The Gad(d)about

I'm back!

2007-03-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

I'm officially posting at a new blog: Unmoored Explored.

Update

2007-03-26T15:52:00.001-07:00

If anyone is even bothering to check in, I'm still alive and well. I've abandoned the website blog because I'm going to use the space for something else. I'm thinking about coming back, I just haven't been in a writing mood as of late. Very, very busy times, separated by long bouts of boredom and apathy. We shall see!

Return of The Gad(d)about

2006-05-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

I'm doing some light blogging at a new address:

http://blog.gaddabout.net

You're welcome to join me. Nothing daily, just as time and inspiration allows.

Good night and God bless

2006-04-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

I purposely waited until this morning, April 2, so people would know this is not a joke.

For all intents and purposes, this will be my final post at the The Gad(d)about. As much as I have enjoyed blogging, it has become far too much of a distraction from my professional life that I must now unplug before it proves costly.

I began this blog for no good reason -- I wanted to show someone what a blog looked like. Before I knew it, I was posting regularly as somehow likeable, intelligent people such as yourself found me and encouraged me to continue.

It's unlikely someone who has never written professionally can understand this, but a writer of limited focus and creativity such as myself only has so many valuable thoughts in a day. I began to notice this at the tail end of my journalism career, as blogging became of greater writing value to me than the work I was employed to do. Here, I could write freely on topics about which I cared deeply. My energy was spent here. My professional work was a chore, and it showed.

Switching careers to real estate was something I was anxious to share here. It was primarily a move to support my family, but a tertiary benefit, I thought, was it might allow me to write a better blog. Real estate, after all, is not a creative venture.

What I found, however, is I am a poor multi-tasker. Although I staved off the temptation to post throughout the day most days, my mind was elsewhere when it should have been on my work. Furthermore, I'm discovering creativity in business is a bonus when combined with skill and effort.

This past week I was responsible for costing my small company no small amount of money and heartache. It wasn't negligence -- it was, in fact, ignorance -- but perhaps I could have salvaged some of the mess if my mind had been focused on business as I once was focused on being a professional journalist: With great desperation.

It's hard to quantify this quality of mine to people who are accustomed to receiving an assignment, doing the work, and going home. I have to be the best or I want nothing to do with it -- I'll have no motivation to do it. Right now, I am far from being the best property manager or real estate agent. It's eating at me that I am not beating people to the office, not anticipating problems before they happen, not outworking our competitors. What's worse is I haven't seemed all that concerned about my mediocre performance in the face of flagging results.

While I'm far from an abject failure to others, I'm failing my own expectations. Worse yet, I'm failing my family as the sole breadwinner by not securing some kind of stability in my job.

I need to rediscover that desperation that motivated me to climb out of the abyss I was once was in, this former functionally illiterate high school dropout that became a professional writer.

I have been working 12 to 16 hour days for two months now with ineffective results. I would like to cut back the hours and be more productive. After this rocky weekend (when the mess became all too prevalent), I am wholly convinced the distracting effects of my blog outweigh any personal benefits I receive from it.

The Gad(d)about will remain up and archived as long as BlogSpot decides to keep it up, but I will never post here again. I reserve the right to return at some future date with a different blog, but I have no timetable, and am in no position to suggest when that might be. I only know I must pursue security and stability, and to honor the primary objectives here and now which I know God has entrusted with me. Unfortunately, that is not blogging at this time.

This is not to say I'm going to disappear off the face of the earth. I value all of my blogging companions too much. I expect to make cameo appearances on more than a few blogs. But it will be part and parcel with putting this habit in place: A brief diversion when I have nothing else going on.

I love all of you so much and I appreciate the entertainment and affection you've offered to me. More importantly, so many of you have had made a personal impact on me and helped me grow in the Lord. I can think of no greater accomplishment for any kind of endeavor.

With all my hope in God,

Matthew Self, a.k.a. Gaddabout

Emerging irritation

2006-03-31T10:45:00.000-08:00

I'm not one to pick on Brian McLaren here, but he repeated something of which I am becoming increasingly intolerant. In an interview with Criswell Theological Review editor R. Alan Streett, McLaren is quoted as saying:

It appears that the church is growing rapidly where pre-modern people enter modernity, but where modern people move into a postmodern cultural milieu, the Christian faith has not yet understood or engaged the questions they’re raising.

Did the Church not grow rapidly before modernity? Where does that place the Early Church?

McLaren continues on with his missiology:

So, many of us are seeking to faithfully incarnate the gospel of Jesus Christ—the gospel of the kingdom of God available to all through Jesus—to people in our mission context.

