It's Time....

If you don't know, every year I get to direct this thing called Greek Conference where more than 300 folks from the southeast and myriad random places up and down the eastern seaboard gather to learn more about who God is and how he impact their Greek experience.

I'll be blogging from there this weekend, but at http://greekconference.blogspot.com/ not here. So if interested, check out the site!

Cats...

A year and a half ago Kim and I had a dilemma. We wanted a change. Kids were not an option, I had done a great job of killing off my fish, so we had one last resort - actual pets. We discussed a dog - but couldn't agree on the type. I wanted some sort of beagle or small dog of the sorts - Kim wanted what I describe as a 'punting dog' one of those suckers that yaps so much you want to kick its butt across the lawn.

So we settled on cats. I had cats growing up and we managed to find one at the shelter that we thought was kind of like a dog. A month later we had two cats.

We have had 2 cats for going on 18 months now. They are such interesting things. All along we wanted a dog. In actuality we got 2 semi-dogs. 2 semi-humans. 2 semi-amazing pictures of dependency, need, sin and grace.

Both Kim and I are laptop people. Well we were. Or kind of are. I think that Sabby & Emma have chewed through no less than 5 Dell powercords in 18 months. Lucky for me we have a dealer up the street or I'd be in real trouble. Our light cords downstairs look like brail and it's a wonder that one of them hasn't been electrocuted. We made the mistake of leaving them without a friend checking on them for 3 days and one of them (most likely Sabby) left about 5 craps on the living room floor. We had to have them declawed (by the way an extremely harmless and beneficial move) because they just couldn't help tearing up our furniture or kneading it to death.

When they are truly awake and in their prime they are pyscho. They chase each other up and down the stairs, bite one another, jump on the counters, lay on top of the cabinets and get in every area they are not supposed to. The water bottle becomes our best friend - especially on a long Saturday or a lazy Sunday when we just spray the crap out of them to stop them from doing things that are destructive to themselves and our livelihood.

In short - they are very much sinful animals. But they care deeply about their masters.

Sebastian and Emma are great. Very not like what you'd expect out of cats. You snap your fingers and Sabby will run up and rub against you. Anytime there is even a semi open lap - Emma will jump on it, remote, magazine or laptop be damned. They are extremely friendly, but also take care of each other. Sebastian will clean Emma and likewise. They are great pets to have.

They are loyal. When I hit the garage door on the way home - inevitably one and usually both will be waiting by the door. When we go to bed at night, inevitably less than 5 minutes after we are done talking Sebastian will jump on the bed, do a full walk around the bed to make sure everything is ok, and then retire to the floor. Emma meanwhile sleeps at Kims feet - and we can only guess how many times she kicks her off at night (as an aside - these 'cats' are so loyal that if if i get up to work or write or surf in the middle of the night, guess who is sitting on the desk next to me - Sabby). When I wake up in the morning the bound down the stairs even though the food is already out for them. They are ridiculously loyal. AND they are CATS for crying out loud.

As I write this at 3:00 in the morning, Sabby has taken where my laptop usually is on my desk (it's on my lap) and has fallen asleep in front of me. As I pet him he responds with affection and love. When I get up to walk to the bedroom he'll follow me and when the alarm goes off at 6:45 even if i don't want to get up, Emma will be there to wake me up and Sabby will be ready to bound down those steps as I go after the coffee.

Oh that we might have a similar relationship with our master. That we might be that complicit in our sin but also so thankful in our grace and so obedient in our regular activities.

Did I mention that I'm actually allergic to cats?

politics, a funny thing....

So I admit that among my addictions to ESPN, 24, Lost and Studio 60 I also love, love love MSNBC and it's people. Because of that I am a Newsweek subscriber and because of that I spend more time than I should following essentially inconsequential political news as I gear up for the '08 election.

Of course this comes as no surprise but I have long thought myself a Republican. I love Bush. Respect his faith and his character. He had me at hello - to steal a line from my wifes favorite movie - when he said:

When I act, you will know my reasons. And when I speak, you will know my heart.
I believe in tolerance, not in spite of my faith, but because of it.
I believe in a God who calls us not to judge our neighbors but to love them.
I believe in grace because I've seen it, and peace because I've felt it, and forgiveness because I've needed it.
I believe true leadership is a process of addition, not an act of division.

Whether he lived those words as president I guess is for you to decide, but he certainly drew me in and has given me no reason to doubt his faith-led presidency ever since (well the war had me slightly questioning, but only slightly and that's a whole other topic that would take at least 3 comments for me to respond).

Whatever, the point of the post is this. Howard Fineman, who I love, in said article basically puts the Presidency frontrunners into 3 categories - the charismatics, the front-runners and the base-wooers. Very interesting.

