Another Serious Post

I am busy this week working on 4 articles which all happen to be due on Friday. So I don't have time to tackle any of the more serious topics I hope to address in the near future.

But I wanted to give you something to check out in the meantime. I know I've posted a lot of videos lately, but this one is by far the best.

If you've ever played minesweeper, you need to check it out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.




http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1770138

--Thanks for reading and watching

More YouTubing

As promised, here is the latest YouTube video from Steve and me. This one is for a Best Buy contest in which the videos are supposed to show why we need them to "tech out" our dorm room. I hope you like it.

I'm including the link here so you can check out the competition, post comments, or rate our video. If we make the top 20, the rating starts on August 22. Here's the link:

Steve n' Tyler's Best Buy video

-Thanks for reading and watching

Showing grace at the Border...

Judging by my title, some of you probably thought this post would be about immigration laws. But don't worry, I wouldn't waste your time with a petty political post; I'm nowhere near interested enough in politics to write one of those.


Instead I'm writing about a vital issue I am interested in, a matter of the utmost importance to me. That's right, I'm writing about food.


Here's the scene:


Sometime around 7:30 tonight I was about to walk into my apartment when I was seized by a sudden Taco Bell craving (of a magnitude I haven't experienced since college). So off I went.


I ordered an assortment of tacos and burritos that I was told amounted to $6.09. Let me deviate from my story for a moment to say there's one thing I hate about going through a drive-thru: trying to pull my wallet out of my back pocket. Especially when my seatbelt is fastened and I have to keep the clutch depressed and I know Chicago drivers will honk for no reason at all so I'm expecting a cacophony of car horns to erupt at any moment...

but, getting back to the story, tonight I didn't have to worry about any of that. Because I drove to Taco Bell without my wallet. Without the necessary $6.09.


I realized this sometime in that curve between ordering and arriving at the window. So I started digging feverishly through my change, extracting quarters and dimes, pushing pennies aside, hoping for some hidden Sacagawea dollars.


"That'll be $6.09," I heard the lady say when I, still hunched over the change in my center console, rolled slowly up to the window.


I looked over at her, my hands full of coins, and I said, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had forgotten my wallet. I can give you change, but you'll probably need to take some things off my order."


"How much do you have?"


"I don't know. Three, maybe four dollars." And I started counting again. I felt pathetic, by the way. But what else could I do? (There was a car or two behind me, but miraculously no one was honking yet.)


I was scraping bottom when I finally amassed an even $5.


"I have $5."


She held out her hand, took my mound of change, and then gave me my food. All of it.


I felt like I should at least give her everything I had left. "Do you want all my pennies?"


She laughed and said, "Don't worry about it."


So I drove away. And I did so with a prevailing sense of gratitude. (I still felt somewhat pathetic too.) I don't know if she had to contribute the $1.09 out of her own pockets (I hope not). I don't know if her boss would care, or if her boss will even know.


But it's not just about the money. Not only did she extend grace to me when she cancelled my debt (so to speak), but she also did it without reluctance. She didn't let out a massive sigh of displeasure, didn't frown at me, didn't start muttering about idiots who try to buy things without money.


She was patient. She accepted the best I had to offer. And concerning the rest of what I owed her, she simply said, "Don't worry about it."


And at the risk of sounding feminine, I want to stay that I was touched by her kindness. I felt the way I always do when strangers are unexpectedly generous. Or when they extend grace to me in times when I least expect it...like in the Taco Bell Drive-Thru.


I know I could turn this into a spiritual message, focusing on the cancellation of debts idea or another aspect of grace. But I don't think I need to be that direct. I think the message is already there. And you're smart enough to take something from it without me preaching at you.


Besides I just wanted to briefly share this story so you could 1) laugh at me for being an imbecile (or as Brian Regan might say, an "imbecilen") and 2) so you might be encouraged like I was, reminded that there are a lot of kind-hearted people in our world.


I'm am also challenged to be one of those kind-hearted people when I have a frustrating experience with a stranger. I should strive to be someone who can shrug off an inconvenience, someone who can smile at the other person and say without a hint of resentment, "Don't worry about it."


--Thanks for Reading

Current and Future Things

I'm going to begin with a little shameless self-promotion (I feel like I've been doing a lot of that lately).

Today, I had a book review featured on The Burnside Writer's Collective. In this article, I reviewed Anne Lamott's Grace (Eventually). For those interested, I've attached a link right here:

Review of Grace (Eventually)


I'd also like to apologize to anyone who reads my blog even somewhat regularly. I haven't been posting as routinely as I would like. And my content has been pretty shallow as of late. I plan to remedy this posthaste.

