Monday, December 17, 2007

The Truth About Truth

When I was in college, I took a few classes on philosophy and logic on top of my computer science courses. Some of these classes had very similar themes to my computing theory courses since computers themselves are basically logic boxes. But it pounded in my head more than just 1s and 0s, true and false. The neat part about philosophy is it teaches you methods of representing facts and truth. It will also show you how to unravel cleverly-worded arguments to show where they are lacking. Philosophy often times gets a bad rap because of the ideas that certain philosophers have as well as the endless arguing and debate that stems from human reasoning. But knowing how to reason and clearly present an idea or principle can really help one shine their light to the world and help out our neighbors.

If you find yourself in a discussion of a Bible topic, or any topic for that matter, just having the Truth doesn't always win people over automatically. Rather, your approach is supremely important in helping people to see things in a clearer manner. Or in some cases, it may help you see things in a clearer manner. In either case, learning certain philosophical techniques to debate will help you better see all sides to a point, or find flaws in an argument and help you to point them out. They will also help you to stay calm and collected and help you to draw the most from any discussion on most any topic.

First, let's examine some ways on how to NOT make a point, or find a weakness in a point being made. An erroneous argument is what's known as a fallacy. One kind of fallacy is called a 'red herring' argument. This occurs when someone takes the argument in a completely different direction than what you were presenting. A red herring is often done out of a misunderstanding, but it can be done purposely, too. "My opponent has shown his record on abortion through his votes in Congress." "Yes, but you voted no on my defense bill!" When discussing topics, keep in mind what point you're trying to present and make the effort to steer the conversation back to that point until it's been made if it's important enough. I use metaphors quite a bit to describe an idea in a different light sometimes and have had people begin to argue against the metaphor itself!

Scott Adams, the writer of Dilbert, said, "I’ve noticed that a lot of people, if not most, have sharp disagreements with what they hallucinate to be my opinions... Anyway, I’m trying out my new favorite response to the people who get angry over their hallucinations of my opinions: 'I agree with your analysis of your hallucination.'" This is called a 'straw man' argument. One makes up a completely different argument than what you're presenting, attributes it to you, then makes you argue that point instead. Rather than address a point directly, one instead argues a distorted view of that point. This distorted view could sound similar to the idea being made, but it is not that point. If you see this happening, take the time to fully listen to the metaphor or story or point, ask questions to fully grasp it, then address what they mean. Allow people to finish their thoughts. You won't lose a discussion just because someone keeps talking. Too many times we attack word choice rather than ideas and concepts. But I will address that point a little later.

Many times, I hear people dismiss an argument because of one's character. There's possibly some wisdom to this in the case of certain opinions, but if one who occasionally drinks too much says the sky is blue, is he wrong? This fallacy is called ad hominem. You'll hear this all the time in election years. Candidate A: "I will introduce a bill that will put more money in our schools." Candidate B: "But you dropped out of college, so that can't be true!"

Then there are appeals to popularity, the majority, authority, common practices, etc. This fallacy occurs when someone claims that because a large group of people do something, they can't be wrong. Or if a leader or trusted source says something, it must be true. While the statement or idea itself may be true, the fact that a majority or expert says it does not make it so (with the occasional exception, that is God and those who He speaks through).

Ever hear of circular arguments? Here's one: Bill: "God must exist." Jill: "How do you know?" Bill: "Because the Bible says so." Jill: "Why should I believe the Bible?" Bill: "Because the Bible was written by God." As you know, the Church tries to prove God's existence both in and out of the Bible as well as nature, much like we prove that God wrote the Bible by its fruits and the fact that prophecy is fulfilled in various ways. Again, God does exist and the Bible was written by Him, however, how you present it may very well detract someone from believing it. Satan has crafted far more cunning circular arguments to keep people distracted in this world. One of my favorites concerns baptism: I have to get rid of my sins before I can get baptized. One will never get baptized if they think this way.

Some people confuse cause and effect: A and B regularly occur together, therefore A causes B. In my last blog entry, I was attempting to show an example of this occurring, possibly. We need to look into things closer to see if something really is the cause of something else. Perhaps there's something going on behind the scenes that we're not thinking about. "People that regularly attend church are healthier." This statement does not take into account that most sick people do not attend church! God tells us over and over again to get all the facts surrounding a matter before making a decision. If we take the time to carefully consider a situation from many angles, we might begin to see cause and effect playing out completely differently than what was initially thought.

A common problem when discussing sensitive topics is the meaning of words. Take time to understand the meaning of a word someone is using. So many words in the English language have grown to have such different connotations in just a few decades time. Someone being a "gay" person in the 50s is far different than today. Describing the "Work of God" may mean slightly different things to different people. Some people may not fully understand a word's true meaning even if they've heard it thousands of times. I know many of Paul's writings use legal terminology to describe God's relationship with us. Words like 'grace', 'sanctification', 'gospel', 'justification', etc. are thrown around all the time in religious settings, but many do not know their full meanings. If you find yourself going around in circles, be sure that the terminology's definition is agreed upon, or find a better choice of word to use.

As said above, many times in a discussion one can be put on the spot with a new idea or understanding and may not have the time to carefully craft their next statement. Give people the benefit of the doubt and ask questions to help them better define their position rather than tearing down a half-constructed idea. The whole point to discussions and debate is to learn. If we are motivated to learn the full Truth, then we will allow others to teach us as much as we are willing to teach others. It helps to carefully think about an point before presenting it, but sometimes we can also help finish another's statement if they can't quite put it together themselves. We must work together to build better understanding and grow in knowledge.

Yes, there are those out there who will try to merely WIN an argument and have no desire to listen or learn. Apply Proverbs 26:4 in this case: Do not answer a fool in his folly, lest you also be like him. But if you have to apply verse 5 instead, use the tools above to dismantle the argument so you are not fooled by it.

But for those who are willing to learn, let these tools along with a humble spirit help you to weed out fallacies and diligently search for the Truth. Any arguments?

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Meat Eaters Get Last Laugh

Here's something that sounds true, but you nutritionists can correct this Newsweek report if it's wrong or misleading. Apparently, it's never been proven that diets high in saturated fat and heart disease are related.

"The first scientific indictment of saturated fat came in 1953. That's the year a physiologist named Ancel Keys, Ph.D., published a highly influential paper titled "Atherosclerosis, a Problem in Newer Public Health." Keys wrote that while the total death rate in the United States was declining, the number of deaths due to heart disease was steadily climbing. And to explain why, he presented a comparison of fat intake and heart disease mortality in six countries: the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Italy, and Japan.

"The Americans ate the most fat and had the greatest number of deaths from heart disease; the Japanese ate the least fat and had the fewest deaths from heart disease. The other countries fell neatly in between. The higher the fat intake, according to national diet surveys, the higher the rate of heart disease. And vice versa. Keys called this correlation a "remarkable relationship" and began to publicly hypothesize that consumption of fat causes heart disease. This became known as the diet-heart hypothesis.


However, the results only took a sampling of the overall data:

"At the time, plenty of scientists were skeptical of Keys's assertions. One such critic was Jacob Yerushalmy, Ph.D., founder of the biostatistics graduate program at the University of California at Berkeley. In a 1957 paper, Yerushalmy pointed out that while data from the six countries Keys examined seemed to support the diet-heart hypothesis, statistics were actually available for 22 countries. And when all 22 were analyzed, the apparent link between fat consumption and heart disease disappeared. For example, the death rate from heart disease in Finland was 24 times that of Mexico, even though fat-consumption rates in the two nations were similar.

"Naturally, proponents of the diet-heart hypothesis hailed the study as proof that eating saturated fat leads to heart attacks. But the data was far from rock solid. That's because in three countries (Finland, Greece, and Yugoslavia), the correlation wasn't seen.


The differences seen might also possibly be related to other foods of those countries' diets: processed foods like enriched white flour and sugar. Here is how our body typically handles saturated fats in natural foods:

"Although more than a dozen types of saturated fat exist, humans predominantly consume three: stearic acid, palmitic acid, and lauric acid. This trio comprises almost 95 percent of the saturated fat in a hunk of prime rib, a slice of bacon, or a piece of chicken skin, and nearly 70 percent of that in butter and whole milk.

