Halloween and the Electoral Process

So here we are: October 31. A great day for candy. A great day for fun. Also a day for many Christians to feel uncertain about participating or not. Well, let me add my two cents. Tonight, I am taking a bumblebee, a butterfly, and a ladybug through the town to go trick-or-treating. We do not celebrate anything. We have nothing to do with any delinquent behavior that goes on this night. We do not participate in any devilish or occultish activities. In fact, our acquisition of candy is in no way an endorsement of any of those things. Go out and have fun. I have great memories of Halloween from my childhood, and a lot of them include Charlie Brown. If, as Christians, we are going to come down and say, "We can have nothing to do with this day because of the origins and the evil that takes place," then we must have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. The origin of Christmas is in paganism. We have no way to know the exact date of Jesus' birth, and we just took over a pagan celebration and turned it into a Christian one. There is a whole lot of over-commercialization of Christmas, and still we can participate in all those activities with no blight on our consciences. Halloween is just a day. Nothing more, nothing less. Have fun. Get candy.

Speaking of dressing up in costumes, this is also the season when many people dress up like people who actually care about you. Television is full of commercials of people saying, "I know you. I care about you. I will take care of you." When in fact, what they mean is, "I want power. I want prestige. I want money that I have to do very little to earn." Politicians are the greatest at this whole Halloween thing because we seem to buy it every time. Don't get me wrong. I think you should vote. Vote your conscience. But do not put a whole lot of trust in the people you are voting for, be they Republican or Democrat. There are several issues that are important, and I will pay more attention to those than to who is in the majority of the House or Senate. Think about it: when George H. W. was in the White House, the Democrats had enough of a majority in BOTH houses to override any veto he handed down. Still, very little was accomplished. From Clinton's first mid-term election on, Republicans won the majority and gained throughout his Presidency and W. Bush's first mid-term election. And again, they really let down the people who pushed them through in their elections. George Washington spoke against the two-party system for a reason. Too bad we did not heed more attention as a country.

So to wrap up: go trick-or-treating, tonight and on Election Day. Have fun. Tonight because you get a lot of candy; next week because you get to watch the 5th major sport in this country.

This too shall pass

So many great things have been happening the last couple of days. It's actually a little bit scary. As my friend, Mike, reminds me when things are going well: "This too shall pass." Whether we are struggling or rejoicing, the moment will pass. If we are having a really bad day, that day is going to end. If we are having a really good day, that day is also going to end. The struggle is to live life for that day and that day only. While we can do our best to plan for the future and try and be ready for whatever may happen, we must not try to live there. Today, things are going real well. I was invited to preach on December 3 at PCC, we were able to do something nice for a friend of ours, I received my 1 year coing (albeit 4 months late) from my sponsor, and we saw a bunch of friends we have been missing. This has definitely been a welcome change from both of us struggling in different ways at work and being tired most of the time. I am going to enjoy today. And if I wake up tomorrow and everything absolutely stinks, I am going to say, "Thank you, God, for another day. Give me the strength to endure." And you know what, He will.

God bless your day.

Good News For RED SOX Fans

It looks like A-Rod is staying with the Yankees! How great is that? Do you realize that Yankee 3rd basemen Scott Brosius and Aaron Boone were more clutch in the playoffs than Alex?

On the personal side....

We are leaving for Rochester early tomorrow morning. We will be gone from Wednesday through Monday or Tuesday. I don't go back to work until next Wednesday. Whooopeee! Hopefully, we will finish up the house closing details.


I do my best to avoid politics in almost all phases of my life, but I must say this. A certain official of a certain university who used to hold a certain Cabinet position for a certain President said recently that 12 or 13 one game suspensions and 2 indefinite suspensions (one now lifted after only one game) equals 18 indefinite suspensions (none re-instated as of yet). This person also said, "The buck stops with me," and "I did not watch the tape." I guess all of this is okay depending on what your definition of "is" is.


Can anybody lose and not try to point out that the opponent had to be cheating? On the other hand, when you do cheat and get away with it, why not go ahead and admit it? Game 2 is over and the Cardinals did not protest. Kenny Rogers could say it was pine tar inside his glove to cover up the sandpaper and nothing would happen. Three good games in a row, the best thing for the Tigers is to win this thing in 5. (Oh wait..........)


