd jerk us around, call us names and I literally don't remember anything about her teaching except I got high marks on my vocabulary lessons.

What I remember most is how she treated Mark (not his real name.)  Mark was bi-racial.  I don't know this by looking at him.  He looked African American to me.  Of course as a kid, I didn't really think like that or care.  However, she picked on him every single day.  She made fun of his parents not being the same race. She accused him of being stupid all the time and would smack him on the back of the head.  One day, through absolutely zero provocation, she slapped him.  I stood up slammed my own books closed and ran crying (with anger) to the Principals office.  I told them exactly what she had done and was told I was over-reacting and after they talked with her I was sent back with her to the room.

In front of the whole class she cried and asked me why I would do such a thing.  That I was the one clearly in the wrong.  I was dead silent the whole time.  She cried and cried and said that any time I had a problem to talk to her first.

Yeah... right.

I think Mark appreciated my going to go champion his cause but I would never know, he never came back to our school after that awful day.  I don't remember anything about that class after that incident but the unfortunate lesson I learned was that it didn't mean anything if you mustered the courage up to stand up against abuse.  It was a lesson I was learning in more than that one part of my life.

Of course that was several decades ago and I know better now.

Now, I had a LOT of VERY good teachers as well and I will write about them in a follow up post.

I honestly just don't quite know what to think about this.  I was surprised to hear this topic was even being brought up in a sincere manner. The Manhattan Declaration, via Charles Colson, is behind this video.




Am I in denial to think that we aren't that far along yet? The JournoList scandal, and the absolute willingness to silence opposition within, doesn't put me at ease about all of this but at the same time ... really? Civil disobedience?

Interesting days ahead ... that is for sure.

I got rid of my cable boxes today and it makes me happy. It taking 70 minutes and chasing down a Brighthouse Networks Tech in a Pawn store parking lot to get directions to the completely backwoods office I couldn't find wasn't any fun but ... mission accomplished, I no longer have any cable boxes!

The tech was a bit surprised to learn that I had followed them for half a mile. But, I had had enough of Google maps not knowing the nuances of Central Florida and clueless Brighthouse Office personnel not knowing how to give directions.

It was like a sign from heaven when I saw that truck with the big cable spools and huge BrightHouse Networks logo.

The tech person, after a brief surprise then seemed amused and gave me great directions. I wonder what they were about to go pawn?

To the point at hand ...

I've decided to cut back a lot in my bills to save money but to also cut back the noise and distraction in my life. There is this deep yearning to be writing and drawing more and I am finding that the constant drone of cable news is depressing and the rest of it (the myriads of channels) distracting.

I'm interested to see if this does facilitate more creativity.

I have just finished reading Karl Rove's memoir Courage and Consequence.

I read it because I actually met the man for about 30 seconds at a grip and grin reception. Grip and grin means that I grip his hand, take a picture and move on so the next person in line can do the same.  This happened at the Christian Inaugural Ball in 2005.  That, and going to the Inaugural parade, was probably the biggest political wing-ding of a thing I have ever been too in my entire life (picture after the jump.)

I also read the book because I like to read memoirs and I had never read a political one before.  I almost didn't make it through his recounting all the Texas politics they went through so I put the book down (well, figuratively because it is on Rex, The iPad) for a little while but picked it back up a few weeks ago.  I am very glad I did.

Watching Karl from afar both when I lived in Texas and him on the national level from my perch here in Florida ... I never could buy into the Karl Rove = Nefarious Plotmeister of All Things Evil the media and the left made him out to be.

Stoic? yes.  Master of Political Strategery? yes. Human Manifestation of the Dark Side of The Force? notsomuch.


Granted, the man is very smart and he didn't get to where he was by not knowing how to engage in political warfare but I just didn't think he was the conniving lying type.  One would expect that he wouldn't bash himself in a personal memoir but what I didn't expect is his humility and admissions to some pretty big mistakes.  I also appreciated the fact he didn't seem defensive at all and that it wasn't some big gossip fest.

Now, he did spank a few people but ... they deserved it. :) It wasn't gratuitous, vengeful or personal attacks but it was definitely not something I am sure they were thrilled to learn was in his memoir.

