Bad Posture: I flipped a guy off! - Hugh Halter - Wet Mud... musings from the Street
I have recently begun participating in an online collaboration called MCAP, run by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay. Hugh recently wrote a great blog post about maintaining a proper missionary posture towards the culture. There is a great part about where he flipped a guy off, but you should read it for yourself. Enjoy! (You gotta love how I just made it sound so juicy that now you have to read the article!)
ESPN.com - Fines will be imposed for clear cases of flopping
If you are like me, you love the NBA but hate the officiating. Personally, there seems to be no way to believe the NBA isn't rigged on some level. The way home teams suddenly "get aggressive" when they get home and mount huge free throw totals is pretty ridiculous. That being said, one of the hardest calls to make in the NBA is an offensive foul. Players have become oscar-winning actors when a feather hits them and causes them to tumble as if the Incredible Hulk himself just punched them. Well the NBA actually stepped up and did something I have been calling for, fining players who make "blatant" flops to draw offensive fouls. Yet to be determined is whether or not repeat offenders will receive suspensions, how much the fine will be, will they only review calls that are made, or fine people who do not get the call. In my opinion, if they only have to pay a fine, then the rule is worthless. Now suspend a player for a game after a certain amount, that's what I like to see. If you follow the eastern conference playoffs, Rasheed Wallace can only get two more technical fouls before the leauge suspends him for being over the limit. I have noticed that he still talks like crazy after the game, but during the game, is another story. He actually plays basketball and moves on after calls he doesn't like. The threat of losing a playoff series because of his temper actually exists. Score one for the NBA!
What should followers of Christ say about watching horror films? Something? Nothing? The stereotypical response would be to boycott the genre and judge all who do see it. However, there are some interesting considerations given by the Engaging Culture Blog regarding the amount of "horror" content unmistakably present in the bible. If Christains really knew how much blog, gore, and sexuality was in the Bible, would they really complain as much about horror films? Definitely worth a read.
This post takes a break from my usual rant against consumerism and the foreclosure crisis to bring you some good posts related to house churches and people I know.
Incase you haven't heard, the government is actually going to give you money to spend in hopes of boosting the economy. Personally, I am kinda excited to get the check, but I cannot say I am sure about whether or not saving it is...well....ethical. The government is giving me this check to spend, and while I do have things I don't mind spending money on, I could also just as easily save it and pad my retirement savings. But I have to ask, is that really the best thing to do for the country? The government is giving me money, and technically it is mine to do whatever I want with it, but wouldn't spending it be better than saving it for the sake of the country? Did I really just say that? Is the government really saying that we are giving you money because we want/expect you to spend it? There is something really backwards about that philosophy. If anything, shouldn't we all just save the money since we know times are getting tough for our country? Shouldn't we pay a late bill or perhaps an extra mortgage payment? I guess I just don't think the government really wants us to do that. While those are good things in the long run, the stimulus package is for the short-term. Spend money on goods and services so they economy can right itself and bring costs down and jobs up. But can we actually sustain that given the current situation? Isn't the market going to continually go south for a while? Wouldn't we be better served letting it go down more so that we can implement the stimulus package with greater effect? Suffice-to-say, I really believe our country is taking a fundamental turn in the way it views money.
Consumerism makes all of these issues with money exacerbated to the point that there are no more right answers. Our country relies so heavily on the business of making money on people borrowing money that we cannot imagine fixing the problem by questioning this assumption. Capitalism, at least in America, relies so heavily on this method of economics that now we are seeing some of the long term effects. What do we do when it is actually damaging the entire country to allow people to exact insane amounts of interest from borrowers? Should we cancel their debt? Well isn't the right of the lender to follow the contract to the letter? Who can tell the lender "you must forgive some of this person's debt,"? No one. Why not? Because anyone who had that authority, would have to ask themselves if they would be willing to do the same thing? In America, we don't say that, but perhaps we know it so deeply that we cannot imagine questioning it. Pray for our nation as we are navigating these waters of forgiveness and grace. There will be no easy fix for our financial problems, and their will not be equality for all.
If you really cannot wait to see what Bush is going to give you. There is an Economic Stimulus Package Calculator online.
Cnn.com has a great little video explaining the breakdown of the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Click the link below to watch.
