Athiests, Buses, and the Lack of British Concern

If you hadn't heard, the same group that ran ads on buses in Washington D.C. that asked the question "Is There A God?" has now put a much more straight-forward message on 800 London buses. The Atheists Bus Campaign is the brain child of British comic who was offended by a Christian web site advertised on a London bus and decided to offer a different message. She started hoping to receive $8k to advertise on a few buses in London, but was surprised to receive over $200k in support once the British Humanist Association took up her cause. As the campaign spreads and future ad buys are pondered, however, what is creating a bit of concern for Christian folks isn't the message itself or those who paid for it, but rather the amount of indifference the campaign is generating among Londoners.... which is considerable.

The reason given for this indifference by Christian leaders overseas is the degree to which how secular London (and for that matter all of Europe) has become. As church attendance among the masses has dwindled to the point that its estimated that only about 7% of Europeans actually attend a church, to be told that there is no God is not necessarily all that culturally offensive. Without a huge following, the church's impact in Europe has become so marginalized that now politicians downplay their religious heritage and beliefs.

We as Americans have a hard time digesting this (not so) new reality across the pond. If you ran these ads on city buses in, say, Atlanta or Houston or Salt Lake City, people would boycott the bus, there'd be hearings on how the ads got printed in the first place, law suits, millions raised for new bus ads for Jesus.... you name it. It would be a total circus.

And yet, what is really interesting to me about all of this is that in Great Britain, and in every other country in Western Europe, there is NO separation between church and state.

None. Zero. Nada.

While I was at Asbury taking some classes toward me currently-stalled doctorate, we spent a week with Steve Chalke, one of the most well-known pastors on the other side of the Atlantic. Over the course of the past decade, the British government has actually pumped tens of millions of dollars into Chalke's ministry, Oasis International, which then uses the money to build schools, medical clinics, and job training centers all over the country. Because the Queen is not only the head of the British state, but also the Church of England, allocating money to religious enterprises creates not a stir in Parliament. Because Chalke's organization is able to provide these services much more efficiently than the British welfare system - which Chalke told us is overwhelmed and failing - Chalke actually receives phone calls from politicians wondering if he take on projects the government can't get to themselves.

(And everyone thought Bush's faith-based initiative funding was so radical)

But here's my point. The naysayers here in the States who claim that by taking religion - and specifically Christianity - out of forums like courtrooms, schools, and places where politicians do their business - we are driving our country in the ground are missing the example of state institutionalized Christianity only one transatlantic flight from Washington DC. Government in Europe embraces Christianity, and has even set it up on a pedestal above all other faith-movements and still, the Christian movement there is slowly dying. Atheists can put whatever they want on buses and nobody cares. Nobody, except the British Methodist Church which is thanking those who started the campaign because it's created discourse over spiritual matters in the public forum. In other words, the Methodists in London are thankful for the buses because otherwise people are thinking or talking about God or religion.

Wrap your brain around that one.

My fear is that American Christians, particularly of the evangelical persuasion, are missing the point when they demonize what they believe to be the secularization of all things government and media. The deeper problem is that Christianity, as it is presented and in terms of how it resonates with people, is losing its impact in western culture. And even if you legislated our faith as being the "Official Faith of the United States of America", according it special protection and even financing, if the transmission of the message of the Gospel and how it's practiced by its followers isn't relevant to people of this time and place, it will continue to fade.

I mean, theoretically, given the protection of our right to speak freely, an atheist should be able to put ads like the one in London on any bus or billboard that they like anywhere in the United States. Only, unlike in London, instead of saying that there is "probably" no God, they could just say here that there is no God. If you read the NY Times article you'll realize that wasn't possible in London because the state's embrace of the Christian religion gave cause to the London metro commission to order the ABC to add the "probably". They couldn't say there was no God because the state recognizes that there is. So you can say there is no God in America, and you can't in Britain.

And so I'll ask again, what does it matter if your faith is protected when nobody practices it?

While the US is a long way away (a lot longer, I think, than the postmodernists like Eddy Gibbs, Brian McLaren, and Leonard Sweet, and post-institutional churchists like George Barna would have us believe) from the kind of secular world that is Western Europe, we must not get wrapped up in the rabbit trail that is worrying about federal, state, or local government infringement on the privileged position we as Christians have enjoyed in this nation since its founding. Considering the American Christian church at best has been slowly declining in attendance, involvement, and influence over the last fifty years, the more important endeavor is to ask how we can help once again breathe life into Christ's message of redemption and reconciliation in the hearts of minds of people in our community so they care about the local church, and the Christian faith, at large.

