Am I the only one???

Am I the only one who thinks the new U2 song is awful? Yet it seems like many people are saying how great it is. I don't get it.

It kind of reminds me of the old story about the Emperor's clothes. He's as naked as he can be and no one says anything because he's the Emperor. U2's new song is as horrid as it can be, but no one says anything because they are U2.

Well, I won't be silent. It's horrid. There I said it. Bono, are you listening? Who's with me? Or am I the only one?

As requested, here's a link to the song on YouTube. I just couldn't bring myself to embed it.

There Probably Is a Law

The office building where I work is fairly typical in construction. There are some nice parts (the lobby that everyone sees) and some less than nice parts (that only employees see). In our case there are some unfinished areas, like the basement, the parking structure and the stairwells. In these areas you can see lots of pipes, mostly for the sprinklers for the fire suppression system. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we have a sprinkler system in the office. The floor I work on is higher than the tallest ladder the local fire department has, so sprinklers are good. But man, are there are lot of pipes for that system. They are everywhere.

The weird part is, apparently there is a law that these pipes must always look good. They get repainted fairly regularly. Nothing else get's repainted. Not the walls. Not the metal stairs or railings. The paint on them has worn through in some places, but they never get repainted. Only the bright red pipes that no ever touches get's repainted. Weird. There's probably some law... Who know what's it is trying to accomplish, but it seems rather pointless. I suspect it's a conspiracy by the makers of red paint. :-)

There Ought to Be Law

On the way home from work, I pass 4 gas stations. Three of those stations are potential refueling stations for me. The fourth, well let's just say it has to be a cold day in hot place before I stop there. (read more here)

The three stations that I would potentially stop at are usually fairly close in cost of the gas. A few cents per gallon doesn't matter too much on any one fill up. But over the long haul, I'd like save a few bucks and get the best deal. Here's where my problem arises. No one of those stations is always the cheapest. In fact, I've not been able to determine any method for determining which station will have the cheapest gas (other than driving past all 3 and then back to the cheapest one - which would use more gas and defeat my whole goal of saving a few bucks).

It sure would be nice if I always knew that one particular station was always going to be the cheapest. I guess it's not the worst problem in the world, but it is annoying.

It would be great if everything in the world worked so my life would be easier, better, nicer, happier, etc. But, as you can imagine, the world doesn't work that way. In fact the Bible pretty clearly states that it's not all about me, it's all about God. Maybe someday I'll really learn (i.e. understand) that lesson.

What little thing annoys you? Does it just annoy you, or are you learning and growing from it? That's worth pondering about...

NASCAR and Rain

I'm not a huge NASCAR fan. Parts of it are mildly entertaining, but really how hard is it to turn left repeatedly?

This weekend was one of NASCAR's premiere events - the Dayton 500. I had it on in the background while I was working on the computer. I must say, who in NASCAR approved the singer for the National Anthem. It was maybe the worst I've ever heard. Big thumbs down for that. There were a couple of cool wrecks (that is why we all watch, right?). But at the end of race they had to stop because it was raining. Really? Rain? Put some rain tire on those cars and keep going. Formula 1 runs in the rain and they have open cockpits. Even the motorcycles run in the rain.

I don't think it's a real sport until you can play/race when conditions aren't just perfect. I'm just saying...

A Change of Perspective

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I ride a motorcycle. (here, here and here). Riding a motorcycle is not just a hobby or something I do on weekends. I ride to work nearly every day of the year. I also leave for work pretty early in the morning and I don't want the entire neighborhood to get up when I do, so I ease out as quietly as I can.

Sometime last winter something happened on my morning ride that I had almost forgotten about - until last week. I had gotten out of my neighborhood and was on the main road out of the housing development on my way to work. I was still taking it very easy and going slowly and quietly. A few blocks down there was an older man taking out his trash in the morning. He was a bit of a mess. He was wearing pajama bottoms, a white t-shirt tank and had messed up white hair. He looked up at me as I went by and then, for no reason I could determine, flipped me off. I was mildly peeved. I hadn't done anything to him. I was trying to be a good neighbor and quietly head to work in the morning - what I done to deserve such treatment from him?

