Take One Down, Pass it Around...

Last night, I was watching this documentary called 'The Business of Being Born' with Cassie. I don't want to talk about that here. But I bring it up because right in the middle of the film I got this text message from my buddy in Arkansas. It read:

'Did Jesus drink real wine?'

Now, I cannot begin to tell you how many times this question has come up. Over and over again, this question burns through people trying to figure out why we drink grape juice on Sundays - why Christians 'don't' drink alcohol - Why the Seminary banns it's students from drinking during the time in which they are there - on and on.

I have heard all sorts of bizarre explanations.

1. No, Jesus is God and God would never get drunk.
2. Not really. Sure it was wine that Jesus drank, but the wine was really watered down, like Koolade juice. No real kick to it.
3. Yes, it was real wine but Jesus is God so it didn't have any effect on him.
4. Jesus would never drink wine because he would want to set a good example for the rest of the world.
5. Yes it was real wine and Jesus got Tipsy.

I have wrestled with this too in my own life. And I will go ahead and tell you what I believe the Bible says concerning this matter.
However, this is not an endorsement to drink. It is not a license to drink. To each person lies a certain responsibility concerning this matter. This is my opinion. You are on your own.

There is no indication in the Greek text that the wine that Jesus drank, and the wine that Jesus created during the wedding celebration, was not real wine.

Some teachers and scholars have decided that the wine Jesus drank was watered down. I don't believe this to be true. Studies of the Romans show that they had vineyards and knew how to press good wine. When Jesus provided wine for the celebration, I believe he created the best.

At the passover, I believe that Jesus again used real fermented wine. I believe it had a kick to it. I believe the wine was absolutely red. A dark red. And I am sure it tasted pretty darn good too.

I believe Jesus drank real wine. I believe his followers drank wine too. We have an account in 1st Corinthians where Christians are drunk at a gathering. So they were no doubt using real wine. Of course they are rebuked on account of their drunken state. But the wine was real none the less.

Paul even encourages Timothy to drink a little wine with his meal since it is good for the stomach (1st Timothy 5).

The trick people lies in TWO VERY IMPORTANT THOUGHTS!!!!!

1. Are you getting drunk?
The Bible states in many many places that drunkenness is a bad thing. Romans 13:13 'Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.'

1st Timothy 1:7 'For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,'

1st Peter 4:3 'For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do-- living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.'

Drunkenness. Not Good. I wouldn't want to risk getting drunk. And since wine (alcohol) lowers ones ability to think clearly, as well as lowers ones will power, as a Christian I would be very careful with how, when, where, the amount, and with who I drink. One stupid drunken accident can ruin the reputation of the believer, thus shaming the one who the believer represents.
YOU DO NOT WANT THAT ON YOUR HEAD.

And that brings us to number Two.
1. Are you causing weaker brothers to stumble?
You never know the previous lives and struggles of other people. You may think it's fine to drink, but then you set that example to others. Some of these others maybe shouldn't fall into this issue. Younger brothers? Sisters? Youth? If they see you license drinking, are they responsible and mature enough to drink when they are of age? I know lots of people in college (and before college) that experienced horrible things at drunken parties. Would I want to have had an influence to encourage them to that spot? Probably not.

I have also heard the idea: What if it is the one who drinks that is the weaker brother? I mean after all, why risk it? Why drink something in which you have to be so careful? Why risk influencing others who will then have to deal with the issue as well? Is not the stronger brother the one who can drink Sprite and never deal with the issue of drunkenness in their lives? Is temporary enjoyment worth the risk?


And that my friends is where I leave the issue to you. Yes, Jesus did drink wine. Real wine. The good stuff.

But should you? You have to make that choice yourself, knowing that if you choose to license the usage of alcohol you are also responsible for not only your actions with it, but also the influence you set with others. Others whom you may not even know you have such an influence. You never know who is watching after all.

Cheers.

10 Reasons for Obama

Obama is not my choice for President. Unfortunately for me - neither is anybody else. I do not feel the slightest bit represented by these candidates. But there is nothing I can do about it at this point is there?

So I thought I would at least make my prediction about why the inexperienced make-everybody-feel-happy Obama is going to win this pathetic election. Here are my top ten reasons why I think Obama is going to win the Presidential office; and they all relate to the general public.

