Chick Church

I love the Baptists. Some of my closest friends are Baptists. But the SBC position on women is so 19th century. Above is a flyer for a special divided service at a local Baptist church. Seriously? Calling women "chicks?" SMH. 

Pull yourself together!

Vax

By 1982 measles was pretty much eradicated in the United States. Then, people began to buy into the ridiculous hoax that vaccines were partially responsible for the rise of autism and other spectrum disorders in the United States. As more and more irresponsible parents began to avoid vaccinating their children, measles began to pop up again. Anti-vaxxers were given a platform on The View when Jenny McCarthy was hired as a host a few years back. Even Oprah allowed this former Playmate of the Year spew her nonsense on national television. Do you really want to get your science from a Playboy model?

There has NEVER been a link between vaccines and autism. There is no scientific evidence, in any shape or form, to back up this claim. It's been dismissed by 99% of the world's scientists as rubbish. There is more evidence...much more evidence...that shows that allowing young children to have too much exposure to screen time can lead to spectrum disorders. I wonder how many of these anti-vaxxer parents allow their kids to watch hours of TV or to play on their iPhones without limits?

The only link that has been proven to cause autism is heredity. The only verifiable cause of autism is genetic.

So all these anti-vaxxers are endangering our children's lives. The outbreak at Disneyland, where almost 200 kids have contracted the measles, is now believed to have been caused by one un-vaccinated child. The choices of anti-vaxxers are killing kids. 

Now I know some anti-vaxxers personally. They often have good motivations and care greatly about their kids. But their kids are always sick. I often don't feel comfortable having my child playing with their kids because I know these children have not been protected against common diseases. I also know some anti-vaxxers whose kids are showing signs of autism and spectrum disorder despite the fact that they never have been given a vaccine. I also know anti-vaxxers who allow their kids to watch TV with no restrictions and see their kids playing video games for hours on phones or tablets...despite the evidence that show the dangers of un-regulated screen time.

This is the 21st century. Let's wake up. Give your kids their shots. Kids are dying because of your choice.

Imperialism

We are studying 19th century imperialism in class today. 

The Spring Semester

My last real spring semester at SMU begins tonight. Next spring will be the capstone project semester. After this class I will only have one real class and a capstone left. As slow as I've taken this master's program it still feels like it's flown by. This semester's class is Mesopotamian History: The Art, Architecture, Archaelogy and History of Mesopotamia. You know, Sumerians, Babylonians, Akkadians, Assyrians etc. Had this prof last semester and it was a great class. 

What Happened?

I was a fan of Ben Carson. I read and was inspired by his book and story. He was and is a brilliant surgeon. But somewhere down the line, he lost his mind. It's befuddling to me how someone so intelligent can say things like that students who take AP US History under the new framework will want to sign up for ISIS. He says that he would oppose Obamacare EVEN IF it worked. 

It's a real tragedy. Seeing such a brilliant man, and a former hero of mine, turn out to be such a complete loon. How does that happen? Is he just pandering to an extremist base? Does he really think the GOP establishment will ever let him be on the ticket? Sad to see. 

Facts.

Yep

A New Podcast!

A couple of days ago I wrote about some of the podcasts I've been listening to lately. Well a new one has popped up. Mike McHargue, aka, "Science Mike" has begun a new podcast this week called "Ask Science Mike."

McHargue was a Christian who became an atheist who became a Christian again. He writes, blogs and speaks about reconciling faith and science. He is a host of one of my favorite podcasts, The Liturgists. I'm a big fan of Science Mike and was excited to hear that he was starting a Q (question) and R (response) podcast.

This thirty minute podcast features questions sent to Science Mike about a variety of questions regarding doubt, science, faith, etc... It's a fascinating listen.

Better take this...

Yeah, you might want to take this call...

Unbelievable

FYI: the richest 80 human beings in the world now have the same net worth as the bottom 3.5 BILLION. Of course I'm sure that if those 3.5 billion slackers got off their lazy rear ends and started working they could be rich too. Wow. 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/business/richest-1-percent-likely-to-control-half-of-global-wealth-by-2016-study-finds.html?_r=1&referrer=

Martin Luther King's Rules...

Martin Luther King had rules when it came to civil disobedience. We'd be good to take them to heart...

