Smear Campaign

Smear campaigns involve various reputation-damaging activities. They are typically targeted at public officials, politicians, and political candidates. Lately, there has been a cavalcade of advertisements featuring smears hurled from one political candidate at another. It reminds me the playground in elementary school, with kids facing off each other in a brutal contest of insults. The winner was whoever issued the best comment tarnishing the image of his opponent’s mother. Some of the political smear campaigns would have you believe that super villains, witches, demons, or the like are running for public office. They are portrayed to sit on a throne of skulls located in a fortress surrounded by lava, deep beneath the Earth’s crust. They send out their twisted minions to carry out their malevolent plans to lie to waste all that is good and holy. When the smear ads start, I tune them out. The one ad that actually caught my attention involved a political candidate talking about a few issues that I am genuinely concerned about and laying out a few of his plans to deal with these issues. I don’t want to know who’s the worst man for the job; I want to know who’s going to do the job better.
In middle school, I ran for class representative against one of the most popular girls in school. I put together posters, buttons, and various other promotional items. I worked for hours on my campaign speech and the concepts I was to offer for my class. I was defeated by an underground smear campaign and a speech that was something to the effect of “Uhhh… we might get a vending machine... with candy…” Maybe I just didn’t know the priorities of 7th grade students. I learned through this experience that though we face opponents who mean to wound our standing in society, we must hold on to our integrity. Lately, I have seen a lot of negative press aimed at Christianity. The outlandish actions of a few individuals claiming to be Christians often represent Christianity as a whole. I’ve also seen a rise in articles, books, television shows, etc. that insult Christianity in the light of how ridiculous it seems when compared to the “cold, hard facts” of evolutionary theory. The things I read that people say about Christians both angers and saddens me. Isaiah 58:8 tells us that despite all of this, we must continue to prevent injustice and fulfill the needs of others. If we are able to do these things, our light will rise out of the darkness.

Fantasy Sports

I am genuinely surprised at my level of interest in fantasy sports this year. As much as I enjoy playing them, I’ve never been consistent in the researching and viewing of sports. As much as I have desired to become the stereotypical male, glued to my Lazy Boy recliner every Sunday as I watch football, I tend to be a fair-weather fan. Is it because my home team, the Detroit Lions, is reliably awful and rarely wins? Not to be completely negative, but even with seemingly the right players in place, the Lions tend to be an expected “easy win” for their opponents. Regardless, there is something in me that has faith in the Lions. Anything’s possible, I suppose.
Hockey has been a different story. The Detroit Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup champions, are typically one of the better teams in professional hockey. Detroit is referred to “Hockeytown”. An enormous crowd of citizens gathered in Detroit last summer to hold a parade in honor of the Red Wings. As a youth, I had dreams of playing Olympic and eventually professional ice hockey. I would wake up every morning at 4 or 5 o‘clock in order to practice. Even when not practicing with a team, I would run drills with myself until it was time to prepare for the school day. When school would let out, I would get back to practicing or play a pick up game with friends. However, I never really had what it takes to be a professional. Like so many other of my interests, I gave up when I didn’t see results.
There are a few parallels that I can draw between my sporting life and my spiritual life. It’s difficult to remain steady in our relationship with God. When relationships, careers, and health fail, it is tempting to blame God. We tend to loose interest in Christianity when we don’t feel that it provides any advantage to our dismal lives. Phil. 2:12 states that we need to continue to work out our salvation. We can’t be spectators in the church. In Acts 2, just like today, people were being “added” to the church. We are part of the team. We are a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9). As such, it is our responsibility to do God’s work. 2 Thess. 3:10-12 states that, “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat”. We often won’t see immediate results in working for God. Prayers are not always answered in our time. Growth takes time. But, if we are ever to see positive growth in our lives and in the lives of others, we must continue to work.

Meet Mr. Earth

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about creation, science, and how the juxtaposition of these two concepts just doesn’t click for a lot of people in our world. The Genesis account, which we who are believers hold to be fact, is thought by many to be merely some fictional tale passed down through generations. The universe and all of it’s many inhabitants are considered to be completely random products resulted from the right combination of RNA and proteins. All of these differences in belief aside, the Earth is an extraordinary and as far as we know completely unique planet. I wanted to share a few facts about the Earth that you might not already know. First, did you know that if the Earth were shrunk to the size of a pool ball, it would actually be smoother than a pool ball? However, the Earth might not be round enough considering that centrifugal force actually causes the Earth to bulge so it isn’t a perfect sphere. Use that one to impress friends at parties! Ever thought about what would happen if you could dig a hole through the center of the Earth? Well, first of all, you wouldn’t end up in China. With a properly coated hole and several other precautionary measures, you’d get to the center of Earth in about 20 minutes. You would then proceed to the other side of the world in another 20 minutes. You would continue to fall up and down indefinitely. I bet it would make a pretty amazing ride at an amusement park of the future. Finally, as few know, the Earth is actually getting larger all of the time. Not much relatively, the Earth gains about 40 tons a day. It sounds like time for Weight Watchers Mr. Earth.
God’s creation inspires my faith on a daily basis. It takes a lot to properly sustain life and only our Earth can do it. (as far as we know) Acts 17:25-28 tells us that God sustains life and that he does this so that we will reach out to him. The knowledge of our planet is not meant to pull us away from God. It is meant to bring us closer to him. We can find things to be thankful for and reasons to praise God all around. Habukkuk 2:14 tells us that “the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord”. I enjoy learning about the Earth because through it, I learn a lot about the creator. It might be why I use so many metaphors and illustrations. I can’t help but see God’s glory in everything he has created. I can’t help but make connections through what I see.