1. Pogs.


In case you don't remember, in the early 90's these little cardboard milk caps were put onto the market. Each cap had a picture of something (unicorn, skull, sparkles, whatever) on one side and was blank on the other. You could buy a stack of 10 pogs for $5 - $10 dollars depending on how cool the design was on them. Then, you also bought 'slammers', thick versions of pogs made with bronze or copper, along with a circular cork board (that had a yin yang on it) that you played 'pogs' on. The game was the stupidest thing to ever have existed. However, it caught the public's eye for a short period of time and millions and millions of pogs were sold. Today, pogs don't exist and most people try to forget if they ever had any themselves. I for instance had over 300. Why? I don't know. I always hated the stupid game. But everybody else had them so.....

2. Slap Bracelets.



In fourth grade stores came out with these little pieces of thin metal that curled like a tape measure when bent. They covered the metal with thin decorated cloth. You would fold the bracelet out and it would lie straight as an arrow. But if you slapped it on your arm, the bracelet would bend and hold onto your wrist. These bracelets cost anywhere from $1 to $10 dollars at the store. Today, they have vanished. Another trend of the times. Why they became popular, no one really knows.

I was at Don Pablo's one night with my parents. I was like nine or ten years old. And this waiter actually traded me a die-cast metal bat-plane (from Batman the movie with Michael Keaton) for my zebra colored snap bracelet. No joke.

3. Jesus calls people sheep. People tend to act like them. Baah. Baah.




4. The jean roll.
I'm not sure who made it famous, perhaps MC Hammer. But I remember rolling up my jeans so that they were super tight on the bottom. Everyone in school did this. I don't remember starting to myself. I just remember that I did. I have pictures with my jeans rolled up tight like a bagel around my leg.

5. 'Change'
Obama's campaign centers around change. People love the word change (save some people over the age of 75 who attend Baptist Churches). Anytime someone offers change people listen up. People get excited. They don't even necessarily have a clue about what exactly defines the persons usage of 'change'. He could be talking about coins after all but who would know? Lots of people in history have offered up change. Some have been good. Some have been Stalin.

6. Anything beats Hillary and putting her horrible-role-model-of-a-husband back in the white house. Think of all the secretaries in the white house. Probably hundreds....

7. The republicans are no longer conservatives. So they don't stand for much of anything. And if you have nothing to stand on....

8. Socialism.
Even though it has never worked successfully in the history of man, even though it brings depression and wickedness everywhere it goes, even though it equalizes those men with genius and those men with no life motivation whatsoever - Socialism may work this time.

9. He is better looking than the other candidates. While this matters not to some, it does matter a heck of a lot to others. Why? For the same reason Redbook, Cosmo, the National Enquirer, and other such magazines sell millions of copies a year. We are deep thinkers in this country.

10. When left to choose between moldy food and dried out food....

A Lesson in History

In 1998, I attended a youth retreat for my church (at the time). I was paid staff then, the worship team leader of the youth. We were out in the middle of nowhere. The youth pastor had found this 'exotic' looking retreat site on the internet. When we arrived we found a large retreat building that smelled like uncooked eggs surrounded by fields of nothing. A couple trees here and there. A pond that I could throw a baseball across. East Texas nothing.

At the time, there were six of us. Guys in the ministry. Not including the youth pastor. My two best friends at the time, another youth intern like me, another worship leader also like me, some guy who ran the soundboard and small groups, and me. We shared a dorm room together which had three beds. I lost the coin toss and got the floor for two nights. The concrete egg-smelling floor.

The night before we left, the youth pastor entered the room to speak to us 'exemplary Christian leaders.'

We all planned on doing ministry stuff; pastoring, worship leading, full-time ministry related stuff. Us guys. We all knew that one day we would be the Rob Bell's of the States. The Texas Six. Twelve hands saving the world.

And the youth pastor said one profound thing that I remember. The only thing profound I think he ever said in all his talks.

"Guys, there are six of you. The truth is, statistically, only one of you in 10 years will be doing any sort of ministry. Most of you wont even be in the faith anymore.'

Somebody said, 'Well thanks for the pep talk coach.'


It's 2008 now for those of you who still haven't come out of your Y2K bunkers. And I was looking back on this memory today.

