We're watching.

PMS' Darwin Award.

Sportsman Guide has these camouflage jackets on sale for $49. Perfect for the suicidal outdoorsman. A gift for that "someone special" on your Christmas List?

Remember, remember, the 22nd of November.

I do.

That Darn Foreign Media

Haggard Existence

"The self-sins... dwell too deep within us and are too much 
a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light 
of God is focused upon them. The grosser manifestations of 
these sins--egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion--are 
strangely tolerated in Christian leaders, even in circles of 
impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as 
actually, for many people, to become identified with the 
gospel.

I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that 
they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in 
some sections of the Church visible. Promoting self under the 
guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite 
little notice."
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Pursuit of God [1948]

Courtesy of CQOD

Boca Redux.

Again.

Somehow I feel that Johann Strauss' "The Blue Danube Waltz" should be playing, and I should be wearing shoes with Velcro soles.

Batch'n it.

While the wife's away on extended new-baby duty, I've begun to dig deeper and deeper into the freezer for sustenance. Last night's foraging brought forth this Boca Lasagna with "100% REAL Soy Protein" (including real soy protein gristle). Pretty tasty, actually, and supposedly better for me than the frozen pizza and pot-pie I had for dinner the last two nights.

Maybe I'll do it again this evening (I think I saw its mate a little further back).

The Comfort Food Gospel. Is this the mainline church of America?

Pastor



Bishop



Evangelist

List of comfort foods

While any foods or beverages could be considered comfort foods, there are many in the U.S. that might be considered 'universally' accepted comfort foods. Most comfort foods in the U.S. are regional in nature, such as collard greens in the South, or a hotdish in the Upper Midwest. Following is a short list of some common universally accepted American comfort foods. The same rules tend to apply internationally, where nationality, regional history and ethnicity tend to define what foods are considered comfort foods.

Apple Pie

Bagel with Cream Cheese

Bagel with Cream Cheese and Lox

Baked Apples

Baked Potato

BBQ Ribs

Beans

Biscuits

Bread

Bread Pudding

Brownies

Carrot Cake

Cheese Danish

Cheesecake

Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Pot Pie

Chili

Chinese cuisine

Cinnamon Rolls

Chocolate

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cole Slaw

Collard Greens

Corned Beef on Rye

Cornbread

Corn Chips

Corn (creamed)

Corn Dogs

Corn (on/off the cob)

Crab Cakes

Cupcakes

Étouffée (Crawfish or shrimp)

Fajitas

French Fries

French Toast

Fried Catfish

Fried Chicken

Garlic Bread

Grilled Cheese

Gumbo

Ice Cream

Hamburger

Hamburger with garnishes of that individual's choosing

Hot Dish

Hot Dog

Key Lime Pie

Lasagne

Macaroni and Cheese

Mashed Potatoes

Matzo Ball Soup

Meatloaf

Milk Toast

Noodle Kugel

Oatmeal

Omelette

Onion Rings

Pasta

Pancakes

Peach Cobbler

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Pecan Pie

Philly Cheesesteak

Pizza

Potato Chips

Potato Latkes

Potato Salad

Prunes

Rice

Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Pudding

Roast Beef

Rotisserie Chicken

Scrapple

Shepherd's Pie

Soup (particularly Chicken Noodle Soup)

Spaghetti

Stir Fry

Stuffed Peppers

Turkey and Stuffing with Cranberry Sauce

Waffles

Isaiah 40

Comfort for God's People

1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.

There you have it. We believe we've earned our "comfort" from God.

We go to church to be comforted by indulging in a guilty pleasure. We come for a sweet-treat reward for our week of being "good". We clamor after spiritual candy, happily paying for a banana-split for the soul.

We know the fattening intake of empty calories is bad for us, so we limit our intake. We save God for a once-a-week indulgence ("Sunday morning Happy Hour"), or for "special occasions" likes Christmas, Easter,weddings, christenings, and funerals.

Longing for false childhood memories of "home", we have become spiritual-food junkies. We are loyal to our name-brand religions, addicted to their sugar-coated gospels, deep-fried discipleship, and a creme-filled christ on a wafer.