Most interesting is the fact that the very 2 candidates I most see myself voting for in my first ever actual presidential election (yeah, i suppose you actually have to become a citizen before you can vote) both fall into the 'charismatics' category.

Long a self-proclaimed Republican - I honestly have no idea how I'd vote between Guliani and Obama were I faced with that decision. Both are men of faith. Both have significant shortfalls in the midst of their faith and belief yet both are honest about it. The 'platforms' seem to carry less weight than ever. I honestly don't know.

What I do know is that Hillary is a psycho, Edwards a fake, McCain unstable and Romney a very misled Mormon. That leaves me 2 guys that I can support. 2 differing parties - two when you get down to it - very similar views.

It's gonna be a helluva next 18 months. Do your modern Christians stick to the ranks or do they change course. What is the 'christian' mandate in the election. Plenty of "post-moderns" are quick to defend the liberal mindset - will they vote for Billary - I mean Hillary? Will the "moderns" vote for whatever the Republican party puts up there regardless of personal preference - or will they go with the young, charismatic, honest and real Obama? Will the Dems of faith go for the golden child - Edwards - or will they pull for Obama? Given the worse case scenario - will Christian republicans actually vote for the very Mormon Romney? Will Democratic Christians rally around slightly crazy Clinton?

Very interesting to think about. I think we are truly - as Newsweek reported 2 years ago - living in the purple. But how will the Evangelicals respond to that? It'll be interesting to see. Especially for me since the 2 guys I can see myself voting for the most - might be the farthest apart.

Travel, Tiredness & Tax Collectors...

So the weekend was as expected - long, encouraging, yet tiring.

For the uninformed - I spent Thursday, Friday and Sunday at Roanoke College and Washington & Lee meeting with key leaders, speaking with Greek students and talking at their respective large group events. It's interesting to consult with other schools on what the most effective Greek strategy is because schools are soo different than what I like to deem the frattieness of Carolina and Indiana. Not to say it's a bad different - it's just different. So that was interesting, encouraging, and draining at the same time.

In between Kim and I got to check out some Virginia wineries - 3 around Charlottesville and one near Lexington. Despite what you may have heard Virginia really does have some great wines and wineries. My favorite winery from the trip was the Rockbridge Winery near Lex - good down to earth folks, with some great wines - especially the Meritage and the Cab Franc. The house red was pretty great as well. The best wine was near Charlottesville at the King Family Winery. We snagged an '05 Meritage that we plan to age 5 years and enjoy on our 10th anniversary. The question is whether or not I can let a bottle of wine sit on the shelf for 5 years (although we do have a bottle from our honeymoon cruise that has been sitting there for almost 5, although it is a white).

Anyway - o the tax collectores.

The topc I was asked to speak about at Roanoke and W&L was that of our posture in prayer and in the community around us. I spoke from Luke 19 - the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. It's amazing to me how any Pharisees are alive and well in our Christian sub-culture today, even though Jesus spent many a New Testament word warning against them.

In the parable the Pharisee is thanking God that he's not like the guy next to him, or like other folks who do bad stuff. Sound like people you know? Folks who are happy to be in the holy huddle and have no space for those who are not. Great model of evangelism, by the way.

The 2nd character is a tax collector - a dude who probably has ripped the livelihood out of a lot of peoples hands. His prayer is simple - "Forgive me - a sinful man."

Jesus' response is classic:

"the tax man, not the other went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to fall flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."

What a statement and what a call. But do we really make space for tax collectors in our lives? And are we really in a place to live out those words of the tax collector? Are we willing to admit that we need that forgiveness too?

I've been extremely lucky to be surrounded by tax collectors all my life - both repentant tax collectors like this guy, and just straight up tax collectors. I've also been lucky and unlucky to live on both extremes of this story - on the side that thanks God I'm not like that guy, but also on the side that is doing all the stupid stuff that the Pharisee just mocks.

I'm encouraged to know that Jesus' heart is in the middle, though - in the righteousness and wisdom-seeking of the Pharisee, but in the humilty, honesty and repentance of the tax-collector. Because that sure is a freeing place to be.

Encouraging....

So I randomly decided to check the stats today and noticed that indeed folks are checking out and reading this blog. Thanks for the encouragement. It is with that knowledge and edification that I promise to put forth a greater effort to sharing my thoughts and updating the other randomness of this site...............starting Monday.

Unfortunately I'm about to run out the door to Virginia for the weekend. Hopefully I will be able to meet some Greek students at Roanoke College & Washington & Lee, challenge some undergrad students on whether they are the Pharisee who thanks God he's not like the others, or the tax collector who is just thankful to be anywhere close to God. That's a good post for another day unto itself. In between I will be joined by my wife and we will attempt to soberly navigate the central Virginia wine country.