Christian Inaugural Ball 2005 Amira, my hippie libber friend, who I love so much  won't like this picture either. :)

I ate up the parts of the memoir that were about his personal life, upbringing, first marriage, his current marriage and his son.  Not all of it was easy to read but I love humanizing high profile people.  These stories reveal a Karl Rove beyond the hype.  I appreciated his openness to sharing those things.

I particularly enjoyed one story of how he and a friend would torment the media camped outside his home by clicking the remote that raised and lowered his garage door.  He would raise the door and they would scramble to get the shot and then he would lower the door ... wait a while and do it again.  He sent out a home made peach pie later to make amends for having fun at their expense.

I also respected him for being as transparent as he was about defending himself in the face of a federal indictment for three years.  That whole story was amazing to me.

The most powerful part of the book, for me, was reliving the events of 9/11/2001 through his words and perspective.  I already love President Bush but he has gotten a new level of respect from me after reading that accounting.  I get goosebumps just thinking about it again.   I was reading the part about the crowds lining the streets in New York City with candles and flags waiting to volunteer, President Bush standing for hours meeting with families of those who were murdered on 9/11 and openly wept anew with the grief of that day.

I am sure the people at the gym wondered what was wrong with the guy on the elliptical machine (I read during cardio.)  I didn't care.

So, while all the details of the various election strategies nearly drove me crazy, the humanizing elements and the different behind the scenes perspective of world changing events was fascinating. I would recommend reading the book to anyone who is even slightly interested in politics or current world affairs. It is not difficult to read and points to the nobility and frailty of our current political system.

I am not involved in public policy anywhere near what I used to be. Pretty much my only involvement the past few years is watching cable news and voting. Even so, I am glad to have read this book.  It added to my depth of knowledge concerning an important time in our recent history but I think my biggest takeaway was the reminder that we are all human.  Life is very complex and regardless of our whacky highly charged politics ... America is a *great* country.  The greatest in my humble opinion. :)

Edge Of The Storm

Taken with Big Brother II (iPhone 3GS) outside of the gym after working out.  I was intrigued by the play of light and then I was intrigued by the photo.  And then I was intrigued by the streetlight in the photo.

Can I say intrigue one more time?

This is without any filtering or adjusting.

Ya' all right back there droopy?

I read the book When God Whispers Your Name back when it came out.  It is a great book.  I was reminded of it when I got this (excerpted) from the UpWords Email sent out every Friday.

When God Whispers Your Name

by Max Lucado

The sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

—John 10:3

WHEN I SEE a flock of sheep I see exactly that, a flock. A rabble of wool. A herd of hooves. I don't see a sheep. I see sheep. All alike. None different. That's what I see.

But not so with the shepherd. To him every sheep is different. Every face is special. Every face has a story. And every sheep has a name.The one with the sad eyes, that's Droopy. And the fellow with one ear up and the other down, I call him Oscar. And the small one with the black patch on his leg, he's an orphan with no brothers. I call him Joseph.

The shepherd knows his sheep. He calls them by name.

When we see a crowd, we see exactly that, a crowd. Filling a stadium or flooding a mall. When we see a crowd, we see people, not persons, but people. A herd of humans. A flock of faces. That's what we see.

But not so with the Shepherd. To him every face is different. Every face is a story. Every face is a child. Every child has a name. The one with the sad eyes, that's Sally. The old fellow with one eyebrow up and the other down, Harry's his name. And the young one with the limp? He's an orphan with no brothers. I call him Joey.

The Shepherd knows his sheep. He knows each one by name. The Shepherd knows you. He knows your name. And he will never forget it. I have written your name on my hand (Isa. 49:16).

Quite a thought, isn't it? Your name on God's hand. Your name on God's lips. Maybe you've seen your name in some special places. On an award or diploma or walnut door. Or maybe you've heard your name from some important people—a coach, a celebrity, a teacher. But to think that your name is on God's hand and on God's lips . . . my, could it be?

Or perhaps you've never seen your name honored. And you can't remember when you heard it spoken with kindness. If so, it may be more difficult for you to believe that God knows your name.