This could just be my lack of a formal theological education, but his use of incarnate seemed unintentionally odd. Is he meaning his mission is to make the Gospel real? Is he meaning to act as the Body of Christ? Or is he saying something else.

It's not clear to me and I don't want to quibble. What I see are two distinct statements here that McLaren thinks belong together but I think they contradict each other. To combine his two seperate statements one must assume we have three things:

A pre-modern Gospel for a pre-modern people

A modern Gospel for a modern people

A post-modern Gospel for a post-modern people

I'm probably quibbling afterall, but I want to boil down McLaren's inability communicate and what I hope he's really saying. Let's set this straight, though:

The truthful, transformational Gospel message has never changed or accomodated any culture

It has, however, been presented in many different languages in many different forms to communicate to people all over the world. This is why it's important to speak plainly on the difference between communicating the Gospel and accomodating for the Gospel. One has a historical basis. The other has none.

Fellowship of the Blogs

2006-03-30T10:36:00.000-08:00

After a brief sojourn away from blogging, Dr. Mike has returned with The Lord of the Kingdom, where he digs out the richness of J.R.R. Tolkien's famed books.

I've worked on several posts in hopes of interacting with Mike's posts, but they have fallen far short of illuminating, so they've been set aside indefinitely. Instead, I offer this post as a single note of appreciation for a wonderful new blog.

Mike deftly grasps the vast depth of Tolkien's communities and characters, where existence demands heroism and honor of men born into weakness, and there is no forum for the innate talents of truly fictional, infallible creatures. Every creature has a purpose in those books. Not a word is wasted. In Tolkien's universe, mortality in this realm is a gift, and men broil with selfish passion. His message is Biblically compatible: It is our own abstract self-interest -- wrongful assumptions about our own humility and good nature -- that will be our downfall. Otherworldly evil seems little but a red herring, a distraction from our own evil nature.

Lord of the Rings is not a static equivalent of the Christian story, like Chronicles of Narnia. It aims much higher, actually, as a dynamic demonstration of man's total depravity. Mike excels in highlighting this element of Tolkien's mythology. Whereas C.S. Lewis wished to create a Gospel fervor in his text, perhaps Tolkien wanted to convince his readers of their need to hear the Gospel.

It is very rare when I am compelled to read long posts, and I freely admit my own vice in this matter: I write more than I need to. It is typically self-serving when brevity is almost always required for the vast majority of weak writers in all of the blogiverse. However, Lord of the Kingdom throws its weight around with the authority of Tolkien himself, and I strongly recommend this compelling site for your blog rolls and RSS readers.

Munsil for Guv

2006-03-30T08:48:00.000-08:00

Len Munsil, candidate for Arizona governor, has a blog. (HT: Smart Christian).

That's fine. What's disturbing to me is we went to the same J-school and shared a similar occupation at the same newspaper, seperated by only a decade. This means he's older, but probably not much smarter than me. I'm not qualified to run for dog catcher.

At least he picked the right state to run for governor. We'll elect anyone.

Fourth-quarter not ideal for economists

2006-03-30T08:03:00.000-08:00

The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.7 percent last quarter, the slowest pace in almost three years, while an inflation measure watched by the Federal Reserve rose more than earlier reported. Link

Every time I try to understand an economist, I realize being a communications major is worth a little more than we often give it credit for.

Tighter fuel rules for SUVs

2006-03-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

The government set tighter gas mileage rules Wednesday for pickups and sport utility vehicles, including bulky SUVs such as the Hummer H2 and Chevrolet Suburban, responding to rising concern about the supply and cost of energy from abroad. Link

I wish someone would allow me 15 minutes with the Transportation Department head. Here are the rules I would make about those vehicles. You can't buy a new one if:

You have ever driven two blocks from your house to the pharmacy for your high-blood pressure medication.

You have ever used the word "bling."

You have owned one before and never taken it off paved roads. Or parked it in the space marked "compact."

You subscribe to "People or "Us" magazine.

Canada cuts off Palestinian relations

2006-03-30T08:09:00.000-08:00

Canada is cutting aid and relations with the Palestinian Authority, Ottawa announced shortly after the Hamas government formally took power Wednesday. Link

Two things: First, Palestinians have to be relieved they will finally be able to sell of the last of those Crash Test Dummies CDs in the value bin. (Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm). Second, has anyone ever mentioned to Hamas leaders they have the word "ham" right there in their name? That's sort of like putting bacon on a kosher bagel.

Hearing protection for iPod

2006-03-30T07:55:00.000-08:00

Apple is releasing free software to limit how loud iPods can go. The idea is to empower parents to install the software on the music player to protect their children's hearing.