I mentioned Rochester, did I mention that on Sunday we will NOT be going to Lawson Road (where I used to preach)? Should I feel guilty about that?


Speaking of preaching, I have submitted a resume and sermon tapes to Princeton Community Church. Stay tuned.................


The Civil War was fought over slavery. Get over it, admit it, deal with it, stop wasting your time trying to convince yourself otherwise.


As a preacher, I was able to confront people on their performance as it related to their faith, but as a Wegmans supervisor, I find that difficult. Strange, since (in my humble opinion) faith matters relate to where we spend eternity; Wegmans matters relate to how many cases of canned fruit I should have ordered today.


Our store is already displaying Christmas stuff and I am EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


2+2=4


I still haven't fixed that door that I showed all of you the picture of in an earlier post.


I'm going to stop writing now.

Sorry It's Been So Long

Wow, it seems like a lot has happened since my last post, but really not much has happened. Mostly work struggles (I can DO the job well, it's getting OTHERS to do the job well I am not so good at). Well, tomorrow night late (or early Thursday morning) we will be going to Rochester. We are going to clean up the house one more time, make sure everything is empty, and tie up the loose ends we need to so that the sale can through in 3 weeks!

One thing I want to mention in this post is what I believe to be the most impressive adjective for God: Holy. Holy, holy, holy. Set apart, divine, honored above all else. I love the imagery in Isaiah 6. The prophet knew that God was so holy and he was so not that just to be in the presence of God would mean his death. Ultimate perfection. So much poetry and hymnology has been written around that word: holy.

Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty
Early in the morning my song shall rise to Thee
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty
God in three persons, blessed trinity.


Holy is the Lamb.


You are holy, holy, holy God.
I want to be wholly yours.


God is a holy God. However, he allows us to approach Him at any time. He is greater than our world, greater than our lives, yet we can enter into His presence at any time. What a wonderful God.

May God's holiness bless your life today.

Why I Should NOT Do Home Projects On My Own

If you do not see what is wrong with this picture, you are probably related to me.

When Tragedy Strikes

I find that my own reactions to tragedy tend to vary. For some reason, when a sports figure is involved, it seems to highten my reaction. Perhaps this is because I watch and listen to so many sports-related shows; therefore, I hear more about these stories.

What struck me today was something I heard from the WFAN talk show, Mike and the Mad Dog. Chris Russo (the Mad Dog) mentioned that two days ago he was ripping Lidle when he called in to defend himself. Obviously, a sports show host talking bad about somebody has nothing to do with any tragedy that may befall him, but it does make the situation hit home more. I loved to hear people picking on Lidle during his brief stint with the Yankees. He did not do well for the team and fans here were ripping him for it. I also live in an area where I pick up Philly sports stations, and they were not overly sad that he left their team, either.

I guess the point I am trying to get to is this: I will praise or rip a sports figure based upon who I root for and how they perform almost as if they are not human. I cry, at times, watching certain TV shows or movies even though I know the stories are not real. I tend to treat sports stories the same way. I react to players and teams with harsh words saying things that are not appropriate on any level. I rationalize to myself that it is okay because, "It is just sports." And then something happens like the events of today. A father, a husband, a son, a friend, a co-worker, a human being died, along with another human being (whom I know nothing about). Not an "enemy pitcher," not a bum, not anything other than a living, breathing, human being. The two who died today died suddenly and tragically. It is a reminder of how precious life is and the place sport ranks in the importance of life.

I just wonder how long this lesson will stay with me. I will probably forget it in a couple of weeks. If the World Series participants are Detroit and St. Louis (two teams Lidle has no connection to) this story will go away and be an afterthought in less than a week. If this was just a plane crash with two people who had no celebrity whatsoever, it would be forgotten much sooner. Because of that, I wonder: what is the greater tragedy?

It's Good to be Lucky, Make That Blessed

In worship yesterday, we sang "What a Wonderful Maker." The following is one line in the song: "With the strength of a Savior, and the heart of a Father...."