One is off in California trying to become a rockstar, living the dream.
One is married in Fort Worth working at a company that builds helicopters.
One is married in Virginia working some desk job.
One claims not to be a Christian at all. Joined the drug community. No one knows where he is now.
One continues to go to church but really isn't all that into it. He still thinks he's 17. Hasn't married. Hasn't changed. Still looks and dresses the same. Still loves the Beastie Boys. He works at Denny's diner I think.

And me.

I don't know what to think about that now. I truly don't.

Aetheists VS. Christianity

I was at the bookstore several months ago examinig the book 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins. Dawkins pretty much claims that he will convince any Christian that reads his book - to be persuaded that Christinity is basically a joke, a crutch if you will; that stupid people believe to cope with the crappy state of the world. If you're not convinced of this fact by the end of his book, Dawkins believes you to be an idiot, if not utterly insane and stupid.

And so now I am battling with being an idiot, stupid, and utterly insane.

What if he's right? What if there is no God and I am wrong?



So perhaps I just happened to be a freak-born American who believes in the 'American-Christianity' and it's all a cosmic joke about location, location, location.

How can I even converse with an aetheist of this sort? My worldview is drastically differen't from theirs. Morality, the things I deem are important, how I raise my family, how I vote, those I respect and don't respect; all stem from my worldview. The fact that I believe in a god drastically removes me from those that don't.

For example - Let's say I believe murder is wrong (which I do by the way). I need to answer 'Why do I think murder is wrong?'

Well I would say, God created men equal and told men that murder was not allowed. God deems human life valuable and only he gives it and only he should be allowed to take it away. It's in the ten commandments after all. So my desire to not murder the annoying people in traffic, and my choice to not murder them, stems from this intrinsic belief in a God that has set rules. Rules that I am not only oblicated to comply with, but am held accountable to as well.

But this God I just mentioned, to an aetheist is viewed as such from this clip.



An aetheist is not bound by these 'God-given' rules at all. Then, would aetheist deem murder right or wrong? Most of the aetheists I know would agree that murder is wrong. But then you have to ask them the question, 'Why is murder wrong?' At this the most common answer is because of humanity being of importance. Aetheists would say humans shouldn't kill humans because humans don't have the right to. But where would they get or not get this right? Hitler thought himself right in killing off Jews. As an aetheist, what grounds would I base the proposition to not kill people? What premise? If you say because humanity is important - I would say that that is just your personal view. If you say because the government says so - I would say the government is just a bunch of people propogting their views. If you say it's the consensis vote - I would say to heck with the consensis, I am looking out for me, myself, and I.

If I were an aetheist, and there were no consequences for my actions outside whatever government I was in - then the war in Darfur really isn't that bad at all is it? I mean after all, if some decides their lives can be better lived by removing others lives, what grounds or basis do I have to give them otherwise? I can't think of any.

The truth: If there is no God, then I have no basis to create any sort of set rights for myself. I only comply with the law out of fear of govenrmental justice. My morality then - If I can get away with it - I will steal, kill, threaten, detroy, anything my heart so desires. The only reason not to do whatever I wish- is through fear that someone somewhere disagrees with me and could punish me because of their majority voted rules.

All this to say that Aetheists cannot really even begin in conversation with Christians, on any understanding level, because their worldviews are so drastically differen't that neither party can truly understand the other. Aetheists view faith as a crutch. Christianity views aetheism as rebellion against God.

They don't meet eye to eye, or even eye to knee, or anywhere else.

At this point, I wouldn't get into an argument with them because I know that an aetheist cannot (it is truly impossible) for him to understand why I believe the way I do.


There is this verse in the BIble which reads 'the fool says in his heart, 'There is no God." (Psalm 14:1) I find it intersting that it does not say 'The fool says in his mind, There is no God.'

I think aetheists rebel from the concept of God for a wide variety of reasons. I think their hearts have grown cold against God for these reasons. But to deny the existance of God is an issue of the heart. Not of the mind. Which if this is the case, really negates arguing with one another on the intellectual level. Dawkins will never think I am anything more than insane for believing in God.

I recently watched the movie 'Expelled' with Ben Stein who interviews Dawkins.