Now all they need is software that would improve your teenager's taste in music.

You are not your best news filter

2006-03-29T18:33:00.000-08:00

As much as the mainstream media is vain enough to think they know you well, it is equally vain to think you should be in total control of your news. If you are not at least presented with a daily variety of news items, you miss out on a lot of stuff you don't always think is important before it happens.

For example, many people think all politics happen in Washington. This is so untrue. Some of the best political reporting happens at city council, town council, and county commissioner meetings. This is the stuff that affects you most, is most likely to directly shrink your bank account, and is the stuff the average person ignores.

Go ahead and set up your filters to all of your nuanced preferences. Then try and find a good reason to complain when the city council raises property taxes or county commissioners pass a new stadium tax.

If you're obsessed with the next presidential election, but block out neighborhood news, you'll never know when the bar and grill down the street has altered their business plan and is close to becoming your neighborhood strip club or head shop.

Did you know a mosque with a 100-foot spire was being built on a vacant lot 300 feet from your patio door? Why has the city shut down the playground at the city park? What the heck have they been digging up the past two years at X and Y streets?

There's all kinds of local stories that are missed out when you filter your news based on predetermined priorities. That's why newsrooms weigh 40 or more stories a day for the front page. It's not an elegant or perfect process, but it does take into account a lot of things the ordinary media consumer rarely thinks about -- even though they should.

Do the important stories that impact you most always make it to the front page? No. That's a debate about out-of-touch journalists for another day. Nonetheless, there is a role for people, not computers, filtering the news for us. Everything else is supplement and personal preference.

Biblical immigration?

2006-03-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

The Church World Service displays their skills in Biblical eisogesis. Haven't seen this kind of straining over the Word since Liberation Theology.

In the beginning, all was darkness and void, and the spirit of God moved (migrated) over the face of the chaos (Genesis 1:1). To move is to migrate. The biblical story is a migration story.

Protest backlash?

2006-03-29T15:37:00.000-08:00

Time reporter Perry Bacon Jr. reports Congressmen in favor of strong immigration laws appear entrenched in light of protests.

Big shock. Wouldn't want to be the person answering congressional calls from the constituency today. The marches have brought light to the issue and likely achieved the opposite of the intent. You don't hang a Mexican national flag over the American flag if you hope to engender support from the locals.

Time to refi that ARM

2006-03-29T15:15:00.000-08:00

If you've financed with an adjustable-rate mortgage in the past three years, I urge you to consider to refinance a fixed-rate loan. The 10-year yield just hit a 21-month high, probably the best indicator loan rates are about to go up.

Basically, banks will have to raise rates to entice investors in the secondary market. That means more money out of your pocket.

The politics (and deception) of 'La Raza Unida'

2006-03-29T13:31:00.000-08:00

As usual, my former peers in the major news media have missed the real story behind the marches in the Pacific and Southwestern U.S. regions. Thousands of Latino and illegals marched under the 'La Raza' banner, and their voices will soon be co-opted by a familiar political message.

High school students are being rallied around the country on Spanish-speaking stations to march for 'La Raza' -- a Spanish term meaning race, and generally referring to those indigenous to Mexico. It is common to refer to 'La Raza' as a mestizo ancestry -- the mix of European, African and Mexican indigenous people's blood. It is an inclusive term, as inclusive as the Mexican ancestry. First used by a Mexican scholar, it was meant to describe a "a cosmic people" -- blood from around the globe. These Latino-Americans were inspired to stand up for their illegal family members, their race, and their Mexican pride.

However, the National Council of La Raza, presumably the political party organizing these rallies behind the scenes, and the political voice against such previous California and Arizona measures requiring English-only legal conduct, has a clear political agenda.

It's history in America dates to the rise of the Chicano movement in the early 70s, and it is grounded very much in the La Raza Unida politics of that era. It has helped place many of its members in high-ranking positions, such as White House counsel Alberto Gonzales.

It's agenda is not at all muddled: Zero immigration law enforcement; 100 percent American rights for illegals; equal eligibility for gov't financial assistance, particularly for health care and assisted living; advanced rights for illegals, sometimes superceding those born in this country, such as in-state tuition for illegals.

Before Sept. 11, President George Bush was their most influential ally. Before Sept. 11, we probably would have had broad-sweeping amnesty programs that all but ended the border line between Mexico and America. That was, at least, the assumption from some in NCLR, based on Bush's pre-election enticement of the Latino vote.

Post-Sept. 11, immigration has become centerpiece to national security issues and the GOP has painted a bullseye on organizations such as NCLR. Their vision is at odds with the reality of a very different America.

