Monday, September 29, 2008

I dont support the bailout.

The bailout? Golden parachutes? All this hullalbaloo makes me happy that I am not of this world but that I store my treasure in heaven, where it is safe and unperishable.


But Bono is so right when he said:
“It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable treatable disease and hunger,” the U2 lead singer told Clinton’s fourth annual philanthropic summit in New York. “That’s mad, that is mad. Bankruptcy is a serious business and we all know people who have lost their jobs,” Bono said, "but this is moral bankruptcy.”

Way to be.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Jesus was not one of the cool kids.



I have been laid up lately due to my ankle (see the vast increase in blog posts?) and spending alot of time on the internet. I came across a blog and this man posted the above video and said

"Sometimes I am soooooo embarrassed by others who profess to be Christians, and then do crazy and ridiculous and insensitive and not-classy things… uuugh! And they are serious!Is this realy the best way to introduce Jesus as a friend? It sure makes it harder for the rest of us…"


I was like WHAT? yes the man may be silly and the song not banging out a beat in really ANY WAY but he is worshipping and giving glory to God. I was shocked that this particular blogger thought this video was in any way insensitive or not classy? I was amused by the video and the song was in my head the rest of the day.

I also was intrigued by the fact that this particular man felt songs and actions like this make it harder "for the rest of us" to introduce Jesus as a friend. Jesus himself was not popular or cool. He was homeless, hated, probaly dirty, not fashionable,etc. A lot of people killed him because he was so not liked. Jesus did a pretty crazy and ridiculous thing for us. Jesus wasn't overly concerned about being insensitive or politically correct, just glorifying to his father. And as far as the best way to introduce Jesus as a friend? How about his death on the cross? Is that an easy or sensitive way to introduce him?

Friday, September 19, 2008

..........................

freedom?

This picture was taken by a woman named Frannie Boehnlein. She attends DePaul University and is my facebook friend. I don't know her except seeing her perform a few times in the Gospel Choir, but this is her picture. It is so disturbing to me, on many of levels. This is a picture she took while protesting at the Republican National Convention. I am troubled that this is police, confronting citizens as they voice their opinions on Bush, Republicans, the War and other issues in Minneapolis. I wanted to share this. I cant really vocalize clearly the violence and fear this picture speaks to me and how extensively I question the notion of freedom that we hold so dear and personal as American.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Shirley Mae Murphy

enough with religion, politics, education issues....

This intermission of regular blog topics is brought to you by my camera phone.
This is my grandma, Shirley Murphy on her 84th birthday which was September 17th. She has more friends than people I know and she got lots of flowers, over 20 birthday cards in the mail and WAY too many phone calls ALLLLL day while I was trying to sleep off my pain medicine for my ankle. But she deserves it.
Such a tiny granny.
Flowers from Amber and Simon
ambers flowers
ambers flowers

Flowers from Jen and Matt:
granny loves jen flowers

Birthday dinner:
granny 84th bday dinner

Butterfly from Kim:
granny loves butters
(Gran hates butterflies because they used to be caterpillars. She is afraid of caterpillars.)

Granny with the first birthday present/birthday acknowledgement from the doctor she has worked under for 40 years. He gave her 25 pink roses and a card. Yes, she still works as a nurse.
granny loves dr resiser flowers


It smells wonderful in the house.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Do you believe in me?




Dalton needs to come to Chicago! He is a BEAST. He says, "Do you believe in me? Cause if not, I'm not going there." There being graduation, college, LIFE.

Serious real talk.
What up Dalton, you gave me chills.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Rob Bell messing it all up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wSAEezBc3s






I got this from http://revolutioninthespirit.blogspot.com/
Its the youth pastor from Armitage Baptist Church. Some people I know read my blog that may not be aware of his yet. Lies are convincing, Read up on the truth. Scary stuff to think that this man is running one of the biggest churches in America, Mars Hill.


* Be a better Berean than the Bereans were.


* When we elevate man, we lower the cross and we can't afford to do that because the cross is the only chance of hope for us.

* Humanism disguised as Christianity.

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Click this e-stamp, and $0.50 will be donated to educate youth in Chicago.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

what's this world coming too?

For real whats this world coming too when we have to pay kids to go to school?

HELLO? Its the frickin law. Until you are 16 you HAVE to go to school.

I am referring to the program written up in the Sun times paper that they are testing out where they pay kids to go to school. This is just for freshman and sophmores in 20 CPS schools. Freshman and Sophmores because these two grades have the highest drop out rates. Douglas, Al Raby, Simeon.... to name a few. These are schools with medium to high dropout rates and CPS feels that they could retain more students if they paid them a certain amount per A = $50 B = $35 and C = $20. You receive half at report card time and half WHEN you graduate up to 4000 dollars altogether.

Recently in conversation it was remarked that the black community does not value education the same as other cultures may. Many people present accepted this as true and I was confused. It was explained to me that especially on the West side in families close to the poverty line, people are focused on getting money now to put food on the table and other life necessities. It is hard to focus on school as the rewards of that may not pay off for many years. It makes more sense to go out and get a job now to help out or even to survive.