"Today, it's well established that stearic acid has no effect on cholesterol levels. In fact, stearic acid — which is found in high amounts in cocoa as well as animal fat — is converted to a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid in your liver. This is the same heart-healthy fat found in olive oil. As a result, scientists generally regard this saturated fatty acid as either benign or potentially beneficial to your health.

"Palmitic and lauric acid, however, are known to raise total cholesterol. But here's what's rarely reported: Research shows that although both of these saturated fatty acids increase LDL ("bad") cholesterol, they raise HDL ("good") cholesterol just as much, if not more. And this lowers your risk of heart disease. That's because it's commonly believed that LDL cholesterol lays down plaque on your artery walls, while HDL removes it. So increasing both actually reduces the proportion of bad cholesterol in your blood to the good kind. This may explain why numerous studies have reported that this HDL/LDL ratio is a better predictor of future heart disease than LDL alone.


More prime rib baked with butter for me, please!! It sounds like the truth is, people that eat foods high in natural saturated fats (i.e. more flavor) also tend to eat other foods that have lots of highly processed ingredients that are also yummy and delicious. Some of these processed ingredients also happen to break down into very sticky stuff that adheres to artery walls. I've read elsewhere that once these sticky substances anchor down, they act as a hook, think velcro, to gather otherwise healthy lipids in the system and build up more of a blockage. I don't know how much of that is based on solid medical fact, but in my non-trained, I-just-learned-about-healthy-eating-yesterday mindset, it makes sense.

While the ancient Israelite diets consisted mostly of grains, fish, figs, olives, veggies and the like, the Levites would probably be eating a lot more red meat than the average Israelite seeing as how that was their portion. I couldn't see God trying to purposely give His priests heart attacks because of their jobs... I'm just theorizing here, so don't rip off my head if I'm way off. :) But either way, it certainly seems to adhere to the health laws that God put out there a long time ago and Mr. Armstrong, among others, revised for our day and age... Everything in moderation, eat clean foods that can spoil before they do, and stay away from processed stuff.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Germany and Religion

Apparently, Germany is considering banning the religion of Tom Cruise, Scientology, according to several articles, one found here. They say it goes against their constitution by being a "cult" that exists only for the purpose of making money. I wonder what kind of ruling they might make for the Church of God, should we ever have a more visible presence there...

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Importance of Government

A long time ago before I was baptized, a few years after Worldwide split up, I remember talking with a few friends about what the differences were between the churches and why we were separate. Two of them emphatically said, "It's all about GOVERNMENT!! It's SO important!" Back then, I had no clue why they thought so. In fact, the mere reason they had no real understanding themselves to back up their claim showed they were parroting what they heard from others, they themselves not proving it. However, since then, I've begun to understand what true government should look like and how it should operate. Perhaps they were right after all...

To this day, government remains a divisive issue. Many people watched as "one-man government" tore apart all that was built up over many decades in the Worldwide Church of God, and many promised they'd never let any man rule over them again. Many remember being completely mistreated by ministers, deacons, evangelists and so on who were many times overstepping their bounds and misusing the office God gave them. From that perspective, the decisions to play it safe with government or to just stay away from it altogether seem totally justified. Other men seemed resolved to grasp onto their power and rule even more hard-headedly... er, hard-handedly over their followers.

I was old enough when the church split up to understand some of the problems with Worldwide but I was too young to remember or ever know what we once were and how we had dove to such depths spiritually over time. Sure, I heard plenty of the horror stories about church areas, Ambassador College, Headquarters and some of the leading men in the church. I don't think anybody doubts it anymore... GOD split up His church for our many trespasses against Him in the same way He scattered Israel. These stories I heard made me sick, and yet for some reason, I wasn't completely shocked by them. After all, these leaders were human.

There were times where I didn't like the fact that some men felt the need to reiterate over and over again that they were in charge. I felt like if you were in charge, people would want to follow you. Don't get me wrong, I have no problems with people being in a leadership position... I usually get along with bosses, ministers, my own parents, older folks, etc. I was taught respect as a child.

But what irked me even more were people that started to show disrespect to the leadership. I watched as many of the church brethren I knew as they began to mock Mr. Armstrong and every other minister they could lay into. Then they started in, if they already weren't, on the President, Congressmen and other political figures. Some of my thoughts on government really got jumpstarted when I had to give an Attack speech in Spokesman's Club on how God's people are to respect, follow and obey ALL forms of leadership. I found this to be true all over the Bible. Obedience to leaders is the same as obedience to God. He places all in power and He removes them, too. Soon these brethren's opinions seemed to scream so loud that I rarely heard a single godly phrase come out of their mouths anymore. Just gossip and mudslinging... And these were the people still attending one of the branches of God's church! Yes, there are false leaders and we need to be careful, but we can't immediately assume anyone we don't agree with is one. Judge by fruits rather than by sight and opinion alone.

Now I saw why some men were having to assert their leadership; no one would follow God's true servants anymore. "I don't like him or his style, therefore he's a false minister!" People used to mock the Two Trees sermon that Mr. Armstrong reportedly gave a hundred million times near the end of his life. I wouldn't know, I was 7 when he died. The irony there was that a major point of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was it represented how fleshly carnality behaved vs. the Tree of Life being God's way. We choose one or the other. Romans 8:7, the great baptism scripture, states that the carnal mind is at war against the Holy Spirit, both trying to take over our mind. Carnality, in essence, is mankind wanting to do what's right in his own eyes (I Cor. 2-3), it's my decision, my way. God's way is choosing to follow Him and His commandments. The choice is following who we want vs. following who God has placed over the church to lead.

I found some old booklets from Dr. Hoeh, one entitled How Far Does Church Government Extend Into Your Life? In one section titled "You Must Decide Whether This is God's Church", he writes:

We must first of all come to a knowledge of where God's teaching is.
We must find those whom GOD has sent. Unless we have found those whom God has sent, how are we going to know that what is preached is true?


In today's church climate, this would seem to involve taking what we know to be the "truth" and searching for someone preaching that. However, many end up looking for someone who is fascinating to them, someone whose preaching stirs them to action, or someone who preaches and agrees with their own version of God's truth and government (Judges 18, for example). In other words, they allow themselves to be deceived by their pride or what they want to hear!

Everyone in the church learned at a different rate, meaning that all are at different places in spiritual growth. Some are new in the faith and some are more spiritually mature. How does God handle this disparity in understanding? Government! Dr. Hoeh writes more:

How, then, does God regulate those things which we must do together IN UNITY if we do not all grow spiritually at the same rate? How are we going to have unity in the Church if as individuals we cannot all understand all things alike without assistance? The answer is that we must be led, governed, ruled by the government of God -- guided by Him into truth!

...But how were they to know what was right in God's eyes? The answer is that God set rule and authority in His Church to determine the difficult matters for the people. We read of this rule and authority specifically in Acts 7:35.

Notice how the people in the Old Testament Church first regarded God's government, His rule and authority. "This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of
the angel which appeared to him in the bush." I want you to notice. The people did not accept God's government through Moses. They were carnal.



The degree to which individuals accept God's government is illustrative of the degree to which they are converted and changed from their natural carnal mindedness to the mind of God and the Spirit of God. When people say, "Well, I think I ought
to decide this for myself," when it is not their decision, they are merely illustrating carnal mindedness. And to be carnal minded is death. Rather than taking our version of the truth and finding a church or minister to follow, we need to use these following guidelines, supplied by Dr. Hoeh, to find GOD'S Church:

The first thing that all of us must do is to decide whether or not THIS IS GOD'S CHURCH. We must come to know where God's Church is. The Church of God has been given a commission. Jesus said He will be with us always, even to the end, or consummation, of this age. We know that the Church that God uses is one in which CHRIST IS. It is the Church which fulfills the commission of Christ, not some other mission. It preaches the Kingdom of God, not a social gospel... It is the Church which yields itself to all the Scripture. A Church which obeys God and which has Jesus Christ as its Head and living in its members.