The movie is fantastic and I would encourage all people anywhere to go see it. (It is not a Christian movie - Ben Stein is a Jew) But the movie does an excellent job of painting the picture of the results of true aetheism. Life without hope.

Personally, life without hope isn't worth living. Sadly, some aetheists in the movie agree with this.




Another huge help on this matter would be Rob Bell's video 'Everything is Spiritual.' I cannot endorse this video highly enough. I think it really narrows down the importance of believing in God, as well as presenting how science and faith go hand and hand, not hand against hand.


So I was asked, 'How do I witness to aetheists?' I don't really. Not in the traditional sense anyway. Sure, I communicate to them my belief in God. But rarely do I find that aetheists can be won over to faith by arguing with them. You cannot wear down an aetheist on the intellectual level. They think they have it all figured out. 1+1=2. That's the world for the aetheist. That's it.

But then, an aetheist cannot understand why someone would lay down their lives for another. Not in the intellectual sense. They cannot understand to any significant intellectual level why murder is wrong.

This is not to say to lose hope in aetheists. Hopefully over time, as the aetheist sees things that he cannot explain away with his theoretical logic, then the aetheist's hearts my grow softer. And then maybe they will want to consider God.

But don't look for a perfect track-booklet, or a book titled 'Ten ways to win the aetheist' or such. Those answers aren't in the least correct for everyone. I would say get in there, build a relationship with the aetheist. Learn to respect them for who they are. And do not be afraid to share your faith with them. They may not buy it at all, but perhaps through the process you will know better how to understand them in the future.

Cheers.

Rob Bell - Today

Fantastic. I have had conversations just like this. Most of the friends that I grew up with still live in the past - like they can't move forward or something. They get older, but they stay the same. Enjoy.



Second Part

Much a'do about Culture

It seems like every time I turn around somebody is harping on and on about culture, culture, culture.

'Christianity needs to attend to the current culture.'
'How is the culture shaping how we do Christianity?'
'How can we reach the culture for Christ?'
'How can Christianity benefit the society that we are in?'
'What can Christianity do for us?'

Culture. Culture. Culture.

And then right after these trains of thought crash into the room; all the churches seem to start using the words 'relevant,' 'contemporary,' and 'practical'.

'Is what we're doing relevant? Is it practical?'

And churches all over America are in a scramble to provide a Christianity that:
1. Fits into the culture.
2. Is practical for the average Joe.
3. Is relevant to the times, people, and location.
4. Is contemporary and up to date.

For example: the Emerging and Emergent movements have risen as a result of these types of questions.



They work Christianity over like Play-Dough; kneading it, smashing it, pushing it through the little spagetti strainer until Christianity is finally marketable. Pick up some magazines about Christianity - listen to how the Good Morning America shows anounce current Christian movements - read the latest pop-nonfiction Christian books.

'Is it relevant? Is it practical? Does it fit into our specific culture?'

These questions are everywhere. It's not really unlike any business if you think about it.

Take good ol Starbucks for example. The corporate people are constantly asking, 'Is it practical?'
Sure! You walk in, they have chairs and a nice area to experience a form of community. There is one on every corner in Dallas. It's got internet access, good drinks, nice lighting, good open parking, nice music coming in via the satallite radio. Starbucks is extremely practical.

'Does Starbucks fit into the current culture? Is it relevant?' Heck yes. They play new and popular music. They have contemporary quotes on every cup called 'the way I see it.' They endorse current bestsellers and CD's of all genre's and types. They provide coffee appliances that fit all the various types of living, wealthy or lower class. I'm sure I could add on and on to this list, but hopefully you see my point.

So in this respect, churches are asking the same questions that corporate companies are asking. 'How do we keep people coming back?' You make everything contemporary, practical, cultural, and relevant.

So then my question is this- is making church practical, relevant, contemporary, and cultural really helping Christianity? Is it really helping people come to the Lord?

To some extent - I would have to say that some benefit from it. But it is difficult to really determine if people are impacted because we have 'carved the Bible into something contemporary - or if God impacted them despite us turning the Bible into something contemporary.

However, I was reading over the story of David and Goliath the other day. Everybody knows that story. I'm not going to retell it to you here. Well, maybe a little.

