Back from Vacation

We've been on vacation. We went up to the St. Louis area to see my folks and spend Christmas with them. The trip was pretty easy...PRAISE GOD FOR PORTABLE DVD PLAYERS. As long as Mihaela had her "Blue's Clues" and "Dora the Explorer" on, she was happy. Noah slept alot of the way up and back down as well. We only had to stop one time each way and made the trip in about 8.5 hours.

Spending time with the family was fun. We played a couple of new (to us) games, Ono 99 and Stare. We really enjoyed the Ono 99 game.

I did get a chance to start a new book. Erin and I are currently reading "Velvet Elvis:Repainting the Christian Faith" by Rob Bell. WOW!!! It is very good. I can't wait to finish it. It has put words to some things that I have been thinking as well as challenged my thinking in other areas. A must read for any church leader!!!!

Anyway, its good to be back and I will try to be more faithful with updates and random thoughts.

Have a happy New Year!

Fun Christmas Quiz

You Are Blitzen

Always in good spirits, you're the reindeer who loves to party down with Santa. Why You're Naughty: You're always blitzed on Christmas Eve, while flying! Why You're Nice: You mix up a mean eggnog martini.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

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Trouble Posting

I rely on my brother to provide the hosting for this site. Which he does for no fee...so no complaints here about that!!!!

However, he recently changed hosting companies and I moved my files over but have been unable to get Blogger to publish on the site.

That of course, means that you can't read this explanation...but when it comes back up you will be able to.

Dirty Santa

We played Dirty Santa at the staff Christmas Party today. I ended up with a very nice cheese server in the shape of a wine bottle. However, I was really torn when it was my turn. I knew I didn't want any of the gifts that had been opended (I was like the third or fourth person to go). When I went to the pile of gifts, I had a choice to make. Do I get my own gift (a paperback copy of all the "Chronicles of Narnia") or do I go with the unknown?

I really wanted the gift I brought...but is that right? I chose an unknown gift, got the cheeses server...and that was is it. Nobody ever stole from me. I sat and watched the book go to someone who, when she opened it, looked a little peturbed about getting a great book. She ended up trading the book after it was over with another guy who got candles or something. I should've gone with my own gift...I just don't know if that would've been the right thing to do.

Tee-Tee in the Potty

Mihaela went tee-tee in the potty. When I bathe her each night, I start running the water and then I undress her. She likes to just sit on the little potty while the water continues to fill up. She has been doing it for months. We aren't potty training her or anything...I just took the potty out of the attic last time I was up there and she likes to sit on it...like it is a chair. Anyway, tonight when I picked her up to put her in the bathtub, the potty was filled with a half inch of yellow liquid... Erin quickly grabbed her camera...I gagged at the thought of that. She took a picture of Mihaela and I sighed in relief...

We plan on starting potty training after the Holidays...***shudder***

My brother's best post

If you don't read my brother's blog regulary, well, you should be!!!

Nevertheless, make an extra effort to go read this one post. You will be blessed.

Breaking News: Bush authorized NSA to spy on Americans

This just popped up on my MSN messanger news alerts.

NSA spying on Americans

Well, DUH!!!! Not really a revelation.

PCA - Possible Spiritual Emphasis Day Logo

The other day I posted a segment that overviewed the book of Daniel so that Erin could get ideas for a theme for Spiritual Emphasis Day at PCA. Well, one of the people that I forgot to list in my post about regular guests, Tyler (aka Wicky-Wicky), a technophile teenager that goes to PCA and assists me in the Sound Ministry at church, sent this idea to Erin:



She really likes it. I really like it. I've made the following suggestions, though, to really make it *POP*.

Ideas:

• Daniel's life is one marked with prayer. It is that commitment and dedication that allowed him to "Raise the bar." So, modify the Cingular Man/"ink blot thingy" to look like he is praying instead of looking like he is jumping.
• Remove the antenna from the rising bars.
  
• Place the words "Raising the Bar" so that they fit between the "p" in "spiritual" and "y" in "day". It will look like the "p" and "y" form brackets around the phrase, "raising the bar." Then, the rising bars would slope up on the long side of the "y" with the "y" giving it a look as if the bars are making the back of the "y."

Tyler liked the ideas and is going to see if he can make it work. Other ideas are still be solicited, though you best be brilliant to beat Tyler!!!

Noah's "Gotcha Day" Set

We recieved a letter stating the the Hearing in the matter of the adoption of Noah Asher Bowman by Randy and Erin Bowman will be on March 15, 2006 @ 10:30 AM.

Welcome New Guests

We sent out our Christmas cards and referenced my blog in them, so hopefully I will be getting some new guests. I hope to be able break 20 regular guests. Right now, I hover around 16 visits a day. I know most of those are regular visitors.

Let's see, I know that I get regular visits from my brother, my dad, 3 or 4 people from small group, and our daycare provider. I set up the home machine to use by blog as its homepage, forcing my wife to read it. I can't forget my sister-in-law also reads it regularly and tells me that when she takes the online quizzes, she always scores just like me. My wife married a male version of her sister, I guess. A couple of the guys from work hit the site every-so-often as well. So that is 11 or 12 people.

Not bad considering I break so many of the "rules" by not posting regularly, posting on a myriad of topics, and not having categories and stuff. One of these days, when the kids are grown and I've retired, I will redesign the site, break stuff out into categories, spellcheck all the old entries, and do everything right. So, come back in 25 years and see if I am following the rules.

Antichristian Atheists

On my way to work this morning, I was listening to The Rick and Bubba Show on Y-102. They related a story about some Atheists in Utah who object to the use of a cross being used to mark places on the highway where State Troopers had died. Like most Southerners Rick and Bubba are Christians. They are very vocal about their faith on their radio program and they were discussing this story as an attack on Christianity, especially in light of all the Christmas controversies taking place around the country.

During the course of their discussion, Bubba asked why do Atheists make such a big deal out of these symbols. After all, he concluded, if they think all this "god" stuff is just hocus-pocus, shouldn't they dismiss all the symbols as well. This is a good question and one that needs to be addressed.

In my experience most Atheists are people who have had been hurt by Christians. The Atheists really do not "not believe in God" so much as they do not believe in a God that has been presented to them by these people. The hurt and pain they experience at the hands of Christians (usually someone in a position of authority) has driven them not just away from God, but to become a warrior against all things God. This is why they are offended by the symbols of Christianity. When they see the cross they are subconsciously reminded of that hurt and react to it.

It is my opinion that we as Christians have to pour an extra measure of grace out to these people. I think of them as spiritually wounded as a child who is sick with some interminable disease. It breaks my heart when I hear these people clamoring against God because I know that they are just reacting to painful situations brought on by those who should have known better.

I also think that we do a great disservice toward their healing process be fighting against them. Christians are taught to "turn the other cheek" and I think that in this case, that is our best course of action. When we confront those who are hurting, we only do more damage.

Well, Randy, you say...we have a right to speak our piece just as much as they have a right to speak their piece. Don't our rights matter, too? Not really. See, we American Christians sometimes think that because we are Americans, then we are free, liberated people. We get our "rights" of political freedom mixed up with the concept of spiritual freedom and think the two go together somehow. The truth is, though, that while we are free of the bonds of sin and death, we must subject our will to that of our God and His Son. We are not "free." I am not in control of my own destiny. I do not get choose how to react to people. I am to be Christ, not me to the world. So, while politically, we are free and we have certain "rights", spiritually, we belong to someone else and He has told us how we can expect to be treated in this world and how to relate to those who mistreat us. And none of it includes complaining or fighting against it.

Anyway, I hope this sheds some light on the question. It is just a theory I have and I have been wrong in the past...so take it for what its worth.

Carpallabelitis

We worked on Christmas cards tonight. My job was to peel return labels, address labels, and stamps from their respective backings and affix them to the envelope in the appropriate place. I messed up a little bit and some are going to be delivered upside down. Please accept my humble apologies.

As the night wore on my hands started cramping from the work. I told Erin I was getting carpal-label-itis (should that be one or two "l's"?). She replied for me to stop whining that I was too young to have to worry about that.

