« Page 2 of 2

Do you ever look at someone and think they have latent terroist capabilities? Liar. Well, I do. It's probably from a stereotypical perspective, but who knows, maybe I have a future as an airport security screener. In high school, I remember this one kid named Micah Broadsky. Make sure you roll the "r" when you say that for the full effect of the last name. I think it's Russian. Anyway, he was a 10th grader who left mid-day to take math classes at the University of Washington Graduate School because our high quality private school wasn't "challenging" him enough. No doubt, Micah was very smart but he had the social skills of a 5-year-old. I kid you not, he threw temper tantrums and cursed at teachers when he got a low score. He didn't know how to share, how to be respectful, or how to hold a normal conversation. I always thought Micah would snap one day; like he would do something crazy and blow up the school. People used to think I was joking when I said that but i was VERY serious. Micah was smart, but Micah had issues. Unfortunately, in this country, the first outweighs the latter. Teachers could care less that Micah didn't know how to relate to people because he got good grades right?

Airport security cracks me up. It is a joke. If you're silly enough to believe that they really give a hoot about you and your loved ones being safe on that airplane, you're in for a ride. Literally. It's all a big show to keep you flying. Or in other words, to keep you paying. If somebody wants to do something horrible on a plane, they will find a way to do it. No amount of security or bullet proof doors can stop someone whose intentions are wicked. Hijacking is all about manipulation anyway. How can five people overpower 150 passengers? The same way a politician can gain votes from the masses or the psychic hotline racks up millions: manipulation.

The media baffles me. Columbine. Scott Peterson. Bill Clinton. Martha Stewart. Everyone was shocked.
"How could they?"
"I never saw it coming."
"But he was such a nice guy."
"I just don't understand."
Woeful tales of nation-wide distress caused by significant heartbreak in human morality. It is interesting how we pin certain people as having a propensity to commit certain crimes and then when someone who doesn't fit that mold does so, we are shocked. We have discussions around the water cooler about how disappointed we are and how things like this never happen in our neighborhood. All the while, we fail to realize that the piece of the puzzle at work here is sin. In come the smoke screens,

"Well, we need stricter gun control laws."
"Well I heard that he really had psychological problems. Plus, I don't think he was happy in his marriage."
"What a man does in his bedroom is his own business."
"She had a rough childhood."

All masks for the reality that is really at work on the earth. When we are disconnected from God, we are capable of doing anything. Yes, there are various factors as work, but separtion from God is number one. I don't care how educated you are, how much money you make, or how good of a family upbringing you had, God never designed us to live apart from Him. When we do so, we blow it. I know I do. So as I listen to commentators try to give their solutions and rationale as to why people do the things that they do it is as if they are beating the air. It's all bunk because no one wants to fess up to the fact that people are just people, and the idea of bad people and good people is not "relative". God clearly defines the standards for what is "good" in His sight. While universities have designed courses around "Ethics" and companies are establishing "Ethics Departments" God makes it simple for us. He tells us what's right and what's wrong.

While driving the other day, I saw a billboard. On it, was a picture of Ghandi and child, and the words read in big bold letters, "CHARACTER - Pass it on." The message I assume, was urging people to pass on character to children. And what better example of character than the non-violent message of Ghandi! Nice feel good words right? Since we're a morally relative society, I assume that means, don't steal, don't kill, try not to lie, be on time, and pick up after yourself. Oh, and don't hate. Character is romanticized. We're in love with the idea, but much of the world is unsure of what it really means, what it looks like, or how to achieve it. The sad part is, we credit good works, talent and skill over character these days. Look at the icons of our society, leaders, lawmakers, artists. It's usually not until something terribly bad happens that we start to ask the character questions. Even then, we don't know how to navigate the discussion, so we start making up excuses and generating laws and programs. It is a problem that I pray our generation works to change. No amount of psychological profilers can consistently pin a terroist, a murderer, a thief, or a liar until they deal with the spirit of the man. And that has nothing to do with outward appearance.

