It has arrived. And I'm glad.

If a documentary is what it takes to get people (especially parents, teachers, coaches and administrators) to take notice, then so be it.

Me? I don't need to see the movie. Unless you want to see me weep for 90 minutes straight, don't show it to me. I think the movie is really for people who don't realize how bad bullying really is, which, in my biased perspective, is almost everyone. I had trouble watching the trailer without crying. If you have seen the movie, please comment here and let me know what you thought. The filmmakers seem to want to encourage bullied kids too, but I don't know that it would do that. It's the response from parents and teachers and maybe even other kids that would encourage a bullied child. They know how bad it is already. They just want others to know. And by the way, it's not so simple as just telling someone one. Believe me. That's why I think this movie is so important. The evil of bullying really has to be seen to be believed.

I've been reading the reviews ...and the reviews consistently point out two things:

1- "Eye-Opening" - the movie only shows one child actually being bullied on camera. They followed this kid, Alex Libby, around for a year (the child you see in the trailer) and the students got so used to the cameras, they bullied him on camera. At one point, the filmmakers couldn't be passive observers anymore, so they showed the footage to the parents and administrators. The 4 other kids talked about are:
-an eleven year old boy who killed himself because of bullying.
-A seventeen year old boy who killed himself because of bullying
-a girl who threatened people on a bus with a gun because of bullying
-a lesbian teenager who is interviewed on camera about her experiences being bullied for being gay.

You do get to see an administrator tell two kids to apologize to each other and shake hands. You know how to spot the bully? The one who apologizes with a smile. the administrator then lets the bully walk away and chews out the bullied child for not similarly apologizing and shaking hands.

So I think it's good that this movie shows the utter cluelessness of so many adults about what's really going on.

2- "The Rating Controversy" - Of the reviews I read, most of them spent half or more of their space talking about Harvey Weinstein's stupid battle with the MPAA. The MPAA rated it "R" because of 5 swear words spoken to Alex by the bullys. The Weinstein company is mad about it because they are saying that means kids won't see it. So they appealed and lost the appeal by one vote. Weinstein's response? He released it without a rating. This means that many theaters won't show it due to policies about showing unrated films. Wrong choice, Harv. Let it be rated "R". Do you think that's going to stop kids from seeing it? Really? It may limit it a little while at the theater, but once it goes to DVD and HBO and Netflix, you really don't need to worry. Today's parents are going to let their 7 year olds see it. (either through permission or inatttention)

It bothered me that so much press was spent griping out the rating. The point of the movie is to draw attention to a great evil. Let's just focus on that.

This theme of parental difficulty in getting satisfactory responses from those in authority positions in schools is one of "Bully's" constant refrains. Adults are portrayed as clueless and ineffectual, reduced to either "kids will be kids" platitudes or hand-wringing sentiments such as, "This is an awfully complicated and difficult situation."

When it comes to showing what some kids go through on a daily basis, "Bully" concentrates on the situation of 12-year-old Alex Libby of Sioux City, Iowa. Ironically, precisely because the Sioux City school board takes the bullying problem seriously, it allowed filmmaker Hirsch broad access to East Middle School and to the buses where much of the bullying of Alex takes place.

Since the kids on the bus were used to treating Alex with impunity and because Hirsch shot with a small Canon 5D Mark II, no one held back from hitting and cursing Alex just because a camera was present, which is where the footage that gave "Bully" its R-rating comes from.

Hirsch clearly developed a strong rapport with Alex, a bright, aware kid with an awkward manner who seems to confide in the filmmaker more than in his own parents. Alex is desperate for friends, and he doesn't want to make waves, so he spends quite a bit of time trying to downplay the extent of his bullying, until Hirsch takes the unusual step of showing adults some of the footage he has shot. LINK

I am glad that the filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, who was himself bullied, is on a crusade with this film to get the message out.

“You have an inherent human right to not be bullied and to be safe at school,” Hirsch said during a pre-screening in Chicago. “Keep knocking on doors until you find someone who will fight for you. That is your right. The film is intended to create a whole lot more empathy and awareness. ”">LINK

The following quote ends on a positive note, so read on.

“It’s a very personal film,” Hirsch told NBC News. “I was bullied when I was a kid. So it’s like that project that you carry with you in your pocket and you say ‘One day I’m gonna make this film when I have the guts and I have the courage.’”

One of the stars of the film is Alex Libby, who was 12 at the time of the filming. He is pretty courageous too. Alex is seen being punched, poked and ridiculed on the bus. “They push me so far that I want to become the bully,” he said in the film. At one point during filming, Hirsch was so worried about Libby’s safety, he decided to stop shooting and give copies of his tape to the school and Libby’s parents.

