September: My Favorite Time of Year

Traditionally, September is the most anticipated month of the year for sports fans. The climax of the pennant and wild card races, along with the start of the college football season... What more could you ask for?

As we enter the home stretch of the Major League Baseball season, there are some incredibly close races - especially in the NL. Who will emerge victorious is anyone's guess: Philly, Mets, Cubs, D-Backs, Dodgers? Who knows... and more importantly, who cares?

The real story is the surging Angels! Currently on a four-game win streak, the Angels boast a 5.5 game lead over the Mariners in the AL West after a convincing series sweep of the boys from Seattle. And the Halos (79-54) are only a half-game off Boston (80-54) for the best record in the bigs! It's gonna be a dog fight!

College football is here and I couldn't be happier! This is my absolute favorite time of year. The season didn't exactly start off with a bang though - yesterday saw four nationally ranked teams take on four complete patsies and the outcome(s) were embarrassing: The four ranked squads (#2 LSU, #10 Louisville, #16 Rutgers and #24 Boise State) beat the unranked J.V. squads (not worth mentioning) by a combined total of 212-20. I doubt the Nielsen Ratings registered much of a spike.

So, boys and girls, let the races continue and the march toward New Orleans commence.

It's Fall baby! And the Lord says, "It is GOOD!"

Christian Education

"What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?"
- Tertullian

Let me begin by saying that I am not altogether attacking Christian education, seminaries or Bible colleges. I am not wholly against them. I do have some personal issues and opinions about the education they provide, and I specifically chose not to attend a Bible college or seminary because of those issues (though I did attend a Christian college). BUT, that doesn't mean that they are unilaterally irrelevant or pointless.

In short, my problem with them lies in the theoretical and intellectual approach that they take in the ways they administer leadership development and equipping young people for ministry. First-century training was hands-on, rather than academic. It was a matter of apprenticeship, rather than of intellectual learning. It was aimed at the spirit, rather than at the frontal lobe. In the first century, those called to the Lord's work were trained in two ways: 1) They learned the essential lessons of Christian ministry by living a shared life with a group of Christians. They were trained by experiencing church life as non-leaders. 2) They learned the Lord's work under the tutelage of an older, more experienced worker.

R. Paul Stevens states, "The best structure for equipping every Christian is already in place. It predates the seminary and the weekend seminar and will outlast both. In the New Testament no other nurturing or equipping is offered than the local church. In the New Testament church, as in the ministry of Jesus, people learned in the furnace of life, in a relational, living, working and ministering context."

Modern theological teaching is essentially data-transfer education. It moves from notebook to notebook. In the process, the theology never gets below the neck. Theological knowledge, however, does not prepare a person for ministry.

The words of an anonymous pastor sum it up pretty clearly:

"I came through the whole system with the best education Evangelicalism had to offer - yet I didn't really receive the training that I needed... seven years of higher education in top-rated evangelical schools didn't prepare me to 1) do ministry and 2) be a leader... I had to ask myself why this great knowledge I was presenting wasn't moving from peoples' heads to their hearts and their lives. And I began to realize that the breakdown in the church was actually based on what we learned in Bible college and seminary. We were taught that if we just give people information, that was enough."

Why am I writing about this? What's my point? My interest was piqued when I recently came across the Faith Community Today (FACT) study released by Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. The study revealed that Bible college and seminary graduates and clergymen who had advanced degrees scored lower in both dealing with conflict and having a "clear sense of purpose" than non-Bible college and seminary graduates.

The survey showed that ministers with no ministerial education or formal certificate program scored the highest on tests that revealed how well one deals with conflict and stress. Bible college and seminary graduates scored the lowest!

In his book, Pagan Christianity (of which I will review very soon), Frank Viola comments, "All of this indicates that a person who matriculates from the theory-laden seminary or Bible college has been given no hands-on experience in the crucible of ministry life. In this way, the seminary/Bible college is stultifying on some pretty basic levels... Still worse is the elitism that system feeds on. The approach taken by seminaries and Bible colleges is self-referential. It sets it's own criteria for who gets to play and on what terms."