But he does. Written on his hand. Spoken by his mouth. Whispered by his lips. Your name. And not only the name you now have, but the name he has in store for you. A new name he will give you . . .

When God Whispers Your Name is a book of hope. A book whose sole aim is to encourage. I've harvested thoughts from a landscape of fields. And though their size and flavors are varied, their purpose is singular: to provide you, the reader, with a word of hope. I thought you could use it.

I hope that brings you some encouragement today.

Apple Stuff

There was a time in my life that I thought, "Mac's? please... the only thing an Apple Product is good for is to be a door-stop, a boat anchor or something really cool to microwave if you don't mind destroying your microwave."

Then, I converted to the cult of Mac in January of 2008 and have a Macbook Pro name Alex, my second iPhone named Big Brother II and an iPad named Rex, The iPad. I sold Brutus (an iMac) and the first Big Brother (iPhone 3G) to a friend and Rufus the Macbook belongs to my employer.

I never named my PC/Microsoft machines. It's bad.

I have been a Wordpress snob since 2003. I believed it was the absolute best blogging platform ever. I thought blogger was old school and out of touch with some of the ugliest blogs with zero options ever. And it was actually blogger that started blogging as a phenomenon. Kind of like Mac pre-dates Microsoft.


Time after time I would say, "Use Wordpress installed on a self-hosted blog or wordpress.com for the free version." I still think Wordpress is awesome and is probably the best option for those that have the time to really develop it *well.* We use it on the Exodus blog and I love it (even though it still needs some design work.)

However, on a whim I decided to try blogger again for my personal blog because they created a new "Template Designer." And the more I played around with it the more I like it! Actually, I am loving it. It is light years from where it used to be and *easy schmeasy.* I am enjoying the integration with all the various Google products, the fact that it is free free free (don't have to pay for anything really) makes it even more fantastic. I am paying 10$ a month for the comment system ... hoping you all like it :). Wordpress.com charges you here and there and it adds up. Not Blogger ... and I like it.

The only caveat is that their importer isn't good (boo!) and some of the very cool functionality behind the scenes has to be "turned on" with the "Blogger in draft" option. Other than that, it's a done deal. When it comes to personal blogging, I will start recommending blogger.com!

And if you aren't blogging ... why not?

I hope this containment lasts.

<noscript>Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com</noscript>

I had to post this here because it was too lengthy (time-wise) for YouTube and Facebook. THEN it was too large a file for Blogger so I had to reduce it to this tiny pixelated video.  Maybe I should have just used the audio?  Oh well.  Also, I can't find a decent video plugin for Wordpress to put it on the Exodus blog so that is why it ended up here.  Seriously, I thought it would only take a couple of minutes to get this posted ... two hours later :-/

Anyway, Alan does an excellent job and the show is well worth watching.

You can catch Hope On Fire's original broadcast here.  This is the link to their archives as well.

Click Image to visit Hope On Fire.

Click Image to Order on Amazon

It took Will a couple more tries to get to the point that I thought was mature and civil (and I think more honest) but here is his latest note to me in response to the post from yesterday:

Randy ... I have made no secret of the fact that I am 100% non-supportive of the "ex gay" movement; and certainly of Exodus. That isn't my point in this particular post to you. In listening to some of your stuff, or maybe it was in reading, I came across the place where you spoke of your Mother throwing you out of the house. I know what it is to be virtually kicked in the heart like that, myself, and as I imagined you walking away from the house, my eyes filled with tears of sorrow for what you suffered in that moment. At the same time as I am very much against Exodus and what I have seen of it for so many decades of my life, I am also here to say that I pray that God's best would be your very experience. I don't know if your mother ever accepted you (perhaps she did when you embraced the "ex gay" movement), however there is a love that is unconditional and unchanging ... and as Henri Nouwen has written, it is the voice that whispered into your heart from the moment of your conception "YOU,, Randy, are My Beloved .. on YOU my favor rests.".

Yes, my Mom did throw me out but today our relationship is stronger than it has ever been. Not perfect. What relationship is? She did try to make amends right after that horrible time but I wouldn't let her and that's my bad. Thank you for your compassion.