 

Dean quits the race. We need to get this guy into the body of Christ. He's tenacious. LOL

 

This morning, on the way out the door, I caught a commercial for an upcoming Deborah Norville interview. The clip went something like this, "Tired of your kids being shown violence? Well some are saying Mel Gibson's new movie the Passion of Christ is entirely too violent." This could be its own expository essay. The average kid's so desensitized to violence these days, I'm sure little Tommy will be fine. As for the media, I say sob sob sob, cry me a river. I've not seen the movie, but I can predict that their depiction of Christ's death doesn't even come close to reality. I believe it was the most horrendous crime ever committed against another man. Unfathomable. And I am so thankful for it because God only knows where I'd be right now without Christ's redemption power. A mess.

Political Columnist, LaShawn Barber offers her perspective on the film in her blog. The girl speaks her mind always :-)

 

Seeking to have a truly fruitful President's day off, I immersed myself in the idiot box for most of the day (This is something I don't often get to do). It only takes a minute or so to realize that American television is quickly becoming like European telvision: lude and disgusting. Coincidentally, I taught a Bible study on Sunday morning from 1 Peter 4 which begins: "1Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do--living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. "This pretty much covers all that is in television right now. Amidst news on the San Francisco same-sex marriage licensing (our real life Sodom & Gommorah) and Seattle rallies for the same, I caught reports on the controversy that is currently being caused by Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. Admittedly, Gibson has made some choices throughout his career that don't exactly represent the best witness of Christ. I myself only came to know he was Catholic a few years ago. Nevertheless, Christ is being preached and if the movie's not against us, it's for us and I am excited that the issue is even being broached by the media. I am actually looking forward to viewing the film myself. In general, I shy away from viewing depictions of Jesus. I think we tend to downplay Him as a person. He's long been portrayed as this weak, feeble, dark-haired, blue-eyed, white man. I'm sorry, I just don't think my Savior really looks like that. In spite of that, I believe there's something in this movie for me and for others. With all the controversy at hand, I can only think that God is at work.

Tonight I caught Dateline with Diane Sawyer on the channel I hate: "abc". I must say, Gibson handled himself well. He seemed visibly nervous, however He continued to point his answers back to scripture and not his own opinion. I didn't agree with all that he said like, "Everyone can get into the Kingdom of Heaven, it's just easier if you're a Christian". I can't agree with that, but by and large, he did a tremendous job combatting the questions about anti-semitism and the film being "God-ordained". I've stated in the past that Diane Sawyer practices bad journalism. In general, she comes off as very naïve and horribly biased in most of her interviews. I understand that "things of the spirit" are difficult for non-believers to comprehend, but Diane Sawyer either plays dumb very well or she just is dumb; I'm not sure yet.

Regarding The Passion, a Seattle Rabbi was quoted as saying, "I fear this movie will perpetuate this whole idea of there being a good side and an evil side...." I am restraining myself from saying something entirely too sarcastic in response to that. Let's just say, this is the delusion of the non-messianic Jews. To forsake that there is both good and evil at work on the earth is to deny what God has established on the Earth. Reportedly, the Pope gave the film thumbs up at first, then he didn't, then he did again. I myself can't believe the Pope was coherent enough to even watch the movie. The guy is just plain old. That's another post.

