My Inner Author

This week, some friends of mine have had some rather unpleasant interactions online when discussing and debating matters of faith.   Rather than simply post links to all the various articles, posts, replies, comments on posts, etc. and rehash the topics on my Facebook page, I prefer to take a moment and write here about the part of this I find most troubling and which causes me the most sadness about the culture in which we Christians live: the vicious tenacity with which some Christians attack other Christians. To begin, let's just agree there are issues of faith which various denominations within the Christian faith believe differently (massive understatement).   Some of these issues are actually relatively minor, some of them are much more central to the core beliefs of what each denomination considers essential to being a Christian, and part of their particular faith.   None of us is immune from occasionally thinking one group or another has lost their way, their

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching the Monty Python troupe perform together live for the last time.   The show broadcast live from the O2 theater in London featured the group doing their old classics as well as a few updated skits.   The 10 shows which ran over the past 2 weeks sold out in 44 seconds when the tickets went on sale.  Wow.   The show was a nice homage to their past and a reminder of what they have meant to comedy these past 45 years.   Stephen Frye, Warwick Davis, the Top Gear guys, Mike Myers, Brian Cox (physicist) and Stephen Hawking were also in the show.   In the theater of roughly 200 seats, I do believe I qualified as one of the youngest audience members.   Perhaps 10, at most 20 people could have been younger.   I guess sadly the younger generations have not learned to appreciate the more cerebral British style humor they helped usher into the mainstream during their run. Anyhow, in honor of their farewell, I wanted to list my favorite sketches

Note: I originally posted this to Facebook shortly after having to sadly have the vet put down our beloved gentle giant, Calvin.  I am simply posting it here to for archive purposes. Today as many of you have seen on our Facebook pages, we had to say goodbye to our beloved dog Calvin.  To those who know us, this brief blog will make perfect sense and hopefully for some maybe it will resonate.  Some others, well, they simply won't quite get it.  But that is fine, I am writing this for my own selfish reasons of wanting to give Calvin a bit of a tribute.  He deserves it. In our family, we are really "dog" people.  But more than that, we are family pet people.  And by that I mean, our pets are part of our family.  No, we don't dress them up and give them a $1000 bed to sleep in or carry them around in a doggy purse.  Heavens no.  But, Donna and myself, and now Amanda and Sam as well, we view our dogs as part of the family.  Like most dog owners (I imagine),

For many of the past few years, I have been engaged in the social media world online.   Not only Facebook and MySpace, but also in communities like Reddit and Fark where people from many diverse backgrounds post and share information and opinions.   This culture of posting thoughts, beliefs and things which matter to us, as well as commenting on things others post has led to our culture removing many barriers to our more inner selves and thoughts.   Much of this on Facebook is very personal, whereas some other mediums provide the opportunity to post things more anonymously, from behind screen names and generally without repercussions.   The result of all this sharing will make for some fascinating studies in the future, for it may lead to a more open and frank society, or it may lead to a further erosion of our civility as the more extreme parts of our culture continue to draw us all into choosing sides and alienating ourselves from those who believe differently than ourselves

Dear Disney, Our family had the occasion to visit Walt Disney World this past weekend to celebrate my son's 16th birthday.   He really wanted to have his big present this year be a Disney trip with a friend and so off we went. We had a very nice time.   I had not visited the parks since December 2005, and so much has changed and yet, so much remains the same.   Expedition Everest is not new, but it was for me and it is the best coaster ride you have.   Awesome!   Wait times were never too long and the ride itself is quite unique.   Also, this is the first time I got to ride Soarin' (the last time we went the lines were 2-3 hours long and there was simply no way I was sitting idle that long for any ride).   It is certainly amazing as well, a very nice 21st century update to the Eastern Airlines "If You Had Wings" concept. But, one tip?  You have got to find a way to hide the feet of the row in front of you from view.  It is distracting.  I imagine the nex

Being a Christian does not mean we are weak, it actually makes me stronger.   Where many who choose not to believe must rely on only what they have, we have a hidden source of strength known as faith.   Where some say faith is an empty vessel, you have only what you can see and touch; we know of a place you cannot yet see and feel where we can find things like hope, confidence, assurance and conviction.  Those are not bad things.  Even convictions help us when the easy way is not the best way. Being a Christian does not mean we need an iron-fisted supreme being to do the right thing, it means we understand the importance of being accountable for my choices and actions. Where you say Christians and believers are all alike, we will tell you there are no two Christians and believers alike; we are all unique, even non-believers.   Where you say Christians and believers simply judge everyone all the time, we will simply point out by even thinking such a thing, you are actually