I haven’t been around much lately because we are in the middle of planning our first Turbo Training of 2008. Many changes to previous Turbo’s, and a lot of work and stress, but I think we’re ready. It will be tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday. We could use your prayers. We have 70 people showing up for this from all over N. America. I’ll explain what Turbo is when I come out on the other side of it. Thanks for the prayers!

If you’ve been keeping up with me the past month or so, you’ll already know that I have yet again changed schools. For those of you who know me, you know that I have issues with sitting still. Maybe going to school on a computer will calm me down a bit… since I live life mostly in the cyber-world anyway. CNBC recently interviewed Brent Richardson, CEO of Grand Canyon University (yes, I said CEO). Watch this:

And this is GCU’s most famous graduate. She’s been on The Today Show, CNN, and featured in Reader’s Digest among others. Truly inspiring.

I go back and watch this about twice a year. It still brings a tear to my eye, and it’s one of the most powerful speeches ever given. It’s our responsibility to continue to fulfill this man’s God-given dream.

If you grew up anywhere near the 1980’s, you will know instantly what this is all about… and I have to say, I have not been more excited!

If you are looking to see a truly revolutionary movie, go watch “Cloverfield”. But a word of warning, if you get motion sickness easily, take something beforehand… or be prepared to close your eyes a lot, like I did. It’s shot in the “Blair Witch” style (with a hand held camcorder) so there is a lot of unsteady motion. Did I say a lot? I meant to say A LOT!!! There have been many, many websites built around this movie (made to look like actual corporations, which is supposed to lead you to somewhat of a background on this monster). Going into this movie there was a lot of speculation. If you saw the movie “Transformers” in the theaters, you saw the original trailer for “1.18.08.” The hype quickly ensued… not by the media, but by everyday people such as me who wrote blogs, built information-gathering websites, and spent hours pouring over the photos that were being “leaked” into the internet. Want your questions answered, well, go watch the movie and then come back here and let me know what you think. I’m not going to say ANYTHING about it until I start getting comments here… or a week passes by.

If you haven’t heard about all the controversy surrounding this amazing movie… where have you been? The crux of the controversy is the sight of the Empire State Building collapsing exactly like the World Trade Towers and the head of the Statue of Liberty being hurled into midtown Manhattan. I must admit, watching that part of the movie made me squirm in my seat just a bit.

I went and watched the movie with my friend, DonnieB. He made an interesting observation. He said that it seemed to him that J.J. Abrams was trying to make the point that we tend to dehumanize certain people groups and label them “terrorists.” Toward the beginning of the movie there is a lot of speculation that all the destruction was a result of terrorists. It turns out to just be a monster.

I didn’t get that from the movie… I just thought it was awesome. But I’m that shallow.

It’s been an intense couple of posts the last few days. And I know that I tend to come across a bit, shall we say “blunt” at times. Those who know me know I don’t pull punches and really don’t like people who beat around the bush. I have to temper myself at times. For example, if I know I won’t be able to hold my tongue in a certain situation or know that I will easily lose my temper in a situation, I just stay away from that until I know I will be able to “communicate more effectively”.
But enough of that. It’s time for some light-hearted fun. This game is easy, there’s only one rule: You have to pick one or the other (meaning, no saying “neither”). It’s called “Would You Rather”:
Would you rather:
Get caught picking your nose in your car or fart rather loudly in the middle of a church service? (I’d rather get caught picking my nose)

Walk around with your pants unzipped at Disney Land or walk around with a booger hanging out your nose at Disney Land? (I’d have to say unzipped pants on this one)

Fight Mike Tyson or talk like him? (Man, this one is difficult… but I’d have to say fight him. No one said I had to fight fair)

Never be able to cut or shave ANY hair or live with Rosie O’Donnell? (I’d have to go with shaving on this one)

You can find more of these at http://www.wouldyourather.com

What does this mean? Is it really anyone who is not family? Or does it mean those who live near you? I know that most see this as a “no brainer” but is it really? If we are to view everyone who lives outside our home as our “neighbor”, then how do you explain “christian” views that automatically judge and condemn others based on their race and religion among other things (small “c” used on purpose).

Christians … no, I’m going to change that … people in general in the West have a “bubble” mentality when it comes to world events. We sit in our comfortable La-Z-Boys with our warm cup of coffee (or, here in Texas, an ice-cold lemonade) and watch world events on the evening news. It’s a form of entertainment for us. We like to be reminded of how good we actually got it here in America. But ask just about anyone their thoughts on the Middle East and you will most likely get, “That’s were the terrorists come from, right?” Our knowledge of what is actually happening in places like Jerusalem, Jordan, and Lebanon are severely lacking. My pastor, mentor, and friend, Bob Roberts, Jr. just got back from Israel and the West Bank. You can read his thoughts HERE

Some Christians especially have a skewed view of Middle East happenings. I’ve heard the argument over, and over again that “the Jews get the land and everyone else needs to go find a new place to live.” This just shows how little they actually know… not just of current events, but of biblical teachings (ouch! I can hear the hate mail now!). What we tend to forget is Palestinians, in general, are just as scared of the Muslim extremists as we are. People tend to lump all Palestinians into the “terrorist” category. Kind of like how people tend to lump all people from Georgia into the “red neck” category… oh, wait… that’s actually true. Just kidding! What most people don’t know is there is a large contingency of Palestinian Christians living in that region. What about them? They tend to feel that American Christians hate them (they are our brothers in Christ!) because they are not Jewish… the sad fact is, they’re right. Most American Christians, if asked, would just blindly “take sides”. Here’s what I need to ask. I have my answer, but I don’t think many people have thought of it: Do you believe that Jesus came to die for the Jews as well as the Gentiles, or do you think that Jewish people get an “automatic ticket” because they are Jewish? Your answer to this question will determine your eschatological stance as well as what you think of your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in the Middle East.

Let’s have it! What say you?