For a while I wondered about him each morning when I passed his house. Did he hate motorcyclists? Was just a crazy old man? Did he hate everyone? Eventually, he just faded away out of memory - until last week.

Last week there was a major fire in his house. The house is a complete loss. I don't know what happened. Was it an accident or intentional? Was it a wiring problem? Did he fall asleep with a lit cigarette? I don't know. I don't even know if he was hurt or killed in the fire. I don't know if he had a wife or anyone else living in the house. Basically I don't know anything about him or his situation.

But the weird thing is that I noticed that my feelings about him changed. I went from wondering if he was a crazy old man to be concerned and hoping he's OK. I guess that's fairly normal. We often come to the aid of people when disaster strikes. We send aid to places where there's been floods, typhoons and earthquakes. We help our neighbors in times of need. And that's good. But what about when the need isn't quite so obvious or related to a disaster? Do we offer help when someone is a little down? Or when they are having a bit of a rough time? Or do we only notice there's an issue when things reach epic levels?

That's worth pondering about.

Bush twins’ letter to Obama girls

Days before moving out of the White House, former President Bush’s two daughters wrote an open letter to Sasha and Malia Obama, giving the girls some advice on living in the White House.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Well done!

The link is here : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/28809961#28809961

Yuck!

Today I had the privilege of doing one of the worst household chores - cleaning the carpets.

Actually I don't mind cleaning the carpets - too much. We have a small carpet cleaner that's kind of like an up-right vacuum. It works fairly well and it isn't too much effort. The bad part is dumping that nasty, black water out of the machine. Yuck! I always swear not to walk barefoot on the carpet again after that. It's disgusting. I swear the vacuum must be broken.

The carpet doesn't look that dirty. But the water tells a different story. Kind of like our lives sometimes. We don't look that bad. Everything seems ok. But a closer examination reveals the truth - we have some pretty big stains with a lot of dirt. Sometimes we try to hide the stains, this is kind of like putting a throw rug over the stains. You can't seem them as much anymore, but they are still there. There's only one way I know of to get rid of the stains - a deep cleaning. It takes effort and it is dirty, but it gives the best results.

Have you got a big stain in your life? Do you need a deep cleaning? Ask for forgiveness. Forgive yourself. Forgive the other person. Ask God for forgiveness. It's not always easy. But it sure feels good to be rid of big nasty stain!

The Main Thing

The Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing.
-Stephen R. Covey

When you first read this quote, it seems stupid. But when you think on it for a bit, it's really true. What's the main thing in your life? What are you doing to keep it the main thing? That's worth pondering about...

RPMs Matter

I supposed there are lots of situations where RPMs (Revolutions Per Minute) matter.
If you are in motorsports - RPMs matter. More RPMs means faster engines which means faster vehicles.
If you are working with industrial machinery - RPMs matter. More RPMs means more product in the same amount of time which equals more money.
If you are a cook - RPMs matter. Different recipes require different speeds in the mixer or blender.
If you are using a computer - RPMs matter. Faster spinning disks means faster access to the data on the disk.
And I'm sure there's many more. But I found a new place where RPMs matter and it kind of surprised me - my razor.

I've been using Panasonic Wet/Dry razors for a long time. I tried some other brands a couple of times, I thought they were trying to eat my face, so I took them back and went back to the Panasonic Wet/Dry. Last time I bought a razor, I thought I'd save a few bucks by buying one at the big discount electronics store. And I did save a few bucks, but that razor never worked all that well. Fortunately, the rechargeable battery didn't last all that long so I had a good excuse to get another one. This time I spent a few more dollars and got a good one. One of their big selling points was a 10,000 RPM shaver head. I wondered if that would really make a difference. Does it really matter if the shaver head moves at 10,000 RPMs or 5,000 RPMs? The answer is - "Oh yes it does!" This is the best shaver I've ever had. It's great. The shave is better in every way I know how to measure it. It's awesome.

I suspect every human endeavor has something that matters. Different careers or occupations all have things that matter. For an accountant, maybe it's the software they use. For a mechanic, maybe it's the tools. For a artist, maybe it's the paint brushes. Just about everything we do, has something that matters. Something that is important. Something that is the main thing.

