Old Pics of Jonathan

A couple weeks ago, some very dear people send us pictures of Jonathan from his first 20 months of life, before we got him. They are family of Wayne, the man who kept Jonathan for most of those 20 months.

Of course, I know all about adoption from the adopted end. But, it's really odd to be on the adopting end, and realize that you've never seen what your son looked like before you got him, that he had a whole life going on before you met.

Here are a couple pictures for fun:

He still makes that face!

Christian Providentialist History at its finest

Current Christian Providentialist History bothers me to no end. Now, I'm not talking about the belief that a providential God directs all of history; I believe that.

I'm talking about Americans who try to teach that America is or ever has been God's chosen nation (which it hasn't). Or Americans who teach that most of the founders of the Republic in 1776 or 1787 were orthodox Christians themselves (which they weren't). Or those who believe those same founders were doing everything they could to establish an avowedly Christian nation (which they weren't).

Now, it's no secret I disagree with this providentialist view of American history. However, I respect people who do honest historical research and come to different conclusions than I do. What I don't respect are people like David Barton who purposefully tamper with documents to make founders like John Adams sound like they are orthodox Christians, when in fact, they claim just the opposite (Adams openly rejected the doctrines of the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement, and many other doctrines that all orthodox Christians have always believed).

I also don't respect the guy in this story. Basically, this man - Terry Kemple - has decided to put billboards up all over his county with quotations from founders of the republic. These quotations all have something to do with the importance of religion in American society. If he wants to put up quotations like this, with his own money, that's his business.

But the problem comes with this: He put up one billboard which cites George Washington saying, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."

One minor problem - George Washington never said that. The greater problem - Kemp KNOWS Washington never said this. Read Kemple's response when asked about this:

"I don't believe there's a document in Washington's handwriting that has those words in that specific form," Kemple said. "However, if you look at Washington's quotes, including his farewell address, about the place of religion in the political sphere, there's no question he could have said those exact words."

Are you kidding me?! Let me get this straight: you think U.S. politics has thrown off its Christian heritage. So, in order to get it back into the public-political square, we should flat-out lie about the past, as long as it supports our agenda.

That sounds so...unchristian.


P.S. - George Washington is one of my heroes...and I don't hate America.

Saving the Perfect Game

Yesterday, White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game. For you non-baseball fans out there, that's when a pitcher throws for all nine innings without allowing a single hit or walk. That's a big deal. To put it into perspective, it's only the 18th perfect game EVER thrown in Major League Baseball.

Of course, a pitcher can't do it by himself. Check out this video of Dewayne Wise saving the perfect game in the 9th inning, with only three outs left.

Very cool.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - Professor/Robber?

Everyone see this news story?

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., distinguished professor at Harvard University, and probably the most influential and powerful black scholar in U.S. History, was arrested at his home last week.

Why was he arrested?

Because he was black. Call my cynical, but that's just how I see it.

Here are some facts: He came home to Cambridge, MA, from a trip to China to find his door jammed. He and his driver had to give it a good shove to get inside. A few minutes later, the police showed up, responding to a neighbors' report that two black men with backpacks were trying to break into his house (seriously, his long-time neighbor didn't recognize him? Give me a break).

When the office got there, confrontation ensued. Stories differ from this point on, but basically, the officer assumed that Gates was breaking in. Even after Gates showed the officer his IDs (a Massachusetts drivers's license and his Harvard ID), the office arrested him for disorderly conduct. Gates spent a few hours in jail, complete with mug shot.

Seriously?!!! I shouldn't be surprised. I've never been arrested, but the same kind of racial-profiling nonsense has happened to me, and it's been happening in our country since its inception. Blacks have always received it, as have Indians. The Irish immigrants got it in the early-19th century, Italians and southeastern Europeans in the mid-to-late-19th century, Chinese immigrants in the early-20th, Germans during World War I, Japanese and Germans during World War II, and most recently, anyone who looked anything like someone from the Middle East post-9/11.

Sad, just sad.

God is invisible, but what about his car?

After putting Jonathan down for a nap, I had to go back in his room. He was screaming because of monsters (I still don't know if he's honestly scared, or if he's using the monster-scheme to get me in there. It could be either).

Either way, I comforted him, and told him that the monsters aren't real. Here was our short conversation:

"Who is real?" I asked.
Jonathan immediately replied, "God. Mommy and Daddy."
"Are monsters real?" I asked.
"No."
"Good, son."
"See God?"
I was ready for that one: "No, son, we cannot see God. He is invisible and infinite," I assured him. "But He watches over you, and he sent us Jesus so that we could better understand Him."

After about five seconds, during which I could tell he was really thinking about something, he asked, "See God's car?"

That kid loves cars. Since he thinks my 2000 Pontiac Grand Am is cool, I'm sure he was thinking, if God is that big, He must have a totally awesome ride.
.

Over-spiritualizing is really unspiritual

I found this comic today, which made me have all kinds of funny and unfortunate memories:



Don't get me wrong - it's not that drinking coffee can't be spiritual. After all, the Apostle Paul tells us that whether we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God. So, drinking coffee with a friend, done to the glory of God, can be a spiritual act of eternal significance.

But, it's also ok to just like some good coffee. It's ok to just like a book because it awoke some deep emotion in you, and you really don't know why. It's ok to have a conversation about sports over the dinner table.

When I was at DBU, there was a group of students on campus that my friends and I dubbed the "psycho-Calvinists." We didn't call them this because they were Calvinists. After all, my friends and I were all either already Calvinists ourselves or were on our ways there. I found out later that there were lots more budding Calvinists on campus than I ever knew, but many were closet-Calvinists because they didn't want to be associated with the psycho-Calvinists.

We called them this, because no matter where we were or what we were doing, all these people wanted to talk about was Calvinistic theology (usually double predestination, the multiple meanings of the love of God, or some other Calvinesque topic). We couldn't just sit at the lunch table and talk about English class, or the weather, or our love for Arminius (that's what we call a boring theological joke). Their forcing us to overspiritualize every topic of conversation made life very annoying, tedious, and frankly, unspiritual. And last time I checked, those are not enjoyable or profitable adjectives.

This is no call for thoughtlessness, just an apologetic for being able to enjoy the life God has given us. And Christians of all people should learn how to do that.

A President's Note

Remember those times in your school years when you had to bring a doctor's note back to class to prove to your teacher that you weren't absent? Really annoying.

Well, Kennedy Corpus made it a much less annoying, much cooler experience: Here's her note:



In case you can't read it, it says:

To Kennedy's teacher:

Please excuse Kennedy's absence...She's with me.

Barack Obama


That's cool, and totally worth missing your last day of school in 4th grade.