This story was a lot funnier to me while I was sitting on the living room peeling labels. It seems to have lost something in translation to the written word. Please laugh now at my funny tale and witty mixture of the job I was performing with a real medical disorder.

Daniel Overview

Erin wants to use the Book of Daniel for her spiritual emphasis day in the Spring. So, I have spent some timre reading the book and studying it so that I could help her get get some good topics/themes/lessons to provide to the teachers of classes.

She is still looking for a catchy theme for the day and some sort of branding for the brochures, workbooks, t-shirts, etct... Personally, I like "Daringly Different" and use "Apple iPod"-like ads branding of a solid background with a sillehoutte of someone praying. Erin isn't too excited about that one, so it isn't right.

Here is my overview of the book and brainstorms for some ideas. Feel free to include your own thoughts. Good ideas will be stolen (borrowed) and implemented (with credit to you).

Too Busy

With my new responsibilities at work, I am more tired when I get home. I am so tired after the kids go down that I have actually fallen asleep on the floor while watching TV this week. I'm sure once I get in the groove, I will be less tired. Until then blog posts may be spotty at best.

Of course, I've had some stuff I wanted to blog about happen, but can't share my insight/opinion publically. We don't have a policy against it, its just a bad idea.

Which Narnia Character are You?

Of course, when I see my brother has posted results from a new "What...are you?" quiz, I have to take it. So, from BeliefNet.com comes "Which Narnia Character are you?"

I am Lucy:

You have a strong sense of responsibility toward others and a deep respect for other people, even strangers, though you are not always sure what the best course of action is. You are Lucy, the brave child who who is wise beyond her years and kind to all she meets.

I'm giving 5:1 odds that when Erin takes the quiz, she comes out as Aslan.

Career Decisions

I've received another promotion at work (temporarily). My direct boss (Bob), the Director of Information Services has been loaned to another department full-time for a year to work on a special project. I have been asked to be the Interim Director during his absence. This is certainly a God-given opportunity because I thought I had gone as far as I can go in my Department with the education, credentials and experience I have.

The Director position requires a Master's degree, which I don't have. While I can hold the position temporarily without a Master's degree, I would need to earn one before Bob retires in three years to fill it permanently. I have known this for sometime, but have had a career goal of starting my own business, which does not require a Master's degree, so I haven't pursued one. Starting and running my own business has been a discussion between Erin and I for quite sometime. She prefers the benefits and stability (i.e., security) of a state job. I understand and respect those needs and know that she is right that staying with the State is best for our family.

So, I have to make some long term career decisions now. Do I go ahead and earn a Master's degree seeking to rise in my current organization? (Which seems to be the wise thing to do..."bird in the hand" and all) Or, do I just hold this position for a year and then do something else? If something else, then what is that something else cause I hardly doubt I will be ready to go off on my own business venture by then. If I seek a Master's degree, then there are questions about which school to attend(web-based, TSUM, AUM, Auburn, Faulkner, etc...), what field to get the degree in (MBA, Masters of Info. Tech., etc...), and whether to do one of those 1 year programs or a 3 year program? Write a thesis or do a non-thesis program? Which extra job do I give up to go to school or do I give up both of them?

These are the questions that Erin and I must pray about. I've called my Dad and gotten his advice (hey, that's exactly what Dad's are for and there is NO ONE that I trust more to point me in the right direction). I just want to do what God wants me to.

Still Need a Vacation

I didn't realize I hadn't posted in over a week. Part of that is because we have been on vacation. Part of it has been I have been busy with life. Let me catch you up to speed:

Wed. Nov. 16, 2005 - Erin left to attend the Youth Specialities Conference in Nashville, TN. For five nights I got to put on my "Super Dad" hat and take care of both children (21 months old and 6 months old).

Thur. Nov. 17, 2005 - I get a call from my mother letting me know that my grandmother had to be rushed to the hospital. They don't know if she will make it. Also, it is Noah's 6 month wellness check and flu shots for both children (remember, Erin is away gaining great insight into the minds of teens).

Fri. Nov. 18, 2005 - I get a call from my father-in-law telling me that Erin's maternal grandfather has passed away from a heart attack. My grandmother's condition is still touch-and-go.

Sat. Nov. 19, 2005 - I was supposed to work while my mother-in-law watched the children. Due to the death of her father, though, she has headed up to Pennsylvania for the funeral.

Sun. Nov. 20, 2005 - Church. My good friends Tracie and Chuck come by the house in the morning and allow me to go to church to do my ministry (I'm the sound dude). They bring the kids to church with them later on. The afternoon is busy taking care of little ones.

Mon. Nov. 21, 2005 - Erin returns from her conference. I have a presentation that I have to be at in Birmingham at 3:00 PM. I leave work at Noon, run by a friend's house to pick up a portable DVD player we are borrowing for a trip to Johnson City, TN (we have one, but the screen is going out and it was in the shop being repaired). I drive to Birmingham in torrential rain. Get lost. Get directions. Arrive at 2:45 PM instead of 1:30 like I wanted to. Made it in time, but just barely.

Oh, and also on Monday morning, I call ACER because one of the fans in my laptop started making a horrific noise over the weekend. The laptop is under warranty, so I want a fan to fix it. Will they send me a fan and let me do the ten minute repair myself? Of course not! I have to send them my laptop. My desktop replacement laptop. No problem (or so I think), though, because my laptop contains a full size hard-drive, which I remove and throw into a desktop. When I try to boot Windows XP I get to my log-in prompt where I log in successfully only to be met with a message that I must activate this version of Windows XP with a "Yes" and "No" button. Clicking "NO" returns me to the log-in prompt. Clicking "Yes" starts the Activation Wizard which informs me that this product is Activated and gives me an "OK" button, which when clicked returns me to the log-in prompt. I am stuck in a never-ending loop. I call MS to get help activating the product and am informed that I can't run this hard drive in another machine because MS and ACER have a license agreement that only allows for this version of Windows XP to be run in an Acer machine. I inform MS that I only want to run it in the desktop for 7-10 days while my laptop is in the shop. I'm not trying to steal from MS. As anyone who knows me knows, I am very diligent about making sure software gets paid for. No can do, though, according to MS.

Tues. Nov. 22, 2005 - We wake up and decide to go ahead and leave on Tuesday instead of Wed. to head to Brooke's house in TN. We pack everything up and leave around 11:00 AM. We arrive at the destination 7 or so hours later.

Sleeping arrangements are all four of us in one room. We sleep in two to three hour stretches as one or both children wake up every so often.

Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 - In TN. Much fun had by all.

Thur. Nov. 24, 2005 - In TN. Much absolutely spectacular eating done by all. It was a great Thanksgiving.

Fri. Nov. 25, 2005 - In TN. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERIN!!! She gets her first real cake ever. I earn "Bad Husband of the Year" award for neglecting to get her a gift or even a card. I also never say Happy Birthday. Dog House for Randy.

Sat. Nov. 26, 2005 - We return home. Children cry a lot on the way home. We stop in Birmingham to eat a late dinner/early lunch (its around 3:00 PM) and to walk around The Summit. We eat, shop a bit, get a coffee from Starbucks and head to the car. Mihaela has been sleepy or sleeping most of the time. She doesn't look like she feels well, but won't say what hurts and doesn't have a fever. We chalk it up to being tired of travelling. She didn't sleep well at her cool Aunt Brooke's house (although she had a blast with her cousins). Around 5:00 we leave The Summit, stopping at a local gas station to refuel. As we head to exit of the gas station, Mihaela vomits. Everywhere. We pull into a parking space and clean her up and clean her car seat up. We finally arrive home and spend the rest of the night unpacking and cleaning up. Mihaela was up a lot, still being sick.

Sun. Nov. 27, 2005 - Erin stays home with sick children. I go to church. I come home and relieve her. Its been a tough morning for her as both kids don't feel well, are whiny, won't take naps, and laundry overflows. As of right now everyone but me is napping. The house is picked up. Laundry still remains and Christmas decorations are halfway out getting displayed.

