Saturday, Apostolics Online, Berlin Wall

Saturday

It has kind of been one of those Saturdays. I have accomplished a few things today, but the day doesn't feel overly productive.

Apostolics Online

By now hopefully you have read this week's 90&9 cover story on the state of Apostolics on the web. The article, really a panel discussion of sorts, offered many solid observations. But I sensed a certain frustration from the article in that no one really knows why there are not more apostolics on the web or why there are not more websites geared for us.

Here is my two cents. Doing a web ministry (effective, professional, and relevant) takes a boatload of time, and there are few people who can devote that kind of time to what would be a side project. There is not enough potential for Apostolic online advertising to fund a site, meaning the editor of the site would also have to be employed full time, or independently wealthy.

Secondly, it is hard to get the word out. Where do Apostolics go to advertise? The Herald is mostly read by ministers. And having booths at conferences (speaking of which, is there any website that provides a comprehensive list of conferences?), General Conference and Youth Congress is expensive, plus they usually don't allow non-UPCI endorsed organizations to promote at their events.

However, I think these two issues are merely part of the larger challenge and not a complete answer. Perhaps someday we will have the unifying theory of why there is a "dearth" of Apostolic web presence.

Piece of History

Last weekend I was in Iowa visiting family and attending my cousin's high school graduation. Along the way I visited the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. In the gift shop I purchased a "piece of history" for $5.00; a chunk of the Berlin Wall (for some reason the Hoover Museum has a 8-foot section of the wall on display. They didn't really explain why. Perhaps they said something about how he was opposed to Communism). I assume it is real, but have no way of actually knowing. Nonetheless it is cool. Take a look at it here. One of these days I hope we can purchase moon rocks. Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!


P.S. Technical Question

I wanted to include a picture of my peice of the Berlin Wall. However, I took it with my digital camera set for the largest, highest resolution picture possible, to make the print outs high quality. I need to figure out a way to make the massive image smaller so it is more usable on a computer. I am sure this is simple, but I have not figured it out yet. Please help if you can.

Tired, more Atlantic, and Goodnight

Blah

It has been a long day. I’m glad tomorrow is Saturday, but there are several things I need to get done. I got some exercise in tonight at a church family night where I played some basketball and some baseball catch.

Atlantic Monthly again

Someone made the point to me today that although they enjoyed the Atlantic magazine; they felt it had been too pessimistic in its coverage of current events. I had been thinking something similar. Since the worst case scenarios usually don’t come true, it might be constructive to have an occasional piece that lays out best case scenarios. Might be kind of Pollyannaish though.

Goodnight

Sorry to ramble on so long about that. I’ll be more interesting tomorrow. Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

My Church History

My Church History

A reader was interested to know what churches I have been a member of.

Until I was 13, I was a member of Kent Christian Center in Dover, Delaware. My family then moved an hour north to Newark, Delaware where we attended Newark UPC. A few years later we started driving up to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania to attend Care Center UPC. Once I went to college I attended National Apostolic Church in Silver Spring, Maryland. In St. Louis now, I attend Flo Valley Apostolic.

So in 21 years I have been a member of 5 churches and have had 8 pastors.

Off to work for me…..Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Hubris, Dr. Sholl's, Red Sox and the Atlantic Monthly

Hubris

Earlier tonight someone asked me what the word "hubris" meant. I replied that it meant something like "unwise and not thoughtful; lacking judgment." I know what the word means in its context, but I found myself unprepared to actually explain to another person what it meant. So with the help of the Oxford English Dictionary (accessed through my university's online library) I present the word of the day. Try to use it tomorrow in your daily conversation.

Hubris is apparently of Greek origin and means "Presumption, originating towards the gods; pride, excessive self-confidence."



Shoes update


The new gel shoe cushions worked well tonight. My only complaint is that they don't stick well to the bottom of the shoe, but my legs and feet do feel better; it did make a difference. Thanks for the tip PJ.



Baseball

I don't get too excited about baseball at this point in the season, it is way too early. However, I am going with my dad to Tuesday night's game at Busch Stadium when the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Boston Red Sox. This is a big deal for a few reasons. First of all it is a rematch of last year's World Series. Secondly, this is Busch Stadium's final season before it is torn down and a new ballpark is opened. Finally, my Dad and I are both Red Sox fans. He grew up in New England, and as a boy growing up in Delaware I naturally gravitated towards the Sox. I have been to Fenway Park a few times (ironically the two games I saw there featured Missouri's two teams: the Kansas City Royals and the Cardinals) and it is like being in a museum or a chapel with the "Fenway Faithful." The ballpark is almost 100 years old and you can tell it was built for another time with its low walkway ceilings and chairs made for a time when people were smaller. Anyway, Cardinals fans in St. Louis are pretty passionate so I will be going light without much (if any) Red Sox paraphernalia.