After we have found God's Church using these principles, we submit to His authority and those He has placed in charge - no ifs, ands or buts about it. If we truly have faith, God will correct those who are walking errantly, including YOU and I!

How should God's church's government be ran? Like the US military? NO! Mr. Ray Clore gave an excellent sermon about the detriments of governmental styles such as democracies and military rule. I won't go into all of them here, but on the military side, he stated that those under such strict "do as I say NOW, Mister!" ruling will generally have little faith, little knowledge, little confidence, and they will lack the ability to make sound judgment or decisions. Why? Because someone has always told them what to do! They will be more likely do as a leader says and if/when it should fail, they will only blame the leader for their lack of success. They will not lift a finger without getting special dispensation from the minister.

God's government is a familial government. One in which, yes, there is one man in charge, but his chief concern is the well-being of the family. He cannot be challenged on his final ruling, but his final ruling will take into account everyone's thoughts, ideas, opinions and counsel. He rules first and foremost from God's Word and commandments. This leader will seek wise counsel and learn to become wiser and more knowledgeable. Sometimes, his mind will be subject to change. He will listen to his followers, like a father would his children, and go along with their ideas from time to time to empower them and help them become more independent and to build character. He is loving, caring, gentle, kind, patient, generous, faithful, peaceloving and zealous. He always does what's best for all the sheep. He does not have favorites. He sees people by their fruits, that is, their actions and deeds, and gently but firmly chastens and rebukes those who are stubborn. He judges righteously.

This style is so different than what many saw in certain times and areas in Worldwide. But it did exist. From many who were close to him, Mr. Armstrong was this way. Those who didn't know him perhaps think otherwise. Many times, this is simply a reflection of their own character they put on him. As of late, I have personally seen more and more men growing in the attitude of a loving father in our church. I have seen the bossy, rude, selfish, truly power-hungry men storm off and some are long gone, along with brethren of the same attitude. The further away one crawls from the trunk of the tree, the closer they get to the nuts. The same applies here, I believe.

Those who believe we only need to show love and encouragement obviously have brats for children. Children need boundaries, just as we brethren in the church do. Think about it... My father ordered me at an early age to say "Yes sir" and "Thank you" when I was being selfish and ungrateful. Was I respectful and thankful upon being ordered back then? No... But I became that way by doing those things. The same goes for how God's ministers set rules and guidelines and traditions in the church today. Spiritually new people hear the "do this" and "do that" and by their faith, they should do so. To not do so and question shows our carnal nature. Once we do so, we see over time why we were told to do so. If we're still confused, then do as I did as an annoying 5-year old kid: ask why! As it becomes part of our habit and nature to obey God's word through His church, we begin hearing those same commands in a different way and see deeper into the messages being given... The explanations become more plain and obvious to us. We begin to understand at God's level rather than at a carnal level. We see that by simply doing what God tells us through the Bible and his ministers, we always seem to end up better off than we were otherwise. If not, then perhaps it is time to check our attitude. Do we question decisions by our ministers? If so, what are we trying to prove to Whom??

When I was taking my philosophy class in college, I could totally see this being interpreted as brainwashing. I know better. I choose to follow God's way. He sets before us life and death. "Therefore, CHOOSE LIFE!" God commands. At any point, we can walk away. And at that point, we choose to walk down the path that leads to death. As I read from Genesis to Revelation, I always see God stating that there is no other way than His way that we can and should live. When people don't, to the degree that they know better, He punishes them. When they do, great blessings come. This applied to the priests, the prophets, the kings, the apostles, ministers, deacons and us lay people. His will is set out, it does not change. It is our job to follow it.

Anyway, I highly recommend Dr. Hoeh's booklet on government. You can find it here.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Another Chance to Rant!

Okay, here's something you may or may not care about since many of you don't own a house ("where your treasure is, there shall your heart be also"). I find it interesting just how unscrupulous some of the American banks are being right now with this whole sub-prime housing mess. Sure, it's boring finance stuff, but it has been a red flag to not only investors here, but all around the world that the American economy isn't all it's cracked up to be, in fact, it's cracking at the seams.

In an article on MSNBC today, I read that 1 in 31 homes are being foreclosed on in Ventura, CA. Even here in KC, the foreclosure rate is 1 in 234, 80% higher than a year ago. The article states that Countrywide Financial, the largest lending business in the US, wrote $3.3 billion last October in sub-prime loans. This October, that figure is down to $42 MILLION. That's only 1.27% of the previous figure...

Something right there stinks in my mind. Of course, with all of these foreclosures coming on the market so rapidly, and with that number sure to continue to rise as last year's numbers begin to take a toll, there will be a new market for Countrywide and other lenders: the refinance market. Congress is pushing hard to get lenders to work with homeowners so people don't lose their homes. The government wants lenders to offer fixed-rate mortgages to these folks. They want Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, government ran, privately invested lenders that own more than 40% of all bank notes in the US, to buy out these loans to lower the risks for these banks in the short-term.

In other words, these same companies who just got chewed out so badly for the sub-prime mess are going to be bailed out even when, for the moment, they aren't injured badly enough to put the bigger culprits out of business. Then they want these same greedy, selfish companies to offer homeowners, who are about to lose their homes and are completely desperate, the same homeowners whose credit ratings are taking a nose dive, and offer them a chance to refinance.

I see the conversation going a little like this: "Okay, okay, so we screwed you. Sorry... Hey, I have an idea! Here's a refinance plan that won't be like the last one! It's a fixed-rate loan. You probably couldn't afford it when you were looking last time, but now that the variable interest rates are through the roof, they don't look so bad now, do they? Of course, you'll be paying a much higher fixed interest rate because we can't trust you since you couldn't pay your last mortgage."

Homeowner: "Whatever, you suckered me once, but I'm desperate, so whatever you put in front of me, I'll sign, seeing as that's what got me in this mess in the first place."

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to put all the blame on the banks. When moneychangers and dove sellers were dealing in God's house, there had to be a market for them to be there, otherwise they would have gone elsewhere after a while. Some people, for whatever reason, don't read the fine print or do basic research when they're about to spend 1/4 - 1/2 of their monthly income on something that they'll be paying on for the next 15-30 years!

But in the end, these same lenders who made these lousy deals available are now cashing in on even more money for the problems they themselves caused and are being bailed out by the government to do so when they should have gone out of business for being ran so stupidly. A. maz. ing. They will be responsible for sinking this economy even more than it already is.

When you read Micah 6:10 - 13, you see what God has coming for these types of people:

"Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins."

And to the people foolish enough to take these kinds of loans:

Proverbs 22:7: "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

I don't think people in debt realize just how much of a slave they could become. God will judge this nation for our selfish, get-ahead-at-all-costs lifestyles among many other things. I just think the whole thing stinks and implore those of you who don't own a home yet, but who might in the future, to greatly consider what you're getting into. Get advice, talk to many banks, get a trustworthy agent, etc., etc. etc.

Proverbs 4:5-6: "Get wisdom, get understanding; forget not; nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she shall preserve you; love her, and she shall keep you."

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

No KC Weekend This Year :(

From Mr. Millich -

We will be cancelling our annual Kansas City weekend so that we can
defer to a special anniversary weekend in Charlotte, NC. Sorry for any
inconvenience this may cause. We will be planning for a social later.
Details about the Headquarters activity will be sent out from there.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

Hey peoples!! We're taking off today for the Feast in Newport, Oregon. The journey begins by taking a 7-hour plane ride with a newborn, then driving 2-1/2 hours tomorrow with that same infant. Hopefully ears pop and naps are taken. I hope your Feasts are profitable and enjoyable!



On a semi-related note, the KC weekend will take place this year on the last weekend in December. New Years is on a Tuesday, so if you can take off Monday, it'll be a 4-day weekend. No costume dance this year, though. I'm being told by the powers that be that it'll be a formal dance (obviously suit and tie or nice dress are allowed). But if you feel like dressing up like James Bond or a prom queen, then I suppose you could call it a costume dance...