As I look to preach on this issue specifically, as it relates to the church I serve, my sense is that our emphasis on ritual and gathering must be modified to include individual engagement, and ministry that restores souls, lives, families, neighborhoods, and communities. Ministry that will take effort, creativity, and energy from each one of us on an ongoing, sustained basis. Ministry that will force us to take a long, hard look at the nature of what we have called "evangelism". For years evangelism has been centered on public gatherings where people are told that if they don't choose Jesus they'll go to Hell. Chances are it doesn't matter to somebody that they'll go to Hell if they don't believe it exists.

But is that all we've got? The threat of Hell?

Strangely enough, Chalke's ministry is one of the few that are growing on European soil. People are joining new Oasis communities at rates unheard of for quite some time. Of course, the ministry is feeding the hungry, educating children, and treating the sick. It is now waging a huge campaign to end human trafficking and is training teens to help deal with and confront gang activity in their own communities. That's a far cry from arguing whether or not we should be using hymns or praise choruses, or fighting to put up a nativity scene in a local park. It sidesteps the issue of whether or not mainstream media is biased, and instead engages people at their level of need. Whether they are curious about God, angry at injustice, scared of violence in their neighborhood, or just want to make the world a better place, Oasis is equipped to engage wherever people are at.

And Oasis, I might add, is a movement of people.

Just a little something to think about as you go about your busy day.

Why Tonight's Loss Restored My Hope In OSU Football

It's gonna sound strange, especially after tonight's heartbreaking loss to Texas, but strangely enough my faith in OSU football was restored tonight.

For those who don't know our family eat, drinks, and breathes OSU football. Dad is a grad of THE Ohio State University, and while a student there, I was born at THE Ohio State University Hospital. That's right friends... my first breath of air was taken on sacred Buckeye soil. So my earliest memories consist of watching Archie Griffin run past the Wolverines, Woody Hayes screaming obscenities on the sidelines, and lots of hours sitting my family - father, grandfather, Unc, and later, Brother Esq - watching the Bucks. For seven magical years in the nineties, Mom worked on her undergrad and masters, meaning we got season tickets in the student section, further cementing with each trip to the football shrine that is the Horseshoe, our devotion to our team. It was one of the reasons, after living six years in Illinois and Indiana, I desperately wanted to come back to Ohio. There's nothing like watching a game with the fam on a Saturday afternoon. Every weekend stuck watching the God-forsaken Fighting Irish in Northern Indiana was a reminder that time was too short.

I am a Buckeye, and proud of it.

But the last three years have been a trial for not only Buckeye fans, but Big Ten fans throughout the great Midwest. The last three big non-conference games OSU faced - Florida, LSU, and USC - were all total blowouts. Since the Bucks have been the cream of the conference during that period, each terrible defeat was a reminder of how "slow", "fat", and "mediocre" our team, and our game in this part of the country, had become. And when fans across the country started saying "anybody but OSU in the National Championship" cause they knew the Bucks wouldn't show up, I, and my Buckeye brethren began to dread the national stage.

A stage, I might add for my Auburn friends, their team hasn't stood on since Bo Jackson played there many, many years ago (excluding this fall when Charles Barkley, an alum, called the school the most racist in the country.... they were on the national stage that day).

So when it was announced that the Buckeyes had been selected to go to the Fiesta Bowl to play another national power a few weeks ago, you can imagine the feeling in the collective stomach of Buckeye Nation. Stories were rampant out of Columbus that the university couldn't sell their allotment of tickets. The Lima News ran stories on a travel agent who, only last year, booked sixteen full busloads of Buckeye fans for the B(C)S Championship Game, and this year couldn't book one. And while the economy has tanked, and Ohio is at the bottom of that bowl with Michigan, I can guarantee you that if the team looked unbeatable, those buses would have been full, recession be damned.

Two losses, a squeaker to Penn State, and an embarrassment at USC (which I witnessed live and in person) convinced us that more than likely, we were probably up for another shellacking. That's why people who could have gone, stayed home. And Vegas agreed, making the Bucks anywhere from an 8 to 11 point underdog.

Even the biggest Buckeye fan I know, the Eric the Buckeye (I named him "the Buckeye" for pete's sake) called me today to tell me he had a bad feeling about tonight's game.