In the near future, I will be blogging on these topics:

1) How Old-Age Intersects the Eternal

2) How to Make Enemies, and Why We Should

3) Death and Two-Year-Olds

...and somewhere down the line, I will address homosexuality and the church's response.

Note: I reserve the right to post these in any order I choose, thereby rendering the above number system meaningless.

For those of you who prefer my shallow posts: Steve and I are set to film our second commercial tomorrow. (Sorry, no ketchup in this one.) When it's complete, I'll link to that too.

--Thanks for Reading

Underwear, Youtube, and Michael Jordan

Sometimes I try to write things that are intellectually stimulating. Whether it's a book review, an examination of scripture, or a mildly profound pondering, I like to think, examine, and learn.

But I also like to laugh...

And the new Hanes' commercials featuring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Michael Jordan make me laugh.

If you know me, you are probably aware of my appreciation (okay, fine: my love) for Michael Jordan. That appreciation/love is part of the reason I think these commercials are so funny. But even if Michael Jordan hasn't been your hero for 16 years, I think you'll still enjoy them.

I've only seen one of these aired on television...but that could be because I don't watch TV all that often.

Anyway, I hope you like them:

(Disclaimer: I'm linking to these commercials on YouTube, and YouTube videos become unavailable if they are removed for any reason. So if the links stop working, it was beyond my control.)


Commercial 1

Commercial 2

Commercial 3


And while I'm talking about commercials and youtube videos, I would be remiss not to mention that my friend Steve and I created our own commercial for part of a Heinz ketchup commercial contest.

The contest hasn't officially begun yet, but over 1700 entries are already viewable on YouTube (where else?).

Of course Steve and I would love to win the $57,000 first prize, or even the $5700 given to second through fifth place. But if we don't even make the top 15 (which is selected by a panel of judges before the two-week voting period can begin), we still had fun making the video.

It's not as good as the Hanes' spots featuring Michael Jordan, but hey, no one compares to MJ.

Anyway, I hope you like it.

Steve n' Tyler's Heinz Commercial

--Thanks for reading...and watching

Good Stuff

Today I want to recommend a couple sites.

The first is Good Search, a search engine powered by Yahoo! search. The nifty thing about Good Search is that for every internet search you conduct, $0.01 goes to the charity of your choice.

You can also save your preferred charity so that every search you conduct automatically donates a penny to your cause. When I use goodsearch, I choose LeaderTreks, a nearby missionary organization for which one of my best friends works.

Here's the only catch I've discovered. Unless more than $20 are raised in one calendar year, Good Search does not issue a check to that organization. This won't be a problem for organizations like Save Darfur (having currently raised nearly $3,000) and the ASPCA ($4,400) and other large organizations. Instead the smaller groups, like LeaderTreks, will miss out.

So I'm asking you to start using Good Search. And if you don't already have a cause to support, let me recommend LeaderTreks, which has currently raised only $2.70. And I'm fairly certain, sadly, that almost all of those have been my searches.

All of you search the web; everyone does. You might as well donate money as you do it. Right?
Here's the link:

http://www.goodsearch.com/



"If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist
hammering on our skull, why then do we read it?...A book must be
like an ice-axe to break the frozen sea within us." --Franz Kafka

The second site I'm recommending is called goodreads.

Once you create your own account, you have the chance to stock your bookshelves with books you "have read," are "currently reading," and those you plan "to read." Of course you can also add friends and see what they've read, or plan to read. And it can be one more online communication tool.

But that's not what I like about goodreads (which could be why I have 0 friends on their site). I like that it allows users to rank the books they've read. Using a 1-5 star scoring range, users have the opportunity to encourage others to read books they love and discourage people from reading those books they detest.

I could say more about this site. But instead, I'll just encourage you to check it out. It's worth it.

http://www.goodreads.com/

And if you choose to check it out...feel free to add me as a friend. My goodreads name is Tyler Charles. Lacking in originality, maybe, but easy enough to find.

And don't forget to start using goodsearch. It's worth it.

--Thanks for Reading

Ah, the days of bathtub gin...

The roarin' twenties.

It was a time of jazz music, the Model T Ford, and indoor plumbing. The Charleston; the first color movies; the first "talkies." Babe Ruth belting home runs.

It was a festive time in America. An age of jubilation.