Sounds like a doozy! Check back for more early next week (or Friday if I find time in my day).

Adulthood...

If you haven't been there yet, or if you're there and just refuse to live there - being an adult is tough. In fact, it borderline sucks. Especially if you are caught in between those near impossible years of being a post-college grad and a parent.

Do you go for the money? What do you go for the money for? Is it for good things? Selfish things? Is God behind it or does he really (as some would have you believe) have some master plan that you're either in full-time ministry or continuing the human lifecycle.

It's a tough world out there folks.

The last few weeks have been tough. Kim has been wrestling with what a "post-buyout by a 40,000 employee company" looks like to a rising star in a compay of 60, I have struggled to balance my campus passions with my overall Greek ministry passions with my business-planning-success passions. It's just been tough. Who gives what and what gives where?

But at the heart of it God lives. And I think that Kim and I discovered tonight that at the heart of strife and at the heart of conflicht - Jesus is there.

Why? Because what Jesus and what God are truly looking for are fighters. Not what the typical Christian church has put out enmasse over the last 15 years - conformists or at least cultural comformists - but fighters.

I believe that the Christ wants a person who will fight for his faith. Who will struggle like hell for his faith, but ultimately will fight for that.

What does that look like? a great question....Probably why Dave Matthews in his famous (at leat to me) but not necesarily theoligically accurate song "The Christmas Song" (if you want to hear go to www.greekimpact.net/christmas.htm "drinkers and smokers, all soul searchers like you and me".

Whether Dave believes or doesn't he hits at the heart of the matter - all soul searchers. Are we searching for our souls and for Christs souls for us - or are we just drifting?

Personally - I've drifted for too long. And it ends now. Sure ministry can be good, life can be good, business can be good. But what about your soul? How is your soul doing today? Because all those things can provide you a good, or even great facade, but it's your sould that will ultimately be layed bare - maybe not till heaven - maybe tomorrow.

So what are you living for?

That is a questionn that I will be asking myself and students I talk to this semester both at Chapel Hill and across the region. More on that later.......

But what are you living for?

lalaland vs. LALALand

They're not all that different, you know, and it's not necessarily a good thing.

Definitions:
lalaland - The world that I think many traditional conservative rightwing Christians like to live. Nothing is wrong, we live in a bubble, life is good. We give to the church because it's the only thing worth giving to. Our church as great programs, a really nice looking building and a well-paid pastor. But no real life change actually happens.

LALALand - The world of the celebrity. Bucu bucks are made here. Millions, billions even. But yet, even with the tax credits and the many financial benefits, we'd rather spend our cash on yachts, cars and thousands of acres of land in the Hamptons or Aspen. Lots of money gained - not much impact happening in the future.

It's interesting how I came across this observation/rant/whatever it turns into. A friend and I were watching VH1's "A Fabulous Life" and looking at some of America's biggest spenders. Did you know that Howard Stern spent $660,000 for a one month rental in the Hamptons because he didn't want to wait for the house to be built on the land THAT HE PAID $20 million FOR? That's just the land? So we are watching this in somewhat awe, and I asked my friend how he'd spend his money if we were that loaded. Would we give it away? Would we spend it all? How would we do it? (It sure would take the 'ole charity golf tournament as a tithe to a whole new level).

So my friend busts out a 20/20 episode from TIVO that recently aired on ABC. It was a Stossel report on how the rich give away their cash.

Did you know the following?

• Of the top 25 states where people give an above average percent of their income, 24 were red states in the last presidential election (in the face of those who say that liberals are all about charity).
• Conservatives give on average 30% more AND make less money than their liberal counterparts.
• people at the lower end of the income scale give almost 30 percent more of their income than their wealthy counterparts.
• the single biggest predictor of whether someone will be charitable is their religious participation.

Ok great, finally something to latch onto - the final bullet point. BUT how about this. I looked up Business Week's list of the top 50 philanthropists in America. They gave away tons of cash - but guess how many of them listed 'religious organizations' in their top charities? ONE, count 'em one -Jewish causes

In fact in 2004 there were 3 'religous causes listed' 1: Jewish causes 2: Jewish causes 3:Israeli charities.

Nowadays folks are focused on things such as Science "about life's big questions", Individual self-empowerment and athletics.

Not kidding. Of the top 50 giving philanthropists in America, who have earned from between 48 billion and 75 million dollars, NONE of them have given to overt Christian causes.

No obviously as someone who raises a budget to do a Christian work for a living - this leaves me a little preturbed. But what really leaves me preturbed is the end result of my conversation with my friend.