Where's the meat? We'd gag on the raw meat of Jesus. We need beef-jerky and salt-pork for our long journey, but we pack Snickers and fruit roll-ups (some who take their "religion" seriously take trail mix to keep their bowels regular).

In the Land of Plenty, we load up on Good-N-Plentys. Our bellies distend, our teeth become perforated. We sense a problem, so we switch to Diet Coke as a spiritual discipline during the week.

Enabled by the clerical Ronald McDonald, Jack, and the Burger King, we are going to hell via the drive-through. Will that be cash, credit, or debit?

Did I mention the cost? It's cheap grace.

Meet June Anne LaGrone.

June Anne LaGrone in the arms of her Grandmother, Linden Summer.
June Anne, daughter of Catherine and Riley LaGrone, arrived yesterday at 1:20 PM (following about 12 hours of drug-free labor).

June Anne is named after my mother Freda June, and my sister June Ann. In Heaven, they take delight in this little earth-bound angel's arrival.

It is within the realm of statistical probablility that June is the 300th million American.

How we "do" church.

We "do church" mostly by keeping our eyes fixed on our rearview mirrors.

We focus on what used to be, and on where we've been. We watch it all shrink in size, and we flip the high-beam guard down should any "bright lights" come up behind us to pass.

We don't look where we are going. We don't look toward our destination. We swerve across the road, forcing others into the ditch.

We miss turns. We run red lights. We drive off the road, and see it as something in the past. We live our lives as the church in reverse.

We've forgotten where we're supposed to be going, mistaking where we came from for our destination.

WARNING: Objects in mirror are further away than they appear.

But along the way, off the wide road, people walk toward the destination ahead. Some are running. Many have gotten out of the broken down and wrecked cars that litter the roadside. Pedestrians have no need of rearview mirrors. They walk by light and compass.

Luke 9:62 (New International Version)

Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

One Hundred and Seventy One Years Ago Today.

iLud

Ludwig van Beethoven
7th Symphony

BBC Philharmonic
Gianandrea Noseda, con.

MP3 download from the BBC, played on my iPod.

This is a snowflake. Pure chance (sure).

Scanning electron micrograph of a capped column snowflake, with rime frost, a white ice that forms when the water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects, on both ends. When the riming process continues so that the shape of the original snow crystal is no longer identifiable, the resulting crystal is referred to as graupel.

Photo credit: Eric Erbe and Chris Pooley, USDA

"We have met the enemy, and he is us." -- Pogo (Walt Kelly)

I was for them before I was against them.

Alpha in the House

We started our Safe House Alpha last night.
For various reasons (including but not limited to my personal near burn-out), we are doing our churh's Alpha Course in our home. The idea is to have an intimate, comfortable setting, home-cooked (or seemingly) meals, and a family feel.

Our house is a little small, but it seemed to work. I have some furniture re-arranging to do, and some schedule fine-tuning, but the format shows promise. Ideally, we would multiply these around the city, sort of like Tupperware Parties.

Does MADD know about this?

Houston Metro Bus Stop.

Sure, I can understand the problem, but I'm not sure this is the best way to get drunk drivers off the streets.

We are playing for "keeps".

Jesus chases the money-changers from his father's house, and the Pope sells indulgences there. Has anything really changed?

Do I really need to say anything more? Perhaps you'll listen to another, more authoritive voice.

"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

"Here's what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that's been through the refiner's fire. Then you'll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You've gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.

"The people I love, I call to account—prod and correct and guide so that they'll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!

"Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That's my gift to the conquerors!

"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."

The Revelation to Saint John 3:15-22 (The Message)

Jesus says: "Ask. Seek. Knock. Open."

Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Luke 11:9-13 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Revelation 3:20 “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Chicken or egg?

A dear friend recently suggested that perhaps I should visit a counselor about my anger issues. Another opinioned that I'd make a great mentor if only I didn't have such a negative attitude. The sketch above is a self-portrait from about 1989, when I was trying to run a struggling advertising agency with partners who were less than, um, cooperative.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?