 

You will never guess who I saw downtown tonight. Henry Louis Gates Jr. Probably doesn't ring a bell right? Well it wouldn't to most. Mr. Gates is a well-known African-American studies scholar, author, lecturer, and professor, and once worshipped by the likes of me. I even hunted him down once at a schmooze party and got him to write me a recommendation to Harvard. Apparently, he didn't have much influence over the board of admission. I got rejected. Yes, I was an unstoppable black studies fanatic my senior year of high school determined to go to Harvard and wrap myself in the so-called "genius" of Henry Gates and Cornel West; who, needs to comb his hair by the way. Even now I see, there was only partial truth in Mr. West's teachings. It just happened to be tastefully woven into lies. I was convinced I'd be a noted author in African-American studies one day. That may prove itself yet, however, probably contrary to how I would've imagined it in a contextual sense. My perspective has changed immensely over the last 4 years and I find myself believing less than 25% of what I believed then. Five years ago, I would have stopped the car in the middle of traffic to go greet Mr. Gates and tell him how much I loved his last book. This time, the urge didn't strike me. I'm thinking the reason he's in town has something to do with black history month which I actually forgot we were in.

So here we are thrust into what my mom calls "Black people work month". She's a lecturer and professor so you can imagine she's in high demand this month. The reality, is black history month is not much exciting in my book. It's a token. In general, I think we just need to do a better job of realizing and teaching multiculturalism in the US. year-round. On top of that, the black history that gets discussed doesn't interest me. This is mostly because it's had the crap beat out of it over the years. I find church history, great movements of God as it relates to my heritage more interesting. In fact, there is much African-American history that has yet to be openly discussed. I'm more interested in the spiritual roots of African-Americans; how many of us have somehow managed to be raised in church and ended up not even serving God as adults. Most people don't know that the Assemblies of God, commonly known as a predominately white denomination was the result of a split from the Church of God in Christ, a historically black denomination. Stuff like that facinates and befuddles me. I'm hungry to know what God has been doing all these years in history. In my opinion, this is the heritage we lack in general. How many of us (back, white or yellow) have actually had our grandparents sit down and tell us about how God's moved in our lineage? Well, depending on what generation you are (Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob), you may be the first to establish a Godly legacy in your family. However, it is commonly known in African-American circles that there is a rich history of Christianity in our past. Do we hear much about it? Not really. In fact, we make light of that fact a little too often. I wonder if this is one of the curses of this generation: lack of generational transfer. Oh how we need it.

 

There is a horrible fashion trend that has descended upon the consumers of America and beyond. They are Australian sheepskin boots. They are called Uggs. I'm assuming the name comes from the fact that they are UGG-LY. Not since the 80's have I seen such a horrendous fashion trend. Who is responsible for this? The Australians. Thank God Hillsong Music has redeemed my opinion of Australians. But for upwards of $200 a pop, what in tarnation would cause someone to actually think these suckers are cute? I've even seen girls wearing them with skirts?!? Now I've tried these on (burning curiousity I suppose) and I'll admit, they're both comfortable and warm. But "going hiking in the mountains warm" not "I wanna be part of a fashion trend warm". These boots seem to be the most popular in sunny California (someone help me understand the logic there). Whatever the case may be, these shoes are all the rave and I don't get why. Collectively, we Americans have brains the size of peas when it comes to consumerism. We do very little thinking for ourselves and usually rely on the media and what we see to dictate what we should be buying; especially in the fashion world. I've usually found that image creates desire and if you see something enough times, what was once ugly now seems chic. This is a marketing nightmare. But no matter how many times I see these uggified boots, they still seem hideous to me.

Another strange phenomenon is the fact that we consumers have some need to spend lots of money on things that shouldn't cost lots of money. Like jeans. And I'll be the first to admit, the combined market value of 5 pairs of jeans in my closet is about $800. I of course, being a bargain hunter didn't pay that price, but the concept still sickens me nonetheless. Truth be told, there's not a heck of a lot of difference between a pair of generic and designer jeans but the label. Sometimes quality differs, but even that's fargone these days.

