TIME MAGAZINE PERSON OF THE YEAR!

Well with all that is going on in this world TIME Magazine whimped out on the person of the year. With all the good, the bad and the ugly the best they could come up with was you and me. What a challenging and on edge sellection. They could have picked the President of Iran, Cheves, President Bush, or anyone of a long list of celebrities that have endeared themselves to the world but they chose a gray square and called it YOU.

I also thought that this is just another example of how the media are out of touch with the reality of this world. News magazines don't break many news stories in the faced paced media world in which we live, they are left to give indepth discussions of the issues of the past week or so and try to beat out each other with the snappiest cover for this week.

Well, the more I thought about that the more it grew on me. They selected everyday people who go through life living in a world that is day to day changing and challenging their very existance. Good people who work hard and don't get any recognition for doing their best to make this world a better place for you and me. People who get very little recognition for working hard and doing it right when we have the likes of Brittany Spears getting attention because she is not wearing any underwear. Thank YOU for all you do, you deserve the honor and the praise.

Just my thoughts from the side of the road.

Chas

I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD EVER HAPPEN...

Well I have been following the ups and downs of the SBC and all that has gone on in recent years and I have now come into agreement with one of the founders of the fundamental SBC, Paige Patterson. Hold on before you think that I have lost it.

I read a recent news release where Patterson said that we should let the colleges that don't want to be a part of the new direction of the SBC go. Yes, that is what he said. He said that they have a number of institutions that are with their direction and suggests that it is more than he anticipated. He said that to keep on battling would not help and those not in agreement should be allowed to go their way. I agree with him totally. Kind of scary.

That should be the cue for Carson Newman University along with Belmont and other colleges across Baptist life to make their move and seperate themselves from the direction of Tennessee Baptists and other state conventions as well.

Just my comments from my side of the road. What do you think?

SUPERSTAR PASTORS...

I recently read a blog concerning Superstar Pastors and I began thinking about some of the observations that I have noted in recent years. It all seems to come down to a statement I read many years ago about how you can tell if a group is a cult or not. The question was, "Does it point to Jesus Christ, or to the leader of the group?" I believe that this is the same question that we need to ask concerning leadership in our churches.

Here are some questions that I believe need to be asked. Is the pastors name more prominate than the church name? Are their billboard ads with the pastor's picture on them? Is the picture or name of the leader the top feature of any publicity coming out of the church? Are the laity involved in the leadership of the church or is it top down leadership with the pastor and a hand picked set of elders or leaders making all the decisions?

Recently while attending a meeting at a church in another city I found something that appeared to be a shrine to the pastor. In the foyer, there was a display case with pictures and momentos of the pastor and his life from childhood to the present. Talk about your "graven images."

Does it point to Jesus Christ? Just a comment from the side of the road.

MONEY, SEX, AND POWER...


Some years ago I read the book by Richard Foster, "Celebration of Discipline." It was an outstanding book that has been most meaningful to me in my personal life and in my ministry. After reading that book I also read a couple of other books by Foster.

One of the books was, "Money, Sex, and Power." In this book, Foster pointed out that these are the three areas of temptation we face in life. As I have looked back over the 40 plus years of ministry and life, his observations seem to ring true. When you look at the political scene, and the religious scene, and business scene these are the areas where corruption takes place. Then I wondered why we are not as concerned about these things in other areas of our society. For instance, we look at the weaknesses of the entertainment community and report on their doing but we don't hold them to the same moral expectations we do for leaders in the religious, political, and business community?

It appears to me that the moral rule of thumb today in most of our culture is, "It is alright, unless you get caught." What do you think, is this true, and why?

THANK GOODNESS FOR TIVO and BLOGGING...


Continuing in my comments on politics as the election hassle continues to heat up. In my state (Tennessee) we have the battle between Bob Corker and Harold Ford, Jr for the Senate seat vacated by Bill Frist. There are times when they run three or four commericals in a row. One ad by the Corker campaign, one from the Ford campaign and one each from the DNC and the RNC. Next Tuesday cannot come soon enough, and if that is not enough the cable news networks are running continuous programming on the election over a week away, and it's an "off year." Don't forget to throw in the mix of "October surprises" as the media sits waiting for someone to mispeak. Can you imagine what we will be subjected to leading up to 2008 with HDTV in it's full glory. I can hardly wait.

