Marginal Divide.

Every good book you read has some margins along the outside. This gives the words a chance to be centered, leaves some room for thoughts and reflections and gives the pages a well needed break. Our lives, in order to be centered, need room in the margins. We need some time for thoughts and reflections, we need breaks from time to time. But, we seem to think that we need to cram those margins full of every activity we can squeeze in.

I think that being involved with a Church, a good one, is one of the best things you can do with your lives. But, with our cultural bent of being oh-so-busy, sometimes a Church can add to the propensity for us to live with no margins.
This post is not a criticism for outsiders to say that is why I am an outsider. It is more of something for the insiders to think about.

I have seen Churches on so many occasions, out of a desire to have some great stuff happen, try to invite all the same people to be involved in a myriad of activities. Instead of being gatherings that center us, the activities often become another add on, as in we have to take our kids to soccer, baseball practice, the science fair, oh yeah, lets throw in the Wednesday night religious thing so they can be a little bit spiritual too. Or I am watching my favorite program Tuesday night, I have to run to a meeting on Wednesday, on Thursday I play racquetball, they want me for a thing at the Church on Monday, etc.

On Sunday mornings, we often hear the cry from different factions in the Church pleading for us to be a part of their particular activity. Please add us on to your already busy schedule. It's good for you.

I think our churches should be a vital part of our life. But, they should be a vital part that teaches us to say no to the lifestyles that we think are so beneficial and to say yes to learning how to live with purpose and passion. How can they build our integrity instead of contributing to dividing our lives?

Jerusalem Hat Trick

When I took a trip to Israel, I was struck by all the touristy-trap type stuff that was waiting for pilgrims around every corner. While I was never offered a piece of bone that was one of the martyrs, a splinter from the cross or ash from the original Wednesday(???), it did seem that every where you looked you could find a place where Jesus, one or more of the apostles or one of the patriarchs did something or the other. These sites, some authentic and some quite dubious, always included some articles you could buy to remember what had happened.

As I was arranging my office, which I hope to get you pictures of once I decorate it and all that, I found some of the keepsakes I got from while I was there. I have certificates attesting to my pilgrimage, commemorating my baptism in the Jordan River and proving that I climbed up Masada. And, I do have some very vivid memories of my experiences in the Holy Land.

Here, let me tell you about one of the experiences I had that you wouldn't expect from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

On trips like these, you always end up getting closer to some people than others, for whatever reason. During some of the free time we had, I went bumping about in the Arab Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem with Steve and David. Steve was my Jewish friend that planned on becoming a Mass Crusade Evangelist and who introduced me to some of the locals that he happened to know. David was a rough and tumble adventurer sort. I had no idea what he was doing at a Seminary, but he wasn't about to pass up a trip to somewhere cool, like Israel.

To give you some background, I was living in Texas at the time (that's where the school was) and had recently returned from a war in the Arab world. Maybe not the most diplomatic combination in the Arab Quarter. The Old City, especially the Arab Quarter, is full of shop type booths. Sort of picture the Suq in Raiders of the Lost Ark. My revelation that it looked like this came when I realized that I didn't have a whip or a revolver and I might soon be in need of one.

One of the vendors was selling hats and he seemed to think that his hats were much better than Steve's authentic Texas Guy Cowboy Hat. Steve politely tried to explain that he didn't want a hat and that his hat was one of the best ever until the vendor reached up and snatched it off his head. Since I was living in Texas, I knew the value of a man's hat, so I quickly grabbed the vendor's arm and snatched back the hat, put my finger in his face and told him not to touch his hat. The vendor looked pretty mad and a few of his buddies shuffled up behind him, like you'd see in a bad Kung Fu movie. Or a Billy Jack movie. Those movies are bad and they always have groups of angry men gathering behind their ring leader. If you don't know Billy Jack, you are probably better off.

Realizing that I lacked a little bit of the training that Billy Jack had and that my friends were not an elite group of heavily armed operatives, we backed off and got back to some more traditional Holy Land Adventuring. In retrospect, I should have punched someone. It would probably have made for a much better story.

And, If you thought I was going to blog about how our country has decided to try and ban Israel from building some houses in a place where, historically, no-one has ever lived in order to try and appease the Palestinians and in turn pissing off one of our closest allies, I apologize, you will have to look elsewhere for opinions about that issue.

Tucson Taxes

The latest edition of the local news reports that the City is planning another property tax increase to retire some $18 million dollars in debt that they have decided is important to get rid of in this article:
City plans tax hike to pay debt

In tough economic times, governments, both local, state and federal, are finding less revenue coming in and more difficulty borrowing money. The standard response seems to be to increase taxes. Rather than cut back, spending is often increased and taxes are raised to pay for more and more. Now that many governments are in crisis mode, they are finally forced to make some cut backs, but these cuts don't match the loss of revenue.

Can you imagine running any viable business or household like this? I have tried spending my way out of financial problems before, and I can attest to the fact that it simply does not work. In fact, surprisingly enough, it can make things worse. I'll tell you that story some other time.