I've been observing the Gap, Inc. over the last couple of years. Their sales were WAY down around this time last year--about 10%--which in the retail world is horrible. Interestingly enough, the Gap still had their same quality, same basic clothes. One of their main problems was, get this: their price point. Their jeans were too cheap. People wanted to buy "expensive jeans". So you guessed, it, sometime last year, the Gap introduced "1969" their upscale denim line. What a load of crap. The reality is, there's no difference in this new line of jeans. They're just more expensive. Currently, the Gap's sales are up. My hypothesis on this: We consumers want to have the best of the best, even if we can't afford it. "Faking the funk" so to speak, is a nice consolation prize for not being "well-off" enough to afford to pay $185 for a pair of Diesel Jeans without going into debt. So we'll buy the expensive pair of Gap jeans over the cheap ones because it makes us look more successful. This is the craziest concept to me. While the discount stores (Target, Walmart, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack) are extremely successful these days, it's the (middle stores) whose clothes aren't too expensive but aren't too cheap that are losing in sales. Why? All because of some ugly boots. Well, not really but I'd like to think so.

 

I often struggle with the content of my site. I bounce around from politics to social commentary, to Biblical doctrine, to fashion. I can be deep when I feel like it, and I can be shallow too. I know this bothers people. When I listed my site under Blogs4God, I placed it under journals because I am in no way a political pundit, nor an excellent writer. I'm me, so the content of my site comes directly out of my brain and is more a testimony to the type of personality I have. Teaching is a gift I have from God, so that gets wrapped into all that I do. If my words ever come off "preachy", that's why. Most of all, I think to view things with "God-colored glasses" aka Biblical worldview. I believe God is in everything.

Readers find my site in a number of ways. They clicked a link from another site; I personally told them about it; they found it on a blog listing; or they did some strange search on google.com for "banana republic poncho" and bam, they landed here. Well, however you got here, I hope there is something that speaks to you and your life. God Bless You!

 

If there's one thing that I hate on the face of the earth it's gimmicks. I have often ranted about my extreme distaste for the prevailing culture of panhandling that's taking place on the streets of Seattle. Some of these pan handlers, mind you, make more than I do in a year. Downtown is probably the worse in terms of gimmick"ers". Some have been there for years while others are new on the scene. There is an assigned schedule as to who gets "what" corner and "when". You will rarely find more than two working a block at once. It is an interesting phenomenon, and if you're dumb and not discerning, they will take your every last dollar. But not this chicky, I reserve my hard-earned blessings for those truly in need. A friend mentioned a comment Lakita Garth, (a great woman of God who's been on Politically Incorrect, the Senate floor, you name it) said in reference to the "homeless" problem, and I paraphrase, "One way to get some of the homeless people off the street is to send them home." Sounds overly simplistic, however very true in many cases. One, being that there are a great many of panhandlers who have places to stay. This is the case with a lot of the teenagers you see here in Seattle. My mom's a college professor and has mentioned that on more than one occassion she has passed by her TUITION-PAYING students, sitting on the streets, with beggar signs. Two, being that like MANY societal problems, the root issue is a family one. This is a present reality. The breakdown of the family pours out into the streets, turns into crime, turns into poverty, and turns into much of what the government has tried to remedy for years. We don't have crime problems, we have family problems. I often wonder what is the state the family relationships of some of the panhandlers I see on the streets. Many have been shunned by their families due to a physical handicap, others may be estranged from key family members. I also realize there are those who may have no family whatsoever. The widows and the orphans. To those, the body of Christ has an immense obligation. Garth's statement was really revelatory to me as I've never pondered the role one's family should (or should not) play in one's financial or housing situation. It bears some thought.

For the abundance of seriousness (and reality) in my words, I feel I need to remain true to the title as I've side-tracked. So I've begun my running list of consistent characters you will find on the streets of downtown Seattle on any given day. Keep in mind, many, if not most of these people are not homeless. This is of course the "greatness of america". You can gimmick your way into just about anything.

SEATTLE STREETS MOST WANTED

White Boy Conga Drummer Man
This guy irks the heck out of me. I will credit him with consistency as he plays the same beat over and over again on his drums. He also puts bells on his ankles to counter the drumbeat. The only problem is, He's not good. Not good at all. And this guy RACKS up a fortune.