Initial response to Atlantic Monthly

Tonight I read James Fallows' article (sorry, but it requires a subscription to read) in The Atlantic Monthly which lays out what it could be like in 2016 when the US economy is completely collapsing. It is written as a policy briefing for a presidential candidate who is sure to win in the upcoming election. I don't think its predictions of doom and gloom are on target, but some of the scenarios are plausible. In short, the United States does need to get its economic/fiscal house in order. We can't go on year after year acting like $200, $300, $400, and $500 billion dollar deficits don't matter. This combined with the low US household savings rate, large trade imbalance, and high overall personal debt level means that the economy could potentioally crash. And what bugs me is that suppose something major did happen like another 9/11, Pear Harbor or other calamity. If the US needed to go out and borrow $500 billion it would really, really hurt the economy and the country. We can't live on debt forever; thinking we can, now that is hubris. Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Tired, Info on me, and President Bush

I’m tired

It has been a long day. Maybe the White Castle last night wasn’t such a good idea. My feet and legs have been pretty sore lately, but I’m going to try out some new gel shoe inserts for tonight’s shift loading air cargo. My friend/co-worker PJ tells me that the gel inserts help; I have never tried them before though. I’m always surprised by how much carrying heavy things and trying to move freight by pushing/using your body wears your legs and shoes out. Today at my other job I moved two skids of books using one of those hand forklifts. It was my first time using the contraption and it was not pretty. Hopefully I didn’t dent the freight elevator too bad.


A little bit more about me

Through the e-mails and comments section I am aware that there are at least a few people in the world reading this. I welcome you all, and hope that you find the posts interesting enough to visit from time to time.

I am 21 and single. I attend one of the well known churches here in the St. Louis area. I enjoy doing a lot of things, but I have difficulty identifying my particular hobbies or interests. Politics used to be a hobby or an interest but then I got a degree in it and so it doesn’t count.


News Update

Speaking of which, President Bush is in town today doing a fundraiser for Senator Jim Talent (R-Missouri). In the Spring of 2003 I interned one day a week in Talent’s office (before he moved from the Hart building to Russell). Sen. Talent is a really nice guy, very genuine, and as far as I can tell a devoted family man and Christian. It is an amazing experience being on Capitol Hill (I was there on the day Colin Powell went to the UN to make the case for Iraq's WMD and on the day the Saddam statue in Baghdad came down), but I regret not developing or keeping up on the acquaintances I made while working there. Since I don’t really have any good contacts, or $3,000 for a campaign contribution, I am not attending tonight’s fundraiser.

Well I want to take a walk before going into work, (and by take a walk I also mean browse the latest issue of Atlantic Monthly I received today) but I’ll be back later. Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Deep Throat again and White Castle

This Deep Throat news is fascinating. Bob Woodward has written a lengthy article outlining how he met the man who would become Deep Throat. The article is truly fascinating. A must read for anyone who is remotely interested in this stuff.


Response to a Reader

Someone asked me where or how Deep Throat got his name. I searched online for a minute, but quickly decided to search the historical record- My signed copy of “All The President’s Men.” On page 71 (chapter 4) the book explains that the name emerged when Woodward was explaining his arrangement with the secret source to “aging editor Howard Simons…” Woodward “had taken to calling the source ‘my friend,’ but Simons dubbed him ‘Deep Throat,’ the title of a celebrated pornographic movie. The name stuck.”

I apologize for dwelling on this topic so much, but as you can tell I am really taken in. Generally though I try not to jump onto fleeting “flavor of the day” bandwagons, but this is one of modern history’s foremost secrets that is now explained.

On a more personal note.

My good friend PJ started working at the airport with me this week. It is nice to have someone around at work who I know outside of work as well. After the shift ended we took a trip to White Castle, a place I never thought I would venture into. Needless to say it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I had a White Castle burger (small hamburger), a chicken sandwich and a fish sandwich. The Fish was the best, the hamburger next and the chicken was disappointing. While White Castle wasn’t as gross as I assumed it would be, I don’t think I will go there often unless it is after midnight.

Finally…if anyone has noticed, I haven’t talked about the book I finished yet. I will, but there has simply been so much to talk about already. Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

"Told you so"

One of my pet peeves is that whenever big news about someone comes out, there is always a clamor of people who say they already knew. Tom Brokaw was doing something like that on Hardball last night. When former NJ Gov. McGreevy resigned and admitted he was homosexual I heard people say “well, everyone already knew that.” It makes me wonder what is out there that people “actually know” that the rest of us don’t.

Prediction: if extraterrestrial life is ever discovered polls will indicate that 75% of the public knew they were being watched by the little green men. The Washington Post has an article on the “I told you so” bandwagon. Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Thoughts on Deep Throat

By now most of you have seen the reports that Deep Throat’s identity has been confirmed to be a former high-ranking FBI official named Mark Felt.