When Libby’s parents confronted school officials they were essentially told not to worry. But they were right to worry, just as so many of us parents do. “I didn’t tell them what was going on, which was my mistake,” Alex told NBC News the other night at the Los Angeles premiere of the movie. “I should have told someone. I wish I would have told someone. But I didn’t until Lee came along.”

Alex Libby’s parents were with him on the red carpet in LA and all three attended the screening I was at in New York. I told Alex’s dad how much he reminds me of my own young son. Philip Libby told us the film had brought Alex out of his shell. “Before it started he was in a deep place that we just couldn’t reach him – and Lee and the film and the whole process has just kind of brought him out of that darkness and broke him out of his shell and gave us our son back,” he said.

Indeed, Alex himself says his life is much better now, thanks to a new school in a new state. And he’s proud to be a part of a film that might help other kids. “I’m glad I’m actually making a difference. It’s amazing. I mean, I was always the shy kid, back when I was in middle school. I would never thought I’d be this kid who’s out there trying to change something. But breaking from my shell has been an awesome experience. I realized how awesome I am,” he said.

Yeah, Alex. You are awesome. :-)

I wish every bullied child would be able to finally figure that out.

I'm quite proud of what we did...so here it is.

We watched it at church. Our church invited friends and neighbors. We had tons of food and three big screens set up. It was fun. But here's the best parts(and the reason I'm bragging):

1. We blacked out offensive commercials. Yup. We had a dude in the back with his finger on a button. Sunday afternoon, I printed out a list of the commercials in the order they would appear. Because so many commercials are released ahead of time now, we had a pretty good idea which ones to black out... So all the stuff you had to sit through, or hope your kids didn't notice...we never even saw it. Awesome, right? But we did get to see the good commercials. ("Where's the cat?" LOL!)

2. For Halftime - we showed two video clips. (This one about how football points to something much greater, and this one about how Simon Peter experienced grace.) Then for the remainder of halftime we played "Scene-IT" 80's edition. We just played the video trivia questions on the screen and I threw a piece of candy to anyone who got an answer right. It was a blast and far better then whatever you all had to watch. Oh, and I read later about some singer flipping you the bird. I missed that too. :-)

Now for some commentary about those two reasons my watching experience was better than yours...

1. Offensive commercials - This really irks me. The NFL, NBC and yes, even the advertisers are total jerks for this. Can they not imagine when they are designing a "sex sells" commercial that parents might be watching football with their kids (ages 6-12). There were probably (at least, at minimum) a million children watching.

Seriously? Is this what these advertising company employees, commercial writers and directors, and company executives who ordered and approved and paid for the ads would want their own children to be watching? The sheer crassness of this offends me to the bone. It makes me wonder if they are even human. I think that we should all write letters to the offending companies and tell them that their offensive advertising GUARANTEES that we won't ever use their products. And then follow through. Do not support those advertisers. Jerks. I should be able to watch football with my ten year old son without having to cover his eyes.

2. Half-time performers that do something obscene. OK, so MIA or whoever flipping the camera the bird is the first incident since the wardrobe malfunction. It will happen again. And NBC is blaming the NFL who produces their own half-time shows ever since the wardrobe malfunction. (That half-time show was produced by MTV, surprise, surprise.) And the NFL is blaming NBC for not having better time-delay and censorship equipment. It will still happen again. The moron who flipped the bird is getting publicity and name recognition out of this. That benefit needs to be taken away.

I have a very simple solution for this problem. Have all performers sign a contract ahead of time. Think about it. For the performer, this is the single biggest audience they will EVER have. It's a huge opportunity for any singer to sell albums. So before allowing them to perform for half-time include in their contract a "no obscenity" clause that says that if they do anything obscene that they will pay for all fines and costs that their action costs. (for apologies that have to be issued, for FCC fines etc, the lawyers that have to deal with the FCC, the salaries of the guys that have to monitor the delay feed with their finger on the pixelate button etc...) In addition, if they do anything obscene they will have to give 5 million dollars to a children's charity AND 50% of all profit that performer earns for the next 12 months goes to a children's charity. And they will do 500 hours of community service for the children of incarcerated people.

If the NFL and NBC were serious they would do something like that. But they won't. Jerks.

(from Failbook)

The other day I was at work, standing in one of the areas that has TV broadcasts running. I saw this story highlighted on one of the 24-hour news stations:

"President Obama signs executive order cutting government waste"

A number of people were nearby as well and we all started laughing. I mean, really, is that all it took? An executive order? We're saved!!!

All kidding aside, I think there is a profound moral component to the way a government spends money. I also believe that committing our grandchildren to suffocating debt is immoral. The American government has, for decades, spent more than it takes in, but I thought that the recent unprecedented deficits - deficits over a trillion dollars that make past overspending look like pocket change - coupled with the mind-numbingly scary sovereign debt crisis around the world would wake us up as a country. I was wrong. There have been no significant spending cuts seriously and realistically enacted by our congress or proposed by our executive branch. What's strange is that private businesses deal with this all the time. When they face a debt crisis, they cut spending. Our government seems incapable of this.