Thank goodness for TIVO. I now hardly ever watch a program in real time and have become a master at zipping through the commercials and getting right to the program content. The political season has made this especially wonderful.

Thank goodness for blogging. With blogging I now do not have to depend on the national media for my coverage of what is going on in the world.

Maybe after Tuesday things will be better. Do you think?

POLITICS Is a Four Letter Word.....

With all that is going on in the world, in the middle east, Korea, Venezula, school shootings, immigration, energy problems, perversion in congress, the inside the beltway Washington "Politicians" are more concerned about being re-elected than about the needs of the nation and the world. This session of congress has little to show for their efforts other than that they are campaigning for office. Re-election and partisan politics is all that you hear coming out of congress, meanwhile things are going to hades in a handbasket.

All that they seem to have to say is, "It's the Democrats fault." or "It's the Republicans fault."

Whatever happened to statesmen who went to Washington to represent their district and work toward a better United States?

TRUTH....
The last couple of weeks I have served on Jury duty, and as the witnesses were called they were sworn in to tell the truth and it got me to wondering about truth. I began to think about the fact that over the last few years cameras are popping up everywhere. In our area Knoxville is placing cameras at intersections to catch those running red lights, the Tennessee Department of Transportation has a network of cameras all across the interstate to spot traffic problems and there are security cameras everywhere in the business world. Add to this the news media and their prolific news gathering teams and just everyday people with camcorders, it is amazing what is caught on camera these days.

Over the weekend their were numerous statements made by media personalities about what is the truth, then the videos and audio tapes are drugout and it didn't seem to be the same as they reported.

Why is it that we have to tell other than the truth. There are times when we just can't seem to do the right thing and confess to wrong, times when the truth would sound better. As all this documentation gets more prolific, you would think people would just tell it like it is, but we seem deteremined to bend the truth even when the evidence is there. All of these things you would think would make us more honest, but that doesn't seem to be the case. We would rather lie when the truth would sound better. Why?

Part of it, I am sure is the fact that we each see things from our point of view based on our past experience, but most of the time it is just our human nature coming out. The apostle John has something to say about our nature in his gospel.

Joh 8:44
(44) "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Maybe this is why so many people have been calling each other the devil lately in the media.

Are Christ0-fascists better than Islamo-fascists?....

This has been the question going around over the weekend. What kind of question is that? Better stated, is evil in the name of Christ not as bad as evil in the name of Islam? There should be no debate on this issue. Evil is evil regardless of who does the act. We can't explain away doing wrong by saying we are doing it for the right reasons.

Wrong is wrong and as bad as I hate to say this, Rosie O'Donnell was right. "Hate wrapped in the guise of religion is just as wrong and just as evil when the source is Muslim or Christian or Arab or American." You cannot justify wrong by saying that you are doing it in the name of the Lord.

Are Christo-fascists better than Islamo-fascists? From my prospective on the "Roadside" we should be harder on the Christo-fascists because they represent Christianity to the rest of the world. All Christians are put into the same bag by the world. Wrong does not become righteousness just because we "do it in the name of the Lord."

PC Has Gone Too Far...

Yesterday I heard comments on the media that it was no longer proper to call a dog a dog. It is now Politically Correct to call a dog a "Canine American." I also suppose that a cat is no long a cat but a "Feline American." Do you think the terms dog or cat are offensive to these animals?

I have wondered a long time if the world is going crazy or is it me. It gives me great comfort to know that it is the world, and not me.

Just wondering what you think?

9/11 Revisited....

As I watched the news media today on the 5th anniversary of this tragic event, I could not help but go back to about 18 years ago and a mission trip I made to South Africa. Immediately upon landing in Johanesburg we were met with increased security like I had not seen in the U.S. There were soldiers all through the airport with automatic weapons and dobermans on leashes as well as inspections of cameras and electronics and luggage searches. Later in the week, we visited a large office building with an observation tower on top. There was tremendous security and searches to go into the building. You were asked your business there, how long you would be in the building, and then issued an ID badge. We went to a mall and went through a security check going into the mall. We flew back through London Heathrow on Pan Am a week or so after the Lockerbe crash and encountered dramatically increased security. I remember thinking at the time, "thank goodness we don't have to go through all this in the U.S. Well all that changed with 9/11. We lost some of our innocence on that day.

