About Me

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I’m from New York but my driver’s license lists that my address is Ohio. My passport has a number of stamps in it. I’m the youngest of six, yet oldest son. I have a number after my initials, but not my name. I like music. I like coffee, beer and bourbon. I am a follower of Jesus. I watch bonus features on DVD’s. For four months each year my wife and I are the same age. “I pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians.” I am an ordained pastor, but don't currently have a church. I’ve eaten raw horse meat. I’m fifteen inches taller than my wife, but I look up to her. I still prefer buying CDs to downloading music. I’m a night owl, who doesn’t mind getting up early. I like to play games. I moved to another country nine days after my wedding. I sometimes quote random lyrics. I believe in miracles. I prefer desktops to laptops. I like listening to audio books. I watch Buffalo Bills and Sabres games. I have five sons. I'm living life mid sentence.

Saturday, October 23, 2004

When it comes to politics, put up or shut up

Politics and religion are an unusual mix in America today, but it has not always been that way. A solid majority of our nation’s founding fathers were men of religious conviction even if they did not have a personal relationship in Jesus Christ. As we move close to this year’s election I have come across many within religious circles who believe candidate A or candidate B is God’s choice for our country but my question is should we as Christians be in the habit of making political endorsements? Anyone who has spent any amount of time around me knows that I have my opinions on just about every subject, including politics, but I am wary of praying that my choice will be elected because I personally feel that I should be praying that God’s will be done. Now I am not saying that I will handle the November election the way that 5 Point Calvinist handle evangelism, pray that God’s will be done and do nothing on my own, but as Abraham Lincoln once said, the question shouldn’t be is God on my side, but rather am I on His side. As I have matured in faith and intellect I have come to the point that I can see the logic behind why individuals vote for candidates on both side of the political fence but one thing I cannot stand is when someone makes an endorsement or cast a vote without taking the time to think through what their candidates stand for or the reputation that precedes them. The reason I am somewhat indignant on this subject tonight is do to the fact that I just returned from a concert in which a political endorsement was tossed around but the Christian artist making the endorsement did so without giving any logical arguments. “I am pro life for all life” she said, “and as governor of Texas George W. Bush allowed more than 150 executions to take place.” After other ramblings about how war is never a solution she preceded to say that she is casting her “vote for change.” Now, on the subject of war I can see how someone could be opposed to war but what about the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis that were put to death for merely speaking up against their leadership? Would she say that Iraqi lives that were taken aren’t important aren’t worth respecting? But her comments against the war were not the thing that frustrated me the most, but it was her comment about being “pro life for all life.” So, let me see if I can figure out what she believes. She is against abortion and against capital punishment so since Candidate A, George W. Bush, did not offer clemency for convicted killers he is worse than Candidate B, John Kerry, who has cast votes in favor of abortion on demand which takes the lives of a million or more innocent, helpless victims a year. Maybe I am not the smartest individual in the world but her logic makes no sense to me. It would be like a person who is on a diet saying that eating one Twinkie is bad but eating two boxes of them is ok. My advice for this singer, and anyone else who cares to delve into the realm of giving political endorsements, is to first off think through your logic and have a good reason for why you want others to follow your lead. And secondly, don’t assume that your audience will bow down and take your advice just because you have star power. Either have logical arguments for why you believe what you believe or please, for the sake of everyone who has to listen to you, shut the heck up.

Friday, October 08, 2004

A Time to Mourn

Death is something that we all think about but rarely discuss. Even if we are spiritually ready for it, the fear of the unknown still lingers. When someone close to you loses a loved one, what can you say to them? If I know that their loved one was a believer I can reassure them that they are now in heaven, but can anything I say really help to console their pain? I am left pondering these thoughts tonight as one of my closest friends is facing this excruciating grief. Even though the death did not come as a surprise, it still is hard to take. The hard part for me is being twelve hundred miles away and not being to provide a shoulder for her to cry on, or to give a hug when no words will do. At this time of sorrow I am encouraged, however, by the fact that her father was loved by his family and that he will be missed. While some may say it’s a shame that his life was cut short, I would contend that fifty years full of life and love is better than ninety years of just passing time. If when it is my time to go I am mourned and missed as my friends father is, whether my life lasted thirty years, or if I lived to the ripe old age of a hundred, I will consider my life to have been a success.