Religion, Sex, and Politics

Beginning in early summer of 2009, we began having trouble with our satellite signal. I had changed the wiring a bit recently, so I figured it was my fault. So I jiggled wires, checked connections, pulled up the satellite set-up menu to check signal strength... and I couldn't find a problem. But our favorite shows (which is all we watch) were plagued with static and signal drop-outs. Then Bill and Rachel Murawski came to stay at our house. So now it wasn't just a problem, it was a real embarrassment. Our friends were having important parts of their shows drop out. "And that proves that the killer is..." [loss of signal]. "So now I'm ready to reveal to you all that I am..." [loss of signal] You are who? Batman? An alien from Mars? Their real father?

So, being a fix it guy, I even tried re-aligning the satellite dish. Turns out that it was aligned just right already. So finally I broke down and called the satellite provider. And they had me go through all the steps I had already gone through. "OK, unplug the box and wait 2 minutes. Now plug it back in. Now push and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Now put your left foot in and shake it all about." And after a 30 minute dance, he says, "Yep, you've got a KPI."

"What's a KPI?"

"Oh, that's a Known Product Issue. That model satellite box often has this problem. We'll need to call and get you a replacement box installed."

OK, so I endured months of less than satisfactory viewing (at the regular full price), spent hours trying to find the problem, blaming and second guessing myself, and being embarrassed over our poor signal as Bill and Rachel suffered through critical signal dropouts. "And the winner is..." [loss of signal].

...and the company knew all along that this might happen, just what it looked like, but didn't warn us and didn't fix it. They could have sent us a letter saying, "The box often works fine, but if you experience any of these problems, call us immediately." But no, they just let us experience problems without any warning. For that, I was extremely perturbed, and I demanded some extra short-term perks, which they did agree to, at the threat of losing a customer.

But here's my question: As a church, what do we do about KPIs? Do we fix them, or do we warn guests about them, or do we just let them suffer in silence and then vow to never come back again?

If we know that we have too few paved parking spaces, that people have to park on grass to find a space, that the grass areas aren't marked as "available parking," and that, when it rains, the people who park there have to walk through wet grass and soggy muck to get to their cars, what do we do about that KPI? If we know that a high heel shoe is going to sink in that mud, and shiny shoes will come away with a Plimsoll line of debris, will we correct our parking needs, or just let them suffer through without any warning. (I hope they don't hit a soft spot and drop a child!)

If we know we have too few seats, so that a day is coming soon when a new family walks in the door and doesn't have a place to sit together comfortably, do we correct it immediately out of a passion for reaching people? Do we at least warn them, "If you come late, seating may be a problem," or do we just sit back and let them suffer through one of our KPIs?

If we know we have an inadequacy in our ministries - not enough small groups, nothing left but inadequate meeting spaces, not enough trained group leaders or teachers - how do we respond? Do we take care of our KPI, or do we just expect people to get all of the depth, all of the personal connections they need as part of Christ's body from one worship time a week and a few conversations afterward?

We know we have some KPIs at Hillsboro. What we do about them is a test of the honesty of our claims about our love for others, our desire to reach and touch people's lives. If we do nothing, we'll send them away disappointed - maybe even angry. And maybe they'll become a customer of another church (best alternative), or maybe they'll give up on God's people altogether (worst alternative).

Do Jesus' words apply here when he says, "Whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea" (Mark 9:42).

And what about those words from James: "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17).

So who's with me on immediately addressing our KPIs?

Late last week, in our Federal government, the House passed the Waxman-Markey Bill, which is popularly known as "Cap and Trade." Sadly, despite a deluge of contacts urging its defeat, our representative, Tom Periello, voted for it. Even more ridiculous, the 1200 page bill was not available for reading prior to the vote. Only the 300 page amendment was available. So our representatives (the term itself is now a farce) placed upon the shoulders of the people a host of government regulations and expenses they had not even bothered to study. THIS IS CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE.

One business journal suggested we call it what it is: The "Tax on Electricity" Bill. This bill drastically raises taxes on energy, which will obviously get passed down to the consumer - that's you and me. The cost of the goods and services we buy will go up. The cost of electricity will go up. The cost of living will go up for all of us at the very time that so many Americans are making less and struggling.

In addition, the bill contained some chilling signs of further government intrusion into our fast-fading freedoms. One provision (remember, this has already been passed by the House) requires that, before you can sell a home, Federal Inspectors must be allowed to do an energy audit. And they will require you to upgrade windows, insulation, appliances, and anything else that does not meet their new standards for energy efficiency.

So when Grandma wants to sell her home and use the money for a nursing home, the government may require that she first spend $10,000 of her savings to bring the home up to their standards. This used to be handled through agreements between buyer and seller. Now the Federal Government is intruding into what kind of refrigerator or furnace you have before you can sell your home.

Imagine, a parent passes away and the children inherit an old farm house. They want to sell it, but the furnace, the 45 big windows, the wall and attic insulation, the appliances that have been serving that parent for decades are judged inadequate by the government inspector. (Have you ever had to deal with a government inspector? It can be maddening, but I don't have space here for the stories.)