Anyway, that's been my past ten days or so. BTW, my grandma is doing better. The doctors think she either had a "brain stem stroke" or a "nerve stroke" or have some form of Lou Gehrig's disease. She has a permanent "traech" installed to help her breathe and has had a feeding tube installed so she can eat as her throat is paralyzed. She is alert though and has been able to walk around a little.

So, even though I have been off the past week, I could still use some rest.

Healthy Relationships

Several weeks ago our small group was enduring an attack on the relationships of our members. Every couple in the group was bickering (or worse) and interpersonal relationships had been strained. Instead of continuing on with our normal study of Revelation, I took a week to talk about how to maintain healthy relationships. I had preached a sermon on this sometime ago and went looking through my files trying to find it. Even Google Desktop could not find it on my machine (I wasn't surprised because I thought I had lost the soft copy in a hard drive crash). It is the best sermon I have ever preached and I knew the material would be relevant. I was crushed and disheartened when I could not find it.

I muddled through the material that night. One of the good things about it being the best sermon that I ever preached is that it has stuck with me. Now, I couldn't remember some of the details and some of the mnemonics that I had employed, but I remembered the principles. The class was not nearly as good as the sermon.

Anyway, I am using Microsoft's somewhat new tool (it was released on Sept. 1 of this year) called SyncToy to create a backup of my laptop to my home machine and a back of my home machine to my laptop. While browsing to determine which directories I did not need to backup, I STUMBLED ACROSS MY LONG LOST SERMON. Oh Joy!!!!

The sermon looks at the "Armor of God" in Ephesians 6:10-18 and shows how each piece is designed to protect our relationships from spiritual attack. Many people look at that section of Ephesians and apply it only to their personal struggle with sin or to "spiritual warfare" in general. It is my belief, though, that "Armor of God" section is a specific remedy to protecting the relationships within the body. It has a very specific application.

This makes sense if you read the whole book of Ephesians in one sitting (preferably out-loud). One can quickly see that Paul is writing the church at Ephesus to deal with a very specific issue: Unity. The first half of the book (ch. 1,2,&3) deal with unity in Christ and the second half of the book (ch. 4,5,&6) deals with unity in the body of Christ. Think of it like this: the first half of the letter deals with the theory of why people in the church should be unified and the second half shows very practical ways to be unified. Paul even takes time to highlight the problems in specific types of relationships (wives and husbands, children and parents, bosses and employees). It is after all this that we have the "Armor of God" section. It only makes sense to me, then, that the "Armor of God" is specifically designed to thwart Satan and his minions' attempts to disrupt the unity of the church.

You can either read the rest of this post where I transcribe my sermon outline into real paragraphs (and filled out some spaces in the outline) or you can just download my outline and the accompanying handout.

Introduction

Jesus is a uniter, Satan is a divider. Many of Paul's letters to the early church gave instructions on how to relate to one another, how to build relationships. Paul understood that in this life, it is not good to be alone. Paul knew that we must stick together as a group, or we will fall as individuals.

We know that relationships are not easy. Marriages mandate work to remain strong. Friendships need time together to be effective. Relationships require maintenance or they fall apart.

The question, then, is how can we maintain relationships? What can we do to ensure that we are united as families, friends, and as a church? God has given us all of the principles we need to answer this question when he invoked the imagery of armored solider in Eph 6:14-17.

6 steps to maintaining strong, healthy relationships

1. Cultivate an environment of openness

Paul starts by telling us to "Let the truth be like a belt around your waist." - 6:14 (CEV). A belt does more that just keep your pants up. It keeps things together. It keeps my shirt tucked in. Do you remember seeing pictures of kids going to school having bound their books together with a belt.

We must make sure that we put off falsehood and speak truthfully in our relationships. Openness and honesty gird us together while misunderstanding and hidden motives divide us. When we know that a person is speaking honestly to us, we don't have to spend time trying to interpret their words and formulating our clever response. Instead, we can spend time truly listening and truly responding to their needs.

What things, then, do we need to be open and honest about? Good question. Our feelings. Our hurts. Our struggles. Our sins. Confession is an integral part of being unified. An environment of openness also allows for us to be able to reproach each other (Remember to speak the truth in love though - Eph. 4:15).

Many churches have a great method in place to achieve this goal through small groups. Small Groups are a great way to get involved in this kind of activity. When we moved to Hunter Hills and were looking for a small group to join we were invited to many small groups. We visited many of them and, you know, they all had one thing in common...they all thought they were the best small group! If you are not involved in a small group, you really need to get into one.

2. Emulate a life of purity

Next Paul teaches that we need "the protection of right living on your chest" - Eph. 6:14 (NCV). Living a pure life not only protects our heart from hurt, but it also protects the hearts of those around us. The consequences of our sins ripple through our relationships, affecting every person in our circle of influence.

The effect of sin on an individual is a hardened heart and a loss of sensitivity to your fellow man (Eph. 4:17-19). When you no longer care about your neighbor, you are willing to hurt him to achieve your own goals and desires.

3. Radiate a spirit of peace

The next piece of hardware we need to protect our relationships we are told about is "For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared." - Eph. 6:15 (NLT).

Fully prepared to do what? Move in the direction God wants you to. Where there is confusion, there is lack of direction. We've all been in situations like this. An emergency happens. All communication lines are blocked. No one knows what to do or where to go so people run around in all directions. Confusion reigns supreme.

The truth is that you need peace and order to make decisions.

Also it is hard to hear God if there is too much noise around you. God's Spirit will speak to you to minister to people in the ways He has gifted you. That ministering is a relationship building-block. If there is so much noise around you that you can not hear and follow the promptings of God, then those relationships won't be built. In Satan's eyes, a relationship building block not laid is as good as one torn down.

4. Eradicate all feelings of doubt.

Satan knows that if he can keep us doubting, then he has rendered us ineffective in completing the work laid before us. So he sends "Arrows of Doubt" raining down us. Paul encourages us then to "Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." - Eph. 6:16 (NIV).

There are many different "Arrows of Doubt" that Satan posses in his arsenal. Here are a few common ones that I have experienced and that I have seen and are destroying relationships within the body of Christ.

Maybe he has pelted you with an Arrow of Doubt that you are loved/appreciated/needed. You get pierced and question why are you working so hard for people who don't love you? What am I making the sacrifices of time, family, and money only to have those sacrifices taken for granted? Maybe you look around and evaluate your ministry and say to yourself, "Self, you're not making an impact. No one would miss you if you were gone. You're really not important or needed here." So off you sulk. You leave your ministry. You leave your influence. You desperately want someone to notice you are gone, but actively push people away who ask you about it with non-committal niceties. When you walk away, you have been rendered ineffective by the Enemy. Our faith acts a shield because as we maintain a confidence in the reality and power of God then we are assured that we are loved by God and his people (John 14:12, 13).

Maybe he has shot an Arrow of Doubt that we fit in. Humans have an intense, God-given desire to belong. When we surround ourselves with people, yet still don't feel connected to them, then we feel as if we don't fit in. We will break from that group and go looking for another group, another group of people more like me. However, at some point we will discover that we don't fit in with this new group, and off we go again, searching for something better.

The fact is though, that we all feel as if we don't belong at some time in our lives because we are all unique individuals. Our faith acts a shield because as we maintain a confidence in the reality and power of God then we are assured that we are uniquely and wonderfully SHAPEed (a combination of Spiritual Gifts, Heart/Passion, Aptitudes, Personality, and Experiences from Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Church") to be in this place at this time (Isaiah 64:8).

The last common Arrow of Doubt that I want to cover today is the one where we don't think that we are good enough/making a difference/have anything to offer the church. "Who am I?" we ponder. "What skills do I have?" "I'm nowhere near as smart as _______. I don't have the time that _______ has. I can't do ________ that _________ can do." This Arrow of Doubt renders us useless because we never even start to do anything. In this case, our faith acts a shield because as we maintain a confidence in the reality and power of God then we can be assured that we are good enough and that we will make a difference because it is God's power (Eph 3:20), working through us that makes us able to meet the challenges of the direction God is taking us.

