Your gift arrived. The latest secret santa gift of 2008.

1. New friends--both in the church and out.

2. Some great parties (at our house and at others).

3. Growth in my culinary skill (pizza and sushi in particular)

4. A great season for the Steelers.

5. A new, orange kitchen, with buffalo shelves and a dishwasher.

6. A trip to Boston and Maine with my beloved wife.

7. Good times with my family (even the funeral was an amazing celebration of a great guy who loved life but didn't fear death).

8. The beginning of my use of twitter, a fun and useful addiction, a good update of elmwoodjesus.org, and a fuller use of facebook.

9. Some great estrip discussions on my favorite topics (especially religion/faith)

10. It was my first full year in Buffalo, with Lafayette, and with (e:strip)!

. . . so Peyton Manning Doesn't.

I am typing while I wait for a CD to burn.

No, my car won't play an MP3 player. I am on slow technology.

It would be just as fast to just listen to the stuff before I leave.

Other notes:

My dog knows I am leaving, but he is happy to visit Patty.

The cats are clueless.

The party last night was fun.

The disc has been on 98% forever.

I will invite (e:peeps) over for a pizza making party soon.

I am also hoping, in 2009, to have more people over to watch movies, especially ones that deal with spiritual themes. Possibilities:

The Ordinary Radicals

Saved

For the Bible Tells me So

Doubt

I can't think of other ones right now, but if we do one a month, that will get us through Spring.

The series would be even better with a new TV.

OptIn is a good thing. I just became a fan on facebook. I used to give them money and feel like I should start again. I also would love it if they started lending to Buffalo.

The first disc is almost done.

(e:MrMike) gave me a Steelers helmet. It's pretty sweet. I think it is going to be placed in the family room, or maybe the kitchen. Until I get wealthy and build my "man cave" in the attic.

Yes, I know caves don't go in attics. It's not a literal cave.

I did miss (e:janelle) last night. It's fun to be single and live in your own filth, but only for a night, really.

I really do like the NYE ball that gets dropped.

I also liked talking about blackjack with (e:vincent), but I shouldn't because it makes me want to play.

I was also almost convinced that I could become a Polish citizen. But Poland would have to be pretty hard up to take me. And I would have to learn to speak Polish, likely.

You know how I said the first disc was almost done? Well, it's still almost done.

The church is going to do something special for MLK day this year, which is also the week of the inauguration. If anybody has any great ideas for that, let me know.

Peace. Disc one is done. I'm not going to wait for disc two.

1. The mystery of how the yeast will work.

2. Using my new mixer.

3. Punching down dough.

4. Picking out toppings.

5. Cheese. (I love cheese)

6. The new pizza stone that (e:janelle) gave me for Christmas.

7. The new peel that (e:janelle) also gave me.

8. The blast of hot air from a super hot oven.

9. The art of sliding the pizza off the peel.

10. Eating it (duh)

Warning. Sappy-Religious youtube ahead. Click at your own risk.

They were talking about him on the radio again today, and I am sick of it. You can't be upset about this guy re: gay marriage and not be also upset about Obama BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE SAME POSITION.

Both are in favor of civil unions, but not calling them marriage.

If Obama sold out by picking him, it was because of some other difference. The pick is consistent with everything he has said regarding gay marriage.

If people are going to turn their backs during the invocation (which has been suggested) they should also turn their backs during the inaugural address.

I'm not saying that the guy is great. I'm just saying we should use a consistent standard to judge.

(e:jim) had a reaction against the Purpose Driven Life, a book by Rick Warren:

This quote was singled out in particular:

This spiritual servitude only has negative connotations in a culture that is obsessed with asserting the rights of the individual. Civil rights, human rights, gay rights, minority rights-we hear about this constantly. Instead of asserting our rights-even if we have the freedom to do so-we are choosing to set them aside for a greater thing: the opportunity to serve the living God. What are you setting aside in order to serve God?

I believe that Rick Warren here is right, but incompletely right, and wrong, but incompletely wrong. I will explain.

Christians are called to put others ahead of themselves, and to put God's will ahead of theirs. Because we are often selfish, this is good for the world, and good for us (when we actually try it, but that's another post).

We get this idea, of course, from Jesus. We believe that Jesus had every authority, every "right" and yet refused to assert those rights violently. He gave up his rights, and suffered, even though he was innocent.

And Christians are called to follow his way.

But that doesn't mean that Christian blacks had to be content with seperate and unequal. When Dr. King organized the Bus Boycott, he asserted the right to ride the bus by NOT riding the bus. Christianity, done right, exposes the selfishness of the systems of this world for what they are. In Selma, that meant that police were trying to FORCE men and women onto the bus.

So we do assert our rights, as individuals and as a group--Warren is wrong when he implies that Christians cannot be involved in standing up for individual/minority rights. But it's NOT about asserting our rights. It's about giving up our rights for others.

The biggest problem with the civil rights movement wasn't the actions of black Christians, it was the silence of white Christians. We stood by (for the most part) and refused to give up our rights for others. Comfortable silence is un-Christian. "That's their problem" is un-Christian.

So Warren is right that it isn't about us. But he removes the speck from the eyes of minority Christians, and (in this quote) forgets to mention the efforts of white (mostly) Christians to protect their rights to put up the 10 commandments, pass laws, avoid taxes, or whatever.

Now Warren, though he is far from perfect. DOES give up much of his rights. He never sees 90% of the money he makes, because it goes straight to Africa. Think about that before you criticize to harshly, because at the very least, the man is committed. How many other New York Times Best Selling Authors live in little houses in the city? While I would love to be able to give as much as he does, I might buy a nice car or cable tv first. Warren puts his money where his mouth is.

So he's right: We are supposed to give up our rights, but incompletely, because he didn't hit the "sacred cows" of the rights of majority Christians.

And he's wrong: We can and do and should assert our rights (Jesus did), but at least he not completely wrong, because the ironic way of claiming our rights is to lose them in public ways that expose the foolishness of those who take them.