As Christians, what matters? What is the main thing? What matters the most? If God asked you to only do one thing that mattered today - what would it be? Would it be to tell someone about some point of doctrine or teaching? Would it be to worship in a certain worship style? Would it be to read the Bible in a specific version? I hope it's none of those things. But what would it be for you?

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

Are you willing to show a little love to the folks around you? Even to those folks who might be unloveable? I guarantee it will be hard at times. I guarantee it will cost you your valuable time. I guarantee it will frustrate you and sadden you at times. Is it worth the cost to you? That's worth pondering about...

Do we NEED God?

I stumbled across a great article today. It's "As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God" by Matthew Perry. In this short article Matthew outlines why faith and Christianity is important. He says things like

Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

Good stuff!

A confirmed atheist can see how much people need God. As Christians, can we see it and are we will to make the sacrifices necessary to help people find God? That's worth pondering about...

Read the whole article here.

[hat tip: The Philippian Jailer]

A Little Green

One of the goals that I'd like to meet next year is to be a little more green. Not the color, but eco. Being green is one of the cool things that we'd all like to be, but there's so much noise, confusion, and misinformation that's hard to know what to do. For one, I think the the extremists on both sides don't help. Some tell us that we shouldn't do anything that hurts the planet - don't cut down a single tree, never run an internal combustion engine and heaven forbid never use a regular light bulb (apparently using regular incandescent bulbs is the single worst thing you can do). The other side is no better. They tell us there is plenty of oil, plenty of trees and that the status quo is good. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Nearly everyone believes we need to take care of the planet. It's the how that we differ on. If you believe some folks, the simple act of using a CFL (Compact Florescent Light) will save the planet. I think it's a little tougher than that, although I do have some CFLs in my house. Of course, others tell you that everything is just fine and there's nothing to worry about. I'm not sure that I believe that either. I'm no expert, but I suspect we are going to need to make some adjustments in our lifestyles. I want to do my part, without turning into some eco-terrorist.

I was proud of my little contribution recently. Like nearly everyone else in America, I've got a garden hose in the back with a spray nozzle on it. After several seasons the nozzle broke. However, I could not get that *#&$^% nozzle off the hose. The metal nozzle had fused itself to the metal end of the hose. Pipe wrenches, thread releaser, nothing worked. I needed to water the plants so I cut off the end of hose. I figured I'd just have to replace the hose. When I went to the local home improvement store to replace it, I was shocked to find out how much a stupid garden hose is. Then I saw a little plastic end to replace the end of the hose. For a $1.99, I figured I give it a try. I didn't really expect it work, I expected it to leak like crazy or come shooting off when I turned on the water. But I was trying to be a little green, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I'm happy to report that it works like a champ! It doesn't leak. It was easy. (And remember, I Hate Plumbing!). And it was only $1.99. Now my garden hose is like 2 inches shorter than it was - no big deal. It's as good as new, so my old one is not in a landfill. The plastic end shouldn't fuse to the new nozzle like the old metal one did. And did I mention that I saved quite a bit of green (cash)? Not too bad.

What little steps are you willing to take to help take care of the planet? That's worth pondering about...

New Year's Resolutions

I'm not much of a New Year's Resolutions kind of person. It seems like I can never keep a New Year's resolution very long. I don't know what happens, but they just don't work. If it works for you - that's great. But it doesn't work for me. So my normal New Year's Resolution is "not to resolve."