The pledge of nonviolence written by Martin Luther King Jr., and signed by his marchers, 1963

1. As you prepare to march meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus

2. Remember the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation - not victory.

3. Walk and talk in the manner of love; for God is love.

4. Pray daily to be used by God that all men and women might be free.

5. Sacrifice personal wishes that all might be free.

6. Observe with friend and foes the ordinary rules of courtesy.

7. Perform regular service for others and the world.

8. Refrain from violence of fist, tongue and heart.

9. Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.

10. Follow the directions of the movement leaders and of the captains on demonstrations.

Redesign

 

I've spent the last few days completely redesigning our church website. I'm an amateur at webdesign but I think it looks decent. Give it a go and see what you think. Remember, it's beta...and I still have some work to do. The link is HERE. Or...

dallascentralchurch.org

Podcasts

So recently I've gotten into podcasts. I know I'm late to the party. Podcasts have been around for a long time but I never listened to them because I didn't have a smart phone until a couple of years ago. Before then, I would either have to listen to the podcast at the computer (which was too stationary) or download them to my iPod...which always seemed more work than it was worth. I know, how lazy is it to be deterred from plugging a wire into a computer, call up a site, download into iTunes, then sync to your device? Yeah. That was much too tedious. Takes more than three steps? I'm out.

But once I got an iPhone I discovered how great podcasts are. I listen to them in the car when I need a change from listening to music. I listen to them while running. I listen to them while washing dishes. I find podcasts a wonderful thing. It's like going back to the golden days of radio but you get to choose what you listen to. My mind has been blown by some amazing info and great storytelling. And the options are limitless! And free!

The podcasts that I've been listening to recently include the following...

The Liturgists (with Michael Gungor and Science Mike)
National Geographic Weekend (with Boyd Matson)
The Robcast (with Rob Bell)
MTN Meister (Exploring the minds of those who Explore)
Relevant Magazine
Radiolab
Freakonomics Radio
Stuff You Should Know Podcast
TedTalks Audio
NPR Ted Radio Hour
All Who Wander

Trains

I live near a busy rail line. Half my life is spent at this crossing. 

Beach

When it's cold and gray I like to think of the beach. This was near San Diego a year or so ago. 

DMA

Over the holidays we headed over to the Dallas Museum of Art. The DMA is always a nice visit but with admission now free it's a great way to spend a day. Free! They went gratis about a year ago. Free membership, free admission, everything free but special exhibitions. Nice stop if you find yourself in Dallas. 

Gray Days

Another in a series of cold, wet gray days. Day after day, gray after gray. Getting annoying. This is the longest stretch of gray in years. Maybe I could never live in Seattle or Portland after all. 

Perspective

Debut

First basketball game yesterday. Went very well. Think we might have a point guard in the fam. 

2015 Resolutions

I like to make New Years Resolutions. I know some people argue against them saying they bring nothing but shame when people inevitably fail at achieving their resolutions. But I like making goals for the new year. Having goals written down keep me accountable. I don't always achieve every single one, but I don't beat myself over the head too badly for failing to meet them. Resolutions have been a positive thing in my life and I've accomplished a lot more because of them. They focus me and give me direction. So yes, I do have a list of resolutions for 2015 and I refer to them throughout the year to stay on track. I also add and amend my goals if life changes direction.

Above is a screen shot from Jim Wallis's Facebook page. He had posted a series of resolutions for 2015. I particularly like this post. I'm on board with all of them.

8

Today is my son's birthday. He has been a true blessing to our lives. 

Four

Somebody likes to photobomb my attempts at artistic photography. 

Goal

The number one thing he wanted from Santa was a basketball goal. 

Bye Simba

Been super busy but felt the need to get blogging again. 

Wanted to say Rest in Peace to our cat Simba. Simba passed away two days before Christmas. Simba entered our lives twelve years ago when I rescued him from above the ceiling tiles of my classroom. He had just been born a week or two prior to his rescue. His mother had died and we adopted him. He was so little he didn't even know how to eat. 

He had a lot of personality and was super loyal. He was very playful and liked to serve as a guard cat. We were caught off guard by the suddenness of his sickness. He died two days after he started acting sick. Kidney failure. It was a gut wrenching week. But our memories of Simba always bring a smile. 

Bye Simba. You will be missed. 

2002-2014

Paris

We always pass through Paris, Texas on our way to or from Tulsa. Been making that drive for 16 years and never looked for Paris's most famous landmark. On the way back last week we had a little more time to spare so we actually looked for the world famous Paris Texas Eiffel Tower. Found it. Def worth it.