Something to Think About...

Was challenged by an African pastor this past week (not deliberately on his part, but merely by the testimony of his life) that in American Christianity we cannot hope to be preaching the entire Gospel if we do not make clear that demons and Satan are real enemies that are quite cunning in their actions toward humanity.


Of course I knew this, or at least I thought I did, until I encountered this man's stunning and robust theology and practical experience in this field.  Now I'm leaning toward the mindset that we are more darkened in our understanding than I previously thought.

It is my conviction that we should always move toward preaching "the whole counsel of God" and I think perhaps I have shied away from this topic more than I should have-especially when I consider that there was a significant portion of Jesus' ministry dedicated to deliverance.  To be clear: I have preached on this topic and even testified about it, but it has perhaps been too rare a thing for me, especially in a society that is arguably more demonized than it's ever been before.

I am not saying I'm ready to start focusing on this topic (I think any distraction from Jesus as THE POINT of it all would be a BAD idea) or that I'm going to be the guy who says there's a demon lurking under every bush.

I am saying that I am going to have to think and pray into this topic some more because I need a more well rounded theology here and a more striking/penetrating way to communicate this topic while avoiding the pitfalls of ignoring it and of sensationalizing it.  We (us Americans) are about as bad in this area (or worse) than we are in our understanding of the judgments of God.

An Appetite for Reading.

I currently have about 10 books that I’m reading.  This is not an accident; neither is it a rare occurrence.  I almost always have about 10 books that I’m reading.  Each book takes months for me to read because I read a little bit, maybe even a lot, intensely for a short period of time.  Then I get bored with that book and move on to another, leaving the first book unfinished.  I usually continue this process through a cycle of 10 books (whatever the reason, that’s about the average).  Some books stay on my “currently reading” pile for over a year. 

I’m not saying that this practice doesn’t have its disadvantages.  It was about useless while I was going to school because I could hardly ever stomach to read books straightway through for my classes.  But now that I’m free from the bonds of my educational servitude, I’m reading whatever I want, whenever I want, and it’s most delightful and in my opinion, more effective in a lot of ways. 

The huge advantage of this is that there’s never a day that goes by that I don’t read.  I’ve learned that I’m always in the mood to read, it’s just a matter of what I read that comes into question.  Therefore, I read strictly according to mood, according to the dictates of the a

ppetite of my brain’s desire.  I sometimes ask, “What am I mentally hungry for today?”

As a result, military history today might turn into a study on the Catholic Popes Past tomorrow.  As much as possible, I try to avoid “disciplining” myself to read stuff that seems like it would be “good” for me to read as I don’t think there’s too much profit in that kind of lifestyle.  I’ll just end up reading less (bad), remember less (very bad) and enjoy it less (also bad) if I try. 

And let us not, I say, underestimate the importance of enjoyment when it comes to reading (or a great many other activites for that matter).  I could be wrong, but I believe that retention is deeply tied to enjoyment.  This theory isn’t exactly rocket science, but I believe that it stands up to common sense.  Think of movies you’ve seen.  You remember the ones you like, but the ones you couldn’t care less for—well they probably don’t come up in the memory that much anymore.  Our memories seem to care for things that our hearts care about too. 

This is why I read 10 books at a time—it’s hugely important to me that when I read, I enjoy it.  Perhaps this is why school learning frustrated the dickens out of me and why I feel like I hardly remember most of what I read for school!  AUGH!   That’s just me though.  I know that, for some people, my reading practices drive them absolutely insane.  However, for those who struggle to read through a book, or to read regularly, I invite you to try this.  It works and it’s actually loads of fun!

Reading Confession.

Doesn't this look SO much more inviting
to read with the photo on the front?  

I have a confession to make… (but it’s not really a good confession because I have a defense for this so-called confession after I make it)…  My confession is that I read a lot of books with pictures in them.  In fact, I probably read as many books with pictures as I do books without pictures.  I’ve practically gotten a second education off of so called “coffee table” books. 