"You don't think they'll hang half a hundred on us, do you dude? I don't think I could take another blowout."

To be perfectly honest, I didn't know how to answer him. With the sounds of USC's student section singing "Na, Na, Na, Na - Hey, Hey, Hey - Good-bye" at the end of third quarter back in September, I, like most everyone in this part of the world (cept Dad, who, when it comes to Buckeye football, is Don Quixote in a beard and flannel shirt) weren't excited about tonight. Not at all.

But now, everything has changed. Here's five reasons why:

1) Terrell Pryor: Let's face it, the kid is special and next year he's coming back with a year's experience under his belt. As long as he's standing the Bucks will have a chance.

2) Jim Tressel was Jim Tressel again: Gone was the stoic, stonefaced coach whose sphincter seemed to tighten to unbearable proportions, and back was the guy showing emotion on the sidelines, breathing life and hope into the youngsters on his team. The Buckeyes looked prepared. They made adjustments. They showed up, and that's how Jim Tressel got us to believe in him in the first place.

3) Colt McCoy took a beating tonight: You can bet that every team in the country will remember how badly McCoy got pounded repeatedly all evening, and how they largely neutralized him to bring Texas' Texas sized offense back to earth. If you thought the Bucks D was too slow, you didn't think that by the end of tonight. When they started going man-to-man and busting those receivers on the line at the end of the third, you saw the future of what they'll be doing next year. They are catching up with the rest of the country in terms of defensive speed, and they're only getting faster.

4) We Don't Have To Dread Big Games Anymore: In the third quarter, after Texas scored two unanswered TD's, it looked like the same tired movie: OSU fails to show up for a big game. I even texted Skyscraper Kent to tell him that I was giving up college football for English Premier League Soccer next year. And then... they just put the hammer down on the Texas QB and receivers. And what's more, the O started moving the ball, even taking the lead down the stretch. They might have lost the game, but they didn't roll over. Take notice SEC, Big 12, and Pac 10 fans... a game against OSU is no longer a gimme. Just ask Mack Brown. He hopes he never sees them again.

5) We Got Our Swagger Back: Listen, I know there are no moral victories in college football. A loss by one is the same as a loss by 91. But after tonight, nobody in this state will dread a chance to play on the big stage. I'm sure USC tickets for next fall just got harder to get, and the team leads the whole state in wanting to shut up the naysayers in the south and west. Tonight was the first time they've looked hungry since the Michigan game two years ago. The monkey is off the back, but there's still something to prove and I've a sense that will drive this team all winter long.

I can't wait for next season to begin.

O - H!

I - O!

Mea Culpa - Brother Esq convicts me of being a bad Uncle

Just to keep the record straight, the birth of my nephew, Sammy Dean, is one of my most memorable experiences of the year. I was actually thinking about where to put this momentous event when I got a little sidetracked (Eli, my 3 year old, coming down to find me because he was convinced that Max has taken his favorite penguin... those dreams can seem pretty real) at 3am when I finally finished this post up.

However, the Judge has ruled me "guilty" of being a bad uncle, and now I owe Sam big time.

Well Sam, here's the deal. My house is going to be one of your favorite places on the planet earth. We'll have every toy, a steady stream of cousins to play with, and ice cream in the fridge. If that isn't enough to spoil you, we'll also be taking you to more than your fair share of movies and I'm sure more than a couple of trips to Cedar Point. Thus, my sentence is to love you with all my heart, and help assist your parents raise you right by being the best uncle I can be.

May I throw myself on the mercy of the court and spoil you all your days.

Ten Memorable Moments From 2008 (good, bad, and indifferent)

As I sit here wondering how in the world Cincinnati got into a BCS Bowl when they can't even sellout Nippert Stadium, here are the most memorable moments I had last year.

1) The birth of our fourth son, Tobias Gabriel. Can't say we really planned on ever having four kids, but we thank God for them all. Toby is the smiley happy baby Aimee has always wanted, and given our age we are both thankful for his good disposition. In the last couple of days he's taken his first steps, so time really does fly.

2) The, um, little procedure I had done to make sure we stick with four kids. Thank heavens for frozen peas.