I love Henri Nouwen. The Wounded Healer really touched my heart. The Lord calls me His Beloved quite often. He did again at the Exodus Freedom Conference a few weeks ago. That was the main point of Ed McGlasson's keynote address. I love it that God reminds me of my already intimate relationship with Him through your latest note.

He is truly sovereign.

I am God's Beloved (we all in The Body of Christ are) and He is mine. That's why I refuse to allow my sexual attractions define my view of Him for me instead of Him, my Creator, defining the totality of who I am and not just my sexual identity.  He sacrificed everything, endured every humiliation, for me to have a chance to know Him.

My obedience isn't forced, it is a sacrifice of praise.

Thank you Will for stepping up the civility in your comment.

I got this through my randythomas.org contact manager.  Will, the name of the person who sent this, is a regular commenter on the Exodus Blog but you wouldn't know it because I don't ever approve his comments.  His message reads:

Randy ... Your continual ignoring of any comment I make speaks FAR more loudly of the fact that my candor terrifies you .... and directly points out the fact that you are GAYER than almost any man I have ever seen.  WHAT is it that you are so afraid of, Randy?  I am over the top honest ... is that what scares the very crap out of you?

Will, I don't ignore your comments, I just don't allow them a public platform (in the Exodus Blog comments) to deride me, my life, the people featured in the posts and how we live out our faith.

I'm not afraid of you at all. If I were, I would let you bully me into allowing your hatred to take over our comment threads.

I am all for candor, I love honesty. Though your version of "candor" doesn't compel me to allow you to abuse the Exodus blog commenting system, readers or myself.

So, I hope you will find some happiness in that you finally got one of your comments published on my blog. If you don't learn how to bring some civil maturity along with your candor it will probably be the last one.

When I moved into my home three years ago I was one of the younger people in the neighborhood.  I bought right before the bottom dropped out of the housing market.  Actually, I bought probably as it was sinking.  I got the condo for close to 50K less than its original listing price.

I watched a video today proposed by a far left blog to be the new "ex-gay" ministry anthem.  They feature four high profile leaders caught in scandal.  They basically ridicule "ex-gay ministry" as some sort of direct correlation to what those men, who were caught in various compromising situations, have done.

As far as I know none of them ever identified as gay except one politician who now identifies as gay after being caught. He seems to be happy with that identity now.  I don't think any of them even tried to attend an ex-gay ministry. Another of the men mocked in the video, Rekers, only had influence in professional counseling and the religious political right concerning those of us on a post-gay journey.  He has never himself been a part of Exodus (as a Member Agency.) After some digging he is only quoted by three of our Member Agencies in various publications (out of thousands .... that I can find.)  So, taking the scandal of a few to stigmatize an entire movement (that exists well beyond Exodus) is indulgent, immature and not truthful even for satire.


The below quote came to mind today after seeing the video.  It has also come to mind several times this year as some activists have decided to take to strictly personal and mean-spirited attacks:

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." - Ghandi

Earlier this year I started reading Karl Rove's Courage and Consequence.  I put it down about a month ago because it was dragging a little for me.  I seriously could have lived the rest of my life not knowing every single detail of President Bush's run for Texas Governor.  Life got busy with the Exodus Freedom Conference and I also didn't have the time to read much of anything outside of the Bible and some devotionals.
With crystal clarity I read about Mr. Rove's election night of 2000 that led to the huge squabble in Florida over who won the Presidential election between Bush and Gore.  I relived that night but it was fascinating to read it from Mr. Rove's perspective and compare/contrast the evening from my limited average American watching TV perspective to his "insider" perspective.
Then yesterday I read the chapters covering the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 against America.  I've been reading the book while doing cardio and for once I was very glad that I sweat profusely.  I was glad for that because I was counting on the sweat to mask the tears as they poured down my face as I read Karl's account of that horrible day.  I don't know if it was his writing style or my personal attachment to the subject matter but it was the most powerful written accounting of that day I have read.

Again, it was a very enlightening to see a moment in history from an "insider's" perspective.  Of course 9/11 involved us all at some level, but to hear about it through the memories of the man who counseled the President ... powerful.  He mentioned sitting in his quiet home that first night and realizing he wasn't hearing any traffic or airplanes except for the jet fighters.  I marveled in that I lived near DFW airport at that time and it was the exact same ... no planes, no traffic and I looked out from the front porch of my apartments and saw military helicopters patrolling the DFW airspace.

