Fuzzy Thinking

Okay…. I had to post this. Found this over at Mustardseed. He posted his NFL Conspiracy theory. And since 1) he is right so far and 2) I am a huge Colts fan, I thought I would post a link to it: http://www.whatischurch.com/mustardseed/ Enjoy!

Dave.

On my way through Kentucky I saw this on a church sign near Lexington:

“Christians make good citizens”

What does this sign say about the church? About our nation? About God’s call? What cultural issues does this statement impact?

Shell says biofuels from food crops “morally inappropriate” - Yahoo! News

Here’s something that has never crossed my mind. A producer of biofuel believes that using food (I’m guessing corn) to create fuel is morally wrong. The argument is, if there are people without food, using the food we do have to create fuel isn’t a good thing.

They said they could make fuel out of plant waste and wood chips (the trees suffer again) to make fuel instead of food crops.

Some food for thought. Of course, our concern is never with the hungry or poor, so perhaps it is good that some companies are (even if in the end it is self-serving). I’m sure if we put our minds to it, we already have the resources to get food to those without food. It just isn’t really cost effective.

The bottom line will probably end up being how to cut energy costs. We will spend plenty of $$ to figure out how to do that. How to get food to those without (or even getting people clean water) will just have to wait.

In ministry you find yourself doing various activities such as driving, reading, talking with people, visiting in hospitals, going to meetings and hopefully finding time to think and pray.

Of course, one of the things to think and pray about is poverty. It is a real issue. It is a sad issue.

The county I live in is one of the lowest for per cap income for our state. It is a problem. I know others for who the issue of poverty is a subject of prayer, thought and action.

So, I was really glad to read this article from MSNBC.

Americans keep buying up second homes - Real Estate - MSNBC.com

Hmmm… Apparently a former minister and an MP with the governing Liberal Party in Australia says that they are “literally aborting themselves out of existance.” She is concerned about RU486.

So, if she is right, could that mean that America could end up being pro-life?

Australia ‘Will Be Muslim In Fifty Years’

The title comes from the last section of the article… So, if you are in a good mood, this is a good read…if not…well, perhaps you don’t have to read it

All kidding aside, the point is basically that while life is good, it can also be painful. Sometimes in a world that is focused on happiness, it is good to find balance….

Salon.com Life | Getting over happiness

Jeff and I were able to get together again and do another episode of our podcast. In this episode we discuss incompetence, Why American Idol is so popular and what we are watching on TV. Join the fun!!!

Incompetence and Why American Idol is So Popular

I found the following quotes interesting to say the least… For background info, the government is trying to cut its budget and many Christians are having issues because many the cuts are coming to areas that help the poor and children.

Budget Battle - Christianity Today Magazine
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said of the protesters, “They don’t know what they’re talking about. There’s $1.7 billion fraud in the food-stamp program.” Congress decided against decreasing funding for food stamps.

Coburn cited other examples of federal waste and said government is not suited to aiding the poor. “If the churches had done their job and followed Jesus’ teachings,” Coburn told CT, “the government wouldn’t have started all these programs and created all these problems.”

But Coburn also cautioned against moving forward with further tax cuts. “We need to get our spending in order first,” Coburn said.”Then we can consider tax cuts, so people will have more money to do things like give to their churches.”

Here is another great quote from Rep. Jeb Hensarling. If you ever wanted who the “least of these” were that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 25, Hensarling knows….

“I believe the ‘least of these’ is my daughter, who’s 4 years old, and my son, who’s 2 years old, and all of those not born,” Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said. “I believe it’s unfair to saddle them with debt way into the future.”

And here we are getting at the root of the matter. A Jesus who does not look like us, doesn’t talk like us, doesn’t dress like us, and lives according to a different culture is alien to us. He is very hard to identify with. Instead of changing ourselves into an image more like his which requires hard work and not a little imagination, it is so much easier to mentally change him into the image of ourselves. And this domestication of Jesus if taken to an extreme (for instance with the Aryan Jesus concept) becomes in fact idolatry— the attempt to recreate God in our own image. But for most of us, it never goes that far. We just desperately want Jesus to be approachable, someone we could actually imagine emulating.

[Ben Witherington]

This is from Ben Witherington III’s blog. When I read it, I thought of the reports that people seem to like Jesus (when they do polls and such), yet, they have a low view of the church. Whenever I see articles reporting that Jesus is held in high regard, I always ask myself, “What Jesus?” My feeling is that the people responding to these polls really haven’t taken time to know who Jesus is, or what He calls us to. If so, then they either wouldn’t hold in in such high regard, or they would be living a very different kind of life. I believe that Witherinton is right, we would rather change Jesus to match our image, than to change ourselves to match His. For us to match His image means that we too must take up a cross…..