But I did notice a key part that I had never really thought about before. When David decides to fight Goliath, his main reason for doing so is because Goliath has blasphemed against God. David goes to tell the King of Israel, Saul, that he will go fight the unbeatable Giant. David was probably really small at the time, probably really weak, probably not much to look at. He was only a shepherd after all. Spending way too much time with sheep.

So Saul, too scared to fight the unbeatable Giant himself, decides to let David go fight him. Saul then tries to get David to wear all of his armor. Interesting.

Saul's armor was most likely the best Israel had; he was the king after all. It was the most updated armor around. It was made of the best material. It was the current war-style. It was practical to wear in battle. It was surely relevant to the situation.

David tries it on and immediatly shrugs it off. It was too cumbersome for him to wear. Too over the top. And David was confident that it wasn't him that was going to win the battle, but the Lord. So David didn't need the armor.

So David's little wee self went down into the valley in his little ragged outfit, with no armor, with a sling and five stones, and approached the unbeatable Giant.

The Giant again taunted the Lord and David let the whole world know that it was God who was going to kill the Giant - not David. With that David threw one stone, it crushed the giant's face - and then David chopped off the giant's head with the giant's own sword. Stinks to be the giant.

My point is this: I think people are somehow afraid that God wont speak for himself. They are afraid that God can't do what he wants done without them. And so they so desperately try to turn church into something that fits into the culture. Try to make church practical - 'your fifteen minute a day time with God' sort of Christianity. And I think in the process, they not only show the world a dumbed down, cotton ball, fuzzy sort of Christianity; but they also present a weak God to the world.

Maybe churches should just try to preach the truth in love, live out that love in the world, and then let God do what he will. Why are we so focused on conquering the giant of the 'American culture' when maybe God already has a plan and we just need to be tools, faithful and ready to go.

Culture. Practicality. Relevance. Contemorary.

So does this mean we should ignore the culture that we find ourselves in entirely? I don't think so. I think it's wonderful to paint the scriptures in the light of todays issues and current goings on. But I think that we must remember first that the Bible is already all of these things. That the principles that are held within are timeless Truths.

I post a Mark Driscoll interview where he explains a little what I mean by this.



Cheers.

Confusion

Sorry for the confusion people. The king Spencer story is FAR from over.

Thanks

A Note Concerning King Spencer

I was asked to let the blogging world know that King Spencer is a completed story now (albeit slightly changed from the story put on here) and it has been registered. Thank you for your concern.

Cheers.

King Spencer & Thomas, the Golden Retriever

(continued)

Bobby the raccoon, King of Thotwell, led Spencer down a long staircase, through a hall, down another staircase, through a large metal door, and into what looked like a cellar. 'What is this place?' asked Spencer.

'This is the dungeon. Well, it's actually a cellar, but we use it as a dungeon.' answered Bobby.

'What do you need a dungeon for?' asked Spencer. The place smelled like wet cardboard, and although it was fairly clean, it gave Spencer the creeps. 'That's what I was going to show you,' said Bobby crossing the room and entering an even darker passageway.

Spencer crept along behind Bobby trying not to hit his head on the low ceilings. At the end of the passageway was a large barred cell. And in the cell sat a sad-faced Golden Retriever. 'Who is that?' said Spencer.

'That,' answered Bobby slowly. 'That is Thomas the Golden Retriever.'

'What is he doing in there?' asked Spencer surprised. Golden Retrievers were typically wonderful creatures, kind, honest, and above all, extremely loyal.

'Thomas here is what we in Thotwell call a 'Riot Inciter Extrodinair.' said Bobby who reached over to a shelf against the wall that had dog treats on it. He tossed one into the cage and Thomas raised his head but didn't get up to eat it.

'Why?' asked Spencer.

'Well, good ol Thomas here,' began Bobby 'incites riots. He is so likable that people naturally listen to him. This wouldn't normally be a bad thing of course. But Thomas here has the tendancy to say questionable things about how Thotwell is run.'

'Like what sorts of things?' asked Spencer. Thomas watched them from across the room still ignoring the bone.

'Oh stupid sorts of things. But he's so gosh darn likable that hundreds of people end up listening to him. Next thing I know the castle is getting bombarded with questions. People stop eating the sub-stance. People aren't walking in the non-stance. It was simply chaotic and it took me weeks to get everybody conforming again. After three or four of these riots I had to put him in here to shut him up. I can't have a bunch of people running around with different ideas can I? I had to get him away from everybody else.'