Thursday, September 20, 2007

It's Happening...

You gotta love an article that begins with "The world dumped the dollar on Thursday...". It almost begs to be followed by something equally trite-sounding: "...and Angelina dumped Brad on Friday." The latter, of course, being the major headline news in the States. The euro is beginning to resemble the pound, the Canadian dollar is on par with our own greenback and even the peso is starting to laugh. "Hey esé, you look so stooooo-peeeeed!"

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Thursday, August 30, 2007

20 Years to Life

No, this isn't about Michael Vick. Apparently (pun intended as you will soon see), having a kid is a long-term job. Not that I'm complaining... What's funny, though, is that many existing parents will want to wrap up their whole experience, whether it be 6-months or 20+ years, into short pieces of advice for us newbies. They state the obvious: "Your life will change" or "It's the end of the world as you know it." Some are nebulous: "You have no idea what you're getting into... But it's great." In fact, many times existing parents will tell you some terrible story about raising kids, then end it with, "...but don't worry, it's totally worth it." My favorite is the whole 'watch out' stuff. I was told by my boss the other day, "Yeah, they seem easy now, but after 3-months you'll be screaming." Another person says just the opposite, "The first three months are awful. But don't worry, it's all worth it." But when people actually see the baby and hold him, we get good, useful advice and people are far more willing to hand out optimism. Babies just do that to some folks, I guess, unless they're screaming. :)


Rachel and I are doing pretty well with parenting so far. And I'm just taking it one day at a time. I'm still sleeping, I just don't expect to get 8-hours, much less consecutive hours of sleep. But it's not bad at all, just different. Rachel gets to nap off and on when Joshua allows her to. In my 3+ weeks of parenting, I can only say that never expecting the same thing helps.


The nice parts about parenting so far are things like the sounds he makes, which are many. I think he'll end up like his old man and do impressions and sound effects... He snorts a lot when he's eating, so that could pose a problem when he's on a date in the future. He's starting to interact a little better now and his eyes don't drift off in every direction like they used to. In fact, he looks at me a little strange when I cross my eyes at him. I had no idea how to hold a baby when he first came, but I had that down after a few days. I felt better when I saw my brothers-in-law doing the same thing... And they had Kevin around as a baby. Kevin looked scared to hold the baby, but then again, so did Peder. "Being an uncle is weird!" Yeah, try being a dad. :)


But overall, it's been fun. A learning experience, sure, but my prior priorities probably could have used some adjusting anyway. They are probably still adjusting. They will probably be adjusting for a long time... Anyway, here's another family photo:



Wednesday, August 08, 2007

He's Here!!

Joshua Michael Keesee was born at 5:52 AM on August 7th, 2007. He weighed a mere 9 lbs. 3 oz. We was 21 inches tall, if you felt like holding him upright. But he will resemble a Moluf/Keesee hybrid, ie, tall, goofy and weird. I haven't gotten a lot of pictures from my camera yet, but here's one that my cousin Kasey took from yesterday:



Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Are We There Yet?

I guess this baby will get here eventually... However, Rachel is ready to get that baby out of her now. I don't blame her since I wouldn't want a 25 lb. lead weight strapped to my belly every day. On the other hand, her belly doesn't scream or soil itself, so there's that side to consider. I don't have to change her belly at all. There's nothing stopping the inevitable, it's just a weird waiting game.

Friday, July 06, 2007

A Crappy 4th of July Analogy

Wow, two posts in two days... And most of you won't read this for weeks to come 'cuz I've been so lazy lately. Oh well. It's relavant today while I type it. :) Anyway, I was asking a local friend about where in Grain Valley to watch fireworks on the 4th. He said that sitting on your back porch would be the best. Now, in my old home town a few miles away, there were folks setting off hundreds of dollars of fireworks all around, but in Grain Valley, it's flat enough to get a great view to see all around. Basically, I got more than a 180-degree view of some of the most awesome amateur fireworks displays I've ever seen! I mean, people were forking over tons of money for the stuff I saw. We packed half of the Moluf family on my tiny deck to watch (the other half had left to drive home). At one point, Kevin asked me how much all of the 40 or so displays we were able to see must have cost totalled up. "Oh, at least $10 grand and probably much, much more..."

So that got my mind on this pathetic analogy: Watching those fireworks reminded me of the American economy. Really... We pump a bunch of money in buying worthless stuff with the single purpose of making us say "Oooh, ahhhh. Coooool!" Think of all the gadgets Americans buy each day... HD-TVs, computers, video games, cell phones, iPods, iPhones, Hummers, Corvettes, etc. After 9/11, we were told to keep spending money just to keep the economy from collapsing. We've heeded that request way too well. Of course, the rest of the world looks at the way we're dropping Ben Franklins at the fireworks tent or warehouse and say, "Dat'sa ridiculoso!" But later on, they look at all the amazing results of the fireworks and they get hypnotized the same way we do. So they invest their money in our country's tireless effort to increase our debt so they can watch the show, too (and earn a tidy profit). And like the fireworks, most of the crap we buy is made in China and they're laughing all the way to the bank as our money goes up in smoke.

The show was beautiful... while it lasted.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Life in the Fast Lane

It's been a long while since I posted last. I even had some great stuff to talk about on here since then, but life has been busy lately. First things first, I flew to Miami on business. My company makes hospital software and we were installing it in the 17th largest hospital in the US. So we sent planners down for several years to get it drawn up, then installers for a year or so, then trainers for the last few months. Finally, the job of 250+ of us was to walk around the various hospitals, clinics and other such places and make sure they were able to use it the first 2 weeks it was up. For those who don't know, doctors and nurses are not trained in computers, they are trained in treating people, so our system is more of a distraction and sometimes a hindrance for them.



I got placed at a clinic in north Miami (to the left) in a part of Little Haiti where the main language is Creole. Notice the barbed wire around the place... Yeah, being the only white boy in town had a certain air of... well, security wasn't the word. So I trained these folks for a whole week and tried to help transfer their minds from their old, "easier" system, to the "new-and-improved" system. The first day, I was teaching one gal how to point and click. It took 20-30 minutes to schedule one person. It used to take less than a minute. Frustrations were high, I didn't know the process, life was less than fun at the time. Basically, I'm an engineer (read: programmer monkey), and they had me pretending to be an expert, a trainer, a hand-holder, a receiver of yelling and complaining, a calming force, a help desk, etc., etc., etc. By the end of the week, I had done all that and also played the role of a plumber (the urinal kept flushing until an inch or two of water was on the floor), a printer repair person, a psychologist ("Zee old system ist merely a feegment of your eemagination. Dee new seestem eest better."), and a delivery boy (lunch needed to be served to the lead administrator a couple of days since she was working longer hours than me).

By the end of the week, I had helped them to finally be able to teach each other how to use the system (see right for proof). It was pretty cool. I mean, I'm not a teacher, but I got a good lesson in how to help others learn. The first thing I learned: Don't expect anything. Sure, have objectives you want to teach. You want to set goals. But don't be shocked if most don't learn them. Don't be shocked if nobody cares (you teachers out there are laughing at me). I was fortunate enough to have a very patient (pun intended) clinic, so teaching them useful stuff was difficult, but it seemed to take hold over time.

I learned through all of this some things that I will definitely keep in mind when/if I get to teach in the future (perhaps even in the Kingdom). Again, have little to no expectations of progress. People learn at their own rate. Just plow ahead... with a plan.... sorta. Be flexible. I was all over the place in the clinic learning their jobs as they learned my system. I'll had to learn how people learned and then taught them accordingly. In the Kingdom, we'll have a lot of information and wisdom, but we'll be dealing with people who don't. Always be positive. Adults need constant praise. Putting them down is a no-no, or so I've been told. Especially when humility isn't on their to-do list to learn that week. :)

In other news, I'm still having a baby. Rachel is one month out from the due date, or at least that's what the latest estimates are. We've finished our Bradley Method class (or Lamaze for Hippies), we've toured the birthing ward and Rachel has had her baby shower. Needless to say, reality is truly setting in. If I hear, "Your life will never be the same" one more time I think I'm going to punch a wall (you parents out there are laughing at me). Of course, that will get me out of changing diapers the first month or so, right? Nah, I'm looking forward to it in many respects. It's just hard when you hear existing parents sound like schizophrenics when they tell you about parenting. "Oh it's great. The greatest thing ever. RUN! YOUR LIFE WILL BE MISERABLE FROM LACK OF SLEEP!!!!" Of course, the constant lack of sleep possibly turned them into schizoids, so this blog should take an interesting turn starting next month, assuming I have time to post again.