Oh yeah, and it was a time when alcohol was prohibited.

I found myself thinking about this today. It's an interesting thing to consider, prohibition.

First of all, I don't know why our government ever thought they could outlaw alcohol. But they did: The 18th amendment to our fine Constitution.

Of course, it didn't work. Look at the sponsors for any major sporting event and you'll see that Prohibition fell a little short of its goal.

But why am I writing about the roaring 20's and Prohibition?

Because as I found myself thinking about this today, I began to long for those days---days I never experienced.

I long to live in an era when the most dangerous man in America was a bootlegger selling liquor from hideouts throughout Chicago.

In the 20's there was Al Capone. Now we have Osama Bin Laden. And others like him.

In the 20's the police and federal agents were sniffing out speakeasies and stills (which, for those of you who never watched The Andy Griffith Show, are used to create moonshine). Now our feds sniff out potential airplane hijackers and meth labs.

I live in the Chicago area now, and it's interesting to see how the roarin' twenties, and especially Al Capone, are glorified in artwork, restaurants, memorabilia. Not too far from me, on the Fox River, one can eat at a former speakeasy: Al Capone's Hideaway.

I think that alone says something about what it was like to live in the 20's. Capone, the decade's most notorious thug, is now glorified. Almost as famous as Babe Ruth.

Do you think we'll have a restaurant in this country that pays tribute to Osama Bin Laden in 80 years? I sure hope not.

And what will America look like in 80 years? It's scary to consider, actually. At least I think it is. Our world is complex, our country is economically interwoven with so many other nations, the technology (and weapons development) worldwide has closed the distance between us and other countries---both metaphorically and geographically.

And it makes me long for the days when our biggest threat was a bunch of guys brewing and selling alcohol. When a dance floor full of tipsy folks dancing the Charleston was dangerous enough to demand legislation to protect the American people.

I don't wish to reinstate Prohibition. (That would be a disaster.) But it would've been nice to live in a time when that was our nation's biggest problem. That's all I'm saying.

--Thanks for Reading

Note: Some of you might say that alcohol is still our nation's biggest problem. If you look at the number of drunk driving deaths each year; the number of alcoholics; instances of drunken rage. And if you want to make that argument, I will admit that it's a valid point. It just wasn't the point of this post. After all, drunk driving wasn't a reason for the institution of Prohibition laws.

Well said

This will be my last post on the Christianity/Islam conversation...at least for awhile. And I'll keep this one short.

In the July issue of Christianity Today (one of the benefits of being employed by Christianity Today is having the opportunity to read their issues
earlier than the general public...), Philip Yancey's column on the final page is called, "It's Not About the Crusades," and not so surprisingly, he summed up the current Christianity/Islam situation better than I could.



His final paragraph says this:

"Christians and Muslims face opposite challenges. We in the West have something to learn from cultures that do not push religion to the margins, that see faith as affecting all of life, and that look to religious leaders for guidance on societal and ethical issues. Meanwhile, Islamic nations have something to learn from the Christian West, which has found liberal democracy to be the best way to protect minorities' rights as nations become increasingly multicultural. Not to learn those lessons leads to disaster, as is playing out in the 'clash of civilizations' right now."


So apparently Philip Yancey thinks Christians could learn something from Muslims, too. (I wonder if he's been reading my blog...) His suggestion that Christians could learn something from Muslims who see "faith as affecting all of life" really got my attention. How many Christians, myself included, see faith in this way?

What would it take to make us change? Less television? Less time on the internet? Less time thinking about what we want, what we like, what we plan to buy, what we wish we could afford, where we'd like to visit, and so on?

I don't know.

But the next time Philip Yancey finds inspiration in my blogs, he could at least give me some credit.

Catch you on the Burnside...or something

If you know me well, we've probably talked about Blue Like Jazz. If we're good friends, I've probably purchased it for you. (Kim, I haven't forgotten that you were the one who originally forced me to read it. Thanks for that.) For those of you who also like BLJ and its author, Donald Miller, I want to direct you to a website.

I recently discovered (thanks, CT) that Donald Miller created an online literary journal, The Burnside Writer's Collective. Emphasizing social justice articles, reviews, and a little bit of sports, it's worth checking out. The journal is still developing (I think), so readers can also expect better things to come.

Miller rarely has time to write on BWC, but the articles suggest some ideological similarities between the staff and the journal's founder. Articles are updated every Monday. Here's the link:

http://www.burnsidewriterscollective.com/

Let me know what you think.