Herein lies some of my personal issues with Christian education, which is NOT why I wrote this, by the way. Maybe I'm more wrapped up in education than I should be. Personally, I don't see my Westmont education as a particularly important identifying quality about myself, though I have always been proud of it. I think my beef with Christian education, and more specifically Bible college and seminary education, has always been what Viola said about their approach. They set the standard. They decide what qualifies as a degree or a masters degree. That they have even built a system around the Platonic idea that knowledge and spirituality are the same has always troubled me.

A fairly well-known president of a fairly well-known missions organization (who will remain unnamed since he told me that if I ever quoted him he'd deny it) had this to say about the issue: "The only thing wrong with Bible colleges and seminaries is you've got the wrong people teaching there and the wrong people attending." I asked what he meant by that and he qualified the statement by saying that, basically, there are people who have never pastored a church, nor served in cross-cultural missions that are teaching and training the next generation of pastors and missionaries. Kind of a bad formula, don'tcha think?

In spite of all of this, I'm certainly not saying that I'm anti-Christian education in its entirety. This does not mean that the knowledge of the world, church history, theology, philosophy, and the Scriptures is without value. It's just not central. Theological moxie and a high octane intellect do not qualify a person to serve on the God squad. They may help... but they may hurt, too.

So again... why do I write this? Why do I write any of my blogs for that matter? I pretty much blog for two reasons: passion and intrigue. Sure there are the occasional comedic entries and informative diatribes, but for the most part I blog about what I'm passionate about or what sparks my interest/curiosity. The FACT study caught my eye and got me thinking. Maybe it's stirred something in your minds too?

How Addicted Are You?

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Mingle² - Dating Site

Things That Caught My Eye This Week

• Republican presidential contender, Mitt Romney, made a surprising statement this week warning that withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq too soon could be catastrophic. The general sentiment that I encounter here in Scotland is that the U.S. and Britain should terminate their war on terror and pull all the troops out. What made this even more intriguing is that I spoke with an Iraqi woman this week who has relocated to Glasgow upon marrying a British man, and she absolutely loves the George's - Sr. and Jr. She said she's so thankful for George W. Bush and all that he's doing for her country. In addition, she said that the only criticism she had of George Bush, Sr. was that during the Gulf War he pulled out too early. This got me thinking about all the positions and perspectives we have on the U.S.'s global involvement in circumstances such as this. Do we ever actually get the perspective of the people who are living in or from these countries? Or do we simply project our own ecumenical values onto the culture at hand and infuse our personal agendas into the conversation? Either way, it was both startling and refreshing to hear someone from Iraq express gratitude to our president and our nation for their part in helping her country.
  

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is No. 1 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list for the third straight week. If history is any indication, it will be there for three more. Goblet of Fire (2000), Order of the Phoenix (2003) and Half-Blood Prince (2005) each topped the list for six weeks.

• After an ankle injury delayed his MLS debut, David Beckham's career with the LA Galaxy started off on the right foot. He scored his first goal on a free kick in the 27th minute of the Galaxy's 2-0 victory over DC United in the SuperLiga semifinals Wednesday night. Later in the game he also became the team captain when Landon Donovan turned his armband over to Beckham. In a very humble response to the gesture Beckham responded, "I'm very honored."

• Gabrielle Rae McKenzie came running into the kitchen after bath time stark nekkid exclaiming, "Potty, potty! Potty, daddy!" I asked if she needed to go potty and she said no. She pointed to the bathroom and again said, "Potty." Intrigued, I went to the bathroom to find her little plastic potty in the middle of the floor with something in it. Gabrielle took it upon herself to go pee-pee all by herself with no coercion from our part. I gotta' say... that really caught my eye!

• The NFL pre-season is underway!!! Michael Vick has failed to show up to practices and games.
  

Skate Church Makes the Front Page

Several months ago I was in Tinderbox, a local coffee place near our flat, and I met Dave Reasbeck. He overheard my American accent and decided to engage by asking what I was drinking. It was a Vanilla Icebox and they're awesome! I began telling him what I was doing in Glasgow and Dave responded very enthusiastically. "I'm a missionary too, dude!!!"

Dave has been here in Scotland for the last seven months, and he only just left this morning to return to the States to work out his visa situation so he can stay in the UK indefinitely. Dave is a semi-pro skateboarder who has been working alongside Bob Hill, a missionary-pastor ministering in Scotland for the past 13 years. Together they share the teaching times at Deeper, a skate church planted to reach Scotland's youth culture.