I am not opposed to paying taxes for things that are necessary. Like public schools. We don't send our kids to public school for a variety of reasons, but I think they are important. However, so many are convinced that spending more and more money on schools would improve the quality and the outcomes. Like so many other government programs, simply adding more money does not improve the results.

So, as your taxes grow, government deficits grow and elected officials frustration grows, all faster than ever, try to remember that giving more of your income (which may not be growing faster than ever right now) to them is not going to fix everything.

If you don't mind, it don't matter

Here is another pointless reminiscence:

A few years back, I traveled to India with an organization called Open Doors. I was there to train Church Leaders on how to have a biblical perspective about persecution.

We had just spent a week at the Central India Christian Mission and the founder's wife, Indu, made a fantastic feast for us. She served all sorts of Indian foods, a spread of American foods, pizzas, pastas, it was literally a feast. (On a side note, we went and saw a local hindu school and temple that had their own growing rock, just like the one from the Temple of Doom. When the dudes started chanting and playing their drums, I thought they were going to float up in the air.)

After the feast, I was stuffed and on the jeep ride from the mission to the town of Ranchi, I began to feel more than just stuffed. I started to feel sick. At first I thought I was just carsick, but it was more than that. Don't tell Indu, but I was starting to get feverish and absolutely ill.

When we got to Ranchi (pronounced just like "raunchy"), they took us to a hotel and I grabbed my key and went and flopped down on the bed, so glad to be laying down. A short time later, the whole crew came to my door and told me we were leaving. "This place was disgusting," they said. When they asked if I didn't agree, I told them that I liked it there and I wanted to stay in bed.

They took us to another hotel, which later did seem quite nice. I don't remember much about that night, except that I called Diane and told her I wanted to go home now and I came down to the brunch happy to be alive and able to eat something.

I included the two pictures above from the CICM website, because I am certain that both of these guys were there when we were teaching at the mission.

If you need a lesson to take away, here it is:

Don't get sick on the road to Ranchi.

"My head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me" Psalms 27:6

I recently grabbed a copy of this book and began to read. It is written with the understanding that the nation of Israel's beginnings have been truly miraculous. When most hear this, they think of all the wars and how they have survived and prevailed in spite of being surrounded by enemies. But I never realized that Israel is considered an economic miracle as well.

Israel has more companies on Nasdaq than all of Europe combined and all of India, China, Korea and Japan combined. Some of the most innovative advances in the tech business have been centered in Israel. Israel has more than double the global venture capital per capita than the U.S. Warren Buffet decided to invest in one nation outside of the U.S., Israel. This book takes a look at how and why Israel has done so well and what we can learn from them.

The book takes a look at some of the factors that has driven Israel's success. One of the major factors is how the military gives the entire nation a leg up in their economy. It highlights the differences between their military and ours and how Israel knows have to take advantage of the entrepreneurial and leadership lessons that are unique to the Israeli military.

The authors also feel as if the government of Israel and the government in the U.S. seem to be moving in opposite directions. Israel started out with a very socialistic bent and their economy suffered as a result of this. In the last couple of decades, the government of Israel is becoming more business friendly in more industries and is taking a hands off approach to more businesses in the private sector. The authors outline how when these industries are given a chance to thrive, they actually do.

More on the above thought. Prime minister Netanyahu, in describing the private sector, called it a thin man carrying the fat man of government on it's back. In this, he was describing how government spending can only be done when the private sector provides the money and that he believed the government was spending too much of the private sectors money, creating a burden that was too heavy for the thin man of the private sector to carry. As Israel continues to make steps to reverse this, the country corresponds by thriving more economically raising the standard of living for all that are there.

Interesting book and worth a read for anyone that thinks on business, economical or political things, or anyone that has an interest in Israel.

Next on my shelf to read are the following:

Building Dread

Yesterday, I joined Emily for her video lesson from the One Year Adventure Novel. This particular lesson was entitled "Building Dread." The idea of "building dread" is the idea of hinting at difficulties and challenges that are about to happen in your story.

The example the teacher used was the time in The Lord of the Rings when Gandalf tells the Fellowship that the only way he would go through the Mines of Moria is if there was no other choice. This builds a sense a dread about the Mines of Moria, which is, of course, where the Fellowship ends up having to go.

The entire 78 lesson series is about, not just the mechanics of writing, but how to build a story. Emily has always been a writer and this has been a perfect way to engage and teach her about how to make her stories, which are already good, great.

We'll let you know when you can check out her first novel. It should be sometime later this year. In the meantime, go watch the fun little video on the One Year Adventure Novel site.

I'd sing it for you, but.......

Here is the farcical country music song I wrote some years back. It is better if you picture it with the guitar strumming and if you know the tune. But, this is all you get for now:

Had a real bad night
Got in a fight with my lover
The truck broke down
She ran off with another
Well, I can't believe the things that happen to me.

My dog jumped out
Got hit by a semi
You should've seen
that poor little mutt fly
Well, I can't believe the things that happen to me.

Alright, so I only have the first verse down. I was working on a chorus, but I gave up. Nonetheless, I think it has all the elements you need for a good country song....minus the strumming. I think it would be best with a banjo.