-Thanks for Reading

The ugly side of Islam...and Christianity

In recent posts, I wrote about an aspect of the Islamic faith that I think Christians should emulate. I also tried not to accuse Muslims as a whole for what the Jihadist factions have done. But the reality is, there are Jihadist Muslims, and they are dangerous.

These groups of violent Muslims are the uglier side of Islam. But don't be fooled into thinking Christianity doesn't have its own extremists. I would like to give a few examples of the extremists on both sides.

Starting with Islam:

I won't go into detail about Al-Qaeda, or September 11. Those details are well-known.

If I were to focus on the violent actions of Islamic extremists in the MIddle East, I would have too much material for one post. Instead, I want to focus on an article I read recently about how Hamas (the "Islamic Resistance Movement," and an Arabic acronym for "zeal"...thanks, Wikipedia) is trying to brainwash kids into fighting against Jews and the United States. And believe it or not, they're using an imitation Mickey Mouse to do it.

The mouse is named Farfur, though he looks like Mickey's twin. Quoting from an article on FOXNews:

"On the weekly program 'Tomorrow's Pioneers,' Farfur and a young girl name [sic] Saraa' tell children to pray five times each day and drink their milk, while urging the children to 'resist' the 'oppressive invading Zionist occupation.'"

That's good vocabulary for kids, right? Can you imagine a six-year-old talking to you about the "oppressive invading Zionist occupation?"


The Mickey clone also says, in a "squeaky" voice, "'We, tomorrow's pioneers, will restore to this nation its glory, and we will liberate Al-Aqsa, with Allah's will, and we will liberate Iraq, with Allah's will, and we will liberate the Muslim countries, invaded by murderers."

The FOXNews article concludes with a suggestion that the brainwashing is working. I'm not sure exactly what this final quote means, but I get the disturbing gist of it:

"Poems and songs submitted by young viewers contain violent imagery. 'Rafah sings, "Oh, oh,"' one caller says as Farfur mimes carrying a rifle. 'Its answer is an AK-47.'"

The link below contains the article and a video of Farfur. The video contains these troubling quotes, among many others:

"Until we win, with the will of Allah, we will resist until we win."
"We will win, Bush! We will win, Sharon! Ah, Sharon is dead. We will win, Mofaz! Mofaz left. We will win, Olmert! We will win! We will win, Condoleeza!"

Read the whole article here.

That article disturbed me more than the numerous stories of Muslims carrying out "Allah's will" by slaughtering others. As brutal as some of those stories are, I was more saddened to realize that kids are being brainwashed into believing they need to act (and to do so with Ak-47's), that they need to kill and destroy...and to do so because Allah wants them to. To top it off, they use a counterfeit Mickey Mouse, no longer just a playful character created to amuse children, to promulgate their propaganda.

I would have the right to be more outraged, however, if Christians weren't just as guilty.

Christians reading this will be thinking "We're not AS guilty...We don't do stuff like that." You're right, YOU probably don't. But the average Muslim isn't a Jihadist either. And if we're going to try to associate all Muslims with the acts of some, then it must be reciprocal; Christians must also be associated with the actions of their "brothers."

Here are a few examples of Christianity's extremists.

This first example also needs no explanation. But consider Christians who blow up abortion clinics and kill doctors who perform abortions. How is this different than Islamic extremists blowing up buildings and killing people because of their beliefs?

The Ku Klux Klan is another example of Christian extremists. If you don't think they are a Christian group, know that their primary goal is to "Reassert America's White Christian heritage." Among other things, they also wish to return prayer to schools. Are they misguided? Yeah. Do they consider themselves Christians? Yep.
(Source: http://www.mamkschools.org/hommocks/socialstudies/8th_grade/kkk/kkk%20today.htm)

But the main group of Christian extremists I want to talk about is a church congregation from Kansas. They might not be as violent as the abortion-clinic bombers or the KKK, but somehow they manage to be even more hateful.

They belong to the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. This church's web address indicates many characteristics about its members, including their adherence to faulty theology and tactless expression, their affinity for inappropriate language, and their penchant for aggressively hateful rhetoric. That's a lot to squeeze into one web address, but this church did so by making this their home page:
www.godhatesfags.com

This is the group that pickets funerals, calling these outings "Love Crusades." Even though all they do is spew hatred. This is the group that specifically pickets funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, often with signs that say the deceased is in hell. This is the group that says "God hates America" and "Thank God for Katrina."