5. Concentrate on shared traits

The fifth step in maintaining healthy relationships is to "Accept salvation as a helmet." - Eph. 6:17 (GN). See, Hats and helmets are symbolic for identity. Firemen all wear the same helmet. Baseball players on the same team all wear the same hat. In the military there is distinction among your headgear. You have black berets, green berets, and red berets. Each different color and style marks a group of people as belonging together.

Paul is saying it is our salvation that marks us as belonging together, it gives us a shared identity. "In Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus" - Gal. 3:28 (NCV).

Whenever differences arise in our relationships, we have a choice to make. Do I focus on the difference? Do I focus on the similarity? According to Paul, our salvation gives us an identity so powerful that no difference can wedge itself between us. We have irreconcilable similarities. We are all "heirs of salvation." We are all "Sons of God." We are all "saved by grace."

6. Retaliate with words of Scripture

Paul's final piece of armor is our offensive weapon. He tells us that "for a sword use God's message that comes from the Spirit." - Eph.6:17 (CEV). This is the only offensive weapon and shows that we must be proactive in keeping the unity by keeping our hearts and minds focused on the scriptures of God. When we are pursuing God's perspective and guidance through scripture, we can not be focusing on Satan's lies or our own selfish ambitions. We must keep our sword sharp and use it.

This means forming a habit of having a daily quiet time. One my friends in college had a hobby of fencing. She would practice daily with her foil, going through the motions of a bout. She was keeping her skills sharp

The Invincible Youth

One of the characteristics of youth is the feeling of invincibility. Experts often point to this feeling when trying to explain why teenagers do stupid things that could get them killed. I'm surprised, though, as to why that feeling is only associated with youth. I am thirty-two and I still feel invincible. When do you no longer feel like you will live forever? At what age do you truly understand that you are mortal, with a limited amount of time, and change your behavior?

While I logically know I will probably die one day (depending on when the Lord returns) I still don't feel like I will die. I still feel eternal. I don't think I have come to grips with my mortality. Often motivational speakers will indulge their audience in some exercise to assist them in to prompt them to realize what is really important by asking them what activities or things they would change if they knew they would die in some arbitrary, but limited time.

While I have not recently attended a seminar, I am thinking about death and mortality because of two events that are currently taking place in my life. First, I was called yesterday and informed by Mom that my maternal grandmother had been rushed to the hospital because she had been found collapsed in her home. Over many calls, I learned that she is not a good condition after having suffered a brain-stem stroke. While she is stable, she is also not doing well and may die at any moment.

Then, today at lunch I got a call from my father-in-law who told me that my wife's maternal grandfather had passed away this morning. Today is also the anniversary of my maternal grandfather's death in 1989. Death is all around me. At the same time, I am parenting a six-month old and a 21 month old and their vitality, zest for life, and complete lack of comprehension of that which is tearing at mine and my wife's hearts seems to keep me from getting too melancholy. I realize that I should be re-evaluating my life and reconsidering my priorities, but I still feel as if I will live forever and that death is so far away for me. I still feel invincible.

I wonder if this feeling is normal. I also wonder if my faith exaggerates my "non-mortality" feelings. The truth is that while my body may pass on someday, the essence of who I am is eternal and will live on. Am I getting the contentment of being immortal confused with the feeling of invincibility? This fact is also why I have no fear for my grandma. I am confident that a better life awaits her on the other side. I am sure that Erin's grandfather is now resting safely in the "bosom of Abraham" awaiting the rewards of Heaven. I must wonder how this conviction affects my perception of my own mortality.

Everyone is just like me

We have this tendency to always look at the world from our own perspective and think that everyone is just like us. I was reminded of that this afternoon as I returned to work from lunch.

I parked on the second floor of the parking deck and pushed the button to call the elevator. There are two elevators in the parking deck, but only was working. A lady also returning from lunch arrived at the elevator at the same time I did. We could tell that the elevator was currently on the lowest floor. We watched it rise past us and come to rest on the fifth floor. We then watched it return down to pick us up.

There was no one on the elevator as we entered. The lady acted surprise and commented that she had expected someone else to be on the elevator since it had gone up to the fifth floor. Her initial response is that since she was returning from lunch, everybody must be returning from lunch. I realized at that moment, that I too had subconsciously expected someone else to be on the elevator. The only difference was, that as soon as saw an empty elevator, I re-evaluated my expectation and my mind did not even raise a blip as to a contradiction in my expectations and the reality with which I was faced. Her mind, though, refused to accept the reality and caused her to be surprised.

I replied to her that most likely someone had ridden the elevator up to the fifth floor and then, the elevator had returned to pick us up. She hesitantly agreed that indeed that was a possibility, but I could see her mind continuing to work. The concept clicked in her head, and she assuredly said, "Yes, that must have been what happened."

It is the nature of man to think that everyone acts just like him, thinks just like, behaves like him. I think this causes a lot of our miscommunication and strains in our relationships. We are expecting (even though we don't realize it) to be dealing with someone who thinks the same way we do. Now, cognitively, we understand that this is not the case. However, subconsciously we still maintain the expectation. This is because we as humans are innately selfish and self-centered and can only think outside ourselves with great difficulty.

There are, of course, exceptions to this. There are some people who can naturally see through other people's eyes. Others have been trained to do this. To some degree we can all think outside of ourselves and "think" like another person, especially for those we love. Because I have spent so much time with Erin, I know (most of the time...she does surprise me a lot, though) how she thinks, how she will react. I have noticed, though, that there is a very select group of people who can almost instantly understand how a person thinks. These people frighten me because many of them have used their extraordinary talent to take advantage of people or to manipulate them for their own end.

Restaurant Play-area Etiquette

Last week, for Mihaela's "Gotcha Day" celebration, we took a family trip to the zoo. It was a fun couple of hours and we got a "classic" picture of Mihaela studying the map of the zoo as she tries to decide which animal to visit next.

Anyway, afterwards we went to Mihaela's favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-A, for lunch. Mihaela loves their chicken nuggets and will not eat nuggets from another store. Besides that, Chick-fil-A is a family-friendly company who publicly shares our family values, so we support them whenever we can. They also have the absolutely BEST customer service. The crew is the epitome of politeness and helpfulness. If more businesses trained their employees to show high regard for the customer that these people do, then there would be no need for any business to hire lawyers.

Now I know to those of you outside of the South, Chick-fil-A restaurants are mostly found in the mall. However, down here in the south, they have stores just like Mc-D's, BK, and Wendy's AND, they have indoor playgrounds. Not just your run-of-the-mill, everyday, restaurant play areas, but the best cleanest, biggest, and best play areas. Up til now, Mihaela has shown no interest in the play-area and we have not taken her into one. However, as we were sitting in the very crowded restaurant (we had to circle the parking lot three times to find a parking space, the drive-thru line literally surrounded the store and we still got our food hot and fast - having worked in the fast food industry, I was amazed at how efficient they were as they were being slammed) right next to the window that looked into the play-area. Mihaela was awe-struck and stared longingly at the other kids playing as she consumed her tasty treat of breaded and deep-fried chicken.

I'll admit, I was hesitant to take her in for one simple reason...I have no idea what the etiquette is in these common play-areas. How am I, as a parent, supposed to act as I supervise my child? What expectations should I have for her? I mean, obviously, some of that is pretty natural...no hitting, biting, scratching, of other children. BUT what happens if unsupervised children are being unruly? Do I only care if Mihaela is in danger of being injured? What if a child wants to play with Mihaela, but she doesn't want to play with him? How about if she wants to play with someone who doesn't want to play with her? What do I do? What expectations do the other parent's have of me and my child?

I know it is not fashionable to be concerned with politeness in this day and age. But the who reason the rules of etiquette exists are to foster smooth relationships in situations where people may not know each other. These are protocols (uh-oh...going computer geeky) that allow for successful transactions between two disparate systems. I don't know the rules and am therefore uncomfortable to take my daughter into the situation. So, if anyone knows where I can find a list of rules, protocols, etiquettes for restaurant play-areas, please let me know.

