Sarah Palin

Ok. I've resisted getting too political on this blog, and in the interest of fair and complete disclosure let me say up front--yes, I am a registered Republican. I'm not interested in using this 'pulpit' for political purposes, however. I will discuss the issues of each candidate with anyone who's interested, but not here. However, there have been a couple of recent developments that I can't let pass. These concern attacks on Sarah Palin's christianity.



The first comes from comedienne (if you can call her that) Sarah (funny that the name's the same) Bernhard. I can't really call her a comedienne. I don't find anything about her funny, and I didn't before this happened. She is angry, condescending, bitter--attributes I don't find humorous. But in a diatribe recorded and posted--surprise!--on Youtube, she went way out in "left" field (pun intended) in attacking the veep nominee. I am going to post a link to this video, but only after warning you that:



THE LANGUAGE IS HUGELY EXPLICIT!



If you still want to hear what some folks find humorous, here's the link.



Then there's the Washington Post cartoon:

I know it's heard to read at this size, but
it makes no bones about mocking speaking
in tongues. It also puts profanity in God's
mouth. (Click on the cartoon to view it at full size.)


Ok. Here's where I stand. When I go to vote in this year's presidential election, I am going to cast a precious vote. A vote that has been paid for over and over again in a river of blood shed by those who thought my right to vote was worth giving everything for. I'm not going to cast that vote for a Republican. I'm not going to cast it for a Democrat. I'm not going to cast it for my wallet. I'm not going to cast it for the candidate I think would give me the most benefits. I am going to cast it for the person who most closely has proven to stand for the things which the bible tells us are important for ourselves, our nation, and our world.


It has become very obvious that Americans face a clear choice this election cycle. We aren't the only ones who know it. That's why the attacks are so vicious. I won't use this forum to tell you who I think you should vote for. You're smart enough to decide that for yourselves. But I am disgusted with the open attacks on Christianity.

When the lion comes to church

Hurricane Ike as we all know had a devastating impact on the Texas coast. Some people, in spite of the direst of warnings, stayed to ride out the storm. Those who stayed did so for a variety of reasons. I read about one couple who stayed because they couldn't get their son, who has cerebral palsey, down the stairs after the loss of power put their apartment's elevator on the fritz. Some stayed because they didn't really believe that the storm would be as bad as all the experts were predicting. Those who did stay behind found themselves in a terrible predicament.

When disaster strikes, you can't tell who you may find yourself hanging out with, fighting for survival. Here's the story:

"Many years from now, a small group of Hurricane Ike survivors will probably still be telling the story of how, on the night the storm flattened their homes, they took refuge in a church - with a lion. The full-grown lion was from a local zoo. The owner was trying to drive to safety with the animal when he saw cars and trucks stranded in the rising floodwaters. He knew he and the lion were in trouble.

He headed for the First Baptist Church at Crystal Beach, on Bolivar Peninsula, adjacent to Galveston, and was met by a group of residents who helped the lion wade inside. They locked it in a sanctuary as the storm raged. The water crept up to their waists, and wooden planks came floating through broken windows. But the lion was as calm as a kitten.


When daylight came, everyone was still alive. "They worked pretty well together, actually," said the lion's owner, Michael Ray Kujawa. "When you have to swim, the lion doesn't care about eating nobody." (web story)

I'm not trying to make too large a spiritual point here. I just found this story compelling because of the nature of the story itself but also because we're 'the church for whosoever'. We're supposed to be ready for whoever walks in, no matter the situation or condition. This lioness' owner was impressed at how well everybody worked together to rescue him and his charge from the danger presented by hurricane Ike.

How well do we at Unity work together to save those who come to us from the devastation caused by the world?

Just a thought.

Homecoming

Hi United Voices. We are about to move into a very busy couple of weeks. I know we are all looking forward to recording our first CD this weekend. Then there is Sunday homecoming service followed by three nights of revival.

I want to personally thank you for the love, time and talent that you dedicate to the Lord first, but also to this local body. I know that each time we ask you to be here, you could be doing a hundred other things. I appreciate the dedication that you show not just at especially busy times like this, but all through the year.

You are the Levites of this congregation; you are the tithe of the congregation. Thank you for showing yourselves to be wholly dedicated to serving God and Unity so well.