So now the NCLR is drumming up the masses, turning this into a racial issue, not a political one. There are tens of thousands of Mexicans living in this country convinced they are being deprived of "basic human rights" because America has a predisposition of bias against people of "La Raza." And that's what the marches were about -- racial pride.

It's doubtful more than a handful of the walkout marchers could give a 35-word explanation of the political message they are endorsing. The NCLR doesn't require them to understand, only that their very existence could be wiped out by the evil European invaders.

The truth is the brains behind NCLR do not care about American government, and they actually grew out of a challenge to the American two-party system. The original goal was to elect Chicanos to high position and to move the American political system to the left.

The issue is best dealt with not on the grounds that NCLR sets, but directly to the people at these marches. If politicans want to successfully navigate these dark waters, they will recognize the distinction between proud members of 'La Raza' and the race-baiters of 'La Raza Unida.'

'La Raza' is about family values

2006-03-29T08:45:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you've asked yourself this question recently:

"Why are there thousands of Mexican teenagers blocking the road to my work?"

The answer is basic: U.S. Congress is considering a new federal law that would make it illegal to be illegal on American soil.

Sounds fair, right? We are a nation of laws. It's what seperates us from other countries, what allows us to celebrate diversity -- because our laws have been shown to be fair and just in spite of our own attempts to undo them.

Think about this: You're 14 and your mother jumped the border so you could be born in America for immediate citizenship. You've never known another life outside of cable TV and relative comfort. Your English is as fluent as any other American teenager, but you speak just enough informal Spanish to get you arrested in Tijuana.

You're safe from this law because you are a citizen, but su madre, su tia, y su hermano are all illegals who are supporting your existence. Under the new law, you're as good as illegal, because your entire support system will be deported as soon as the school system reports you.

Now, I'm not a fool and I still believe in the law. The mother who jumped the border did nothing but flaunt the law with a loophole. While it may not seem fair, it is not unfair to return the 14-year-old American with her illegal families to her country's origin.

It's just not practical. And it's why I support amnesty over mass deportation. I just don't know how to fully justify it knowing what I know: Illegals move here and create generations of legals whose allegiance is to Mexico. I am not at all threatened by Mexican culture, but I want my fellow Americans to be as defensive of our laws, our values, our preservation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to be as important to the naturalized as well as those who have a birthright.

I covered sports in a farming community in northern California for about 8 mos. The population there is overwhelmingly immigrant farmers, most of them illegal, and their kids were the athletes I spent a lot of time with.

There was one girl, a good athlete, student-body representative, and decent student, whom I had the opportunity to have a lengthy casual conversation with before a game. She wasn't going to college because she was "Mexican, not American." She intended to live here, but felt no obligation to live here legally. In fact, she was rather hostile to the notion of becoming American. Why? I suspect her family was more than hostile of her becoming encultured in this country, though they failed miserably in preventing her from doing that. Where they did succeed was giving her a political philosophy that is in contradiction with her social status and welfare.

I don't know how to make this right. We've failed to properly enforce our citizenship laws for so long, we've created entire subcultures who have a good argument to remain without going through the required citizenship classes to understand why this country is so worthwhile to live here.

Fix it? It's too late to fix it. The best we could do is salvage what's left.

'La Raza' no es la causa

2006-03-29T07:57:00.000-08:00

¿Quiénes son I para juzgar quién pueden residir en América y quién no tiene la derecha? Un amigo al mexicano que vive ilegal en América. Amigo, usted nunca experimentará el sueño americano en América porque usted nunca tendrá derechas que utilizar sin ciudadanía. ¿Usted desea luchar para la justicia social? Luche para tu paisanos que usted abandonó en México. Vuelva a México y usted enseña lo que usted ha aprendido aquí: Capitalismo, educación, expresión libre, y honor a los leyes y a los legisladores.

Glory al dios, juez de todos hombres y quién creó todas idiomas y todas razas.

Coming Soon: Ocean's 13

2006-03-28T08:53:00.000-08:00

George Clooney will be back for Ocean's 13.

Early sign this movie is troubled: Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones are gone. Ellen Barkin -- ?!?!?! -- is in.

That's what you get for idolizing the Jolly Roger

2006-03-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

Apple's Steve Jobs, a Silicon Valley legend for once flying a Jolly Roger up the computer company's flagpole, was hi-jacked himself. By the IRS. They demanded Jobs pony up for the 10 million company shares he was awarded in 2003. So Jobs sold off about 40 percent of it, basically selling it back to the company.

It's still pennies compared to Apple's loss in Look and Feel.

IRS has nothing on the Pirates of Silicon Valley.

