Recently our dog got out because someone left the side gate at the house open. We, of course, hired an independent counsel to do a full investigation to make sure we found out exactly who did it so proper blame could be assigned and we could all feel better about ourselves, even if we did nothing to make sure it didn't happen again. And, since it seems we had to, we added "gate" to the end of the name to make sure everyone understood the seriousness of the situation.
Obviously this is a little satirical, although not the part about the dog getting out, but can we stop making everything the equivalent of Watergate, especially adding "gate" to everything? And how did that become the standard, or the name, by which everything was set? Why don't we name things after abscam, or even better the Tea Pot Dome Scandal?
I understand that "deflategate" sounds better than "deflatescam" or "deflatedome" but it's a little tiresome. It's time for the news media to begin to be a little more creative or at least more intelligent about things. I also can't help but think that a lot of this has more to do with who did it then what was done, especially since most of the media have disdain for Bill Belichick because he has, seemingly, such disdain for them.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
God's Call: Are You Serious?
Here is my sermon from Sunday. The texts were Mark 1:14-20 and Jonah 3:1-5, 10:
I like Jonah. I like Jonah a lot, because Jonah is a lot like me, and I suspect that Jonah is a lot like some of you as well. We really have two different call stories in the passages we heard this morning. The first is the call story of the first disciples. Jesus has heard that John the Baptist has just been arrested, which is the event which kicks off his ministry, and so he goes to Galilee and proclaims first a call for repentance, and then the reason, because the kingdom of God has come near. And immediately, those are Mark’s words, a word he uses a lot in his gospel, Jesus goes to the Sea of Galilee and calls Peter and James and John and Simon to come and follow him, and they get up and go. They leave their nets and their boats and their family behind, and they follow Jesus, immediately. And then there is Jonah.
The passage we heard from Jonah is actually already in the middle of the story, that is why it says that the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Now many of us are at least somewhat familiar with the story of Jonah, if for nothing else then being Jonah and the whale, although there is actually no whale in the story. It’s a whale of a story, but there is no whale in the story. But I want to remind us all of the Jonah story so that we can know what’s going on in the passage we heard and also to then compare and contrast it against the call story found in Mark.
Jonah is a prophet, and his story is found in the Hebrew Scriptures amongst the prophets, but the book is very different than other prophetic writings, because it isn’t a series of prophetic statements. Instead it is a narrative about Jonah and his dealings with God, much more like what we are used to seeing in the Genesis stories, or in some of the later histories, like the stories found in kings or Samuel. But Jonah is living in Israel when God calls him and tells him to go “at once” to Nineveh and cry out against their wickedness. Now the city of Nineveh is said to be a great city, and a very large city, that it would take 3 days to walk across, which means that it’s about 60 miles in diameter. Nineveh is also not a Jewish city as it’s located in modern day Iraq and is known as the city of Mosul.
I like Jonah. I like Jonah a lot, because Jonah is a lot like me, and I suspect that Jonah is a lot like some of you as well. We really have two different call stories in the passages we heard this morning. The first is the call story of the first disciples. Jesus has heard that John the Baptist has just been arrested, which is the event which kicks off his ministry, and so he goes to Galilee and proclaims first a call for repentance, and then the reason, because the kingdom of God has come near. And immediately, those are Mark’s words, a word he uses a lot in his gospel, Jesus goes to the Sea of Galilee and calls Peter and James and John and Simon to come and follow him, and they get up and go. They leave their nets and their boats and their family behind, and they follow Jesus, immediately. And then there is Jonah.
The passage we heard from Jonah is actually already in the middle of the story, that is why it says that the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Now many of us are at least somewhat familiar with the story of Jonah, if for nothing else then being Jonah and the whale, although there is actually no whale in the story. It’s a whale of a story, but there is no whale in the story. But I want to remind us all of the Jonah story so that we can know what’s going on in the passage we heard and also to then compare and contrast it against the call story found in Mark.