Meanwhile, the party I don't generally vote for is performing the kabuki theater of "stimulus", "super" committees, and executive orders outlawing bad weather and the post-Christmas blues. The party I generally vote for can't find anyone in our entire 300,000,000+ population who has the experience, gravitas and ethics to have chance of being elected president.

And I don't think anyone on either side is really serious about dealing with the immorality of our over-spending.

The reason, of course, is that we electorally punish them when they behave responsibly.

"Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us." - P.J. O'Rourke

P.S. The upshot of all this is I'm beginning to check out politically. My consumption of, for instance, political blogs and news has gone down dramatically in the past few months, and I'm happier for it. But I will pray, and I will vote, and I hope you will too. I think doing those things is important.

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them."
-- Ecclesiastes 12:1

Ah, youth! I remember, in the prime of my life, overflowing with the confidence and vigor of pure, automatic trust in my teenage athletic abilities, stepping into the huddle of one of our Saturday football games and saying to Mark, our all-time quarterback, "Just give me the ball. I will score." And Mark let loose a beauty of a pass -- few things look and feel so beautiful to a teenage football-playin' boy than a perfectly thrown pass in the dazzle of an autumn afternoon squirmish -- and I on the furious run brought it to safe harbor in my arms like a baby, racing past the staggered defense on skinny wheels, thirty yards, twenty yards -- he.could.go.all.the.way -- ten yards, five yards, touchdown. I did what I said I would, because I knew I could. Ah, youth!

But the evil days come, creeping in inch by inch, day by day, as metabolism sneaks out of the house overnight, easing the sports car out of the driveway and disappearing. Were I to enter that huddle this coming Saturday and speak with honesty, I should say, "Just give me the ball. I will run out of gas ten yards in, pull up with a muscle cramp, and collapse with two high ankle sprains."

I'm trying, really I am. But compared to the halcyon days of youth, the days have come in which I say, "I have no pleasure in them." Things creak when I get out of bed. I don't even know what they are.

Remember your Creator, the Teacher says. Remember him in your youth. Because youth is passing, fading. It is vanity, meaningless, chasing the wind. Even if you're fast, dude. So it is imperative, in the days of vim and vigor, to prepare for later now. Place your lasting joy in lasting things. Enjoy what you've got while you've got it, but set the termination of your affections on the treasure you cannot lose.

If you fail to prepare for later now, you will wind up a pathetic relic to the past. Before you know it, you're not reminiscing but lamenting. Do you wanna be that guy looking up time machines on the Internet and electrocuting your gonads, eating everybody's steak and ruining their lives? Or leaning against the wall of the high school hangout, a total creeper? They're not laughing with you; they're laughing at you, dude.

Ah, youth. Rejoice in it, for now. Rejoice in the Lord always.

If you think I'm being political here, you're wrong. This isn't primarily a political issue. It's a moral issue.

And since ours is a government of the people, those of us who have been of voting age for more than a few election cycles are complicit.

[H/T Instapundit]

It might make you feel better. Don't believe me? How about NFL Defensive Lineman Rosey Grier.



FYI - Grier played with the Giants from 1955 to 1962, during which he led the team to a NFL Championship in 1956 and the Eastern Conference Championship in 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962. Grier was selected for the Pro Bowl in 1956 and 1960, and was named All-Pro at the defensive tackle position in 1956 and 1958–1962. Grier was traded in 1963 to the Los Angeles Rams. He was part of the "Fearsome Foursome", along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Lamar Lundy,often considered one of the best defensive lines in football history.
(Oh, and he also tackled Robert F. Kennedy's assassin. Now if that don't qualify you for the man card, I don't know what does.)


Still don't believe me AND Rosey Grier? Read the post below. If that won't convince you, nothing will. :gcryingsmiley:

I guess I don't pay much attention to the news. Camping is predicting that the rapture will occur tomorrow. I wasn't aware before today, but I know the whole world must be buzzing about it if the UK Telegraph and Jared Wilson (on his facebook page) are both talking about it. I can't believe that the media is paying attention to Harold Camping. I still remember "88 Reasons Why Jesus will Return in 1988" and it's follow-up, "89 Reasons Why Jesus will Return in 1989."

Here's the UK Telegraph, which apparently doesn't know about the "'88" book.

For the last 50 years, the deep and sonorous voice of Harold Camping has reached millions of listeners of Christian gospel radio in the United States.
The 89-year-old is the president of Family Radio, a California-based religious network which broadcasts to more than 150 stations across America.

Born in Colorado, Mr Camping studied at Berkeley in the 1940s and became a member of the Christian Reformed Church, a Protestant denomination that has its roots in the Dutch Reformed churches and is theologically Calvinist.