Up, Down and Sideways

Several of our choir members mentioned (on the form that you filled out at last week's dinner) that there is a lot of complaining in the choir. So I've been doing a little research on the nature of complaining.

I started by googling this question: why do humans complain? Wow, the range of explanations was overwhelming! The consensus seems to be, nobody knows why we do it, but we sure spend a lot of time doing it.

Some psychologists seem to feel that complaints are a sort of a safety valve for anger; that a complainer is less likely to explore a physically harmful outlet for his frustration. Others argue that complainers need to feel superior to those about whom they are complaining. There are seeemingly a million other explanations for why we complain but I couldn't find one that I felt was the exactly right reason we're having complaining in the choir.

Then I wondered, is a choir just more prone to complaining? Mark Twain said, "There was once a church choir that was not ill-bred, but I have forgotten where it was, now." But I refuse to buy in to that mentality.

We humans just seem to love to complain. And sometimes we do just need to vent. The question is do we want to see something change or do we just want to gripe?

If we want to see things change, the only direction to complain is UP! It is a total waste of time to complain to people who don't have the power to do anything about the issue causing the complaint. A complaint that has the possibility of affecting change has to go UP the chain of command.

If we just need to vent, let's make sure to do that SIDEWAYS, but to as small an audience as possible. I do have a couple of friends who will listen to me vent and not repeat one word of it. They are extemely valuable to me.

The direction we should never be caught complaining is DOWN. To complain to someone who is in our sphere of influence is to risk totally destroying their morale. Just don't do it, no matter how tempting it might be, especially when really frustrated about something.

We'll always find something to complain about; case in point, Golda Meir said, "Moses dragged us through the desert to the one place in the Middle East where there is no oil." (Never mind that the Jews are God's chosen people, given the promised land, which God promised would be flowing with milk and honey.)

No leader will ever be able to completely eliminate complaining. But if we have to do it, let's try to do it in a way that no harm is caused.

Days 5 and 6

After competing in all our musical categories and getting all of our media entries registered for judging, yesterday and today were a little easier but still very busy. San Antonio is a wonderful city with lots of attractions and everyone had some free time yesterday to explore.


Some visited the Alamo, also called "The Shrine of Texas". We all know the story of how Davy Crockett made his last stand here, holding out with a group of courageous Texans against an overwhelming assault force. Crockett and the others gave their lives here to hold the ground against impossible odds. The place is truly a shrine to the men who died here and also to the idea that some things are worth giving everything for.






We've had some fun times visiting the Riverwalk, or the Paseo Del Rio. The Riverwalk is one of San Antonio's most famous attractions. The river banks are lined with a variety of restaurants and other attractions. We ate here several nights and several of our group also took a boat tour, one of the favorite activities in San Antonio. My favorite restaurant here is Casa Rio, an authentic Mexican restaurant with the best salsa known to man. Amy and I are hoping they bottle it so we can bring some of it back. Nick and Machelle also enjoyed this restaurant.





I spent some time in El Marcao (Market Square). El Marcado is the shopping spot for all things Mexican, including some great pottery and carvings. It has become more "touristy" since the last time I was here, but still has some good items if you're willing to take the time to look for them.





Our kids really enjoyed the mall. The River Center Mall has more than 125 different shops covering four stories. I confess I didn't get to them all, but did have some fun at a shop called "Boot Hill", where we finished getting Elijah decked out in essential cowboy gear--boots and a belt with buckle to go along with his hat. He has generated lots of comments--and lots of photo ops--in his new duds. But I mean really, who could resist?







We'll have one more day with a little sight seeing and free time, but we'll be packing up tomorrow for the return trip home. We'll all attend the service at the Astrodome tomorrow night, then the teen talent awards will be announced in a wild, wide-open ceremony immediately after the service. We're all getting anxious to find out the results of our hard work. Please pray for all the kids from all over the church of God denomination who will be on pins and needles tomorrow night.


The trip has been wonderful, but we're looking forward to the trip home. We miss you all, and thank you for your support. We wouldn't be here without you.