Their website, if you check it out, is the most hate-motivated thing I've ever seen. I almost feel bad including the link, as if I'm promoting them or their disgustingly false doctrine. I'm not promoting them, and I don't see any advertisements on their site, so I don't think they earn any revenue based on internet traffic.

And like the abortion-clinic bombers, like the KKK, these hateful church members claim to promote Christ.

Whether it's conquering and killing "with Allah's will" or shouting "God hates fags!" the result is a blight on the faith these assailants claim, be that Islam or Christianity.

I think it's too easy for Americans to start thinking all Muslims are an enemy. It's true some Muslims (Bin-Laden, anyone?) will cry, "Death to America!" But is that so different from the "Christians" in our country screaming, "God hates America!"?

I'm a Christian, and I don't believe in Allah. But I try to remember that most Muslims aren't an enemy. They are just people who need Jesus. And I would place those members of the Westboro Baptist Church in the same category: they are people who need Jesus.

Aren't we all?


--Thanks for reading

Christianity vs. Islam Part 3

This is my third (and final) post on this subject, but I want to let the reader know that I'm still trying to figure this out. So if my words don't sound very definitive, it's because I'm still searching for understanding.

This is where my deliberation has brought me so far:

I think most people want to sacrifice something. They want to contribute. Christianity, as it is often presented, doesn't ask for anything other than belief. (The requests for money come later.) But when people choose to commit to something, I think they want the result to be something tangible.

And this finally leads me to Islam.

Here are some basic requirements of the Islamic faith:

Muslims must:

1) Pray 5 times a day facing Mecca.

2) Observe the "Zakat," which is essentially mandatory tithing.

3) Fast from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan.

4) Go on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once before they die.


At first glance, Islam clearly demands more than just belief from its followers. And I think these requirements might appeal to people who feel like their life is missing something.

Now, I don't think this argument applies to those who have felt called by the Holy Spirit, by those who have felt God's presence. Because I think these people understand the realness of the Christian God. And their commitment (I think) will stem from this understanding.

But as for that person who feels their life is missing something... Let's pretend this person goes to a Christian church and hears a message about "all you have to do is believe." And they think about it for a moment and decide they don't believe yet. Furthermore, they had been looking for something to tangibly fill their time, to fully establish their new commitment. And "just believe" doesn't do it. But Islam on the other hand demands five prayers facing Mecca every day. That's tangible. This person can convert to Islam, and they can do their best to fill a void in their life by doing all the things required by Islam.

And they can be proud of their commitment, proud of their devotion, proud to have something tangible to prove their new faith.

I'm not sure this is how it works, but I think it's possible.

*****

In the May issue of Christianity Today, Mark Galli examined the expanding religious freedoms in Vietnam ("A New Day In Vietnam"). While his article emphasized the hope that exists now that the Vietnamese government has eased away from its history of religious persecution, I found my attention drawn to one sentence in his article:

"Dac Lak, a center of persecution just a few years ago, is now the center of church growth."

Galli was just showing how much has changed, and how positive the change is. But I think this sentence is also evidence of something bigger. I think it suggests that people want to commit to something that demands sacrifice, something that goes beyond belief.

A persecuted church can't preach a "just believe and everything will be great" message. If they do, it will still sound like this: "Just believe in Jesus, and you'll get to heaven...but be prepared to endure hell on earth first."

And there's no doubting the commitment necessary to exhibit faith in the face of adversity.

So what am I saying Christian churches should do? Institute mandatory prayer times and a journey to Bethlehem? No. Am I saying that we would be better off if all Christian churches suffered persecution? No.

I just think we need to quit putting a smile on every message from the pulpit. Some of Jesus' messages were pretty intense, and they weren't just about how great everything would be if we believe in him. As I wrote before, when we preach "just believe and be saved" messages, I think we sound like we're hiding something. And this might turn people away. I think this same message might also deter those who come to church looking for a tangible commitment to fill a void in their life. And they might turn away before they actually experience the realness of a relationship with Jesus.

I think we can learn something from Islam, a religion that demands commitment, a religion that doesn't try to plaster a happy face on every message.

Instead of the fake, "nothing but daisies and roses" messages, I think Christians should proclaim this message ad infinitum: "If you believe, you will be saved...but that's just the first step. It's a long journey after that. It won't always be easy; It won't always be happy. But the Church is designed to help us travel this narrow path together. For better or worse, it will be an adventure. And it will be worth it."

--Thanks for Reading