Solomon's Porch and Useless Ramblings

He Made His Last Jump Today

2007-11-30T17:06:00.000-08:00

November 30, 2007
Robert Craig Knievel - age 69, known as Evel Knievel died today. Okay... so that slipped by you with little fanfare or commentary in your life. But to me - a legend died. One long-time friend of his said, "You knew it was coming, but Superman just doesn't die, right?" Why is Evel Knievel's death worth marking? I guess it goes back to his jumps on Wild World of Sports. I was around 12 years old. The fashion was to have a 57 inch bike, ballon tires, a seat off a ten-speed bike (very small) and you could buy bent motorcycle handlebars from the Yamaha shop for $5. Of course the serious 'biker' would strip the chain guard (those are for sissys), fenders (you looked cool with a streak of mud/water or anything else you ran through going up the back of your shirt), and of course, the kick-stand. I was able to jump 8-10 feet off a homemade ramp down my street. Evel Knievel taught me that when you ate pavement after a fall... you get up and walk off. You may cry when you get inside the house - but in front of your friends/fans, you hang tough.

I dreamed of owning a Harley - and that dream became a reality for a time in my life. Evel Knievel; showman, dare-devil, stuntman, movie star, sports figure...... Superman. He made his last jump today. In a time when the cartoon character, Captain America has been lampooned - when we need a hero to show what is good about life in America - Evel Knievel will be missed. It makes me want to go get a bike and ride around the neighborhood.

Christmas Thoughts

2007-11-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

In reading a blog from a friend of mine, I was prompted to put a few thoughts on the screen about Christmas - and our propensity to buy gifts for ourselves and others. I used the analogy of going to a birthday party for someone else, and buying a gift that is for you... or someone who is not even at the birthday party. That seems strange doesn't it? But we do that very thing when we 'celebrate' Jesus' birthday - we buy gifts for ourselves or others and say, "Christmas is about giving gifts!" BULL HOCKEY! Christmas is not about gifts! It is about the Savior of the World, God Himself coming to live among us - in order that we might be saved.

Is that a gift? Oh you know it is. Does it resemble anything that we make Christmas to be? Oh you know it is not!. Now I'm not a Scrooge - far from it. Several years ago while in seminary, a family sent us money to use for our Christmas. Without it, we would not have had a Christmas at all. That same year, someone sent us a card saying that 4 goats, 2 rabbits and a gaggle of geese had been sent to a family through Heifer International in our name. My kids can not tell you one gift they received that year from 'Santa'.... but boy howdy - they still talk about the goats, rabbits and geese. So, which gift honored Jesus the most?

I don't mean we should boycott all stores and gift buying - I'm a little consumer oriented (especially when it comes to hunting stuff), but what if we spent 1/2 the amount of money on ministries such as Heifer International, Fair Trade Coffee, or a host of other avenues?

Oh wait... the Neiman Marcus catalogue just came in the mail today.... got to go flip through and make my list.

The Greatest Love Story

2007-04-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

I read an article by Dr. Maxie Dunnamn concerning the phrase "blessed are the pure in heart" from Matthew Chapter 5 - the Beautitudes. In it he says, "The Bible is one continuous electrocardiogram toward us...". I like that. Scripture that tests and calculates the strength of my heart. Geoffry Clapper worte in "The Heart of the Matter" that (my paraphrase), we may have orthodoxy, and orthopraxis... but only when we have orthokardia (right heart) will be truly attuned to God's love for us and through us.

Maxie asks in his workbook on prayer, ''What is the condition of your heart?" Ouch. Just as we need to care for our physical heart, how more so do we need to care for our spiritual heart?

That's all my theological thoughts for today. Earlier I met with a young woman (22 years old) whose husband died in January, has a one year old child and is pregnant with twins. She does not have her GED, nor does she have a job (she is a high risk pregnancy). I will be meeting with her and a woman from our church who has agreed to be her 'life coach'. When I find myself listening to some blue-haired woman complain about why the candles were not lit on the altar this past Sunday - or why we ran out of bulletins (Praise God... bigger crowds!) - my spirit will go back to the conversation I had this morning with this young mother. Alone and scared... she is what the church should be about. God have mercy on our souls.

Do you ever cry when you read email?

2007-04-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe it has something to do with my age - but it seems that when I read these heart strumming stories of soldiers from Iraq being escorted home in the cargo bay of airliners, with their parents aboard, and the passengers response to these valiant young men (apart from whether or not you agree with the war, these young men are serving rather than running), I end up a weeping mess. Recently a story came to me about a soldier who died the same day as Anna Nicole Smith. It seems the ANS story keeps going and going and going, tying up news broadcasts, while the death of these young men are related in "Another four Marines died in Iraq today as a result of roadside bombs. Now on to other story, defense attorneys in the Anna Nicole Smith custody case have...blah, blah, blah.......".

I read that it is the military at war in Iraq and America is at the mall. Sad. And with the story at Virginia Tech, I imagine we will have our sensibilities pounded on again, about violence, war, guns and how we need to be a more 'tolerant' people. We talk a good talk - and another soldier bleeds on foreign soil for our right to hit the sales at Old Navy.

I've Finally Done It... I Took The Plunge.

2007-04-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

If my wife finds out I've done this... I'm dead meat. I'm always telling her that I don't have time to hang those pictures, put up that shelf, or clean out the closet because, "I'm too busy with really important stuff." When she finds out that I'm 'doing' a blog (just what is it called with you waste your time and others in writing stuff for a blog?), she'll flip!

In this blog, I'll talk about such important things as: what brand of coffee is truly the best; can you say you really have ever lived unless you have tasted a Big Red; and scattered about, a few theological musings and questions. Nothing too deep mind you! I've got enough things to take up countless hours of my valuable time. So bear with me while I learn the art (is this an art form?) of blogging.