Day 4

Well, what a day we've had at Teen Talent Nationals in San Antonio, Texas. The day started early. We met in the hotel lobby at 7:30 a.m. to head over to the convention center. We all had our jobs to do. I stood in line to register your band for both the instrumental ensemble and Christian contemporary band categories; pastor Rob and the boys went to the loading dock, driven by our trusty Nick Mavromat, who has done such a wonderful job getting everything and everyone where they needed to be. Bro. Nick is always our driver on these trips, and for good reason.

Anyway, after one major disaster (we left the tamborine at home, and it was a main feature of the instrumental ensemble) and one minor disaster (Allie couldn't find the patch cord to plug her guitar into the theater's sound system) we finally got it all together in time for the band to perform in the large instrumental ensemble. They did an awesome job. It's a tough category for them to win, because they compete with "orchestral" type ensembles (think high school concert band) and the two types of ensemble are so different from each other. It's like apples and oranges, but somehow the judges have to make a decision. But you can be proud of your band; they did an outstanding job.

We had a quick lunch and had a couple of hours of free time, then it was back to the convention center for the Christian contemporary band session. This has become the "big kahuna" of teen talent, and there were twenty-eight bands in this category. I really of course am biased, but giving it my best effort to be objective, I believe our band is in the top 3 or 4 of the 28 bands that were there.

In the midst of the musical madness, Adam Tootle had to go to the media center and meet with the adjudicators in the website design category. Adam had to go through an interview process during which he had to explain exactly how he designed his entry, including the software he used. He feels good about the process.

It is about 10:20 p.m. now, and our group has had pizza with pastor and is gathering at the hotel again. We'll meet in pastor Rob's room at 11:00 to wrap up the day and share some scripture.
Next on the agenda is the judging of the media entries--Adam Tootle website design; Krista Naquin newswriting and drawing; Jonathon Goodson computer graphics.

Our music categories are completed now and for Zac Moxley, Adam Tootle, Will Bagley, Josh Johnson, Jonathon Goodson, Aaron Thornton and Rachel Ogden, they have have taken the stage at Teen Talent Nationals for the last time. They're feeling a little sadness right now, but also some eagerness to pass on what they have learned to the next generation. As for Breezie and Allie Moxley, Caitlyn Miller, Kris Warnock, Joshua Tootle and others, they now step into big footsteps and a tradition of excellence in music and arts at Unity Church of God. I definitely believe they are up to the task.

We're missing home but happy to be representatives of Unity Church of God.

More tomorrow.

Day 3

I'm writing this update at just past midnight, so I guess that technically it's day 4, but we'll pretend that it's still day 3.

Zac played his piano solo today. He did a wonderful job; his church can be very proud of him. The way the teen talent music sessions are put together is that each category's contestants are alternated with contestants from a different category. For example, today's piano solo contestants were alternated with male vocal solo contestants. Each category has its own judges. The competition is done this way for several reasons. First, it allows the judges of each category plenty of time to make their notes and score their contestants. Second, it breaks up the monotony of hearing 10 piano solos in a row or 10 male vocalists in a row. It helps gives the judges "fresh ears". This helps ensure that each contestant gets a real listen. For the listeners, it guarantees that they will hear more than just their one contestant. The upshot of all this is that we got to hear some great piano players and some great male singers. By the way, Josh Moore, son of south Georgia church of God pastor Johnny Moore, was this year's south Georgia male vocal solo winner at state. We got to hear him this morning and he did a fine job.

We don't know winners of any of the completed categories. Winners are announced all at once at the awards ceremony Friday evening, so Zac has to wait now to see how he did. But he says he's glad it's over!

We will be leaving the hotel very early in the morning to compete in the large instrumental ensemble. Then the kids will have some down time (so will the adults, I hope!) and will return to the arena tomorrow evening to compete in the Christian contemporary category. Also our media winners will be on pins and needles because their entries will be judged tomorrow.

The young people whom you helped send to San Antonio are doing an awesome job representing themselves, their church, and especially their God. You can be proud of them.

We are enjoying Teen Talent, but are missing being at home. Please pray for Kris Warnock, who has developed an ear infection. Also please pray for the safety of the folks on the Texas/Louisiana border, who are expecting to be hit pretty hard by tropical storm Eduardo. Latest news reports say the storm should pass over San Antonio some time tomorrow, bringing lots of rain for the next couple of days.

More tomorrow from San Antonio.