The Guy Who Fishes for Beer
This idiot stands on the corner with a fishing pole. On the hook of the fishing pole is a cup with a sign that reads, 'Fishing for Beer'. And get this, there's ACTUALLY MONEY IN THERE!! Whichever citizens of Seattle feel inclined to give money to someone who is actually advertising their bad habit should be stoned.

The Sargent aka "Sarg" (named by the citizens and not me)
Hogs the corner outside of Nordstrom. Supposedly a "veteran", he sits in a wheelchair (althought strangely enough I've seen him use his legs) with an eye patch and sells roses on occasion. He's become an icon.

Demon-Possessed West Indian Guy
Usually occupies the corner outside of Pottery Barn. Will be found waving a rainbow wand, holding a cardboard sign that says, "The Seattle Police are the devil and the AntiChrist and blah blah blah and some other psychotic nonsense" while screaming at the top of his lungs in a forgein language. When he speaks in english it VAGUELY resembles "patois" a Jamaican dialect but even then you can't understand him. I guess he's encouraging you to read the sign. Beware, he's been known to attack bus riders at their windows.

Blanket Guy
Can usually be found standing in a statuesque manner on various street corners wrapped in a blanket. At unknown times he will yell at the top of his lungs, "IT IS TIME TO EAT NOW!"

The Tin Man
This guys is actually VERY innovate and interesting. He can only be seen on Saturdays. He paints his entire body in silver, stands on a wooden crate and simulates a "statue". He's actually very brilliant.

Only Tells the Truth Guy
Can always be found holding a sign that says "I Can't Lie, It's for Beer."

"Blind" Man who Sings Lullabies
I think visually impaired is the proper term as the guy's definately not blind. He sings slurred lullabies while waving a cup for money. Usually he will act like he's mentally retarded and can't speak, but I overheard him chopping it up with the Barista about politics the other day. Don't be fooled.

 

Well we made it to February. I found out Dr. Fuchsia Pickett "went to sleep" this past Friday. It seems as though many of God's Generals are passing on. In this past year alone we lost Dr. Bill Bright and Dr. Kennith Hagin among others. I believe this year as well we will see the passing of the baton taking place in the body of Christ. It is interesting to me that not even since Martin Luther King have we truly had what I deem to be truly powerful and influential leaders of this generation (meaning, their influence and their worlds are still heralded around the world).

Every now and then I participate in some of the discussion on the message boards at Relevant Magazine. Yes, I realize that makes me a nerd, but I have actually had some decent discussions there. Some odd months ago, I posted a question for the world (well, a small percentage of it) to see, "Who are/Will be some of the great 21st century leaders?" The Question sat dead for a very long time. A few people piped up with "Billy Graham". Perhaps they'd not understood the question? In the end, people tossed around a few names, namely Billy Graham and ultimately deduced that the upcoming generation shies away from "superstardom" and thus the reason why we can't identify leaders. I'm sorry, but this is the biggest pile of dung I've ever heard. I'm being dramatic of course, but I find it sad that no one can think of an influential leader aside from Dr. Graham. I respect that man deeply, but even as the generals I listed off earlier, I believe Billy Graham's season is coming to a close and that must become a reality for us.

When I look at the music industry for example, I see an abundance of influence. However misappropriated, it's still present. Even worse, I see a generation that is hungry for leadership in whatever form it may come. I eagerly await the sons of God to be revealed. I believe this is the season for new spiritual leadership not just within the "four walls of the church" but in all jurisdictions: government, medicine, film, television, dance, business. You name it. I reject the notion that we won't have tremendous leaders in this century. I just believe they will look different than leaders of the past because it's a new season. I only hope that we will not become stumbling blocks in our own process of progression. We need to give honor where honor is due by acknowledging the shoulders we stand upon, however, we cannot dwell on and rest upon those shoulders. Now the real work begins.