I thought it was interesting that when I got home from the gym, after reading all of this, I saw that the Queen of England laid a wreath at Ground Zero. After that she visited a garden honoring the British citizens who died that day.

Then this morning I woke up and the first thought was lamenting a headache I have had since yesterday and woke up with.  As I sat there it came to mind that today was the fifth anniversary of the 7/7/2005 bombing in London.
It's not like I walk around morbidly living out a paranoid life over the threat of terrorism.  However, there are times when I know that I know the Lord is telling me to pray against further evil of that nature.  I don't know if this confluence of reading Mr. Rove's account, The Queen's respectful remembrance and this being the anniversary of 7/7/2010 is God telling me to pray but I am going to do so anyway.  I am sure He would approve.

As a Christian I would hope that anyone contemplating the perpetuation of terror would reconsider.  That they would pray first (even of different faiths because I believe God always hears the honest heart) and seek to make their case through wisdom and non-violent action (<--could include non-violent civil disobedience where justified.)

That said, if someone or some group murders innocent people ... they best pray that God will have mercy on their soul because the United States and England won't. To clarify, I am not talking about having mercy from one person to another or having mercy on those who are caught, confess and seek to make things right.  But someone/some group bent on killing innocents should know they will not succeed in intimidating us into submission to their demands. They will regret their actions (successful attacks or thwarted plots.)


Sidenote: Interesting developments in the thwarted NYC and London subway bomb plot shared on FOX News as I was writing this post.

Photo Credits: Courage and Consequence - Amazon, of the Queen - New York Times, 7/7 Bus bombing - The Daily Mail

Ok... really got into this one.

Mind Plume

Mind Plume
Drawn on Rex, The iPad, with Sketchbook Pro app.  Check out Osmosis <-- my first real drawing using Sketchbook Pro.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Traveling around facebook and the blogs today I am noticing that not everyone is taking this national birthday lightly and with a joyous heart. Of course one would expect the usual, "America was born in bloodshed and tyranny ..." narrative that has some basis in truth over how Native American and African (eventually African Americans) were treated. This year I also ran into this article in Christianity Today which questions whether Christian justification for the revolution was Biblically appropriate or not. 

Fascinating.

Then of course many of my Christian facebook friends talk about how the United States or public policy is not God and the only true freedom can be found in Jesus Christ. Amen. All of that said, as far as worldly systems go, I like the freedom to be found in America. I love our opinionated very verbal people. Even when we don't make sense I love us for trying!

I respect our three federal branches of government (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) of checks and balances. I love the Constitution and individual States Rights.  I love that we can call one President a hero and another a naive utopianist and not worry about being thrown in prison.
Seriously, there is not a lot of places in the world where you can criticize leaders.  And in case you are wondering, I think Lincoln was a hero and Wilson a naive utopianist. Freedom of Assembly, religious conscience/liberty, to vote, to explore, to build, to create and even to respect self-determination of others bent on disrespecting our own. We have a lot of freedom in this country that is taken for granted.

While it is tempting to blast the economic crisis, the oil catastrophe, Congress, our history, The President, the culture war between hippie libbers and wingnuts ... I am going to be mindful of the great things that God has blessed us with here in America. Hippie libbers and wingnuts need love too. I don't say that out of any snarkiness ... just trying to be playful. So here is a list of ten things I am grateful to live in America for (no particular order:)

1. Freedom of Speech and Press
2. Freedom of religion (conscience/liberty). I can worship my God openly and without worry.
3. The right to vote
4. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
5. Freedom of Assembly - in every social aspect/grouping but personally how that protects my churches right to assemble in the name of Jesus Christ.
6. The fact that Lady Gaga can exist and I can still not buy her album if I don't want to.
7. Our very opinionated and verbal people
8. Our amazing cities and culture(s).
9. Art, Science ... all intellectual disciplines flourish here.
10. The best military in the world.