3) Talking on the phone with one of Barak Obama's campaign managers. As I blogged earlier this year, we were in the running to be the church the Obama family worshiped at on Labor Day weekend. They ended up at St. Luke Lutheran, but the experience threw us all for a loop and turned what was normally a quiet weekend into chaos. You should have heard the sermon I wrote for the occasion. I mean how many times would you ever get the chance to preach to a future President of the United States. It would have been a good one.

(Although, I am convinced Jenny Neidich will be a future President, and I preach to her almost weekly, so maybe I've already had my moment in the sun. Just remember Neidich, no calling Rick Warren when you need a pastor to do an invocation at your inaugeration... and no calling Bishman either. Think of the glare of the sun off his head... it would blind your future cabinet.)

4) Anything political I was involved with this year was both a new experience and a ton of fun. I did a lot of grunt work for Glenn Derryberry's campaign for judge, doing everything from walking in parades, to slapping backs and pressing flesh at the Allen Country, and even knocking on doors handing out literature. I was very rewarding when he won (in a landslide).

I also was one of eight co-sponsors of a quasi-debate between the candidates for Allen County Sheriff. I say "quasi" because one of the candidates (the eventual loser) refused to directly debate the other candidate for reasons that ultimately weren't considered all that valid by the voters. Don't be surprised to see my name connected with another debate later in the year when the "no-holds-barred-steel-cage-grudge-match" that will be Lima's Mayoral election takes place later this year.

5) I'm proud of all the new friendships I made this year with pastors throughout the area. It was good to listen to Frank Taylor and Fayne Wise talk about their congregations, past and present. It was good to spend time with Lars Olsen, Dave Harris, and John Heyward. I treasure the friendship that Daniel Hughes and I have built over the last ten months. It's been an honor to work with Steve Blum and LaMont Monford. This city has a lot of great pastors, and its been good to get to know them.

6) Maybe the thing I'm most proud of in the past year was being a point person to help The Future Church move into old Grace UMC building. I can't say the experience itself was all that great. It was a bit like trying to eat a tough 96 ounce steak without teeth. But it was all worth it to sit in the congregation on the evening of the consecration service and see TFC's praise team rap a pseudo-rendition of "Amazing Grace". They're a young congregation with big dreams. It was good to help move those dreams a little closer to reality.

What's more, while I'm disappointed that the District Trustees didn't opt to just give the church the building, I am convinced that we, as United Methodists, have a chance now to impact the south end of Lima in ways we have not been able, or willing, to engage. While the West Ohio Conference has focused ample efforts in terms of urban ministry in our bigger cities, Lima has always been overlooked and neglected in terms of deploying the necessary resources or leadership to reach folks in the inner city. As our influence in Lima has slowly diminished, we have the chance in partnership together as Lima-area UM churches, and ecumenically with other partner congregations, start engaging the local population in ways that were necessary 30 or 40 years ago. We have a great new chance to do something good for this community. Let's not blow it.

7) I was given the gift of getting to travel around the country interviewing people for my on-going dissertation research. I got to meet UM-preaching legend Zan Holmes, Gene Getz (founder of the Fellowship Bible Church movement), and a lady whose son-in-law is Alan Bristow, a former head coach of the Charlotte Hornets. But the height of my experience was an unexpected 90 minute interview with Bishop Timothy Whitaker of the Florida Annual Conference.

In what was by far a much more frank and honest interview than I could have ever expected, I heard a UM bishop describe a future for our denomination that I could believe in. A future that is much less bueracratic and more local church oriented. A future where pastoral training takes place more in a local church setting and less in an ivory tower seminary. The question, of course, is whether or not as a denomination we will choose this future pro-actively, or because finances force us to go in a different direction. Hopefully Bishop Whitaker will write a book, engage the other bishops in much needed dialog, and help move us forward as a Christian movement.

8) Any moment with friends in 2008 was a good one. Whether it was time with Kent Reynolds and Chris Heckaman on a pastoral retreat in August, lunch with Roger Rhodes, or blessing bikes with Larry Inskeep, the year was filled with great moments and great memories. Nothing though, quite topped a long weekend spent with Eric the Buckeye, Dr. Mango, and The First Husband in Southern California, where we saw the Buckeyes get pounded by USC. Outside of the game, it was a great time where a pastor hung out with three doctors, shopping for pens (doctors, for those who didn't know, spend a lot of time shopping for expensive pens, and know quite a bit about them, which, by the way, seems at odds with the fact that you can't read a word they write), eating good food, and playing a lot of euchre. A good time was had by all.

