notes from dave... a new blog

As many of you know, I serve as Executive Director of Adventures in Life Ministry. We are host receivers for people desiring to become involved in short-term mission work in Mexico. In years past, someone wanting to do cross cultural missions work in another country lived there. Usually for years at a time. Many churches, certain that you would never return home, even held your funeral service before your departure. But that was then. Now, with the advent of safe, easy, and relatively inexpensive travel, almost every day a team is leaving the United States bound for some previously far off land to serve. These teams, known as Short-Term Missionaries, serve for time frames as long as one year, or as short as a weekend. A typical short-term trip lasts between one and two weeks. This shift, involving more than 400,000 missionaries by some accounts, brings with it much promise, but also a potential for some problems. I decided to share my thoughts on short-term ministry, both good and bad, on a new blog titled notes from dave. I'll only post once or twice a month there as the posts will tend to be a little longer. If you have a moment, check it out and let me know what you think. And of course, you'll still be able to keep up with me here, on "the mission." The artwork above, my "face" at notes from dave, is from Dan Lacey, known on the web as the Painter of Pancakes. You can view more of his artwork here.

Sunday Mornings and the News

Before heading out to church, my Sunday morning ritual is one of strong coffee, the morning papers from around the country, and the network interview shows. I generally watch FOX News Sunday, Meet the Press, This Week with George Stephanopoulos and, if I get up in time Media Matters on CNN. I know that everyone has a bias, and that no matter how hard you try, sometimes you cannot get around it. The best journalists acknowledge that, do their best to mitigate it, and move forward. But this morning I was left wondering what happened to Chris Wallace of FOX News. One of his guests was Republican Congressman Peter Hoekstra of Michigan. Hoekstra is one of the leading GOP foreign affairs voices. I was expecting a good conversation on Iran, and with Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana and Iranian expert Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace contributing, Wallace generally delivered. Except for this. Wallace never asked about Hoekstra about his idiotic comments twittered earlier in the week. In case you missed them, here they are. Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House. Maybe I missed something, but I am not aware of any House Republicans being killed for talking to the media. I am not aware of any physical beatings the House GOP members received at the hands of the Democrats. I am not aware of any GOP members being called terrorists. So I was waiting for Wallace to ask Hoekstra about these comments and hear his response. And yet there was nothing. Chris Wallace, generally fair and a good journalist, blew it this morning.

Weekend Funnies

There was once an island kingdom whose people were all fabulously wealthy. Even though they could have afforded to live anywhere they wanted, tradition dictated they stay on their tiny island home. Eventually, their king became frustrated and called a meeting of the tribe's elders. He said he wanted them to figure out a way he could enjoy his wealth, and stay within traditional guidelines. After much consideration, the elders suggested he build a magnificent throne. When he objected there was not enough room in his hut for a throne, the elders suggested he call in an engineer to solve the problem. Soon, the king's tiny hut was rigged with an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys. He could lower the huge throne for use during the day, and at night, he could haul the throne up, and lower his bed. This was truly the best of both worlds for the king. Unfortunately, after a few months of constant use the ropes frayed, and one night, the throne slipped and came crashing down on the king, killing him. The wise men of the island recognized a lesson in this experience and added to the lore of their people this statement: "People who live in grass houses should not stow thrones." Now that you understand that I can be totally whacked with my sense of humor, enjoy this, and I see you next week.

No Hay Luz

I have never been a good photographer. Too much light, not a fast enough shutter speed, cheap cameras, etc. Oddly enough, in spite of my inabilities, I was asked to contribute a short article to a photography blog, called The Rock Photograpers. Here's the post. When Brother Joe asked me to contribute to this blog as a guest blogger, I was at first excited. Here was a chance to share a little of what was in my heart. It was a chance to share a little of what makes me tick with some different folks. And then I read the theme. “Light.” And then I started to worry. What was a guy like me going to say to a bunch of photographers about light? I mean, isn’t that a little like telling Michael Jordan how to shoot a basketball? You guys with all your meters, lenses, filters, and what ever else, just intimidate people like me. I am one of those point, shoot, and hope guys you make fun of when you get together. Read more.

