The Price of Power

The United States has a long-standing love affair with the automobile. We like lots of horsepower and an open road. We own more vehicles and drive more miles than the rest of the world can imagine, but now we're getting a small taste of what most other countries experience on a daily basis--high gasoline prices.

This chart shows the prices per liter in Euro cents (current exchange is 1 euro = 1.28 dollars). Even if you aren't familiar with the value of a Euro, you can easily see that folks in the Netherlands pay 3 times as much as the average American for gasoline. That puts their average price at about $6 per gallon! Much of that is self-imposed, with as much as 75% of the price coming from taxes, but you can see why we don't generate much sympathy when we complain about $2/gallon gasoline.

The cheapest gas price here in Bossier City is now $2.15, which means a fill-up in my truck can easily cost $60. Ouch! It makes me wonder if that 285-horsepower V-8 is worth it. I'm already thinking about getting a hybrid vehicle the next time around. When I think about what that fill-up would cost me in the Netherlands ($180), however, I feel better about it. It's all a matter of perspective.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Jargon

jargon - the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group

The military may be the worst about this. We have our own little language, and love to use acronyms for everything. Take this sentence, for example: My shirt says I need to take my PT test before I PCS, but I was TDY to the MAJCOM on my squadron's test week. Interpretation: My first sergeant (individual in charge of enlisted personnel issues for a unit) says I need to take my Physical Training test before I move (PCS - Permanent Change of Station), but I was on a business trip (TDY - Temporary Duty) to our headquarters (MAJCOM - Major Command) during my organization's test week.

If you're a member of the military, you'll understand the jargon because you are around it every day. You learn the host of acronyms (although I still need acronym help from the web sometimes) and other jargon we use. The problem comes when we have to interact with civilians, which is fairly often these days. They have no clue what we're saying, even when we spell out the acronyms. CITS stands for Combat Information Transport System. That doesn't tell you that it is a program to standardize and modernize the communications infrastructure of Air Force bases. We have to make a conscious effort to "dumb down" our language to a common denominator.

Apostolics need to do the same thing. We have our own language that we love to use. Backsliders need to "pray through"--what they're trying to reach isn't clear to a visitor. We want the "Holy Ghost" to lead us, while the rest of the Christian world talks about the Holy Spirit. Try to listen in the next service you attend and see how many words and phrases would be jargon to a visitor off the street. If we want visitors to feel comfortable and understand what's happening, perhaps we need to lose the jargon.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Outside the Box

An oft-heard phrase in the military (and probably in the business world) is "outside the box," as in, "You need to think outside the box in this situation." It refers to something beyond the normal accepted or assumed parameters. I sometimes think Christians build a small box and try to fit God and our relationship with him into it. We believe we should go to church three times a week, expect a little something special on Sunday nights, live a good life during the week, and try to tell somebody about the gospel when we can. Sorry to break the news to you, but the God of eternity doesn't fit into your box.

I like what the House of Prayer in St. Petersburg, Florida, is doing in their community. Pastor Matt Maddix lit a fire under those attending Because of The Times this past January. I watched his sermon on DVD, and was especially struck by the fact that they cancelled a mid-week service to do a community event. I know we're saved by the foolishness of preaching, but should we preach to the same crowd three times a week when thousands outside our auditorium doors have never heard the full gospel or seen Christian love in action?

I've never met Joshua Remington, but I like him already. Any Apostolic who has the audacity act like a Catholic and participate in Lent and Ash Wednesday, has my admiration. We like to pretend that we have it all together, that we are the apex of religious evolution. A visible reminder of sin and death (the ashes on the forehead)? We don't need that--we have our WWJD T-shirts. A 40-day period that entire church assemblies put aside for sacrifice, giving up something for the Master (Lent)? We don't need that--we have our International Day of Prayer and Fasting.

I want to belong to a church that understands service to others in our community is just as important as Wednesday night service. I won't give Catholics a double-take next Ash Wednesday. Instead, I want to observe my own Lenten fast next year. I don't mean to demean our efforts or organizational traditions, but I want to think outside the box.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Media Consumption

A few years ago, I purchased a video from Focus on the Family (BTW, their web site is a great resource) titled Mind Over Media. It does a good job of getting teens to think about the kind of music and movies they consume. I've used it several times to minister to young people, but nothing made me consider my family's media consumption like the birth of my son. He's only 3 months old, and I'm already planning out what he should watch, read and listen to.

• He needs to listen to classical music, preferably Bach, Mozart, and Chopin.
• No movies, TV, or cartoons until after the age of 2, based on the American Association of Pediatrics' recommendation.
• I'm already stocking his bookshelves with classics like Robinson Crusoe and biographies of great Americans.

As he gets older, I'll have a choice to make. Should I shelter him at all costs, or use less-than-perfect products to teach him discernment? I don't think you can shield a child from everything, but I do want to delay his exposure to the "realities" of life until he is ready for them. In the meantime, his arrival has motivated me to better police my own consumption. It doesn't just affect me anymore, but my choices have an effect on my son, also.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!