9) We did a lot of cool things as a family this past year, but as in the previous summer, our highlight was a week-long vacation at Eric the Buckeye and Vanessa the Raider's lakehouse. Lots of swimming, boating, jet-skiing, eating, and movie watching commenced. Even a $100 ticket from the local county sheriff for pulling my kids around on an intertube with out a spotter on the back of the jet ski (should have read those Michigan water laws a little more closely). This led to my going to the Branch County Courthouse, and one of my favorite paragraphs I wrote this year on this blog:

My misadventure Sunday afternoon with a very nice deputy (who is a High School teacher the other nine months of the year he isn't educating dumb tourists via tickets about Michigan's boating laws) though led me to an unexpected encounter the next day at the Branch County Courthouse. While I waited at the window for the clerk to process my fine, I saw a woman with an honest-to-goodness coffee-can-lid-sized pentagram tattoo on the side of her neck. It was unbelievable. My father-in-law once told me that you should never get a tattoo in a place that can't be hidden from a judge. Let's just say that this lady needed one serious turtleneck to make that happen. I overheard enough her discussion with her lawyer(?) to realize that she was well acquainted with the folks at the Branch County Courthouse. On my way out, I told her how striking her tattoo was. Her response...

"It gives me (how can I make this up) all the power of the underworld, which is why I will prevail here today."

Ummmm... right. The look on her lawyer's face as she said this was a cross between "I wish I had gotten that I.T. degree" and "I think somebody ate my cat". And who knows, by the looks of things, maybe somebody had.

I called Brother Esq to tell him about it later. His response... "I'm a lawyer who does defense work. I see that stuff every day. You gotta get out of that church of yours a little more."

Not worth the entire cost of the fine.... but close.

10) Aimee and I celebrated our 18th Anniversary in August. And for all those who were worried, this Christmas I did a little better than spackling in her stocking. Let's just say my beloved is well-pleased.

For those new to the blog, here are ten posts from the archives I think you'll enjoy:

1) Top Ten names I wanted for Toby that Aimee would never allow.
2) My inability to simply pick up someone from the airport without scaring my grandmother to death.
3) The best advice I could muster for future Asbury Seminary Beeson Fellowship candidates.
4) Me walking in my wife's bible study in my underwear.
5) Some poetry I wrote after taking a late night walk with my sons.
6) This is the most viewed set of posts I've ever written. They are are about my experience at Holy Trinity - Brompton, one of the most influential churches in the world. The posts were discovered by an attendee at the church who linked it on his blog, which was then read by thousands of Londoners. Here are Part 1 and Part 2.
7) This is the first of a four part series I wrote while spending a week with post-modern Christian thinker Brian McLaren and noted British pastor Steve Chalke. This was probably the highlight (besides going to London) of my Beeson experience.
8) Here's a post where I give the Jonas Brothers a hard time for butchering a classic 80's song.
9) Here's a post detailing a conversation I had with friend and local pastor, Bubba Rummel, regarding Jeremiah Wright.
10) A very early post I wrote after watching two hours of MTV one late evening.

Happy New Year!

I Once Got My Wife Spackling For Her Birthday

I'll never get out the doghouse.

Freedom for a Disciple of Jesus

(This is a rough outline of the sermon I gave at the building dedication for The Future Church of Tomorrow)

I've been asked today to speak to the issue of freedom. What "freedom" is for a disciple of Jesus Christ.

In the 16th Chapter of Acts, we read that Paul and Silas travel to the port city of Philippi. There they encounter a young girl, who the scripture says is possessed by demons. The girl, who works as a fortune teller for men who make a living off her misery, follows Paul and Silas for a couple of days, telling all who would listen, "These men are God's servants who have come to tell you how to be saved." Finally, Paul gets fed up. He casts out the demons and the girl is free.

Free of the evil spirits.
Free of men who would exploit her.
Free to get on with her life.

But when the men who had taken a shortcut to make a living found out they had lost their meal ticket, they got angry. So they lobbied the city fathers, used the system, and had Paul and Silas imprisoned. Imprisoned in the deepest dungeon of the city jail.

Imprisoned men, who spent the night, not in despair, but praising God, singing his praises.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind but now I see."

A great earthquake strikes the city. The shackles of all the prisoners, bolted into the walls, fall useless to the ground. The prisoners, who have been listening the singing all evening, and the singers themselves can now leave anytime they like.

But strangely enough.... nobody moves.

