RE:think

Friends...

We played a gig on Saturday night and one of our oldest and dearest friends finally made it into town to see us play. Thanks for the surprise Steve-o...

Petition to Republican Cowards

Only John Mcain and Ron Paul have agreed to do the CNN/Youtube debate in September. You'll remember a few nights ago all the Dems showed up for theirs. There is a petition  to get the Republicans to sign on. Whether you support a Republican or not, they need to  field questions from the public just like the dems did. Click below and sign.

Save the Republican YouTube Debate!

Ron Paul has already done a wonderful video interview on Youtube. Click below to play it.

Pure Joy

PICT0183
Originally uploaded by rdwagnerjr

My favorite pic from vacation. Riley at Dollywood in the kids area where water sprays out of the ground...

Church Economy

Sounds like an oxymoron huh? You may be wondering why I even brought this up. Well, I have recently had more than a few conversations with young adult non-Christians about what bothers them most about the “Church” and Christianity. I was trying to find out what their turn offs were and what keeps them from making Christianity a part of their search for things spiritual. What was one of the big reasons that each had on their list? Money. (Remember that I am in the USA, these folks are, and their experiences are with Christianity in America. I know that it’s not like this everywhere in the world.)

They tell me they can’t trust an organization that takes in so much money and does, in their opinion, very little with it. I realize that they may not be totally fair when passing this judgment, but there is some merit to it.

They tell me that the way the Church and its people handle money is no different to them than the way anyone else handles money. They see the Church as offering goods and services in exchange for money. And while they know that churches are nonprofit organizations, they see big fancy buildings, preachers in thousand dollar suits driving cars that cost more than $50,000 dollars, and youth groups making money for what amounts to fun trips to the beach. Hard to argue with these observations.

They tell me that the “ministries” they see on TV ask for a lot of money, live the high life, and make no noticeable difference in the world. They see elaborate sets and again, expensive clothes and wonder if that’s what it’s all about. They see these folks as taking advantage of othes for the sake of the almighty dollar. I can't disagree here either.

So here is my take. I understand that any organization that takes in money, will inevitably end up with an “economy”. And while I enjoy and agree with capitalism in our secular realms, the description in Acts sounds a little more, gasp, socialist, to me. See Acts 3:44-45. That verse doesn’t sound like capitalism to me. Am I going to go sell all my stuff? No. But I think totally ignoring this has lead to the government taking over the role of the Church through social programs. Now we are in a mess. Why has the Church in America dropped the ball on this?

Do you think the overall way money gets handled in churches and the Church might be problematic? If so how? Do these folks outside the Church have a point? Is even something we are obligated to address with them? How would you respond to their concerns?

Generation Chickenhawk

HT to Zach on this video. I will make no comment but echo Zach's. It is very easy to support a war when you aren't the one having to fight. Just watch and draw your own conclusions...

 

Capitalism: Is the Church's Economy Based on It and Should It Be?

Let's stir the pot here and get some folks all hot and bothered. I am working on a post that attempts to answer the questions above. Before I do, I want you to drop in your thoughts first. I am sure there will be a ton of comments (hardy har har har) so get yours in quick!

Sports Scandals: Why Are We So Surprised?

I haven’t said anything about the numerous scandals in sports, but I finally decided to break my silence. As a life long sports fan, I have been disgusted by what we’ve seen recently in the world of Pro sports. For those who haven’t heard or have forgotten…

• Barry Bonds and baseball’s steroid scandal.
• Michael Vick’s federal indictment on dog fighting charges.
• The NBA Referee/Gambling scandal.
• Doping in the Tour De France.
• Doping in Track and Field.

These are the big ones, but there are others. It’s very disheartening and extremely sad. But here is where I am going to come down on it: Why are we surprised? I remember the first time an athlete that I adored fell. My Brother and I were huge Dwight Gooden fans. The first time he got busted for drug use broke my heart. So the stuff going on now is not new.

For some reason, we tend to think that those who are famous, have lots of money, and are in the public eye will somehow rise above and not have the same kinds of problems that rest of have. Money does not change who a person is. Fame does not either. We are all capable of ugly stuff. Given the opportunity, lots of us would lie, cheat or steal to get ahead or to gratify ourselves and feed our egos.

On sports talk radio you hear questions like this: How could a guy throw away a 130 million dollar contract that way? I respond to this with a question or two of my own. When has money ever cured a person of their sinful nature? When has fame made them a better person all by itself?

So while I mourn the fall of professional sports recently, I am at least aware that these guys and gals are not immune to bad things simply because they stand a little higher than the rest of us in money and social stature.

Here’s hoping and praying all these leagues and organizations come through this dark time.

What I Learned From... Episcopalians

After my Mom remarried to my Stepdad, we did a stint at a local Episcopal church. It's the church his family had attended for years. You need some background before I continue.

I was 13 and did not like my Stepdad. It was a tough time in my life as well as the whole family, and he was my target for rebellion. So, if I didn't like him much, I didn't like anything he was associated with. (We have a good relationship now that I am not the young punk of days gone by)

I did not like the church we were going to. There was the the stepdad factor and there was the fact that I was used to more informal, evangelical traditions. So in one respect, church during those years was a chore. I was something I had to put my time in and never let on like I was enjoying myself.

But deep inside, there were things that I did like. Now that I am older, I can appreciate them. I will tell you about a couple.

In this church, I finally got to see God as someone a little more mysterious and less familiar than he was at other places. And these days, I see too many folks who have no clue about this mystery and "bigness". God is more their buddy, than the creator who simple spoke things into existence. These folks know all they need or want to know about him. That's kind of sad to me. I am very thankful to have felt the mystery there.

The other thing I loved and even miss about the place in the liturgical tradition. Growing up I had always seen bulletins with orders of service and what not, but not quite so beautiful as in the Episcopal church. The reverence of the service was very  new to me. While it may have been overboard for me, it still added to the mystery and "bigness" of faith and God.

I will probably never be a part of an Episcopal church again, but I sure think we evangelicals have a lot we could learn from them.

Vacation Pics!!!

For those who care to take a look, here are some photos we took last week...

Vacation July 2007 - a photoset on Flickr.

The White Stripes - Icky Thump

On the way to our vacation destination I gave this record a good listen. I am not going to get into a big long review because, well, it's just like any other WS album. It's just ok to me.

And what is so maddening about it is that I think Jack White is great. He's a good song writer, he comes up with awesome hooks and grooves, and he's different from everything else out there. His raw, low-fi sound throws you back to the Kinks and the way he uses his influences from country to punk is mind blowing sometimes.

So why are the albums just ok?

Meg White.

She is horrible.

She may be the worst high profile drummer ever.

On this album I kept finding myself wanting to turn it off because she can't stay off the cymbals. It's so annoying. It makes me want to grab a set of drum sticks and jab them into my ears. She's just not very good. Bless her heart.

I know this album is a music critics darling, but I'm sorry, when your band has two members and one them is not in the 50th percentile of their peers, I just can't go 9/10. I'm gonna have to say 7/10 on this one...

 

Technorati tags: Jack White, Meg White, The White Stripes