The reason this is a confession is because somewhere I got it drilled into my head that real books are ones that are THICK, with tiny print and little to nothing in the way of pictures.  Admittedly, many scholarly books are still like this.  I have therefore felt pings of guilt for using materials from these lovely picture books for quotes in papers for classes (when I had them) and to teach people.  There was often a feeling that my information was somehow invalid whenever it came from books with pictures.

I’m getting over this problem though.  In fact, I think that the argument that real books should not have pictures is now ridiculous.  When printing was more expensive, it made sense that pictures should not be included, but now it seems absurd to not include pictures if applicable because they help bring the topic of study to life!  I cannot imagine studying military history without pictures of battlefield maps, photographs of the events as they took place or their aftermath.  I feel as though I understand things better with pictures and that my efforts to self-educate are not in any way cheapened by the practice of reading coffee table books (so long as it is backed up with supplementary materials… I am not arguing against books with no pictures, I am simply saying that books with pictures should no longer be considered invalid sources of learning). 

So that brings me to the reason why I wrote this article in the first place: I believe that continued life-long learning is incredibly important.  Books with pictures are entertaining, engaging and educational and they are often works of art, beautiful in design and layout, in-and-of-themselves! Pick up a non-fiction book with pictures—they are on sale at Barnes and Noble all the time in the bargain books section.  Start learning about history, science, architecture, the automobile industry, whatever suits you, and your whole world will open up as you do because curiosity begets curiosity.  The more you allow yourself to learn, the more you want to learn! 

Incredible Service!

Bear with me as I tell a story that should wow you a bit, but takes a bit to get going.

The other day I went to Salvatore's, an Italian Restaurant on the corner of Baxter and Princess Anne in Virginia Beach.  The food was great.  Vouching for this place, I've even heard of some people talking about how the pizza there is their favorite (I didn't try it), but I figure this is probably amplified by the fact that Salvatore's makes their mozzarella cheese fresh.  But that's not the reason why I am writing the article (the title is a bit of a giveaway here); it was the service.  I don't think I've ever received more hospitality at a restaurant before in my life.

Admittedly, there wasn't anything at Salvatore's that initially impressed me that much.  It seemed like the stereotypical NYC style pizzeria NOT located in NYC.  But my impression began to change as soon as the wait staff started coming to my table.  They were well trained, attentive, polite and genuinely seemed as though they liked working there.  Even though they were very busy (the restaurant was packed), my water was almost continually being filled by the various people that tag-teamed our table (I drink a lot, quite rapidly).  

But those things didn't wow me.  I started being impressed when my first free appetizer was brought out-garlic knots.  No reason given as to why.  Just Italian hospitality I suppose.  The owner, Gabrielle I believe was his name, is Italian, and he likes to run his restaurant with satisfied customers it would seem.  

We (I was meeting with some fellow youth ministers) ordered our food, which included mozzarella cheese fries for an appetizer, and then we talked for awhile.  Honestly, it wasn't really a long period of time that went by when the owner came out with his arms full of bruschetta appetizers.  He gave one to our table, explaining that they were really busy and they didn't want us going hungry.  Take note: that was free appetizer number two.  

Then our lunch comes.  With it, our waitress explains that they are backed up in the kitchen and that our mozzarella fries will be on the house.  That's free appetizer number three.  I keep watching the owner throughout this process.  He's welcoming the customers, giving some of them hugs, some of them kisses on the cheek, having conversations and distributing free food.  These people are getting up out of their seats to say hi to him; they're excited to see him!  At one point, he was at a table with a lot of elderly women and he was personally refilling all of their wine glasses with a nice dessert wine.  It was no wonder as to why there were no seats available.  This man knew how to run a restaurant!

We didn't quite finish all our food.  The fries were too much.  Besides, we decided to eat the FREE cannoli that were brought to our table instead.  FREE.  

It's possible that the owner was simply trying to get me and others to talk about his restaurant, and that's why he was so nice.  But watching him, this guy didn't seem like a fake at all.  He was the real deal, and I think that everyone in his restaurant could tell.  Genuine hospitality that genuinely cares about the customer-that's how you run a restaurant.