How do you argue with that?

Study or eat. Study or help out the family. Its hard to have vision for the future when the present is a woken nightmare. I get it, but is this the way in which to do that? Is that money that is being furnished through private donations, NOT TAX DOLLARS, going to make that much of a difference? I am not sure.

Being sensitive and understanding some of the reasons why the drop out rates MAY be higher in these communities I am wanting to say yes, this money may help.

But I have this nagging sense that this program cannot be sustainable and how exactly is it teaching on the importance and necessity of education? I think kids (and some adults) are lazy alot and need all this special motivation and incentive to do anything and thats bogus.

I also hate this argument going around that OOOH THE SUBURBAN kids get money already from their parents so this is leveling the playing field. OK NO. All suburban kids dont get money from their parents for good grades and some city kids do too!!! I never knew anyone that received money for good grades and my friends and I all completed high school. None of us got $ or cars or a pony or anything for graduation. None of our parents paid for our college educations. None of our parents were rich.

Does that mean others shouldn't be afforded that luxury ? No,but I feel that completing high school because someone paid you too is self defeating and taking away the lesson that school is important.

But I will agree with the any means necesary approach when our dropout rate nears the half mark in some school in the city.

There has to be a better way.
I just dont know what it is right now.


Read about this here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-money-for-grades-11-sep11,0,7506945.story

and here

http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/1157373,CST-NWS-skul11web.article

and here

www.kevingwin.blogspot.com

Friday, September 5, 2008

Stop killing people

125.

125 people shot dead in Chicago over the summer.

That's approximately twice the US Troop death toll in Iraq (65) for the summer.
approximately 247 people were shot and just wounded.


I plan to mull this over for awhile but my first thoughts include:
War. Chicago is worse than a war zone, perhaps we should bring our troops home and deploy them into Chicago to work on peaceful conflict resolution here. Maybe?

And I am just fine beating this dead horse...the Olympics. Yes, lets bring more people here and focus our money on that frivolity of sportsmanship instead of working on lowering deadly violence and improving our deplorable schools.


125.
people.
shot.
dead.



Summer's finally over.
Praise God.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Pods of Hippopotami dancing through my head

I always liked hippos. Maybe its the cute name, Hippo or hippopotamus.
Yay.
Or that they have little tiny ears. Or that there are dancing hippos in the movie Fantasia (they do ballet) or that I have read a plethura of children's book featuring cute, friendly, gray hippos with names like Henrietta the Hippo or Harry the Hippo. But apparently my Hippo friends are not so wonderfully cuddly and likable after all.

My friends returned safely from Zambia with stories of the wonderful things the Lord is doing there. I was encouraged and captivated by all their stories. Maybe I will relay some of them here. But today. Today I am thinking about hippos. I had no idea they were so deadly and territorial and FAST.

So while they were in Zambia they were blessed to be able to take a few safari trips. One that Brian and Heidi went on was a 3 hour river boat tour. Before they left it was all worries about lions, bugs, maybe even crocodiles but apparently it should have been hippos. So a few interesting facts I have recently learned about hippos that just keep bouncing around in my head:
(these are from Heidi and Brian and Kareem and Ashley and Matt but also supplemented by my own personal research over the past few days online)

A group of hippos is called a pod
their ears and eyes and little nose holes are all placed on the tippy top of their head so they can be underwater but poke those holes just out of the water and breathe, see and hear.

A hippo has what is called "specific gravity". This means they have a special body density that allows them to sink in water. This also allows them to enter the water and walk along the BOTTOM of the river!!!!! (God is amazing, creative, unique, awesome!!!!)
They can stay submerged for 5 to 6 minutes.

They also can run along the bottom of the river.
On land a hippo can outrun an Olympic althlete, they top 35 miles and hour - but only for a few hundred meters.
The closest relative to a hippo is not an elephant or rhino but a whale and porpoise.
Their bodies secrete a natural sunscreen to protect them from the sun, its red.
Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter and psycho (may he rest in peace) was quoted as saying that a five minute river crossing of hippo infested water was the most dangerous and scary thing he ever did!!!!

So anyway...Brian and Heidi were on this river boat tour and hippos were on the shore and then sent out sentry hippos. Hippos are known to attack human and boats because they are soo territorial, especially in water. They submerge and then go under the boat and flip it and their enormous jaws snap you like twig. They dont eat you, they are happy herbivores. They just kill you. SO hippos were in the water and they were terrified. and you cant see them because they are under water just temporarily surfacing to check out their small boat and their location.I cannot even imagine being in that situation. Apparently their tour guide was new and he seemed amused by all of this. I am not sure I would have not succumbed to heart failure.

They lived to tell the story so Praise God there.
Hippos own crocodiles also.
and a hippo will run you over to get to water. It will not divert its route to avoid you.
They are the number one animal responsible for deaths in Africa.
Yes, hippos.












(I still think they are cute though)