New Site Design

My brother re-designed his blog. It is really cool. You need to check it out.

I have "grand plans" to redesign mine...but...no gumption to get it done and no time...so you are stuck with this free, boring, run-of-the-mill template for awhile longer.

Clinton: "Tax cuts immoral, unethical, hurt families..."

NewMax.com is reporting that Bill Clinton called President Bush's tax cuts (although, they are really the Congress' tax cuts since only Congress can make laws and set the budget...but lets not let facts get in the way of good PR) are immoral, unethical, and hurt families.

This gives us a clear indication at the framework/mindset that liberals come from. Morality deals with that which is innately regarded as right or wrong. The key word here is innately, which deals with those pieces of knowledge a person is born with. In other words, there are certain principles which are always wrong no matter the time, place, culture, or circumstances. Every person knows what these are, things such as it is always wrong to murder somebody*, it is wrong to take things that don't belong to you (i.e., steal), it is wrong to lie to somebody (act fraudulently), etc. These things are usually codified by a society into law and all major religions have these same principles as central tenets to their faith. My basic morality can be summed up in this phrase, "Do nothing which deprives another individual of his right to life, destiny or his property through the use of force or fraud." This is a central tenet to my being.

When a person breaks one of these central, inborn guides, he is acting immoral. So, are Bush's tax cuts immoral? Do they break one of these central inborn guides? Well, its a pretty easy check:

• With the tax cuts was anybody forcefully or fraudulently deprived of their life? Well, no, of course not.
  

• Did anybody have their property taken by force or by fraud as part of the tax cuts? Now, this one is tricky for liberals, but the answer is still no. "Allowing" an individual to keep more of what is actually more moral. When a person pays taxes, he is having his property forcefully taken from him. When he is "allowed" to keep that which is his, we are actually returning to a state of morality, not moving to a state of immorality.
  

• When the tax cuts were implemented, did anybody lose their liberty (i.e., their ability to freely choose what is in their best interest, a.k.a destiny) through the use of force or fraud? Well, no. When individuals get to keep more of their money, they are actually empowered in this area. They have more choices. They have more freedom because they get to choose how to get to spend the money they earned rather than let the government decide what is in the wage-earner's best interest.
  

So, we can conclude that it is not immoral to give income tax cuts. What former President Clinton cites as his reason is an old friend had been hurt by cuts in subsidies. Subsidies are a form of welfare where the government props up a business that the free market has proclaimed has collapsed. Basically, a company, farmer, or some other individual who failed to make it gets a government check**. A person receiving subsidies from the government has just been on the receiving end of a transfer of wealth. He has asked the government to do that which he can not do himself, force another individual to pay him for work he did not do. This blatant socialism and I think that this kind of behavior is much more immoral and unethical.

So, what we learn is that in the liberal mind is that: Allowing people who work for their money to spend it the way they want to is immoral while paying someone to not work is moral. I must admit, that just doesn't seem right to me. Something about it seem innately wrong.

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*Note: I used the word murder, not kill. There are times when it is acceptable to kill somebody like self-defense, defense of another person, war, etc... Murder is the forceful killing of someone with malice and (many times) forethought.

** Note: I am as against corporate welfare as much as I am against individual welfare. A person who accepts subsidies is no different (in my mind) than a welfare queen who makes babies to get checks.

Microsoft Error messages

I got the following error message in my event services log. I love the reason:

The Backup Exec Device & Media Service service depends on the
MSSQL$BKUPEXEC
service which failed to start because of the following error:

The operation completed successfully.

Only in Microsoft world is successfully operation considered a failure...

Which Book of the Bible are You?

You are Proverbs.


Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Oil Profits Explained

I'll admit I was a little disheartened last week when I learned that oil companies were posting record profits for the last quarter. I thought maybe that the liberals were right and that the companies were engaging in unethical behavior to drive the price of gas up. I thought, just perhaps, that maybe the free enterprise system was not working. However, I also thought that maybe there is something I don't know or don't understand that would reasonably explain the jump in profit.

I am glad that I choose to investigate and fully understand things before jumping to a conclusion. I discovered there is a lot I didn't know about the oil business that explains these jumps in profits. First is the different between an absolute jump in dollars and the profit margin. Simply put, the absolute profits are the real money that's left over from gross revenues after a company pays the costs of doing business. Profit margins , on the other hand, are the percentage of gross revenues that are left over after those costs are paid. So, a doubling of profits combined with a doubling of the cost of doing business would have the exact same profit margin. The newspapers kept reporting dollar amounts, but not profit margins. I have to wonder if the profit margins stayed close to the same, which we would expect because the cost of doing business (i.e., buying crude oil, refining oil) rose.

Then, Alan Reynolds, a Senior Fellow at the CATO Institute, has written an editorial where he explains something called "inventory profit." This is a profit that appears on paper when a company holds a large inventory of a commodity. Basically, they may purchase the commodity (in this case oil) when it is cheap ($40/barrel). The commodity then rapidly rises in price ($60/barrel). This means that the value of the inventory has risen as well. When accountants book the value of these inventories, they add the profit (i.e. value increase due to current price) to the profit line of the company. However, this is a profit on paper only. As the company consumes the raw material and seeks to replace it, they will have to pay the current rate ($60/barrel). Mr. Reynolds actually does a better job of explaining the concept and compares it to selling a house and getting a profit, but needing that profit to buy a new house because housing prices have increased so much.

Anyway, between the two concepts, one can reasonably see that the oil companies profits are paper profits only and the have not been taking undue advantage of us. Free enterprise still reigns supreme.

Online Personality Quizzes

I have a weakness for online personality quizzes. There is something about answering a bunch of questions to see what some programmer thinks you think like that intrigues me. So, when I saw on my brother's website that he is the classic movie "Easy Rider," I had to test and see what classic movie I am. Now, without further ado...my results....

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Well..."The Godfather." I bet my friends and co-workers are nodding their head in agreement.

Now, to really show you how well these things work, I also took the "Which World Leader" quiz after taking the classic movie one. Those results are completely opposite from "The Godfather" but still have hints of truth:

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

This hit me as being paradoxical at first, until I thought a little more about these men. So...what attributes do both Gandhi and The Godfather have that I share? Well, let's see, they both held themselves and others to high standards (those standards were opposites, but each is true to his set of standards). Each is a perfectionist that leaves no room for personal failure or failure of subordinates. Both sought power, albeit through different methods. Gandhi was all about self-discipline, the ultimate sign of control and The Godfather was all about control.

One can see that personality-wise, these two are more similar than we would expect. What separates them is the code/standards they live by. Gandhi chose to live by pure-living and peace. The Godfather chose to live by the rule that "might makes right." Each were the pinnacle of their chosen standard. Maybe there is no paradox between those two characters.

To make it even more intriguing, what happens when we bring my Myer-Briggs temperament type of INTJ (I have taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator at least 5 times in the past ten years and never move). Anyone who knows me can give that INTJ link a quick read and know without a doubt that INTJ (different analysis of INTJ) is my temperament. For those who have to live with me, I have a link that explains how INTJs deal with relationships. If you care to know, Erin is and ENFP.

ANYWAY...I was getting sidetracked....so, the question then would be were Gandhi and The GodFather INTJs? If so, you can see how temperament is just one part of life and how experiences, education, and spirituality all influence a person's life as well. I can actually see how the both could be INTJs; independent thinkers, strong values, strong leaders, etc... So, there is no paradox between the two. My amazement at how accurate these online quizzes can is still intact.

You think your gigabit network is fast...

A Japenese company has developed a method that will send at the rate of one terabit per second.

Peggy Noonan: The Mood of the Nation

Peggy Noonan, the former speech writer for President Reagan, has written an insightful article where she puts words to a tacit anxiety felt across the nation. This may be her best editorial ever (and that's saying something since they are always excellent). The subtitle for this one is "America is in trouble -- and our elites are merely resigned." As I read the column I found that Ms. Noonan has put into writing some of the very feelings that have been percolating in my mind that I have been unable to express.