Friday, June 01, 2007

The Illusion of Competition

I was having lunch with a friend today and we were discussing problems with governments, society and our individual thinking overall. I was trying to come up with a reasonable explanation of the underlying problem with people's thinking and why these problems continue to occur. We came up with one possibility...

We brought up a philosophy of competition called Game Theory that describes how people consider their opponent's next move in order to gain more for themselves. Every game that I've played generally follows this theory in some way, hence the name. One example is that a nice player will always lose to one who's willing to take advantage of that niceness. Another is to be willing to lose a little bit to gain a lot. Yet another is to play tit-for-tat, or only strike out when attacked. Or in a win-win situation, let's say where there's a bundle of money on the table with several opponents sitting around it, do you grab all you can as fast as you can, everyone getting some, but some getting far more than others (usually the ones with the advantage of longer arms or bigger hands). Or do you try and talk the table into splitting it all evenly if you're at a disadvantage? Even then, how do you know that they will be fair in doing so?

So how does this tie into mankind's problems today? In an article I found earlier, the author took this theory a step further than just games and said that in our desire to compete, some people take a short-term approach and others take a long-term approach. Do you try to take as much as you can now, taking advantage of people's weakness or kindness, or play a strategy that will win in the end regardless of making some sacrifices? In one example, if you travel to a third-world country, you might have street merchants jump all over you trying to sell you a worthless trinket. Many tourists throw money at them just to be left alone, however, they've learned their lesson not to go down that street again. However, you go to your local Target and quality merchandise is just sitting there, no one hassles you, you get what you want and go. Which model of sales develops long-term customers? The author proceeded to broaden that concept to whole cultures and how some countries' leadership try to address the current problems or address short-term problems in order to look good now or to calm growing disorder. Whereas more successful countries tend to pass laws that have future generations well in mind regardless of the pain those laws may cause right away.

Criminals, delinquents and spoiled brats tend to have that 'take all I can', 'have fun right now' mentality whereas more well-balanced, mature folks have a more patient attitude in order to have better benefits later on.

This all seemed to make sense... Except then I had a nagging thought: This is all based on COMPETITION! People using varying strategies to get ahead of others. Some just flat out silly, some far more complex or even sinister.

So I asked my friend, who is more atheistic than religious, if he knew of any cultures that didn't value competition the same way we in capitalistic societies do. As I expected, he couldn't think of any. Neither could I. Even in the most simple villages in Africa, there is probably some form of competition to eat more of the lion, or have the most children to carry on your namesake, or to take from others just stay alive. However, we in the U.S. thrive on this idea. Capitalist nations teach that competition is the best way to foster growth, innovation, ideas and most of all: money. The "Good Life". It was this type of thinking that came up with evolution, and it's this type of thinking that views everything we see in nature as following those competitive rules. We love our sports and athletes as well as shrewd business billionaires who continually vie to be the most rich.

So I wondered about what God thought of competition. Could it be that He doesn't think much of it at all? I mean, He has His Law that we are supposed to follow. There are True Values which we are supposed to keep. Since these ideals are as built into the universe as gravity, could it be that the individuals and societies that get closest to keeping God's way of life are rewarded the most? I'm not saying God is fooled by those who act nice just to get ahead. He knows our intentions. But it's not a stretch to think that He would still reward us for good behavior to prove the point that His way works. I've heard there are many CEOs and executives who read Proverbs even though they aren't overly religious men. There's just solid truth there. Are there times where the U.S. or other nations happen upon the best way to do things by building character after a huge war, let's say, or suffering through a Great Depression, and are humbled to do things in more virtuous, courageous way? Or are we stuck with the image of Michael Douglas in the movie Wall Street saying, "Greed is good. Greed works."?

Is competition as a force for improvement just an illusion? Do capitalist societies like America succeed prosper because of competition and democracy (majority rule), or because God promised Abraham a great nation and we as a nation try to keep similar versions of God's laws? My opinion is that leaving God behind for our professed gods of competition, democracy and capitalism will be the death of us.

But we're so inundated with competition in our daily lives that we naturally argue that it's necessary. Some may argue that the best athletes are so because of competition. I would agree with that in many cases. But to what purpose? Do we play sports just to win? How does a highly-competitive individual act when they lose? Would a more helpful reason to play sports be to get good exercise, build camaraderie, skills, talents and sportsmanship? Perhaps teaching and playing with less-skilled players with a patient attitude? To learn how to vent frustration properly? Even to learn how to lose with grace??

Some may argue that the best companies are the most competive, like Microsoft or Wal-Mart. However, those very same practices that got them there are slowly killing them. Companies who follow Wal-Mart's scheme underpay employees with little to no benefits, underbid suppliers because of their size and buy from suppliers in foreign countries that exploit workers and children. All while giving the customer lower prices, many times at the expense of quality. Microsoft pays well and has wonderful benefits, but I've been told that you shouldn't expect much of a home life. 70-90+ hour weeks are common-place in uber-competitive software and other white collar companies. And both destroy smaller businesses with pleasure. However, companies who cater to their employees and their families, to the customer, and deliver high quality and good customer service suffer some expenses to do so, but many times are far more successful than their competitors. CostCo vs. Sam's Club (Wal-Mart) comes to mind.

This blog entry is starting to get to excess, so I'll try to wrap up here. Basically, with our fleshly bodies being fairly self-contained and self-centered (Romans 7:23), competitive and selfish behavior seems to be natural to this world. The god of this world, Satan, probably helped make that one of the standards of behavior (think Cain and Abel), so there's definitely some truth there. However, I don't believe that's the expected behavior that God wants from us. God's way is unchanging, His Laws are perfect, His character flawless. Who can compete with that?? The answer is obvious. And when it becomes obvious that there's no competing with God's standards, surrendering to Him becomes much easier. It also makes it easier to deal with other people, I think, with a less-competitive attitude. Let God provide a job rather than competing for it. Let God feed us. Let God handle a difficult situation. Use His form of non-competitive leadership which focuses on helping others rather than worrying about our own position and power. It probably starts to make everything easier once we dump all the garbage this world has fed us in that regard and follow Him completely and whole-heartedly. 'Cuz let's face it, God could kick our butt in a game of basketball. :)

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Brawny Brain Building

Every once in awhile, I find a cool article on personality-building. Since I'll be having a kid of my own soon, it seems even more pertinent to figure out how we develop personality, character and talent in an uplifting and edifying way. That said, this article from Newsweek discusses some recent tests that prove some age-old techniques in building confidence and a desire to grow in people, especially children.

Basically, they gave an IQ test to two sets of children. To one group, they told them they did a good job and how smart they were. To the other group, they told them they did a good job and how hard they must have worked to get the score they did. The first group tended to view their accomplishment as a level of achievement that is fixed and can't be changed. The second group believed that their efforts got them to where they were and continued to push forward to new learning and growing. The first group even began lying about their scores because... well, read the article.

In another test, the therapist told one older group of children that the brain is a muscle and can be built stronger. The other group was told nothing. Obviously, the first group went on to work hard to grasp higher mathematics. The other group is now in prison... Oh wait, no, that's not right.