It struck me during the singing of that song that I know how much God loves me. I know how much He takes care of me. The primary reasons I know so much about God and His love are the people I call Mom and Dad. Although God is referred to as Heavenly Father, He exhibits as many motherly characteristics as He does fatherly. My mom and dad have loved me more that any parent has ever loved a child (I realize I may have some bias leading me to that statement.) I know God loves me because my parents love me. I know God will provide for me because Mom and Dad have provided for me. I know God was sitting on the porch waiting for my return (cf. Luke 15, The Prodigal Son), because my parents welcomed me with loving arms and forgiving tears.

Mom, Dad, if you two read this post, please know how thankful I am to my God that I know Him. And remember that I know Him because through your actions and your words you taught me about Him. Thank you, both. I love you. Thank you, God, for blessing me in a way that not everyone is blessed. I hope my life will exhibit how thankful I truly am.

God bless you.

It's All Over!

What an incredible weekend. A-Rod solidified his place in sports history as one of the worst athletes EVER when the game counts and the Yankees continued their World Series drought (now three times as long as the Red Sox World Series drought).

What really bothers me is that General Mills owes an entire generation an apology. I remember growing up how big a deal it was whenever an athlete made it on the cover of a Wheaties box. It was always after some incredible sporting feat or a championship run. The cover was reserved only for the greats. Currently, the highest paid player in sports is covered on the box of cereal and his only credential is being the best player on the worst team for a span of a few seasons. Now, he is just one of a collection of "superstars" who cannot win. The Yankees, Redskins, Orioles, and others are continuing to learn (or perhaps, not learn) that compiling a roster based upon the backs of cards is not a recipe for success.

Today is a good day to be a Yankee hater. Living in this area of the country will be even sweeter as I can hear all sorts of Yankee fans call for trades, firings, etc. It should be fun.

Just so you know...

A-Rod: 1 for 8, 4 K's, no RBI, .115 last 10 post-season games, makes Phil Mickelson look clutch.

Baseball Issues

Just to get some baseball stuff out of the way: the Yankees, led by A-Rod, will not even be playing in the World Series, much less winning it. Cal Ripken, Jr. is the most over-rated baseball player of all time with the most over-rated, over-hyped record in the history of sport. He was a great shortstop, nowhere near the greatest. And playing baseball everyday is not really all that impressive, sorry. Any sport that you can play for an entire week and all of a sudden realize, "Gee, I never broke a sweat," is a sport that should be played every day. You went to work, Cal, good for you. My high school biology teach never missed a day of classes in about 18 years. THAT is impressive. And all of Rickey Henerson's records are more beneficial for a team.

Now for the big issue. Two reporters are sitting in jail for reporting leaked grand jury testimony, and I am happy. I hope they stay there for a long time. No parole. Solitary confinement. Only bread and water. Regular beatings by either guards or inmates. (Okay, maybe that's a bit overboard). It really irritates me that people act as if these two reporters have done something noble that will benefit all of makind. In fact, all they have done is exactly what they wanted to do: make a name for themselves and make money. When the Founding Fathers framed the Consitution, they wanted a free press that would be able to take a stand against injustices by government. I highly doubt that violating the civil rights of any individual in order to make a profit is the type of thing intended to be protected by the First Amendment. If Barry Bonds is indeed guilty of using steroids, so what? I believe one of the reporters on ESPN's PTI several weeks ago who said Bonds' only crime is being a black man who dared pass Babe Ruth's home run mark (not record, mark; Babe Ruth has not had the home run record for 4 decades). I do not believe the issue is totally race-related because Barry Bonds genuinely seems to a not nice person. A lot of the stuff he endures is because of his "I'm better than you attitude." So because he is not liked, because he is approaching a hallowed record, sports fans the world over believe it is okay that two reporters release leaked grand jury testimony? We know for a fact they broke the law. We know for a fact they violated someone's civil rights. Many poeple only assume Bonds used steroids because he actually gained weight as he got older. The reporters got what they wanted: notoriety and money. I hope it serves them well in orange jumpsuits.

P.S. If Bonds did use steroids, let us also remember that he NEVER broke a rule. Performance enhancing drugs have only been against baseball's rules during the past 3 seasons in which all players have been tested. You can bet if people are so willing to violate Bonds' civil rights, Bud Selig will be running to the first reporter who will listen if Bonds ever fails a test.