Iran, The Election, and Revolution

I am not sure what to make of all that is going on in Iran, but I do have a few opinions I have not seen over the last few days on television, in print, or in the blogosphere. Not getting into whether or not the elections over there have been stolen, manipulated, or somehow rigged, let me ask you this. Are we sure these guys are not a bunch of aliens from another land sent here to infiltrate earth, take over our governments, and wreak general havoc on a bunch of unwitting civilizations? How else to explain their governmental structure. Granted they have a President, but the real power in the country resides in someone with a much more ominous title, The Supreme Leader. You can just hear the sinister music in the background every time his title is mentioned. You know, if Obama really had messianic delusions, as many on the extreme right claim, instead of President, he'd be signing everything Supreme Leader. The ruling body in Iran has an even better name, The Guardian Council. Not the Senate. Not the Parliment. But The Guardian Council. Did they come up with this name after watching too many Star Trek marathons on the Sci-Fi Channel? If this is not a name straight out of Gene Roddenberry's mind, I don't know what is. I am half expecting to find out "Q" is really behind all of this. We can almost hear the dialogue going on in Tehran... "Excuse me dear Supreme Leader, will you be joining us as we talk about the infidels today in the Guardian Council meeting?" "Away from me peon, I am dealing with world domination. Let Mini Me Mahmoud deal with the trivial matters, I am the Supreme Leader." And guess who protects these guys. The Revolutionary Guard. Apparently terms like army, secret service, and gestapo were taken, leaving only The Revolutionary Guard. Over the last few days one must ask, are they guarding the Supreme Leader's revolution, or are they guarding the Leader and the Guardian Council from a revolution. And if the job of these guys is to be revolutionary guardians, what then is the job of the Guardian Council? Are they guarding anything? I find it all so confusing.

Lakers Show True Colors in Win Over Magic

[Paul Gasol going after Mickael Pietrus after adding an exclamation dunk at the end of overtime to seal the Laker win] Last night I watched a good part of the Los Angeles Lakers 99 - 91 overtime win against the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. Within minutes of the final buzzer, one of my close friends called to talk about the game. Now to understand the mindset that he brought to the conversation, you've got to know that Cesar is a die hard Laker fan. One year as he was serving with me in Mexico, he somehow found a family in a poor dusty village in Mexico that had cable and was able to watch Kobe and Shaq win one of their three championships together. He lives and dies Lakers. So he was pretty upset when I said I was sick of this team. Now those are strong words for a guy like me. I grew up with the Lakers. I cried year after year as the Celtics stuck daggers in our hearts, celebrated 33 wins, was in the arena when Magic dished off to Kareem to break Wilt's scoring record, and loved Showtime. In sports parlance, I bleed Laker purple and gold. But not for this team. Because they are bad sports. And it was all personified by one instance at the end of the overtime period. With the game effectively over, Laker Pau Gasol went up for a dunk and was fouled from behind by Mickael Pietrus. Now I know this looked like a horrible foul to most, and the refs called it a flagrant violation. But Gasol was left standing. This was little more than a playground cheapshot. Certainly nowhere near as bad as the hurt former Celtic Kevin McHale or Bill Laimbeer of the Pistons used to regularly put on the Lakers and others. My struggle comes from the response. With the game won, and the Magic's heart broken on their home court, Gasol went after Pietrus and earned a technical. Essentially for bad sportsmanship. And this is my problem with this Laker team. For all the talent, ability, and their imminent championship, these guys are poor sports. And nothing disappoints me more in sports than poor winners. It has been said that you can see the real character of a team displayed in how they respond to losing and adversity. I think we saw this Laker team's character last night when they won. Cesar, this is a good team. They will be NBA Champions this year. I just don't like them. They are poor sports and lousy winners. [above photo from the L.A.Times]