But as I said, I met Dave a few months ago and we hit it off almost instantly. We began meeting together pretty regularly once, sometimes twice a week. Much of our time is spent discussing the Bible, a book we're reading together (Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola), or ministry. But I think the thing we love to talk most about is the shape and shaping of the future church. Not church in the sense of a building or model, but the bride itself... the body of Christ. We can chat for hours about our love for those that don't yet have a relationship with Jesus; how we feel most fulfilled and most utilized when submersed in the culture around us, looking to bring Jesus into every encounter we have.

The Lord has really been blessing Dave's ministry. It's not uncommon for 120 young people to show up on a Thursday night to skate the largest indoor skate park in Britain and hear stories about a guy called Jesus. The real reason for this post, though, is to mention that The Scotsman, a Scottish newspaper (obviously) ran a Sunday Edition front page story on Bob, Dave and Deeper. Just thought there might be some interest in a story about one of the young guys I'm hanging with, discipling, coaching, etc.

That's Bob Hill in the center of the picture (above), and Dave is behind him "bustin' some fat air."

Picture of me and Dave at Kelvingrove skate park. Gabrielle in foreground.

Incidentally, our first meeting at Tinderbox was a significant encounter for Dave that made an impact that has stayed with him to this very day. The only thing he orders there is the Vanilla Icebox.

All Hail the New King!

Barry Bonds belts No. 756 off of Washington's Mike Bacsik to pass Hank Aaron and become Major League Baseball's new all-time home run leader

How does a self-respecting, tried and true, seams enthusiast not, at least, mention the passing of the most prestigious crown in all of sports? There has been so much hype, so much scrutiny, and so much anticipation surrounding this event that it's hard to write anything about it that hasn't already been written 756 times.

Barry Bonds... blah, blah, blah... steroids... blah, blah, blah... big, fat jerk... blah, blah, blah... asterisk... blah, blah, blah... BALCO... blah, blah, blah... and on and on and on. I think what Bonds has done is unreal. No one thought that Aaron's record would ever be broken. In fact, it took 26 years. And keep one thing in mind: Barry Bonds isn't finished. It's not remotely inconceivable that he finish his career in the 800 HR range.

Due to the sordid nature of the entire ordeal, however, I'm more intrigued by a rather abstract angle of this story. Mainly, the fan that caught the ball.

Stopping over in San Francisco on his way to Australia, proudly sporting his Mets jersey, Matt Murphy of Queens, NY "won the lottery" as he smothered Barry Bond's record-breaking 756th bomb and dove under the bleacher seats to wait out the ensuing human tidal wave. Everyone knows that the ball is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but what interests me is the position the government takes on the value of the ball before it ever exchanges hands.

Once Murphy took possession of the ball and it was his ball, it became income to him based on its value as of that day. Even if he chooses to keep the ball himself and never profit from it, he will still owe taxes on a reasonable estimate of its value (estimated to be worth approximately $600,000). Does that seem ridiculous to anyone else? No matter what, the government profits off Barry Bonds' achievement regardless of what actually happens to the ball. So now that Matt Murphy finds himself in the highest income tax bracket there is, he will be taxed around 35%, or about $210,000 on a $600,000 ball... even if he keeps it. And if that's not already twisted enough, capital gains taxes could also be levied in the future as the ball gains value.

That was an expensive catch. I mean, I'm sure the guy will sell it at auction and walk away with something in the neighborhood of $380,000. Which is probably about $370,000 more than the college student would have made this year.

So everybody wins, really. Matt Murphy wins b/c he comes away with nearly $400,000 (unless he keeps the ball, in which case he loses big-time); Barry Bonds wins b/c he's the new home run champ; and the IRS wins b/c they profit off something that has absolutely nothing to do with them, the government, income, or anything related to the US economy in any way. They win because they say they win, God love 'em.

I'd love to see Matt Murphy keep the ball, refuse to pay taxes on a $4.00 baseball (allegedly worth $600,000) and go to prison for tax evasion. Not because I want the likable kid to go to prison, but that would be even more ridiculous than taxing him on a "reasonable estimate" of the ball's value.
Talk about justice being blind...