In 1958, Mr Camping and some other members of the church jointly purchased an FM radio station in San Francisco and began broadcasting conservative Christian gospel. In the following decade, as the West coast of America embraced counter-culture and the hippy movement, Mr Camping's radio network expanded, adding another 13 stations.

In 1970, Mr Camping published the Biblical Calendar of History, in which he dated the creation of the world to 11,013BC and the flood which Noah survived to 4990BC. His timeframe was based on the idea that the word "begat" in the Old Testament does not necessarily imply an immediate father-son relationship, but could refer to a patriarch and a distant descendent.

He also argues that a calendar exists in the text of the Bible which details the imminent end of the church age, implying that churches are no longer used by God for salvation, and the Rapture, when Christians will gather to meet Christ, and finally the end of the world. The current date for the Rapture is May 21, 2011, and Mr Camping believes, according to Thessalonians 4:15-17, that this is when "the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord".

Five months later, on October 21, God will completely destroy the earth, according to Mr Camping's prediction. He had previously predicted the Rapture would occur in September 1994.

They make it sound like people actually listen to this turkey. And, by the way, I'm not too happy about them mentioning him being "Calvinist".

Please, to those of you in the UK, don't associate him with Christians, preachers, Americans, Calvinists or old people. He doesn't represent any of those groups.

I don't pay attention to the news. How big a story is this, and how did it become one? Can someone tell me what "legitimate" news outlet picked this up first. I'm interested in how the media turned this into a story since this guy has been doing this for over 20 years.

Some major media outlet needs to interview him on May 22nd. Seriously. That would be awesome.

An 18 year old freshman killed himself at Rutgers last week. The reason it's still making headlines is the reaction.

The focus of news stories such as this one, (Emotions run high at Rutgers after teen's suicide) are the reactions and circumstances. This young man was homosexual and apparently killed himself because his roommate secretly videoed him kissing a man in his dorm room and then put the video out on the internet. This news story is a perfect storm: homosexual/gay rights, homophobia, privacy issues, the modern influence of the internet and social networks, student outrage and politicians scrambling to make statements and new laws.

But in the midst of all this, I see something maybe others don't. Please pay attention....

One reason that troubled young people kill themselves because they hope to achieve in death what they couldn't in life. Read the following story carefully:

When I was a freshman in High School one of the most popular kids in school killed himself. He was a star football player, was dating a cheerleader, was a senior and VERY well-liked. On the night his girlfriend broke up with him, he went upstairs in his house, got his father's pistol out of a drawer and blew his own brains out.

As you can imagine the entire school was affected. Grief counselors were everywhere. Any student that wanted could leave class and go talk to someone. There was a special tribute and moment of silence given over the intercom. It was all anyone could talk about. At the Friday morning pep rally for that night's football game, at which the entire school of 2,000 students was required to be present, the cheerleaders and football players gave a moving tribute to this young man. They declared officially that that night's game was dedicated to him and that they were going to win it for him. I didn't know him, but he was apparently very well-liked. A popular kid that deserved to be popular. Friendly and kind to everyone. Good-looking, smart, intelligent and everybody's friend.

I can understand why they went on about him as they did. His death was a shock. And it hit people hard. I can understand why the football team dedicated their game to him. I can understand why it was all anybody could talk about in class and at lunch for weeks. I can understand why his funeral was so big, and why students and teachers were given passes to attend. I can understand why every teacher felt they had to address it in class, and why there was a tribute for him over the intercom. And so every single student in that school not only knew about the suicide, but we were made to feel like we knew this guy. Everyone felt the grief and the impact on some level. It was impossible not to with all that attention.

Do you see where this is going?

That year three more kids killed themselves the same way. Single gunshot to the head. Only there was a major difference between these three and the popular football player. These three were all outcasts. They were losers. They were fringe people. They were definitely not "popular."

I don't know if there was any proof, but the administration came to believe, and I agree, that these other kids were copycats, very possibly trying to achieve in death what they never had in life. Tribute. Recognition. Popularity. People saying nice things about them.

And so the administration issued a new policy. There would be no more special recognition or official tributes to kids who killed themselves.

Now look at the news story that I linked to above about the student at Rutgers:

Rutgers University students wore black on Friday to remember a classmate who committed suicide as a lawmaker proposed stiffer penalties for invasion of privacy — the charge against the roommate accused of secretly streaming video of the victim's sexual tryst with a man.

Calling it "Black Friday," students at New Jersey's largest university were encouraged to leave flowers or mementoes at a makeshift memorial for 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, the violin-playing freshman who jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River last week.

The Rutgers football team also planned a moment of silence before its game Saturday against Tulane.
...
But Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan said Thursday that more charges were possible under New Jersey's hate-crimes law. "We will be making every effort to assess whether bias played a role in the incident, and, if so, we will bring appropriate charges," he said in a statement.