Some of an 80's/90's Childhood

For my fellow children of the 80's and early 90's, these won't need an introduction.  But for the uninitiated, these TV show intros could explain my generation's dysfunction or brilliance.  This is only a tiny preview (because I didn't think the general public could stand too much of these, but if I get enough likes or commentary, I'll dig up some more treasures for a future post.  

Duck Tales

Probably the overall favorite TV show of its kind for everyone my age.  Pretty much everyone I knew had this song memorized.  

Tale Spin

This song, along with the Tiny Toon Adventures them, were probably the best intro themes for kids TV shows back in the day.  You can see how Disney was on their way to those catchy Lion King songs when they wrote this one. 

Tiny Toon Adventures

"Ellelator go up!  Ellelator go down!"  Brilliant little show while it lasted, plus a catchy intro.  

Animaniacs: Nations of the World

I didn't watch this show too much, but this clip shows how somebody on the writing staff was an unleashed super-creative individual!

The Odds of Being a 6'6'' Redhead

You always wanted to know...

Even in the Middle Ages, Redheads were Boss!

I learned/figured out some interesting things today.  Granted, the things I learned all directly apply to me, so this post is perhaps one of my most narcissistic posts ever, BUT I still thought it was interesting enough to let everyone know. 

I'm 6'6'' and only 1/4 of 1% of the world's population is that height.  That number looks like this: 0.0025.   Pretty cool huh? 

So I thought about this, and applied it to the fact that only 2% (0.02) of the world's population is red haired.  

In case you forgot middle school math, the way you find out the odds of two percentages coming together is to simply multiply them.  THEREFORE, a red head being 6'6'' or above is going to be extremely rare... about 0.00005 % of the population.  Whoa!  Now I feel as random as a purple tiger or something like it!

But even though those odds are long... let me give you some food for thought.  I went to high school with a red head who was also 6'6'' or thereabouts (I remember having him edged in height, but sometimes the memory a guy has of his high school days are exaggerated come 10+ years later... e.g. Uncle Rico's hilarious line, "How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?").  So since there were two of us in one high school, us 6'6'' redheads can't be THAT rare, can we?  

Well, if you multiply 0.00005% times the current world population of 7.1 billion, you'll see that there are plenty of tall redheads!  355,000 of them to be precise!  That's about the population of the Bahamas... a nice country, but probably not the best for tall redheads since they get sunburned easily and sometimes are so large that their friends meanly call them "Moby Dick" when they go swimming (yes, this actually happened to me!)

And before you go and stereotype all redheads as being Irish or even European, let me just tell you, there are people groups (some of them with very dark skin) from China, Papua New Guinea and the Middle East and North Africa (mostly areas in the former Ottoman Empire, usually Berber populations people but also including Jews) that are known for having red hair.   

Thus ends my strange, rambling combination of random facts and math.  

The 20 Year Conversion...

First a little bit of history: In the 1800's, the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody was giving a two week series at the end of which he planned to give an opportunity for salvation.  Problem is, he never got to preach the second week to most people because a huge fire broke out all over Chicago.  As a result, Moody said he would never wait, he would always give people a chance to convert in the moment.  Tons of evangelists and pastors followed his example.  At the time, that probably wasn't a big deal, but now our society has gotten tired of this rush to make converts.  

Recently, I've been rethinking the whole way we see people convert to Christianity, and it has a lot to do with these two passages: 

"Then Jacob made a vow saying, "If God will be with me and will guard me on this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I return to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God.'" -Genesis 28:20-22.

"So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, 'Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and put on fresh clothes.  Then let us get up and go to Beth-el, so that  I can build there an altar to God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I went.'" -Genesis 35:2-3.

Jacob Prays for Protection (Dore Bible Illustrations)

Here we basically see the conversion of Jacob, a.k.a Israel.  This is a big deal for the whole Bible.  For one thing, Jacob is a patriarch of the Jewish faith; secondly, he was the grandson of Abraham, and the progenitor of the nation of Israel (not to mention its namesake).  His conversion was before the Law (not introduced till Exodus 20) and therefore his covenant with God was based on faith just as was Abraham's covenant.  