My rants on the state of things is just that inner unease trying to get control of a situation that I have no control over. I think the problems can be fixed, but not without radical changes to our political system. Just a few highlights:

• Term Limits for Congress - If two terms is good enough for the executive branch, then two terms is good enough for the Senate and three terms is good enough for the House.
• Term Limits for Supreme Court Judges - I read an article that makes a good argument for limiting Supreme Court Judges to 18 years.
• Replacement of the Income Tax with the "Fair Tax" - Regular readers to this blog should know by now that I find the Income Tax to be morally wrong. The current system is invasive and tyrannical. It is less about revenue and is more about stealth control of people, things and activities.
• Remove the Federal Government from Education. The Federal government should get entirely out of the education business, including funding and setting standards, with the exception of the service academies. Primary, secondary, post-secondary, vocational-technical and professional education should be regulated at the state and local level or by private/religious entities.
• Remove the Federal Government from Welfare. Helping the helpless is a task best left up to individuals at a local level. I am responsible for my neighbor...not for someone in Tennessee. Compassionate people are willing to help for those who truly need it. Education and training programs are needed for the rest in order to break the welfare cycle, but should be handled by state and local governments. By helping people help themselves, you can ease the financial strain on government and instill self-esteem and independence that will keep future generations from falling into the death-trap of welfare. Completely remove welfare and subsidies for all businesses.
  

These are just a few ideas (almost looks like the beginnings of a platform) that I think would return power to the individual and change the attitude of people. The despondent heart Peggy mentions is the direct result of people who feel like they are powerless. We have been shackled by the government and, like the slaves of old, our souls lament using the melody of dirges.

John Stossel Weighs in on Pork Spending

Monday, I faxed my Senator who voted to continue pork barrel spending a letter of reprimand. John Stossel writes today that "What Congress Did Is Disgusting" and cites some of the same abuses I did.

I think we as Americans need to take this issue to heart and start holding our leader's feet to the fire over it. The problem is that everybody thinks that what the other guy is doing is wrong, but think that their representative or senator is just fine. When the money is coming home, it is hard to vote against the guy who brought it in. This attitude shows that most people don't have principles because principles make something always right or wrong. Pork Barrel spending is always wrong, whether it is in Alaska or Alabama. More people need to be enraged over this.

Of course, the self-defeating attitude is "I am mad about it. But I feel powerless. How can I change the entire atmosphere of the U.S. Congress." You know, change is never easy. It does take effort. It takes getting to that point of I am sick and tired of living this way and I just won't stand for it anymore. Yesterday, Rosa Parks passed away, but her life embodies the power of the powerless. Ms. Parks was a seamstress, not an activist. She had no power. She had no pulpit. She just had two weary feet from a hard day of work and conviction that the way she was being treated was wrong. That conviction changed the course of a nation.

We need to emulate Rosa Parks. I wish we could have a tax boycott like she had a bus boycott. That is how our forefathers actually got the attention of the British Empire. They simply refused to acknowledge the taxes placed upon them. The "Tea Party" was a tax revolt. Unfortunately, our government has set up the perfect system to keep this from happening. They have our paychecks garnished by our employer and sent to them. We never get to even get the money to keep it. Employers who have refused to act as an agent of the state in this manner have been forced out-of-business. Big companies who form a symbiotic relationship with the current leaders will never revolt, because they are in cahoots with the government. Small companies and individuals are too easily crushed by big government.

I'm not sure I have an answer. However, I am sure that this a fight worth fighting. We have an inalienable right to life and an inalienable right to be masters of our own destined. We exchange a portion of our life for cash, therefore our salary, our money is a symbol of our life. When government forces us to give up a portion of our money (which is just a symbol) to them, they are actually forcing us to give up a portion of our life and refusing to acknowledge that we have the right to determine the fate of our income. That is one of the great things about the "Fair Tax" is that it places the power of my life back in my hands.

We need to change. Our government is too big and too powerful. We need to return power to the people, power to the individual. Now can someone please tell me how (preferably without a bloody revolution).

Faxed a letter to Senator Shelby

After reading Mark Tapscott's editorial entitled "Mr. Smith Has Returned to Washington and His Name is Tom Coburn," I wrote the following letter to my senator who voted to continue pork barrel spending. I have edited the web-based version a little bit to not publish some personal information that I sent him and added links to references I made in the letter.

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Honorable Richard Shelby:

I am quite shocked that you have chosen to vote against Senator Tom Coburn's amendments that he introduced on the Senate floor on Thursday, October 20 calling for previously approved earmarked funds to be redirected to Hurricane Katrina relief. How can you choose that it is wiser to spend my money on pork projects for other states while people are suffering in Louisiana, Mississippi, and here in Alabama? Pork barrel spending is out-of-control. You, as a Senator, have the responsibility to ensure that the money the Federal Government rips from my pocketbook is at least spent wisely. You set the budget. You determine spending priorities. It is outrageous that money is being spent to paint fish on planes, plant rainforests in Iowa, and build shelters for cats and dogs in Rhode Island while people are homeless and jobless.

I work three jobs to make a little over $XX,XXX/year to provide for my wife and our two adopted children. It tears me up every time I see how much money is confiscated from my check; money that I could use to pay off the adoption expenses, money that I could use to pay off our college loans, money that I could put aside for our retirement or our children's college. These are, in my opinion, better uses of my money than giving it to some peanut farmers in Dothan to use for their stupid parade and festival every year. How dare you take my hard-earned cash and just wastefully spend it. I am sick and tired of it. I am tired of working so hard to get and make a good life for me and my family only to have you and your colleagues in the Senate seize 25% of it from my paychecks and then mishandle the money that you get from me and other tax payers. How do you live with yourself? How do you wake up and in good conscience vote to spend money that way?

I think you need to stand up for some principles. You can tell Senator Ted Stevens when he threatens to leave the Senate if you don't vote for his "Bridge to Nowhere," that he is free to go. Are you going to be scared into submission from some guy in Alaska? When you stand on morals and principles, then you come out looking like the good guy, even if you lose the fight. Instead, you look like a whipped little boy, cow-towing to people bigger and stronger than you. Guess what? I don't want a wimp for a Senator representing me. I don't want a Senator who thinks that it is better to go with the flow than rock the boat when deciding how to spend my money. I certainly hope you begin to take your role as a Senator more seriously and that you become a combatant of the average guy just trying to get by.

Sincerely,

Randall S. Bowman

Pumpkin Carving

Here is a picture of our first pumpkin ever carved as a family. After I drew the face that I actually carved, Mihaela colored the pumpkin in an effort to help. What fun.

Waste of Time?

ApocalypseSoon.org strives "to document the final moments of human history as it unfolds and to announce the return of Jesus Christ on earth."

I wonder who they are documenting the final moments for? Who will read their documentation after the Second Coming?

Pumpkin Carving

I was Googling for jack o' lantern designs to use to carve our pumpkin and ran across this great flash animation that teaches you how to carve a pumpkin and allows you to create virtual jack o' lanterns. I have practiced many times on the virtual pumpkin and am now ready to carve ours.

Weekend Retrocast: No Sleep for anyone

You may have noticed that there have been no updates since my late night posts last Thursday. The reason is that, well, we've gotten very little sleep since that fateful night. Noah started not feeling well Wednesday around 10 PM and didn't sleep well Wed. Night. Thursday seemed like he was doing OK as he just had the diarrhea. Thursday night, though, was the start of a long weekend. Noah decided that his best routine would be to sleep for 45 minutes to an hour, then wake-up and scream for an hour and half to two hours. This cycle went on all night. However, he just still had the diarrhea.

Erin and I continued our normal routine on Friday. Then, around 11:00 AM on Friday morning, the day care provider called Erin because Noah had a 102 degree fever. Erin rushed home and took him to the doctor who diagnosed him with a virus. She didn't tell us which virus (if she even knows), just a virus. There was nothing we could really do except wait it out and give him Tylenol for the fever. Friday night continued the same scenario as Thursday night. Nobody in the house was getting any sleep.