What can we do? One thing we can and must do is not allow what has happened to cause us to button down the hatches and withdraw. We must step out with boldness and keep on keeping on, no matter how much more difficult it has become to function in this world. We must attack the forces of darkness with light.

A Rapidly Changing World.

Today I brought the invocation/blessing at a business luncheon at a local business. It was sponsored by the University of Tennessee Center for Business, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, and attended by numerous business leaders and political leaders from the area. I am use to attending religious meetings and the posturing that goes on with ministers. This was an interesting group with all kind of people with Doctorates in the scientific area. A lot different from the Doctorates at religious meetings and conventions. I sat near a fellow who didn't have much to say and seemed fairly young. He was also sporting an earring and you certainly don't see that at a Baptist preachers meeting. It turns out that this was the guy the whole group was waiting to hear from. He has a PhD in mechanical physics and is heading up the building of the Spatial Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratories. The main thing that I heard him say was that businesses in the scientific community are beginning to get in line to use the source and see what application it has for their business. This brought to mind a statement I read or heard the other day that this is very likely the last year that CRTs will be made, the old picture tube in your TV, the Cathode Ray Tube. You remember the old picture tube that would have a white glowing dot that would stay on the screen after you turned it off. Well, they are gone and we are now in the HDTV flat and plasma screen age.

A couple of years ago I went into a Sam's Club and was in the isle where at the gadgets were. I have to confess, I am a gadget guy, I love all the latest electronic stuff. I overheard a woman ask a clerk about 35mm cameras to which the clerk replied, "we not longer sell 35mm cameras, the only cameras we have are digital."

I got to thinking about how change has come about over the years. I reminded me of a story I read about a plant many years ago in Detroit, MI that made harnesses and reigns for wagons and carriages and within two years the plant was closed and Henry Ford was using the building to build automobiles. The point of the story was that the Harness Works forgot what business they were in, that they were not in the harness business but were in the transportation business.

The church has been impacted by some amazing technology with computers, digital sound equipment, and video projection equipment. I have watched some who refuse to use the technology and some excitingly looking forward to the latest equipment. I recall a minister who had for years used and old manual typewriter to write his sermons. His church finally got a computer system with good technology and word processor and put a work station right next to his desk for him to use. He never turned the computer on but continued to pound on the old manual Underwood while wonderful technology sat right next him. One of the most wonderful things to come along has been Bible software. There are some great programs that technology has provided and now thousands of resource books are as close as a keystroke. Technology is a blessing that has opened up a world of resources. We can look at technology as good or bad, what it comes down to is what we use it for. The internet has opened the door to widespread pornography but also to a wealth of information that has changed lives. An object is neither good or bad, it is what we do with it that has moral and ethical implications. Just a few comments from the side of the road.

Labor Day in the Knoxville area is marked with Boomsday. It is a big party on the river with food, music, capped off with a grand fireworks display and usually with a UT football weekend. My family and I made the treck to Boomsday along with 300,000+ other folks. It was a crowd and topped off a wonderful weekend with the UT Vols ranked at 23 beating 9th ranked Cal.

Well Labor Day has come and gone, marking the end of summer and when I was growing up the beginning of school. Well schools in this area now open in August. I remember as a kid thinking, "oh man" it's Labor Day and school starts this week. Where did the summer go.

This is a geat time of the year. It marks a new beginning with schools, and football, and the seasons of the year. Here there is already a change in the air, the temperature is down a little as well as the humidity. Growing up in Tennessee and living all over the southeast, with 15 years in Florida I really enjoy the fall in the mountains of east Tennessee. The crisp air gives you energy to get out of the house and take on some of the projects that you thought about during the dog days of summer, while you were inside with air conditioned comfort. I am now looking for colors to paint the trim on the house. I am looking at doing something more with the yard than just cutting and trimming.

Being in the ministry, it was also the beginning of a new church year. Time to look at the accomplishments of last year and make adjustments. Time to enlist new leadership for the organizations of the church, a beginning again. This brought to mind a saying that has given me courage to start new projects and begin again old projects that didn't get off the ground. "Beginning is half done." The meaning may or may not be obvious to you, but what it means that just getting started is half the battle of getting a project done. "I'm fixin' to get started" on the projects,I am going to get the paint and get to painting.

Chas