But this year I do have some goals I want to accomplish. (Maybe if I don't call them resolutions they'll work better.) One of my overarching goals is to be a better Christ-follower. This one always gives me problems because it's to vague and I worry about being a fake Christian. I end up with read the Bible more, spend more time in prayer and be less self centered on my list. I guess those are ok, but they are pretty nebulous and hard to follow through on. But if you make a more detailed list, you can run into problems too. I don't want my resolutions, oops - I mean goals, to look like this.
1. Get a holier email like IForgiveYou70x7@yahoo.com. (It's available - I checked...)
2. To look more righteous and pious by carrying my Bible with me everywhere I go. (hey, maybe then I could get through the Read the Bible in a Year plan in something under 4 years.)
3. Obliterate all the other Vacation Bible Schools in town.
4. Join the prayer team at church so I can look more spiritual.
5. Follow more theological blogs in my RSS feeds.
6. Include the Bible verse of the day on my blog.
7. Make sure my church website takes all comers in the Church Websites Smackdown.
(list inspired by The Stuff Christians Like and he's WAY funnier than me. You can find him at http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/12/462-making-christian-flavored.html)

Recently I've been dwelling on what's the difference between the a typical, fake Christian that no one likes and a true Christ follower. My goal is to be the later and NOT the former. Everyone hates people who ACT holier than thou. Non-Christians don't like them because they are always all over their case about something. Christians don't like them because they give Christianity a bad name and they're basically a pain-in-the-neck. And I'm pretty sure that Jesus doesn't like their behavior either. I REALLY don't want to be that type of Christian.
I want to be a genuine Christ-follower, not a religious guy.
I want to be authentic, not a fake Christian.
I want to be about people, not about programs, ministries and services.
Even saying some of those things can make you throw up a little in your mouth. They are so over used and cliche that it's disgusting. But I do desire to be better. So I'm working on list that will help me accomplish those goals. It's not easy....

What are your resolutions, I mean goals, for the New Year? That's worth pondering about....

One Last Christmas Post

Yea, I know - Christmas is over. But there's something that has been bothering me about Christmas this year and I thought if I wrote about it - maybe I'd get over it.

I was born and raised in the East and Mid-West. Christmas was a fun time of snow, sledding, lights, Christmas decorations and very typical winter activities. I have fond memories of going to the "old downtown" where the stores were festively decorated and walking around in the cold winter evenings. Christmas in Southern California is a completely different beast. Usually we have sunny skies and pretty fair temperatures (this year was a bit unusually cold and wet). It's a very different feeling to Christmas.

Recently, one of my childhood friends on facebook asked me, "How do you get into the Christmas spirit in California without the snow and cold?" I understood what he meant. When I first moved to So Cal, it did take some getting used to. Christmas just didn't quite seem right. However, you adjust and eventually decorating the palm trees in the front yard while wearing shorts and a t-shirt seems like a normal Christmas.

But his question bothered me (hence this post). Why should it take certain atmospheric conditions to get me in the Christmas Spirit? And what does snow or no snow have to do with Christmas? Again, I understand his question. Certain rhythms or traditions in our lives is a good thing. There's nothing wrong with that. Cold weather, snow and Christmas lights are a great combination that help us feel festive and somehow ready for Christmas. That's perfectly ok. But does it help us get ready for Christ? Or does it help us get ready for spending too much money on too many people? That's a question we each have to answer individually.

I know this year my family made a conscious effort to be less about the stuff and more about the real reason of Christmas. I like that. It feels good. We didn't spend too much money, but we had a great time with our friends and family. Perfect.

I think this verse from The Message says it best.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)

It doesn't matter if it's cold and snowy or not. It matters where your focus is. Are you focused on external things like presents, decorations, parties, etc? Not that there's anything wrong with those things, but those things shouldn't be our main focus. Maybe we should be more focused on what Jesus did, and continues to do, for us. Maybe we should be more focused on the "unforced rhythms of grace."

I know where my focus is. Where is your's? That's worth pondering about...

PS - I know I won't be missing the January/February blues when it's cold and nasty. I'll be riding my motorcycle! I LOVE So Cal!

I Celebrate the Day

By Relient K



Merry Christmas!

It's Not Christmas without Some Ho Ho Hoey

Gary Hoey makes some rockin Christmas music. But again, not many videos. Here are a couple of samples.

The 12 Days of Christmas

Relient K style

Angels We Have Heard on High

Relient K does some cool Christmas stuff. But they don't make many videos...

Music Box Blues

One last TSO.



You just can't go wrong with Trans-Siberian Orchestra!

O Holy Night

More TSO. From their 1998 TV special/movie.

Faith Noel

More TSO