The jailer, arriving on the scene, thinking all is lost, draws his sword to take his own life, only to be stopped by a voice from the darkness.

"Don't do it. We are all here."

The jailer puts away his sword, and after listening to the prisoners, the peace they've found, for it's peace they've lacked, invites Paul and Silas to his home where all the members of the household are baptized.

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares. I have already come. Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."

Freedom is boldly proclaiming a message of forgiveness and love to all willing to listen, and offering grace to those who don't.

Freedom is offering liberation to those who are oppressed, while fearlessly standing up to their oppressors.

Freedom is a willingness to do what is right, even if it might mean our liberty is comprimised, but our bodies might be imprisoned, but not our souls.

Freedom is offering comfort, singing sweet words of mercy to those who need to hear it the most.

Freedom is trusting in God to stay, instead of flee when the walls come tumbling down and the shackles come off our hands and feet because there's still work to be done.

Freedom is to offer real justice to those who only know the world's justice, only to realize there is something better for they and their family.

Freedom looks past Jew and Gentile, slave and free, rich and poor, male and female, black and white and red and yellow and every color of the rainbow.

Freedom looks past urban and suburban, denominational and non-denominational, evengelical and progressive, high church and low church.

Freedom knows the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

Freedom doesn't just apologize for the past, but makes the present right, while giving hope for the future.

Freedom demands justice, but only justice on God's terms.

Freedom believes a mother can change her community.

Freedom believes a child can make a way where there is no way.

Freedom doesn't believe a grandmother or grandfather is too old.

Freedom craves a father's love and guidance.

Freedom can take our family out of our comfort zone into the dangerous world of God's liberating, upending love.

Freedom is knowing that there is a father to the fatherless, and a mother to the motherless.

Freedom can speak the truth in love and leave arrogance to the pretenders.

Freedom loves justice and won't rest until all know her warm embrace.

Freedom knows this our moment and won't waste it on old animosities and resentments. Won't waste it on fear and anxiety. Won't waste it on old labels, old divisions, old differences, and old ways of thinking.

Freedom makes all things knew.

Freedom will make new friends, befriend old enemies, and rejoice as the lion lays down with the lamb.

And freedom dictates that today should only be the beginning of something new. A re-dedication of ourselves to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who call us to bring comfort to the afflicted, and affliction to the comfortable.

Together. You. Me. All of us. Choosing this day whom we will serve. Freely.

That, in my humble opinion, is what freedom is.

Let it be so. Let it be so.

Ten Things I Think I Think

1) Great video report on the web site of the New York Times on a public defender working in Miami Dade County, Florida. While I watched it I thought about Brother Esq, who is in private practice doing mostly criminal defense work. Lately, as the birth of his son (Baby Sammy) nears, Brother Esq has been putting in yeoman's hours on a host of cases. His biggest challenge though, recently, has been preparing briefs for a case that his firm picked up that will be appearing before the Ohio Supreme Court. He's been preparing pre-trial briefs and trial briefs and other briefs that he explains to me, but because I'm dumb preacher I don't quite understand. As he nears his one-year anniversary of passing the Ohio Bar, he now drives to court houses across far northwestern Ohio. On any given day you might find him in Fremont, Port Clinton, Bowling Green, Toledo, or Sandusky. He's a member of the Benovolent Order of the Elks now (the lodge is across from his Fremont office) and is getting leaned on by me fairly regularly to start attending the Lutheran Church across the street from the home he and the lovely Melissa purchased earlier this year in Perrysburg

Brother Esq mainly does criminal defense work because while he was in law school he clerked at the Public Defenders office in Lucas County. It was interesting to hear how my very politically conservative brother was affected during those years. His two years spent with people stuck in the system, facing lawyers better resourced with a lesser caseload than he (clerks in the Defender's office, once certified, can handle your case), prosecuting attorneys looking to manipulate the system for their own gain, and judges who want to keep things moving kind of tempered his view of the relationship between justice and the state. In particular, a case he didn't handle but involved the father of a friend of his, was for him an egregious example of how those in power can manipulate the idea of "guilty until proven innocent", particularly if the media has decided they are guilty.