So now, the children have the old farmhouse, and cannot sell it until they come up with the $50,000 it will take to bring it up to the standards imposed by the inspector. (God help you if the inspector happens to see an "offensive" campaign sticker on your car before the inspection.) But the children don't have $50,000 to pay before receiving their inheritance. So what happens to what was supposed to be a gift and blessing from their parents?

Knowing that, if you default on your loan, the bank may have to pay for those upgrades, the cost of a home loan for you (or your children) will certainly go up drastically. Because you know the bank isn't going to take any risks now.

Remember how our President PROMISED us that his policies and plans would only raise taxes on the richest Americans? What a liar. The richest Americans are the only ones who will be able to afford the kinds of cost of living increases that this bill will inflict on us all. The poorest Americans are the ones who will be hurt the most by the higher costs of living, the greater difficulty in home ownership, the reduced value of their existing homes that probably do not meet federal efficiency standards, etc.

Thankfully, we do have the possibility of stopping this legislation from passing the Senate and becoming law by writing, calling, faxing, and/or emailing our senators. I certainly will.

Remember what triggered the revolution that created our country? ...a reaction to an overbearing central government which was taxing its citizens and abridging their freedoms beyond reason. I'm just sayin'...

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1134522/how-will-cap-and-trade-effect-your-real-estate-business-

Yesterday, June 26, came the word that Michael Jackson - who was born exactly three months before me in 1958 - had died. The widespread success of Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five was one of those signs that the deep racial divide in our country was beginning to erode. Little Michael was cute, talented, and (seemingly) a wholesome influence. In the psychedelic, drugged-out 1960s, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, and the Rolling Stones = dangerous. Michael Jackson = safe.

So what happened to Michael Jackson that led to the strange behavior, the multiple distorting plastic surgeries, the rumors about child molestation accompanied by legal circuses and huge out-of-court settlements and late night comedian jokes, the dangling of his infant child over a hotel balcony, and so many other bizarre statements and actions? How did Michael Jackson end up as a freakish, distorted caricature of himself? We see so many "child superstars" crash and burn under the weight of their own fame. Did the fact that Michael Jackson missed his own childhood somehow create a hunger for contact with other children that his Neverland Ranch sleepovers were designed to satisfy?

And what is wrong in a parent's heart and mind that they would leave their child in the unsupervised care of someone who is clearly emotionally very messed up and surrounded by rumors, charges of molestation, and previous settlements? Are some even willing to sacrifice our children on the altar of pop-idol worship? And, if so, how different are they (we) from those societies that physically sacrificed their children to the "gods" (sparing them from a lifetime of emotional problems that result when we "merely" sacrifice them psychologically)?

We'll be hearing people "unpack" the Michael Jackson story for a long time to come. But there are some more helpful questions we should be asking ourselves:

• Why does our society let fame and fortune compensate for deep emotional illness?
• What does it do to our children when we rob them of their childhood?
• As academic expectations and sports stardom get pushed younger and younger, is this just another way of robbing children of their childhood?
• Are there altars of personal gratification on which we, if not careful, might sacrifice our own children?

It's a lot to think about, and the hearts of our children are in the balance.

I admit that I'm one of those "nut-job" Christians who thinks that God still has a special plan for the Jewish people. The biblical passages that speak of Israel's future are open to interpretation, and the historical events since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 are even more open to speculation about what role God may have played.

But this is interesting to me, from a "what is God up to" point of view: As Iran progressed in its effort to acquire nuclear technology, and as it's political figurehead spoke threateningly about wiping Israel off of the face of the earth, and other world powers seemed more reluctant than ever to deal with the growing nuclear threat of Iran, there was suddenly an internal conflict that has that country turned upside down.

So now, as the people of Iran increasingly lose respect for its clerics (who can't even lie convincingly), and as the people become increasingly disenchanted with Ahmadinejad, and they see their peaceful protests turned bloody by government intolerance, will God bring about, in a grass-roots movement, what the leaders of the world lacked either the will, the courage, or the ability to do?

Just wondering.

The following exerpt is just one of a number of stories I could cite that illustrate my well-earned cynicism about politicians. A few of you folks, one in particular, kept asking me all through the campaign season, "Did you watch Obama's speech last night? Did you like what he had to say?"

My standard response was (1) I already know what he has to say, and (2) what a politician says is of little importance.

First, a politician's track record is far more indicative of who they are than their lofty words, and Obama's track record told us everything we needed to know. Second, politicians like our current President will say whatever they think will get them elected, then they will do whatever is best for the consolidation or expansion of their power, rather than what they promised the gullible public.

Hey, gullible public, GET A CLUE!

Here's the article:

Newsweek: Obama Closes Doors on Openness
by Michael Isikoff
Jun 29, 2009 issue

As a senator, Barack Obama denounced the Bush administration for holding "secret energy meetings" with oil executives at the White House. But last week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White House to discuss Obama's "clean coal" policies. One reason: the disclosure of such records might impinge on privileged "presidential communications." The refusal, approved by White House counsel Greg Craig's office, is the latest in a series of cases in which Obama officials have opted against public disclosure. Since Obama pledged on his first day in office to usher in a "new era" of openness, "nothing has changed," says David -Sobel, a lawyer who litigates FOIA cases. "For a president who said he was going to bring unprecedented transparency to government, you would certainly expect more than the recycling of old Bush secrecy policies." (article continues)

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/202875