Transformers

Even as a film... it's MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

It's doubtful that audiences went to see Transformers seeking the solace of art. Unless, of course, you consider an all-out, straight-up, kick-you-in-the-teeth, assault on your senses, CG-loaded explosion of full-fledged entertainment, art. In which case, the art was voluminous.

It shouldn't surprise you to find that the plot is absurd: a box (the Allspark), varying in size from a city block to a small television, with the power to reconfigure and animate machines into Transformers, has ended up on Earth. As have two opposing armies of super-robots bent on finding the box before the other. Caught in the middle of the maelstrom is plucky youngster, Sam Witwicky, whose great-grandfather's glasses have the imprint of a map to the box's location... Oh, sod it! No one came to see Michael Bay's latest cinematic eruption for the subtext. Here it is: Good robots fight bad robots and we get in the way. The end.

This is a story about gigantic alien sentient robots from outer space (originally Cybertron) who can disguise themselves as a Chevy Camaro, a fighter jet or a boombox. There are good ones and there are bad ones. The good ones are brave, loyal, self-sacrificing and want to preserve life. The bad ones are sinister, violent, self-serving and thrive on death and carnage. Combined with their size and firepower, these two juxtapositions create the recipe for mass destruction... and they unleash the majority of this destruction in downtown L.A.

I think the success of the film lies in its proclivity not to take itself too seriously. It may have been a risk, but Bay guides his film from the strict dominion of cool into the goofy, and it works. This is, after all, still a story based on a cartoon created to help a Japanese toy company sell a failing line of unique puzzle toys. As can be verified by the scene of 20-foot robots spilling about a suburban backyard like the Three Stooges, the film is entirely comfortable copping to its own silliness. In fact, well before the Autobots even appear in the film, the story is played out like a teen comedy. A pretty good one, too, thanks to relative newcomer, Shia LeBeouf. There's a point in the film where Michael Bay even takes a subtle pot-shot at himself when it can be heard by a streaking onlooker having just witnessed a meteor-like landing from one of the Transformers, "This is so much better than Armageddon!!!"

A film boasting arguably the most amazing CGI yet, it would be expected that the f/x were going to be the main star, but Bay did himself a huge favor by casting young Shia LeBeouf. A lot is abuzz about this guy right now so I won't linger, but in short, this kid can act. Described as a cross between Woody Allen and Tom Hanks, LeBeouf has all the makings of the next big thing.

If you can set aside the plausible, and understand that you're in for a big, brash, funny, dumb, childish, imperfect, but ridiculously exciting action-comedy, then I don't see how you won't enjoy this. It's a fast-paced, in your face thriller with great special f/x, likable characters (both man and machine), and all the explosions, gunfire and destruction you could want from a summer blockbuster.

McRating: 8.0

Woo-hoo! 1,000 Visitors and Counting!

Barely Evolved Cavemen has broken the 1,000 visitors mark, and what better way to celebrate than as a Simpsons character??? So here I am in all my yellow glory. With the exception of freckles, I was able to customize pretty well. My hair is growing out from being shaved, but there are ample lengths and styles to choose from, so look for an update as my locks return.

Simpsonizing yourself is pretty fast and easy. Go to simpsonizeme.com and submit a basic head-shot of yourself. You may have to try a few different ones because it's looking for certain contrasts and certain sizes. Then just follow the instructions to your Simpsons alter ego.

A couple of other blog-related things... check out the new links in my links section. I've added Hosoi Skateboards and Richard Mulder. Apart from being one of my childhood skateboarding idols, Christian Hosoi has an amazing story that can be seen in Rising Son, a film/documentary that chronicles his rise, fall and rebirth (both professionally and spiritually). Hosoi is an associate pastor at The Sanctuary in Westminster, CA.

I know Richard Mulder through mutual friends, Robert Lim and David Reasbeck. I've added Mulder to my links because of his intense love for God and people, particularly young skaters. Mulder has ridden for World Industries, Chocolate and Stussy, and now focuses the majority of his attention on traveling the world and sharing his faith.

Hopefully these newly added links will keep you interested and informed on what's going on in different ministries and ministry contexts around the globe.