The stories he shared with me during that time, the ones involving petty drug dealers/addicts who would intentionally get arrested when the weather turned cold so they could stay warm in jail, a retarded woman who was arrested for shoplifting when she was just trying to see if the new shoes she was looking to buy felt comfortable walking on the sidewalk, and the tales of an unscrupulous prosecuting attorney who tried to muscle a young law student who wouldn't back down, have convinced me that while our system isn't perfect, its better than most alternatives out there. It also convinced me that defense attorneys keeps us further away from tyranny and governmental oppression than we know.

2) Which leads me to this... why are all the most important jobs so incredibly underfunded? Whether it's public defense offices, social agencies, police and fire departments, public agencies commissioned to keep our infrastructure up and running, or local school budgets, my experience has been the accusations of administrative largess are minimal compared to the impact underfunding is having on how well these basic services function. How strange it is has been to see over a trillion dollars get spent by the Federal Government to bail out banks and corporations that that shareholders and executives together mismanaged, while, for example, our recently re-elected juvenile court judge, Glenn Derryberry, will see thousands of cases this year with a minimal budget and staff.

If the election is any indication, my confusion over the state of the country is shared by many others. The whole theory of large fiscal entities driving the economic engine for us all might sound good in theory, but the interests of these entities don't necessarily mirror the interests of the general public (hence the steady sucking sound of midwestern jobs going all over the world). Even more specific, when we're talking about huge amounts of money, the possibility for greed and malfeasance grows. And how strange it was to have heard Alan Greenspan, of all people, admit that the mistake that these huge corporate entities would self-regulate themselves to protect their shareholders.



Any C+ theology student could tell you that the reality of sin makes this unlikely. The stories deriding the ballooning salaries and bonuses of corporate CEO's have long been a staple in our nation's periodicals, particularly since the Enron scandals. The temptation to walk away with millions at the expense of the company's stability proved too great for individuals to pass up. Why more blame hasn't been put on these folks, and the shareholders who fostered this culture as opposed to the government pushing sub-prime loans is beyond me. And why more fiscal conservatives aren't calling for additional governmental oversight of corporate accounting, trade, and investment practices doesn't seem all that fiscally responsible, or appropriately conservative. Accountability creates efficiency. Lack of accountability creates inefficiency, meaning essential services in our communities remained, and remain underfunded, while the country sinks deeper in debt.

3) Quick note, do remember John McCain saying this:



Well, lo and behold what kind of health care do they have in Ireland, the land of low business taxes and economic opportunity? If you guessed, "Quasi-Nationalized", you would be correct. About 47% of the Irish have private health insurance, while the rest hold a national health card. All Irish citizens are given free emergency health, dental, optical, and aural care. With small businesses and non-profits struggling under the weight of health insurance obligations - or just eliminating the benefit to their employees altogether - a great opportunity rests with the Democrats to do something about health care that will not only improve care, while making our businesses more competitive in the global marketplace.

Of course in Ireland, if you sue somebody, and lose, you have to pay all of your costs, and your opponents, hence far fewer frivolous lawsuits. But If you think those are mutually exclusive ends - government involvement in health care and making business competitive - just listen to John McCain and take a look at Ireland. Apparently it can be done.

4) This fascinating tidbit just in: Beth Riggs, my aunt, and her daughter Allison are in Lima for a visit. They represent the Utah wing of the family. On the first night we were catching up, I happened to ask Allison, who has a couple years of college under her belt, if there was a guy in her life right now. She responded in the affirmative. Guess what his name is?

Alex Riggs. They are both called "Al" by their respective families (who are not related, thank goodness).

Al and Al Riggs. Just think, if they get married, Allison could hyphenate her name: Allison Riggs-Riggs.

This will never stop being funny to me. Never.

5) I like the new look Cavs. I underestimated the value of signing Mo Williams in the off season. I always thought of him as a purely "shoot first" point guard. His emergence, plus moving Delonte West to the shooting guard position - where he not only shoots well, takes the ball to the whole, gets the fast break started, but also plays pretty good D - has made over the Cavs offense. Last year, Coach Mike Brown's idea of offense was to clear out the middle of the floor, give it to LeBron, and say "have at it, big guy." What made this such a waste was that aging center, Zydrunas Ilgauskas is one of the best shooting and passing big men in the game. By moving the ball, and getting it into both Z and LeBron's hands, the floor opens up and the team can score. I've watched them three times this year and there's no mystery as to why LeBron's shooting percentage has taken off. With an open floor and an occasional fast break, he's getting open shots in the paint. Very exciting, and a testament as to how important a good point guard that can initiate the offense is in basketball. Now if they can trade Wally Szczerbiak's expiring contract for one more outside shooter (Michael Redd.... please!?!) this could be the Cavs year.