The legal question has to do with the motive.

People can be found guilty of a bias crime in New Jersey if a jury agrees they committed a crime because of a belief that the victim is a member of a protected group, such as a racial minority or gays and lesbians.

Sen. Shirley Turner's bill would raise the maximum fine for privacy invasion from $15,000 to $150,000 and would increase the possible prison sentence to five to 10 years, from the current three to five years.

Would you look at what this young man is getting in return for his suicide? A day honoring him, flowers, a moment of silence at the football game, former governors speaking out for him, a new law that will probably be named after him and his tormentors punished by three to five years in prison.

Wow. Do not be surprised if that looks really good to other tortured depressed young men. For them to escape from what feels like a living hell, plus the added benefit of knowing that those who made their lives hell will be punished, plus knowing that they'll finally get sympathy and love, could make suicide look pretty good to some who are already on the edge. I'm not saying it's the cause, but it could be enough to entice someone else to take the jump.

Please, please, please, no more.

To those who might be thinking that suicide might be worth it, don't. Please, please, don't do it.

To those lavishing praise and reward on this young man, please stop. I know you mean well. But stop. We don't want any more deaths. No, it won't be your fault directly. But if you knew there was something you could do (or not do) to stop someone from killing themselves, wouldn't you act on it?

Please listen to me. I know what I'm talking about. You don't know how enticing all this attention looks to a depressed young man.

I do.

Over two decades ago, I almost followed a well-liked popular high school football player's example. I'm so glad I didn't. But it's too late for my seatmate whose name I've already forgotten, who drove his car to the back of my neighborhood, put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger mere weeks after the football player.

Yesterday I had to call Microsoft Tech support. We are trying to use our computer to send and receive faxes. We've never done that before, but we're trying to set it up that way. So I called Microsoft so they could help me set it up.

I could actually understand what he was saying and he didn't sound like he was in India, so I was hopeful. He was also very friendly.

First he has me pull up Windows "Fax and Scan feature" and read it to him. Step 1 for setup says to plug my fax line into my fax modem. I have no fax modem. I explain this to him. He asks me if I have any modem, I tell him I have a DSL modem. He says, "In all honesty, I've never actually heard of a fax modem before. This is new to me." He asks me to hold while he researches this issue...

When he comes back to me, his first words to me are...

Wait for it....

"According to Wikipedia..."

You can pick yourself up off the floor now.

So now Microsoft techs are using Wikipedia for their research. You may go ahead and let your laughter out now. No one around you will mind. I wonder if Wikipedia knows this? I can see the ad tag now, "Microsoft uses us to learn how to use their own products."

Also spoken to me by my Microsoft tech support specialist while we were talking...

"Pardon me, but my browser is going slow. It's been acting funky all day."

I wonder if I should have suggested that he try Firefox?

Finally, he discovered by doing "research" that I need to go buy another modem, one that will be analog so that it can dial phone numbers, which a digital modem will not. Though he's not sure even then that it will work. He suggested I call my ISP to make sure they would recognize it and support it. In my Microsoft guy's defense, the dude at my ISP tech support had never heard of it either. And he said, "I asked around and all the other guys around here are shrugging their shoulders."

I should also say in my Microsoft guy's defense, that he was a very nice guy and he really tried. I don't blame him. I blame the Microsoft machine (both literal and metaphorical.)

So apparently, Microsoft Windows has been listing as a feature for a decade now that your computer can send and receive faxes, but no one actually knows how. I have this theory that no one actually does it, but we all assume that someone out there is...

It's like having a red button that says "turbo boost" on your car you've never pushed. You have it, so it must be cool...but you never use it. I wonder how many other features Windows claims to have, but they aren't actually real things?

I close with my second favorite quote (following "According to Wikipedia...") spoken by my Microsoft Rep...

"Oh my God. I'm getting blocked by a firewall on my end."

:-)

Dear Pastor,

I'm not jealous of you or your church. Yes, I am one of the many little churches in your shadow, but that doesn't bother me. There are many good reasons that your church has grown to the size that it is. I'm glad that you are reaching people. I'm glad that so many people are worshiping there and that people are coming to know Jesus because of your ministry. There are many things you do right and that you do well, and I know there's a lot I could learn from you.

But there's one thing you may not know. You may not even be aware. Your people are coming to me for pastoral care. No, they are not leaving your church. They still attend your church; they are still members at your church; they still give their time, talents, money and loyalty to your church. (Some have even left my church for yours previously because of your superior ministries and programs.)

But they come to me when they need a pastor. When they need a wedding, they call me, or more often they just drop by and ask in person.

When they need a funeral, they call me.

When they need a special service like a baby dedication, or a baptism, or even a quinceañera, they call me.

When their marriage is in crisis, when their children rebel, when they are depressed or just don't know where else to turn, they come see me.