Jonah is a prophet, and his story is found in the Hebrew Scriptures amongst the prophets, but the book is very different than other prophetic writings, because it isn’t a series of prophetic statements. Instead it is a narrative about Jonah and his dealings with God, much more like what we are used to seeing in the Genesis stories, or in some of the later histories, like the stories found in kings or Samuel. But Jonah is living in Israel when God calls him and tells him to go “at once” to Nineveh and cry out against their wickedness. Now the city of Nineveh is said to be a great city, and a very large city, that it would take 3 days to walk across, which means that it’s about 60 miles in diameter. Nineveh is also not a Jewish city as it’s located in modern day Iraq and is known as the city of Mosul.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Assumptions
Here is my sermon from Sunday. The text was John 1:43-51:
Today’s message is going to be very different from how I normally preach, because it’s going to be focused on four stories, and it’s also a little more personal than I normally like to be because these are also my stories. But this message has been sort of bouncing around my mind for a while now, and I thought today was an appropriate time to say it.
The first two stories are about perceptions, or we should probably say assumptions. When I was attending Harvard, I had to go to the cashier’s office one day and there was a long line waiting to talk with someone, and in front of me there was a very large man. He was probably 6’4” and at least 250. His neck was bigger than my thighs. He was huge. Now Harvard does not offer any athletic scholarships, nor do any of the other Ivy Leagues, although they still do quite well, including being undefeated in football this year and beating UNM in the NCAA tournament two years ago. But that’s just bragging, but anyways this guy was huge and I instantly thought, I wonder if Harvard lowers its academic requirements in order to recruit and bring in some athletes to play for the school? Does anyone want to make a guess as to the race of this particular student? He was African-American. The moment I asked myself the question I realized the outright bigotry that went into it, the assumptions that I had made, not only about him but about others like him.
Today’s message is going to be very different from how I normally preach, because it’s going to be focused on four stories, and it’s also a little more personal than I normally like to be because these are also my stories. But this message has been sort of bouncing around my mind for a while now, and I thought today was an appropriate time to say it.
The first two stories are about perceptions, or we should probably say assumptions. When I was attending Harvard, I had to go to the cashier’s office one day and there was a long line waiting to talk with someone, and in front of me there was a very large man. He was probably 6’4” and at least 250. His neck was bigger than my thighs. He was huge. Now Harvard does not offer any athletic scholarships, nor do any of the other Ivy Leagues, although they still do quite well, including being undefeated in football this year and beating UNM in the NCAA tournament two years ago. But that’s just bragging, but anyways this guy was huge and I instantly thought, I wonder if Harvard lowers its academic requirements in order to recruit and bring in some athletes to play for the school? Does anyone want to make a guess as to the race of this particular student? He was African-American. The moment I asked myself the question I realized the outright bigotry that went into it, the assumptions that I had made, not only about him but about others like him.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Bad Sportsmanship in "Urban" Areas
Congratulations to the Ohio State Buckeyes for winning the national championship last night. They totally dominated the game, and you have to to overcome 4 turnovers. The over/under on Ezekiel Elliott was 165 1/2 yards rushing. I said before the game that if he hit the over that Oregon would lose, and of course he went way over.
On the same note, that was not the Oregon team I saw play most of the season. How much of that difference was Ohio State and how much was them simply having lost too many players to injury and suspension? Totally unknown, but the better team on the field last night won the game. (Although it certainly looked to me like Oregon hadn't done any tackling since the Rose Bowl, because they forgot how to even attempt to do it properly, and that was not them at all.)
Urban Meyer has certainly proven that he is one of the best coaches in college football right now. If he is not the best, he is certainly right there in the conversation. Going into the game many commentators said they were picking Ohio State simply because of Urban, not because they thought they were the better team, but that because he would do what was necessary to win. I think that was apparent, and he certainly earned a lot of respect from me, until the end.
Late in the game, Oregon went for it on 4th down, because they had to, and didn't complete it, giving the ball to Ohio State around the 14 yard line with what I think was a little more than 3 minutes to go. I really wondered what they were going to do, and the play calls sent in seemed to indicate that Urban was simply going to run down the clock, get a first down, and then sit in a victory formation. Because either Oregon's defense got incredibly stout all of the sudden, or Ohio State wasn't trying very hard to score. They then got their first down, and all they had to do was kneel down a couple of times and the game was theirs.
But that is not what they did. Instead they kept running the ball, scoring with only a few seconds left on the clock. I won't write what I actually said, but it was bush-league and totally bad sportsmanship. The only thing scoring there did was to drive up the margin of victory, which didn't matter. They were already up by 15. If this were the NFL, you might see them do it because the NFL is about money and entertainment, so what they can do different things. But let's be honest and say that they don't even do that in the NFL (unless the coach hates the other coach. I'm looking at you Bill Belichick).