6) As for the Buckeyes, the new freshman QB is the real deal. Eric the Buckeye is convinced the team needs a new offensive coordinator to get back to national prominance. Then again, Eric the Buckeye has been calling for senior QB Todd Boeckman to be re-inserted to the lineup, so maybe we shouldn't trust him with sharp knives, let alone the offensive future of The Ohio State University.

I mean, come on Eric the Buckeye... why go backwards with a guy who is graduating in a few weeks? The future is now. You gotta run with the future. There's no BCS bowl waiting for this team, and they aren't talented enough, particularly on both lines, to warrant such an invitation. They're going to a bowl named after a franchised steakhouse or financial institution. So let the Terrell Pryor Era continue.

That said, while I do enjoy tweaking Eric the Buckeye, I do think he has a point when he wonders aloud why the Bucks always have a Top Ten recruiting class but the linemen always seem to look slow. We've got a problem in our strength and conditioning staff building linemen a "Three Yards and Cloud of Dust" coach would die for in a "Spread Offense" era. You watch a Texas Tech, Alabama, and even a (gulp) Florida and you see linemen who are fast. The knowledge that Tim Tebow has so much more time to throw the ball makes watching Alex Boone getting spun around like a turnstile that much harder to watch. Until they get this under control there will be no redemption from two national championship blowouts and the drubbing at the hands of USC.

7) Great interview on Charlie Rose last night with Bill Ackman, manager of one of the country's largest hedge funds. While Ackman's comments regarding the contribution hedge funds made toward this financial mess were more than a little self-serving, his take on the cause of the crisis is right on. Financial institutions were over-leveraged (holding a dollar for every 30 or 40, or in Fannie and Freddie's case, 100 dollars they loaned out) and the corporations that issued bonds to insure the risk were over-valued by those rating how solid they were. Hence, while the internet bubble took mostly cash that investors knew was a high risk investment, in this crisis the cash that is disappearing is cash investors thought they were putting into low-risk, AAA rated bonds. This is effecting the incomes of retirees who thought they were avoiding high risk investments.

The upshot of this is that I believe that while in the past churches were one of the few non-profit organization who were largely insulated from a downturn in giving during a recession (thanks to the high level of commitment of their parishioners), this time around we're all feeling the pinch. Remember that the average age of the parishioner in this country in every denomination and non-denominational church has continued to rise over the last twenty years. Part of this can be attributed to the large number of baby-boomers getting older, and part of it can be attributed to the failure of churches to attract younger members (more on that later). But as we become increasingly dependent on retirement income, a collapse in the derivative market that was supposedly solid will be felt more fully. Couple that with the decline in investment income churches will be looking at as their foundations and endowments decline, and maybe the unwritten story thus far regarding this crisis is the inability of churches to assist people in a period of real need.

To date, SUMC hasn't been hit nearly as hard as what I'm hearing other churches are dealing with, but the end to this story hasn't been written yet. Churches, as a rule, tend to receive a large portion of their giving in the last six weeks of the year when congregants are a) making up deficiencies in their pledges and b) taking the advice of their accountant as they review their income tax situation for the year. The surge in giving in both quarters I think will be somewhat muted in many, many churches compared to years past, so we won't know the full extent of this until February when after what is historically a cash-poor month (January, when Christmas purchases come due) we have some idea as to what our overall cash position is.

8) Tremendous interview with McCain last night on The Tonight Show. If you missed it, here it is, and part 3 is particularly poignant as the veteran shares a story from his POW experience.







9) Congrats to Judge Glenn Derryberry on a well-run, honorable, and successful campaign. I thought Glenn showed a lot of grit and class as he built a coalition of both Democrats and Republicans who believed in his candidacy. I was proud to lend my name and effort to the cause.

10) Finally, I had the pleasure of organizing with seven colleagues of mine a forum for the two candidates running for Allen County Sheriff. Since one of the candidates refused to debate the others (don't ask), we hastily organized a forum where the two candidates in separate settings could respond to the issues that mattered to us. It was a particularly rewarding experience because we crossed the spectrum of theology, culture, and race, all along truly working together for the common good. Special thanks to Dave Harris, LaMont Monford, Daniel Hughes, Lars Olsen, Fayne Wise, Frank Taylor, and Steve Blum for a good experience.