On Saturday, Mihaela woke up with a fever and congestion and coughing (no diarrhea, yet). Noah continued his cycle. Two sick babies and two exhausted parents...what a combination. We canceled our Small Group on Sunday night and I found someone to run the sound board at church on Sunday, knowing that, even if the babies were feeling better, we would need some recoop time. Saturday night continued with the sleep 1 hour, scream for 2 hour cycle.

Sunday, things started to improve (a little bit). We took some naps. Coughing and hacking from Mihaela (but no fever) and diarrhea and less fussiness from Noah. Even though the babies were improving, we were fairly certain that they would not be better on Monday, so Erin called in sick. Sunday night, knowing that Erin was to be all alone with two sick babies, I stayed up most of the night with Noah and let her sleep. His routine shifted a little and he started sleeping about 2 hours before waking up and crying for an hour. I got a whole 5 hours of sleep total, however, it was not uninterrupted sleep.

Yesterday was a little better and we decided to keep the babies home one more day. So, I am home today with them. Erin stayed up with Noah last night so I got six hours of uninterrupted sleep last night. That is the longest and most sleep I've gotten five days. It was like heaven.

Noah still has the diarrhea. Mihaela still has a cold. Noah isn't' screaming for hours anymore. He gets fussy when he is tired and right before he fills his diaper. Anyway, you can see we've been busy...

Good News in Race Relations

It has been my contention that we no longer need "Affirmative Action" and "Equal Hiring" laws because the attitudes of people toward race have changed in the past 30 years. Even though I live in the Deep South and we are probably the farthest behind in this area, my experience has been that racism is a thing of the past.

Many people say they are impressed that we chose to adopt bi-racial children. We don't see it as any big thing because our attitude toward "race" is that it does not exist. There is no such thing as race in our world. Sure, there is different skin colors...but there are different hair colors, eye colors, body types, etc. "So what? Who cares?" has been our attitude.

Anyway, a recent poll shows that 95% of Americans aged 18-29 see no problem with interracial dating. This shows the complete transformation of public opinion in 30 years of the attitudes of people toward race relations. This means that Mihaela and Noah will not encounter the problems that so many people predict for them as bi-racial children raised by white parents (they will have problems, but they won't be as wide-spread as people tend to think).

Of course, this does not mean our so-called "race" problems are fixed in America. However, it is important to distinguish between "racism," "bigotry," and "prejudice." These are three words that get bantered about freely by the "race warlords" and they treat all three words as synonyms. This is not the case though. All three words mean something different.

• Racism is the belief that a certain race of people is genetically superior to all others. This, of course, is just plain wrong. This would be like believing that blond hair, blue-eyed people are better than bald, brown-eyed people. It is ludicrous to even think about. Science and societal influences have pretty much defeated this kind of thinking in the modern American mind. Sure, there are still pockets of people that believe this...but they are ridiculed and neglected by the public at large.

• Bigotry is being intolerantly devoted to one's own opinions and beliefs. Notice, this is not a blind, basic fundamental belief in genetic superiority. Rather, this is the idea that my ways and my culture is better than yours and then using force to impose my ideas on you. The main evidence of bigotry is when you deny others the same rights that you claim for yourself. Many people in the south 40 years ago were not racist (i.e., they did not believe they were genetically superior to other races) but were bigots in that they denied minorities the right to vote, use public facilities, etc.; all the while claiming those rights for themselves. Bigotry exists outside the realms of race relations. You can have Environmental Bigots, Vegetarian Bigots, Religious Bigots, Intellectual Bigots, etc... These are people who believe that anyone who does not believe/act they way the do is evil. Now, of course rational people understand that not everyone is going to agree on everything.

• Prejudice is the making assumptions about what the future actions of a group of people might be based on past experiences. Everyone does this all the time. I believe that if I drop a pen then it will fall to the floor. I am pre-judging the behavior of the pen based on my past experiences. When I go to Wal-Mart, I will by-pass a short line with a girl with a top-knot pony tail and long, manicured, decorated fingernails running the register and instead find a little bit longer line with an older lady with white hair because my past experiences have taught me that the first person tends to be rude, have bad customer service skills, and doesn't want to be bothered while the latter person is usually polite and kind. I will go through the line of old black woman before going through the line of an old white woman because my past experience has taught me that she will (more than likely) be friendlier. This is prejudicial of me. How dare I make decisions of individuals based on past experiences, right? If this is the case then we need to make a law that disbands every research agency and polling company. They look at demographics (age, race, sex) all the time to figure out how people of certain demographics will react. It is almost a law among them that people of similar demographics will behave the same way. Is this racist of them? Sexist? Ageist? No, they are not saying one group is genetically superior to another. Are they bigots? No, they are not denying these people any rights. The worst that can be said is that these kinds of companies are prejudicial because they thing they can predict the future actions based on past experience. Many of us would call this common sense. Don't we have a saying, "Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me." We consider it part of maturity to learn from the past to predict the future.

While racism is a thing of the past, bigotry and prejudice still abound. I think in the next generation though we will pretty much rid ourselves of blatant racial bigotry (religious bigotry will never go away, although if there is one area that it should it would be there...but that is a post for another day). However, we will never be rid of racial prejudice because it is part of the maturation process. Wise people, though, are able to distinguish their prejudices of groups and rise above them when they are dealing with individuals.

We are moving toward a color blind society. Studies like the one mentioned above show it. Most of the people I know and deal with are color blind. We deal with individuals, not groups.

Weak stomachs need not apply

I have an amazingly weak stomach. I think Noah has the Rotavirus (rotovirus) which is one of the most common causes of diarrhea in infants. The astute among you can see how these two things are causing a conflict. Yesterday, its 10:00 PM and Erin heads to bed and Noah wakes up for his bottle. I start feeding him when he begins filling his diaper with bubbly gushes. A malodorous stench knocks me backward. I jump up, run into our bedroom and get Erin up to change his diaper knowing I will never survive the ordeal. No big deal, really, as she had just gone to bed.

It is 1:20 AM this morning (you know 30 minutes ago) and Noah awakes. According to Bowman House Rule 24, subsection C, Paragraph 2, all feedings of infants prior to the 2:00 AM hour clearly fall into the domain of the paternal parental unit (i.e., the daddy, that's me). I am awaken by Erin to fulfill my parental obligation. I make a bottle, get the boy up and began to try and feed him. He doesn't want the bottle...pushes it away...squirms in my arms...and suddenly begins filling his diaper with bubbly gushes. The stench is overbearing...but it is 1:30 AM and I don't want to wake Erin up. I take Noah to the changing table in his room. I take a deep breath and hold it. Quickly I unbutton his PJs and push them around his waist. Stink emanates from him. Placing my hand on his stomach, I turn away and breathe...steeling myself for the inevitable. "You can do it!" I shout to myself. "Are you a man?" "Are you going to let a little foul-smelling diaper beat you?" "Super Dad! Super Dad! Super Dad!" Gritting my teeth, I quickly turn and un hook the diaper, pull it back...and erupt into a gagging episode. Barely holding back the vomit building up inside, I close the diaper and refasten it. Gasping for air I regain my composure and run like a little girl to the bedroom and call for reinforcements.

Yes. I hang my head in shame for I have failed. I have been beaten. Crushed by noxious fumes. O woe is me, woe is me. I have let my son down as a father. I have let my wife down as a husband. Rousing her from her blissful sleep to step in where I failed. I am so sorry honey. I really did try...but like I said, I have very weak stomach.

Well, the bad news is that the diarrhea from rotovirus lasts about 9 days. So by Friday of next week I should be able to resume diaper changing duties. However, there is also good news...I just saved a bunch of money...

John Stossel says it best

When ever my mom hears John Stossel (bio | search) do his commentary on 20/20 she is reminded of me, she says. This is because Mr. Stossel and I harbor the same mistrust of government and corporations. We share a value that individuals are the best qualified to make thier own choices. John Stossel is one of the few true journalist who remain in the industry. He holds everyone's feet to the fire and does not play games.