Why is Gnosticism popular?

2006-03-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

Mark D. Roberts continues his series on the The Da Vinci Code on Why is Gnosticism Popular Today? (HT: Smart Christian)

I'll take affirmation of selfish presuppositions for $300, Alex.

Writing for the reader

2006-03-28T08:01:00.000-08:00

I've had several complaints in the past year that the posts on this site are too long. My writing has been compared to digging a few 2K diamonds out of 1 million acre feet of mud.

Well, at least I'm not throwing my pearls to the swine.

In an attempt to be more relevant, I'm going to a experiment this next week with shorter writing. We're going for pithy, not illuminating. Let me know what you think.

The Mullet Code

2006-03-27T15:39:00.000-08:00

My father-in-law, ever the wise and patient student of the Word, has broken the code of all codes. He has uncovered a dastardly plot against humanity. And fashion.

Please join him in reviling the evildoers, those fable chasers and their "itchy ears."

Abanes writes

2006-03-26T20:23:00.000-08:00

The formidable Richard Abanes visited this site yesterday with a bone to pick with the last line of my previous post.

In objecting to the commercialization of the Christian response to the Da Vinci Code, I ended with an inflammatory remark:

You know, because we want you to know the truth and set the record straight, but not before we collect your $19.99 + tax.

This stung Mr. Abanes, the author of one of those books and many other mass publishings. He wrote in response:

It is unfortunate that you would cast aspersions on the integrity and motivation of so many men and women of with your comment

Mr. Abanes continued by justifying -- needlessly -- his right to collect a fee on his work as a journalist and Christian book author.

As a former journalist, no one needs to make an argument with me about the need to collect money on what amounts to a great deal more work than people realize. Christians have every much a right to charge for their work as non-Christians. That wasn't my point.

What I do take issue with is, in defense of our faith, we Christians think too much like this world. We think in terms of marketplace and marketing. We don't look and see if someone else is already filling a role. We see market share and a chance to capitalize on culture and fads.

That is in no way meant to impugn Mr. Abanes' character or intent for writing his book. His may be the best champion of the truth. I don't know. I've never read it. It would take me more than a few years to read all of the books on the subject. Neither do I know his intentions for writing it, and I do not write this in judgment of him or his on-going book-writing ministry. I am positive writing the book cost Mr. Abanes valuable time and money, and he should be compensated for that time. God bless him for recognizing the need for a response and attempting to address it.

As a corporate Church, however, I am certain we do not need 100 for-profit books (and more on the way) to respond to the mistruths of one book. We need one unified response: We know our history and we will not allow anyone to play fast and loose with it. That is a difficult message to get out to a resistant public, though, when there's a cover charge at the door of truth.

I think there is a place for books, but we have so much more power at our fingertips to reach a much broader audience. Where is the church-wide support for a website -- or even 100+ websites -- with the same content? Where is our open defense in magazine articles? Where are the public challenges to debate Brown (or his wife, who appears to be the sole researcher of the code) on the "facts" of his book?

My beef is not with Mr. Abanes or any of the other authors of those books. My beef is with the flabby Church and its silence beyond the marketplace.

The Da Vinci Code book industry

2006-03-24T08:02:00.000-08:00

Dan Brown is a rainmaker.

He has personally revived book sales not only with his Da Vinci Code, but for Christian bookstores everywhere who will soon have more anti-Brown and anti-Da Vinci books than they will have space to display them.

Here are some of the 100+ Christian response books already on the shelves:

Truth and Fiction in the DVC by Bart Ehrman

Cracking Da Vinci's Code by James Garlow

The Truth Behind the DVC by Richard Abanes

The Real History Behind the DVC by Sharon Newman

Breaking the DVC by Darrell L. Bock

The DVC: Fact or Fiction by Hank Hanegraaff and Paul L. Maier

Discussing the DVC: Exploring the Issues Raised by the Book and Movie by Lee Strobel and Gary Poole

The DVC Hoax by Carl E. Olson and Sandra Miesel

More books are undoubtedly on their way. You've heard of blogstorms? This is a bookstorm.

No one has to justify to me their right to sell a Christian book. What I find irritating is a big push to have a response to the Da Vinci Code, and I find no one taking advantage of free publishing on the Internet. If this is so important and such a wonderful opportunity to minister the Gospel, why are we trying to extract a dime before giving the information?

You know, because we want you to know the truth and set the record straight, but not before we collect your $19.99 + tax.

Update: I would be remiss if I did not point to James White's work on the subject. It's not categorical, and it's by a theologian who revels in argumentation, but it is very sound work, nonetheless.