Anyway, it was interesting to see that not only do you need to praise your children and encourage them, or even friends and loved ones, but how you encourage people is very important, too. Or maybe I'm just full of all this phony-baloney, new-age psychology junk. Or maybe everyone already knows this but me... OH, I'M SUCH A LOSER!!!! GIVE ME SOME SORT OF DRUG TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!!!!!!! I'm okay now.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Gas Prices

If you're one of those people tired of paying high prices in gasoline and forward on emails about boycotting certain gas retailers, think again. Most experts say that won't have any impact on the market except to the individual owners of the gas stations themselves. Instead, according to this article, we must look at our own driving practices and change them, even if ever so slightly, to make a difference. The two points? Simple:
  1. Quit driving like a jerk (gunning the accelerator and braking at the last minute).
  2. Slow down (you don't have to be grandpa out there, just keep your RPMs lower on average).

That doesn't seem terribly hard. Apparently, even a 1% decrease in demand will settle down a simmering market much like turning down the stove slightly will stop water from boiling over (using the author's own metaphor). So if you can save even one gallon a month in gas by observing and changing your driving behavior, you can actually help make a small dent in demand. And a 7% decrease, which is what we had from August last year to January this year, dropped prices almost a dollar! Spam this info to the world instead of gas boycotts...

Monday, May 07, 2007

Kansas City, Here I Come!!

So any more of you single people moving here? Man, it's raining men... AND women! I think I've counted 5 new people that are moving or have moved out here (Cherie just got here tonight), and that doesn't even count Infinity who's moving only 100 miles to the east of here. We're glad to have ya'll, so let us know and we'll leave the light on for ya' (even if you're just passin' through).

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Seared Brains, Anyone?

Have you ever noticed that when you make a mistake and realize it, you have a kind of, "Oh crap!" reaction? Did you ever notice any kind of shock, feeling of dread or painful sensation with that? According to some new research found in this Newsweek article appropriately titled, "Oops, I Did It Again", there's a part of the brain that alerts us when we make the same mistakes over and over again by sending out a negative reaction, or electric shock. It comes from the part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex that signals what psychologists call ERN, or "error related negativity." Of course, there's a flip side to this. If you constantly make the same mistakes over and over again, the ERNs begin to weaken. This is possibly why some people never learn from their mistakes. If you tend to reason around errors in your life now, you are essentially rewiring your own brain to ignore them in the future, too. So when we say we're just having fun now and will change later, you may completely lack the physical ability to care or be shocked by your own actions in the future to effectively do something about it! This brings a whole new meaning to "searing your conscience", doesn't it? :)

The study also noted that "the subjects who were most impulsive and antisocial had EEGs that were quite different from those who were low on these traits." This points to the importance of self-control and fellowship with others of like minds. Of course, the human brain is capable of being rewired to send stronger signals for our mistakes as we correct our behavior while following God's way of life and building character. I'm sure a physical component of "building character" is reprogramming our brain to reward us when we do the right thing and to sting us more when we make mistakes. This is vital for raising kids, too (as I will soon learn). That's probably one of the main reasons why King Solomon wrote about learning proper values in our childhood years, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6).

Monday, April 23, 2007

What Could Bee the Problem?

I stumbled upon this artice earlier about large populations of honey bees used to pollinate various crops are disappearing for unknown reasons. The article mentions that it doesn't necessarily affect staples, but certain veggies, fruits and nuts. I guess it's widespread enough that they're going to hold congressional hearings about it. I'm sure that will do a lot of good.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Slightly Lighter Topic...

...OK, not really. But the last topic was probably too heavy and too vague to really discuss. So I'll try something different. The one thing the media keeps coming back to on this shooter in VA is how odd and different and morbid his thinking was... and it was. But many newscasters sat there in complete shock about his behavior and asked why more people didn't do anything about it. I sat there in disbelief, too. Do these people really know what modern schools and kids are like??? I went to school with 10-15 kids that acted like Cho did. Some of them did carry guns. Some of them would never look you in the eye. They wrote awful poetry and sick stories and kept to themselves or their small group of odd friends. I even befriended some of them later on because I, too, was in that "not accepted by normal people" group for awhile (probably not the smartest thing I ever did, but I'm pretty accepting of just about anyone who's willing to be friendly).

Chris Matthews on MSNBC told one of Cho's suite mates that in his day at college, they would never have put up with a roommate that never talked or never looked at them in the eye. "I guess you have much more respect for diversity than we did." I took that to mean he would have beat him up or changed rooms or reported him or something. I think anymore, we're so used to people being weird, slightly off or just plain out there that we don't pay it as much attention as we should. People not from this generation must not have an idea of how much anti-social people are out there in this modern world. And having been out of the school system for over 6 years and high school for over 10, I'm sure it's even stranger than when I was there. Oh sure, people would still get beat up physically or verbally for being odd in my HS days, but there was definitely a shift to just completely ignoring those same people in college.

I have a couple points to make from this observation:.
  • One, this world has definitely changed and is rapidly changing toward the worse. That has been obvious for quite some time.
  • Two, these kids that think and act this way are more and more turning inward until they block out everybody who reaches out to them, even in subtle ways except those who "understand them". Thus, they block out family and many times friends who genuinely want to help them and rather befriend angry, bitter kids who share the same viewpoint (Columbine boys), or worse, go completely loner on us (ala Cho or Ted Kaczynski). Most folks, in turn, don't pay attention to them because they're weird or because they say or do awful and strange things. I'll hear many of these kids repeatedly say, "I don't care," but you know they do. Otherwise they wouldn't be seeking the kind of attention they do. This cycle continues until a major lashing out occurs at a society they feel completely torn away from and mocked by. Analyze that last statement more carefully: they walk away from others and then get frustrated and angry when others don't try to understand them, care about them, follow them, etc. See how selfish that is? And yet, that is the very attitude that causes so many people to do their own thing and never return. It's a powerful Satanic device.
  • Three, (I feel like I should be using the numbered list now instead of bullets), what are you and I doing to reach out to these personalities? I'm a sucker for people that had to feel the same way I did growing up... Picked on, alone, etc. I wrote the occasional angry poem about rich kids and people's attitudes of superiority and snobbery. But even if we don't understand or relate to these people, we can still impact their lives. I remember a fairly popular guy in HS that would take the time to talk to me a few times just to be friendly. All the others usually ignored me or picked on me. But he showed me that people can be nice. What if you (I'm making the large assumption that you're "normal" and nice) did the same to someone strange to you? Maybe you'd give that person enough hope not to dive into selfish, inward, suicidal or even murderous rampaging behavior. People who have these tendencies need hope. They need solid friends. They're drowning in a sea of angst, anger and loneliness and need rescue. Perhaps we can't rescue them, but at least we can inspire them not to go completely over the edge.

So look out for the kids who never says anything to anyone or keep their distance... Say hi or smile at them even if they don't return it. Try to make them laugh or strike up a conversation. Keep at it. We all need friends and acquaintances, some are just better at making them than others.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Demons

It is truly terrible to hear about the latest news coming out of Virginia. With all the shootings that have happened over the last decade, I've occasionally wondered if demons have been at work in any or all of the individuals responsible for these heinous crimes. I know we in the Church use that explanation sometimes, especially in the wake of our own terrible tragedy. But having only heard ministers discuss this topic from time to time about some weird happenings at a dorm in Big Sandy, or a haunted house, or some deranged person at some Feast site, I haven't really figured out how we know when it's a demon and when it's just a weird person or a strange coincidence that our mind tries to comprehend. How many mentally insane people out there are demon possessed? How many are epileptics like the one Jesus healed? Are we chalking up demon possession to "abnormal psychology" too much? How can we possibly "test the spirits" as we are instructed to do in Scripture? As the end times come closer and closer, we're told that demons will be running rampant more and more and it's something I don't know hardly anything about. I know it's difficult to answer these questions, and it may be God's inspiration that we are even able to discern spirits. Thoughts or comments?

Thursday, March 22, 2007

The Past Few Weeks...