There are many more reasons but I will leave it at that.  If you live in the United States ... what are you grateful for?  If you don't live in the United States ... I'd still love to hear your thoughts. Happy Fourth everybody!

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo Spits At The Camera After Losing to Spain

Can I tell you how thrilled I am to actually be invested in a sporting event?  I have watched various World Cup games and am getting quite the education. For example: macho soccer (football) players can be every bit the drama queens you would expect from second place reality show contestants ... or Blago
.
Young tween girls should turn on ESPN, settle into a comfortable chair and take copious notes with their pink feather tipped pens on their new Hello Kitty notebooks.  Texting is allowed:

Tiffany: OMG! Ginger! LOL did u c the Porchugal (sp?) man scream like Ashley does when her Mom posts something to her facebook wall? Ginger: TIFF! OMG! LMAO, sure did! Totally trying that stop/drop/and squeeeeel move to get out of gym class tomorrow!

One soccer player had such a severe reaction to an elbow swung six feet away from his face that once his tearful rampage ended ... I simply stood, clapped loudly and yelled bravo repeatedly at the screen. For a moment I truly believed that six-feet-away-from-anyone elbow had traumatized the man's soul. The man's SOUL people. His performance was Oscar-worthy.  This is why the really gullible referees bought it.  Speaking of referees, I don't really know the rules yet but apparently they don't either because the whole world hates them. In all seriousness I have enjoyed watching the games and think my fellow Americans who poo-poo Soccer as a sport need to back up just a little bit.  Seriously, dudes can run backwards at 90 mph, jump 9 feet in the air, turn their bodies into pretzels in a last ditch effort to smash the ball with their right ear and then land on their feet running everywhere at once. Who cares that they never score ... that's some good theatrics!

Today was a very good vacation day.  I wrote about 5,000 words :) and finished this drawing ... on Rex, my iPad:

Osmosis

Yep, completely drawn on my iPad.  It's the first major one I tried to complete on it.  I really like drawing on the iPad because it actually gives a lot of options (too many?) as far as color and brush strokes. Lots of lessons learned and while two elements were automated (mirroring and yellow flash) the rest was by hand.  I have mixed feelings about free-hand and automation. Ah well. Hopefully I can take the lessons learned from this and create future masterpieces :).

Alan & Willa Medinger

Yesterday I got home from California and went straight to sleep.  It was on the way back to the airport to pick up more staff that I got the text that Alan Medinger has died.  Sadness overwhelmed me and when I thought of my love for him as a friend/leader and Alan's wife Willa, the radio turned off and the grief set in.


Over the years I had seen the Medingers in different settings and situations.  Every time they had a kind word, prayerful heart and a listening ear.  Even when we disagreed (rare) they were kind, prayerful and would honestly listen. ... and there was usually laughter of the joyous kind. Alan was/is a good man.

When I first went to Living Hope Ministries (LHM) in Arlington Texas, Alan's teachings were very instrumental and encouraging.  The founder of LHM (Scott Musick), had come to Texas to go to school but had gone through Alan's Ministry at Regeneration for his own help. Scott brought that to Texas and LHM was born out of the wisdom shared at Regeneration. Scott was also my first Christian mentor. When I became director of LHM I would joke around with my good friend Bob Ragan (on staff at Regeneration) and Alan Medinger that they were ministry grand-mentors.  


Now Living Hope has a very large and vibrant ministry across the Dallas/Fort Worth area and online ministry that reaches people around the world. Regeneration, under Josh Glaser's leadership is still leading the way into the future with building upon Alan's longstanding legacy. Those are only two of the many ministries that could point to Alan's influence of providing hope to those who personally struggle or are affected by homosexuality in their family or loved ones. 


I grieve for the loss of Alan's presence in this world.  I grieve for his wife Willa and their family.  I grieve with those mourning at Regeneration Ministries and with all of Alan's friends in the Exodus movement and around the world. However, we all rejoice and take comfort in knowing that he is in The Savior's presence.  


The tears turn from mourning to joy considering Alan now knows God as fully as he is known by God. Death will come to us all but for those that place their faith in Jesus Christ eternal Life starts now and beyond this mortal veil. I look forward to seeing Alan again someday.