While I believe that what I’ve written isn’t Witherington’s point in the article, I believe the tendancy to create a new Jesus based on our likes and our image (Jesus as my fishin’ buddy) should be explored.

Online reunion efforts overlap, confuse some - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com

It’s not just the reunion efforts that overlap. I keep hearing stories of evacuees coming into communities, but I’ve yet to discover who is actually in charge of placing the evacuees.

Right now it seems like FEMA is trying to take the lead. There is not one central plan in place to deal with the evacuees so, basically, individuals are left to come up with their own plan.

I’ve posted on the plan that I believe would work, but, the plan was developed because it really didn’t look like anyone else was heading anywhere.

The best plan was a “call” for people to open up their homes. There are big problems with that solution. For one, it isn’t really long-term (the evacueess will have to move at least one more time), and it can be dangerous, both for the host home and for the evacuees (unless you do background checks for all involved). As of now, it seems like, around Indiana at least, there are still some unresoved questions such as, if I have a home and a group to support that home, how does an evacuee family make the move?

Hopefully answers will come….

I’ve been talking to a friend of mine about this whole hurricane Katrina evacuee relocation issue. I just haven’t felt comfortable with the “opening up your home” solutions I keep hearing about. While I agree it is a very generous thing to do, I’m not sure it is the best thing to do for the evacuees. After all, they are displaced and putting them up in someone’s home doesn’t make them less displaced.

I’ve felt that if it were possible to get them to an apartment or rent a home, there would be a chance they could have a normal life. I also knew that I would be willing to partner with others to do this. I felt that if at least ten churches came together, they could probably find some type of creative solution.

Well, I found out that my friend got up early this morning and put skin and flesh to our conversation. After talking with him again and reading the plan, I really feel this plan can be used in other areas. The costs will be different because of the cost of living, but, the basic plan would be the same.

Hopefully, the domain will be active in the next day or so and you can visit the “real” website at http://www.KatrinaRelocationPlan.com. If not, I have it up at http://davidmullens.worldfreeweb.com/KRP/. If you want to read how the implementation plan is going, you can go to http://kokomokatrinarelocation.blogspot.com/.

I’ve been effected by the images I see on TV from the aftermath of Katrina. Perhaps, because we have so much in this country, such devestation strikes deeper. It pains me to realize that many of the people effected in New Orleans were poor, they were probably renting their home, now that home is gone, along with their job (if they had one), their ability to get any type of governement aid (Food stamps, etc.).

If they were renting and the house is gone, what means do they have to “rebuild” their home and/or their lives? What modivation do they have to return to New Orleans? What if the 25,000+ people decide to stay in Texas?

I guess what I’m wondering is, are we really ready for the new realities that the hurricane has brought? The situation is not going to be over in a few weeks or even a few months. Peoples lives have been forever altered which leaves the question, what is the best thing for us to do? What is the best way for us to live? Will this not only change those in the effected area, but us as well?

A friend and I have ventured out into the world called Podcasting. We really don’t know where this project will lead, but for now, we are reviewing books.

The first podcast is discussing Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis.

You can find the new blog (and RSS feeds) at http://TwoMiddleAgedPastors.blogspot.com. Drop us a line to let us know what you think!

One in six Americans visiting blogs | CNET News.com

So, if you ever wondered if “blogging” was worth it, here is some information on how popular blog reading is. Blogging, I believe, is changing the landscape of how people gather information. Also, I believe, blogging will change how people think about a variety of issues.

Blog on….

Man dies after 50 hours of computer games | CNET News.com

Wow…. Talk about a man that needs a few more relationship. Not sure why I’m posting this to my blog, but I find this very sad…that someone could be able to spend that much time sitting around playing games. Also, I guess I’m not as obsessed as what I thought….

Well, this is pretty cool. I just signed up for AudioBlogging (Podcasting). I’m not sure if this is the same as a podcast or not. I know it could easily become podcast. Well, anyway, the link is here. For my audio blog.

Basically, I can call in from any phone and leave an entry. Since I have free long distance on my cell phone, I can call on my cell, leave an entry and it doesn’t cost me a thing…pretty cool. Of course, now I will have to have something to say.