Bobby had taken a seat on a stool across from the cage and was once again wrestling with his large crown that still didn't sit properly on his head.

'Couldn't you have that crown made a little smaller?' asked Spencer watching Bobby struggle.

'Why would I want a smaller crown?' Bobby returned. 'Bigger is always better.'

'Oh.' said Spencer.

Bobby got up and walked to the door of the little cell pulling some keys out of his pocket. 'Yeah, Thomas here has been in here for a while. I offered to let him rejoin the city if he would just join in the non-stance but he keeps refusing. Shame really.'

Bobby opened the door of the cage and Spencer went to the door waiting to see if Thomas would come out. Thomas didn't move.

Suddenly, Bobby grabbed Spencer's arm and threw Spencer into the cage where he accidentally stumbled and stepped on Thomas' leg. Thomas let out a howl. Bobby slammed the door behind Spencer locking him in the cell.

'What are you doing?' yelled Spencer.

Bobby turned to leave the room. 'Well it's like this Spencer. I'm all about helping you with your crappy little city Eklo. I'd be happy for you to be one of my daughter cities, so to speak. You can be like the city manager and I'll send my orders to you, and I promise that Eklo will grow to look just like this one.' Bobby twisted his head around and looked at Spencer.

'But there is one condition. You have to give me your crown and your magical cloak. I can't have people thinking that you are equal to me can I? Nope. So as soon as you agree to these terms, agree to put on the non-stance and eat our sub-stance and become con-stance; then you can have your precious puny city back.'

Bobby walked down the hall, through the passage way and began climbing the stairs, his voice fading behind him. 'I'll give you some time in there to think it over. Try to convince Thomas while you're at it.'

There was a slight pause and Spencer heard Bobby stop on a step. 'Don't take this personally Spencer. There's nothing personal going on here. I'm sure you're a great guy and all- but this is just business ok? Just business.'

Bobby's footsteps faded away and Spencer turned around examining his and Thomas' cell. Thomas raised his head and for the first time spoke.

'Hello Spencer. I've been waiting for you here.'


(to be continued)

Women VS. Birthing Methods

So I have now been fully introduced with all the varieties of birthing methods (my first kid is due in June and I've been reading up on the whole gross ordeal). Leave it up to women to create an entire war zone I had never previously been privy to.

On the one side you have those women who for whatever reason want to go the natural child birthing way.

On the other side you have those women who for whatever reason want to go the not natural child birthing way.

And on another side (think three dimensional people) you have the men who want to avoid the whole confrontation. It really stinks to be this party. It really does.

Each side is so flaming defensive, like if you choose a side that is different from their's- it's like you insulted their mother or something. Like 'your mom wears combat boots' or something of such nature.

This is a really heated debate! Really HOT! And both sides have advocates who are pregnant and hormonal. A really bad combination. For a man, you just don't want to get near this thing. But you have to. Like choosing cancer over tuberculosis. Wait.

And both sides bring the Bible into it like God ordained one way over the other, or like God condemns the other party. Sure, you've got Mary and the virgin birth (and now you all blame the men)- but unfortunantly for us all, we have no record of an epidural or anything as far as Jesus goes. The truth of the matter is, I think people have to choose whatever they feel like God is leading them to do. There is no one Bible verse that says you lose God-points or something if you do one over the other. Sure, for four thousand years women have been going the 'natural' route, and continue it even today. But for pretty much this whole time there wasn't a lot of options available.

From where I sit, there is no right or wrong answer on this. They both have pros and cons ladies. No perfect solution.

But the women who have epidurals get all defensive. They feel like they are not viewed as a complete woman if they haven't undergone 'the real thing.'

The women who don't have epidurals get all defesive. They feel like they are looked at as stupid women for bearing unnecessary pain.

The men get all defensive because they want to be left alone and out of this woman-made issue. Since men don't have uterus's I think we should be exempt.

In the end, this is a personal choice. It shouldn't be a matter of offence, or a matter of superiority. It is a personal choice. Personal- meaning each individual woman, if given the option, gets to choose which route she will take. And everyone should be supportive of that choice regardless of whether they took that route or a differn't one.

Nuff said. I'm a man. I'm moving on.