...Have been slightly busy. And we have company staying with us this weekend to top it all off. But that's something to look forward to, in my mind. Finally... Slaves to help us unpack more! :)

We closed on the condo just before we left to fly down to Dallas to spend the weekend with Marshall. Yes, I realize that a vacation is not the most rational thing to do in the middle of moving, but I seriously didn't think we'd have a buyer by then, much less be moving the week afterward, so we booked some ridiculously cheap fares. All in all, it was good to get away and rest for a bit. We had a good 4-days of rest and relaxation except when I was helping Marshall change his tire only an hour after getting into town. I told him that road sucked... :) An iPod back-light makes an excellent flashlight, by the way. But a weekend of disc golf, some social time and catching up on sleep really made the follwoing week easier to bear.

We got home and had to really get crunching on the house. Our condo's buyer closed last Wednesday, and we closed on our house Thursday. It was a little disconcerting that we technically didn't have a place to live for 24 hours, but that's the way things go. But the buyer graciously gave us until the following Sunday to get our stuff out. While at Marshall's house, Rachel and I were convinced that garage floor paint was a good idea, so I invested in the stuff and set out to "get it done Thursday night". Well, if you ever try that endeavor, forget about it. After pouring oil-remover, spray washing the floor 4-5 times, squeegeeing after each time, super scrubbing the entire floor with some sort of solvent, then spray washing another time or two, then finally putting in some floor crack putty, that was the evening. Friday afternoon, we didn't get much done either, so Saturday night was going to be the big push to get everything fully packed and the floor painted. The floor was painted, and we threw down decorative "flakes" on top of it. If you ever have the chance to watch grown men trying to throw down what appears to be sparkles in a manly fashion... well, it can't be done. "Ssssssthparkles," I kept saying as I threw flakes on the floor with a nice lissssthp. The fumes didn't make us any less loopy. Meanwhile, Rachel was packing as fast as a 5-month pregnant woman can, but eventually called it a night.

The next morning came, and I realized that I still had a bunch of packing left to do. So I spent 30 minutes gathering electrical stuff, cords and computers into boxes. Then I was off to get the U-Haul. However, the place wasn't open at the 9:00 opening time I was promised. I attempted not to freak out since I legally had to be out of the condo that afternoon, and called a buddy that I knew had access to a box truck. Fortunately for us, someone finally showed up 20 minutes late looking, shall I say, a tad ragged. So I got a 26-foot truck and had a blast driving that around. We got a few more helping hands than I was expecting and got everything into the truck and several cars. Time to head over to the new house... Let me tell you, driving a 26-foot truck empty is fun, but fully loaded? I have a new-found respect for truck drivers when they drive slowly now. We got everything unloaded and had committed ourselves to going to Todd and, now, Barb Lee's wedding. But first, we figured it would be a good idea to make sure we had somewhere to sleep that night. So we constructed the bed. It was the most unorganized move we've had yet, but I think we've accumulated twice as much stuff since the last move.

This week, we've been knocking out a room or two over a few nights and our house is slowly coming together. I discovered that when you have DSL, it's nice to have a phone line where you're putting the computer. Of course, that was a gross miscalculation on my part, expecting there to be a phone line in every part of the house, like, say, the downstairs. Wireless networking to the rescue. We've overcome a few bugs, but we've been seriously blessed by this home and are grateful for all the help that people provided over the last couple of weeks. If anything, their presence kept us sane. I've been looking forward to the day that I can just come home, feel at home, and sit back and relax without worrying about some task I have to do, and that moment looks to be just over the horizon.

On another note, Rachel went in for her ultrasound yesterday. It appears that we have an active little baby boy! Which might explain Rachel's stomach pains the last several days... I guess he lodged his spine next to her ribcage, so I'm sure that's fun. So next on the list of things to do: names. These have been our ideas so far:

Martin Skor Keesee
Farrell Keesee (say it out loud)
Satchel Keesee (ditto)
Kasey Keesee just seems too goofy.

Rachel has vetoed any of the top 20 names of the last two years. So it appears that I have a challenge in front of me. Hey, I named a ferret and a pomeranian, so how hard could a little boy be? Ah, I know, Intra Keesee. Della Keesee? Feel sorry for my child...

Thursday, March 01, 2007

We're Getting A Home!

Just another way to show that if you ask God for help with something, He comes through!

We've been searching for a house for the past month or two and have had our townhome on the market for about 4 weeks. There are 20 others on the market within a mile of us, and we've only had one person look at ours... A guy who works at the same company I do, Cerner, who wanted someplace a little cheaper than ours. Well, out of nowhere, my real estate agent calls Monday and asks me to get some paper and a pen. So she tells me that the same guy had a deal with the condo down the street that was way underpriced, but it fell through. The condo was in a divorce situation and they were pretty much giving everything including the kitchen sink for the grand price of $100K. Of course, we couldn't afford to offer that (we wanted more like $106K). But as it turns out, neither could the other condo… I guess the gal selling it didn't understand the concept of real estate fees, roughly 3-6% of the total sale of the home. Oops. So she would have had to pay to sell it. So my real estate agent put together this low-ball offer for the guy to attract him to our court. Since she's basically both our agent and his, she was willing to take a hefty pay cut on our house since she knew she'd be getting a chunk from the house we'd be buying. And we're getting the buyer a furniture gift card to buy some furnishings to make his moving process a little easier. Long story short, we went and looked at a house again Tuesday night and wrote up an offer. Yesterday, they accepted it. We'll be moving March 18th in an effort to get this guy a place fast since he's living on someone's couch for the time being. So packing will begin fast and furious here in the next few nights.



Basically, we bought a front-to-back (California) split with 3 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths and enough entertaining space for the family or any friends that come visit us… Even a nice yard for Wookiee. And it's in a safe neighborhood, too, so Rachel can run with the baby without worry. So over the next couple of weeks stress levels will be high and availability will be low... But I'm pretty excited about finally getting our own place. That's right, I'm gonna crank the stereo and enjoy my first non-attached neighbor moment. :)




Friday, February 16, 2007

Thoughts on Dating and Marriage

If you haven't heard lately, there are more and more people with fiancees lately (as well as ladies with babies). It's pretty cool if you ask me. Not even a year and a half ago, some of these people were looking around at the Feast saying that the church single's scene was just like high school. I didn't blame them necessarily, it can be, but I often wondered what made it that way. I mean, I have no real clue, honestly.

I was different (and still am in more ways than one) in that I got to get married to a great gal at an earlier stage in life. In a way, I did everything wrong growing up and still managed to get it right in the end. I dated way too early in and out of the church, mostly out, and pretty much threw anything that Mr. Weston told us to do out the window. Not out of rebellion, but because I was a romantic little moron. I would listen to the Righteous Brothers and sing Unchained Melody, dreaming of the day where I could be dancing with the woman of my dreams to it. I would go to Y.O.U. dances and look for that girl at age 13 and yet I was a tad too nerdy to get anyone to notice me... Or so it seemed. Desperate would be a good word for it. I would envy the guys who were able to ask a pretty girl to dance, but I was too dumb to figure out real confidence. "Everyone looks stupid, Mike, just go do it anyway," I would tell my 13-year old self today.

By 16, I gained that confidence, but still remained the same old romantic. And this time, I could play the romantic music. I taught myself how to write poems. I learned to dance at SEP camp when hardly anybody came back and knew how to swing dance (or they just didn't want to). I put my best foot forward to every girl that I figured would give me a chance, and some did. But with worldly girls, you have to take the good with the bad, and I did. After struggling with several relationships from 16 to my first two years in college, I had completely destroyed my innocence. Sad... And yet, the romantic inside me stayed lit up. Literally... See, romantics have this tendency to overindulge in love, in poetry, in music, in wine... Anyway, I didn't do myself any favors. To put it simply, not have a steady girlfriend in my life set my confidence level back to that of that silly little 13-year old kid. I realized that I wasn't being honest with myself or with the girls I was friends with. It was time to change.