There are two major reasons for this. (I know because I ask, "Why not go to your own pastor and your own church?")

1- Because I am available. They can just drop in and see me. And if I happen to not be available that particular day, they'll be able to see me within a day or two. I know that you may be available too, but at the very least, you are perceived as being unavailable. In most cases, they assume you are too busy and come see me first. Other times, they don't know you, so seeing me is no different than seeing you, since neither one of us knows them personally. Again, the difference, is that I'm available. I also know that you have many pastors on staff that could be available to them. But for whatever reason, your people don't go to them. (I think because the average layperson doesn't see them as "real pastors", though you and I know this is a misconception.) They come to me.

2- Your sanctuary is too big or too modern. They love your church. They attend your church every week and love the services and they love your preaching and they love the music and they love all the programs your church has to offer. But when they need a place for a funeral or a wedding, or a quinceañera, the 100 or less people they are going to have attend would be dwarfed in your sanctuary. They need a small church atmosphere for their service. And yes, rightly or wrongly, they want it to feel like a "church" for those services that are important milestones in their lives.

Pastor, will you please let me offer some suggestions:

1- Be available. I know you are busy. I also know that if you spent all your time doing counseling, weddings and funerals, you wouldn't be able to do all that God has called you to do. Therefore, you need to publish the times you are available. Let people know when they can see you. Say it from the pulpit. Make them feel like you care about them as individuals and then follow through, as much as you are able. (And if you aren't available for such things at all, it's not because your church is too big, it's because you're too big for your church. Grandpa would have said, "You're too big for your britches.")

2- Have a good pastoral staff. Make sure there is a pastor, an actual ordained minister, assigned to every member of the church. (One per every 100 members ought to do it.) That pastor should know who his people are, and they should know who he is. He should contact them regularly, so that when the crisis time comes and they need him, there is already a relationship. This pastor should be available for weddings, funerals, hospital visits and pastoral counseling. In short, he should actually do for them what an actual pastor does.

3- Build a chapel. You have a large building. Probably you have multiple buildings on a campus. On your next building project, include a small chapel that seats 150-200 people. Make it look like a chapel. Let people book it like crazy. Make its use available to your people.

Now, here's where I have to make sure I'm not being too fleshly in my letter to you: I'm tired of pastoring your people for you. Don't get me wrong. I love your people. I love pastoring them. And the pastor in me loves the opportunity. But you are not doing your job and I think its hurting your people. They need to be able to count on you and your church, or what are you doing? If you really have a pastor's heart, and I believe you do, I thought that you would want to know that a lot of your sheep are having to go elsewhere to have their needs met. One of my mentors in ministry, a very wise pastor who did nothing but pastor small, hurting churches that needed him for 40 years, said this, "If you are not there when they need you, they don't need you."

I want you to know that I try the best that I can. I try to redirect them back to you. Sometimes I'll even downright refuse to help them, because I'm not their pastor. But most of the time, I do that wedding or that funeral. Most of the time I do the crisis counseling when someone's spouse cheats, or when someone is in the hospital. I do it because even if they aren't my sheep, they are Jesus' sheep and they asked. I do it because I hope that you would do the same for my sheep if I were somehow unable.

But it's a widespread problem. I have someone come to me for help from your church at least once a month, and I have someone come to me from one of the other megachurches other than yours once a week. I know you are busy, but so am I. You would help me be more effective as a pastor to the sheep God has called me to, if you would be more effective as a pastor to the sheep God has called you to.

I'd send you this note personally via snailmail or email, but I'm pretty sure it would never make it past one of your staff members to your desk. I'll try anyway...

Here's my final request, from one pastor to another. Please pastor the people God has given you. And if you can't or won't, please send some of your sheep to my church. I'd love to have them.

Tragic ends to young "stars". Funny we call them that, perhaps we should call them all "falling stars" - shining bright for a moment, before burning up and burning out.

Corey Haim died today.

Corey Haim, the former teen idol who rose to fame in 1980s classics 'The Lost Boys,' 'Lucas' and 'License to Drive,' died Wednesday morning of an apparent accidental drug overdose in Burbank, Calif., the LAPD has confirmed to several media outlets. He was 38. Local news station KTLA is reporting that Haim was found in an Oakwood apartment believed to belong to his mother, who was at home at the time and called emergency responders. TMZ is reporting that four prescription drug bottles were found nearby, and that he had been gripped by flu-like symptoms in recent days.

Coroner Lt. Cheryl MacWillie told reporters that Haim died at 2:15 a.m. at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. An autopsy to determine the cause of death is pending.

So sad. I always liked Corey. (His performance in "Lucas" was genius. In my opinion, his career path should have gone the way of DiCaprio's or even Jason Patric or Kiefer Sutherland.) But all that doesn't matter now in the face of eternity.

Andrew Koenig died last month. Here's Kirk Cameron's response.