Furthermore, he was converted to the faith because God Himself guided him and brought him to belief; Jacob was a skeptic that learned to trust a God he initially did not have close relationship with.  It's noteworthy that this wasn't about a preacher or evangelist giving an invitation or having Jacob pray "the sinner's prayer."  Nevertheless, it was still a very real decision on Jacob's part to follow God, and as a result, he had his family put away their foreign gods (this basically meant that the whole family converted too!).  

But here's the kicker for me: between these two passages (Genesis 28 and 35), twenty WHOLE YEARS go by in Jacob's life.  God was in no hurry to convert this man, regardless of how important he was for God's plan for the redemption of the world.  

So here's the application I get from this: 

1. We do not have to be in a hurry to see conversions.
2. God pursues people and sees them through to conversion.
3. Just because someone doesn't go to church or fit our agenda for coming to Christ, doesn't mean that God isn't working on them or pursuing them.  
4. Our responsibility is to (A.) love them, (B.) go the distance with them, (C.) entrust them to God, (D.) point them back to God.  

I think that if we learned to practice such things, we would see a greater transformation in society than we are from our current efforts that are (to be quite honest) irritating to most of the population.  

Diets, TV, Social Networking, Yo Yo's and More!

I know that what I’m about to say is controversial and that people on both sides of this argument will likely exaggerate and/or take my words out of context.  Nevertheless, I feel as though I have to talk about this topic. 

Growing up, I remember when the no-fat diets went into vogue. Scientists backed it up.  Doctors would get on TV and tell people how healthy it was to cut fat from their diets, and there were loads of magazine articles telling everyone they had to avoid fat if they were to ever become thin.  Tons of people were coming forward giving personal testimonies to how effective this diet craze was.  All this stuff made such great sense that no one could really question it, save for butter-loving Julia Child who denounced such ideas as bad cooking.

The YoYo: Fun toy for kids and grown-ups
alike!  But it makes for crappy dieting!

Fast forward a few years into the late 1990’s.  The Atkins, a.k.a. “high protein” or “low carb” diet gained national notoriety.  Now the buzz was that you could eat fats—in fact, your body needed them for things like brain health and vitamin absorbtion!  What was causing people to become fat was eating carbs—evil carbs!  Again, the scientists backed it up, doctors got on TV, articles were written and even more testimony-sharing zealots spread their story of how fun it was to eat fatty steak and broccoli while still losing weight!

Now we have a new diet, albeit, this one is slightly different (I feel) in how it’s coming about.  The new diet is a conglomeration of vegan, no GMO’s and organic foods.  Now the “science” is saying that you can’t eat meat, genetically altered foods or anything that uses pesticides because it’s unhealthy.  Scientists are backing this up, doctors are on TV (and web videos), and there are tons of testimonials; only this time the people testifying are able to spread their ideas quickly on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the like.

What is happening is that social media and the web have come alongside the traditional media outlets to either confirm or deny “truths” to our society, and this includes the “truth” about what we eat.  Anyone in marketing worth their salt knows this, and many documentary filmmakers know this too. 

It is important to note that documentary makers are not reporters and they are not the “new media” that can be trusted more than others (it’s no secret that lots of people are looking for alternative yet viable news sources in this day and age).  Documentary filmmakers are still filmmakers, and the good ones have got an angle to make their film appealing.  Shock value still sells, and people purporting any kind of exposé on the food industry are not going to try to present a balanced argument, they are going to present a biased view so as to sell more of their documentary.  The news does the same thing.

TV shows that put the “pop scientists” on their shows, are likewise still after viewers.  I’m not calling these people evil, I’m not saying that they all, or even most of them, have an agenda.  I am saying that my experience in TV, film production, radio and sales have led me to conclude that when something is hip it’s going to get air time and the people showing it aren’t going to ask too many deep questions about the validity of what they are airing, nor are they necessarily going to present balanced arguments because it makes for boring content.  

