Switching to New Blog

Hey peeps - if you reading this, you might be interested to know that I am switching over to my new blog: stevemizel.blogspot.com - all future posts will be made there. g'bye.

Thanksgiving, black Friday, and crucifixes

"I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare." -- C.S. Lewis

I have been rereading C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity over the last two weeks and have found it to be just as wonderful as the first time I read it...and a bit challenging. The theological challenges I will save for some later blog, but I will share a few timely thoughts that challenged me on a personal level.

In discussing Charity, Lewis speaks of Love as a force that drives us to meet others' needs - which is why the older English word "charity" now means giving aid to the poor almost exclusively instead of meaning love in a broader sense like it once did.

So here is my question for me (and you, since you are reading this), can I truly be thankful if I am not also charitable? Is it truly thanksgiving to say, thanks, now give me more or must there be an element of thank you Lord, for your overflowing grace and goodness, I am compelled to share some of it with those who are less fortunate. I believe the latter is what is required...

In connection with that (loosely), tomorrow is Black Friday, a day dedicated to a shopping orgy in worship of consumerism. Olivia Zaleski wrote a wonderful blog about her commitment to family over shopping this year. You can check it out here.

Also in the news is an interesting piece about crucifixes that are being made in china by under-aged women who work seven days a week for less than $.30 an hour. I have always hated the cheesy crap sold at Christian book stores next to incredibly valuable books (like the invaluable witnessing tool, the Test-a-Mint)...and have often suspected we should avoid them not just because they were trashy...but also because they were likely being produced in a country like China where human rights violations are the order of the day and by buying this stuff we were in fact violating the Scriptural mandate to stand for social justice over consumeristic value.

Perfectly Timed Photos

If you haven't seen these photos yet, take the time and visit this link. This blog lists 25 perfectly timed photos - it was a very cool waste of time. Some of them are very artistic, some a bit disturbing, and a bunch of them quite funny.

Enjoy!

Find out who to vote for with Glassbooth

I visited a site called Glassbooth.org and after giving different issues different weights of importance and taking a brief quiz, I was told which candidate matched most closely with my views. I was expecting Huckabee...what I got was Obama (78%)! Huckabee came in a lowly 64%.

Whoda guessed it?

Why not find out which candidate most closely matches your views?

Click here to go to the quick quiz (they do not collect any personal information to take the quiz).

Islamic Cleric Plays Dr. Phil on Arabic TV

Wow. I picked this story up over at Foxnews and found it ... weird and disturbing. These Saudi guys know how to put the fun into fundamentalism.

Here's the deal: A Cleric goes on Arabic TV and dispenses some great (cough cough) marriage advice. He advocates everything from not talking to your wife (so that she will know you are mad at her - you know, it would be way too obvious to actually say something like, "Can we talk about that - that bothers me..." all the way to beating your wife with a toothpick (or your hand) though not in the face or on the hands, cause you wouldn't even hit a donkey in the face.

Maybe they should get together and trade insider secrets with the folks over at Westboro Baptist Church.

Click here to see the video clip.

Westboro Baptist Church Stupid Again

Westboro Baptist Church is in the news again (surprise, surprise)...these guys love the press. They like to play the suffering victim (we are just doing what God told us, whoa is us), but it is pretty clear they love the national notoriety they have achieved. It likely feeds an institutional power idol where the more attention they receive, the more significant and important they feel.

If you haven't heard yet (surely you have), the church was found guilty of violating a father's rights when the protested his son's private funeral (they were protesting with signs like above because he was a soldier). I am all for free speech, but I was glad to hear that they were found guilty. Maybe the legal fees will sap some of the money out of their traveling budget and keep them from continuing to make a public mockery of Christ with their misrepresentation of the holiness of God.

Ironically, the papers they submitted to the court showed them as almost completely broke (the pastors daughter, a practicing lawyer, claims to have less than $400 to her name).

Is it any wonder that we see the theological error of universalism on the rise when you have ijits like this trying to become the public face of hell? It is a shame that the radical fundies of our noble faith continue to misrepresent Truth. Their misrepresentations of the Truth are then ingrained in the public mind as if it were the truth... what a shame.

This is great: Backflips (or close) Galore

I saw this on an Outside Magazine blog - and it cracked me up ... I wonder how many times over the years I looked like this when I messed up a goof-ball trick!

{NOTE: after watching this again and paying more attention to the music, I just want to put a disclaimer warning that about 1/3 of the way in the singer drops the f-bomb...you are now forewarned}