As we were watching the 20/20 episode I mentioned to him "you know it's people like you and me that really make a difference. The majority of my support comes from folks that give less than $100 to the ministry, but do it in multiple places." So we are feeling good about ourselves, then this from 20/20 -

"...while the rich do give more in overall dollars, according to the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, people at the lower end of the income scale give almost 30 percent more of their income....middle-income Americans are generous compared to people in other countries, compared to the rich and the working poor, they give less. "The two most generous groups in America are the rich and the working poor," says Brooks. "The middle class give the least."

Ouch. The middle class - those of us with perhaps the greatest capacity to enact change in our socieity - give the least. Now hopefully we give of our time and energies more than our money, but the fact remains....we are not a very giving culture. Of course I don't think a bit about this everytime I have a hankering for a venti non-fat vanilla latte at Starbucks - 4 bucks which sits well in my stomach on in my soul for about 15 minutes, but could last a lifetime in the harlem slums or the streets of zimbabwe.

So what is the point of all this? I don't know really. Maybe to create a healthy discussion about what the heck we are doing. Maybe to facilitate change among readers. Maybe just to engage in healthy banter about what is ok and what isn't ok in the grand scheme of giving - since really the giving statistics don't cover it all do they? Afterall, if my wife and I truly desire to have a great house with a pool in the backyard so our kids can have over their friends who's parent's can't necessarily provide that for them - isn't that at it's core charity - even though it will never show up in the 'boxscore' so to speak.

And who really cares - afterall isn't God the ultimate judge of things like this? Aren't we storing up crowns in heaven - not here afterall? So while the rest of the world ponders what Bill & Melinda will do with the $40 billion that Warren gave them to change the world, I hope we wonder what God will do with what little we give to Him and how we can best use that.

The Amazingness of Common Sense

Not sure that's a word - but it is now. If the prez can do it so can I.

For years, I've heard (and taught) that if you give time to God, he gives back to you. Pretty simple concept really:

1. It's biblical (we are taught to give our 'firstfruits' both in terms of money and resources, but also time).
2. It just makes sense.

If God is the God of all, and if God is the God that knows your comings and your goings and knows you inside out - doesn't it make sense that giving time to him, your first fruits (aka whenever you are most 'on') makes the most.....sense? If we are stressed to the max, have a boatload going on or are just overwhelmed, doesn't it make sense that the One who promises to calm the storm, who tells us he won't give us anymore than we can handle, who parted a friggin sea - MIGHT be able to help us out a little?

Yeah, it really does, doesn't it!

This week I got two rather large, although really small, glimpses of that in action. Monday's are typically my craziest days. Talk to write, admin to do, Monday night to prepare for. I always feel like it's just work work work, and I'm frazzled by the time 7:30 rolls around and I'm supposed to be 'on' for our meeting. This Monday I decided to do something that I never do, but should do regularly. I took a half day of 'retreat' - aka I jumped in the new Acura and cruised down to Jordan lake (about a 25 minute drive), then spent the next 2.5-3 hours walking the trails, sitting by the lake, praying, reading from Daniel; just being with God. As I drove home at about 12:30, I had such a sense of peace, a sense that God met me there, and a sense that He was actually doing stuff in my life. That night I delivered a talk from rote memory (for the first time), and really felt calm and present with Him the whole time, instead of focused on performance.

Then on Tuesday my afternoon randomly/divinely opened up. It was 75 degrees, Kim was out of town so I could do my administration that night, I decided to golf - because who wouldn't gove on Oct. 31st if it was 75 degrees? I'd never golfed alone before, and know how frustrated I can get sometimes, but really wanted to do so. So I did something that really is a testament to God's using the World to reveal Himself to us, not just stodgy meetings or typical 'religious ways.' I decided to pray for a different fraternity or sorority during each hole on the course. So over the course of the next 3 hours I did 4 things that rarely happen (unfortunately) in my life:

1. I prayed for basically 3 consecutive hours.
2. I took time out of 'work' to pray for the Greek system, regardless of their involvement with 'my' ministry.
3. I played a (mostly) calm and collected round of golf (I played through a foursome quickly and sliced a couple woods, leading to a 'shit' comment, then an immediate question as to how that fit into my prayer time).
4. I integrated faith and life in a very cool, freeing and life-giving way.

And the amazing thing about all of this is - that none of it is brain surgery. It all makes basic common sense. You give to God, God gives back to you, and in abundance sometimes. It was amazing how refreshed I felt in conversations, in administration, in my homelife, in my personal decisions - as a direct result of giving to Him first.

Martin Luther (he of that whole Reformation thing) once noted that had "so much to do (today) that I should spend the first three hours in prayer." And he was noted for doing so reguarly. Oh that we could give even a third of Luthers charge, or 4% of our day to spending with Him (and that I had remembered this on Wednesday and Thursday :))