First and Amistad

I've spent over twenty-five years trying to understand the ways of God in a fallen world.  Why does God act as He does...and, perhaps more pertinent, why does He not act in certain cases?

Often, it has to do with the problem of pain.  Trying to accept that we live in a world with free will, tempted and hurting souls, and random events with tragic outcomes (from a car wreck on a Thanksgiving night seven years ago...to a earthquake that shook a nation and still is being felt)

Addiction.  A lot more complicated than just the Pauline lament of Romans 7.  Lives cut short - whether directly or indirectly.  Families rocked, shattered by the scars and ripple effects that extend far beyond oneself.

And as I look at the end of the road...
what did it cost us...
would he still be here...
how different would it have been...
and now it's too late...

"Damn addiction.  Damn the devil.  And damn God for not doing something about it."

Saturdays are overrated

It's very hard to keep up a blogging regimen...
when you're working two jobs.
when you're picking up extra hours.
when everyone's getting ready for the holidays.

I've tried daily-neardaily blogging...
I just don't have that much to say on a regular basis.

#LOUDER

Super Bowl IV, January 11, 1970, New Orleans, LA
Game 7, 1985 World Series, October 27, 1985, Kansas City, MO
MLS Cup 2000, October 15, 2000, Washington, DC

And, possibly...

MLS Cup 2013, December 7, 2013, Kansas City, KS

• Although it's sold out, it'll be in the bottom 4 for attendance at an MLS Cup (3 other MLS Cups have been held in front of less than 22,000 fans.)
• This is the latest that MLS Cup has been held, and only the second time that the championship game has been held in December (last year, 12/1)
• There is no playoff history between Kansas City and Salt Lake City.  Not in NBA (Kings, 1975-1985) or MLS.  
• This is the first major league championship game to be held in the state of Kansas.  Ever.
• So glad we got LIVEstrong off of the stadium name before this.

Advent II

So far, the big thing about the Christmas season for me...has been the music.

Finally, it's Christmas.

Finally, it brings me into the holiday spirit.

Especially hearing it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.  ;)

The one song..."Where are you, Christmas"...not really how I feel anymore.  I'm not grinchy/December25 like I used to be...

Of all the Christmas songs...the one I still (over 20 years later) think of is a song, "He's Everything to Me."

I will celebrate nativity

for it has a place in history

sure, he came to set His people free...

...what is that to me?

It's everything.

Merry Christmas.

Remember the Maine

Someday, Pearl Harbor will be forgotten.  Relegated to the same forgotten history as the Maine, the Lusitania, and Fort Sumter.  Events noted in historical trivia once a year, but not...commemorated as it was.

Pearl Harbor was NOT the start of WWII.  Ask the Brits.  Ask the Germans.  Ask the Poles.  Ask the Russians.

What are the lessons of Pearl Harbor?  Eternal Vigilance?  The danger of Imperial overreach?  Life is short?

There are things that cannot be said in polite company about war.  I'll stick with the statement of General Sherman..."War is hell."

I confess, without shame, I am sick and tired of fighting—its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies, with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appealing to me for sons, husbands and fathers ... 'tis only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated ... that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation. - General W. T. Sherman

Radix Malorum est Cupiditas

Four times, I flew west across the Pacific, spending ten to twenty days each time in Seoul.  My business trips usually involved me working the night shift, so I had the opportunity to explore downtown Seoul.  
I visited the Korean War Museum (finding my grandmother's first husband's name on a memorial wall), the Korean National Museum, the 63 Building (once the tallest building in Asia), N Seoul Tower, and the rebuilding of the Nandaemun Gate.

But, I'd decided that, while in Seoul, I would visit Yoido Full Gospel Church, the famous megachurch with over 700,000 members.  I sat in the foreigner's section of the balcony, listening to the multi-lingual headset listening to Pastor Cho's sermon interpreted by an interpreter named Isaac. I took pictures of the church...I even went to their bookstore and bought a book for a friend of mine.  (St. Augustine's Confessions...in Korean)

Last week, while looking over the news, I saw that there were allegations of embezzlement at the church.  The elders of the church had announced that, in addition to the $10 million that is being investigated in relation to a stock purchase...

Quoting a Korean newspaper, "In total, the elders are accusing the Chos of embezzling as much as US$500 million or more in church money."  (Article from hani.co.kr)

My God.

It's mindboggling.

It's at least twice the annual income of YFGC - at it's peak in '08.

And...I'm left wondering...
Anomaly?  Symptom?  Pattern?

We ask to be judged on our intentions and our best days.
We are judged on our actions and our worst days.

We ask to not be judged based on the actions of a few.
But we sometimes judge a group by the actions of a few who disgrace the group, assuming that they represent the whole.

---

I've heard of preachers who make their money off their books.
I've heard of preachers who put everything from their books back into their ministry.
I've heard of preachers being called on the carpet about their finances.

And I'm left thinking back to a simpler day, when the church I attended would keep the members up-to-date on the business of the church on a monthly basis.  (3rd Wednesday, as I recall)

So...what is a church supposed to spend their income on?

• Evangelization
• Care for the poor
• Staff salaries
• Property upkeep & utilities
• ?? ?? ??

By the way, why did the itinerant Jesus and his apostles require a treasurer?

Advent I

Tomorrow is the 1st Sunday of Advent.

Yesterday, while working for a major retailer, I realized something.

This season, I will be joining millions of Christians in celebrating Advent, the season before Christmas.

This is a very comforting thought, that we approach the incarnation, the birth of Christ, with a holy anticipation.