Brief Summary

During the Watergate scandal Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein had a well placed secret source code named "Deep Throat" who helped them along their investigations. Ultimately President Nixon was forced to resign. Woodward and Bernstein promised to keep the identity of the source secret until he died. The notion of a secret source was dramatized by their book “All The President’s Men” (be sure to purchase through 90&9's Amazon link) and later by the movie which depicted Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein. Check out these two articles for some more information; Novak and the Washington Post.

My Connection

Here is my connection to the whole thing. In the spring of 2003 Bob Woodward came to American University as part of the Kennedy Political Union’s lecture series. This student run, led, and funded group was finishing up its 02-03 lineup, and I had been selected as the Director for 03-04. I helped to escort Mr. Woodward around campus and even introduced him.

During the time before his presentation he sat with a group of about 10 students in a small holding room. We asked him questions and he asked us a few questions about our political views. He talked about Deep Throat (after an eager colleague of mine spoke up excitedly and said “No really though, who was Deep Throat?”) but didn’t give any new information. Woodward was kind enough to sign my copy of "All the President's Men" as well as my copy of "Shadow", another one of his writings. Woodward remakred that an author never minds signing one of his own books.

To make a long story shorter: the thing that really stuck with me was when Woodward spoke of the abuse of power in the Nixon administration. Woodward explained that whenever you listen to the Nixon tapes and there is discussion of cover up, of wiretapping or other illegal activates you never hear anyone speak up and say “is this legal? Is this what we are supposed to be doing? Is this right?”

Conclusion

People in positions of real power must not be afraid to include advisors who will speak up and ask if what is being done is correct and moral. Secondly, each of us has a responsibility to stand up to authority when we feel that something immoral, wrong or abusive is being perpetuated. That is the lesson I take from Watergate, Woodward and Deep Throat. Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

New Begnning

Greetings! My name is Eric and I will be serving as this month’s 90&9 guest blogger. First let me say that I plan to post regularly but that I am likely to be somewhat random in my thoughts, observations and comments.

Here is a little information about myself. I grew up in Delaware and went to college in Washington, DC. Along the way my family moved to the St. Louis, Missouri area. Now that I have finished my undergraduate work I am living at home and working until Law School starts in mid August. I had some difficulty finding a job so I went back to my old summer and winter break job of loading cargo at the airport. Recently I have also begun as part time worker at WEC (that is St. Louis speak for World Evangalsim Center or the UPCI Headquarters) managing the storage room for one of the divisions.

Neither of my jobs are related to my education (both are essentially moving boxes and my degree is in political science), but I figure that I will have the rest of my life to work behind a desk. So I am grateful for the opportunity I have now to make money and enjoy a relatively stress free environment. Because once Law School starts that is sure going to change.

It is now 2:30 AM (I worked from 9:30 to 12:30 tonight) and I need to get to bed. Tomorrow I will post on the revelations regarding the identity of Deep Throat and will talk about a really good book I just finished reading. Until then….Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Last words

Well this will be my last opportunity to write. It has been my pleasure to sit down and share my thoughts and insights, whether wrong or right, on the things Iv'e experieced on a day to day basis. I do apologize for not being quite as faithful with my daily entries. With my chorale tour and the recent tragic incidents I havent been in the mindset if you will to write. I think my most recent thoughts that have been running through my head are all centered around life. Life is so fragile and unapreciated. Take the time to be closer to friends and family. If there is anything between you and others get it out in the open and get forgiven. You never know when it's going to be your last chance to tell someone you love them, you care for them, your sorry or even goodbye. Once again I appreciate everything. Check out my church Atlanta West Pentecostal Church or my youth groupThe Crowd of Atlanta (fixing to be updated) or even my school, gatewaycollege.net Thanks for your comments and thanks for the opportunity. God bless and Goodbye. Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Disturbing News

I am regretfully bringing my first prayer request to the blogger/post. I usually try not to burden you all with too much of my personal problems but I feel I need to share this with you. I have a good friend that I grew up with all through highschool. We were in and out of church, more out than in. Two years ago I went to Gateway college of Evangelism and he went to Texas Bible School. He came back home after a year and lived here in Atlanta. I recieved a phone call tonight that him and a friend had been out riding their motorcycles out near my house on a back road. My friend david was in the front and a drunk driver pulled out in front of them. He didnt have time to swerve or to put on his breaks, he didnt have a chance. My friend that was following him said that he ran into the side of the other car at about 60mph and flew over the car. Me and my brothers drove up on the accident as the ambulance was taking my friend away. I am sorry to say that my friend didnt make it and passed away this evening. Pray for me, pray for our church and youth group, and pray for his family. David had two older siblings. One is backslidden and the other is over seas in costa rica as a missionary/aim worker. His parents are tremendous people that desperately need comfort and prayers. We need God's help during this time. Thanks for your prayers, God bless.Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!