But this isn't the NFL, and college football is supposed to be teaching these athletes something, it's that whole student/athlete thing, and one of those things should be sportsmanship. Urban Meyer had that opportunity last night to send that message and he failed the test. He, in fact, failed miserably.
In 2010, Wisconsin was playing a game in which they were leading 20-19 and driving the ball as time was expiring. They got inside the 10 yard line and then assumed the victory formation and they won the game. They could have scored and increased the margin of victory, but they didn't, and they still won. That is good sportsmanship. What Urban Meyer did was not, and I have yet to hear a single commentator call him out for it which is also a travesty.
I congratulate the team for their victory, but I have lost all respect for Urban Meyer because he is not coaching or teaching his players, and those who play who watch, the proper respect for the game and his opponents. He also needs to be careful because, as Gregg Easterbrook says, when you taunt the football gods, bad things tend to happen.
Update: Shout-out to Tony Kornhesier who is the only commentator I have heard who called out Urban Meyer for this, and Michael Wilbon, agreeing with him, said that if he did that in the NFL "he would get one of his players killed."
On the same note, that was not the Oregon team I saw play most of the season. How much of that difference was Ohio State and how much was them simply having lost too many players to injury and suspension? Totally unknown, but the better team on the field last night won the game. (Although it certainly looked to me like Oregon hadn't done any tackling since the Rose Bowl, because they forgot how to even attempt to do it properly, and that was not them at all.)
Urban Meyer has certainly proven that he is one of the best coaches in college football right now. If he is not the best, he is certainly right there in the conversation. Going into the game many commentators said they were picking Ohio State simply because of Urban, not because they thought they were the better team, but that because he would do what was necessary to win. I think that was apparent, and he certainly earned a lot of respect from me, until the end.
Late in the game, Oregon went for it on 4th down, because they had to, and didn't complete it, giving the ball to Ohio State around the 14 yard line with what I think was a little more than 3 minutes to go. I really wondered what they were going to do, and the play calls sent in seemed to indicate that Urban was simply going to run down the clock, get a first down, and then sit in a victory formation. Because either Oregon's defense got incredibly stout all of the sudden, or Ohio State wasn't trying very hard to score. They then got their first down, and all they had to do was kneel down a couple of times and the game was theirs.
But that is not what they did. Instead they kept running the ball, scoring with only a few seconds left on the clock. I won't write what I actually said, but it was bush-league and totally bad sportsmanship. The only thing scoring there did was to drive up the margin of victory, which didn't matter. They were already up by 15. If this were the NFL, you might see them do it because the NFL is about money and entertainment, so what they can do different things. But let's be honest and say that they don't even do that in the NFL (unless the coach hates the other coach. I'm looking at you Bill Belichick).
But this isn't the NFL, and college football is supposed to be teaching these athletes something, it's that whole student/athlete thing, and one of those things should be sportsmanship. Urban Meyer had that opportunity last night to send that message and he failed the test. He, in fact, failed miserably.
In 2010, Wisconsin was playing a game in which they were leading 20-19 and driving the ball as time was expiring. They got inside the 10 yard line and then assumed the victory formation and they won the game. They could have scored and increased the margin of victory, but they didn't, and they still won. That is good sportsmanship. What Urban Meyer did was not, and I have yet to hear a single commentator call him out for it which is also a travesty.
I congratulate the team for their victory, but I have lost all respect for Urban Meyer because he is not coaching or teaching his players, and those who play who watch, the proper respect for the game and his opponents. He also needs to be careful because, as Gregg Easterbrook says, when you taunt the football gods, bad things tend to happen.
Update: Shout-out to Tony Kornhesier who is the only commentator I have heard who called out Urban Meyer for this, and Michael Wilbon, agreeing with him, said that if he did that in the NFL "he would get one of his players killed."
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Books Of 2014
These are the books I read in 2014.
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- A Redbird Christmas by Fanny Flagg
- A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans
- Against Football: One Fan's Reluctant Manifesto by Steve Almond
- Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Donald B. Kraybill et al.
- Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
- Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S. Rainer
- Basilica: The Splendor and Scandal of Building St. Peter's by R.A. Scotti
- Becoming Mr. October by Reggie Jackson and Kevin Baker
- Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of Forgiveness Instinct by Michael McCullough
- Blood Sport: Alex Rodriguez, Biogenesis and the Quest to End Baseball's Steroid Era by Tim Elfrink and Gus Garcia-Roberts
- Boys Will Put You on a Pedestal (So They can Look Up Your Skirt) by Philip Van Munching
- Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1938 Olympics by Daniel James Brown
- Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman by Lee Lowenfish
- Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing by Norm Stamper
- Breakpoint by Richard Clarke
- By Sorrow's River by Larry McMurtry
- Censuring Queen Victoria: A Story of Royal Correspondence and the Creation of the Icon by Yvonne Young
- Conservatives Without Conscience by John Dean
- Convictions: How I Learned What Matters Most by Marcus Borg
- Cubed: A History of the Office by Nikil Saval
- David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
- Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
- Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
- Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, the Torments of Low Thread Count, the Never-ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil and other First World Problems by David Rakoff
- Dying to Cross: The Worst Immigrant Tragedy in American History of Jorge Ramos
- Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
- Experiencing Forgiveness by Charles Stanley
- Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations by Robert Schnase
- Five Practices of Fruitful Living by Robert Schnase
- Floating City: A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York's Underground Economy by Sudhir Venkatesh
- Folly and Glory by Larry McMurtry
- Forgive for Good by Dr. Fred Luskin
- Forgive for Love by Dr. Fred Luskin
- Forgiveness is a Choice by Robert D. Enirght
- Forgiveness: Finding Peace through Letting Go by Adam Hamilton
- Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe by Nancy Goldstone
- Frank Lloyd Wright and His Manner of Thought by Jerome Klinkowitz
- Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
- Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler
- Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
- I Am a Church Member by Thom S. Rainer
- I Don't Care if We Never Get Back: 30 Games in 30 Days on the Best Worst Baseball Road Trip Ever by Ben Blatt and Eric Brewster
- I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church by Paul Nixon
- I Refuse to Preach a Boring Sermon by Karyn L. Wiseman
- In One Person: A Novel by John Irving
- Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones
- Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded by Simon Winchester
- Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street by Michael Lewis
- Lincoln Letter by William Martin
- Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
- Making Sense of the Bible: Recovering the Power of Scripture Today by Adam Hamilton
- Mickie and Willie, Mantle and Mays: The Parallel Lives of Baseball's Golden Age by Allen Barra
- My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places by Mary Roach
- New Mexico Baseball : Miners, Outlaws, Indians, and Isotopes, 1880 to the Present by L. M. Sutter.
- O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
- Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
- Partners in Prayer by John Maxwell
- Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend by Mitchell Zuckoff
- Relaunch: How to Stage an Organizational Comeback by Dr. Mark Rutland
- Revelation: Visions, Prophecy and Politics in the Book of Revelation by Elaine Pagels
- Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World by Ronald J. Sider
- Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn
- Sin Killer by Larry McMurtry
- Slow Getting Up: A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile by Nate Jackson
- Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
- Tatooine Ghost by Troy Denning
- The Alice Behind Wonderland by Simon Winchester
- The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel
- The Chalmers Race; Ty Cobb, Napoleon Lajoie and the Controversial 1910 Batting Title that Became a National Obsession by Rick Huhn
- The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
- The Deadliest Cast Member by Kelly Ryan Johns
- The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II by Gregory Freeman
- The Gathering Wind: Hurricane Sandy, the Sailing Ship Bounty, and a Courageous Rescue at Sea by Gregory Freeman
- The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
- The Inner Circle by T. Coraghessan Boyle
- The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick
- The Lost Apostle: Searching for the Truth about Junia by Rena Pederson
- The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester
- The One Percent Doctrine by Ron Suskind
- The Planets by David Sobel
- The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
- The Reappearing Act by Kate Fagan
- The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's so Good about the Good News by Peter Gomes
- The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Performance by David Epstein
- The Wandering Hill by Larry McMurtry
- The Way of Forgiveness: Letting Go, Easing Stress and Building Strength by D. Patrick Miller
- Tomorrow-land: The 1964-65 World's Fair and the Transformation of America by Joseph Tirella
- Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and other Phenomenon from the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory by Stacy Horn
- Unconditional Forgiveness by Mary Hayes-Grieco
- Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2014 by Bob Sehlinger, Seth Kubersky and Len Testa
- Way of Forgiveness: Letting Go, Easing Stress and Building Strength by D. Patrick Miller
- Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
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