Cheers.

A Thought...

Over the last several years of our marriage, Cassie has asked me numerous times why I work so hard on projects the way I do. I often work late into the night on scripts, books, this blog, writing songs, playing the guitar, working on films, studying the Bible, and such. I try to explain to her that my brain never stops working, it doesn't shut down. The project or story plays in my head until I have sorted everything out. Until I fall asleep from exhaustion.

I read this quote to her. I think that this quote may sum up who I am. Why I do what I do.


'The master in the art of living
makes little distinction
between his work and his play,

his labor and his leisure,
his mind and his body,
his information and his recreation,
his love and his religion.

He hardly knows which is which.

He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does,
leaving others to decide
whether he is working
or playing.

To him he's always doing both.

-James Michener


May you find things to do in your life to blur the edge between work and enjoyment.

Cheers.

King Spencer & The Story of Thotwell

(continued)

Taures the Rhino climbed up staircase after staircase with King Spencer and Lionna still riding on his back. After a time they arrives at the tallest tower in Thotwell. A solid marble entryway lead high up to the tower into some sort of room. King Spencer hopped off of Taurus' back, thanked the rhino, and slowly climbed the stairs, foot by foot, up the tower and into the room.

In the center of the room sat a golden throne with red upholstery, and siting upon it sat a Raccoon wearing a crown three times too big for his head.

'Hello Spencer. I've been waiting for you.' said the Raccoon in a squeaky voice. 'I am Bobby, King of Thotwell and surrounding cities.'

Spencer was slightly taken back and watched as Bobby attempted to balance the large crown on his little head. 'I'm sorry' said Spencer, ' I thought you would be bigger.'

'That's all right.' said Bobby. 'I get that a lot. What are you doing here?' The crown slipped hopelessly over the Raccoons head and looked like a giant collar.

'Well, it's a long story' said Spencer. 'Like a dozen blogs worth at least.'

'You gotta begin somewhere.' answered Bobby.

Spencer began the story. 'My kingdom was having issues, really struggling. The orphans and the widows weren't getting fed. Shops started closing. My magic cloak turned all shabby colored and people started leaving. I was told by Murry the Hippo that you would have answers that could help me.'

'I see' said the Raccoon walking over to the terrace which looked out over the kingdom. Spencer joined him on the terrace and looked down upon all the people below, walking around in the non-stance.

'Let me tell you how Thotwell began.' started the Raccoon.

'Once upon a time, I was a trash collector in a small town in a country to the west. I didn't so much mind being a trash collector; you find lots of good food that way you know. The towns were filled with trash. The city was dirty, disorganized, and falling apart. It had been this way since before I was born.

Well one day my mother got sick. Food poisoning. She got worse and worse. I tried to go for help but all the doctors were busy. The city had become so dirty that people all over were getting sick and there were simply not enough doctors to go around.

I tried my best at helping my mother. I went out into the city to call for help but the streets were chaotic and no one could help me. After several weeks my mother died. In anger, I fled that city and escaped out to the desert. There I decided that if a city couldn't function like it should, then the city should be destroyed. What kind of place is filled with hurting people? Sick people? Needy people? Those places become rotten and miserable to be in. Horrible living. Nobody should have to go through that.

So late at night I went back to that city. The streets were empty and quiet. I slipped over to the walls of the city, set some kindling against the wooden walls, and set the walls on fire. Then I ran around the city blowing a whistle yelling, 'Fire! Fire!' The city began to burn and everyone fled. Flames soon engulfed every home and store. There did end up being a few hurt people from the fire, but all in all, everyone escaped safely. They never knew that it was me who started the fire though.

Bobby wrestled the crown back to the top of his head, still crooked.

'With the city burned up and no place to go, the people gathered out in the desert trying to sort out what to do. I went to them with a simple plan. We would start a new city, where everyone would be taken care of, where everyone would have the same sorts of things, where respect and tolerance would rule above all else. Rather than having a bunch of stores selling lots of different foods, we would only have one - the food we call sub-stance. Some call it additives. Anyway,

People would no longer have problems because everything would be provided for. We would have our own style of books, our own kind of music, we would all wear the same types of clothes and use the same types of language. By making all of these things the same we could eliminate problems.