June 9, 1979

The year was 1979 and here is a sampling of what was going on. Sony introduced the Walkman... for $200.00 John Wayne died of lung cancer. The NBA adopted the three point shot. The Post-it note was introduced. Gas was .86 a gallon... plus the little nine tenths. We were listening to The Village People, The Police, Rod Stewart and The Eagles. The big movies were The Deer Hunter, Moonraker, and Kramer vs. Kramer. On television we watched M*A*S*H, Happy Days, Dallas, and The Love Boat. And I got married. To the best woman in the world. But in reality, we were just kids. I was a fresh faced 20 years old and Michele was 18, but as far as we were concerned, we were in love and that was all that mattered. Today we are celebrating 30 years of marriage. Thanks Michele for being an incredible friend, helper, confidant, and a thousand other things. I never imagined way back then it would be this good. Here are a few pictures from the best day of my life. And yes, that color, perfect for the 70's, is baby blue! I love you Michele... Happy 30th Anniversary!

Caption This...

A friend sent me this picture of something I found on the beach south of Mexico a few years back. You supply the caption.

Capitalism and Christianity

There are not many things clearer in Christian theology than the idea that God is creator of all. Perhaps right along side this is our understanding that in order for God to be fully Lord, and not just Savior in our lives, we must turn everything we have, wish, desire, or hope for over to Him. This is beautifully portrayed in a little homily by the now deceased Presbyterian Pastor Bob Munger, “My Heart, Christ’s Home.” Munger takes us on a journey of our heart, envisioning it as a home, walking us through the many rooms until he comes to the hall closet. It is there that he posits Jesus beckoning us to give Him even that still dark grimy area many of us fiercely protect at all costs. Jacques Ellul, noted French theologian, in his book “Prayer and Modern Man” attacks the classic empty praying hands image of someone waiting for God’s filling. He asks if it isn’t more biblical for someone to come to God with his hands full, and give everything to God, thus emptying himself. Clearly, the teachings of Christianity lead us to understand that what belongs to God is His, and what belongs to us, is His also. We are taught, and readily accept that for a strong relationship with Jesus, we must give all that we are, and all that we have over to Him, and live in trust, that he will love, provide for, and take care of us. I bring all of this up to shed some light on an issue, and because of the encouragement of a blogging friend o' mine, Tao. There has been a lot of talk lately about the United States becoming a socialist nation under Barack Obama. We have also heard that we are a capitalist nation founded on Christian principles. But let’s look at the main pillars of capitalism. Capitalism, according to Wikipedia is “an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are privately owned.” In short, what’s mine is mine, and what is yours is yours. Plain and simple. Except you cannot square this in general, and private ownership in particular with biblical faith as it was understood and practiced by the early Christian church. Clearly the theological teachings of serious scholars, and the practices of the early Christian community, as evidenced in the Book of Acts, stand against these main tenets of capitalism. Now I am not necessarily advocating socialism as a reasonable alternative, nor denigrating capitalism as a workable system. I am merely pointing out that it is hard to make the case for capitalism as Christian based, as some are trying to do. It may indeed be a great system for acquiring wealth and prosperity, but let’s not claim it is somehow rooted in Christianity.

Happy 100th Birthday Benny

Last Saturday, Big Band great Benny Goodman would have been 100 years old. There are not enough words to express how significant was his contribution to American music. Tom Vitale of NPR made a great attempt in his birthday tribute that aired over the weekend. You can read it here. I especially liked the words of Anat Cohen, an Israeli born clarinetist. The video here is not the expected "Sing, Sing, Sing" of his big band years, rather, it is a piece called Moonglow, from the Benny Goodman Quartet. While you're listening, check out his sidemen, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, and George Duvivier. One of the hallmarks of Goodman was always his fearlessness of better musicians. Each of these guys is fantastic in his own right. Enjoy!