Olympic Judgments

In an incredibly cliché move on my part, I am writing this week’s article about the Olympics. This year’s Olympics in Beijing have been rather exciting thus far. From Nastia Liukin’s gold medal in the women’s gymnastics all-around to the simply uncanny performance of Michael Phelps, there have been many spine-tingling moments of triumph. I have a feeling that there is an underground group of geneticists constructing super humans for the country offering the right price. China has to be purposely building super athletes or very lifelike robots. At their current rate, China will win as many gold medals this year as they have in all other Olympics combined. If they are robots, it might be a good idea to make the gymnasts look older than the age of 12. I kid. I just wanted to join the very vocal Olympic announcers in their pursuit of harsh criticisms. Some of them really seem to be reaching in their assessments. My jaw was agape when I heard an announcer rip apart the performance of most likely the world’s greatest tennis player, Roger Federer. And, I know a few of them are former athletes or coaches, but we are looking at the performances of the best athletes ever. Do they really have to pick them apart with such scrutiny? I suppose I really have no room to talk. When I get together with a few friends, we have a ridiculous amount of fun cringing or chanting as one when an athlete makes a highly visible mistake. How else am I supposed to cope with never making it to the Olympics and instead gaining a tremendous amount of girth?
We are very quick to make judgments regarding our fellow man. I remember when I was elementary school age and my parents would tell me the other kids would make fun of me “because they were jealous”. Then, through tears I would respond “They are jealous of being really fat and nerdy!?!” Wow, it’s really sad to type that out. But, sometimes we are jealous. Sometimes we just want to push every person below us on our rise to the top. Those who attend church regularly and study the Bible often have the tendency to forget how little separates us from the sinners we love to condemn. I know that I personally have felt as if I have obtained some special level of clairvoyance. Romans 3 tells us that we are all sinners. We are reminded that it is only through the grace of God that we exist and that we have the opportunity to be redeemed. We all make mistakes, no matter how well disciplined and trained we might be. But, we all have the opportunity to correct those mistakes. The church exists so that we can overcome our sin together. We are not here to knock off .2 for a mistake. We are here to offer grace.

One Technique to Get What You Need

This week, I bring you information from another article I read. I hope you don’t think this method of illustration too lazy, but it’s a good alternative to several consecutive weeks of tales from the life of John Wriston. Perhaps motivated by my deep interest in psychology, my attention was caught by a piece on ‘The Today Show’ in which a body language expert spoke about various mind tricks. These mind tricks can supposedly be used to “get what you want” in life, work, and romance. The first “trick” involves putting up a picture of one’s dog in the workplace in order to make coworkers presume a high level of loyalty. Maybe it’s because you are dog’s best friend? The next technique requires one to wear an all-black outfit to work and retain a neutral expression to “appear more powerful”. Apparently, just holding a high-temperature liquid causes one to assume you are more likable. Well, I suppose you are definitely more likable holding a hot liquid than tossing it in someone’s face. Libraries and car dealerships report higher levels of customer satisfaction when their employees “imperceptibly touch their clients”. I don’t know about you, but I am going to be a lot more attentive and wary when checking out a copy of “War and Peace”. Did you know you could make friends just by imitating someone? Previously thought to be incredibly obnoxious, mirroring behaviors is good!
It’s amazing to discover all of the subtle ways in which an individual can manipulate his or her world. I am often interested to read the biographies of different successful individuals in order to discover how they’ve come so far in life. I want to know what makes them tick so that I can have the same types of success. God has so much more planned for us than what we often realize. But, instead of being told to learn tricks or techniques, we are told to pray. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us to avoid anxiety, thank God, and make requests to Him through prayer. James 5:16 tells us to pray in order to be healed. James 1:5 tells us to pray in order to receive wisdom. James 5:13 tells us to pray in times of suffering. While tricks might be helpful, the ultimate satisfaction comes from God. The next time you find yourself in need, find time to pray.