Ask Not...

I have been reading a book lately that I really like. I should actually say that I am re-reading a book that I really like. The book is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and I think it is just about my favorite book of the entire seven book series. This is about the fifth time that I have read it. Roni has always wanted to know what it is about this book that I seem to like so much. To her it is one of her least favorites. It's the longest book of the series and to her it just takes a while to really get going.

For me it has the character that I despise more than any other in the entire series...even more than Voldemort and he is THE bad guy. The character is Delores Jane Umbridge. She is from the Ministry of Magic and comes to Hogwarts as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The thing is that she is horrible and not just as a teacher. Overall, she is just bad. On top of this, the Ministry is horrible in this book as well. They have decided that it is time for them to take a more "active" role in what goes on at Hogwarts in this book and do so by implementing policies that take away from the students and other teachers. At one point, in a DADA class, Umbridge tells one student to just do her work and don't ask questions. Much of this is based on the Ministry refusing to admit that Voldemort has returned at the end of book four. In the end, a group of students decide to form a "club" and learn defense on their own. It's a great book in my opinion.

The reason that I bring this all up is because it makes me think of the Church in some ways. Don't take this the wrong way, I don't mean all churches by an stretch of the imagination. But being from the Biblebelt and all, I have had some experience with the kind of churches that come to mind. It's the kind of place that doesn't like it when people as questions about faith. It is the kind of place where you are not encouraged to really figure things out for yourself. It is this way and that's it, just accept it and go on. As I read The Order of the Phoenix the other day, this is what came to mind.

First there is the Ministry of Magic. By all accounts it has lost it's focus. It is no longer doing what it was created to do, which is to help guide the magical world. They have lost their focus but they don't want to hear this. When they are confronted with the truth, they turn a blind eye and a deaf ear and do their best to make others the target. They have become power hungry. Those who have gold to give are able to receive a certain amount of influence. This reminds me of the stories that we hear in history of the Church. Priests reaching a point where they believe themselves to be a bigger deal than the Bride of Christ; rich people and nobles gaining special favor in the church because of who they are and what they are able to give in terms of money. This is the problem in the fifth book.

By the middle of the book, a group of students who believe the truth have decided to split off and form their own defense group. They are going against what the Ministry says that they can do, and yet they are doing and thinking for themselves. They will no longer just take what the Ministry says they have to do. It makes me think of when Martin Luther split from the church, when the Wesley brothers chose to do their own thing. Throughout history there are groups who break away from the company line and follow what they know to be the Truth. They realize that it is ok to ask questions and to think for themselves and to figure out this thing called faith. After all, faith is our first line of defense against the dark arts (sorry I knew that was dripping in cheese when I wrote, but I bowed to the temptation anyway).

Here is the comparison that I come up with for all of this. In this book, the Ministry is like the Church in Ephesus from Revelation chapter 2. The Risen Christ tells the church there that they are doing all the right work, but they have lost their focus, lost their forst love. This is how I would compare the Ministry. They are doing some things that they should be doing, but they have lost their focus which is to protect the people of the magical world. At times we as the Church are the same way. We lose our focus and forget the reason that we do the things we do. I pray that now, in this season where we celebrate the power, love grace, majesty and authority of the Risen Christ that we will remember why it is we do the things we do and for whom we do them. Peace and Love y'all.

Limping In

Well the NBA season is winding down. Most teams have only about 6 games to go and there were no games this evening due to the NCAA Men's National Championship game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Tar Heels of North Carolina (Carolina won the game).

The thing is, the NBA playoffs start in a little over a week I believe it is and right now the team that I will be rooting for is limping into these playoffs. The Spurs seem to be having a spot of difficulty right now, which isn't good at this point in the season. This is the time of year that if you are a playoff team you want to be gelling and really hitting your stride as a team, not tweaking the line up to find the best fit.

They call the Spurs a "veteran" team, but really that's just code for old. Look at the team: Tim Duncan is in his 12th year (and has been in the playoffs every single season and won 4 championships) and is dealing with sore knees that tend to keep him from playing on back-to-back nights; Tony Parker is in his 7th season and is only 26, but can he bear all the load in the playoffs?; it was discovered today that Manu Ginobili has a fracture in his right ankle and is out for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs; Michael Finley is still a good player, but he is getting old and playing heavy minutes in his earlier years seems to have extracted some kind of toll on him; Bruce Bowen is a great defender and three point shooter, but the guy can't make a free throw usually for anything. Roger Mason has had a fantastic season, but he has been something of a journeyman in his NBA career, so he is an unknown as far as the playoffs go.

When you add up all the parts what you seem to get is a team that is good and can still compete for a fifth title this summer based on experience alone, and yet they are limping in. They have dropped from the number two seed in the West to the number 3 or possibly worse (depends on how these last 6 games shake out). Teams in the conference are getting younger and adding talent to their rosters. The Spurs, to their credit, don't get to make lottery picks in the draft (consequences of always being in the playoffs). In fact the last time that the Spurs picked in the Lottery, they got Tim Duncan (they haven't picked that high since then). They make it work with foreign players and former lottery picks from other teams. It is amazing that they are able to do what they do. They have never failed to win a Finals series that they reached.