From then on, I tried to be myself. I wasn't a poet, I was a nerd. I liked corny, warped humor. I liked Unchained Melody, but I also like Metallica and Phil Collins and UB40. The girl I was to marry had to fall in love with those sides of me. All of me. I could still be the romantic, but that wouldn't carry us through the long-term. However, I did later realize that the romantic in me always seemed to keep the opposite sex as a positive force in my life. I never let a bad relationship ruin my image of what a wonderful mate I would eventually need. I would hear a romantic song (stupid 80s music) and it would make me want a long-term companion. Someone to balance me out. A woman who sees me as I am and loves me for it. A marvelous lady who tells me that I'm worth so much to her. It's that loving nature that a woman had that I needed. In the end, it wasn't romanticism, it was a total appreciation for the significance a woman made in my life that made it such a powerful force.

They always say behind every good man is a great woman... You can't tell me that George Washington didn't have Martha at home telling him just how much of a stud he was. She also told him so about not brushing his teeth enough. Women keep us humble, too. :) Great men can't stay great if they're tyrants.

So I've given you a small slice of my life story on dating and marriage, but I wanted to draw a couple of conclusions from these stories. I've heard plenty of theories on dating in the church in the last several years. In the end, I can't honestly put myself in your position if you're currently single and wondering what's wrong with the opposite sex in this church. I was 21 when I met my future wife and 23 when I married. But I can tell you this: Fully appreciate what a man or woman could do in your life. Realize your short-comings and understand that God, through His endless sense of humor and mercy, will pair you up with someone who will change you, if you allow Him to. If you feel that the problem lies with the opposite sex, you're wrong. I've generally found that if someone sets me off, it was often times just as much my attitude problem in the end as it was theirs. Or if it was their attitude, not everyone is like that, so move on to someone else. I've also found that being appreciative of the opposite sex can make you want to spend the right kind of quality time with them talking about the right kinds of things. If you notice only tight abs or a fair face, you'll treat them that same way. But if you see your completed self in the opposite sex, a total image of God's character, then you will treat them as such and they will respond in kind.

It was fairly common that my female friends would respond positively to me when I was putting my best effort to make them feel comfortable, to be the center of my attention, and using my natural talents to show off. Cuz that's what us guys do. :) And then occasionally screw up so the girl would find something to fix. :) God wants us to find true joy and love in our lives. We do need to fix ourselves first (giving up evil habits, getting baptized, getting over past bad relationships, etc.), but then we can put our whole self into a positive relationship with the opposite sex and maybe one day find a spouse that helps us build perfect godly character.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

VP of Pain

When entering the political arena, it's good to learn a little self-defense, whether it be used against character assasination, libel, or even physical harm. However, our Vice President has taken it to a whole new level. Moral: Don't mess around with Dick Cheney.


Thursday, February 01, 2007

This Little Piggy Part 2

Okay, sorry, the last time I had ingrown toenail surgery, most of the nail was removed. It turns out that there was a tiny piece left and I had more surgery today to get that removed. Pain is a funny thing sometimes... It's now going on 5 months since I first got this thing. Sorry, nothing interesting to see here. Oh, and Rachel is pregnant.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Concerning Leadership...

After going through some of the initial coursework on the new Leadership Course, my mind has been thinking about the various aspects of leadership that we deal with in this life. Every one of us has been under the leadership of someone; most notably God, our parents, a boss at work, teachers, etc. Many of us have had the opportunity to lead in some way, whether by being a manager at some company, or just taking a lead role on some class project... Maybe even being a parent or an older sibling. In the Leadership Course, we're learning the proper way to becoming a leader. But in the course of our life, we come into contact with managers, bosses, and other types of leadership that can anger 0r frustrate us. I've read Paul's admonition in Ephesians 5 and 6 about the parent/child and master/servant relationships and how they apply to us. Simply put, leaders, don't abuse your power because God is your master, and servants, don't slack or give your boss less than you would Christ. Don't bicker and complain. But how do we apply that in everyday situations?

Have you ever worked for someone who's too proud of their position and gives you a lot of grief for it? Are they always reminding you of their role and power? I've almost found it laughable in some situations. I worked at Pizza Hut for 5 years in high school and a little over the summers in college. I decided during my 3rd year of college to get a job at the local Pizza Hut in my college (po-dunk) town. You should have seen the tiny kingdoms these folks set up for themselves. "I'm the waitress in charge of the salad bar." "I'm the lead assistant manager here." "Mike, you need to do your job the way I do it." Mind you, I've been doing this type of work as long or longer than many of them. But I found that by laughing about that type of behavior to myself, humbly smiling and saying, "Oh, okay, I'll be sure to do that," I tried not to start any fires. I only stayed at that job for 4-5 weeks because of class work overload, but by week 2, they were asking me for help, directions, etc. Mind you, I wasn't perceived to be in a leadership role there, I just knew what to do and people saw that. I was willing to help, or be a listening ear or whatever, and people appreciated that. They didn't feel underneath me. In fact, they befriended me as an equal, which was all I really wanted.

I'm trying not to brag here, but it was just one example that I was reminded of. Truthfully, I didn't know anybody there when I started, and my introverted side comes out when I'm uncomfortable, which makes me become quiet and courteous, even if it's a tad faked at times. :) What's stupid is when I got around people I felt comfortable around, THAT'S when I started complaining about others in the store, or talked about how I know more than others. Stupid, I know... So I need to learn to continue to be courteous and humble to everyone at all times, whether in a role of leadership or servitude. It's definitely shown me that work can be a lot smoother if we all get along.

One aspect of leadership that Mr. Millich discussed was being able to continually analyze ourselves. I think it would do us a great service to have a gigantic mirror held up to us so we can see how we really look and sound to others. Perhaps that's the beginning of God's present judgment on us and His future judgment on the rest of the world. "Here's what you're really like, Mike." Yikes! But it's only when we see what's wrong that we can do something about it. I occasionally pray for people who are completely oblivious to their abrasive personality and annoying or sinful habits, as well as my own. And I have many! When it comes to overcoming sin and our problems, it really comes down to whether we're thinking about ourselves or others. I think back to Isaiah 59:2 where it says, "But your iniquities [SELFISHNESS] have come between you and your God, and your sins [SELFISHNESS] have hidden His face from you, from hearing." We're often too busy doing our own thing to notice that we're not living God's way of service, kindness, gentleness, timeliness, patience and love. And once you've sampled the fruits of the Spirit, selfishness doesn't taste so good.

Along those lines, Mr. Ames has a great sermon out there on the church web site titled "God's Greatest Creation" that discusses how to build better character. In it, he talks about how he'll go over to someone's house and they'll be eating dinner. He might want some butter for his bread and before he can ask for it, the hostess is already offering it to him. He stated that's an example of actively looking for how we can serve others. It's a complete reversal from thinking about our own needs or priorities or pride. When you really think on that small example for a bit, you can really see thousands of instances where we can apply that principle: Do I clean up after myself, especially in other people's homes? Am I being courteous on the road or at the grocery store or even to my spouse or parents? Do I send cards to the sick? Do I pray for other people's sinful nature so they stop hurting themselves (as opposed to doing it so they'll quit hurting me) and live God's perfect way of life? That last one, isn't that the attitude behind the Work of God, making people's lives better?? Even taking the time to put yourself in someone else's shoes is serving someone because you may not like what they're doing to you, but you can at least sympathize with them. You're not retaliating because you've been there, done that. I think that's similar to one of the many reasons Christ emptied Himself to become human was to see what it was like on our level. Hebrews 4:15 - "For we do not have a high priest that cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."

So anyway, these are a few things that I've learned in my life about some of the everyday issues with leaders and followers. Leader's and followers must ask themselves, are we trying to serve ourselves or others? We might see a lot of pride, ego or even jealousy with worldly leaders and followers, but unfortunately those aspects are a part of this world's nature that we must destroy in our own character. And these are the kinds of things that the Leadership Course is trying to address. Then we might learn what being a (servant) leader really means so we can do a better job. Or so we can sympathize with the difficult jobs leaders have. What kinds of things have you been learning from the Leadership Course?

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Superstar


Has anybody else found Yanni and his Greek-goddess-of-a-wife to be this hot?? (Only minor touch-ups done to facial hair and fat cheekbone line...)

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Yippee!

...And on a far less serious note...



...And on an even lesser note: "No, Mr. Richardson, I don't believe that was me talking about your momma."