“At a time like this, we are all reminded of the briefness of life and the importance of being ready for our eternal destination,” Cameron said in a statement. “My prayers will continue to be with Andrew’s family.”

The 41-year-old Koenig — most famous for playing the role of “Boner,” Cameron’s best friend on the ’80s sitcom — had been missing since mid-February. After an extensive search, the actor’s body was discovered Feb. 24 in Vancouver’s Stanley Park. His father, Walter Koenig (who played the original Chekov in multiple Star Trek projects) said his son, who had a history of depression, committed suicide.

How many of these current and past "stars" are depressed, lost and hopeless, looking for solace in every empty thing the world has to offer?

What was will be again,
what happened will happen again.
There's nothing new on this earth.
Year after year it's the same old thing.
Does someone call out, "Hey, this is new"?
Don't get excited—it's the same old story.
Nobody remembers what happened yesterday.
And the things that will happen tomorrow?
Nobody'll remember them either.
Don't count on being remembered.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 (The Message)

I "love" that the cover in the ad on this page (right sidebar) for a book on how to help writers get noticed by editors and avoid the slush pile has a typo.

Here's a tip, though: Never trust an anonymous editor who wants to give you advice on how to get published.

I don't know why, but I received an advertisement in the mail from a megachurch about 200 miles away. They're apparently celebrating the "grand opening" of a new facility.

According to the mailer, here's what you'll find at their church:

- Real direction for people on a real journey
- Non-judgmental atmosphere
- Environments that are relevant, enjoyable, and meaningful
- Small groups to develop meaningful friendships

Two upcoming sermon titles are "Realizing My Dreams" and "Lowering My Stress."

Um, ok.

Pat Robertson says the earthquake in Haiti is just one more link on a chain begun when Haiti signed a pact with the devil to be free of the French. And he didn't mean "the devil" figuratively. He meant they literally signed a pact with Satan himself.
Not only is this untrue, it's silly.

But most of us have tuned Robertson out and did so long ago.

But I bet we still have plenty of Rush Limbaugh listeners. I don't mean to knock political radio or talk shows or what-have-you. But I do mean to knock Rush Limbaugh.

On his radio show yesterday Limbaugh said the earthquake in Haiti will play right into Obama's hands by allowing him to play up his "compassionate" and "humanitarian" credentials, and that the President will use this crisis to "boost his credibility with the black community."

As if that weren't enough, Limbaugh also pivoted off a caller who complained about Obama directing the public to the White House website to find charitable organizations operating in Haiti to promote a conspiracy theory that finding these charities via the White House website puts your money at risk of not reaching Haitians.

Limbaugh also seems to feel we've done enough already for Haiti: "We've already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax."

In terms of our attention, can we throw this guy under the bus yet?

From Mark Steyn:

Major Hasan is not a card-carrying member of the Texas branch of al-Qaeda reporting to a control officer in Yemen or Waziristan. If he were, things would be a lot easier. But the pathologies that drive al-Qaeda beat within Major Hasan too, and in the end his Islamic impulses trumped his expensive Western education, his psychiatric training, his military discipline — his entire American identity. One might say the same about Faleh Hassan Almaleki of Glendale, Ariz., arrested last week after fatally running over his “too Westernized” daughter Noor in the latest American honor killing. Or the two U.S. residents — one American, one Canadian — arrested a few days earlier for plotting to fly to Denmark for the purposes of murdering the editor who commissioned the famous Mohammed cartoons. But Noor Almaleki’s brother shrugs that’s just the way it is. “One thing to one culture doesn’t make sense to another culture,” he says.

Indeed. To infidels, Islam is in a certain sense unknowable, and most of us are content to leave it at that. The vast majority of Muslims don’t conspire to kill cartoonists or murder their daughters or shoot dozens of their fellow soldiers. But Islam inspires enough of this behavior to make it a legitimate topic of analysis. Don’t hold your breath. We’d rather talk about anything else — even in the Army.

What happened to those men and women at Fort Hood had a horrible symbolism: Members of the best trained, best equipped fighting force on the planet gunned down by a guy who said a few goofy things no one took seriously. And that’s the problem: America has the best troops and fiercest firepower, but no strategy for throttling the ideology that drives the enemy — in Afghanistan and in Texas.

I found out last night that there was yet another mass shooting yesterday. This one close to home...less than three short hours up one highway from me.

My parents live near there and lead a Bible study for some Fort Hood soldiers.

And I don't know how to feel or what to think anymore. I'm shocked, angry, afraid, tired and confused, but mostly...

I'm scared that I'll start getting used to this. How long before this becomes as ordinary as drive-by shootings, convenience store robberies, child abuse and politicians having affairs? That's what scares me the most at the moment.

But my feelings will probably change. A few hours from now, I'll probably just be mad again.