That is why it is so hard to see them more or less limping in to the playoffs this season. I love the Spurs-they are possibly my favorite team of all time regardless of the sport-and I am hoping for them to get it done once again. I will say this for them however: no matter how hard it seems right now, no matter how many bumps there are in the road in to the playoffs, Thank God, that at the very least they are not the Dallas Mavericks. Peace and Love y'all.

Play Time

I went in to play with Boo and Puck and earlier. They were playing "school" and were in need of a teacher, so I was the one who was recruited to fill the role. The only problem that I encountered was the fact that all I was supposed to be doing that I could tell was that I was in the Teachers' Lounge rather than in the classroom doing the job of teaching.

All of this seems pretty normal I guess if you don't know Boo. See I went in to play and spent the whole time I was in there being told the set up of what we were doing. I was in the Teachers' Lounge, but I had gotten there by going over the top of the bunk beds it seems to get there which was, of course, the secret way. Boo on the other hand had discovered the way there and sneaked up and saw me in the lounge talking to the other teachers. Not about anything I guess, just talking. She then went back the other way and told Puck, who had gone to bathroom which allowed for Boo to do this sneaking about. While in the lounge, I couldn't go very far due to the imaginary wall that was there (this is why I had to go over the bunk bed I suppose). Boo was also the only one if the room of pretend students who knew about the secret way to the lounge. She was however going to inform Puck about the secret. Keep in mind that during all of the above, all I was actually doing was laying on the bottom bunk waiting to get to play. That was all that I really got to do as far as this time of playing seeing as how Boo and Puck starting fighting soon after that.

This is not the first time either that I have gone to play with Boo and didn't really get much chance to actually play. It used to be that I would go in to play with her, and we would spend the whole time watching her line up her Little People. This was so they could all go to "the" party" or whatever.

Now maybe it's just me, but I really don't remember playing that way. When my friends and I got together to play something, we didn't spend a lot of time setting it up with all kinds of stories and details...we just grabbed what we were playing with and went to it. We might decide on a couple of things before hand, like what the game was we were playing, but I'm pretty sure that we didn't take all kinds of time laying it all out before we played. That would have taken too long for us.

So maybe it's just Boo that likes to play like that. Maybe it's lots of kids that are that age. Whatever it is, it sure makes play time different for me when it comes to them. Peace and Love y'all.

How He Loves

This past summer at church camp we did this song called How He Loves. It was an awesome song. You know how it is when you are in worship and there is one particular song that just really stirs you? That is what this song was like for me. Every time we would sing this song, there was something that would just resonate deep in my being.

I have looked for this song ever since then but I'd had no real luck in finding it. Until last week, a young lady that I know had a line of it as her status on Facebook so she was able to hook me up with the name of the artist as well as the name of the song and from there I was able to find it. Now I would like to share the words with you.

How He Loves
John Mark McMillan

He is jealous for me, Love's a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and Mercy.
When all of the sudden I'm unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
and I realize just how beautiful You are, and great Your affections are for me.

Oh how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us so.

Yea He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to Redemption by the Grace in His eyes,
If Grace is an ocean we're all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest.
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way...

He Loves us,
Oh how He Loves us,
Oh how He Loves us,
Oh, how He Loves.
He Loves us,
Oh how He Loves us,
Oh how He Loves us,
He Loves us.

I also wanted to post the video of the song as well. I will admit that it is a little bit long, but the first part of it is John Mark McMillan explaining why he wrote the song and what it is all about for him. I hope that if you watch it and listen to the song that it will move you like it has moved so many others. Peace and Love y'all.

Where the Action Is

As long as I can recall, action figures have been a staple of the toy industry for boys. These have been G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe, Star Wars, and so on. These figures allowed little boys (and sometimes bigger boys as well) to create and live out adventures in their imaginations. One of the best parts was always the little stickers and such on the packages that would proclaim what the special "action" was the figures could perform. "Kung Fu chopping Action!!" "Weapons actually fire!!" These were the things that would, at times, draw me to the figures that I wanted to play with. These were the things that were so cool about the toys.

Now there are "alternative" action figures for sell at select Wal-Mart stores. These are figures that I'm sure some would call "the original action heroes" and they are, but I just wonder what kinds of adventures and actions people will be able to come up with that will be all that different from the other action figures they have. Starting soon, in the Wal-Mart stores that sell the most Bibles, they will also offer Bible Action Figures. So far there are three that I know of. With that in mind, here is my list of who would be good "Bible action figures" and what their special action could be.

10) Noah- With super hammering action (Ark and animals not included)

9) King David- With spinning sling arm action (Bathsheba and Goliath sold separately)

8) Samson- With donkey jawbone swinging action (Philistines soldiers sold separately)

7) Daniel- With super praying action and lion with non-working jaws

6) Aaron- With staff and miniature golden calf statue

5) Moses- With 10 Commandments and burning bush (Israelites sold separately)

4) Balaam- With talking donkey (batteries not included)

3) Elijah- Alter & sacrifice included (Prophets of Baal sold separately)

2) Paul- Comes with scraps of cloth for healing, and a viper (snake, not car)

1) Jesus- With rising hand (squeeze his knees) "miracle" action (Apostles sold separately)

What do you think? Peace and Love y'all.