The kicker for all this is that I’ve lived long enough to have seen too many of these fad diets not work in the lives of real people: long term, that is… the weight comes off, then goes back on, comes off then goes back on again.  “Yo-yo dieting” I believe it is called.  Yes, there are a lot of success stories, but that's usually because someone started down the road with one of these diets, learned healthy habits and then balanced themselves out as they went.  

Disclaimers: I’m not calling this a big conspiracy made up by the organic food people, and I’m not even saying that there is no truth to what is said in documentaries such as Food, Inc. or Forks Over Knives.  I am NOT saying I am a nutrition expert, know more than scientists or doctors, etc.  I’m just stating my hesitance to buy into all of what they are saying; I think there's a lot of exaggeration going on.

I’m also not saying it’s bad to be vegan or vegetarian.  You can still be strong, get enough protein and beat up people that eat meat.  Except for AHNOWLD.  No one beats up AHNOWLD!

The reason I've felt compelled, maybe even pushed to write this article is that some people are getting dogmatic, even religious and sometimes, unfortunately, self-righteous over this vegan thing, organic, no GMO thing.  So let me say it here: believe it or not, it’s a proven, self-evident fact that there are other ways to lose weight and be genuinely healthy OTHER than going vegan/organic/no GMO, or as I will say from now on, "VOGMO." 

I would like to point out that typically, whenever people start to think about what they eat on a regular basis, they take in less unhealthy food and often exercise more too!  This always helps people lose weight, regardless of what diet they are on, and this is a good thing.  Bravo!  I am honestly happy for them.  I recently heard from someone on the VOGMO diet/lifestyle who lost 40 pounds and is in way better health than he previously was—I’m delighted for him.  I also spoke with a relative just the other day who had lost 3 inches to the waistline: on a low-carb diet eating soy (GMO’s!), non-organic veggies and meats with all sorts of added hormones! 

When I was over 300 pounds, I lost about 80 pounds of fat just by eating less food overall, but making healthier choices for what I did eat and exercising more.  15 years later, the weight is still off.  But I eat meat all but probably 3 or 4 days a year.  Plus I love cheese.  Eggs I could live without, but not the cheese.  So vegan is a lifestyle that I could not embrace.  

So on the one hand, I applaud any diet if it helps people lose weight andkeep it off by helping them transform their lifestyle.  Sometimes, just getting started and learning some things about taking care of one’s body is a beginning for people that are losing weight, but their education should continue. 

On the other hand, I denounce making any one diet dogma, especially when any diet is presented as a fix-all to one’s health and obesity issues. No diet can replace other healthy habits nor self-control when it comes to eating and exercising.  

To all who have lost weight or are continuing to lose weight through whatever means, I wish you the very best in getting to your target weight and in learning all the habits of heart and mind that keep that weight off of you.  It’s not easy, but it is worth it. 

To my VOGMO friends, I respect your decisions, understand why you are making those decisions and bless you to be in good health.  I believe there is much to be learned from you, and hopefully the points you bring up will improve the food industry and care of animals.  I am genuinely glad you have shared with me why you eat the way you do.  Now I feel I have said my peace as to why I eat the way I do.  Let us then live in peace.  :)

Back to Blogging

Having moved this summer and Stephanie starting a new job, I've been neglectful of the ol' blog.  Nevertheless, I plan to be right back to it now that things are starting to settle in.

As you can see, I've made a switch to Blogger.  In case you wanted to know, there are a couple of reasons for this: 

1. Easier networking with other blogs/bloggers.
2. Easier to share with social media (Google takes care of this for me!)
3. Easier to find in search engines.
4. Better built-in software that organizes (I'm thinking navigation among other things) and archives my blogs well.
5. This bad boy is free, whereas I was paying a minimal amount for my previous blog.

Eventually I plan on adding the blogs that I had on the old site over here, but that's going to be a little more time consuming.  (It's taking long enough just to archive them!)

Likewise, I'm going to decorate, add some navigation options, etc. to this page, but it's just starting and I figured I would build the airplane after takeoff.

I can't believe that you all have read this blog nearly 20,000 times.  Thanks so much for reading!