Bovine Theology

It seems like it is easier to post videos than write sometimes. This is especially true with this one. This video is a project that I have worked on more hours than I care to admit. I would use descriptives like “meticulous” or “perfectionist” to describe my motivations, but neither fits well. I was tasked with creating a short film to profile MTW’s work in the region. I collected footage from a number of sources, which wasn’t really ideal, mainly because it was shot by a number of different people with different equipment. But I was thankful to have the footage at all, and was especially appreciative toward those who graciously shared what they had with me. I found myself constantly tweaking and changing the film because it is to be profiled in connection with the upcoming General Assembly. I wanted the outcome to reflect well on MTW by communicating not merely information, but a story that speaks to the hearts of its viewers. My times has run out and this is the final product, for better or worse!

I’d never heard this song. I enjoyed the verses but the “refrain” hit my like a bat on the forehead. It shouldn’t have, but it did.

I’m not sure that this is a real return to the blogging world. It’s more or less an attempt at an attempt. I’m pretty confident of my failure. But I’ve thought of writing at least fifty different times and have just never taken the time from work (that usually pays bills) to stop and do so. So here’s to not paying bills!

There are several things I’ve been thinking about lately: relationships, sin, transgenerational stuff (it’s not a bad thing, sicko!), and of course, technology…in no particular order.

Relationships – everything seems to hinge on them. When life is good, it’s because relationships are good. When relationships are good, life is. Even when bad things in life creep in the front door…or even mow down the stinkin’ door and barrage the whole house, we can still enjoy the morsels of sweetness that our found in good relationships. It’s often during such times that the best of relationship are revealed. And God seems to leave a lot of evidence in His working through relationships. I’m reading through Exodus, and continually wonder why God sent Moses to Pharaoh instead of just the plagues. Wouldn’t Pharaoh have gotten the message just as clearly? Even more so, I think of how God honed Moses through his having to confront Pharaoh over and over. Instead of telling Mo, “I’m going to send a bunch of plagues, and keep hardening the guys heart. You just wait right here and when he finally relents, I’ll let you know so can lead my folks northward.” Then there’s the whole wilderness thing. Lots of relationship issues there, and I’m not even thinking of the ones that recorded. I can only imagine my kids, “I got the manna yesterday. Today it’s your turn.” Anyway, my thoughts lately are how when relationships go south (and I’m not talking about the Israelites now). When relationships fail because of our sin, it’s the depth of those relationships that bring the severity of hurt. When I sin, it’s those who I am closest too who I hurt the most. May we be mindful, moment by moment, of how our sin affects our relationships.

And that’s a nice segue to sin, isn’t it? This past week during our staff meeting at work, our boss reminded us from Psalm 137 of how we shouldn’t be surprised by sin. It’s true of others when they sin against others, and it’s true of our own sin. After all, we sin because we’re sinners. I regularly think of a book I read some years back, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin. In this book, the author shows how shalom is the way things ought to be, and sin is really everything that is contrary to shalom. Sin robs us of peace, contentment, and fulfillment. If nothing else, this increases my longing for the day that our salvation is complete and sin will be no more.

Another thing on my mind lately is the issues surrounding our generations. I’m coming to the place in my life where I’m realizing more and more how much living it takes to get real clarity. That is, our perspective when we are young is shrouded by our naivety. Yet, naivety is something that protects us from things like callousness and often bitterness. The compelling thing that stands out to me in light of these things is how we need input from old and young. In our early years we need to listen to the wisdom of those beyond us, and as we grow we need to listen to the optimism and ideas of those younger than us. Wisdom is found somewhere in the middle, often times. The practical advice of those older than us, applied to the reality of the changing world around us which is often best revealed by those younger, can bring us to the place of true understanding. This is especially true in the development of leadership. I wrote some of my ideas in an article about this recently.

I’ll wrap saying that I’ve had some real fun this past week bridging the generational gap with Leslie’s grandfather, Poppie. He was one of the first people I know who got an iPhone, and he and I have always enjoyed discussing, and being amazed by, this little piece of technology. I have to fight the lust factor with this device. This past week, his new iMac arrived, which he had me order for him. The past two evenings we have spent time together getting it up and running and doing some training and discovering together. I just made the PC to Mac switch in January, so I am still learning. It’s been a lot of fun, and I have to resist becoming a Mac-snob. These machines really are breathtaking, both to look at and to use. And I’ve also enjoyed the Wii with McGrooter this past week. We rented a baseball game to play while he was quarantined with the chicken pox (and strep throat). Actually, all three kids had both at the same time. What’s astounding to me about these machines is the interactivity between user and platform, as well as between the users. While he was quarantined, he mastered the basic skills of this game so that when we played, he pretty much stomped me in the ground. That brought a whole new challenge to our relationship! How do I celebrate his knack and persistence, while maintaining my dignity? I have no idea. But it’s been fun, and I will add that I have apologized at least once. Speaking of McGrooter, I’m really proud of his progress on the real baseball field. At the beginning of the season he experienced more than a few strikeouts. His last 5-6 games, he hit the ball at every at-bat! And on another non-techno note, he is really getting into our reading of The Chronicles of Narnia…almost as much as me!

We had a good time with Leslie’s family. Uncle Gary brought his new toy (a Wii with the Fit and Rock Band 2 with all the attachments). Before our time was done, almost everyone was into it. McGrooter was especially “funky” and even Leslie got hooked pretty quickly. Enjoy!

Black Friday Deals are so much less stressful online! Mom, let me know if you need specific suggestions from me!

I’m not really sure why this LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon is in “Toys” but if you want to buy it, you can save 10% today!

Ecuador

I wanted to make a quick post of my pictures from Ecuador. I’ve annotated most with a description. I’m adding other team members pictures as they send them to me, so you’ll see the chronology of the trip start over again after the annotations stop. Below is a slide show if you’d rather see them that way.

As some of my closest friends know, I supported Fred Thompson in the primary campaign. I supported him because I believed he was the only candidate who truly represented the voice of genuine conservatism. I felt so deeply that I even supported his campaign financially. I’ve never done that for any other politician. But Thompson didn’t make it through the primary, and that’s okay because I know my ultimate hope isn’t in any earthly regime. That said, I still feel strongly in who I vote for, even if I am frustrated in doing so.

I continue to get emails from Thompson’s PAC, but don’t have much time to read and watch videos. This evening, however, my brother-in-law sent me one of the videos and said I needed to watch it. So I did. And once again, I heard the voice of genuine conservatism, communicating what conservatives really believe. This message has been so distorted by our media that I think many who know conservativism’s wisdom is worthwhile, have forgotten how to communicate it to their friends and family. So I’m posting this video for the 2 or 3 viewers that still happen by this site, in case they might have someone in their life who needs to hear this message. It’s worth the 12 minutes. The only bad thing about it is it broke my heart that Thompson isn’t on the ballot.

There are other emails I have received from friends and family that communicate concern over Obama, including one that I received multiple times from an African-American pastor. Much of his content was on target, but his hatred and language frustrated me to the point of closing out the video. There is a way to communicate the concerns we have about socialist-tendencies, lack of character, hypocrisy, etc…without being hateful and emotion-driven.

Okay, here’s Fred’s video:

Here is a link to view all the photos from Friday (use your arrow keys to go to the next photo). It was a lot of fun to look through them today, and strangely emotional. Bobbi Jo really captured some good images of the kids’ personalities (each with one…respectively…most of the time). There were so many favorites for me that I lost count. Of course, I am biased as a father. So it’s not like I expect any readers to look through, let alone enjoy, 180 photos! But they’re there, for what it’s worth.