I'll tell you what's got me upset about this one:
1. If our soldiers ought to be safe anywhere, it ought to be on their own army base. This didn't happen on a battlefield in Iraq.
2. This guy was yelling, "Allah Ahkbar" when he was shooting. So it's perhaps more than just the (now) typical angry-loner dude who just snaps. A self-appointed sleeper agent? Creepy.
3. No offense to anyone who was there,I'm not saying I could have done better, but I'm confused about the body count. These are military people. Could no one take him out sooner than a civilian cop? I don't know if they were on a part of the base where arms were allowed. But if they were not allowed, how did this guy have a gun? And if they were allowed, why didn't one of the good guys take him out sooner?

I'm also glad this one's alive. Finally, we get to interrogate one of these evil monsters who do this sort of thing. I'm tired of them killing themselves and depriving society of justice. Perhaps his victim's families will get a chance to confront him in court. Perhaps we will find out what happened.

I say that knowing it's little comfort for families that lost loved ones forever. Please pray for the families of those who died and the very close-knit extended family that is Fort Hood and the surrounding community. The surrounding areas love the soldiers stationed there. I know this first hand. Please know that there are thousands of people (or more) who are personally affected by this.

Forgive the ramble. It's just where I am right now.

Yes, you read that right. He really did. I was surprised. Are you?

Well maybe I shouldn't be. The only Americans to have won the award in the past ten years were Barack Obama, Al Gore and Jimmy Carter. Ummmm, OK. Are we seeing a theme?

The Nobel Peace Prize needs to start being taken about as seriously as the Razzies. Notable for curiosity only. I mean, come on. The guy hasn't been president for even a year, and hasn't actually accomplished anything foreign policy wise...except for a bunch of speeches. And yes, I know, speeches can make a difference (Ronald Reagan, MLK Jr. and many more made a difference with words.) But still, how much peace has he accomplished?

Here is the text from the Prize Committee's report:

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

In other words, accomplishment means nothing. Effort and vision mean everything. In that case, someone needs to give a prize to anyone who's been trying to figure out how to fuel automobiles with garbage. Or who's been spending 20 hours a week making youtube videos about world peace.

"Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

Translation: "We like the stuff you say."

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.

Translation:We love Obama. His very presence gives us goosebumps. Every sunrise just seems brighter in every part of the world because Obama is president. And finally, we have a president like us. And more importantly, (chanting like the munchkins in Wizard of Oz), "Ding, Dong, Bush is Gone! Bush is Gone!"

"For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."

Translation: We can stop giving out these prizes now. We've finally found "the one" that this prize was created for. I guess, we'll have to keep giving out these silly peace prizes, but now that Obama is president, we probably won't need them anymore since World peace forever is right around the corner. I guess we'll just measure all future recipients based on this one. In fact, let's make a little "Oscar"-type statue that looks like Obama, and we'll give that out to all future winners.

The disconnect between Hollywood culture and normal people grows.

"It wasn't rape rape." -- Whoopi Goldberg

Define Artist. Not so easy to do. Now define pedophiliac child rapist. Pretty simple. If Polanski had been, say, a bus driver in Cleveland who had fed Quaaludes and Champagne to a thirteen-year-old girl and then raped and sodomized her, I doubt Jack Lang would be so quick to tell the rest of us about the privileges that come with driving a bus. Jack Lang doesn’t care about bus drivers. Jack Lang cares about Artists.

Let me tell you a few things about the rape of a child. It happened to me. I was raped by my drunken father at the age of four, before the drunken eyes of my mother, so I know what I’m talking about.

That is from a powerful commentary called Polanski's Victim and Me.

At a Salon article arguing the same thing, one of the more ridiculous commenters suggested those who are calling for Polanski's release must be a bunch of Republicans.

Um. Yeah. Woody Allen, Stephen Spielberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Martin Scorsese, the French minister of the Arts, et. al. All Republicans, I'm sure. ;-)

Kudos, btw, to French director Luc Besson -- the auteur behind stylized action films like the Transporter series, The Professional, The Fifth Element, and one of my favorite movies of the last year, Taken -- for refusing to sign the petition of artists calling for Polanski's release. "Nobody should be above the law," Besson said.

There's an abandoned gas station a couple of doors down from the business I work for. From my desk to the gas station is probably less than a three minute walk. Today local cops recovered a baby (alive, thank God!) that had been kidnapped and then dumped like so much garbage in a trash bin behind that old gas station. Supposedly the child was there, alone in the dumpster, for two hours.

Sometimes I think that the most perverse, evil, God-hating generations of the past, throughout all of history, have nothing on us in the 21st Century. But the reality is I'm sure kidnapping and baby-dumping like that are sins nearly as old as Cain and Abel. It's just hard for me to believe that something so evil happened a stone's throw away from where I was sitting today. I wish I had known that baby was in there.