Anyway, the following quote from his editorial this week is great:

Part of being a free person is deciding for yourself what's in your interests. That doesn't mean you can't get expert help, but it does mean you get to decide when, how much, and from whom.

You can read the rest of his article here. Keep up the good work John. We need more people like you speaking the truth plainly and correctly.

Noah is getting enchiladas tonight

A recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune points out that most of what we know about weaning babies to adult food is based on either myths or cultural preferences, with no real basis in science. We like the sheep that we are have patiently followed our pediatrician's advice, thinking she was smarter than us. However, now I know can ignore her feeding guidelines and jump into really good things with Noah. So, next up is a New York Strip (rare, of course) with baked sweet potato drowning in butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Then, Papa Johns Pizza, pepperoni, onion, and mushroom (we will make sure that he gets the hot pepper, too). Let's see...then we can follow up with Erin's Ethiopian chicken (made with lots of ginger and curry). The only downside to feeding him like this is the diaper changes...but that's mommy's job more than mine...so bring on the good tasting food man. After all, if it was good enough for every generation of American to do before me, then it must be worth breaking convention and doing things my own way, right?*

On a more serious note, we have noticed that Mihaela does like her food spicy. She does not shy away from pepper and other "hot" flavorings. Mihaela LOVES wings from Applebee's. The spicy, zing is right up her alley. At the same time, she has just picked up an affinity for her daddy's bland, generic corn flakes (as long as they don't get soggy). So, I guess she has a wide gambit of flavors to choose from in enjoying dining.

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* The paragraph above employed the use of sarcasm. It its expected that intelligent readers are able to discern fact from fiction and seriousness from humorous exaggeration. In the even that you are unable to differentiate between those, please don't embarrass yourself and publicize that you are a fool by sending me an email or leaving a comment containing any sort of criticism for feeding a five month old adult fool. Thanks.

Small Group, 1 year anniversary

I just realized that last Sunday was my Small Group's one year annivessary. We have spent a great year together and have grown since those first 4 families. We now regularly have 7-8 families (if we grow anymore than we will need to multiply into two groups). In that year we have studied Revelation for 33 weeks, had a few weeks off here and there, as well as have suspended our study of Revelation at the leading of the Spirit to deal with pressing issues. For instance, one Sunday Night the conversation steered away from the text to personal struggles everyone was having. We spent the rest of the night just confessing what each of us was dealing with and followed that by the laying on of hands and praying over each and every member. Another week we were really experiencing Satan attacking the relationships of almost every married couple in our group as well as attacking the relationships between group members. We took a Sunday night to look how we could protect our relationships from his attack, air out the dirty laundry, and pray for love, acceptance, and forgiveness among our members.

Our small group rocks and I wouldn't change it for the world. This quarter one of our Sunday School classes is covering the topic of truly connecting with each other because the teacher's premise is that most small groups don't really foster the heart-to-heart connections that are necessary for life-changing ministry to happen. I was so pleased to hear that our small group members spoke up in class saying that while they had experienced that same behavior in Small Groups before, the one they were in now was completely different. I have to agree with them. It is the best Small Group I've ever been and I thank God for bringing us together.

Since this is a success, for some strange (prideful-??) reason I feel a need to give other Small Group leaders some advice. First, I am not an expert on Small Groups. As a matter of fact, I think it is important to state that this small group is the third or fourth small group I have tried to lead and the only one that has had a long term, positive impact on its members. Therefore, I would encourage Small Group leaders who have "failed" in leading a small group to try, try again. There are so many variables that make a small group and I assure you that if you keep trying, you will hit upon a "formula" that works for your personality, your small group members, and your group's spiritual needs.

Next, it takes an absolutely awesome wife. This small group would not be working if it weren't for Erin's dedication to the group. Besides the mundane (but necessary) tasks of cleaning house, preparing food, and playing hostess week after week she also serves as an emotional and spiritual thermometer that keeps me in tune with the group. I tend to be more studious and text based. Erin is more emotionally based and she keeps me grounded in the people. Also, Erin is not afraid to ask questions and press me for a deeper understanding when I am glossing over a passage. I know that if she is confused, then so are others. There is a definite partnership between her and me.

I think another characteristic of our small group that has let us succeed is that we dove into a book that required a long-term commitment. We have been studying the same thing for over year. This study has been anchor to keep us coming together for the amount of time it has taken to cement the relationships. Sure, the small group is tired of the book of Revelation now and is hastening me to finish it...but it takes a long time to get the point where the relationships are the reason to come together instead of the study. I think so many small groups fail because they don't have a clear, long-term plan...so the sessions spiral into confusion and people go away disappointed.

Also, it takes preparation time. I usually spend 1-2 hours a week preparing for a small group session. This kind of relates to what I was just saying in the paragraph above. Unprepared leaders end up taking some kind of easy route when everyone comes together. They end up just filling up time instead of filling up people. Part of that time is in prayer for the small group and small group members.

Along with prep-time, it also takes time outside of your regularly scheduled small group time. We have done movie nights and game nights. I remember one Friday night where we all met a restaurant in Montgomery for dinner together (that was pre-Noah...Erin and I have only be out once with both babies). When Hunter Hills had its Men's Retreat in August, all the ladies had a sleep-over/hair-dying party at our house. Some of the members of our group exercise together. We have group emails regularly. We experimented with a small group blog (it didn't work out that well...email works better for us). I remember we spent a couple of weeks showering certain members of the small group who were going through particularly difficult times with gifts/visits for an entire week. I don't think it really matters what you do, the key is just to have "through the week" interactions.

As I am re-reading this, I am seeing exactly how and why this group has succeeded where others of mine have failed in the past. Before you go thinking that I had planned a small group that had those characteristics mentioned, let me assure you that I did not. My initial reaction to re-reading those characteristics was "Hmmm...isn't that neat how we just kind of fell into doing the right things." But that is not the case. God crafted those things, not me, not our group. We were just sensitive enough to do them. We did not have a plan, but God did. That is probably the biggest characteristic that has made our group work and that is we relied on God to bring us together and grow us close to each other.

So... What's in store for this coming year? I don't know. We will finish up the book of Revelation. Then, I think we are going to do a Marriage and Family section for 2 or three months. After that, I have been asked to do a course on Spiritual Warfare. I am also interested in doing another textual study, perhaps the book of Genesis this time. Of course, what we study is probably the least important part of our Small Group. As we look forward to our next year together, I can only pray that God will continue to work in us and on us. It is my fervent prayer that we stay sensitive to His leadings and that we are truly committed to each other, that we are church to one another.

As promised: Small Group Catchup

Since my last upload of Small Group Material was in June and stopped at chapter 13 and we are now in chapter 20, I had quite a number of files to upload.

Week 25 - Chapter 14

• Teacher Notes


• Study Guide

Week 26 - Chapter 15

• Teacher Notes (I was lazy or too busy this day and did not type up notes. I just used the study guide and led a discussion from it. If you don't like this, I give you permission to ridicule me mercilessly in the comments).


• Study Guide (covers 15 and 16)

Week 27 - Chapter 16

• Teacher Notes

Week 28 - Chapter 17

• Teacher Notes


• Study Guide
  

Week 29 - Chapter 18

• Teacher Notes


• Study Guide

Week 30,31 - Chapter 19

• Teacher Notes Part I


• Teacher Notes Part II


• Study Guide
  

Week 32,33,34 - Chapter 20

• Introduction to the Millennial Views


• Teacher Notes Part I


• Teacher Notes Part II (aren't done because we will be covering that this coming Sunday)


• Study Guide

We just have study guides for chapters 21 and 22 below because we haven't got that far and I haven't prepared for those sessions yet. I plan on finishing chapter 20 this week and then probably spending two weeks each on 21 and 22. However, I won't know for sure until I jump in and prepare those sessions.

Week 35,36 (tenative) - Chapter 21

• Study Guide

Week 36,37 (tenative) - Chapter 22

• Study Guide