Spencer broke in and asked, 'How could you eliminate every problem for every person?'

'Simple' said Bobby. 'What is a problem? It is merely a conflict between two people, or perhaps a person and a thing. Problems begin general over two types of situations. One, two people have opposing ideas; or two, someone needs something but nature gets in his way. In Thotwell, we created a city where everyone thinks the same. In this way we keep con-stance.

Con-stance is the wavelength of thought, ideas, and emotions. By keeping everyone con-stant we remove 90% of all problems. After all, ideas are the death of people thinking the same. Occasionally of course, someone will break con-stance with some absurd idea or another about how the city is run. In this case we invented two rules. First, all conflict is temporarily allowed as long as they do not disrupt anyone in any way. However, this conflict must be resolved by the person agreeing to return to con-stance after discussion.'

'What if they don't return to the stance?' asked Spencer.

'Well, that brings us to rule number two.' said Bobby. 'In the event that a person disrupts the con-stance of the city, if the person refuses to return to con-stance to maintain the peace, the person is removed from the city. That doesn't happen often though so I wouldn't worry about it.'

Bobby rubbed his nose and turned to face Spencer.

'So we built this great city, huge walls, huge houses, we built the thing to last a millenia. We grew wealthy. We kept growing and growing and we kept having to add new parts of the city to fill everyone in here. Then I realized that the city could no longer hold everyone or keep up with the growth. So we built five new cities, those there to the south.' Bobby pointed to the five dots in the distance.

'Who rules those cities?' asked Spencer.

'I do.'

'Well how can you rule those cities when you are here?' asked Spencer.

'We send my orders to them through couriers. I realized that I couldn't have other rulers in those cities because what would happen if they broke the con-stance? Then I would have to deal with an entire city rather than just one person. It's easy to remove one bad apple from the lot. But a whole group of people- well that's a much harder thing to do.'

Bobby suddenly grabbed Spencer's arm and began leading him toward the door. 'Come with me. I've got something I want you to see.' said Bobby.

Spencer took one last glance at the five cities far away and then followed Bobby down some stairs.

(to be continued)

Dog Rescue & the Lesboshnauzers

I'd like to take a moment and discuss two things.

1. The Dog Rescue.
I was home the other day working on a script, politely and quietly in my office. Suddenly, hell broke loose out my window. Or at least I thought hell broke loose. It was really a chihuahua broke loose.

So this woman is screaming relentless sentences of profanity at someone or something for several minutes. Finally I decide to peak out the window and I see nothing in the parking lot. Then, I see this small chihuahua at the apartment gate dodging cars like Moses and the Red Sea. One white van screeched to a halt leaving rubber on the road and the chihuahua dissappeared underneath it.

Then it reappeared being to small to get squashed. So I threw on my sandals, ran down the steps, crossed the street, and scopped up the smelly little dog; the woman yelling profanity at me and the dog the entire time. I'm not sure which, but either the dog or myself is one blank of a blank blank.

The screaming woman was on the third floor of the building, shouting down at us. Why she hadn't come down herself is beyond me. I climbed up to the third floor, the woman snatched the dog from me, threw the dog back on the ground, and continued cussing at us both.

I went back to my own apartment where I sat loathing her and her little dog too.

2.
Lesbians live on the floor above me. I don't really care too much about them, but they make themselves known to the general public. Daily. But they aren't so much important as their dogs - two brushed metal schnauzers. In case you didn't know, I hate schnauzers. Their barks pierce my brain to the point where I wouldn't mind taking a drill to my temple and ending it all.

They are both females. The schnauzers I mean. Not the lesbians.

Come to think of it, the lesbians are females too. The estrogen in that apartment....

So these dogs are set loose upon the public daily, off leash, running free and wild, yipping and causing car accidents. Under normal circumstances, my dog, a black lab named Chloe, would attack loose dogs. But she doesn't attack these dogs. Why?

I talked about it with her and deduced that Chloe wont attack the schnauzers because they are lesbian dogs. Lesboschnauzers.

And that creeps Chloe out.

It creeps me out too.


And as I pondered the dog rescue and the fact that the lesboschnauzers chase me every couple days, I realized that I really need to move. When things start to go weird with the animals, you know it's not too far off for the people to go psycho too. And I may be one of them.


Cheers.